At the announcement that there would be a ball Harry's stomach sank at the memory of the only other ball he had attended during the Triwizard Tournament.
He looked up from his spot on the table and caught sight of Bellatrix who seemed to be staring at him speculatively, though he could not be sure because as he became aware of it she was no longer looking in his direction.
Dumbledore again raised his hands to silence the room but was interrupted by the sound of the doors to the hall banging open and a large contingency of people entered, some of which Harry recognised, but others he had never seen before. He recognised a much younger Barty Crouch Sr., complete with his trademark toothbrush moustache. Abraxus Malfoy was behind him with a much younger looking Lucius who walked towards the table as pompously as ever. The final person he knew was a much younger and healthier looking Alastor Moody who had both of his eyes and legs, though he was still heavily scarred.
"This isn't good" Harry concluded darkly.
The large group made their way to the head table lead by none other than Minister Bagnold who immediately began a furiously whispered conversation with Dumbledore.
Harry shook his head but was inwardly pleased that he had the advantage in this situation.
Croaker had insisted that he studied the more prominent members of society before he made the journey back, and as a result, he knew everything he needed to about Bagnold. She was a rather stern woman on the surface but had spent most of her time being morally objectionable towards the killing of the Dark Lord's followers until she realised that it was indeed the only way to combat the threat against the nation. But by the time she had shifted her views, it was too little too late and one of the biggest causes for Harry being sent here in the first place.
Harry was shook from his musings by the sight of Dumbledore shaking his head, sighing and nodding in defeat before turning back to face the assembled students.
"Could the following students remain behind" he requested with an irritable shake of his head. "Harry and James Potter" he began again. "Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Frank Longbottom and the three young Black females" he finished with a bow in the direction of the three girls. The woman leading the group leaned in again and whispered something else to the headmaster.
"Also Miss Evans, Miss McKinnon and Miss Prince if you will" he added with a frown. "The rest of you, back to your common rooms" he instructed firmly.
The rest of the students left, all looking very confused.
"Just shut up and let me do the talking" Harry whispered to the others in a no-nonsense tone as the last of the students left.
The others nodded their agreement and Harry shot Frank a questioning look.
"I killed two of them who were trying to torture some fourth year Hufflepuffs" the boy explained quietly before hanging his head, clearly ashamed by his actions. Harry nodded his understanding and offered the boy a look of sympathy.
"You should be proud of what you did Frank" Sirius broke in, causing the boy to snap to attention and look at the younger one confusedly.
Before Frank could answer the remaining students were beckoned to join the assembled adults who were all looking very grave indeed and some nervous, particularly Dumbledore.
They approached the stage with Harry in the lead who already knew that he would have to take control of the situation before Bagnold could do so.
"Before we begin, may I ask why the Malfoys are here?" he questioned the woman as he reached a comfortable distance away from the ministry workers, a distance which he felt he could defend himself from if necessary. "Lord Malfoy is a governor of the school Mr. Potter" Dumbledore answered. "Young Lucius is here being prepared to take his place".
Harry shot a look towards the younger Malfoy, even a younger Lucius made his skin crawl. The other boy seemed to be focused on another student however, the youngest female. Harry felt bile rise into his throat at the sight of the leer Lucius was giving Narcissa and he swallowed down the protective surge of anger he felt before he spoke once more.
"That may be so" he growled. "But surely as a future governor of this school he should not be staring at a student here in such a manner".
At his words Narcissa too became aware of the look that was aimed her way and she shifted uncomfortably before positioning herself behind Harry and Remus causing the older blonde to snap out of his clearly questionable thoughts. "She was to be my wife" Lucius hissed angrily.
Harry raised an eyebrow at the near twenty year old before shaking his head.
"Disgusting" he replied simply. "And the word was is the key word in that sentence, now you're just eyeing up a thirteen year old girl".
Lucius growled and made to reach for his wand but found himself staring down the length of Harry's before he could even touch the handle of his own.
"Lucius" Abraxus cut in warningly.
Harry smirked and shook his head amusedly.
"Listen to your daddy Lucy" he advised mockingly.
Lucius growled once more but moved his arm away from where his wand was sheathed before looking towards his father questioningly. The other man just shook his head sharply in response.
Harry turned his attention back to the minister who was looking at him with more than a little curiosity. He also caught sight of Moody who was clearly amused by the situation.
"Well, now that you have finished measuring your wands, can we continue?" Bagnold asked irritably.
Harry gave Lucius a final scathing glare before shrugging.
"I want to know what happened yesterday" Bagnold stated bluntly. "My Aurors have investigated the village and questioned the inhabitants but there a things missing, things that we cannot explain" she continued with a frown. "I wanted to hear from those that were there and your names were all brought to my attention by the villagers" she informed them. "Idiots in black cloaks and white masks attacked the village and we did what we could to stop them" Harry answered immediately.
Bagnold shook her head and sighed exasperatedly.
"I need more specifics than that" the minister pointed out.
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