Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. JK Rowling does. I'm just an avid fan.

Word Count: 3931

A/N: Read the author notes at the end of the chapter, please. Enjoy chapter 21.

Chapter 21: The Mysterious Harry Potter

The next morning Cadmus awoke to the sound of birds chirping happily outside his window. A young robin with a beautiful orange underside and silver-brownish feathers perched on the small ledge, pecking blissfully at the assortment of seeds that Cadmus had put out the day before. Cadmus yawned and stretched his legs, clad in the clothes he wore yesterday to the feast. He had been too tired from all the excitement and forgot to change into his pajamas, even though he had already showered the night before.

"Good morning, little guy" Cadmus hushed sweetly at the robin, which cocked its head to the side in curiosity.

'Well, aren't you a mysterious one ey?" Cadmus laughed, putting out some more seeds before he closed the window. The weather outside was fairly well, the wind had a slight chill to it as it neared winter. It was quite odd that those robins were still out in November as during this time of year most birds have migrated to warmer climates already.

Cadmus walked over to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror, his messy black hair was hideous and the clothes he wore to sleep still had a small smudge of raspberry jam from breakfast. Urgh, he needed to freshen himself up. Cadmus went with the simple light blue collared shirt with a warm dark blue sweater on top to wear today. Checking the time, Cadmus found it was early at 7 o'clock. Most of his classmates normally woke up at 8 or 9, so he had an hour of freedom to himself. Yesterday was crazy, he had become the Triwizard Champion to represent Harvard, not something a lot of people lived to tell. Cadmus was nervous, yes, people had died in the past participating in the tasks but he was more than ready to tackle the challenge and unknown.

To keep his mind from wandering too far, Cadmus calmly sank into one of the armchairs in the common room and opened a book on the history of the Wizarding American Revolution, the textbook Harvard students used when they took US History classes. An hour later, the first signs of life emerged; grumpy seniors immediately headed straight to essay revision, tired freshmen dragged themselves out of bed to sleep on the floor.

"You're here, Cadmus!" exclaimed Daphne when she came down from the girl's dormitory. She rushed over to Cadmus who got up and hugged him tightly.

Cadmus smiled at Daphne, "Oh course I am. Where would you think I went?" Daphne blushed and took a couple of steps back.

"Oh um, I thought that maybe you would've gone back to Boston after- nevermind," Daphne said hesitantly but quickly offered a smile at Cadmus, who looked baffled.

"After what? I can't leave Hogwarts if I am a Triwizard Champion or else I'll lose my magic. You know I won't leave without you, Daph" Cadmus expressed. Seeing Daphne be so tense made Cadmus cautious. He was now certain that something must have happened after he left the Hall to receive instructions. Why else would his mom be so stern yesterday and tell him not to speak with his best friends?

Daphne smiled and shook her head, "Nevermind that Cadmus, I was just playing with you. I am proud that you got selected to be the champion."

Cadmus smirked at Daphne wryly, "Really? Is being a dueling champion not enough pleasure for you?" Daphne growled and smacked Cadmus' arm mockingly.

"Brat! You better win the tournament Cadmus, I have my bets on you" Daphne joked as both of them headed towards the Great Hall for breakfast. About half the school was already there but it looked extremely empty given how spacious the Great Hall was. Cadmus knew the answer already. Hangover. The students of Hufflepuff probably threw a large ceremony for their two champions and were too exhausted from all the partying that they overslept.

Both of them settled down at the Ravenclaw table eating breakfast while talking about the tournament and the possibilities of the First Task. Then Cadmus told Daphne about what happened inside the chamber and what he saw Karkaroff do.

"That does seem suspicious. I mean Durmstrang is known for its specialization in teaching the dark arts, but I think you should be more careful. Karkaroff knows that you saw him cover his left arm so naturally, he may want to get rid of any witnesses" Daphne hushed, glaring at a nearby student who was trying to listen in on their conversation.

"You are right, Daphne. I must be careful-" Cadmus was about to say when he was cut off by Casper and Jacob who had just arrived at the Great Hall.

"Congrats Cadmus! I didn't get the chance to commend you on the selection" Jacob commented, courteously shaking Cadmus' hand. Cadmus looked puzzled, he thought Jacob was going to be mad that he didn't get the chance to be in the spotlight.

"I thought you were going to be mad at me for being the Triwizard Champion" Cadmus questioned. Jacob scoffed ludicrously.

"Are you mad? I would never be angry at you for being better. I am relieved because you have a better chance of winning for Harvard than me!" Jacob exclaimed, putting his arms around Cadmus brotherly. Cadmus gave Jacob a grateful smile; he was thankful he had the greatest friends in the world who were super supportive. Jacob plopped down next to Cadmus and shoved a spoonful of oatmeal into his bowl. Casper sat across from them.

"Aw man, you missed the best part yesterday Cadmus!" Casper hissed excitedly. Cadmus raised his eyebrows interestingly, so something did happen when he was in the chamber.

"Why? What happened?" Cadmus pestered. He was up for some drama. Something must have unexpectedly happened yesterday or else there wouldn't be so much commotion. Daphne cleared her throat pointedly at Casper, it was clear they had avoided the discussion in front of him. Casper looked up and squeaked a little under the scrutinizing eyes of Daphne.

"Daphne, quit trying to threaten Casper. I want to know if it concerns me then why bother hiding it from me? Please, Daphne, it must be very important for you to want to keep it from me" Cadmus pleaded earnestly. He hated when people kept secrets from him because then he would have to continue with the nagging feeling of insecurity. Daphne sighed. She hated keeping secrets just as much as Cadmus hated people keeping them.

"Alright, but promise me you won't freak out, ok?" Daphne relented, feeling guilty about keeping secrets from her best friend. Cadmus gulped but nodded.

"So after you disappeared through the door, Dumbledore was concluding the ceremony. But the Goblet of Fire lit up red again and it spits out another piece of parchment. Dumbledore read the parchment and he looked livid and read out Jamie Potter" Daphne started, pausing briefly to glance at Jacob who urged her encouragingly.

"They weren't happy at all, it was maddening. Everyone yelled out profanity towards Dumbledore but mainly it was at Jamie Potter. Even the majority of the Hufflepuff house was against Potter. Durmstrang students and we weren't pleased that Hogwarts got to have two champions" Daphne continued, scowling at the memory.

"But after Jamie Potter left for the chamber, the goblet lit up again. We all thought that the goblet was broken or something. Barty Crouch was up to his feet in anger, Karkaroff looked like he wanted to strangle Dumbledore and our Headmistress looked like she was about to destroy the goblet. We all waited for the goblet and out came another piece of parchment…" Daphne recalled, her voice becoming quieter and quieter.

"Who's name was it?" Cadmus demanded nervously. He had a terrible feeling about this.

"I-It was yo-you, Cadmus" Casper whispered, finding his voice for the first time. Cadmus' head spun as he gripped the end of the table with his hands tightly. Hi-Him? That was impossible! His name was already called out as the Triwizard Champion for Harvard. Cadmus' stomach sank. Unless…

"Harry James Cadmus Potter" Daphne confirmed solemnly.

Cadmus groaned and rubbed his forehead several times to relieve the stress on his head but it didn't help. The last time he had ever disclosed his past life with Jacob, Daphne, and Casper was five years ago. It had been a tough two hours to get by, explaining his difficult and neglectful childhood with the Potters and thankfully being raised right by the Dursleys, but thankfully it was over. Jacob, Daphne, and Casper had been very sympathetic and supportive, never bringing up the subject in all those years. Because of that, Cadmus found it easier to forget his past and become happier in his new life.

Now that his past life was dangerously on the edge of being revealed, Cadmus felt genuine panic. But Cadmus wasn't afraid, there was no way someone could do something to take him away from his family and friends. No bribery, threats, manipulation can deter Cadmus from being himself. The real question was...who put his name into the goblet of fire and wanted him to be revealed? There was no doubt there was a motive behind his name coming out of the goblet of fire.

"So what happened next?" Cadmus croaked out.

"Well..nothing happened. Everyone knew that Harry Potter was presumed missing ever since he never appeared for his sorting in 1990, so there was no way he would be able to put his name in. Bagman and Barty Crouch just disregarded it and they just went with four champions" Jacob responded.

There was a moment of silence as Cadmus absorbed the information slowly. The weight and burden of this situation scared Cadmus. That was probably the reason why his mother looked so worried for him and told him to get a good rest. Cadmus couldn't imagine how he would've reacted if he found out yesterday night.

Daphne smiled warmly at Cadmus and placed her hand over his calmly, "Don't worry Cadmus, I'm sure we can all figure this out before anything happens. We always do." Cadmus beamed gratefully back at Daphne, she was his best friend and always found a way to cheer him up. Life without her would be so boring.

That afternoon while Daphne, Casper, Jacob, and the rest of the Harvard students were in their private classes, Cadmus decided to join one of Neville's classes to keep his mind off his name coming out of the goblet.

Thankfully, Cadmus had just emerged from the Harvard dormitories on the seventh floor when Neville started to head to his next class.

"Hey Neville, wait up!" Cadmus called out, catching up with Neville. Neville smiled brightly when he saw Cadmus at the end of the hall. Ever since Neville got to know Cadmus a little better, they became great friends and Neville started to gain some confidence.

"Hey Cadmus, how are you doing?" Neville responded, stopping in his tracks to allow Cadmus to catch his breath.

"Brilliant. I have nothing much to do so care if I join your next class?" Cadmus asked, beaming at Neville.

Neville didn't hesitate and immediately answered, "Not at all. I have Herbology next, we're in greenhouse three today handling a new plant" The way Neville talked excitedly about magical plants showed Cadmus how much his friend loved the class. Turns out Herbology was the only class he felt more inclined towards, while the others were more grueling and tough for him to handle.

"Cool! We have tons of magical plants in America too!" Cadmus replied with the same amount of excitement.

Neville led Cadmus to greenhouse 3 and both of them entered the room. There was a rather long table down the middle of the room with the two houses standing on either side of the table. It seems as though they were just about on time before class started so both of them stood with the Gryffindors. The fifth-year Gryffindors shared Herbology with the Hufflepuffs from the same year, so Cadmus was staying in the same room with Jamie Potter.

A plump woman with a kind smile on her face walked in and addressed the class cheerfully, "Good afternoon class. As you all may know, this year is your O.W.L. year which will cover everything we've learned from day one to the end of this year. We will continue to be reviewing old course materials - but today we are going to meet a new plant!"

There wasn't as much enthusiasm returned but Professor Sprout didn't mind. She walked through the door behind her and appeared to be struggling to carry some heavy pot back. Finally, Professor Sprout managed to carry a large pot, avoiding the bite of the plant from the vicious head. When the plant settled down, everyone along with Cadmus was able to get a better look at the magical plant. It had large green leaves the size of plates and red flower petals lined with sharp teeth.

Cadmus recognized that plant from anywhere. It wasn't particularly abundant in many countries and if you were lucky enough to find one, you probably wouldn't be able to escape unscathed by its ferocious bite. Cadmus was fortunate enough to be able to learn about this species of magical plant in the largest wizard botanical garden in the US. This one was quite young, able to live in a pot but the one he saw would outgrow the largest pots and start to live on walls with roots the thickness of an arm and the length of several tables.

"Does anyone know what this plant is? I wouldn't expect many of you to recognize this, but do give it a go" Professor Sprout invited, gesturing proudly at the seemingly calm yet scary looking magical plant. Judging from the extended period of silence, no one seemed to recognize the plant except Cadmus. Not even Neville seemed to know it, given that he was quite the Herbology expert.

"Not even you, Mister Longbottom? Don't worry dear. How 'bout you, yes you, the one next to Mister Longbottom with black hair, do you know what this plant is? It's quite the rare one" Professor Sprout said, pointing to Cadmus, who was trying to stay in the shadows throughout the whole class. Unable to hide from the sharp eyes of the Herbology Professor, Cadmus stepped forward and examined the plant closely.

"It's a Fanged Geranium, mam. A young one by the looks of its petal size and color. They are quite rare to find but given the correct setting, they flourish well in groups. They are also particularly grumpy if you don't give them the accurate amount of centaur tears and wouldn't hesitate to bite your heads off" Cadmus explained scholarly. When he finished, everyone stared at him, and Professor Sprout looked like she couldn't have been prouder.

"Well explained, young man! Couldn't have said it better myself!" she praised but then stopped to look at Cadmus. "You are new here it seems. What is your name?"

"Cadmus. Cadmus Flamel, Professor Sprout" Cadmus introduced, giving a slight bow of the head as a greeting.

"Ah yes, you're that champion from Harvard, aren't you? Congratulations Mr. Flamel. I am surprised that you know of the Fanged Geraniums, but I suppose you would know all about it" Professor Sprout recounted. Realizing that she was going off-topic, Professor Sprout quickly changed her tone and clapped her hands together.

"Up now, hurry up children. Grab your gloves and protective equipment and then gather around the table. I'll need to teach you the vital information when caring for the Fanged Geraniums. Heed my words carefully, I don't want to see anyone getting hurt in the future" Professor Sprout said sternly before she put on her gloves as well. There was a scurry of hands as everyone quickly put on their gloves and pushed their way towards the front to get a better glimpse at the rare plant.

Cadmus smiled at Neville, who gave Cadmus a sorrowful look before he too rushed towards the front leaving Cadmus standing in the back. To be honest, Cadmus didn't care about being alone, he just wanted to see how British education worked in the wizarding world. It seemed though that Cadmus wasn't the only one who stayed behind. On the other side of the table stood Jamie Potter, glaring intensely at the foreign student that ruined everything for him.

"Champion my arse" Jamie Potter scoffed irritably. He felt cheated, he was getting scorned and ridiculed by his classmates for taking the spotlight away from Cedric and being an underage champion when this foreigner didn't even bat an eye and got away with it. No one could understand that he didn't put his name into the goblet or ask any of the older students to do it for him. Thankfully Cedric was the one who seized control over the irrepressible outrages from the Hufflepuffs and made everyone hear his side of the story.

There were still some students in the school who despised having him as their Hogwarts champion and they made that clear. Malfoy, Jamie's adversary ever since his first year made some badges that flashed "Support Cedric Diggory, the real Hogwarts Champion" and "Potter stinks" when pressed. Not an hour since Malfoy showed them to the public and dozens were already distributed out. By afternoon, a quarter of the school was wearing the badges. Soon the badges were a hit amongst those Potter Champion haters even to those who supported Cedric. Hogwarts Professors did catch many students wearing those badges that day and gave out many detentions but that never stopped them from continuing to wear those badges in secret.

The Durmstrang and Harvard students preferred not to get involved in the movement against Potter's unregulated participation, even though they thought that Hogwarts having two champions was unfair. Instead, they made plain badges just to support their champion. Cadmus was having large posters hanging in each corridor by the start of early noon and badges with his name and the Harvards emblem on it. Durmstrang took a different approach and decided to do a big attention-grabbing show in Krum's honor.

Jamie was snapped out of his thoughts when the class started to scuffle back to their spots to start their own hands-on experience with the Fanged Geraniums. Jamie looked up to catch the eye of a triumphant Cadmus Flamel, who seemed to think his silence was amusing.

"Alright children, I won't have you all caring for the fully grown Fanged Geraniums. Instead, I have little seedlings but- they are just as beasty as their adult versions, so be careful. The pots of baby Geraniums are in the back, do not tempt or provoke them or else you'll find yourself with one bloody finger" Professor Sprout warned, walking around the greenhouse helping several Puffs gather the watering cans.

Neville returned next to Cadmus and smiled at him, "Well I learn something new every day. You know more about the Fanged Geranium than me, so care to give me some helpful tips?" Cadmus was more than willing to teach his friend how to care for the seedlings and patiently instructed him how to water and change their soil. Cadmus also whispered some secrets about how to watch for signs of plant dehydration, the mood swings, and how to bond with almost every magical plant. By the end of the lesson, Neville found himself with one very content Geranium seedling and lots of new knowledge.

The extravagant dinner was normal to Cadmus at this point. Plates full of tempting, mouth-watering food gave off the impression of being in paradise. Today Cadmus decided to sit with Neville at the Gryffindor table for a change. Cadmus' friends didn't mind so Cadmus grabbed his plate and walked over to Neville. When he approached the table, some of them lulled and turned around to stare at him.

Cadmus waved politely, "Hey you don't mind if I sit with Neville? I won't be too much of a bother." No one responded in return until one of the Weasley twins laughed and waved his insecurities aside.

"Not at all. Us Gryffindors need some entertainment once in a while" piped up the Weasley twin that seemed to have a lot more freckles than the other one. Cadmus gratefully sat down next to Neville and looked around at his surroundings. The Weasley twins, three older girls that seemed to be familiar with the twins, the friendly boy with dreadlocks, the bushy-haired girl that Cadmus knew as Hermione Granger, and Neville.

A boy with red hair that looked like a relative of the Weasley twins walked over and was about to try to talk to Hermione when he saw Cadmus sitting next to Neville.

"Oi you, what's your business at our table? Go back to your table, you're not wanted here" the young red-haired boy ordered. Cadmus glared at the red-haired boy, who had lots of freckles and a sneer on his face.

"What is your business meddling in things that don't discern you? Neville is my friend and your classmates have graciously welcomed me to sit here" Cadmus retorted. The red-haired boy opened his mouth to argue before he angrily stormed off to sit with his other friends.

Cadmus sighed; he had dealt with a lot of students like that red-haired boy at Harvard. They all seemed to be so full of themselves and arrogant, strutting around the school like they owned the place. One of the Weasley twins chuckled.

"Sorry if our little Ronnikins bothered you. He is our little brother. Ron is always like this so you will get used to it. If he ever tries to blackmail you, just mention something about pillows turning into spiders, he'll dash off like a little girl" the Weasley twin said. Cadmus laughed at the thought of him running for his life away from a spider.

The conversation shifted towards the tournament and Cadmus found himself engaged in a heated debate about the mystery behind Harry Potter's name coming out of the goblet of fire.

"He never attended Hogwarts...his name was called out but no one came up. Bill's the oldest and he said he never met Harry Potter before" Fred supplied.

"I think he's the brother of Jamie because all of the Potter relatives have already died leaving James Potter the only head. But why does everyone not know who he is? I mean, he was born a year earlier than Jamie so many people must have seen him" Neville concluded.

"Weren't the Potters popular before they were born? So there must be a lot of people who follow the Potters and write about their life. No way they didn't write about the birth of their eldest son" Hermione reasoned. Cadmus' head snapped up when he heard her speak. That was logical. So people did know of Harry Potter's existence but then forgot about him. Was it a coincidence that everyone forgot about Harry Potter just a few weeks after Jamie Potter was crowned the boy-who-lived?

"This Harry Potter is an enigma" Neville commented, earning himself some nods of approval. Cadmus secretly hid a smirk, no one knew that his past self was Harry Potter and imagined what their reactions would be if they found out. For now, he had to keep up his appearances and try to not attract too much attention.

To shift the mood of the conversation, one of the Weasley twins leaned closer to Cadmus and gave a sort of mischievous smirk.

"Hey, do you like pranks Flamel?"

Important Notice: My creative juices aren't flowing 24/7 lately, so my chapters are coming late. Usually, I upload two chapters per week but lately, I don't seem to have much of active creativity. My ideas for chapters just come and go randomly. What I am saying is that it would be better if I upload once per week because I'm afraid that if I am rushing to meet the deadline, the chapters come out crappy and that won't be good. I apologize if I let down some of you guys because I often post plentiful chapters but I think it's for the best. Plus we are getting nearer and nearer to the ending of this fanfic and I want to make every chapter leading up to that as epic as possible if I have more time. I'll still try to get two chapters if I feel very creative and have lots of plans for the fanfic but for now, one chapter per week. Thank you for being understanding.

A/N: Not going to say much since the notice is already taking up half the space. I have a poll made, go and check that out. Lately, is acting up and the reviews are lagging behind. I recieve the emails when a review is made, I get a preview, I head to to write a pm response to the review but I cannot see it there. I refresh the page many times but it's stagnant. There's like 162 reviews but it's only showing 156 reviews on the screen. I'll try to see what's going on so I'm sorry if I didn't get to respond to your reviews. As always, review and like. Maybe if I get more suggestions, I'll suddenly get more ideas for the chapters. As always...

Stay safe and happy,

mintloveme523