Bab 21: Chapter 21
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Chapter 11- An eventful start
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Dartmoor was a bountiful piece of land. The open grasslands extended to an extremely vast horizon, housing not just an entire Quidditch stadium, but also providing more than ample space for over a hundred thousand wizards and witches.
These numbers obviously included supernatural beings from all over the world, and while the crowd was most likely the largest to ever gather this time, the place was still able to accommodate all of them.
Of course, it was no surprise that such a massive crowd would need a strict but flexible system to keep them under control. And to complete this demand, the British government had divided these bountiful lands into 7 different levels according to their value, assigning specific areas to people of equal level.
The forces that other countries had sent to help England were all given Lvl 7 lands directly behind the stadium, which meant that they all had the very best view over the entire region, while also being closest to the stadium.
They all shared the same hill as the most important magical families of Britain, the difference being they were behind the stadium, while those families had their tents made in the front.
The Brazilian guard squad was an exception to this, to the initial displeasure of one, Asmodeus Abernathy. They were given a Lvl 5 piece of land, placing them upon a lower hill than the rest of their compatriots, away from the stadium. Worse, they were given a specific position, where the Dartmoor forest cut into their piece of land. So they were literally tucked away in their own corner of the world, likely hoping to be forgotten completely.
At normal times, this would've been taken as a grave insult by their mother country, and even the forces from other countries would've frowned at the hosts for displaying such behavior.
But these were not normal times. Grindelwald's recent domination of the American subcontinent has made everyone wary and doubtful towards wizards from any country belonging to the said continent. And Brazil was no exception.
All the British minister had to do was issue an official statement, citing the need for such harsh actions while giving a half-assed apology, and Abernathy was unable to do anything.
Though as a point to them, their suspicions were quite well-founded. After all, the entire Brazilian squad was made up of members of Alliance, all loyal to Grindelwald.
But that had done nothing for the very much pissed off Abernathy's growing irritation with the country.
The loyal acolyte of Grindelwald had to admit, the British minister was quite competent. Not only was she a terrific dueler, but she was also immune to most coercion techniques that the Alliance utilized.
On top of that, the British Ministry was filled with Uber powerful and genius wizards. It had barely been a month since Abernathy's arrival in England, and yet he'd already met well over 6 magicals who could not only hold their own against him but may even be able to get an upper hand.
This had come as a shock to Abernathy, considering he was amongst the very best Alliance had to offer. He could understand now, why his Lord decided to cut his losses and leave the country when his heir fell to The-Boy-Who-Lived.
While Abernathy had complete faith in his Lord's might, the British wizards were just a different breed in power and competence and demanded suitable caution. It made him wonder if their pureblood-supremacy mindset might actually have some merits to consider.
Still, while the English ministry may have made Abernathy's life a little difficult, he was more than pleased with the final outcome.
After all, he'd been able to transform their misfortune into a blessing, making use of their lonely piece of land for their own purposes. They now held most of their covert meetings in the secrecy of their tent, and even Black found it infinitely easier to sneak inside the camp now.
As evidenced by the fact that Abernathy could see him currently sitting right in front of him as soon as he walked inside their shared tent.
"Ah, the man, the myth, the legend is here!...finally found some time some for this poor old mutt, did you?" Black barked out, a glass of English whiskey clutched loosely in his hand.
Abernathy scowled. Just because he was happy the man could now approach them safely did not mean Abernathy liked the obnoxious man.
With a forceful wave of his wand, he vanished the glass from Black's hand, growling slightly. "Didn't I tell you not to drink that here, Black?"
To Abernathy's further displeasure, the mad man started licking his paw, wiping clean the few drops that he'd spilled when welcoming him. "Must've forgotten."
Abernathy sneered in contempt. "Azkaban addled your mind that much?"
Sirius Black simply gave him a toothy snort. "I don't know mate, but you're free to find out."
"Nevermind that." Abernathy dismissed, moving to take a seat opposite Black. "Is your Lord ready?"
Apart from the two men, the tent was mostly empty. The rest of Abernathy's team were out on the field, moderating the crowd whilst being stuck under the watchful eyes of English Aurors.
"Of course he is. Today's the day, and nothing had better go wrong. Your band of merry arsekissers will need to be prepared with the Potter brats. The ritual will start as soon as the match finishes."
"Don't concern yourself with us." Abernathy stood up, done with the infuriating dog. "Just pray your Lord knows what he's doing. We can only give you 15 minutes at most. Voldemort better be strong enough to take care of the Aurors. Cause if he's not? We all will be run down and killed before you could plead for Azkaban."
Black barked out a mocking laugh. "Take care of the Aurors? Mate, once the Dark Lord takes his true form again, nothing could hope to match him. Nothing!"
"The times to cower and hide in shadows are now over. Lord Voldemort's return will wash the world anew. And no one better stand in our way then….unless they wish to be crushed underneath our feet!"
Had there been anyone else inside the wards of the Brazilian tent, they would've heard a mad cackling loudly ringing through the lands. A laugh so dark that it would've surely chilled their hearts to a shiver.
Some may have taken it as a sign for the dark times ahead, while the others may think of it as an omen of death and destruction….
But all would've agreed.…it promised nothing good or light.
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Fleur
Dark clouds suddenly appeared overhead, covering the bright sun that had just been present a minute ago.
'Does England never get a straight day of sunlight?' Fleur frowned, bewildered at the treacherous English weather.
She and her family had arrived in the country barely a few hours ago, having to manually set up their tent on one of the Lvl 2 grounds that were still available for the tourists.
Every other place was completely packed in, and even the piece of land that they got was due to the courtesy of one Mrs. Hechman, who was apologetic for her Husband's disrespectful rowdy comments.
Currently, she was making her way through the maze of tents that littered the whole ground, trying to reach those massive hills where Harry had said his family would be residing. The hill was closest to the stadium and was supposed to be a Level 7 land.
Now, why exactly was she manually making her way through a crowd when she could've just asked Harry to meet up with her? She couldn't rightly guess.
All she knew was her stomach was being attacked by an army of angry butterflies and her heart was kicking her from the inside of her chest, trying to burst out...
'...Alright yes, I'm nervous.' Fleur admitted to herself, absently rejecting a man getting down on his knees to propose to her in the middle of the crowd.
He seemed not at all concerned about the battalion of other angry men who gave him the stink eye of jealously and righteous anger.
But Fleur paid them no mind. It was a common sight for her, having to suffer the ministrations of spell-bound men all her life, even when she kept her Veela aura tightly bound like a ball.
This had become particularly bothersome since her 17th birthday when her body and magic had experienced some major growth.
But Fleur simply learned to ignore it, knowing it to just be another curse of her heritage.
The reason for her current nervousness, however, came from none other than Harry Potter.
In his last letter, the boy had agreed to meet with her today, exchanging addresses and suggesting some plans.
But Fleur had held back, her mother's warning stark in her mind. Even though it caused her genuine pain to do so, she'd started creating some distance between them.
But now the fateful day was here, and there was no delaying it. Today will give her all the answers to questions that she'd been losing sleep over for the past few weeks.
Unfortunately, she will first have to find Harry Potter for that.
And it wouldn't be easy, that was for sure.
The land she was traversing currently was like an archery target board. The Stadium was their bullseye, while the level 7 lands surrounding it were its rings. Level 7 was the closest to the bullseye but was also the smallest area in terms of space. Yet, it was also the freest and most luxurious, with only 5 families occupying it.
Each subsequent level after that grew in space, but was also more cramped up with tents, with the last two levels being so overcrowded that even the paths were hidden under tent flaps, forcing Fleur to carefully make her way across.
Then there was the security check. Each circle of land was constantly guarded by Aurors from different countries. Anyone who wanted to travel to higher levels needed to go through a full-body security check. Moreover, no one without permission could even travel to Levels 6 and 7.
Though there were... exceptions. Unconventional ways to get past these Aurors...and Fleur wasn't above using them.
She quickly skipped through the throngs of people, gliding past tents and their numerous applications, which included large bonfires with heavy metal pots on them, rope lines with wet clothes drying on them, massive posters of quidditch players that hindered everyone's visions, and just other generally chaotic things that her eyes and ears did not appreciate, but could do nothing about.
Even through all this craziness, she couldn't quite keep a small profile, becoming a target for many drooling faces, catcalls, and desperate love confessions.
But this time, it worked out in her favor. Just a simple flex of her Veela charm, and the Auror on duty at Lvl 6 entrance suddenly sported glazed eyes and a loopy smile. Fleur gave him her extra-sugary smile, slowly slipping away to the next level.
Unfortunately, she was soon harassed by another love confession, this time coming from a tall redheaded man, with hairs tied in a long ponytail and a fanged earring dangling loosely. There was also a pink-haired beauty hanging off of his arms but he seemed to have eyes only for Fleur.
He swaggered towards her, much to the confusion and growing irritation of the girl, eyes glazed with awe and excitement.
"Bill, What are you doi–" The girl started, only to be cut off as her partner snatched his arm away from her.
"Why, hello there, beautiful lady!" He exclaimed exuberantly, gracefully taking a knee in front of Fleur. "My name is William Weasley, though my friends call me Bill. May I have the name of your majesty?"
He gave a wide smile, trying to take her arms and kiss them, like some knight in shining armor.
With a grimace, Fleur smacked away the man's hand, stepping back.
He wasn't the worst, as far as being affected by her magical charms went, and actually looked to have some faculties of his mind. But it was still a pain to deal with.
"Bill, you bastard." A weak shaky voice cursed from the side, and Fleur turned to take in the sight of the pink-haired woman glaring down at the man at Fleur's feet with tears in her eyes.
'Oh shit.' Fleur winced as the woman marched forward, her hair shifting colors to a darker shade.
The voice seemed to have finally sparked something in the redhead and he slowly stood back on his feet in confusion, quickly realizing how much he had fucked up.
"Dora, it's not what it looks li–" He received no chance to complete his sentence as the witch slapped the man with the full force of her rage.
"Do not say that name with your mouth ever again, William Weasley!"
'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, indeed.' Fleur sighed as the girl whirled around after a challenging glance at her, leaving behind the devastated young man.
And devastated the man surely was, as he tiredly rubbed his forehead. He also seemed to realize exactly what he'd been doing here moments before the slap of doom fell upon her.
He turned to Fleur then, apologetic and ashamed. "Look miss, I'm sorry for that earlier. I don't know what came over me..."
Fleur waved him off, her feet backtracking back to her tent, suddenly feeling small.
"Ma'am, please! Listen, I'm sorry alright? Look–" The guy called out to her but she was no longer listening.
She knew she shouldn't feel anything about this, but the slightest of guilt couldn't help but worm in.
'Yep, that's me. Fleur Delacour, breaker of lovers and ruiner of relationships.' Her mind couldn't help but mock ruefully.
This wasn't the first time her presence had put cracks in someone's relationship, and it probably won't be the last. Another reason why she was so utterly friendless even with all her fame. It was exactly due to how much her first few friends had suffered from this.
It made her rethink about her plans with Harry entirely.
'What if the boy also had a girlfriend?' The thought brought a painful chill to her chest as if a dark shadow had suddenly clutched upon her heart, trying to squeeze it close.
Fleur ignored the feeling, though her mind continued the depressing line of thought.
What if he couldn't resist her charms like he did the last time? What if his girlfriend caught him doing something sweet for Fleur? Would she destroy another relationship?
Would she destroy the love life of her one and only friend?
Fleur sighed, trying to dismiss the cowardly thoughts.
She should really stop letting such small things ruin her entire day.
Why did her mind always imagine the worst possible outcome? Harry was able to resist her charms once before, there was no reason for him to suddenly start drooling all over her...
'Though it wouldn't be too bad if that happened...'
Or, Harry might not have a girlfriend in the first place!
'Yes, that was even better.'
Whatever the case, the fact remained; Fleur must talk to her friend one way or the other, and shed some light upon the mysteries of her heart.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone