Chapter 107: The Year Begins III

(Daphne POV)

Daphne walked along the secret passageway, heading to her prearranged meeting with her mother so she could share the profitable news she had gathered from Harry. She wondered if she should share the knowledge about Lucius' plot as well, before deciding to mention it but state it was only a rumour.

Reaching the end of the passageway, Daphne pulled her hood up to cover her face so that she wouldn't draw any more attention than necessary. Walking up a set of steps before pushing open the trapdoor, she found herself in the basement of Honeydukes, just like her mother's instructions had said.

Looking around the basement, she saw several stacks of chocolate bars, as well as an assortment of other candies and treats securely locked away behind an iron gate. This made it clear the owners knew of the passageway and overlooked the students' use of it for whatever reason.

Maybe it was just because they gained some extra customers, not that it was her concern or anything. Daphne left the basement and quickly and quietly left Honeydukes and headed for the Three Broomsticks. She kept her head down when she entered the pub and headed straight to the stairs and to the private room her mother told her was booked for their meeting. She knocked on the door before entering to see her mother sitting at a table waiting for her arrival.

"You're late," she said coldly.

"Sorry, Mother, but I was delayed," Daphne said, not wasting time by explaining that Snape had held her up with demands that she stop spending any more time with Potter, the same as he had done the previous year. After all, her mother hated excuses.

"So, did you find out the information?"

"Yes, and more," she answered, which made her mother's eyes light up with interest.

"The Malfoy family needs to raise close to 25 million galleons, plus the interest to pay off the Blacks. They already had to pay close to five million in penalty clauses," she said, while watching her mother smile at the news. "And this all has to be done within four weeks, of which just over two weeks remain."

"Well, this is good news. I'm sure our family business partners will enjoy having this information," Lady Greengrass said with a rather cold smile. "It's about time Lucius got what was coming to him after throwing his weight around for so long. What else? You said there was more?"

"Yes, Mother," Daphne said, dipping her head slightly. "It's more a rumour than hard fact, but Mr. Potter overheard a possible power play being undertaken by Lord Malfoy. His goal is to take over Hogwarts and replace the Headmaster, and somehow the Chamber of Secrets is involved." She enjoyed the look of surprise on her mother's face before it quickly disappeared behind a cold, calculating mask.

"Really? Surely Lucius would not be foolish enough to undertake such actions," she said with clear disapproval at the man's reckless actions.

"Like I said, it's just a rumour. Harry himself said he was unsure whether Lord Malfoy would undertake such a plot anymore. You've seen the papers, though. The Chief Warlock position is the weakest it's been in years due to the events around Sirius Black's imprisonment and the events of last year. Lord Malfoy may feel it is his best chance to remove him and use his control of Hogwarts as a chance to replace the status and influence he lost recently."

"It's good to see your training has paid off," her mother said proudly.

Smiling at her mother's praise, she asked, "So what would you have me do?"

"First, stay close to young Potter. Since the boy knew of this, he clearly has some sources of information. Everything you've said of the boy so far suggests he's capable and cunning, even if he is a Raven. Your descriptions of him suggest he is far more Slytherin than some of your housemates," the elder Greengrass said, with a hint of disapproval. "So sit back, watch him, and report any developments. Hopefully, this may be our chance to get our old seat back on the Board of Governors if we play this right."

"Of course, Mother," Daphne promised.

"I'll send along anything I find on the Chamber. Is there anything else your father and I should know?"

"The only other things I've heard are nothing but gossip and hearsay. Professor Snape has once again approached me, insisting that Tracy and I end our friendship with Potter on the grounds that the boy is a troublemaker and a bad influence. I plan on ignoring him once again, since his own godson is more of a troublemaker than Harry is. Besides, it's more of an alliance than a friendship. We're both allies first, friends second, and frankly, isn't it better being his ally now considering his status? It's certainly better than the Malfoys."

"Indeed, a long-term alliance with the Potters would be profitable, especially if he does end up being the next Lord Black, as today's paper suggests. If Professor Snape continues to bother you and Tracy, I'll have your father write to him and remind the man that it's none of his concern as long as it doesn't affect your education and grades," her mother said seriously.

"Thank you. With your permission, I would like to join Mr. Potter in his archery training," she asked, feeling a bit nervous at the request even though it was a good opportunity to stay close to her ally.

"Like I said, as long as it doesn't affect your studies, I don't mind. Besides, being trained in archery could be useful someday, at the very least as an interesting hobby. After all, it's not unladylike like a sword would be," her mother said, shaking her head at the notion.

"Thank you, Mother."

"Now, you'd better be heading off before they notice you have disappeared," her mother said, before giving her a hug. "I may not say this often, but you're my daughter and I couldn't be more proud of you."

"Pass along my love to Father and Astoria for me," Daphne said, before leaving the rented room.

...

A Couple Weeks Later

Walking down the school halls, Harry wondered how long it would be before Lord Malfoy's plot started to unfold. After all, they had been back for over two weeks now, and nothing had happened to suggest any wickedness was about to occur. The suspense of waiting for something to happen was really killing his nerves.

Frankly, it was getting to the point that he was debating the possibility that Lord Malfoy may have called the scheme off so he could focus on rebuilding his political power. He quickly dismissed that thought because if Lucius was anything like his son, then he would be blindly arrogant and wouldn't believe anything could stop his plot. Also, the same actions which had weakened the Malfoy family over the summer had also exposed the Headmaster's own failings, which gave Lucius more of a chance of successfully replacing him.

Harry didn't expect the scheme to actually work, especially considering the Headmaster already knew of it and was surely working out a counterplan that would probably weaken Malfoy further.

Looking out the window and over the school grounds, Harry wondered what he should do. Was it better to just sit back and watch the events unfold, or take a more aggressive role and risk putting himself in the crosshairs?

Several minutes passed as he looked out over the grounds, weighing the risks versus the rewards of each scenario. He was just a bystander at the moment, watching two opponents face off, but the battlefield also happened to be his current residence. This put him, along with his friends, in danger of being caught in the crossfire of their power games.

All of these thoughts were going through his head as he was walking down the corridor, slipping in and out of the secret passages he had discovered in an attempt to avoid the other students.

"Harry," a familiar male voice shouted out, snapping him out of his own internal debate.

"Terry," he said in greeting, wondering what his housemate wanted.

"I was wondering if you fancy going outside and practising some Quidditch?"

Thinking over the proposal, he decided that he could use the distraction and the practice since the tryouts were approaching. "Sure, give me ten minutes to get my broom, and I'll see you down at the pitch." A quarter of an hour later, the pair was finally ready to begin their training. "So, what position do you want to train at, Terry?"

"Hmm, I'd like to try some seeking since the position is open this year," Terry answered, which caused him to raise an eyebrow. It would be interesting if they were both going to try out for the same position, which meant Terry was now the opposition.

"Fine, if you're sure, but you know you're going to have a lot of opposition this year," he stated as he headed to the Quidditch store closet to get the snitch, leaving out the fact that he was one of his competitors. When he returned to the field with the snitch, Terry was already warming up by circling around on his broom. He quickly mounted up as a feeling of excitement for the upcoming chase began to course through him.

Drifting in the air with the feeling of autumn air on his face, Harry challenged, "You ready?" Terry gave a sharp nod, causing him to open his hand and release the snitch into the air. Giving the snitch a few moments to disappear, he turned to his rival for the afternoon and said, "First to five catches wins. I hope you can keep up." He then turned skyward and accelerated away.

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