Enchanting Melodies (HP SI)

If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

I would like to thank my beta, Awdyr, for his help in this chapter.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

2 April 1995, Ministry of Magic, London

The last few months in Eddie Carmichael's life were nothing more than tortuous, even that was an understatement. It made him wonder how things could ever go so wrong. Just months prior, he was in Durmstrang, spectating the European Tournament alongside his school's delegation.

He knew that he had little to no chance of being selected in any of the main events. He'd always been second best, overlooked, especially when it came to his time in school. He barely had any friends, and the people he hung out with could at most be considered close acquaintances. The professors rarely cared about him, especially since Cho Chang was in his year. He was nothing more than a second thought in Ravenclaw, always outshined by someone, never quite making it.

Instead, people always cared about Chang, and he always found that completely unfair. It was probably because her family was the source of most imported items from Asia. Eddie wasn't exactly an expert, but he knew that magical society there was completely different than in Europe but was isolated. They had ingredients, magical creatures, and even developed magical arts, that just didn't exist anywhere else, and that importing these things was quite the lucrative endeavour.

That meant that the school had to essentially parade Chang around to show the quality of their education. To be fair, she had a very good showing in the second task. She clawed her way into tying for first place while she was surrounded by more experienced students and massively outnumbered. Oh, sure, she did confess afterwards that the last trick was a ploy by Potter of all people, but even then, she would have secured second place with her own efforts and that was impressive enough.

Speaking of Potter, that boy was definitely on another level. Eddie had watched, flabbergasted, as the boy wiped the floor with the competition in the first task. He knew that the boy was talented in school, especially with his performance in their local tournament the previous year. He was just too casual, even if he was doing his best to obviously ridicule Dumbledore. However, Eddie never imagined the boy being paraded around as Britain's next Dumbledore after the headmaster was banished from Britain for trying to kill his students.

It was always the Potters, the Changs, the Diggorys, the Weasleys, who were celebrated, who were paraded around. They were the golden boys, and Eddie knew deep down, that no one would ever treat him the same way. He had entered the Hogwarts delegation fully knowing that at most, he would simply participate in the Duelling tournament as one student amongst hundreds. It wasn't exactly the most glamorous position.

Still, it wasn't that bad. He attended most of the classes available and learned a lot from the experiences and made a few pen pals in each school. It was nice, and Eddie was able to get a very nice idea of what he wanted to do in the future, and that was broom-making. There was a workshop in Beauxbatons about it, and he found that he had a knack for it. Nimbus were always looking for new talent, as long as they had a NEWT in enchanting, charms, and transfiguration. He still hadn't done his OWLS, so he had time to specialize properly. He had thankfully taken the Runes and Arithmancy electives in his third year and would do his best to be the best candidate around.

He wasn't from an old family or anything, so he couldn't really rely on nepotism. Muggleborns always thought that being a pureblood was an easy way to get advantages and never even entertained the thought that it was nepotism, not some kind of blood segregation that moved the magical world. The sad truth was that older families just held more connections and most likely more gold than any muggleborn or new family could come to achieve, and they relied on these connections and 'donations' to help their family members. Being a muggleborn had nothing to do with it at all.

Eddie's father was an obliviators in the ministry. His mother was a secretary in an accounting firm. They barely had any disposable income after their expenses, especially since they had three children, Eddie, Mary, and Emily. Eddie was the oldest but quite the margin. Mary and Emily wouldn't go to Hogwarts for a couple of years. They lived in a small home in Hogsmeade. It wasn't much, but it was enough for them. Eddie had dreamed of winning a task in the tournament and giving them the gold to help them out a bit, but it was a bit far-fetched. But one could dream.

Of course, that happiness didn't last; the war between the Dark Lord and the Red Witch reared its ugly head. An attack on Hogsmeade killed both of them when Eddie was still in Durmstrang. He found himself alone with two crying young girls, in an empty house, with a missive from Gringotts to make arrangements to repay a loan his father had taken a few days after the funeral. He couldn't help but internally thank every deity that he wasn't stuck in Hogwarts, unable to be at his sisters' side when their parents died. It was the only silver lining, that things could have been far worse.

Wasn't that funny? The only good thing was that something worse than them being orphaned could have happened. Not that they were out of the woods with that debt hanging over their heads.

Which was why he wasn't in the ministry in the first place. After weeks of struggle, he was finally able to book an appointment in the Department of Magical Internal Affairs, so that he could get emancipated, and keep custody of his sisters. The woman in the office was tired, and kind, but her answer was the same with every plead, "Mr. Carmichael, I understand that you are in a delicate situation, but I cannot give you a license to work in magical Britain without having your OWLS."

"Then let me sit them. I'm ready to do them right now," he growled.

"I'm afraid that the next exam session is next June."

"I have a meeting in Gringotts in two weeks. If I don't show them a source of income, they're going to repossess our house. Please think of my sisters. They're nine for Merlin's sake."

The woman's eyes softened once more, "Again, I understand your position but there's nothing I can do. It's literally not in my power to help you, as much as I want to. The best I can do is to send your file to the Wizengamot and petition for you to receive your work licence, but…"

She didn't have to continue her sentence; Eddie understood the rest. The Wizengamot members were being hunted down by either the Dark Lord or the Lycans. Sure, the attacks had slowed down in the last couple of days, but most people assumed that it was the calm before the storm. The Wizengamot would meet for months at the very least, the members fearing for their lives.

"Look, Ma'am, it's not right to declare me to be an adult but refuse me the opportunity to feed my family. You know how the goblins are."

"I'm sorry, young man, I truly am. But there is nothing I can do. I'd recommend trying to find a safe place for you and your sister to stay and try to convince the Goblins to wait until you get your OWLS and get your official license."

Yeah right. The goblins would rather cut off their own hands than delay any form of payment. The woman and Eddie kept going back and forth. He might have lost his temper, even if he knew deep down that the woman wasn't at fault. In the end, a couple of Aurors came and escorted them back to their office. He spent hours there being processed and was promptly kicked out later.

He was about to be escorted out of the ministry, having lost any hope of saving his sisters, until a wizard spoke up in his favour, "Why don't I take him out instead? I'm already leaving."

The overworked Auror nodded and both Eddie and the stranger walked in silence until they came out of the Ministry. The man spoke up for the first time in almost fifteen minutes, "So, Eddie Carmichael, I understand that you're in a bit of a pickle."

"How do you know my name?" the younger wizard spoke up, stiffened.

"It's my job to know things, young man. And you, Eddie, are in a no-win situation. Eventually, in two weeks, Gringotts will repossess your home, and that would mean that the ministry will revoke your emancipation and your custody over your sisters. Who knows where they will end up? You're probably tough enough to handle a few rough months until you get your OWLS and apply for emancipation once more, but that doesn't mean you'll get custody over your sisters again."

Eddie growled, "What are you getting at?"

"My client was interested in your situation and is inclined to help you out."

"Help us out?"

The man nodded, his facial expression being stony, "That's what I said, help you out."

"Why?"

That was the question that wouldn't leave his head. Why would a complete stranger help him? He thought that it might be a scam of some sort. It definitely didn't seem legal from the way the man waited until they left the ministry to speak. Eddie was desperate enough to agree to almost anything, as long as his sisters were safe, of course.

The person's smile widened, "Because you're in a position to help him as well."

"I don't think I'm in a position to help anyone," Eddie grumbled.

"Oh, but you are. The European tournament. I understand that you haven't participated in any task so far."

That made Eddie stiffened. He forgot about that little detail. His parents' death meant that he skipped the Duelling Tournament. He was contractually obligated to at least compete in a task. It wasn't exactly magically enforceable, but it was still another thing over his head that could screw him over later.

Instead of panicking, he croaked, "Yes, I haven't."

"Good. My client wishes to send their agent in the tournament, to protect a family member of theirs."

"And he wants me to protect them?"

The man burst into laughter, "Merlin no, why would you ever think that? No, he wants to send someone disguised as you for that time. I know that the ICW checks for disguises and it's our problem to worry about. All we need you to do is lay low until the task ends and sign a document stating that you will not reveal this to anyone else. That's a month at most without any external contact in your home. We'll put up wards to protect you from any attacks, and make sure the three of you won't leave, and we'll even take care of anything you need. In exchange, my client is willing to compensate you with fifty thousand Galleons, more than enough to repay your father's debt and ensure that you and your sisters will not worry about gold for a long time."

The refusal that was at the tip of his tongue disappeared with that last sentence. Fifty thousand Galleons, that's an entire fortune. Together, his parents earned less than two hundred galleons a month and they were in a relatively good position to repay their debt. Their two thousand galleon debt would have been repaid in a year or two without too many issues, a bit more if there were some unforeseen expenses. Sure, they struggled to save any Galleons, and they rarely got any presents, but from the looks of it, his parents had planned things well enough to be done with any debt by the time the girls attended Hogwarts. They would have struggled for a couple of years left, but things would have gotten better.

Fifty thousand galleons would easily set him off to a career of his choice and ensure that his sisters would be comfortable until they graduated from Hogwarts as well. Hell, it would be enough to get tutored in the meantime and get his desired NEWTS.

The only reason he was tempted to refuse would have been because it would have been technically a crime. He would give someone permission to use his face to do whatever they wanted with it for a month, and he would never be able to say anything about it. However, the gold was too good, the idea of their problems being gone for just a month was enough.

He didn't say anything for a second until the man spoke up, "I understand that you're hesitant, but time is of the essence, and we have other potential candidates…"

Eddie didn't let the man speak up, "Fine, I'll do it."

The man smiled and took out a glowing piece of parchment, "Alright sign this. This is Geas Paper and will enforce the terms of the contract according to the severity of the violation. Read it very carefully then sign it with your blood. Don't worry, it's written that the contract is only active until the end of the Sixth Task of the European tournament, after that, you will not be bound in any way. That is unless you somehow discover the identity of the man who will be impersonating you, then you will not be able to reveal who it was without permission. To be fair, that's a very remote possibility at best. Other than that, you'll only have to do a few things to set things in motion and then not try to contact anyone outside your home for a month."

An hour later, Eddie had read and signed the entire document and came home with a bag of gold that felt far too heavy. The contract was oddly not that constrictive, not that he was an expert. As requested, he sent a letter to McGonagall, asking to return to the delegation for the Sixth task of the tournament since he planned on sitting his OWLS in June.

For some reason, he didn't feel good about signing up with some unknown client. Hell, he didn't even know the name of the man who got him to sign the contract. However, as he stared at his sisters in his home, he knew that he made the right choice. Maybe it was morally dubious, but he would have done a lot worse for his family.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: Not sure about this chapter, to be honest. I sort of wrote it in a hurry because work has been crazy in the last few days. I'll probably rewrite it depending on your feedback. I'm getting a bit hasty to start the next task since I've been planning it for a while. As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.