Chapter 34

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A black-haired young man and a blonde girl were walking leisurely along the shore of the Black Lake. The blonde girl's fragile palm rested in the boy's strong hand. The red-haired witch who was watching them, sitting behind a huge boulder and hiding under the invisibility cloak given to her by the headmaster, was waiting for a convenient moment to attack. The girl was going to neutralise her rival in the fight for the right to become Mrs Potter, or rather now Lady Potter-Evans.

 Since the beginning of this year, Ginny Weasley had seen that the entire plan she and her mother had drawn up, which had been approved by their patron saint himself, was going down the manticore's throat. The only daughter of a large, red-haired family had placed all the blame on the beautiful Beauxbaton student, Fleur Delacour. In Ginny's mind, this impudent Frenchwoman had dared to draw the attention of her, Miss Weasley's, future husband, and therefore had to answer for it. And the main thing was that Ginny would get nothing for the upcoming action, since Dumbledore himself had promised to help her deal with the insolent upstart. It was good to have such a powerful and respected mage on your side. And it's even better when there aren't those who are quite capable of getting in your way. By those who might get in the way, Ginny meant her twin brothers. Back in the early days of January, they had simply disappeared from the house, leaving a note that they were leaving to go to another school. Mrs and Mr Weasley were terrified at the time and tried to find the twins. Their patron came to their aid, but even he couldn't help them much, he only learnt that Fred and George had somehow managed to take their documents from his, Albus Dumbledore's, office and send them to an American school of magic. And no one had been able to forge them out of there. America is a different country, holding tightly in its hands what falls into their hands. And its magical side is extremely reluctant to get in touch with the British magical community. Some long-standing conflict. So the elder Weasley's could only hope that the twins would return home for the summer holidays and then it would be possible to get them back to Hogwarts again.

 Harry and Fleur were walking quietly. There was no one near them. But the fact that their eyes saw no one meant nothing, for this was the world of magic. A sharp pain shot through her side and Fleur felt something warm soak into her robes. That was it, she had been wounded by a slashing curse. The Frenchwoman turned sharply in the direction the beam had come from and let out a few curses, but in vain. She couldn't see who she was aiming at. Once again, pain pierced her body and Fleur cried out and pressed her palm against her thigh. Her other hand, wand clutched in it, instantly flew up and unleashed a fan of curses: stun, paralyse, slash, fire. Once again, they flew into the void. An instant later, a thin cut appeared on the wrist of her right hand, blood dripping to the ground. The blonde's rage flared in her soul. Some cunt had dared to play cat and mouse with her. Couldn't she, who had survived the damned war, do anything now. Her wand was in her other hand, lucky her mother had persistently retrained her to use her right hand as a child. Fleur Delacour was left-handed from birth. A wide sweep, a sharp stroke of the wand downwards, a semicircle upwards, a slight curve to the other side, a break in movement and a lunge forwards, like a rapier jab... A purposeful blast would find its destination. A second and... A wild, feminine shriek rang through the air, a fountain of bloody spray showing where the enemy was. The curse had found its victim. Found and killed. A muffled groan was heard from the ground nearby. Fleur crouched down and looked into her lover's cloudy eyes.

- Harry...

- Fleur...

- Mademoiselle Delacourt, Mr Potter-Evans, are you alright," a man's voice with a rather noticeable accent came from behind them.

 Igor Karkarov was running towards them from the lake. Fleur was just about to reply that everything was fine when she noticed that Harry's face had turned a pale grey colour and a dark maroon puddle was spreading under his head. She was finally feeling faint, too.

- No," the girl whispered, and swayed to her side.

 She still had time to hear the man's expressive speech, it seemed he was cursing, mentioning someone's mother, and saw a silver bear emerge from the older mage's wand. After that, the light faded for the girl.

 Igor, seeing Fleur slumped on her side, cursed heartily in a mixture of Russian and Bulgarian and summoned his patronus. After relaying a message to a few of his students with it, the man leaned over Potter. A quick glance made it clear that the young man had a punctured head, apparently having fallen unluckily, hitting some pebble. Casting a diagnostic spell, Karkarov made sure there were no other injuries. He cast the same spell on the unconscious Frenchwoman. Only slashing wounds, but quite deep and a decent blood loss. Having conjured a tight bandage on the girl's wrist, Igor took out his handkerchief and carefully lifted Harry's head and applied it to the wound on the back of his head. A weak adhesive spell and the piece of cloth covered the wound.

- Mr Headmaster," Krum called out to Karkaroff, signalling that he and two other boys had come to his call.

- Viktor," Igor turned to his favourite student, "take Mademoiselle Delacour to the hospital wing of Hogwarts. Václav, Dimitar, don't let anyone in there except those who come on my behalf.

 Giving the order and receiving nods of agreement, Igor lifted Harry on his arm and hurried towards the castle. Ahead of him, Victor was already walking briskly with the girl in his arms.

* * * * *

 A terrible scandal had broken out. The Aurors were called to Hogwarts. Harry and Fleur had to testify under truth serum, but in the presence of Black and Malfoy, so no one asked any questions, only business. Maybe everything would have been written off as an accident, as Dumbledore liked to do, but Miss Weasley was stupid. Ever since her first year, she had made a habit of writing everything down in her diary. It turned out that Ginny Weasley had deliberately attacked Fleur Delacourt, that she had wanted to kill the girl, and while Harry Potter was unconscious, get him drunk on amortentia. In addition to this, the diary contained many other interesting things, thanks to which Dumbledore was urgently removed as Headmaster, though they allowed him to stay at the school until the trial, but at the same time took an unbreakable vow, which was supposed to protect the students from any influence on them, now the former Headmaster. Molly and Arthur Weasley were far less fortunate. They had been taken straight from Nora and placed in the Aurorate's remand cell. That same evening Ron, at whose request the aurors and Madam Runge, as a member of the press, were present in the Great Hall, publicly renounced the Weasley name and revealed how his real parents had died and how he had become the son of the red-haired couple.

 The next morning, magical Britain was shaking like a fever. It's not every day you learn what despicable creatures people deemed worthy can be. On this wave, the news that the third task of the tournament would consist of only one part passed almost unnoticed. A day later, the newspapers exploded with new articles that the body of Peter Pettigrew, whom Dumbledore himself had called a war hero almost a decade and a half ago and posthumously awarded the Order of Merlin, had been found. It was a great shake-up for ordinary people, and they began to wonder what the true face of those whom they had respected before was. They wondered how many truths and lies there were in the newspaper articles. They wondered what would happen when the seemingly immutable truths finally got a second, real face.

 Hogwarts. Yes, perhaps, for the first time in all the years of its existence he observed within its walls such a thing. Strange things had been happening lately, many fates had been broken by the former Headmaster, the third death had occurred during the current year. Students were worried, teachers were fighting.... What else would happen this year? And how soon would it be over?

 Students were increasingly asking - mentally and aloud - "When will things be calm, the way they used to be?" Even these seemingly tireless teenagers, always eager for decisive action and amazing events, were tired. This year had been difficult and scary for them. They wanted to rest. But there was a sense of something big in the air. And everyone hoped that this would be the last event after which it would finally be possible to live in peace, without wondering what was ahead.

* * * * *

 Draco quietly walked over to the chair Daphne was sitting in. The girl was reading a magazine and not paying attention to anything. With a wave of his wand, Malfoy conjured a white rose and smoothly lowered it into Greengrass' lap. A slight smile played on the Slytherin's lips.

- 'Thank you, Draco.

- A beautiful flower for a beautiful lady," the boy said and walked around the chair and bowed slightly. - Daphne, I have a question for you.

- What is it?

- Will you cheer for us today?

- Of course, - Greengrass nodded affirmatively. - Why do you ask?

- No reason," the blond shrugged.

- Are you worried? - The girl asked again.

- No," Malfoy shook his head.

- I am," a slight blush appeared on Daphne's cheeks.

- 'Don't be. We're going to win.

- You sound so confident about it," Greengrass drew her eyebrows slightly together. - Do you know exactly what's going to happen there?

 The Slytherin hesitated for a few seconds before answering.

- 'More likely yes than no. By the way, stay as far away from Dumbledore as possible with the girls today. He's got a vow on him, but that thing is too slippery.

- Why?

- Why what?

- Why do you say stay away from him today?

- Today is the pre-final stage.

- The stage of what?

- You'll find out soon enough.

 Draco walked out of the Slytherin lounge and headed for the Rectory Room, where the rest of his friends were supposed to be gathered. He had done his job, he had warned the girls. Daphne might not want to listen to him, but when Millicent found out about his warning, she would be sure to do the right thing. She's a smart girl.

* * * * *

 As Malfoy left the living room, Daphne was approached by her sister.

- Is Draco up to something?

- It's more like the four of them are planning something," she answered Astoria, still frowning. - You know, he sounds so... mature. It worries me a little.

- They're all like that. Even Ron," the younger Greengrass complained. - He used to be different.

- They have some kind of secret. It would be interesting to find out what it is...