Freak of Nature – Chapter 8 (Selection of Champions)
Halloween arrived sooner than expected.
Harry was thankful for Uncle Moony shoving a calming draught down his throat that first night. Though he spent many nights there in his guest bedroom. Having Remus there in the next bedroom was a real sense of comfort. Though there had been moments where Harry would clutch Remus as night. He did not have a good feeling about this tournament. He knew that it would be their way of trying to kill him.
And like he said, Dumbledore had drawn an age line, even the twins hadn't found a way around it.
Harry knew he shouldn't have been so worried, but he hadn't been able to stop the panic attack the first morning.
Harry and Neville joined the Gryffindors at their table several nights later, he looked over those he knew had put their names in the goblet.
There was several… Angelina Johnson, Cassius Warrington, Graham Montague, Cedric Diggory. There were several other students from the other houses. Though Harry noticed that not every 7th year was placing their name into the Goblet. There were a handful from each house, though he noticed that Gryffindor had the most. He didn't even know the names of some of the Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws. He didn't try to remember the other Slytherins, but at least they were smarter than try to risk a death tournament.
And then there were the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The only one that Harry recognized was Viktor Krum from the World Cup.
Durmstrang and Beauxbatons arrived early October as planned, the Quidditch lovers and players had gone mental when the Viktor Krum himself was walking with the Durmstrang Headmaster, Igor Karkaroff.
He of course had been the first Durmstrang student to place his name.
Beauxbatons had arrived shortly after Durmstrang. Their Headmistress was massive! Harry had gaped for a moment before remembering his manners. She had to be at least part Giant. Hagrid had been looking doe-eyed since she arrived.
Beauxbatons seemed to have only good-looking students, although not very smart judging on the fact none of them had bought jackets for Scotland's cold. Fleur Delacour and her little sister Gabrielle had immediately smiled at Harry as if they knew something. He liked Fleur after she had introduced herself and sat next to him on the Gryffindor table.
In privacy she had informed him, Remus and Neville, that she was part Veela. Even though she couldn't shift, she could create fireballs and had the gift of Veela songs. She had also been able to tell what Harry was from the moment she saw him. She swore to secrecy and Harry had enjoyed her company, although now he had another friend who had entered their name to worry about.
He had never expected to become friends with anyone, since everyone seemed to care about his fame. But he had befriended Fleur and her little sister rather quickly. She just seemed so understanding and knew exactly what he struggled with. No matter how strong the friendship he had with Neville, which he would never change for the world. She knew the struggle of being half creature. Though he felt slightly jealous that she probably didn't have to hide that half.
But now it was time for the champions to be called.
Moony had ignored Dumbledore and sat down with Harry, holding his cub's hand. Harry couldn't tell why his anxiety was so high, but he felt himself worried for who would be selected for the Hogwarts champion.
He had walked past of a group of Slytherins, he had recognized Graham Montague, they hadn't spoken since the train first year. That didn't mean that he didn't see him around the castle. But every now and then he would feel the Slytherin staring at him, trying to figure him out. He had flinched when Graham's friends had cheered and congratulated him putting his name in the goblet. That night had been filled with nightmares and panic attacks.
Bartemius Crouch stood before everyone, standing before the goblet.
It was time.
"As you are aware, we will be selecting the champions for each school representing their school for the Triwizard Tournament. After the Goblet of Fire spits your name forth, you will enter into the chamber down the hall to the left of you," Crouch began to speak.
"Once you have entered your name into the Goblet, there is no going back. There is no breaking the contract once selected and I hope you do your respected school proud."
He raised his wand and tapped the side of the goblet.
"This is it." Fred hissed.
"The moment we have been waiting for." George smirked.
The Goblet's fire turned blue and soared into the sky, and a small parchment floated down to Crouch.
"The Durmstrang Champion is... VIKTOR KRUM!" Crouch shouted to the crowd. Durmstrang went wild, cheering and shouting.
Harry clapped politely, eyes darting over the faces of the Hogwarts students who entered again, they started to look worried now.
He heard Ron comment, "Of course Krum is champion!"
The redheaded boy was obsessed with the Quidditch player. Harry had actually pushed Krum into an empty classroom when Ron had been stalking the man. He had no problem in faking that he hadn't known what Ron was going about and continued to ignore the redhead.
He didn't know if Krum had appreciated that gesture or not. But he had dealt enough of Ron's stupid behavior. So, he figured if he could help the Quidditch player, he would try. He definitely didn't expect any thank you's from the Bulgarian student. And he certainly hadn't offered any, so he continued going about to his classes and doing homework.
Harry watched as the Bulgarian wizard got up and walked towards the chamber that Bartemius Crouch had been talking about.
The Goblet's fire turned blue again, reaching up to the sky. The parchment floating down slowly. Crouch grabbing it mid-air.
"The Beauxbatons champion is... FLEUR DELACOUR!"
Harry's heart sunk, Fleur got up from opposite him, kissing Gabrielle and grinning widely.
"How was that bimbo chosen?" Hermione Granger scoffed.
Harry scowled and tossed a scone at her head. It was childish but it made him feel better. He snickered when she turned around and all his friends pointed at each other, Dean at Seamus, Seamus at Dean, Neville at Lee, Lee at Angelina, Fred and George at each other. Even Remus pointed at Neville.
Hermione had hated the girl ever since Ron had dripped drool over her the first day.
Harry still didn't understand the fascination Granger had in him. All Ron Weasley had done was insult her, must be some type of kink of hers. Girls didn't make much sense to him.
The Gryffindor felt himself wait in anticipation as the Goblet lit up blue again. Harry found himself curling into Remus, Moony wrapping his arms around Harry's shoulders. Crouch grabbed the parchment.
"The Hogwarts champion is... GRAHAM MONTAGUE!"
Harry gasped, chest constricting. The hall was silent before Slytherin erupted into the cheers and stamping feet.
The Ravenclaws followed suit, Hufflepuff mourned for Cedric Diggory but still loyal to Hogwarts to clap politely.
Gryffindor was almost silent until Remus started clapping, followed by Fred, George, Lee, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie. The Gryffindor quidditch players actually didn't mind Graham or his friends, beyond the sport competitiveness. But that didn't mean the rest of Gryffindor House felt the same. They would look at it that a Slytherin probably took what should have been theirs.
In fact, most of the Gryffindor faces were angry and disgust. Ron and Hermione were even protesting loudly. At least they were until Fred hexed them and George kicked Ron's legs as hard as he could. The twins had almost been in Slytherin, and their fear of Molly's reaction was the only reason the hat put them in their second-best house.
Harry didn't know what to feel about it, his feelings were all over the place. And none of them were making sense to him.
He could feel his Siren half screeching at him, he clutched his head trying to soothe the sudden headache. Letting out a low moan of pain as he pressed his face into Remus' robes. He wanted water but he knew he couldn't race out of here.
Remus forced a glass of iced water onto his lips, Harry glugged it down, ooh Moony was the best. He had even added salt to the glass of water. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough to stop the shakes.
When had his body started to shake?
Harry looked up when he felt Remus tense and heard the hall gasp.
Oh, Merlin. The Goblet fire was blue again. Harry watched wide-eyed as another parchment floated down. Crouch was in shock, so Dumbledore reached out to grab it.
"Harry Potter," he said quietly but the silence meant everyone heard it.
"HARRY POTTER!" Dumbledore shouted out. Everyone's eyes darted to the scared fourth year.
No... no... no..." Harry started muttering under his breath. This couldn't be happening. They had three champions... even a Slytherin.
He didn't want to!
Neville was white shaking his head, all his friends looked shocked and terrified.
"Cheater!" Ron shouted.
Harry felt himself flinching when everyone glared at him. He couldn't handle the stares and hatred aimed at him.
"He's not even 15!" Someone one from Ravenclaw shouted.
Harry felt Remus help him to his feet, he could feel himself walking with Remus guiding him. He couldn't control his body or react. He was numb.
"It will be okay cub. I will do everything I can, I know you didn't put your name." Remus was rambling into his ear. It was a soothing hum. "We will get through this. Oh, Tunes is going to kill Dumbledore and burn Hogwarts down." Remus continued; it brought a weak chuckle from Harry.
They finally entered the chamber with the other champions. Fleur immediately ran to Harry's side, "What is wrong, mon petit frère?"
"Someone entered his name into the goblet," Remus answered for Harry, the boy was panicking. They were interrupted by Dumbledore bursting in, followed by Igor Karkaroff, Olympe Maxime, Bartemius Crouch, Ludo Bagman, Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall.
"There has been a mistake," Fleur shouted the minute she noticed them, her accent thick. "Harry cannot compete. He is too young, A child!"
Harry nodded furiously, tears on his cheeks. When had they started falling?
"Did you put your name in the Goblet?" Dumbledore demanded, he tried to push Harry against the wall, but Remus stepped between them. He was not going to let the Headmaster anywhere near Harry.
"How could he have?" Graham drawled; brown eyes narrowed. "Didn't you swear no underage child could enter their names because of YOUR age line? Seems the Headmaster does have a fallibility after all…"
"What is the meaning of this, Dumbly-dorr?" Madam Maxime demanded, watching with pride as her champion consoled the terrified child. " He is a little boy! Is this how you treat your own students here!?"
"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," Professor Karkaroff added, looking disgusted. "Two Hogwarts champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions, or have I not read the rules carefully enough?" You could hear the sarcasm through the thick Bulgarian accent.
"You think I'm not aware of this, Igor," Dumbledore said, exasperated.
"It's no one's fault but Potter's, Karkaroff," Snape sneered, black eyes glittering with hate "Don't place the blame of the Headmaster for an insolent child's stupidity" Snape found himself cut off before he could continue his rant.
"Snivellus I am warning you to shut up now!" Remus' amber eye flared as he growled, standing protectively in front of his cub. Fleur let her hands glow red with the urge to throw fireballs. These Hogwarts professors were not impressing her in the slightest.
"Is this how you allow your Professors to treat children?" Fleur demanded of Dumbledore.
"Everyone! Settle down." Dumbledore boomed. "Remus, stand down, you too Miss Delacour. Severus, thank you for defending me, but I do believe Harry is innocent. Igor, I do not know how this happened, but rest assured I will find out." Krum suddenly scoffed.
"Why should we trust you to find out? You swore the age line would protect the younger students. You stopped people whose 17th birthdays were after the first task from entering, but couldn't protect a mere 14-year-old?" It was hard to hear all of it under the thick accent. But his indignation was clear. He wasn't sure why this young child had helped him hide from the frothing redhead, but he did owe him. Plus, he was a child, clearly terrified. His friend, the quiet blonde was kind of cute, he always saw him in the library reading Herbology books. He had also helped Viktor hide from the frizzy brunette that he always saw with the redhead.
"If you cannot protect your own students. Why should we trust you?" He growled.
"How do we get him out of this?" Remus demanded.
"We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament." Bartemius Crouch said from the corner of the room. Enjoying the sight of Dumbledore getting a beatdown. Even those at the Ministry were not fans of the Headmaster of Hogwarts.
"SCREW THE RULES!" Remus screamed. "HE IS UNDERAGE, AS HIS GUARDIAN I DEMAND HE BE REMOVED! I DON'T GIVE CONSENT FOR HIM TO COMPETE."
"Remus!" Dumbledore scolded. "Let Bartemius speak. Do not take this out on those who did nothing to deserve this."
"MY CUB HAS BEEN ENTERED ILLEGALLY INTO A DEADLY TOURNAMENT AND YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN?!"
"Moony." Harry finally spoke, Remus whipped around, wrapping his cub in his arms.
"Oh Cub, it will be okay. I promise I will help you through every step."
"I don't wanna die." Harry whimpered.
Graham felt himself moving and before he knew it, he was placing his hand on Harry's shoulder.
"Hey, Tiny." He whispered. Harry turned, green eyes meeting brown.
"You won't be in this tournament alone. Since its despicable that none of the officials for our school will support anyone!" Graham's voice was firm as he glared over at Snape and Dumbledore.
Harry felt himself smile, his stomach was still churning, but the worry he felt wasn't fully for himself, but for someone else. He didn't know who, but someone else was in danger. He assumed it was the other champions he worried for.
"Me too, Mon Petit frere." Fleur grinned, Harry noticed even though she couldn't shift, her teeth were differently sharper.
"I believe too, I shall help," Krum added, his English extremely broken compared to Fleur who actually spoke it fluently despite the French accent and the occasional slips into French.
"Remarkable!" Ludo Bagman grinned widely. "International Cooperation right in front of us. The reason for this tournament to begin with." he laughed joyfully; his boyish face lit up.
Remus scowled, Harry was put into some death tournament and some stupid ministry official was more concerned about three schools in collaboration with another!?
"Does my cub have to participated in this damn tournament or not! And I don't want any half ass answers either!" Remus snapped.
"Unfortunately, there is no way around it. The Goblet does not recognize if a witch or wizard is underage, only their magic," Bartemius said. "When the Goblet takes a name and spits it out, it binds their magical signature to it until the Tournament is complete. Once it is complete, it is no longer binding. As much as I disagree with this unfortunate circumstance, our hands are tied."
"Bartemius, you are not really considering making a fourteen-year-old compete?!" Minerva said flabbergasted.
She had stayed silent for the most part, unable to believe what was happening around her. The child wouldn't survive, this was a tournament for adult wizards and witches, not a child!
"It is a magically binding contract, Minerva; the Goblet is an ancient and powerful artefact. It took the magical signature of all those involved with the ignition of the Goblet's fire!" Bartemius cried. "That includes Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Maxime, Me, and the French and Bulgarian Head's of the Department of International Magical Cooperation! We could all lose our magic like Potter if the boy doesn't compete!"
"His name is Harry," Remus growled. "He is fourteen years old. You all failed to protect him. What will you do now that he is forced to compete?"
"I... Um..." Bartemius stuttered.
"I think, in the case of Mr. Potter, we can agree to waive the rules on outside help. We will have to reconvene and discuss our safety measures over each task," Ludo jumped in, uncomfortably joyful over the situation.
"That is all you have to offer!" Minerva was furious. "We have a fourteen-year-old that shouldn't even be in this room and that is all you have to say!"
"It's my life on the line" Harry spoke up. "Kind of feel like I should be in the room for it."
"Mr. Potter, if there was a way, you wouldn't be in this room at all and would be with your friends," Minerva said shortly.
"But yet… You all act like you had this under control! Despite the death tolls in the years past. despite every attempt to revive it failing. But none of you know anything!" Minerva hissed.
"Now... wait a minute, Minerva," Bartemius Crouch tried to say.
"Do not Minerva me!" she hissed. "But I expect more than some pathetic excuse that bending some rules when we have a student that is not even supposed to be a champion to begin with!"
"We will have to make allowances for the boy." Bartemius conceded. "Ludo explain the first task." He waved the overly excited man on reluctantly.
"The first task is designed to test your daring," Ludo told the room happily, but looking at Harry, Fleur, Graham and Viktor, "So we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard or witch, very important."
"So, in this case." Bartemius interrupted before Bagman could carry on. "I think we should allow Mr. Potter to be aware of the task beforehand." Unfortunately, before he could continue Karkaroff made himself known.
"So not only does Hogwarts get two champions? But one of them gets a major advantage over the others?!" He demanded.
"Oh, shut up Igor." Minerva snapped. "This is for an unwilling 14-year-old boy, I would hardly call it an advantage."
"Might I also suggest, Tiny gets, an Emergency Porkey to use at any time during each task? It can be programmed to be for a certain part of the castle," Graham spoke up.
Minerva eyed the boy with respect, this was why he was Prefect. The way he unashamedly standing up for the golden boy of Gryffindor, she might push for him to be the Head boy next year. She doubted that Albus would be happy with that, but she didn't care.
"Excellent suggestion! Snape, you must be proud of the brains on this one!" Bagman shouted gleefully. Snape seemed to ignore everyone else in the room, eying his student with suspicion.
"Each task, we can choose an advantage for Mr. Potter, and a way to make each task safer for him," Bartemius concluded with a nod.
"Now I am sure your schools and houses are dying to celebrate with you all! Off you go and remember the first task will take place November the 24th! Harry my boy we will discuss the first task options, and tomorrow we will join you in your Uncle's room to tell you what we have decided." Dumbledore interrupted cheerily, although Harry, Remus, Minerva and Graham all picked up on tenseness with the word Uncle.
"Harry, would you prefer to stay with me tonight or go back to Gryffindor?" Remus asked, Harry, looking up at him with a soft smile.
"With you Uncle Moony." Harry nodded. There was no way he wanted to go back to Gryffindor Tower, may as well postpone the inevitable.
"You got this, Tiny." Graham grinned, patting his shoulder as he left, Harry blushing at the touch and flutter in his stomach.
"We shall be by your side the whole way, mon petit frere." Fleur grinned, kissing his pink cheeks.
"Durmstrang stands with you," Viktor added with a firm nod.
Harry grinned at the unending support as he and Remus made their way back, unsurprised to find Neville already there waiting on the couch with tea and treacle tarts.
The night had been beyond horrible, now it was starting for feel slightly better. But he didn't want to face Gryffindor Tower any time soon. He knew there was going to be fight over this. So, if he could avoid it, he was going to do it.