CHAPTER 11:
THE GOBLET OF FIRE
Harry couldn't help but laugh at the long beards Fred and George had suddenly grown. The fools had tried to enter the Tri-Wizard Tournament using an Aging Potion that they thought would trick Dumbledore's Age Line. And for all the qualms Harry sometimes had about Dumbledore for the mistakes he made, the old wizard was still one of the most powerful alive in the world…well, who was human, and hadn't actually become a Pact Magician, or had a Sacred Gear.
Soon, the man himself arrived, and laughed at the beards Fred and George had gained. All in good fun, as the Weasley Twins also began laughing. Harry had to give them that. As close to the line as their pranks skirted, they never crossed it, at least not during his time at Hogwarts. Not like the Marauders.
Still, it had been an eventful past day. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's respective delegations had arrived, to much pomp and fanfare. Harry thought that they were showoffs, really. Beauxbatons, he noted, had a student who had to be part-Veela, or else part-Fallen or Devil or youkai. Fleur Delacour, apparently, when he asked around. Beautiful and blonde, and rather haughty. She looked like she'd fit right in with the Phenexes.
And there was of course Viktor Krum, star Seeker of the Bulgarian National Quidditch team. His half-brother and Ron were fanboying out over him. Harry and Hermione shared a look. They wondered whether Ron would be coming out of the closet for Krum.
Then, in the Great Hall, Dumbledore unveiled the relic that would be used to judge the entrants into the Tri-Wizard Tournament: the Goblet of Fire. Contestants over the age of 17 would be able to drop their name on a piece of parchment into it, and it would then choose three names, one for each school. It would choose the names tonight, Halloween night, something Harry felt ill at ease about, given that bad shit had a tendency to happen at Halloween during his time at Hogwarts. His first year was fine, and his fourth year, last year, was fine, despite the Dementors. But second year, well, there was that mess with Hermione and the troll, and in his third year, there was the first Basilisk attack.
After Dumbledore finished with the Weasley Twins, he walked over to Harry, and said, quietly, "Harry, my boy, please come to my office in a quarter of an hour's time. I'm feeling particularly partial to Malteasers these days."
Harry nodded. It was a thinly veiled attempt to reveal his password to get past the gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's Office. While he had spoken to Harry a few times since Harry learned of his true heritage, Harry hadn't spoken to him at length. However, it seemed that was going to change soon.
The time passed swiftly, and Harry headed to the Headmaster's Office. After entering, he was invited to take a seat by Dumbledore. Then, after a moment, he said, quietly, "It has been an eventful school year for you thus far, my boy. Even I had no idea as to your true heritage, or your true power."
"I could have done with that sooner, though," Harry said quietly. "Since Potter disowned me, no, since he started calling me a bastard, I wondered who my father was. I only stopped myself from going to take an inheritance test because…well, I didn't know how I'd react if my father was…"
"Someone reprehensible?" Dumbledore asked gently. "That's understandable, but mistaken. I have lived a long life, Harry. Long enough to accumulate many mistakes, and long enough to know that, even if something is perceived as dark and evil, or light and good, does not necessarily make it so. I speak from experience. Indeed, I have met many Devils before, along with Angels, Fallen or not. While Angels are, for the most part, good, if sometimes rather zealous and singleminded, Devils and Fallen are like people, with all shades of morality that come with them. Admittedly, it wasn't always that way…but the worst of the Devils were purged in the wars that decimated their population. It wasn't unlike the war, over a decade ago, against Voldemort. It is by our actions and deeds, as well as the motives behind them, that we should judge morality."
"…I'm glad you don't judge myself or Hermione for being Devils, Headmaster."
"As long as your behaviour is beyond any true reproach, I don't care. That being said, while I am sure Hermione and Severus have told you already, I will need to vet any students that you intend to bring into your Peerage. Becoming a Devil, after all, is not something that should be taken lightly. And with the eyes of the wizards of Europe on Hogwarts thanks to this Tournament…you should be as discreet as possible. Hermione told me that you have some candidates in the Weasley Twins. As long as they consent, I don't see why not. However, I should warn you that there may be some backlash from their mother."
"Molly the Living Howler," Harry said with a wince. Molly was a nice woman on the occasions Harry had met her, even if she seemed to pay more heed to Charlie, but she had a bloody loud voice, something that was proven whenever she sent a Howler.
"Hmm. Also, Hermione told me that you have revived Lily. I'm glad. What happened with Lily and James…I'm afraid I encouraged James Potter in pursuing a relationship with Lily after…well, after another friendship she had went sour," Dumbledore said. "I misjudged his character badly. I admit, one of my faults is trying to see the good in others, more than what is really there. I only truly realised what I was blind to when he disowned you, and the Tonks family took you in. But I never thought he would go so far as to force a marriage contract on her while she was under the influence of Amortentia."
"If you're looking to apologise, don't bother," Harry said. "Mum's the one you should be apologising to, and anyway, it's Potter who's at fault. I know you have a thing for forgiveness…but there are some things that are unforgivable. What he did to my mother was effectively rape. Repeated rape."
Dumbledore nodded solemnly. "And proving it would be next to impossible. James can gainsay even anything I say. In truth, my political star is on the wane. But I only stay on because of unfinished business. Voldemort still lives on, even as a shade."
"Because of the Horcruxes." Harry had been told about them before.
"Indeed. And I fear he's gathering power once more. I have heard rumours from Albania. And with Pettigrew at large…" Dumbledore shook his head. "In any case, Harry…I fear dark times may be at hand."
"Professor, I don't think anyone would truly want to see him return, save for his most fanatic followers, and most of those are in Azkaban. Even Lucius Malfoy, bastard though he is, would prefer not to kneel to him anymore. So…maybe we should concentrate on getting rid of his Horcruxes."
"If it were only as simple as that. I have reason to believe that he made multiple Horcruxes, and probably hid them. Even now, I only suspected he made Horcruxes until you confirmed it. Where did you hear that term?"
"Ajuka Beelzebub removed one from me, and Rias and Hermione told me what it was not so long ago," Harry said.
Dumbledore's eyes widened in shock and horror. "Merlin…I'm sorry…it's a good thing that it was removed from you, then. Until Charles was attacked by the Basilisk…well, I knew he had something in him, something I merely suspected was a Horcrux…but it died when he was bitten by the Basilisk. He still retains the ability to speak Parseltongue, though. But…never mind. It is good, as a Horcrux needs to be destroyed utterly, according to the available literature. And yet, neither you nor your brother had to die, something I had feared. I have too many deaths on my conscience, I don't need more. In any case, tracking down Voldemort's Horcruxes will be troublesome, to say the least. Especially as we should make the effort to ensure he doesn't learn about anyone targeting them, lest he shift them. That being said…if you have contacts with the Devils, could you enquire as to whether they have a ritual or something that could trace them or destroy them?"
"I'll ask, but I can't guarantee that," Harry said.
"I understand…"
They spoke for a time on other matters, with Dumbledore admitting that he had met Serafall, and had even guest-starred in an episode of Magical Girl Milky Spiral 7 Alternative as a favour to the Leviathan. He'd apparently played the villain of the week, a manipulative goat-faced chess player with an addiction to lemon drops. "I loved playing the villain for once," he had said with a smile.
Later, Harry met with Snape, and asked him to be an intermediary for him and Narcissa Malfoy. Snape agreed, and revealed that he had been actually in contact with Narcissa. The former Black was thinking it over, but she said that she would agree by Bonfire Night, the 5th of November. On an incidental note, the Gunpowder Plot had been partly funded by some wizarding families because of James I's obsession with witches.
Later that evening, during dinner, Harry reflected on what had happened so far. It had been, admittedly, less than two months since he had first met Rias, but he was strongly considering accepting the proposal. There were many factors involved. While he could not actually say he felt love for her, he could certainly say that he now counted her as a friend. Not as good as Hermione or anyone else he knew at Hogwarts, true, but enough to count her, her Peerage, and Sona Sitri as friends.
He certainly felt attracted to her, though lust and physical attraction could not be the sole basis of any true relationship. And he thought that, despite being a Devil, and the younger sister of the current Lucifer, she was a good person. And perhaps most importantly…he wanted to help her. While she could be considered selfish in wanting to get out of her marriage contract with Riser, Sirzechs and other members of the Underworld had confirmed that Riser was, at best, self-centred and hedonistic. At worse, he was an unrepentant lech who viewed women as objects of desire, and little more.
Rias wasn't quite a damsel in distress. If he refused, he knew that, not only would she take that on board, but she would try to get stronger herself. But Harry knew that the odds were stacked against her, as they would be stacked against him if he accepted. But he had the desire to fight despite the odds.
In a way, it was a shame he couldn't enter himself into the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Then again, while Quidditch had been cancelled for the year, he still had his OWLs to study for. He was fairly sure he would pass them, but he wanted to do well enough. But if he was in the Tournament, he could test himself against whatever they had lined up.
After the feast, the naming of the Champions was to begin. Soon, the Durmstrang Champion was chosen. To few people's surprise, it was Viktor Krum. Karkaroff seemed to applaud way too loudly, though. The Beauxbatons Champion was the French part-Veela, Fleur Delacour. Must have some skill to be chosen by the Goblet, Harry reflected.
The Hogwarts Champion was an interesting surprise: Cedric Diggory. Harry grinned, and applauded the Hufflepuff. It was about time the Badgers got a chance to shine. Things were a bit overshadowed lately by his younger brother's antics, bringing Gryffindors and their habitual rivals in Slytherin to the fore. Then again, trouble seemed to be attracted to his brother. Hopefully, this year would be different.
Well, he made a mistake thinking that, as he was daring the universe to prove him otherwise. The Goblet of Fire suddenly flared up once more, and spat out a scrap of parchment. A scrap of parchment that Dumbledore caught, and then looked at, shocked. Dumbledore's eyes met his own briefly, and Harry had a bad feeling about this.
"Charles Potter?"
The silence that had fallen over the Great Hall was a palpable, solid thing, as if Ophis had arrived, and was blanketing the room with but a mere fraction of her presence. Harry whirled in his seat to look down the table at his half-brother. Under other circumstances, he would have been gratified to see the smug look wiped off Charlie's face, and a deer-in-the-headlights look taking its place. But he couldn't take any satisfaction in this. He knew in an instant that Charlie had not entered himself or asked someone else to enter him into the Tri-Wizard Tournament…but that didn't stop him from being entered anyway.
With the air of a condemned man heading to the gallows, Charlie shuffled off. And Harry knew that someone, either one of Voldemort's minions or one of James Potter's enemies, had embroiled Charlie into a very dangerous situation indeed…
CHAPTER 11 ANNOTATIONS:
Well, that just happened. Yes, I know I said Charles was going to be the one selected instead of Harry in previous annotations, but still, usually in WBWL fics, or at least mine, it's both, or else it's Harry alone.
Incidentally, did you like my little nod to Dumbledore-bashing fics when I mentioned his favour for Serafall? While I will do Dumbledore bashing if it suits the story, there are other times when I think it works better to have a flawed but good Dumbledore. It all depends on the type of story I want to tell.
Review-answering time! Reishin Amara: It's actually a concept I've idly considered myself, but for all Dio's awesomeness, I don't think merging him with Harry quite works out.
Leicontis: I'll have to disagree regarding Luna, as she can get irritating in some ways. But there are plenty of characters who do fulfil that litmus test. Asia is one, and I think Nana from Elfen Lied is another, along with Mayu from the same series. Vivi from Final Fantasy IX is also another example, as is Ruby Rose from RWBY, Jo from Bleak House, Valentine de Villefort from The Count of Monte Cristo, Mare from Overlord (even Demiurge, debatably the most evil character in the franchise, actually refrains from destroying Mare's innocence and indeed takes him under his wing), Victoria and Nyssa from the classic series of Doctor Who, and so on.
Forest1395101: Guest has a point. I put in things into my summary and into my foreword, warning what is ahead. If people don't like what they read after that, then they are free to stop reading.
No numbered annotations this time.
