"Here yer go, Blake," Hagrid said, as he tossed Blake a briefcase. "I 'ave to say, I'm still not sure about all o' this…"
"Don't worry, Professor," Blake immediately promised, "No one's going to find out, and if they do, I'll take the blame I promise."
Hagrid sighed.
"If yer say so. By the way, the goblin at the till asked me to give yer this," he said, handing over a small letter. "Said it's private."
"Ah," Blake said knowingly. "I know what this is. Thanks, Professor!"
"Oh, stop with the 'Professor!" Hagrid said red-faced, trying to sound cross. "The year's over, it's just Hagrid now!" Apparently, even after a whole year of teaching, Hagrid was still giddy over his new title.
"Sorry, Professor," Blake said with a grin, to which Hagrid grew even more red. "Anyway, I've got to meet my friends. See you next year!"
/
On the train, the group's conversations had split. On one hand, Tracey, Zabini and Charlotte were discussing the upcoming Quidditch World Cup, and on the other, Blake and Daphne were deciding what the next course of action was going to be.
"So, we're waiting on Black to stabilise."
"Yes."
"We also still need a phoenix tear."
"Yes."
"And, just to confirm, you still need whatever secret it is from the Black family library?"
"Yes."
Daphne sighed.
"I'm starting to think that it would be easier to find a phoenix ourselves than to wait on Dumbledore's."
Blake snorted. "And how'd you plan on doing that? You planning on climbing a mountain anytime soon? You can't hire someone to do that y'know - the phoenix has to like them and stuff."
"If that's what it takes, then I will," Daphne responded factually. Blake shook his head, smiling.
"If you say so."
"Are you guys coming too?" Tracey asked.
"Huh?"
"The final," Tracey clarified. "My parents got us all tickets to the final! Blaise's did too!"
"We will be there," Daphne said, looking at Charlotte, who smiled gratefully. "I'll ask my parents to pull some strings, get you into the Top Box area with us, Tracey."
"Yes!" Tracey said, fist pumped in the air. "Thanks, Daph! Wait - what about Blaise?"
"I've already got a Top Box ticket."
"Of course you have," Tracey said snidely. "Rich prick."
"Shut up, Tracey. What about Renshaw?"
"Uh… how much is a ticket?"
"Normal ones go for around 50, Top Box is like 400."
Blake gaped.
"Galleons?"
"No, Knuts. Obviously, Galleons."
"That's such a rip off!"
"If you can't afford it, just say so," Daphne said idly.
"Yes, I can afford it, thank you very much," Blake snapped. "But still…"
"Come on, Blake," Tracey pleaded. "We've never done something during the summer with all 5 of us! Just get the normal ones, Daph said she can upgrade-"
"I never said-"
"And you know Connor would love it! He's probably going to ask about it soon anyway! And it's an amazing opportunity for your mum to see magic and the wizarding world!"
In a rare moment, Tracey had left Blake speechless from her argument. Damn… but fine!
"Fine then," Blake conceded with a sigh. "I'll get 3. But I don't need any Greengrass special treatment," he continued.
Zabini snorted.
"Your ego's that-"
"Yes, it is," Blake interrupted with a glare. But more importantly, I need to leave the best impression on the Greengrass parents as I can.
He turned to Daphne, who was smirking.
"Are there assigned seats for each family, or is it more of a walk in and sit where you want type of situation?"
"The second one."
"Fine then," he said, reaching into his trunk, and pulled out a bag.
"Here," he said, tossing them to Daphne. "That's a thousand Galleons. I'll give you the rest when school starts again. It's probably easier if you buy the tickets on our behalf, right?"
The other three in the carriage gawked, wide-eyed, as Daphne looked at the bag.
"Consider it done," she said, still smirking.
"Show off," Zabini grumbled.
"Anyway, who'd you guys reckon will win?" Blake asked, changing the subject. "My money's on us."
"No way," Daphne said, crinkling her nose. "It's going to be Bulgaria. They've got-"
"Wrong," Zabini said loudly. "It's Ireland, they-"
"Nope," Charlotte said. "It's France-"
"All of you are fools," Tracey tutted. "It's clearly going to be the US!"
"Are you stupid?" Zabini asked.
"No, you're the-"
"Shut up, Charlotte-"
"No, it's going to-"
"That's just-"
"None of you have any clue-"
Blake sighed as the carriage descended into shouting and insults. It's my own fault for thinking I could have a nap around these idiots.
/
As soon as Blake and Connor got home, Blake sat his family down at the dining table.
"I've got some good news," he said. "Well, three."
"Firstly, Mum," he began. Carol's eyes were expectant, as if she already knew what was coming.
"I won the prize again - here." Blake handed over the envelope, and Carol all but ripped it open.
"Ten thous-!"
"And for the second part of good news, y'know all this prize money I've been getting?"
"Yes…" Carol said suspiciously now, her jubilation changed into concern.
"Well, I haven't exactly been coming back with all of it."
"What? Blake, what're you doing with that money?" she said sharply.
"Relax, Mum," Blake laughed. "I put the rest of it into Gringotts - the wizarding bank - for investments. And guess what? The valuation's gone up by over 40%!"
"What?" Carol said loudly. "That's - that's amazing!"
"How much is that?" Connor asked, confused about the whole thing.
"It's worth around like £50,000 right now - I'm gonna keep adding to it, and hopefully, by the end of my time in Hogwarts, it'll be way more!"
"No way!" Connor said, amazed.
"Oh, Blake," Carol said, hugging him tightly. "That really is incredible! I'm so proud of you - and I know your dad would be too."
Blake smiled tightly, suddenly reminded again of that day that the Dementors had attacked him and his friends, and he'd been able to do nothing about it, all because of his issues with his father's death.
"Thanks, Mum. Anyway, there's one last piece of good news - you're going to love this, Connor."
"What is it?" he said, wide eyed.
"We're all going to… the Quidditch World Cup!"
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