After that day in Hogsmeade, the exams were over, and the day arrived when all the students and some of the teachers left Hogwarts, as the school year had ended and they wouldn't return until September 1st.
During this time, I managed to complete all my first-year exams. The teachers seemed a little surprised that I had finished them in just two weeks and that my mastery of those spells and potions had developed so quickly.
***
It took me a little over a month to finish all my exams. During this time, I had to meet with the Minister because, as they were organizing the Triwizard Tournament and wanted to use Hogwarts as the venue, they needed my approval. If I hadn't appeared, Dumbledore could have handled it, and since I had planned some things, I needed the tournament to be held here to carry them out. So I agreed on the condition that only students of legal age would participate, which the Minister accepted. After that, I let Dumbledore take care of everything else. Before leaving, the Minister invited me to the Quidditch World Cup final between Ireland and Bulgaria.
I also went to Gringotts to finalize matters regarding my vaults and inheritance. While there, I asked Ragnok if he was familiar with Horcrux magic. As soon as I mentioned the word, his face turned serious, and he told me he hoped I wouldn't want to store any objects containing that kind of dark magic in my vault, as it's forbidden. He added that if anything like that is found in any of my vaults, all my belongings in Gringotts will be confiscated, and my descendants will never be able to open a vault again.
When he told me that, I assured him that I wasn't trying to keep anything like that, but that I wanted to know if they were able to remove the Horcrux without destroying the object it was enchanted with. Once he told me that they had a method to remove it without damaging the object, I mentioned that someone had used an object from my family for something like that, and that I knew where it was hidden, but I hadn't been able to get hold of it yet. I also mentioned that I had information that other objects that belonged to the founders of Hogwarts were used in the same way by the same wizard, and that there was a good chance that one of those objects was stored in the vault of one of his closest followers.
As soon as he learned that the wizard I was referring to was named Tom Marvolo Riddle, who later became known as Lord Voldemort, he said that he had an idea of who the wizards closest to him might be, and that if any object containing that type of dark magic was found, the vaults would be confiscated, the Horcrux destroyed, and that I, as an informant, would receive a reward equivalent to 10% of the value of the confiscated vaults.
I told him that if the object they found belonged to one of the founders, I'd like to have it returned to me, since they were like my own blood family. Ragnok told his assistant to go with a group of goblins to start searching the vaults.
Before I left Ragnok's office, his assistant returned and whispered something to him. Then Ragnok told me they had found something in a vault, which, just as he had said, was a Horcrux in what appeared to be Hufflepuff's cup. He let me accompany him to see how they removed the Horcrux from the cup.
It was quite a sight. The goblins used a kind of ritual where they transferred the Horcrux into a pig, and then a group of goblins fought it inside a cage. The goblins outside the cage laughed, booed, and cheered on those fighting inside. It was quite a spectacle, and I even joined in, cheering on the warriors.
When Ragnok told me I could keep the cup as my reward for the report, plus a number of galleons, I replied that he should leave the cup in my family vault and give the galleons as a reward to the warriors who fought against the horcrux. As soon as Ragnok told them they would be rewarded, the warriors became more enthusiastic and fought with even more zeal.
After taking care of Gringotts business, my exams, and most importantly, the Horcrux, I had time to go to the house just outside London. It was a small, two-story mansion, and I had to call Grey to drive me there. I made some changes, decorating it in a mix of classic and modern styles. Around that time, I also received letters from Harry and Hermione. They told me they were spending a few days of their holidays with the Weasleys. They both congratulated me when I told them I'd managed to pass all my exams for the three years and that I'd probably be in my fourth year once I officially started in September. I was just waiting for the owl letter with my results and the list of materials I'd need, and we agreed to do our shopping together.
The day before the Quidditch final, I had to return to Hogsmeade, as that's where someone from the Minister was supposed to pick me up.
I had to wear formal clothes as I was representing my family at the event the minister organized for foreign representatives. There I also met several 'important' families, according to the minister's introduction. They used the occasion to talk about the Triwizard Tournament, as there were representatives from both Bulgaria and France, although the French representative had to leave first for some reason, and the minister spent most of his time trying to please the Bulgarian representative.
Afterwards, I was invited to watch the match from the Minister's Box. I lagged a little behind them, as I didn't want to continue their political discussions, so I witnessed the exchange between the Malfoys and Harry. I saw their mood shift from excitement to annoyance, but then to surprise when they saw me. I went over to greet them, and they officially introduced me to Ginny and Mr. Weasley. I wanted to stay with them, but the Minister sent someone to fetch me, so I had to leave, promising to meet up after the match.
Watching the game was interesting; I hadn't expected to get so excited about a game, but it turned out to be more entertaining compared to the discussions in the box. Another funny thing was seeing some of the men, especially the younger ones, acting like fools and almost jumping out of the box when the Veelas, the Bulgarian national team's cheerleaders, appeared. The match ended when the Bulgarian Seeker, Viktor Krum, caught the Golden Snitch, although Ireland won by a margin of 50 points.
When the match ended and I left the stands, I ran into the boys, who were visibly excited. They were waiting for me to accompany them to their tent. We'd been laughing and chatting about the game, but when we went inside, I noticed Ginny seemed annoyed about something. In comparison, everyone else was laughing and joking, especially the twins, who were teasing Ron, saying he was in love with Viktor Krum.
I was about to try one of the snacks Ginny had offered Hermione and me when I felt my detector bracelet go off. I looked in disbelief at the chocolate, since I never expected it to have anything on it.
All my jewelry had been modified by my mother after someone tried to drug me at an event I attended with Granny, and all those jewels were on my bracelet. I had a habit of taking any food or drink with the hand that had the detector on it.
I discreetly hid the chocolate in my bracelet to check its contents later and prevented Hermione from eating hers. I wanted to tell Hermione there was something suspicious about the chocolate, but that's when the riots started, and Mr. Weasley told us we had to leave.
Outside the tent, it was complete chaos; many people were running and screaming, and in the distance, we could see explosions, flames, and smoke. I'd been so preoccupied with other things that I'd forgotten the Death Eaters were about to attack.
When we left the tent, Mr. Weasley gave instructions to evacuate and stay together, but as we did so, we were swept along by the panicked crowd.
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