B.Q. Book One: Princess of the Blacks

Chapter 29: Tragic Announcement

WARNING! There's some gory material ahead.

Disclaimer: Did Harry mourn a boy he barely knew more than the owl who had been with him basically since he found out about magic? If so, I don't own the Harry Potter franchise; it belongs to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Press, Warner Bros., and whoever else she sold the rights to.
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Hostage Mix-Up: Foolish Mistake or Deliberate Sabotage?

Resurrecting the Triwizard Tournament for the first time since 1792 has turned into a string of black eyes for Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, writes Rita Skeeter. Between Danny Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, entering his name under a fictitious fourth school and the outing of Care of Magical Creatures professor Rubeus Hagrid as a half-giant, it would normally be safe to assume that the headmaster would start paying closer attention to his actions. Unfortunately, this proved not to be the case during the third Task of the Tournament, which required all the champions to rescue hostages who "they hold near and dear to their hearts", in the words of Ludo Bagman, head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports as well as a member of the judging panel.

Of the seven champions, five were tasked to retrieve the dates they went with to the Yule Ball that took place on Christmas Day this year. The senior Beauxbatons champion and Veela, Fleur Delacour, was after her eight-year-old sister, Gabrielle. For Hogwarts's junior champion Jennifer Black, on the other hand, the hostage chosen was one Ronald Weasley, the son of Arthur Weasley of the Ministry's Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office and a close friend of Danny Potter. What makes this so unusual is that, as far as several students who spoke to this reporter were aware, Miss Black and Mister Weasley have never been seen in each other's presence aside from mandatory class attendance, and even then they have little to no interaction.

Why, then, was Miss Black assigned such an unsuitable partner, allegedly at the request of Dumbledore, and then penalized for continuing her search for someone with whom she was more than minor acquaintances? Some might say that this was clearly an honest mistake on the headmaster's part, just another sign of his diminishing mental facilities, but according to one source close to the situation, it is simply the latest in a series of actions geared to disadvantage the fourth-year student.

"Dumbledore has had it out for her from the very beginning," the individual, who wished to remain anonymous, told this reporter. Indeed, a look at the previous Tasks lends some credence to this suspicion. As some might remember from a previous article, when Miss Black killed the Antipodean Opaleye she faced during the Gryffindor Task (the first documented dragon slaying since Matthew Abbott's battle with a juvenile Welsh Green in 1836), she was not awarded full marks as would be expected, instead being ranked fourth alongside Danny Potter. There was no obvious discrimination during the Slytherin Task itself, but Dumbledore later confiscated the priceless secondary focus wielded by the girl, a pair of gloves allowing manipulation of multiple elements that have been part of her family's legacy for generations, and supposedly attempted to keep them for himself.

If successful, this action could have earned him ten years in Azkaban, a massive step down for the man credited with the defeat of Grindelwald.

Though Miss Black's parentage is not listed in the Ministry's Hall of Records, Lord Sirius Black, her legal guardian, has affirmed that she is a true member of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black and is, in fact, that House's heiress. Why, then, is Dumbledore so insistent on sabotaging a future pillar of our society? Is it to promote Danny Potter in the eyes of the public after his abhorrent display of arrogance and dishonesty? To bring low the House of Black, which has traditionally stood against Dumbledore's interests in the Wizengamot? Or is there some other reason? All that is sure is that the Daily Prophet will continue to seek answers.