StealthMaster: Dear my readers it's good to be able to be back and I have a few important announcements. Firstly chapters for my three other stories are being written but with all of my other commitments they are taking a lot of time. To best describe their progress would be 'Slowly but Surely'. Also these stories from now on will be updated at the same time so that I can easily keep track of their progress.

For this story a few important notes:

1. This is a SLASH fic with the main pairing being Harry/OC. Other pairings will be decided on later. This is my first attempt at such a fic that is both slash and where there is an oc as part of the main pairing so please no flames, however valid criticism with alternatives are welcomed.

2. Ron will be an idiot at the beginning but will change, though not enough to recover his friendship with Harry.

3. This story is AU but is cannon from book 1 all the way up to the announcement of Harry as a Triwizard champion, with the only change being that the Goblet of Fire takes magic and LIFE from those who refuse to compete. After that it will change but some events will be different (i.e. Moody doesn't change Malfoy into a ferret because the oc will interfere before he could cast the spell). Also this fic will probably only last to the end of fifth year though this can change.

4. Dumbledore truly believes that what he has done was for the greater good of everyone, but because of the constant praisings and his high ranking jobs have indirectly made him arrogant in his beliefs. Do not mistake this for him being insane or evil.

5. I am writing this fic because I am tired of people mostly writing fics about how great magic is or how great technology and magic combined is. If not this then they're about how bad muggles are. I believe that there should be more fics where the muggles are given more credit and can be the better option.

6. Expect a lot of clashes between muggle and magical. As a result there will be quite a lot of wizarding world bashing. Also the only way the magical world has directly or indirectly influenced the muggle world is the Second World War, everything else isn't.

7. Hermione will be good in this story however she will not be paired with Ron, suggestions are welcome.

8. Lastly apart from my maths the rest of my knowledge is rusty so if I make a mistake please let me know.


Chapter 1: Fuuuuuuuuck!...Where the hell am I?

8pm, Great Hall...

"The champion for Durmstrang is Viktor Krum!", Albus Dumbledore announced to the crowded Great Hall.

The reaction was for all of the students to burst into an applause with the occasional whistle and yell of encouragement from a few of the students. Viktor himself had shouted his pleasure at being selected and had proudly marched towards Dumbledore, who handed him the parchment with his name on and gestured to a room with golden doors behind the staff table.

"The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delecour.", a more polite applause followed with one or two students daring to wolf whistle.

"The champion for Hogwarts is Cedric Diggory.", a roar erupted from the Hufflepuff table, a clapping of hands from the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws and begrudged clapping from the Slytherins.

When all three champions had passed through into the room Dumbledore said, "Excellent, our champions have-", but before he could continue the goblet flared into life again as another piece of parchment was spat out. It fluttered around in the air for a moment before Dumbledore caught it and read it.

Silence reined in the Great Hall until, "Harry Potter!", Dumbledore yelled out, shocking all those present in the Great Hall and especially said teenager.

'Why does this keep happening to me? First it was the Philosopher's Stone in my first year, then it was the Chamber of Secrets in the second year, then it was Sirius and the dementors last year and now this. Someone up there must hate me an awful lot.', Harry thought as he ran a hand through his raven hair before sighing and glancing at Hermione, who was sending him pleading looks that he interpreted to mean 'go on'.

Standing up Harry made his way down between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables toward the Goblet of Fire, feeling the hate of all the other students burning on his back and making the atmosphere extremely tense.

"He's a cheat!"

"He's not even of age!"

Most of the comments Harry received followed that sentiment, with the exception of the Gryffindors who were silent, as the distance between the fourteen year old and the headmaster decreased. Upon reaching the goblet Dumbledore numbly handed him the piece of parchment with his name on it and gestured to the golden doors to the room behind the staff table, all the while looking rather stricken. Gulping Harry made his way to the golden doors Dumbledore had indicated, feeling the heated glares aimed at the back of his head in doing so and slowly opened the doors with both hands. The doors made a loud creaking sounding as Harry pushed them open and whined as they closed ominously behind him creating a loud thud upon contact.

The room itself was made entirely of stone with a fire raging at the opposite side of the room. Golden and silvery trinkets and instruments lined the walls, some of which were moving of their own accord and others were motionless.

Standing in front of the fire were the other three champions: Fleur Delecour, Viktor Krum and Cedric Diggory. All three of them didn't seem to notice Harry until they heard the noise made by the doors closing. When they looked at him and immediately recognised who it was Fleur was the first to speak.

"Do zey need us?", she questioned him.

Harry only in shrugged in response and was about to reply but was cut off as the doors banged open. Then striding down through the opening was an enthusiastic Ludo Bagman, followed closely by the other officials, plus Professor Albus Dumbledore, Professor Severus Snape, Professor Minerva McGonagall, Professor Alastor Moody and the other headteachers, Madame Olympe Maxime and Professor Igor Karkaroff.

"Well this is unusual but nonetheless, ladies and gents I present Harry James Potter as the fourth Triwizard champion also representing Hogwarts!", Ludo announced causing the officials to glare at him and the other champions to turn in shock toward said champion.

Harry was about to deny his participation but was grabbed roughly by the shoulders from Dumbledore and pushed violently up against the wall, knocking over the instruments situated behind him in the process.

"Harry did you put your name into the goblet?!", he demanded gravely, his voice being more loud then the sounds of the falling instruments as he shook the boy to emphasise his point.

"N-No Professor Dumbledore.", Harry was able to get out as he managed to wrench himeslf from out of Dumbledore's tight grasp and into a corner of the room.

"Zell o'courze 'e iz lying!", Maxime declared as she walked towards the inner edge of the group of people with obvious disbelief in her voice.

"Zhat do you mean fourth champion? 'e cannot be a champion, 'e iz but a little boy.", Fleur said, disbelief also clear in her tone.

Viktor and Cedric didn't comment, watching the scene unfold before them. Though inwardly both agreed with the blonde that Harry should not take part in the tournament though not for the reasons the adults were thinking of.

"I agree vith Madame Maxime, he clearly entered vhe tournament even vhough it vas declared only vhose who vere ov age may take part in. In light ov this I demand vhat extra champions be chosen for bovh Madame Maxime and I.", Karkaroff ranted out at the other occupants of the room.

"That is impossible Igor and you know why. The goblet will not relight itself until the tournament is over.", Dumbledore informed Karkaroff.

Karakaroff turned red in anger and yelled, "So vhy should Potter be allowed to compete vhen it is obvious he cheated?".

"Karkaroff, Potter is only a fourth year! The Goblet of Fire is an extremely powerful object and only an extremely powerful wizard or witch could have confunded it! Not only that but whoever did this was able to convince the goblet that there was an extra champion for Hogwarts alone instead of just announcing Potter as the third champion! That is some seriously powerful magic, way beyond those of a fourth year!", Moody exclaimed, stamping his cane down to put his point across.

Whilst everyone thought of the possibility Snape added his two cents, "I can confirm that as Potter is next to useless with only Weasley being the only Gryffindor lower than him in my class.".

'Only because you're an immature git who can't let go of a grudge.', Harry inwardly snarled at the greasy-haired man. He noticed that the looks changed to less accusal and more nodding in agreement. It helped because this meant that he was no longer under scrutiny but he wished it didn't have to include his skills being insulted as a result.

'Especially with all I have to put up with all year, every year. All this time I have only had help from my friends and none from the so-called adults, except for Lupin with the dementors. Even then the man hardly ever spoke to me more than he did with the other students.', Harry thought, gritting his teeth to keep himself from growling out all the mistakes the staff had made from his point of view.

"It's obvious someone wants to kill the boy and what better way to do it than for him to be killed in a tournament that was known to kill the contestants. That way he gets Potter dead, which is what he is aiming for, and there is nothing to deliberately connect the murderer to the crime because the goblet's magic would have covered over his magic signature, making it impossible for us to find a match through the parchment the goblet spat out.", Moody's theory brought Harry back to conversation at hand. Steeling his posture to make it seem he had been paying attention when he had actually been thinking, Harry noticed Karkaroff stomp up to ex-auror and got close to his face with his own.

Karkaroff quickly turned to face Moody to now address him.

"You have vhought a lot about vhis Mad-Eye.", the man spat, causing small drops of spit to land on the other man's face.

"It was my job to think like dark witches and wizards do Karkaroff, I think you know that more than anyone here except for one.", was Moody's cold reply, ignoring the spit as his magical eye looked pointedly at Karkaroff's clothed left forearm and then at Snape at the end of his statement.

"That's enough Alastor, Ludo is it possible for Mr. Potter to not be required to compete?", Dumbledore interrupted the ex-auror sternly before questioning the Head of Magical Games and Sports in the hope of redirecting the discussion away from the potions teacher.

Ludo smiled sheepishly, "I am afraid that I do not know the rules clearly but Barty does.".

All heads turned toward the man known as Bartemius Crouch Sr, who sighed and took off his bowler hat to reveal slicked grey hair, "According to the rules any person's name who comes out of the goblet has to compete so I am sorry but Mr. Potter will have to compete or risk losing his life and magic.".

Harry looked at the floor after that revelation. It seemed his luck had struck again and so once more his wish for a normal year would be ignored.

'And all because of this stupid piece of parchment!', he internally ranted, gripping the parchment tightly. Turning toward the fire he looked at the wild flames before glancing at the parchment again and wondering if he should burn it but decided against it.

Running his fingers delicately over his name he wondered how the perpetrator had been able to get a hold of it.

'In fact now that I think about it this seems very similar to the signature I use when I hand in homework-', his train of thought stopped there and immediately a scowl found its way to his face. If it was true that his name had been taken from a homework assignment then just about everybody except those from Beauxbatons were suspects. Durmstrang was included as suspects as Karkaroff seemed to have a close friendship with Snape. This meant that Karkaroff could have asked to look at his work and got his name from that, plus since his students seemed to obey him without question then he could've asked anyone of them to put his name in the goblet without looking suspicious. Beauxbatons were not included because their attitudes and behaviours just didn't suggest that they would do something like this, especially since this would as stated by the rest give Hogwarts an advantage. They instead seemed to be the high class snobbish kind who were arrogant in their abilities but preferred to be fair so that they could be like that justly.

'Damn-it!', he cursed again. Flipping the parchment, still clenched in his hands, Harry noticed it had smudged ink over it but could make out a name.

"So it's settled, Harry Potter is the fourth Triwizard champion!", Ludo loudly stated with enthusiasm.

Everyone else though didn't share his optimism but nodded in acknowledgement that the decision was final. Harry Potter was to be the fourth Triwizard champion.

Said boy was ignoring them for a moment, staring at the smudged name on the parchment in his hands.

"A J Carter?", he whispered in wonderment.

"What was that Mr. Potter?", Dumbledore asked, having heard the whispered name with hearing not befitting his age.

Looking up at the headmaster in shock at being heard Harry repeated, "There's another name written on the back. It says 'A J Carter'.".

"What?", Dumbledore hissed, quickly snatching the parchment from the raven's hands and examining it himself.

The letters were very smudged and some even crossed over other letters but the name was legible enough to show the name.

"He's right.", Dumbledore sighed, handing the parchment back to Harry.

"Vhis is outrageous! Not only is Potter allowed to compete, vhich gives Hogwarts an unvair advantage alveady, but also Hogvarts gains a vhird champion!", Karkaroff barked out, causing everyone to shout and argue.

Most of the arguing soon became focused on whether or not this extra person be allowed to compete. Some claimed that as the name wasn't as clear as Harry's name then it wouldn't be enforced whilst the others disagreed saying that it was better to be safe so that they would not be held responsible for someone's death.

The arguing continued until the doors were forcefully opened and a cry of 'Albus!' could be heard from McGonagall as she hurried into the room, looking hysterical.

"Minerva what is going on?", Dumbledore questioned his deputy, worry lacing his voice.

Placing a hand on her chest and taking a moment to breathe McGonagall managed to say, "The goblet is letting off a white flame now!".

"That means that the goblet is bringing in the last champion!", Dumbledore shouted, causing everyone to run out of the room and back into the Great Hall.

Upon arriving they saw the Goblet of Fire alight with a white flame that was large and flaring widely, scaring the students and making the staff wary of the artefact.

"Do not worry the goblet is calling the last champion to the school from wherever they are currently!", Dumbledore shouted out to the crowd, causing many to look at each other in confusion as they had been under the impression that Harry had been the final champion.

These thoughts though were wiped from them as the flames flared wildly again, this time a high speed wind blowing around Great Hall causing the dimmed candles floating in mid-air to shake. Also as a result people scrambled around to keep the wind out of their eyes or their hair from being blown into their faces.

Eventually the force of the wind forced Harry to shield his eyes as well and in the process he dropped the piece of parchment.

'Bloody hell!', he inwardly cursed as the wind immediately swept the parchment away from himself and toward the goblet. When the parchment reached the goblet the white flames devoured it until there was nothing left and soon the wind died down.

When the wind had stopped many people were able to uncover their faces and focus on the now surprisingly calm flames gently flicker from side to side.

Seeing that the commotion was mostly over Dumbledore raised his hands and announced, "Now that that is over I ask that the prefects please-", however that was as far as Dumbledore got before the goblet gave off a blinding white light.

This time everybody couldn't see anything as the light caused them to cover their eyes to stop themselves from going blind, however this time they could hear something getting steadly louder as time went on.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!"

As soon as they heard the swearword many girls blushed and boys laughed. The teachers though were still cautious as the shout was getting louder and louder. Soon the light dimmed down and they could all look again.

Above the goblet was a black hole that had a white rippling outline and was also where the shout was originating from it.

A figure soon emerged from the hole and went soaring into the air. When gravity brought the figure back to ground it rolled onto the floor to decrease the impact from the fall and then manoeuvred so that it stopped in a crouching position.

Seeing that they were no longer moving the figure stood up and observed their surroundings. It was obvious that they were confused as they didn't recognise where they were.

When the figure turned around Harry could see clearly that the person was a male. He had black hair that was flat but was slightly spiked at the fringe, bluish-green eyes that seemed to take in all of his surroundings and a slightly sharp face. His body had a light tan to it, was rather muscled from what he could see and, judging by the outline of his clothes, he worked out so that he was fit but not bulging with muscles. The boy stood at 5'' 6', a couple of inches taller than himself he inwardly whined. His clothes consisted of a green checkered button up t-shirt, dark-green 3/4-length trousers, white sports socks and a pair of white Donnay over-toe trainers. In addition to all this he wore a Konov leather necklace with a double ring pendant, a dark-brown leather wide triple strap cuff wrap gothic wristband with buckle fastening tied to his left wrist and a stainless steel bangle tied to his right wrist. He also wore a beige saddle bag slung around his left shoulder.

Harry glanced around the room and noticed most of the girls were blushing and the boys were staring in envy at the newcomer.

'Must be jealous of his looks.', he thought. In a moment though he was also blushing as he found himself making eye-contact with the stranger. For a brief moment the two stared at each other until the stranger's attention was brought towards the staff, who had their wands pointed at him.

For a moment nothing happened until Dumbledore broke the silence by asking, "May I ask what you name is Mr...".

The boy eyed Dumbledore's wand and raised an eyebrow as if to say 'seriously you're threatening me with a stick' but answered nonetheless, "Carter. Ace Jackson Carter. Now sir, would you be so kind as to offer your name in return and explain what the hell is going on here?".

All those who had known about the extra name realised that this was the person whose name was smudged on the back of the parchment.

"Ah yes Mr. Carter certainly. You see it seems that you have been chosen by the Goblet of Fire to be a champion in the Triwizard Tournament and unfortunately the rules say that you must compete or you lose your life and magic.", Ludo informed the now revealed Ace, looking at him with sadness though the smile on his face showed that he was anything but sad.

Said person studied Ludo with no small amount of scepticism as he questioned, "What do you mean lose my 'magic'? Magic doesn't exist.".

Ludo's smile quickly faltered, "But surely you know about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the Ministry of Magic?", he asked frantically, hoping that he had heard wrong.

Ace shook his head in the negative, "No I have never heard of Hogwarts or the Ministry of Magic. Now can someone please tell me why I am in a medieval castle surrounded by people in dresses?", he asked impatiently.

Upon Ace's response many of the people started to whisper to each other as the situation became clear.

Ace Carter was a muggle.

Soon the whispers grew until they were shouting at each other, mostly between the students as some believed, mainly Slytherins, that he shouldn't be allowed to compete in a magical tournament. On the other hand the rest of the students were arguing that they couldn't because although he may not have magic his life was still at risk. The opposition waved them off stating that it was just a muggle, causing even more anger to emanate from the other students.

While the students argued with each other a similar conversation was being carried out with the teachers mostly between Karkaroff, who believed that Ace shouldn't compete since he wasn't a wizard, and the rest of the staff.

As the shouting became incoherent Harry looked towards Ace, who was scowling at everyone as he realised what they were talking about.

'Must be annoyed at the fact that he was suddenly dragged to these strangers who are talking about him possibly losing his life without him having a say.', he thought as Ace made to open his saddle bag.

Ace scowled at the commotion going on around him, 'What the hell? One minute I'm walking home, then I'm brought to this middle ages convention and now these 'wizards' are talking about me losing my life to some tournament as if it was an inconvenience.'. Deciding that he had enough he opened his saddle bag and withdrew a Blackberry Q10, not that anyone noticed except for Harry.

Harry observed the device Ace had pulled out and recognised that it was a muggle mobile phone, though he had to admit it seemed different to others he had seen.

'Advanced is all I can describe it as.', he thought as he saw Ace run a finger over a small pad instead of constantly clicking a down arrow and from what he could see of the screen it was more convient than the ones he had seen Dudley use.

Ace cycled through the mobile until he found the high pitched sound application and clicked the pad to activate it but pressed pause before it started. Then he reached back into his bag and pulled out a pair of green Beat It headphones. Placing them on he made sure that they were not plugged into the phone before nodding in satisfaction.

Harry saw Ace place the headphones on, which also looked advanced, as well as the nod after he had checked that it wasn't plugged in.

'I wonder why?', he thought and tried to remember what he could about headphones. They were mainly used to help people listen to recordings or music better without becoming a nuisance to those around them otherwise they would block out or quieten down the noises around the wearer.

Not liking how Ace was now smirking Harry placed his hands over his ears because if his guess was correct, Ace was about to cause a very loud noise of some kind. This baffled Harry at the same time because he knew that mobiles only created ring tones and they definitely didn't make sounds that required headphones to block out the noise

Ace noticed the fellow raven-hair put his hands over his ears and his smirk widened.

'Smart kid.', he inwardly praised. Securing the headphones he pressed play and let nature take its course.

"Shriek!"

At first nobody heard the shriek coming from the mobile phone but as the seconds went by the volume and pitch of the shriek increased. As this happened people started to notice, first it was just a few of the students wondering what the noise was but it soon increased quickly again in volume and pitch, causing those who initially heard it to cover their ears in an effort to block it out. Then more students heard the sound and they soon tried to muffle out the noise. After a few moments all the of the students were quiet as the noise from the mobile worsened and now the adults were able to hear the loud shriek emanating from Ace's mobile phone.

Eventually even the adults were holding their ears and upon seeing that he had achieved the silence he wanted Ace pressed the hangup button on his mobile phone to instantly turn off the sound, bringing him back to the main menu.

Seeing no longer a need for it Ace stowed the mobile phone back into his saddle bag, "Right now that I have everyone's attention may we discuss this like the adults that we are or argue like these teens were just a second ago.", he addressed the staff and officials.

Dumbledore slowly nodded as everyone released their hold on their ears, "Yes Mr. Carter that would be a splendid idea.", he then announced, "Prefects, please escort everyone to their respective dormitories, may the head-boy and head-girl also escort our guests to their respective accommodations. I would also like Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, the Triwizard champions, Mr. Carter and the Ministry officials to please follow me to my office.", and with that final order everyone started to move towards the doors to the Great Hall.

The journey towards the headmaster's office was a rather nervous experience for Ace. He noticed that the portraits moved in their frames as they exited the Great Hall and went up the Grand Staircase, some were friendly and welcomed him to Hogwarts however there were a few who were not and constantly insulted him. Soon the insults started to make all of the wizards and witches wonder when he would explode in anger.

'Not that I would give them the satisfaction.', he thought as he noticed the smug expressions the Ivan the Terrible imitator from Night of Museum 2 and the man who apparently had never heard of a shower had showed when they went passed a particular nasty portrait who had called him a 'filthy mudblood'. The insult itself didn't phase him but it did hint that this society that he had been unwilling thrown into discriminated against people who didn't have this 'magic'.

'It's like how the Nazis treated all those they didn't approve of just before the genocide and the beginning of the Second World War.', he thought dryly.

It was then that he heard a grumbling sound coming from the right hand side of the staircase. Looking towards the origin of the sound he had to double-take to see that, yes, the stairs were moving and that the stairs were moving to connect them to the third floor.

'If those robes the teens were wearing school uniforms then this is a danger. All it takes is for one to trip over the extra material from their clothes, when the stairs are changing and have too slow reflexes and they'll fall to their deaths.', he assessed grimly.

This 'headmaster', for he seemed to be seeing as he was at the head of the group, led them down a corridor and couldn't help but admire the castle's structure. He had been on a few school trips in the past that involved castles, particularly Bodiam castle, but they were only ruins and so the feeling of being in a castle wasn't as prominent as it was here.

Soon the group came to a statue of a very large and ugly gargoyle. Dumbledore said, "Mars Bar!", and the gargoyle seemed to come to life as it jumped to the side, revealing a spiral staircase.

At a brisk pace everybody walked up the stairs and into the headmaster's office where Dumbledore sat in the headmaster's chair behind the desk. Everybody else decided to stand with the champions and Ace at the front while the staff stood to their left and the officials stood to their right.

"Now lets discuss how we are going to proceed with the Triwizard Tournament.", Dumbledore said to the audience.

Karkaroff was the first to speak, "It's simple he is not a wizard, vherefore he cannot compete. Plus iv he did compete vhen he vould be competing as a Hogwarts champion and Hogwarts has two champions so it vould be even more unfair as it currently is.".

Karkaroff was about to continue but Maxime cut him off, "Karkaroff if zhis tournament was only zalking about only lozing a person's magic zhen I zould agree wiz zou but az it iz not zhe caze I cannot condone zhis. Zherefore he zhould compete.".

McGonagall nodded in agreement, "The boy must compete Karkaroff, Hogwarts will not allow someone to be killed just because of your pettiness.".

Ace heard the comment 'boy' and frowned at the elderly woman.

"Madam I am 18 years old.", he said dryly.

Many eyes widened and heads turned to stare at the boy who claimed to be as old as Viktor, a year older than Fleur and Cedric and four years older than Harry. Even Dumbledore was looking in shock, something that many people didn't see at all when they talked with the headmaster.

"B-But how can this be true you are only a little taller than Mr. Potter but smaller than the other champions.", McGongall spluttered out initially but caught herself.

Ace shrugged, "Blame it on the DNA from my parents.".

At the mention of the muggle term everybody, save Harry, looked confused.

'It has something to do with your ancestry and yourself, but I can't think of anything more than that.', Harry thought, recalling what he could of his science lessons from St. Grogory's Primary School.

At seeing the confused looks Ace scowled, "Don't tell me you guys haven't even heard of DNA at all?".

Their response was to turn sheepish and some nodded slowly.

"Mr. Carter the reason why most of us haven't heard of the muggle term is because the wizarding world hides from the muggle world so that we won't be persecuted as it was in medieval times. Therefore many of those raised in a magical environment have become ignorant of the muggle world and those who were raised in the muggle world attend Hogwarts at age eleven. Then because Hogwarts is a magic-only school all of the muggle education students receive stop there.", Dumbledore explained.

Ace raised an eyebrow, 'That's not very smart. If almost nobody here knows how the 'muggle world', urgh I feel disgusted with myself for saying that, works then they'll stick out a lot... Unless they have a way to modify memories then who knows how many innocent people have been declared insane because of these fools not taking responsibility for the actions of their world.', he thought, his respect for these people having taken a very big fall.

Scowling he explained, "DNA is short for deoxyribonucleic acid. In simple terms it means the make-up of your body. For example it tells your body what eye colour you should have or the colour of your hair. This also tells your body how high to grow. This DNA is normally inherited so people usually get their characteristics from their ancestors. Normally the parents but it's not limited to them alone.".

Harry asked, "Most people say that I have my father's looks but that I have my mother's eyes.".

"We do not need your description of you and your arrogant father Potter.", Snape sneered at the son of his school arch-rival.

"Please Mr...", Ace trailed off.

"Professor Snape."

"Professor Snape there is no need to be rude. If this is the kind of teachers that are employed in the wizarding world then all I can say is... I'm disappointed.", Ace rebuked the professor in a low tone.

Many of those in the office frowned at the comment but didn't respond.

Ace continued, "As Mr. Potter here said he looks like his father except for the eyes which are his mother's. This means that the DNA from his father is the more dominant of the pair that he inherited from both of his parents in terms of general looks, but his eyes and height were inherited from his mother. Applying this theory to me, my DNA is split between both my parents. My mother is shorter than my father so when I grew up I became taller than my mother but shorter than my father. Exercise and specific diets can also affect the body in similar ways but the changes are small in most cases with a few rare occasions that the effects are large".

When Ace had finished explaining many people nodded in agreement.

Dumbledore clapped with joy, "Yes that was very informative Mr. Carter. Now I believe that there are no more objections to Mr. Carter participating in the tournament. So is there anything else we need to discuss about now?".

Barty cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention.

"Yes there is. Since Mr. Carter is a muggle he will be allowed unlimited access to what he needs. In other words unlike the other champions who will only be able to use a wand, Mr. Carter is allowed to bring anything he needs to each task but will be restricted to what he brings, that means no help from outsiders during the tasks. Also because his name was on the back of the parchment with Mr. Potter's name then I would suggest that Mr. Carter be enrolled as a Hogwarts student in name only. He won't be required to sit actual classes but he can if he wants. Is this okay with you Professor Dumbledore?", Barty asked the headmaster.

Said headmaster agreed, "Yes it will be okay.". He then stood up and grabbed the Sorting Hat from its perch.

"May I ask why I am needed when it is not the 1st of September.", the Sorting Hat asked rather grouchly.

"I am sorry, but we have a muggle who has been forced into the tournament by accident and for the time being he will be allowed to attend Hogwarts as a student in name only. So we need you to sort him into a house in the Great Hall tomorrow.", Dumbledore informed the Sorting Hat.

The Sorting Hat looked amongst the audience until it laid it's sight on Ace, "Very well then headmaster.", the Sorting Hat replied evenly. Dumbledore smiled before placing the hat back onto it's original stand.

The crowd then heard a smooth song and it was then that Ace noticed the fire-red bird sitting on a perch next to the headmaster's desk.

Unlike everyone else who seemed to relax at the bird's song Ace didn't feel anything but he did like the song.

"Ah I had almost forgot, Mr. Carter this is Fawkes, he is a phoenix and a good friend of mine.", Dumbledore introduced the pair. Ace nodded in greeting to the phoenix, who nodded in return.

Ace raised an eyebrow at the response, 'Smart bird.'.

"Now I believe that we have all had a very interesting day and advise that we turn in for the night. Nippy.", at the end of the call a house-elf appeared in a pop causing Ace to be surprised again, though he was able to hide it before anyone noticed.

"Yes Master Dumbledore?", Nippy asked enthusiastically.

"Could you show Mr. Carter to the guest room and help him settle him in?", Dumbledore asked the house-elf.

Nippy nervously shifted from one foot to the other, avoiding eye-contact with Dumbledore, "Nippy's not being able to do as Dumbledore asks. Guest room being changed.".

"What do you mean Nippy?", Dumbledore questioned.

"It's be full of weird things."

"Could please bring a sample of these strange things here?"

"Yes Master Dumbledore.", and with that the house-elf disappeared in another loud pop.

When silence had once again ruled the office Harry turned towards Ace and asked, "Mr. Carter what were you doing before you were brought here?".

Ace looked towards the boy who had caught his eye and replied, "I was walking to my

university accommodation after finishing my exams for the first stage.", Ace then started to panic as he realised his absence would be noted and likely cause a search for him.

'Then those wizards would probably wipe their minds of me completely given their attitudes towards non-magic people and cause even bigger problems for me to solve because nobody would remember me when I get back. The results will then be me being declared insane and then locked away.', Ace thought.

"University? Do you mean the muggle equivalent to a Masters where students gain the title Professor?", Harry asked, interrupting Ace's thoughts.

"Yeah and soon they'll realise I'm missing and send a search party for me.", Ace confirmed, raising a hand to his chin in a thinking posture.

"We'll just obliviate them so that they won't remember you.", Snape scoffed.

"You will do no such thing. You have no right to interfere in my life like that. If you do modify their memories then what am I supposed to do when I go back and no one remembers me?", Ace questioned Snape angrily.

Snape just shrugged, "Not our problem.", he said indifferently.

Ace glared the man, "You mean to tell me that witches and wizards alike are allowed to mess with muggle lives and not have to take any responsibility for their actions?", he growled out.

Dumbledore, seeing that the discussion was about to take a turn for the worst, stepped in, "Come now, Severus didn't mean anything by that. He was just talking as a last result, isn't that right Severus?", his voice turning from warmth to cold at the question.

Snape mutely nodded though everyone could tell that his true opinion was different.

Ace still glared at the man for a moment before turning to face the headmaster, a neutral expression etched on his face.

Seeing that everyone was silent Dumbledore continued, "Now Mr. Carter I am sure that you could do something to make sure nothing like that would be needed?".

Ace thought about it for a moment before nodding, "Yeah it's called a gap year. Essentially you take a year long break from studies, usually to work, and then come back. I'll use that as the reason for being here, however it won't work for any longer than a year".

"Very well, Minerva would you please take Mr. Carter tomorrow to help with the process?"

"Yes I can do that Albus.", McGonagall confirmed.

It was then that a loud pop echoed as Nippy apparated back into the office.

"Nippy's sorry for time taken but Nippy's be's not knowing what to take. Eventually though Nippy is bringing this.", the excited house-elf then pulled out a black Playstation 3 controller and placed it on Dumbledore's desk.

All of the adults and students, minus Harry and Ace, stared befuddled at the device. Their thoughts ranging from dark artifacts to ancient Hogwarts equipment.

Seeing the expressions on the others Ace rolled his eyes, 'They really don't have any clue what it is... Well all of them except for that Potter boy and even then he seems to be struggling with recognising the controller.'.

Ace then noticed Dumbledore pull out his stick, though if he were to guess they would call it a wand, and waved it in a specific pattern. For a second nothing happened but the controller soon glowed a light green colour causing Dumbledore to sigh in relief.

"Well whatever it is, it definitely isn't dark.", Dumbledore said.

Ace raised an eyebrow at the man's statement.

'It seems that these guys believe that the world is painted in black and white. I wonder how far it goes?', he thought. It then dawned on him that whatever Dumbledore had done had showed that the controller wasn't dangerous as far as magic, and he used the term loosely, was concerned.

The adults then proceeded to cast spells at the controller and Ace couldn't help but smirk at their attempts to find out what it was, only to frown or glare at it when their results showed negative.

Snape was the first to see Ace smirk and decided to humiliate the man, "What's with the smirk Mr. Carter?".

Ace's smirk widened as he saw Snape's intention but answered nonetheless, "Well Professor Snape, I don't know about you but I find it funny watching you guys fail to find out what that device is when I know exactly what it is.".

This attracted the attention of everyone else in the room.

"And what exactly is this device?", was Snape's sarcastic response.

Ace walked over to the controller and picked it up, ignoring the protests that were made to stop him. They quietened down though when it became obvious it wasn't going to hurt him.

"This Professor Snape is called a Playstation controller. It was made by muggles to help them enjoy playing video games.", Ace said.

Harry then recalled how his cousin had gotten a Playstation for his birthday, though he broke it the next day when he kept losing.

Ace saw Harry's face light up in recognition but also saw that the others in the room were still confused.

Rolling his eyes he clarified, "It's a form of muggle entertainment. I will not go into specifics because chances are you wouldn't understand.".

Ace then flipped the controller over to examine the back and froze at the sight. On the back was a white sticker with AJC written on the back in black with the use of a pen.

"Anything wrong Mr. Carter?", Dumbledore asked the frozen man.

"Well I have a Playstation and so I also have a controller. The fact that I wrote my initials on the back and that this one also has those same initials means that somehow my controller was pulled along with me when I was brought here.".

Ace then turned towards Nippy, "Can you please take me to the guest room so that we can see what else has been brought here?".

Before Nippy could answer Dumbledore announced, "No worries Mr. Carter, since we all want to see what has happened to the guest room I will lead us down there. Nippy you can go back to your previous duties.".

"Yes Master Dumbledore.", Nippy then disapparated back to the kitchens.

Dumbledore stood up and led the group out of the office.

"I am afraid Professor Dumbledore that Ludo and I will have to leave now as we have to report back to the Ministry to notify them of these changes.", Barty Sr said, his tone indicating that he was honest.

Ludo nodded in agreement, "Yes we must let the Ministry know that there are now five champions instead of three before the start of the first task.".

He then turned towards the champions, "Speaking of which the first task will take place on the 24th of November. It will be a test or bravery and courage in the face of the unknown. For this task you will not be told what it contains so it is up to you to prepare as much as possible before then.".

With their parting remarks the pair bade their goodbyes and walked towards the Entrance Hall, where they would then walk to the edge of the wards before disapparating to the Ministry to inform them of the changes.

Meanwhile the rest of the group arrived at the door to the guest room.

"Poppy pumpkins.", Dumbledore said, expecting the door to open. When nothing happened he frowned in confusion before trying again but louder, only to get the same result.

Seeing that nothing was working Dumbledore decided to confer with the rest of the staff. As Ace saw the others talking he thought he'd give it a go. He walked towards the door until he was standing in front of it. Reaching out with his right hand he gripped the door handle tentatively. When the door didn't respoond at all to his touch Ace turned the handle slowly.

As the staff were talking they weren't aware of Ace's actions until a click was heard. Moving their focus to the door they saw a smirking Ace leaning against the door frame, the door itself being open.

Harry bit his lip to stop himself from laughing at dumbfounded expressions the rest of the group had plastered on themselves.

"H-How did you do that?", McGonagall questioned, a little bit shaken at the fact that Ace had done something that the headmaster hadn't been able to do.

Ace just raised his hands and wiggled his fingers as he answered sarcastically, "I used my hands, Professor McGongall, to turn the handle and open the door.".

At McGonagall's angry expression Ace rolled his eyes as he ignored her and walked into the guest room, the others following behind him.

'What the hell?', was his first thought as he took in the room. It looked rather traditional what with a king-sized four-poster bed, covered in silver silk, and two oak desks. One of the desks was larger than the other, indicating that it was used for drawing or building. The other desk was smaller, most probably a writing desk. Beside the bed was an oak wardrobe and after that was another door that Ace presumed led to the shower room. Following that was also an oak bookcase and then in front of the bed was a large chest of drawers.

All of this though was not what had caused his shock, it was the other objects that occupied the furniture that was. The project desk had an Acer Aspire V3-772G 17.3'' laptop and to the right of it was an Archos 101 G9 tablet contained within a case. On top of the smaller desk was a pad of underlined paper with a small pot next to it containing pens and pencils. The bookcase was filled up with books he recognised from his study books ranging from GCSE to Undergraduate and on top of the chest of drawers was a Panasonic Viera TX-L32EM6B 32'' TV with a Panasonic DMP-BDT230EB 3D Blu-ray player on the left and a Playstation 3 on the right.

Rushing towards the wardrobe he left the doorway open, allowing everyone else to enter the room. Once they were inside all of them gasped as they saw the extra features the room had been given. Dumbledore took his wand and pointed it at the laptop, intent on banishing the object.

Ace saw the headmaster's action and yelled, "Stop!", halting the headmaster before he could finish the spell.

Dumbledore looked perplexed at the command, not used to being told to do anything he didn't want to do was a rather foreign concept for him and so paused for a second before lowering his wand.

"May I ask why you have just rudely demanded our headmaster to stop from banishing a possibly dangerous object?", McGonagall coldly questioned.

Ace glared at the the woman, "Because, Professor, what your headmaster was about to banish was a muggle device that belongs to me as well as the rest of the extra stuff that's here.", he finished by indicating around the room.

McGonagall nodded stiffly, realising that the muggle device was important to the man, "Yes well since we have confirmed that the devices are not dangerous themselves, can we at least cast diagnostic spells to make sure that they haven't had any curses put on them?".

Ace agreed and for the next half an hour was spent with the teachers running all kinds of spells over each of Ace's possesions until they all showed negative.

"Well now that it has been cleared of all dark magic I can safely say that you will be sleeping here from now on, regardless of which house you will be sorted into. Tomorrow we will have your sorting during the dinner. Once your house has been decided then you will be allowed access to that house's common rooms but you will still be sleeping here. Also as an adult you will not have to abide by most rules but you will need to follow a few of them in order to keep the students safe, is that clear?", Dumbledore asked Ace.

"Crystal clear."

"Good, now we will depart for the night and pick this up tomorrow after your sorting.", Dumbledore cheerfully declared. He then turned and waved everyone out of the room.

As everyone was moving out of the room, Harry glanced at Ace.

"Um Mr. Carter?", he asked nervously.

"Yes?", Ace replied, his gaze though was focused on the clothes in front of him as he looked through the wardrobe for some pyjamas.

"How are you feeling right now?", Harry asked, immediately regretting speaking as Ace paused in his observations to look over his shoulder at the teenager with curious eyes. He then sighed before closing the wardrobe and gesturing towards the bed.

"Take a seat."

Quickly Harry walked to the bed and sat down on the edge, unconsciously pulling his legs close together and laying his hands on them formally. A habit that the Dursleys had made him learn for when they were having guests round.

Ace saw the posture Harry was in and wondered why he behaved like that. Most teenagers didn't have those kinds of manners unless they were a part of a rich or wealthy family, but Harry's untamed hair and glasses that were virtually broken showed a different sign.

'Maybe I'm looking too far into it.', he thought as he pulled the chair from the desk away and placed it in front of the boy. He then walked around it, sat down and crossed his right leg over his left.

"To be honest Mr. Potter-"

"Harry.", Harry interrupted.

Ace paused at the interruption. Harry, believing that he had upset him, started apologising but stopped when Ace raised his hand for silence.

"Don't worry Harry, you didn't offend me. I was just surprised. Anyway if you want me to call you Harry then call me Ace.", Ace said with a small smile.

Harry smiled in return as Ace continued, "And right about now I would say I'm feeling tense. I mean I had just finished my exams for the year and decided to take a long walk down into the city centre to get my mind off of studying. Then one moment I was walking along the streets of Canterbury and the next I'm sucked into some black hole. After that I end up here in a medieval castle filled with people dressed in robes and pointing wands at me. Then they tell me that magic is real, which I don't believe is true by the way, and that I was selected against my will to compete in some tournament. Not only that but almost all of these people have a bone to pick with me, simply for not having this magic and the rest seem to think I'm an idiot despite being idiotic themselves.".

"Well one of my muggleborn, a magical person born from muggles, friends said that wizards and witches don't have an ounce of logic.", Harry finished with a chuckle, though inwardly he was slightly worried about Ace's comment on magic.

Ace, oblivious to Harry's worry, laughed also, his tense posture from before dissipating to give a more relaxed feeling to overcome him. He then walked over to the bed where his bag was and pulled out his mobile again to look at the time. It showed 11:30pm and Ace decided that it was best he got some rest so that he could be better prepared for his 'sorting' tomorrow.

"I believe you should get a move on Harry. Dumbledore mentioned there were a few rules I don't need to follow and though I am probably exempt from the curfew here, if there is one, I don't believe the same applies to you."

Harry blushed, embarrassed that they had been talking for so long that he was now breaking curfew, "I can make it back to my common room, so you don't have to worry about me.", he said rather timidly.

Ace's expression turned to one of concern, "Okay Harry, but don't be afraid to ask me for help. I may not have much knowledge about this place and I may not have this 'magic' but it doesn't mean I am to be avoided if you need someone to talk to.".

Harry smile returned at Ace's assurance before he said goodbye and walked out the room, leaving the room in silence with only Ace left to stare at the closed door. Sighing Ace returned the chair to the desk before getting changed, brushed his teeth and went to bed.

'Hopefully tomorrow will be better.', he hoped inwardly as his eyes closed and eventually fell asleep.


When Harry reached the common room he was immediately met with the sight of the almost the entirety of Gryffindor house in the middle of a large party. He was momentarily confused at the display but when he turned his eyes to something above them they came upon a large banner that read 'Way to go Harry!'. When it dawned on him what the party was about Harry scowled and strode towards the stairs to the dormitories, pointedly ignoring the commotion he had left in his wake.

'Hopefully Ron and Hermione are waiting for me upstairs.', he thought as he ascended and soon found the door to the fourth-year boys dormitory.

Opening the door he was dismayed to find that Hermione was not there but Ron was. Before he could utter a word though he was immediately accosted by Ron, who had been standing next to Harry's bed and waiting for said person to arrive.

"How did you get into the tournament?", he angrily demanded of his friend.

Harry flinched at his friend's aggressive question, he already had about three-quarters of the school and the entire foreign delegates calling him a cheat or liar, what he didn't need was for one of his friends to also be against him.

"Ron I didn't put my name into the goblet okay. Somebody else did it because, according to Professor Moody, someone's out to kill me and make it look like an accident.", Harry explained, hoping Ron would understand his predicament.

"I don't bloody believe it. You entered the tournament without even letting your best mate in on it so that you could grab the money and fame for yourself. What's the matter Potter, scared that others will steal the bloody spotlight?", Ron ranted at his now ex-friend.

By the time the redhead had finished Harry was staring at him with wide and shocked eyes. He couldn't comprehend it that given everything him, Ron and Hermione had gone through the teen couldn't get passed his jealousy.

'It seems that all those times he has been ignored have made him bitter and it's now showing.', Harry thought sadly.

Sighing he replied, "Is this what you truly believe? That after being forced to save the Philospher's Stone, because the professors didn't believe us and Dumbledore had left Hogwarts, I wanted to be given the limelight? That after being forced to save your sister from the Chamber of Secrets, because Lockheart was a fraud and Dumbledore had been removed from Hogwarts, that I wanted to be given the attention despite your involvement?".

The responding nod was all it took for Harry to realise he had lost his friend completely

Making eye-contact with Ron, Harry said coldly, "Then we have nothing more to say to each other Weasley. Now would you please leave me alone?".

"Whatever.", was Ron's last remark as he walked over and sat on his bed. He then forcefully pulled the drapes around his bed.

Shaking his head Harry did the same and went to bed, hoping that Hermione wouldn't be the same as Ron tomorrow.


Meanwhile...

"My Lord everything has, for the most part, gone according to plan. Harry Potter's name came out of the Goblet of Fire and he is now the fourth champion.", Peter Pettigrew stuttered out to the weakened form of Voldemort.

"Good, but what is this complication Wormtail?", Voldemort hissed.

"It would appear that due to a smudged but eligible name on the back of Potter's parchment a muggle was transported to Hogwarts via the goblet. It has been decided that the muggle will compete. Also due to his inability to use magic he has been granted the use of anything he brings to the tasks but no more than that.", the snivelling man replied.

"Well while this is a minor setback it will be nothing worth worrying over. The filth will probably be killed in the first task the minute he steps into the arena, don't you agree?"

"Yes my Lord."

"But you and Barty still failed to carry out my orders exactly so, Crucio!"


Back at Hogwarts...

Whilst all of this was going on Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape were also discussing the current situation.

"That man has the worst manners I have ever seen. His parents must not have raised him properly at all.", McGonagall raved at the two other adults in the room. One of which was smirking whilst the other calmly watched his deputy.

"You're just angry because he embarrassed you with the hand comment and his comeback to your question earlier Minerva.", an amused Snape commented towards the transifguration teacher.

McGonagall was about to turn her ire towards the smirking potions teacher but was stopped by the headmaster.

"Enough Minerva, Severus. We cannot afford to squabble amongst ourselves whilst our guests are here. It wouldn't do to show such conflict and then have it used against us in the future. Is that clear?", Dumbledore asked.

Begrudgingly the two nodded and seeing the argument halted Dumbledore decided to switch topics.

"Now then what are we to do about Mr. Carter?"

"Do nothing headmaster. So long as he doesn't do anything to cause a concern it won't matter what he does because he'll be dead come the first task.", Snape offered.

Nodding in understanding Dumbledore then turned towards McGonagall and asked, "And you Minerva?".

Surprisingly McGongall agreed with Snape, "I must admit that Severus's idea seems most probable at the moment. Since Mr. Carter doesn't possess magic I cannot see a reason as to why we should worry about him. He can't do the things the students get up to within this castle and if he does cause trouble then we can easily subdue him.".

For the next couple of the minutes the trio discussed all the changes that would need to be made to the tournament to accommodate the additions of Ace and Harry. At moment the only part that needed to be changed was that they now needed five dragons instead of three they had originally arranged for. All the while none of them knew how, due to their own ignorance to the muggle world, they would soon be eating those words and wished to have not underestimated what Ace could do.