Hogwarts Year 4

Chapter 7

At breakfast that Harry noticed that "Mad-Eye" Moody was sitting at the head table by Madame Pomfrey and he appeared to be in good shape, maybe he would start teaching DADA soon, the classes Dumbledore had taught hadn't been too bad but Harry was sure that Mad-eye would have much to offer them. It was also at breakfast that Dumbledore announced that the other two schools would arrive October 30th, just in time for Halloween. Harry had been right DADA was much different with Moody teaching it, for one thing he introduced the "forbidden" curses to the class using spiders; the Cruciatus Curse was especially painful to Neville since that was the curse used on his parents and caused them to be lost in their own minds, the Imperious Curse showed how it allowed one to control another, and the killing curse – Avada Kedarva – was the most frequent curse used by Voldemort, second only to Crucio.

Moody was an unusual man, he was about Harry's height, maybe a little shorter, had an artificial leg, and an artificial magical eye that swiveled all around on its own. He was heavy set and because of his leg walked with a limp and a thump. He was known to be very paranoid and was frequently repeating his favorite saying "Constant Vigilance". That saying was the watch word around him since he had a habit of jinxing or hexing students not paying attention in class. He wasn't a great teacher but he knew his defensive magic and demonstrated several advanced spells to the classes; most Harry and Hermione knew, the ones Hermione didn't know she copied and dissected to learn from them.

It was during this week that Harry and crew spent much time in the chamber practicing. Harry also took to doing a few simple rituals, but he always warned the others so they knew to stay away from the ritual room. It was Thursday night and Harry asked Hermione for a favor, he needed her to draw runes on his back, his arms, the backs of his legs, and anywhere he couldn't reach easily. Hermione was a little embarrassed since all he wore was a low cut pair of swimwear called Speedos from the states. Once Hermione finished Harry looked like the Illustrated Man he had so many runes on him. Harry cautioned the others that anyone coming down the passageway would lose all of their clothes since this ritual required the recipient to be completely nude, it would be safe to enter the passageway once he exited, or the bell sounded four times which meant he was in trouble and needed help.

It was an hour and a half later when a very tired looking Harry exited the passageway. What could be seen of his skin was bright red. Harry said he had to spend the night down in the chamber since any magic he used, even a portkey, would make this have to be repeated, and it hurt somewhat. Harry asked Hermione, since she was familiar, to conjure a "hot tub" for him, but to not make it too hot, around 110° F or 43° C for him to lay in and rest for a while, but he had to be nude while in the water. Hermione said she would do it if he told her what the ritual was. Harry explained that this ritual made his skin much tougher, the soles of his feet would now withstand him walking without shoes across rocks and not be cut. Harry offered to preform the ritual for Hermione but she said she wasn't ready to be nude in front of him yet. Harry laughed and said while he might like that, he had meant on her feet as the ritual only worked on bare skin. It could also removed any and all scars, except the one on his head since it was magically made. Hermione blushed then said maybe later.

When the group saw Harry the next day he had a very healthy looking tan, but that was the only difference they saw. Later that day Harry told Hermione that now he was cold resistant as well as fire resistant. It was Friday so that meant it was Potions class today. Several of his classmates had complained that Harry got special treatment in Potions, when DuPrie got wind of these complaints she told the class when they were as good at Potions as Harry then he wouldn't be special. But, they were welcome to try the same potion as Harry had that day, it was only a seventh year potion after all. Hermione and Neville said they would like to try that potion with Harry. The three were given the name of the potion and that was all, and it wasn't in their books either; but she did give them the list of ingredients and unlocked the special supply closet. Draco was ready to speak up until DuPrie said of course if the potion was wrong then you got no credit for the week and lost 10 points, Draco never opened his mouth. Harry's potion was 99% perfect, while Hermione and Neville got a barely passing score. Hermione was quite upset with this mark barely passing was not acceptable in her world. She almost asked Ms DuPrie if she could re-take the class so as to make the potion better. Harry saw how Hermione's brain was going and said they would work on the potion together in the chamber, her's would be 99% too. Hermione smiled and patted Harry's shoulder.

It was October 30th and everyone was outside in their best robes to welcome the two schools to Hogwarts. It was Luna who saw the first arrivals, they appeared as just a speck in the sky far away. Draco made a comment that he didn't think it was anything, Fred asked if Draco would like to place a bet on his opinion. The bet was made, if Draco thought he would welsh on the bet he was mistaken since DuPrie heard the bet also. Betting was frowned upon by students but Ms DuPrie felt that it would be a good lesson for Draco to learn. Draco needed to learn how to keep his word and behave honorably. Draco lost. The bet was if Fred lost points in class anytime for the next week Draco lost twice as many; Malfoy was highly upset. He tried to report the gambling to a professor but the only one close was Ms DuPrie. When Draco addressed her she just raised her eyebrow Draco turned back to watch the arrival of the guest school. The speck turned into a large carriage drawn by eight very large horses with wings, and they weren't Pegasus. Out from the carriage stepped the biggest woman anyone had ever seen, she was at least as tall as Hagrid. She was followed by 16 girls, very pretty girls – one might say beautiful girls or young women. Madame Maxime was greeted by Dumbledore who assured her Hagrid would take good care of her steeds without a problem.

Both schools now waited for the second school, the one from Bulgaria. A disturbance out on the lake caused Dumbledore to say it looked like the Bulgarians were arriving. A big black ship rose up out of the lake and dropped anchor close to the shore and a gangplank was lowered. A tall man wearing a heavy cloak started down the plank only to be grabbed and suspended in the air and a siren started sounding. Three Gryffindor students looked at each other and smiled, another marked Death Eater. A group of aurors appeared at the gate very quickly to take custody of the prisoner. Dumbledore was beside himself; the Headmaster of another school, a guest of Hogwarts was arrested and taken away. No matter how much Dumbledore talked the aurors said any marked person was to be detained and questioned at the Ministry, and Fudge had agreed to it. Dumbledore knew that of course Fudge would agree to anything to keep his job right now. He would use this to his advantage to have the other headmaster released into his custody as soon as possible. After all the guest students couldn't be unattended.

The Bulgarian students were upset and wanted to return home, but without their headmaster the boat could not move from the lake. At supper that night it was announced that any senior student could put their name in to compete, but if you were less than 17 you would not be allowed to enter. Harry and Hermione were both over 17 but neither wanted to announce that fact or to enter the tournament. An ancient magical artifact was brought out, the Goblet of Fire, and anyone eligible was to write their name and school on a piece of parchment and place that into the Goblet. Names would be selected the following night after supper. It was also announced that due to the tournament only OWLs and NEWTs would be done this year, but the visiting students would be attending classes with the Hogwarts students and assignment would be made in the morning. The giantess took her girls back to their carriage and the Bulgarians returned to their boat for the night. Eight students disappeared from Hogwarts for a short time that night, they were all deep underground.

That night Harry gave the Weasleys their portkeys to the chamber. He explained that each one would transport its owner to the chamber and when they were ready, take them back to where they came from. To get into the chamber all they had to do was hold the portkey and say "Chamber", 5 seconds later the portkey would put them in the chamber where they needed to move out of the red zone quickly. To return all they had to do was grasp the portkey and say "Return" and they would be returned to the same place they left. As an emergency plan, if in danger they could use the portkey to escape, but it would be foolish to then use it to return where they started. Instead they were to wait until either Harry, Hermione, Luna, or Susan arrived. When the portkey was used it notified each of the four of its use so they could check on who was in trouble. The emergency activation was "Emergency", but the portkeys were attuned to each person and would only work for that person. What Harry didn't tell them was that in an emergency McGonagall would be notified also and able to rescue them.

Up in his office and bedchamber Albus Dumbledore was worried, very worried. Why had the wards grabbed Karkaroff? Why did the wards capture anyone at all, he had not set those wards. Even if his own wards didn't work right any more who could have added or changed the wards. The heirs were too young to effect the wards, unless they were all 17 or older but then they would have been recognized sooner than two years ago. The incarceration of Karkaroff might cause an international incident, there had to be a way around this, but what? It was much too late to call Fudge at the ministry and his floo was "unlisted". By the time Fudge got to his office in the morning it would be 9am, unless he ran late again. He had called and left a message for Amelia but had not heard from her, and wouldn't until the next day as she was spending the night with Sirius Black and barring an emergency was not to be disturbed. Amelia had been notified of the Karkaroff arrest and would deal with that tomorrow, or not.

The next morning Dumbledore was finally able to contact Fudge and found out he knew nothing about Karkaroff being arrested as soon as the headmaster had stepped off the ship. When Amelia finally called back she told Dumbledore she would see if Karkaroff could be released sooner than a month from now, but no promises. Then he got a call from the assistant at the Bulgarian school who said the Britain Ministry could keep the headmaster and the Bulgarian school would send someone to represent the school in a day or so. Things started to get even more interesting after lunch when Fudge called back and asked to come through, with him was the Minister from Bulgaria. It seemed that Karkaroff wasn't very well liked back home and the ministry there saw this as a chance to solve their problem.

"Now Dumbledore since these wards originated here at Hogwarts, the Bulgarians would like to see about installing them there and we have had several other inquiries about these wards. Be a good fellow and say you will put up similar wards for these other counties, or at least in Bulgaria." Fudge said. Dumbledore passed out right in front of both ministers, in his own office.

At supper that night Dumbledore announced that since Prof. Karkaroff was unable to attend to his school's students the Minister of Magic from Bulgaria had come to take charge until a replacement could be sent. Dumbledore introduced the other guests, Ludo Bagman, from Magical Games, and Percy Weasley, acting in Bartemius Crouch Sr.'s ,of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, place, part of the organizational staff for the tournament. After a very fine meal it was time to see who the contestants would be so the Goblet of Fire was brought into the Great Hall.

Dumbledore approached the Goblet and it soon spit out a burnt piece of paper which Dumbledore grabbed from the air, "The contestant from Durmstrang is Viktor Krum." Dumbledore shouted, as he had forgot to cast the Sonorus charm. Soon another piece of paper was spit out of the Goblet, which Dumbledore almost caught but had to pick up from the floor, "The contestant from Hogwarts is Cedric Diggory" Dumbledore said, this time he didn't forget the charm, there was a loud applause for Cedric from the Hogwarts students. The Goblet flared again and a third piece of paper was spit out, this time Dumbledore caught it. "And the contestant for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour! Now we have our three contestants, if each of you would please step into the room at the back of the head table we will issue the first challenge." Dumbledore said, loudly.

As soon as the three were out of sight Dumbledore started to return to lead the way when the Goblet flared brightly and put forth another piece of paper, which Dumbledore missed and had to pick off the floor again. His face went pale as he read the piece of paper and then cast the Sonorus charm again, "Would Harry Potter please come to the front as he is the fourth contestant." Everyone in the room was looking at Harry as he walked up to Dumbledore and said "I did not put my name in there!". Harry was told to join the others in the back room.

Harry walked into the room and when the other three saw him they asked if they were wanted back out front but Harry said no he had been sent to await the arrival of the judges as his name had somehow come out of the Blasted Goblet, Cedric laughed at Harry's description of the Goblet of Fire. Soon Dumbledore, Percy, Ludo, and the Bulgarian Minister came into the room along with Flitwick and McGonagall. Harry again protested that he did not put his name into the Goblet and his being here was a mistake. Ludo said that his name coming out of the Goblet constituted a binding magical contract and he was required to compete or lose his magic. Harry looked straight at Dumbledore and said "Call Sirius and Amelia now, or I press charges for violation of my rights and all of you can go to Azkaban!". That one statement got everyone's attention and Sirius Black and Amelia Bones were called.

When Sirius and Amelia got there and heard what had happened they both were upset. "Dumbledore do you really want to try and bully an underage wizard into an illegal contract. Ludo, this I can see you doing as you would do anything to make a bet on. Percy shut your mouth and keep quiet, you are in enough trouble right now. Minister, I apologize for my tone; I don't know how it is in Bulgaria, but here an underage wizard can not enter into a binding contract without his parent or guardian's permission. Since I am Harry's legal guardian and I was not advised of this contract it has no bearing under the law." Sirius said loudly.

"The obvious solution to this is to have all the names resubmitted and redrawn tomorrow night; either that or declare the tournament null and void and everyone returns home." Amelia said. "Oh, there is a third choice and that is I arrest Dumbledore, Ludo, and Weasley for violation of and attempted assault on a minor. And then I cause an international incident by asking the Minister from Bulgaria to leave the country along with the Headmistress of Beauxbatons" Amelia continued. The Minister and Madame Maxime both said they would like the first choice please as that was the most obvious way to settle this matter.

That was when Hogwarts spoke to Harry and told him the Goblet of Fire knew he was 17 and therefore subject to the contract and would cause him to lose his magic in violation of that contract and there was nothing she or he could do about it. "Hold on a second, since it is clear, at least to me, that someone other than myself put my name in the Goblet who is to say it won't happen again. We would end up in the same mess, the contract says I must compete right? It doesn't say I must win or even finish each event. As the youngest contestant I reserve the right to be the last one to start each event. But, I want a full investigation done to determine who is trying to screw me over and why." Harry said much to everyone's surprise.

They tried to declare the drawing null and void but the Goblet would not accept that; the spirit of the goblet appeared and said that the Goblet refused to be disobeyed and would cause the loss of magic from all contestants if they persisted in this manner. This pretty much settled the matter then and there.


A/N: Now that all three schools are at Hogwarts the tournament can begin. Will the twins abuse the portkeys? Will Hermione strip for Harry to make her skin tougher; will Ginny, Luna, or Susan? Will Dumbledore lose his mind with worry? I don't do broken English, so Krum and Fleur will speak regular English. Who will be found out causing Harry's entry?

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