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Chapter 11: Just Like Fire

After a restless night and double Charms Athena wasn't sure this Halloween Monday could be any worse, but then Professor Flitwick assigned an essay on the Fidelius Charm. All she wanted to do was find a corner to crawl into a ball and take a nap, but Amelia dragged her to the Great Hall to begin their essays and watch people enter their names into the Goblet of Fire. Sure enough, several Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students filtered through, depositing folded pieces of parchment into the blue flames.

At some point in the afternoon the two seventh-years were joined by Hermione Granger. Athena noticed that Harry and Ron chose to sit a few feet away from them, most likely because the Boy Who Lived was still suspicious of Athena. Athena took a break from describing the etymology of the incantation to watch the occasional student enter the Hall and approach the Goblet of Fire. The afternoon grew more entertaining when the Weasley twins waltzed into the Great Hall, each holding a vial of electric blue liquid. Athena recognized the ageing potion from a mile away.

"It's not going to wo-ork," Hermione sang from beside Athena. The fourth-year had been more silent than usual until then.

"Why's that, Granger?" Fred asked, waggling his ginger eyebrows while his brother mimicked the face.

She went onto explain that they witnessed Dumbledore draw the age line himself, and that the greatest wizard of all time couldn't possibly be fooled by something as, "pathetically dimwitted as an ageing potion."

"That's exactly why our plan is brilliant-" Fred started.

"-because it's so pathetically dimwitted!" George finished before the brothers raised their vials in a toast.

Their efforts were in vain, because once they crossed the age line they were thrust backwards from the goblet, landing in a heap. When they began to sit up, long white beards sprouted from their faces and when the twins realized they had failed they began to wrestle. Their fighting only ceased when Professor Dumbledore, who passed by the doors of the Great Hall, paused to admire their beards and sent them off to the Hospital Wing.

Athena determined that was enough of a break and turned her attention back to the essay she just barely started. Almost immediately after, her attention was drawn to several whoops and hollers coming into the Hall. A determined Cedric Diggory strode into the Hall flanked by his cheering friends, a taller pale boy with long dark hair and a shorter brunette with olive skin, and walked deliberately to the Goblet of Fire. He dropped the parchment with his name into the goblet and his friends wrapped him in a congratulatory embrace.

When his friends released him, he spotted Athena sitting nearby and, to her embarrassment, caught her staring. He said something to his friends quickly before the small group of Hufflepuffs made their way to table where the Gryffindor girls were attempting to do homework. Athena dropped her eyes back to her essay, hoping Cedric would get the hint and leave her alone.

"Oi Ced, what do you think is in the water up in Gryffindor tower?" Cedric's friend with shaggy straight black hair asked loudly. He sat next to Amelia who was sitting with her back toward them and hadn't seen them coming. "Hufflepuff birds just can't compare."

The boy gave Amelia a cheeky grin and a wink, to which she burst into laughter. His face fell and he crossed his arms. "When are you gonna let me take you to Hogsmeade, Horrocks?"

Amelia looked at the shaggy-haired boy in disbelief responding, "I thought I was clear last year, Martin. You dated Patti and broke her heart, and I refuse to hurt my roommate like that."

It didn't escape Athena's notice that Amelia had only referred to Patti as her roommate instead of her friend. She could understand why, other than sleeping in the Gryffindor dorms, Patti was barely ever there. Athena took a moment to appraise Martin whose shaggy hair rested just in front of icy blue eyes. His nose was dusted with freckles and sat crooked as if it had been broken more than once, but was never fixed correctly.

"Give up, mate," Cedric's other friend groaned, "it's just getting sad at this point."

That made Athena laugh, which was a mistake. So far, the focus had been on Amelia, but the sound of Athena's laughter brought the Hufflepuff boys' attention to her. Cedric's caramel eyes settled on hers and the olive-skinned boy elbowed Cedric in the arm, earning a disgruntled shout.

"Well Ced, you let her escape last time, now you've got to introduce us," he said matter-of-factly. Cedric gave Athena a sheepish look in apology. He then introduced his friends, Martin Wells, who continued to pester Amelia across the table, and gesturing to his left, Tomas Silva.

"You owe us, Miss America," Tomas said crossing his arms in mock disappointment, "you haven't accepted our offer to join us yet."

Athena shook her head, amused by the ridiculous nickname that kept following her, and giggled at the exaggerated pout Tomas sent her way. She forgot that she had told them she'd join them for a meal once and never did. Dramatically, she let out a gasp and rose the back of her left hand to her forehead, feigning shock.

"Oh my," she sighed in a Southern accent, "how rude of me! You must excuse my poor American manners. How can I ever make it up to you fine gentlemen?"

Athena's impression caused the group to laugh and even earned a chuckle from Hermione, who was packing up her things to go sit with Harry and Ron. After quidditch games at Ilvermorny, the winning team would host a victory party and would invited the students from other houses who were sixteen and over to join them. Ever since her fifth year, her accents and impressions had been a hit at those parties and improved (in her opinion) with the addition of alcohol.

She looked back to Cedric whose smile reached his expressive caramel eyes. As term went on it was getting harder for her to deny that she found the Hufflepuff prefect attractive, despite his resemblance to Johnny, who she missed terribly. Cedric was very easy to talk to and they often passed notes during History of Magic, learning more about each other with every lesson.

Giving her a crooked grin, Cedric mused, "I'm sure you'll find a way," before his rowdy friends dragged him off to celebrate elsewhere. Once the three Hufflepuffs rounded the corner, Athena expected Amelia to turn on her to begin what was, no doubt, going to be an interrogation about the interaction, but the usually garrulous girl could not get the words out for some reason. Her eyes were wide, focused on the doorway. A handful of Durmstrang boys marched into the Great Hall with none other than the Bulgarian bon-bon himself, Viktor Krum, leading the pack.

Athena had read about the seeker in several quidditch manuals and strategy guides, and more recently heard Ron talk non-stop about his recent performance in the World Cup. He was tall and muscular, a serious look making his already dark features appear darker, and he oozed intensity. He approached the Goblet of Fire, submitting his name to the chorus of applause from his schoolmates and the crowd currently gathered in the Great Hall.

He turned to leave in the same direction from which he came, but his eyes wandered through the groups of students as if he were looking for someone. His eyes paused lingering on the area just to the right of Athena, and she saw his lips twitch a little before continuing on his determined path out of the Great Hall.

Chancing a look to her right, she saw Hermione, cheeks tinged pink, quickly looking back to the large volume in front of her. Athena would find a way to tease her about it later, not wanting to embarrass the poor girl in front of her friends, and turned back to her own homework.

Amelia, who was quieter than usual, was focused back on her Charms essay and must not have seen the Bulgarian celebrity smile at their younger housemate. That was good, at least Athena could go back to working on her essay in peace, not having to worry about Amelia's never-ending need to gossip. Retrieving her fountain pen, Athena scanned the piece of parchment she'd been working on prior to being interrupted.

Hermione, whose cheeks had finally returned to their usual color, asked what they were working on. Athena slid the parchment to the younger girl, telling her to see for herself. Hermione gladly grabbed the essay. Her eyes scanned the partially written assignment, nodding occasionally and quietly read the last few sentences aloud:

"The Fidelius Charm earned its name from the Roman wizard and philosopher, Augustus Consus, who focused on the qualities of the Secret Keeper, the individual entrusted with the arcane information. The Latin 'fidelius' means more trustworthy or faithful, indicating to the user of this charm that their Secret Keeper should possess these qualities to ensure a successful result."

Hermione returned the essay, complimenting Athena's writing style and the level of detail she incorporated into the few paragraphs she had so far. Amelia looked up from her own work, having heard the part of Athena's essay that Hermione read out loud.

"Mind if I borrow that last line?" she inquired, nodding to Athena's paper. "I think it'll fit in perfectly when I discuss choosing a Secret Keeper, more specifically when you choose the wrong one like that dirtbag Sirius Black."

"Why would you say that?" Athena demanded, offended that Amelia would put that in her essay.

"I forget that you're American sometimes, Athena. You've probably never even heard of Sirius Black," Amelia quickly looked around leaning in across the table realizing she caught Harry Potter's attention by mentioning the name of his godfather.

At a much lower volume, Amelia divulged the story of the Potters who were betrayed by their Secret Keeper, Sirius Black, who sold them out to Voldemort. Apparently, that was the version of the story every child in the United Kingdom learns when they're told the story about the Boy Who Lived.

"That's not what happened!" Athena blurted out angrily, not thinking about who else might be listening to their conversation.

Amelia just looked at her like she was crazy, and then Athena recalled where she was, more importantly, when she was. It was 1994, the world still recognized Sirius Black as a murderer, and the judicial system of the wizarding world would not be reformed until 2000, requiring a full trial and appeals process before an offense punishable by more than a year of prison time could stand. Athena had read about and studied Sirius Black's case when she first became interested in magical law. She knew about the story Amelia just told her and knew it to be false, but the world didn't know that – not yet anyway.

Her roommate's eyes were filled with concern, probably from Athena's outburst, and did not waver. Athena had to explain why she reacted the way she had without revealing too much. She noticed Hermione observing intently and felt Harry's burning stare without having to look. Shit. He was already suspicious of her and she was just exacerbating the problem.

"What I meant to say was that we can't be sure that's what happened, Amelia," Athena pleaded. "You know I want to go into magical law, of course I've heard of him! He never had a trial, therefore, without any evidence or the fact-finding process of a judiciary, it would be inaccurate to use that example in your essay and claim it to be true."

She held her breath, waiting for Amelia's reaction. She could still feel several sets of eyes on her and hoped her reasoning would be enough.

"You know, Athena, that's a good point," Hermione chimed in from beside her, then addressed Amelia, "I know where in the library you can find loads of other examples."

Athena couldn't believe it. The brightest witch of her age agreed with her reasoning! She let out the breath she'd been holding. Amelia's gaze softened in comprehension.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I've heard you rant about injustice in magical law for the last two months," her classmate admitted, muttering something about finding a different example later as she packed up her things. Athena glanced at her watch and saw that it was 2:20, Amelia had Care of Magical Creatures in ten minutes. She was relieved that she was able to escape that snafu relatively unscathed.

What she didn't calculate for was the three Gryffindor fourth years who had been watching her this whole time. Ron and Harry stood from their spot a few feet down the table and were making their way to where Athena and Hermione sat. Athena quickly shoved her pen and essay into her bag, muttering something about being late for a meeting loud enough for Hermione to hear.

Athena did not want to risk an interrogation from the Golden Trio and booked it out of the Great Hall with her bag slung over her left shoulder. Using her right hand, she felt around the pockets of her robes in search of her wand. She relaxed when she felt the familiar wooden instrument and set off for Gryffindor tower as a yawn escaped her. While she was avoiding the trio, she could try to squeeze in a nap before the feast that evening.

Athena was feeling the effects of not having slept well the night before and her attempt at napping earlier that afternoon was unsuccessful. She felt herself nod off several times during dinner. Amelia shook her awake when the tables were cleared and pointed to Dumbledore who was pacing in front of the Goblet of Fire whose blue flames burned red. It was time. The Goblet of Fire was choosing the Triwizard Champions. Then in a burst of red flames a piece of parchment shot out, floating into Dumbledore's waiting hands.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," he read aloud, "is Fleur Delacour!"

A petite girl with white-blonde hair dressed in blue silk robes rose from the Ravenclaw table and was applauded and whistled at as she made her way to the front of the room. Dumbledore pointed to a door on the side of the head table where Madame Maxime waited for her student. When Fleur and her headmistress entered the room the Goblet's blue flames burned red once more and shot out the next name.

"The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum!"

Once again, the Hall applauded and cheered for the second champion, who was ushered to the same door and met by Karkaroff who grinned proudly showing off his crooked yellow teeth. For the third time, the Goblet's flames turned red and Dumbledore grabbed the bit of parchment which would reveal the Hogwarts champion.

"The Hogwarts champion," the headmaster paused, leaving the room in suspense, "is Cedric Diggory!"

Without noticing she stood and began cheering for the handsome Hufflepuff who was shaking his classmates' hands as he made his way to the side-room to join the other Triwizard Champions. Then she collapsed.

A sharp pain filled her head, blurring her vision just as it had during the Welcome Feast. She was seeing the memory that persistently replayed in her mind, over and over, torturing her for the last two months. Except this time, the memory didn't end abruptly.

"Excellent, but there are a few other reasons this particular tournament was significant. A fourth champion was chosen by the Goblet of Fire, and that champion was -"

"-Harry Potter," she whispered finally remembering the missing piece of her memory. The boy in question was close enough to hear her say his name as the applause quieted and Dumbledore explained what would happen next. The green-eyed Gryffindor gave her a look of confusion mixed with concern, as Amelia reached out to steady her.

"Woah, are you alright?" her worried roommate inquired.

Athena wasn't alright. She was mortified at the scene unfolding in front of her. The Goblet of Fire erupted into red flames, startling the Hogwarts headmaster who looked at the object in astonishment. From the wild flames, unlike those that burned for the other champions, flew a fourth piece of parchment. All eyes focused in silence on Dumbledore who opened the impossible folded document.

"Harry Potter," he read robotically. Whispers erupted around the Hall and Harry slowly sunk into his seat, turning to glare at Athena menacingly, his green eyes burning darker than she had ever seen them.

"HARRY POTTER," Dumbledore roared from the front of the room.

Hermione pulled Harry up from where he sat pushing him towards the front as glares and looks of jealousy and disappointment followed him. Cries of "cheat" and complaints that he wasn't even seventeen echoed through the hall of flabbergasted students and faculty.

Dumbledore said nothing as he quickly followed Harry into the side room. Professor McGonagall shushed the Hall and dismissed everyone for the evening.

Athena stared at the spot Harry had just been before Amelia pulled on her robes attempting to hurry her along. Before she stood she saw that Hermione was glaring at her almost as harshly as Harry had, while Ron, beside her, looked hurt and upset. She wished she could explain everything to Hermione, to Harry too, but the danger of revealing her knowledge outweighed what the fourth-year Gryffindors thought of her...or did it?

An hour or so after the feast ended, Athena was pacing through an empty corridor in front of an ugly stone gargoyle. It was the entrance to Dumbledore's office according to Amelia, who Athena insisted go back to their dorm because she needed to discuss an important family matter with the headmaster. In truth, Athena desperately needed to tell him the about the memory, when she remembered it, and Harry's suspicion of her. The only thing stopping her was the fact Dumbledore had not yet returned to his office. She continued pacing, going over exactly what she would say and how she would say it when he arrived.

"Ah Ms. Mayall, I thought you might be here," the strained voice of Albus Dumbledore declared as he entered the corridor accompanied by Professor McGonagall, who was reciting reasons why Potter shouldn't compete in the tournament.

Athena ceased her pacing and watched the professors discuss the topic in hushed tones. Athena could not hear everything that was said, but clearly heard the headmaster insist, "Minerva, you heard Barty, he is bound by magical contract. The boy must compete," before they parted ways. McGonagall was concerned for her young student, but even she couldn't change what happened that night.

Dumbledore approached the gargoyle and cleared his throat. "Toffee cakes," he spoke in a breathy voice.

He waved Athena over to stand by him while the gargoyle twisted upwards to reveal a spiral staircase. She followed the headmaster up the stairs and through a rustic wooden door into a large circular room. The headmaster's office was full of sound and color. Several objects of different colors and textures whirred and spun, and the walls were adorned with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, most of whom were sleeping gently in their frames.

A huge antique desk sat towards the back of the room, cluttered with papers and silver trinkets. Behind the desk sat a large bookcase home to many books and scrolls of different ages and sizes, but also a familiar brown, shabby, wizard's hat. A pewter perch designed for a large bird sat empty and had a tray filled with ash sitting just below it. Athena knew of Dumbledore's phoenix having read about it in Hogwarts: A History Vol. 2, but had only seen drawings of the beautiful and rare bird.

In fact, she had been so inspired by the phoenix that she had the creature's likeness become a piece of her. On her right shoulder blade was an intricately detailed tattoo, in full-color, of the magnificent phoenix. She remembered the early summer day her sister convinced her to go into a muggle tattoo shop near Boston. She knew exactly what she wanted, and without divulging the entire story to the muggle artist, she received a beautiful piece of art. She wanted a symbol of resilience and power, the emblem of an organization that fought for justice, and something that marked her personal challenges and triumphs – so what better than a phoenix? While she reminisced, she was reminded of why she was in Dumbledore's office in the first place.

"He didn't do it," she advised, still staring at the empty perch.

"I know," came his simple reply.

She suspected the headmaster was a legilimens ever since their first meeting. Something about the odd twinkle in his blue eyes made her wary and she attempted to minimize eye-contact with him as much as possible in their subsequent meetings. She wondered if he looked into Harry's mind in the side-room of the Great Hall after the rest of the students were dismissed to confirm what she had told him.

"He thinks it was me," she reported. She looked at Dumbledore, who did not answer but nodded once, confirming it.

Even she could admit that if it had been her in Harry's shoes, she would believe it too. She was a foreigner, who no one knew much about and appeared shortly after the dark lord's symbol was seen for the first time in thirteen years, and said things that implied she knew more than she let on. Objectively, it didn't look good for her.

"I remembered the missing piece of the memory, just before it happened, Professor Bartlett told us that Harry Potter was chosen as a fourth champion and forced to compete. I messed up though, I said it out loud –his name - he heard me, Professor. Before you said it, he heard me" she admitted.

She looked at the aging wizard for guidance. He sat at his desk with his hands folded in front of him, deep in thought. She knew he would tell her that it was more important than ever to maintain her secret and not reveal anything that would jeopardize the future or her safety, and she prepared a response to that while she paced outside his office only minutes ago. She was going to tell him to hell with the secret and if there was a chance she could change the outcome, or even make the poor kid's life easier in any way, she was going to do it. Consequences be damned.

"Only reveal what is absolutely necessary, Ms. Mayall," the headmaster proposed.

"But sir, If I can help – wait. What?" Athena spluttered, not anticipating his instruction.

"I believe that your arrival in this place and time was more than coincidental. Not much is known about the magic that sent you here, but I believe that you came to us with a purpose and I am willing to let you fulfill that purpose," he confessed, adding, "with caution."

Athena's brain had difficulty registering the information. The man who had told her for the last two months to conceal as much as she could was now suggesting that it was in her best interest, and his own potentially, for her to do the opposite. He cautioned that the information by no means should be public, but insisted that it would be advantageous to share with a select few. With that, he dismissed her and wished her a pleasant night's sleep and good luck. She would need all the luck she could get for what she was about to do.