A/N: I know we're going a bit slow with the chapters but I want to build up the story. I hope it's alright with you.

Also, someone said that there are too many dialogues in my chapters and I just want to clarify that this is how I write. From personal reading experiences I find dialogues explaining things/events more clearly compared to normal describing so I apply that to my chapters/stories.

Thank you. I hope you enjoy the chapter…

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"…phne. Daphne?" Daphne came out of her train of thoughts as she looked at Tracey. "I've been calling you for a while. Are you alright?" she asked looking at her friend.

"Everything's fine," Daphne said. They were at the great hall having breakfast. She didn't tell but Tracey had noticed Daphne looking towards the Gryffindor table from time to time. She wondered what the matter was with her friend. Daphne always worried too much. She had told her not to worry too much but her reasons always silenced Tracey. She knew she would be in the same spot if she had a younger sister in Slytherin.

She saw as Daphne once again glanced at the Gryffindor table but this time Tracey saw who she was looking at and at first she thought she might've mistaken it but then another glance by Daphne confirmed it as she leaned over to her friend and whispered, "Why are you stealing glances at Potter?"

Daphne almost choked on her water. Some Slytherins looked at her before going back to their businesses as Daphne looked at her friend. Tracey was giving her the look. "Stop looking at me like that please?" she said to her friend.

"Why? Is it something too intimate to tell me?" Tracey said before bursting out in laughter as Daphne looked at her tiredly. Honestly, she sometimes wondered how she and Tracey were friends. They were polar opposites of each other just like Daphne and her sister Astoria were.

"It's nothing," Daphne said focusing back on her meal.

Tracey stopped laughing as she looked at her friend. "You know, we've never talked like normal girls," she said putting her hand around Daphne's shoulder. "We are teenagers. We should be talking about boys, flirting with them…"

"Tracey…?" Daphne's tone of warning had her friend stop as she looked at her with a dramatically sad face.

"I know," Tracey said. "You are not like that. You can't because of…well, you know why. I do too. But you deserve much more than this. Stop taking too much pressure. It's not good for you."

"Will you take responsibility for it all then?" Daphne asked her voice desperate as Tracey realized she had said what she shouldn't have. Being her friend for over three years now she knew Daphne too well but she still made mistakes sometimes. "Will you be responsible if some guy from some big pureblood family decides to show interest in my little sister?"

"You should ease down a little, Daph," Tracey said slowly.

"I can't," Daphne said. "Not when my family is surrounded by wolves waiting for an opportunity to devour us just because we won't take their side. And even if we do…do you know what it means for a magical pureblood family to have only girl children? They are seen as meat. I…my sister, we are nothing but fresh meat in the eyes of every single guy and his family sitting at this table!"

She always got chills whenever Daphne talked to her like that. How could she respond to anything like that? She looked at Astoria who was sitting with her friends a few meters from her and Daphne. At least there was someone in the Greengrass family that appeared to be enjoying their time here at Hogwarts. She knew how difficult it had been for Daphne…for her family.

The Greengrass family was a big name in Magical Britain. Their wealth and political power equaled those of the Malfoys, Blacks, Bones and some other ancient and noble families, which is why forming an alliance with them presented a family with a huge boost against their political or simply normal rivals…or enemies. After the Greengrasses declared themselves as a neutral family over ten years ago it put them in a difficult position with other dark pureblood families.

She knew Daphne's family didn't follow the pureblood stereotypical mentality that said that only pureblood magicals deserved to practice magic. But that hadn't stopped the pureblood families to try to form an alliance with them just because of their social, economic and political position. And the fact that they didn't have a male heir in their family, only Daphne and Astoria, whichever houses they married into would get everything the Greengrasses had in the form of dowry. That is how pureblood families maintained their wealth and power.

"I'm sorry," Tracey said slowly. "I know what you are…what your family goes through every day is not easy but please, as your friend can I trust you to take it a little easy…at least on yourself?"

Daphne looked at her friend. She knew Tracey cared for her like a family…like a sister which is why she knew she hadn't made a mistake befriending her on her first day here at Hogwarts. Her expressions softened as she smiled ever so slightly which Tracey knew was too much for Daphne to do as she placed her hand on Tracey's.

"I'm sorry, too," Daphne said. "I'll try my best. Will you help me?"

Tracey smiled as she squeezed Daphne's hand. "Do you even know me sister?" she said breaking into a chuckle as did Daphne.

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Harry didn't know what to say about their new defense professor. Neville had said that he was a retired auror and had the record of capturing the most number of death eaters and other criminals in the history of Magical Britain but it had also made him extremely paranoid.

Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody definitely was paranoid as Harry had noticed him cast revelation spells on his food and water every time before he ate. Personally, Harry didn't see anything wrong with it. The man was just being careful and even though it was a little too much it made sense in Moody's case who was always a target for death eaters and all the criminals he'd caught and put in Azkaban.

But the way he'd began his first class had what surprised Harry. To see the man rambling about the unforgivable curses in his first class definitely took everyone off-guard as Moody spoke how soft their society had become in these times of peace and other things when he suddenly called Ron's name as Harry saw the red head shiver in surprise before slowly standing up.

"Tell me the first curse," Moody said looking at him with his mechanical eye.

Ron was looking down as Moody was very close to his face. "The im…imperius curse," he said, his voice shaking.

"Good," Moody said before walking up to his table as he uncovered a glass container in which he had a living spider. He took it out and enlarged it as he kept talking. "The imperius curse is one of the nastiest curses you can imagine. To those of you who don't know, this curse allows you to make others do whatever you want." He then pointed his wand at the spider. "Imperio," he said as the class fell silent.

No one had thought that he'd actually cast an unforgivable. The unforgivables were so bad it was said that the ministry could track them the moment they were cast. The students present in the class wondered if Moody will be arrested.

"Walk on to my hand," Moody said as the spider climbed on his palm. Moody raised his hand so everyone could see the spider. "I can tell it to do anything I want. If I tell it you bite you it will do so. If I tell it to kill itself, well, it will do so without a second's hesitation."

He then put the spider back on the table before walking around it and looking at the students. "The ministry found it extremely difficult when you-know-who and his followers began controlling high ranking ministry officials using this spell to infiltrate it. High ranking aurors were found dead in their homes, murdered by their own family members who later had no recollection of doing any such thing. Imagine finding out that you killed someone you cared about and didn't remember doing it. What will it do to you? The repercussions of it were that many people committed suicides after finding out that they had killed their own husband, their own wife and children…or their sibling or best friend." The class was so silent it became eerie as everyone's eyes was on Moody who smirked seeing the look of horror on their faces. "That's right," he said. "That is how nasty this curse is which is why I consider it the second worse curse and not the third. You cannot even trust your friend sitting beside you. It's just that much worse. Longbottom!"

Harry felt Neville flinch as he looked at his friend who stood up. "Can you name the second curse?" Moody asked coming over to him. Harry could feel him tremble in fear and nervousness.

"The…The cruciatus curse…pro…professor," Neville said as Moody grunted.

"You should know that pretty well," Moody said as Harry's eyes widened with confusion. Why would Moody tell Neville something like that? "Come here," Moody said as he walked back to his table. Neville silently followed him. Moody took out his wand and pointed it at the spider on the table.

She had heard he was crazy but she didn't know he was this crazy. As Daphne sat in the back with Astoria, she never thought that she would ever have a faculty who would teach them about the unforgivables…with practical examples. The look of shock on her face matched those on every other student's face when Moody cast the cruciatus curse on the spider as it begin to emit a sort of screeching sound. It was the first time that she was hearing a spider screech. She didn't even know if spiders could make any sound as she saw the look of extreme discomfort on Neville's face.

"Stop it! Can't you see he's uncomfortable with it?"

"Whoa!" Tracey said as Daphne and every other student looked at Harry who was standing and looking angrily at the professor.

Daphne was quite shocked seeing him like that. She also saw Moody smirk slightly as he cancelled the curse and told Neville to go back to his seat. He then walked up to Harry and looked at him. Harry was now looking down as it was quite intimidating to look at Moody if he was looking at you.

"Tell me, Mr Potter," he said slowly but loud enough so that everyone could hear him, "do you know the third curse? Hmm?"

"The killing curse," Harry said without hesitation but he didn't know why he felt as if he was being pushed down by Moody. He was so intimidating.

"Hmm," Moody grunted again as he stepped back from Harry's bench. "The most dangerous amongst the three," he said to the whole class, "is the killing curse. It's quiet, fast and sickly green to those who don't know what it looks like. But if you ever experience the cruciatus curse you'll wish you had instead been killed by the killing curse. It's fast and painless. The moment it touches you, you die. And just like the other two curses it cannot be blocked, not with a shield, not with a ward, not with a conjured object. If you want to save yourself from it your only choice is to either dodge it or to block it with something real."

Suddenly the bell rang as the students all eased up a little. "Well," Moody said, "it looks like our fun time is over for today. I'll see you in the other one. No assignments for you at the moment but let me tell you that when I teach I don't see you as students, as fourteen-fifteen year olds. I see you as adults. You know what is happening out there. You know what happened at the Quidditch finals. If you know anyone who survived his reign over a decade ago, ask them how the time was back then and maybe then you'll understand why I am like this. Now off you go."

Everyone quickly gathered their things before leaving. Harry collected his items and shrunk them as he looked at Neville who was sitting there looking at the table. Harry stopped. "Are you okay?" he asked putting a hand on Neville's shoulder.

"Potter," Moody came up to him before Neville could say anything as Harry looked at the professor. Moody looked at Neville. "I am sorry if I overdid it back then," he said to Neville. "I know it's not easy for you. I know your parents. I fought with them back when you-know-who was in power. I am sorry for what happened to them."

Th…Thank you, professor," Neville said shakily as Moody grunted before looking at Harry.

"Potter, I need to talk to you," Moody said.

Harry wondered what he wanted to talk to him about as Neville excused himself from the classroom leaving Harry and Moody alone.

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The commotion around the great hall was visible as students were excitedly discussing about the guests who'd come to Hogwarts today. Harry was there too in the morning when the majestic looking carriage flew down from the sky, being pulled by unicorns. He knew he was in the magical world but the carriage looked completely out of this world. Their other guests arrived from underground the black lake. Apparently the lake had several underground channels leading to various seas and oceans.

When the monstrous ship emerged from the water Harry was surprised for a second. It looked like the pirate ships from muggle fictions. Once on the surface it slowly docked by one of the platforms that had been built in the lake.

As Dumbledore stood up everyone quieted down. He looked at them from the podium for a moment before speaking. "Tonight, we welcome our guests from two of the most esteemed institutes of magic," he said. "You all must be very curious to meet them. So without any delay let's welcome the lovely ladies from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and their headmistress Madame Maxime!"

The doors to the great hall opened as the students turned to look towards it. Dressed in grey two rows of girls entered the hall in all their grace and beauty, mesmerizing almost all the boys present in the great hall.

Harry looked around confused, wondering what was happening to the students. "What is going on?" he asked.

"They are veela," Neville said. "Their magic is known to lure and seduce men. You are not feeling it?" Harry looked at him before shaking his head.

"Should I?" Harry asked.

"It's just a bit surprising," Neville said. "Not many can block their…aura."

"Do you feel it?" Harry asked.

"Only very little," he said. "Luckily we're both not Dean and Seamus," he said smiling as Harry looked at them. Both Dean and Seamus were literally drooling looking at the girls. As disgusting as it looked the boys sitting around them didn't seem to notice it as their attention was also on the Beauxbatons girls.

As Harry enjoyed their situation his eyes fell on the extremely tall lady who entered the great hall. His mouth hung open as he looked at her. She must be at least two feet taller than Hagrid; he thought as Dumbledore walked down the podium and kissed her knuckle. "Welcome, Madame Maxime," he said before guiding her to an empty seat beside Hagrid.

She must be a half-giant just like Hagrid, Harry thought as it made no other sense. As he looked at her he glanced at Hagrid and smiled. It seemed the two half-giants had taken a liking to one another. Well, whatever it was Harry was happy for his friend.

Once everyone had settled with most of the boys still mesmerized by the veela's presence Dumbledore walked back to the podium and cleared his throat. "And now," he continued, "let's welcome our friends from the north – the proud sons of Durmstrang and their high master Igor Karkaroff."

The great hall was filled with sounds of stomping as two rows of boys entered the hall stomping the floor with their staff which sparked when coming in contact with the ground. It was a really good firework display as Harry put it that way when he saw a tall, thin man enter the hall. There was a cold look in his eyes as Harry put it as the man's serious demeanor never left. Harry also noticed how some of the faculty members and students eyed him differently.

"That's Viktor Krum!" Neville's words distracted him as Harry looked at the boy behind Krum. He recognized the Bulgarian seeker as he'd seen him in some of the Quidditch magazines Ron had forcibly made him read. It was something, becoming the world's greatest international seeker at such an age. He'd got the position three years ago and now there was no one who could compete with him.

But Harry's focus was on Karkaroff. He wasn't getting a good…feeling whenever he looked at that man. "Do you know him?" Harry asked Neville whose smile vanished as soon as he looked at Karkaroff who was now walking towards the head table.

"Karkaroff was once a death eater," Neville said slowly.

"What do you mean 'once'?" Harry asked. "One can decide to no longer be a death eater?"

"He 'earned' his freedom by exposing a death eater from you-know-who's inner circle," Neville said. "The ministry found it enough to let Karkaroff go on the condition that he'll never become a death eater or support you-know-who's cause. People still don't fully trust him even though he's stayed low all this time. It's understandable why people hate him. Some even say that he killed the last headmaster of Durmstrang and took the position for himself, although, it has not been proved yet. An investigation was conducted and Karkaroff was found innocent from the accusation."

Harry looked at the man thinking about what Neville had just said. A 'former' death eater…it just didn't sound right. He could feel the uneasiness growing inside of him as he looked at Karkaroff when Karkaroff looked at him and their eyes met for a second before Harry looked away. It wasn't looking good for him, Harry thought.

Once everyone had settled for the final time Dumbledore stood at the podium as Filch pushed a ten/twelve foot tall silver case beside Dumbledore. Dumbledore waved his hand as the silver case began to disappear and revealed an old, rustic stone goblet that was as tall as Dumbledore himself. The moment the case disappeared completely a blue flame lit inside the goblet.

"The goblet of fire," Dumbledore said looking at the artifact, "has been a very integral part of the Tri Wizard Tournament. Its flames come from a very rare blue phoenix." He then looked at everyone who was looking at the goblet. "As the name suggests, the Tri Wizard Tournament consists of three champions who represent their schools and compete in three difficult challenges to win the ultimate title of eternal glory. In order to win that prize one has to complete three tasks, three very dangerous tasks and only then can that person be worthy of the title. As some of you may know there had been speculations ever since it was announced that the tournament will be brought back so the ministry has introduced a new rule for the tournament. Mr Barty Crouch will explain it to you."

Harry saw as a middle aged man stood up and walked up to Dumbledore who gave him the podium. "Ahem, good evening, everyone, said Barty. "As you may know the Tri Wizard tournament is not for the faint of hearts. There was a reason why it was banned from ever happening again and that is because the last time it was held one of the students had died during the second challenge. Seeing that won't be the case this time the ministry has decided that no student under the age of seventeen will be taking part in this tournament…" the great hall filled with students disagreeing with that rule as Barty Crouch didn't know what to say.

"Silence!" Dumbledore's magically enhanced voice had everyone quiet in an instant as he walked forward. "This measure has been taken for your safety," he said. "I know some of you don't take it kindly but you must understand that this tournament is not simple. In every moment of every challenge your life will be at risk which is why I hope you will respect the ministry's decision. But, seeing how well I know you all," he said looking at his Hogwarts students, "I will personally draw an age line around the goblet just in case some of you younglings try to trick the goblet. The goblet will be placed in the empty classroom on the second floor after breakfast till dinner. Those of you who want to take part in the tournament will write their name in a piece of paper and put it in the goblet. The selection of the champions will take place tomorrow night after dinner. I wish you all have a good night."

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"Harry?" He stopped as he entered the common room and looked to his left. It was Hermione. "Can we talk?" she asked coming up to him. Harry looked around and didn't find Ron in the common room so he looked at her and nodded.

A few minutes later they were in an empty corridor above the Gryffindor common room floor. "What is going on between you and Ron?" she asked.

Harry stayed silent for a few seconds as he looked towards the forbidden forest. "Are you really asking me that question?" he asked looking at her. "Are you, Hermione Jean Granger, really that oblivious to what is going on between me and Ron?"

"Harry I…I really don't know," she said sounding tired and sad. "I tried asking Ron and he won't tell me. Ginny seems to have some idea but she hasn't talked to me since the term began and the twins seem to have been somewhat affected by it, too."

Harry looked at her in utter shock. "You really don't know?" he asked. "Even the good-for-nothing Daily Prophet had an article on it!"

"I don't read that garbage and you know that," Hermione said as if he'd hurt her pride.

Harry remembered that she didn't as he sighed. "Mrs Weasely stole from me," he said.

"What?" Hermione thought she heard it wrong.

"Towards the end of this summer I found out that Mrs Weasely had been stealing from me," Harry said. "She had been doing so our entire third year." Hermione covered her mouth with her hand as she couldn't believe it. "That's how I felt when I first came to know it," Harry said looking at her. "I was presented with valid proof in Gringotts that it was her. I was told that she did it by making a copy of my vault key."

"You gave her your key?" Hermione asked.

"I gave it to her at the beginning of our first year when we went shopping in the Diagon Alley," he said. "I didn't know she'd make a duplicate key out of it and use it to steal the money that was in my vault."

"But…But Gringotts' security should've caught her," she said.

"She had a goblin that was helping her," Harry said. "He's been punished as per the goblin law but when Gringotts filed an official complaint on her in the ministry she never received a trial. They said they didn't found any evidence against her."

"Oh, Harry…"

"You don't know how I've felt after that, Hermione," he said, his voice shook. "To know that the woman you looked up to like a motherly figure would steal from you…I couldn't."

"That's why you never came with us to watch the Quidditch game," Hermione said understanding.

"I confronted Ron the night we arrived at Hogwarts," he said. "Do you know what he said? He said it was my fault. He said I shouldn't be getting angry on her mother for stealing from me because I have too much money. I never cared about how much money I had! What would someone like me do with all that money? I am one person…me! I barely have any needs but if a person whom you've trusted more than anyone betrays you…steals from you, how would you take it?"

The look of shock never left her face as Hermione looked at her friend. She had no idea that such a thing had happened. And she was even more shocked because neither Ron nor Harry had told her anything about it, especially Ron. She knew Harry had always been hesitant in opening up to someone but at least Ron could've told her.

"I…I didn't know, Harry," she said unable to think anything else. "I am truly sorry."

"I need a little space…from Ron, the Weaselys…and from you," he said.

"Harry! I didn't know!" Hermione exclaimed. She couldn't believe what Harry had just said. She knew he was hurt but… "Please, Harry…"

"I can't trust anyone at the moment," he said putting her at a loss of words. "There have been a few other things that I found out and…it's just not worth it telling you. I just need a little space."

She saw him walk away, disappear into the darkness as she stood there, thinking about what had just happened. She needed to fix this. She didn't know whom to go for help. She felt useless and angry knowing that she didn't know that huge a huge thing had happened between Harry and the Weaselys. She had never felt so helpless before. She needed to do something about it.

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"He gave it to you?" Dumbledore asked looking at the piece of parchment. Ron nodded. They were both in Dumbledore's office.

"He knows about mom," Ron said.

"You did good bringing this to my attention, Mr Weasely," Dumbledore said. "You can go now before the curfew start." Ron nodded as he left the office. Dumbledore stood up and slowly walked up to his phoenix that looked at him tilting its head. He stroked Fawkes' feathers as the phoenix trilled, fluttering its wings. "Why didn't Harry tell me any of it, Fawkes?" he said looking at his phoenix.

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Thanks for reading…