Of Veela and Wolves - Part 6

It was official, the ministry was run by idiots. He had always suspected it, but now he knew for sure. Informing the schools what had happened made sense. Harry was glad no one blamed him or thought that he had somehow cheated his way to be in the tournament. However, finding out where the portkey was supposed to be sent and then plastering it all across the Daily Prophet was beyond stupid. They could have set up a trap. For the first time in years, perhaps ever, they knew where and when Voldemort was going to be.

Harry waited in the room for the other champions to be called. He couldn't be given information on the tasks before the others. That would violate the rules recognized by the Goblet. He had to be treated like any other champion. As such, he would also be given a score for each task as well. That part he was pretty sure wasn't necessary, but the people in charge were adamant about it.

Victor Krum, the best Seeker ever according to Ron, entered. The quite young man nodded to Harry, then leaned against the nearby wall.

That was one down.

Harry felt the charge in the air before the door opened. A roguish smile crossed his face as Fleur stepped into the room. She glared at him. Her eyes flashed Veela for a moment before she stood on the opposite side of the room from him. Oddly enough, Victor didn't react visibly to her presence. His pulse increased and his body temperature rose, but the young man kept control.

Further examination of the others, or glaring at Harry in Fleur's case, was interrupted as the final champion entered the room. Cedric gave the others a genuine smile. His eyes went distant as he looked at Fleur, but he shook it off before he made a fool of himself.

Cedric Diggory looked like a movie star. Harry was sure that if they put a lightning bolt scar on his forehead people would be more than happy to accept him as The Boy Who Lived. He'd definitely sell more posters. To complicate matters, it was nearly impossible to hate him. Not even Snape had a disparaging word about him.

Harry's eyes watered as a cloud of cologne and body odor assaulted his senses. It only got worse when Ludo Bagman stormed in the room. The man was as excitable as a chihuahua in a bubble wrap. Harry took an instant dislike for the man. Victor broke his stoic vigil to cover his nose. Fleur shifted her glare to the large child for a brief moment before returning it to Harry. The charming smile that Cedric wore lost its luster and became more forced.

A clearly overwhelmed Percy Weasley trailed behind the man. He carried a clipboard with papers that floated around it in a slow orbit. His usually immaculately styled hair needed a comb, and his socks didn't match. While not uncommon for the younger Weasleys, Percy held himself to a higher standard. To see him like this further enforced Harry's impression of the Ministry.

"Percy." Harry waved the wizard over.

The wizard looked around the room in a daze. His eyes found Harry. Percy rushed over to him with a desperate edge in his eye.

"Harry." Percy slid to a stop in front of him. "Harry, thank Merlin. I am so glad to see you. I got promoted! It's so much work. So much responsibility. I have my own office. I think. Possibly. I don't know. I do have my own owl. Six of them. Had to get more, the poor thing was run ragged." He held up a hand to show bandaged fingers. "Did you know owl bites can't be healed through magical means? The innate magic that allows them to travel so quickly and efficiently makes it impossible."

"Percy." Harry jumped to his feet. He grabbed the disheveled wizard and placed him in the chair. "Breath. Are you ok?"

"Of course." Percy laughed too loudly. "I haven't slept more than three hours in the last week, but I'm fine. That nice lady in the canteen gave me a special potion to help me stay awake."

Percy pulled a vial out from his robe. There was hardly any potion left inside. Harry scrunched his eyebrows in concern.

"Don't worry." Percy pulled out another handful of the potions. "I've got more."

His newfound passion for potions made it easy to identify the potion. Pepper=Up Potion was meant to be taken in small doses. A normal dose was equivalent to an entire pot of muggle coffee and each vial held five doses.

"Percy." He said slowly. "How many are you taking a day?"

Percy held up his hand. He muttered to himself as he did some sort of math using his bandaged fingers to track the count. His eyes went unfocused as he caught the way the light moved through his digits.

Harry snapped his fingers in front of his face to get him to focus.

"Three." Percy said with firm nod.

"Three." Harry sighed. "That's not-"

"Vials." Percy finished. "Three vials in the morning. Two in the afternoon, and another four at night. Merlin I cannot get through the night with any less than four."

Harry's jaw dropped. He turned to the others to see them discussing the details of the upcoming events. Something about wands and the first task. They'd let him know if it was important. It was that fierce, blue glare that caught his attention.

"Fleur." He waved her over.

She stared at him but made no move.

"Please." He whispered.

Cautiously, she walked over to him.

"Your allure." He kept his voice low. "Can it be used to put someone to sleep?"

She arced a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him.

"I would not use such a dishonorable tactic." Fleur snapped at him.

"Merlin, help me." Harry groaned. "This is my friend Percy."

He moved to show her the wizard. Percy, to his credit, didn't seem to notice the allure. He was enraptured by the shadows his fingers made when he wiggled them. Fleur gasped at the state of him.

"He's a ministry official." Harry continued. "And, in desperate need of some sleep. If he were anyone else, I would just stun him."

"You wish me to use my allure and take the blame?" Her icy gaze cut through him.

"Can you focus your allure to knock him out?" Harry asked in a growl. "It's not a spell, so they can't track it. If you're able to just use it on him, then no one else would know."

She studied him for a long moment. Whatever words she was going to say were interrupted as Percy snorted. His head had drooped to his chest for a moment. The ginger wizard hopped to his feet and pulled out another potion. His eyes unfocused and a silly smile crossed his face as he dropped back into the chair. Aside from the obvious erection, there were no signs that Percy had just been hit by a powerful allure.

Harry quickly removed his robe and covered his friend before anyone could notice.

"What happened to Whitney?" Ludo yelled from across the room.

"Whitney?" Harry asked. Why was the man so loud?

"My partner." Ludo motioned to Percy.

"Weasley." Harry corrected. "Percy Weasley. Your partner is overworked and needs to sleep. Surely, this world class tournament could afford some support staff."

"Right, Weasley." Bagman flushed. "Good lad. Driven. More staff, of course. We have plenty of funding."

The man shifted attention away from the sleeping wizard to speak much too loud about something else.

"Thank you." Harry whispered to Fleur.

She gave him a curt nod before she returned to her spot across the room.

~~~
AN: This chapter is a bit short. I will make up for it in the next one.
~~~
Edit: It's Ludo Bagman not Hugo