AN: So this is a bit of an unexpected update. I honestly had not considered updating this story anytime soon, not when I have other things to work on. But I rolled out of bed today, with only a half day at work, and decided why not, I felt the inspiration so I sat down and banged this out in a couple of hours. Once again it wasn't a planned update, but it is no doubt welcome none the less.
Hope you all enjoy the chapter and leave a nice and healthy review, and for those Americans reading Happy Thanksgiving, though that might have been yesterday, I am somewhat unsure about that holiday, either way I hope you had a nice day.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.
( - )
(Last Time)
"That's James Potter and Sirius Black." Jess spoke up as she too came to see what had attracted Harry's attention. "They work for the Ministry, in the Department of Law Enforcement I think, though they also have other duties such as running their family estates. Actually, I think Potter is on the School's Board of Governors."
Harry nodded at that, knowing that much already.
"Probably here because of that then, or at least Potter is. As for Black, well I heard he doesn't really respect the rules." Lucian tagged on with a shrug, before he turned and walked off. "Ahh well, it's got nothing to do with us."
Harry hummed at that, not quite agreeing as the timing was certainly coincidental. Not that he was about to say that, as he instead pretended to dismiss the two, before he followed the others down the passageway, he could think more on their presence at the school later.
( - )
Chapter 12
( - )
(At Hogwart's, in the Room of Requirement)
"What have you been up to?" Silena asked immediately, within moments of Harry throwing his golden denarius into his conjured mist and starting up the Iris Message call. The attractive, blonde daughter of Aphrodite's face instantly turning suspicious as she caught sight of her brother, for once in his base form, with his angled features, thick messy black hair and emerald green eyes, eyes which were currently twinkling with barely contained mischief, similar to the look the worst behaved of the Children of Hermes had when they had been up to no good.
"Why dear sister I'm shocked and horrified, why in Hades do you always suspect me of being up to something?" Harry replied aghast, his lips curving upwards in a smile as he let down his guard for the first time in weeks, confident in the safety the sanctuary that was the Room of Requirement gave him whilst he chatted to his sister.
With him being quite grateful to Daphne for showing him the Room of Requirement, even if was yet to fulfil her side of the deal, after all the privacy he could get here was an absolute blessing, not that he was about to admit as much, not when the two of them were still somewhat struggling for dominance in regards to their current relationship. With the two of them being a rarity, two half gods, half magicals, and one's form different Pantheons to boot.
"It's because you are always up to something, I swear you could be a Child of Eris with the amount of shit you get up to, dear brother of mine." Silena drawled, a smile on her own face as she talked to her brother properly for the first time in weeks, glad to be seeing his familiar face, even if he could be a pain in the arse at time, then again wasn't that the point of siblings? "So really, what's up, you're not the type of person to get in contact for no reason? How're you doing over there in your homeland?"
"I'm doing well actually, very well, I'm actually loving being back in Britain. Plus I'm progressing all my plots and plans, making some new friends, started going to a new school of magic and have actually started acquiring some very useful assets and toys." Harry grinned, before he shrugged as that pretty much summarised what he had been up to for the last few weeks. He now had a fortified manor house, a number of powerful magical items, with potentially more when he got around to dissecting exactly what this room was capable of, and got a look at the diary, the one which was apparently a dark artefact which was capable of opening the Chamber of Secrets. "Oh yeah, and I've also entered a potentially deadly tournament."
"Of course you have." Silena sighed, rolling her eyes as she did so. By this point in time nothing Harry did would surprise her, not since she had caught him having an orgy with a punch of Dryads and Naiads out in the open, on the beach at Camp Half blood. "Try not to get yourself killed ok, I know what you're like."
"I will endeavour to do my best." Harry shot back at her with a wide grin, before his smile faded slightly when he looked closer at his sister and saw the slight darkening of the skin under her eyes and how her smile looked slightly strained. "So how are things going with you back at Camp Half Blood?"
Silena's smile faded slightly as she heard that, her brow knitting together in a slight frown as she did so before she met his gaze. "It's not going well Harry. Thalia's Tree has been poisoned like you know, and it has been getting sicker and sicker by the day. Honestly I'm not sure how much longer it will last, and when it dies, so too does the divine protection around the Camp, and when that falls, well then the monsters can start getting in."
"I wouldn't worry too much about that, I have put up a whole host of magical wards around the Camp. They might not be as powerful as the divine protections holding off monster, but they are pretty versatile, and some are quite nasty. Either way they should keep mortals and monsters away, or at least the weaker, more generic ones like Hellhounds and Cyclopes." Harry replied, his hand clenching into a fist as he heard the worry in his sister's voice and how things seemed to be going back at the Camp. "Is there nothing Chiron can do to save the tree?"
"He's tried everything but nothing has worked. On top of that the gods have just recently replaced him as the Director, they have Tantalus in charge now, you know that King form the myths. He's apparently doing 'community service' in order to get himself into the Fields of Asphodel as oppose to the Fields of Punishment." Silena responded, the look of distaste on her face telling Harry exactly what she thought of that idea, and of the Son of Zeus who infamously cooked and served human flesh to the gods when he invited them to a banquet at his home.
"So they don't trust Chiron then, and are instead trying to minimise his influence at Camp." Harry mused, his mother having told him as much, after all as an Olympian, Aphrodite was privy to a lot of the gossip and goings on in Olympus, and so just loved to dish the dirt to her favourite son. "And they think they can trust a monster like Tantalus more than they can the legendary trainer of Heroes, Chiron?"
"Yeah, you're not the only one who thinks they're acting like idiots." Silena replied bluntly, rolling her eyes as she did so, after all she was more than aware of what Harry thought of most of the gods, a bunch of wasters, those who sit on their laurels and abuse their power as and when they like. It was not a popular opinion, and so one he only ever expressed to his Silena. "I take it you know why they suddenly don't trust him?"
"It's because they are hypocrites. Chiron is a child of Kronos, just like some of the Olympians are, however unlike them his connection to Kronos and his placement in the Camp, and proximity to the young and impressionable Demigods makes him suspicious. They think because he is not one of them that he is dangerous and untrustworthy, and could radicalise their offspring" Harry replied easily, being completely honest as he did so, though he also let some of his scorn for the god's hypocrisy out too, after all not all the gods were like this, there were some decent ones up there.
"It's because of Luke isn't it? They think Chiron might have groomed him into abandoning Olympus and joining the Crooked One?" Silena asked, her tone turning sombre now at the mention of the traitorous son of Hermes and his recent abandonment of the Camp.
"Yes, though I think there are other more political reasons for they are doing what they are doing as well, plus paranoia on Zeus's part." Harry replied, not fully convinced that that was all there was to it, after all Chiron had been a loyal servant of Olympus for over three thousand years, and not once had he done anything worth of distrust or suspicion "Speaking of Luke, do you know what he's been up to for the last few months?"
"I suppose you're a little out of the loop aren't you, but no not really. He's kind of disappeared off the grid, similar to you really. But I have lost contact with a few of the other Demigods, those who go home during the winter." Silena replied with a frown, her gaze going to Harry who had been absent from the Camp for well over a year now, his movements only known to his dozen or so siblings, and even then only the older ones like Silena and Drew were privy to the details. "I think he is trying to recruit other Demigods to his cause."
"It would make sense, he will also need to build a powerbase of his own now. In fact he probably has already used his position at Camp to persuade some to his side already, back before he showed his true colours that is. I wouldn't be surprised if he started courting monsters and minor gods to whilst he is at it." Harry said, keeping his tone carefully considered as he spoke, as he didn't want to give too much away, not even to his favourite sister.
After all the Great Prophecy was beginning to take place, ever since the child of Poseidon, Percy Jackson had been revealed, and both Harry and his mother had been trying to manipulate the outcome. As such they had kept abreast of the situation, with his mother's doves having kept an eye Luke since he fled the Camp back in July, enough to know that he was courting both monsters and minor gods, and not just from his own Pantheon.
"Maybe, but I don't think he is all that organised yet." Silena replied uncomfortably, not all that pleased with the way things have been going. "I mean Luke is a clever guy, he always was, but I think he panicked when Jackson returned from the Underworld and recovered the Master Bolt, I think he's running scared now, trying to do what he can to hide himself from Zeus's wrath."
"Maybe," Harry replied with a comforting smile. "But don't worry, if anything bad does happen, our, or my, first priority will be to move all our brothers and sisters from the Camp and over to Britain, and to my new, heavily warded and fortified manor."
"So we'll run?" Silena asked sceptically, knowing as she did that although most of the Children of Aphrodite were not natural fighters, that Harry himself was, and that he would never run from a fight, not even if all the odds were against him, it was one of his better, more heroic traits.
"No, I will have my own role to play in the situation. But you, and the rest of my family will go to my sanctuary in Britain where you'll be safe." Harry replied truthfully, aware as he did that he would be taking an active role as the Prophecy unfolded, guiding things in a way which most benefited him and his family. Which no doubt meant him returning to Camp to oversee things personally. "As our mother's Champion I will represent our Cabin."
"Alone?" Silena asked a frown on her face. "I will help you."
"No," Harry responded sharply. "You will come to Britain and look after our siblings, I will have my own allies by then, ones who I can rely upon to back me up."
Silena frowned at that, but didn't answer immediately. "You keep mentioning our siblings, what of the rest of the Demigods? They're our family too."
"Yes, and those who are too young to fight will come with our siblings. But I will be selective." Harry responded, with him having already thought of this. "The gods will want their army after all, and although our mother will allow me to move her children, the other gods might not be so keen on losing their tools."
Silena nodded at that, understanding what he was saying, even if she wasn't too keen on leaving the others behind to face the danger, not even when it meant going to Harry's no doubt extravagant manor house in Britain.
"Did you know this was going to happen?" Silena suddenly asked, the suspicion back on her face now as she eyed her beloved brother suddenly warily, not because she distrusted him personally, but more because she knew how cunning and devious he could be, and wouldn't it past him to try to manipulate the situation to benefit himself.
Harry tilted his head to the side curiously as he heard that.
"That's what you've been doing in Britain isn't it, building a sanctuary, a bolt hole for us to hide. And you've been at it for months now, since back before Luke betrayed us." Silena pressed on, her kaleidoscopic gaze still locked on Harry's own green eyes, knowing what she said was the truth as she did so. It was at times like this that she wished she could Charmspeak her brother, but unfortunately he was too powerful for that, it would take at least a minor god, or an elder monster to be able to Charmspeak her brother, and even then he could probably resist.
"I knew of the Prophecy, and of the existence of Percy Jackson even before he came to Camp. But I did not know about Luke and his loyalties, nor of what exactly the threat would be. But I did suspect that trouble would be coming, and soon." Harry replied after a few minutes, his expression open and earnest. "Trust me Silena, you know me. If I had an inkling that Luke would endanger the Camp and our siblings, then I would have slit his throat personally, regardless of whether he was my friend at the time."
Silena didn't reply to that at first, her gaze hesitant for a moment, before she sighed. "I trust you Harry, but I'm worried. I'm worried about just what you are getting yourself involved with. Percy says that the Crooked One is rising, and that he is gaining in power. I am just worried that this is all getting very dangerous, and that with a being like the Crooked One involved, you might be finding yourself getting into trouble."
"Hence why I am building us a sanctuary in the Wizarding World, the neutral territory where no gods or Titans can throw their weight around." Harry replied, before smiling comfortingly. "Trust me Silena, I know it is dangerous, but I will be careful."
"I hope so." Silena muttered, before falling silent.
Harry gazed at his sister for a few moments after that, letting the silence settle for a few seconds, before he then smiled and decided to change the tone of the conversation. After all he had also messaged his sister to chat, and not just to discuss depressing things. "So moving on, what's happening between you and that Beckondorf guy?"
"W-what, nothing!" Silena snapped back, completely taken aback by his sudden change of tact. "Why are you asking?"
"Oh no reason." Harry replied with a predatory smile, delighting at how thoroughly embarrassed his sister looked right now.
"Well… shut up, what about you? You been chasing any girls over there?" Silena shot back, her face still quite pink as she fought down her embarrassment.
"A couple but nothing serious, just a spot of fun, but don't you try and avoid the question." Harry grinned, completely unconcerned with her line of questioning as he instead shrugged off her queries and refocussed the conversation on her love life.
"You're such an ass." Silena shot back, though she did smile slightly as she saw the grin on Harry's face.
"Yep, but I'm your brother, so you're going to have to deal with it." Harry replied swiftly, relaxing slightly as he settled down for a good old fashioned gossip with his sister.
( - )
(Sometime later, on the night of Halloween)
"You look surprisingly happy." Daphne stated dryly from beside Harry as the two of them headed to the great hall side by side, with the rest of Slytherin House joining them on route, all of them walking on mass to dinner in a large excitedly chattering group. All of them from first years to the seventh years excitedly discussing the upcoming feast, after all tonight they would be finding out who the three Tri Wizard Champions would be, including Hogwart's own Champion.
"Why shouldn't I be, this is a historic night." Harry replied easily, conscious as he was of those around him and how, despite being engaged in their own conversations, some of them might also be trying to listen in on his conversation with Daphne. After all the two of them were neither in the same year, or supposed to be more than amicable, friendly enough on passing, but not really friends.
"So you put your name in then, like the rest of your year did." Daphne asked, her blue eyes shifting over to him in amusement, with the blonde no doubt already knowing Harry did, after all she had probably been there at the time, or had at least been informed of who had put their name in. Besides he hadn't exactly hidden his enthusiasm to enter the tournament.
"Yep, I don't see why I shouldn't have, I'm here to have fun and get some good experiences after all." Harry continued on nonchalantly, skipping over the slight ball of nerves he could still feel in his stomach, a ball that hadn't lessened since the heist they had gone through the other night.
Sure he was used to getting up to no good, but usually he was far away from the scene of his crime by now, after all he was nomadic by nature, always on the move. Even when he had lived at Camp he had been moving around a lot, spending time with his different magic tutors or going on quests, or just going on exotic holidays with his siblings.
This was especially the case when he had committed a crime, still he was confident he had left no trace, and from looking at Daphne he could see that she also appeared confident and undeterred. Then again unlike the Norse Demigod he couldn't sense other people's emotions, nor directly control them at will like she could.
"True." Daphne shrugged, before she smiled slightly, a dangerous one at that, and one which instantly made Harry tense up, reinforcing his mental shields as he did so, just in case. "So anyway Harry, we should probably potter along to the hall now, we don't want to miss dinner."
Harry froze as he heard that, but only for a moment, before he continued on his way, not missing a step as the large group of Slytherin students emerged from one of the hidden passages, and headed across the entrance hall and over to the great hall.
That being said Harry's once again violet eyes were fixed on Daphne now, burning a hole into her as he held back the sudden urge to attack her mental shields or pump out pheromones to fuck with her mind. The wording of that sentence hadn't been idle, he knew that much.
In response to his look, Daphne sent him a slight smile before she broke away, heading off with her own friends to midway down the table, leaving Harry alone for a moment, before he then headed along to the far end of the table where the rest of his year mates were sat.
The girl knew who he was, though why she would be so upfront and blunt about it he didn't know. Then again the girl was impossible to read, she could have just said it to let him know that she knew, and invite him to talk to her about it. Or it could have been a warning, such as her telling him that she knew something about him that no one else did. That or he could just be overthinking it all.
Shaking his head at that, Harry continued on to his seat at the table, eyeing the head table as he did so and picking out the new additions to the table, James Potter and Sirius Black as he surveyed though present. Both of whom he could see sitting on the far end of the table, between the massive Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Hagrid, and the tall, and aged Flying and Games teacher, Madame Hooch.
Eyeing the two of them, Harry then tore his gaze away as he instead sat down at the table, wedging himself between Melissa and Jess, much to their irritation, as they both grumbled at him as they moved over to make room for him, even as the rest of his house mates began engaging him in conversation, all of them excited, just like the rest of the students in the hall, about the upcoming choosing of the Champions.
( - )
(Sometime Later)
What followed next was a rather odd feast as the students tried to eat as fast as they could, mumbling and grumbling to one another as they did so, all of them both excited and impatient about the ceremony to come.
All of which created a quite strange atmosphere as they quickly ate their dinner. With even the teachers coming across oddly, though some of them like Dumbledore and McGonagall likely had other reasons aside from the tournament to be worrying about.
This was something Harry had noted as he saw Dumbledore in deep conversation with McGonagall, his eyes flicking suspiciously across the hall, more often than not darting to the Slytherin House Table and then surprisingly over to the Gryffindor one. His eyes narrowing as he then moved over to talk with Snape, who was sat on the other side of McGonagall. With the other foreign Headmaster and Headmistress sitting to the other side of him, making polite conversation with each other, and with Barty Crouch and Ludo Bagman, both of whom had also joined the head table for tonight's feast.
Standing up soon after the dinner had finished, Dumbledore, despite his previous actions, looked as serene as always as he looked around the great hall, his blue eyes peering out over the tops of his half-moon spectacles as he did so. "Now as I am sure some have noticed we have two new people sitting at the staff table today."
The muttering and mumbling in the hall faded away as they heard that, conversations trailing off as they looked to Dumbledore, before they then eyed the new additions to the table, Sirius and James curiously.
"Their names are Mister Sirius Black and Mister James Potter, and they have agreed to come to Hogwarts for the foreseeable future in order to provide added protection for the upcoming tournament, after all as you all know the Tri Wizard tournament has had a reputation for getting out of hand in the past." Dumbledore then continued on with a slight chuckle, easily explaining away their presence as he did so.
The students muttered amongst one another at that, with some who were in the know telling their neighbours how the last Tri Wizard tournament ended the last time it had taken place, with a wild cockatrice having gotten loose, before it had then went on to kill most of the competitors.
"But anyway, moving swiftly onto what I know you've all be waiting for, the choosing of the Champions." Dumbledore forged on, his tone genial and his smile seemingly genuine as he once again captured the attention of all the listening students. "Today, three of you students here in this room, will be Tri Wizard Champions. And by my estimations, we have but a few more minutes left before the Goblet of Fire gives us the first name. And remember once the last name comes out of the Goblet, it will not be relit until the next tournament, though hopefully there won't be as large a gap between this one and the next."
Dumbledore chuckled to himself as he said that, before he then continued on. "There are a few things I would like to go over first though, so please listen. If your name gets called, you are to approach the front of the room, follow the staff table to my right, and then proceed out of the door and into a side chamber just off the main hall. Once there you will wait the rest of the Champions to arrive, and will then be given further instruction. That being said, the tournament itself will consist of three tasks, the first of which will be held on the Twenty Fourth of November, and it will be one which involves the Champions not knowing what they are up against, a task which deals with facing the unknown, I'll say no more than that, but just know it will be dangerous, and it will push the Champions to their limits and truly test their mettle."
Once again the watching students began to mumble to one another as they heard that, a nervously excited ripple going through the crowd at the thought of what they may, or may not be facing.
Before anymore could be said, all talking or thought of the tasks to come was cut off by the Goblet of Fire suddenly flaring up, red flames licking around the rim, even as the mass of floating candles lighting up the room dimmed slightly, adding to the tense atmosphere.
"It seems the time is upon us." Dumbledore intoned as he saw this, his expression becoming firmer for once showing just how old he was as the light of the fire reflected on his deeply lined face.
In response to this everyone else in the room watched the Goblet in tense silence, even as moments later a tongue of fire exploded forth from the Goblet of Fire, throwing forth as it did a slightly charred piece of folded up parchment. The piece of parchment holding the first Champion's name, slowly floating down through the air as it did so, the attention of the entire hall, both students and staff completely focused on it.
With Dumbledore then showing a surprising amount of deftness as his hand quickly shot out as he plucked the slip of parchment out of the air, before unfolding it and reading the name on it to the now silent hall. "The first Champion of the Tri Wizard tournament, and representing the Beauxbaton Academy of Magic, is Miss Fleur Delacour!"
Following on from this there was a surprised gasp from the Ravenclaw table where the newly dubbed Champion of Beauxbaton had been sitting amongst her classmates, wearing the same silky, light blue uniform as the rest. With said classmates sighing in disappointment, or give Fleur a half-hearted yet polite round of clapping. The Hogwarts and Durmstrang students adding in their own applause, somewhat overwhelming her own school's cheering, even if it was most the overly excitable younger years of the Hogwarts student leading the celebrations, plus a host of already enamoured school boys who could barely tear their eyes away from the attractive blonde.
In response to this, Fleur Delacour stood up a brilliant smile on her face as she looked around the hall, her head held high and proud.
Looking over at her Harry noted that it was the Beauxbaton Veela girl, one of the beings that worshipped and served his mother, though judging by the strength of her aura and her ability to cast magic she was likely only half Veela, with the other half being witch. Of course upon noting this Harry wasn't really that surprised that she had been chosen as her school's Champion, after all a combination of witch and Veela was likely highly potent.
Smiling at this Harry began clapping loudly, surprising his year mates with his enthusiasm, or at least he did at first, before the girls around him rolled their eyes, assuming he was under her thrall like so many of the other boys in the room, as oppose to him just cheering on one of his mother's servants.
Oblivious to Harry's thoughts, Fleur, a stunningly pretty girl with long, silvery blonde hair and sky blue eyes quickly made her way up to the front table and out of the side door, her hips sashaying as she did so, and her mane of silvery hair trailing behind her, leaving a trail of glazed looks and drooling teenage boys in her path as she did so.
Clapping along with the rest of the hall, Dumbledore waited until Fleur Delacour had left the hall, before he then raised his arms to regain the attention of the hall again. "The next Champion will be…"
The Goblet flared up again as he said this, another rolled up piece of parchment erupting forth it did so, before once again Dumbledore snatched the slightly smouldering paper out of the air and unrolled it.
"…representing the Durmstrang Institute, it is Mr Viktor Krum!" Dumbledore then continued, a slight smile on his face as he heard the hall erupt into cheers the moment the name left his lips, the cheers overshadowing the cheers for Fleur as the Durmstrang students leapt to their feet, with some of the more enthusiastic French and British students doing the same.
In response to this Krum stood up from his seat, the teen in question being a short, somewhat squat boy with a slightly curved nose and protuberant brow, the scowl on his face fading for a moment as he smiled, raising one solemn fist into the air as he did so, causing the cheers to crescendo, before he then walked down the hall, his shoulders still slumped as he passed the head table and the loudly cheering Karkaroff and went through the same door that Fleur Delacour had just a few minutes previously.
"No surprises there," Lucian said with a wide grin as he gave Terrence a light punch on his shoulder. "This tournament is going to be more reported on than ever with him in it!"
"The tournament will definitely be a laugh," Harry nodded, even as the rest of his year mates clapped along, with Melissa and Lillian talking excitedly amongst each other as they eyed the famous Bulgarian wizard up and down, looking at him like he was a piece of meat.
"And now for the last and final Champion, representing Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Dumbledore began, a warm smile on his face now, this one genuine as he looked around at the room of excited witches and wizards. Even as the third piece of parchment was ejected from the Goblet. With Dumbledore again snatching the folded up parchment out of the air with ease.
"The Champion for Hogwarts is…" Dumbledore began as he unfolded the piece of parchment and looked at the name, reading the slightly slanted writing, before he smiled warmly. "Is Harry Orwell!"
Harry smiled at that, even as the Slytherin table erupted with cheers and celebrations, the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables joining in, with the Gryffindors grudgingly clapping along, giving a token applause for Hogwart's Champion, even if they obviously weren't all that impressed with the school's Champion being a Slytherin.
Ignoring this Harry nodded to his year mates, grinning to them as they all shouted out their support, though he was sure some of them were slightly disappointed too. Looking down the table Harry also caught Daphne's amused gaze, the blonde giving him a nod as she did so, before she started clapping too.
Returning the nod Harry then stood up, not forgetting as he did how Daphne likely knew his actual name. After all Harry Potter was still his true name, despite the pseudonyms he had used when travelling around, such as Harry Ourania and Harry Orwell, and although he could manipulate the Goblet of Fire by writing his pseudonym on the parchment he submitted, he couldn't trick the Hogwart's Wards, or any other magical or divine way of finding out his true name.
Ignoring this for now Harry instead made his way towards the side hall, his worries about the goings on at Camp Half Blood and the intricate schemes he had in place fading for the moment, as he instead just revelled in the excitement of being chosen for the dangerous tournament, the anticipation building up within him as he did so.
He was a Demigod, fighting and taking on challenges was in his nature, he had been created for this kind of thing, his mother had adopted him, named him her Champion and given him a portion of her own divine power so he could take up challenges just like this, and prove to all and sundry the might of Aphrodite and her children, whether that be him fighting monsters, other Demigods or wizards.
Quickly walking through the door, throwing out smiles and waves to those cheering him as he did so, Harry soon found himself in a small, quiet room, one lined by a number of moving oil painting, and lit only by a fire which was burning along merrily in the fireplace.
Upon entering Harry quickly noted the other two Champions in the room, both of whom were standing in front of the crackling fireplace. With Viktor Krum staring into the flames with a brooding expression on his face. Whilst Fleur meanwhile was smiling slightly as she too gazed into the flames, the fire light reflecting in her shining blue eyes as she just stared into the crackling flames.
Upon Harry's entry into the room though both of the Champions turned to look at him, Krum frowning slightly at Harry's confident gait and cheerful smile, whilst Fleur eyed him up and down curiously, her blue eyes narrowing as she met Harry's currently violet eyes head on.
"You are ze 'Ogwarts Champion, oui?" Delacour asked, her gaze not leaving him as she gave him an assessing look, her eyes narrowing fractionally as she Harry seemingly ignored her natural allure, one which she naturally emanated. With him not even blinking as he shook it off with ease, something which was not unheard of, but which made most others pause for a moment, their eyes glazing fractionally before they regained control of themselves.
"That's right," Harry said easily as he sensed Fleur's allure, something which was like a slightly watered down version of his own ability to control and exude pheromones. "I'm Harry, Harry Orwell, it's a pleasure to meet the both of you."
The two of them nodded at that, before exchanging their own greetings, all of them conscious that they were in a competition and that the other people were their opponents. Despite that though this was a 'friendly' competition between the three largest schools of magic in the world, and as such there was a certain sense of propriety in regards to how they were to act.
Which is why the three shook hands, exchanged names, and gave one another meaningless platitudes as they waited for their Headmasters and Headmistresses to enter the room and give them more details on just what they would be doing.
With Krum coming across as curt, tough and impatient, his expression very rarely shifting from his natural dour look. Fleur meanwhile came across as confident, and slight snobbish, though still friendly as she didn't immediately eschew their attempts at conversation, though she did continue to give Harry wary, suspicious and frustrated looks as he continued to ignore her allure, even when she focused it directly onto the Son of Aphrodite. An action which caused his lips to quirk upwards, even as he once again ignored her rude, but still admirable effort with ease.
Of course the three didn't have long to chat, as a couple of minutes after Harry entered, the door opened again, though this time the ones who entered the chamber were the five judges, all of whom looked pretty content with the way things were proceeding thus far. With both Maxime and Karkaroff sending their own students proud looks as they entered, whilst Dumbledore just gave Harry a genial nod.
"Excellent, excellent," Ludo Bagman said, being the first one to speak up as he bounced into the room, excitedly wringing his hands as he did so. "The three Champions have been chosen and the tournament has now properly begun, truly brilliant!"
"Indeed," Dumbledore concurred easily, a slight smile on his face as he scanned the faces of the three teens in the room warmly. "Congratulations to all of you for being the ones chosen to represent your schools, I hope you all do your schools, and yourselves proud. Now I believe it's best if we get on to the instructions for the First Task, after all I am certain you all have classmates that are waiting in anticipation to celebrate with you!"
Harry nodded at that, as too did the other two Champions, with the other judges all agreeing too.
Following on from that Barty Crouch took that moment to step forward drawing all the attention in the room to him, as he went to stand next to Dumbledore. The two of them looking like night and day as Dumbledore wore flamboyant, over the top robes, had a long silver beard and hair which went down to his waist, and also wore a pair of half-moon glasses. Crouch meanwhile wore the most formal and smart, plain black robes he owned, had an impeccably well-trimmed moustache, and a generally no-nonsense façade.
"The first task is designed to test your daring," Crouch began, looking around at the three Champions as he did so. "So we will not be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of unknown danger is one of the most important qualities in a witch or wizard…"
Crouch trailed off for a few seconds after that, before he then continued. "You, as Champions, are not allowed to ask for help of any sort from your professors to complete the tasks. For the First Task, you will be armed with only your wand, and you will receive information about the Second Task immediately upon the conclusion of the First. The five of us will be the ones judging your performances."
"If I may, Barty?" Dumbledore spoke up, cutting into the conversation as he did so. "As I have said before, this task will take place on the twenty fourth of November in front of the other students, and of course, ourselves. As the tasks are designed to be extremely challenging, the Champions will all be exempt from end of the year exams, and will have permission to skip lessons, so long as you tell your professor in advance. This is because your sole focus for this year should be in preparation for the tasks ahead."
The three Champions nodded at that, with Harry smiling slightly at the open ended invitation he had to skip lessons as and when he wanted, and invitation he would probably be taking advantage of.
"Well yes, I do believe that covers everything?" Ludo piped up again, a brilliant smile on his round face as he looked excitedly around at the people in the room.
"I believe so," Dumbledore replied with a courteous nod, before he turned to his fellow judges. "Could I tempt you to join me tonight for a drink?"
Karkaroff, Maxime and Bagman all readily agreed, but Crouch shook his head in response to Dumbledore's offer. "I'm afraid not Albus, I have to get back to the Ministry."
"Surely that can wait?" Bagman exclaimed cheerfully, easily ignoring the sour look Crouch shot him as he did so. "This is where all the action is!"
"This is a very busy time," Crouch said tartly, his disapproval for his fellow Head of Department clear for all to see. "I left Weatherby in charge… he's a good worker, but a bit excitable. Too excitable if you ask me…"
Dumbledore nodded his head at that, before he turned back to the Champions. "You three are dismissed. I daresay you will find celebrations awaiting you upon your return, and I wouldn't dare keep you from that."
( - )
AN: So this chapter was to move the story along and update on what has been going on elsewhere, from here I will be speeding up the plot a bit as I have a lot of content to cover in this story and I don't want it dragging along, which I feel it kind of has been doing, so I will be speeding up the plot a bit.
That being said there were some important things cropping up in this chapter which will be important for the story going forwards, including the fact that Moody didn't have time to but Michael Potter's name into the Goblet of Fire as he had been summoned to Dumbledore's office to investigate the robbery. Hence the timeline will be diverging a lot form canon now, after all there is no fourth champion now, and the boy who lived is safe sound, and in no danger of being kidnapped, especially with his daddy and goddaddy hanging around.
So yes I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and leave a nice long review. I hope to get another chapter out next week, though for which story I have not decided yet. As I really need to sort out a schedule for myself.
Thanks for reading and I'll see you later.
Seagate.
