CH 8
Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter
"Blimey, Harry," Fred said, as he turned to the fourth year Gryffindor, as they were waiting for the meal to be served in the Great Hall of Hogwarts. His question about the Headmaster joking about the tournament had been answered candidly. "You were right about the Tournament taking place this year."
"I have those papers and magazines that I mentioned, if you want to look through them," the Boy-Who-Lived replied.
"No," George said. "We believed you. It's just that we thought it might have been for some other schools."
Harry only shrugged and then tucked in to eat the feast that was presented before the school for the first meal at Hogwarts.
Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter
Days later, Harry finally read the letter from Sirius. He'd prepared an article to send off with his reply that his godfather was going to be glad to add to his project paper.
He had erected his pup tent in an abandoned closet space that he'd found in Gryffindor Tower. He'd purposefully used the Marauders' Map to find a place where he could continue his Canyon School studies in private, all while doing his regular stuff for Hogwarts somewhere else.
The Canyon School had set up a correspondence program for him to follow. He was able to use Gringotts Bank as a waypoint to transfer his packages internationally between it and the Stoneguard Bank, for a modest fee of two Galleons per package. This was as long as he had the proper labeling forms attached. Stoneguard would then forward his packages to the Canyon School and vice versa. Of course he had picked up all the labels he'd need, at the same time as picking up owl order forms from the Diagon Alley shops.
It had taken him a bit of time to find the right spot in Gryffindor Tower and the closet he'd finally chosen was one that had obviously not seen much use, judging by the amount of dust in the space and the expired cleaning materials. He'd carved several warding runes in the door's frame and at key locations inside the closet, after he'd banished the majority of the items from the room. His house-tent just fit in there and it was in there that he sat down to read the letter from his godfather.
Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter
Harry,
First I must say no thanks on the cloak. It's very thoughtful of you, but you need it to sneak around the school and play a few good pranks. Do this for me, so that I'm not worried about you losing the majority of your childhood to the Darkness on the horizon? Please?
I had a friend that acted like that some of the time. Maybe you know of her, her name was Lily Evans. Great girl, but sometimes quite bossy too! Still miss her and she was more for scolding than dictating what we do and she was never too proud to say, 'I don't know,' something that made her more accepted among the other students too.
Now, if your scar is hurts again, speak to Dumbledore. I'm afraid that he's the only one right now that seems to have all the cards, (psst…just so you know I hate it when he does that, too). However for now, it's best that he gets a handle on what might be happening and he's the closest adult that can do something about it, even if it's to ease the pressure or your worry.
I do have to ask about these transcripts you sent me. How were you able to remember everything from a dream? Did your tutors teach you about meditation and clearing your mind? Never mind that question, if they are and they are magically reliable and I mean that you trust them completely, see if they can't teach the beginning stages of Occlumency and Legilimency. I believe you'll need those skills to stop more of these dreams from appearing. The least of which, is that you'd get better sleep because of it.
Occlumency is a difficult magical art that will help to protect your mind from being invaded by outside forces, the other one is the opposite, where you'd invade the mind of another. Occlumency will also help to conceal your emotions.
Although, I took it down a Gryffindor path, some might say, when I chose to show only glee or laughter or a joking attitude, but even then no one would guess that I had any other emotions. However you choose to conceal or perhaps expose your emotions, I won't be disappointed in you.
I have to do some digging around first before I can answer of the questions that you're dream had brought up. There seems to be a series of strange rumours that reached me, so I'm going to have to travel north to figure out what's going on. Don't worry, I promise to be careful. Send me any information about the tournament and I'll see that it's printed in the right papers, if you know what I mean. (wink...wink...)
Give my best to your friends. Oh, and find a way to conceal Hedwig when you're corresponding with me. She's far too noticeable as your owl or else change owls.
Sirius
(…i…)
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Harry shook his head at the thought that the man was willingly coming back to the area. He couldn't tell him to stay away, though. His need for a parental figure that actually cared about him had surfaced. He didn't like that he had no one to turn to, no one to really trust in the area.
He barely had the chance to know the man and he'd been taken away by Pettigrew's escape. Snape wouldn't have listened to what Remus or Sirius had to say in the matter, which was why the dark man had been knocked out at the time.
"If only...," he muttered with a heartfelt sigh.
"Never dwell on, 'if onlys' young man," Helga said in a soft tone. "It doesn't do any good."
"I know," he replied. He gulped his wishes down and then turned to his desk in the room. "My schedule is a mess and my teachers are mad, I tell you, with the work they're assigning at this time of year. Plus my godfather wants to know if my tutors," he looked pointedly at the portraits. "…Can teach me about something called Occlumency and Legilimency? Can you?"
"It's natural for the teachers to give much in the beginning of the year," Rowena said. "They just want to make sure that most of the revision is done because we Professors know that the majority of students choose not to study during their summers away from school."
"You're quite right about that," Tiber said. "I certainly played during the sunny days at the very least. There are books in the library here that will explain the Occlumency and Legilimency basics and advanced techniques."
"You still do play," Helga said to Tiber. "You're such a child sometimes. Start with the basic books dear," she advised Harry. "You'll find your meditation has already helped you to create your base personal mental shields. The basic book will explain in more detail how to reinforce them or to modify them to add spells to deter someone from looking into your mind."
"Hard to believe that I was the elder among you," Tiber quipped back.
Harry just chuckled, since he'd already heard that story. During his past summer, he'd asked Rowena for help to organize a study program to include his Hogwarts lessons, so that he didn't fall behind. The two women had suggested that he quit playing Quidditch, but the youth shook his head at that and had said that he loved flying too much to give it up at this point in his life.
Rowena pointed out how to make up different study schedules and how to vary the subject difficulties making sure to finish with the easiest subject. "Take the subject you dislike the most and do that homework first," she suggested. "You're more likely to do the ones you like on time anyway, so if you place your hated subject first then it and all others will get done on time."
"No more failure in potions," Harry nodded at that suggestion. He pulled out his potions books and began with the assigned essay on the effects that a decayed herb will have on a potion that recommends a fresh variety. "Should I still show my incompetence in potions or make an effort to ignore the biased git?"
"It won't really matter," Helga said. "Since the Ministry exams can be taken anytime and without having formally attended a magical school on the subject."
"I wonder if I should just drop potions all together and then pass the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s with his help," Harry said with a grin. "It'd be like spitting in the man's eye, don't you think?"
"Better not make him hate you further," Tiber recommended. "You don't know what he's been through to become the way he is. Also, a Slytherin must always conceal some of his abilities and usually all of his emotions in order to embody calm."
"All right, I'll do my best to ignore his attitude," Harry said, as he prepared a rough draft of the essay that he was planning to write for Potions class. He muttered to himself, "What bloody calm, that man is a walking ball of fury and always against Gryffindors?"
Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter
End of October
The schools were due to arrive for the Triwizard Tournament on October 30th. Each Professor made sure that the students were present and accounted for.
The arrival of Beauxbatons Academy on a carriage pulled by twelve huge winged horses was a sight that enthralled many of the girls, while the boys of Hogwarts were more impressed with the underwater sailing vessel. It was just cooler to think about.
The students were welcomed by the Houses they chose to sit with during their meals. Beauxbatons' students chose the Ravenclaw House because of their complementary blue colours, while Harry suspected that the Durmstrang students were not given any choice in the matter, since they all immediately sat at the Slytherin table for their meals.
The rules were explained and then the Goblet of Fire was presented. "An age ward will surround the cup," Professor Dumbledore told them. "Only those that are seventeen years of age or older may put their name in the cup in order to become their school's Champion. The cup's magic is only active within the next twenty-four hours. Anyone that puts their name into the cup accepts the magically binding contract to participate in the Tournament."
The question of consequences for those who were hoping to attempt bypassing the age ward, was waved away with a, "You'll see soon enough," and then everyone was bid a good night's sleep.
As they were getting ready for bed, Ron asked, "So how do you think someone younger would put their name in the cup?"
"Don't rightly know," Harry replied. "If the age potion would really work, then maybe they'd sneak into the Great Hall in the middle of the night to put their name in. At least that's how I'd do it, if I had a potion I could trust to use, but I wouldn't do it even if I had such a potion."
"Why ever not," Ron asked. "You have more right to enter the tournament than anyone else."
"What makes you say that," Harry turned around. "Don't tell me you still believe that hype that just because I'm the Boy-Who-Lived, I have same abilities as some seventeen year old, when I know, you know I don't."
"Sorry," Ron said with a flushed expression. "It's just not fair that we can't put our names in there."
"I wouldn't put my name in there, even if someone wanted to pay me to do it," Harry said. "My life is not going to be thrown away on something like that. Good night." He rolled over and shut the draft curtains around his bed.
"Night," Ron's muffled voice answered him.
The following night the entire school, plus their visitors watch as the cup changed in colour, brightening and flaring as it spit out a parchment piece with the names of the school champion, plus the name of their school.
"Fleur Delacour for Beauxbatons," Headmaster Dumbledore called out. "Cedric Diggory for Hogwarts," he waited for the next name and the final slip was, "Viktor Krum, Durmstrang, please join your fellow Champions in the other room." All the students started whispering and speaking aloud about their champions, the Hufflepuffs being the loudest because the Hogwarts Champion came from their quiet House.
It was then that the cup flared one final time, spitting out a fourth slip of paper.
Harry felt it in his bones that he didn't want to know whose name was on that piece of paper.
Headmaster Dumbledore read it out loud in a surprised tone, "Harry Potter."
"That's a lie," Harry yelled, as he stood up, marched to the front and snatched the paper out of the old man's hands. It was there clear as day though:
...Harry Potter, US Canyon...
"Bloody hell," he whispered, as his face completed drained of colour. Points had been taken from Gryffindor, for his rude language by Snape, but he never noticed. 'I hope that it was just a guess and not a betrayal,' he thought wildly. 'The twins can't tell anyone and neither can the dwarves, but someone hanging about the betting tent might have…maybe...did they...?'
He was nudged in the direction of the room with that bit of paper still in hand. His mind raced, as to when his secret had been discovered or if it actually had been discovered.
"Go join the others, young Mr. Potter," said Professor Dumbledore. "We'll be right with you."
Harry sighed, looked to his friends at the Gryffindor table and noticed the fury in Ron's face. He noticed the wonder on most of the others and the look of betrayal on the Hufflepuff students, like he was taking away their chance to shine in the spotlight and have a House Champion all to themselves.
He entered the room to see all the other three Champions standing near the fire. "Are zzey looking for us," the blond girl, Fleur, asked. "Do we need to go back?"
"No," Harry replied. "They'll be coming in any minute."
"Harry what's up," Cedric said. He frowned as he watched the young Gryffindor hold up a slip of parchment burnt around the edges.
"I didn't," Harry told them, as he looked at each Champion. "I wouldn't... But this came out anyway."
The older Hufflepuff student walked over to look at it. "It's says Harry Potter, US Canyon," he read out loud. "Someone submitted your name under another school. I'd never heard of that school."
Harry played the ignorant student and didn't quite lie when he said, "I'd never heard of any other magical schools until this year." He took the paper, back and pocketed the parchment slip. Then he looked at the other two Champions in the room. "You need to know that I would have never put my name in there. I'm not seventeen."
"A likely story," Professor Snape said, as he entered the room. "Always seeking attention just like..."
Professor Dumbledore stopped his rant with a raised hand and Harry only sighed again. "Be that as it may, young Harry is now the fourth Champion in the Triwizard Tournament. His name was entered in the cup, but now the question would be why."
"I vill not stand for this," the Headmaster for Durmstrang said. "Ve should be allowed to submit a second Champion."
"You cannot, I'm afraid," Dumbledore said. "The cup is silent once more and will not re-activate for another four years."
"This is a travesty to the International Magical Cooperation," Barty Crouch, the Head of that Ministry Department said. He turned to Harry and accused him, by saying, "How dare you do this to shame our Ministry?"
Harry frowned, but refrained from speaking. He hoped that someone would eventually figure out that he didn't put his name in the cup and that he couldn't have put his name in there. However his mind recalled the last prophesy he'd heard Morgana's image say. ...The tournament gong heralds the coming Dark One...
"Perhaps we're overlooking a few things," Dumbledore said.
"Yeah," Alistair Moody, this year's Defense Professor agreed. "Like who do we know would want to kill the boy in the first place?"
"What do you mean," Madam Maxime asked. "Zees boy put his name in ze cup, non?"
"It would take some very powerful witch or wizard to do so," Dumbledore stated. "It must be someone very powerful indeed and one strong enough to Confund the ancient, magical cup into thinking that there four competing schools, instead of just the regulated three."
"Powerful enough to want Harry Potter dead," Moody said. That barely changed the anger in the faces of the visiting Headmaster and Headmistress. "He's got to compete now. They all have to because of the magical nature of the cup. In putting their names into it they are bound by a magical contract, until the bitter end."
Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department Magical Games and Sporting Events, then muttered, "I wish that we'd have looked for Bertha Jorkins. She might have known something about this."
"Isn't she dead sir," Harry asked out loud and everyone focussed on him when he said that. "Sorry, it was just a dream I had this summer. It felt so real, that I just thought…um...well...um..."
"She's just missing young Harry," Ludo said. "She'll turn up, you'll see, that woman always does."
Professor Dumbledore looked at the young embarrassed boy. He quickly dismissed the fancy notion that the boy may be a Seer and then turned his attention to everyone else, "There's nothing more to be said on the matter, I'm afraid. We now have four school Champions."
That night as the students were getting ready for bed, Harry and Ron had a loud row about Harry's name being in the cup and Ron not believing that Harry hadn't put it there.
The next day they weren't speaking to one another.
Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter
TBC…(…i…) Don't want to make the man too much of an idiot and since this is an AU/AR story. This letter is better than the one in the book and it flows well with this story and my plans for it.