Another City, Not My Own

"ANOTHER CITY, NOT MY OWN"
Chapter Eight
"Dinner Conversations"

Seasoned travelers will tell you that a boat on water is one of the most relaxing places in the world to sleep. In the gentle pitch and roll of the waves beneath the ship, there is the sensation of being slowly rocked like a child in some primeval cradle on the sea. The rush of waters surrounding the vessel penetrates the dreamer's mind, reviving long-hidden memories of the unremitting peace and security that existed within the soothing dark estuaries of the mother's womb.

Harry discovered all of this as he slept, his dreams haunted by visions of a golden beach stretching out along a smooth azure sea. Most of the time, the beach in his dream was empty, but occasionally it would be occupied by a certain red-haired girl with brown eyes and a dazzling smile, who waded into the knee-deep surf wearing a flowing white dress, and gestured to Harry to follow her in. It was during one of these dreams that the waves underneath the Maquis Mouse II gave a sudden lurch. Harry woke up in his bed just in time to hear the retreating roar of a speedboat cutting too fast through the harbor outside. With some bitterness, he thought to himself that the boater, whoever he was, had just robbed him of a chance to reenact the beach scene in From Here To Eternity with that red-haired girl in his dreams. Then he rolled over and went back to sleep.

Sometime during his long sleep, Harry became aware that the Carnival in Latrece was now in full swing. A mixture of different types of music--disco, reggae, salsa, rap--flowed in from outside the boat and slowly permeated his mind as he slept. He was conscious of great masses of people moving through the Vieux Port, of shouts of joy and laughter, and singing voices. He heard the cheering of large crowds close by, and the thrum of traffic on the Promenade de la Plage gradually increased throughout the day.

At six o'clock that evening, Madame Delacour woke him in the guest stateroom. "You had better get up now," she whispered. "Gaston and Gabrielle went out this afternoon to watch one of the Carnival parades. But it is over by now, and they will be back soon. I am making dinner upstairs. You might want to take a quick shower."

She put a clean folded towel and washcloth on the bed next to him and opened the door leading from the guest stateroom into the head. "There is soap and shampoo. And I think Gaston has a few extra razors if you need one, in the cabinet behind the mirror."

She disappeared down the hallway. Harry retrieved his glasses from the end table drawer, and sat on the edge of the bed, listening to the blend of sounds, voices, and music from outside. It felt as if a palpable spirit had possessed the city--the spirit of the Mardi Gras celebration.

While he didn't exactly feel like celebrating, Harry did feel as if his own spirit had been renewed. His mind was clear, and his body was rested now. Through the oval-shaped porthole in the cabin wall, he could see the fading sunlight outside. Night was coming, and somehow he knew that this night would bring yet another test of his magical skills. A part of him feared the coming test--but there was a part of him, he knew, that also welcomed it. He sat very still for a few minutes in the gathering shadows of the room, enjoying these last quiet moments before his task started.

He collected his change of clothes, his comb, and his toothbrush from his backpack in the storage cabinet, and went into the head, closing the door behind him. The head contained a sink, a toilet, and a cylindrical shower with a sliding glass door that rotated around the shower edge on a curved track. Harry undressed and stood in the shower for ten minutes, his hands pressed against the white-tile wall, letting the hot, steaming water pour down across the back of his head and between his shoulder blades. Then he dried himself off, shaved with a razor that he found in the medicine cabinet that hung behind a mirror over the sink, and brushed his teeth.

There were wall shelves on either side of the mirror, holding French-labeled bottles of shaving cream, shampoo, conditioners, and other bath-related items. Just to the left of the sink, sitting inside a holster in the wall, was a small yellow device that looked like the nozzle of a vacuum cleaner. Curious, Harry picked up the nozzle and discovered that it was attached to the end of a long plastic hose running into the wall. As he pulled it from the holster, the nozzle suddenly roared to life and shot a blast of hot air into Harry's face that nearly knocked his glasses off! Startled, he dropped the nozzle and it clattered against the sink. He picked it up again, and quickly stuffed the plastic hose back into the holster. The device shut itself off.

There was a knock at the door, and Madame Delacour's voice sounded from the hallway. "Is everything all right, Harry?"

"Uhh, yes, everything's fine," Harry said, sheepishly. "I just discovered your electric hair dryer."

Madame Delacour chuckled at this. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I think I'm all right. Thank you."

He looked around the bathroom as he combed his damp hair. The Delacour family's ability to adapt to Muggle devices surprised him a bit. As far as he could tell, this was a Muggle-made yacht that just happened to be owned by a wizard family. Only a few magical features had been added to it. Harry knew some wizard families--the Weasleys, for instance--who would be lost on a boat like this. Molly Weasley would have had trouble starting the electric stove or the microwave without magic. Arthur Weasley probably would have run through the ship, tearing things apart to see how they worked. And the twins, Fred and George, would have wanted to take the yacht on a spin around the harbor which, Harry knew, would probably result in the city of Latrece being qualified for international disaster relief aid.

But the Delacours seemed very comfortable living in a Muggle environment and using Muggle devices (although they did add a few magic touches to their yacht, like the shell phone and the enchanted crepe maker). There were no servants on this ship, Harry noticed--no butlers or house-elves to cater to the family's every need. This told him that, although they obviously had money, the Delacours were people who still enjoyed doing things for themselves. Madame Delacour, he remembered, had made this morning's breakfast with the pleasure of someone who enjoyed cooking for her family. The lack of servants on this boat also meant that Monsieur Delacour was probably the captain of his own ship, and probably a skilled seaman if he could pilot a boat this big.

The nature of the Delacours also surprised Harry. He'd always imagined that, if he ever met Fleur's family, they would be cold and unfriendly, the way Fleur had been when he'd first met her. But the family on this yacht was anything but inhospitable. And while they were obviously rich, they weren't going out of their way to impress him with their money (the way the Dursleys tried to impress everyone with their wealth). Of course, their warm welcome of him was probably influenced by his rescue of Gabrielle from the Hogwarts lake a few years ago. But somehow, Harry felt that the Delacours would have extended this kind of welcome to any friend of their daughter's who needed help.

He took a deep breath and looked at himself in the misty-edged mirror. His face was pink and scrubbed now, no dark circles under his eyes. He felt ready to take on whatever challenges lay ahead tonight. If the Delacours could show him a way to get past the crystal lock in the chateau, he was going to beat Lucius Malfoy at his own game.

He changed into the clothes from his backpack, another black sweater and black jeans that might make it harder for anyone to spot him at night. Returning to the guest stateroom, he pulled his shoes out of the drawer under the bed and put them on. Then he left the stateroom, and went down the hall. A delicious smell came from the galley as he walked up the stairs to the upper deck.

* * *

Gabrielle and Monsieur Delacour were back. Monsieur Delacour was sitting at the dinette, and Gabrielle was setting glasses of iced tea on the table, next to the plates and utensils. Madame Delacour was at the kitchen counter, placing pickles from a jar onto a small glass serving tray that already held slices of ham and sliced hard-boiled eggs. The oven in the kitchen was on, and there were pots on the range top once more. Through the windows, Harry noticed that it was almost completely dark in the Vieux Port outside.

"Well," said Monsieur Delacour, with a smile. "The corpse emerges from the depths of Purgatory, I see. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, very well, thank you," Harry replied.

"'Fleur called a few minutes ago on the shell phone," said Madame Delacour as she put the tray of appetizers on the table. "The latest word from Hogwarts is that Madame McGonagall is still holding on, still fighting the poison."

Monsieur Delacour gestured to the empty seat across the dinette table. "Come, sit down. We will enjoy this fine meal that my wife is preparing for us. And then when we are finished, we will talk about what you 'ave to do tonight."

"That sounds good," Harry said. "I hate to discuss espionage on an empty stomach."

From the galley counter, Gabrielle brought a cutting board with a sliced baguette and a small cup of butter on it. "Come, 'Arry. You sit 'ere by me."

She sat down at the table and moved around the settee to give him room. Monsieur Delacour was pouring himself a glass of wine from a bottle on the table. He gestured with the wine bottle as Harry sat down, asking if his guest would like some as well. Harry shook his head.

Madame Delacour sat down beside her husband at the table. Harry watched as Gabrielle spread mayonnaise from a cup on the glass tray on a slice of hard-boiled egg. Through the window, he could see crowds of people moving outside. He heard festive music (Jimmy Buffett's "Cheeseburger In Paradise" and Prince's "1999") coming from nearby boats. Across the Vieux Port, the russet facades of the medieval townhouses shimmered with a kind of ethereal glow. The lights of the city were coming on, glimmering sharply in the slowly-darkening waters surrounding the marina.

"Sounds as if the party's in full swing out there," Harry commented, as he took a slice of bread from the cutting board and buttered it.

"Oh, is a wonderful fête," said Gabrielle, smiling. "Papa and I, we went to ze Grande Parade zis afternoon. It was merveilleux! Zey had so many colorful floats and costumes in ze parade. We even caught some of ze doubloons!"

"You caught some of the what?" Harry asked.

"'Ere, I show you." From her pocket, Gabrielle pulled out a stack of small aluminum coins. She put them in Harry's hand. They were souvenir coins of the Carnival, Harry saw, colored pink, blue, purple, or gold. On one side, the coins were stamped with the image of a knight in armor with his sword drawn heroically. The other side was stamped with the words, "Carnival du Latrece," followed underneath by the current year and the words "Énormément de Aventure."

"What does that mean? 'Énormément de Aventure?'" asked Harry.

"It means, 'A World Of Adventure,'" Gabrielle replied. "It is ze theme of ze Carnival zis year. All ze parade floats, zey show people 'aving adventures. You know, cowboys, and ze Musketeers, and ze Knights of ze Round Table? Ze people on ze parade floats, zey throw zese doubloons to ze crowds zat are watching ze parade. And zey also throw beads, like zis." From her other pocket, she pulled out a string of plastic red beads. "And zey throw ozzer things too, like flowers and noughat candy. Is too bad you missed it. Is a lot of fun to watch."

She took one of the doubloons from Harry. Grinning, she tossed it in the air and caught it, in the exact same way that her father had tossed a coin in the air when Harry had met him at the restaurant that morning.

As they sat at the table, the Delacours asked Harry about his flight through England and France the previous night. Harry described his trip through Normandy, Burgundy, and Provence, mentioning that he'd decided to bypass Paris.

Gabrielle asked questions about Hogwarts. "What is it like zere? We did not see too much of it when we went to ze school. Do you like ze teachers? Fleur tells us you 'ave ghosts at 'Ogwarts. Are zey friendly? We did not get a chance to meet zem zere. You know, zey do not allow ghosts at Beauxbatons."

Harry told her as much as he could about his school. When they finished the appetizers, Madame Delacour served the main course of the meal, which turned out to be more crepes. But these were lighter and not as sweet as the raspberry-filled crepes that she had served for breakfast. They were stuffed with ham and broccoli and covered with a creamy white sauce called "Mornay sauce" which, according to Madame Delacour, contained a blend of Parmesan and Gruyere cheese and Dijon mustard.

"You see," Monsieur Delacour said to Harry, patting his middle, "my wife keeps telling me I should lose some weight. But then she feeds me excellent food like this."

Madame Delacour gave her husband a deadpan look as she sat down at the table again "Now, tell us, Harry," she said, turning to him. "When was the last time you saw our Fleur?"

"Well, I spoke to her through the fire last night, just before I came down here," Harry replied. "But the last time I saw her in person was last August, in Diagon Alley. She was there with Bill Weasley at Gringotts Bank."

"Ahh, yes, Bill," said Monsieur Delacour, with a smile. "He came to stay with us for a few days at our house in Paris at Christmas time."

"We like him very much," said Madame Delacour, also smiling. "He is a very smart boy. And we could see that Fleur simply adores him."

"Hmmph. It is good that Bill is so smart," Monsieur Delacour said to his wife. "He can keep our Fleur in line! Make sure she behaves 'erself, no?"

"Bill gave me a trick wand for Christmas," Gabrielle told Harry. "It turns into a rubber chicken."

"Oh, really," Harry said, grinning. "Yes, that's one of Fred and George's favorite jokes."

"Fred and George, those are his brothers. They are twins, oui?" asked Monsieur Delacour, gesturing with his fork.

"Yes. They just opened a magical joke shop in Diagon Alley."

"Bill told us a lot about you, Harry," said Madame Delacour. "He said you were very close to his family, and that you were good friends with his brother, Ron, at Hogwarts."

"Yes," said Harry. "Ron is my best friend. He's not at Hogwarts right now. Well, I mean, he's still a student there. But right now, he's with his brother Charlie in the Dragon Mountains in Romania. I'm not exactly sure what they're doing out there. They're on...some kind of special assignment. Arthur Weasley's not telling anyone about it. But we hope Ron'll get back to Hogwarts soon."

"And Bill also said he had a sister at Hogwarts," Madame Delacour said. "Her name is Ginny, I believe. He said you were close to her as well."

Harry shrugged, awkwardly. "Yes, we're fairly close. Ginny is my girlfriend, actually." He quickly took a sip from his glass of iced tea.

"Do you ever kiss her?" Gabrielle asked, casually.

Harry choked into his glass. Monsieur Delacour burst out laughing.

"Gabrielle!" Madame Delacour exclaimed. But she was smiling too.

Harry set his glass down on the table and looked Gabrielle straight in the eye.

"Every--chance--I--get!!"

he said, grinning at her.

Gabrielle and her parents laughed heartily. Harry wiped his mouth with a napkin, and looked at Gabrielle incredulously. "Not shy with your questions, are you?"

Gabrielle shook her head, giggling.

"So tell us about your petite amie," said Monsieur Delacour. "Is she a nice girl?"

My "petite amie?"

Harry thought, smiling. What would Ginny think if I called her THAT?

"Yes, she's a wonderful girl," he said to Monsieur Delacour. "We're a couple of maladjusted misfits, so we get on very well together. Ginny's very smart. She's a lot of fun to be around. She's got a spirit that's unlike anything I've ever seen in anyone else."

"Is she anything like her brother, Bill?" Madame Delacour asked.

Harry thought about this for a moment. "Well, yes. She's very much like Bill. She has red hair, of course. She's very smart, like Bill. She's very sure of what she wants. She's working for a scholarship to the Ars Medicina School of Magical Medicine in Paris. She wants to be a wizard doctor. She's set her goals, and she's determined to meet them." He pursed his lips, thoughtfully. "I like that about her. I think it's great that she knows what she wants to do with her life, and she's working towards it."

"What about Monsieur Weasley and his wife?" Monsieur Delacour asked. "You are close to them as well, are you not?"

Harry smiled. "You wouldn't be pumping me for information about potential future in-laws, would you, Monsieur Delacour?"

His host smiled at his wife. "'E catches on fast, doesn't 'e?"

"I believe Molly Weasley was the lady that I saw with you at Hogwarts at the Triwizard Tournament," said Madame Delacour. "She was there with Bill, was she not?"

"Yes, they came up to see me compete in the third task," said Harry.

"I did not get a chance to meet her that night," Madame Delacour said. "But Fleur tells us she is a very nice lady. She has welcomed Fleur several times at their house."

"Molly Weasley is one of the finest people on this earth," Harry told her. "She practically adopted me when I came to Hogwarts. She's the mother I never had. She's always treated me like one of her own. Some times when I've really needed help, she's been there for me."

"Fleur tells us that the family is not rich, but that they are very good people," said Madame Delacour. "She is proud to work with Monsieur Weasley. She believes in his cause, you see. She says he is a bit disorganized, but he is a good commandant. She is glad to work with him against the Death Eaters."

"It's true the Weasley's aren't rich," said Harry. "Although that's starting to change, now that the twins have opened their joke shop in Diagon Alley. And Bill's made a few investments for the family through Gringotts Bank, that are starting to pay off. But Arthur Weasley's an excellent man. He's working hard for magical justice. He cares a lot for his family, provides for them as best he can. He likes to study Muggles and their devices. It drives his wife mad. But he's really a very good wizard."

"Oh, I don't know," said Monsieur Delacour, folding his hands. "I think Muggles are very interesting to study. I find them quite amusing myself."

Half-smiling, Madame Delacour looked sideways at her husband. It was a look that reminded Harry of Molly Weasley when she was humoring Arthur.

* * *

As the next course in the meal, Madame Delacour served a light salad that included lettuce, tomatoes, olives, and vinaigrette dressing. The conversation at the dinner table turned to the Delacours' life in Paris. As Fleur had told him, they lived in a house in the Mysterieux Quarter, an area of Paris that was home to many well-to-do French wizard families. Parisian Muggles tended to avoid the Mysterieux Quarter, thanks to magical safeguards put in place centuries ago by the wizards who lived there. Any Muggle who ventured down its streets began to see strange images in the shadows on the sidewalk, or suddenly remembered that they had left the water running in the bathtub at home, and promptly turned back. Ten minutes later, they wouldn't even remember having visited the quarter. As far as anyone knew, the Mysterieux Quarter didn't appear on any Muggle map, or in any Muggle travel guidebook of Paris.

The Delacours' house was a three-story town house on Rue du Thaumaturge. According to Gabrielle (who did most of the talking, as Harry listened closely, trying to catch everything she said through her heavy French accent), the Delacour family had owned the house since the eighteenth century. It had massive stone fireplaces, mosaic tile floors, a marble staircase, and a rooftop terrace overlooking the Seine, from which you could see the Pont des Arts bridge, the bell towers of Notre Dame, and the Palais de Justice. The house had a staff of five servants, including two house-elves whom the Delacours had freed from their servitude, but who continued to live with and work for the family out of their own preference.

"Normally, we take zem with us when we go on holiday," Gabrielle told Harry. "But zey do not like being on ze water. It makes zem seasick. So we let zem stay home when we go on ze boat."

Monsieur Delacour gave Harry a short account of his family's history. The Delacours, he said, could trace their lineage back to the time of the Normans. Throughout the centuries, members of the family had served as court wizards and astrologers for the kings, dukes, and emperors of France--hence the name "Delacour," meaning "of the court." Their counsel had always been welcome by the kings they served, but it had not always been accepted or followed. (A Delacour's warning that the English might be better prepared to fight at Agincourt than was anticipated had been ignored by Charles VI, and his son, the Dauphin.) And, Monsieur Delacour admitted, his ancestors had occasionally made serious blunders in their own counsel as well. (It had been a Delacour astrologer who had assured Napoleon that an invasion of Russia would result in a swift and easy victory.)

In the mid-nineteenth century, as France became a republic, the Delacours' counsel was no longer sought by Muggle governors. Through the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, bad debts and frivolous living had drained the Delacour family fortune, until the Great Depression had almost wiped them out. Monsieur Delacour's father, Jean-Baptiste Delacour, had been almost penniless when he and his three brothers had joined the French Resistance during World War II. They had served as spies, Apparating in and out of Nazi offices in Paris and French government offices in Vichy to steal documents and collect information. When the fighting was over, Jean-Baptiste was the sole surviving member of his branch of the Delacour family; his three brothers had all been killed in the war. For his valor, he was awarded the Legion of Honor medal by Charles de Gaulle and the Order de Nostradame by the French Ministry of Magic.

Afterwards, Jean-Baptiste had gone to work for the Wizard's Banque du Paris and worked his way up to an executive position, in the process turning what was left of his family money into a small fortune. Gaston Delacour had followed in his father's footsteps, spending his early years in England, Spain, and America as an international liaison for the Wizard's Banque. Through hard work and careful investing, he had turned his father's small fortune into a large one.

"I am now at the stage in an executive's life at the Banque where they are not sure what to do with me until a position opens up on the Board of Directors," Monsieur Delacour explained. "This can take anywhere from five to ten years at the Wizard's Banque. Officially, I am Supervisor for branch banks in the Alsace region. But the branch managers in Alsace do not call me unless something very disastrous occurs, such as their branch burns down, or it is attacked by a dragon, or something like that. As you can imagine, this kind of thing 'appens very rarely. Once a year in June, I must attend the annual conference of branch managers in Paris. (That is why I missed the finale of the Triwizard Tournament at 'Ogwarts a few years ago, by the way.)"

"The rest of the time, I sit in my office and wait for my number to come up for the Board of Directors. But I do not mind the ennui so much. It gives me time to enjoy the money that I 'ave earned. I can indulge my passions--good food and wine, occasional travel in my boat--and of course, watching my daughters grow up."

Madame Delacour, Harry learned, was the chief designer for Comme par Enchantement, a wizard fashion company that specialized in formal gowns and dresses for young witches, ages three to eighteen. Harry had heard of the company. Some of the richer girls at Hogwarts, like the Patil twins and Lavender Brown, owned several gowns from Comme par Enchantement. Madame Delacour's mother had founded the company in the 1950's, after emigrating from Bulgaria after World War II. Madame Delacour and two of her sisters still ran the company. Fleur Delacour had been one of Comme par Enchantement's top fashion models during her early teen years.

"I am afraid we spoiled her quite a bit when she was a child," Madame Delacour explained. "She did not know what it was like to grow up not having money...but I did. My father died when I was very young, and my mother struggled for ten years before Comme par Enchantement started to make a profit. She was always on the verge of going broke during those years, and sometimes we had to live in places that were not very high-class. I know what it means to have to work for what you want, and also what it means to not have all that you need."

She took a sip from her wine glass. "That is why I think it is a good thing that Fleur knows the Weasley family now. She can see that they are good people. And she can see that the finest people in this world are not necessarily those with money."

"But Fleur grew up," she continued, "with servants and house-elves waiting on her hand and foot. As a child. she was surrounded by people who were continuously telling her how pretty she looked in the clothes that I had designed for her. When she went off to Beauxbatons, she fell in with a crowd of rich girls who liked her primarily because she was the daughter of a famous dress designer. She could give them all fashion advice and tell them what to wear."

Madame Delacour shrugged. "It gave Comme par Enchantement a bit more business, but I would have liked it if she had had a few friends who liked her for herself, not for her family. Oh, her grades were always very good, and I was proud of her for that. But I could see that there was a kind of arrogance growing in her. You might have noticed it, when she first came to Hogwarts?"

"Well-l-l," Harry said, smiling, "I think we might have noticed just a little bit of arrogance when we first met her."

Madame Delacour laughed. "You are a true gentleman, Harry. So Fleur became something of a Femme Fatale. She started using her veela powers to attract boys. She started playing a game that many young veela girls unfortunately play in their adolescence. She would use her veela charms to make boys fall in love with her, and then discard them. Not that she really liked any of these boys. The object of the game was to make the other girls, the non-veela girls at Beauxbatons, jealous of her, because she could steal away all their boyfriends."

"We did not know what to do with her," said Monsieur Delacour. "Her mother warned her time and again about using her veela charms to break people's hearts. But she never listened. She became very withdrawn from us. We could not talk to her. Gabrielle here was the only person she really cared about, aside from herself."

"Oui, Gabrielle was something of a surprise for us all," said Madame Delacour, smiling at her youngest daughter. "Fleur was nine years old when she was born. At first, Fleur was jealous because she was no longer the baby of the family. But gradually she began to love Gabrielle, and the two of them became almost inseparable."

"And then a few years ago, Fleur wrote us to say that she would be going to Hogwarts with Madame Maxime for the Triwizard Tournament. She was very confident that she would be chosen as the Tournament champion for Beauxbatons. And of course she was. But there was a slight problem that kept her from being happy about being chosen as a champion." Madame Delacour smiled again. "It seems that there were four champions in the Tournament, when there should only have been three."

"You should 'ave read some of ze letters zat she wrote about you, 'Arry," said Gabrielle. She folded her arms haughtily and scowled, so that her face looked exactly like Fleur Delacour when she was angry. "'Zey 'ave let zis LITTLE BOY in ze Tournament 'ere at 'Ogwarts! 'E is so petite zat you could fit 'im in ze palm of your 'and! 'E looks like 'e should be running home to 'is Maman, not fighting with ze big dragons!"

Harry laughed. It was a perfect imitation of Fleur when he'd first known her.

"Oh, she could not believe it when you got into the Tournament, mon ami," said Monsieur Delacour, smiling. "She thought for sure that you would not survive the first task. And she had no doubt that she would win the Tournament in a matter of days. She was very cocky about it."

"Then came the second task of the Tournament." Madame Delacour paused, as if remembering the incident. "And, of course, you know what happened. Fleur was not so cocky after that. On the night after the second task, I came up to Hogwarts to get Gabrielle and take her home. Fleur was there, in the Beauxbatons carriage. She cried in my arms for over an hour. She could not believe that she had failed. And she did not care about the Tournament any more. She was devastated that she had not been able to rescue her sister. She said to me, 'I do not deserve to be the Tournament champion, Maman. I do not deserve even to be here. What if Gabrielle had died because I could not get to her? What if the boy with the scar had not been there to save her?'"

For a moment, there was silence at the table. Gabrielle shook her head. "I did not like doing zat...zat thing with ze merpeople! I only did it because zey told us zat Fleur could not win ze Tournament wizzout my 'elp. I still dream about it sometimes. I dream zat I wake up under ze water, and Fleur does not come, and you do not come, 'Arry! And I drown, as ze merpeople laugh at me!"

"You weren't the only one who wasn't happy about it," Harry told her. "I still think it was the stupidest thing that they could have come up with. I mean, having us--the four champions, I mean--risk our lives was one thing. But risking our friends' lives?! I know Dumbledore only agreed to it on the condition that he would have full control of the event, so that none of the hostages would get hurt."

"Ahh," said Monsieur Delacour, "then Professor Dumbledore was not the one who came up with the idea for the second task?"

Harry winced. "No, it was that fool, Ludo Bagman. He was Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports at the British Ministry. He came up with all the ideas for the Tournament tasks. I understand that Dumbledore tried to overrule him on the second task, but Bagman had Bartemius Crouch and Cornelius Fudge on his side. And Fudge overruled Dumbledore on the event."

He flexed his fingers on the edge of the table. "What we didn't know at the time was that Bagman had made a bet with some goblins that I would win the Tournament. So he kept trying to help me cheat. But when I drew with Cedric Diggory, the goblins turned on Bagman and he had to go on the run. Nobody's seen him since. I haven't crossed paths with him yet, but I hope I do someday. I owe him a punch in the mouth."

"Give 'im a kick in ze derriere for me, when you find 'im, 'Arry," said Gabrielle, tartly. Harry smiled at her.

"So after she failed in the second task," said Monsieur Delacour, "our Fleur seemed to change. Obviously, she did not do as well as she thought she would in the Tournament. Afterwards, she seemed to care more about her family--not just Gabrielle, but her Mama and Papa as well. She went back to England, and she got a job with Monsieur Weasley. Bill tells us that she has been very useful to his father."

"She keeps Mr. Weasley's office running," Harry said. "My friend Ron says that his dad would be lost without Fleur. From what I hear, she's becoming a pretty good Auror as well."

"She has found a cause that she believes in," said Madame Delacour. "And she has stopped using her veela charms to attract boys. She loves Bill, and she wants him to like her for herself. She may have lost the Triwizard Tournament, but I don't think she would be where she is today if she had not participated in it."

She looked across the table at Harry. "I guess you could say we have a lot to thank you for, Harry Potter. You stayed with Gabrielle at the Triwizard Tournament when you thought she was in trouble. True, she was not in any real danger, but you rescued her anyway when Fleur could not. But in doing this, you helped Fleur to realize that there were things in this world that were more important to her than just herself. And because of this, she has changed for the better. So we are very grateful to you, Harry. In a way, you have given us both our daughters back."