Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter.

Some of the dialogue was inspired by Black Lagoon's character Revy; fans of Black Lagoon should take note of the double wands - Revy uses two guns stamped with the jolly roger. So does Charlotte.

There's also a St. Trinians reference.


The Hell of Fourth Year.

McGonagall walked into the staffroom and the moment she saw the few visible copies of the Daily Prophet lying around, she knew this was not going to be a meeting she was going to like. Then again who would like seeing a teenage girl who was the last heiress of a very old family, someone who should have been nurtured and protected both in and out of Hogwarts but had instead been allowed to be abused more times than anyone would care to think of reveal an empty eye cavity? The sight of the empty cavity had sent waves throughout the magical world, although Minerva had no doubt in her head, or in her heart, the ramifications would cause problems for Hogwarts for generations to come.

Personally Minerva believed the whole mess was well deserved. It was another example of how far Dumbledore's ridiculous policies and badly thought out schemes had gone, but Minerva hoped and prayed the recent acts of Susan Bones and what the results had been for Charlotte had been the wakeup call for Dumbledore. Somehow she doubted it; the old fool had been too comfortable for far too long. He was unlikely to change that completely simply because of a hiccup in his precious schemes. But she was haunted by what she'd overheard Charlotte say to Mr Diggory about how she herself could have used her position to override Dumbledore's ban.

Charlotte was right. As the Deputy Headmistress, she had if not the authority but the responsibility to override Dumbledore's orders and decisions if he went too far. It was an old rule designed to protect the students and the staff. Unfortunately, when the old fool had made the decision to ban anyone from helping Charlotte, Minerva had just bowed her head, certain at the time Albus Dumbledore knew what he was doing.

It was a terrible error of judgement.

She should have argued, but like always whenever Dumbledore said something to her, she just went along with it. Like always. What made it worse was she had done it not once, but several times in the past. Dumbledore just had this way of making her do things she knew in her heart was wrong. Minerva hated to believe it herself, but she had to face facts; she was a terrible Head of House and she was an even worse Deputy Headmistress. She wished she had overridden Dumbledore's control and stopped him playing this vile game again. Now it was too late.

But the memories Charlotte had projected, the memory of how she'd stopped the basilisk back in her second year after being scorned, tormented and shunned by everyone including Minerva herself, and the memory of how Charlotte's cat Nightstar had come dangerously close to being killed by Weasley, it showed Minerva just how out of control the students were.

It was bad enough Weasley did it for reasons Minerva could not work out since Weasley wasn't in anyway intelligent, but if he thought Charlotte was just going to turn a blind eye to that disgusting action that even she had found hard to stomach since Minerva was a cat lover herself and her own animagus form was a cat and the thought the redheaded idiot who was already in the lower places in the Gryffindor scores because he didn't apply himself even with Miss Granger around would just kill a cat because he'd wanted to punish Charlotte, and be friends with him again, well it would make her question the family gene pool.

Dumbledore's policies of blanket forgiveness, turning a blind eye to the bullying at large, was doing more harm than good. Even worse, some of the teachers themselves, who were meant to be preventing that sort of thing, were bullying students as well. Hogwarts needed to change, and now before students began to slaughter each other, certain their bloodlines and family connections as well as Dumbledore's….she didn't even know what it was would keep them safe. It was an attitude which was becoming prevalent in the magical world as well, but whatever it was it had started after the war with Grindelwald. When she had first worked with Dumbledore, McGonagall had been impressed with his skill as an educator, and he had been fair but firm, so what had happened?

Unfortunately she didn't know the answer to those questions, and Minerva doubted very much they would ever be answered.

She had to look away from the picture of the daughter of her favourite students prise open the empty cavity; it was bad enough in reality, and then later her dreams where the Potters she had known throughout her life starting from Charlus and Dorea yelled at her, saying this was her fault for being a truly pathetic teacher to Lily looking like she wanted nothing better than to tear one of her eyes out, to James who looked like he wanted nothing more than to kill her.

It was worse with Charlotte. Always the dream would show Minerva the little bundle of joy Charlotte had been, only for everything to turn to that dark mess where the girl's parents were snatched from her by that twisted bastard who'd waged a genocidal war on the whole magical world because he hadn't liked a small group of people, and the moment where Charlotte had been dropped on the doorstep of her relatives. In the dream, Charlotte had opened her eyes, only one of them was an empty cavity. Minerva would always wake up in a cold sweat.

It had been two days since the wand weighing ceremony, and in those two days she had been haunted by the same horrific dream, she would see a little baby with just one eye, and it never failed to wake her up in a cold sweat. Minerva didn't try to stop the dreams.

She needed them.

She needed something to stoke the fire of realisation of just how useless a teacher and Head of House she genuinely was, and she needed something to use to help her stand up to Dumbledore, and see her responsibilities instead of allowing the older man to manipulate the students while she was nothing but a tool.

McGonagall knew in her heart Charlotte would never forgive her. She could see it in the girl's expression - those green-tinted sunglasses (she wondered if the girl had chosen to wear them as a fashion statement, but she doubted it; while Charlotte liked to dress to impress, she wasn't that fashion conscious but since they weren't on any kind of speaking terms, she knew she couldn't just ask the girl what they were for) had stopped her seeing the girl's remaining eye, but she could see by the set of her face that Charlotte was not going to forgive anyone, and Minerva couldn't blame her.

"We can't just let the girl get away with it!" McGonagall sighed when she heard the unwelcome sound of Snape's voice. She ignored the greasy-haired man child and went to pour herself some tea to steady her nerves for a meeting she knew was guaranteed to be frustrating.

"Get away with what, Severus?" Filius asked.

"With taking the basilisk parts!" Snape snapped in a isn't it obvious voice. "She has no rights to it. As it was in the Chamber of Secrets, which I doubt-."

"Stop right there, Severus!" McGonagall surprised herself with the harsh bark that came out of her mouth as she turned around to pin the potions teacher with a harsh glare. "It did happen. I watched as the girl projected the memory of how she defeated the basilisk, and she was telling the truth. She was always telling the truth, and we scorned her the whole time. And as for that part where she has no rights to it, its a bit late don't you think?"

Snape pulled himself up, glancing over to Dumbledore who was sitting in his chair, looking more depressed than usual. McGonagall knew Charlotte's harsh words and the way she'd acted during the ceremony had gotten to him, but personally she didn't care. Dumbledore needed a dose of reality. It was time he saw the consequences of his actions, but whether he would learn from the experience or not, she had no idea.

But what made McGonagall most laugh herself sick was that for all Snape's knowledge, all his skills and talents, after everything he had done in Hogwarts as he drifted down the same disgusting path many of the young students who'd ended up becoming Death Eaters, he was still turning to Dumbledore for help.

"She's right, Severus," Flitwick looked as though he were trying hard to resist the urge to snicker at the wizard who could be more petulant than many of the teenagers in the school. "If the paper is right, and I've no doubt it is, the deal Miss Potter made with the goblins is air-tight. Surely you know the laws - anyone who kills a dangerous magical creature owns it and can do whatever they wish with the profits. It's the law, and you might think you can do whatever you like since you are under Albus' protection for your crimes in the past, but I wouldn't try contesting this since the goblins won't care one little bit if Charlotte killed the basilisk inside of Hogwarts or not. Once inside Gringotts, you are under goblin jurisdiction; you might think in your arrogance you're above goblins or other creatures," the little professor looked at him with an expression of contempt, although there was a set in the half-goblin's expression which made it clear what he really thought, "but even your precious Dark Lord would lose in a battle against goblin magic. And Ragnok himself might just have you sentenced to life imprisonment, where you'd clean out the dragon pens with the other fools who thought they could do whatever they wanted in goblin territory."

McGonagall nodded. "And we all know how seriously the goblins take their deals and contracts, and what happens to those who get on the wrong side of them."

Snape knew about the goblins reputation only too well, but he couldn't stand the thought of valuable ingredients being lost to him. "There must be something you can do," he swung around desperately to Dumbledore, hoping the old wizard would be of some help in this situation. "Albus, you can talk to the girl-."

"Oh, why don't you shut up and think for the first time in your life, Severus?!" Poppy Pomfrey snapped at last in frustration. "Stop thinking with your mouth and give your brain a chance to function for a change!"

Everyone in the room was stunned by Poppy's outpouring since it was rare, very rare she ever really interacted or come into the staffroom in the first place.

Poppy used the shock she'd just caused to further her case. She had heard there would be a staff meeting today, two days after the wand weighing ceremony since there was a rumour although it was more likely to be the truth that Dumbledore had been left shaken after what Charlotte had said to him in anger. She'd decided that the next staff meeting she would be there. She believed it was about time Dumbledore and the rest of the staff saw reality.

"Why would Charlotte even listen to anything you or he," she angrily gestured towards Dumbledore, "has to say? After what Dumbledore has done, why should she trust him again? What, do you really think she cares about your precious ingredients? If you get in her face, she will either curse you or ignore you. She sold the basilisk parts for other potion masters and mistresses to use; the fact you're not included means she knew she was slapping you in the face. Why should she care about what you want, Severus?"

Poppy stood up and walked around. "I know that girl, far better than most of you. And let me tell you something which will probably stun you rigid Severus. This feud between you and James Potter, and your lust - lets face reality, what you felt for Lily was nothing like love, as some might believe," she sent a harsh sneering glare at Dumbledore which surprised everyone, although the message was clear, "you took it seriously, didn't you?" she directed the rhetorical question towards Snape, who was looking at her with growing anger. "James himself took some of it seriously, although he probably did not know how seriously you took it, especially since you have only Charlotte left to take your anger out on. How pathetic are you, and cruel, to involve a child who's not only an orphan because of that bastard whom you idolised when you were in that emo phase of yours in a feud that started because you got into an argument over a girl.

"Charlotte, on the other hand, does not care about your grudge. At all. She doesn't care if you thought you loved her mother. She doesn't care if her father bullied you or not. She doesn't give a toss about what you think you had gone through during your life. She sees you as, in her words, a pathetic loser who will get a broken neck if he doesn't shut his fucking mouth. Her words, Severus," Poppy pointed out, surprising everyone with just how crassly she has spoken. "You won't get a thing, Severus. Albus can't help you. You're going to have to accept that, and all that rubbish about Charlotte being arrogant and "like her father," she said in a mocking but accurate imitation of Snape's frequent rants about Charlotte, "is in your head. She doesn't even know anything about her parents, not since your other master snatched them from her.

"Charlotte is her own person. And there is nothing you can do about it despite spending all of this time saying she is a female version of James. She already looks at you with contempt and apathy. If I were you, Severus, Albus, I'd back away from her. I don't know what she will do if you get in her face, but I can tell you….it won't be pretty," Poppy's tone was ominous. "I saw Charlotte snap when the basilisk petrified Nightstar back in her second year….It was not nice, but now its worse. You have abused her, we all have. If we get in her face now, there's no telling what she will do."

Minerva shuddered as she remembered the scream of rage she remembered coming from Charlotte when she had discovered her familiar had been petrified by the basilisk. After that she had gone on a raging rampage, and several of the students who had attacked her over the term - again, because Dumbledore refused to help - learnt the hard way of just how vicious the girl was. It had earned Charlotte a two-week detention, but the fact remained Charlotte Potter could be a very very dangerous girl.

It was a lesson they had foolishly ignored.

Now….Now the girl was bound to be more terrifying.

"Poppy," Dumbledore straightened in his chair at the public reminder of Severus Snape's past as a Death Eater, something he had always tried to suppress, "Severus has my complete trust."

Pomfrey didn't bother to respond to that. "And then there's you, Albus," she went on, ignoring what Dumbledore had just said. "Because of you, Charlotte has no trust in any of us, and believe me, she had no reason to trust any of us."

"Poppy," Sprout looked at her old friend curiously. "Just how much do you know about Charlotte Potter?"

Poppy took a deep breath and closed her eyes, anything to prevent Severus or Albus from using their legilimency skills on her although she knew they wouldn't go that far unless they thought they could get away with it. As a Healer, Poppy was meant to have extremely capable shields for a number of applications, and it came in handy when you worked alongside two men who didn't give a thought about the boundaries. "I can't say anything else," she said, thankful she had the excuse and there was nothing Dumbledore could do about it. "Patient-Healer confidentiality, and I don't care how you take that.

"But I will tell you this; Charlotte has snapped, I don't know what she will do. But I would stay clear of her."

XXX

The Daily Prophet's article which mostly focused on Charlotte and the confirmation of the attack on the girl which had resulted in the loss of one of her eyes was like an avalanche that hit Hogwarts and the Bones family very badly, especially since Charlotte had claimed she would have preferred seeing Susan Bones swinging from a rope rather than the kind of thing Dumbledore believed was justice.

The article and the statement sent shockwaves through the Alliance the Potter family had been allied with for centuries. Amelia Bones was left trying to mitigate the worst of the damage with the help of other alliance members, although there was little they could do.

Back at Hogwarts, the mood had transformed very quickly. The expulsion of Susan Bones had made several of the teachers take advantage of the surprise, and they had begun punishing the students who were involved in bullying. They knew it was a lost cause, but since Dumbledore was more concerned about getting the precious Girl Who Lived back on his side, they decided to make a few things stick as well as they could while they had the time before Hogwarts' policy returned to its familiar turn-a-blind-eye-because-Albus-Dumbledore-didn't-care-to-severely-punish-anyone approach to student discipline.

The big problem?

Many of the teachers had also fallen into that stupid practice, and it caused many problems. It also did not really help matters some of the newer teachers had been at Hogwarts themselves when Dumbledore had been headmaster, so they had spent seven years there themselves, and they didn't really know anything different.

The article with Charlotte exposing her empty eye cavity right on the front page of the Daily Prophet was like a bludger to the head, especially for the worst of the extremists in the castle. Many of them were now realising they had gone too far, and they were now redoubling their efforts to find Charlotte and make amends. Though they did their best in the end it was a forlorn hope. Charlotte had simply vanished, no-one knew where she was or what she was doing.

Many of the people who were out there looking for her had read in the Daily Prophet about the details of the First Task had read that the Champions were expected to have helpers. But unfortunately Charlotte wasn't seen anywhere, so they could not ask her if they could be her chosen.

In the meantime the Champions had their hands full with the tournament. They trained and researched the various spell chains they felt would be needed to help them in anyway in the First Task, and as the clock ticked down and down towards the day the task would begin, there was no sign or even any word about Charlotte.

And then one day...

XXX

Professor McGonagall wondered why Dumbledore had called this latest staff meeting although there was little doubt Charlotte Potter was involved in some way since the girl was usually involved in some way.

Why else would Albus call for a staff meeting two days before the task began?

Ever since the article had come out about Charlotte's lost eye and the part of her wand with several basilisk parts, Dumbledore had been trying to mitigate fears and allegations Hogwarts was unsafe although personally Minerva saw their fears as logical.

She walked into the staff room, noticing every teacher was in, but she was surprised to find the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons heads were also present, along with Barty Crouch and Ludo Bagman, both looking grave and even shaken up by something. McGonagall sagged, wondering what Charlotte had done to get this reaction.

Albus Dumbledore was standing up already by the time the meeting began. Without preamble and for once he got straight to the point instead of letting it out slowly like he normally did; that alone worried McGonagall, and judging from a quick glance around at some of the older professors, who had caught on as well, since they knew Dumbledore preferred to lead and steer conversations on a bit before he got to the point in order to get more information. It was not like Dumbledore to be blunt.

"The First Task will begin in two days time. Already three of the Champions have chosen their supporters, and everything is prepared. Unfortunately we haven't heard anything from the Fourth Champion. Until now. This morning, I received a visit from Charlotte. At first I had assumed she had come to ask me for help, but she wasn't there for that," Dumbledore said bluntly and looked down at his feet.

"Well, Dumbledore, get on with it!" Igor snapped harshly. "What did the girl want?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Charlotte has resigned from Hogwarts and she's also disowned it."

McGonagall gasped in horror while the rest of the staff chatted amongst themselves for a few minutes while Olympe and Igor stood there in shocked silence. "Is there no way she can persuade her to change her mind?"

"No," Dumbledore replied gravely. "But it gets worse. As the last heiress and the definite future head of the Potter family, Charlotte has the ultimate authority of that House. And she has used it. Charlotte has withdrawn the Potter family from Hogwarts permanently. She says she will not allow any of her future children to be endangered in an environment which is clearly unsafe."

The teachers were astonished. The Potters, like the Longbottoms, the Boneses and the Notts were some of the oldest magical families in Britain, and they had been sending their children, although there were a few rarities here and there from time to time, to Hogwarts for generations. For Charlotte to do this, especially on the eve of an international tournament….

McGonagall was shaken. She had hoped there would be some way to persuade Charlotte to forgive them despite Poppy making it clear it was never going to happen. But now she could see that the nurse's warnings were correct. Charlotte had now withdrawn from the school, and there was nothing they could do about it given her status as the heiress of an old magical family. But Minerva knew this would send shockwaves and the damage to Hogwarts' prestige since they were losing not just an old magical family, but someone as famous and as revered as the Girl Who Lived would be virtually incalculable and even Dumbledore would have problems weathering the storm.

It served the old fool right, though. If he had made different decisions when Charlotte's name had come out of the Goblet, none of this would be happening.

"What does this mean for her place in the tournament?" Sprout whispered, shocked since she knew it was the actions of herself and her House that was partly responsible for this mess.

"I asked her that," Dumbledore's voice was soft since the meeting with Charlotte had clearly rattled him. Indeed, he couldn't get the way Charlotte had removed those sunglasses off so she could glare at him and show how much contempt she had for him, and the things she had said to him had shaken him to the core. The fact the glare had been made with her single good eye was even more unpleasant. "She said she would be representing her family. She said that this decision has been made, and she has already taken the needed steps to resign as a student from Hogwarts and she had already prepared a letter for the media. She might hate it, but she planned it down to the last detail.

"Charlotte has had enough. For years, people have been attacking her and she has snapped in more ways than one; not only is she lashing out at us politically, she is doing this for her family. She made it clear to me she is going to be etching a lesson to punish everyone who has mocked her, and who has mistreated her. She refuses to allow it be spat on anymore. She had the right paperwork sorted out, so there was nothing I could do about it; she said she was tempted to take it over my head, but she decided that she wanted to see me squirm, her words."

McGonagall was glaring angrily at Dumbledore pointedly. This is your fault! You and your damn games. You can clean up this mess for once in your damn life! The glare seemed to be saying.

But the Head of the Lions was feeling a cold chill. She felt as if someone powerful who had been attacked too often and too frequently was gazing at them down through narrowed eyes of malice. She felt as if someone had declared war on Hogwarts itself. She felt physically sick at what she had just learnt.

This is all my fault as well! she thought to herself. If I had the courage a Gryffindor should have had instead of just simply bowing my head and letting Dumbledore tell me what to do, I could have prevented much of this mess from happening.

Minerva swallowed as the passage from HG Well's novel The War of the Worlds reverberated through her mind. "….vast and cool, and unsympathetic….and drew their plans against us." But now, remembering what Poppy had ominously said and what Dumbledore had just told them, she rephrased that passage from Well's amazing novel about an alien invasion.

"Scorned, the young witch regarded the tournament cooly through one eye…and slowly, and surely, she drew her plans against them for a war they would not believe against the very people who had mocked and maimed her."

XXX

The day of the First Task began when the students of Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, and Hogwarts joined each other in the Great Hall where one of the walls had been transformed into a massive mirror which showed the entirety of the task. Also present, near the Head's table was a surprise visitor; Remus Lupin, formerly the DADA professor of Charlotte's third year. Next to him was a massive black dog, and some of the more superstitious students had recoiled at its resemblance to a grim, but other than that, the dog seemed docile.

Unfortunately, Sirius Black was not docile at the moment. He and Remus had only come to Hogwarts on Dumbledore's say-so. They watched the mirror, and they cringed when they spotted the lone form of Charlotte; whereas the other Champions were dressed in robes showcasing their allegiances to their different schools, Charlotte had opted for a well-worn leather jacket, black trousers and battered but comfortable looking running shoes, over a white t-shirt.

The moment he saw his goddaughter, cringing at the sight of the green-tinted sunglasses and the cold expression set in her face underneath those glasses she was wearing, Sirius whined in his dog form, looking at her in sorrow. Remus looked down at him, knowing what he was thinking. Sirius had lost it completely when he had seen the newspaper's front page with Charlotte exposing her empty eye-cavity, throwing a major fit and demolishing the lower ground floor of his hated family home, frightening even his mother's portrait into submission.

I should never have agreed to go along with Dumbledore's stupid plan! What was I thinking? Oh, that's right, I wasn't thinking. Like always! Lily was right about me, she kept saying to James they should have chosen somebody else to be her godfather. But James insisted, saying that I would surprise her. I guess I have, but only to prove just how much of a moron I am. I spent the best years of Charlotte's life in prison because I was fixated on finding Wormtail, and when it comes down to the time she needs me the most, what do I do? I ignore her, and now this.

Sirius had been haunted when he had received those messages from her, each one worded to be as painful and as spiteful as Charlotte could make them. The girl had certainly inherited her mother's acidic tongue when it came to stupidity, and for making spiteful pointed remarks.

Sirius and Remus had both hoped they could have spoken to her before the task actually begun, but despite turning up as early as they could, they had failed to meet her, and besides Dumbledore had ushered them inside, positive they could speak to her later. Sirius just hoped they could convince Charlotte to give them a second chance, but deep down he knew it was futile, and as he took in the sunglasses which shielded her only remaining eye, he knew it was impossible.

XXX

The First task began with the Champions and their selected chosen helpers taking a portkey to a field deep inside the Forbidden Forest. The moment they arrived, they took in their surroundings. Viktor was standing in his school uniform with a red cloak with the Durmstrang crest on it, with his supporters. Fleur was dressed in a blue jumpsuit with a blue cloak with the crest of Beauxbatons on it, and she stood with her chosen supporters. Likewise, Cedric Diggory stood in his own Hufflepuff uniform with his cloak showing the Hogwarts crest. He stood with his own chosen supporters, but he sent a worried look at the lone figure of Charlotte, but the girl ignored him.

"TODAY IS THE FIRST TASK OF THE TRI-WIZARD TOURNAMENT. YOUR TASK TODAY IS TO REACH THE GOLDEN EGG, WITH THE AID OF YOUR SUPPORTERS. YOU HAVE MANY TRAPS TO CONTEND WITH, AND YOU ALSO HAVE YOUR COMPETITORS TO FIGHT OFF SO YOU CAN WIN THE DAY! YOU MAY BEGIN….NOW!"

"Wait!" Cedric jumped when Charlotte's magically enhanced voice broke out over the crowd, and everyone turned to face the lone figure, wondering what she was doing.

Cedric was surprised, like everyone else, when Charlotte slipped something out of the pocket of her jacket. She held it up, revealing a coin. Cedric was surprised when Charlotte flipped it and caught it deftly and she glanced at it. When she lifted her gaze slowly, Cedric and everyone else watching, shivered when they saw the evil smile on Charlotte's face and the low rumbling chuckle. The girl flicked out her hand, and her new basilisk wand snapped into place, but Charlotte snapped out her other hand, revealing an identical wand.

"Heads," Charlotte hissed. "Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!"

With a feral howl like the sound of a jungle cat, Charlotte launched herself at the Champions moving with lightning speed that was definitely magically enhanced. The Champions and their supporters readied themselves to meet her, but they hadn't been expecting Charlotte to move so quickly. One of Viktor's supporters fired a curse at her, but Charlotte sent it back at him and she flicked her wand at one of the unsuspecting supporters who screamed as several of her bones were shattered and her legs and her arms were twisted in painful and unnatural looking angles, and she went down like a sack of potatoes.

"KILL THEM ALL, BABY!" Charlotte cackled like a madwoman as she leapt onto the supporter and using him to propel her through the air, where she fired a number of curses at the Champions and their supporters, who tried to get out of her range. But Charlotte was simply too fast. One of the curses shattered the bones of one of Fleur's supporters, while another curse smashed another in the chest until they dropped to the ground, wheezing from a lack of breath.

As she was in the air, Charlotte swept her wands in the crude shape of a circle, sending a myriad of blasting curses near the ground where other supporters

The moment she landed on the ground again, Charlotte waved her wand, conjuring up a metallic bullwhip, which she threw around, smashing into the supporters. Several of them were hit, but a few behind them, including Fleur and Viktor, raised their wands and fired their own curses at Charlotte. A lucky banishing curse sent one of Charlotte's wands flying out of her grasp into the distance.

Charlotte didn't have time to get the wand back. Instead, she charged at the crowd, wandlessly sending Cedric flying off out of reach of harm's way, but at the same time when Cedric landed, he desperately tried to get back into the fight, but it was hopeless as he could do nothing except watch as the youngest champion advanced on the others. She advanced on the crowd while using her remaining wand to send the curses back at them. Back in Hogwarts, and indeed around the world, the magical mirrors capturing the whole thing showed Charlotte's expression. Her face was cold, hard, and set. She magically caught one of the spells, clenching her fists around it before sending it back at one of her attackers, sending them down.

Charlotte waved her wand. Everyone fighting her suddenly watched in horror as Charlotte magically summoned all of the wands out of their hands and then sent them flying, but she magically banished Fleur and Viktor while she focused on the mixed and terrified supporters. She lifted her wand and she sent four of them flying through the air where they made painful contact with a tree before she made short work of the others.

Charlotte focused on two Hufflepuffs, who were watching her fearfully. "How does it feel to be the victim for a change?" she grinned at them, showing them her dark red lips and neat white shiny teeth. The barring of fangs. "Hopeless, unable to fight… I am never hopeless. And I am going to teach all of you that lesson." She suddenly held out her hand, and the second basilisk wand flew into her hand. Charlotte flicked her wand and brought the two Hufflepuffs down with some nasty bone-breaking curses which left the pair screaming for help and mercy on the ground.

One Hogwarts student, another Hufflepuff who had managed to find a way past the monster on the field to find his wand to find Cedric and to help him fight off against her. He managed to get to the pile of wands half-buried by the grass, he really tried and failed to find his wand among the others, looked around terrified at the sight of his downed friends and gazed in horror at the advancing witch - no, demon, who was wearing that now scary grin on her face. He shivered in terror as she approached him and he held up his hands for mercy. He knew it was a cowardly thing to do, but with the way she was advancing on him, that merciless grin that promised pain on her face, he knew it was the right thing to do.

"No! Wait, please! I give-give," he stammered, but he was too terrified to move or speak clearly.

"Give?" Charlotte had her wands pointed at him, cocking her head intrigued. "Give me what?"

"I-I."

"C'mon, you were going to give me something. Well, give it to me," Charlotte pointed her wand at the Hufflepuff's chest, making him jump up and down with terror. "C'mon!"

The Hufflepuff blubbered, but he was relentlessly cut down by Charlotte's double spell which broke his kneecaps and sent him to the ground screaming in agony.

The interlude had given some of the others time to find their wands and get into the fight. Charlotte swung around, and she silently cast some of the most devastating spells in her repertoire, and she ended up duelling two of the supporters at the same time before sending them down to the ground screaming in agony with multiple compound fractures. The Durmstrang students quickly mobilised and tried to take her down, hoping their more advanced knowledge of dark magic might be the key to shortening the gap. Unfortunately their hopes were in vain as Charlotte used a combination of magically assisted agility and speed coupled with some extremely nasty curses taught to her by Slytherin himself, some of them were parsel magic curses, which made fighting her difficult since they had no idea what she was casting at them. One Durmstrang student went down with his hands crushed to a bloodied pulp. A Beauxbatons student screamed as she suddenly felt herself being lifted off of the ground and her legs and arms were snapped and when she was dropped onto the ground, screaming in pain and begging for help while she resembled a human pretzel.

When she saw the other supporters come rushing towards her, their wands outstretched, Charlotte grimaced. She lifted her wands, but if everyone watching her thought she was just going to use separate curses on them, they were in for a shock when a small, but tightly contained, and very very powerful tornado shot out of Charlotte' s wands. The Tri-wizard helpers tried getting out of the way, but the tornado was spinning around so fast, and yanked them off of the ground and spun the away before sending them flying out of the mini storm. They weren't moving after that as their bones had been badly broken and some of them were showing signs of concussion. The unexpected albeit terrifying sight of the tornado had taken the fight out of some of the others. Unfortunately, Charlotte wasn't finished yet as she went off in one of her Revy-moments. Mercilessly Charlotte threw herself into the fray, using her twin wands to bring down her opponents until all of the supporters were down, leaving Charlotte to deal with Fleur and Viktor.

The moment she saw the two champions regarding her warily and with fear, Charlotte regarded them both cooly which surprised them both since they had expected Charlotte to view them with contempt.

"They're not dead, you know," Charlotte suddenly said in an almost conversational tone. "They're just stunned. They'll be okay….eventually."

"What about the others?" Viktor demanded.

"I didn't think you cared," Charlotte replied in a conversational tone like she and the Champions were friends in a cafe, discussing mundane topics over cups of coffee. "So who is next? Tickle us, do we not laugh? Prick us, do we not bleed? Wrong us, shall we not revenge?"

"Is that why you've done this, for revenge?" Fleur whispered.

Charlotte chuckled. "Of course. I also wanted to teach the entire magical world a lesson; you batter me down too much, there will be consequences. Big ones. Dumbledore never taught his students that lesson. Some of them have now paid the price. Maybe in the future, they will be wiser. Oh, you know what, I've got a better idea."

Before the two Champions could respond, or even defend themselves, Charlotte flicked her wands at them silently. Krum was thrown back several feet before he impacted hard against a tree, while Fleur felt the air freeze around her before she was encased in a block of ice. Charlotte took a few minutes to survey the battlefield before she slowly walked over to where Cedric was lying. She bent down near his paralysed body. "It's okay," she said soothingly. "I'm not going to hurt you. I never did want to hurt you. Had you been one of the bastards who made my life hell recently, I would have given you the same treatment as Viktor and Fleur. But you were so sweet when you apologised for your whole house. Still, I think its best for you to rest now."

Charlotte jabbed her wand into Cedrics' forehead and the Hufflepuff went into a peaceful sleep.

XXX

Meanwhile, in Hogwarts and around the world, everyone watched in stunned silence as the youngest and the most controversial of the Tri-wizard tournament quickly dealt with the Champions and their supporters, using vicious and painful-looking curses to knock them out of the fight.

But in a house in New Zealand a woman with long dark hair was watching her own mirror in shock as the commentator said hesitantly. "Erm, and Charlotte Potter, the youngest champion in the history of the Tri-wizard tournament has…defeated her fellow champions and their supporters…."

But the woman wasn't listening to anything else the commentator was saying. Instead she was focused on the name of the girl who had thrown herself into the tournament, unable to believe what she was seeing and hearing.

No, it can't be her….It can't be, the woman thought desperately. The image on the mirror, as if hearing her mental begging, taunted her by showing a sudden closeup of the girl. The woman gasped. The girl on the screen was years older than the girl the woman herself and her husband remembered but it was definitely Charlotte.

She yelled for her husband.

XXX

Once she was sure he was now asleep, Charlotte picked herself up and she headed over to the treeline, flicking her wand. On one of the trees with a hedge grown around it, a green cat appeared. Charlotte grinned and she reached around the hedge and pulled out a black backpack from the hedge. Charlotte knew this was cheating, but she didn't care. Just like she didn't care about using her second wand. She unzipped the backpack and pulled out a grappling hook and a rope. She knew she could have put in a shrunken broomstick into the bag, but she was a burglar.

She knew she could easily have And she would use her skills to get to the top. As she uncoiled the rope and prepared to use the grappling hook, Charlotte mentally reviewed her plan. She knew what she was about to do went against everything she had planned for herself, but since she wanted to shock the magical world and show them just how far she had gone, it would make them back off slightly.

On the other hand, it might make some of her enemies come up with a different plan…

Charlotte decided that it was the only option, and besides Slytherin and Ravenclaw had approved, although both of them had told her to be careful and to stay alert. She had every intention of doing so. Once she had uncoiled the rope, she held it in one hand and the grappling hook in the other. She slowly started to swing the hook faster and faster before she threw it into the tree. After making sure the rope was secure, Charlotte started climbing. She'd had the grappling hook for a few years now. And she had been trained how to use it thanks to a burglar who specialised in high-tech heists. The burglar was a former Royal Marine and had all the right skills to teach her what she needed. As she scaled the tree, she quickly swung herself around, straightening her sunglasses and adjusting her jacket. Charlotte took a deep breath. "Once more unto the breach, dear friends," she smirked. "Dobby. Dance time."

The House-elf, hearing his mistress' command instantly started playing the music track. Charlotte had no idea how the muggle music was going to go down with the magical world audience, but the more they were shaken by her actions, the better.

"If I can't dance," the sound of Sophie Ellis-Bextor's song which was played for the St. Trinians movie blared around the world while Charlotte concentrated on her magic, bobbing her head to the beat. "If I can't dance…Oh, baby, if I can't dance…If I can't dance…If I can't dance.."

Charlotte opened her bag again and pulled out her shrunken broomstick. She enlarged it and she slid onto it before she took off, smirking when she heard the next verse, "Then I don't want any part of your revolution...A new dawn waits for us tonight."

She smirked. She loved that line.

XXX

"She's so much like you." The woman said, amused slightly that Charlotte was playing muggle music for the entire magical world. She was clearly mocking them.

"I don't know about that," he responded to his wife's remark while the commentator went on, describing the Girl Who Lived's latest moves. "Hold on, Girl Who Lived, what the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know. But I've got a question of my own. Why is she wearing those sunglasses?"

XXX

As she flew above the trees waiting for the song's next verse, Charlotte wondered how everyone was taking her latest stunt.

Unknown to everyone barring Winky and Dobby and the Founders, Charlotte had spiked Ludo Bagman's drink with truth serum and she had questioned him vigorously to discover what the First Task entailed. There was no chance she was going to go out on her own, and besides since Bagman seemed to be the most easiest of the organisers to deal with, she had chosen him.

Bagman had proven to be a treasure trove of knowledge. But one thing was clear; it would have taken the Champions forever to get through the traps on the ground, even with their levels. And in Charlottes' case, while she could do it with the help of the Founders, who were on a completely different level in terms of magical experience, it would have taken longer still. Oh, she could have gotten through it, of course. But it would have taken too much time, even with the help of the Founders.

She couldn't have used Dobby or Winky either. While she didn't hesitate to use the House-elves willingness to help her, she didn't want to use them for something like this. The Tournament was being broadcasted across the entire world, to every witch and wizard everywhere. Many of them were probably not as stupid and insular as the people in this fucked up branch. They would recognise House elf magic anywhere. In any case, she wanted to do this for herself.

Charlotte had considered her animagus form. With the inner cat really small and light on its feet, it would have been simplicity in itself for Charlotte to simply transform into her animagus form, and slink above the trees towards the egg. Indeed she had even asked Bagman if the traps extended above the trunks of the trees. They weren't.

But she had quickly decided against it.

Her animagus form was one of her most prized abilities. She was proud of her ability to transform into a cat, and she had learnt how to use it during her crimes since her cat form gave her a sense of liberty she never had as a human. But she had decided against it. Not only would the revelation make Dumbledore and other undesirable elements in the magical world realise her powers, but it would definitely compromise her in the future.

Charlotte knew had the magical world known beforehand about his ability, Sirius would have never been able to escape from Azkaban. She knew if she was ever arrested for anything, and the Aurors knew beforehand she was an animagus, she could kiss goodbye an opportunity for escape. She had heard there were ways of dampening down the animal of the animagus, and it was supposed to be one of the most unpleasant things anyone could experience.

In the end, she had decided to use her flying skills. Charlotte had deliberately played the misdirection game by using the grappling hook before she unveiled the broomstick, making everyone think she was going to be using the trees to get to the ultimate prize in this stupid task.

The Golden Egg.

Hah, fat chance.

"If you play the cards, you're holding right"

Charlotte checked the piece of parchment she'd had Dobby prepare for her. It was just a scrawled compass on a piece of parchment. However, the parchment was enhanced by elfin magic, and as she travelled onwards on her trusty Cleansweep broomstick, the lines shortened until they were gone, leaving behind a dot.

It had taken Dobby several tries before he had gotten it right. The first time he had provided her with an actual map that looked so outlandish even James Cook would have had his brain dribble out of his ears, but the next one and the next one after the second map, Dobby had given her other maps. Finally, after the fifth attempt, Charlotte had patiently sat him down and showed him an axis to use as a blueprint and told him to enchant the next piece of parchment so as she got closer and closer to the prize, the lines would shorten until they became nothing more than a dot.

Dobby was upset about not getting it right the first time around, but thanks to her standing orders that both House-elves were not allowed to bash their brains in, Dobby was still standing upright.

"I swear I'll keep in party line"

Charlotte swopped through the trees after quickly finding a decent gap in the canopy. Once she was in, she calmly and mentally pulled the broomsticks' speed back a bit since she would be flying through the forest canopy where there would be dozens of branches everywhere, and she hadn't come this far only to be hit by a branch because she wasn't looking.

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

Finding the Golden Egg wasn't difficult. It was standing upright on a pedestal, gleaming as the sun's rays hit it, and circling around and guarding the egg, Charlotte saw the wraiths Bagman had described. Unlike other wraiths, which were more powerful and intelligent, these wraiths didn't even deserve their name; they were just conjurations which would last for a specific amount of time.

But they were dangerous regardless, and they had been created to attack the Champion who came across them, to give them a challenge.

"If I lose myself to rhythm."

The wraiths were ignoring the song verses, Charlotte had noticed and as she flew around the site on her broom, she thought of the plan she and the Founders had come up with. The Wraiths were only focused on anything moving on the ground, so they wouldn't notice if she came at them from the sky.

"Doesn't mean I lose control."

Charlotte tuned out the song as it repeated itself; she'd repeated and replayed it so many times before that she just tuned it out of her mind; she needed to focus for this bit. She looked around for a large and decently thick tree branch which she knew would take the fullness of her weight. She smirked when she spotted one just a little ways above, and she gently flew higher until she gracefully stepped onto it.

After applying a low-level sticking charm onto her broom to moor it to the tree, Charlotte unpacked her backpack and pulled out her winch and her harness. She smiled as she examined them. It had taken her a few days to get hold of them using her burglary contacts. Contrary to popular belief, many burglars didn't bother stealing things from museums or bother with the sort of stunts played out in movies by actors like George Clooney. No. Most burglars preferred the incognito approach.

As she set up the winch and the rope which would lower her down from the tree branch, she took a moment to think about her actions with the rest of the champions. She didn't regret what she'd done.

Charlotte had considered hypnotising the rest of the Champions into fighting one another, but she'd decided against it in the long run. She had no doubt someone out there would probably try to get her locked up for something like that, deciding it was better if she just fought them all to a standstill. In any case, just because she was a burglar, didn't mean she wasn't an experienced robber who used violence to get what she wanted. More than once, she had been forced to use violence against anyone who got to her. She pushed those thoughts to one side before she lowered herself from the tree, barely having enough time to remember her little parting gift for the wraiths below, and she angled herself downwards and slowly went down.

As she got lower and lower, Charlotte felt the air begin to chill. She took a deep breath and fought the urge to recoil as the air became increasingly chilly. The Tri-wizard organisers had decided to create a wraith that featured some of the characteristics of a Dementor, but whereas the exposure to the filthy demons would have been experienced even as high up as Charlotte had been in the treetop, the wraiths were considerably weaker. Charlotte hadn't bothered to ask Bagman just what in the name of God had possessed the organisers into doing something like that, afraid she would be given a bullshit reason, as always. But personally she thought they had wanted to spice things up a bit, make the Champions believe they were dealing with real Dementors.

Charlotte pushed that out of her mind as her hand went to the winch control in her belt, and with deft practice, she managed to slow down her descent until she stopped until she had the egg in her line of sight upside down. Charlotte quickly looked around, laughing up a storm inside her skull as she saw the wraiths circling the egg, still looking outwards. They hadn't noticed her yet, so so far, so good. But Charlotte knew the idiots who'd organised this stupid contest would have made them alert if she made an odd sound. She pulled out her parting gift, wrapped in a small black bag. She quickly got it out while she took hold of her prize, the Golden Egg. She turned on the winch, setting it to take her back up into the treetop.

The Wraiths didn't notice a thing.

That changed as soon as they heard a sound from the pedestal. As one they saw what it was. Waving mockingly at them was a black and white Maneki-Neko figurine.

In the treetops, Charlotte was shaking with laughter as she took in the scene, how the wraiths were sweeping about looking for the one who took the Egg while she prepared to leave. She'd packed up the winch as quickly as she could while slipping the Egg into the bag. A sudden shriek from one of the wraiths below made her winch as the sound went right through her mind. She lifted her wands and two massive patroni burst out of her wand tips.

Charlotte grinned smugly when she heard the panicked shrieks of the wraiths below when the Patronus she had just conjured up attacked them. "That'll teach you," she gloated.

Charlotte waved a wand in the direction of the broomstick, and it came unstuck and flew over towards her. She got onto the broom and headed back for the field she had just left. When she arrived she saw that the bodies of her competitors were still lying prone on the ground. She took out her prize and held it up gloatingly, certain some of the Champions and their helpers had woken up by now.

"CHARLOTTE POTTER HAS WON THE FIRST TASK!"

XXX

In Hogwarts, the way Charlotte dealt with the other Champions had taken them all by surprise. They were all speechless as they took in the way she had not only slipped in a second wand into the tournament, but she had used powerful magic in overcoming the other Champions. Many of the younger members of the audience both in Hogwarts and in other parts of the world had screamed, soiling themselves when they had seen just how callous and vicious Charlotte was.

The sheer brutality of it… It just stunned them all.

One thing was clear.

Charlotte had won.

The short, scrawny looking girl…had won the First Task. She had triumphed, but at the same time she had shown that she was a Potter, and like all of her ancestors she had proven she was incredibly powerful. And cunning. She had seen the Golden Egg as the ultimate goal in the Task, and she had gone for it.

XXX

Dumbledore felt sick. Flitwick and Pomfrey, and to a lesser extent Minerva, had both told him time and time again this whole mess would end up blowing up in his face. They were right. He had done it again. He had pushed the girl time and time again, and now he felt he had just created another Lord Voldemort through his inactions and his poor choices. Seeing the way she had thrown herself into the fights in the first part of the Task had shocked and frightened him, and he wondered if Charlotte had become as twisted as Bellatrix.

The thought he had once more destroyed a child's life, especially someone lost in the world like Charlotte, for the sake of his plans…it made him want to cry, but all he could do was wheeze with breath as he found himself completely at a loss.

No, I won't let it happen! I will help her through this, and she will forgive us all! Dumbledore decided. If it is the last thing I do…

XXX

Oh, my god! I…I pushed my best friend away! Hermione Granger thought to herself, feeling tears rolling down her face as she felt terrified by what she had seen Charlotte do, but amazed by her cunning and the way she got around the rest of the Task by using that broomstick. The way she had smiled that sadistic, cruel, cold smile on her face as she had gone for the other Champions and their helpers…Hermione knew the sight would haunt her forever.

But at the same time she knew that although she had thought to herself in horror she had pushed her friend away, and Hermione genuinely believed Charlotte and she were friends, Hermione knew she hadn't been a good friend at all since she had essentially spied on Charlotte for Dumbledore. The elderly headmaster had always wowed Hermione with his power, his authority and his reputation, but now Hermione could see with total clarity that although the old wizard might have phrased it differently, he had made Hermione spy on Charlotte. That was wrong, but the worst thing was she had actually gone through with it, not only for rare tomes on magical knowledge otherwise other kids wouldn't have access to, but also because she had believed Charlotte would get herself into trouble.

Hermione knew in her heart the other girl was never going to forgive her. More than once Hermione had been scared out of her wits whenever the dark side she had seen in Charlotte rearing its head, and it gave credence to Dumbledore's warnings about her, that Charlotte must never give in to the dark side. But what did I do? Of course, she wouldn't have wanted anything to do with the tournament, but now thanks to that skank Bones, Charlotte has snapped.

Charlotte had been pushed and prodded too much, too far. This was the result. Hermione felt fresh tears slide down her face when she realised Charlotte was never going to forgive them.

XXX

They….that could have been me, Draco Malfoy thought to himself again in shock as Potter landed on the ground among the badly injured and shaken Champions and their helpers.

Draco had been watching the First Task eagerly, hoping to see his long-time adversary injured or even worse, only for her to terrify him with her actions. In fact, he had focused more on them than anything else, seeing the vicious ways Charlotte had fought against her opponents, breaking their bones and letting their screams echo in his head again and again.

When Draco saw Charlotte go for the Egg on that broomstick, overcoming the traps the Tri-wizard tournament had set up - he had wondered what they were, but since no-one triggered them, it made no difference now - and then grabbing hold of the Egg while that muggle song was playing, he realised she had outthought the whole task. Not only was she mocking it, but she had also destroyed it with a Slytherin mindset Draco knew he could never use himself.

There was no doubt in Draco's mind anymore. For a long time, he had known Charlotte Potter was more powerful and dangerous compared to himself, but seeing this showed him she was on a level far above his own, and what scared him the most, what terrified him the most, was that if he had been chosen, as he had hoped, to help, Charlotte Potter would have murdered him.

I never want to face her ever again, Malfoy thought to himself, determined to use this whole mess to make sure he never went for Potter again.

XXX

Minerva McGonagall felt as ill as Albus did, only she had turned away, horrified as she couldn't watch as Lily and James' adorable baby girl becoming this cold, sadistic monster who'd gone for everyone and anything in her path. She was trying hard not to picture what Lily and James, who had been her favourite students, would do when it was her time to die. Not only had she allowed Dumbledore to drop Charlotte on that doorstep all those years before, but she had also allowed the old fool to manipulate Charlotte's life, and this was the result.

XXX

George and Fred Weasley were both horrified by what they had seen during the task. Both of them were more convinced they would have the moment where Charlotte had launched herself at the other Champions etched into their nightmares for a while, especially since she hadn't held back. The Weasley twins had been among those who looked for Charlotte in order to prank her heavily for getting into the Tournament, but now they were more than happy that they hadn't found her. Charlotte had had no qualms about badly injuring older witches and wizards, she was unlikely to care about them. Unlike their siblings and several other people except for Hermione and a few others, the twins were able to see for themselves Charlotte was angry.

And she had only just gotten started.

XXX

Why does everyone scared? Ron asked himself, looking up and down his House table. Charlotte's brought honour to the House, and when I tell her she can come back, great, then everything will go back to normal. And then, Charlotte, you will be my wife!

XXX

WHY? WHY DID I LET DUMBLEDORE TALK ME INTO ABANDONING HER, THEN SHE WOULD NEVER DO THIS! Sirius whined a little bit, making Remus look down at him in worry. The werewolf knew what he was thinking, so he nudged the dog-form animagus, and when Sirius looked up at him, Remus shook his head warningly. But Sirius could see the fear, the upset in Remus' eyes. Charlotte was furious and she had every right and every reason to be furious. Sirius took another look at the mirror. It looked like Charlotte was looking straight at them. She took off her sunglasses, exposing her one remaining eye.

XXX

Charlotte knew the whole wizarding world was watching her, but she wasn't concerned about that. She had a point to make. She slipped off her sunglasses, determined to make a point. She lifted her wand. "I, Charlotte Lillian Potter, do hereby swear on my magic I didn't enter the Tri-wizard tournament, nor did I ask anyone to do it for me. So mote it be!"

Charlotte's body glowed as her magic accepted the oath, and she casted a low-level lighting spell. "I still have my magic, therefore I didn't enter the tournament," she said, toying with not bothering saying she had thought about making this oath before. "I was entered against my will, but let me tell you something else; what you have seen here…its just the beginning."

She stopped her speech and walked off, sliding her sunglasses back into place, where she mentally whispered for Dobby to whisk her home.

XXX

"My god!" the woman gasped, looking at the mirror, unable to get the image of the girl slipping off those sunglasses off, revealing only one emerald green eye. "Wha-what happened to your eye?!"

"...we've got to get to her," her husband said, gazing aghast at the screen through his round glasses.

"You're right...," the woman said before she shook her head in horror. "How did she end up in this dangerous mess in the first place?"

"I don't know...," the man answered. "What I want to know is why the guardian put in place did nothing."

"I told you that idiot was a poor choice."

The man sighed. "You're right,...," he said her name.

XXX

Remus had been taken aback by what he had seen Charlotte do. He had known for a year and a bit now she was a powerful witch, and one that was definitely Lily's daughter. Lily had always caused havoc when she was annoyed, and her daughter had definitely inherited that trait from her mother. But now…seeing Charlotte's only remaining eye glaring at them coldly had sent a chill down his spine. Remus had felt misgivings when Dumbledore had outlined his plan, but now the werewolf was regretting going through with it. There were many things he and Sirius needed to make up for, but the werewolf was uncertain if Charlotte would ever forgive them.

XXX

Charlotte flopped onto her bed, exhausted after spending twenty minutes getting ready. When her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep.