Chapter 28: Legal Battles and Chocolate Preferences
"Oh shit." Fudge said as he looked at his copy of the latest daily prophet a few days later.
The Delacours were suing those behind the Tri-Wizard tournament, which included the British Ministry, for the endangerment of their youngest daughter. If Fudge cared then he would have remembered the fact that Madam Maxime was also getting sued. As of the moment his focus was on how the article was really not putting the British Ministry in a good light. And if the ministry is show in a bad light then that means he is shown in a bad light and he could not have that.
He needed to talk to Barty Crouch or Dumbledore or just anyone competent and in position to sort this out.
...
Dumbledore frowned as he read the daily prophet, unfortunately he was included as one of the people who were being sued because of the tournament.
Money wasn't something especially important for him but he still understood it's value and very much preferred not to lose any if he did not have to. He recognised the name of the lawyer, Ted Tonks, a muggleborn that Dumbledore had admittedly not paid much interest to, at least until he married Andromeda Black of all people.
For that alone Dumbledore thought that the two should be put in Gryffindor, that was far braver beyond what anyone would expect of a Hufflepuff or a Slytherin.
For Ted he would have married into a pure blood, muggle hating family that would rather kill him than even greet him. As for Andromeda she would have had to defy her family for her love, he couldn't help but respect her for that.
Ted also interested Dumbledore because he knew that he was Harry's lawyer in his case against the Malfoy's. Personally Dumbledore did not approve of Harry suing them, couldn't the boy see that he was simply escalating the situation? Though Dumbledore did not do anything to stop it, partially because it was possible that the Malfoy's could learn a lesson from this and when Tom Riddle AKA Voldemort returned it would simply be less money for him to use as Dumbledore knew without doubt that the Malfoy's would be funding Voldemort.
Also if Dumbledore did stop it then that could cause things to grow worse between himself and Harry. Speaking of Harry, he was getting rather worried about the boy. Firstly Harry had cut himself off from Miss Granger and Mr Weasley, and had since barely been seen in the school.
In fact he was seen so very few times since the tournament that it was pretty much easy to count every time he was seen. Dumbledore usually wouldn't do this as he felt it was better to simply let Harry be but he would call the boy up to his office.
It was important that he always knew as much as he could about Harry, and recently Harry's actions had worried him. The boy was far more violent and short tempered than usual, Dumbledore also had quite a few questions for him such as his sudden increase in spell knowledge along with his change in personality and he would also like to know exactly who or what this Selena is.
........
"You wanted to see me sir?" Harry asked as he arrived in Dumbledore's office.
"Yes Harry, please take a seat." Dumbledore said as he gestured to the seat opposite him. "Lemon drop?" Dumbledore offered as he gestured to a small bowl full of them.
"I prefer chocolate if we are being honest." Harry replied, shaking his head.
"Really?"
"Yes, I do not really know if I prefer magical chocolates or the muggle ones, I think I would probably have to test out a few."
"I have experience in both, and even I often find it hard to chose between them." Dumbledore said, discussing sweets and chocolates was not why he called Harry up here but Dumbledore was not opposed to a little small talk. Especially since most people were not really willing to do it with him unless they were trying to subtly insult him or learn about something. Besides it was a topic that Dumbledore liked and if ended up relaxing Harry then so be it.
"Hmm, personally I do not really like having too much sweets. I am not really used to them." Harry replied.
"Use to them Harry?"
"Yes, my muggle relatives made it a habit to only feed me the bare requirement for me to live." Harry said with a tight smile. "So the high sugar in them makes it less enjoyable than I am sure they would usually be."
"Harry, there is no need to exaggerate." Dumbledore frowned.
"Of course, it is rather obvious that you as the person who does not live there would know more about it than me."
"We can discuss this particular topic another time Mr Potter." Dumbledore said, realising that the small talk was over.
"Alright." Harry said as he sat down. "Should I assume that this is not just a regular social call then?"
"I do indeed have something to discuss with you."
"If it is advise on robes then I am afraid you are looking at the wrong guy headmaster," Harry said as he gestured to Dumbledore's blue robes. "though I must say that your particular choice of robes is a lot more tame than what you usually wear."
"There is nothing wrong with mixing it up every now and then Harry." Dumbledore said with a small smile. "Now moving on to the topics I have to discuss with you, first of all the Triwizard tournament officials along with various people connected to the tournament are being sued. Funnily enough they are being sued by Ted Tonks, who I believe is your lawyer in your case against the Malfoys."
"Oh that case is done," Harry grinned. "Mr Tonks has attended on my behalf. I now have a lot more money than before, Tonks made sure to get me as much money as he can possibly get."
"Do you truly think it was a wise idea to sue the Malfoys?" Dumbledore asked in a calm voice, though it was made very clear that the headmaster disapproved.
"I think it is long past time that the Malfoys finally learn that actions have consequences, I am sure that you would very much prefer that Malfoy learns this in a courtroom rather than in a duel or a fight." Harry replied, not backing down from Dumbledore, he knew he was in the right here.
"I do suppose you have a valid point," Dumbledore sighed. "though I can not help thinking that this would simply escalate the situation between yourself and Mr Malfoy."
"Sir, Malfoy has spent the last few years getting away with whatever he wants and saying whatever he wants, in my humble opinion I think it was going to eventually escalate one way or another. But I think we may have diverted from our original topic."
"Yes," Dumbledore nodded. "I believe we have."
"Alright, back on the topic of Mr Tonks and him taking action against the tournament officials, all I did was simply offer Mr Tonk's services to the Delacours. I am sorry if that had unintentionally caused you problems as well but I am friends with Miss Delacour and she was beyond upset when she found out that her underage sister was underwater in a cold lake."
"Mr Potter, I think that..."
"Her underage veela sister," Harry continued, interrupting Dumbledore. Dumbledore did not miss what Harry meant, Veela were not comfortable in water to say the least. "her underage veela sister who was told to compete despite not currently possessing the knowledge required to fully understand the situation she was asked to compete in. After all sir you would not ask an eight year old to attempt a NEWT level spell would you?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
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