Title: Storm and Strife
Author: Pretend Mulling
Rating: M (language, sexual themes, violence)
Characters: Severus Snape, Chase Carter (OC), Harry Potter, Damien Grant (OC), various canon regulars
Disclaimer: The vast majority of the characters appearing in this story belong to J. K. Rowling. Shame; if they didn't, I might be able to pay my way through college.
Summary: In 1994, Chase Carter and Harry Potter are chosen as Triwizard champions. The tournament promises fame and eternal glory, but these things come at a price. Meanwhile, Severus Snape must face his past and decide where his loyalties lie. Canon until the graveyard scene.
Chapter One: Chosen
[Author's Note: This chapter contains several passages that were taken, in whole and in part, from Chapter Seventeen of Goblet of Fire. Again, I AM NOT WRITING THIS STORY FOR FINANCIAL GAIN. The world of Harry Potter and all its characters belong to J. K. Rowling; I'm just playing on her playground. Thank you; and R&R, please!]
Chase Carter walked into the trophy room just off the Great Hall. Just a moment before, she had been chosen by the Goblet of Fire as the Hogwarts champion for the Triwizard Tournament, and she was still absorbing the news. Me? Hogwarts champion? was the only thought running through her head.
To anyone but herself, Chase's selection wasn't all that implausible. She was a prefect, she had scored Outstanding on all of her nine O.W.L.s, and was poised to score Outstanding on her upcoming eight N.E.W.T.s . True, she could attribute some of this to being raised by one of the Hogwarts professors, Severus Snape, but Chase would point out that it had more to do with his refusal to not let her do her homework than any real advantage. Still, she thought, stopping in front of the fireplace and gazing into the hearth, it's nice not to have a Gryffindor champion. She didn't really begrudge Gryffindor House its fame, but thought things had been rather skewed in Gryffindor's favor ever since Harry Potter had come to Hogwarts.
"What is it?" Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion, said suddenly. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"
Chase turned around. Fleur had been speaking to none other than Harry Potter. Harry just stood there, looking at Chase, Fleur, and Viktor Krum, the Durmstrang champion. Chase was struck by how short Harry was. She wasn't exactly tall, but Harry had to be a head and neck shorter than she was.
A sound of rushing feet caused all four of them to look at the door. Next moment, Ludo Bagman had entered the room, took Harry by the arm, and led him forward.
"Extraordinary!" he said. "Absolutely extraordinary! Ladies, gentleman, may I introduce -incredible thought it may seem- the fourth Triwizard champion!"
Viktor Krum straightened up, his face darkening as he surveyed Harry, looking from Bagman to Harry as though there had been some mistake.
Fleur 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."
Chase kept her face impassive as she looked from Harry to Bagman, but anger and jealousy had flared in her. Great. Once again, Potter the Magnificent comes to steal the glory.
Wait a minute... "Mr. Bagman, that doesn't make any sense," Chase said.
"Evidently zair 'as been a mistake," Fleur said contemptuously. "'E cannot compete. 'E is too young."
"Well... It is amazing," Bagman said, rubbing his 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 McGonagall, and Professor Snape. McGonagall closed the door behind her, shutting out the sounds of the students in the Great Hall.
"Madame Maxime!" Fleur said at once, striding over to her. "Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!"
Chase thought she saw Harry's face twitch in annoyance. She couldn't blame him; "little boy" was rather patronizing.
Madame Maxime had drawn herself up to her full, and considerable, height. "What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" she asked imperiously, her satin-swathed bosom swelling.
"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," Karkaroff said. He was wearing a steely smile, and his blue eyes were chips of ice. "Two Hogwarts champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions- or have I not read the rules carefully enough?" He gave a short, nasty laugh.
"C'est impossible," said Madam Maxime, her hand resting on Fleur's shoulder. "'Ogwarts cannot have two champions. It is most unjust."
"We were under the impression that your Age Line would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff. "Otherwise, we would, of course, have brought along a wider selection of champions from our own schools."
"It is no one's fault but Potter's, Karkaroff," Severus said softly. Chase noticed that his 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-"
"That will do, Severus," said Dumbledore firmly.
Severus went quiet, and Chase shot him a hard look. He raised an eyebrow at her. She nodded toward Dumbledore and Harry.
"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?" Dumbledore asked calmly.
"No," Harry said.
Severus made an impatient noise of disbelief.
"Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet of Fire for you?" Dumbledore asked, ignoring Severus.
"No," said Harry vehemently.
"Ah, but of course 'e is lying!" cried Madam Maxime. Chase saw her uncle shake his head, his lip curling.
"He could not have crossed the Age Line, I am sure we are all agreed on that-" Professor McGonagall started.
"Dumbly-dorr must 'ave made a mistake wiz ze line," said 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 nonsense! Harry could not have crossed the line himself, and as Professor Dumbledore believes that he did not persuade an older student to do it for him, I'm sure that should be good enough for everybody else!" She shot a very angry look at Severus.
"Mr. Crouch... Mr. Bagman," Karkaroff said in an oily voice. "You are our -er- objective judges. Surely, you will agree that this is most irregular?"
Understatement of the decade, Chase thought drily.
Bagman wiped his face and looked at Mr. Crouch, who spoke 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."
"Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front," Bagman said, beaming and turning to Maxime and Karkaroff. He plainly thought the matter was closed.
"I insist upon resubmitting the names of the rest of my students," Karkaroff said, and he neither sounded nor looked anything like friendly anymore. "You will set up the Goblet of Fire once more, and we will continue adding names until each school has only two champions. It is only fair, Dumbledore."
"But Karkaroff, it doesn't work like that," said Bagman. "The Goblet of Fire's just gone out -it won't reignite until the start of the next tournament-"
"In which Durmstrang will most certainly not be competing!" exploded Karkaroff. "After all of our meetings and negotiations and compromises, I little expected something of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!"
"Empty threat, Karkaroff," growled Moody. He had just entered the room, and from Chase's vantage point he was half in the shadows.. "You can't leave your champion now. He's got to compete. They've all got to compete. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said. "Convenient, eh?" He started toward the fireplace, a loud clunk of his wooden leg on the stone floor on each alternate step.
"Convenient?" Karkaroff said, trying to sound disdainful. "I'm afraid I don't understand you, Moody."
"Don't you?" Moody said softly. "It's very simple, Karkaroff. Someone put Potter's name in that goblet, knowing he'd have to compete if it came out."
Chase thought about this. "But why would anyone want his name to come out?"
"Obviously, someone wished to give 'Ogwarts two bites at ze apple!" said Maxime, looking down contemptuously at Chase.
"I quite agree, Madam Maxime," said Karkaroff, bowing to her. "I shall be lodging complaints with the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards-"
"But why?" Chase asked again. "Hogwarts has turned out Triwizard champions before, and as far as I know something like this has never happened. Why now, of all the times for it to happen, and why Harry Potter?"
Moody looked at her; though his face was hidden in the shadows, she thought he was giving her an approving look. "Carter's got the right idea," he said. Then he turned to Severus. "Bright girl you raised, Snape."
Severus merely jerked his head.
"And if anyone's got reason to complain, it's Potter," Moody growled to the group at large. "But, funny thing, I don't hear him saying a word..."
"Why should 'e complain?" burst out Fleur Delacour, stamping her foot. "'E 'as ze chance to compete, 'asn't 'e? We 'ave all been 'oping to be chosen for weeks and weeks! Ze honor for our schools! A thousand Galleons in prize money- zis is a chance many would die for!"
"Maybe someone's hoping Potter is going to die for it," said Moody.
Chase's head snapped up at this. She knew Moody was paranoid, not always someone to take seriously... But she knew about the Dark Mark appearing at the Quidditch World Cup. She had also caught Severus rubbing his left forearm as though it burned him. She suspected he'd been a Death Eater in his younger days, and if her suspicions were correct, his Dark Mark was bothering him. Maybe Moody was onto something... She tuned out the rest of the discussion until she heard Dumbledore speaking again.
"How this situation arose, we do not know," Dumbledore said to everyone in the room. "It seems to me, however, that we have no choice but to accept it. Both Chase and Harry have been chosen to compete in the tournament. This, therefore, they will do..."
"Ah, but Dumbly-dorr-"
"My dear Madame Maxime, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it."
Dumbledore waited, but Madame Maxime only glared. Chase saw that Severus, as well, looked furious, and so did Karkaroff. Bagman, however, looked rather excited.
"Well, shall we crack on, then?" He said, rubbing his hands together and smiling around the room. "Got to give our Champions their instructions, haven't we? Barty, want to do the honors?"
"Yes," Crouch said, as though he'd just woken from a deep sleep. "Yes... the first task..." It could have been the light, but Chase thought Crouch looked ill.
"The first task is designed to test your daring," he told the champions, "so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard... Very important...
"The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and a panel of judges.
"The champions are not permitted to accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the first task armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests."
He turned to Dumbledore. "I think that's it, Albus?"
"I think so..."
Chase pulled out her wand and looked at it, thinking hard. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard... She didn't disagree. She only wondered how the first task would be kept a secret at Hogwarts, where everything and the walls had ears. And was Moody right about why Harry's name had come out of the Goblet of Fire? Was someone trying to kill him? She looked over at Harry, suddenly ashamed of her previous anger toward him. He hadn't asked for this, and she could tell by the look on his face that he hadn't wanted it, either. Poor kid, she thought.
"Harry, Chase, I suggest you go up to bed," Dumbledore said, snapping Chase out of her reverie. In spite of the harsh words of the night, Dumbledore was smiling at them. "I am sure Gryffindor and Ravenclaw are waiting to celebrate with you, and it would be a shame to deprive them of this excellent excuse to make a great deal of mess and noise."
Harry glanced at Chase. She nodded, and they left the trophy room together, neither speaking on the way back, until they reached the staircase leading to Gryffindor Tower.
"Er... See you around, Chase," Harry said.
Chase nodded, then continued toward the West Tower. Truth be told, she didn't feel like partying tonight. What she really wanted was to talk to Severus and ask him what the hell was going on.
Why not? She thought, and turned toward a shortcut to the dungeons.
"What are you doing here?" Severus hissed at her fifteen minutes later, when he answered his office door.
"Nice to see you too, dear uncle," Chase said. She entered the room and sat down in the chair behind Severus's desk. "I want to know what the hell is going on."
"If Dumbledore doesn't know, I don't," he said, as though that solved everything.
"All right, let me be more specific: Were you ever a Death Eater?"
She'd hit on something. Severus turned to her, his eyes blazing. "Why do you want to know?"
"Why have you been rubbing your left forearm lately?"
"It's none of your business."
"Let me see it, then."
"Absolutely not."
"Severus, it's not like I'm asking you to show me your willy," Chase said, smirking. "It's your arm, that's all."
"And it is none of your business," he snarled.
Chase stood up then and strode over to him. She grabbed his left wrist and pulled up the sleeve.
"You insolent brat!" He snapped, jerking his arm away, but not before Chase had seen the faint, grayish outline of a Dark Mark.
"So you were a Death Eater," she said calmly. Chase was too used to her uncle's attitude to be upset by it.
"Yes," he growled, pulling the sleeve down over the ugly tattoo. "When I left school, I joined."
"Severus, do you think Moody's right? About someone being out to get Potter, I mean."
"I don't know," he said. "And if you want the truth, I don't care. Whatever Dumbledore might believe to the contrary, I am sure Potter asked an older student to put his name in."
"But how did that goblet forget that there's only three champions?"
"Weren't you listening to Moody? He said it would have taken an exceptionally powerful Confundus Charm to trick the goblet."
Chase cocked her head. "Did he say that? Well, he's probably right, but I can't think of any student here who could cast a Confundus Charm that powerful. Maybe you could, or McGonagall or Dumbledore, but none of you would."
Severus shook his head. "You're asking questions that don't have an answer right now, Chase," he said wearily. "Go back to Ravenclaw Tower."
Later that night, lying awake in her bed, Chase forced all of the thoughts besides what the first task on November the twenty-fourth might be.
