Author's Note: Based on a tumblr post by crazybutperfectlysane.
Summary: What if Cassius Warrington, Slytherin, was chosen as the Hogwarts Champion? Cassius Warrington AU (with my own twist).
"Cassius Warrington."
Dumbledore's voice echoed throughout the Great Hall.
Silence fell over the crowd as the students digested the information and took the time to regain their composure over the fact that of all houses, a Slytherin had been chosen as the Hogwarts Champion.
It started as a murmur, then a few mutterings as they gradually became louder.
The Hall then exploded in a cacophony of noise as a tall, tousle-haired Slytherin stood up gracefully from his table, flicking imaginary flint off his robes with an utterly neutral expression on his face.
All but the Slytherins were annoyed and displeased, and they showed it so as they protested vehemently. Warrington, on the other hand, seemed to not care as he nodded at his housemates while making his way towards where the rest of the champions were in long, confident strides.
"SILENCE!"
Dumbledore gazed over his half-moon spectacles sternly at them, "I will not tolerate such behavior. The Goblet of Fire has made its choice and you shall respect all the champions."
"Is that clear?"
Some students muttered their protests, but quietened. No one wanted to invoke his ire. He was extremely well-known for his magical prowess, achievements aside.
"Excellent," Dumbledore clapped, his serious expression replaced with a smile. "Now, moving on to - "
The Goblet of Fire flared once more, spitting out another piece of parchment.
Reflexively taking it, Dumbledore read out.
"Harry Potter."
The school was divided.
On one hand, a Slytherin had been chosen as the Hogwarts Champion. On the other, there was a fourth champion – that being who else but Harry bloody Potter according a lot of disgruntled inhabitants. Most of Ravenclaw logically sided with the Snakes, as Warrington was the true Hogwarts Champion. The Hufflepuffs were having mixed feelings about the two – the Slytherin had done nothing towards them, being one of the few decent Slytherins while Harry, from what they had seen after his second year didn't quite care for events like this. This meant that some were simply neutral, a few supported both, and others supported one or the other, and if not, one of the foreign champions. In Gryffindor, there was some tension between Harry and the seventh-years who had put their names in while Slytherin was pleased.
In a secluded part of the library, Cassius Warrington glanced up at the open pages of the book held by his home-made rune-enchanted book holder as he jotted down notes on a piece of parchment.
He was reading up on the tournament's history, attempting to find similarities or patterns that could aid him in preparing for the first task. There was no way that he was going to rush into the unknown like a brash Gryffindor – he was a Slytherin first and foremost, and damn if he wasn't going to do all that he could to survive.
"The Hat should have put you in Ravenclaw," said a familiar voice in amusement.
A shrug.
"What're you doing here, Lena?"
Elena Truthwell, or more commonly known as Lena to those who knew her well, was his childhood friend and a seventh-year Slytherin like him. No one dared to mess with her, as she came from a family of renowned duelers and regularly competed in dueling competitions. It was rumoured that her family were descended from war-mages, which Cassius knew to be true – being her closest and childhood friend. Being of Asian-European descent, she had initially been looked down upon for being from "the outside". After someone made the poor choice of insulting her family, however, the lithe female had smiled and calmly transfigured the sod into a toad.
Her words had been, "If you have time to try and kiss up to others, there is no doubt in my mind that you have time to kiss up to flies."
It had been 24 hours before the spell reversed itself.
Formidable indeed.
"Well," she said, plopping down onto a seat beside him and crossing her legs. "You didn't think I would leave you alone, didn't I, oh Hogwarts Champion?"
Cassius snorted. Figures.
"Let's get to it then."
Cassius looked at the badges and sighed.
"Really?"
"Potter does stink, Warrington," commented Draco as he tapped on a badge with his wand, watching it change to "Support Warrington" and tapping it again to change it to "Potter Stinks!".
The Hogwarts Champion raised an eyebrow, "And he's worth all the time being put into that?"
A pause.
"I thought so," dryly said the seventh-year as the Malfoy scion's expression changed to disgust and he promptly set a badge on fire.
"A dragon," Elena muttered.
"A freaking dragon. What the hell were they thinking?!"
Cassius winced as he tried to placate his friend who was on a rampaging warpath. If she didn't calm down, the next person who raised her ire would be doomed. He didn't want his childhood friend to be thrown into Azkaban, thank you very much.
Harry Potter had surprisingly pulled him to the side weeks before and told him about the first task. Elena, after a lot of furious mutterings and insults to the Ministry had helped him prepare for it.
It had gone pretty smoothly.
The Slytherin had opted for a stealth and diversion tactic.
Reinforcing his cloak and equipment with flame-protective runes, the Slytherin had disillusioned himself and distracted the Chinese Fireball by transfiguring rocks into meat and roosters. While it was suitably distracted with its food, he had sneaked his way towards the back, grabbed the golden egg and quickly made his way out.
He and Potter were currently tied for first.
Lena, despite having known about it, was still displeased, to say the least.
"Lena, I'm fine," he said.
She glowered at him, folding her arms across her chest.
He didn't back down.
"We'll talk about this later," muttered the girl as she relented for now.
She sighed, "Come on. You have two more tasks to go."
In the common room…
"Elena Truthwell, will you go to the Yule Ball with me?"
"Of course, you moron."
"Finally," muttered Darren Ruyez, a fellow seventh-year.
The House dissolved into snickers and coughs as the pair glared at them.
Second task
He really wanted to kill the organizers.
They were mad. Honestly, real-life hostages? Did they even receive permission from the families? The Slytherin highly doubted so. The Ministry's sanity, as ever, was lacking. Or had become worse, it seemed. Both seemed likely.
Mad, they were.
In any case, he was rather glad that he knew the advanced and extended version of the Bubblehead Charm. Compared to the standard version, this one could last for hours. Who needed complicated when the simple would do?
As he pulled his girlfriend out from the water, he couldn't help but muse that if her family knew, there would be no tournament.
Not to mention the lack of the majority of the Ministry, if not the entire Ministry itself.
Third task
This was not Hogwarts.
Immediately, the Slytherin disillusioned himself and ducked behind a large headstone. Potter, having been in front of him, was behind a different one.
"Wormtail…" hissed an unfamiliar voice.
It couldn't be.
"Bring me the boy. And if you find the other…kill him."
No.
He didn't want to die.
Potter glanced over, taking a deep breath as his eyes hardened with determination.
Wait…
He wasn't going to, was he?
The teen stepped out from behind the headstone, a tight expression on his face.
"Voldemort."
A chilling laugh.
"Why, if it isn't Harry Potter…"
Voldemort had been revived.
They had managed to get away. It was a good thing that he had disillusioned himself, as it had allowed him to pull some attention away from Potter and injure some of the Death Eaters. They wouldn't be out dancing for awhile, to say the least.
He had gotten hit by a Crucio once, though.
And received a broken arm. And lightly fractured ribs.
The rest of the House, upon hearing the full story, had been parts shocked, disbelieving and horrified.
For not even being a pureblood was good enough to receive mercy from the Dark Lord.
Supporting the pureblood agenda, yet killing and torturing them in cold blood?
It was against the pureblood code.
The status quo was shaken.
Taking advantage of this, he and Lena had taken some of them under their wing. This led to the neutrals taking over – Tracey Davis, Daphne Greengrass, Blaise Zabini and Elena's younger brother, Anton Truthwell. They knew that the four would do what was best for the house.
Epilogue
Years later, as the War ended, Cassius Warrington and Elena Truthwell would be the most well-known and liked Slytherins in history.
With the cunning of Slytherin as they had manipulated the Dark Lord's information network with ease.
With the intellect of Ravenclaw as they had outwitted forces through rune and transfiguration traps.
Their fierce loyalty to each other as the two dueled diligently and covered each other's backs.
And the bravery to turn against the Dark Lord, dueling against him as they protected the innocent.
Slytherin was no longer the house of evil, but the house for utilizing all other house qualities...
Cunningly, of course.