A-Meeting-Unseen (I) [Chapter 166]

~~Quidditch Pitch, Hogwarts~~

“Your son isn’t going to join us?” Harry asked curiously as he stared at Narcissa who wasn’t being accompanied by her son. He noticed Draco glaring at him from a distance and started to wonder if Narcissa failed to make him see reason. Well, either way, he wasn’t too worried.

“No, he is going to sit with his friends” Narcissa revealed as she took her seat. Even if he wanted to join her, she wouldn’t have allowed him to join her. She loved her son to death, but sometimes, he could be more foolish than his father, which was an achievement in itself.

“Good for him…” Harry began to say something when the rest of his words were drowned by the cheers of the crowd. The judges were finally here and Harry was really displeased by the sight of Dolores Umbridge among them. After Crouch Sr. disappeared, it was decided that Dolores Umbridge would occupy his spot on the judges’ table.

Harry decided that most of the gathered crowd must be nutters, after all, they were cheering at the arrival of the judges…

Without wasting any more time, Bagman finally revealed what the first task was going to entail. The crowd started to cheer even louder at that… “I can’t believe they are making students face real Dragons and people are excited about that” Narcissa shook her head with a deep frown on her face.

“The Triwizard Tournament is a blood sport, so I am not surprised that the people are reacting in such a manner” Harry pointed out blandly, making Narcissa grimace.

“So, Harry, Narcissa, are you guys up for a bet?” Jacklyn asked the duo before Narcissa could say something.

“I am not going to bet over someone’s life” Narcissa declared primly, making Jacklyn give her an annoyed look.

“Beauxbatons is going to have the lowest score” Harry declared just after Narcissa finished speaking.

“How much?” Jacklyn asked giddily.

“50 Galleons” Harry answered after thinking for a bit.

“Deal” Jacklyn grinned before extending her hand toward Harry to finalize the bet. Harry accepted the offered hand and shook it.

“Why do you think she would lose?” Narcissa asked, unable to hold back her curiosity. While she had no interest in betting, she wanted to know what made Harry think that Beauxbatons would have the lowest score. Even Jacklyn was interested to know his answer.

“She is a part creature” That was all Harry said, leaving her and Jacklyn both in confusion. Harry had read the article Rita published on the day of the Wand weighing ceremony so he knew that the Beauxbaton Champion was a part Veela. Though in reality, there was no such thing as part Veela. A woman was either a Veela or they weren’t.

“Looks like Hogwarts Champion is going to go first” Jacklyn muttered to herself when Bagman announced that Cedric Diggory was going to be the first Champion and he was going to face a Swedish Short-Snout.

Within the next few minutes, the Dragon was brought inside the arena by the Dragon handlers before Cedric Diggory finally stepped inside the arena. Cedric used Transfigured animals to distract the Dragon and his plan partially worked as he managed to collect the golden egg from the Dragon’s nest even though he was injured by the Dragon.

The next Champion was Fleur Delacour, the Veela Champion from Beauxbatons. She was much more composed than Diggory, which led Harry to believe that she already knew about the Dragons. She had to face a Welsh Green and she charmed the Dragon asleep to finish the task, but she didn’t leave unscathed as her robes were signed by a jet of flames when retreating.

Apparently, Dragons could breathe flames from their nostrils when they were asleep… Who knew?

Before the third Champion could face his Dragon, Bagman announced a short break and Harry decided to visit the restroom during the break. Albus had been glancing at him from time to time and Albus wasn’t the only one eyeing him, so Harry wondered if any of them would try something while he was away from the crowd.

“I will be back in a minute” Harry said as he stood up from his seat and started to make his way toward the nearest restroom. Since this wasn’t the first time he was visiting Hogwarts, he knew where he was going.

“Wotcher!!” He heard a feminine voice from the side and he didn’t even need to turn to see who it was. There was only one person he knew who used that greeting.

“Hi, Tonks” Harry greeted back while he slowly turned around to look at her. The woman was sporting a beaming smile on her face.

"How are you, kiddo?" Tonks asked with a smile as she approached him.

"I am fine. Thank you for asking. What about you?" Harry asked politely, playing the part of a teen who was constantly on guard.

Tonks frowned at the question and snaked her arm around his shoulder before she started to lead him down the hall. "Where are you taking me?" Harry asked worriedly as he kept looking around fearfully.

"There is someone who wants to talk with you" Tonks felt really bad for the boy and if she could have done anything to help him, then she would have already kidnapped him from the Malfoys to keep him safe, but that would put her on the wrong side of the law, which would make her even more useless to him.

The two of them finally arrived outside a classroom and Tonks knocked on the door using a specific pattern. Moments later, the door opened and Tonks led him inside the room, only to find that the room was occupied by Moody, Amelia Bones and Connie Hammer. Moody's presence soured Harry's mood as he realized that he couldn't continue the charade for long.

"Hello, Mr Potter, it is nice to meet you again, though I sincerely hope it could have been under better circumstances" Amelia began to speak to him in a formal manner.

"It is nice to meet you too, Madame Bones, Ms Hammer, Mr Moody, and Ms Tonks" Harry addressed the latter two with an internal smirk as he knew that addressing the two of them formally would annoy them and Harry wasn't disappointed when Moody scowled at him and Tonks looked completely outraged.

"How are the Malfoys treating you?" Amelia asked hurriedly while glaring at Tonks from the corner of her eyes, as the ungraceful woman was about to start an argument with Harry.

Harry had to admit, Amelia Bones had quite the presence… Harry already knew that there was a third Faction in play, but he didn't know who was leading the Faction, but now everything was clear to him… There were only two types of people in this world, Leaders and Followers, and Amelia Bones was most definitely a Leader. Alas, Amelia's group wasn't as big, strong, or influential as the other two Factions.

"They are treating me nicely" Harry answered and Amelia seemed to glance toward Alastor. It was only for a moment, but Harry didn't miss it.

"Tell me, Mr Potter, do you know why Voldemort came after your parents that night?" Amelia asked and when she called him Voldemort, instead of calling him You-Know-Who, Harry's respect for her increased.

"You called him Voldemort" Harry nodded his head with a satisfied look on his face. "I would have found you disappointing if you called him You-Know-Who" Harry added in an amused tone. Everyone in the room including Tonks stiffened at the change of his tone. He no longer sounded nervous, instead, his voice carried confidence and assurance.

"What did you do to the Malfoys?" Moody asked gruffly.

"Hmm… I wonder too" Harry tapped his cheek with an amused look on his face. Harry decided to reveal a part of his true self to these people, after all, he did give Dumbledore a glimpse of his power, so Amelia and her group also deserved something, so that these two Factions could be on equal footing.

"Mr Potter, I believe we have the same enemy, so don't you think it would be better if we worked together?" Amelia suggested. She could have treated him like a child, but she decided against that when she realized that Alastor was probably right about the boy. After she learned from Alastor that the boy was able to take him by surprise and send him back to Hogsmeade by some means, she decided not to lower her guard in front of him.

“That we do, but I have a question…" Harry stared straight into Amelia's eyes. "Am I really going to need you people?" Harry asked with a mocking look on his face.

"What are you talking about?!" Tonks asked, looking outraged. She couldn't believe how Harry was acting. To be honest, she never believed any speculations Moody made about Harry, but now she realized that she might have been wrong.

"Don't look at me like that, Tonks… I believe my question was valid" Harry said as he gestured toward Amelia, who nodded her head in agreement even though she was reluctant to do so…