The arena seemed so grand while standing there at the mouth of its entrance. Hundreds of faces stared down at him, most jeering and laughing at his misfortune, but a few seemed to be cheering him on. For the amount of people there, the roar of their shouts should have deafened him, but Harry could only hear the sound of his heart thumping in his chest and the blood rushing in his ears. Standing opposite him was the massive Horntail, crouched over her eggs and eying him with anger, as if though he were the one to have put her unborn in such mortal danger. Its massive tail swung to and fro, slamming against the arena floor, leaving thick gouges as if though the hard ground were made of parchment.
A single thought entered his brain, continually repeating so loudly that no doubt the people in the crowd could hear it themselves if they strained their ears hard enough.
'I'm going to die.'
Gulping loudly, he steeled himself; now was not the time to panic. This was what he had practiced all those hours for, this was what Hermione had spent her free time coaching him for.
"Accio Firebolt!" He shouted.
Nothing.
The Horntail continued to watch him, the crowd continued to jeer and shout soundlessly, and there was no Firebolt.
'I'm going to die.'
Harry raised his wand again and cast the spell, desperation creeping into his voice. Again nothing happened and the brief hope that had flickered when he first heard about the spell seemed to diminish and disappear entirely. Fear clouding his mind he repeated the spell, arm moving so fast that there was no doubt he was not performing the correct movements anymore.
The people in the crowd laughed and shouted at him, mocking his fruitless spell, but Harry didn't hear any of it; continuing to cast the spell, fear overtaking him. He was going to die!
In the crowd Hermione watched her best friend frantically wave his wand about and though she couldn't hear what he said over the other spectators shouts, she knew he was desperately trying to cast the summoning spell.
'What's going on? The castle isn't that far away, it should have already arrived!"
Worry quickly overcame any other emotion and she gasped, covering her mouth. This could not end well.
'I'm going to die.'
The Horntail continued to eye him warily, but seeing as how he wasn't moving, it seemed to be relaxing ever so slightly, its massive wings moving away from completely covering the nest and Harry caught a brief glimpse of the golden egg.
Their plan had failed and now he was going to have to go against the Horntail without his trusty broom and only his sub par spell knowledge to rely on; and he highly doubted a disarming charm would do much of anything against the hulking beast.
He felt his body move forward before his brain could comprehend his sudden suicidal actions, but he did notice the Horntail straightening at his sudden advancement.
'I'm going to die.'
The massive dragon roared a warning ; but his body didn't seem to take any notice, steadily moving faster until he was moving at a light jog. Harry's steps never wavered, his green eyes set on the brief glimpses he could get of the golden egg. It was insane, he knew, but he wasn't going to fall back - not in the face of this dragon or anything else that this bloody tournament would throw at him. Giving up never crossed his mind; he may have not willingly entered this damned competition, but that didn't mean he was going to drop everything because of this setback - he wouldn't prove everyone that called him weak correct.
If it weren't for the skills he earned from Quidditch, he never would have seen the massive horned tail lash out and damn near kill him. He had barely avoided the strike, but the force behind it took him off his feet and sent him a few feet away. Harry scrambled to get back up, ignoring the sharp pain and the protests of his body, holding his wand like a life-line. It was of no use to him, though; he didn't know any spells that could stop this dragon, let alone scratch its thick skin.
He cried out in shock as the tail slammed into the space just a few feet away, toppling him over and sending sharp rocks in the air. A loud growl from the dragon surprised him enough to notice that with that final attack, it had gotten its tail stuck in the ground. Seeing his chance, Harry sprinted away, taking shelter behind another boulder that was farther away and well out of the chained dragon's reach.
'Think, Harry, think!' It was useless though, and he knew it. They had put everything into the summoning charm, because it was honestly his best and only bet; and everything else they found that could potentially harm a dragon was well out of his grasp.
'I'm going to die, aren't I?'
In that moment, Harry found himself thinking back to everything that had occurred since that summer in Little Whinging. He thought about Sirius, Hermione, the World Cup, hearing about the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and hearing his name called as Dumbledore picked it out of the air. And despite all of these things, he felt anger and guilt at the fact that he would not be able to make amends with Ron. It would take his death to show that Harry wouldn't have actively put himself in such danger for a little bit of glory.
Loud shouts from the audience drew him away from his thoughts and he took a chance and peaked around the boulder and what he saw caused his heart to stutter. The Horntail, seemingly unsatisfied with the fact it hadn't killed Harry yet, was tugging at its massive chains. It turned its head snapping in the direction of the suddenly nervous looking dragon handlers that had been discretely moving closer when they saw that Harry wasn't faring too well. It turned its head again to once again stare right at Harry and as it opened its mouth an unholy fire seemed to spark in the back of its throat.
Harry didn't think as he threw himself behind the boulder again, unbearable heat licking at the end of his robes. The pain from hitting the hard ground was overcome by the heat as the Horntail continued to rain down its hot breath upon the boulder, the flames peeking and rising above it.
And Harry could only think one thing.
'I don't want to die!'
"Ho, looks like I got here a little later than usual."
Harry froze at the sudden voice that seemed to drown out all of the previous noise. Slowly raising his head he stared at the person that hovered above him, seemingly unaware of the fact that he were in an arena with a dragon. A blinding pain in his head struck him as he stared at the person, and quickly he dropped his head back down. The pain slowly ebbed away and he groaned tightly, his eyes stinging from having looked upon the person. His mind played the brief glimpse he got of the person, sending a dull throb through his brain and he frowned to himself; the person was definitely male, but the odd thing were that the image his mind supplied seemed to lack any color and was rather blurred.
An oddly colored hand appeared in his vision and Harry froze, his brain unable to comprehend what his eyes were seeing. The world seemed to fall apart around him as his eyes focused on the hand, devoid of any color, yet still able to be seen. It wasn't white, or gray, or anything else that would signify an absence of color - the hand simply seemed to exist without it. Harry understood that it wasn't his eyes playing tricks on him because he could recognize and see the color of the arena floor. Tentatively, he reached out and took the person's hand and with what seemed like no effort, the man pulled him up.
"Don't worry about the color, Harry, just don't look at me and you'll be fine." The man said, chuckling.
Harry nodded slightly, too confused to say much of anything. Looking around, taking care not to look at the man that stood opposite of him, his eyes widened at what he could see. Time seemed to have stopped, or at least slowed down incredibly, because as he gazed around at the arena - everyone seemed to be frozen in various actions. Turning around he stared in awe at the sight of the flames that were pushing against the boulder, frozen and hanging in the air.
"Who are you?" He asked, turning back, mindful of staring at the man - instead opting to stare at the space between them. From the corners of his eyes he could make out the man's sandal-clad feet, also devoid of any color and he frowned to himself. Apparently if he simply didn't look at the man directly, the blinding pain wouldn't occur. Taking a chance he raised his eyes to stare at the area next to the man's head and his entire being seemed to freeze as he caught a glimpse of the man's face.
"Hm, just as smart as I knew you would be."
The man wasn't so much of a man, but a teenage boy. His hair was messy and pointed in every direction, lazy strands curling across his forehead and temples; framing a slim, smiling face. Perched on the boy's nose were a pair of circular glasses that fit the frame of his face, large eyes peering into his own. And though nearly everything about him seemed devoid of any color, the lightning-bolt scar on his forehead pulsed an angry, red color.
"Hullo, Harry Potter, you handsome bastard; nice to meet you."
Hermione frowned as she stared down into the arena, eyes focused on her best friend. She had screamed when she first saw the dragon open its large maw and breathe out a massive ball of fire, her mind immediately thinking of the worst, but had breathed a sigh of relief when Harry was able to hide once again behind the boulder. Now she was worried again.
For the past few minutes he seemed to be simply staring off into space crouched behind the boulder while the Horntail continued to tug at its chains impatiently. Biting her lip, she glanced over to where the judges were seated and she saw that most of them were looking impatient or worried in Bagman's case, though Professor Dumbledore was leaning forward in his seat with a thoughtful look, one hand idly stroking his long beard.
Confused, she looked back to where Harry was and was surprised when she saw that no longer did he have that vacant look on his face, but was now smiling in a way she had rarely ever seen. Standing up, he straightened and was looking a lot more confident than he had since he first stepped into the arena.
And then he raised his arm, swished his wand, and the impossible happened.
Harry tried formulating words, but his brain seemed to have stopped functioning; and who could blame him?
"W-wha-what?"
The colorless Harry was smiling from ear to ear, genuinely amused by the colored Harry's expression of shock.
"Is this some sort of joke?"
Chuckling, he patted the shocked boy's shoulder, "No joke Harry. I'm as real as it gets." He frowned slightly before looking down at himself, "Well, almost as real as it gets."
Harry continued to gape, though careful not to stare at the other Harry. He still couldn't really wrap his brain around the idea, so his mouth practically moved on its own.
"How?"
Colorless Harry shrugged slightly, gazing around the arena with a small frown before nodding to himself as if though he had discovered whatever he had been looking for.
"The how is not important right now, Harry. What is important is that I get you out of this alive."
This immediately brought Harry back to his situation and he turned his eyes away to stare at the crowd as well as the frozen flames behind him.
"Are you doing this?" From the corner of his eye he could see the other Harry nod his head. Harry couldn't help but wonder how the other him was doing something so powerful.
'Stopping time? Is that even possible?'
"It's nothing as impressive as stopping time, in fact the only person really affected right now is you."
Harry frowned, turning back to not stare at his near mirror image.
"Why are you here and why are you doing this?"
Not-Harry shook his head looking down at his wrist, where an old wrist-watch was strapped, and to Harry's surprise this too was one of the few things about the other Harry that was colored. The strap for the watch was frayed and the color of fresh mud while the watch itself was chipped and a dull gold color. What was even odder about the timepiece was that where the numbers and hands shoulder be, instead it was completely white, but the other Harry seemed to take something from it as a slight look of panic flashed by his eyes before he composed himself and looked back up at Harry.
"Like I said Harry, right now, none of that is important."
Harry stiffened as his colorless self suddenly raised his wand, but before he could do anything else, he felt his body begin to slip away from his mind's control.
"Because right now, we are going to win the first task."
Hermione couldn't believe what she was seeing, and apparently neither could the rest of the crowd as they had hushed as soon as Harry had raised his wand.
Harry had done a complete change of character, where he had been rushed and panicked before, he was now in complete control of his emotions - though that wide grin on his face was rather unnerving. When he had first raised his wand, everyone had expected for him to try the summoning spell yet again, but were surprised when he had instead used the levitation charm. Most people had laughed, recognizing the wand movements, but had quickly quieted down when the massive boulder he had been hiding behind easily lifted into the air. With a casual jab, Harry sent the massive boulder flying towards the Horntail.
The Horntail watched the incoming boulder with an intelligent look of surprise, but as it neared, its massive tail swung out and slammed into it, sending it flying away to hit the ground where it skipped a few times before coming to rest. Smugly, she turned back to stare at the human and if it weren't for her animal instincts the next boulder that Harry had banished her way would have slammed into her chest. She snarled viciously, hot breath exhaling from her maw in warning, but she was once again forced to dodge another boulder.
Hermione, along with nearly everyone else in the stadium gaped at the sight. Harry had cleanly turned everything around; no longer was he on the defensive, now he was casually chucking large boulders, forcing the massive dragon farther and farther away from her nest of eggs. What made it even more astonishing was the fact that Harry didn't even look like he was paying attention to what he was doing, eyes focused on the golden egg now only a few yards away.
The Horntail let out an unearthly roar as it took notice of what Harry was nearing. Hot flames rushed towards Harry and the stadium gasped in unison, everyone suddenly invested and on the edge of their seats. Harry didn't even give the Horntail a glance as he picked up his speed, his arm moving swiftly as he swished and flicked his wand. Three of the boulders nearest him suddenly shot up in the air, glowing a faint blue color and collided together with enough force that the wind created nearly knocked him down. With another jab, the large lump sped towards the incoming fire. They met together in an amazing display, the force of the spell behind the boulders effectively stopping the flame's movement; the boulders completely unharmed as they continued to press against the flames.
Hermione gasped, knowing full well what that meant.
'The Flame-Freezing spell? When did he learn that!'
And as Harry grasped the egg and the dragon keepers moved in to restrain the dragon, the flames died out and the boulders fell to the floor with a loud crash.
Harry just continued to smile as he held the large golden egg under his arm.
Harry had regained control of his body when the professors began to congratulate him, barring Moody who looked a little surly yet at the same time interested. After looking around wildly trying to find his colorless counterpart, and being given a few odd looks, he had finally allowed himself to be dragged towards the first aid tent. After having Madam Pomfrey bustle and check him over before leaving to go care for Cedric, he found himself looking around, wondering if his counterpart was around or if he had simply hallucinated the whole thing. He highly doubted that.
"Good, wasn't it? I predict we'll get about forty-one points, just one point higher than Krum."
Snapping his head around, he glared at his counterpart who was seated in a chair off to the right of the tent. Much to Harry's surprise; not only did the other Harry now come in color, he was able to look at him without having that massive migraine.
Not-Harry was slouched in his chair, still smiling, and was dressed in clothes Harry hadn't seen since his relatives had gone out on holiday to a beach. A bright yellow Hawaiian shirt clad his upper body matched with a pair of khaki shorts; muggle clothes that actually fit! But the odd thing about this Harry was that there were subtle differences in his appearance. The hair at his temples had turned gray along with other small patches all around his head and that coupled with the wrinkles around his eyes and crows feet at the corners made him look far older. Yet despite these changes, he looked like a mirror image of what Harry looked like now; Not-Harry looked both young and old. Needless to say it was a little unnerving.
Grasping his wand tightly, he glared at him. Before, he had accepted the person's appearance because of the shock and confusion of seeing a person with his face, but now he was going to get answers.
"Just who are you?"
Not-Harry smiled, crossing his familiarly hairy legs.
"Why Harry don't you recognize me?" He said in a mocking tone. "I'm Harry James Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived."
Harry continued to glare at him, not amused at all. Sure, this person had helped him and was practically wearing his face, but if what living in the magical world had taught him, not everything is what it seemed.
Not-Harry seemed to deflate as he sighed and leaned forward in his chair.
"Harry, I'm not going to lie to you. I know how much we hate that." He smirked slightly, before deflating once again at Harry's hard expression. "But I am you, Harry. Just not the you of today, if you get what I mean?"
Confusedly, Harry slowly loosened the grip on his wand and sat up straighter in the infirmary bed.
"What, you mean like, as in a future me?"
Apparent Future-Harry nodded grimly, no sign of the previous joking and easy-going personality visible. It took a while for Harry to come to terms with this; if the events of last year hadn't occurred he would have immediately dismissed it, but they had, and Harry knew that time-travel was possible.
"So then why are you here?"
Future-Harry frowned as he leaned back in his chair, green eyes focused on the flap of the tent before he turned back to stare into Harry's own.
"Trust me when I tell you that you don't want to know why I'm here. Not yet."
Before Harry could formulate an angry response Hermione burst into the room looking agitated and frazzled. She looked around wildly before spotting him on the bed and ran over to envelope him in a hug. Harry, shocked at the sudden intrusion turned to stare at Future-Harry, who was eying their interaction fondly.
'How did she not see him?'
"Harry!"
Ron entered the tent as well and Harry felt anger rush into him. Ron walked around the bed to stand not two feet away from his counterpart and Harry once again felt his heart speed up in panic, but Ron too seemed to not be able to see the time-traveling Harry.
Ron was pale and looked deathly afraid, at what Harry didn't know, and before he could formulate a scathing remark, Ron spoke.
"Harry," he said, very seriously, "whoever put your name in that goblet - I - I reckon they're trying to do you in!"
Future-Harry laughed behind Ron, yet no one besides himself seemed to hear it. Frowning more at this mystery than Ron's statement he decided that if Ron was going to try to reconcile with him, then he shouldn't try to push him away.
"Finally caught on, Ron?" He asked without any real anger, and smiled slightly when Ron's face reddened in embarrassment.
"Listen mate, I'm s-"
Harry shook his head and interrupted his red-haired friend before he said anything too embarrassing, "Forget about it Ron."
Ron grinned, so did Harry, and Hermione just cried. Future-Harry also grinned, but from what Harry had seen so far, that seemed to be a common expression.
"Well, lets go see your scores then?"
Harry did beat Krum by a single point with an overall score of forty-one.
Future-Harry grinned.
Harry was convinced.
Author: Got dat Harry Potter fanfiction rolling. I've got some big plans for this story, it's gonna be crazy, yo. Ya dig?
Next Chapter: Future-Harry explains some things and gets a name! Yay! Harry gets angry and the plot thickens!
Upcoming chapters are going to be longer, though not by much, about 2k more words - probably. I'm lazy and I'd rather have more smaller chapters than fewer larger chapters, and let's face it - most of us don't have the best attention span in the world.
No this isn't going to be some creepy Hary/Harry slash. There will be a pairing, but that'll come later, for now I'm not telling.