Chapter Three "Triwizard Tournament"

"So, what do you think about the magic taught at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked as she sat down opposite of me.

"In general," I said as I looked up from my notebook that I had been reading, "I feel as if magic taught and practised on Earth has stagnated or declined compared to that taught in the CrossRoads."

The moment my eyes met Hermione's gaze was when I felt that I should have selected my choice of words more carefully. She looked angry, and I half expected for Hermione to slug a punch at me or scream furiously. I did after all straightforwardly claim that the magic she was learning at Hogwarts was inferior to what I knew of. Yet, contrary to my expectation, Hermione calmed down and instead looked at me very curiously.

"What makes you feel that way?" asked Hermione as she stared at some of my personal notes written in several of the notebooks on the desk.

"One of the most important things that any magic user should know about is Mana but I have yet to see or hear one single mention about mana during my week's stay in Hogwarts." I said in a very serious tone while scrutinizing Hermione's body language. To my surprise, the response I got was not what I was expecting.

"Are you serious?" Hermione replied incredulously as if I was trying to pull a joke when I clearly wasn't. "Because the only time I have heard Mana being used in connection with magic were in Muggle fiction and games."

I raised a brow. "Tell me more about this 'fictional' definition of mana you know about."

"Well a common theme of Mana in Muggle fiction and games is that Mana is the fuel for magic, also known as magical energy."

"That seems correct." I nodded. "Mana is the most common term used on the CrossRoads, the many worlds and planes that exist in the universe. It also has many different names such as Qi, Chakra etc. Although all these different names can be used interchangeable with Mana."

I paused when I just realized that Hermione had grabbed one of my unused notebooks on the desk and started to take notes. Hermione quickly gestured to me as if what I was saying was important to her. Since she wanted me to continue, I didn't see any reason why not to.

"Mana naturally exists in all living creatures." I continued. "While it is known as magical energy, Mana is also the life-force that sustains life."

"So all life needs mana to survive? So does that mean even the simplest forms of life like single cell organisms like bacteria and viruses produce mana for their own sustenance?"

"Well…" I scratched my head. "The answer varies depending on the region or a person's education and background. The more traditional and conservative places accept only complex and multicellular organisms like insects and plants as the minimum standard for life that is able to produce mana. Some more radical places don't even accept the existence of bacteria and viruses."

"Interesting," remarked Hermione as she continued to take notes.

"The next important thing you should know after Mana are Mana Circuits. They transport the mana around the body like blood vessels and signals from the brain like the nerve system to make magic possible."

"You only need Mana and Mana Circuits to use magic?" Hermione inquired as she stopped writing and looked at me.

"Well in theory… that is indeed correct. But just like Mana is akin to electricity for Muggles, you need an electrical source. For humans, and most forms of complex life, that is the heart."

Hermione raised her brow. "The heart? Doesn't the heart only transport blood, enriched with oxygen and nutrients necessary for life?"

I was about to berate Hermione for not knowing that the heart was a Mana Source until I remembered that she hadn't even known about the existence of mana until I had just told her.

"Here is a common textbook regarding the basics of Mana used on the CrossRoads." I said as I handed Hermione a book. "For many worlds that know and use magic, the heart is known as the source of life for it is the producer of mana for most life forms."

"Oh! Interesting!" Hermione quickly started to take notes, and I also spotted her writing her hypothesis about mana with my sharp eyes.

I was about to speak up when a door opened.

"Hey, Harry!" Ron shouted as he stepped through the door. "Why aren't you preparing for the Triwizard Tournament!?"

My rising anger of having my lesson interrupted quickly disappeared as I looked towards Ron with a surprised look.

"I completely forgot about the Triwizard Tournament." I replied with a sheepish look. "Sorry Hermione. It seems like we will have to postpone this lesson."

"It's okay," Hermione nodded before turning her eyes to Ron. "You're sweating and panting so much. What is so urgent that made you run here, Ron?"

"It's time for the wand weighing ceremony, and Harry isn't there." Ron responded before turning his attention to me. "Harry, you need to follow me right now!"

"Okay," I nodded. "Lead the way."

Ron quickly started to sprint off and I followed suit after waving goodbye to Hermione. Even as my surroundings continued to rapidly change, I tried to memorize where I was going to the best of my abilities, an unconscious habit that had saved me several times when exploring dangerous places such as forgotten ruins and etc.

I quickly arrived before a door.

"Good luck, Harry!" said Ron as he opened the door.

I found myself entering a fairly small classroom. Most of the desks had been pushed away to the back of the room, leaving a large space in the middle. Three desks had been placed end-to-end in front of the blackboard and covered with a long length of velvet. Five chairs had been set behind the velvet-covered desks.

I saw four people inside the room. Two of them were in my age group: one or two years older than me if my observation was correct. If I remembered correctly from the gossiping Hogwarts students I had overheard, their names were Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour. One person was taking photos, and the last person seemed to be part of the people running the Triwizard Tournament.

"Hello, Mister Potter," said a man in the very late stage of middle age. "My name is Ludovic Bagman, and I am the one in charge of running the Triwizard Tournament. We are just taking some photos for the newspapers before the wand weighing ceremony. You don't mind if we take a couple of pictures?"

I nodded my head and spent the next few minutes posing alone or with my would-be fellow competitors. The camera continued to flash until the door opened up for five people to enter the room.

My competitors and I quickly sat down at the chairs prepared for us.

I looked up at the velvet-covered table that had the sign, "Judges Table," written on it. If I remember correctly, Ron had said that the five judges were; Igor Karkaroff, Olympe Maxime, Albus Dumbledore and Ludovic Bagman. As the judges of the Triwizard Tournament sat down, I stared at the last standing person that had entered the room.

"May I introduce Ollivander?" said Dumbledore, taking his place at the judges' table and talking to the champions. "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."

"Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first, please?" said Ollivander, stepping into the empty space in the middle of the room. Fleur Delacour swept over to Ollivander and handed him her wand. "Hmmm . . ." he said. He twirled the wand between his long fingers like a baton and it emitted a number of pink and gold sparks. Then he held it close to his eyes and examined it carefully. "Yes," he said quietly, "nine and a half inches . . . inflexible . . . rosewood . . . and containing . . . dear me . . ."

"An 'air from ze 'ead of a veela," said Fleur. "One of my grandmuzzer's."

I quickly raised my mental barriers to prevent any influences from affecting my mind after hearing the word, "Veela." It had always bugged me why I had heard in passing how beautiful Fleur was. The notion why she seemed so universally accepted as beautiful had made me slightly suspicious, but I had ignored it because I had been more important to worry about over some person that I had never met.

My gaze after strengthening my mental defenses presented a very different Fleur. She hadn't changed physically. The young woman looked the same, but I was no longer so attracted to looking at her. Her blood as part Veela was similar to Succubus and Incubus, where they possessed natural magic that made them attractive to people that looked at them.

"Yes," said Ollivander as I snapped out of my musing. "Yes, I've never used veela hair myself, of course. I find it makes for rather temperamental wands . . . however, to each his own, and if this suits you . . ."

Ollivander ran his fingers along the wand, apparently checking for scratches or bumps; then he muttered, "Orchideous!" and a bunch of flowers burst from the wand tip.

"Very well, very well, it's in fine working order," said Ollivander, scooping up the flowers and handing them to Fleur with her wand. Fleur gilded back to her seat. "Mr. Krum, you next."

Viktor Krum got up and slouched, round-shouldered and duck footed, toward Ollivander. He thrust out his wand and stood scowling, with his hands in the pockets of his robes.

"Hmm," said Ollivander, "this is a Gregorovitch creation, unless I'm much mistaken? A fine wand-maker, though the styling is never quite what I . . . however . . ." He lifted the wand and examined it minutely, turning it over and over before his eyes. "Yes . . . hornbeam and dragon heartstring?" he shot at Krum, who nodded. "Rather thicker than one usually sees . . . quite rigid . . . ten and a quarter inches . . . Avis!"

The hornbeam wand let off a blast like a gun, and a number of small, twittering birds flew out of the end and through the open window into the watery sunlight.

"Good," said Ollivander, handing Krum back his wand. "Which leaves . . . Mr. Potter."

I stood up and walked over to Ollivander but I wondered what I should do. Wands were something I never really used as I had gotten into a habit of using magic unaided most of the time. It was a habit of mine as a mercenary where equipment could be damaged, lost or destroyed any given time during my missions. A dependency on magical aids such as using a wand could result in death during a life-threatening situation.

"Mister Potter, do you perhaps not use a wand? Are you a wandless magic user?" Ollivander asked.

"That is correct." I nodded my head.

I had some gasps and I looked around in confusion. The expressions varied but in different degrees of shock and disbelief. Only Ollivander and Dumbledore didn't seem too fazed by my response. Well they did seem a bit surprised. I wondered why the response? On the CrossRoads, most magic users did use some form of magical aid, but they still were capable of using magic without assistance.

"Is unassisted magic without the use of aids like wands unusual?" I couldn't help but blurt out.

"On Earth, wandless magic is very difficult to do. So much so it is considered a badge of honor to be able to use wandless magic. The more powerful and complicated the magic without a wand, the greater arcane skills you possessed." Dumbledore explained.

"Oh," I muttered after understanding the reason for the surprised responses.

"Given Dumbledore's words," said Ollivander with bright eyes, "are you perhaps someone from another world or plane? Maybe the CrossRoads?"

I looked at Ollivander with surprise. I had thought that all knowledge of the CrossRoads, myriad worlds and planes outside of Earth had been lost. It seemed my conclusion had been wrong if Ollivander was anything to go by.

"That is correct." I nodded.

"CrossRoads? Can someone please explain what you are talking about?" Bagman interrupted. The other judges said similar words following Bagman.

As the judges started to rain questions upon me, Dumbledore coughed loudly. "I will explain in another time." He looked at Ollivander and me. "Please show us whatever magical item you use to assist you in magic."

I resisted the urge to summon my magical aid into my hands from the hidden holster hiding underneath my long sleeves. My hands reached for the spatial bag on my belt that took the appearance of a belted pouch and I summoned my magical aid to create the illusion that I was taking it out from my spatial bag.

"Here it is," I said as I presented my magical aid to Ollivander. "Please take care to not hurt yourself. It is very sharp."

"My… my…" Ollivander muttered as he inspected my magical aid. "This is a very unusual magic item. It reminds me of the many magical items that have fallen out of favor over the centuries since the Shattering War caused the knowledge and material to create items similar to this was lost."

My knife suddenly changed forms. It became the standard longsword that I used most of the time then other bladed weapons I had ordered to be stored at the creation of my favored weapon. As if reading my mind, Ollivander stopped testing the other functions that my knife possessed.

Ollivander looked me in the eyes and asked, "I am not too familiar with metallurgy but does this knife contain mithril and adamantium?"

"It's a mithril alloy. No adamantium. The material is too expensive and finding someone with the equipment and skills to work with adamantium is beyond me." I replied in embarrassment.

"Mithril?! Adamantium?!" Karkaroff roared in disbelief as if not believing what he had heard. "Mr Ollivander, is that knife truly made out of mithril?"

I quickly walked over and took back my knife from Ollivander, who graciously returned it, when I noticed Karkaroff's eyes glowing with greed. Mithril was rare and expensive but the killing intent the man radiated seemed that mithril's value on Earth was several times more than it was on the CrossRoads.

"Karkaroff, restrain yourself!" Dumbledore shouted.

"Dumbledore this is mithril," said Karkaroff with bloodshot eyes. "Mithril! If I am right, that entire knife is made out of mithril."

"It belongs to Mister Potter," said Dumbledore in disapproval. "And it looks like he cherishes it. Forget about it."

Karkaroff was about to respond when Bagman interrupted. "Headmaster Karkaroff does not even think about stealing the knife from Mister Potter or using blackmail to get it. Your previous crimes have been forgiven but do not think that the Ministries of Magic's eyes are not watching you."

"Forgive me, Mister Potter." Karkaroff grudgingly apologized under pressure from Dumbledore and Bagman. "I didn't mean to scare you. That knife you possess if made out of mithril is worth a lot. Are you willing to sell that knife? I promise a fair price."

I shook my head. There was no way I was going to sell my precious tool. No matter how much Karkaroff offered. It had too much sentimental value to me.

"Thank you all," said Dumbledore, standing up at the judges' table. "This concludes the wand-weighing ceremony. Harry, please follow me to my office."

- O -

"Make yourself at home," said Dumbledore as he sat down. "Would you like a lemon drop?"

"No thank you." I shook my head as I sat on the chair opposite of Dumbledore. "What was that earlier about?"

"The Shattering War was devastating beyond words on Earth. Things you take for granted in the CrossRoads are lost. Mithril was one of them. We lost the ability to create the metal, and as a result became an incredibly rare material. Mithril is worth more than any other material save for Adamantium." Dumbledore explained.

"Don't you have substitutes or similar metal to mithril?" I asked in confusion.

Dumbledore nodded. "We do. The closest thing Earth currently possesses to mithril is Goblin-Wrought Silver, and as its name suggests only the goblins can produce, which they guard the secret to making it as if it is the most important thing in the world." The Hogwarts Headmaster as his expression turned grim. "Wizardkind have tried for centuries to pry their secrets of creating the goblin made metal with diplomacy, military force and espionage. Countless lives and entire generations have lost their lives to get it, but to no avail. What wizardkind has been able to produce a poor comparison to even mithril's lesser cousin, Goblin Wrought Silver."

For a second, greed nearly overtook me. I could make a lot of money and connections if I sold what knowledge I had in my mind or the book inside my spatial bag regarding mithril. Yet, the very last thing I wanted to be involved in was at the center of political, military and intelligence matters. So, I squashed any thoughts of involving myself in selling the knowledge of mithril.

"If you perhaps have any knowledge regarding the creation of mithril, I can offer a fair price," said Dumbledore as if reading my mind.

For a moment, I thought Dumbledore had read my mind before I realized that might not be the case. It wasn't too surprising that Dumbledore sensed what I was thinking. He was a politician and teacher with decades of experience under his belt. Someone of my age, who was like a newborn baby compared to Dumbledore's century plus age, would likely be an open book to Dumbledore.

"Let's make a deal at a later date," I said with a smile. "I don't think the reason you called me was because of Karkaroff's behavior. Is that correct, Headmaster?"

"That is correct." Dumbledore nodded. "I wanted to talk to you about the Triwizard Tournament."

"What about the Triwizard Tournament?"

"If you hadn't noticed, the Hogwarts students and staff are making a big deal about how an outsider is representing Hogwarts in the Triwizard Tournament. I wanted to ask if you are willing to give up participating in the competition."

I looked at Dumbledore in surprise. "I thought once a champion was chosen that they couldn't withdraw from the competition and had to participate until the Triwizard Tournament was over."

"That's a misconception." Dumbledore smiled. "The likely source of this misconception was due to how difficult it is to undo the magical contract preventing a selected champion from dropping out of the Triwizard Tournament. It doesn't help that the organizers of the past Triwizard Tournaments spread misinformation in an attempt to deter people from joining such a dangerous competition."

"Is that so…" I nodded, finding Dumbledore's explanation completely reasonable. "Although, I might have to sadly turn your offer down."

"I thought you would be glad to withdraw from the tournament," said Dumbledore in a surprised tone as he stared at me. "Why would you participate in the Triwizard Tournament? You don't seem to be the type to search for glory and fame."

"That is indeed true, most of the time." I conceded. "But I vowed to the Goddess Morrigan that I would revive her faith on Earth and protect it. Any attention that I bring to myself will help in my promise and my reputation that would come from participating in the Triwizard Tournament as a formidable fighter would help in deterring those that may wish harm to the fledgling faith."

"Oh, you are thinking that far ahead into the future?" said Dumbledore in an impressed tone as he ran his fingers through his long beard. "Since you have decided to participate in the Triwizard Tournament then I must inform you about the rules if no one has done so already. The rules are…"

Was this good, bad or meh? Please tell me what you think. I accept all criticism as long as it is no flaming.