"Would you look at that people!! Victor Krum finally catches the snitch!!" Ludo Bagman exclaims from the commentary box, looking excited and a bit constipated at the same time. "Unfortunatley! They still lost the match… At least, Krum was able to save his team from a complete washout… That would have been embarrassing" Ludo announced sullenly.
He was happy that Krum caught the snitch, but at the end of the day, he still lost the bet! In a moment of weakness, he had bet more gold on Bulgarians winning the match instead of betting on Krum catching the Snitch. Now, he lost that bet and now he owed the goblins a lot of gold… Gold that he didn't have and if he failed to pay the gold, then death would be the least of his worries.
After all, the goblins weren't known for killing their debtors… If the goblins got to him then he would be wishing for death. Though everything wasn't lost… There was still the Triwizard Tournament and there was quite sometime before the deadline… He was sure that he could arrange something. Maybe, he could try fixing the Tournament… Yeah. That was a good idea!
While Ludo was patting himself on the back for coming up with such an excellent plan, Harry and his group were already making their way out of the top box with big smiles plastered on their faces…
"I can't believe you predicted that! How in the name of Merlin did you predict that?" Tonks asked with a groan as she rubbed her face in annoyance… True, she won the bet, but her wins weren't much as she didn't bet on Ireland… She hoped the Bulgarians would win with Krum catching the snitch, but the reality was cruel.
"I simply looked up how they were performing this season and that was all I needed" He answered Tonks with a shrug, making her turn toward her others for some sort of confirmation, only for Andi and Ted to give her a solemn nod.
"If I knew that his prediction was this good then I would have bet something too" Ted mumbled under his breath, looking really dejected.
"Me too, my friend, me too… Maybe next time?" Richard suggested, looking dejected too, but he was still looking forward to the next time as he didn't want to miss another chance like this… He was also trying to forget his misery, but unfortunately, Sirius was making it really hard for them.
"Oh, boy!! I am rich! I am freaking rich!! Hundred thousand Galleons! Oh yesh, baby!" Sirius was walking at the front while skipping in joy. Thankfully, Jacklyn wasn't acting like him or the scene would have been much more embarrassing.
"Well, at least, someone is happy" Tonks bit out unhappily as she threw Sirius a dirty look, not that the man noticed. He was having way too much right now and he couldn't care anymore about stuff like weird looks. After glaring at Sirius' back unhappily for the next few moments, Tonks finally turned her glare toward Jacklyn… The said girl wasn't making a fool of herself by acting like Sirius, but she was definitely happy.
"What about you, Jacky?" Tonks asked unhappily as her hair shifted into mousy brown.
"Well, I am happy too. Ten thousand galleons are a lot… I am going to buy myself a Firebolt before anything else" Jacklyn beamed at Tonks, making the ever-shifting girl scowl unhappily at Jacklyn. Tonks also wanted to win gold and buy a Firebolt, but why was the world so fucking cruel to her?!
"Don't worry, Tonks, I would have gifted you a Firebolt, but I worry that your mother might have a stroke… After all, you aren't that graceful, to begin with" Harry said as he smiled sadly at the girl, making her growl as she felt an invisible arrow pierce her heart. Tonks was about to deliver her own snarking retort, but the world kind of hated her, so she tripped and fell flat on her face, earning a few chuckles.
"See daughter, Harry is such a thoughtful boy!" Andi said with a hint of amusement in her voice.
'Emotional damage!!' Tonks screamed inside her mind as Harry and Jacklyn helped her up… "Thanks" Tonks mumbled in a low tone. She fell so regularly that someone rarely helped her up.
"Don't mention it, Tonks. You are my friend" Harry said as he gave her a genuine smile… Sirius might be his Godfather, but the Tonks was the one he was most impressed with. She came off as a clumsy and dumb woman with shape-shifting abilities, but she was loyal as fuck and she was a nightmare with a Wand… If he could bring her into his fold, then he would gain a great asset and a priceless ally.
Jacklyn and Brittany gave him a weird look as the two of them knew how much of a loner and picky person Harry was and now he was calling someone a friend after meeting them for a couple of days… The two of them found it quite weird… Tonks simply huffed and dusted off her robes. She opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped when she heard someone call Sirius from the back.
Sirius stopped in his excited stride and turned around only to find the Weasleys approaching them. "Sirius, I wondering if you could join us for dinner?" Arthur asked, looking a bit hopeful, but before Sirius could answer, Andi started to speak… She didn't want to be anywhere close to Molly. That woman vexed her to no end.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Weasley, we have already prepared everything for dinner, so we have to refuse the invitation" Andi politely refused the invitation on Sirius' behalf with a sweet smile on her face. Molly Weasley narrowed her eyes at Andi. Molly seemed to be quite displeased with the refusal, but she held her tongue for whatever reason.
"We have?" Sirius asked in a bewildered tone and Ted practically winced at the question…
"Yes, we have!" Andi insisted without missing a beat… Anyone with a working brain could see what Andi was trying to do, but apparently, Sirius didn't have a working brain.
"Well, then we can always invite them!" Sirius suggested with a grin on his face. He was so giddy about winning the bet that he completely missed the meaningful look Andi was giving him. Harry barely held himself back from face-palming himself. He wanted to avoid tangling with the Weasleys at any cost, but Sirius simply couldn't take a hint.
"If that's alright with you" Arthur simply accepted the offer with a smile on his face. After that, he hashed out some details with Sirius before he finally started to leave with the rest of his family. The Weasleys had something to take care of back in their tent and they would visit Sirius after they were finally done.
Now that Arthur accepted the invitation, there was nothing Andi could do to stop them from visiting, so she could only rage in complete silence… Of course, Sirius was going to pay, and no matter how much Harry tried, he couldn't bring himself to care about Sirius. The said man finally turned toward Andi and found her glaring at him coldly… He winced before taking a step back in fear.
"What did I do?" Sirius asked nervously, looking around. He wanted some support from the others, but unfortunately for him, the others simply decided to leave him to his fate.
"Nothing!" Andi growled out as she turned around on her heel and started to make her way toward the tent.
"Oh boy, Sirius. You fucked up, man… I have rarely seen her that angry. I don't remember the last time when I saw her this angry" Tonks whispered furiously while looking at Sirius in pity. He gulped nervously as he started to sweat…
"It wasn't because I invited the Weasleys, right?" Sirius asked while fidgeting nervously.
"Yes, that is exactly why she is mad at you" Harry said before patting his shoulder as he walked past him. |I don't know when they are going to attack and now I have to deal with the Weasleys… It will be like walking on eggshells as they will be certainly reporting back to Dumbledore|Harry growled internally.
During the game, he was keeping an eye on the Malfoys and the man hiding under the invisibility cloak… Sometime in the middle of the game, Malfoy Senior left his wife and son to sit with the Minister… Harry was tempted to cast a Listening Charm, but once again, he had no idea who could be watching so he couldn't risk it… Though he didn't believe that Malfoy Senior was talking to the Minister about the attack.
There was something else Harry realized during the game. Apparently, the Malfoys weren't aware of the man hiding under the cloak… So, if they were working together, the man hiding under the cloak never told the Malfoys that he was going to be there in the top box with them. Then there was something Harry couldn't understand…
He saw the man hiding under the cloak stealing the youngest Weasley boy's Wand while the boy was busy watching the Veelas during half-time. Maybe the man wanted to use some other Wand for the attack, but why would he steal a random Wand like that… Though Harry couldn't be sure if the Wand was going to be a good or bad fit for the man. He could have said for sure if the man wasn't hiding under an invisibility cloak.
Apparently, Appraisal didn't work on someone hiding under an invisibility cloak… At least, he got to learn something new today…
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"So, any changes in plans?" Jacklyn asked in a hopeful tone. She still wasn't a fan of the original plan as she would be running away with the others from the action, especially when Harry finished telling her about the Malfoys probably being involved in the attack and the man hiding under the invisibility cloak. It wasn't her fault that she wanted to kick some asses and take names.
"Right now, no. We will proceed as planned, which means you won't be staying back with me…" Harry pointed out with a roll of his eyes. "You need to take them to safety… You are the only one who I can trust this with" Harry said passionately as he patted her shoulder.
"Ugh!! Fine! I will do it, but you need to plan something better for me the next time" Jacklyn demanded as she poked at his chest with her finger. She narrowed her eyes at him when she didn't receive an immediate answer from him.
"Alright! I promise" Harry promised her some action with a nod of his head. Then all of a sudden, he raised his finger to his lips… Jacklyn immediately understood what Harry was talking about and moments later, someone knocked on the door. He flicked his Wand to open the door, only to reveal Tonks standing on the other side of the door.
"Wotcher!!" Tonks waved at them as she walked in. "What are you guys talking about?" Tonks asked as she summoned a chair from the side and plopped down with a tired look on her face.
"We are talking about the money we won" Harry easily lied… It was getting easier and easier for him to lie with a straight face.
"Ohh… So, how much did you win?" Tonks asked curiously as she remembered that Harry never told anyone how much gold he was betting.
Harry thought for a moment before he decided to answer her truthfully. "3000 Galleons" Harry answered. He had some gold left from his last trip to the Diavik Diamond mines…
"3-3000 Galleons!" Tonks choked when she heard the amount. It would take her more than two years to earn that amount of gold and the boy was betting that much when he was yet to start his fourth year… 'Why is this world so unfair to poor old me?' Tonks sobbed inside her mind as there was no way she was going to break down in front of a 14 year old, no matter how much she wanted to cry… She had an image to maintain.
"Wow… That's a lot of gold. You better buy me something nice" Jacklyn breathed out with a grin on her face.
"Don't worry" Harry simply agreed as he was already planning to buy something nice for her and Brittany. "By the way, is there something you wanted, Tonks?" Harry asked as he turned toward Tonks, who was still wallowing in her misery.
She blinked when Harry called her out and it took her a moment to register his question. "Uh… yeah. There was something I wanted to talk about, privately" Tonks said as she glanced at Jacklyn with a meaningful look on her face while putting more emphasis on the 'privately' part. "Sorry, Jacky, but I promise I will make it up to you and this is really important" Tonks apologized with a pleading look on her face. Jacklyn was a nice girl who didn't hate her, so didn't want to ruin their friendship.
Harry turned toward Jacklyn and gave her a nod… She stood up and smiled at Tonks… Harry had told Jacklyn everything except about Lily, but Tonks didn't need to know that for the time being as Harry had no idea if he could trust her completely…
After Jacklyn was finally gone, Tonks whipped out her Wand and cast a Locking Charm and Privacy Charm on the door… Harry was a bit surprised when he saw the Spells Tonks used… The Spells she used were probably Auror grade Spells as her Locking Charm and Privacy Charm were probably the strongest Locking and Privacy Charm he has come across.
"It must be something very important" Harry pointed out loud and Tonks nodded her head with a grave look on her face. Her usual playful look was nowhere to be found, instead, she was looking serious… dead serious.
"Why did you act like that in front of Arthur Weasley?" Tonks asked in a formal tone. Harry could feel the tension in her voice.
"Are you interrogating me?" Harry asked as he raised his eyebrows. He might like her, but he wasn't going to play ball if she was hoping to interrogate him… Laying low has its uses, but laying low could get fucked from nine ways to Sunday if someone was hoping to make Harry do something against his wishes.
"No. Not yet, but you have to understand that Arthur and Molly aren't like other people… The two of them are Dumbledore's followers and they obviously report back to him… There is a chance that their children are already Dumbledore's followers, can't say for sure, but the thing is that they report back to Dumbledore… If you had slipped then they would have reported back to Dumbledore. There is always a chance that they might have already" Tonks explained gravely.
"Yes, I already know that… That is exactly why I acted like that and regardless of your belief, I do know what's at stake. After all, it is me who he is after" Harry answered coolly.
Tonks stared at him for the next few seconds before finally releasing a sigh… She leaned back in the chair with a tired look on her face. "...Maybe you understand, I can't be sure… Nobody can, except for you. Though 'we' can't stop worrying… We don't know what exactly Dumbledore has planned for you, but it isn't anything good" Tonks said while shaking her head.
Alastor had brought her into the fold after making her swear a bunch of Secrecy Oaths… The Oaths would protect the secrets in case she got caught and they tried to rummage through her mind using Legilimency. Tonks knew what she was getting into and while she was nervous, she was excited too… She was getting to be a part of something big and important and even though she was probably being involved because she already found out some things and her Metamorphmagus ability, she couldn't help but feel that she finally achieved something great on her own.
"I see… I will keep that in mind. Was there anything else?" Harry asked, making Tonks frown at him.
"You haven't answered my question though" Tonks pointed out. Harry was a bit surprised that she remembered that… Harry made a note in his mind that Tonks probably wasn't as dumb as he was thinking her to be. He might even need to reevaluate her threat level.
"I knew that he would probably report back to Dumbledore and I don't want to spend time with anyone who might be reporting back to him, so I had to improvise as I couldn't outright declare that I don't want to do anything with them… That would have raised flags of another kind" Harry answered with a shrug.
He could have refused to answer, but that would have made Tonks and whoever she was working for wary and Harry wanted to avoid that at this stage… He only needed to wait until Dumbledore's awesome plan to bring him back to Britain fails spectacularly and after that, he could finally start showing his true colors… For the time being, he was going to let all the chess masters think that they had an advantage. Though he wondered how they were going to react when the truth was finally revealed…
"By the way, who did you mean by 'we'?" Harry asked. Alastor was pretty vague about that, so he wondered if he could skim anything from Tonks.
"I can't tell you that even if I could have told you… We can't have Dumbledore realize that some are working against whatever he is trying to do" Tonks answered with a conflicted look on her face and Harry realized that she was probably under Oaths from her words. "Oh and please be careful around Molly Weasley, she practically worships the ground Albus Dumbledore walked on" Tonks warned Harry with a look of concern in her voice.
"Thank y…" Harry couldn't finish his words before explosions shook their tent followed by loud screams. "What the hell?!" Harry blurted out with a surprised look on his face, even though he knew what was happening…
"Wait here!" Tonks exclaimed hurriedly as she flicked her Wand to unlock the door and ran out. Moments later, Sirius rushed into the room, looking frantic and worried.
"Harry, we need to leave" Sirius blurted out, unhelpfully before he started to drag Harry out of the room. Harry started to act like he was supposed to be…
"What is happening, Sirius?" Harry asked worriedly as they could still hear the screams and explosions from the distance, but they knew that the explosions and the screams were getting close.
"I don't know, but someone is attacking the campsite" Sirius explained hurriedly before they arrived in the hall area of the tent. The others were there too, except for Tonks and everyone was looking tense and worried.
"Where is Tonks?" Sirius asked Andi, who simply stared toward the tent exit.
"Andi, I am sorry, but we can't wait. We need to get out of here!" Sirius explained with a hard look on his face. He was no longer acting goofy, but he was acting like a man in charge.
Andi wanted to protest, but Ted pulled her into his arms. "Andi, Sirius is right. We need to leave. She is a big girl and she is an Auror. She can take care of herself… I am worried too, but staying here isn't going to help her" Ted explained as he decided to be the voice of reason. Andi meekly nodded her head, she was completely out of character and now Harry could see that she might have named her daughter Nymphadora, but she loved her daughter to death.
"What about the stuff and tent?" Richard asked worriedly as he looked back toward his room.
"I will ask Doxy to get the whole tent after we leave" Sirius hurriedly explained and started to lead them out of the tent. While the house elves were free to travel through the Wards of the campsite, they couldn't take or bring any human along with them… Though a house elf could bring someone outside the Wards and then they could walk in…
As soon as Harry and the others ran out of the tent, he felt several hostile gazes focus on him. The game was finally on and Harry was going to face the challenge head-on…
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