A/N: And here's the next chapter, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Godzilla. I only own my original ideas.
Chapter 51: Goblet of Fire
The term progressed without major incident until shortly before Halloween. It was the day the other schools were due to arrive. The students of Hogwarts were gathered outside, waiting for the guests. Suddenly someone pointed skywards, and Harry spotted something descending. It was a grand carriage being pulled by a team of majestic horses. Out of the carriage stepped a very large woman followed by her students. Harry suspected she, like Hagrid, was part giant.
"Presenting, Beaxbatons!" called the woman with a distinct French accent.
"Ah, Madam Maxine," replied Dumbledore, "welcome".
"Dumblydore," said Maxine, "and these are my students".
The Beaxbatons students assembled before their carriage, awaiting the arrive of the 3rd school.
A short time later, the third school arrived, in the form of a large sailing ship rising out of the depths of the Black Lake. For everything the Beaxbatons carriage looked like something out of a classic fairy tale, this ship looked like something from a ghost story. The ship pulled up to shore and the gangplank was lowered. A rather serious-looking man led the way off the ship, followed by the students dressed in furs. Interestingly two people in particular stood out: the headmaster of this group had the same sort darkness around him as Moody (and to an extent Snape, though his was lesser). The second person of interest was one Harry recognized from the Quidditch World Cup: it was Victor Krum.
"Durstrang is here!" called the man leading this group down the gangplank.
"Headmaster Karkaroff," said Dumbledore, "welcome".
Karkaroff gave Dumbledore a stiff nod, but said nothing else.
All three groups made their way inside, and took up places in the Great Hall. Dumbledore made his way up to the staff table with the rest of the faculty, and smiled.
"Now that we are all gathered, allow me to introduce you to our impartial judge that will select the champions for this tournament: The Goblet of Fire!"
He waved his wand, and a cover was pulled off of the object in front of the head table, revealing a large goblet which swiftly filled with magical flames.
"Now, any students of at least 17 years of age are allowed to enter their name into the competition. You have until dinner on Halloween night to enter your name," said Dumbledore, "For those of who don't meet the criteria and still try to enter… well, you'll find out what will happen".
Dinner began, having a massive feast to celebrate the arrival of the visiting schools. Inwards, Dumbledore was smirking: this was the perfect way to test Potter, learn what he was hiding. Even if he did nothing, Crouch Jr. would enter the boy's name into the tournament. Dumbledore knew with ease that Moody wasn't who he appeared to be, he knew what was in Crouch's hip flask. He just needed to increase the amount of certain compulsion potions in the student's food, and Potter would be left alone as the other students would turn on him, leaving him vulnerable, and under Dumbledore's thumb.
Crouch Jr. smiled to himself… this was going just as planned. He would put Potter's name into the Goblet of Fire, force it to pick him as a 4th champion, and then use the tournament to either get Potter killed off, or if all else failed capture him and use his blood to resurrect his master!
Minerva and Severus shared a glance. There was there was definitely something strange going on here. Severus had shared Potter's concerns about Moody, and thought back to what his Snakes had told him about Moody's classes. He'd been strongly against Moody's lesson plan about the Unforgivables… especially the part about using the Imperius on students. He'd heard through the rumor mill that Potter completely threw it off with little effort. He recalled when he'd spoken to Potter about it several day ago.
Harry, Minerva, and Severus all met in Minerva's office.
"So, Mr. Potter, you mentioned to Professor Snape that you can some sort of concerns about Professor Moody?" asked McGonagall.
"Yes Professor," said Harry, "I happened to be near Professor Moody when he was drinking from his flask, and noticed an odd scent, like mud and rotten eggs. After I told them about it, Hermione and Luna went off to the library and looked up any relevant information. They determined there was a chance it as some sort of transfiguration potion, so I decided it was best to inform a professor. As we suspected a Trasfirguation Potion, either of you would have been appropriate as it relates to both of your specialties. I chose Professor Snape as he's the Potions Master and had told us we'd be working on a potion in the same category, as well as the fact we had his class first".
"Was there anything else that seemed strange to you?" asked Snape.
"I'm not certain whether it's simply part of his personality or not, seeing as I don't know him that well," said Harry, "but Professor Moody seemed oddly… happy about casting the Unforgivables, especially the Torture Curse".
It was a clue, but more information was needed. Moody was a highly skilled auror, but one who lived through the rise of Voldemort. That was an event that no one who survived escaped without scars. Still, while Moody was known to be very paranoid, he was also known to be meticulous and level headed under stressful situations. Was Potter right? Could Moody be an imposter? On the other hand, it was clear Potter was hiding something of his own.
Snape still remembered the mad search Albus had done for the boy, they never turned up anything, only for Potter to show up two years to the day after he vanished, healthy and apparently thriving. He'd done his own search into what might have happened, and learned of the destruction of the Dursley home. He recalled how jealous Petunia was of Lily, would Potter have been placed with them? In his role of a spy for both Dumbledore and Voldemort, he'd been privy to aspects of both their natures that neither would want aired. He recalled that over time Voldemort had gotten more bold, his rhetoric more violent. At the same time, he'd seen moments when Dumbledore let his 'kindly old man' mask slip, and Snape had caught hints of what truly lay beneath… and it wasn't pretty.
Potter too wore a mask, but one of a different sort. He had noticed what seemed like some sort of transfiguration effect tied to Potter's bracelet. The damage to the Dursley home was consistent with a massive release of energy, like accidental magic overdriven to a ludicrous extreme. Potter interacted with his fellow students normally, and seemed to enjoy his little circle of friends. He was no master of the art of Transfiguration, but he suspected something might have triggered a creature inheritance in Potter. If so, it was likely he was disguising himself. Another thought occurred to him… a little over two years ago, that Battra creature had appeared outside the school, and then Asulmagus appeared and drove it off before vanishing itself. Not long thereafter, he saw Potter walk out of the forest… the same forest Asulmagus had vanished in. Was there connection between the two? Could Potter be… this creature? Only time would tell if his suspicions were true.
A/N: And there we go! Seems like Snape is putting the pieces together. we'll just have to see how this play out. Next time, the Chapions are selected for the Quadwizard Tournament. See you then!