Written by: Gilana1, Ashikada Nanashi, and Lady Eve.
A/n: This story is AU. R/R! Rating subject to change.
Disclaimer: We do not own this story, or any of its characters. Harry Potter and everything in it is owned by JK Rowling and Warner Bros. We only own the plot.

Chapter 1

The First Task of the Triwizard Tournament had come and gone, and Harry had come out on top, thought it had not been easy. The Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament had come and gone, and Harry was glad it was over with. Now, the Third Task was only a couple days away. The Boy Who Lived had been practicing every day, and had received daily letters from Sirius, giving him pointers and tips to try to get him through this. It would not be easy, and he knew whoever had put him through this was not doing it to be kind to him, or they would not have done it. Harry had not had an easy time since he had been announced as the fourth Triwizard Champion. The fight with Ron, the tasks themselves, asking a date out for the Yule Ball, finding one for that matter… Now, it was almost over.

The school year was ending. Before long, the Triwizard Tournament itself would be over, and someone would be proclaimed the winner. He didn't care if he won or not. The prize for winning was fortune and fame. Harry had enough fame to last him a lifetime. After all, he was Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, and Hero of the Wizarding World. Bah, all Harry wanted was to live a quite and to be left alone, but no. He was never so lucky. He wondered if he'd ever get used to his life never going the way he wanted. As for the fortune part… Harry had more money than he would ever spend in his lifetime. The last thing he needed was more money.

That morning, he got another letter from Sirius, giving him more pointers and tips to get him through the last task of Triwizard Tournament no worse for the wear. It made Harry feel good to know that Sirius cared about what happened to him, even though he knew he did. It was nice to get the letters from him. Ron and Hermione were concerned, as well, and every day during lunch, they practiced spells to help Harry in the Final Task a couple of days from now. Even though Harry felt he knew these spells, it didn't bother him to go and find more and practice them. Every little bit helped, and Harry was definitely in favor of coming out of the Last Task alive. He was very much in favor of that.

As the day came to close, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to their last class of the day – Potions with Professor Snape, which they all dreaded, as did every Gryffindor. It seemed as they sat down and the class began that Professor Snape was feeling particularly vindictive that day. It seemed he was having a bad day, or worse than usual. The potion he was asking them to make a rather hard potion, which he said was OWL level, but Harry had a feeling it was higher. Hermione, the ever diligent student, was quick to start her potion, and determined to do it right. Of course, Ron and Harry could not have cared less, as Snape would probably fail them no matter how well they did, so it didn't matter.

As it was, Harry had other things on his mind. He was more concerned with the Third Task coming up in a few days than whatever such-and-such Potion their dreaded Potions Master had them doing that particular day. Besides, as much as he hated Harry, he would have failed him away, no matter what. So why try? Especially when there were things that was more important to worry about. So, as could be expected, Harry was daydreaming. Every now and again, he'd add some ingredient, and stir it in. He wasn't pay attention at all. He didn't even really hear Hermione whisper his name, and tell him that he was stirring it the wrong way. He snapped out of his reverie, and looked at her. Of course, that was when Professor Snape took notice of what he was doing.

"Potter," Snape said, his voice cold, with an icy tone it, "stop daydreaming. Get to work." He looked down at the potion Harry had been doing. "A complete failure." He waved his wand, emptying the cauldron. "Start over." The dark-haired man walked away, his black cloak billowing behind him as he went over to insult Neville. Harry's green eyes followed him, before Hermione snapped him back to his own empty cauldron, and he slowly started adding the ingredients, all the while seething with hatred for his teacher. Did he ever hate that man…

Of course, Harry started daydreaming again. He never cared about Potions anyway, let alone two days before the Final Task of the Triwizard Tournament. Hermione tried to get his attention again. He had failed to add an ingredient at the proper time. When he heard her voice, his head snapped to look at her, not for very along, only to hear something splash every so lightly into his cauldron. Harry looked back at it, and it wasn't too much longer when the potion in Harry's cauldron that he had been working on exploded all over him. His body began to burn, not just on the outside, but on the inside as well. If he had been thinking more clearly, that would have been strange, since his mouth had been closed at the time. But, at the moment, the only thing on the boy's mind was the seething pain he was in.

Snape walked over to him. "What is going on, Potter?" He asked harshly.

"Professor!" Hermione yelled. "He has to go to the Hospital Wing!"

Snape waved one of his long-fingered hands. "Go." He wiped the Potion out of Harry's cauldron, leaving only a small ball. Someone had thrown something into Potter's cauldron, making it explode. That did not explain the pain that Potter seemed to be going through. "Class dismissed. Wipe your cauldrons clean and go." With that, Snape walked briskly out of the room, heading towards the Headmaster's Office. Draco Malfoy had been the one to throw this object into the cauldron, of that Snape was sure. Snape was also sure that Albus would want to know what had happened to Gryffindor's Golden Boy.

Snape uttered the password once he reached the gargoyle statue that guarded Dumbledore's Office. He stepped inside, and let the stairs take him up. Once he reached the platform, he knocked once before going in. Albus looked up in surprise, as Severus should be in class right now. "Is something the matter, Severus?" Dumbledore asked. He had been sitting calmly at his desk going over things when Severus had burst through the door.

Severus relayed what had happened in class not too long ago. Albus sat there and listened as Severus told him what of what had transpired, his brows furrowed. "I found this in the bottom of Potter's cauldron after I wiped the Potion out," he said, holding up the ball between his long fingers in front of the Headmaster.

Albus raised his head. "Hmm… I wonder why someone would have that, and even if they did, the only reason they could have thrown it in was if they were intent on disrupting the other person's potion." Albus stated.

A wave of anger and annoyance rushed through Severus. "I have already figured that out on my own, Albus. Thank you very much," Severus said, his black eyes glittering with annoyance at the Headmaster. "I simply thought that you would like to know about your precious Potter."

"Indeed, and I thank you for bringing this to my attention, Severus," Albus told him. "You said that he seemed to be in great pain, correct?" Severus nodded, and Albus stood up. "Find out what spells that Draco Malfoy put on that Spell-o-sphere, and then come and see me. I will probably be in the Hospital Wing." Severus nodded curtly, and then they both swept out of the room. Severus headed to his office, and Albus headed towards the Hospital Wing to see Harry.

Once Albus arrived, Poppy had already sedated Harry. Even in Harry's sedated state, the old man could tell that the young boy was in great pain. Without any more information, Poppy could not tell Albus why he was in so much pain, and Albus would have nothing further to add until Severus got back to him to tell him what spells were on the Spell-o-sphere. Albus agreed to himself that he had a soft spot for the young boy. As time went on, Albus became increasingly more confused. He hoped Severus finished soon, he thought as he watched Harry as Poppy rushed back and forth, tending to the young boy. "This is most unusual," Albus said to Poppy, as he stood near Harry's bedside.

Poppy nodded, stopping her tending momentarily. "I don't think I have ever seen anything like this." She said no more and went back to tending to him, regardless. Yes, it was odd, but she was a nurse. It was her job to tend to her patients, and she would until she didn't have to anymore. It was only a shame that Harry was in here so often, for one thing or another.

Severus carefully examined the Spell-o-sphere, a smallish ball designed to hold certain spells and certain things' magical properties. He was slightly disappointed that this didn't help any, not that he cared what happened to Potter, but, after all, Potter had been in his class at the time. Anyway, Severus examined the ingredients and properties of the potion that they had been attempting in class, and looked at them both side by side. It didn't hit him at first, but then something jumped out at him. Of course, why had he not seen that sooner as soon as he had found out the properties of the ball? He was, after all, a Potions Master. Unfortunately, this didn't help matters either. Actually, this was quite confusing. Why would Draco Malfoy do this? If he had wanted to hurt Potter, there were much easier ways…

As it was, Severus had no time to sit here and think about this. He grabbed the ball, and quickly made his way to the Hospital Wing, where Poppy seemed to be tending to someone behind a closed curtain. Albus was on the side closest to him, and Severus could not see who was on the bed on the other side of the curtain. He knew it was Potter, of course. The sun was going further down in the sky. The man had not been aware of how much time he had spent in his office. He turned to the Headmaster. "Albus, with the properties on this," he said, holding up the ball in his fingers, "and those of the potion we were brewing in class today, some of them combine to create a very rough antidote to a Disguise Potion."

"You're sure? You're sure it's not a Disguise Potion itself or something else?" The old man asked his younger colleague.

"Yes, of course," Severus said, matter-of-factly. One could not doubt his skills or expertise in this area.

Albus' brows furrowed in confusion. "Well, that is most troubling…" It didn't help things at all.

"Why is that?" Severus asked, somewhat confused as to his reaction.

"Well, I was hoping that you could explain this." With that, the Headmaster pulled back the curtain of the bed, to reveal Harry Potter. Severus immediately jumped back, his eyes wide in shock.