AN: Note: I have nothing against French people. Please do not bully me, I have never met a French person in my life.
Another Note: This is one of the longest chapters! Yeah! Apologies in advance for like a third of it being exposition :(
Ngl, that part wasn't super fun.
I feel like I'm getting better at writing when I write for this fic- and I'm glad for it. Sorry for the wait, enjoy!
Dinner began with much fanfare. After the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had filed inside, the students of Hogwarts, neglecting the hush-hush motions of the teachers, erupted into excited chattering. The boys were very much enamored with the girls of Beauxbatons, though said girls had hardly deigned to give a glance towards them before turning back to whisper and occasionally burst into giggles. The female students of Hogwarts were fairly calm, with the exception of a group who had decided that getting Viktor Krum alone had become their sole purpose in life, and had taken some extremely drastic measures to accomplish it.
"I don't believe it," Ron mumbled beside Harry as they ascended the steps to the Great Hall, "Viktor Krum! Here!"
Harry tried to appear nonchalant on the outside, but in truth his inner voice was incessantly repeating that he absolutely must get an autograph. Before he could respond, Hermione huffed loudly on Ron's other side.
"He's not that much to look at," Hermione scoffed, eyeing the gaggle of preteen girls attempting to shove past each other to follow Viktor inside first, "He's only a Quidditch player."
Sonic, walking beside Harry and puffing out his quills to avoid getting stepped on, wagged his finger at Hermione teasingly. "Hermione, I think you're forgetting the part where he's supposedly world famous. Aren't people supposed to be obsessed with him?"
Harry raised an eyebrow as a sour look suddenly came over Sonic's face, as if he was remembering something particularly unpleasant.
"Still! It's no excuse for those girls to act like… that," Hermione replied, not one to be swayed in her opinion by anything less than a textbook thesis.
Sonic, to Harry's surprise, laughed rather loudly at that remark. At the trio's questioning looks, he just waved a hand, managing to explain, "Sorry, you just reminded me of someone back home. The girls here have nothin' on her."
Reentering the Great Hall, Harry watched curiously as on top of the gaggle of younger girls trying to reach him, some older female students were also attempting to get Krum's autograph. Rather than the flustered and shy looks (as well as underhanded tactics of betrayal) of the second and third years, these girls were instead working together to try and corner Krum. Harry allowed himself a laugh when he caught sight of the nervous sweat on Krum's brow, who, despite his stony expression, was clearly glancing at Karkaroff for help in fending off the teenage fans. Karkaroff, however, was no help, and had instead decided to spend his attention on more important things, such as the chocolate eclair lying defenseless on the staff table.
"Harry-" Ron whispered as they took their seats, "You got a quill on you?"
Harry shook his head while Sonic plucked out one of his own from his spines, handing it to Ron cheekily. Ron sighed in hopelessness as he stared at the electric blue quill, one hundred percent sure Viktor Krum wouldn't even think of touching the thing. He perked up as Krum passed the Gryffindor table looking for a seat, but sagged once again in defeat as he wasn't able to convince Hermione to move quickly enough for a space to appear.
The final seating arrangements appeared to be Beauxbatons with Ravenclaw (which they seemed none too happy about) and Durmstrang with Slytherin, though the majority of the students were quite wary of the death glare Shadow was shooting them when they dared come within five feet of him. That, however, gave Malfoy a golden opportunity to start chatting up Krum, who was seated somewhat uncomfortably across from him ("Smarmy suck up…" Ron muttered. Harry agreed.). The Durmstrang students stared at the enchanted night sky of the Great Hall ceiling with interest and examined the gold-plated plates, goblets, and silverware set out in front of them, appearing impressed with the rather fancy display the house-elves had prepared.
Sonic let out a low whistle beside Harry, eyes roving around the spruced-up Great Hall with bright curiosity. Harry thought he looked like he wanted to go for a run, if his frantically swinging legs underneath the table were any indication. A brief stab of pity went through Harry. He couldn't imagine it was easy being cooped up when all you were used to doing was running, especially such an unfamiliar place. Hell, Harry had been attending Hogwarts for three years now and he was still being surprised every year. Hogwarts was Harry's home, but Sonic had been torn away from his rather abruptly, and even though he was always saying how cool magic was, Harry was occasionally able to catch the brief looks of homesickness that flashed across his face before they were pushed beneath a grin when he noticed someone watching.
Sneaking a glance from the corner of his eye, he frowned when he noticed Sonic's legs had stopped swinging and he was instead staring boredly at his empty plate, tapping his foot incessantly against the ground. He's probably feeling left out, Harry surmised with a frown.
"Say, Sonic," Harry said, intent on shaking him out of his funk, "How's your- er, what's the word… assisting going?"
Sonic's ear flicked, and he quickly pushed himself off his folded arms, blinking at Harry in confusion before the metaphorical lightbulb went off above his head at which point he smiled and began chattering so quickly that Harry was having trouble even deciphering syllables. "Overall it's going pretty well, I think most of them like me except Snape- He wouldn't even let me enter the room after class was over, so I don't think I'm gonna keep trying, you know? He doesn't want me anywhere near the cauldrons, says he's afraid I might set off a reaction that could set half the school on fire. I mean, I don't think that would happen, but hey, it's less work for me so who am I to say no? Oh, but Prof. Trelawney was super weird when I talked to her about it, so I don't think I'm gonna go back there either. Hagrid is really nice though-" At this Harry nodded sagely, "And so is Flitwick. I like Professor McGonagall, but I'm ninety percent sure she wants to turn me into a pincushion- literally. It's fun work though, and they show me magic if I catch them in a good mood, well, except Hagird, but helping him with the other creatures totally makes up for it. I can't really communicate with a lot of them like I can on Mobius, but somehow I just sort of know what they need and help 'em out. The only one I haven't worked with is Prof. Binns, but I can't even find him after class, so I'll just try again next week. Prof. Moody usually gives me easy work, but he's a grumpy geezer, plus he never shows me any of his magic. Says it's 'too dangerous'. I'm also supposed to go assist some teachers I don't know, but meeting new people is usually fun for me, so I'm only a little nervous about it."
Harry swore his head was spinning, but he had hummed in agreement and/or acknowledgement when he thought he was supposed to. Sonic had clearly been dying to talk to someone about everything, and given how little Shadow cared for small talk, Harry wasn't surprised Sonic hadn't told him about it.
"Maybe you can ask Hermione to show you around," Ron said, surprising both Harry and Sonic into staring at him owl-eyed. They hadn't realized he had been listening, but he apparently didn't notice their mutual shock, watching Hermione's reaction with a teasing grin, "She probably knows all the teachers by now."
Hermione shoved him gently, flushing slightly. "Not all of them," was her only defense, much to the amusement of the rest of the group.
They settled into easy small talk, though Harry noticed Sonic's frequent glances to Shadow's circle of solitude over at the Slytherin table. He nudged Sonic with his elbow, causing the worried look to disappear as Sonic visibly swallowed, shaking his head to clear it. He began regaling them with another tale of his exploits, causing most of the Gryffindor table to cease their own arguments and discussions in an attempt to hear more about the bizarre adventures of their resident visitor-from-another-world.
It was a tale he had heard before, and so Harry turned his attention to the rest of the Hall. The Durmstrang students were settled but the Beauxbatons appeared to be having more trouble than they had expected, especially concerning the weather. They were wrapped up in shawls and still had their coats on, as opposed to the Durmstrang students who had thrown their heavy fur coats across their laps at first opportunity for fear of overheating. At the staff table, it appeared that the headmasters were finally settled and preparing to begin dinner announcements. His eyebrows shot up with interest when he spotted Filch (in a moldy old tailcoat) setting up not two, but four chairs at the staff table. He got the attention of Ron and Hermione (unwilling to interrupt Sonic) and discreetly pointed up at the staff table.
"Why do you reckon Filch is putting out four chairs instead of two?" Harry asked them in a whisper. Hermione frowned, but Ron's eyes quickly strayed over to Krum and a dopey smile came over his face as he stared at his idol. Harry rolled his eyes and would have attempted to get his attention again had Dumbledore not at the moment stood up, spreading his arms wide to get the attention of all the students in the Great Hall.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts, visitors, and- most particularly- guests," said Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. Sonic snickered beside Harry. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."
One of the Beauxbatons girls, clutching a muffler around her head she had apparently refused to take off, gave what was unmistakably a derisive laugh.
"No one's forcing you to stay!" Hermione whispered, bristling so much that Sonic had to do a double take to make sure he wasn't being poked.
"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"
He sat down, and Harry noticed Karkaroff almost immediately began to engage him in conversation.
The plates in front of them filled to the brim without warning, warm bread rolls nearly spilling out of baskets and the delicious smell of a pot pie filling the air. Harry noticed Sonic looking at it longingly before shrugging to himself and pulling a chili dog out of… somewhere. Alien hedgehogs were strange.
Several of the dishes on the table were not the usual, and more than a few of them were most definitely foreign. Despite that, none of them looked unappetizing, and so Harry made sure to grab a helping of nearly everything.
Ron, on the other hand, wrinkled his nose as a dish was passed his way, some sort of shellfish stew with a very distinct scent.
"What is that?" asked Ron.
"Bouillabaisse," answered Hermione.
"Bless you," Ron siad.
Hermione let out a long-suffering sigh. "It's French, Ron. I had on holiday the summer before last. It's quite tasty."
Ron shrugged. He pushed the dish over to Neville and helped himself to a scoop of chocolate pudding. "I'll take your word for it."
The Great Hall somehow seemed much more crowded than usual, even though in total barely twenty additional students had joined. It was perhaps due to the different colored uniforms- they stood out starkly against the black of the Hogwarts robes.
Twenty minutes into the feast Hagrid slipped inside, his hand heavily bandaged. He waved toward the Gryffindor table (surprisingly, Sonic was the one to give him the most enthusiastic wave back) before taking his place at the staff table.
"Skrewts doing all right, Hagrid?" Harry called.
"Thrivin'," Hagrid called back happily.
"Yeah, I'll just bet they are," said Ron quietly. "Looks like they've finally got a favorite meal: Hagrid's fingers."
At that moment, a velvety voice behind them said, "Excuse me, are you still wanting ze bouillabaisse?"
It was the girl who had laughed during Dumbledore's speech. She had removed the muffler, revealing long locks of white-gold hair that fell perfectly down her back, almost to her waist. She had large, deep blue eyes and white, even teeth.
Ron went purple beside him. Sonic spared her a glance, and her him, before they mutually turned away in disinterest. Hermione watched her warily, with a bit of annoyance in her eyes if Harry was seeing correctly. Ron had apparently gone mute upon seeing her with the exception of a faint gurgling noise, and so Harry was forced to hand off the dish to her.
"Yeah, have it."
"You 'ave finished wiz it?"
"Yeah," Ron breathed, "It was excellent."
The girls raised a delicate eyebrow but took the dish without another word, carefully carrying it over to the Ravenclaw table. Ron was still goggling the girl as she sat down. Harry began to laugh.
"What wrong, Ron?" Sonic teased, "Never met a girl before?"
Ron shook his head, the joke apparently enough to break through whatever trance he had been in.
"She's a veela!" He whispered to them hoarsely.
"Of course she isn't!" said Hermione tartly. "I don't see anyone else gaping at her like an idiot!"
It was an incorrect deduction. Many of the boys' heads had turned as the girl had crossed the Great Hall, and some of them appeared to have become temporarily speechless, just like Ron.
"I'm telling you, that's not a normal girl!" said Ron, leaning sideways so he could keep staring at her, "They don't make them like that at Hogwarts!"
"They make them fine at Hogwarts," said Harry without thinking. His crush, Cho Chang happened to be sitting only a few seats away from the girl with the silvery hair. Their hair appeared luxurious, as though blowing on a breeze. Oh, no, that wasn't a breeze-
Sonic, it appeared, had tired of politely sitting in his seat and had raced up to go greet the new arrivals at the staff table, who consisted of Ludo Bagman and Mr. Crouch, Percy's boss.
Harry blinked to make sure he was seeing things correctly.
"What are they doing here?" He asked in surprise.
"If you had been paying attention," Hermione huffed, "You would have noticed when they arrived. I assume they're probably here to make sure the Triwizard Tournament starts off alright."
Karkaroff and Madame Maxime had differing reactions to the sudden arrival of a three foot tall blue hedgehog: Surprise (from Madame Maxime) and fear (from Professor Karkaroff), both of which were eventually simmered down into polite fascination (from Madame Maxime) and polite disdain (from Professor Karkaroff) upon an explanation from a very surprised Ludo Bagman.
Shadow, menacingly marching over from the Slytherin table with a clear look of exasperated annoyance, grabbed Sonic around the middle and hoisted him up over his head, the nonexistent height difference between the two making for even more comical scene as Sonic tried to kick Shadow in the back of the had while Shadow attempted to give a dishonest apology to the visiting headmasters. Dumbledore, despite the strained calming smile on his face, seemed to be close to having an aneurysm.
Making his way back to the table in the near dead silence of the Great Hall, Shadow dropped Sonic on the bench beside him.
"What?" He hissed upon noticing the eyes on them. Everyone quickly turned back to finish their second course meals.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched the whole scene in near silence before bursting out into laughter obnoxious enough to gain glances of concern from the seventh-years further down the table. Ron was forced to bite his knuckles to stifle his chuckles, while Hermione attempted to hide behind her hands and Harry buried his face in his arms, body racked with laughter he trying to keep contained, causing random spasms in his lungs as he attempted not to snort loudly at the ridiculousness of the situation.
Eventually the desserts were served, eaten, and cleared. Sonic was still busy trying to bother Shadow while Shadow, meanwhile, looked about two seconds from strangling him to finally get some peace and quiet.
It was at this time that Dumbledore clapped his hands. A great wave of sounds rang out over the Great Hall, silencing even Sonic and Shadow. A few seats down from Harry, Fred and George leaned forward with interest, expressions of great concentration on their faces.
"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket-"
"The what?" Harry muttered.
Ron shrugged.
"-just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation" - there was a smattering of polite applause - "And Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."
Apparently Bagman was much more well-known (or well-liked), as his round of applause was much louder and much more enthusiastic. Bagman gave a jovial wave of his hand. Bartemius Crouch did not smile or wave when his name was announced. Remembering him in his neat suit at the Quidditch World Cup, Harry though he looked strange in proper wizard's robes. His severe hair parting and toothbrush moustache made him seem very odd next to the long-haired and long-bearded Dumbledore.
"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."
All listening ears in the hall seemed to sharpen at the word 'champions', the attentiveness of each and every student (including a certain two hedgehogs) at an all time high never seen in classes. Dumbledore appeared to have noticed their sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."
Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a dark corner for the majority of the feast, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden casket embedded with jewels of all sorts, from diamond to gold to sapphires to rubies. In spite of the polish of the jewels, the casket appeared extremely old. A murmur swept through the students, and out of the corner of his eye Harry unknowingly smiled as he saw Sonic practically vibrating in his seat with excitement, and even Shadow, who had perpetually worn a frown on his face since Harry had first met him, was staring with sharp interest as the casket was gingerly placed on the table in front of Dumbledore..
"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," explained Dumbledore, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced out throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways… their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."
At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that every breath one took seemed to be a thundercrack from the enchanted sky above.
"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after three tasks will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: The Goblet of Fire."
At this point Dumbledore took his wand and tapped it three times on the lid of the casket. It slowly creaked open. Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff stood up from their seats, and together the three of them reached into the casket, lifting a roughly-hewn wooden goblet into the air as their prize. The goblet would have been completely unremarkable if not for the fact that it was filled to the brim with dancing blue and white flames. Dumbledore was the first to let go, closing the casket lid so Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime could place it on top before returning to their seats.
"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore, "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete."
"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," Dumbledore continued, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it had been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line."
"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that the tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion had been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all." With that, Dumbledore stepped off the podium and took his seat.
As complaints erupted about the Age Line, primarily from Fred and George, and Hermione attempted to counter them with facts and logic, Harry found himself daydreaming about what it might be like to be champion. Surely Dumbledore wouldn't be too mad, if someone underage managed to enter? If he got in and won, he would be filthy rich, and maybe Cho would go out with him…
A nudge from Hermione alerted him to the fact that most of the students had already filed out of the Great Hall, with the exception of Durmstrang and a few Hogwarts straggles. Beauxbatons was nowhere to be seen.
He stepped out of the way to allow Karkaroff and his students passage.
"Back to the ship, then," he was saying, "Viktor, how are you feeling? Did you eat enough? Should I send for some mulled wine from the kitchens?"
Krum shook his head as he pulled his fur coat back on. Harry briefly wondered from the sour look on his face whether Malfoy had been bothering for the entirety of dinner or if that was just his natural expression.
"Professor, I vood like some vine," said another of the students hopefully.
The pretense of warm fatherly care evaporated instantly. "I wasn't offering it to you, Poliakoff," Karkaroff sneered, "I notice you have dibbled food all down the front of your robes again, disgusting boy-"
Harry didn't deign to listen any more, though Karkaroff stopped his procession in the hallway to carelessly give him a 'thank-you', the time of said stoppage being further lengthened when Karkaroff noticed his scar and took all of half a minute to put together that yes, he was the Harry Potter.
Thankfully, a timely interruption saved him from further awkward staring. "Yeah, that's Harry Potter." Mad-Eye Moody said from behind them, "Move along."
Karkaroff went white as sheet when he caught sight of Moody. "You!" He said, staring at Moody with a look of fear tinged with fury. He seemed as though he was unsure he was truly seeing him.
"Me," Moody replied grimly, "And unless you've got anything else to say to Potter, you might want to move. You're blocking the doorway."
It was true. Karkaroff coughed into his hand and continued on his way, glancing behind him every thirty seconds or so. He said nothing more. Moody continued to watch him even after he left, a look of intense dislike settled into his bones.
Harry only barely remembered to yell to Sonic to bring Shadow over for the talk that night- with all the excitement of the evening, he had nearly forgotten.
Shadow slunk into the Gryffindor Common Room behind Sonic, still reeling at the sheer amount of magical energy now present inside the castle. If this doesn't attract the Chaos Emerald, I don't know what will. The arrival of both new headmasters and the litany of students had his internal chaos sensors going off nonstop.
His research on the Unforgivable Curses had yet to pay off. Even the restricted section, which had been an absolute chore to get permission for, offered nothing more than what they were already being taught in class. At least the rest of his time spent at Hogwarts finally seemed to be good for something. The wizarding classes and precision needed to cast spells had helped Shadow refine his chaos energy to a level he hadn't thought possible. Or perhaps he had simply discounted the need for further refinement on Mobius. Besides furthering his ability through reading theory books, he and Hermione had often worked late in the library to test the limits of his magical resistance. Sonic had 'regaled' him with tales of his own adventures on Mobius between classes and at meal times, and, when put in comparison with his own experiences, Shadow felt he could safely say that their slight resistance to magic was a Mobian thing (and, unfortunately, not an Ultimate Lifeform thing). Shadow and Hermione had worked to finally boil it down to a formula: For Sonic, his resistance depended on the time of day, and for Shadow, it depended on how well-rested he was.
Shadow understood his own situation quite well: His body ran off Chaos Energy, and, due to the fact it could no longer draw upon free Chaos Energy in the environment, was actually reliant upon him being in good physical condition to replenish itself in small amounts. It was a slightly unsettling feeling. His inner well of energy was enormous, but it was unusual that he was actually forced to watch out for how much he drew upon. Food helped supplement the well, but if he were to pull several all-nighters in a row, it wouldn't do much to refill it. For that, he would need to return home (or perhaps grab a Chaos Emerald). Looking after his health was going to be a strange shift in routine, since he usually relied upon Rouge to do it for him.
Sonic's situation was a bit different in that Shadow couldn't determine the reasoning behind it. Hermione had figured out, through consented testing with him that Shadow hadn't been privy to, that the faker's magic resistance was highest in the daytime and lowest at night, which most likely had something to do with an adventure Sonic hadn't shared.
Shadow liked to think the faker was never anything but annoying, but he knew (and would rather let Omega shoot him dead before admitting), that there were many other facets of his character that intrigued him. He also knew that Sonic, after the ridiculous ordeal that was Infinite and those six months he was missing, was in no way as alright as he pretended. All of his adventures were taking their toll somewhere, even if it wasn't visible. He nearly snorted. A faker indeed.
One night, late in the library to the point Hermione was nearly asleep at the table, this line of thought had led Shadow to the unfortunate and mildly irritating conclusion that faker still didn't trust him. He had always thought the faker predictable, at least in his behavior, but as he had mulled over it, he realized (somewhat angrily) that he knew almost nothing about why Sonic acted the way he did. Sonic talked (and was sometimes an incessant chatterbox, in Shadow's humble opinion) but he rarely talked. Shadow knew Sonic maybe half as well as the fox boy did, but he (for some ridiculous reason) found himself aggravated in that lack of knowledge. He convinced himself that it had nothing to do with (wanting to be friends) desiring companionship, and that they were only talking to each other due to necessity and external circumstances. Obviously. The only reason Sonic hung around him was for something familiar in this place, and the only reason he agreed to interact with that faker was pure necessity. Something bubbled under the surface of his thoughts, unwelcome in that even contemplating it seemed ridiculous. He pushed the thought away forcefully and shook his head to clear his mind, though stray thoughts continued to buzz loudly like flies near a fruit jar. Like I said, ridiculous. I'm perfectly fine with Rouge and Omega, thank you very much.
And yet...
Beside him, Sonic stopped his whistling as they arrived before one of the moving portraits, this time of a plump woman in a white dress, sipping from her red wine glass.
"Password?" The woman asked.
"Hey Shads-" Sonic glanced at him, before his tone abruptly changed, "Hey, is something the matter?"
Shadow kept his voice neutral. "Nothing, faker. Are you going to open the door or are we going to stand here all night?"
"Well, uh, about that-"
This. This was why a friendship with the faker would be an absolute disaster. "Sonic, so help me, if you've forgotten the password-"
Just as Shadow would have undoubtedly fried him with Chaos Spears (Sonic was already preparing to run) a student, in thier fourth year by the looks of it, rushed up the stairs behind them and yelled, "Banana Fritters!"
The woman in the portrait, who had been eyeing them with open confusion, nodded at the student in relief and swung open. He ran inside while Sonic and Shadow quickly took their opportunity and dashed in after him, despite the woman watching Shadow enter the common room distrustfully.
He glanced around. It was certainly warmer than the Slytherin dorms, both figuratively and literally. A fire flickered brightly in the hearth and red banners were draped gently down the walls. From one of the tables in the middle of the room, Ron, who was facing the entrance, perked up. He nudged Harry and Hermione, the latter of whom flushed slightly upon seeing them, most likely due to the fact she was caught nearly sleeping on her notes. Sonic waved and cheerfully crossed the room in a flash, Shadow following a second later.
If Hermione's company was enjoyable, was she not his friend? The thought disturbed him. Was Shadow the Hedgehog (Ultimate Lifeform) really… making friends? By himself? The thought was odd, and so he pushed it out of his mind. He was not in the mood for more introspection.
"So, what's going on?" Sonic asked. The trio of humans probably didn't notice, but to Shadow it was clear his voice was off it's usual lilt. He was nervous.
"I- er, that is, there was this dream…" Harry scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to say, "And- um- basically, I found what you're looking for."
Sonic flicked his ear, eyes widening and posture relaxing. "Really? You found it?"
Shadow glanced around the room. Mostly empty, except for their group and a few stragglers. He doubted any of the students eavesdropping would know what they were talking about if they did happen to overhear anything important.
"Not exactly found it," Harry explained awkwardly, "More like… know someone… who did?"
"Well," Shadow said impatiently, "Who are they?"
Harry winced. "...Voldemort?"
The ring, forgotten until now, suddenly burned on his finger, hot and painful. It was unexpected, and Shadow gasped as fire seemed to flash through his hand.
"The hell?!" He hissed, shaking his hand furiously. He nearly tore his glove off, but as the pain receded he decided against it. It was bearable. Barely.
"Shadow?"
He grit his teeth and looked up. "It's nothing. Continue." Ignoring the raised eyebrows, Shadow forced his quills to lay flat as the pain faded. It was silent for a few moments, before Sonic snapped his finger.
"Vol-" He glanced at Shadow out of the corner of his eyes, appearing slightly worried. "That guy has the emerald? Did you find out where he is?"
Harry scratched his cheek, "No, not really. I'm sorry. I- we just thought we should tell you."
"How did you come by this information?" Shadow questioned, "A spell of some sort?"
"Not… exactly," Harry responded, eyes troubled. Ron and Hermione watched him in concern. "It was a dream, but…"
"A dream? Hmph." Shadow shook his head. As unreliable as that sounded, this was a world where 'magic' made nearly anything possible. It was also the first lead they had had in awhile. If Harry really was receiving flashes of the emerald, it was quite possibly the work of the gem itself.
"Wait wait wait. Vol- Him? Isn't he supposed to be, you know, dead?" Sonic asked in confusion.
"Er- It wasn't really him, I guess, but his assistant, Wormtail was there, and I-" Harry closed his eyes, voice strained, "Sorry. That's all I remember."
Watching his friend's behavior carefully, Sonic suddenly felt bad for questioning Harry like this. Thinking of Voldemort always seemed to bring him discomfort, so he took it upon himself to cheer him back up.
"That's alright, Har. At least we finally know the Chaos Emerald is actually here at all, even if it's pretty close to the location of, well, him. Thanks a ton."
Harry smiled tiredly. "No problem." He yawned and glanced down at his notes in distaste. Beside him, Ron and Hermione exchanged worried glances, but said nothing. With everything that was going on, it was no surprise his human body was probably feeling exhausted.
Shadow contemplated the new information. He and Sonic had already gone looking around the continent for the emerald, but perhaps one more trip was in order. It would probably be troublesome if Voldemort, the adversary of wizards, figured out how to use the power of the emerald. He shook his head again. He needed more time to think.
"If that's everything." Shadow turned around and left without another word, contemplating his discoveries. Was his chaos-magic theory incorrect? Was Voldemort truly dead? Why had to emerald chosen to appear to him, instead of at the school, like he had predicted? Had the other students not arrived quickly enough, and the emerald had gone to the second-largest magic signature in this world? Or, perhaps… Had it sensed the extreme lack of energy, and appeared somewhere to fill the void? He rubbed his temples, sensing an oncoming headache.
He didn't notice the light footsteps behind him until he was already halfway to the Slytherin dormitory. He spun around warily, but to his surprise, it was no assailant. Sonic stood behind him, nonchalant, or at least appearing to be so. One of his sneakers was balanced on its tip behind him, and Shadow watched silently as it tapped against the floor. His eyes met Sonic's, ruby to emerald, and finally Sonic huffed in annoyance and crossed his arms.
"I didn't want this to be weird," he sighed, rolling his eyes, "So much for that."
"What do you want?" Shadow asked in irritation, not really in the mood for teasing or irritating antics. Sonic's eyes flashed.
"I want to know what the hell that was in the Common Room! You can't just double over in pain and expect m- people to brush it off."
"Actually, I can. And like I said, it's nothing." Shadow narrowed his eyes, daring Sonic to test him on that.
"Oh really? Is that why you looked like your hand was about to fall off?"
"It doesn't matter at this point. It doesn't hurt anymore.." Shadow wasn't sure why he was fighting so hard to keep the ring a secret. Surely it didn't matter if he told Sonic about it? But something insidious was whispering in his thoughts, causing his competitive instincts to kick in, and his latent frustration with Sonic, the Chaos Emerald, and the situation as a whole seemed to be wretchedly boiling beneath his skin.
"It doesn't- Shadow! Why can't you just tell me what's going on? I'm not some kid who you need to keep secrets from!" Sonic seemed fairly upset at the moment, but still there was something was egging Shadow on, patting him on the back for every harsh word he was going to say to the faker. What was this voice? He couldn't seem to bring himself to care. His repressed anger and insecurities were melting together into a solution of violent anger. The incident that had kicked off this whole mess may have been accidental, yet at the moment it seemed entirely too easy to pin it all on Sonic. Why the hell was he stuck here with the faker, of all people? Why did he keep finding himself speaking his thoughts to the damn idiot? And why in the hell did he keep opening himself up? Setting himself up for disappointment and failure? It was disgusting, and weak-natured, nothing like what the Ultimate Lifeform should be (it was too terrifying to be vulnerable). He didn't need to rely on anyone. He didn't need anybody. Shadow the Hedgehog most certainly did not need a friend.
"Why the hell do you even care? We're only allies due to circumstance, nothing more. I could care less what you think about anything I do, and I could care less about you."
Sonic's eyes widened and his fists tightened minutely at his sides. His gaze became less open and more stony, a poker face he rarely wore. "Well, you may not care about me, but I, at least, thought we were friends. But," his tone turned bitter, "I guess your superiority complex finally got the better of you, Mr. Ultimate Lifeform." He bit his lip and abruptly turned around. "See you later."
And he was gone.
Shadow watched him go, more confused than anything now that he had no target for the rest of his anger. Had he not spoken the truth? Did Sonic not feel the same way? Before this whole incident, they had rarely seen each other except for competitive racing or, on rare occasions, G.U.N. missions where Sonic wanted to tag along.
It's his own fault, a voice seemed to whisper in his mind, he tried to get close to you and got burned, just like everyone else.
But Rouge, Shadow protested, and Omega-
Irrelevant. Don't you remember-
Maria.
Shadow blinked. He was frowning, though he couldn't understand the reason. He should be happy. He had finally gotten rid of the dead weight. This feeling… surely it wasn't regret? Something in his mind bloomed at that moment, burning brightly, a gentle green glow that reminded him of Chaos Energy. A throb stabbed through his skull, the oncoming migraine undeniable.
This headache must be worse than I thought.
He stumbled back to the Slytherin dormitory in a dreamy daze. His body was on autopilot, but as he retreated to his bed and pulled shut the curtains… an itch began to develop.
It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, at first. He scratched it idly, but touching it only seemed to make it spread. He kept scratching, and before he knew it his whole body was ablaze, seemingly irritated. It felt as though a particularly small insect was crawling beneath his skin. Finally, the feeling became so awful he was forced to take off his gloves and begin scratching furiously, drawing blood with the inhumanly sharp claws the blood of the Black Arms granted him.
Why… What is this burning?
Something caught his eye, glittering in the darkness. The ring. That green glow, in the center of his mind. It was an inferno now. It was instinct, really, that made him grit his teeth at that moment, bearing his fangs. The ring seemed to be clinging to his finger like a tick, burrowing itself under his skin.
I must get rid of it.
He slid the claws of his opposite hand beneath the band, and pulled with all of his strength. It wasn't working.
No!
The ring, his body was telling him, was poisoning him. Leaving it on was not an option.
Shadow pulled again, harder than he thought possible. The ring slid over his knuckle, but seemed more desperate than ever to remain glued to his hand. Fuck this. Shadow nearly gave up, but the glow behind his eyes intensified, until everything he saw was tinted over with a chaos green hue. In this new emerald vision, the ring was black, a corroded parasite clinging to his flesh. Anger overcame Shadow, and instead of green everything was suddenly red, and with a great growl of anger he ripped the damn thing off.
Immediately, his body slumped with exhaustion. Shadow tiredly noticed his inhibitor rings were dangerously close to sliding off, and pushed them back, flickers of chaos energy receding under his skin. He placed the ring down on the nightstand beside him, close enough to reach it but far enough that he couldn't sense it's presence.
The moment the ring ceased to touch him, the headache disappeared. Clarity suddenly rushed over him, and he collapsed onto the bed as the rush of adrenaline and chaos faded away.
Something moved in his periphery, and out of the corner of his eyes he noticed a pale white face staring at him in the darkness.
"Go to bed, Malfoy," He murmured exhaustedly.
The face dropped back to its pillow and the curtain abruptly closed. Shadow supposed his chaos energy light show must have woken him up. He hadn't meant to, but he wasn't particularly sorry about it either. But what he was sorry about…
Oh Chaos, I didn't mean it. The damn ring- it's been feeding off of me for far too long. I'd forgotten about it, and now I've made a mistake I don't know I can fix.
He'd have to figure out a way to get rid of the ring. He couldn't allow it to cause him to act so foolishly again.
Shadow slept with a troubled mind and a troubled heart.
Sonic, understandably, was avoiding him. It wasn't his usual behavior, but Shadow wasn't going to force him to spend time with him after what had happened the previous night. He poked at his food absently, only taking bites when his stomach deigned to remind him that after the lightshow last night his chaos energy was lower than the threshold he needed to function normally. His movements were slower than he would have liked (though they would have still appeared supersonic to the wizards). Malfoy hadn't bothered him this morning, which was of more importance to him than to Shadow. The kid would have gotten a few dozen Chaos Spears if he had said something snarky to Shadow at the moment (thought, truthfully, Shadow would have liked to have something to take out his frustration on). Anything but this sense of something missing. He felt weak, and he detested it. He felt weak, and he accepted it.
A couple of the stupider Slytherins had decided to take their chances with the Goblet of Fire. Shadow felt that although they were of age they didn't have nearly the amount of critical thinking skills necessary for a tournament of this type. He himself, a novice of magic, probably would have performed better than most of the students who deigned to enter (including a somewhat humorous event in which Fred, George and their friend attempted to enter their names into the goblet using and aging potion and were promptly thrown onto their asses by the Age Line).
Shadow went about his day as normal, though he was regrettably hyper-aware of the absence of a certain faker. His classes continued to be a bore, and when he did have a a joint activity with the Gryffindors, Sonic avoided him by excusing himself for a run or something equally inane.
Before dinner, Shadow ran into the dormitory to change his socks after stepping in something having to do with the Blast-Ended Skrewts, who weren't nearly as amusing when it was breeding season and they were beginning to lay eggs. As he dug through the chest the school had loaned him he reflexively checked the nightstand for the ring- only to find it had disappeared.
Instantly, he began searching through the chests of the other students, then the nightstands, then under the pillows, then the restroom- nothing. It was gone, almost as though it hadn't been there in the first place. Shadow growled in frustration, checking the clock.
This was the sort of thing he would have talked to Sonic about, with the glaring problem that he and Sonic weren't currently on speaking terms. Shadow could just apologize, but without the ring, how was he supposed to explain that his words weren't his own? Or- even worse - they possibly were his own, but the ring had given him an excuse to voice them? And, on top of that, Sonic had no reason to believe Shadow. After all, hadn't Shadow done his hardest to deny there was anything but animosity between them? Why would Sonic forgive him when Shadow had never indicated he felt differently than what he had said?
How frustrating.
Shadow collapsed on his bed, staring at the ceiling before determination seared through him. He was going to have to acknowledge he had made a mistake not only with his words, but keeping the ring a secret in the first place. Shadow the Hedgehog was going to fix this.
But first, he had to find the ring.
The morning after Shadow told him how he felt, Sonic promised himself he was going to back off. Obviously, it was his fault. He should have apologized to Shadow sooner for getting them into this mess instead of continuing to deny his part in it.
He admitted to himself that he was probably too clingy. In his head, he had told himself it was because he didn't want Shadow to feel alone (because Shadow clearly hadn't proven he was fine by himself), but in reality it was because he didn't want to feel alone. In spite of his avoidance of hugs and the like, Sonic disliked being alone for too long. An adventure or two for a few days was nice when he needed to recuperate, but being forced into solitude only brought him back to the days of Green Hill, where he was a small and lonely ten year old kid up against a narcissistic madman with nothing but his shoes and speed on his side (and, more lately, the months up on the space station where- no).
Sonic missed his friends. He tried to make new ones wherever he went- partially because wherever he went there were people in need, and partially because he disliked being forced to bear the weight of the world by himself. So, maybe, he had pushed too hard with Shadow. He had pushed their tenuous alliance too far, and lost it all together. Shadow didn't want him as a friend. Well, fine. That was fine.
He really didn't need anyone.
Then again, he glanced towards Harry, who hadn't yet been forced awake by any of his dorm mates, maybe I'm not entirely alone.
Sonic forced himself to act cheerful during breakfast, deflecting any questions about what he and Shadow had talked about last night after they had left the common room. He could tell Hermione was concerned, though she was probably more concerned with the S.P.E.W. badges than his faux cheeriness. Ron kept shooting him worried glances, while Harry seemed the most suspicious. Intent on avoiding a grilling later, Sonic toned it down a little, and assured them everything was fine as they went through their day.
No one stepped forward to put their name in the Goblet at breakfast, aside from a girl named Angelina who apparently played Quidditch with Harry. They wished her luck after she told them, then headed down towards Hagrid's hut for a visit, since for the Golden Trio it had apparently been awhile. Unfortunately, Sonic couldn't accompany them due to the fact Professor Moody had asked him for some assistance last night before he and Shadow had gone to the Gryffindor Common Room, and who was he to turn down someone who needed his help? Additionally, he had explained to them, he had already seen Hagrid a few days ago, so, "It's fine, go on and see him, yes, I promise it's fine". They had eventually acquiesced, to his relief, and he waved them off before heading off to go find the professor.
Sonic wandered the halls for a while, doing a dozen laps around the castle to get the nervous energy out of his legs, before he realized what time it was and arrived at Moody's classroom nearly twenty minute late. He was about to swing open the door before his ear twitched, picking up voices on the other side of the old wood.
His instincts prevented him from simply opening it anyway, and instead he reflexively relaxed his muscles, adjusting his footsteps to be near-silent as he sunk to the ground beside the door, lying against the cold stone of the hallway. He took care to gently press his ear up against the wood, near silent as he listened to the conversation going on behind it. A gasp soon escaped his lips, and before he could blink or get his feet fully under him, a ward of some sort slammed up . Before he could get his legs under him again, and ward of some sort slammed up around him, trapping him against the floor. His eyes widened as the door creaked open and sunset crept through the windows of the high-vaulted ceiling, lighting up the face of his attacker in hues of red and yellow.
As usual, his mouth moved before his mind.
"You gettin' married or somethin'?"
A wordless wave of a wand, and he was out.
Sonic woke up with a gasp, harshly clutching the fluffy pillow on the bed he found himself in. He slowly pushed himself up, eyes wide as he surveyed his surroundings.
"Hospital wing?" He murmured to himself. He shook his head, cradling it as the dizziness seeped away. Madame Pomfrey was fussing over Fred and George on the other side of the room, but she turned her finely curled head towards him in acknowledgment.
"I didn't know what would work and what wouldn't, so I just Cedric to lay you down over there so you could rest. Are you feeling alright?"
Sonic shook his head, disregarding the slight headache he had. It felt like he was missing something in his head- not his figurative keys, but something more important. But what?
"Yeah, I'm… fine, I think. Why… am I here again?"
Madame Pomfrey tutted in sympathy. "I wouldn't know, dear. Cedric says he just found you collapsed in the Great Hall! Do you have any underlying conditions?"
"I-" Sonic coughed. He needed some water. "I don't think so?"
"Well then, you should be good to go. You woke up just in time- I think they're about to find out who the champions are."
Sonic leapt off his bed, instantly regretting it upon landing and feeling as though the impact had shaken his very bone structure. What had he been doing in the Great Hall? He couldn't remember… But he couldn't miss this! He would just have to cook something up in the kitchens later. He refused to support an organization called 'S.P.E.W.' ("What kind of name is that, Hermione! People are only gonna make fun of you!" His very sound logic was ignored as Hermione continued trying to get recruits) but he also refused to support whatever was up with the house-elves.
Surely though, a glass of water wouldn't hurt anyone?
He raced through the empty halls, excited in spite of his missing memories. He could never forget this. He arrived at the entrance to the Great Hall just as Dumbledore read off the first name, belonging to one Viktor Krum. Sonic politely clapped as he made his way over to the Gryffindor table, avoiding eye contact with Shadow as he passed the cheering Durmstrang students at the Slytherin table.
"Blimey Sonic, where were you?" Ron whispered as he sat down.
Sonic shrugged, "Ah, you know. Busy." It was best he could come up with, especially given that he didn't know himself.
Though he had apparently missed dinner, there were still a few pitchers of water sitting on the table, droplets of condensation running down them in rivulets as the ice melted inside. Sonic grabbed a goblet and poured himself some as he listened to Dumbledore read off the next name. He absently raised a brow at Hagrid, who had "cleaned up" (if you could call it that) and kept shooting misty-eyed lovelorn looks at Madame Maxime.
Sonic glanced around the room, studying everything passively as he sipped his water and 'slowly' kicked his legs beneath the table. At the staff table, the Goblet of Fire turned from blue-white to red, spitting out a small piece of paper.
"The champion for Beauxbatons is," a pause, "Fleur Delacour!"
Though cheers broke out throughout the Great Hall, the students from Beauxbatons did not seem happy. Everyone at the Ravenclaw table appeared uncomfortable as two of the girls spontaneously burst into tears, burying their heads in their arms on the table. Sonic took another sip of water, feeling his headache clearing.
Fleur walked to the staff table and disappeared into a side chamber that Sonic hadn't previously noticed. Scanning the Slytherin table, he noticed Viktor had disappeared as well. That must be the place the champions go.
The Great Hall was silent, but rather than being uncomfortable, the air was stiff with excitement. The goblet sparked, turning red once more, and spat out the last piece of paper.
"The Hogwarts champion is," another pause, "Cedric Diggory!"
Uproar broke out across the Great Hall. The Hufflepuff table was having a meltdown, much to Sonic's amusement. They must not win very many things. Every single one of them jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table. The applause went on for so long that it was quite a while before Dumbledore could make himself heard again.
"Excellent!" He called happily as the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beaxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real-"
The Goblet of Fire sparked red. A small piece of paper fluttered to the ground at Dumbledore's feet. No one spoke, and it almost seemed as though no one breathed. Dumbledore, almost automatically it seemed, reached down to scoop the paper up. Before he had even completely straightened, the goblet's fire was shot through once again with red, but this time a long column of flame erupted from it, seemingly some sort of beacon.
A sudden feeling of dread shot through Sonic. I don't think this is how it's supposed to go.
Dumbledore was still quiet, staring at the names written on the parchment with an unreadable expression on his face. There was a long pause. Everyone was staring at him, waiting with bated breath for his next damning words. Dumbledore eventually cleared his throat, and read, "Harry Potter!"
The Great Hall positively exploded. Automatically, Sonic turned his face towards his friend, face white as the blood drained from his face. Even before Dumbledore's next words were spoken, Sonic felt a pit in his stomach as he turned his gaze to the Slytherin table. Before anyone could even think to get a word of protest in, Dumbledore said the final, damning words.
"And Shadow T. Hedgehog!"
Sonic at Shadow. Shadow stared at Sonic. There were no words to be said between them, and indeed words would not have been able to express the sheer amount of dread on their faces. Fuck.
End Notes: Hi! So, uh, sorry for the verrry long wait. You guys didn't deserve it. Unfortunantly, as soon as summer ends I have basically no time (and when I do, it's dedicated to either reading fics, doing schoolwork, or playing video games). So... yeah. This was a long time coming. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Don't worry, I forgot about the ring too. Until I didn't :)
The boys are fighting! Moody is meddling! We're exploring characters baby!
A quick note: Some people seem to be confused about which continuities I'm using- So, just to be clear: This is the games' continuity. Post-Forces. I know the Archie comics lore (trust me, I've them all!) but Archie Comic lore would seriously complicate everything and does not have a place in the story. The one and only time I mention other Sonic continuities is for humerous purposes, they will not have anything to do with character or plot. And, please, don't go blasting me in the comments about what Sonic's true backstory is. Given that I'm going by the game canon, I can make things up (headcanons, if you will), that make sense to me and that I feel would give the character more depth and development. Sonic's first appearence in Sonic 1, and he's alone. I just built off of that. No, I do not know game manuel lore, do not even try to pull that lol.
Fun Fact: I almost considered not making Cedric a champion at all, but then I was like 'fuck it' because drama baby :) It's fun.
Another Fun Fact: I wrote most of this in a day. That's my writing schedule. It took about 8 hours (though it doesn't really feel like 8 hours) and is not edited, though I do my best to correct errors when I catch them.
I'm so grateful to each and every one of you who have supported this fic. It's my only ongoing work and I have a blast writing it, but it's you guys who validate it. I love y'all, hope you're staying safe.
One more thing: Do you guys want this story to continue? I was thinking about all the drama that J.K. Rowling has caused within the HP community and I'm just a little worried that that is discouraging to some readers... So, let me know in the comments?
Once again, thank you all for your support. 2020 is almost over, we can make it to a brighter future. Stay happy and healthy, everyone.