I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 37: The trials of being a Champion

Just like he had predicted Harry and his election as champion was the topic in the entire school. As soon as people started entering the Common Room they started to stare and point at him much to his annoyance. He didn't really care about what they thought about him but he could do without them whispering and pointing at him like he wasn't even there. Hermione shook her head at her classmates' behavior and almost intervened but one look from Harry told her not to bother. They both knew it wouldn't do any good; if they didn't believe him after he took a Magical Oath then nothing they would say or do would change their minds.

They were however pleased to see that some of the older students accepted the fact that Harry had been entered in the competition against his will. Amongst them were the Weasley twins, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet. All of them were part of the Quidditch team and the girls were close friends with the twins. They knew just what a Magical Oath entailed and even tried to explain it to the younger years so they too would understand the meaning of it. There was one however who didn't seem to accept this and he was currently making his way over to where Harry and Hermione were sitting.

"How did you do it?" Ronald Weasley ask Harry rudely.

"Do what, Ron?" Harry sighed already knowing what this was about. Ron hadn't shut up about wanting to be a champion so he could be rich and famous. Harry snorted at that, like a thousand galleons made you rich.

"How did you enter your name without anyone noticing?" Ron demanded loudly and like magic the whole common room fell quiet.

"Didn't you hear what Dumbledore said?" Harry asked in return. "I didn't enter my name in any way. I even took a Magical Oath to prove it and you can't fake those. You know that right?"

"I don't care about any Oaths." Ron spat. "You knew I wanted to be a champion; why didn't you tell me how to enter my name? I could have been champion."

"You think I want to be a champion?" Harry said standing up staring Ron straight in the face making him back up a little. "I don't care about fame and money; it's not worth risking my life for. Now, don't bother me about this again as I won't listen to your petty little jealousy." Harry gathered up his books and said good night to Hermione before going to his dorm.

"Of course, a thousand galleons is nothing for the great Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived." Ron yelled back. "Well sorry for being normal but to most of us a thousand galleons is a lot of money. Stupid prat, thinks he's so great and all; didn't even bother to show up for the choosing just to make a entrance." Ron muttered at the end. A resounding slap could be heard throughout the entire common room and everyone saw the small handprint of Hermione's hand on his cheek.

"How dare you say something like that." She said venomously. "In case you forgot, to Harry Halloween isn't a festive day. To us it may be the day that Voldemort" here almost everyone cringed and gasped at hearing the name of the Dark Lord " was defeated but to Harry it's the day he lost his parents and became an orphan. So next time you're out there celebrating the demise of Voldemort "again gasps could be heard by almost everyone "remember that it cost Harry his parents and try to show your respect to them once in a while."

Hermione turned on her heels and stormed up the stairs to her room leaving a lot of people feeling very ashamed of themselves. Hermione had been right; none of them had ever once paid their respects to Harry's parents and it made them feel very bad about it. Most of them vowed to make it up to Harry next year as they knew that Harry wouldn't be happy if they just went up to him like that. One by one the Common Room emptied and only a few students remained with three of them being Weasleys.

"You know Gred; if it wasn't for the flaming red hair I would almost think that Ronald was adopted." George said suddenly.

"I think you're on to something Forge." Fred said rubbing his chin. "But then again maybe we're the ones who were adopted?"

"That would made more sense indeed." George nodded. "How else do you explain these good looks, brilliant minds and awesomeness that is us?"

"What are you guys babbling on about now?" Ron said still pissed off at Harry and Hermione. That was the second time the know-it-all had slapped him in public.

"We're talking about how you are a disgrace to the Weasley family." They both said angry. "Really Ronald, is it that hard not to be stupid and judgmental all the time?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron roared at his brothers.

"In case you haven't noticed Harry is our friend and you're giving us a bad name." Fred said. "Harry isn't the type of guy to want attention or fame yet you seem to know better."

"But…" Ron tried to say.

"No, you will apologize to Harry first thing in the morning or we'll talk to Mum about this." George said cutting off Ron. "If you don't, we'll use you as a guinea pig for the rest of our time at Hogwarts."

Ron definitely didn't want that; the twins were famous for their inventions and if you got chosen as a test subject it meant being submitted to all sort of pranks and being the butt of the joke for a few days. Of course the twins never did go too far in their testing as that could be seen as bullying and they always had a cure or counter-spell ready for when things got out of hand. Ron was fair game as he was family and he knew all too well what the twins were capable of. He quickly murmured "fine" before going upstairs to his dorm.

Later that night Harry and the rest of his group were discussing what had happened at the feast. Needless to say Sirius, Remus and Tonks were angry that Harry was forced to compete against his will but they all knew that he didn't have much of a choice.

"Who would benefit most of all by having you compete?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"I don't know for sure and I don't have any proof but I'm pretty sure Voldemort is behind all of this." Harry sighed. Seeing them look at him he further explained. "I've been having this gut feeling that things will go badly very soon. If I had to take a guess I would say that the most we have is another year or so before the shit hits the fan." Here Hermione glared at him for his language but she knew that he only said that to make it sound somewhat humorous.

"What's the plan then?" Tonks asked.

"Nothing, I think we should continue as we were." Hermione said quickly. "There's no point in obsessing about it now. We continue our plans like we were going to. If we panic then we might make mistakes or get noticed and that's the last thing we need."

"Hermione's right." Remus agreed. "If we tip our hand now, Voldemort will surely hear of it and we'll lose our advantage. I suggest we speed up a little bit on some areas though; for example it wouldn't hurt to completely stock several warehouses with everything we might need. Also preparing the necessary potions, medical kits, weaponry and the likes would be a huge load of our backs so we can concentrate on fighting him when he gets back."

"I agree with that as well." Harry nodded. "We keep on training and practicing, taking one day at a time. Tonks, keep your eyes and ears open in the ministry. Don't ask questions or do anything that could raise suspicion but try to keep informed. Anything that seems out of the ordinary might give us a clue."

"Don't worry, I'll know what to do." She winked at Harry.

"Remus and I will make sure that we have several warehouses and hiding places ready to use just in case." Sirius said. "You never know we might need them to protect friends and family."

"That reminds me of something." Harry said suddenly. "I think we need to upgrade the wards around Hermione's house as well. Once Voldemort learns of us being together he might use them to get to us. Also we need to find a quick and safe way to transport them to safety in case of an attack."

"What about a portkey?" Gred asked. "We used them to get to the Quidditch championship. They work well and can be made out of everything."

"Portkey's are a good idea." Remus nodded. "Maybe we could chance a necklace or something that they carry all times into a password-activated portkey?"

"That's a great idea. Thanks." Hermione said happy that her parents would be protected at all times. "I'll ask Dobby to retrieve something and then you could turn them into portkeys."

"It might also be a good idea for us to have one." Tonks added. "I mean, you never know that we get separated or hurt during a fight. If we have a portkey we can get home safely."

"Excellent thinking Tonks." Harry agreed. "Remus, could you take care of that?"

"No problem, Harry." Remus smiled nodding.

The rest of the night they spend by making a few more plans and to practice a bit of dueling against each other. Harry and Hermione had the most fun when they were trying to teach some of the martial arts moves to Tonks. While she picked them up quite rapidly she also tripped several times and landed four times on her butt. When she left by Dobby express she complained that she wouldn't be able to sit for a few hours thanks to the painful bruises. Gred and Forge quickly offered to kiss it better but Tonks just laughed and told them to keep on dreaming.

Over the next few days' things calmed down a lot in the staring and pointing department. It seemed that the Head of Houses had explained just what a magical oath meant to the students and they now realized that Harry had truly been entered in the tournament against his own will. Of course there were a few pigheaded students who refused to believe this and were still angry at Harry. Two of them were Ron and Draco. Ron, who had apologized the day after his tantrum kept quiet but was mostly glaring and cursing at Harry. Malfoy on the other hand had a more vocal approach.

It was a beautiful fall day and while it was chilly, the sun was out and many students were enjoying the last days of this weather. Harry and Hermione were outside as well as they were working on an assignment for DADA. When a shadow blocked the sun Harry looked up to see who stood in front of him only to groan in frustration as he recognized the self-proclaimed prince of Slytherin.

"What do you want now, Malfoy?" Harry sighed.

"Well Potty, I came here to show you my new badge." Malfoy smirked. Harry looked at the badge and saw the words 'Potter stinks' appear on it.

"How very nice of you." Harry shrugged not caring one bit.

"You know Potty, my father and I have a bet going on." Malfoy continued a bit disappointed that Harry wouldn't rise to the bait. "He bet that you wouldn't last five minutes into the Tournament."

"I see." Harry just shrugged again.

"I disagreed though." Malfoy added. "I bet that you wouldn't even last half a minute."

Harry and Hermione simply stood up and walked away. They had finished their assignment and didn't care about what drivel Malfoy was sprouting. In fact, they had hardly listened to a word he had said. Malfoy was furious that they would ignore him like that and he whipped out his wand and was about to curse them in the back when his wand was summoned from the other side of the courtyard. He turned around and saw Moody making his way over with a very pissed off look on his face. Malfoy cringed knowing that he was already on thin ice with Moody hating his father.

"What was that boy?" Moody bellowed to Malfoy making everyone look at him. "Are you that much of a coward that you would curse someone in the back? Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree after all. Your father was just as much of a coward as you are."

"My father is…" Malfoy said trying to defend his father.

"A bloody coward and a poor excuse for a Wizard." Moody finished for Malfoy. "Now, how do you like being cursed?" Moody then transfigured Malfoy into a ferret and levitated him up and down in the air making everyone laugh loudly. Moody would have continued but McGonagall intervened and told Moody to end the transfiguration saying that psychical punishments are forbidden at Hogwarts. Moody obeyed the stern looking woman and walked away after ending the transfiguration.

"Alright, show's over." McGonagall said to the students who were still laughing at Malfoy.

Malfoy who was still on the ground after being transfigured back was seething mad at being humiliated like that but there wasn't much he could do against a teacher. He glared at those who dared laugh at him and ordered his two grunts to follow him back inside. Harry and Hermione hadn't seen or heard anything about that until later that day and they too had a bit of a laugh at imagining Malfoy as a ferret.

It was a few days later when Harry was once more confronted with the fact that he had been chosen as a champion. During Potions he was called away so he could attend to the weighing of the wands and an interview by the Daily Prophet. This made Snape livid of course and he didn't hesitate to let Harry know just how much he disliked him but in the end Harry got permission to leave. He looked at Hermione and he promised to tell her everything later on.

When Harry arrived the three other champions and their respective Headmaster or Headmistress were already waiting with a few other people Harry didn't recognize. They greeted him and Cedric called him over so he could explain things a bit to him. Harry thanked him and listened to what Cedric had to say.

"Don't worry Harry, I'm not mad at you." Cedric said once more. "I know it's not your fault."

"Thanks Cedric, so what's going on." Harry nodded glad to hear that.

"Oh, Mr. Ollivander is just going to check our wands. Don't ask me why because I don't know." Cedric explained. "The other man there is Ludo Bagman, he's the Head of Magical Games and Sports. Rumor has it that he's also quite the gambler."

"And who's the witch over there?" Harry asked while taking a closer look at the woman. She was far from pretty and he had a bad feeling about her. He noticed how she had been standing there staring at him with a gleam in her eyes.

"Urgh that's Rita Skeeter." Cedric groaned. "She's a reporter of the Daily Prophet. Unfortunately, she mostly writes stupid accusations about people and my dad believes she mostly makes them up as well. She's a real piece of work, let me tell you that."

"Yeah, I can tell by the look on her face." Harry agreed. "Wouldn't want to run in to her in a dark alley. That's a face only a mother could love."

Cedric laughed at Harry's comment but found himself agreeing with his younger companion. Frankly, Rita was far from beautiful with her golden teeth and her large amount of make-up. Rita however saw her chance and made her way over to score a interview. Putting on, what she believed her most charming smile while in fact it could scare the bravest of men, she engaged into a conversation.

"Mr. Potter, my name is Rita Skeeter and I'm from the Daily Prophet. Would you be willing to grant me a small interview?" Rita said smiling.

"Well, Mrs. Skeeter that would depend on your willingness to comply to my demands." Harry answered smoothly.

"Demands, Mr. Potter?" Rita said surprised.

"Yes, if you want an interview I want the guarantee that what you'll write is exactly what I answer and not some stupid story you make up." Harry said confidently.

"Mr. Potter I assure you that…." Skeeter objected.

"Please do not insult my intelligence Mrs. Skeeter. I know who you are and your writing style." Harry interrupted. "I'll grant you an interview if you take an Magical Oath to write only what I tell you and those exact words."

"An Magical Oath? Surely you don't expect me to do such a foolish thing." Skeeter said angry.

"Well, I guess that means no interview." Harry shrugged. "Come on Cedric, it seems Mr. Ollivander is ready to begin." And with that Harry and Cedric just left the witch standing there with her mouth wide open fuming that she had lost the chance to interview the Boy-Who-Lived. Suddenly, she realized that she didn't need him in the first place and that could just make something up. Harry however stopped and turned around.

"Oh yes, and if I read some bogus interview in the Prophet then I can assure you that you'll be hearing from Director Bones." Harry smiled. "I'm sure she'll be delighted to get her hands on you after that piece you wrote about her leadership of the Auror department."

Here Rita cringed as she had written a piece about Amelia just a month or so ago that was anything but flattering. Of course, more than half was pure fiction and speculation just to make the article a bit juicier. After all, her pay depended on the number of readers that bought the paper. Amelia however, hadn't taken the name-calling and the accusations very well and had warned her that if she got one complaint from someone about her, she would start an investigation. Little did Skeeter know that Amelia had already started the investigation after she noticed that the reporter had published some very secret and classified information that she couldn't have known.

"Man, Harry you're merciless." Cedric snickered loudly.

"It's just that I hate all this publicity, you know?" Harry sighed. "Everyone always wants to know about Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived but nobody seems to understand that I don't want to be the center of attention. I would much rather be a no-name wizard who can live his life without having to watch my back all the time."

Cedric pondered about what Harry had just said and figured that he could understand what Harry was saying. It must be hard to live like that and not knowing who or what might happen next. He thought about the three years since Harry had started at Hogwarts and while there were many blanks and questions he knew that whenever something big happened, Harry was always involved in one way or another. And more often than not, it was also not by choice.

The weighing of the wands didn't take all that long. Ollivander checked each wand with giving some comments or opinion about it but that was it. Harry and Cedric passed the time to get to know each other a bit better and even Fleur joined in. At first she had a bit of an attitude but that soon changed after talking a bit. Both boys found out that Fleur was actually a very nice girl but that she acted as if she was a stuck-up French girl just to keep the guys away from her.

"Just because I have Veela blood doesn't mean that I like being accosted every five steps by some guy who thinks he's god's gift to women." Fleur had sighed.

Harry could only understand too well. He explained that he had quite an amount of followers and admirers as well and that he too disliked being bothered by them. Luckily, he had always managed to get away most of the time but they were persistent and troublesome. They said their goodbye's later on and promised to keep an eye out for each other. It might be a competition but that didn't mean they couldn't become friends of some sorts. Both Fleur and Cedric felt the same way. They tried to get Krum to join them as well but he seemed to be indifferent to them so far.

The month leading up to the first task went very fast for the gang as they all had several task and assignments. Harry still had no idea what the first task could be but he wasn't too worried about it. After all, it didn't matter to him if his finished first or last as longs as he competed. Each night the gang came together and studied new spells and magic, preparing for the war that was getting closer and closer. Harry had started with his second animagus transformation but so far he didn't have much luck. The only thing he could hear was a soft singing of a bird but other than that nothing.

The twins had outdone themselves by making over a hundred magical grenades. They had made two sorts, subduing and injuring grenades. The subduing grenades were filled with a powerful sleeping potion that they had managed to alter, with Hermione's help of course, so that standard spells or potions didn't help the effects. The injuring grenades were a lot meaner, they were filled with a strong potion that ignited in a fiery blaze until the victim lost consciousness.

Sirius and Remus also made good progress in creating a few extra hideouts equipped with everything one would need. This included food, water, medicine, beds, and so on. They had transformed a warehouse into large stocking place, that they could use in case of an emergency or if the Lair became compromised.

It was now two weeks until the first task and Harry, Hermione and the twins were waiting in the Lair for the rest of the gang. Apparently Tonks had heard some rumors and she told them that it might be interesting.

"So Tonks, what did you learn?" Remus asked.

"Well, I was just minding my own business when I heard that a Ministry worker called Bertha Jorkins disappeared." Tonks said.

"Can't say I really know her." Sirius mused. "She was a few years ahead of us during our time in Hogwarts though."

"Yes well, I asked around a bit and I learned that nobody has seen her for months." Tonks added. "It could be nothing but…."

"No, you did fine Tonks." Harry smiled at the older witch. "It's these kind of things that might give us a clue. Anything else?"

"No. Oh wait yes; rumor has it that goblins are looking for Bagman as he has some debts with them." Tonks added. "Shack said he overheard Bagman saying that he'll bet heavily on you in order to get some money."

"Bagman? Oh yeah the guy from that Wand weighing." Harry recalled. "That's great; now I'm a source of income for gamblers as well." He muttered sarcastically.

"Don't worry about that, Harry." Sirius said. "Just focus on passing the task and let Bagman deal with his own problems."

"Yeah, I know." Harry sighed. "Okay, who else has news?"

"I do." Remus stood. "We discussed it a while ago but I have finally come up with the portkey's. I made enough of them for each of us and Hermione's parents." He then took out a small box and handed a pendant to each of them. It wasn't anything fancy or expensive, just a pendant with a small jewel inside it. "They are a voice-activated portkey and the password is 'Safety'. You do need to place your hand on it for it to work. The chain is charmed to be unbreakable and it has a small notice-me-not charm on it as well."

"These are great, Mooney." Harry said impressed. "Thanks, I'm sure everyone appreciate this."

"You're welcome." Remus smiled. "Hermione, I visited your parent and charmed their wedding rings as a portkey as well. That way, they're protected as well. We also started on placing some wards on the house so that they'll be notified of an attack."

"Thanks Mooney, I'm relieved my parents will be safe." Hermione smiled at the werewolf.

"Guys, have you come up with anything beside those grenades?" Sirius asked the twins. "Because I have something that might be a good project."

"Do tell, Padfoot." Harry said interested.

"Well, I'm sure you all remember those conversation mirrors I made a few months back." Sirius started. "It just occurred to me that we should be able to modify those charm a bit so we could contact each other. You know, just hearing each other."

"Oh I see." Hermione exclaimed. "Like an earpiece that the army or police use to give orders to those in the field?"

"Euh yeah, I guess." Sirius said not really knowing what Hermione meant by 'earpiece'

Hermione then explained that the earpiece was a device that allows soldiers and officers of the law to receive orders or instructions from their superiors, even if those were located miles away. The earpiece was small and could simple be put into a person's ear. The only bad part is that if they lost it or it got broken they were on their own.

"Yeah, that might be a good idea." Remus said. "that way we can contact each other when needed without anyone noticing."

"We'll start on it right away." Fred and George said already thinking how they would pull of such a feat.

"Remus and I will help you with the charms." Sirius said. "I still have my notes from making those mirrors."

Once the meeting was over they practiced a bit and did some sparring before they left to get ready for the coming day. That 'sleep-reducing' ritual had truly been one of the best rituals they had done. It provided them with a lot more time to plan and do things and still receive the right amount of sleep in four hours time. The following days nothing really special happened, well maybe a few altercations with Malfoy and Ron but other than that nothing.

It was one week before the First Task that things changed. The gang had been practicing when Fred, by coincidence, looked at the Marauders' Map and saw a familiar name displaced. He quickly called everyone over and showed them the name of his older brother Charlie. The twins explained that Charlie, who had graduated some time ago, normally worked at a Dragon Preserve in Romania and that they had no idea how he got here or what he was doing at Hogwarts.

"It must have something to do with the Tournament." Remus said after thinking a bit.

"But Charlie's job is being a Dragon Tamer." Fred said. "What could Charlie have to do with…." Suddenly it became clear to everyone in the room. If Charlie was here for the Tournament then it meant that the first task had something to do with Dragons.

"Dragons, the first task has something to do with Dragons." Harry breathed softly. "Well, that's just peachy."

"Are they insane?" Hermione said worried. "Dragons are amongst the most dangerous Magical Beings known to Wizard-kind."

"I need to know for sure." Harry said and told everyone that he would be right back before calling Dobby asking him to 'pop' him back to his room.

Once in his room Harry took out his invisibility cloak and wrapped it around him. He silenced his shoes so he wouldn't make any noise and sneaked outside. Harry crept through the Forbidden Forest and slowly made his way to the place where Charlie was. When he reached the clearing his jaw dropped at the scene. Four Dragons, each one more ferocious than the other, were being hurdled into a large pen like cattle by Charlie and a whole team of Dragon Handlers. Harry gulped when he saw one dragon spew fire at one of the Handlers who only barely managed to get out of the way. The fire hit a large tree, which incinerated on the spot. If a human got hit with that, he was dead no matter how lucky or strong he was, Harry realized.

He was about to turn back to the castle, not wanting to stay to long, when he noticed two figures on the other side of the pen. He narrowed his eyes to try and see who it was. Then he recognized the blond hair of Fleur and the large bulky figure of the Headmistress of Beauxbatons. It seemed that the other Champions were being briefed by their Headmaster or Headmistress. He had no doubt that Krum would have been alerted as well by Karkaroff. He too was now aware of what the first task was, which left Cedric as the only champion who didn't know what kind of creature he would be facing. Deciding to be the better man, Harry vowed to speak to Cedric as soon as possible. For now, he quietly called for Dobby who 'popped' him back to the Lair where he explained everything to the rest. Needless to say, they agreed that Harry should say something to Cedric as well. It was only fair that if three of them knew, that the forth one was informed as well.

That's it for this chapter. How did you like it? I hope it was a good read. Next chapter will deal with the first task. I decide not to waste too much space on the Tournament as this is not the focus of this story. It will be short and to the point, as we all know what happened and just about every original way to deal with the Tasks have been used already. See you soon.