Chapter 62.2- Doom Days

“Is that so?” I drawled in my best impression of a certain Potion Master. Speaking of him, it was still surprising that Dumbledore hadn’t gotten him back to Hogwarts yet. He’d gotten off the Obstruction of Justice charges very easily. Under veritaserum he had testified that when I had knocked him into the wall with my disarming charm he had suffered a concussion and so hadn’t been thinking clearly when he made his decisions.

“Quite so. I tried to get a conversation with you last time but you were so busy that it would have hurt to interrupt your time with your friends. Now today without said friends, I find myself only able to see how from the corner of my eyes”

“How interesting. I would get my eyes checked, if I were you” I said, not giving an inch for whatever he was insinuating.

“You are quite a duelist, Potter” he said, changing tacks once he realised he would not be getting any from me.

“Thank you.”

“No, no. It is not necessarily a compliment mere a statement of fact. I have seen many duelists fight in this tournament, and few would have been able to dispatch Aleksander Volkov with such ease. Yourself and Miss Okonkwo are poised to give us the U17 duel of the century. And for the first time in what feels like forever, the U17 champion is guaranteed to be under the age of 17” He said.

“Wonderful” I said, for lack of options, and then finally a tray passed us by. I reached out, grabbing another flute while depositing my empty one. I tapped my wand against the stem of the glass, ignoring the way Russo’s eyes narrowed at the gesture.

“You do not trust our meals?” I wondered if he was truly offended.

“Nothing of such. Merely that my godfather has managed to run afoul of some interesting creatures and I have no wish to become a victim.”

“Oh you mean the goblins? Those nasty creatures? We detected a few of them attempting to break through the wards this evening. They have been thoroughly dissuaded from attempting such again. But I wonder how your Godfather managed to run afoul of such a Goblin clan” There was the fishing for information again.

“Oh Sirius is a man of many vices and few restraints” I said, and that was it. I said nothing further on the matter.

“Have you considered next year’s world championship?”

“To some extent. I believe it is customary for the U17 champion to take a gap year to train and prepare. Isn’t the point of this thing to find the sponsors to make that sabbatical possible?”

“For most people, yes. But if you cared about finding sponsors, you would not have used an aversion ward here. Those with the eyes to see have seen, and they are not pleased.” I shrugged.

“They can keep their gold” I took another sip of my champagne, allowing the taste swirl through my mouth.