Chapter 4: What Did I Just Say?

Little know fact about Veela, they are stronger than you might think just to look at them. So, after prying Gabrielle's deceptively weak looking arms from around my neck I took a long breath of fresh air. Leaning back and looking at the two smiling girls in front of me, I noticed something that I had never paid attention to before. Maybe it was my very recent experience with people trying to get into my mind, or maybe it was the close proximity of an excited Gabrielle, but suddenly I could almost hear a whisper in the back of my mind as I looked in her eyes. I glanced at Aimee and realized I was getting the same feeling from her, so I guessed she was Veela as well which surprised me a bit considering I had never known there were more Veela in the school during the tournament. Then again I did have a lot on my mind that year, so it's not surprising I missed something like that.

Back on topic, I could hear whispers in the back of my mind, I recognized the voices as belonging to the girls. The one that belonged to Gabrielle kept repeating, "protect me and keep me safe." Aimee's whisper was a bit different in that it kept saying, "please, don't hurt me." It took me a moment to figure out it was their natural Veela Allure trying to protect them by instilling a desire to protect them in the people, mostly men, around them. I looked up just in time to see Fleur and the lovely girl from earlier rushing at me with looks of concern on their faces. As they approached I started hearing their Allures calling out to me. Fleur's was the easiest to recognize as I had been around her enough times, even if I had never paid this much attention to it before. It cried out, "admire me, don't hurt me, don't hurt her!" The other girl, who I noticed was even better looking than Fleur now that she was standing up and running towards me, her Allure was screaming for me to "obey and do no harm." For a moment I wanted to do exactly what they told me to do, then I blinked mentally and felt the Allure fade away.

"Wow, that is impressive," I said looking at Aimee and Gabrielle with a smile, just as the two older Veela arrived and started really pouring on the Allure. I could feel it trying to get to me, but it was like water off a Grindylow's back. "Is your Allure naturally a defensive thing, or is that just an added bonus? Don't worry, I'd never hurt kids, especially these two cuties."

In a continuance of my day long streak, I left the two older Veela completely stunned, so I temporarily ignored them as I stood up and held my hands out to Aimee and Gabrielle. "You two hungry? Care to join me, you can even bring your friends here."

"She's not my friend," Aimee instantly replied, jerking her head in the direction of the unnamed Vella. "She's my sister."

There was a round of snickers from the people within earshot, including Luna and Hermione, as Aimee grabbed my hand along with Gabrielle. "I see. I'll tell you a secret. My family members are not my friends either, but my friends are my family. Maybe if you try to get to know her better, you'll become friends as well as sisters?"

Aimee glanced up at her sister, who was looking a little hopefully back at the younger girl as Aimee considered what I had said. "I would like zat, but she is always telling me what to do."

"Yes, that can be a problem," I agreed, leading the two young girls to Gryffindor table. Hermione and Luna were following me, with the older French girls on either side of them. "I find that sometimes I need people to tell me what to do, but I prefer it when they explain why I must do it first. I hate it when they just expect me to follow their commands blindly."

Out of my peripheral vision I saw Dumbledore, he had entered the Hall just a few moments before, cringe as I said that. "Next time she orders you to do something, ask her to explain it to you and then you can decide if it is a good thing to do or not. Does that make sense?"

"Oui!" agreed Aimee with a blinding smile, squeezing my hand for all it was worth.

I sat down a the far end of the table, Gabrielle and Aimee on either side, Fleur and Aimee's sister sitting next to their respective siblings. Across from me sat Hermione and Luna, leaving a seat on the very end of the table for Ron if he ever showed up. Gabrielle had evidently asked Fleur to translate what I had been saying to Aimee and after a few moments the little Veela looked at me and nodded, also agreeing with what I had said. I would just like to point out that while all of this was going on I was receiving some of the most envy filled glares from the men in the room that I had ever seen. Granted I had two small children sitting on either side of me, but I still had four of the most beautiful girls in the school surrounding me. The only thing that was going to make the meal perfect was finding out the name of Aimee's sister.

"I'd kill for a translation spell right about now," I grumbled, earning myself a few giggles from the ladies around me.

"Well just as soon as you figure out how to make one that works with every language, you can have one," Hermione replied with a smirk. "Till then, you'll have to work for what you want."

Sticking my tongue out at Hermione for a moment, I turned back to Aimee's sister and gave her my best crooked grin, earning myself a slight blush from the girl. "Since no one has had the decency to invent a language translating spell at this time, I hope you can forgive me for not asking this in your native language, but might I know the name of one of the most beautiful young ladies I have ever met."

"One of?" she asked, one delicate brow arched and her lightly accented voice making me think of angels singing. "I wonder who you might be comparing me to?"

Looking at her with a smirk, I waved my hand around us at the other young women sitting there. "In case you hadn't noticed, we have some very lovely company at the moment."

"Thank you Harry," Hermione and Luna said together, with Aimee and Fleur blushing and Gabrielle blushing as soon as Fleur translated my comment.

"Point," she admitted with a nod of her head. "Very well, my name is Zoe Poisson, and you've already met Aimee, my sister."

I smiled at her, then turned to look at Fleur who just rolled her eyes before saying, "I am Fleur Delacour. I am Gabrielle's sister, zough I zink she forgets about me for now."

Nodding, I introduced myself, though I doubt it was really necessary. We started eating and I asked again about the Allure, shocking the girls until I pointed out that I was somewhat immune to it. In an attempt to be as honest as possible I told them that I had been exposed to the Allure at the World Cup where I had not done a very good job of fighting it off, but that recently I had discovered the ability to shake off the Imperious and other forms of mind control. The French witches were rather displeased to find out I had been exposed to such a dark curse, but I waved it off as good training for later in life. Eventually we got back to my original question about the Allure.

"Ze older a Veela becomes, ze more zey can control eet," Fleur explained as she daintily tore apart a roasted chicken breast.

"'Owever as a child it normally just instills a desire to protect ze child," Zoe continued. "It is different for each of us, but zat is the general idea."

Hermione was slowly picking apart a salad as she listened, finally asking, "So, it's a defense mechanism, not a tool for seduction as some claim?"

"Exactly!" confirmed Fleur. "Zat is not to say eet can not be used so, but only zose Veela zat 'ave reached maturity can use it so."

"In other words, it's not just for seduction," clarified Luna with a giggle.

I nodded and looked around at the smiling faces around me and noticed that Ron was standing a few feet away with the most vapid smile on his face I had ever seen. I followed his line of sight and realized he was happily admiring Zoe's rather ample chest. Hermione noticed what I was doing and turned to look at Ron, sighing rather loudly as she grabbed a roll and threw it at his head. In a rather impressive feat of gastronomical dexterity, Ron not only managed to catch the roll with his mouth, but swallowed it whole. The really impressive part was he never took his eyes off Zoe's chest until Hermione stood up and pulled him over to the table.

"I don't know if I should be impressed or disgusted," I said as Ron sat down at the end of the table, never looking back up from his plate.

"Disgusted," replied all the girls at once, causing Ron's ears to turn red.

I snorted at the reply from the girls before looking over again at Ron. "About time you joined us. Where were you, it's not like you to be late for a meal."

"Dumbledore stopped me on my way down," explained Ron as he loaded a plate up with food, still not looking up. "He was asking about where you might have learned about ancient oaths and stuff like that. I told him the truth that I didn't know what he was talking about and that if anyone had helped you with something like that it would have been Hermione."

"Did he tell you what I swore the oath about?" I asked, noticing the girls turn away as Ron started to shove food into his mouth. "Did he tell you that I swore an oath that I would not enter the Tournament under any circumstances and that he wanted me to take that oath back without telling me why?"

Okay, have you ever seen a small child caught with their hand in the biscuit tin? Their eyes go big, mouth goes slack, and you can see their brain just freeze up as they try to think of something to say that will get them out of trouble. Well, that's what Ron looked like the moment he looked up at me to answer. I'm not sure if it was Zoe to my left, or Fleur to my right, but suddenly he just stopped and I could watch as his common sense drained out of his head. Four young women and two small girls just sighed as Ron started to drool. I debated on helping him, but honestly I just wanted to see how badly Ron was going to mess this one up.

"So, Ron, I would like to introduce you to some new friends of mine," I said, watching as Ron's brain seemed to try and engage, but failed.

"Wubba?" he asked, looking like Dudley after getting his hands on really good weed.

While Hermione was trying to correct Ron's behavior by repeatedly beating him around the head and neck, Aimee pulled my head down so she could whisper in my ear. "'E's just like ze other silly boys zat always follow my sister and Fleur around. Zey are going to play wiz 'im, just watch."

I glanced at Fleur and then Aimee, who both had the most angelic smiles on their faces and devilish glints in their eyes. I knew what was coming, there was nothing that was going to stop it, but Ron was a friend even if he did have issues with jealousy from time to time. I debated it for a moment, whether to leave him to the tender mercies of two mature veela, or if I should save him before they shredded him to pieces. I knew there was a good chance by the end of the night that Ron might be having an attack of foot in mouth disease, but that hadn't happened yet and I'd already vented my spleen on enough people today. That being the case, I reached past the small girls at my side and laid my hands on Aimee and Fleur's shoulders.

"Please, let me try to bring him to his senses first?" I pleaded. "If that fails, he's all yours and I won't stop you."

The two young women seemed to debate it for a moment, but eventually they both nodded. Taking the opportunity to try and save my first real friend, I tossed a chicken leg at him, which he caught in his teeth before tearing into it. I watched all the girls try to pull away from him as he started to devour anything edible in front of him. Sometimes I wonder if you covered his own hand in condiments while he was half asleep if he would be gnawing on bones before the pain kicked in. There is a dark part of me that wants to test that theory, but thankfully I've never really been angry enough at him to try it. Yet.

"Ron, did you want to play some chess later?" I asked, trying to get his mind focused on something I knew he loved.

I thought he was going to snap out of it right up until the moment he started speaking with that glazed looking in his eyes. "Chest? Yeah, we can do that later. Legs hurry, cause if tit gets too late, Hermione will nipple us till we twat to strangle ourselves. Wank?"

The scary thing was, I don't think he even realized what he was saying, but I'd given my word. "He's all yours, ladies."

The next ten minutes had Zoe convincing Ron that if he acted like a monkey she would like him better. Fleur on the other hand suggested that if he stuffed rolls down his pants it would make him look manlier. I just sighed and continued talking with the rest of my little dinner group. Eventually Fleur and Zoe got bored and suggested a silent man was a sexy man, which shut Ron up instantly. Meanwhile, dessert had been served and Gabrielle and Aimee were attempting to eat as much chocolate pudding as they possibly could. The rest of us were just getting nervous, casting glances up at the front of the room and hoping that tonight was going to be better than we feared it would be. Fleur and Zoe eventually made their way over to where the rest of the Beauxbatons students were sitting, leaving Gabrielle and Aimee with me and the girls. Considering both small girls were currently sitting on my lap with Luna and Hermione now sitting at my side, I felt a little better, but not much.

Eventually it was time and Dumbledore stepped up to the Goblet of Fire, making his little speech. I closed my eyes, knowing what was to come, so not paying attention to the actual words this time around. I focused on the feeling of the two little girls on my lap and the two young women leaning up against me on either side. The girls cheered at one point, telling me that Fleur's name had just come out of the Goblet. Cedric's name would be next, the equivalent of a death warrant for the popular Hufflepuff boy. I wondered if I would be able to save him this time, but at this point I felt I would be lucky to make it myself let alone save hime. Dumbledore was talking again, not that I cared, but it meant my time had come. I listened as he suddenly fell silent along with the rest of the Great Hall. I knew what was coming next.

"Harry Potter!"

My eyes snapped open the moment he said it and every eye in the Hall was now focused on me, but it was Aimee who they were listening to. "But, 'Arry, you gave an Oath that you would not enter and wouldn't have anyone enter for you, didn't you?"

"From the mouths of babes," I thought to my self, nodding with a smile before responding. "I did, but someone must have felt I should be in the contest whether I wanted to be or not."

"CHEAT!" someone shouted from the crowd.

"OATH BREAKER!" someone else shouted.

Calmly I set Gabrielle on Hermione's lap then place Aimee on Luna's before I stood up and drew my wand, my old wand and not the Headmaster's former wand. My proof that I had not broken my oath and therefore lost my magic came in the form of a shield that protected me from a large dollop of mashed potatoes that someone flung at me. I'm not sure what surprised people more, that someone threw food at me, or that I still had my magic. Whatever the case, I then cast a simple levitation charm on a bowl of pudding and guided it from the Hufflepuff table over to my own, setting it down as gently as I could with shaking hands. Having shown proof that I still had my magic I looked around the student body with my head held high.

"As you can see, I still have my magic," I said in a cold and calm voice. "Obviously I did not break my oath, so it stands to reason that I didn't enter my name or have someone else do it for me."

"Harry!" barked the Headmaster. "This is not the time nor place for this conversation, come now!"

"My relatives may have treated me worse than a dog, Headmaster, but that does not give you the right to order me around like one!" I shouted, standing my ground as he gawped at me. "I personally think this is exactly the time and place for this conversation. Someone called me oath breaker, which I obviously am not. So, as I have been slandered, what are you going to do about it, Headmaster?"

"We would like to know that as well, Headmaster Dumbledore," said a voice from the entrance to the Great Hall.

I turned around and got a chuckle at the sight of Mike and Gabe standing there. Gabe looked like the stereotypical lawyer that could be seen on the television most nights of the week. I've got to say, Gabe really knew how to make an impression with his cream colored three piece suit, white shirt and red baby blue tie. In his left hand was a leather briefcase, while in his right he carried a white fedora with a baby blue band. At his side stood Mike, who I noticed was about a head shorter than Gabe, looked like a banker in his black suit coat and black bowler hat. The image was only ruined by the fact that Mike's suit coat was obviously several sizes too small and he was about to rip right out of it the moment he moved.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" demanded Dumbledore, glaring at the two men.

"Yes, we've got to follow the rules," growled Mike, stepping over to stand at my side as Gabe did the same at my other side. "Name is Michael de Archangel, solicitor and security advisor for Harry Potter. This lanky git is my partner and brother, Gabriel de Archangel, solicitor and financial advisor for Harry Potter. As for how we got in here, we walked up from the front gate, which is currently wide open."

Dumbledore was glaring at me by this point, "Since when do you have lawyers, Harry?"

"Since this summer when I realized that the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot had no intention what-so-ever to see my innocent Godfather received a trial in which he could testify under the effects of Veritaserum that he is indeed not guilty of the crimes he has been wrongfully incarcerated for," I said as calmly as I could, rather glad I remembered at least something from hearing those police shows Dudley used to watch while I was locked in my cupboard. "As it is well within your power under both titles to do exactly that and you had not done so, I figured I might want to start taking steps to see justice served despite your reluctance to do the same."

Yep, there was the warm breeze again followed by the steel spike. I just glanced at Gabe who sighed and nodded. I turned back and pushed the memory of the Cruciatus forward again, only this time didn't stop after a few seconds. I watched Snape hit the ground like a like a lump of wet clay, where he proceeded to evacuate his bowels with such force that his robes billowed from the force of it. A second later and Dumbledore followed suit, only he added regurgitation to the show. Both of them were passed out within seconds, at which point I dropped the image from my mind.

"That's one nasty defense to illegal Legilimency probes you've got there, Potter," growled Mike with a smile. "I'll draw up the papers charging them with illegal use of a regulated mind art and get the Aurors to serve them later."

McGonagall was trying to clean Dumbledore up, but not having a lot of luck considering each time she did he just fouled himself again. Snape wasn't much better off, but no one was trying to clean him up. The other surprise was Crouch Jr who currently looked like he wanted to run away. Considering I had just dropped Riddle's worst enemy, next to me, and one of his most trusted lieutenants without even touching my wand, I think he had reason to be scared. Not that he really mattered at that moment in time. No, I needed to prove my innocence, and only one thing was going to do that, so I drew my wand again.

"Adonai!

I, Harry James Potter, last scion of House Potter, swear on my life and magic that I did not enter this competition. I also swear that unless forced to do so, I will not compete.

Should I break this oath to You, may my life and magic be stripped from me.

Should I keep faith with You, I ask for Your favor and pray for Your guidance.

In Your name, Adonai, so mote it be!"

For the second time today I heard the Great Hall explode as I finished my oath. Mike and Gabe were smiling at me, laying their hands on my shoulders to show their support. It felt good for once to have adults, other than Sirius, that supported me. As I cast another levitation charm, moving the pudding bowl back to the Hufflepuff table and as I was obviously still alive, no one with half a brain would be able to say I had cheated to get into the competition. I slowly looked around the Great Hall looking for anyone that would look me in the eye, but no one would, not even Ron. Whether out of shame that they had believed I was an oath breaker, or because of what I had done to Dumbledore was anyone's guess. What it really boiled down to was that I could see this year was going to be a repeat of the one I had already lived.

"Let's go you two," I finally said to Mike and Gabe. "They will either believe me or they won't. It doesn't matter to me anymore, they don't matter to me anymore. I know the people I care about will know the truth and that's all I care about."

"Very true, young Harry," agreed Gabe with a smile as we started walking towards the little side room where the champions were waiting.

I had almost reached the Head table when Zoe rushed up to me and much to my surprise, hugged me and kissed my cheek before saying rather loudly, "I believe you, 'Arry!"

Needless to say, after being kissed by a really attractive French Veela, I was floating on clouds when I joined the other champions. Fleur looked shocked when I entered the room and I could see the look in her eyes asking me if I had really been chosen to be a champion. I could only nod and watch as a single tear suddenly rolled down her cheek. The other's were asking all sorts of questions, mainly whether I was there to collect them and who were the men with me. After ten minutes of this, Dumbledore finally joined us looking a bit haggard and very pissed off. He instantly started in on me about whether I had entered my name in the Goblet, to which I pointed out the oath I had taken that morning and the one I had just made minutes before. I then pulled out my wand and cast a simple transfiguration spell to transfigure dust into roses, handing the dark pink roses I had made to a blushing Fleur.

"A beautiful flower, for a beautiful flower," I whispered with a crooked grin that instantly got a blush out of Fleur.

"Obviously, for those of us that have lost the plot here," I growled looking at Dumbledore with a less than respectful scowl on my face, "I have not violated the oath I took this morning that said I wouldn't enter the Tournament, because if I had I wouldn't be able to do magic, now would I? As I can, then obviously someone else put my name in the Cup. Anyone insinuating anything else is an idiot!"

This seemed to shut Dumbledore up for the moment, but it set off the other Headmasters. Madame Maxine of Beauxbatons along with Igor Karkaroff of Durmstrang immediately demanded that the Goblet be relit so they might have an extra champion selected. The tension in the room could have been cut with Gryffindor's sword, and quickly escalated into threats of leaving and abandoning the Tournament. This idea was quickly quashed by Barty Crouch Sr, who went on to state that anyone who's name came out of the Goblet was bound to compete in the event. That effectively meant that while Beauxbatons and Durmstrang could leave at any time, their champions could not. At least that was what Crouch Sr was saying until Gabe cut him off.

"No, that is not correct," stated Gabe with a smile as he pulled out a rather thick book from his jacket pocket. "Luckily I overheard someone talking at the Three Broomsticks about the upcoming competition and immediately rushed to the Ministry to get a copy of the rules concerning it. As Harry has warned us several times, he has no need to go looking for danger as it seems to be able to find him easily enough. With that in mind, I researched the rules of the Triwizard Tournament quiet closely."

Crouch and Bagman were looking nervous now, as was the fake Moody and Dumbledore as Gabe opened the book to a previously marked page and began to read. "It states here that a competitor in the Triwizard Tournament, while indeed bound to the competition by a magical contract, may decline to participate should they deem the task to be too dangerous for them to be capable of completing it and live. An example is given of the third Triwizard Tournament when the first task was for the three competitors to defeat a salamander that was currently lodging in an active volcano. After the first two competitors were burned alive within seconds when their flame freezing spells failed due to the incredible heat, the third competitor spit on the judges and walked away from the task. While the rules are unclear whether spitting on the judges is required, every instance of a competitor withdrawing has included the act as a tradition, if nothing else. Out of thirty-two examples it is shown that the only repercussion that the withdrawing competitor suffers is they are unable to enter into any other magical contracts of engage in any magical rituals until such time as the Triwizard Tournament is declared closed by the panel of judges."

I heard that last bit and didn't know if I should be happy or pissed by that news. If I had known all of this before I would have dropped out and Voldemort would never have been able to use my blood in that damed ritual of his. Once again, it seemed like Dumbledore was trying to insure I was at the right place at the right time, at least for Voldemort. However now with this information, I could withdraw anytime I saw fit and Voldemort would be in a bad way. Now that was some good news for me.

"Uhhhhh..." Was Bagman's intelligent reply, while Crouch looked furious that someone knew more about the rules than he did. "Barty told me that the kiddies lost their magic if they didn't compete."

"That's bloody stupid," growled Mike. "They're kids, not gladiators in ancient Rome. That whole death for entertainment thing, it's rubbish and illegal to boot. Just like the Triwizard Tournament should be. I don't know who had the bright idea to bring this death trap back from the pits where it belonged, but they need to pull their heads from their arses. This is not a game for wee kiddies and never has been. What good does fame and glory do your family when you're a burnt corpse laying in a field for the spectators to gawk at."

Dumbledore tired to interrupt, but Mike was on a roll and kept right on speaking. "Little girl, you think your parents would trade their beloved daughter for just enough gold to bury you with once your body was returned to them? How about you, quidditch star? Your fans going to love you when you can't fly anymore because a stray spell lopped your legs off? What say you, pretty boy? How will your girlfriend feel about seeing you laid to rest even though you managed to win? No, this isn't a game and it never was. This is a meat grinder the pureblood aristocracy used to entertain themselves back in the dark ages, sacrificing the muggleborn and half-bloods for their amusement."

"That's not true!" bellowed Dumbledore. "This game was started as a peaceful way of bringing the three major magical schools of Europe together!"

"Then maybe they should have invited the three major schools," countered Gabe. "Contrary to your revisionist history, neither Durmstrang nor Hogwarts were considered more than backwater dumping ground for the children of your county's pureblood leaders. No, the Vatican's School of Enlightenment, Gibraltar's College of the Arcane, and the Keep in Ireland were the top magical schools at that time with each of them being at least two hundred years older than your schools. Salazar Slytherin attended the School of Enlightenment while Godric Gryffindor attended the Keep. Rowena and Helga both attended the College of the Arcane. It was even long rumored that Merlin himself attended the Keep before he finished his education at the College of the Arcane. So don't go telling me that your three schools were the top of anything. Yes, the Keep was destroyed many years ago as was the College of the Arcane, but the School of Enlightenment still teaches to this very day and still turns out the most powerful witches and wizards in the world."

You know, I never knew any of that stuff as I didn't really have time to pay attention to what Binns called a history class. I learned a lot of stuff like that over the next hour as Mike and Gabe ran circles around Dumbledore and the rest of the so called experts and officials. Like I learned that wands were originally considered training tools for the uneducated, to be disposed of once a person reached a particular level of proficiency. Evidently about five hundred years ago the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards had been forced by the pureblood elites to make wands mandatory for magic users because their children were never reaching the level needed to get rid of them. It was very embarrassing for the purebloods and helped foster an air of stagnation in the magical community that lasted to this very day.

As we sat there listening to the impromptu history lesson, Fleur and I took a seat on a bench where she soon fell asleep with her head on my shoulder. I was flattered that she felt so comfortable around me after having just met me and got a kick out of the look of surprise Madame Maxine aimed at me when she noticed it. I just smiled at her as she returned her focus to the ongoing history lesson. By that time Gabe was pointing out that each competitor was supposed to have their own private accommodations and training facilities provided them by the hosting school. When Dumbledore argued that there was no room for such facilities, Gabe read the old man the riot act for not being prepared to host the competition. I was just starting to drift off myself when Mike finally tapped my shoulder and smiled down at me.

"Come on, Harry, lets get you to your new accommodations so you can rest," he said with a smile.

I watched as Maxine lifted the sleeping Fleur up in her arms while McGonagall led us all out of the room. Outside the room I noticed it was quite late, given the lack of candles and people in the Great Hall. Of course I also noticed a corner of the room where it seemed several people were trying to remain hidden under one invisibility cloak. If I was counting the number of feet correctly, it had to be Hermione, Luna, Zoe, Gabrielle, and Aimee all bunched together under my dad's old cloak. Lucky for them, Gabe saw it before McGonagall did and the feet suddenly vanished as well before he gave me a wink. So, with the girls following after us, our ragtag band of students and teachers made their way towards one of the unused sections of the castle.

I had seen the grand staircase that led to this tower, but never even felt the desire to explore it. It was only later that Hermione explained that according to "Hogwarts: A History," this was the tower dedicated to foreign dignitaries and visitors. There were so many security wards on this tower that no one could enter it unless specifically keyed into the wards and even then once someone took up residence on a floor, no one else could enter or monitor it without permission until the occupant formally announced they were leaving, not even the Headmaster. It was intended to be something like a miniature embassy. I figured the part about not being able to monitor me was the bit Dumbledore would dislike the most, but I couldn't say for sure.

"There are seven floors in this tower with the top floor being a common area and meeting room," McGonagall explained as she led us up the stairs. "Each floor contains a small suite of rooms, armory, library, and training facility. The main door to each room can only be opened by the primary delegate, or champion in this case, and will be sealed against all other save those the champion admits of his or her own free will. The wards on each floor prevent anyone from forcing their way in through physical or magical means. The wards also prevent spying of any sort. Once you take possession of a room, only the staff of house elves working on each floor will be able to enter your floor. In case of emergencies, your house elves will immediately transfer you to the medical wing of the school."

McGonagall went on to explain all the rules, most of which were pointless as the other three competitors were already of legal age, so not bound by them. Really, the only person that had to worry about whether or not that had someone of the opposite sex stay overnight was me, but considering no one could get into my room to stop it, screw them. I think she was just trying to guilt trip me ino staying in Gryffindor Tower by burying me in meaningless drivel mixed liberally with shite. Whatever the case, I ignored most of what she said save the bit where she showed us how to claim a floor by channeling a bit of magic into the runes outside a door and then verbally claiming it.

Krum surprised us all by taking the first and lowest floor. Cedric was next, taking the second floor. I decided I wanted the sixth floor, the one with the best view of the castle ground. Fleur then took the fifth floor, leaving the third and fourth empty. Finally McGonagall said goodnight, leaving us for the most part to fend for ourselves. Krum and Cedric barely said a word before heading off to bed, while Fleur and I led the rest of our little group upstairs. Maxine promised to bring Gabrielle to Fleur in the morning, which was going to be interesting as she was currently hidden under my dad's cloak standing just about six feet away from us, not that I could tell anyone that. I also learned that Zoe and Aimee were Fleur's cousins who were being allowed to come with her only as a favor to their parents, as was Gabrielle. I was a little surprised by that, but didn't say anything.

Finally we said goodnight to Fleur and I headed up to my floor with Mike and Gabe. As soon as Maxine was gone, I turned around and led the group back to Fleur's door. Luckily she hadn't gone far when I knocked, opening the door almost immediately. You should have seen her eyes when Hermione and Luna lifted up the cloak to reveal Zoe carrying a sleeping Gabrielle and Aimee. I promised them an explanation for the cloak later, then wished them a good night and headed upstairs where I opened the door and ushered everyone inside. Now I could give you a detailed description of the entire place, but it would take about twelve foot of parchment and still wouldn't do the place justice. Needless to say it was larger then Number 4 Privet Drive and the Burrow combined, almost as large as Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Lucky for me, it was a lot nicer than all of them, even the Burrow which I considered one of the coolest places I had ever seen. It was like my own personal little castle inside a castle.

As Luna and Hermione explored, Mike and Gabe pulled me aside so Mike could give me some bad news. "Okay, Harry, the bad news first. You've got to compete in all the events. Reason being the clause about not knowing if you'll survive, well you already know you will, so you can't claim that one and have magic accept it as valid. Sorry kiddo, we used that as a bluff to get you a few perks, like this place, but it was all hot air."

"Now for the good news," continued Gabe. "We really are taking steps to get Sirius a trial with Veritaserum. Dumbledore will fight it, mainly because of some of the things you guessed this morning while you were yelling at him. We'll explain it in detail later, but only after we take you on a little trip to the Department of Mysteries, so you can hear that prophecy."

"That bad, huh?"

"I've heard worse, kid," replied Mike with a smirk. "Nothing you haven't already figured out for the most part, but once you hear it officially, we can destroy the copy there and Dumbledore won't be able to hold it over you any longer. Remember, this is about putting you in a position to change things for the better."

I nodded, it was pretty much a given by this point that I was going to change things. "I'm doing my best, but right now I need sleep. Will I see you two in the morning?"

Mike nodded as Gabe replied, "Now that you have these rooms, we'll be able to stay close and start your real training."

"Good to know," I said with a smile. "I think it's time we started changing things, don't you?"

AN:

::Blushes brightly::

Ok, so any of you that know me in real life know that one of my biggest pet peeves is when people don't backup their work on a computer.

Ummm…

So, I haven't backed up my work in a while and when I blew a circuit breaker the other night I managed to erase the hard drive on one of my computers. Ouch. A hard drive that contained all of my writing. Double ouch! Including the fully completed version of this story and another fully completed story, along with several completed chapters of my original book. Triple OUCH!

That being said, it's back to start point on everything. I'm recreating this story as I started posting it already, but the other one is a loss and since it wasn't that good I'm not bothering with it. Oh, the original stuff was hand written in notebooks anyway, so I have to retype it. It needed work anyway.

That being said, I'll post as I can and when I can. I still consider this complete as I already know where it is going, but I've got to put it all back down on paper again. Bright side, I can add a few concepts that occurred to me later. Pairing is still set, so sorry all of you who wanted me to add a few girls.

Oh, check out the link to my new blog, it's on my profile page. I posted pictures of how I see the girls in the story and it may help you get a better idea of how I see things.

That being said, go read something.

Chris :)