342 The beginning of the Grand Fair, Contestants, and A Strife

Wednesday, 31st January 1986

Diagon Alley

From Leaky Cauldron to the end of Diagon Alley, from Carkitt Market and Horizont Alley to Knockturn Alley, thousands of wizards and witches could be seen, buzzing like bees.

People had come from all over Britain, and the very morning of the Grand Fair had already surpassed both the ministry and the other organizers' expectations.

It seemed they had truly underestimated the craving of ordinary wizardkind for something like this.

Owls were soaring overhead, accompanied by paper dragons and birds, bringing letters from one shop to another. Children were awing, mooning, and drooling everywhere, seeing one wonderful and mysterious thing after another.

Custom broomsticks were on display, special objects of all kinds were being sold and bartered, sparks were exploding here and there, and the very air smelled of magic.

A few wizards could be heard talking among themselves this time, if one cared enough to listen.

"The only time I ever saw so many people was during the World Cup…"

"Aye… Blimey! Get away you rascal…"

"What is this sticky substance?"

"Did you hear? Someone is auctioning an Invisibility Cloak…"

A clamor was everywhere and hushed discussion ran rampant like never before in the Alley.

However, even among these discussions, few were almost inaudible; afraid, and alert.

These few belonged to a different kind of people; from an unknown world.

"Damn! This Random World is too different, man…"

"All the Mission Credits we used to buy some info are now gone down the drain…"

"You don't understand. Whichever Random World has Characters, who are not part of the main-storyline, cause major divergences in the Timeline. We were just too unlucky to get teleported here…"

"Darcie Malfoy! This girl is too inexplicable. It is almost like those mysterious transmigration and rebirth tales. Don't you think she is just too outstanding?"

"What do you know? It does sound unbelievable, but it's still possible. I heard she had some kind of accident on her birthday. God knows what kind of freak accidents can happen in the world of Magic…"

"Heavenly Sage, weren't you a world-renowned Doctor in your previous life? What do you think?"

"My name is Earthly Sage! You fuck… Sigh! Anyway, it could be a rare case of Savant Syndrome. But Magic is involved, so who knows?"

"I went to Flourish and Blotts some days ago…"

"You did? Did you meet her? Was there any senior protecting her?"

"…"

"Speak bastard! Why bring it up if you meant to go mute?"

"Scary! She was too scary, man… I couldn't breathe in her presence."

"That powerful?! She's just what? 6-year-old?"

"I felt like she could look into my soul… I ran out after having one look at her…"

"Good." An old man, who had said nothing so far, finally barked. "So what if you have ascended to the 2nd Set? You all are still newbies. Worms. Our Sect Leader is from the 12th floor. I never met him, but there's a great quote from him engraved in all the disciples' hearts."

"Please guide us…"

"Yes…"

The old man sighed. "All in-world Characters have a stupendous amount of Luck. The moment Contestants like us were to think of harming them, a series of terrible events would happen to us. So don't mess with them, unless the Order has given a mission related to the in-world Characters specifically."

The group of Contestants looked at each other, their pupils trembling.

Another group of Contestants was also having a similar discussion at some corner.

"This Grand Fair is truly great for us Contestants. We can get many unique Milestones and Titles…"

"I am going to register for the Chess Tournament in U17 group… "

"Squandering money for that? Gone insane, are you?"

"Tch-Tch! You don't understand. Children from British Wizardkind will be there. It's CHESS… Doesn't that ring a bell in your goat-like ears?"

"This?!"

A family name boiled in their mind.

"They will come then? Let's go… Interacting with all of them according to the Lord's guidance gives a Super Unique Title…"

Flourish and Blotts was the center of the world today.

Parents and children were going in and out, carrying a slip in their hands. The players had started to come by 5 in the morning, even the winter's great chill failing to hide the enthusiasm on their faces.

The ministry had arranged a great number of staff members for the knockout round, which would last till the afternoon. There were so many people that it became too hard to monitor one person before losing them the next moment.

In this great hubbub, Darcie, Daphne, and Dobby were eating cupcakes, eying the distant entrance of the bookshop from afar.

To maintain the impartiality of the Tournament, Darcie had been relieved of her Page duties for the next three days. Both she and Daphne had already gone through their Chess Problems and were quite confident in becoming two of the ultimate 20 players.

"Did Astoria come?" Darcie asked, taking another cupcake off Dobby's hands.

Daphne pressed her brows, remembering the commotion her little sister had caused this morning. She nodded. "She is with mum," Daphne told her. "They have gone to the bookshop to let her have a go at the problem."

The trio was standing near the Florist Witch by the entrance to the Horizont Alley. Both girls were buried under rich clothes, their hair falling down their shoulders like silken threads. Over their heads were woolen hats, and their hands were gloved and warm.

And it was Dobby's responsibility to look after the girls for the next three days.

Dobby clenched his tiny hands into a fist and punched at the sky, imagining an enemy.

Darcie observed her house-elf and raised an eyebrow as she saw this inexplicable scene. "Dobby, would you like to participate in the Tournament?" she asked.

His eyes became misty as Dobby's entire figure shook. "Dobby…" he choked, rubbing his eyes. "Dobby doesn't know how to play, Ms. Darcie."

Daphne scowled. "Rubbish!" she reprimanded. "We tried to teach you so many times. You never show interest. Don't hide behind tears."

With the time these three had been spending with each other, it wasn't a surprise for them to become closer than friends.

One girl belonged to a family whose history could be summed up with one word — Shady. She was a genius not seen even in a hundred years. People feared her as much as they loathed her because of the rumors about her. Those who were too simple and naive to not give thought to those rumors were too ordinary to interact with her, finding themselves unworthy and unwanted, even if that wasn't the case.

The other girl belonged to a family which belonged nowhere. The Pure Blood families disliked them, and the non-pure blood supremacist families wanted nothing to do with them, either. None wanted to befriend her because of her inherent taciturn nature.

No wonder Darcie and Daphne became friends when they disliked the very notion of this word.

Then there was Dobby. His fault and adversity didn't lie in him being a House-elf, but a house-elf of the Malfoy family. All his life, he had only known punishments, beatings, and scars, whose phantom pain never vanished, no matter how much he loathed his life.

These girls had brought gifts of hope and love for him, and Dobby would cherish them forever. Especially Darcie, who was the kindest person he had met in his life; a brilliant lotus floating above the mud.

Not much time had passed for these three to come together. But the bond between them had already taken root in the deepest part of their hearts.

"Is that a House-elf?" a high-pitched voice squeaked in front of them.

Darcie looked at her. The voice belonged to a girl of their age. She had flaming red hair and a freckled face. Not to be impolite, Darcie nodded at her.

"Are you guys rich?" the girl asked again. "Does he like to be with you? Father says rich people treat house-elves like slaves. Are you a slave, house-elf?"

Color rose to Dobby's face, his large ears and nose becoming red. Daphne's face became as cold as ice, and even Darcie frowned.

Then the shout came screeching through the air. "Ginny! What nonsense are you spouting now?"

A short, slightly plump witch came running towards the children with large strides.

"Dobby is not a slave, miss," the house-elf squeaked, looking very indignant. "Dobby is Miss Darcie's knight."

The older witch looked horrified. She looked around and found the florist shooting daggers at the little girl with red hair and herself. "Did you call him a slave, Ginny? You have done it now, you silly girl. Just wait… I am sorry. She is a very curious child, but is cursed with a bigmouth…"

Suddenly, the older witch paused, her gaze finally processing Darcie's face. "You are…"

Daphne cut in sharply. "Identities and status have nothing to do with this," she said calmly. "She should apologize to Dobby."

"Ah, yes!" the older witch absentmindedly mumbled, her eyes never leaving Darcie's face.

Pressed against her legs, Ginny had tears in her eyes. She looked rather shaken by her mother's outrage, and somehow knew she had caused trouble. "I… am… sowwy," she choked out the words.

Daphne's eyes softened. The two girls shared a glance. The understanding between them was great enough for them to not talk about these subjects. They immediately realized that the red-haired girl didn't really mean it.

It was just they had faced similar situations before that made them raise their guard, causing the misunderstanding.

Darcie shook her head. "We are sorry, too," she said slowly. "It's clear she didn't mean any harm. Dobby is our friend. So…"

The older witch looked stunned as if she had never imagined she would hear such words from this girl.

Darcie took a cupcake from Dobby's hand and held her hand towards the sobbing girl.

Ginny eyed the cupcake and stopped crying. She looked up at her mother, who seemed to go through some great internal struggle. The older witch closed her eyes and then let out a great sigh, a broad smile surfacing on her lips. "Take it."

Ginny took the cupcake and bit into it, her eyes gleaming like two red stars.

"Dobby makes the best cupcakes," Daphne commented, already forgetting the unpleasant incident.

"I am Darcie," Darcie said casually. "This is Daphne, and he's Dobby, the house-elf."

"You don't know who I am…" the older witch remarked.

And Darcie repeated Daphne's words. "Identities and status have nothing to do with this."

The short woman's eyes trembled. "You aren't like…" she paused, the smile returning to her face. "I am Molly Weasley. And she's my daughter, Ginny."

Ginny ignored everything. The cupcake had vanished down into her little mouth half already.

"She reminds me of Astoria," Darcie said. Daphne inspected the little girl and almost smiled.

"Are you here for the Chess Tournament, Ms. Weasley?" Darcie asked.

"Yes," Molly answered, looking at the bookshop up the alley. "Ginny's brother, Ron, is participating. He is taking his test in the bookshop with Arthur."

"Daphne!" Suddenly, Astoria came running towards them, her black hair flailing wildly as she rushed through the crowd, elbowing many wizards.

"Astoria!" Daphne cried. "Where's mother? We told you not to leave her side."

Astoria ignored her older sister and snatched a cupcake out of Dobby's hands. Only then she eyed Ginny and Molly.

"I think it's best we should go now," Molly said, looking at the group. "Thank you for the cupcake. God! Where are Fred and George? Those two…"

Molly turned around, her hands gripping Ginny's wrist tightly.

However, the little girl didn't seem that she wanted to leave. Her eyes kept roaming around from the house-elf to Astoria, and then at the two girls.

The moment the older witch had introduced herself, Darcie had recalled the name Weasley. And with that, many other memories returned.

Molly Weasley had won against her internal struggles after recognizing Darcie as the rumored child and Malfoy's daughter.

Darcie was going through the same, but her victory was already fated.

"Ms. Molly!" she cried, making the older witch pause. "Results of the knockout round will be announced an hour later. If you don't mind, Ginny can play with us till then. We have Dobby with us to look after us."

Dobby regained his spirits instantly at the mention of his name, his chest swelling in pride and admiration.

"Mum, please!" Ginny begged, snatching her hand out of her mother.

Molly shot a perplexed look at the group of Darcie, Daphne, Dobby, and wild Astoria. And then let go of the little girl. "I want you all to be in the bookshop by 12, you hear me?" she instructed all, like a mother. "Don't go too far."

Ginny approached them with small steps, and Dobby gave her another cupcake. "Dobby made enough for everyone," he squeaked.

"Come," Darcie said, turning around.

"Where's she going?" Ginny asked Daphne, and then pointed at Darcie. "Is she a princess? Are you two sisters?"

Daphne patted Ginny's head. "We are going to look at the Invisibility Cloak."

Ginny's eyes widened, her lips making an O shape.

Darcie looked over her shoulder at the little girl. "Ginny, you were right about one thing," she said, almost smiling. "We are rich."

*********

AN: "are" in "We are rich" is in italics.