Several months later Amelia was just sitting down after getting back from lunch when her secretary came in to give her the afternoon itinerary.
"You've got a meeting with Scrimgeour at 2:00 and then you've got an inspection of the new auror manuals before they are handed out," her secretary informed her.
"What do I have right now?" she asked her.
"I was just getting to that," her secretary said, "a Mr. Randinee Thompson is here to see you, he says that he will only tell what he wants to you."
"I remember Randinee," Amerlia replied, "please send him right in."
Nodding, the secretary went out and a moment later Randinee strode right in.
"How are you doing Randinee?" she asked, "how long has it been? 20 years?"
"About that long," Randinee confirmed, sitting down.
"Last time I saw you, you graduated Hogwarts then left to go travel the world, how did that go?" she asked.
"It could have been better I'm afraid," he answered grimly, "that's also what I wanted to come talk to you about."
"Please do tell," she told him graciously.
"At first my travels were rather good, I traveled all over the world off of the money my parents left me," Randinee began, "most of Europe was pretty good, and then so was Asia, but then in Nepal I met a woman and fell in love, I ended up settling down in Nepal and married her, working for the Nepalese ministry there."
"I'm pleased to hear that Randinee," Amelia said graciously.
"Everything was wonderful, for a few years at least," Randinee continued, "but then one night everything changed. While taking the yak we owned out to graze, me and my wife were attacked by a yeti. I tried to shield my wife from it, but it left me grievously wounded and knocked unconscious. When I came to the yeti had gone and so had my wife.
As soon as I was healed enough, I went out in search of the yeti and my wife, ignoring everyone's insistence that she was probably already dead. It took me a year to finally track it down and kill the beast and rescue my wife, only for her to die a few days later from the afflictions she had suffered as a result of her capture by the yeti."
"I am terribly sorry to hear that," Amelia told him sincerely, deeply saddened to hear of his loss.
"To make matters worse, the money that I had spent in hiring people to help track down my wife exhausted my finances and so when a publisher offered me a huge amount of money to share my story I took the offer.
After getting my story, however, he obliviated me of all of my memories and left me stranded in India with no recollection of even my own name. It took me many years before I finally found a wizard in India who was conducting an experimental spell that was able to help restore all of my memories even though it took a great deal of time to do so," Randinee admitted, "with my memories fully restored I remembered who had done it to me and discovered that he had exploited my story, claiming it as his own. You may recognize him and the story he wrote Year with the Yeti."
Familiar enough with the book since she had had to buy it for her niece Susan, she exclaimed, "are you saying that Gilderoy Lockhart did this to you?"
"I am and I have proof that he did so," he confirmed, putting down sworn affidavits that appeared to mostly be in a language she couldn't understand, "all from the various villagers in Nepal who still remembered me and my search for my wife. The village was so remote however that they had no idea that Lockhart had written a book based on what I went through. I also have another one in English from the Nepalese minister."
Looking over that one as she could at least understand it, she found that he was evidently telling the truth, and said, "I do believe that we have enough evidence here already for us to take action against Lockhart. If what you said is true, and I do believe it is, he'll be going away for a very long time. You can also expect to receive a very large grievance claim from him."
"I thank you Madame Bones, I just want what he did not to happen to anymore of his unsuspecting victims," Randinee told her.
"Don't worry, I'll get right on it," she told him.
DUELDUELDE
Harry was rather bored as he sat absently listening to Lockhart blather on about what he supposedly did in one of his books, most of the time he had simply spent the time in his class passing messages to Gabrielle but which now included all of House Peeves, minus Fleur.
Laughing very quietly at the picture that Gabrielle had just made for him of Lockhart waking up to find he was bald, he was then surprised when Scrimgeour and Robards, two of the aurors he had met during last summer strode into the classroom.
"Gilderoy Lockhart, you'll need to come with us," Scrimgeour said grimly.
"For what reason? Did I win yet another Order of Merlin?" Lockhart asked hopefully.
"Unfortunately not," Scrimgeour answered, "you're under arrest for false claims you made in your book Year with the Yeti, impersonating another wizard and their illegal memory wiping."
"I do say this is completely ridiculous," Lockhart tried to argue, even though his face seemed to show otherwise, displaying a look of total guilt and fear.
"Come along quietly and we won't have to make things difficult," Scrimgeour cautioned.
Lockhart tried to make a run for it, but he was easily and quickly caught by one of Scrimgeour's spells, incapacitating him.
After Robards had tied him up and taken his wand, she levitated his body out to the doorway.
Before leaving, however, Scrimgeour said, "class is officially canceled for the day."
Watching all 3 of them go, Su turned towards them all and said, "I knew he wouldn't last long."
"Anyone up for a game of Exploding Snap?" suggested Gabrielle.
DUELDUELDE
A few months after his brief stint in prison, Lucius Malfoy began once again to plot revenge on Dumbledore, Madame Bones, and the Potter boy.
While the first two seemed rather well protected, and the Potter boy nearly so, he also recognized that there were still certain things he could do to get to the boy. After finally coming up with a plan, he mailed his son Draco what he needed to do.
One night Draco got his opportunity as he went and pulled Orion Belt aside after spotting him alone in the hallway.
"Orion, I was sorry to hear about your 6 year old little sister's illness," Draco told him, "what is the medi-wizard saying?"
"They say she only has about 6 months to live even with constant care," sighed Orion, "there's a cure but the potion she'll need will cost far more than we can afford. My father had to sell off most of his sword collection already just to be able to pay for her care and buy her as much time as we can."
"What if I were to have my father buy you the potion you'll need?" Draco said shrewdly.
"That would be wonderful," Orion said gratefully before then looking at him with suspicion, and going, "wait a minute, what's the catch?"
"What catch? Can't I do a good deed out of the goodness of my own heart?" Draco answered with mock charity.
Orion shot back, "there is no way you or your father would ever agree to spending that kind of money on someone unless you wanted something in return."
Draco finally just decided to come out with it, "Your sister will get the potion she needs, all you have to do in return is kill Harry Potter."
"You've got to be kidding me? You want me to kill someone?" Orion asked incredulously.
"It would be very simple, just a quick dagger throw into his heart or a slit of his throat and it's done," Draco replied.
"I won't commit murder," Orion refused.
"Then your sister will die," Draco countered simply, knowing full well he had the advantage.
Orion seemed to stew over this before finally saying, "you have to swear whether I get caught or not that you'll get my sister the potion if I do this."
"Absolutely, us Malfoys are men of our word," Draco insisted.
After studying him to make sure he was really telling him the truth, Orion agreed.
"If you come back on your promise I guarantee it will be you whose throat I slit," he threatened.
Draco only grinned, it was an empty threat, he knew that. If Orion so much as laid a finger on him, his father would quickly have his entire family killed in revenge, he had not doubt about it.
Once while on a play date with Goyle when he was 5, Goyle had gotten into a fight with him over who got the last chocolate chip cookie. Goyle had ended up pushing him, causing him to scrape his knee. When his father found out, Malfoy had had Goyle's father beaten. Ever since then Goyle himself had always been sure to let him have whatever he wanted.
His father's reputation for brutality was such that no one messed with a Malfoy, and he was sure that Orion was aware of it. He'd chosen his would-be assassin carefully and with Orion's skills and so much on the line, he was confident he'd get the job done.
DUELDUELDE
Harry was forced to leave duel training early as he had accidentally dislocated his shoulder hitting the ground from one of Su's spells. Pansy had then volunteered to take him to the hospital wing so Madame Pomfrey could help put it back into place.
"It's a wonder you haven't been more seriously hurt after how much duel training you do," Pansy claimed as she walked alongside him, trying to have him concentrate on something other than his shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'll always have you and Madame Pomfrey to help fix us up," Harry replied half jokingly.
"This wasn't what I had in mind when I wanted to learn how to be a better healer," Pansy said, "at this rate I won't even need any job training by the time I graduate. I'll just tell them that I spent 7 years fixing you all up and St. Mungo's will hire me on the spot."
"Hah hah, very funny," Harry pretended to laugh. He knew she was only teasing but she still always worried when one of them got injured. Usually if the injury was minor enough she could just fix it herself, but if it was too serious she would have to go and get Madame Pomfrey. Evidently she didn't trust herself to reset a dislocated shoulder.
Then looking over at her he asked, "so are you really planning on becoming a healer then after Hogwarts?"
"I really don't know Harry," she replied honestly, "I haven't been able to make up my mind yet."
"If you really want to you should, but if you don't nobody will force you, least of all me," Harry claimed, "you're already really getting good at it however."
"Thanks," she answered, "I do like it and it has come in useful as you can certainly attest to. The only thing that might make me hesitate is that I'd like to become a mother someday and I'd like to be there for our kids."
"Our kids?" Harry asked.
"Come on Harry its not like it should be a foreign idea that one day I and the other girls will end up having your children," Pansy told him.
While having kids was something he definitely wanted to do, he realized that Pansy had evidently put a lot more thought into it than his vague idea of wanting them in the distant future.
"I've always known that I was going to be a father one day, it just still seems so far away," Harry replied.
"The day will come sooner than you think," Pansy said, "besides you'll have 5 different wives, and each of them are going to want at least 1 kid, probably more. We've already all discussed how many kids we want to have."
"How many did each of them say they want to end up having?" Harry asked.
"Why don't you tell me how many you want to have first?" she asked.
He seemed to think about it for a second before saying, "well I've always wanted a big family, I know that much so I suppose if each of you had like 2 each that would give me like 10 kids already. That already seems like a lot but if you want to have more that would be fine too. From what I gather from Amelia I should have plenty of money to raise a family with."
"We were thinking along the same lines," Pansy replied sounding relieved, "and that's why I asked you first. Often wizards from wealthy or powerful families will try not to have too many children as they feel it produces too many heirs and thus weakens the house and its standing. If I had ended up marrying Draco for example and my first child had been a son, I would have been forbidden from having more, not that I would want to have any more children by that peacock."
"I've noticed that it seems that most wizarding families don't have too many kids," Harry commented, "and wondered why that was."
"It's for numerous reasons," Pansy explained, "such as the one I just told you. As for other wizards half-bloods and muggleborns tend to worry about diluting their magical genes any further and don't want to risk producing too many squib offspring or they end up having many of their children be squibs and then they of course don't get to go to Hogwarts. In addition, wizards and witches just don't seem to like having that many children, we never have which is why our population has always stayed so low."
"I suppose that it could be something to worry about," Harry told her referring to the worry about children becoming squibs, "but I'm sure that I would love our children whether they were magical or not."
"Its really a stupid idealism but its been ground into witches and wizards heads for centuries, we tend to want our children to be magical and be born into the best of circumstances, it isn't really just a pureblood supremacy thing, just a preference thing not to have too many children and instead focus on 1 or two magical children," Pansy replied, "having a really large family like the Weasleys who have 7 children is almost unheard of, but then again they are both purebloods and they are supposedly rather poor so they wouldn't be too worried about status or money."
"Well, like I said, I'd be happy with however many you girls decide you want," he informed her.
"All right," Pansy replied, "then Su wanted 2, Susan and Fleur wanted 3, and Gabrielle wanted 4," Pansy told him, although that may change after going through a pregnancy or two."
"What about you?" he asked.
She blushed and said, "like I said, that's why I'm worried about having time for my kids while being a healer, I'd want at least 7."
"Seven?" He asked incredulously.
"Would it not be all right with you?" Pansy asked, looking disappointed.
"No, its not that at all," he replied trying to reassure her, "if you want to have that many go ahead, I'll support you however I can."
She looked much more pleased and gave him a long kiss on the lips.
"Thanks Harry," she said.
While he was grateful for the kiss, he was reminded that he still had a dislocated shoulder, wincing at the contact.
"Can we please hurry up to the hospital wing?" he asked.
Asking his apology, they started hurrying faster but only made it another hundred feet when Harry was unexpectedly grabbed as he passed by one of the broom closets.
He tried to break free but he still had a dislocated shoulder and whoever had grabbed him was much stronger and bigger than him.
As he looked and managed to see who it was he realized that it was Orion, the 7th year Slytherin he had dueled during Lockhart's dueling club.
Orion quickly pulled him around and laid a knife against his throat.
"Orion, what are you doing?" Pansy demanded as she found out for herself what was going on.
"Don't come any closer!" Orion shouted at her.
Pansy stayed where she was and said looking scared, "Orion you don't have to do this."
"You're wrong, I do have to, I've got to kill him or my sister dies," Orion informed her.
"How will killing Harry save your sister?" Pansy demanded.
"She's sick and Draco offered to buy her the medicine she needs, if I don't do this she'll die," Orion claimed.
"How much does the medicine cost?" Pansy asked.
"One hundred thousand galleons," admitted Orion, "no way me or my family can afford that kind of money."
"What if I were to promise that you'll get the medicine if you agree to let Harry go?" suggested Pansy.
Harry could feel the knife blade so close to his throat now that it was actually starting to slightly bleed.
"How do I know you'll renege on your promise as soon as I let him go?" Orion asked.
Pansy reached around her neck and pulled off the diamond necklace he had given her for Christmas.
"This should pay for at least the down payment on it," she said as she handed it to him, "besides I'm not in the business of letting little girls die."
Orion seemed to be studying her, making sure she was telling the truth before he finally said, "I believe you."
The knife dropped from Harry's throat and he gratefully was allowed to get back up and go over to Pansy who immediately hugged him tight.
"Let's go get the money together and save your sister," Pansy told Orion.
"I can't," Orion confessed.
"Why not?" Pansy asked.
"The Malfoys will know that I went back on our deal, they might find a way to hurt my family if they know I'm still around and can testify against them," Orion said.
"We can find protection for them and you," Pansy insisted, "we know the head of magical law enforcement, she can help us."
"She can't do anything against Lucius Malfoy," Orion stated, "he's too powerful, there is only one way out of this."
Orion then drew the same knife and pressed it against his own throat.
"Wait Orion don't!" yelled Pansy.
"Save my sister," Orion said as he then slashed open his own throat, piercing deeply into it and pulling it halfway around his entire throat from below ear to ear.
"Go get Madame Pomfrey," Pansy yelled at Harry as she ran over to try and save him.
He rushed down over to the hospital wing and tried to find Madame Pomfrey. She was currently busy with another patient but he didn't have time to wait.
"Madame Pomfrey!" Harry yelled breathlessly, "someone has been hurt bad, we need you right now!"
She didn't bother to ask questions, quickly telling her patient to wait, a first year boy with a currently green hand and dashed off after him.
By the time they got back however Orion and Pansy who was desperately trying to keep him alive were covered in blood as Orion then closed his eyes.
"Don't die on me," Pansy yelled even as Madame Pomfrey came around to try and save him.
She tried to revive him but finally she shook her head.
"Is he really?" Pansy asked fearfully.
"I'm afraid so," she confirmed.
Pansy went to try and give Harry a hug only to find that he still had his shoulder to worry about.
"Let me fix that for you," Madame Pomfrey told him as she waved her wand and his shoulder was set back into place.
Immediately Pansy went back to hugging him and crying into his shoulder.
"I could have saved him," Pansy insisted.
"You couldn't have been expected to save him, the magic required would have been well beyond anything a 2nd year could do," Madame Pomfrey gently told her, "the cut went deep and all the way around the front and sides of his neck, he had only minutes left. He definitely knew what he was doing and how to cause a quick death. It would have been a challenge even for me had I been there to keep him alive."
AN: Yes this is entirely possible, I did my research on this as I do on just about everything in this story.
Harry continued to keep his arms around Pansy and comfort her, still obviously distraught at the loss of Orion. He doubted that she had known him all that well but it still was quite evident that she still blamed herself for his death. He nearly blamed himself for the incident, if he had only gotten there in time... No the two people responsible for his death, other than Orion himself were Lucius and Draco Malfoy. While they likely would get away with this terrible tragedy as their one witness was now dead, and had no other evidence, he promised himself that someway, somehow he'd make sure they paid for their crimes.
DUELDUELDE
A few days later found Pansy sitting alone on her bed, still thinking about the death of Orion. She knew in her heart that there was nothing that she could have done but she still felt terrible about the whole ordeal and after thinking about it she pushed her anger and responsibility for the crime from herself to Draco and his father. They were the ones responsible even though indirectly. Orion must have felt that the only way to keep his family safe from them was to kill himself. While she hated how he had done so, she also recognized that that was exactly what Lucius Malfoy would have done.
There was a reason why he had gotten away with his crimes for so many years, and he had a well worn reputation for silencing anyone who threatened him. She couldn't imagine a worse piece of filth, and the fact that Draco had apparently aided his father in the scheme only made him equal with his father in her eyes. She was once again grateful that she had somehow escaped having to be his wife, but it only reminded her all the more that he and his father were still out there and she was willing to bet they would try again to kill Harry one way or another. She swore that she would do everything in her power to make sure that Harry stayed safe from them and they ended up where they belonged: in prison, although having them die in various slow and painful ways might suffice as well.
She was shaken from her reverie and thoughts of punishing Draco and his father by Susan coming into the room.
"Hey," she said quietly.
"Hey," Pansy answered.
"I thought I'd check to see how you were doing," Susan replied.
"I'm fine, how's Harry?" Pansy asked.
"He's fine," Susan claimed, "my aunt is still with him."
After the attack Madame Bones had decided to take time off work and spend the last few days of school making sure they were all okay and that Harry was protected. The attack had left them all in shock on just how close they had come to losing him, with no idea if the Malfoy's might try again.
"I just can't believe there is nothing we can do to really stop them except wait for them to try again," Pansy said angrily, "is there no justice in this world?"
"I'm angry too, we're all angry," Susan replied, "but my aunt already checked, there is nothing we can really do unless we have some hard evidence on them other than what Orion told us, and evidently the testimony of a now dead attempted murderer to you isn't going to hold up very well in court . She's still working on it, but I know she's been trying to nail them for something for years and hasn't succeeded yet."
"I wish the law system at least wasn't so corrupt so that the likes of Lucius Malfoy could manipulate it so much," Pansy announced bitterly.
"My aunt has always worked hard on that too, it was evidently far worse when she first started as the head of the DMLE," Susan claimed, "it's the same reason why I want to enter politics someday."
"I'm sure you'll do a fantastic job," Pansy said supportively.
"Thanks," Susan answered gratefully, "and we'll get them, one way or another."
DUELDUELDE
Amelia went up to the now getting entirely too familiar staircase to Dumbledore's office and entered, having left Harry with Flitwick and the other girls while they trained for the next duel tournament that summer and figured they would be all right for at least several hours.
Plopping down the documents she had gathered over the past few days, she chose to address Dumbledore and ignore his proffered lemon drop question and get right to why she was there:
"Well I've been gathering information over security breaches in the school for the past few days and I have to say I'm not impressed."
"I do believe that our security is more than satisfactory," Dumbledore claimed.
"Do I really need to bring up the various attacks on students by a basilisk, the attack on Harry, or the many other things that happened this year? What about the troll or Quirrell last year?" Amelia demanded.
"Those were all regrettable and unavoidable accidents," Dumbledore answered.
"What about the entire acromantula colony near the school that you failed to notify the ministry of or the fact that you opted to keep the sorcerer's stone inside the school knowing full well someone was already planning to break in and steal it?" Amelia asked, "I'm sensing a pattern here and it's not good."
"I assure you I have everything under control," Dumbledore insisted, "nothing will happen on my watch."
Dumbledore was seriously getting on her nerves today with his stupid, thinking he knew what was best for everyone attitude.
"What reassurances can you give me that you will be improving things in any way?" she asked, "first of all I've learned that you plan on hiring a werewolf to fill the vacant Defense against the dark arts job. While I know Lupin reasonably well and I like him personally, I have to express some concern over the fact that he will be in such close proximity to children."
"We managed to keep Lupin from biting anyone else while he was a student here, and with the new Wolfsbane Potion that Snape has graciously agreed to make for him every month, I believe that it will be perfectly safe to have him here," Dumbledore answered smartly, "as for any other security changes I plan to make I am of course deeply concerned with the students at Hogwarts' safety, although I don't feel the need to disclose them."
"Then you won't mind if I send someone else to do a further evaluation of the safety of the school nor if I decide to install an auror or two into the school as a permanent deterrent to any further wrongdoing?" Amelia suggested.
"I don't believe that will be necessary," Dumbledore claimed, "I can handle any new protection spells and everything else myself."
She wanted to scream at him, continuing to insist that he had everything under to control, the man was a complete idiot when people found fault with anything he did, but this was ridiculous.
"Forgive me but your previous actions haven't warranted a lot of confidence in you," Amelia admitted.
"I'm perfectly capable of running my own school, and I don't need you or anyone else to tell me how to do it," Dumbledore insisted fiercely, "if you really have any problems with how I run things why don't you take it up with the school board?"
"You know perfectly well that the school board is controlled largely by Lucius Malfoy and since he's responsible for at least the recent attack on Harry of course he isn't going to endorse greater security measures," Amelia remarked.
Dumbledore actually had the audacity to grin at that and say, "well that's politics for you."
Doddering old fool! What was his problem? Not allowing greater security measures that were perfectly reasonable. She could have simply blamed it on pride, not being able to accept that he could ever be wrong as if he always knew what was for the greater good but she somehow suspected there was more to that. Dumbledore was hiding even more than she had realized if he was being this cagey and unwilling to cooperate. Just how she was going to find out what it was all about was a different story however.
"I could always withdraw support for that new bill concerning muggleborn rights," Amelia answered, forced to play the politics card as a method of persuading him. So far this had always served as a way to coerce Dumbledore as he had always feared her withdrawal of support.
Evidently Dumbledore had decided two could play at that game however.
Dumbledore gave another grin, "actually I don't think you will, you want that bill passed just as much as I do. I found myself worrying about you withdrawing support from me in the wizengamot, but I'm finally in a position where you need me just as much as I need you. Lucius Malfoy has been spreading his influence and gaining ground, and the only way we have a hope of stopping him is if we hold strong together. So unless you want him to take over, I would recommend that you not accuse me or try to interfere in my own business from now on."
Dumbledore had just laid down his cards. The fact that he was no longer bowing to many of her wishes did not bode well, if he was now choosing to try and pit Lucius Malfoy against her, it meant that not only was Lucius gaining in influence despite their best efforts, but Dumbledore was actually taking advantage of it against her.
She realized that Dumbledore had figured out that as long as he kept Lucius' in check, she would always be forced to rely on him if she wanted to stop him. It had always been 2 major powers with her and Dumbledore stopping Lucius and his group, but now Dumbledore wanted to make it 3 again, with her in the weakest position and forced to now acquiesce to some of his demands.
"Now then, I think that I am the one who should be asking you about safety," Dumbledore reminded her, "after all I am still Harry's magical guardian and if say I or perhaps someone qualified in the ministry I know not biased towards you were to inspect your home and find that your care was lacking..."
"How dare you!" She angrily yelled, "I can't believe that you would even suggest that I've been an unfit caretaker for Harry, and you know quite well it isn't true! If anything you should be held responsible for him being put with the Dursleys in the first place."
"What would matter is what I and the representative at the ministry would think," Dumbledore answered, "you'll find that I have already been absolved of any and all wrongdoing in the matter of Harry being put with his muggle relatives. More so I allowed Harry to be placed into what I thought would be a safe and stable home, but perhaps I might want to reevaluate that. Indeed a Dolores Umbridge, currently Senior Undersecretary to the minister has already inquired whether Harry might be better off somewhere else. I'm sure she could find something wrong with you or your home."
"That toad!" Amelia exclaimed, "you would seriously use that beast on me.
"I don't want to but if I have to..." Dumbledore said, "I'm personally tired of how you keep trying to coerce me to do things, and I think its about time you knew your place. Back off Amelia, I tried to be friendly to you and give you a few things that you wanted, but now it looks like I must force you to do what you are supposed to do. It is only for you and the rest of magical Britain's own good."
Gone was the at least somewhat bearable Dumbledore that she had settled in a sometimes shaky but mutually beneficial relationship with, Dumbledore was bringing out the claws, and she knew him well enough to know that if he ever went on the attack, he felt confident enough that he could get away with it.
She realized now that it had been a huge mistake on her part not to gain full guardianship status of Harry but at the time she had been too concerned if she could actually win it and just wanted Harry away from the Dursleys as soon as possible. Now Dumbledore was taking full advantage.
"Yet as long as you don't try and get yourself involved again in my own affairs we can simply honor the status quo and forget anything every happened," Dumbledore claimed, "but try to bother me again with anything and I'll make sure you regret it."
She looked at him, sitting there confidently making threats and she realized that he was no longer the Dumbledore she had always hoped he had become, this was the Dumbledore she had tried to tell herself no longer existed. Now that she knew the truth, however, she would have to treat him as the conniving monster he was rumored to be.
"I suppose they were right about you," she countered.
"Who was right about what?" Dumbledore asked, slightly taken aback.
"I know about the truth between you and Grindelwald," she claimed, "I chose to disregard it as merely a rumor but now I'm not so sure. You certainly seem to be acting like the Dumbledore I'd heard of in it."
This caught him completely off guard, causing her to grin. While he had initially caught her off guard with his sudden new treatment of her, he would not do so again, and while she couldn't get him for anything illegal, she still had picked up plenty of info he would not want known to the general public.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about," Dumbledore answered, sounding visibly shaken nonetheless, "if you want to spread baseless, unbelievable rumors about me be my guest."
It appeared she needed to try for something stronger if she was to threaten him just as much as she had threatened her.
"I also know about what happened to your sister Ariana," she said, "would you like that known about Dumby?"
Now she got the reaction she was looking for.
"You would dare say such things about her in my office?" he angrily asked.
Evidently his sister was still a very sore subject. She pressed in, sensing weakness.
"The only reason I chose not to mention it before was out of what little respect I still had for you," she claimed, "yet now that you want to go and threaten my family, being Harry, you've lost that respect, come after my family and your own family's name will be dragged through the mud. Don't mess with me Dumbledore. YOU will regret it."
While the exchange hadn't gone perfectly at first, she felt that she had definitely left her mark, and with Dumbledore now showing his true colors and just how low he was willing to go, she could now adjust to that, from now on he would be regarded as a threat and an enemy, and she knew exactly how to handle her enemies. Dumbledore was going down.
DUELDUELDE
As Harry and the girls sat at their house table, they noticed that nobody seemed to care anymore about just who won the house cup as it fluctuated so much from day to day because of Peeves, who seemed to get a kick out of taking away or giving out points from all of the houses for random reasons. After giving Malfoy an atomic wedgie for example, he took 200 points from Slytherin for having a too feminine and high pitched sounding voice.
After bursting one of the tubes from giving out too many points however for the 2nd time, Pansy finally managed to convince him to keep it within more reasonable amounts, although it was quite common to see it fluctuate a great deal.
Peeves had originally been planning to keep theirs the highest but in order to be more fair, she insisted on him taking points away from them as well.
Dumbledore of course opted to put on a brave face and go for the cop out solution as to who had really won.
"Congratulations everybody you are all winners!" He announced.
No one was amused other than Crabbe who seemed to think it was a joke and laughed for the next 5 minutes, and for the first time he felt like Crabbe might actually be right about something as in that case Dumbledore was a real joke.
Everyone listened absently to his everyone's a winner at Hogwarts speech before he finally finished and went and sat down.
Yet when the food was supposed to arrive instead nothing but candy arrived, great huge piles of it, fruit candy, every flavor beans, and basically anything a kid could want.
In contrast the teacher's table was full of nothing but raw brussel sprouts and lima beans.
"This has to be the best feast ever," Susan declared happily, quickly helping herself to some chocolate bars.
"I wonder who did all this," Fleur asked as she scooped up some candy.
"I'll give you one guess," Harry announced as he looked at the huge chocolate statue of Peeves.
"Guess who," Peeves said appearing right before all of them, "I hope you like the candy."
"Is this your end of year big prank you kept teasing us about?" Pansy asked him.
"Not quite," Peeves said.
Suddenly there was a loud commotion as they all looked over as numerous things began to happen at once. First of all the walls all turned purple, and confetti fell down from the ceiling. Then a rather crude rendition of Happy Birthday began to play from somewhere.
Meanwhile most of the teachers had already been turned into unicorns, and were now eating the brussel sprouts laid out for them. Dumbledore as a unicorn had a long white beard easily recognizable from the others.
"House Peeves wins the house cup!" Peeves announced.