Chapter 9 Memories of Morbidity

Dumbledore appeared next to Harry, his face full of concern. They were in a memory of great importance; a line of death-eaters stood before them for sentencing. Dumbledore had missed Barty Crouch Junior's trial against Karkaroff, but Harry watched eyes full, as Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape were excused from trial. The judge, Barty Crouch senior, had an air of self-righteousness.

"If you will excuse me gentlemen, I must go see to the orphans of this war…" Crouch senior harrumphed.

"Time to go, Harry," Dumbledore grabbed his student's arm.

Harry found himself back in the office. Justin was scolding Alex in the corner.

The ancient professor took control, "I hope that our heroes of the hour are not running around for no reason at all," He then excused the rest, and listened intently to Harry. "Well, Harry, I think you're right. Although I am concerned for you, I will speak to Mad-eye. But honestly, he would have mentioned if Sirius had done anything suspicious." A black dog in the corner wearing a black necklace perked its ears. "Mind you though, that every letter Black gets is sorted and screened by ministry members including most of the Justice system, the Department of Mysteries, and the Council. Admittedly, it is to keep him under control. However, here is the letter."

He handed it to Harry, who saw the even cut took that removed the name, 'Harry James Potter.'

"So why is my name in the cup?" He asked quietly.

"I think, Harry, that this is part of a bigger scheme. It would certainly make sense that a death-eater would want you to compete. I fear Lord Voldemort needs you for his triumphant return to power."
Harry considered ways of getting into Hogwarts. Voldemort could come in possessing someone, but he needed them to agree. Sirius was supposedly being watched by Mad-eye, but now there was evidence to the contrary.

It could be a death-eater, but Snape was not the type to let anyone in. Karkaroff might be the host… Harry shook his head. The headmaster had betrayed Voldemort- there was no way he would allow his former master to take over his body. Plus, Krum was a good guy. There was no way Voldemort would use a Durmstrang student, right….?

So much of the plot was missing. It felt like he was looking for a puzzle piece that did not exist.

"Professor, why does he need me?" Harry asked.

The headmaster stroked his beard thoughtfully, "I believe that his return requires a sacrifice. It is not so simple a waving a wand. Deeply dark magic must be invoked. I still do not know who put your name in, nor do I understand the significance of the champions. Let us take Justin and Jerko. Personally, I have reason to believe the former is superior, yet he was named as reserve. Jerko was out first, so he was named champion. I know we have missed something important in the selection of our competitors. There seems to be some plot underfoot. Of course, ways Voldemort could kill you are not as important as the fact that he can't, or, more specifically, won't. He needs you for reasons I don't understand."

Harry went back feeling more lost and confused than ever. And with the weighing of the wands in the morning, he had enough on his plate.

Justin had a firm grip on Alex's arm. He was dragging her down the hallways of Hogwarts despite her many protestations. He shoved into the common-room and told her to stay out of trouble, which is just about the dumbest thing he could have done.

He woke the sleeping dragon; the Queen of the House was going to bring him the pain.

"Fred, George, you two want some publicity? Well, I need your help with something…."

A sizeable crowd had gathered for the ceremony. Mr. Ollivander went through the other schools first. Alex was on the tip of her toes. She had given Justin a hug in the morning as an apology, and he had not noticed her swift hands. He stood there nervously waiting for the wand-maker to make his declaration. When he reached Justin's wand, he paused.

"Curious, curious… Americans have highly impersonal methods of creating their wands. Of course, I don't know why you would use this kind…" He waved it, and it became a red silk pair of underwear. Justin gaped at the thong. Mr. Ollivander squinted.

"Who is Alex?" For a quiet man, his voice carried. Justin seized up like his father, calling Alex to the front. Whoever thought that, 'Alex' was a boy was pleasantly surprised when a beautiful girl keeping her head down walked forward stuffing her clothing into her robes, then hiding behind her brother. Wolf-whistles were heard from the crowd.
"Oh, get your mind out of the gutter, she's my sister!" He roared. The crowd shook with laughter. The twins were displaying their pranking wands to an animated crowd. Inspired by Alex, they made new prank wands that turned into panties.

Alex turned, ready for a fight to remember, when she saw a slack look on Justin's face. He, like Cedric, was off to the trophy room to look at the cup, again.

"Justin," She called quietly, "Why does this matter to you so much?"

For the first time in her life, an honest question did not get her an answer. He just turned and walked away.

If Alex's stunt had affected Justin, it was a quiet change. He regarded her more suspiciously. Max, though, was having a blast, wearing a dozen pair of underwear. (He was a big buyer of the prank wands, and used them on himself.) Jerko Phoenix held his standing over Justin's head so much, even Alex got tired of it. If anything, her brother became even more sullen and withdrawn. The champions made a habit of walking into the trophy room of Hogwarts. Justin would stand there for hours, talking to himself. It was terrifying. What was worse, Cedric's father had written him constantly, telling him how important it was for him to win.

It was not until Dumbledore himself (according to the rumor) let slip that there was no way to know who was champion, and who the reserve was that things got worse, much worse.

First, Draco started making 'Support Cedric' buttons, claiming that Harry would try and take all the glory from Hufflepuff. Since Justin was in the same boat, his sister decided to take action as well. This led Alex to create the infamous, 'Justin Time' dance. Step one, a simple twirl of the hips, a spin of the wrists, a popping of the lips, and a shaking of the fists, then dance was done.

It grew to such popularity that it was banned within a week. She could not have been more pleased.

Then the first task came.