Warm air drifted through the packed stadium. Uniforms of the three wizarding schools flooded the stadium seats, facing inwards to the odd statue being erected in the middle of the stadium. Around the stadium, a pale gold bubble rippled, shielding the people watching the event. Sat at the teacher's area of the event two individuals, one, a black-haired man, with grey eyes, skin bronzed and dotted with marks were present.
"C'mon prongs this isn't a big deal. Look, you need to think of the big picture, Harry has all of us here. We may not be able to go in and help him ourselves but...whelp you know. Plus, the other contestants' tasks have not been too dangerous. Krum was racing, Amos' boy was having to deal with the park failure, with the… what were they called… Dinosaurs? Nothing his spells couldn't handle. The only dangerous one was for Julien's kid, who had to get into that nasty business with those drugs and that Heisenberg fucker, good thing she got out of that terrible mess. The way I see it, Harry practically has a 66.6% chance of getting a decently good and safe world. Trust me James"
The man biting his nails in nervousness was the one the speech was directed to. His eyes were zeros in on the arena, before he shot a glare at his best friend, Sirius Black.
"That's also a 33.3% chance of a dangerous task. Also, those dinosaurs were definitely more dangerous. What if Harry goes in and immediately gets killed? I've still got Moony working on a way to get Harry out of the task. I am not losing him to some assassination plot."
Sirius sighed. After the events in the past few years his friend had become much more protective. Plus, surely, he wasn't being… Sirius. Those dinosaur thingies were easy, a simple Fiendfyre and cutting curse and they ran off. He still didn't understand how Cedric knew that spell. What was even more odd was that they had seemed to ignore Cedric entirely, as if sensing a greater predator. He spotted James looking down, knowing he was thinking of Lily, his wife. She had become more engrossed in magical protections and often spent time in other countries and the department of mysteries, attempting to find a way to stop whatever bad luck the boys had, and protect them from the darker wizards. She should have been here but she had sent an owl saying she was busy aiding the tasks, confusing them both.
There was a small sniffle, causing Sirius to look past James at a small girl with black hair, but red streaks arcing through it. Her face was red and small tears gathered at the edges of her eyes.
"Will Harry be okay?" The small, light and scared voice brought a small comforting smile to the Black lord's face.
"Course he will be Poppy. We both know how he is. Remember that time with the Ba-" James cut him off with an intense glare, making Sirius cough, embarrassed. "- He'll be fine, Poppy. Trust me. Worst comes to worst, well just go in and drag him out."
Poppy nodded, but her frown deepened.
"I wanna sit with Charlie."
James sighed and shook his head, his 8-year-old had been asking to sit with her older brother for… well it had been a long time.
"We both know you can't. He's with his friends down in the Gryffindor seats. You need to stay here with me, so I can watch you. How about we go down and get some snacks? The restaurant should be open at this point, just before Harry gets in"
Poppy Potter nodded, her mind thinking of her eldest brother.
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Harry sat, alone, in the average size tent set up by the teachers and ministry officials for the first task of, what Harry assumed would be, a unashamedly ridiculous and pretty shit tournament. He gazed past his blue tie, at his tightly conjoined hands, each finger paler than the rest of his flesh, due to the grip cutting of his airflow to each digit. As he sat, cloaked body shaking at the thought of what could be his impending doom, he thought back to where this had begun, a good couple of months ago.
If he remembered correctly, he had been sitting in his usual spot on the Ravenclaw table, away from most of his peers. He'd been reading a book on elemental magic, apparently elementals were a thing and were a product of a witch or wizard being a bit too… enthusiastic in their control of a singular element, and so lost that control of said element, which would claim them in response, something Harry had been looking at for a while. At the very least it explained why Finnegan in Gryffindor always seemed to blow things up, even when not doing anything remotely flammable, and he was digressing again. Focus back on the whole death game Harry.
Anyway, Harry had been reading, thinking about what type of element he was suited towards, when aged and wrinkled, pale fingers pulled the first name from the flaming cup of fire nestled at the front of the great hall. The shouting of the name "Viktor Krum", in the voice of a wise old man drew his attention forward, vicious green eyes zeroing in on Albus Dumbledore. Hard to focus on anything else considering those goddamn stupid lavender purple robes. Harry's fingers twitched as he longed to put a colour change on the old man. A duller shade would match the man much more, although too dull would put off the cheerful demeanour of the warlock. Harry's thoughts continued to spiral.
The spiralling in fact, of Harry's thoughts caused him to miss the rest of the names being called out. And so, he was adequately alerted to all the stares being directed to his rather small form, by the small poke in his side, by a small blond to his right, with turnips dangling from her ears.
"Harry, your mind has wrackspurts in them again. Were you thinking about one of your theories again? You know you'll get detention if Miss McGonagall catches you trying to bottle Dementors. Also, I thought I would let you know, your names come ou-"
"HARRY POTTER"
Apparently, from what Luna had told him later, while he had been...thinking, a 4th name had come out of the goblet. Professor Dumbledore had choked on his own spit once he read the name for 1 minute, looked at it in confusion for another 3, then hesitantly called out his name. They had been calling for him the past 4 minutes, until Luna had poked him.
Harry looked around across the hall. Sytherin was a mix of the standard smooth and unmoving faces you would expect, and gleeful gazes. Hufflepuff looked at him with...well let's say, Voldemort would get less glares from that house. Ravenclaw was not one he wanted to know the opinions of. And Gryffindor looked at him with wide eyes, his brother however looked at him with some anger. Harry hoped Charlie wasn't too upset with him, being ignored was bad enough, Charlie getting physical or rude would be painful, his brother was very good with the levicorpus and some rather simple hexes, such as the bat bogey hex Ginny Weasely probably taught him, he was a good dueller, even getting praise from Mr Flitwick.
"Please, Mr Potter, join the rest of the champions." This time it was McGonagall, who had stopped with the gapping, to change her mouth to a thin, and obviously strained line. Harry, deciding not to cause any more irritation, stood up and nervously trotted up towards the oak doors, which were nicely furnished in his opinion, with intricate carvings of moving wizards upon it. He made sure to dodge the amber gaze focusing on his back, coming from his father who sat at the head table.
Harry moved down the stairs, the wood creaking slightly under his weight and from the rather harsh footfalls he was producing as he trudged along, mind swamped with information and ideas. At the end of the winding stairs, he came to a small door and opened it, gazing upon the three (other) champions.
Cedric Diggory was a rather chill fellow in Harry's opinion. He had met the 6th year back at one of Charlie's matches against the badger house, and had struck a rather nice conversation with the older boy, even if it wasn't something Harry wanted to do. He was handsome in a model type of way, dark chestnut hair swept up and sideways creating a thick set of hair, a decent way above two gray orbs. He was dressed in bumble-bee black and yellow robes, to represent his house, like all Hogwarts students did. He had seemed to be trying to talk to the other two chosen students, but his awkward look before facing Harry, suggested failure in that department. He blinked owlishly when Harry had walked in, obviously surprised at his entrance.
Victor Krum, the famous Bulgarian seeker stood off to the side, staring out the window as though he was brooding although Harry wasn't really good with reading people correctly, and so decided to stay away from trying to decide on what he was thinking. He wore a brown coat, which was practically dark enough that it could be considered black. His hair was similarly dark brown, short and thin, which was a contrast to his thick eyebrows. He turned sharply when Harry opened the door.
Fleur Delacour sat on a rather large armchair, gazing down at her hands. Platinum blond hair descended down her back, straight and narrow. Her blue piercing eyes gazed over at him menacingly, as if an eagle examining Harry for food, or in this case, competition. She wore a blue ensemble for her school uniform, fit with blouse, blazer, skirt and shoes. Her features were sharp and beautiful, yet delicate and innocent. Untouched. Harry immediately attributed this to her veela heritage. She had already been gazing at the door, away from Cedric and had looked in surprise at his entry before her gaze settled into a more calculated look. Apparently, the Potters had some friendly relations to the French family she hailed from.
"Hey Harry what ar-"
"Do they need us back outside?" Harry winced at Fleur's unashamed interrupting of Cedric, who looked put out as a result.
He fumbled a little, thinking of what to say before stopping, and quietly walking over to the set of lounges, and settling down. Harry did not enjoy talking to people on a good day. The recent events made that nervousness much worse. There were a few seconds of pretty nice silence, allowing Harry to think once more, about the tournament, and the colour he should make Dumbledore's robes. His silence, had caused a stricken and offended look to grace Fleur's face, as she opened her mouth.
"Excuse me, this room is for-"
"- A fucking shit show Dumbledore!"
Her prim and proper attempt at verbally reprimanding Harry was interrupted, by the sounds of what could have been a stampede of Heliopaths, although he couldn't hear any fire, and an ensemble of voices and people. The door, once more burst open, lavender robes swept in as his headmaster entered the room, at a fast pace, although his face was calm and rigid as if turned to stone. Behind him rushed in Ludo bagman, Barty Crouch, Olympe Maxime, Igor Karkaroff, Professor Moody (because Harry refused to call him mad eye, a ridiculous moniker), Severus Snape and his father, James Potter, who was being glared at by the former. Behind all of them however, slunk in a cloaked man, whom Harry could tell was an Unspeakable from his robes. The fact that these people seemed to be red in the face, and Dumbledore was not, suggested that the old man still had a lot of stamina and power despite his running which Harry supposed he had done, if only to be able to be at the front so that the others could not cause any damage. Harry snorted mentally at the thought.
His father stayed back gazing at Harry with a worried look, as Dumbledore trotted close.
"Did you put your name in the goblet of fire Harry?" The stern face of the old man, allowed Harry to relax, knowing the headmaster would be taking this seriously. Many people saw Dumbledore as manipulative, deceitful and a man who would use others as pawns. Others saw him as an old, deranged, mad, and seriously insane old coot. Harry however, saw something different, he trusted Dumbledore and had a rather close relationship with the teacher. So, when he felt mental magics traveling towards his mind, he pulled back his defences a bit, so the headmaster could validate his answer.
"N-no sir. I... I would never."
"He is obviously lying, Dumbledore, how else would he have gotten his name in?"
the old man pulled back his face even more stern than it had been, which surprised the raven-haired boy. Harry supposed the man had gotten the truth from his mind, and had become angered. If indeed, Harry put his name in, then this was all the antics of a child and so no malicious thoughts were behind the incident. However, since Harry hadn't done so, it made the events even more sinister, in the aged headmaster's eyes. He stood and turned back to the others, Harry's father taking this as an ample opportunity to sit besides Harry and grasp his shoulder. James was shaking, his grip tight and fingers white.
"I do not believe Mr Potter is lying, in fact, i think it would be prudent for us to do an investigation into the cup, try and find any type of trace of foreign magic that we could perhaps use to find the one responsible for these...events" Dumbledore's face seemed to set a few of the others into a more worried state.
Harry sat back against the seat, his father offering the comfort of his side as the Ravenclaw Potter went through his mind about what he would do next. Many would likely be upset with him, and they already didn't like him as it was, the chamber of secrets having damaged his reputation. He once again zoned out as the others began to talk. Their voices began droned out with his own thoughts filling his head as he thought of all possible outcomes.
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James stared at the bickering officials and teachers thinking about what he should probably be doing. As a parent, being there for his child was what he needed to do right now, even if he and his eldest son didn't always get along. Harry was quiet, isolated and always had his nose in a book, wanting to learn about magic, and James could respect that but… he just couldn't find anything to relate to him. Harry didn't like pranks and he didn't like Quidditch. Sure, Harry liked transfiguration, but that was more Harry's general interest in magic, and James wasn't as good as Professor McGonagall at teaching the subject. He had tried to teach Harry, but the boy didn't seem to learn well from his teaching style. Deciding to think about this and talk with Lily later, the elder Potter focused back on the others.
"We simply can't have this. With what we were thinking for the first task, a 14-year-old can NOT be allowed to complete. This is ignoring the unfairness of having 2 Hogwarts champions. You now have a 50 percent chance of winning!"
"But the boy must compete. It's a magically binding contract, to break it would have an even lower chance of survival, and even then, no more magic for him to wield, it would be a fate worse than even death, and you know it."
"We are talking about dr... the first task is too dangerous, there is no argument against that."
James figured the debate at the moment was around the 1st task specifically, which involved dragons. His grip tightened as his mind drifted to the idea of Harry even being near the beasts. A rather loud cough drew everyone's attention, as the unspeakable stepped forward.
"The department of mysteries may actually have a remedy for this… latest incident. You see, the department has recently developed a new type of magical artefact, a collaborative effort between the time, space and death rooms to come to an… interesting new field of magic, with developments in each room's magic as well. It has been tested a little bit however this tournament has it be used in the tasks to...test it out in a more effective way, so to speak and introduce it to the wizarding public, if you would. We would of course need to discuss it more but… I feel like it would be a good alternative to the dragons."
It was Dumbledore who gave the response. It wasn't lost on anyone that the unspeakable had just told the champions what the task would be, gasps from said champions making some of the adults flinch.
"Would this be...dangerous senior unspeakable Croaker? I would not wish to pull the students from a bed of fire, just to throw them into a cave of nundu, after all we are trying to avoid danger." The aged wizard didn't seem to be disparaging the mysterious man, simply curious about what type of magic this could be.
"Well, it's possible that the events would be dangerous but not to the point of being unable to safeguard the participants, and remember part of the rules of the tournament is that the tasks are challenging. The magic is experimental, yes, but we could put precautions in place, such as emergency items to be able to bring back the participants in case of a life-or-death situation, allow the participants to bring some equipment of their choice along, perhaps communication devices.. it would be best if we discuss this away from those that may have to take part." the gaze of the unspeakable passed over the champions.
"Yes, I do believe that may be prudent. Let us retreat to my office then, and we can contact the right people. Igor, Olympe, if you direct your champions back to their respective areas, I will send Severus to collect you from your respective areas. James, why don't you take Mr Potter and Mr Diggory back to their dorms." The most powerful man in the room's face was set, giving a small, sad look at Harry, before turning and gesturing for the others to follow him, the other school head teachers gathering their students before leaving.
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The next three weeks were rough for Harry. The school had turned from not really noticing his presence and some dislike, to being outright hostile. The only time it had been similar to this was back in second year, where he got some backlash after Charlie and he had spoken parseltongue. The Hufflepuffs were upset because they were usually looked down upon, and Cedric being chosen for the school would be a momentous occasion for the yellow house, which Harry had now unwillingly interrupted. Ravenclaw, his own house, had taken the chance to make him a social pariah inside the house social circle; many of his books would go missing, paint on his bed and so forth, but Harry wasn't surprised, Ravenclaw was home to many vicious bullies. Gryffindor was...odd. Some of them held him in respect such as the Weasley prankster teens, Fred and George. However, a faction led by his brother Charlie, had taken to demeaning him, backed by some of the older years led by Angelina Johnson who had wanted to be the Hogwarts champion and seemed to be pushing that she failed on to Harry. Finally, Slytherin was divided. One part worked on slandering Harry; badges being spread about disparaging him the most common method. The other side of Slytherin simply wished to stay out of the conflict, or make allies with both sides to have more connections, just not with him specifically.
While this wasn't exactly good for Harry he had managed to stay away from most of this by focusing on magic and learning from teachers, and staying with his friends. He had been informed that the rules of the tournament had changed allowing the participants to take personal belongings in a magically expanded briefcase, produced by specialty crafters in Italy, to be given to them a week before to pack, so he had focused on that.
He had also spent some time with Dumbledore. Back in his second year, he and Dumbledore struck up an odd friendship that had turned into a semi formal apprenticeship, to many people's ire such as Hermione Granger from Gryffindor, a few of the elder years and his own brother. It hadn't been at the drop of the hat, the events that had been going on had put them into similar areas where he had gained some useful insight into magics from the old man, and he had given some useful insight back, or at least, that was what the warlock had said.
The apprenticeship mainly consisted of Dumbledore getting Harry to work and learn alongside some of the wizards' old friends like Nicholas Flammel and Olivander. Other parts consisted of just researching obscure magics that Harry had an interest in.
At about halfway through the second week he was accosted in the library by what seemed to be a 1st year Gryffindor. He looked up at Harry, caution and nervousness displayed in his eyes and his gait, handing the ebony-haired 4th year a paper slip.
"S-sorry b-but Professor M-McGonnagal and P-P-professor F-Flitwick are asking for you?"
Harry sighed, taking the slip with a nod, and leaving his research station he had crudely set up (making sure to pack it away as runic nets would be a bit dangerous to leave about for any 1st or 2cnd year to find and possibly blow up). He traversed the castle, taking moving stair after moving stair, eventually finding his way to the class room he was indicated to, which was the transfiguration room. He paused when he saw his father, Professor McGonagal, Professor Flitwick and, oddly enough, Hagrid.
"Hello, Mr Potter, we would like to have a little chat if possible."
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Harry had been the last to arrive at the tent on the day of the third task, his wood brown briefcase held in one hand by his side, the smooth leather presenting the quality of the craftsmanship, all the metal used in the back being inscribed with runes to increase the length of the charms and enchantments on the bag. Harry had made sure to pack all his books, and had ordered some new ones. He also had packed a very special set of equipment from his father and transfiguration teacher making him smile. The jostling however made him gently pat the case, causing it to calm down a bit. He smiled thinking of his parents and their relationship. Sure, he didn't exactly have a super close relationship with them, but it wasn't due to any neglect, abuse or lack of trying on either end, he just didn't seem to have similar interests and was quite independent. He loved them all the same though, and while they had differing views on some issues, they were still family.
Harry had an obscure attraction to magic, while his father and mother simply had attractions to one or two subjects, which meant often he would be discussing all about magic at times when it wasn't very appropriate. He didn't really seem to have any other hobbies besides getting in trouble. No aspirations besides magical knowledge and magical ability which, sadly, wasn't a career path on its own. He did have some ideas of traveling, but this was still just to learn from other cultures. He did love his parents however and would take the time to talk about magic to them when he could, even if they were straining to maintain a look of interest since he could go on for hours about magic.
He sat and looked out at the other participants, each looking just as nervous as he did. Actually, they looked even more nervous now that he thought about it. Besides Diggory that was, who still had colour in his cheeks, while the Bulgarian and French magicians looked like they had come soul to mouth with a dementor. A commotion outside, muffled by the roar of the audience, brought his attention to the flaps.
The plump face and thin blond hair of Ludo Bagman appeared from outside the champions tent, his blue eyes spearing each sorcerer before he came in, followed by Mr Crouch.
"You're all here then? Right! Let's get right on it then. So, I should tell you that originally, we had planned some dragons for the event, simply trying to steal some eggs, so not such a big deal, however that was seen as a bit...dangerous, by certain parties. So, we have decided upon a...partnership between us and the department of mysteries. Instead of dragons, you will now be doing something new. Apparently, the department of mysteries has managed to combine time, space and death magics into a new form of magical field."
Now that got Harry excited. A new field of magic? That wasn't something that happened everyday, and he actually felt excited to be experiencing it, forgetting the fact that this was a death (not for a lack of trying to make it safe) tournament.
"Yes yes. In fact I'm actually very excited about the prospect myself! Now, what this task will involve is you completing a guide. A specific guide that will fill with objectives as you traverse the di-task based on decisions you make and your surroundings. You are awarded points for how well you complete these tasks and for the amount of people you help, harm etcetera. To be honest I'm not entirely sure how it works which is why you will be doing the task. You see, you four...will be traveling to other dimensions."
His excitement rose. Other dimensions? They were only theorised and the fact that with magic it could even be possible for me- the paleness of both foreign students now made sense. Another universe. There could be a whole plethora of dangers and issues with that. He shivered because while he recognised the danger, the enticement of more magical knowledge made him smile.
"And this is where the… relationship comes in. You will also be tasked with attaching a beacon within the universe so that the department can create outposts in other worlds. If this event goes well, we may even use this for the other eve-"
"Excuse me sir, but I do wish to ask what types of safety precautions are being implemented?" Krum's voice sliced through the former beater's speech, his eyes flashing with concern, not that Harry could blame him.
"S-safety...oh..oh yes! That was a big sticking point for this! Well, we have a number of things. First of all is this." A small stone tablet, engraved with softly glowing purple runes, the size of Bagman's palm was stuffed between his squidgy fingers "will bring you back to this dimension when it's smashed by you, by locking onto your soul and dragging you back. Now it's not locked onto you specifically so do not let anyone else smash this. Keep this safe. It is however protected against unintentional damage. Secondly have provided you with those briefcases so you can bring equipment with you. However, once you start, we are not allowed to interfere as the tournament rules state, but we are allowed to set you up with parameters of the tasks, which is why we can offer as much aid as we have."
The man obviously really liked the sound of his voice. He sounded smug, if he was being honest though, Harry supposed having a hand in a famous tournament and in dimension travelling would be a big deal.
Crouch began handing out small books, blank with a small pocket each holding a singular rock. Crouch, once finished, began to speak.
"Just to be clear, each of your tasks will be different. We aren't entirely sure on how, but each will relate to the dimension and events occurring in your respective worlds. Each world will be randomly selected, and we will watch you each simultaneously on the viewing panels set up by the ministry. Now we will go finish up preparations and then call you one at a time"
Diggory raised a hand, which the ex beater pointed to.
"S-so I have a question...if we are heading to other dimensions, will this take ages to get through? Weeks, months even."
A look of shock came across Bagman's face.
"D..did I forget to mention.. I must have. You see, yes it will take a long time in our view. The unspeakables are setting up a new magical set of wards and enchantments which seems to, and I quote 'distort perceptions and experiences of times between those inside and outside the field' a bunch of scientific hogwash. Practically, in there we could watch for 3 months, out in the real world, maybe a day or two will pass."
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And that is how Harry found himself sitting alone. Each consecutive call of a champion had sent him deeper into thought, Diggory being the last to leave, patting him and saying good luck, to which Harry reciprocated. He hoped that wherever he did pop out from, he would at least be able to survive.
"NEXT UP WE HAVE OUR YOUNGEST CHAMPION, THE 2CND HOGWARTS CHAMPION, HARRY POTTER!"
Shakenly standing up, Harry grasped his briefcase painfully tight, and dragged himself out of the tent one foot at a time. He arrived to the sounds of some polite clapping, as most seemed to disapprove of his position here. His gaze swept the stadium. Dumbledore's face from the judge's stage, calm, serene, and proud. His fathers' face, worried and scared, sitting by the teacher's booth with Harry's Godfather. The other faces were harder to find. Resent from his brother. Luna, happy and waving.
"Mr Potter, if you could stand over here please?" Harry turned to see an unspeakable pointing to a stone obelisk, with a stone disk before it. The voice that came from the hood hiding the woman's face was distorted and odd. He trudged over, his feet slapping against the stone plates used to floor the stadium, as he gazed at the obelisk that seemed to suck in the magic and light around it.
"mundi re lustrare"
Harry watched as the spell, sung by the hooded unspeakable woman, caused the pillar to explode, its shards forming a circular doorway into the unknown.
"Off you go Harry"
Harry's eyes widened at the familiar voice of his mother accompanied the feeling of two hands pushing him from his position on his home dimension, into the darkness of the portal.
If this was what they considered safe, Harry would hate to be at the previous tournament.