Chapter 52: Apolline Delacour
Chapter Text
A/N: Poor Harry, riding high on life until he's just plain confused.
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"… I will reserve judgment."
Fleur flinches at first, not really hearing the words and still expecting condemnation. When her mother's actual words finally process, Fleur's head shoots up, her eyes wide.
"Mama?"
Apolline Delacour doesn't look happy, but she repeats herself all the same.
"I will reserve judgment, my daughter. Until I've met with him personally and gotten his measure myself. Perhaps… perhaps he will be able to convince me to entrust my eldest child to him, just as he seems to have convinced you to give over your heart."
Fleur blushes hard at that, biting her lower lip.
"I already told you that he has made no true overtures, mother. He's had every opportunity to take me and hasn't. How can you say he has claim to my heart?"
Rather than respond with words, Apolline just gives her daughter a look… one that Fleur ultimately shies away from, her face growing hotter and redder by the second.
"Arrange a meeting for me, Fleur. If you wish for my blessing in this foolhardy endeavor, it is the least you can do to convince me. I would meet with this wizard face to face, one on one… and I will see just what sort of man he truly is."
Seeing no other choice, Fleur finally nods.
"I'll make it happen, mama…"
Though part of her wonders if this is really a good idea. Her mother seems to dead set on seeing Harry as the enemy. Fleur isn't sure what he could possibly do or say that would convince the Delacour Matriarch to give them her blessing. Still… it was better than immediate condemnation and disownment, right? Had to be…
-x-X-x-
One might think that Harry had gone overboard at the Second Task when he'd healed Cedric in front of all of those witnesses. Dragonfire was no laughing matter, and injuries caused by it were even worse. Episkey was not the sort of spell that should have been capable of healing such wounds, and yet… well, Poppy had said it herself in front of the entire crowd. Cedric was completely healed.
On the surface, those who thought themselves in the know would likely think Harry had been foolhardy and reckless, that he'd allowed emotion to rule him and acted entirely on instinct and impulse. This simply wasn't the truth. Everything Harry had done had been calculated.
For starters, he knows the other Champions were all too busy with their own starting efforts to see it, but the truth was, Harry hadn't been playing around since the start of the task. He'd actually apparated himself right off of the dock and deep underwater, right to the center of the Merman Village.
Normally, apparating underwater was a terrible idea. But Harry wasn't normal. He'd appeared next to the hostages ages before any of the others had made it, but he'd stuck around and waited just in case. And good that he had too. Fleur might not have had any difficulties this time around thanks to his little 'pick me up' before the task even started, but Cedric wasn't so lucky.
He never should have gone in the water, and even if Harry accepted that Cedric Diggory was definitely the kind of guy who would try to continue anyways… he never should have been allowed to.
Fortunately, Harry had put surreptitious monitoring charms on all of his competition before the Second Task began. When his monitoring charm alerted him to Cedric being in life-threatening danger, Harry hadn't hesitated to grab both Hermione and Cho and jet out of the Merman Village. A simple pulse of his magic had sent the fish people scattering in all directions out of fear.
From there, he'd retrieved Cedric, stabilized him, and returned to the surface. He'd even beat Krum to the surface in the process, not that he'd necessarily been aiming for that. And not that it had ultimately mattered when it came time for judging. Karkaroff had it out for him of course and was eager to use the excuse of Harry's 'defiance towards authority' to score him low.
But honestly, that didn't matter at this point. The scoring of the Second Task was meaningless. Who went first in the Third Task was also meaningless, because Harry knew he would make it to the center of the maze to touch the disguised portkey before anyone else could anyways.
No, what truly mattered was how he looked in the eyes of the Wizarding World. The first time around, Harry hadn't really enjoyed the level of fame he was saddled with from the moment he stepped foot into the Magical World. However, this time around, he recognized that being a celebrity was something he couldn't avoid, and he was either going to be loved or hated.
Given the things he needed to accomplish, better to be loved. The Wizarding World might be full of nitwits and morons, but they were useful nitwits and morons by and large. And the ones that weren't… the ones that would try to stand in his way… well, they could be culled.
Of course, there were always those who would try to shackle him. As a result, Harry wasn't particularly surprised to be called to the Headmaster's Office shortly after the Second Task was complete and he'd made his statement for all to see. It didn't matter in the end, because Rita already had her marching orders. There would be a special nighttime edition of the Daily Prophet this evening, and the story would run again in the morning to boot.
As such, as he stands in the Headmaster's Office, watching Dumbledore pace back and forth behind his desk, Harry feels a certain sense of… satisfaction. And this time around, he doesn't bother hiding it either.
"Harry, my boy… that was a very brave thing you did out there. A very brave thing. But I have to wonder if you thought your actions entirely through."
Of course, he wasn't going completely mask off with Dumbledore just yet. That would be actually foolhardy, compared to his earlier actions which only seemed foolhardy to the aged wizard.
"It was the right thing to do, sir. I don't regret saving or healing Cedric. Like I said at the Lake, he should never have been allowed to go underwater in the first place."
Albus Dumbledore's shoulders slump a little at that even as he turns to give Harry a grandfatherly smile.
"You're right, of course. On all accounts. If it were up to me, I would have removed Mister Diggory from the competition after the First Task. Unfortunately, for all my power, I am still just a single man. But you… what you did today was spectacular, Harry. I have to wonder where it came from. Have you felt something come over you in these past few months? Has this competition brought something to the forefront that you perhaps don't quite understand?"
Fishing. The Headmaster is fishing, and rather blatantly at that, for information on 'the power he knows not'. At some point in time, Dumbledore had decided that Harry's secret power, which Voldemort didn't know, would be love. Privately, Harry had always felt like the power Voldemort didn't know… was his own.
It was the Horcrux in Harry's scar that had allowed Harry to survive a killing curse from Voldemort and come back from the dead. It was that shard of Voldemort's soul, dying in his stead, that had allowed Harry to challenge the Dark Lord one final time and defeat him once and for all.
That, Harry suspected, was the power the Dark Lord didn't know about. That was his undoing. Of course, this time around, Harry would consider the time travel to be the power Voldemort didn't know about. Or perhaps the binding ritual that had allowed Harry to already take the power of four witches and two wizards for his own.
Still, he doesn't say any of that to Dumbledore. And he knows the Headmaster is getting nothing from his mind either. His Occlumency Shields are so strong and bright at this point that they likely don't even appear as Occlumency Shields. He caught Dumbledore wince for a second earlier, and he suspects the Headmaster had to pull back his Legimens probe after taking a white hot blast of searing light to the mind.
Regardless, Harry pretends to consider Dumbledore's question for a long moment before finally nodding his head.
"There is… something, sir. I do feel more powerful. I feel stronger. When I cast that Episkey on Cedric earlier, I didn't even hesitate. I just… knew it would work, somehow. And it did."
Dumbledore smiles, but while the smile is nice and wizened and grandfatherly, it doesn't quite reach his eyes.
"Indeed it did, my boy. Indeed it did."
There's the risk that Dumbledore will believe Harry is being influenced by his scar, perhaps. If the Headmaster is far enough along in his research to realize that Harry is a Horcrux, then that was a possible explanation for this sudden change. However, Harry doubts that Dumbledore will ultimately come to that conclusion. Mostly because he knows he's already radiating more power than Voldemort had ever displayed in his past life.
Of course, that's not going to stop the old coot from making the comparison anyways to try and scare Harry into compliance.
"Still… you must be careful, Harry. I've seen power like yours before, I'm afraid. And not always used for good. I trust you, my boy, and so far you have done nothing wrong. But be mindful of your strength, for it comes with obligation."
Subtle, Dumbledore. Really subtle. Still, Harry makes a show of being taken in by the Headmaster's 'oh-so-wise' words, nodding along slowly and thoughtfully.
"I understand, Headmaster."
"I knew you would, Harry! Please come to me immediately if you feel anything else of a similar nature. And… a hundred points to Gryffindor as well. I'd say at least that much is in order for the amazing act of bravery you performed today, along with the wonderful display of magical healing."
Harry makes a show of being suitable impressed by the generosity as well, smiling wide and giving Dumbledore a sharp nod.
"I will sir. Thank you, sir."
With that, he leaves the Headmaster's Office behind. Obviously, he was now on Dumbledore's radar in an even bigger way than he was before, but Harry… didn't really care. Albus Dumbledore wasn't to be underestimated of course, but this wasn't that. Harry wasn't underestimating Dumbledore; he was estimating just fine. He had the older wizard's measure and knew exactly how to keep Albus off of his back and in line.
With a smile on his face and a pep in his step, Harry begins making his way back towards Gryffindor Tower, plans already swirling through his head. However, before he can get back into the tower itself, he's stopped outside by an… unexpected visitor. Fleur Delacour shuffles nervously as she waits for him, only to perk up when he finally comes into sight.
Huh, was she already eager for another dose? That was… surprising.
"H-Harry!"
Raising an eyebrow, Harry lets his grin cool down a bit, transitioning into a smirk.
"Fleur. Congratulations on taking the lead today. You earned it."
Stopped for a second by his praise, the part veela flushes and crosses her arms over her chest.
"… We both know that is not true, Harry. You deserve to be in the lead, not me. But that is not why I'm here."
"Oh? I'm all ears."
"I… my mother wishes to meet with you. I'm here to extend an invitation to see her in her quarters at your earliest convenience."
That… wasn't what Harry had been expecting. His eyes narrow a bit at that. Apolline Delacour wished to meet with him? Whatever for? Hm, probably something to do with her daughter, actually. He didn't know how much Fleur had told her mother about them, but even if she'd said nothing, it was possible Apolline had… suspicions.
Still, did HE want to meet with HER? That was the real question here. He could just blow Fleur and her mother off, he supposed.
…
Ah, who was he kidding? Of course he'd meet with a woman as fine as Apolline Delacour. Flashing Fleur a smile, Harry gestures back down the hall.
"Well, no time like the present, right? Lead the way, Fleur."
The supernaturally beautiful blonde perks up at that, though she also seems nervous still, even as she hurriedly escorts Harry to the part of Hogwarts dedicated to housing guests. Harry's curiosity remains piqued all the way until they arrive outside of a door where Fleur stops and hesitates for a moment before turning to him.
"Harry… whatever my mother says or does in there, please don't let her bait you. You must be on your best behavior, alright? She will test you, but I am confident you can pass any trial she puts before you!"
… What? Harry blinks owlishly, but before he can ask Fleur what the fuck she's talking about, the door in front of them suddenly swings open, revealing Apolline Delacour in all of her half veela glory. The Delacour Matriarch is possibly the most beautiful creature in the entirety of Hogwarts right now, but if she's expecting her Veela Allure to work on him, she has another thing coming.
Was that what Fleur meant by testing him?
"Come in, Mister Potter."
Brow furrowed, Harry nevertheless steps inside, still relatively relaxed. He's certainly confused, but neither anxious nor worried even as Apolline closes the door behind him, shutting her daughter out of this conversation. Moving to the middle of the room, Harry turns to regard the Delacour Matriarch carefully.
"Lady Delacour. Your daughter said you wished to speak with me?"
Staring him down, Apolline is quiet for a long moment… before finally speaking.
"I seek a reason, Mister Potter."
A reason? Harry tilts his head to the side, more curious than ever before.
"A reason for what exactly, Lady Delacour?"
Lifting her head and jutting out her chin, Apolline's nostrils flare.
"A reason for what you have done, Mister Potter. I do not pretend to be able to challenge you. But I am not so dumb as to engage you in private without… assurances in case you decide to silence me."
Silence her?! Why the fuck was Fleur's mom talking like he was going to kill her and hide the body? What the fuck was going on here?!
"That said, you have gone to great lengths to ensnare my daughter in your games. And so I require a very compelling reason not to expose you outright to the rest of the world."
… Did she know? Did she know the truth about him? Harry's eyes narrow, but Apolline doesn't back down. There's a slight tremble in her hands that she quickly hides, but she doesn't move from her spot.
"You have created a Wizard's Coven, Mister Potter. You have uncovered ancient magic not seen since the likes of Merlin himself. If my senses do not deceive me, you have bound as much as six witches to you at this point. I know you are beyond me. But are you beyond the entire world? Kill me and the information will get out. Fail to convince me to give you my daughter, and the information will get out."
… What the fuck was a Wizard's Coven? Well no, from context alone Harry was pretty sure he knew what she was talking about. Still, uncovering ancient magic not seen since the likes of Merlin himself? Harry had developed the binding ritual in the future of his own intellect and power. Bella had helped, and she'd also modified the ritual to work through close male relatives, but Harry had never heard of a Wizard's Coven before, or Merlin having similar magic to what he was enacting.
"Your choices are thus, Harry James Potter. Kill me and see knowledge of your actions released to every corner of the world. Convince me that your Wizard's Coven is necessary and secure my silence. Or… swear an Unbreakable Vow here and now to leave my daughter out of your Coven and never touch Fleur again. In turn, I will swear an Unbreakable Vow not to reveal this information about you to anyone."
Choices. None of those were very good choices, outside of convincing Apolline that what he was doing was necessary. That said… those weren't his only choices. There was no world in which he was going to kill Apolline Delacour. And he certainly wasn't going to swear an Unbreakable Vow to the woman either.
… But when it came to convincing her, he definitely had options. It was just a matter of how far he was willing to go.
Chapter 53: The Truth
Chapter Text
A/N: Harry shows Apolline the Future.
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Harry might not know what the hell was going on with Fleur's mother, but he knew one thing for certain… he could convince her. It was just a matter of how far he wanted to go. Looking at the beautiful buxom blonde as she stares back at him defiantly, Harry realizes that he's willing to go pretty damn far.
Smiling thinly, Harry spreads his hands apart.
"You want to be convinced that what I'm doing is necessary? Fine."
Apolline raises an eyebrow at that, her lips pursing together.
"… Then tell me, Harry Potter. Tell me what justifies your creation of a Wizard's Coven."
But Harry just grins and shakes his head, his hands already closing into fists as he calls upon his magic.
"Tell you? I could, but you'd never believe me. Better if I showed you."
The Delacour Matriarch's eyes barely have time to widen before he hits her with the gathered magic. Fortunately for Apolline, he means her no harm. The wordless spell is merely a memory transference without the pensieve. She can't exactly resist it given how much power he's put behind the spell, meaning that she's effectively insensate until it's run it's course, but then… she was the one who wanted to know.
While he waits for the memories to play out, Harry takes a seat across from Fleur's mother. Thankfully, Apolline herself had already been seated at a table, one leg crossed over the other. Otherwise, he doubted she would have avoided collapsing to the floor. As things stand, he makes sure to apply a bit of unseen force around her so she doesn't fall out of her chair, even as her glazed-over eyes widen and her mouth opens in horror.
He'd had mere moments to decide all of what he was going to show her, but Harry was still rather pleased with what he'd wound up with. It was a well-curated selection of the Future's Greatest Hits. Most of it was general apocalypse stuff, but he'd found the time to throw in a couple of tidbits that would be personally meaningful to Apolline as well.
The most important thing he'd made sure to infuse the spell with, however… was authenticity. He was showing Apolline Delacour some truly unbelievable things, but he didn't have the time or the patience to have her question him. It was why he was showing instead of telling in the first place, so that she would believe him sooner rather than later.
Finally, it ends. In total, it only takes five minutes of time in the real world before she comes out of the spell. But for Apolline, time was dramatically slowed down. She's just watched hours and hours of memories from the end of their world.
For a long moment, the Delacour Matriarch is silent. Processing. Harry might be worried about her mental state, but he knows she's stronger than that. Eventually, the beautiful half-veela recovers enough to shake herself out of her stupor and remember his presence. She stares at him across the table and Harry gives her an apologetic smile of understanding in response.
"Sorry. But you wanted to know."
"It… it all ends. The muggles kill us."
She sounds like she doesn't want to believe it, but also can't deny it. The truth of everything she just witnessed had been hammered into her psyche. She might manage to reach a state of self-delusion strong enough to pretend that it was a lie, but deep down inside she will always know it to be true. Fortunately, it sounds like she's not going to try and convince herself otherwise.
"Are killing us, actually. And not the muggles exactly… their technology. Magic cannot coexist with the scientific wonders they've created. The more they make, the more they expand, the quicker we find ourselves being pushed to the fringes. Soon enough, those fringes won't even exist. Magic itself will die off in less than a hundred years if nothing is done. But as you saw… it can happen a lot quicker than that if things are pushed in the wrong direction."
A shiver runs down Apolline's spine and he can tell that she's thinking about the fallout from the Nuclear Armageddon. He can also tell the moment that her mind turns towards the more personal tidbits he'd slipped in there for her. Harry and Apolline Delacour hadn't been particularly close in the original timeline. He'd known her, and they'd exchanged pleasantries a few times, but nothing too in depth.
That said, he was a friend of the family, so he'd been outside of the room when Fleur, Bill, and their daughter Victoria had all said goodbye to her. Magic had been declining rapidly by that point. The protections put in place to keep them safe from the muggles' wars had been able to maintain their health but not prevented the decay of their magic.
For Fleur, Bill, and Victoria, it was as simple as slowly becoming squibs. Fleur lost her allure, but she was only a quarter veela to begin with so other than that, there were no averse effects. Same for Gabriella.
But Apolline was half-blooded. And magical creatures, as it turned out, where far more susceptible to the death of magic than magical humans. Being even half-veela was a death sentence, and while Apolline should have had another fifty to a hundred years of life easily, she'd wasted away in just one after the bombs fell.
The other memory Harry knew Apolline would have a personal stake in was her Veela Coven. After her mother's death, Fleur had asked him to go with her to check on them, to see how they were doing up in the Alps of France where they had nestled themselves away in secret. She wanted to make sure her mother's people were safe and had enough supplies and protections to weather the storm.
Harry wasn't sure what he or that Fleur thought they were going to find. He hadn't really understood how bad things were getting at the time. They were bad, yes… but it wasn't until he'd seen the dead veela, strewn about their Mountain Compound, that he realized what they were truly facing. Not a single veela had a visible injury. They hadn't been shot or cut down or even killed by magic.
They'd just… wasted away. Many of them had at least made it to their beds first, but even the ones who had tried to keep going had eventually fallen wherever they stood and died. The entire Veela Coven had been struck down by the spreading radiation that was covering Europe by that point.
Not because they'd been hit by a Nuclear Blast or anything, but rather because Nuclear Winter was even deadlier for magical creatures than it was for muggles. The dust blotting out the sun carried with it magic-killing particles that had hastened their demise all the faster.
"… You don't even know what a Wizard's Coven is."
Harry smiles faintly at that, even as Apolline gets over those memories only to look at him in a whole new light. He'd included his actions, his research, his plans and intentions of course. It wasn't enough to show Apolline Delacour the end of the world. He had to show her what he intended to do to stop it.
"I didn't before today. Now, based on context clues alone, I can certainly guess."
The Delacour Matriarch flares her nostrils as she presses her lips together tightly. Then, she seems to come to a decision.
"Yes. What you've created here in your desperation is a Wizard's Coven. Witches permanently binding themselves willingly to one wizard, giving him all of their power to do with as he pleases. The last to create such a thing was Merlin himself. He entrusted the veela with making sure the information on how to do so stayed lost to time forever. Many have forgotten that purpose, but not all."
Harry considers correcting her for a moment. His ritual doesn't actually require consent, he's simply drawn a line in the sand for himself. More than that, there's also Bella's modification to the ritual allowing him to reach through a witch to her relationships and take the magic of the wizards on the other end for himself.
But he stays quiet about all of that. The clarifications aren't really relevant or necessary at this point in time.
"I… I cannot condemn you for what you have done, Lord Potter. You face an even greater threat than Merlin himself when he formed a Wizard's Coven. This is… this is all of magic at stake. There is no price too great to pay to save it. But… your intentions are to meld magic with muggle technology?"
He can tell this part is the biggest hangup for Apolline. She doesn't look remotely convinced that his plan of developing Magitech alongside Hermione and a bunch of other brilliant minds, is the best path forward. Still, Harry doesn't back down.
"Yes. There are too many muggles for us to fight, Lady Delacour. The world is too interconnected by their technology at this point in time for us to have a chance of dismantling it."
The mulish look on the Delacour Matriarch's face makes it clear she's not convinced. Harry sighs and shakes his head while smiling.
"There are over seven billion muggles at this point in time, Lady Delacour."
That causes her eyes to widen. Funny, in most places in the muggle world, that sort of knowledge was commonplace. You would have to go to a third world country to find muggles who didn't know how many of them there were. But the magical world was insular and isolated by design. They had blocked themselves off from the muggles for centuries, and most of them barely interacted with the non-magical side of things, if at all.
Even over in France, things weren't all that better than Britain. French Wizards and Witches were a bit more tolerant of magical creatures, in no small part because of the lobbying from vampires and veela covens and the like all across Mainland Europe, but besides that, they didn't spend any more time in the muggle world than their British Counterparts did.
So when Harry tells Apolline that there are seven billion muggles, he shocks her to her core.
"To be clear, that's seven thousand million muggles. By comparison, the Wizarding World… the entirety of magic across the whole of Planet Earth, is nothing but a drop in that ocean."
Apolline looks even fainter than she did before as she realizes the true scope of the problem.
"S-Seven… seven billion. No wonder their technology is killing magic. How… how did their numbers get so out of hand?"
Harry chuckles at that, because the answer is rather obvious and he can't help but state it to tweak the beautiful woman's nose a little bit.
"Sex, I presume."
Apolline Delacour is not some fair maiden who would blush at such things, but she does still give him a look for a moment before huffing.
"… You're right. They're beyond our ability to contain, aren't they?"
Humming, Harry nods.
"Yes. We could take them back to the Stone Ages. We could try to tear their technology out of their hands, to end their world before they end it themselves and kill off magic all the quicker. But it wouldn't truly solve the problem. There would still be those who remembered the way things were before, and those who recalled how to rebuild what we took from them. Stamping out knowledge, at this point in time, is impossible."
Harry allows himself to adopt a wolfish smile as he leans forward, looking Apolline in the eye.
"But consider what we could accomplish if we made technology our own. Right now, their technology creates invisible waves of differing types of radiation, all of which are harmful to magic. But what if they weren't? What if magic could be made to harness those waves? We could use muggle technology to bring magic to greater heights than ever before."
He can see Apolline is intrigued by the idea now that she knows simply subjugating the muggles isn't possible. Of course, there's just one more issue in her eyes.
"… But what of the wars? Do we have time to subvert their technology before they destroy themselves and us with them? If they bring about Nuclear Armageddon, then will all our work be for naught?"
Not bothering to sugarcoat things, Harry nods.
"Yes. It would be. Which is why I've been collecting power in the first place. No amount of magic will allow me to take on the entire muggle population or remove every trace of muggle technology from Earth… but if I can get my hands on enough magic, I CAN take control of their weapons of mass destruction and neutralize them once and for all. No nukes, no apocalypse, no Armageddon. They might still have their wars, but they won't kill everything in the process. They won't kill us."
In the end, that was Harry's plan in full. Prepare things so that they could develop magitech in the next few years, while also accumulating enough personal power and influence that he could deal with the disparate muggle nuclear arsenals all by himself if necessary. He wasn't going to let World War Three happen the way it did last time. That was for shit sure.
For a long time, Apolline is quiet. Harry lets the Delacour Matriarch have the moment to process everything. He knows it's a lot, but now she knows. And hey, she'd already said she couldn't condemn herself for the very thing she was haranguing him for when they first started talking, so mission accomplished, right?
It seemed to him that he'd managed to convince Apolline Delacour that the need was great enough for her to leave him-
"I will join you."
Harry blinks, tilting his head to the side as he eyes the beautiful half-veela.
"Excuse me?"
Lifting her own head, looking him right in the face, the gorgeous woman straightens her spine. In doing so, she also thrusts out her sizable bust, puffing out her chest as she sets her jaw.
"Bind me, Lord Potter. Use your ritual and bind me to your Wizard's Coven. Make my magic your own."
… Seriously?
"I thought you were opposed to the idea of a Wizard's Coven, Lady Delacour."
Apolline has the good grace to flush at his inquisitive and slightly chiding tone. But she doesn't back down. The beautiful half-veela, who could have passed as Fleur's older sister instead of her mother, simply shakes her head.
"I was opposed to the idea of my daughter joining your Wizard's Coven. I… still am. If possible, I would prefer she be able to live her life free of such obligation. But that is a mother's concern. This and that are two separate things. Bind me to your Wizard's Coven, and you will have not just the full might of the Delacour Family behind your efforts, but also the entirety of the Veela Coven I and my daughters are descended from."
Harry can't help but furrow his brow at that.
"Explain that last part."
Smirking, Apolline shrugs, something that causes quite a lot of movement below her shoulders.
"Our Veela Coven remembers Merlin. We still hold true to the pact we made with him, all that time ago. If they find out that I have joined your Wizard's Coven willingly, they will know that the situation is serious. I can persuade them to assist us, I promise. All you have to do… is accept."
… Was he really going to do this? Was he really going to- ah, who was he kidding? Of course he was going to take Apolline up on her offer. Harry smiles, even as he rises from the table… and watches the Delacour Matriarch do the same on the other side.
Chapter 54: Apolline's Submission
Chapter Text
A/N: Apolline joins the fold~
Also if you've been enjoying this story, you might also enjoy my newest story: Silver Eyes (RWBY AU)! Check it out if you have a moment!
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Obviously, this was not how Apolline anticipated this meeting going. She'd been somewhat resigned by the time she actually met with Harry Potter. Running it all through her head, she hadn't known how she was going to protect her daughter from the British Wizard.
Oh how times changed. As she rises from her chair, the beautiful Delacour Matriarch taps her wand against her dress, allowing it to unravel from her body in a tantalizing, sensual display. Her naked flesh catches Harry's eyes and his lips turn up slightly as he drinks in the sight of her standing before him in just her undergarments.
Setting her wand aside, Apolline is more physical in how she removes her bra, reaching back behind herself to unclasp it and carefully taking it off one cup at a time while staring Harry directly in the eye. Her full breasts, larger than Fleur's by at least a size or two, defy gravity with their inhuman perkiness.
But then, there are certain advantages to being only half-human. Advantages such as Apolline looking like her daughters' older sister, rather than their mother. Advantages such as having access to inherent veela magics.
To remove her panties, Apolline calls upon her inner fire to truly give Harry a show. It starts with an ember, before flaring up. She literally burns her underwear off of her body, revealing perfectly smooth flesh and a carefully trimmed patch behind as she stands before the young wizard, finally fully naked.
Then, without missing a beat, Apolline drops to her knees before him and extracts Harry's cock from its confines. As she finally lays her hands on his member, beginning to stroke his length from half-mast to fully erect, he finally breaks the silence that's fallen over the room.
"You're certainly going above and beyond right now, Apolline."
No more Lady Delacour for her. But then, given that she's naked and on her knees, Apolline supposes she can't exactly expect Harry to remain… distant. Still, he's seen right through her. Not that she was trying to hide it.
Leaning forward to place a kiss upon the head of his cock that would have been considered chaste if it were delivered anywhere else, the Delacour Matriarch looks up into her soon-to-be Master's eyes.
"As I told you before… I am still opposed to the idea of my daughter joining your Wizard's Coven. It is my hope that I can convince you to leave her out of this."
Harry frowns a little at that, looking unconvinced.
"I've been stringing Fleur along since the beginning of the year. I'm not sure I have it in me to reject her now. That would just be cruel."
Ah, was that his only hang up? Apolline chuckles throatily as she runs her tongue along the underside of his cock while fondling his balls with her hand. Finally returning to the tip of his member, she shakes her head with a smirk.
"I'm not asking that you reject her entirely, Harry. If you wish to have sex with my daughter, then have sex with my daughter. All I ask is that you refrain from adding her to your Wizard's Coven. She's still young, and she deserves the chance to grow and mature a bit more before making a lifelong decision like that."
That was fair, wasn't it? Apolline would never tell Fleur who she could and couldn't have sex with. But while Harry's cause was righteous and growing his power was crucial to keep their world spinning, Fleur didn't have to be involved in that part. Not when he could have Apolline instead.
The wizard still hesitates for a moment, before slowly nodding. She can tell he might not be fully convinced even now… but then, she's just getting started.
Leaning forward, Apolline finally takes Harry into her mouth. As her tongue swirls around his rock hard shaft, she gazes up at him with mesmerizing blue eyes. She's not some virgin maiden. She's a mature half-veela and she knows how to pleasure a man. Her skilled lips and tongue work in tandem to show Harry that much.
At the same time, her hands gently caress Harry's thighs as she bobs her head up and down. Her silken, silver-blonde locks brush against his skin. This close to him, Apolline Delacour can feel Harry's magic pulsing within him, just waiting to be let out. All that power contained within one wizard… it's intoxicating as much as it had horrified her just a short time ago.
But while Harry is perhaps not a purely good man… he's not a bad man either. He's not evil, just desperate. And after seeing what he'd traveled back in time to fight, Apolline understands that desperation completely. They're living through Harry Potter's second chance right now. They're living within his Hail Mary.
If nothing is done, if Harry isn't able to change things, then all of it ends. The muggles will go to war and destroy themselves. More than that, they will destroy magic as well, accelerating the decline of magic everywhere faster than it was already taking place. Her people… her coven would die. She would die.
Apolline couldn't let that happen. Not just because a selfish part of her wanted to live, but also for the sake of her daughters. That's why she's giving herself up to Harry Potter on a silver platter. That's why she will bind her magic to his and then put her all into explaining to her Coven why it MUST be done.
She wouldn't be able to tell them everything. The time travel would be hard to explain, and she doubted that her new Master would appreciate such secrets being spread around too much anyways. But Apolline didn't need the time travel to convince them. The decay of magic at the hands of the unaware muggles had been ongoing for a long time. So long that even the Veela Coven that Apolline had been born into knew something was off. They just didn't know what it was.
Until now. Harry had given her more than just an explanation for why he was forming a Wizard's Coven. He had given her answers that her Coven had sought for decades at this point.
For that, Apolline pulls out all the stops, taking him deep into her mouth and constricting her throat around his cock as she swallows him whole. All the while, her tongue writhes against the underside of his shaft, coaxing him ever closer to the edge.
Harry's hands tangle in her hair as he watches her work, and Apolline can tell he's marveling at her technique, at the grace and passion she brings to this task. As she continues her ministrations, his breathing grows heavier and heavier, his body tensing with impending release. Her skilled mouth eventually proves to be too much to bear.
"Here it comes, Apolline…"
There's no internal struggle on whether she'll swallow or not. Having heard all about Harry's magical seed from Fleur, Apolline Delacour wraps her arms around his waist and pulls him in deep, taking him all the way to the base one last time. Harry grunts as she looks up at him with glowing blue eyes… and cums a moment later.
She swallows every last drop without fail of course, not choking on even a single ounce of his seed. She guzzles his cum down like there's no tomorrow… and shudders at how frighteningly delectable his magical ejaculate tastes.
Apolline's eyes flutter as she feels Harry's magic settling along with his cum down in her belly. The cum sits in her stomach like a satisfying meal, but his magic… his magic suffuses out through her body, her veela heritage causing her to respond all the more strongly to it. When he's finally done cumming, Apolline lets him pull back out of her throat and mouth and kneels there before him for a moment, panting heavily.
"That… I can see why my daughter is addicted to you, Harry. You are a very dangerous man."
From the glint in his eye, she can tell he knows she doesn't mean in the typical way. While the amount of power he can call upon likely DOES make him dangerous in battle too, what Apolline is talking about is how dangerous he is to magical women of all types. Even for a witch, he would be intoxicating, though it's likely they would not truly understand why.
Regardless…
"Shall we begin making the circle? Do you require my assistance at all?"
To that, Harry just grins and shakes his head in amusement, before gesturing behind her. Blinking, Apolline looks back over her bared shoulder… only to startle as she watches Harry's floating wand put the final touches on an already-glowing Ritual Circle. Her mouth goes dry as she realizes that all that time, while she'd been trying to blow his mind with her oral technique… he'd been multitasking and preparing for the Binding Ritual.
Her eyes flicker over the circle, looking for any mistakes Harry might have made. Admittedly, she doesn't know exactly what the circle is supposed to look like, but everything looks properly put together. She huffs a little bit as she looks back at Harry.
"You truly know how to stab right at the heart of a woman's pride, Harry Potter."
Harry raises an eyebrow at that, but Apolline is already moving into position. Turning, she crawls on her hands and knees into the center of the Ritual Circle. Then, looking back over her shoulder, she reaches under herself and uses her fingers to spread her glistening pussy lips while she arches her spine.
She doesn't have to see the arousal shining in Harry's eyes to know she's striking quite the pose. Veela are naturally seductive creatures at the end of the day, and Apolline knows how to use her body to great effect to get what she wants from men. Of course, after today, she will belong to one man. One wizard. A shiver of both anticipation and trepidation runs down Apolline Delacour's spine as Harry slowly approaches her.
Finally, he sinks down to his knees behind her and grabs her by the hips. The Ritual Circle glows all the more brightly and Apolline feels his magic churning inside of her already, ready to facilitate the binding between them.
As he sinks into her cunt from behind, Apolline moans throatily, shuddering from the sensation of her insides being stretched so far. This might all be Necessary with a capital N, but that doesn't mean she can't enjoy herself as well. Harry seems to agree as he gathers her silver-blonde locks in one hand and pulls her head back, fucking her with brutish, invigorating force that has Apolline squealing and clenching down around his cock all the harder.
Leaning forward, the wizard reaches around with his free hand and gropes one of Apolline's massive breasts, giving it a nice solid squeeze as he plows her silly from behind.
"Apolline Delacour. Are you ready to be mine?"
As he intones the words, Apolline can feel the Ritual Magic seeping into her bones. She shivers and nods hastily, only to realize when Harry spanks her that he needs a verbal response to continue.
"Ah! Yes! Yes, I am ready!"
Growling, Harry ups the pace, the sound of flesh slapping against flesh growing even louder.
"Are you willing to submit to me, now and forever?"
Magic roils around them, waiting for her answer.
"Yes! I'm willing!"
Growling lustfully, Harry increases his pace even more. His thrusts turn downright punishing, but Apolline is enjoying herself too much to care.
"Then name me as your Master, Apolline Delacour. Swear yourself to my service."
Panting, moaning, and squealing at the top of her lungs, Apolline does it. She submits.
"Master! Master! OH MERLIN, MASTEEEEER!!!"
Her eyes roll back in her head as she cums hard upon Harry… upon her Master's cock. She experiences a full body shudder, while Harry grunts and finishes off the ritual. His magic melds with hers, binding them together more tightly than anything. In that moment, Apolline's magic is no longer her own. It belongs to Harry now. It belongs to her Master.
And yet, she feels content. Satisfied, even. It feels… good to be bound. She'd heard about that. How Merlin's Harem all spoke on loving being under his control. She'd always assumed it was just exaggerations and embellishments, or that it was because Merlin himself was so amazing.
But now that she's given her magic to Harry to do whatever he likes, Apolline feels… at peace. She feels safe, she feels taken care of. She knows, no matter what comes next, that she can count on Harry to look after her.
Pulling out of her, Harry turns Apolline around using his grip on her hair. She half-expects him to use her mouth to clean off his cock and even opens wide to do so, so she's caught off guard when he kisses her instead. Her eyes flutter as their tongues wrestle, but she quickly submits to his domineering, overwhelming technique.
A shiver runs down her spine as they makeout for a while, until finally, Harry pulls away entirely and gives her a smirk.
"Welcome to the team, Apolline."
Heart thudding in her chest, Apolline swallows thickly.
"Thank you… Master. What would you ask of me?"
Harry hums for a moment before shaking his head.
"Nothing immediately. I still need to wrap up the Triwizard Tournament and clean things up here in Magical Britain before I turn my eyes elsewhere. Just… make in roads with your Veela Coven and start looking into things for the French Magical Government for me. After this year comes to a close, we'll be picking up the pace. By the time I'm done at Hogwarts, I want to be making progress on everything, so that we're ahead of schedule for stopping the Apocalypse."
Apolline bows her head in easy acceptance.
"It shall be done, my Lord."
That just causes Harry to wrinkle his nose a bit.
"… Less of that, please. Sounds like you're addressing Voldemort or something."
Feeling strangely younger than she's felt in decades, Apolline lets out a little giggle.
"Well… you are essentially a Dark Lord, Harry. There are those who would try to stop you, if they knew what you were up to."
From the long-suffering sigh that leaves Harry's mouth, he knows that already. He doesn't give her any sort of response, however. Instead, he summons his wand to his hand and with a flick of his wrist begins setting everything aright. The ritual circle vanishes. Apolline finds herself cleaned up and dressed.
Rising to her feet, the Delacour Matriarch is about to say something else, but Harry is already turning to leave.
"We'll be in touch, Apolline."
She might have chased after him, but the moment he opens the door and steps outside… Fleur rushes in. Fortunately, Hogwarts Guest Rooms are warded for privacy, so the younger Delacour hasn't heard a single thing. Unfortunately, Apolline is still left with a rather tough situation on her hands as Fleur looks at her with wide, imploring eyes.
Harry must have cast some sort of spell on himself that caused her daughter to gloss right over him, because Fleur hadn't even spared the man she was obsessed with a glance as she rushed past him. Instead, all of Fleur's attention is focused on Apolline.
"How did it go, mama?"
That… was a question, wasn't it?
Chapter 55: Apolline's Confession
Chapter Text
A/N: Apolline comes clean and it goes about as well as can be expected.
-x-X-x-
Lying to Fleur was incredibly tempting in this moment. Telling her that she'd worked out some sort of vague deal with Harry and she wasn't allowed to join his Coven even now, while keeping the fact that she'd joined the Coven a secret… if she thought she could get away with it, Apolline probably would have.
The very last thing Apolline Delacour wanted to do was inform her daughter of the fact that she'd just joined Harry Potter's Coven. Especially right after she had been so explicit in telling Fleur she didn't want the younger woman involving herself in the Wizard's Coven. And yet… well, as tempting as lying to Fleur was, Apolline wasn't an idiot. That sort of thing was bound to come out one way or another. Better for it to come from her.
"… I have joined Lord Potter's Wizard's Coven."
Silence reigns for a moment before Fleur lets out a laugh.
"Funny, mama. What really happened?"
That was fair. Apolline wouldn't have believed herself either at first. She opens her mouth to repeat her previous words before closing it and looking away, not sure she can say it again. Only… her silence is as good a confession as any. Fleur's mouth drops open as she realizes Apolline is serious, her eyes widening. Well, at least it was better than-
"YOU WHAT?!"
Apolline winces as her daughter's voice, normally melodic and beautiful, rises to that of a piercing shriek in no time at all. Fleur's hands clench into fists at her sides and she gnashes her teeth in a huff.
"Mama! You… you must be joking! You just got done telling me how evil Harry must be for daring to create such a thing!"
Her wince developing into a grimace, Apolline shakes her head.
"I never said he was evil…"
But even to her ears, her words are weak. And Fleur certainly isn't having it.
"You said he had me on the hook, mama! You said he was letting me reel myself in! You told me that even if he was a good man, joining a Wizard's Coven is a permanent affair! And that good men could change and become different! That I might wind up stuck in a Hell of my own choosing if I let him bind my magic!"
That was… all true, yes. Apolline had indeed said all those things, and not very long ago either. It wasn't like she couldn't see her daughter's point of view. This whole situation, as far as Fleur saw it, had to seem insane. Apolline had gone from decrying the practice of Wizard's Covens to joining one in the course of one conversation with the Wizard in question.
"What… what did he tell you, mama? You said it had to be willing. What did Harry say to you to make you join his Wizard's Coven?"
Shit. Her eldest daughter is far too perceptive. Apolline would have honestly preferred Fleur's anger last a little longer before turning to curiosity and intrigue, because she hadn't exactly had very long to try and figure out how she was going to explain things to her daughter without spilling the beans on the time travel and the apocalypse.
Maybe she could-
"It couldn't have been for my sake."
Apolline flinches as Fleur says those words with such confidence.
"Perhaps if it were just you and me, you might have given yourself up so I could remain free. But it's not. There's also Gabrielle to consider, as well as your connections to the Veela Coven grandmother came from. You would sooner cut me loose than sacrifice yourself and risk my sister and our extended family."
That was true, unfortunately. Which meant Apolline could no longer use that as an excuse. But then, perhaps there was no excuse she could come up with here. Perhaps she just needed to be honest.
"… I cannot tell you what Lord Potter and I discussed, Fleur. Suffice to say, he persuaded me. And that was that."
Fleur narrows her eyes and peers at Apolline for a long moment, really looking her over. Apolline resists the urge to gulp, but it doesn't matter. Harry might have cleaned up nicely, but Fleur… well, her daughter is in fact very perceptive.
"You! Mama, after I told you I hadn't even gone all the way with him! You went all the way with him first?!"
Fleur's anger is on the rise again as Apolline sighs, hanging her head.
"It was only for the ritual, my dear. To bind my magic to his…"
Of course, reminding Fleur that she was now part of the very Wizard's Coven that Fleur had wanted to join didn't exactly make for the best de-escalation of the situation.
"And you won't even tell me WHY you saw fit to bind your magic to Harry's in the first place!"
No. She wouldn't. Not just because Harry hadn't given her permission to, but also because Fleur would probably hurt less from the uncertainty and the mystery than she would hurt from knowing the truth. Hearing about the death of their magic, of their family… no, Fleur didn't need that sort of knowledge weighing her down right now.
"Well… I suppose I'll find out soon enough, won't I?"
Apolline lifts her head at that, giving Fleur a sharp look. Suddenly, her daughter looks smug… she doesn't know why, and she doesn't like that she doesn't know why.
"After all, once I've joined Harry's Coven, he'll tell me everything anyways. And since you've joined now, you can't-!"
"No! I still forbid you from joining his Wizard's Coven, Fleur!"
Fleur's eyes widened, her jaw dropping open at Apolline's audacity. But Apolline doesn't back down.
"I've spoken with Lord Potter about that, in fact. He's not going to bind you to him for the foreseeable future, so you shouldn't even bother asking."
Fleur's face is starting to get red again. Her anger and outrage are beginning to resurface. Apolline tries desperately to head off another blow-up by tossing Fleur a bone… the only bone she has.
"That is not to say you cannot join him in bed. I've given my consent in that regard. He will no longer tease you as he's been doing. All you have to do is ask, and he will take you to bed and claim your virginity. But the Wizard's Coven… will remain outside of your reach."
'For now', she leaves unsaid. Apolline is under no misconceptions. If Fleur continues to pursue this, Harry will eventually let her join. Maybe months or even years from now, but he'll allow it. It would be better if Fleur thought that path closed to her. Better if she moved on.
For a long moment, silence reigns again. And then finally, despite her red face, Fleur speaks in a low whisper rather than the high-pitched shrieks from before.
"… I hate you."
Apolline flinches, but before she can do more than reach for her daughter, Fleur spins on her heel and departs from the room, slamming the door shut behind her as she goes. Apolline can't help but stare after her, pain filling every fiber of her being. Had she made the right call, joining Harry's Coven?
In the moment, it had felt necessary… even now, it felt necessary. But… even though she'd managed to head off Fleur binding her magic to Harry's, this whole situation might very well have cost Apolline her eldest daughter all the same.
-x-X-x-
The whole situation with Apolline was a bit of a wake-up call that Harry, for all his foreknowledge and all his power, was neither omniscient nor omnipotent. He was not a god, and he still very much had his limits. The biggest limit of all… was time. He hadn't just shown Apolline those memories of the future, he'd relived them as well. And it was a stark reminder that while he still had time left… he didn't have an endless amount of it.
There were, in fact, many things he could do to prepare for the future in this moment. And in all fairness, he was already doing many of them. But… he could do more. So he would.
Over the weeks proceeding the disastrous Second Task, Harry had Rita going ham in the paper. After all, the Second Task wasn't a disaster for him… it was a disaster for everyone else. Rita was happy to go after everybody involved.
Albus Dumbledore received a fair amount of criticism at the end of her poisonous pen for his failures and his 'reliance' on the mercy of the Merpeople in the Black Lake. Igor Karkaroff didn't escape unscathed either, though mostly because of his treatment of Harry when it came to giving points. Olympe Maxime received the least of Rita's venomous wit, though even she did not emerge completely unscathed.
But the real damage was being done to Bagman and Crouch. The two Ministry Officials overseeing this whole debacle had been raked back and forth over the coals by Rita in article after article, day after day. She just wasn't letting up.
For Bagman, it was incredibly easy for Rita to go after him. To be fair, given what Harry knew, they could have had the man fleeing the country, more than likely. But a toady like Bagman could also be useful to have in your back pocket, so he hadn't allowed Rita to spill the beans about Bagman's gambling debts. Especially since the full story might make Harry look a little bad as well, just by association. It wasn't like Harry had gone along with any of Bagman's bullshit, but at the same time, he was still the one Bagman had put all of his remaining hopes and dreams in.
For Crouch… well, that was a different story entirely. Crouch was both easier and harder to tear down than Bagman. On the one hand, Bartemius Crouch Senior was a washed up has-been in the eyes of a lot of people. He'd gone too far in his persecution of the Dark after the First Wizarding War, and promptly been pushed aside once all was said and done.
He might have become Minister of Magic if the Ministry of the time hadn't let so many Death Eaters get away with claiming to have been Imperiused. But ultimately, Crouch had been so busy throwing anyone who was put in front of him into the darkest depths of Azkaban that he hadn't ever taken a second to step back and look at the bigger picture.
On the other hand however, Bartemius Crouch Senior was a pillar of the Ministry to plenty of other people. To those people, he was a man who had never wavered in his ideals, who didn't play politics like most other Ministry Officials. This wasn't true, of course. The truth was, Crouch Senior definitely tried to play politics… he'd just failed at it. Miserably.
Now the man was nothing but a puppet for his son, who was currently masquerading as Mad-Eye Moody. Not that anyone knew that.
What they did know, however, was all of the things Rita was writing in the Daily Prophet, steadily and systematically tearing Crouch Sr. to shreds piece by piece. Thanks to his current Imperiused state, the man wasn't even capable of defending himself. And it would seem his son wasn't inclined to let him either. The silence was damning.
Funny, if Crouch Jr. hadn't been so short-sighted, he might have seen what an opportunity Fudge's resignation was. Sure, Crouch Sr. might have been passed over for the position of Minister once before, but that was a long time ago and people, especially wizards and witches, always seemed to have the memory of a goldfish.
If they'd pivoted their plans, installing Crouch Senior into the position of Minister of Magic might have been a very real possibility for them. But no… someone like Barty Jr. wasn't very good at thinking for themselves. And the Shade of Lord Voldemort was so focused on getting his body back that he never would have thought about injecting himself into the Wizarding World's tumultuous politics.
In the end, that left really only one viable candidate for Minister of Magic. Oh sure, there were some that had thrown their hats in the ring, but without Lucius Malfoy to make a mess of things, the road to the Minister's Office was clear and open… for the woman currently bobbing up and down on Harry's cock.
Smirking in amusement, Harry guides Amelia Bones along his shaft for a moment longer before letting out a grunt.
"Here it comes, pet."
When he finally tips over the edge, Amelia doesn't hesitate to swallow his seed down. Her throat convulses as she gulps and gulps until his balls have been emptied. When the DMLE Director pulls off of his cock, there's a satisfied look on her face, even as she gazes up at his shadowed form. That look lasts right up until she hears the next words out of his mouth.
"You're going to be the next Minister of Magic, pet."
Far from looking pleased or even more satisfied by that statement, Amelia suddenly looks hesitant and uncertain. She swallows thickly and glances down at her hands for a moment before responding.
"I… I'm not sure I want it, sir."
Harry hums. He's not surprised. He's noticed her growing more and more uncertain and recalcitrant over the last several weeks as Rita's offensive has effectively elevated Amelia to the position of frontrunner while the Head of the DMLE has done almost nothing except be honest and speak her mind on certain policies when asked.
Before he can respond, Amelia suddenly gives him a knowing look.
"Skeeter is working for you… isn't she sir?"
Oh? Well, he supposed he couldn't exactly be surprised when someone in Amelia's position uncovered things like that. It was kind of her entire job.
"She does."
Amelia doesn't look surprised to have it confirmed. Still, she fiddles with her hands some more.
"What… what do you want from me, exactly? If I were to become Minister of Magic, what would you require of me?"
Ah, even now, having surrendered to her baser impulses, Amelia was still afraid of being used for nefarious purposes. That was fair. It was one thing to give herself up, to submit and let him use her body as he desired. It was another thing entirely to give up the entire country and allow him to have his way with all of Magical Britain. Amelia Bones was simply too good of a person to ignore the blatant risk and it seemed that Harry could no longer put off telling her SOMETHING.
Hm, the only question then became… what to tell her exactly, and how much to really give away. While it was true that he'd just gone through this song and dance a few weeks ago with Apolline, the fact was that the Delacour Matriarch had known a lot more than Amelia could ever hope to.