Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter.
Welcome to my first ever Harry Potter fanfic. This will be pretty canon compliant until the events of GoF except that Hermione will also believe that Harry cheated to get in and will not believe him. This will lead to some pretty big changes such as a Harry who doesn't take other people's shit. He will not be too powerful, so he will mostly rely on his cunning to win fights instead of magical prowess. I took part of it directly from the book. I have done that part in italics.
3rd November 1994- Hogwarts
It was a dark and stormy night at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Even more so than usual at this time of year. This year at Hogwarts proved to be more interesting than the previous because for the first time in a long time, the infamous Tri-Wizard Championship was being held at Hogwarts. This tournament was created over 700 years ago as a way to create unity between the three largest schools in Europe, Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. It was discontinued because in the 1700s, during the tournament, a cockatrice which the champions were supposed to capture escaped and killed the champions and many others. As the death toll continued to rise, the tournament was discontinued. That was until now at least. For many people it was proving to be a good year but not for two Hogwarts students. The first being Daphne Greengrass, a fourth year Slytherin and the second being Harry Potter, a fourth year Gryffindor.
At this moment Daphne Greengrass was trying to sleep but failing splendidly. The reason for this late was due to her nightmare. No matter how much she tossed and turned. No matter how many times she changed positions. She just could not fall asleep. And during the short time she was asleep, she had the nightmare. No, it was too horrible to be even a nightmare. It was a reality. At least a possible one. Daphne Greengrass was the heiress to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass. One of the seven families which sat on the original Wizard's Council. A council created by the legendary wizard Merlin after the death of Britain's final magical King, King Arthur Pendragon. Or as it was once known, the kingdom of Avalon. After King Arthur's death, there were no more magical dynasties left in the world as the Pendragon dynasty had been the final. Merlin created the Wizard's Council to watch over Avalon after his death and to be it's stewards after his death until the true heir Pendragon returned as it had been prophesied. That had been over 1200 years ago and the prophecy faded into legend. But that is beside the point. As such the house of Greengrass along with the other remaining original houses of the Wizard's Council were heavily sought after for their wealth and other reasons. Ever since she had started her third year, Lucius Malfoy had been pestering her father, Lord Samuel Greengrass with marriage contracts. As the heiress to House Greengrass she was expected to have a child to carry on the Greengrass name and prevent their family from becoming extinct. At first her father had ignored them since he didn't want his daughter marrying the Malfoy scion but recently Lucius Malfoy had become more ambitious and told her father that Draco was to be the future Lord Black and as such would become the leader of the Black Alliance and used this fact to blackmail her father. Unless she found someone from a house willing to continue the Greengrass name with enough power to stand up to the Black Alliance, she would have to marry Draco. And like any sane female, the thought more than worried her. She had nightmares of what he would do to her on her wedding day.
Laying in her bed on her back, she stared up at the ceiling of her four poster bed and decided to go to her favourite spot on the castle, the Astronomy Tower. Not because she liked the subject, since seriously, she felt it wasn't a very important subject and just annoyed her with having to wake up at midnight and go to the class. The reason for this being her favourite spot in the castle was the amazing view. From the tower you could see just about every part of the castle, it's grounds, the forbidden forest and even the wizarding village of Hogsmade, which was the only full wizarding settlement in Britain. Not to mention the beautiful, cloudless, starry night. Standing in this tower, looking out at the scenery helped her to relax and to forget about all of life's problems and worries and just live in the moment.
Getting out of her bed as silently as she could, without waking her dorm mates, she cast a disillusionment charm on herself. This was quite a rare skill for a fourth year since it wasn't taught until NEWTS and even then, very few could cast such a perfect disillusionment. The only problem with the charm was that if one looked closely enough, they could still see the outline of the body, but Daphne had made up for it by combining it with a charm of her own creation which then solved this problem. Combining this with a feet silencing charm made her able to sneak almost anywhere through the castle. The downfall of this was that it didn't hide her magical signature, so she could still be discovered by that method. However it was still very impressive for a fourth year. One of Daphne's ambitions in life was to become a great enchantress but marrying the blonde ferret would put a stop to that plan as she would be kept as a trophy wife who's job it was to look after the kids.
She sneaked out of the Slytherin common room and out of the dungeons. Walking up all the floors she finally arrived at the stairs to the Astronomy tower, 30 minutes later. Walking up so many flights of stairs had her slightly out of breath. No matter how many times she walked up those god damn stairs, she never got used to it. She walked up the flight of stairs as slowly as she could, hoping there was no one up their. She had to take a completely different route when the caretaker's cat, Mrs Norris appeared at the end of a corridor. If there was one charm she didn't know, it was the scent removal charm, which was a highly complex charm taught at NEWT level. Making a reminder to learn that charm in her head, she had taken the really long way to the Astronomy Tower. Arriving at the top of the stairs in the Astronomy Tower, she walked towards the edge of the tower and took in the utterly incredible view. If there was one perk of being a Hogwarts' student, it was getting the chance to witness this view. Almost immediately, her worries vanished as she took in what could be described as paradise in front of her.
But suddenly she heard a noise coming up the stairs. It was faint but she could definitely recognise that sound. It was the sound of an imperfect feet silencing charm. What many people didn't know about the charm was that if they put in too much magic or too little magic into the spell, it didn't fully silence their feet. To most people it was unnoticeable but to someone like Daphne, who knew what to look for, she recognised it almost immediately. Moving as quickly as possible to the wall she held her breath as the faint sound got slightly louder, indicating that whoever it was had arrived at the top of the stairs and was walking into the Astronomy Tower. Daphne waited, but to her surprise, she couldn't see anyone. She knew that whoever it was, was still walking towards the edge of the tower as she could still hear the very faint footsteps. She waited for around about thirty seconds and just thought she was hearing things when all of a sudden a body appeared in front of her. Whoever it was had been wearing an invisibility cloak. She couldn't see their face but recognised them almost immediately. That untidy, black hair could only belong to one person in this school... Harry Potter.
20 Minutes Earlier
Harry Potter was not having a very good day, no scratch that, he was not having a very good year. In fact, when he tried to, he couldn't even remember one good day in his life. All his life, ever since his parents' death at the hands of Lord Voldemort, he had been going through complete and utter hell. He had spent 10 years at the Durselys suffering their abuse and neglect. Both physical and verbal. In fact it wasn't until he went to primary school that he even learned what his name was. Then being introduced to the wizarding world and being treated as a hero one minute and a pariah the next. Then came his fourth year and a chance at a peaceful year, but apparently Fate really hated him. That stupid Tri-Wizard Championship. Couldn't he ever get a bloody break. Why did he have to be chosen as championship.
Flashback
31st October 1994- The Great Hall (This was taken directly from the book)
The feast had just finished. At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, how- ever, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.
"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" — he indicated the door behind the staff table — "where they will be receiving their first instructions."
He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting. . . . A few people kept checking their watches. . . .
"Any second," Lee Jordan whispered, two seats away from Harry.
The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it — the whole room gasped. Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.
"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."
"No surprises there!" yelled Ron as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Harry saw Viktor Krum rise from the Slytherin table and slouch up toward Dumbledore; he turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.
"Bravo, Viktor!" boomed Karkaroff, so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!
The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.
"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"
"It's her, Ron!" Harry shouted as the girl who so resembled a veela got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair, and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.
"Oh look, they're all disappointed," Hermione said over the noise, nodding toward the remainder of the Beauxbatons party.
"Disappointed" was a bit of an understatement, Harry thought. Two of the girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears and were sobbing with their heads on their arms.
When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excite- ment you could almost taste it. The Hogwarts champion next . . .
And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.
"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"
"No!" said Ron loudly, but nobody heard him except Harry; the uproar from the next table was too great. Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table. Indeed, the applause for Cedric went on so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again.
"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real —"
But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.
The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were fly- ing out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.
Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out —
"Harry Potter."
Harry sat there, aware that every head in the Great Hall had turned to look at him. He was stunned. He felt numb. He was surely dreaming. He had not heard correctly. There was no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry bees, was starting to fill the Hall; some students were standing up to get a better look at Harry as he sat, frozen, in his seat. Up at the top table, Professor McGonagall had got to her feet and swept past Ludo Bagman and Professor Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Professor Dumbledore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning slightly. Harry turned to Ron and Hermione; beyond them, he saw the long Gryffindor table all watching him, openmouthed.
"I didn't put my name in," Harry said blankly. "You know I didn't."
Both of them stared just as blankly back.
At the top table, Professor Dumbledore had straightened up, nodding to Professor McGonagall.
"Harry Potter!" he called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"
"Go on," Hermione whispered, with an icy tone evident in her voice, giving Harry a slight push.
Harry got to his feet, trod on the hem of his robes, and stumbled slightly. He set off up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. It felt like an immensely long walk; the top table didn't seem to be getting any nearer at all, and he could feel hundreds and hundreds of eyes upon him, as though each were a searchlight. The buzzing grew louder and louder. After what seemed like an hour, he was right in front of Dumbledore, feeling the stares of all the teachers upon him.
"Well . . . through the door, Harry," said Dumbledore. He wasn't smiling.
Harry moved off along the teachers' table. Hagrid was seated right at the end. He did not wink at Harry, or wave, or give any of his usual signs of greeting. He looked completely astonished and stared at Harry as he passed like everyone else. Harry went through the door out of the Great Hall and found himself in a smaller room, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace opposite him. The faces in the portraits turned to look at him as he entered. He saw a wizened witch flit out of the frame of her picture and into the one next to it, which contained a wizard with a walrus moustache. The wizened witch started whispering in his ear. Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour were grouped around the fire. They looked strangely impressive, silhouetted against the flames. Krum, hunched-up and brooding, was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric was standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when Harry walked in and threw back her sheet of long, silvery hair.
"What is it?" she said. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"
She thought he had come to deliver a message. Harry didn't know how to explain what had just happened. He just stood there, looking at the three champions. It struck him how very tall all of them were. There was a sound of scurrying feet behind him, and Ludo Bag- man entered the room. He took Harry by the arm and led him forward.
"Extraordinary!" he muttered, squeezing Harry's arm. "Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen . . . lady," he added, approaching the fire- side and addressing the other three. "May I introduce — incredible though it may seem — the fourth Triwizard champion?"
Viktor Krum straightened up. His surly face darkened as he sur- veyed Harry. Cedric looked nonplussed. He looked from Bagman to Harry and back again as though sure he must have misheard what Bagman had said. Fleur Delacour, however, tossed her hair, smiling, and said, "Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman."
"Joke?" Bagman repeated, bewildered. "No, no, not at all! Harry's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!"
Krum's thick eyebrows contracted slightly. Cedric was still looking politely bewildered. Fleur frowned.
"But evidently zair 'as been a mistake," she said contemptuously to Bagman. " 'E cannot compete. 'E is too young."
"Well . . . it is amazing," said Bagman, rubbing his smooth chin and smiling down at Harry. "But, as you know, the age restriction was only imposed this year as an extra safety measure. And as his name's come out of the goblet . . . I mean, I don't think there can be any ducking out at this stage. . . . It's down in the rules, you're obliged . . . Harry will just have to do the best he —"
The door behind them opened again, and a large group of people came in: Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor McGo- nagall, and Professor Snape. Harry heard the buzzing of the hundreds of students on the other side of the wall, before Professor McGonagall closed the door.
"Madame Maxime!" said Fleur at once, striding over to her headmistress. "Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!"
Somewhere under Harry's numb disbelief he felt a ripple of anger. Little boy? Madame Maxime had drawn herself up to her full, and considerable, height. The top of her handsome head brushed the candle- filled chandelier, and her gigantic black-satin bosom swelled.
"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" she said imperiously.
"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," said Profes- sor Karkaroff. He was wearing a steely smile, and his blue eyes were like chips of ice. "Two Hogwarts champions? I don't remember any- one telling me the host school is allowed two champions — or have I not read the rules carefully enough?"
He gave a short and nasty laugh.
"C'est impossible," said Madame Maxime, whose enormous hand with its many superb opals was resting upon Fleur's shoulder. " 'Ogwarts cannot 'ave two champions. It is most injust."
"We were under the impression that your Age Line would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, his steely smile still in place, though his eyes were colder than ever. "Other- wise, we would, of course, have brought along a wider selection of candidates from our own schools."
"It's no one's fault but Potter's, Karkaroff," said Snape softly. His black eyes were alight with malice. "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules. He has been crossing lines ever since he arrived here —"
"Thank you, Severus," said Dumbledore firmly, and Snape went quiet, though his eyes still glinted malevolently through his curtain of greasy black hair.
Professor Dumbledore was now looking down at Harry, who looked right back at him, trying to discern the expression of the eyes behind the half-moon spectacles.
"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?" he asked calmly.
"No," said Harry. He was very aware of everybody watching him closely. Snape made a soft noise of impatient disbelief in the shadows.
"Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet of Fire for you?" said Professor Dumbledore, ignoring Snape.
"No," said Harry vehemently.
"Ah, but of course 'e is lying!" cried Madame Maxime. Snape was now shaking his head, his lip curling.
"He could not have crossed the Age Line," said Professor McGo- nagall sharply. "I am sure we are all agreed on that —"
"Dumbly-dorr must 'ave made a mistake wiz ze line," said Madame Maxime, shrugging.
"It is possible, of course," said Dumbledore politely.
"Dumbledore, you know perfectly well you did not make a mistake!" said Professor McGonagall angrily. "Really, what non- sense! Harry could not have crossed the line himself, and as Profes- sor Dumbledore believes that he did not persuade an older student to do it for him, I'm sure that should be good enough for every- body else!"
She shot a very angry look at Professor Snape.
"Mr. Crouch . . . Mr. Bagman," said Karkaroff, his voice unctu- ous once more, "you are our — er — objective judges. Surely you will agree that this is most irregular?"
Bagman wiped his round, boyish face with his handkerchief and looked at Mr. Crouch, who was standing outside the circle of the firelight, his face half hidden in shadow. He looked slightly eerie, the half darkness making him look much older, giving him an al- most skull-like appearance. When he spoke, however, it was in his usual curt voice.
"We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament."
Flashback End
And of that wasn't bad enough then his friends had gone and betrayed him as well. Ron treated him as if he entered on purpose and was jealous of him, along with the rest of Gryffindor house. Even Hermione, whom he had expected to back him up betrayed him. He had no friends now. All of Hogwarts treated him as if he had committed murder and Harry couldn't take it no more. Fuck them. Fuck them all. He had had enough of life. What was the point of continuing to live in such a pitiful existence. The only good thing about dying was that he would be able to see his loving parents once again. He may slightly regret committing suicide and putting their sacrifice in vane but what was the point of living if his parents sacrifice was just thrown to the floor and forgotten. He had ended the fucking war. He had saved them from Lord Voldermort. He become famous before he could even talk. And the price of all of that fame was the loss of his parents. That was something the narrow-minded idiots would never understand. So with that in mind he headed for the Astronomy Tower to end his life.
Back to the present Daphne was standing in shock as she watched the Boy-Who-Lived walk closer to the edge. She wondered what he was going to do. He stood at the edge and then Dalhne realised he was crying.
' Why is he crying? ' she thought.
It was then that she heard him mutter some words.
" Goodbye cruel world. " he muttered.
It was at this moment that she knew what he was going to do. He was going to jump. He was going to commit suicide. Daphne watched in horror as he put one foot on top of the fence, and then the other. He was standing on top of the Astronomy Tower about to jump off. Before she realised what she was doing she ran up to him and pulled him back before he could jump.
Harry turned and stared in shock as she undid her disillusionment charm. He looked up at the most beautiful person he had ever seen. Then she did the only thing she could think of and pulled him into a hug.
Harry had never actually gotten a hug and was kind of worried but the comfort given to him by another person caused him to break down.
Harry started to cry...
A/N- Well that was the first chapter. Hope you enjoy. I will upload the second chapter as soon as possible. Well review and tell me how I can improve this story. I've had a story like this in my mind for a while but only now have decided to write it. Since this is my first Harry Pitter fanfic then tell what I did well and how to improve.
