"Harry?" Cressida called out to get Harry's attention. Before she had approached the teen Mia had intercepted her and Cressida's colleague had made it clear in uncertain terms that she would better watch her words as Mia had no desire getting caught up in whatever point she was pushing.
The willowy witch had listened well. She knew the move would get her some of Harry's ire. But she had not expected to push his buttons this hard nor was Dumbledore's threat on the list of things she expected from it.
Harry looked up while Hermione, who was leaning into his side while reading another book about heretic gods Cressida had procured for her glanced up before returning her attention to the book. "Yes Cressida?" He replied in a flat tone that made his disfavor of the young woman clear.
"As you commanded I have investigated the possible origin of the artifact that could have lured the heretic god to Hogwarts. Currently the Wittangamot believes it was the cup it used in battle to store and release souls which was the item used. From the information the organisation has it believes that the cup did not shatter or disappear after the last time it was defeated, and a particular crafty thief stole it from the last Campione responsible."
"For a heretic god it descended again relatively quickly and has been making a nuisance of itself since then. Since the cup was stolen it was kept out of the Wittangamot's sight. I have requested that inquiries are made towards the magical institutions on the mainland, but I deem it unlikely anything will come forward."
Harry pursed his lips before nodding. "Thank you. You did well." he noted in a dismissive tone and he returned to his own book. Cressida beat a hasty retreat and as she joined Mia on the other side of the room she saw Hermione whisper something to Harry.
She hoped it was some kind of encouragement to be nicer to her, but she did not have that much hope that it would be the case as the bushy haired girl had not been impressed either by the truth.
It took more than a week for Harry to warm up to his Wittangamot escort again. Both send their own message to their superiors to let them know that involving Harry in such a situation was a certain way to garner his ire.
Life meanwhile resumed the best it could in Hogwarts. The day after Voban's messenger had run by the castle suffered another invader in the form of Sirius Black who desperately wanted to see his godson hearty and hale after the news reached the resort where he was undergoing an extensive healing program.
Harry had some time to properly meet the man and the pair had managed to forge some plans for the distant summer when Remus barged in and dragged Sirius by the ear, and according to some with the applause from professor McGonagall, back to the resort. The werewolf had made it vocally clear he would not trust the man again until the healers fixed him from whatever kept him from getting into these kinds of situations.
It wasn't until Harry had reconnected with his companions that the curiosity about his new authority surfaced and he soon found himself out on his usual practice spot. He closed his eyes and searched within himself. The incantation flowed from his lips "Surge forth, over the banks and into plains. Crash over the dunes into the lowlands and drag all caught to sea! Spare none and devour all!"
An orb of water roughly half the size of Harry in all directions appeared. With bated breath they waited for anything to happen. After a dozen of seconds of inaction Harry mentally prodded his authority and found that the water moved at his command at a sedate pace. "Is that all?" Mia asked with clear disappointment.
"Even I can conjure this much water… although I need another spell to control it." Hermione critiqued. Harry's reply came in the form of pulling out his wand and with a swish he cast the aguamenti charm. Much to the surprise of all present the wand from the water splashed off the orb like it was a solid.
"They don't mix. So it is not water… Vodyanoy did use the water of the lake. Maybe it needs to be natural like the rivers and the sea like the incantation suggests?" Harry thought out loud. "An authority that depends on the environment. Both a strength and a weakness." Cressida mused. "We will need to wait until the next school break then. I doubt the headmaster will be amused if Harry disturbs the wards again."
"And then he'll haul me around the world to learn the ins and outs of my authority." Harry added with a smile. "Let's try and figure it out ourselves first. The headmaster has more than enough on his plate." The girls nodded that they understood. "We can ask professor McGonagall if we can travel away next weekend." He paused and imagined the look the professor would give him.
Campione he might be but he still held a healthy respect for his head of house. "On second thought, Cressida can arrange that." He corrected with a poorly concealed smirk. Hermione shook her head in disapproval but said nothing.
"You speak of madness." One goblin hissed to the other in the round council. "Madness? The idiotic humans never even noticed our written declaration." the accused answered. "Just that the boy got lucky and managed to slay two gods means nothing in the face of proper planning. The available gold alone makes the risk worth it. Let alone the more solid assets."
"That is true." The goblin king intoned gravely. "But this venture is not without costs. Do you truly think the humans will be cowed by you if we slay the new Campione?" "Yes!" the goblin replied fervently. "Not only is he the new Campione, one with only sword wielding authority and a mount. Yes he has a new unknown authority but the heretic god he killed for it was not very strong. And he will be in an environment that is opposite to his element."
"But more importantly. He is also their mythical 'boy who lived'. With his death at our hands their flobberworm of a ministry might even concede to certain issues." "Or they could be upset at the loss of their poster boy that they'll do something rash." another goblin pointed out. "Then we fight them and remind them of the might the goblin nation holds!"
"Then your clan leads from the front." the objector said in a definite tone. "Let our squabbles not affect our strategy." the goblin king cut in. "However he makes a valid point. All the costs of the ritual will be borne by your clan." "My lord!" the goblin protested. "Consider it punishment for making these plans that affect the nation as a whole without my consent. To not test your allowances any further." The warning was clear for all those present.
"As you command." The reply was given with bitterness. The king gave a single nod. "Then we shall proceed as you suggested. I see much potential and with the great emperor returned in the flesh we can finally spread our domains both above and below the earth and claim all the riches for ourselves."
Despite the earlier reluctance by some of the participants. All the goblin clan heads banged the table loudly in approval.
Harry wasn't sure which ministry goon messed up the words 'Campione' with 'Champion' but he was invited to join the triwizard champions at the quidditch stadium. The few ministry officials around weren't sure what to do with his entourage. But Harry hardly went anywhere with Mia, Cressida and Hermione in tow and a single look from them was enough to quail the forming protest at their presence.
"So they called us here to let them show what absolute mess they made of the stadium field?" Harry asked as he looked at the growing foliage in the grass field. "An atrocity it is." Cedric agreed. "A waste of a good stadium." Krum concurred in a heavy accent. As the two champions discussed the finer points of just what kind of mess was made of the Hogwarts quidditch stadium he noted all the females in the company looked on in haughty disdain.
"Ah, excellent. You are all here." Ludo Bagman said cheerfully as he stepped into the field as well. Bartemius Crouch Senior was at his side taking in the extra additions. He clearly decided to let it go and together with the more excitable Ludo explained the upcoming third task.
"So these hedges will be high I assume?" Cressida asked dryly at the end of the explanation. "That is correct miss?" "Lyala. And what are the spectators supposed to see? One would presume you would have learned your lesson after the second task, barring the interruption of the heretic god."
Ludo fell silent and had nothing to say in reply to Barty's glower. "We will take your advice in consideration." he said diplomatically. "See that you do." Cressida said like an empress dismissing a particular bothersome subject much to the approval of the other woman present.
Ludo and Barty beat a rapid retreat and the group wandered their way back to the castle after one last look, a mournful one for the men. "I am glad I am out of this tournament." Harry said conversationally. "I can understand that. Who knows what kind of creatures Hagrid will contribute." "And you can not even hurt them as they will have names such as Fluffy." Harry said with a grin.
"Considering your friend's size and resilience I am afraid what manner of beast deserved such a cute name." Cressida stated, her expression stuck between a fleeting look of amusement and dread. "Cerberus." Harry and Hermione answered for her together. Mia chuckled at Cressida's despondent sigh.
Despite not being a participant Harry was making preparations as if he was. With the last two tasks interrupted by a heretic god he was not having much hope for the third task to be any different. Cressida and Mia had harassed the relevant ministry workers to get an idea what kind of creatures they were bringing in. The eclectic mix however did not give any indication what kind of heretic god could show up.
"Hopefully the ministry will have listened to you." Hermione said as she closed her book. "I am curious what they did to solve it." "We will see that soon. It will start in less than an hour." Harry replied. "Let's go." he told the girls and together the group headed out.
As planned they met up with the teachers and seated themselves just as the minister made his entrance. Much to his dismay Harry found himself wedged between Dumbledore, which wasn't a problem, and the minister, which was. It was clear the man was trying to curry his favor after the Sirius debacle.
'I'll need to ask Dumbledore or Cressida if he is in trouble in political land.' Harry noted to himself as Ludo Bagman loudly began to explain the upcoming task. He saw three men with a heavy backpack rise on brooms. Once in the air they pulled out a microphone. "And these three gentleman shall give a running commentary as the contests proceed into the maze!"
He could Hermione sigh in disappointment behind him. He was a bit disappointed as well. He was hoping for some innovative spell that made projections like muggle TV screens. With some fancy orb following the champions around. Instead he could have stayed inside with a radio for all the good being the arena did for him.
The starting signal was given and one by one the champions filtered in. Due to the interrupted second task by divinity the scores given were chosen on the method used instead of how long they had taken. All the other parts were considered to be interfered with. The result was that the scores ended up being pretty close to each other.
Which in turn revealed that the ministry had not trained the three flying commentators and Bagman soon cut in. Assigning each of them a block to talk in like a teacher telling each student in class to read a paragraph. "I am curious." Cressida asked both Dumbledore and Fudge. "Can the champions inside hear this commentary as well?"
Fudge startled. "Why yes. Naturally. Why would they not?" he answered. "So the other two have a running feed of how their competitors are doing." Harry said thoughtfully. "It is a good thing that Harry broke the cup then. It would certainly count as interference which could take the magic of the champions and the headmasters and mistress of the schools depending on the cup's judgement." Dumbledore said conversationally. "I am rather fond of my magic you see."
"I believe most people are fond of their magic Headmaster." Harry replied in the same tone as Fudge's face seemed to go through the rainbow of colours. "I suspect that the vicious thing inside would use that opportunity. Although I think you would have been safe considering I saw no threat to you or the other heads of the schools."
"That is a good point." Dumbledore said musingly. "I wonder now however, have you ever seen living beings in other objects?" "I have not, headmaster. It also seems that the other competitors now know that Krum ran afoul with that Sphynx." Harry answered as a pair of medi witches on brooms swooped in and soon levitated the knocked out Bulgarian from the maze.
"And the answer was so simple." Hermione sighed. "A human. It is almost a classic." "Well you youngsters don't seem to appreciate the classics usually. Why…" he was stopped from trailing off into a story filled with random trivia by a well placed stomp from Professor McGonagall. Harry for a moment wondered if he should make a crack about the pair being married. Then he remembered the near hour long scolding/explanation why students usually aren't allowed out of the castle grounds aside from the Hogsmeade weekend.
As productive the trip had been he was in no hurry to unleash the lion of the Gryffindor tower upon himself again. "Oh that blows. The one time the commenter could have given away the danger he doesn't." Harry mentioned while he grimaced at the thought of being bitten by an acromantula. Thankfully it sounded like Cedric was fast enough in dispatching the beast to not become its lunch and was currently limping his way to the cup.
"The 'Puffs will be unbearable until the year is over." Harry joked. A moment later Cedric was portkeyed to the stage for all to see. However the Hogwarts nurse was waiting for him and she took him prisoner before anyone could squeak out anything. Harry snickered at Fudge's flabbergasted look as the man froze mid step with the prize money dangling in his hand.
'Did he really expect anything else when the doctors and nurses heard that Cedric got chomped on by an acromantula?' Harry thought amused as a scorched and bleeding Fleur was lifted out from the hedges as well as those started to shrink. The young Veela had run afoul with both Hagrid's abominations and some vicious south american growth only Neville and Professor Sprout could love.
"Hermione." Harry asked lightly to mask his intention. "A fresh acromantula bite that is treated straight away doesn't require much time to heal right?" Hermione looked at him puzzled. "Madam Pomfrey should have the right counter agents to stop the dissolvement of tissue. From there a simple potion should put it to rights." she answered.
She was further confused when Mia chuckled slightly as the minister unfroze and looked uncertain what to do. "I see you have forgotten your time in Hogwarts Minister." Dumbledore chided gently. "What mister Potter was trying to allude to that you should be able to hand over mister Diggory's price in the infirmary."
"Ah. Yes, Yes. Excellent point." Fudge fumbled verbally. "Come along everyone. Let us congratulate the champion." "I think it would be best if you only brought a few people, minister. And perhaps two or three people from the press core. The infirmary is not a place for a public spectacle." Dumbledore suggested firmly and Fudge winced again.
"You are right again headmaster." he agreed quickly and Harry invited himself along to satiate his curiosity. As he descended from the arena he remembered the pretty oriental girl that was Cedric's girlfriend. "Is Cho Chang nearby?" he asked softly to his entourage as he glanced around the arena. "I see her." Hermione answered quickly. "Could ask her if she wants to come along?"
Hermione smiled as she understood and as the minister was fetching the press the girl, with fresh tears still on her face, was more than happy to tag along. They waited patiently for a couple of minutes as heated discussion erupted from the press corner and Harry sighed and motioned them to follow him.
He moved up to join Dumbledore with professor Sprout. "Ah. Good forethought Harry." Dumbledore praised upon seeing Cho. "I have my moments." Harry replied. "Shall we go? The ministry can catch up in their usual fashion." "Well if the Campione bids that." Dumbledore said in a tone of great resignation but none were fooled by the twinkling eyes. The old wizard was just as happy to get going to check up on the wounded students.
It did not take long to get up the stairs and into the infirmary where a peeved looking Decaleur and Krum were glaring at a smug looking Diggory. "I see madam Pomfrey managed to set you all to rights again." Dumbledore noted cheerfully as he strode into the room.
Professor Sprout clearly had to hold herself back not to fuss over Cedric like a mother hen and instead gave a tight nod after a thorough visual inspection. Cho didn't have any of those restrictions and after a more physical frisky check up proceeded to smother Cedric with kisses. "Young love." Dumbledore said fondly as he took in the scene.
"All of the champions are fit Headmaster. It appears there is a new record in the spectacle. None of the participants are dead or gravely injured." She didn't say none had died. The second task had seen to the destruction of that attempt. "That is good to hear." Dumbledore acknowledged with clear relief.
The ministry seemed to finally rally itself and soon Cedric found himself a thousand galleons richer. It was handed to him with as much pomp they could muster in the infirmary and with Bagman and Crouch at his side for a nice photo the minister handed him the money. The press descended upon him like vultures and Harry made to leave when he saw a malnourished man hobble towards the infirmary.
"Professor Moody?" he asked surprised as he stepped forward and helped the man up. "Lad. get Dumbledore as soon as you can." he barked. "Well he's inside here." Harry answered shortly as he dragged the man in. "Headmaster!" Harry shouted over the hubbub. "Mister Potter?" Dumbledore started to ask but trailed off to see professor Moody and he frowned.
"Albus. Bind Crouch Senior. Junior is still bloody alive." Moody barked. It was a testament to the trust Dumbledore had in the man that he did so without any questions. "Alastor. What happened to you." Dumbledore asked worriedly. "Junior ambushed me nearly a year ago. He kept me locked up in his expanded trunk. Kept taking my hair, polyjuice it must be." he explained as Pomfrey flitted over.
The emancipated man kept explaining how he had slowly without his wand wiggled his way to freedom. He seemed to be blissfully unaware of the press writing down the new scoop that a thought to be dead and insane death eater was working to revive his dead master he believed he was receiving orders from.
Senior paled as Moody gave him a pointed look and demanded if it was true he had bailed out his own child only to keep him under the imperius curse to keep him inside. Harry couldn't help but feel offended that Sirius got tossed into hell on earth without a say so and this man used his position to save his murderous son from it.
Aurors appeared and it appeared someone had called them. With them to Harry's surprise was the head of the DMLE herself. Thanks to Cressida's instructions he was a bit more aware of the inner workings of the ministry. The story was repeated again and with some amusement Harry pointed out to his companions that the three champions used the opportunity to sneak out of Pomfrey's domain.
"It is just an idea." Harry said dryly. "But with Crouch Junior acting like he was professor Moody it would certainly explain how I suddenly entered the cup. With his own father as an information source he probably knew the artifact inside out." Wide eyes greeted him followed by hasty scribbling from the press division. "I think we all know who is pulling his strings as well."
"He cant be back!" Fudge hollered suddenly. "The man is insane and no threat at all! The ministry will capture him soon enough and both Crouches will rot in Azkaban side by side." Harry gave the minister a dull look he was pretty sure was photographed. "Minister." he said evenly to hide his contempt. "The death eater has shown himself capable of ambushing and impersonating a renowned auror."
"And with either a self-made delusion or an imposter acting like the most recent Dark Lord to terrorise these shores he is highly unpredictable as well." Dumbledore concurred and Harry wondered for a moment if the man knew there was another diary around. "He is insane. Whatever plot he has ends now. Find the imposter and arrest him!" Fudge ordered.
The aurors stampeded off after getting permission from madam Bones. Fudge made a few self satisfied statements and walked off like a peacock showing its feathers. The rest soon followed as they realised the champions had snuck off leaving Harry and Dumbledore with their entourages.
"Headmaster. Do you have a moment?" he asked. "If I suspect right what you want to ask. I have my fears that the answer is yes." Dumbledore replied mysteriously. "But you do not need to worry. I will ask for your help if I deem I need it." While the rest of the room blinked uncertainly Harry nodded that he understood.