Chapter 27: Spiralling out of Control
September 1st, 1994
The ride to Hogwarts had been relatively uneventful, at least so far. Harry had no intention of keeping it that way. He'd gathered the war council together, including some of his biggest supporters from the other years. From Hufflepuff came Justin, Ernie, Susan, and Hannah and Cedric. From Gryffindor came Ron, Neville, Seamus and Parvati, plus Colin Creevey. From Ravenclaw came Padma, Sue, Michael and somewhat surprisingly, Cho Chang. Harry, Hermione, Daphne, Tracey, Ginny, and Luna all represented Slytherin.
Blaise had elected not to stay on the war council, mostly so that no one thought that his mother was involved in it. If they were going to become political, he had insisted that it would be important. Harry wasn't convinced. Blaise might have been getting pushback on some things from his mother.
They'd managed to get a large enough space to meet in by Cedric's intervention; he'd simply let them into the prefects' compartment. It wasn't used at all after the Prefect meeting.
"I've called all of us here so that we can enter a new phase in our plans to save the magical world from itself," started Harry, "I think the IUC can handle Hogwarts from now on, so I think we need to start looking at what is going on outside of the school."
"Is there anything we can do outside of school right now?" asked Ernie.
"Not right away," said Daphne, "But we can start laying the groundwork for what we plan to do."
"The riot at the Quidditch World Cup was a national disgrace," said Cedric, "We have to make it clear that such horrible displays are unacceptable."
"But that won't happen so long as anti-muggleborn laws are still on the books," said Ron, "As long as the law sees muggleborns differently, people will use that to justify their hatred."
"The Wizengamot passes the laws though," said Susan, "How can we do anything?"
"The Minister, along with a core of Wizengamot members could change the makeup of the Wizengamot if they chose to do so," said Hermione.
"All we'd need to do is get a Minister elected, and try to pool all our allies in the Wizengamot," said Daphne, "Between all of us, we could probably get enough support. All we'd have to do is add members, members whose loyalty is to our ideals. Once we got a solid majority, we could do what we wanted."
"And that would include driving the pureblood bigots off the Wizengamot," said Harry.
"I thought you might be pushing for democratic reforms," said Cho, who sounded disappointed.
"We are," said Hermione, "But all of that would require a new charter for the Ministry of Magic. Until we control things, it isn't possible."
"We need to write our protections into the charter," said Harry.
"We're also looking at the relations between the Ministry and other magical creatures," said Daphne.
"Regardless of what we do regarding the laws, anything we do in regards to magical creatures is going to require extensive negotiations," said Luna.
"And the House Elf stuff will be another can of worms," said Hermione.
"What do you mean?" asked Neville, "Not all of us treat our elves badly."
"Yes, but all House Elves have been affected by the magic that prevents them from defending themselves or leaving their masters," said Hermione, "I think that elves that are genuinely treated as members of a family will want to stay with their families. But what we do will give the elves control over their own lives. Some of them are going to surprise people who thought they were treating their elves well, and that isn't going to go over well."
"So why remove the magic?" asked Susan.
"Because it's no better than using the Imperius Curse on them," said Ginny, "If you truly do love your elves like family, you should be willing to let them lead their own lives."
Most of the pureblood witches and wizards seemed a bit upset at this, but Daphne cut through the gloom, "I know that I want my elf to be happy, even if she can no longer live with us," she said, "I never looked at things like this before, but I'm not going to look back now. We have the ability to be better people, so we have the responsibility to be better people."
Everyone nodded, though some of them were a bit reluctant.
"Is Malfoy going to try to organize against us?" asked Padma.
"If he finds out what we are doing, he will try," said Harry, "The IUC may be helpful there. Malfoy isn't done making his power plays, though. And there is one other thing you all need to know."
Harry sighed before he dove right into it. "Lord Voldemort's spirit has returned to Britain. He is currently trying to restore his body and his power. We all need to be watchful. If you see something suspicious take it to McGonagall or Dumbledore."
Harry thought that he could have heard a pin drop after he'd made that announcement.
XXXXX
"I can't believe they cancelled Quidditch," said Tracey disconsolately as they started to eat at the beginning of term feast.
"It works out well for us though," said Harry, "We don't really have a Quidditch Captain. Everyone on the team is fourth year or younger."
"There have been fourth year Captains before," said Blaise.
"Not since the nineteenth century though," said Ginny, "It just isn't done anymore."
"Think this way," suggested Hermione, "this means that one of you is almost certain to be made captain."
Everyone knew that by one of you Hermione meant Tracey, but no one wanted to jinx it by saying it.
"I still say that Moody was trying to make an entrance," said Daphne, trying to steer the conversation away from Quidditch.
"Moody's name sounds familiar," said Harry, "I'm not sure from where though."
"My dad mentioned him the other day," said Ginny, "He was the one who was casting all those defensive spells where muggles could see them."
Something about that didn't sit right with Harry. He couldn't pinpoint it, but there was something about that story that set him on edge. Maybe everything was setting him on edge. After all, with Voldemort back he had to be careful.
"I'm going to talk to Dumbledore," said Harry, "I want to warn him about Crouch Jr. I suppose I can ask him about Moody. If he'll say anything."
The Headmaster was talking to Moody when Harry approached him. Moody had a magicked eye that seemed to look at everything except what Moody's real eye was staring at. The man turned to Harry as he approached.
"You must be Potter," he said, "You'd best be cautious boy, there are all sorts who would want to do you in."
"Don't I know it," said Harry with a sigh.
Moody nodded and walked off, taking a swig from his hip flask.
"Odd man," said Harry.
"But one of the best Aurors in British History," said Dumbledore.
"Mr. Weasley had to go visit him to calm him down a few days ago," said Harry, "though I have no doubt that living through the war made him a bit paranoid." Something still nagged Harry about this, but that wasn't his purpose here.
"Did you have something new to tell me Harry?" asked Dumbledore.
Harry nodded, "This theory is a little crazy, and I know I have no proof, but I think Barty Crouch Jr. is alive, and that he was the person who summoned the Dark Mark at the Quidditch World Cup."
Harry quickly explained his reasoning. Dumbledore's face grew grave as Harry spoke.
"Arthur mentioned this, and I agree that you have no proof," said Dumbledore, "But I also agree that there are too many coincidences here. There are also a few things that you don't know that make this even more worrisome. For one thing, I spoke to Arthur regarding his search for Crouch as well. From what he said, I believe that Barty Crouch Jr. was recaptured by his father."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief.
"That is possibly the worst thing that could have happened Harry," said Dumbledore gravely, "because of the news that you brought earlier in the summer, that Voldemort captured Bertha Jorkins. She may have told him where one of his most loyal followers could be found."
"But how would Bertha Jorkins know about Crouch Jr.?" asked Harry.
"She has been working with the Department Of International Magical Cooperation on the Triwizard Tournament for months," said Dumbledore, "I do not know the exact nature of this connection, but I fear it exists. Crouch Jr. may already be free."
"Would that mean that Crouch Sr. is under the Imperius Curse?" asked Harry.
Dumbledore suddenly looked very upset. "I cannot say, but that is a rather disturbing possibility. I may need to take a more active role in preparing the security for the tournament."
"Maybe I can ask Ginny to ask Percy to keep an eye on him," said Harry. Dumbledore just nodded. Harry could write Percy himself, but something told him to keep this casual. Percy should keep a low profile and a letter from Harry would be a giveaway.
Harry left the meeting feeling worse than he had come to it, which was no mean feat. He immediately made his way down to the Slytherin common room, then went down the third year corridor and knocked on Ginny's door.
"What are you doing down here Potter?" asked a girl. She was one of the new prefects this year, and she had followed him down the hallway.
"Nothing involving you," said Harry, "I need to talk to my friends, and it isn't curfew quite yet. And even if it was there's no rule against being in someone else's room after curfew."
"Snape told us to keep an eye on you," she said defensively, "make sure you aren't getting into trouble."
Luna opened the door. "Oh hello Harry," she said in her normal, rather dreamy tone, "I'd have expected you to wait a few days before trying to seduce us, but you are very welcome all the same." And then she pulled Harry into the room.
"Luna, there was a prefect right there who was accusing me of just that," said Harry chidingly.
"Oops," said Luna rather insincerely.
"You need something Potter?" asked Ginny, who was standing up and had wrapped her blanket around herself, "I was getting dressed for bed."
"Sorry," said Harry, "but it was Luna who pulled me in here. Anyway, I need you to write to Percy and tell him to keep an eye on his boss. Dumbledore and I believe he may be Imperiused. By Voldemort."
"Well, that would be bad," said Ginny, "Okay, I'll write him."
"Thanks," said Harry, who then turned and left the room. Harry saw the prefect coming down the hall with Snape as he came out. Snape glared at the poor girl.
"I somehow doubt that even Potter could be over and done with in this amount of time," said Snape, "What are you up to Potter?"
"I just needed to bring a message from the Headmaster to Ginny," said Harry, "I can't help if your new prefect insists on taking Luna seriously."
And Harry returned to his room. Hermione was already in bed when he got there, petting Crookshanks, but she hadn't gone to sleep yet.
"How bad was it?" she asked as he quickly changed into his pajamas.
"Bad enough," he said. After he finished changing he walked over and gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek.
"I'll tell you about it in the morning. Good night," he said.
"Good night," said Hermione.
XXXXX
September 14th, 1994
Moody was crazy. It was the only thing that made any sense to Hermione. From what the Weasleys had said she'd known he was probably a little eccentric, but she had been utterly unprepared for the reality. Moody was probably crazy, certainly was out of control, and Hermione didn't know who to go to.
In his first Defense against the Dark Arts class he'd demonstrated all three of the Unforgivable curses. That in and of itself wasn't a problem for Hermione. She agreed learning to deal with those spells was important, and she felt she was old enough to handle them. But his mannerisms while teaching them had been wrong. There had been an apparent glee in Moody's eyes when he'd watched Neville squirming as he demonstrated the Cruciatus curse. Hermione didn't want to believe it, but she had to assume that Moody was crazed to derive any pleasure from that. Moody had been an auror, he had to know what had happened to Neville's parents.
Hermione tapped her foot. Harry had stayed behind after Herbology to help Professor Sprout clean up some messes. Professor Sprout was an enigma to Hermione sometimes. Harry got along well with McGonagall and Flitwick, and while he didn't get on well with Snape they seemed to have an uneasy truce, but Sprout seemed to constantly be wary of Harry. Hermione supposed it might have had something to do with Harry's early troubles with the Hufflepuffs, but those were long over.
There was a light knock on the door to her room. Hermione opened the door to find Ginny standing there. Without a word the younger girl barged into the room. She was clearly upset about something.
"I can't take Snape anymore!" said Ginny angrily.
"What did he do?" asked Hermione.
"That's the problem, he hasn't done anything!" she fumed, "He stares at me sometimes, and I can't fucking read him! I have no idea why he's doing it! And sometimes he pauses as he says my name. It's so creepy, I can't take it! But he hasn't actually done anything. I mean if he yelled at me, fine, I can deal with him hating me. And if he did something 'inappropriate' I could just report him to McGonagall. But he just stares. Like a creep. And it's driving me nuts!"
"Pauses as he says your name? How?" inquired Hermione.
"Miss… Weasley," said Ginny in a rather fair imitation of Snape's voice, "He's been doing it since my first year, but I honestly wasn't really paying attention then. I had other things on my mind."
Hermione didn't like the sound of this. "That is odd," she said, "I can understand why it unnerves you though. I've never seen him act like that in our class. Sometimes he glares at Harry, but that isn't a mystery at all."
"No one I've talked to has ever heard of him doing this with anyone else," said Ginny, "When he does it it's almost like he has to remind himself of what my name is, but why would he have to do it so often?"
"Maybe you remind him of someone," said Hermione.
"Well if that's the case I wish he'd get over it, 'cause it's driving me crazy," said Ginny acidly.
"I'm sorry, you shouldn't have to deal with this, I'm just trying to make sense of it all," apologized Hermione.
Ginny nodded, "I know Hermione. I'm not mad at you. I've just fumed about this to Luna so many times and had to unload at someone else."
Hermione shook her head, "Maybe you should tell McGonagall anyway. She might not be able to do anything, but at least she could keep an eye out."
"That is an idea," said Ginny pensively, "Thanks for the advice. For now I'm just going to use that map Harry loaned me to avoid him." With that she hugged Hermione and ran out of the room.
As she left, Harry came back in. "What is with her?" asked Harry.
"Have you noticed Snape acting funny around Ginny?"asked Hermione.
"A few times, yeah," he said, "I think I mentioned it to her once. He likes to give her that unreadable stare."
If Harry had noticed it, Hermione definitely wasn't willing to dismiss this. Something was probably very wrong.
"I wonder if this has something to do with Ginny being sorted into Slytherin," said Harry, "maybe Snape is secretly obsessed with her or something."
"I'm still not convinced it isn't Dumbledore," said Hermione.
"The marriage contract could suggest that, but it doesn't prove it," said Harry, "And I'm not sure what his motivation would be. Unless he has subsequently decided it was a big mistake. No, Dumbledore isn't our main suspect I think."
Hermione shrugged. All of this was conjecture. They still couldn't prove anything.
"So what took you so long?" asked Hermione.
Harry's face suddenly turned red. "Well Susan and I were cleaning up, and we were talking. Apparently last year Justin had agreed to snog her, but then they got distracted with you being kidnapped and all, and it never happened. So now Justin has told her that he just sees her as a friend and isn't interested anymore."
"Poor Susan," said Hermione.
"Well Susan wants a friend to do it with her. She doesn't want any pressure her first time, but everyone has been turning her down," explained Harry, "So, um, I might have volunteered. And we might have started snogging right there in the greenhouse."
Hermione stared at Harry for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Oh Harry, that is just fantastic. Did you have a good time?"
"I liked it," admitted Harry, "She wasn't a bad kisser. I may have let my hands wander a bit as well. A very little bit. Susan didn't mind at all. Unfortunately Professor Sprout walked in on us, and she definitely minded."
Hermione laughed again, "Oh no! She dislikes you enough without you getting fresh with one of her badgers."
"Susan said she'd explain the situation," said Harry, "She was very grateful to me for helping her, though she was pretty clear that she wasn't interested in me in that way."
"I guess I'm going to need to step up my game then," said Hermione.
"I didn't realize we were competing," said Harry nervously.
"We aren't," said Hermione, "but I'm not going to let you win."
XXXXX
September 19th, 1994
"Does every teacher hate us?" demanded Tracey as the fourth year Slytherins left Charms, "Why so much homework?"
"Without Quidditch you should have plenty of time Tracey," said Hermione.
"Not the point!" said Tracey angrily, "and without Quidditch the one thing to do that wasn't schoolwork related is gone. And you can't be happy to get more work today. It's your birthday!"
"Granger has to study all the time, how else could she pretend to be better than everyone," said the voice of Draco Malfoy. He approached them from behind, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.
"Oh shut up Malfoy," said Daphne, "Just because she is better than you doesn't mean she's acting stuck up."
"Better than me?" asked Draco incredulously, "Not likely! Look at her face!"
Suddenly Draco snapped up his wand and cast "Densaugeo!" right at Hermione's face. Suddenly her teeth were growing very rapidly.
Hermione's eyes flared, and she punched Malfoy in the face. He went down, his nose broken and bleeding.
But Malfoy's torment wasn't done. Suddenly Moody appeared (from where, no one could quite tell). "Hexing a girl unawares Malfoy? I'll teach you some manners!" And with that he cast a spell on Malfoy, turning him into a ferret. Moody began levitating him up and down as he muttered invectives at the boy/ferret.
Harry laughed at Draco, then turned to Hermione a bit shamefaced. "Sorry, I got a bit carried away there," he said.
Hermione shook her head trying to laugh through her enlarged teeth, "It'sssh fine. Malfoy the bounssshing ferret isssh worth thisssh. I jusssht need to get to Madam Pomfrey."
"We'll take her," said Daphne, who along with Tracey did their best to stand between Hermione and anyone who might see her on their way to the Hospital Wing.
Harry went back to watching Moody levitate Ferret Malfoy. Finally he sighed.
"Professor Moody, you'd better change him back before another teacher comes along," said Harry, "that is most definitely NOT an allowed punishment."
"Good instincts Potter," said Moody, who immediately transformed Malfoy back into his own self, bloody nose and all. Draco screamed briefly, then ran for the stairs towards the infirmary.
"Considering that this will be all over the school by tomorrow, I think Malfoy has been punished enough," said Padma, who had been leading the Ravenclaw fourth years out of the classroom.
"What happened?" asked Professor Flitwick, who had followed them.
"Malfoy hexed Hermione, Hermione punched him and broke his nose, then someone may have transformed Malfoy into a Ferret. May have," said Blaise.
"What a pity I missed it," said Flitwick, "Because I couldn't stop it, of course."
Harry had to admit, Flitwick was a pretty great guy.
XXXXX
When Harry saw Hermione that night, he immediately noticed something different about her. It took him some time to place it though. It was only when he woke up the next morning and she smiled at him in greeting that he realized what was different.
"You got your teeth reduced!" Harry said excitedly.
"Well did you see what Malfoy did to them?" said Hermione with a half-smile.
Harry glared at Hermione, "Not what I meant."
Hermione grinned full out. "I know. I just had Madam Pomfrey keep reducing them yesterday until they were where I wanted them. My mum probably won't be happy about it, but honestly it's my decision. In a way, I owe Malfoy for this. It made for a decent birthday present. That and him being turned to a ferret."
"It looks nice Hermione," said Harry, "I know you wanted to do it."
"Nice?" asked Hermione her tone neutral and her eyes disapproving."
"Well as far as I'm concerned you were already very pretty, so I'm not going to go on about how much better you look," said Harry, "But if you had a problem with it I'm glad you got it taken care of. Before or after, you're still beautiful either way."
Hermione's disapproval evaporated immediately. She leaped across the distance between their beds and began kissing him rather thoroughly.
XXXXX
September 22nd, 1994
A few days later Hermione came into their room triumphantly. "I have a date to Hogsmeade!" she shouted triumphantly.
"Nice," said Harry, "Who is it?"
"Justin," said Hermione, "I know he's your friend…"
"That doesn't matter," said Harry, "Just have a good time."
"I'll beat you at this yet Potter!" said Hermione in a tone which Harry couldn't decide whether it was serious or not.
As a result Harry decided that he needed a date for the next Hogsmeade weekend. Which was why Harry knocked on the door to Daphne and Tracey's room the next morning.
"Who is it?" came Tracey's voice.
"Harry," said Harry.
The door opened. Tracey was wearing a long night shirt, and waved Harry in. As he entered, he saw that Daphne already mostly dressed and was buttoning the last few buttons on her shirt.
"Hey Daphne, I wanted to have a word with you privately before breakfast," said Harry.
"Oooh, Harry wants a private word with you," said Tracey suggestively.
Daphne grabbed her tie from her nightstand. "Okay, we can talk on the way to breakfast," she agreed.
"Get out of here then! I want to get dressed!" said Tracey. To emphasize her point, Tracey suddenly pulled her nightshirt off. Harry quickly spun around, but not before he'd had a fairly good view of Tracey in her underwear. He could feel his cheeks burning.
"Let's get out of here," said Daphne, who was glaring daggers at Tracey as she led Harry out of the room.
"Sorry about Tracey," said Daphne, "She's suddenly realized that her body can make boys uncomfortable, and finds it hilarious."
Harry nodded. Tracey was a good friend, but he wasn't ready for her to start acting like that. They left the Slytherin common room and began to make their way to breakfast.
"Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me Daphne?" asked Harry.
"Does this have anything to do with the fact that Hermione is going with Justin?" asked Daphne wryly.
Harry didn't prevaricate, "That is why I'm trying to get a date. It isn't the reason I chose you though. I chose you because, well, I like you. I can't really think of anyone else I'd rather spend the day with."
"Aside from Hermione you mean?" insisted Daphne before she shook her head, "Don't mind me Harry, I'm being silly. I know that the two of you are actively trying to avoid a romantic relationship right now. I think it's futile, but I'd be glad to spend time with you."
Harry smiled, "It's a date then," he said.
Daphne also smiled, and quietly slipped her hand into his as they walked. "I'm looking forward to it," she said.
XXXXX
September 24th, 1994
It didn't take Hermione long to realize that her date was not going well.
In retrospect, Justin had been a bad choice. There were several other boys she knew that she wasn't nearly as close to, and someone she liked but didn't know very well would have been far better grounds for a date. Justin was a friend, but Hermione had to admit that she'd chosen him because he was safe.
That would have been fine, except that Luna had passed them by earlier. And at that point Justin had asked where Ginny was. Hermione had explained about how Ginny's parents had forbidden her to go to Hogsmeade because she had snuck out last year. At that point Justin had admitted that he'd been writing letters back and forth with Ginny over the summer. That was all well and good.
But from then on Justin couldn't stop talking about Ginny.
It wasn't constant. But he kept bringing up her name every time something even remotely related to her popped up. Which was annoying for Hermione, as she was trying to have a date here! Every time he mentioned her Hermione started scowling.
"Is something wrong?" asked Justin.
"Well," said Hermione, "You've only been bringing up Ginny Weasley about every five minutes or so. You might be able to fit in a few more mentions of her if you really tried."
"Oh," said Justin, his face turning red, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so impolite."
Hermione sighed. "Listen, I know I kind of sprung this on you. If you aren't into it…"
"No," said Justin firmly, "I'm just not used to being on a date. So what do you want to do?."
Somehow Hermione was sceptical that he was fully sincere, though she was at least grateful he was trying. Still, she wondered how Harry's date with Daphne was going. It had to be going better than this!
XXXXX
Harry wondered how Hermione's date with Justin was going. It had to be going better than this!
Things had gotten off to a bad start right off the bat when they'd seen Ron, Seamus, Neville, Blaise, Luna and Tracey heading to Hogsmeade together. For some reason this had put Daphne in a bad mood. She was angry and snapping about everything. And she kept bringing them to places that were rather conveniently close to where that very group was going themselves.
"Daphne," Harry said finally, "Why are we stalking Ron Weasley?"
"Why would you think I'm following Ron?" asked Daphne.
"Because you have a crush on him," said Harry.
"I do not!" said Daphne. She sounded slightly upset, but Harry could tell it was a front.
"That's why you found all those opportunities to go to the Burrow this summer isn't it?" asked Harry.
"I was visiting Ginny," insisted Daphne.
"You spent a lot of time watching her and her brothers play Quidditch from what Ginny said," replied Harry, "You only do Quidditch things because the rest of us like it. You hate it."
"That's not quite true," said Daphne.
Harry scowled at her.
"Ok, fine I like Ron Weasley," said Daphne as she raised her arms helplessly, "But after all that effort, he still hasn't noticed me."
"Of course he hasn't," said Harry, "He's a good guy, but emotional sensitivity is not his strong suit. You're going to have to tell him."
"Ugh," said Daphne, "I hate that."
"Of course, Tracey might not react too well to that," said Harry.
"What do you mean?" asked Daphne.
Harry stopped cold. Obviously Daphne unconsciously knew Tracey was into Ron, but she clearly was in denial about it. This could be very bad.
"Tracey has had a crush on Ron since second year at least, possibly before that," said Harry.
"That's silly," said Daphne, "She'd have told me."
"Not since you've started giving off signs that you're interested," said Harry.
"Tracey isn't into Ron," said Daphne, clearly intending to to end the conversation.
Harry had a very bad feeling about this. Tracey was clearly not telling Daphne how she felt about this. Harry initially didn't understand why. Tracey was always forthright with her opinion at other times. Then he realized that Tracey was just deferring to Daphne. Which she always did. Because… well Harry had never fully understood why she did. But he was beginning to suspect that there was a class issue here. Had Tracey been conditioned to follow Daphne because Daphne was not just a pureblood, but part of the Sacred twenty-eight? Harry knew Daphne would never expect or ask it of Tracey, but they might have fallen into those roles anyway, without even knowing it.
"Fine, what do you want to do then?" asked Harry.
"Well, Hermione's been bragging about some of the new things you tried on her vacation…" said Daphne.
"Oh?" said Harry, suddenly curious.
"Maybe we could find someplace private, and you could demonstrate," said Daphne.
Harry smiled. "Okay, I think I'd be okay with that."
XXXXX
"At least you got that far," complained Hermione that night. She and Harry were sitting in the common room with Ginny and Luna, talking quietly. "Justin seemed terrified at the thought of kissing me. I think he might have managed to hit the corner of my mouth. Maybe."
"I think it's obvious that we both need to seriously reconsider our criteria for who we go on dates with," said Harry.
"Daphne and Justin are good friends, but maybe that doesn't make for the best romantic connection," said Hermione.
"Or maybe you're already interested in someone else, and this entire exercise is pointless," interjected Ginny.
"You're just upset that you couldn't go to Hogsmeade," said Harry.
"Yes, I am," said Ginny, "That is indeed the reason that I'm calling you on this complete and utter shite. It isn't because I CARE. No, no, it can't be that." And Ginny got up and stormed out of the common room.
"Ginny does have a fair number of wrackspurts today," said Luna, "But then again, so do the two of you." Luna quickly followed her friend.
"I'll admit, I was thinking about you a lot today," said Harry.
Hermione smirked. "You were thinking of me when you had your hands on Daphne's bum?"
"Well, maybe not right at that moment," admitted Harry.
XXXXX
October 30th, 1994
The 30th of October had finally come. The entire school was abuzz with anticipation. The staff seemed to have gone crazy with preparing the school to be presentable over the last few days. But the arrival of the other schools' delegations was suitably impressive. The Durmstrang delegation came in an underwater ship, and the Beauxbatons delegation had come in a flying carriage. All in all, Harry gave them full points for style.
The Headmistress of Beauxbatons was a huge woman named Madame Maxine, and it was immediately obvious to Harry at least that Hagrid was stricken with her. Her delegation was all impeccably dressed. Harry noticed Fleur up at the front of the group, who waved at Hermione and himself when she saw them.
The Headmaster of Durmstrang was a rather disreputable looking fellow named Igor Karkaroff. The man actually blanched when he saw Alastor Moody. Moody gave a rather sinister grin in reply.
"Karkaroff was a Death Eater," whispered Daphne, "Moody caught him and he sold out a lot of the other Death Eaters to win his freedom."
That meant it was unlikely that the man would be working with Voldemort. Unlikely, but not impossible, Harry corrected himself. He could be trying to redeem himself to his fellow Death Eaters.
The biggest surprise was the Durmstrang delegation. It included Viktor Krum!
"Morgana's tits!" said Tracey, "I didn't know he was a student! I'm going to have to get his autograph."
"Leave him be for the moment Tracey," said Harry, "I doubt he likes being harassed at school."
As the students began to make their way to the Great Hall for a welcoming feast, Fleur walked up to them.
"I 'ave been given permission to sit with you for the feast tonight, though I will 'ave to sit with my schoolmates for the feast tomorrow night," said Fleur, "Madame Maxine is rather skeptical of your Slytherin intentions 'owever."
"Our sterling reputation rears its ugly head again," said Blaise.
"I bet you the Durmstrang contingent sits with the Slytherins," said Ginny.
"Maybe I could meet Viktor Krum!" said Tracey excitedly.
"Tracey, please calm down and don't embarrass us," said Hermione, "He's just a Quidditch player."
"Just a Quidditch player!" Tracey nearly screamed before realizing people were staring at her, "Oops! I got a bit carried away there. But seriously, just a Quidditch player…"
XXXXX
The feast was a rather social occasion. As Ginny had suspected, the Durmstrang students sat at the Slytherin table. Most of the Beauxbatons students sat at the Ravenclaw tables, but a few of them had branched out and were sitting with the Hufflepuffs given that Fleur had asked for an exception. Harry noticed that Crouch and Bagman were there. That was worrisome, even if they were involved with the Tournament. Harry didn't trust either of them. Harry fully believed that Barty Crouch was under the Imperius Curse, and Ludo Bagman's behavior was shady as well.
Because of this, the announcement that the Tournament would only be open to those 17 years or older came as a great relief to Harry. Harry had been very worried someone might try to do something like enter him in the tournament. He did not need any more life threatening situations this year, thank you very much. Still Harry had to wonder what protections would be in place to stop this. So far none of the protections Dumbledore had tried to use to keep him safe had worked properly.
After the feast, Harry ran up to catch Dumbledore.
"Headmaster," he said, "You are absolutely sure that no one under the age of 17 will be allowed to enter?"
"Yes Harry," said Dumbledore with that damned twinkle in his eye, "So if you intend to enter, I suggest you not waste your time."
"Headmaster, forgive me, but I don't want to enter the Tournament. I want to be certain that no one else can enter me in the Tournament!" said Harry more than a little bit angrily, "I suspect that anything Crouch is involved in is a trap at this point."
Dumbledore immediately looked far more serious. "Of course Harry," said Dumbledore, "I will be putting two age lines surrounding the Goblet. One will prevent anyone who is not of age from crossing it, while another will prevent anyone over the age of forty from crossing it."
"That leaves a lot of people who couldn't possibly compete in the tournament still able to put my name in," said Harry.
Dumbledore nodded in acknowledgement. "I know, but there are limitations to my magic. It was all I can do to place even those age lines so close to each other. Unless you want all people over the age of 20 banned from the Great Hall…"
"Sounds fun," said Harry, "Barty Crouch Jr. is in his thirties."
"That has worried me as well, so I have elected not to tell anyone about the second age line," said Dumbledore, "If he does try something, it will certainly be through his Imperiused father. Though I suppose we cannot be certain Crouch Sr. is Imperiused."
Harry shook his head. "I don't like this. Ever since I felt Voldemort in my head, I've had a really bad feeling about this year."
"What else can we do Harry?" asked the headmaster.
And for the life of him, Harry didn't know.
XXXXX
October 31st, 1994
All day on Halloween students were able to submit their names to the Goblet. As a result, most of the school congregated there to see who was putting their names into the Goblet, and Harry and his friends were no exception. Angelina Johnson, one of the Gryffindor chasers, put in her name. So did Cedric Diggory, who was probably the entrant that Harry knew the best. Harry considered Cedric a stand up guy. He hoped he got it.
Of course the highlight of the day was when Fred and George Weasley came running in with their friend Lee Jordan, chugging aging potions.
"This is going to be amazing," said Harry.
"I made sure Colin Creevey was here just to make sure this moment was caught on film," said Ginny.
The three of them leapt over the age line. At first it seemed to do nothing, but then all three of them were hurled out of the age circle and began growing fine white beards. Moments later came a brilliant flash as Colin caught the moment on camera.
"So you don't think anyone can beat the age line?" asked Daphne, "You usually don't put a lot of trust in Dumbledore."
"If he says he can cast a spell that keeps anyone under the age of 17 out, he probably can," said Harry, "Dumbledore is a very skilled wizard. I just don't trust his judgement."
Dumbledore himself had arrived, and seemed to find Fred and George's stunt rather amusing. Harry suspected McGonagall would find it rather less so. It wasn't his problem in any case.
The Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students all came and delivered their entries en masse. Afterwards some of them hung around. Krum came up to speak to Harry.
"You are the Slytherin Seeker?" Krum asked, "I haff heard you are quite good."
Harry nodded. "Yeah. I've won 5 of my six matches."
"He would have won all six, but someone enchanted a bludger to keep following him the entire match so he got knocked away at the last minute while following the snitch," said Tracey.
Krum nodded, "That is a very good record."
"Thanks," said Harry. Krum seemed to be a bit relieved when Harry didn't act overawed by his presence. Tracey, on the other hand, looked like she was about to burst, but Daphne had an iron grip on her shoulders.
"I saw you play at the World Cup final," said Harry, "I think you played well, despite the outcome. The Irish were a tough nut to crack."
"It is too bad that we are not going to get to see you play," said Krum, "I wouldn't have minded watching Quidditch for once."
"Harry needs to concentrate on his studies more anyway," said Hermione.
XXXXX
That evening everyone gathered for the Halloween feast. Once again the Beauxbatons contingent sat with the Ravenclaws, and Fleur sat with them this time. The feast itself was excellent as always. But Harry couldn't help but face the feeling that something was very wrong. It was almost as if he could feel the smugness coming out of his scar. He'd paid close attention to it since the revelation that it was one of Voldemort's horcruxes. He'd had no more visions, but occasionally got glimpses of… something.
When the feast ended, Dumbledore stepped up to the Goblet of Fire, which now sat squarely in front of the staff table.
"The time has come," said Dumbledore who waved his wand in front of him quickly, removing a magical barrier that had been erected over the goblet for the Feast. The Goblet's blue fire flared, sending a small slip of paper into the air, which Dumbledore caught nimbly.
"The representative of Durmstrang is Viktor Krum!" shouted Dumbledore to the Hall. There was a thunderous applause as Krum stood and was directed towards one of the side rooms off the Great Hall.
A few moments afterwards, the Goblet flared again. Dumbledore caught the note that flew out again.
"The representative of Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!" shouted Dumbledore again. There was more cheering, but more measured this time, though Harry and his friends were even louder as they cheered. Fleur smiled at them as she got up and made her way to the side room.
A few moments after that the Goblet fired up again. Dumbledore again caught the scrap that flew out.
"And representing Hogwarts is Cedric Diggory!" shouted Dumbledore. Harry sagged in relief. He'd been worried over nothing. He applauded vigorously as Cedric followed the other two Champions. Dumbledore also looked relieved.
"I am sure we will all extend our champions…" started Dumbledore again, but suddenly the Goblet flared again.
"No fucking way," said Harry quietly.
Dumbledore snatched the name out of the air. He looked at it, then closed his eyes in resignation.
"Harry Potter," he said simply.
Harry stood, glaring daggers at the Headmaster. Everyone in the hall was whispering to each other. Harry walked into the side room, which was filled with portraits.
"'arry?" asked Fleur as he entered.
"Well it looks like someone has decided to try and kill me this year after all," said Harry, "My name came out of the Goblet."
Harry saw a lot of conflicting emotions on Cedric's face. This had to be hard on him. It should have been Cedric's moment, and instead he'd have to share it with Harry. Fleur just looked worried. She hadn't been privy to all of what was going on, but she knew that someone had tried to kill Harry every year since he'd entered Hogwarts. Krum just looked confused.
Dumbledore, Crouch, Bagman, Madame Maxine, Igor Karkaroff, Snape and Moody suddenly descended on the room. Dumbledore immediately went over to Harry.
"Harry, did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?" he asked calmly.
"No, I did not," said Harry.
"Of course 'e is lying," said Madame Maxine.
"I do not believe 'arry would lie about this!" said Fleur, "'e is well aware of 'ow dangerous this tournament is."
"I wanted to avoid getting killed," said Harry, "Not pick the most likely way for it to happen."
"In any case, how could Harry get past the age line?" asked Cedric, "No offense Harry, but I doubt you are able to get past Dumbledore's enchantments."
Harry of course knew what must have happened. Somehow, Barty Crouch Jr. had come here himself and put in Harry's name. But how to prove that?
"He couldn't," said Moody, "And even if he could, he couldn't have fooled the Goblet into picking him as a fourth contestant. The Goblet is an extremely powerful magical artifact. The Confundus charm necessary to fool it is beyond any fourth year. Harry is right, someone is trying to kill him."
"Well, we can withdraw him then, right?" said Bagman.
"No," said Crouch, "His name coming out of the Goblet constitutes a binding magical contract. Harry must compete."
"As must the rest of us," said Fleur angrily, "Why weren't we told of this contract!"
"You were told that you could not withdraw if chosen," said Dumbledore.
"This sort of contract is no longer legal, and for a reason," said Harry, "But that won't stop the magic from working." Harry bit his lip before he made a snide comment about marriage contracts.
"There is no choice, the boy must compete," said Crouch. Karkaroff and Maxine both began to make wails of protest.
Harry walked over to Cedric and Fleur. "I'm sorry about this Cedric," said Harry.
Cedric shook his head, "Part of me wants to blame you for this, but I've come to know you well enough to know you wouldn't do this. Anything short of this maybe, but you wouldn't be this reckless."
Fleur put an arm around Harry's shoulders. "We will do what we can to make sure you are not 'urt."
Krum had come and joined them. "I suppose I do not really know you, Harry. But if my fellow champions trust you, so will I."
"Thanks," said Harry, "This means a lot to me."
Author's Note: This chapter is a big turning point. Obviously Harry being entered in the tournament is big. Harry has actually figured pretty much everything out, except for the fact that Moody is Crouch Jr.
Alix, they do know better spells than stunners, but they are understandably hesitant to use them. They would use the reducto or cutters on the Death Eaters if they were attacked. They don't really want to hurt Crabbe or Goyle so that is why they don't use anything there. Well they probably want to, but it would be a bad idea. Blaise probably knows the Blasting Curse by now, it is definitely his thing. The kids gloves are still on though, at least this year.
A point, now that it is basically over: the whole point of the dating plotline isn't to have Harry or Hermione date anyone, it is to show that neither of them really wants to date anyone else, they just don't really know what to do with the hormones they awakened early by rooming together. If you haven't caught on yet, bad decisions are a theme in this story. That being said, the part of that plotline where they actually have time to go on dates with other people is over. A
Next time we're onto the First Task. And Harry makes a good decision for once.