The-First-Task (I) [Chapter 165]

~~Timeskip~~ (November 24th, 1994)

~~Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade~~

Narcissa stepped out of the Floo before removing the soot from her robes with a flick of her Wand, and moments later, Harry stepped out of the Floo, dressed in expensive acromantula silk robes. The activity inside the pub stopped at the sight of Harry Potter, but nobody dared to approach Harry, especially with Narcissa Malfoy standing in front of him protectively.

A few moments later, Jacklyn stepped through the Floo and Narcissa took out some sickles from her purse and placed them over the counter. “Thank you for your patronage” The busty barmaid manning the counter piped up cheerfully before putting away the sickles. Narcissa didn’t even bother to give the woman a look and turned toward Harry and Jacklyn.

“We should get going unless we want to be late” Narcissa sniffed haughtily before she started to move. Harry and Jacklyn silently followed her out of the bar and after putting some distance between themselves and the bar, Narcissa finally released a relieved sigh as her shoulders slumped down. “Sorry for acting like that” Narcissa apologized and Harry simply waved it off with a smile on his face.

“If I wasn’t alright with it then I wouldn’t have allowed you in the first place” Harry said dismissively. “You need to keep an image in the public and I don’t want to ruin that for you” Harry added smoothly, making Narcissa wonder if he was being honest in the first place or not.

“You are such a smooth talker, Harry” Jacklyn cooed while making googly eyes at him. “Did you take some classes while I wasn’t with you?” Jacklyn asked with mock curiosity.

“I am always polite… Hmm… Maybe, not always, I suppose, but most of the time, I am polite” Harry decided with a nod of his head and Narcissa agreed with him on that. Even when he was killing someone or being cruel to someone, he acted polite. He even maintained his politeness when he was simply scaring the shit out of someone.

“I suppose…” Jacklyn decided to concede as she couldn’t remember any incident where he wasn’t polite. “By the way, are you excited about the task?” Jacklyn asked giddily.

“What is there to be excited about? From what I have found about the Triwizard Tournaments, the first task is always about some sort of dangerous Magical creature” Harry revealed with a shrug, but Jacklyn didn’t seem to be disappointed or dissuaded in the slightest.

“So, is there a chance that they are going to bring a Nundu?!” Jacklyn gushed out excitedly, making Harry roll his eyes and Narcissa shuddered a bit at the thought. She never had any interest in Magical creatures, but she knew enough about Nundus and she was extremely afraid of them like any sane person should be.

“No, Nundu Breath can harm the audience and the British Ministry would never risk that, especially with their upstanding Pureblood citizens” Harry denied and Narcissa internally released a relieved sigh, completely ignoring the jab at the British Ministry and the Purebloods. Harry had always treated her respectfully and politely after their initial unpleasantness as he had promised, and Narcissa didn’t want to do anything to ruin that arrangement.

“Although, Dragons, Chimeras, and Manticores are fair game” Harry revealed moments later with a thoughtful look on his face.

“Really?” Jacklyn asked excitedly and after getting a nod from Harry, Jacklyn looked a bit in awe. “Wow! That is amazing… I wonder what the Champions are going to feel after coming across a Dragon” Jacklyn giggled at her own words. Narcissa looked at the younger girl with a troubled look on her face. The girl was very much similar to her eldest sister and that terrified her.

“They would be terrified out of their minds” Harry pointed out without missing a beat.

“How would you have felt, Harry?” Narcissa wasn’t able to stop herself from asking the question.

“I would have asked it to surrender and step aside, but if it didn’t listen then I would have killed it” Harry answered with a straight face. Others might have scoffed at his bold declaration, but Narcissa and Jacklyn completely believed his words.

“We are here” Narcissa announced as the trio finally arrived in front of Hogwarts. They weren’t the only ones as the whole place was milling around with people… Apparently, the Triwizard Tournament was a pretty big deal. Reporters could be seen lurking around the entrance, trying to look for any scoop.

“You miss this place, don’t you?” Harry asked, breaking Narcissa out of her thoughts.

“Yes, I do” Narcissa nodded her head in an accent. “This was like my second home. I have made some beautiful memories in this place” Narcissa revealed with a longing smile on her face. “What do you think, Harry?” Narcissa asked as she turned toward him. Throughout the last couple of weeks, she had learned that as long as she didn’t insult his mother, she could ask him anything.

“Yeah. The Castle is most impressive…” Harry easily agreed with her as he had heard stories from his mother and he had seen just how impressive the castle truly was with his own eyes.

“Ilvermorny is better!” Jacklyn declared petulantly while pouting like a child.

“Both of them have their own appeals” Harry declared as he wanted to avoid any kind of argument. “Narcissa, you wanted to meet your son, didn’t you?” Harry asked, trying to change the topic.

“Yes” Narcissa nodded her head, unable to hide some of her excitement. It has been some time since she met him and even though her son was just like his father, she loved him to death.

“Good. Then make sure that he doesn’t do anything you wouldn’t do” Harry declared coldly, making Narcissa feel a chill. “I like you Narcissa, I respect you, but that doesn’t mean that I would forgive your son if he crosses the line… I would hate to kill both of you” Harry declared and Narcissa paled at the chilling statement. Narcissa cursed Lucius for probably the thousandth time in her Mind for getting involved with this demon.

“Well then, let’s go inside” Harry declared and Narcissa started to move again, but this time, her movements looked somewhat robotic. By the time the trio arrived at the entrance of Hogwarts, Narcissa was able to regain some of her bearings. They were stopped by a group of Aurors at the entrance who allowed them to enter after finishing their inspection.

“Isn’t the security too strict?” Jacklyn asked as she wasn’t expecting this level of competence from Wizarding Britain, considering their prior competence during the Quidditch World Cup.

“After the mess during the Quidditch World Cup, the British Wizarding Community lost most of its credibility, so they don’t want to lose any more of their credibility…” Harry explained with a bored look on his face as they walked through the hall. “Then we have Dumbledore to thank for the heavy Auror presence with the stunt he tried to pull with Tonks” Harry added mockingly. Then there was the fact that Crouch Sr. also vanished. That had put DMLE on high alert…

“Speaking about Tonks, have you talked to her recently?” Jacklyn asked with a frown, only for Harry to shake his head in denial. “Well… I kind of received a letter from her a week ago” Jacklyn revealed while scratching her cheek with a sheepish look on her face. After noticing Harry’s unimpressed look, she decided to apologize as her shoulders slumped down. “Sorry, I forgot to tell you” Jacklyn apologized.

“I will have a chat with her today” Harry declared after a few seconds of silence. She wasn’t the only one he was planning to have a chat with today. He was also planning to talk with Sirius as the man had been trying to reach out to him for the last couple of weeks, but he wanted to keep the show going for as long as he could so that he could keep both the Light and the Dark side blissfully unaware of his true strength for as long as he could.

“Narcissa, why don’t you go and have a chat with your son… He doesn’t look happy with me in your company” Harry pointed out with a hint of amusement in his voice. Narcissa was able to quickly locate her son and as soon as she did, she started to make her way toward him as she wanted to prevent her son from doing anything foolish in front of Harry at all costs.

Meanwhile, Harry and Jacklyn made their way toward their seats in the arena. As usual, Lucius could be seen in the company of the Minister. A few seconds after Harry sat down on their seats, a stranger approached Harry and sat down beside him… Without wasting any time, Harry appraised the person and groaned internally.

“It is me, Sirius” The man said and Harry barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes as Sirius revealed his Lord Black ring to prove his identity. “How are you, Harry?” The man asked with concern clear in his voice.

“I am fine, Sirius. You shouldn’t be here” Harry bit out with a growl.

“I know. I know…” Sirius admitted, sounding like a kicked puppy. “You have no idea how worried I truly was” Sirius added.

“I can imagine, but believe me, Sirius, this is not a good place to chat” Harry growled out in a low tone and that seemed to knock some sense into Sirius. He pulled out a package from his robes and handed it over to Harry before leaving. Harry quickly hid the package, but he was sure that his actions didn’t go unnoticed. He didn’t mind that as it would add more spice to the game he was playing.

“Well… That was something. So, what did he give you? I hope it is not porn” Jacklyn declared with a weird look on her face.

“You know what?” Harry asked as he turned toward Jacklyn. “I am not going to make any guesses” Harry declared, making Jacklyn giggle…