Chapter 48
CASSIUS BLACK
A week had passed since the arrival of the foreign students, and the Goblet had been lit up in the Great Hall. The Ministry had appointed Rufus Scrimegour as the Head of the International Magical Co-operation and Ludo Bagman headed the Department for Magical Sports and Games. The two had come and given the speech introducing the rules for the tournament and so forth which were no different than he had expected.
The Goblet was lit, and today was the day candidates would be selected for the tournament, not that he had much time to care for it, as he found his evenings and nights spent with the unusually cheery Potions Master, who was aiding him in brewing the cure for Astoria's Curse.
And irritation Professor Snape may have had because of the extra workload dolled out to him was erased because of the access to materials as rare and precious as Basilisk venom, fangs, and so forth.
No announcement had been made yet about the killing of the Basilisk. Still, Cassius had found many of the preservable parts deposited into his vaults along with a massive sum of Gold, as he was given his share of the proceeds as agreed.
The brew needed little special attention apart from a few chants in Parseltongue, which he could now use because of Salazar's locket, and a part of him wanted to revisit the cave and see it for himself once more, but he lacked the time for it.
Though that was not the only thing he lacked the time for.
"You cannot keep ignoring her," Tracey added as the three of them walked towards the Dinner Hall for the selection ceremony, and he had been avoiding the place for the past week. Still, there were strict instructions from their Head of House that all students had to be in the Hall for the selection day.
"Funny because she did just that," Cassius answered, retorting, and he had no qualms with Tracey or even Daphne, for that matter, continuing their friendship with Hermione. Still, he could not forgive her, not after she had abandoned him like that.
He would not have cared if she had been angry or if she had broken up with him. Those things, while painful, were natural.
But the problem was that she had ignored him for months, refusing to reply to his letters, leaving him in a limbo as he tried to find her.
"Cassius," Tracey begged, knowing that he was right.
"It was not her fault, her parents made her swear on their own lives," and he glanced at Tracey who continued.
"She loves her parents, and they were nearly killed during the attack. They knew nothing about the war and the dangers of this world, and when they found out about it, they researched everything. When they found out about your family's history, they forbade Hermione from contacting any of us ever again," and perhaps he was being a bit childish, but he did not care.
"Do you think my family was thrilled with me asking her out?" he retorted, and she had no reply to that.
"You know what I risked, what I put on the line, yet I did it because I cared for her, for us!" he argued, and yet she had not even cared enough to reply to one damned letter.
"It was your own father who tried to kill her, Cassius," Tracey argued, and he ground his teeth as he was reminded of the harshest truth.
"I am not my father," he was angry that Tracey had mentioned him.
"She knew that. You know that," Tracey nodded, and gazed towards Daphne, who was being quiet, and she had not spoken about the issue herself.
"She is right," but even she was coming out in her defence.
"I cannot believe it," he whispered, but she stopped him.
"I am not saying that you have to forgive her," she added quickly as they reached the gates of the Hall.
"Just talk to her, give her a chance to explain herself," Daphne pleaded, as he gave out a sigh and raised his hands.
"Ok," he said as they entered the Hall and took their respective seats. He saw Hermione glance towards him from the Gryffindor table, yet she did not come towards them thankfully, as the students began to rush in.
The Goblet was in the centre of the room, and soon enough, the students gathered and the teachers came along with the two members of the Ministry, including Scrimegour and Ludo Bagman.
The meal began, and once again it was quite a feast as Cassius dived into the food to satiate his hunger, as the table dissolved into whispers and murmurs around him.
And he was growing rather impatient with the whole affair, as Dumbledore took to the stage.
"I believe it is time for the Goblet to choose the champions," and the Hall turned silent and with a wave of his hand, the lights dimmed as the fire of the Goblet turned blue.
"For our first champion, we have..." and a paper burst out of the fire and into his hands, as Dumbledore announced the name, and Cassius mimed it to Luna, who sat beside him.
"Viktor Krum!" and the whole Hall broke out in applause as the Bulgarian Seeker rose from his chair and headed to the stage. He shook hands with the people there and made his way to the side room.
"Now, for the next champion, from Beauxbatons, the champion will be..." and as expected, it was her name.
"Fleur Delacour!" and this time the applause was more divided, as the boys all clapped rather enthusiastically, even though many of them stopped mid-way as their prospective friends and girlfriends glared at them.
"Do you think her charm affected the Goblet?" Luna questioned, and that was quite an interesting question.
"I don't know," he whispered as they all waited for the Hogwarts champion, though by now he was not even listening, as he turned towards Luna.
"Well, Veela magic is based on her blood and the Goblet is an ancient magic that is supposed to choose someone worthy, so that would mean it must have access to the participant's magic to make that choice," and if so, then had he Veela magic had an effect on the Goblet, and if so could it be replicated in other artefeacts.
They did use Veela hair in potions, but never blood, though Dragon blood and blood of all other magical animals was used for various purposes, then was Veela blood simply not used because of ethical reasons, or was he simply not aware of any potion that used it.
And as he sat there contemplating this complex puzzle, the Hall had grown silent, and the Headmaster had come behind him, as he would find out when he called him.
"Mr. Black?" and Cassius broke out of his trance as he glanced back and saw the Headmaster standing behind him.
"Yes," he asked, noticing the silence throughout the Hall for the first time, as the Headmaster showed him a piece of parchment with his name written on it.
"I believe you need to come with us..."
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ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
"This is preposterous!" the giantess Headmistress complained, as the Headmaster and the Governing Committee reached the side room where all the champions of the tri-Wizard tournament stood, and more.
"How can Hogwarts be allowed to have four champions?" added Karkaroff, and he wondered the same.
"Please, gentleman, madam, let me handle this," and he walked towards the boy in question, who stood a bit away from the rest of the ground, rubbing his chin, perhaps wondering over the same questions that puzzled his mind.
"Mr. Blac, did you put your name in the Goblet?" he asked, though he could find no reason for him to do such a thing.
The boy in question, though, was in a far better condition than the two Headmasters behind him, as he raised a brow.
"Of course not," he answered as if disgusted by the notion.
"You should know that I do not have the time for such a thing," and it was Beauxbaton's champion who cut in.
"He lies," and this time his irritation won over as he replied a bit snidely.
"Do you know who I am?" he asked, with a frown.
"I am fourteen years old, and I am the Head of the Black family that gives me more wealth than I could ever need, and I already have an Order of Merlin to my name, I would be stupid to enter this tournament," and indeed he had no need of gold, fame or influence, for he already had these things.
His answer, though, seemed to silence the room, as the Headmistress of Beauxbaton turned towards the Scrimegour as she complained.
"You must do something. Hogwarts cannot be allowed to have two champions. You must reignite the Goblet, and let us all enter names until we have a second champion as well," but it was not the stoic man who answered as Ludo Bagman came in.
"I am afraid that is not how it works, or does it, Scrimegour?" he asked, taking it all as a joke.
"I am afraid my colleague here is right," and it was as if Scrimegour did not wish to utter those words at all, as he turned towards Madam Maxime.
"The Goblet of Fire cannot be lit again until it is time for the next Tournament," and the Beauxbaton Headmistress whispered in French, before she turned towards the other Headmaster who had been awyfully quiet as he simply stood to the side.
"You must say something as well, Karkaroff. Hogwarts has become a cheat, we must stand united," and her words seemed to push him out of a trance, as Karkaroff nodded slowly.
"Yes, indeed," and at that, he looked at him.
"I was not expecting this of you, Albus," and yet even now his protests seemed rather weak and complacent.
"But what can we do now. The Goblet's made its choice and now we must abide by it," and his answer caught even the giantess by surprise, and it was Mr. Diggory who cut.
"But Professor, how can he participate in the tournament? He is still too young," and perhaps it was because he knew the truth that he was not so worried about him.
His main worry was about who? Or more precisely, why had someone put his name in the Goblet?
"Well, he has been chosen now, so he must participate in the Tournament," Albus whispered.
And then two more people descended the stairs as his Potions Master brought in their new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
"He is here, Albus," added Severus, and he had asked for him to confirm one suspicion.
"Thank you, Serverus," he whispered as he turned towards Sirius.
"Sirius, I must ask you a question?" and the former Auror nodded.
"Of course, what is it?"
"Did you by any chance try to put your name in the Goblet?" and the man balked.
"Of course not," and he had to know, given his past penchant for mischief, he had wondered if all of this was a result of an elaborate prank gone wrong.
But if he was telling the truth, then this was no prank.
No, this was a conspiracy. One headed by an unknown face, having nefarious intentions.
"We have wasted too much time here, Albus," Karkaroff cut in, getting in his face as he stood behind his school's champion.
"The boy's name has come out, and we must accept it," and that seemed a far more pragmatic and sane opinion from a man who had been a Death Eater.
"Karkaroff," the French woman was angry at the betrayal, but the man looked him in the eye.
"Let us be done with this already..." and what could he say to that, as Madam Maxime shook her head in disapproval.
"Be sure that I will not let this be the end of it..."
And so, Ludo Bagman stepped forward.
"Well, then let me explain the First Task..."
0000
Back in the Hallways of Hogwarts, the Golden Trio walked together once more as the red head added in lamentation.
"I still can't believe that he was able to get through the Age line," and he seemed to be genuine in this opinion, as he shook his head.
"Ron, you know he would never do such a thing right," Hermione spoke up in defence of the absent Black scion.
"Then how do you explain this? Why would someone put his name in the tournament, huh?" he argued.
"He is a Ravenclaw. His House must have helped him figure out a way to break the Age line. They have been getting quite arrogant ever since they won the House Cup last year," and the brown-haired girl did not believe him.
"Please, we know Cassius. He is not the one to chase after glory," and this time it was the boy with glasses who answered.
"Perhaps we don't really know him at all," he whispered, much to the shock of the rest of the trio.
"After all, he is rather fond of secrets, isn't he..."
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