A.N. Hello everyone, feel free to comment and all ideas for upcoming chapters are welcome. Just a side note, Harry and Fleur's romance won't come for a while so y'all sit tight and bear with me!
Chapter 3: The Champions
"Hi my name is Claire Fontaine, I was born in France but I have spent most of my childhood in the United States and this is my best friend Fleur Delacour." Claire introduced herself and Fleur, who sent her a glare for being so unsubtle.
"Quit glaring Harry, they're the guests…I'm sorry, I'm Cho, Cho Chang." Cho said while kicking Harry's shin under the table, making him scowl at her, which made her grin even wider. Meanwhile, Harry's mind was already making rapid deductions and calculations as to the weird, slightly irritably feeling that he was feeling as soon as this blonde hair girl decided to sit next to him. Then it hit him a fraction of a second later as he saw the jaw dropping looks and ogling from his male peers directed at the girl situated next to him, the girl had to be part Veela or Siren.
"Interesting." Harry thought as he returned to reading Hamlet while eating rather bland salad.
"You're a Shakespeare fan?" Claire asked as she observed the mysteriously quiet messy black haired boy.
"I think that's quite clear since I am reading Hamlet." Harry said sarcastically.
Claire frowned and was about to open her mouth when Cho asked with uncontained excitement followed by a glare to Harry, which he ignored, "How is Beauxbatons…compared to our school?"
"Well it's A LOT warmer." Cho laughed at this. "And we don't have houses, so from what I've been told, there isn't a giving or deducting points system." Claire stated.
Fleur meanwhile was only half listening while staring at the ceiling, which seemed to have no roof with the stormy weather thundering above her. She then focused her attention on the rather good looking young man sitting next to her, he was truly an enigma having had eye contact with her but was not a slobbering drooling idiot. He had paid no attention to the events occurring around him, solely focusing on the play grasped in his longer, slender fingers.
Fleur swore she saw his facial expression relaxing when the students around him began to whisper that the Bulgarian Seeker, Viktor Krum was actually here in the flesh. The Durmstrang students had arrived on an ancient ship that rose from the lake in a stupendous fashion, their headmaster, a medium height man wearing furs was the first to converse with the headmaster of Hogwarts. The same redheaded boy over at the table with many lion badge students who had drooled disgustingly at her was becoming increasingly disturbing with his hungry gaze at the celebrity over at the table with many snake badge students.
Fleur was brought back from her thoughts as she saw the headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore walking towards the intricately decorated podium. Immediately everyone ceased their chatter and focused on the Ancient Headmaster. Well, nearly everyone, Harry was still casually reading his play.
"Your attention please! I would like to say a few words…..Eternal glory, that is what awaits the student who wins the tri-wizard tournament. But to do this that student must survive three tasks. Three extremely dangerous tasks. "Wicked" Two red headed twins from the table with the lion badge students. Fleur continued to stare with determination in her eyes, this was what she came here for, to prove that she was more than a Quarter Veela.
"For this reason the ministry has fit to impose a new rule. To explain all this we have the Head of the Department of International Magic Cooperation Mister Bartemius Crouch and Mr. Ludo Bagman, the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports." Applause was then ensured as two people stood up from the head table and joined Dumbledore at the podium. For the first time during the entire welcoming feast for the foreigners, Harry looked up. There was more applause directed towards Bagman than Crouch, maybe it was because Crouch never smiled nor waved when his name was mentioned. Harry knew better, Crouch was one heartless son of a bitch who had sentenced his own flesh and blood to the dreaded hell of Azkaban.
How did he acquire this information? When Mad-Eye Moody taught him the lesson that even those closest to you could cave in to the darkness. Speaking of Mad-Eye, Harry briefly lingered his eyes on his former mentor, or rather the person impersonating his former mentor.
As time trickled, it became apparently clear that the man sitting on the head table was not Alastor Moody. However, Harry decided that he would not be doing anything until the imposter had made his first move.
"What could he be possibly be planning?... The Death Eaters have resurfaced recently, the Dark Mark fired into the sky…Moody's house being attacked…after telling me many times that being a teacher was the farthest thing he wanted to do after retirement…" The possibilities were numerous and Harry was already deep into calculating the chances of each one, ignoring murmurings of discontent from younger students around him that were outraged by the age limitations.
"I guess…the only way of finding out will be entering myself into this competition, something big is definitely at hand." Harry thought to himself as a box that was brought by two men was placed on a stand next to Dumbledore, one was vaguely familiar with messy black hair and lopsided glasses whilst the other had short scruffy black hair and a handsome boyish face despite his age. Harry's eyes widened as he saw his father and his godfather Sirius Black with matching large grins directed to him. Standing to the side with a rather lean, tall yet stern woman with shoulder length blonde hair, whom Harry recognized at once as Amelia Bones.
"What are dad and Sirius doing here? He should only be returning from his honeymoon with Professor Vector at this hour?" Harry thought to himself. At the Gryffindor table, Ryan's jaw dropped when he saw his father and chuckled when he saw the same shocked expression on his elder brother's face from the Ravenclaw Table.
He had observed his brother's behavior from the start of the feast and found it rather entertaining to see him not noticing the inhumanely beautiful blonde haired girl from the French school sitting next to him.
"Who else but Harry would fail to notice such a girl is sitting next to him?" He chuckled at the thought but returned his attention back at Dumbledore as he tapped the box with his wand, the box melted away, leaving an insignificant wooden cup. It would have been unremarkable save the fact that dancing blue white flames filled to the brim, eliciting awed looks from students from all three schools.
"The Goblet of Fire. Anyone wishing to submit themselves for the tournament merely write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly, if chosen there's no turning back. As from this moment the tri-wizard tournament has begun." Dumbledore warned with a severe warning glare at everyone in the Great Hall then bade the students good night with a dismissive wave.
Meanwhile Fleur couldn't help but overhearing several Hogwarts students not faraway speaking excitedly,
"Oy, who'd you think will be chosen?" A boy asked.
"My money's on Kaiser." His friend answered.
"Definitely, Kaiser has never lost a duel before. He'll be our champion for sure!"
"Exciting isn't it?" Cho literally was bouncing up and down on her seat.
"Is it true that Harry has never lost a duel before?" Claire asked amidst all the rumors.
"None that I know, I do remember the time when he took out five thugs once while shopping in Diagon Alley with Eleanor once two years ago." Cho said with a shrug.
"Why did zis event 'appen in ze first place?" Fleur asked out of curiosity.
"Eleanor's father supposedly upset someone when he arrested certain people with shades of background." Cho answered biting her lip and with a pointed index finger said, "There they are…don't they look adorable? Its actually a surprise that they're not married yet…seeing how close they are to each other." True to her point Fleur observed, Harry was actually not emotionless and actually allowed a barely visible smile at something the tall shoulder length blonde hair, cerulean colored eyed beauty said as they approached the head table.
"You like him don't you?" Claire asked once seeing the sad smile on Cho's face.
"…It's not that hard to fall for him, despite the fact that Harry always tries to be cold and distant…he helped me a lot with dealing with some of my peers who had problems with my family background, helped me whenever I had problems with homework, studying or was just there when I needed someone to listen…but enough of that, we better get going." And the three stood up and began to file out of the Great Hall, Fleur turned around at the entrance and took one last look at the green eyed man that intrigued her greatly before gracefully walking back towards the carriages with the rest of her contingent.
"Ah, the Champion of Hogwarts graces us with his presence." Sirius said with a mock bow as soon as all the students have filed out of the Great Hall, earning a glare from Harry and a muffled giggle from Eleanor.
"About time you came back, how was the honeymoon with Professor Vector." Harry asked with the slightest bit of mirth in his eyes.
"Now that information, little pup, is confidential." Sirius replied with a large grin.
"Yes, yes, Uncle Padfoot never ceases to deliver…" Harry said sarcastically.
Sirius' ears turned red as James chuckled rather loudly at his best friend's embarrassment. Sirius was about to grab Harry into a knuckle sandwich despite the fact that his godson was over six foot tall and with a flick of his wand, too fast to be seen turned Sirius found his hair had turned bright pink and his auror robes a matching tight pink cocktail dress.
James and Ryan stared for a full five seconds before falling and rolling on the floor roaring with laughter while Eleanor smiled at the sight.
"Hmm…Professor Vector must have really exhausted you for such a degeneration in reflexes." Harry said with a more pronounced smile hanging from the edge of his lips.
"Hahaha…very funny, Mr. Unprankable, reverse it NOW!" Sirius gritted through his teeth and sighed in relief as his hair returned to its natural dark brown color and he was once again wearing Auror Robes.
"Mr. Potter?" Eleanor asked after James and Ryan were back on their feet from laughing so hard.
"Yes, cutie pie?" James asked. Eleanor blushed deeply at the nickname her father and Harry's father had for her, her father and Mr. Potter always insisted on calling her that which frankly annoyed her greatly, it was alright to be called a cutie pie when she was five years old but seventeen?
"Is my father alright?" Eleanor asked and a large sigh of relief escaped her breath when James nodded.
"Did you find Bertha Jorkins?" Harry asked, with his arms crossed all jokes aside. His father shook his head and said tiredly, "We've searched her last known location in Albania but the tracks stop there and the forest is just….well too large and dangerous for only two Aurors to venture in."
Sirius snorted as he voiced his opinion, "Jorkins, not bright and always nosing into other people's business...the perfect recipe for disaster."
"So…going to enter your name?" Sirius asked back into his joking mood and his smile actually disappeared when he saw his godson nod.
"Oh boy…your mother will have my head displayed on a platter when she hears about this…" James groaned into his palms, Ryan just had a look of awe plastered on his face.
"Harry?" Harry turned to Eleanor, who looked extremely worried. "People have died in this competition…"
"I'm not going after the glory Ellie…something much larger is at work here."
"What'd you mean?" James asked, puzzled by his son's reason.
"Everything that happened this year, dad…don't you think its too much of a coincidence, Jorkin's disappearance…The Death Eaters and the Dark Mark at the World Cup…The disturbance call from Moody's house…now this tournament which hasn't been done in hundreds of years." Harry said.
"It is strange how Albus decided to restart the Triwizard Tournament…it certainly caused a bit of uproar in the Wizegamot…and Jorkins did have knowledge that the tournament would be played this year, if she was captured…." James did not need to continue for everyone had a clear idea where he was heading to.
"Mr. Potter, there is also the issue of Professor "Moody." Eleanor said after a lapse of silence.
"Yeah dad, don't you think its strange Mad-Eye is eying Longbottom most of the time?" Ryan asked and explained how he felt the former dark wizard catcher was trying to get closer to the-Boy-Who-Lived, many times would the former Auror tell Longbottom to stay behind after class had ended.
"And another thing Eleanor and I have discovered…it would seem Mad-Eye now drinks around the hour." Harry mused.
"It seems we have an imposter on our hands…" Every head in the deserted Great Hall turned towards the grandfatherly voice. Blue eyes twinkling madly, Albus Dumbledore walked calmly towards the group after escorting Madam Bones out the Great Hall earlier.
"My congratulations once again for you and Elizabeth, Sirius." Dumbledore said, shaking the Grim-Animagus' hand.
"You knew all alone then Professor." Harry stated, few things ever escaped Dumbledore's eyes despite his rather barmy and sometimes odd behaviors.
"Harry please…Alastor and I have been friends for many years, I believe that I would notice the slightest change if it did occur." Dumbledore simply said.
"So what's the plan?" Sirius asked.
"We wait for the imposter's first move." Harry simply said. Ryan looked at him as if he was crazy,
"Why? I say we go storming into the motherfucker's office and beat the shit out of him." He said animatedly.
"I warned you dad, about leaving Hollywood gangster movies out in the open." Harry said with a shake of his head and turned to his brother. "Please, even if we did barge into the imposter's office and forced him to tell us the truth about the plot behind the shadows with Veriterserum… how would it benefit us? I'm pretty sure the mastermind behind this is a lot more cunning than we'd expect. He would have a back up plan ready in case his little pet was compromised." No one could argue with Harry's logic when it was explained.
"Quite an excellent deduction Harry, couldn't have worded it myself." Dumbledore said softly, Neville Longbottom might be the Boy Who Lived and had great potential but Harry Potter remains the strongest wizard of his generation. The boy was simply different from all other children of his age during their first encounter.
A much younger Albus Dumbledore appeared from the floo into Potter manor to spread the news to James and Lily Potter that Voldemort has been vanquished.
"Albus, is it true?" James Potter rushed out from the kitchen, "Is he gone?" "It would seem that the sacrifice made by young Neville's mother has rendered Voldemort the inability to finish the boy off." Dumbledore explained while pacing around in front of the fireplace.
"That poor boy…what will happen now?" Lily Potter asked as she too came out of the kitchen to join her husband. "They boy will be placed in the custody of his grandmother…he will be taken care of." Dumbledore answered. Lily sighed in relief at her former headmaster's words.
"You will both come to the meeting tomorrow?" Dumbledore asked.
"Of course Albus, you can count on it." James replied with a nod.
With a nod, the headmaster of Hogwarts was about to step in the floo when a young, childish voice broke the silence, "Sir, will he be back?" He slowly turned around and found himself in a staring contest with a four-year-old boy that had messy black hair and the brightest, glowing green eyes that were clearly inherited from his mother. On his back was his one year old brother, looking curiously at Dumbledore, a wave of nostalgia slammed into Albus as he remembered a familiar scene from a memory long ago, a boy with his younger brother watching beside him as their father was being carted off by Aurors.
Lily wrapped her arms protectively around both her boys. He shrugged the painful memory away and in a soft tired voice answered, "Take care of your brother, Harry…dangerous times lie ahead…" With that Dumbledore stepped into the fireplace and disappeared with a flash of green flames.
"It is getting late, I suggest getting some sleep Harry, Ms. Zabini, Ryan…" Dumbledore said, signaling the end of the conversation.
"Night Professor." Harry said respectfully and left after biding his father and Sirius a farewell, Eleanor and Ryan after him.
"Think you can manage going back on your own?" Harry teased Ryan as they parted their ways to their respective common rooms.
"Harry, I'm fourteen." Ryan gritted through his teeth, Harry nodded with a rare joking smile and headed off towards Ravenclaw Tower with Eleanor.
On the way to their destination, Harry cringed when he felt Eleanor's slender arm entwined around his and her head resting on his arm.
"Ellie-"
"Shh…please don't say anything." Eleanor whispered as they entered their common room.
"It's rather late…I'll see you in the mourning." Harry said as he started to walking towards the boy's dormitories but stopped when he felt arms wrapped around his middle and added weight on his back.
"Ellie…please, we cannot be…" Harry whispered.
"Why? You have feelings for me Harry, I'm not stupid…I've seen the way you look at me, you want me." Eleanor said through her tears. Defiantly but tenderly, Harry released himself from her arms and turned to face her, it hurt to see Eleanor in tears.
"Why, why are you denying yourself when I'm willing to give it to you?" Eleanor continued, tears flying down from her eyes as she took off her robe and her sweater in a frantic manner. Harry, knowing what she was doing immediately wrenched her arms away from her own clothing and pulled her into an embrace. Eleanor struggled in his grasp but eventually stopped and simply sobbed onto his chest.
"Damn it…why are women always after me?" He thought to himself tiredly, taking care of his baby brother and sister was always his number one priority and man was it a large full time one. However, such was the job of being the eldest but he had no qualms about it.
"Ellie…I can't place myself in a relationship right now alright? I just can't…" Harry whispered softly, his green eyes filled with sincerity.
"I understand…" Eleanor said as she retracted her head from Harry's chest, her dark ocean blue eyes red from crying. To him, she was still perfect, still so beautiful even in her current state.
"Someday…maybe one day. When this storm has passed for good." Eleanor met his gaze at the soft sentence spoken. There was no need for further words, she knew in a certain extent, Harry cared for her; that was all that mattered.
"Harry?" Eleanor asked shyly, avoiding Harry's eyes
"Hmm?" Harry asked.
"Stay with me tonight?...It gets awfully lonely in the dorms sometimes."
"Out here in the Common Room?" Harry asked, eyes wide. They grew even wider when he saw Eleanor with a wave of her wand, transfigured her uniform into a white tank top that accentuated her curves quite well as well as blue colored shorts, if you can even classify the tight shorts that stopped at Eleanor's mid thigh as such, revealing her long slender legs that seemed to travel down for a while.
"What the hell do you think you're doing Potter? Stand down!" Harry's logical voice inside his mind yelled and with a shake of his head, trashed all unclean thoughts away, he might be a master Occlumens but Harry was still human and could be surprised.
After transfiguring his school clothes into a plain black t-shirt and long, comfortable black pants, he pointed his wand at the dark blue sofas, "Engorgio."
Immediately the sofa began to increase in size, Harry held the spell until it was deem satisfactory to be slept on by two people.
"You know people will talk…" Harry said, desperately trying to get out of the sticky situation, it was really getting uncomfortable.
"It's our last year. Let them talk." Eleanor said, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.
"Minx, you're really not helping me here." Harry thought quietly to himself as he watched Eleanor staring back at him on the enlarged sofa, her head supported by her hand through her elbow. He smiled lightly as he joined her, conjuring sheets and blankets pulling over the both of them.
"Goodnight Harry…don't even try anything." Eleanor warned but she had an elated smile on her face. Harry snorted and with a swish of his wand, the lights were all turned off in the common room, leaving the flickering fireplace the only source of light. Harry turned his head and couldn't help but smile when he saw Eleanor sleeping with a happy, carefree smile graced on the edge of her lips. However he steeled himself as the conversation with Dumbledore not long ago replayed itself in his mind. The storm was nearing ever closer, and judging by Longbottom's performance from Ryan, the boy wasn't anywhere near his level of magic in terms of advancement so how could he face the maelstrom that was about to arrive? It was with that question that lulled Harry slowly towards the realm of Morpheus.
Amidst the darkness a dull clunk echoed through the empty hallway leading to the Great Hall. The storm had provided him with a great cover, as he pushed the doors, an eerie blue glow making the numerous scars on his face even more prominent.
Closing the door behind him, the imposter of Mad-Eye Moody walked towards the Goblet of Fire, which was still flickering brightly with a crazed smile on his scarred face. In his hand was a torn piece of paper with a scribbled name written on it.
Next mourning, Harry was woken up by squeals of
"Oh, look at them!"
"They're soooo cute!"
"I'm so jealous!"
With gritted teeth, Harry opened his eyes, apparently sometime during the night Eleanor decided to cuddle up close to him for warmth and left him in a rather embarrassing position. Getting up and standing to his full height, with a cold glare that immediately shook his fellow housemates from their stupor and returned back to their business.
With a whirl of his wand his sleeping clothes were transfigured back into his uniform, which felt like it was washed, dried and ironed. Satisfied he silently cast a mild cleaning charm on his teeth, leaving a very minty taste in his mouth.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Eleanor doing the same and he couldn't help but stare at her gorgeous long slender legs.
"I'll…meet you at breakfast." Harry said, not knowing what he could say at this particular moment. With a nod, he started towards the portrait that guarded Ravenclaw Tower, the rest of the house moving out of his way as he did so.
Eleanor watched as it opened and closed behind him and sighed tiredly when she heard the familiar footsteps of her friend scrambling down.
"Oh my God, Elle did you sleep next to Harry for the entire night? Are you two together?" A large eyed and shocked Cho Chang asked frantically as she came over and watched her friend straightening her long blonde hair with a brush. She was stunned when her friend merely gave her a smile but it never reached her eyes.
"Yes we did Cho, and please would you mind lowering your voice before the entire castle knows what happened?" Cho immediately covered her mouth as she followed her closer friend out the portrait for breakfast.
"So was he good?" Eleanor nearly missed a step at the question as she walked down the stairs.
"We did nothing of sort!" She hissed but the Asian girl remained smiling. Luckily, Cho knew when to stop stomping on her best friend's buttons and an eruption from Mt. Eleanor was averted.
Around midday though, the gossip of Harry and Eleanor had pretty much been spread evenly around the castle but it didn't stop the two from their routine.
"I would suggest if you value that tongue of yours, to quit adding your two knuts into my personal life." Harry gritted irritably to his younger brother as Ryan teased him on his morning escapee on their way towards the Great Hall so that Harry could enter his name into the Goblet.
The weather was chaotic, with rapid rain pouring down ruthlessly, as the two Potters arrived at the Great Hall, all eyes were turned towards the taller of the two. Loud whisperings began to start as Harry walked confidently towards the Goblet, its flue flames flickering brightly with a circular yet barely visible white line drawn around it.
"See, told you Potter's going to put his name into the goblet."
"Hogwarts will win for sure!"
"Lucky Sod…I wish I was seventeen."
The whispers stopped as everybody watched the champion duelist placed a dragon hide clad boot inside the age line. Harry remained emotionless as he stepped inside the age line and taking out the piece of parchment with his name inscribed on it, promptly placed it into the flames.
The blue flames fluttered violently for a moment before returning to its normal flickering state. With a smirk, Harry walked away from the Goblet, giving his fellow Ravenclaws a polite smile. His smile disappeared as the doors to the Great Hall opened again, Viktor Krum and his headmaster Igor Kakaroff was strolling towards the Goblet in a way that can only be described as stone faced.
Ryan watched tensely as his brother glared straightly into Krum's eyes, he had seen that only a handful of times: when his brother recognized a rival he simply had to best. The intense moment was over as soon as Krum walked passed Harry's shoulders, a band of fan girls following "discreetly" after the Bulgarian.
"He's going to be champion for Durmstrang...I bet my entire fortune." Harry and Ryan turned towards the silky voice, which belonged to one Edward Malfoy.
"Malfoy…" Harry inclined respectfully, though they did play together as toddlers, calling Edward by his first name wasn't something he'll ever do.
"Nice job with Zabini, although it took longer than I at first thought it would take." Edward said and smirked in a rather haughty manner when he saw his friend's eyes twitch.
"How would you know Krum would become the champion for Durmstrang?" Ryan asked, attempting to steer the conversation in another direction.
"Simple pipsqueak." Ryan's face reddened at the name. "Malfoy intuition…never fails. Watch yourself Potter, those Durmstrang…nasty business they are." Edward said with a laugh as he walked away.
"I'm not small, I'm five foot eight." Ryan complained to his brother who looked very amused and excused himself. Truth be told, he wasn't short but standing next to Harry made him feel like a dwarf.
Ryan went over to the table where Hermione, Draco and Blaise were sitting. "Better watch yourself Hermione, Krum's fan girls weren't all that pleased when he talked to you in the library." Blaise said.
"It's not my fault, honestly, maybe they should actually try talking to him rather than hiding behind bookshelves." The bushy haired witch replied.
"Enough on Krum, I feel like I'm going to puke." Draco interrupted, faking a gagging noise, making Blaise and Hermione laugh.
"Awh, is little witty bitty Drakey jealous? I'm surprised you of all people haven't started worshipping the feet of Krum." Blaise teased, Draco Malfoy was the seeker of Slytherin House.
"Please Blaise, first of all, unlike Weasley, I am not into men. Second of all, a Malfoy is never below anyone else." Draco replied, it was frightening how similar Edward and Draco had the same smirk that had haughtiness labeled all over it.
"Hmm…narcissistic much?" Blaise stated with mirth in her cerulean blue eyes. "Though I have to admit, Weasley does seem to be playing for the other team hmm…" All four of them shuddered as they processed the sentence as they looked at said redhead, unlike Neville Longbottom who was staring intently at the Goblet, was staring agape at the Bulgarian seeker who was walking towards the entrance to the Great Hall.
"On another subject, did your brother place his name into the goblet?" Ryan asked Draco, who shook his head solemnly.
"I heard that French girl, Delacour entered her name." Blaise piped in.
"Honestly, I don't see why people are fussing over her." Hermione started and her eyes narrowed when she heard Draco muttering something in Ryan's ear.
"Well, we're not affected." Ryan said with a boyish smile which caused Hermione to duck her head, such was the effect of the Potter charm.
The next day was hectic for everyone in the castle, foreigner or not. In addition to classes, the announcement of the three champions would be decided after the Halloween feast.
Fleur Delacour opened the carriage doors of the Beauxbatons Carriage with large butterflies fluttering in her stomach and shivered at the coldness. She was walking towards the entrance hall of Hogwarts when she saw her enigma, Harry Potter dressed in long skinny black pants, a white button up shirt, narrow long blue tie with a black vest and trench coat to top it off. He was walking towards the direction of the lake with something carried on his shoulder.
Fleur was silently debating whether to follow him or meet up with Claire. Simply said, her curiosity got the better of her as she mentally apologized to her friend and walked off quietly after the black haired wizard. She trailed him towards a clearing just the edge of the black lake where she found him sitting on a large boulder and what seemed to be a guitar case lying on the beside him. A quick tempo Spanish tune then filled the air and Fleur found herself mesmerized. For as long as she could remember, she loved dancing and classical music in general.
"Why does he play alone? He's very talented…" Fleur pondered as she watched on, the man sitting not far from her never ceased to spark her curiosity, like an endless puzzle.
"You know…it's not very polite to gawk…you of all people should know this Ms. Delacour." Fleur gave a start as Harry's soft and calm tone pierce the air. Harry tilted his head sideways and glowing green eyes met icy blue, he was still strumming lightly.
Fleur felt her face flush, she had been played the entire time. " 'Ow did you know zat I was following you?" She asked as she neared him.
But to her disappointment, he only gave a highly amused smirk and returned his focus onto the lake. Harry did not react whatsoever as the quarter veela took a seat next to him on the boulder. Truth be told, he easily detected her aura, no matter how little of it she wished to project.
"Why do you play alone 'ere when zere are many people zat would appreciate your talents in ze castle?" Fleur asked. The tune stopped abruptly as Harry's fingers stopped.
"Curious one aren't you…" He said softly and Fleur wondered if she had crossed the line. "Hmmph…the reason is because I am first and foremost, not an entertainer." Harry replied.
"Zen who do you play for?" Fleur asked. Harry had to give her credit when he locked eye contact with her, so few people had the courage to stare into his eyes.
"Awfully persistent aren't you?" Harry said and was about to add more when suddenly a large bird of prey suddenly descended with immense speed on the pair. Fleur was about to whip out her wand when the bird calmly landed on Harry's shoulder and to her surprise, pecked his ear gently.
"It would appear that it is time to gather in the Great Hall." Harry said with a sigh as he placed the guitar back into its case and began trekking back into the castle.
"No news regarding to One-Eye and no movements around the perimeters of the castle. On another note that one seems to be interested in you. Should the other blonde haired female be worried?" Fenris stated through their mental link, while looking Fleur who was walking several paces behind Harry.
"Oh please, not you too? Whatever, go back up to the Owlery and keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary." Fenris squawked at the command and took off. As Harry and Fleur neared the Entrance hall, a fair amount of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students were also present.
"Fleur!" Fleur cringed at the shout and had to glare when she saw Claire giving a big wave in her direction at the entrance.
"Fleur, where'd you go? I thought we were going to meet up in the Library." Claire said with a pout but seeing her friend staring at someone, she turned and found the target who was disappearing into the Great Hall. "Oh, I see…well I certainly don't blame you for ditching me in exchange for that hunk."
"Enough! I was merely curious." Fleur defended herself feebly as the two entered the Great Hall. The Halloween feast seemed to last an eternity for Harry, as observed the impatience of his fellow schoolmates around him directed at Dumbledore to hurry up.
At last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state and Dumbledore stood up, Karkaroff and Madame Maxine on either side of him. Bagman was beaming and winking at various students like an idiot, Crouch was indifferent as always.
"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 the 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 which led to the trophy room. Then his hand sweeping across the Great Hall, the candles were all extinguished. Leaving the Goblet of Fire the only source of light, the sparkling bright bluey-whitness of the flames almost painful to the eyes. Dumbledore placed both palms on the sides of the wooden goblet before releasing them and suddenly the flames inside the Goblet turned suddenly red, 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, eliciting gasps from the whole room. Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length.
"The Durmstrang Champion is." He read, in a strong clear voice. "Viktor Krum!" Harry watched as a storm of applause and cheering swept the hall, his eyes narrowed as he saw Krum rise from the Slytherin table and after a handshake with Dumbledore turned right, walked along the staff table and disappeared through the door into the next chamber. The chatting and clapping died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the Goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more.
A second piece of parchment shout out of it, "The Champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!" Again loud applause and cheering, mostly from the male students could be heard. Fleur got gracefully to her feet and seemingly floated towards Dumbledore.
As she walked confidently, her eyes met with Harry's. He gave her a polite smile before returning his attention to the flaming cup. After shaking hands with the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Fleur vanished into the side chamber.
The climax had arrived, the deciding of Hogwarts champion. All the Ravenclaws were looking intently at their Kaiser whilst the Hufflepuffs were looking in the same manner at Cedric Diggory. The Goblet of Fire turned red once more, sparks showered out of it propelling the third piece of parchment into Dumbledore's waiting hand.
"The Hogwarts Champion," he called while meeting Harry's eye, "is Harry Potter!"
"No!" cried out a voice but it was engulfed by the deafening, ear-splitting cries of joy, shouts and applause coming from the House of Ravens. Harry stood up from his place and promptly walked towards Dumbledore, he gave Roger and Cho a high five each and Eleanor a squeeze on the shoulder as he walked pass them.
Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling madly as he smiled proudly while shaking his star student's hand. He gestured towards the trophy room and Harry walked off after a nod. The cheers were still going on madly as he neared the trophy room, Professor Flitwick was literally bouncing up and down from joy at the sight of his star pupil being chosen as champion, Professor McGonagall offered him a smile, and Professor Vector or should it be Professor Black gave him a strangling hug.
"Now the hard part…" Harry thought as the door of the trophy room closed behind him.
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