Chapter 145: Chapter 145: What?!
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"Bloody hell, that was brilliant, mate!" Ron calls out, apparently now oblivious to the Veela aura that usually turns him into a blubbering fool.
"C'est fantastique..." Fleur says, her dark blue eyes alight. "I 'ave never seen shields like zat."
I blush at the look I'm getting from her. "It's a standard Shield Charm, but I can center it on my palms, control the size, and feed it more energy as needed."
This is one of the things Hermione and I discovered in our more in-depth experiments, after I pointed out the mistake - the one that did not involve lips, that is - in our first one.
As long as I stick to standard wizarding spells, I'm much, much better off.
The fireball was close enough to the Blasting Curse that it was still possible, but let's just say that trying to directly break one of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration was a rather poor decision on my part, even if it could have solved my whole abject poverty thing.
"You're getting good with it, too," Harry says, "I wish I could do that."
I snort. "The only reason I have to be able to do it is because I can't just layer up overpowered Shields like you can. Unlike you I have to conserve my magic."
"That doesn't sound like anything I've ever heard of," Fleur says, brows furrowed.
It shouldn't, considering I'm not even a wizard. Obviously I don't share that little tidbit, and Harry and Hermione suddenly look similarly interested in their shoes.
"How much did you use on me?" Fleur asks quietly.
I blush at that. "I don't know, that was...well, most of it was not my normal magic. All I can tell you is that almost half of my normal magic wasn't enough."
"H-how?"
"William doesn't have much in the way of magical reserves," Hermione says, "but what he does have he can control better than anyone I've ever seen. I wouldn't be surprised if he could fire a single Stunner stronger than Dumbledore's, though Dumbledore could fire a hundred of them."
That deepens my blush, of course, so I walk over and put my arm around her and kiss her on top of her head. "I'm glad you aren't mad at me anymore, my dearest."
She quickly throws my arm off her and glares at me. "I am! I just...forgot." In response I merely laugh, so she slaps me on the shoulder. "Prat," she mutters.
"So who's next?" I ask. "Personally I want to see how long Harry lasts against Daph and a fellow Triwizard Champion."
"I really don't like you, William," Harry mutters as the others nod in agreement with me.
~~~~~
After falling into the rhythm of classes and training, I freeze in panic when, in the Common Room before bed one night, Hermione plops down next to me and suddenly asks if I've figured out what I'm going to say to Daphne's father this weekend.
"I completely forgot about that," I say in a dull voice. What am I going to say? At first I think I could just ask about Horcruxes much as we did the Delacours, but we don't have the Life Debt to rely on.
"What is it, William?" Hermione looks quite concerned; I imagine my face is quite pale.
I look over to see Harry deeply involved in a game of chess with Neville and Ron hovering to watch.
So I set up a Privacy Charm for just the two of us. It's curious that I can manage it so easily now, as though I don't even need to think about it.
"I was just wondering if how we could ask him about the Horcruxes directly, and that got me second guessing exactly how safe we are as it is, after sharing it with the Delacours."
"Did we get more than their word that the Life Debt protected us? Should we have demanded something that we know for certain would have worked, like an Unbreakable Vow?"
Hermione sucks in a breath. "I just don't know, William," she says, eyes distant as she ponders that. After a few moments she shakes it off.
"I think we made the right choice, if nothing else because of the Life Debt. Add that to the fact that much of the British wizarding world look down upon them because they're Veela, and your secrets are important weapons in that fight..."
I nod. "I think so too, but we've still left open an avenue of attack."
"You sound like Professor Moody," she says.
I clap my hands and yell, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
That earns me a poke to the kidney after she jumps at the loud noise. "Prat!"
"Sorry," I say, though my laugh only earns me another jab, so I try to turn it into a cough.
"Right, well that still leaves us with the original question," I say, and thankfully my tone is satisfactory enough to her that there are no more kidney jabs coming.
"I feel like we can trust Daphne's father based on my impressions of him so far, but I'm leaning heavily toward not telling him. I think it's too dangerous."
"He seemed nice enough at the Second Task," Hermione says.
"Daphne says he knows blood purity is rubbish, but he's also a shrewd businessman and he desires neutrality. That's not to mention he could just go to Dumbledore with it in order to protect his daughters."
"It was difficult enough to convince the Delacours that we really didn't want Dumbledore involved yet, and they aren't even British!"
"Daphne's father could every easily decide it's in his best interests to divulge that information unless we could get him to take a binding oath or something."
"Obviously he wouldn't take an Unbreakable Vow, but there are binding contracts, like the Goblet of Fire," Hermione says, thinking out loud. Then she frowns. "I wouldn't know how to make one of those, though."
Before I can stop myself, a bubble of laughter escapes me.
"What?"
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