The Cheater

Summary: Harry Potter cheats his way out of the Triwizard Tournament with the help of his innate cunningness and Slytherinish side.

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I was sitting in the great hall with my two best friends Ron and Hermione. The crowd around me was really loud but they were excited because of the Triwizard tournament and all. I wasn't, not really, but I had a bad feeling about this, like some sort of impending doom. "Hey guys, do you-?"

"Shh," Hermoine snapped. "It's starting."

"Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen to the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts for the first time in a long time." The crowd clapped and roared. Dumbledore raised his hands and instantly they silenced.

"I just want to say to you all that today we will be picking our champions from the Goblet of Fire." He walked up to the table which held the goblet of fire and reached into the bowl of fire and pulled out a slip of paper. "The first champion of Drumstrang is Victor Krum!"

I clapped politely.

"The second champion, of Beuxbatons is Fluer Delacour!"

I clapped politely.

"And now for the Hogwarts champion…. It is… Cedric Diggory!"

I clapped politely.

"And now let us-" Dumbledore stopped mid sentence. Uh oh, this wasn't good for me. "What the hell-" He exclaimed as a piece of paper shot out. He caught it midair and read it. "And the champion for Hogwarts is Harry-? Harry Potter?"

What the fuck? I was surprised alright. I knew something was not right here but I went to the little room where all the rest of the champions were without a word, ignoring the crowd's whispers. Fucking losers.

When we were all in the room, Dumbledore came forward and grabbed my shoulders with both of his arms. I was scared. "Did you put your name in the goblet, Harry?" he said.

I shook my head. "No I didn't."

"Okay I believe you Harry." Dumbledore said.

"What the hell is this?" Kakaroff exclaimed as he strode into the room. "This is garbage, how can Hogwarts have two champions?"

"Yes, I am wondering that myself." Moody said as he stepped out of the darkness, his eye darting back and forth.

"What are you- are you – Do you dare to accuse me?"

"I am not accusing anyone… yet. But mark my words this is dark magic right here." Moody said and went out of the room.

"Right," Dumbledore said clearing his throat. "Now, I will have to look into this myself along with professor Snape but-"

"Wait!" I said. "I don't want to compete. Its ok, I quit."

"You can't do that, right Bartemius Crouch?"

"Right you are, against the rules and what not." Seriously where the hell were these people coming from? They just popped out of nowhere.

"No you don't understand what I am saying. I do not want to compete."

"But you have to my boy," Dumbledore said. "Sorry."

"I see, but since this is forced on me I can cheat right?"

"Nope, against the rules."

"What happens if I break the rules?"

"You get disqualified from the-" He must have noticed my smile. He cleared his throat. "You can't cheat."

"Okay," I said. "Can I go now Dumbledore?"

"Okay you may go."

I walked out of the room and went back to the table where Ron and Hermoine were still sitting. Everyone else had been carted off to their dorms. That was good.

"Hey guys, you will never believe-"

"Why didn't you put me in?" Ron asked.

I saw where this was going at once. Ron was jealous so I thought fast. "I think Snape put me in to get me killed or something." I said.

"That bastard!"

"I know so here's the plan. Since this was forced on me I can cheat my way out. And I'll get disqualified which means I won't have to compete anymore."

"Harry…." Hermoine said. "That's a smart idea actually. I'll see what I can do." She went to the library.

"Okay Ron, here's what I need you to do…" I leant in closer and whispered my plan to his ear in case there were any eavesdroppers. "You need to find out about the challenges that will come up okay?"

"Sure Harry." He said.

"Good man Ron." I said and walked out of the great hall.

"Hey where are you going?"

"To the prefects bathroom, I need to relax. By the way what's the password?"

"Candysweets." Ron said then put a hand to his mouth. "Shit, I shouldn't have said that."

"Too late," I said. "Now see what you can do about… you know what."

"Will do Harry."

I took out the mauraders map to find the prefects bathroom and saw something strange: Moody was not in Hogwarts anymore. But for some reason there were two Bartemius Crouches! What the hell was going on?

Uh oh, I thought. This looks like a death eater trap. I better be careful because Crouch was pacing in Moody's office. That meant Moody was under disguise!

I continued on my way to the prefects bathroom and upon entering I was amazed at the size of it. I took a relaxing swim, and went to bed.

The next morning I woke up really early like I always do and headed down to breakfast. I met Hermoine on the way and we talked about last night.

"I don't know what's going on but I'll find out. And I'll get out of this tournament by cheating. I know Sirius will help me with that." I said and stuffed a bagel in my mouth. Then I went to the Quidditch Pitch to practice my flying skills. I had to stay in shape even if there was no Quidditch this year.

Today was Sunday so no classes. I practiced my flying all day, and in the evening went to the fireplace, dead tired. There were people in the common room, I wanted to talk to Sirius so I had to get rid of them some how because I didn't want to wait.

"Hey guys, get the hell out of this place!" I shouted and raised my wand. Then I started casting hexes and charms. I was very good at dueling so they cleared out immedietly a bit scared. Good.

I locked the doors to the staircases and conjured a large boulder in front of the Fat lady. Then I threw in some flue powder and whispered, "Grimauld Place." This was the address Sirius had given me last summer.

Sirius's head appeared. "Hi Harry how ya doing?"

"Good, I need help."

"What sort of help?"

"I got stuck in the Triwizard tournament and I need to get out. Can you give me some ways to cheat my way out?"

"Wow…" Sirius said. "Okay here's what you do. Ask everyone you can about the tasks up ahead and how to solve them. They will see you are cheating and will either help you in which case you will win 1000 galleons or call you out in which case you get disqualified. Either way win win."

"Thanks Sirius," I said and we talked some more.