A/N: A Challenge! I am here by issuing a challenge! I want you to come up with a story based on the 'what if' scenario of this:
Harry and whoever his love interest is returned to Harry's 4th year and somehow convinces or stops the Goblet of Fire from choosing its Champions.
Harry's love interest must be female but the choice is limitless.
It can be a one-shot like I've written or multi chaptered. I don't care which.
Light sided or Dark sided. Doesn't matter.
Let me know if you decide to accept this challenge. I'm very interested in reading what you come up with. Here's my version.
The Story:
You could cut the tension that was evident in the Great Hall with a knife. No one was talking. Not even whispering. Not one sound was heard from the younger members of the room. The adults on the other hand all seemed to be mumbling to themselves. Not one of them were understanding what the problem was within the famed Goblet of Fire.
"Shouldn't it have finished the selections by now?" asked Minerva McGonagall, transfiguration professor of the host school, in a whispered voice. The question was heard by half the Great Hall due to the quiet.
"Yes. I do not understand this. It is almost as if no one put their name in." answered Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster to the host school of Hogwarts.
"Dumbledore! Do something!" whispered an irate Barty Crouch.
"What would you have me do Barty?"
"I don't know but something! Anything!"
As the adults gathered closer together behind the Head table, the goblet did something that it had never done before. It went out before selecting a single name of the famed Tri-Wizard tournament. Never in the history of this event had the organizers to deal with such a thing.
With a long sigh Dumbledore went to the podium.
"It would seem that the Goblet of Fire has been tampered with. Ministry experts will examine the Goblet before it is re-lit and we can continue with the selection of the Champions at a later date. Therefore all of you are dismissed to your respective common rooms."
But instead of the student retreating, one stood up. Cedric Diggory.
"Professor, I think that you'll find that there's nothing wrong with the Goblet Headmaster."
"What do you mean Mr. Diggory?"
"Simple. The Goblet can't select anyone if no one put their name in it now can it?"
The adults in the room stopped doing whatever they were doing. Most just gapped, not believing what they were hearing."
"Are you telling me that not one student from any of the three schools put their name in?"
"That's what I'm telling you."
"Why?"
"Why would we?"
"What do you mean 'why would you'? For the fame and glory, not to mention the 1000 Galleon prize."
"Headmaster, fame and glory can carry you only so far and while the prize money is nice, what good is it if you're dead?"
Even Dumbledore couldn't argue with that last question. But still he had to get one student to enter.
"Be that as it may Mr. Diggory, a lot of time and effort went into planning this from all sides. Do you want that to go to waste?"
"If it keeps me alive then you bet I do."
Several other students chuckled at Cedric's enthusiasm.
"I highly doubt that you will die in this tournament Mr. Diggory."
"Can you guarantee that I won't Headmaster?"
The thing was that he couldn't. Previous tournament had had deaths in them. There was no guarantee, period. But before he could say another word the entire student bodies of all three schools stood and exited the Great Hall. They ignored the adults completely,
"What do we do now?" asked Professor McGonagall.
"I do not know. How can every single one of them not want to do this? Do they not have a sense of adventure or heroism? If I didn't know better I would have said that someone warned them of the future. But that's impossible." stated Dumbledore as he retreated to his office to figure out a solution to the problem that the students had given him.
While this was going on, some of the students were gathering in the entrance hall.
"Thanks for the warning Harry. I'm glad that I don't have to die the way you said I would if I entered into this damn thing."
"No problem Cedric. I really didn't have that great of a time in it either."
"I still find it hard to believe that the Slytherins went along with this."
Harry chuckled. "They didn't, at least, not at first. But let's just say that I 'had the goods' on'em and if they didn't want certain things to be known then they had better play along."
"Blackmail!? You blackmailed every single one of them!"
Harry's grin said it all. Cedric just shook his head and left, heading towards his own Common Room. He had been the last to leave.
"You can come out now. They've all left."
A small blonde emerged from the shadows and went into her love's waiting arms.
"Thanks to you Luna the future's changed."
"Yes my love it has. For better or worse this is what we have."
"Didn't you say that during our wedding?"
Her musical laughter rang out. "I'm glad that you paid attention to what I said instead of what I was wearing."
"You mean what you weren't wearing. In fact I don't remember you wearing anything at all. Claimed it was a pureblood tradition." Harry stated as he raised an eyebrow.
"Well it became one after that didn't it?"
Luna Lovegood Potter snuggled into her husband's chest. They hadn't been married long in their own timeline when the attack from both Voldemort and the Order's sides. She had been working on the Dimensional Shift spell when it had happened. Just as the group broke through the wards she grabbed her love and casted the spell hoping it would work since she could only do it once.
It had worked, quite well actually. The Harry and Luna of this dimension were absorbed by the future ones. Her dad, not knowing the truth, accepted Harry into their home and later into their family. In fact the day before coming to Hogwarts the couple had renewed their vows, although her dad thought that it was their first ceremony.
Luna let out another giggle as she had the thought 'that this would put a crimp in Ginny Weasley's plans to snag 'the-boy-who-lived' and become the 'queen' of the Wizarding world.
What was even funnier was that no one at Hogwarts knew about the couple. Yet at least.
"Let's head to bed my love. I read about a few things that I want to try with you."
"How many 'things'?"
"Enough to last a lifetime my love."
Harry groaned as he was lead from the Entrance Hall towards the 7th floor and a certain room but his grin belied his groan as his wife's laughter filled the room.
Far away in an abandoned manor as infant sized Voldemort awaited for his servant to fulfill his mission. A mission that will never be fulfilled.
The End