Professor McGonagall was surprised on Saturday afternoon when there was a firm knock on her office door. "Come in" she called curtly, readying herself to give whatever student it was a lecturer about the difference between knocking on a door and trying to knock one down. However, when it opened, instead of a student there were two red-robed Aurors standing there with grim expressions, who walked in and closed the door behind them. The Scotswomen had taught both of them so she knew who they were immediately. "Shacklebolt, Tonks? What has happened?" Images of a seriously injured Gryffindor student started to come to her mind.
Seeing the conclusion that Professor McGonagall had jumped to, Shacklebolt held up a hand and said. "It's nothing like that, Professor McGonagall. However, due to an irregularity, we have found we need you to come with us to the D.M.L.E. to answer some questions." That shocked the professor, but when she tried to object she was informed that she was going to the D.M.L.E. and that she didn't have any say in the matter. They did, however, Floo from her office to the D.M.L.E. so none of the students saw their professor being walked out of the castle by Aurors.
In the D.M.L.E. she was shown to an interview/interrogation room, and after confirming her identity and some paperwork it was time for the questions to begin. First Auror Tonks read the Scottish witch her rights. "Minerva McGonagall, you are being interviewed under suspicion of attempted murder of a minor. You do not have to say anything, and you may not be magically compelled to answer any questions. You may, however, volunteer to take Veritaserum or offer an Unbreakable Vow of truth if you wish. It may also harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on before the Wizengamot."
McGonagall was shocked again. "Attempted murder of a minor, what the hell are you talking about?" She demanded.
Shacklebolt took the lead again. "We have found evidence that you may have been the one who put Harry Potter's name into the Goblet of Fire. Can you tell us your point of view from the arrival of the other schools up until the Goblet of Fire made its decision?"
The Scots witch was shocked again, how could they suspect her of putting Mr Potter's name into the Goblet of Fire? She explained how after the arrival of the foreign students, she was busy shepherding her House students around, getting them back into the Great Hall for the feast. After the feast there was more shepherding of students, getting her Gryffindor prefects to shuffle the lower years back up to their common room, before returning to her office. "There was no point watching the Gryffindors; they would be up half the night with their excitement. Especially after Karkaroff brought that famous seeker of his. It's better to let them burn the excess excitement from their system in one night rather than wasting time trying to calm them over the next week. So I went back to my rooms and poured myself a scotch - it wasn't my night to patrol so I was off duty - and did some homework marking I had left to do, as I lost the time I would normally have done it on that day. I went to bed around ten after telling a portrait to watch for any emergencies in the Gryffindor common room." She then expanded her next day, mentioning where she was and who would have seen her there, right up until the start of the Halloween feast. She never once said anything that could be considered even attempting to put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire. "Right, now I have told you what I was doing. I want to know what evidence you think you have that you dragged me in here like a common sneck-drawer" (sneak thief), as she slipped into Scots at the end in her frustration and anger.
Shacklebolt pulled out a clear plastic document holder from his pocket and slid it across the table. For the most part, the magical world didn't use muggle things like this, but the DMLE liked having this to protect evidence while still being able to read it. "Can you identify this document, professor?" He asked.
McGonagall picked it up and had a look. "It's an essay on animate to inanimate Transfiguration, one I gave to my fourth year students in late September to early October in preparation for turning live animals into objects. It's not signed, but by the look of the handwriting it's Mr. Potter's essay."
Shacklebolt took the essay back. "You are correct, it is a Transfiguration essay written by Harry Potter. But according to Mr. Potter, it was signed and was handed in to you. As you know as the Deputy Headmistress, the Goblet of Fire requires a name written by that person. Harry Potter's signature was in your possession, and then the next thing we know it's coming out of the Goblet. So if you could, please explain to me how that signature got from your office, where it was under lock and key in your possession, and into the Goblet of Fire." However, McGonagall couldn't explain it, at least not to any satisfactory level. There were too many ways it could have happened. While she locked her door, the school was full of people who could get around such locks. It was an office for a school teacher, not the Department of Mysteries; there just wasn't the need for ridiculously high levels of security.
After thinking about it for a minute, the Scots witch decided to take a leaf out of Mr Potter's book. "I waive my right against magical compulsion and request to take an Unbreakable Vow of truth." She chose the vow despite it being the more dangerous of the two because it offered her more freedom in her answers, or more specifically not answering. Veritaserum made you answer a question that was asked of you: any question, asked by anyone. The Vow, on the other hand, gave her the option to not answer a question if she didn't want to, so long as what she did answer was truth. Auror Shacklebolt accepted the Vow while Tonks acted as their binder. "I, Professor Minerva McGonagall, did not enter Harry Potter's name into the Goblet of Fire, I did not knowingly help another person to do so, and I have no knowledge of who entered Mr. Potter or of anyone who has aided them, knowingly or unknowingly."
The atmosphere in the interrogation room changed almost immediately. The two Aurors became a lot warmer in their tones and their posture relaxed, as though they were no longer holding themselves ready to fight back against a sudden attack. The questions also shifted; now they were asking about her office, the protections on it and who had access. Of course, she answered as many as she could, but unfortunately there just wasn't a lot to go on. The headmaster and Madam Pomfrey also had access to her rooms in case of emergency, but she could only think of maybe four members of staff who wouldn't be able to overcome the charms on her door. One was a squib, one had no wand, one had her head in the stars, and the last spent so much time drunk McGonagall didn't think she could see her door let alone point a wand at it.
-ϟϟϟ-
Charlus was trying to work out what was best now. Well, he was trying to think about what was best, but thoughts about what he could get away with kept pushing those thoughts aside.
He had gone to visit the Dursleys. He hadn't known what he was expecting, it was obvious when he met them the first time that the Dursleys were not a loving family for Harry. They hadn't even asked Harry if he wanted to stay with them, they had practically jumped at the chance to be rid of Harry. But Charlus expected some level of familial concern for him. Instead, as soon as Vernon Dursley opened the door and saw Charlus, the verbose verbal vitriol that came from the man was, in a word, disturbing. In only a few minutes, Charlus learned more about Vernon Dursley's view on magicals than he ever wanted to know. There was no way a man as prejudiced as Dursley had raised a child he knew was magical in any way that wouldn't be considered abusive.
So how abusive had Dursley been, and what should Charlus do now? There was a chance the abuse was minimal; only a few comments that were best left alone. But Charlus had an impression that it was worse than that. It would be easy enough to find out, he could always ask Harry. But the boy was preparing for the first task of the damned tournament, and Charlus was worried that splitting his attention was not a good idea. Harry was going to face a dragon, and Charlus didn't want to risk him potentially getting seriously hurt by such a monster because he was preoccupied by reliving a traumatic event while he was learning the spells he was going to need from Sirius.
Did he go to Harry now and risk Harry's focus when dealing with a dragon, or did he wait and risk that Harry needed help now? It was a difficult question, and the only one with the answers was Harry. Well, and the Dursleys, but they weren't going to tell him anything and there were laws against making them talk. 'Of course laws are only a problem if you get caught'. And there were the thoughts about what he could get away with again.
"What would you do, Dorea?" He asked the photo of his wife, who was sadly smiling up at him from the frame that was sitting on the small table next to his chair. "Ha. Stupid question I know. You always did have a nasty streak in you from your Black side. You'd kidnap the Dursleys, force feed them Veritaserum, and if they had hurt one of your babies then the bodies would never be found." He poured himself a glass of Firewhiskey and saluted her with the glass before emptying it down his throat. "I miss you. You know that right? Not a day goes by where I don't wish you were still with me. You'd know what to do, you'd know how best to help Harry. You also wouldn't accept me wallowing in self pity like this, would you?" Apparently the Potter tendency to brood on things was their least attractive trait, according to his wife. Eventually, he decided he would get the information he needed from the Dursleys. He just had to remember where he put the book with the Veritaserum recipe.
-ϟϟϟ-
While Harry was busy training, the first of the visitors' Quidditch matches was coming up, Ravenclaw vs Beauxbatons. It was amusing to watch the mood at the Ravenclaw table sour a little to their guests in the run up to the match; some of the Beauxbatons students even retreated from the table to get away from the numerous arguments. It was during a rather loud quarrel between the two teams centred on a bet that the losing team would shift the blue of either their robes or their house crest to the blue of the winning team. The French champion, having apparently had enough of the noise, left the Ravenclaw table and sat in a free spot next to Harry on the opposite side to Hermione. Hermione shot her a look for sitting next to Harry, as even though he may not fall victim to a Veela's mind magic she was still a beautiful young woman, and despite how irrational it was Hermione couldn't help but want to stake her claim on Harry.
Seeing the look Hermione gave her, the French champion flashed her a nervous smile and said, "Excuse me. I'm just getting away from ze noise at ze Ravenclaw table. Monsieur Potter here has shown he is not ze type to turn into an idiot or start doing something ridiculous trying to impress me."
Hermione relaxed, but still felt a little ashamed of herself. She knew that Delacour was a Veela, Harry had confirmed that for her after the Weighing of the Wands, and for a moment she had let herself feel threatened by that despite knowing that Harry seemed to be immune to the effects. "Hi, I'm Hermione, and obviously this is Harry. We were never really introduced on Halloween."
Delacour nodded. "Call me Fleur. And I understand you were both rather preoccupied that night. Do you know how it happened yet?"
"Not much. I know the Aurors found that my signature had been taken off of an essay I did for homework, but it's not like those pieces of homework are kept in a bank vault. Almost anyone in the school could have gotten one. I'm really pissed off… uh angry -" Harry switched from the colloquialism to correct English, as it was obvious English wasn't Fleur's first language - "at the lack of proper security for this event. What if someone had decided to add the name of a first year? It's not like they'd have a hope in hell of fighting the dragons they have for the first task."
Harry didn't even realise he had said something off until Fleur started giving Harry a nervous laugh. "Dragons, very funny Harry…" Harry just looked at Fleur with a sad expression on his face. "Non. Dis-moi que c'est une blague." In her horror at the idea she had slipped back into her native French, Harry didn't understand a word of it but he was sure he could guess the meaning and was proven right a second later when Fleur switched back to English. "Tell me you are joking…Please." She was almost begging with that last word.
"I wish I was." Harry nodded at Ron, who was currently staring at Fleur while drooling, his dinner completely forgotten. "His older brother works at a dragon preserve in Romania and sent a letter to his family that he would be in the country for a few days in November on work business. The dates were enough of a warning that I had my grandfather look into it at the Ministry, they are importing four dragons a few days before the task and sending them home again a few days after. I can't think of any reason to do that other than for us to have to fight them for the first task." Harry explained, purposely leaving out that Charlie had been trying to tell them about the dragons without telling them and giving the impression that it was just luck that Harry had found out.
Fleur seemed to lose her appetite and desire to chat after that and just sat there playing with her food for a few minutes. Harry understood, he hadn't exactly reacted great either when he was told he would be fighting a monster that was measured in tons, had razor sharp teeth and claws, and had the ability to breath fire. Fleur soon gave up, and after thanking Harry and Hermione for the information she excused herself, saying she needed to go start training.
"Why did you tell her about the dragons?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Didn't mean to. I was thinking about how annoyed I am with the complete balls-up of security this tournament has been and it just slipped out." Harry explained. "Though now I have told Fleur I need to tell Cedric and Krum too."
"Why?" asked Ron, who was starting to come around after being hit by Fleur's presence.
"Well when it was only me who knew, it was something helping the champion who was underage and didn't volunteer. Now one of the true champions has been told, then fairness says they all should know," Harry explained.
Hermione leaned over and gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek. "Sometimes you are far too noble, Harry. "
Harry just smiled and put an arm around her.
-ϟϟϟ-
Harry was seated in the champions tent with Charlus and Hermione waiting for the other three champions to arrive and for the first task to start. The last few weeks since he had been told about the dragon had been hell, and Harry's impression of Sirius as a man who was always the joker and incapable of being the responsible one were shattered. Sirius had Harry practising as often as he could and would be like a drill sergeant, pushing Harry until Harry physically and mentally couldn't go any further. If Harry was honest with himself, if Sirius hadn't obviously hated it as much as Harry, it may have driven a wedge between the two. However, as Sirius was only pushing so hard because he was terrified of losing Harry it had somehow brought the two closer together.
But Harry had gotten a few days off. The day of the Weighing of the Wands had been interesting. A reporter from the Prophet, the same one who had been there on the night the names came out of the Goblet of Fire, had tried to corner Harry, but Grandfather Charlus had been there and insisted that the only way Harry was giving her an interview was with himself there to supervise. Because of that, the interview had ended up mostly boring. Harry had the impression that the questions he was asked with his grandfather right there were not the questions the woman would have asked if she had gotten Harry alone. Instead, he was asked a load of questions about how he was enjoying living with his grandfather and about Hermione, as she had been with him the entire time after his name came out of the Goblet. He had answered the questions truthfully, having nothing to hide. Skeeter was obviously disappointed with the lack of any juicy stories, but Harry's home life was better than it had ever been.
Harry had also been given half days to go watch a Quidditch match each weekend. That had been Hermione stepping in on Harry's behalf and telling Sirius that he needed a break, or he would snap either physically or mentally and lose more time recovering than would be lost to the break. Harry had pulled Hermione into a secluded alcove on their way back to the common room from the evening's training that night to tell and show Hermione how grateful he was to her for arranging that.
The time had been hard on Hermione as well. She was already scared that she would lose Harry to the tournament before hearing about the dragons, but now Harry was spending most of his free time with Hermione eather hugging him or sitting in his lap as she did everything she could to stay close to him and reassure herself that Harry was still alive. Even now, in the champions tent where only the champions were permitted, she was cuddled up to him with her head buried in the chest of his new basilisk hide duelling robes.
The robes Harry had only gotten this morning from Sirius. They were black with green trim to match his eyes, and he had the Potter family crest over his heart. Sirius had even told him that there was another set being made for him in a larger size for when he grew out of this set. Something about it being a good message that, if he ever needed to wear duelling robes, the robes being made from a class five-X monster that he had slain in single combat.
"Harry, I have learned something that I need to talk to you about," Charlus interrupted Harry's thoughts, and both the teens turned to listen. Harry was hoping to find out what had been on the man's mind for the past few weeks, but his hopes were dashed. "This morning I learned a little more about how preparations for this task are being handled. The Ministry is insuring the dragons in case of death, which tells us two things. First, you are not required to kill a dragon today, however if you can without endangering yourself I want you to kill it anyway. Can either of you tell me why?
Harry thought about it but Hermione had the answer first. "Because it will cost the Ministry gold to repay the dragon reserve and the international law on dragon hunting says that any wizards or witches who kill a dragon outside of a recognised dragon preserve can claim the dragon carcass. So Harry could sell the dragon parts just like he is selling the basilisk parts, making even more gold."
"Excellent Hermione. But there is one point you missed, maybe you got it Harry?" Grandfather Charlus asked, but Harry didn't know. The older man filled them in. "It would also be a powerful message to whomever put Harry's name into the tournament that he isn't some weak teenager who they can push around, that Harry can and will defend himself when necessary," he explained calmly.
Harry thought about that. "Wouldn't it be better to have them underestimate me? If they think I'm weak then I can get a hit when they don't expect it." It was a Slytherin move, Harry knew, but he did have a Slytherin side and no one would expect it from a Gryffindor.
"As much as that might be a good plan for some, it won't work for you. There are already rumours about you killing a basilisk and you are fighting a dragon today. That alone, unless you lose, which could kill you, will make people take you seriously. So we go with intimidation and have them second guess everything. Nervous people make mistakes."
Harry thought about that. There was a good chance Wormtail was either behind this or was involved in some way. He could easily see him being intimidated by someone who was able to fight a dragon, but also Scabbers had lived in the dorm with Harry for two and a half years, he knew the real person.
"What about the other thing?" Hermione asked, interrupting the silence.
"Hmm?" Grandfather Charlus asked.
"You said that the Ministry insuring the dragons told you two things, and the first was that the champions wouldn't have to kill a dragon. Because I assume if it was needed to kill them, then the Ministry would have just bought the dragons rather than renting and insuring them. What was the second thing?" Hermione asked, her curly hair tickling Harry's cheek.
"Oh right. It tells us that the Ministry has accepted financial responsibility for the tournament. I will be speaking to our solicitors later, and while I expect them to say it's better to wait until the tournament is over so that all the damages can be calculated in full, I will be directing them to go after Bagman and Crouch, the Ministry people responsible, for every galleon they can. It's time someone reminded the Ministry heads that they are not above reprisals for what they do. Sending a few of them to the poor house is just the kick up the backside they need," Charlus explained as he walked around the otherwise still empty tent.
"Why not sue the Ministry itself?'' Hermione asked.
Harry knew the answer to this one so he answered. "There are a few reasons. First, if the Ministry pays, the people responsible learn nothing as they don't lose anything. But also beyond that, Ministry funds are paid for by taxes. If you drain the Ministry of gold, then either they have to increase the tax on everything and everyone to cover the loss, or they have to cut staff and services. Either way it's the regular witch and wizard who lose out."
"Oh, I hadn't thought of that." Hermione answered, and even though Harry didn't have the angle to see her face he just knew she was biting her bottom lip as she thought. "I just always saw the Ministry as being responsible, like going after a business who sells a dangerous product," she admitted
"Well, Sirius and I talked about this before when we were talking about him going for compensation for all the time he spent in Azkaban," Harry told her. He would have said more, but at that moment the tent flap opened and Viktor Krum walked in giving Harry a nod. Viktor had been relatively friendly with Harry ever since he had told the other two champions about the dragons; they weren't holding long conversations or anything, just a nod and a smile when they passed by each other. Harry's impression was that Viktor now saw Harry like he saw himself, a sportsman, fair competition on the field but any animosity and competition between them was going to stay on the field. Viktor was going to do his best to beat Harry into the ground, but once the game was over he would also be the first to offer Harry a hand to get back up again.
Krum poured himself a glass of water from a table of drinks that had been set up on the one side of the tent for them, then found a place to sit and wait. The conversation between Harry, Hermione and Charlus dropped off to nothing but idle chat and wishing Harry good luck. Over the next five minutes Cedric and Fleur both turned up as well, and Charlus excused both himself and Hermione. Before leaving, Hermione gave Harry a quick kiss on the lips and whispered. "That was for luck, and if you don't get too badly hurt I promise you there will be more later." Then she ducked out of the tent following Charlus, leaving Harry a little worked up.
"You have a good witch there Harry," Viktor commented, a knowing smile on his face. He had obviously heard what Hermione had said, or maybe guessed since girlfriends of professional Quidditch players probably did something similar often enough that Viktor may have seen it plenty before.
"Oh you don't know the half of it," Cedric teased. "I caught them snogging In a corridor after hours last year. I swear they were about five seconds away from pulling each other's robes off."
"Uh, that was actually our first kiss you interrupted," Harry confessed, shocking the other three, who then spent the remaining time before the task began teasing him. It was much easier to put up with that than worrying about the task that was rapidly approaching. The fun and teasing ended when the judges walked into the tent ten minutes before the start of the task. Bagman gave a speech about doing their best and making their schools and country proud, like many politicians' speeches: predictable, boring, and more about stroking his own ego and listening to himself talk. Then he drew out a cloth bag and had each of them draw a model from it. Harry sighed as he looked at his model. 'The Hungarian Horntail. Just great.' He thought.