Chapter 124: The Start of the Tournament
"What do you think?"
Fleur mouthed the question, and she was referring to the Veela dancers, who had been specially invited for the tournament's opening. I had to admit, they put on a truly magnificent performance. Dances, songs, almost a full theatrical production.
Very beautiful. The girls created something truly wonderful. And I didn't feel any charm at all, even though Veela are often accused of using it indiscriminately.
"That's all thanks to you..."
Fleur smiled, and I looked at her with some surprise.
"Me? Why do you say that? Well, blocking the charm, that's my achievement, yes. Without my amulets, it probably wouldn't have been possible for everyone. But the rest is entirely their achievement."
"Modesty certainly adorns a man..."
Penny, who was standing beside us, shook her head.
"...but it doesn't suit you right now."
"What does modesty have to do with it?"
I looked in surprise first at Penny, then at Fleur. "Can you explain properly?"
"If you hadn't given the Veela the right to own wands in your Quarter, they wouldn't have had time to prepare. All their time would've been taken up with food and animals... So..."
I shook my head.
"Fleur, when you put it that way, I want to laugh and cry at the same time."
"You think I'm wrong?"
"I think you're overthinking it. By that logic, you might as well thank the sun for everything, since it rises every morning and gives us daylight, or the first wizards who gave rise to magical culture in the first place."
"Draco..."
"No, Fleur... listen to me... I'm not denying what I did for the Veela, but let's be honest, no matter what I did for them, if they had no desire to work..."
I took out my wand and spun it in my fingers.
...if, after receiving a wand, they had placed it in a holster and then forgotten about it, none of this would exist... So this performance, and the way people are looking at them now, that is precisely their achievement. They achieved it with their work.
"A very wise observation..."
Dumbledore, who had appeared behind us, commented on our conversation.
"...and I cannot disagree with either opinion."
"The truth is somewhere in the middle?"
I half-turned toward him, and he nodded to me kindly.
"Exactly. The truth is somewhere in the middle."
"Well, I definitely won't argue with that..."
I shook my head, then continued watching the Veela performance.
"Magic for wizards!"
With those words, a wizard in a neighboring box cast a spell at the performing Veela, but the spell shattered against the shields, and the wizard was quickly restrained. The Veela, meanwhile, did not falter and continued their performance.
"Good work..."
I commented on the guards' actions, as they were already escorting the disturber of the peace away, but I understood that something like this might very well happen more than once during this tournament. On the other hand, the main thing was that not a single provocation like that should succeed, and we would somehow handle the rest.
Meanwhile, the Veela performance ended, and the qualifying fights began.
"Disappointing..."
I shook my head after watching all the fights scheduled for the first day.
"Yes..."
Fleur nodded in agreement.
"...in previous years, all of this was somehow more spectacular. Or were we younger, and so duels like these seemed impressive to us?"
"I don't know."
I shrugged.
"But in my opinion, none of today's duel winners will reach the quarterfinals. They're too weak for it."
"I agree."
We entered a small restaurant that had been opened on the castle grounds specifically for the duration of the tournament. To be precise, there was more than one restaurant. Many of those working in Diagon Alley had requested permission to open branches of their establishments here, and a couple of Muggle restaurants had been offered the same opportunity.
"Oh, Mr. Black!"
Rita appeared beside us. Lately, she'd been showing up less as a reporter for the Prophet and more on television.
"Miss Skeeter," I nodded to her, "covering the tournament?"
"Yes, and if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a few questions about what you saw today."
I winced almost imperceptibly, but it didn't escape the seasoned journalist's eye. However, we had a good relationship with her, and I hoped she wouldn't want to ruin it.
"Naturally, I won't insist on answers to any questions," she nodded to me.
"Please, sit down and eat with us, and we can talk while we eat."
"Thank you. So, to begin with," Rita quickly took out a notebook and a fountain pen, both objects hanging in the air beside her, "what can you say about the Veela performance?"
"I liked it."
"Is that all?"
"Should there be something else?" I looked at Rita with slight surprise, as if asking her to clarify.
"Well, as far as I know, these Veela now live in your Quarter. Perhaps you saw how they prepared and can comment on whether they could have performed better or not?"
"Could they have performed better?" I thoughtfully picked at my plate.
"Perhaps they could have, but that can be said about absolutely any sentient being. It can be said about me whenever I come out of another duel, and it can be said about professors at Hogwarts if you ask whether they could have taught a lesson better..."
"Do you mean to say that they put themselves into this performance, and now it would be foolish to judge whether they could have performed differently?"
"You put that into words perfectly." I nodded to Rita.
"Hmm, and what can you say regarding the attempted attack?"
"The event security was flawless. There was an attempt, but it had no outcome. The perpetrator was detained, the magic never reached the girls, who didn't even falter in their performance. So I believe the attacker was a failure who simply couldn't accomplish anything and is now lashing out at the rest of the world."
Harsh words... Many may not like them...
"Well... why should I care about idlers? No, seriously, no master would run around at events like this shouting stupid slogans, since they've already made something of themselves. They've reached one of the upper levels of mastery, and... it doesn't interest them."
"Forgive me for changing the subject, but... I've heard that during examinations, there's sometimes a practice of... failing applicants."
"Ha, well, it happens..."
I nodded.
"...I'll say more. When Mentor registered me for the journeyman's exam, he specifically requested that the examination board include either people who disliked him or just very meticulous sentients. What do you think? Did they try to fail me?"
"Ahem... did they?"
"Exactly, but as you know, I received my rank on the first try."
"I see... then let's return to what happened. What would you say to those who might want to repeat the attack?"
"What would I say? Don't waste your time on nonsense. If you want to prove that you're a wizard, then go and earn mastery, rather than interfering with other sentients' lives. And if you do decide to try anyway... remember that because of the Convergence, Her Majesty's efforts have greatly toughened the Criminal Code. So you could easily earn yourself capital punishment... do you really need that?"
"Good..."
Rita thoughtfully put several pieces of meat into her mouth and washed them down with wine. This gave her time to gather her thoughts and gave me a moment to breathe.
"And what can you say about the first duels you saw today?"
"The duels..."
I paused briefly to eat some meat.
"May I answer?"
Fleur drew Rita's attention to herself.
"Of course! You were a wonderful champion last year."
Thank you, though I know that after Draco defeated me, my standing among the champions isn't quite as high. Still, allow me to express an opinion while my fiancé considers his answer. They are newcomers. Today, it was the newcomers who fought, and they performed very admirably... for people competing in such a tournament for the first time.
"A very careful statement."
"I'll probably say it less carefully..."
I smiled, since Rita had reacted somewhat dryly to my fiancé's words. It was clear that she had been waiting for something explosive, and the answer wasn't very interesting to her.
"Unfortunately, there were no real talents among those boys and girls. No one who could break through to the top on the first try and establish themselves there. I also didn't see in them..."
I thoughtfully snapped my fingers a couple of times.
"...the desire to win. The fights were too calm. That's acceptable when you dominate your opponent, but not when you're fighting practically as equals. Honestly, I expected more ferocity from sentients who had qualified, perhaps a few violations... The duels turned out too dry, I'd say... they were too much like demonstration duels."
"Hmm... are you saying they may have made arrangements?"
"I'm only saying the duels were too smooth. If you take a Pensieve and view memories of past tournaments, you'll see that such evenly matched performances do happen, of course, but..."
I shook my head.
"...they don't happen that often. At least, since I began appearing at tournaments, I've seen far fewer such restrained duels than we saw today."
"All right. And what do you expect from the next fights? From your opponents?"
"What I did not feel today. The desire to win."
Rita smiled. She clearly liked that answer.
"Excellent! May I tell my viewers that you're once again aiming for victory and that you also wish to challenge your rivals?"
"Yes... this time I'm determined to enter the adult duels and win there."
"A fine statement."
Rita put away the notebook and fountain pen.
"Miss Delacour, allow me to give you some advice."
"Yes?"
"You shouldn't be so careful when you're speaking during my interviews. It's not my style. I specialize in sharp topics, direct questions, and blunt answers. If not for certain circumstances..."
She switched to a whisper.
"...your words would have been twisted as if you had said them all with a biting sneer, clearly intending to hurt people. It would have been a real scandal."
She closed her eyes, imagining what could be done with it.
"You need to understand which journalists you're talking to and how."
"I will remember that."
Fleur smiled somewhat tightly, after which the conversation no longer returned to that topic. Or rather, it returned to that topic only in the evening, once we were in our room.
"How do you even deal with that insolent journalist?!"
Fleur was raging, pacing back and forth, lightning flickering in her eyes and fire sparking on her fingers.
"Completely calmly."
I shrugged.
"Calmly? Calmly?!"
"Yes... the carrot and the stick... the stick is her little secret, which would go to the Auror Office if she went too far, and the carrot is the fee she receives for approved articles. Of course, the Auror Office wouldn't react quite as strongly to her little secret now, but she has many enemies..."
"Blackmail?"
"More like a thorough consideration during negotiations. Believe me, she wouldn't work that hard solely because of blackmail or money."
"I see..."
"Fleur, the worst part is that this insolent journalist is right."
"Huh?"
"Well, as Draco's future wives, we need to understand who we should talk to and how."
Fleur bit her lower lip.
"Draco, you will teach us, won't you?"
"I will... of course, I don't know everything myself, but I'll share what I do know."
"Thank you."
I was kissed on both cheeks.
"You're welcome..." I shook my head. "...after all, you are my future wives, who will need to support me. But generally speaking, Rita is the only reporter we have who is that... extravagant. The others we need to know about are mostly from noble families."
------------------------------------------
Chapters on Patreon progress: Currently at;
1. Harry Potter: Satan? Nah, Just My Family Crest = CHAPTER 396
2.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 411
3.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 210
support me on Patreon for instant access to the 120+ advance chapters: patreon.com/redofic