The Great Hall had fallen silent. The three champions for the Triwizard tournament had been chosen, but then when it should have ended the Goblet of Fire had sparked to life once more. Harry Potter had clenched his eyes shut desperately praying against reason that his name wouldn't be called. That he might have a normal school year, just one. So he was just as surprised as the rest of the school when Dumbledore shouted the name of one "James Nyght!" rather than his own. One moment passed, and then another before Dumbledore's voice rang out once more, the twinkle in his eye long gone. James stood slowly from his place at the Hufflepuff table as the entire table glared menacingly.
"I didn't do it." He said. "Hannah, Ernie, I didn't put my name in that cup!" James' voice wavered as he saw his two friends look at him with shock and a hidden bit of anger.
"If you would join the other champions Mr. Nyght." Dumbledore spoke with an authority that no one dared defy. James walked numbly towards the back of the hall where the first three champions waited and stepped in without a word. He staggered and threw out his hands to catch himself against a large mirror twice his size and inspected the reflection it showed. He was a bit tall for his age, with short black hair that was unmanageable if he let it grow more than a few inches. His eyes stared back at him, the dull grey lifeless irises at odd with the usually bright almost shining steel-grey that his friends would usually find. He raised his hand and felt the small scar on his chin, one of many that were earned during his childhood at his orphanage wondering how many more he would earn in this suicidal tournament. James was shook out of his stupor by a concerned looking Cedric Diggory, the proper Hogwarts Champion.
"Hey are you ok James? What are you doing back here?" James could hear the genuine concern in the older housemate's voice and hoped he could get through to him.
"I didn't do it Cedric. You have to believe me, I didn't try to enter. I- I don't know what happened." James knew what was waiting for him. He knew how dangerous the tournament was. How unlikely it would be for all the Champions to even survive the tournament, and they had three more years of magical training then he did! At that moment Dumbledore rushed in, followed closely by Professor "Mad-eye" Moody and the hurried clanking of his wooden leg.
"James, did you put your name in the Goblet?" Dumbledore asked fervently as he grasped James's shoulders.
"No! Only a crazy person would enter this thing!"
"He eez obviouszly lying Dumblydore." Madam Maxime retorted while glaring at James.
"Or perhaps this is your way of increasing Hogwarts chances of winning." Karkaroff said from the shadows of the room. James gaped at the two school heads as he felt resentment start to seethe inside him.
"Are you both daft? Why would I, a mere fourth year enter into a tournament that over half of all participants have died?" James snapped at the French headmistress before turning on Karkaroff. "And if Hogwarts was cheating as you say then why would they use a wizard with half the training of all the other champions? Why not send another seventh year?" James had quickly traded his fear for anger as he had learned to do years ago when being bullied at the orphanage he had been raised at. People preyed on fear but anger gave them pause, and gave him strength.
"I will not be spoken to in such a way by some snot-nosed brat!" Karkaroff replied lividly. James glared at the self-important foreign headmaster while he slowly, and deliberately raised his fist in front of the man's face and raised a single finger. James had seen the obscene gesture on a muggle television a few times, and while its meaning was lost on most of the room Fleur Delacour and Mad-eye Moody both chuckled at the exchange.
"Bugger off!" James spat before spinning around and retreating to a lone corner of the room.
Dumbledore surveyed the group, wondering why events had turned out this way. James Nyght was a non-entity in the Wizarding world, a muggle born orphan who while talented had never drawn much attention to himself. He had expected Voldemort to make a play at Harry if anything. It was possible however that Voldemort's minion had somehow made a mistake, that Harry had been meant to be entered; but he could not comprehend how someone could be skilled enough to fool the Goblet of Fire into forcing a fourth entity to participate yet foolish enough to somehow enter the wrong student. The more plausible solution was that James Nyght was indeed the true target but that in itself seemed implausible. The aged headmaster rubbed his temples in an attempt to rid himself of the growing headache that was begging to plague him when the French Headmistress spoke.
"Well it zeems only fair that we continue to enter the names of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's students until we each have a second champion ourzelves."
"That won't work Madam." Mad-eye replied gruffly. "The Goblets flame has burnt out. It won't ignite again until the next tournament. I'm afraid we must proceed as it is."
"Durmstrang shall not stand for such blatant favoritism! We will not take part in this travesty." Karkaroff said as he turned with a flourish of his cloak. "Come Victor."
"Not so fast Karkaroff! You're student is in a magically binding contract, he longer has any choice but to participate." Moody barked out. "However if you truly feel so insulted it would hardly be a loss if you decided to vacate the premises." Mad-eye Moody grinned at his jab, his scarred and misshapen face giving him the appearance of a joyful demon.
Dumbledore sighed in exasperation and decided to put an end to the squabbling. "The Champions have been selected. I suggest that Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman explain the rules of the first task so that we may all get on with this tournament."
"Yes, yes. Right to it I suppose." Ludo Bagman replied as he stepped in between the four champions. "The first task is designed to test your daring; Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard. On November 30th a Wednesday I believe, you will be faced with an unknown challenge. Now the day before you will have your wands tested to ensure that they are in proper working order. Wouldn't do to have anyone turn up dead now would it?"
"No one dead in a tournament that is infamous for killing over half of its champions? Good luck with that!" James snapped. "Now if you'll excuse me some of us have to try and prevent our impending dooms!" Without another word spoken James pushed his way out of the room into the now empty Great Hall. *Susan. Susan's aunt is head of the DMLA; she might know some spells that can help. And the seventh years should be able to help me practice.* James rushed to the Hufflepuff dorms confident that he would find help from the house of hard work and loyalty.
AN: So this my first stab at a Harry Potter fic but this idea has been floating around in my head for a while. Now while Harry Potter is not the lead in this story he will not be ignored and obviously has an important part to play. The chapters will be short but I will be trying to upload chapters quickly. Soooo please review for me guys! I really want to know whether or not people are enjoying this story.