[Special] Behind-the-Scenes Movements
The information that there would be two champions per school, meaning six champions in the Triwizard Tournament, spread quickly through Sirius' words. It caused confusion, but also an even greater sense of excitement than before, since there would now be more competitors. While some seemed to complain lightly about not being the ones chosen, now that there were two chances instead of one, most agreed that the anticipation surrounding the tournament had not diminished in the slightest.
Daphne, upon hearing the news, seemed a little annoyed. She muttered that, had she known beforehand, she would have put her name in as well. Not long after, she tried to go after Harry and Draco, accusing them of betraying her by entering something that sounded so exciting, only to be caught by her mother, who immediately dragged her away for questioning in order to find out who had put Draco's name into the Goblet without his permission.
At that very moment, Daphne was seated in an empty room. Wanda, Narcissa, Susan, Selene, Pandora, Sirius, and McGonagall were all staring at her intently. Flitwick, her Head of House, was there as well, though far more silent, almost like a protective presence. Even so, he was hardly needed, since most of those present were Daphne's relatives, which left him standing off to one side. Daphne sat on a small bench, back straight and eyes alert.
"Was it you or not?" Selene asked, her tone serious and heavy with reprimand.
"No. No, no, of course not. It wasn't me. I mean, yes, I was planning to put a female transformation potion into Draco's pumpkin juice, but not anything that dangerous," Daphne said quickly, fear creeping into her voice as she looked at her mother. Almost immediately, she realized she had said something she should not have, and clapped a hand over her mouth.
"What did you just say, young lady? Are you trying to use a transformation potion on your classmate?" Selene asked, her voice growing colder by the second, as if it were rising from the depths of hell itself, at least as it sounded to Daphne.
She shook her head so fast it looked like her neck might snap, but the icy stare her mother fixed on her was enough to make her give in.
"I'm really sorry!" she cried as she jumped up and wrapped her arms around her mother's waist. "I won't do it again," she added, sounding completely dramatic.
"Tsk. Stop pretending," Selene said, looking at her daughter as if she were a mistreated child at home. "You're not even good at acting."
Daphne clicked her tongue briefly before standing up calmly. Obviously, it had all been an act. "I didn't put his name in, Mom, seriously. I would never put my friends in danger over a stupid game and the honor of a dumb school," Daphne said, a faint trace of venom directed toward Sirius, paired with a barely hidden mockery.
Sirius, of course, noticed.
"Ahem. You are talking about your Headmaster," he said, though without much force, guilt evident in his tone.
"I didn't say any names," Daphne replied with a smile. "Can I go now? I need to go drop a potion into some pumpkin juice," she added calmly.
Selene extended her hand toward Daphne.
With a slightly annoyed expression, Daphne pulled out a small glass vial filled with a pink liquid and handed it over.
Narcissa stepped forward and took it first. "I'll be keeping this," she said as she quickly put it away.
"Miss Greengrass, do you have any idea who might have put your classmate's name into the Goblet?" McGonagall asked, sounding as though she were watching a family spectacle unfold.
"Pansy Parkinson. That girl seems to be planning something strange. She's been bothering Hermione and all that. She thinks Hermione and Draco are a couple," Daphne said calmly.
That caused both Susan and Narcissa to raise an eyebrow. "Obviously that's false. Obviously the two of them…" Daphne began, but stopped mid sentence, as if something had just occurred to her. She brought a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Well, now that I think about it, I did see something interesting during the Quidditch match. Mmm… nah. Those two… that would be impossible," she finished, waving her hand dismissively.
Seeing that the topic was getting out of hand, Selene simply gestured for her daughter to leave.
"It's interesting how much she resembles her mother when she was a student," Flitwick said with a mildly amused tone. "She used to cause trouble for her friends in a rather entertaining way, and she was always provoking fights between Edward and Sirius," he added, as if those memories were from only yesterday.
Selene rubbed her forehead briefly, since no one knew better than her how true that was. "Now you're making me feel a little guilty, and tempted to apologize to Professor Slughorn," she said lightly.
"Very well, let's continue with this. I'll go look for Miss Parkinson and Mr Carrow," McGonagall said seriously before heading for the door.
"I'll go with you. I don't need to stay here any longer if they aren't my students," Flitwick added as he followed her out.
"If it turns out it was one of the students, will that put your mind at ease?" Sirius asked his cousin, his voice gentle.
Narcissa looked at him for a long moment before giving a half nod.
"I don't think anyone actually wants to hurt Draco. Even if you're not on good terms with the rest of the Malfoys, they still respect you as the one who controls their entire economy, and thanks to you they're making enough to keep quiet. Besides, the only ones who might want to cause him trouble would be Carrow's idiot followers, but even they would hesitate. After all, what they defend is blood purity, even if you now stand on the neutral side. So there's really no one who would want to harm him," Sirius said calmly, his reasoning solid and measured.
"Even so, I want to know who dared to put my son into a dangerous competition without asking," Narcissa said, her tone cold.
"You're exaggerating a bit. Wanda didn't even get upset about Harry being entered," Sirius said, gesturing toward Wanda, who had been talking with Pandora and turned to look at him.
"Oh, but I am very upset. I simply haven't decided yet how I'm going to make you suffer. Besides, I'm giving Harry time to take his revenge first," Wanda said with a gentle smile.
That made Sirius tremble slightly as he swallowed. "Ahem. It would be better to find the culprit," he said, quickly changing the subject.
…
"That's not fair," Daphne complained for what was probably the tenth time that afternoon alone, staring at Harry and Draco as they tried to read their books. Both of them only lifted their gaze for a moment before attempting to focus again.
At that moment, a very enthusiastic Terry approached with a grin. "Here we have our two champions, and from Ravenclaw at the same time. That's really amazing," he said excitedly. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist joining in," he added before giving them both a pat on the back and moving on. The looks from the other Ravenclaw students seemed to mirror Terry's own, filled with approval and excitement for them.
"That's not fair," Daphne repeated, annoyed.
"You're being a nuisance, Daphne," Draco said, sounding a bit fed up.
"But it's not fair!" she shouted, jumping to her feet.
"We've heard you already, stop saying it," Draco snapped, raising his voice as well, clearly reaching the end of his patience.
Harry let out a sigh and closed his book.
"Alright, calm down, both of you," he said evenly. "You know it's not like either of us actually wanted to take part. We just ended up dragged into it by some idiots," he added, looking at Daphne, who sat back down with a scowl and her arms crossed.
"But I wanted to compete against one of you too," she said, finally making the source of her frustration clear, something both of them could understand after knowing her for so long. She then looked around, as if noticing something missing, or rather, someone. "Where's Hermione? She should be complaining with me," she said, scanning the room.
Harry smiled slightly. "Looks like she beat you to it," he replied.
Daphne stared at him in confusion for a moment before her eyes widened, and she spun around and bolted off at full speed.
Draco watched her leave before letting out a sigh and picking up his book again. "Everything is going to turn into chaos all over again," he said, a faint, amused smile forming on his face.
"When is it not chaos with us?" Harry replied, wearing the same smile.
After that, Draco's expression turned more serious as he looked at the note his mother had sent him earlier. After questioning Pansy Parkinson, she had admitted to being the mastermind behind it. According to her, the only reason she had done it was because she wanted to see Draco as a Hogwarts champion, celebrated by everyone. Even so, for some reason, Draco felt deep down that it wasn't as simple as an obsessed girl's actions.