AN: Hey guys and welcome to the next chapter! It's time for some action between Harry and Krum.
Enjoy!

The recognizable sections belong to JKR

Chapter 34

Together, Harry and Fleur walked down the giant staircase until they reached the Great Hall. Exciting murmurs could be heard all around them. Apparently, news of his duel with Krum has spread throughout the castle. Harry saw Krum surrounded by his mates from Durmstrang and the majority of upper-year Slytherins, sitting at the Slytherin table.

Fleur led them to their usual spot at the Ravenclaw table, when Harry remembered that he was not officially a member of that house anymore. Fleur didn't seem to care. She huffed in annoyance and pulled Harry on his hand to finally take a seat beside her.

The two had not been seen together for almost two weeks and exciting whispers spread around them, as they had obviously settled their difference. Sirius grinned at him from the head table. As one of the judges for the tournament, he has been granted his personal quarters at Hogwarts. Even Dumbledore's eyes twinkled madly as he saw Harry and Fleur sitting together.

Harry finished his meal in silence and waited for dinner to end. Surely Dumbledore would make some sort of announcement. Indeed, as soon as the plates and dishes vanished, the headmaster stood up:

"As most of you have probably heard, earlier today a confrontation was witnessed between two of our champions. Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, no diplomatic solution has been agreed upon. Therefore, a duel will be held between the Challenger, Victor Krum, and the Challengee, Harry Potter.

The duel will be held on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch in 30 minutes. Students from years four and upwards will be allowed to watch the duel from the stands. The professors and members of staff will ensure that all other students remain in their dorms. Thank you, that is all."

A loud groan had swept through the Great Hall. Many of the younger years were excited to witness their first duel and let out their disappointment.

"I will be watching from the stands." Fleur squeezed his hand under the table. Then she bent forwards and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek: "Good luck, Harry."

Harry watched her leave, as she walked out of the Great Hall.

"I still don't know how you did it, Pup… but you should keep that one close." Sirius approached him with a grin. "Are you ready?"

Harry nodded and followed his godfather out of the castle and down to the Quidditch pitch.

"You have done this often enough, you know what to do, Harry." Sirius patted his shoulder. "Do you want to remain in your fancy new outfit or change into your dueling robes?"

"These robes are good enough to duel in," Harry replied. "Besides, Krum took offense at the Crest on it. It will be even sweeter to watch his face as I beat him wearing them."

Sirius chuckled. "What was that all about anyway? The sign of Grindelwald?"

"Whatever Krum thinks about it, he is wrong. This sign is much older than Grindelwald and the entire Durmstrang building. However, I made an interesting observation… Have you seen Dumbledore's face when Krum mentioned the connection between the Hallows and Grindelwald? Dumbledore knew about it… and he showed great concern that I know about it too now.

If Grindelwald permanently carved the crest into a wall while still being a student at Durmstrang, then he must have been looking for the Hallows as well in his youth. The question is, which one did he find?"

"Something you can wrap your mind around after winning this duel, come on Pup, let's get ready."

The two had been standing at the side of the Quidditch pitch, while the stadium had slowly filled with people. Dumbledore walked into the middle of the field, waved his wand in a complex pattern, and erected a protective dome over the center of the field. Harry and Sirius walked towards Krum and Karkaroff who were waiting for them in the middle.

Soon, Dumbledore applied a Sorounus charm on himself: "The rules are as follows: All spells are allowed, even the Unforgivables. The duel ends as soon as one of the opponents yields or finds himself unable to continue. On my sign, you may begin…"

Sirius and Karkaroff left the dome, while Harry studied a still enraged Krum. The older boy could not quite hide his nervousness. Dumbledore raised his wand and fired red sparks into the air:

"Begin!"

Harry instantly opened the duel with a couple of bone breakers and Krum went on the defense. He dodged the majority of incoming curses. His career as a Quidditch player and being very athletic, certainly helped him.

Harry kept up the pressure, mercilessly, but Victor proved he was no slouch. Undoubtedly, the boy could make it far in the dueling world. It just seems he had decided that he preferred Quidditch. His shields were strong and his reflexes excellent. He was one of the better opponents Harry had faced so far, but certainly not the best.

Krum fired a few well-aimed blood-boiling curses and a withering curse that he thought Harry would not be able to doge. He watched in horror as Harry simply batted them away as though they were nothing, he had seen very few people capable of that feat. He had to quickly conjure a shield again as Harry returned fire with some very questionable curses, some he had never seen and had no idea what they would do.

Harry connected with the first couple of spells, drawing blood from his opponent. Krum was already suffering from a few broken rips and deep gashes along his torso from Harry's cutting curses.

The Bulgarian felt his magic draining quite rapidly from the amount needed to maintain the shield. He thought that the boy would tire from using so many powerful spells but he could see that he showed no signs of slowing, he didn't even look slightly fatigued.

He knew he was in a desperate situation and had one last spell that he knew would cause Potter problems. Karkaroff had taught it to him. He dropped his shield and braced himself.

"FIENDFYRE" he roared and dropped to his knees right after, from the sheer exhaustion of casting the spell.

Harry looked in awe as a giant fiery chimera erupted from the tip of Victor's wand and charged towards him. The cursed fire would destroy anything in its path, perhaps even the dome Dumbledore had erected to shield the students.

He had read the notes of Herpo the Fool multiple times. Subduing the demonic flames required a battle of wills and immense magical power. He could probably do it already, but why risk it, if he only needed to redirect the ravishing flames?

He stretched out his arms to both sides, standing like a cross in front of the approaching flames. Now, the head of the chimera was only a couple of meters away from him. Harry focused, took a step forwards, and slammed both his hands together. An invisible barrier appeared in front of him, which the demon's fire mashed against.

The barrier would hold for maybe another ten seconds, long enough for Harry to take over control and redirect the spell back at Krum; he was curious to see how the Bulgarian would deal with it.

Waving his wand in complicated patterns and finishing with a sharp stab forwards he pushed the flames back against their original creator. Krum stared in shock as his creation turned and shot towards him. He barely had anything left. Harry could make out Karkaroff screaming something, probably for Krum to get up and defend himself, but the Bulgarian Seeker had nothing left.

The flames would have reached him any second, when Dumbledore flamed in front of him, using his familiar, Fawks, and held out both hands to stop the cursed chimera. Harry watched as the greatest sorcerer alive battled the flames and slowly but steadily decreased their size. Magic was radiating from the ancient headmaster and his eyes glowed a bright blue, similar to Harry's when he was using enormous amounts of magic.

With a ground shattering GONG that probably could be heard all over the castle's ground, the flames completely vanished, creating the epicenter of a shockwave. Dumbledore walked over to Krum, who was still panting on the ground, bleeding from his wounds and coughing blood. He ensured that the Bulgarian was not lethally harmed, before amplifying his voice once more and addressing the crowd:

"The winner, after Mr. Krum found himself unable to continue, is Harry Potter! Please make your way back to the castle."

Besides the professors, Fleur, Terry, and Sirius no one was clapping. The majority of students were still trying to figure out what magic they had just witnessed. If it took Dumbledore almost a full minute to battle and vanish the spell, how did Potter redirect it that easily as a fourteen-year-old?

Harry received a heavy slap on his shoulder as Sirius approach him from behind:

"Merlin, Harry, where did you learn how to redirect Fiendfyre? And what spell was that barricade?"

"I can't give away all my secrets now can I?" Harry laughed and made his way over to Fleur, who was waiting at the side of the field.

"How did you do that, Harry? I have never seen anything like this before." The Veela asked, perplexed.

"Stick around and you might find out." Harry grinned at her. Soon they all made their way back to the castle. Harry did not let anyone notice, but he was exhausted. Battling the cursed flames is a feat of magic comparable to conjuring and holding his Inimicus for a couple of minutes.

Right now he needed to speak to Salazar. If an above-average wizard like Krum could conjure the cursed flames that easily and it took Harry all his power to subdue them, what chance did he have, in case someone exceptional attacked Harry with them?

Under the pretense to get some sleep, Harry turned in for the night and made his way to the Chamber. Just as he opened the door to Salazar personal Quarters, Dobby, appeared with a loud POP in front of him:

"Harry Potter, sir! Dobby believes he knows what the first task might entail, Sir!"

"Tell me everything you think you know, Dobby," Harry replied eagerly.

"Dobby heard a red-haired man speak to the headmaster, sir. The man said that something had enraged the dragons and that they were more difficult to control than usual. That's all Dobby could hear, he did not want to get caught."

"Very good, Dobby. What did the red-haired man look like?"

"Dobby remembers, he had lots of scars, Harry Potter, sir. He looked similar to the Weasel Harry Potter dislikes."

Could have been one of the older Weasley brothers then... Harry remembered Ron Weasley bragging that his brother was a dragon handler at some point in the first year: "You did very well, Dobby. Keep your eyes and ears open for more."

The elf nodded, happy at the praise, and disapparated again.

Harry turned to Salazar, who had witnessed the entire conversation.

"Well, first things first… I just won a sanctioned duel with the Bulgarian champion and fought off Fiendfyre." Harry laughed at the Portraits dumbstruck expression. Time to brief Salazar on his eventful day.

"Now that I go over the events again… I think that gong and shockwave, Dumbledore produced when vanishing the flames, must have angered the dragons. Whatever actually happened, it traveled faster than the speed of sound. This means that the Dragon must be somewhere close to the Grounds… the only place I could think of is the Forbidden Forest."

"Find them. And find out exactly what it is that you must do." Salazar advised.

"Harry nodded. I will do so, but for tonight I will rest." Harry replied, barely suppressing a yawn. He went over to the large bed of the Founder, extinguished the lights and candles with a flick of his wand, and fell into a deep sleep.

November 14th, 1994

The next morning, Harry had just started his workout in the ROR, when the door to the room opened. Harry silently summoned his wand from the table, by holding up his hand and directed it towards the front.

"No reason to be scared, Harry. I just wanted to join you for a workout." spoke the familiar voice of Fleur Delacour. The French witch stood at the entrance to the room in a light blue tracksuit. Was it part of her required school uniform?

"Uh, sure... " Harry gulped: "I just started myself, so just feel free to do whatever you like." He quickly averted his eyes back to the bench he was currently occupying and loaded some weights for another set of twelve.

Fleur dropped her gym back close to the table, pulled out a water bottle and a towel, and walked towards the treadmill. Harry tried to ignore the Veela as best as he could and continued his own training. After finishing his set on the bench press, he walked over to the dumbbell rack for some shoulder exercises.

Standing in front of the mirror, he finally noticed why Fleur might be shooting him curious looks from time to time. As usual, when working out, he was not wearing a shirt, only his short athletic pants, and trainers. Well, it would be weird to conjure a t-shirt now, so Harry just continued as usual.

He cursed when it became almost impossible for him to concentrate. Fleur had just stepped off the treadmill and walked over to the squat rack. There she removed her track pants and jacket. She was now loading the bar, only wearing tight black yoga pants and a blue top. She pulled her hair up high into a ponytail and started her own exercises.

Harry pulled himself together and continued his routine. He needed to find a way to deal with the bombshell blonde witch, especially if she would join him for his workouts more often in the future.

Around 7:30 both were finally done. Luckily, Fleur decided to take a shower in her carriage and the two agreed to meet again for breakfast in half an hour. For Harry, it was time for a very cold shower.

In the Great Hall, almost every single student had a copy of the Daily Prophet in his hands. Harry sighed and pulled out his own edition. Let's see what Rita Skeeter thought about his confrontation with Krum…

Harry Potter, Europe's third Dark Lord of the century?
By Rita Skeeter

My dear readers will remember that only two weeks ago, Harry Potter was named the fourth competitor in the Triwizard Tournament. It is yet unknown how the fourteen-year-old boy managed to submit his name to the Goblet of Fire, but speculations are running high:

"Potter got used to cheating during his time here at Hogwarts. We don't know how exactly he entered himself. But he has crossed legal and moral boundaries on numerous occasions," Says Draco Malfoy, fourth-year Slytherin and a former friend of Mr. Potter.

"I think he used dark magic. Potter has proven that he is not uncomfortable dwelling into really obscure magical fields. One only has to look at the Parselmagic and the spells he used in the dueling tournaments so far." Roger Davies, a housemate from Ravenclaw, added.

But what exactly is known about Potter's affiliation with the dark arts? Yesterday, this reporter witnessed an interaction between Dumstrang Champion, Victor Krum, and Harry Potter. The latter had appeared to the official Wand-Weighing-Ceremony, wearing a strange and unknown crest on his robes.

Victor Krum accused Potter of supporting a murderer, claiming the crest belongs to no other than the notorious Dark Lord, Gellert Grindelwald. Upon further research, no clear connection could be drawn between Grindelwald and a crest, like the one Potter wore. However, Krum stood by his claim that Grindelwald himself carved such a crest into the walls of his former school, Durmstrang.

Igor Karkaroff, headmaster of Durmstrang Institute, neither confirmed nor denied such a claim. However, the heated argument turned into a duel on the Hogwarts quidditch pitch, in which Potter defeated the Bulgarian seeker, using the darkest of magic. This reporter submitted her memory of the events to an expert from the Department of Mysteries.

"Potter managed to block Fiendfyre, an extremely rare dark curse, used by Grindelwald and You-Know-Who at the heights of their power. Such knowledge and skill when dealing with a curse such as that, leads us to believe that Potter is well versed in the dark arts."

A similarity to Fiendfyre was already found in the curse Potter used to kill the Dementors, roughly one year ago. Is this further proof that the young boy has walked down a dark path?

His affinity for anything dark is only supported by the choice of wand the self-claimed Champion currently wields. According to the professional wandmaker, Garrick Ollivander, Potter's wand contains a combination of Redwood and Elderwood. The latter has not been used in wands for centuries and often stood in reference to death and Dark Lords during the middle ages.

The core of his wand is made of Thestral hairs. To clarify for my readers: Thestrals are animals that can only be seen by someone that witnessed death. They are largely regarded as a bad omen in the wizarding world.

The wand seems so dangerous, that even professionals like Ollivander can only touch it using extreme precaution and covering his skin in dragonhide gloves. A wand like that cannot be healthy for such a young wizard. Maybe the Department of Mysteries should obtain permission to study the wand and destroy it if necessary?

I am certain that magical Britain will do anything possible to pull Harry Potter back to the path of the light.

For more information about Potter's use of spells turn to Page 3
For further information on a possible connection between Potter and Grindelwald turn to page 5

Harry couldn't hold it in. He started laughing. What a load of dragon dung... Since when were he friends with Malfoy? And why was it not even mentioned, that Krum was the one that originally cast Fiendfyre? Also, why the hell would he allow the Ministry to snap his wand, just because they might see it as dangerous?

Fleur Delacour walked up to him and shot him a curious look. Harry just continued chuckling and passed the paper over to her. It took her a minute to read the article and her eyes narrowed in anger the further she read.

When she finished, she burned the paper in her hands and Harry could sear that her facial feature became slightly avian for a second:

"This nasty woman, how could she spread such blatant lies about you?" Fleur looked about ready to hit the reporter with a fireball the next time she saw her.

Harry put a hand on hers to calm her down and was shocked at the heat of her skin. It was barely tolerable: "It's okay, Fleur… it's nothing new to me. One second I am a hero, the next I am a villain. There is little we can do about it. Let's focus on this tournament, instead."

Fleur visibly calmed down. The temperature of her hand dropped until it was at its usual warmth. She nodded and started her breakfast. Afterward, Fleur decided to prepare for the task by herself. Harry and the Veela had reached a silent agreement, that they would not help each other with the tasks and prepare individually. Besides, the Veela was way too proud to accept any help from Harry, anyways.

Therefore, a couple of days later Harry found himself in the Chamber again, arguing with Salazar about how to deal with the dragons.

"First you should find out what kind of dragon they are using for the task. Different species have different strengths and weaknesses. It's a lot more difficult to prepare for the unknown. Find the dragons and gather as much information on them as possible."

"I am planning on taking a flight over the Forbidden Forest tonight. I might now be able to see through the crowns and leaves that cover the forest, but I can't imagine the dragons staying silent for long."

"Good. I also had an idea, Harry. What do you think about buying a Pensieve, like the one your Headmaster owns? It would be very useful to start storing your memories. Depending on the model, it might also have a projection feature, so you can share a certain moment with me. I know they are expensive, but you have not sold any Basilisk venom in some time and the market will welcome it with open arms." Salazar suggested.

"The only person, that I know, who might have an idea where to buy one is Borgin… let me draft a letter, and then I will scout the forest for the dragons," Harry replied.

He pulled out some ink and parchment and began writing.

Dear Mr. Borgin,

I hope you are well and your business is flourishing.

While I am still quite young, I currently find myself with an abundance of memories. It would be ingenious to simply store them and replay them at will. I was hoping that you might be able to make the necessary connections to a manufacturer or reseller for a Pensieve.

Of course, the value of such a device will be high. However, as you well know, it has been some time since the market has seen a fresh supply of Basilisk Venom and I am willing to meet that demand once more.

Naturally, your services as a broker will be rewarded with an appropriate compensation. My elf, Dobby, will deliver your reply at your earliest convenience. Simply call for him.

Your former employee wishes you a successful week,

Harry James Potter

That should do well enough. It was almost midnight, so Harry started to get ready to scout the Forbidden Forest. He took out the shrunken broom Sirius had gifted him for his birth last year and called for Dobby.

"Dobby, I would like you to take me down to the Whopping Willow. Afterward, please take this later to Borgin and Burke's in Diagon Alley."

The elf nodded his understanding and grabbed Harry's hand. A second later, he stood 50 meters away from the infamous tree and had a good view of the Forbidden Forest. It was time for some reconnaissance. He was about to place a disillusionment charm on himself and the broom when he spotted the door to Hagrid's Hut opening.

Harry shrunk the broom and placed it within his robes. He pulled out his Cloak and made his way down to the hut. What was Hagrid doing out so late… and why the hell was he dressed like that? Harry decided to follow the man from a safe distance.

Hagrid was leading him to the Beauxbatons carriage and knocked three times on the door bearing the crossed golden wands. Madame Maxime opened it. She was wearing a silk shawl wrapped around her massive shoulders. She smiled when she saw Hagrid. "Ah, 'Agrid . . . it is time?"

"Bong-sewer," said Hagrid, beaming at her, and holding out a hand to help her down the golden steps. Harry visibly cringed at his French... Fleur would not speak to him for a week if he dared to abuse her language like that.

Madame Maxime closed the door behind her, Hagrid offered her his arm, and they set off around the edge of the paddock containing Madame Maxime's giant winged horses.

Apparently, Madame Maxime had no idea where she was taken to, because after a while she said playfully, "Wair is it you are taking me, 'Agrid?"

"Yeh'll enjoy this," said Hagrid gruffly, "worth seein', trust me. On'y — don' go tellin' anyone I showed yeh, right? Yeh're not s'posed ter know."

"Of course not," said Madame Maxime, fluttering her long black eyelashes.

And still, they walked. At first, Harry thought that he would just be witnessing a date between the two. But then — when they had walked so far around the perimeter of the forest that the castle and the lake were out of sight — Harry heard something. Men were shouting up ahead… then came a deafening, earsplitting roar…

Perfect… Hagrid was leading him right to the Dragons. A minute later, Harry saw them. Four fully grown dragons, each a different species. He tried to remember the most memorable features, to research them later, but Hagrid made his life much easier by asking one of the tamers about them.

"What breeds you got here, Charlie?" said Hagrid, gazing at the closest dragon, the black one, with something close to reverence. Its eyes were still just open. Harry could see a strip of gleaming yellow beneath its wrinkled black eyelid.

"This is a Hungarian Horntail," said Charlie. "There's a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one — a Swedish Short-Snout, that blue-gray — and a Chinese Fireball, that's the red."

Harry put all the names to memory, he was about to walk back when Hagrid asked another question.

"Four… " said Hagrid, "so it's one fer each o' the champions, is it? What've they gotta do — fight 'em?"

"Just get past them, I think," said Charlie. "We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, Extinguishing Spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don't know why… but I tell you this, I don't envy the one who gets the Horntail."

Harry had seen enough, now that he knew where the dragons were, he could always come back later to study them. He was just at the edge of the forest when he saw someone walking through the dark. Igor Karkaroff was sneaking from tree to tree, making his way towards the dragons.

He must have seen Maxime and Hagrid meet and walk up to the forest together. It only took Harry a second to decide what to do. He and Fleur would definitely know about the Dragons now… there was pretty much nothing he could do about it. But why should Krum and Diggory have the same advantage?

Krum had been nothing but an arrogant overgrown baby since he arrived here and openly challenged Harry. As for Diggory, Harry had not once seen him ask his fellow housemates to remove their 'Potter Stinks' badges. So much for Hufflepuff's and kindness and fairness… No, neither of them deserved this knowledge…

Harry sneaked up to Karkaroff, pulled out his wand, and murmured:

"Confundo!"

"You will forget that you have seen Hagrid and Madame Maxime walk into the forest, you will forget anything you might have already heard on your way here. You will not remember anything concerning the first task that you might have discovered tonight. Return to your ship and tell Krum that you have not figured anything out, yet. You will also forget us having this conversation."

Just to be on the safe side, Harry also obliviated Karkaroff off any of the memories of tonight. Tomorrow morning, the man would wake up just like on any other day. Time to get back to Salazar.

"I found the dragons, I also know which species I might face," Harry told the Founder as soon as he entered the Chamber. After retelling any tiny detail, including his encounter with Karkaroff, Salazar nodded appreciatively:

"Well done, Harry. You are starting to think like a true Slytherin. Taking away any potential advantage from the other competitors is crucial. Now… you mentioned that they have brought nesting dragons and an overabundance of eggs…

This is indeed curious. If I had to guess, I'd say that you will need to steal something from the dragon. Nesting mothers are very protective of their eggs, making it a perfect task, by slipping some random item next to them for the mother to protect and you to steal.

Depending on the dragon, you will have to be rather confrontational. The Horntail and Fireball, for example, are too smart to play any games of hide and seek. You would have to overpower them…" Salazar suggested.

"How do you overpower a dragon?" Harry asked curiously.

"Attack its weak points… the eyes are any dragon's most vulnerable spot. A Conjunctivitis Curse could blind the dragon and allow you to slip past it…it will still breathe fire, though."

Fire… that's it… "Or I just fight fire with fire…," Harry mumbled.

"What did you say?" Salazar frowned.

"I said, I might fight fire with fire… I think I have an idea that could work… but I need to practice, as much as I can." Harry smiled.

"Please don't do something reckless, my heir. I only just started enjoying your company."

Harry laughed at that. "Don't worry Sal, you won't get rid of me that easily. I'll use the time turner to get some sleep, while also heading off to the ROR to test my theory. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

The next day, Fleur did not join him for his workout in the ROR. She also was not present at breakfast in the Great Hall. Harry figured that Madam Maxime must have told her about the dragons and Fleur was using all her time to figure out a strategy.

Today was Sunday, meaning he had two more days to practice for his task. His first couple of tries last night had been successful, but Harry wanted to make sure that it would work 100% of the time. On Monday he was asked by the fake Moody to stay behind.

"Do you know about the dragons yet, Potter?" Moody growled.

"What dragons, sir?" Harry replied calmly.

"The dragons… boy, the dragons for the task, of course."

"Oh, those dragons… No, I have no idea what you're talking about, professor. The school would never endanger their Champions and let them face actual dragons." Harry laughed.

Moody groaned: "Listen Potter… they have four dragons… one for each of you and you must take something from it, okay? Play on your strengths… and think about something."

"Why would you tell me about them, Professor… What interest do you have in me winning this tournament." Harry asked curiously. Maybe the imposter would let something slip.

Moody seemed very careful with his answer "I don't care about you winning, but I don't want Karkaroff's student to win and neither that French girl… Diggory does not have the balls to do this, so I'm hoping you have. Anyways… that's it, Potter. You can leave now, just make sure you are prepared."

Harry did as he was told and left the office. This was very interesting. Whatever these people were planning. They wanted Harry to survive the first task... Harry still could figure out what the end goal was…