Magic of the Goblet of Fire
by Roff
Chapter One
Harry Potter was not in a good mood.
And that was putting it lightly.
First of all, Dumbledore refused to let Harry stay with his godfather, Sirius Black, for the summer following his third year at Hogwarts. Instead, he was shipped back to his horrible relatives who hated Harry with a passion that defies all logic.
Harry had a terrible summer with his relatives. His Uncle Vernon was in true form all summer long and his Aunt Petunia seemed content to go along with it. Dudley and his friends tried their old Harry hunting game with Harry in the park one day during August, but decided not to try that ever again.
Harry didn't run this time. He was too angry to run and he just wanted to hit something.
Why was he so angry?
On top of his uncle's abuse and everything else that had not worked out for him, Harry had received an invitation from his best mate Ron to go to the Quidditch National Cup Final with him in August. It was being held in England this year so the Weasleys, plus Hermione, were attending. Molly Weasley was the only Weasley not going besides her three oldest sons who no longer lived at home.
Turns out Ron's father, Arthur Weasley, was head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic so he was able to procure tickets for everyone. He even made sure he got one for Harry who was very pleased to hear that. The Weasleys were always very nice to him, unlike his hateful relatives.
Harry put on his best face and behavior when he approached his Uncle Vernon about being picked up by the Weasleys so he could spend the remaining days of summer with them. However, Uncle Vernon was having none of it. Even when Harry explained that he would not be back again until another year, his uncle would not budge.
Uncle Vernon had been terrible to Harry all summer, working him worse than a slave, and this just took the cake, especially when prior to this he was always eager to get rid of Harry as soon as possible.
Harry was sulking over having to tell the Weasleys thank you for thinking of him but his Uncle Vernon was refusing to let him go. He would just have to see them on the train to Hogwarts on September first.
He was walking in the park trying to calm down when Dudley and his gang attacked Harry. Harry lost all ability to calm down at that point.
"Guess what time it is, Harry?" asked Dudley in a cheerful manner.
Harry just shrugged his shoulders like he didn't care.
"It's time for Harry Hunting!" Piers Polkiss said excitedly. "You better start running."
Harry thought about it for a couple of seconds as the gang in front of him were trying to figure out why he didn't start running. Harry finally made up his mind. He decided he wasn't going to run this time. He didn't care how short and physically weak he was. He was fourteen years old now and a wizard. He decided to take his chances. Besides, he really wanted to hit something.
"No," he said flatly as he looked over at them.
"Well, this'll be fun," one of the others said.
"Yeah, at least we don't have to run after him this time and chase him down. He's quick," added another.
Dudley saw the look in his cousin's eye and he didn't like what he saw, so for the first time he stayed back as the others approached Harry.
What he saw next shocked him. The first boy was swinging his fist from way back to hit Harry with a big haymaker but his cousin ducked, stepped inside the swing, and hit the boy with a powerful punch right to his stomach causing all the wind to be knocked out of him. He bent over double then fell over to the ground in pain as he struggled to regain his breath.
The second one paused for a moment when he saw what happened to his friend but Harry kept coming. He was not planning on giving them a chance to recover. He hit the second one with a left hook right to the chin that sent him to the ground and out cold.
Piers was a little angry now at Harry fighting back so he tackled him to the ground. Only just before Piers could sit on him and pound him, Harry threw him off sideways and sat on him instead. Harry then punched him twice in the face with two quick hits. Piers decided to go night-night.
Harry stood and walked toward Dudley just as angry as he was when he started. Dudley's eyes grew bigger.
"Are you ready for your beating now, Dudley?" asked Harry.
"No, Harry. You've proven your point. There'll be no more Harry Hunting …ever."
"There better not be or I'm going to finish this. Do. you. understand?" he asked slowly with his green eyes glowing.
"I understand. We'll leave you alone from now on."
"What about while at home, Dudley? Are you going to continue with your bad behavior toward me?"
"I'll leave you alone then too," he promised.
"Good," Harry replied angrily then stalked off.
The one he hit in the stomach was sitting up now and able to breath. He was holding his stomach though as if it hurt. When Harry walked by him, he bent over and hit the teen in the chin with his fist which sent him back to the ground like the other two.
Dudley just shook his head at what he watched his cousin do. He would swear Harry had figured out how to enhance his punches with magic. How else was he able to hit so hard? He's too small and physically weak to be able to do that with his muscles alone.
What Harry didn't know was that actually did happen. His magic was flowing with his anger for his uncle and he unknowingly used it to enhance his punches during the fight. Harry might have been small and weak physically but he was a very powerful wizard, even at his young age, so his magic more easily responded to his needs whether Harry realized it or not.
oOo
On the train to Hogwarts for the new year, he heard about how great the match was between Ireland and Bulgaria. Ron was over the moon about seeing Krum play in person. News of the Quidditch game that he missed just added to his already simmering anger at his uncle and his life in general.
Then at the opening feast, Dumbledore told everyone that Quidditch was cancelled for the year. Harry loved to play Quidditch and was looking forward to getting to play again. It was how he relaxed after dealing with everything he normally had to deal with. So, he had to miss the Quidditch Cup and now he would not get to play Quidditch the entire year.
His anger was bubbling up again but he tried to stamp it back down. After all, the Triwizard Tournament could be fun to watch and having students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons visiting through the year, maybe he could make some new friends he thought hopefully. They were to show up on the thirtieth of October, the day before Halloween.
Then on Halloween, the champions from each school would be selected after they placed their names and school affiliation into this magical cup called the Goblet of Fire. Somehow it was sentient enough to choose the three champions, one from each school, so they could compete in the Triwizard Tournament.
Now it was finally Halloween and bad things always happened to Harry on Halloween. Potions with Snape was really bad that day, so much so that he nearly hexed the professor. He was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. He knew that wasn't the only bad thing that was going to happen to him on that day.
Snape issues were almost a daily occurrence after all. Halloween was always reserved for something especially unique to happen.
Turns out Harry wasn't disappointed. The other shoe did drop and instead, he became extremely angry.
The other champions were selected and all went to stand off to the side at the front to wait for further instructions. Just as Dumbledore was about to dismiss everyone back to their dormitories so the judges could meet with the champions, the goblet spit out another piece of parchment.
Like before, Dumbledore caught the parchment but read the name in shock this time.
"Harry Potter?!"
Harry could honestly say, Halloween or not, he did not see that coming.
He was still 14 years old and you had to be 17 to compete in the tournament. Plus, let's not forget that you have to voluntarily enter your name into the goblet to be in the running and possibly be selected as a champion. Since there are three schools in the Triwizard Tournament and all three champions had already been chosen by the goblet, then what the heck was it doing spitting out his name?
Harry didn't enter his name into the goblet and never intended to compete at all. He wasn't even interested and he wasn't of age. Therefore the only explanation for his name coming out is that someone else put it in.
This made him very, very angry and all his hard work to calm himself down just flew out the window.
Harry slowly rose from his seat and approached Dumbledore and the goblet. He took slow measured steps. He was so angry his body was wanting to shake and tremble at the ire coursing through his veins. Of course, his magic was heightened and flowing along with it which caused his eyes to glow.
"Some impartial judge you got there," Harry said calmly and loudly, gesturing to the goblet as he walked. He was so angry now he had reached a calm, calculated stage.
"What do you mean, Harry?" asked Dumbledore, worried about the boy's green glowing eyes.
"Weren't you the one that said the Goblet of Fire was an impartial judge?" he asked.
"Yes, I believe I did."
"Well, obviously you were wrong, Professor."
"How so?"
"What do you mean, how so?" he asked confused. "It just picked a fourth champion in the Triwizard Tournament between three schools with one champion for each. You can't have a fourth champion. There is no fourth school!"
"Did you put your name in the cup, Harry?" he asked.
"Would I be this upset and saying all of this if I did? Of course I didn't put my name in the cup. I'm 14 years old, for Merlin's sake, and therefore not even qualified to put my name in."
"Did you have someone older put your name in for you?" Dumbledore asked.
"No, Professor. I can't believe you have to ask," Harry replied angrily.
"Follow me then Harry to the antechamber along with the other champions and judges. We'll figure this out." He said as he turned to walk that way. "Everyone else is dismissed," he told the assembly.
The students in the Great Hall refused to move as they watched Harry. They weren't sure he was done yet. Plus, no one had ever dared talked to Dumbledore like that.
"No!" Harry said emphatically as the students stayed put.
"What?" Dumbledore asked confused as he turned back to look at Harry.
"There is nothing to figure out, Professor. I'm not competing. It's as simple as that. No need for further discussion."
"You have to compete," insisted Barty Crouch.
"No, …I don't," Harry answered succinctly.
"You don't understand, Mr. Potter," Crouch continued. "Your name came out of that cup. That constitutes a magical contract. If you don't compete you risk losing your magic to the goblet. Most witches and wizards who lose all their magic normally die so you will likely die too if you don't compete."
"But I didn't put my name in the goblet," he said exasperated. "If it's so sentient then it would not only know that but it would know the git who actually did put my name in the goblet. Surely, it would take the magic of the one who committed the crime? Perhaps the one who entered my name should compete instead or lose their magic," he suggested.
"Mr. Potter, that's not how it works I'm afraid. The wording states that it's the name that comes out of the goblet that constitutes a binding contract. It says nothing about the one who put the name in."
"Who were the idiots that wrote this ridiculous contract? They didn't foresee a possibility of misuse like we are seeing now? Did they even consult legal counsel? Lawyers tend to cover all the bases, you know."
"The Goblet of Fire has been in existence for many, many centuries, Mr. Potter. The same contract is still in use."
"Well, that's too bad. I guess we'll have to see just how sentient this sorry excuse for an artifact is."
"I wouldn't do that, Mr. Potter," Crouch warned him. "The goblet has taken the magic from several above average witches and wizards over the centuries. It's extremely powerful."
"Harry, please," Dumbledore pleaded. "Come with me and don't do anything rash."
"No. I refuse. This trumped up goblet is confused. How can it be so powerful and sentient when it can't even count correctly to three? You hear that goblet? You're a joke! You messed up. You should have stopped at three champions like you were supposed to do. Are you too old? Are you past your prime? Does someone need to retire you?"
The goblet suddenly relit itself.
"Harry, please stop what you're doing?" Dumbledore begged him with his eyes on the goblet.
The Death Eater, Barty Crouch, Jr., who was polyjuiced as Mad-Eye Moody, was watching all this with a lot of worry. If Harry lost his magic and died then he will have failed his master. He not only entered the boy but was supposed to be here to help get Harry to the last competition and make sure he wins. This was so his lord and master could regain a body using Potter's blood in a dark ritual.
If that stupid goblet tries to take Potter's magic then he would have to do something. Perhaps he can stop it as Mad-Eye? He will need a very strong spell, he was thinking.
"Oh, who has a pretty fire?" Harry asked the goblet like he was talking to a baby.
This boy is crazy, both Crouches were thinking at the same time.
"I still don't think you are sentient enough to know what you're doing," Harry told the goblet. "I mean just look at the evidence. Now go ahead and shut your fire back down while I continue to refuse to compete and head back to my common room."
Harry waited a few seconds watching for the fire to recede but it didn't. Harry then shrugged his shoulders.
"Suit yourself, Goblet," Harry said then turned around and started walking toward the doors.
Suddenly Harry was attacked from behind. He could feel his magic being slowly sucked out of him. He turned and looked at the goblet that was doing that to him. He then reached a whole new level of angry. He was so tired of being used and abused.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Mad-Eye Moody try to save him so he looked that way. Mad-Eye yelled "Avada Kedavra" and cast a Killing Curse at the Goblet. It hit the goblet square on, but it did no damage at all. Many screams were heard from students seeing the green color of the Killing Curse for the first time in person.
However, the Goblet stopped draining Harry and turned its magical stream toward Mad-Eye. It then began to drain him of all magic. The old auror could not do anything about it either as his magic ebbed away. Once it drained away the polyjuice, everyone could see that it was not Mad-Eye but Barty Crouch, Jr., an escaped Death Eater.
Harry meanwhile was beyond angry at the Goblet. Instead of fleeing, he started planning something when it was draining the Death Eater. When the Goblet finished with Crouch, Jr. and the Death Eater fell over, it started on Harry again. This time though, Harry was ready and executed his plan.
While waiting on the Goblet Harry let his magic build up as high as it would go. His magic knew it had to protect its host so aided in this quest. Then, if the goblet attacked him again Harry was going to give it all his magic at the same time. No special spell, just his magic all at once. He was going to release it all in one go and see how the goblet liked it instead of the slow steady stream.
Harry's magic decided to add an extreme amount of potency since it didn't want to be drained from its host and into some goblet, sentient or not.
Harry pushed with all his might to make sure he had all his magic ready to go, then when the goblet attacked him again he released all of it at once. Instead of the smaller beam of magic heading from Harry to the goblet, a large torrent of magic went at one time and hit the goblet all over, rather than just in its magical fire where it sucked in the magic.
After it was hit, the goblet sent a huge ball of fire into the air that luckily dissipated before it hit the ceiling or anything else. The drain of Harry's magic had completely stopped while Harry just stood there not feeling well. He was amazed he was still standing because he was sure most of his magic was gone out of his body. He only had a sliver left.
Suddenly the goblet grew very bright and released a huge torrent of magic several times bigger than the one Harry sent, right back at him. Harry wasn't able to move. He was barely able to stand.
The magic from the goblet hit him dead on in the chest and his body absorbed all of it.
Harry's eyes grew very big once he was hit. He let out an "Oh!" and then fell over backwards out cold, hitting the floor with an audible thump.
Dumbledore was scrambling to get to Harry but Hermione, Ron, and Ginny beat him to Harry as they were closer.
"Clear the way," he said.
"He's still alive," Hermione told him as he knelt down and checked Harry with a few wand waves.
He was indeed alive and he still had magic. Dumbledore sent a messenger patronus to Madam Pomfrey to get to the Great Hall immediately.
He glanced back at the goblet. It looked dead. He walked back over to it and cast a few spells. He found that the magic of the goblet was completely gone. It was empty and no longer sentient.
"Barty?" Dumbledore called out to the man who was sitting near his dead son.
"Yes, Albus?" he answered without taking his eyes off his son.
"I'm fairly certain Harry Potter successfully killed the Goblet of Fire. It no longer has magic and therefore has lost any sentience it had."
He nodded then asked, "How is Mr. Potter?"
"That's the amazing part, Barty. Harry is not only still alive but he still has his magic. It's almost as if the goblet admitted defeat and died. The question is whether or not Harry is going to be okay. Right now, he's headed for the infirmary."
"We'll just have to wait and see, Albus. The fact that he defeated the goblet is amazing in and of itself, especially at the mere age of 14. My fully grown son here was certainly not able to do it," he said gesturing to his body.
"I believe we now know who put Harry's name in the goblet," Dumbledore said loud enough for all to hear. Many were nodding their heads in agreement. "That reminds me. He was using polyjuice. That means Alastor must still be around somewhere. Minerva? Can you and Filius go check the Defense classroom office for Alastor? He has an expanded seven compartment trunk. That might be a good place to look. Check the office and his quarters as well if needed."
McGonagall and Flitwick nodded and left.
Pomfrey had arrived earlier and examined Harry. She determined that he was in no apparent danger at the moment but needed to rest to let his magic rebuild. She couldn't get a proper reading on his magic when she checked it so was afraid it was dangerously low. She was now floating him back to the hospital wing with a few of his friends in tow.
The three champions were approached after that. They all had big eyes at what they had witnessed. As soon as the students were headed off to their common rooms, the meeting with the champions was held. They were informed that the goblet could no longer enforce the contract if they wished to change their minds. However, none of the three wanted to quit so they were given their instructions for the first task and everybody left.
Dumbledore headed to the hospital wing to check on Harry.
He arrived to find two beds occupied. Harry was in one while Alastor was in another. Madam Pomfrey was tending to Alastor who was awake. Albus explained to his old friend what happened and how Barty Crouch, Jr. died, exposing who he was.
Poppy assured them both that Alastor should be okay to leave in a few days at the most. He just needed to get his strength up and eat some good meals while he recuperates.
"What about Harry?" asked Albus.
"He is doing alright for now," she said. "I'm not sure how long he will need to sleep but he needs to sleep as long as he needs it."
"We can't wake him up for a short period and ask questions, Poppy?" he asked.
"Of course not! That boy's magic needs to recover. He will sleep until he wakes up on his own. Do you hear me? To do otherwise could be disastrous."
"Very well. Do you think his body can really handle all that extra magic?"
"What extra magic?" she asked.
Dumbledore then explained what Harry and the goblet did and how it looked like Harry absorbed all the magic the goblet threw at him, plus the goblet had no magic left now. He assumed that Harry received all that magic.
Pomfrey nodded. "His friends were trying to explain it to me but they weren't sure what actually happened."
"I'm not sure either. I'm just going off of what I witnessed. It appears that the goblet admitted defeat and then sent all of its magic to Harry. Somehow he managed to absorb it all. I assure you, it did not go anywhere else. I checked."
"That makes more sense now. Well, it's a good sign that he was able to absorb all of it and still live. His chances are really good just because of that. Not to mention, Mr. Potter is different from others. He is far more capable of bigger magic than anyone I've ever examined, including you."
As Dumbledore pondered that information, Pomfrey cast some more spells on Harry before continuing.
"Now, before tonight he had a good bit less magic than you, seeing as how he's just 14 and still growing, but that is no longer the case it seems. He has so much magic now that it can't even be measured properly. I thought it was just too low to get a measurement but now, with the new information, it seems too high. And since he's still alive and his body continues to adjust to all the magic, then I see no reason to believe he will not succeed."
"…power he knows not…," Dumbledore mumbled.
"What was that, Albus?"
"Oh, just remembering something, Poppy." He then changed the subject. "I believe you are right about Harry. I believe he will recover in time and be the most powerful wizard we have ever seen."
"It will likely take his body a good while to adjust but I'll be keeping a close eye on him while he continues to recover. I'll have to give him daily nutrient potions as it is to keep his health up."
"You do that, Poppy. That's a very important patient you have there."
Two weeks went by and the ones allowed to see Harry were amazed at the changes they saw in him. He was still sleeping, almost in a coma it seems, but not quite.
Harry was always short for his age due to all the malnutrition at the hands of his relatives during the toddler and later years when he needed the nutrition the most. If it weren't for his strong magic, he would have died as a child.
In fact, his magic became stronger due to the constant work it had to do just to keep him alive. His capacity for magic increased as well, making room for whatever was needed in the future to continue helping him.
His magic did not know when its host would be free of these horrible people who refused to feed him properly, so it did all it could to guarantee its host's survival, and by association its own.
In his fourth year at Hogwarts, Harry had reached the height of four feet ten inches. All of the other boys in his year were several inches taller than him, most at five and half feet or better. Nearly all of the girls were taller than him too. Now, after two weeks of his body adjusting to all the extra magic it absorbed, Harry was over six feet tall.
Madam Pomfrey was taking all of his measurements as he steadily changed physically and magically.
Harry's friends could not believe that he had grown so much while sleeping. They had always thought of Harry as their powerful but short and skinny friend. He was no longer short, nor skinny either. Madam Pomfrey explained that his body was adjusting to a powerful magical expansion forced on him. It likely grew his body due to that so it could handle the extra.
By increasing his height and therefore the length of his blood vessels, which is where the magic flows, Harry's body was able to make use of all the extra magic it was given. His magic was very happy for the change as well. It was just what it needed to fully protect him.
Along with the extra height, Harry's body was becoming bigger. His shoulders were wide and his chest was much deeper. He looked like he had good strong muscles too.