Hello all, it's me, Michael. here. Since I last updated this thread, it has surpassed a wonderful milestone! Thank you to all the men, women, boys, and girls who are responsible for A Different Path having now passed 300000 views! Much love from Arizona for all the support! :)

Around 10 A.M. on the morning of Friday, August 12th, 1994, Remus Lupin was sitting on a brown Lazy Boy recliner in his office at Hogwarts when he heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" asked Professor Lupin.

"Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Barty Crouch, and Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Ludo Bagman, " came Fudge's voice.

Not sensing anything was amiss or peculiar, Lupin got up and opened the door and Fudge, Crouch, and Bagman all walked in.

"We have an announcement, " chroused Fudge, Crouch, and Bagman.

"What is it?" asked Lupin curiously.

"We previously came to this agreement with Dumbledore, " explained Fudge, "But as Dumbledore is no longer Headmaster of Hogwarts, is now our responsibility to inform you, the current Headmaster of Hogwarts, that the Triwizard Tournament will be held at Hogwarts during the 1994-1995 academic year. "

'NO!' yelled Lupin loudly.

"Part of the idea for bringing the Triwizard Tournament to Hogwarts for the 1994-1995 school year, " explained Crouch calmly, "Is to expose the Hogwarts student body to some foreign students and familiarize Hogwarts students with different cultures."

"Besides, " said Bagman eagerly, "it should be fun for the students at Hogwarts to be able to watch something different than Quidditch this upcoming academic year."

"No, " repeated Lupin more calmly, "The very reason the Triwizard Tournament was discontinued in the first place was the high death rate. As the current Headmaster of Hogwarts, it is MY choice whether or not to allow the Triwizard Tournament to played at Hogwarts and I will NOT allow it owing its dangerous nature. As Headmaster of Hogwarts, my students are my responsibly and I cannot in good conscience allow the lives of my students to be put at risk for the purposes of entertainment and competition."

There was a minute and a nanosecond of screaming silence before Remus piped up, "What were the tasks going to be?"

"The First Task will involve the Triwizard Champions trying to get past nesting mother dragons to try to collect a golden egg from amongst the real dragon eggs. The Second Task will have the Triwizard Champions swimming at the bottom at the black lake to try retrieve people close to them stolen by merpeople. The third Task will be a maze filled with creatures like spiders and blast ended skewts, " exclaimed Bagman excitedly.

"HELL NO!" shouted Lupin at the top of his lungs, "Dumbledore may have been willing to play along for who knows how many different possible reasons, but I'm not. The Triwizard Tournament was discontinued for a very good reason. Under no circumstances will the Triwizard Tournament EVER be played at Hogwarts whilst I am Headmaster of Hogwarts. The lives and safety of my students are of the utmost importance. And the tasks that were apparently planned for this Triwizard Tournament are EXTREMELY dangerous. I am not a puppet for the Ministry of Magic. As the rightful Headmaster of Hogwarts, I have the right to decide what I will and will not allow in my school."

Defeated, Fudge, Crouch, and Bagman all stormed out Lupin's office with furious looks on their faces and were quickly out of sight as Lupin sat down again.

About an hour later, Lupin heard another knock on his door.

"Who is it?" asked Lupin more wearily.

"Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," came Amelia's voice, which sounded kindly.

Lupin got up from his Lazy Boy recliner for a second time and let Madam Bones in.

"Hello, Remus, " said Madam Bones warmly, "Fudge, Crouch, and Bagman have informed me of your decision not to allow the Triwizard Tournament to be played at Hogwarts this year. Normally, the Heads of all other departments must inform me of all decisions they are making and clear them with me. However, Bagman and Crouch planned the Triwizard Tournament without telling me. First, I want to thank you for making the prudent decision to reject the asinine idea of having the Triwizard Tournament be played at Hogwarts this year. You may have saved at least a life or two by doing so. I want to shake your hand."

Remus and Amelia exchanged a quick but sincere handshake with their right hands.

"I couldn't have lived with myself if I had green lighted this archaic event and one or more students would have met an early end because of it, " said Lupin seriously.

"I can tell you that Fudge's, Crouch's and Bagman's holds on their positions are tenuous at best, " said Madam Bones in a businesslike voice, "I fully expect all three to be replaced sooner rather than later. And, I have a proposal for you. As it is my view that the Ministry of Magic should have very little involvement in Hogwarts issues, I'm totally cool with it if you say no. But would you at least be willing to listen to a suggestion?"

"Yes, Amelia, " said Lupin graciously.

"The one aspect of the Triwizard Tournament idea that I actually liked, " said Amelia in s slow and clear voice, "Was the idea of introducing Hogwarts student body to foreign witches and wizards and exposing them to different cultures. However, this can be achieved without resurrecting the Triwizard Tournament. My proposal is to start a student exchange program between Hogwarts and certain foreign schools where a certain number of foreign students would be guest students at Hogwarts for a year and a certain number of Hogwarts students would be guest students at the foreign schools for a year. Participation would be entirely voluntary."

Remus had a thoughtful look on his face. He sat back down in his Lazy Boy recliner again and was in serious thought for a few minutes and a few nanoseconds.

"Well, " said Lupin finally, "I support the idea. However, as the fall semester starts in a few weeks, and as I believe careful planning should go into an idea like this before implementing it, I suggest we begin a student exchange program at Hogwarts not this year, but next year for the 1995-1996 academic year."

"Wise words from a wise man, " said Madam Bones respectfully, "in fact, that gives me a whole year to plan it out and work on the details."

"Okay then, " said Lupin simply.

"I've got to return to work, " said Madam Bones matter of factly, "See you again soon and thank you again for stamping out the ridiculous idea of bringing the fucking Triwizard Tournament back to life. "

Madam Bones got up and left and Remus was left to sit his Lazy Boy recliner, knowing full well he had made the right decision.