Chapter 26

Chapter 26

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

"Are you a hundred percent sure about this?" he found himself asking once more as he looked at the eager form of Sirius sitting in front of him. Sirius simply nodded.

"Yes, the tapestry's magic was intact. Remus and Andy inspected it a couple of times," and Dumbledore sighed as he leaned back into his chair. This was a surprise. A huge surprise.

These days it seems Dumbledore's life had become filled with such surprises that all began with the arrival of a single letter. Albus looked outside the window at his magical companion, Fawkes, who was simply flying around the castle.

"Do you have any idea about the mother, or how she even got into the Granger household?" he questioned, and Sirius shook his head.

"No, not yet. As I told you earlier, I just found out about this yesterday night." Sirius said sadly and continued. Dumbledore nodded at this.

Sirius and Regulus had gotten estranged. However, someone else had quite a good friendship with Regulus. A very talented potions master that might have some leads. However, all this would come later.

"What would you like to do with this information?" Dumbledore questioned the newly exonerated man, and Sirius chewed his lips and struggled to answer. So, Dumbledore asked a more specific question.

"Do you want to tell Miss Granger, though you could hide this and fo…." But Sirius cut him off quite emphatically.

"NO! I want her to know. I want to tell her. She is the daughter of my brother," he said emotionally, and Dumbledore simply nodded as Sirius continued.

"I owe this to him, to Regulus."

Dumbledore could understand the sentiment behind this though there were a couple of hiccups in going ahead, for they simply knew too little. Firstly, they had to gather up all of the facts.

"Perhaps it is time me, and my suspicious little messenger had a little chat," Dumbledore muttered, making Sirius frown.

"What did you say?" Sirius asked, breaking Dumbledore out of his reverie as he simply waved away Sirius's concern and proposed a further plan.

"Nothing. Though I do have a proposition regarding the situation regarding Miss Granger?" he told Sirius, who nodded, so Dumbledore continued.

"I believe that we must not tell Miss granger about her heritage,"—and he could see the retaliation coming, but he continued—"yet." He finished making Sirius stop.

"At this point, we simply know too little. I will try and look into it and try and get some more information about her origins before we burden her with such knowledge. Bombarding her with such information will not be good for her," and he could see that Sirius was struggling with the wait.

"I will try and hurry it up. I believe that we will not have to wait for too long. Give me a month," Dumbledore added, and after thinking for a while, Sirius nodded.

"Ok, a month it is. But no more than that," and Dumbledore simply nodded. This was sufficient time for him. By then, the second task shall be finished, and he will also have enough time to arrange a meeting with his secretive helper.

Suddenly there was the sound of Gorgyle and people moving up the steps to reach his office. Dumbledore saw the expressions on Sirius's face shift from indecisiveness to happiness.

"I believe that this is Harry and Hermione," Dumbledore added, and he was proven right when two students suddenly appeared from the staircase. Two very familiar and young faces.

"Harry!" Sirius shouted joyfully as he rushed to greet his godson. Harry Potter also hugged Sirius, and Dumbledore felt his eyes moisten as he saw this scene. He saw Hermione Granger beside Harry, smiling as Sirius gave her a similar hug though perhaps only Dumbledore noticed the forlorn expression on Sirius's face.

Perhaps not, given that the last student, Edward Wright, stood right behind them smiling as he saw such a scene. A smile of pure satisfaction.

Dumbledore continued to stare at the final-year student as his mind raced to think up various explanations. Explanations that he often found inconclusive. For all remained unable to answer a simple question?

'How much do you exactly know, my secret helper?'

0000

HARRY POTTER

"Why didn't you tell me about the trial? You could have written to me?" Harry found himself complaining as he sat down with Sirius in one of the abandoned classrooms.

"Yeah, you should have told me. We could have helped," added Hermione from the side, and Harry found himself agreeing. Sirius simply laughed.

"It was all unnecessary. Dumbledore was able to hash it out with the Head of the DMLE. The trial was mainly a formality," Sirius replied with a smile, and Harry still couldn't describe his emotion.

It seemed that this year was finally the year his luck had been quite good. About half the year was over, and he had not been in any life-threatening situation. Maybe the Chinese were wrong. Four didn't seem like such an unlucky number. But then he remembered the biggest hurdle in Sirius's trial.

"But what about The Minister? Didn't he stop the trial from happening?" Harry saw a huge smile appear on Sirius's face as he replied.

"Fudge wasn't even in Britain. He had gone for a holiday, and he actually returned today due to this, and from what I have heard, he is facing quite some backlash at this."

"The Head of the DMLE, isn't that Amelia Bones, Susa's aunt?" Hermione suddenly added, and Harry recognized the name. Susan was his classmate from Hufflepuff. He recalled that she had also begun hanging out with Hermione recently.

"Yeah, it was her. If it weren't for her, I probably wouldn't be here. Though, she also got quite a bit out of this. Now her reputation is on the rise and she could probably try and reopen a bunch of old cases," and Harry didn't understand all this politics. So, he simply nodded.

"So, Dumbledore's given me permission to take you out for a celebration," Sirius suddenly said with a huge smile on his face, and Harry looked at Sirius with a look of surprise.

"Really?" questioned Hermione.

"Yeah, plus I heard about this special ball from Dumbledore, and perhaps we could get you something a little special for the occasion," Sirius said as he ruffled Harry's hair, something which mostly annoyed Harry, but today it had no such effect.

"Ron's mom already got me a dress, so I don't think that will be necessary," Harry tried to stop this, yet it seemed Sirius was having none of it.

"Bollocks to that! Whatever Molly has gotten you is probably out of fashion, and we can not have you tarnishing my legacy, now can I?" Sirius said haughtily as he brushed back his hair.

"In my time, I was the most handsome student at Hogwarts, so go and get that redhead friend of yours. I will be waiting for you," Sirius finished, and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Well, I already have a dress, and there are a couple of class…." Hermione tried to say but was cut off by Sirius.

"Where do you think you are going, missy? I am sure you won't fail if you study one less day, so I want you down at the gates in ten minutes. I will be waiting."

Hermione tried to protest but was cut off as Sirius began to walk away.

"TEN MINUTES! NO EXCUSES!" he screamed as he began to walk away. Hermione simply shook her head.

"Well, it seems you have no choice," he teased her, and she simply glared at him.

0000

APOLLINE DELACOUR

"So, what do you think of him?" came the question from her husband as he sat on the chair for breakfast. Apolline did not reply immediately as she passed him the prepared plate and took a seat.

"Well, he was polite and charming, just like Fleur told us. From what I could tell, he seems to genuinely care for Fleur," and her husband simply nodded. He wore his usual black-rimmed glasses and black trousers with a white shirt. He picked up the newspaper from the side and placed it before her.

"Quite powerful as well, from what I can see here," and she frowned as she recognized the newspaper. It was the headline that compared him to Grindelwald.

"Yes, he is quite powerful, but I felt no desire for power in him. This news is a farce." She chose to defend her daughter's choice making Sebastien scoff.

"Of course, it is, but that doesn't mean the boy is innocent. I did a complete history check on him, and the results were quite intriguing," Sebastien added as he wiped off his hands and took a piece of paper from his pocket.

"The boy has a completely clean record. A bit too clean, plus the wealth he has built up for himself in such a short tenure is also very intriguing," he passed her the page, and Apolline skimmed over the contents of the page. And her eyes widened as well as she saw the huge number.

"This can not be real. He is just turned eighteen, from what I recall," she exclaimed.

"Yes, that was my reaction, but I have confirmed it through various sources. That number is quite accurate," Sebastien said, and Apolline was extremely surprised. While the house he had bought was extravagant enough, this number was a whole other matter.

"But he does care for Fleur. He is even planning to move to Beauxbatons for her," which surprised him.

"How?" he asked her with a frown as she handed him back the paper.

"He has gotten himself an apprenticeship under Professor Delbren. Though, after a year, he might become a full-fledged professor, according to Maxime," she told him what Maxime had told her.

Sebastien seemed to process the news. Leaving his home country like this was a show of devotion that few could match. Given his acclaim in Britain, she had heard a couple of rumors about even Dumbledore considering offering the kid an apprenticeship.

"I still don't think he is right for Fleur; with her personality, he could…" and she could understand his worries. While Sebastien had a different way of showing it, he loved their daughters just like her and wanted to protect them in his own way.

"No, he wouldn't. I don't think he is like that. While yes, I have noticed some peculiarities, I don't think he will ever harm Fleur intentionally," she finished, and Sebastien looked at her.

"Intentionally, you say. So, you also believe that Fleur could get caught up in something dangerous unintentionally," he argued, and she did not have an argument against that.

"Only a few wizards work as hard as this to achieve what he has. Either they are revolutionaries who wish to change the world or those who are trying to go against such revolutionaries to stop them from changing the world," Sebastien got to the crux of the matter. And Apolline had reached a similar conclusion.

"From the recent incident at the World Cup and his heritage, I believe that he could be the latter," Sebastien gave her his conclusion making her look up in surprise. And he simply nodded.

"While he is clever, there are enough clues in his investing and spending habits to conclude that he is either planning to or is planning to move against the Blood Supremacists. There is no other explanation for everything."

Apolline closed her eyes as he thought about this. This only meant one thing. War. A war that could potentially harm her daughter. But she then remembered the smile on Fleur's face when she sat beside him and talked about him and felt sad for her daughter.

"So, what will you do?" she asked him. And Sebastien leaned back in the chair as he took off his glasses and sighed.

"Well, firstly, I am going to meet him and see just what Fleur has gotten herself into," Apolline felt a ray of hope at this.

0000

BOOM. Sebastien Delacour makes his entry. Honestly, as a father, he should be concerned. Edward's record is working against him in this case.

Will love prevail or not? Plus, who is Hermione's mother? So many questions.

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