Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

...

Hermione raised a single hand to her head as what seemed to be a haze lifted from her senses. Shaking her head lightly from side to side she tried to wonder why she was standing in that position right now, wherever this might be. Somehow though, she figured the wizard standing in front of her lowering his wand could answer some questions for her.

"Hello there," said Luna, peering around from behind Harry. In her arms she cradled several sheets of paper close to her chest as if afraid to let them go from her grasp. "Are you lost?"

"Umm...yes?" replied Hermione in confusion. "If the two of you have been chatting...then that means that tomorrow is..."

"The day of the first task," provided Luna.

"I...see," said Hermione as she raised a hand up to her head, scratching at the side of it. "The task is tomorrow."

"You want to go owl those to your father?" Harry asked of Luna, temporarily ignoring Hermione. "The sooner he gets them the better."

"Okay, thank you for your time Harry," beamed Luna before she skipped out of the room with a smile on her face.

Once Luna was out of eyesight, Harry leant against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. "I'm going to imagine that you're trying to piece together the last time you had a comprehensible thought," he said. "Doesn't surprise me."

"You knew I'd been hexed? For how long?" exclaimed Hermione in shock, wondering why Harry had waited as long as he had before lifting her ailment.

"Iris praised you as one of the smartest people she knew, so seeing you basically following her around in a trance, which you were in, was pretty easy to see. I just wanted to see how you were getting dosed and who was doing it but while I've got some theories I wasn't able to get anything concrete," admitted Harry. "As much as I'd like to throw the blame straight onto Dumbledore I know there's other possibilities."

"Do you mind if I sit down? This is just a lot to take in," said Hermione. Harry merely shrugged his shoulders and stepped aside, allowing Hermione access to the room. The teenage witch plopped herself down onto the first chair she could, planting her elbows on her knees and placing her head in her hands, Hermione tried to compose herself. After having been told that she had been walking around under the effect of magic for days on end left her with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

She just wished that Harry would show some manner of compassion or sympathy instead of standing there impassively. "I didn't do anything too foolish did I?" she asked.

"Couldn't tell you," he said nonchalantly. "I don't know how you behave day to day but I imagine your petty attempt at stalking isn't part of it. Honestly, it was so easy to see you trailing Luna and I that it was kind of sad. Thankfully I'll put the blame for that on the enchantment. I was hoping though that I'd catch a glimpse of somebody trailing you but I guess that was too much to ask for."

"So you were using me as bait! While I was under an enchantment?" shouted Hermione, finding her anger beginning to rise.

"You have another idea how I should have gone about finding out who cursed you to begin with?" asked Harry with a smug smile. Hermione grumbled something incomprehensible as she turned her head away from Harry. "Figured as much."

"Do you really think Professor Dumbledore would curse me?" asked Hermione softly.

"I wouldn't put it past him, but like I said, I can't cast the blame on him without proof," said Harry.

"Who else would do it?"

"Same person who put my name into the Goblet to begin with," stated Harry. "I still have no idea who did it and I was kind of hoping that this may have given some leeway to that."

"Do...do you think Professor Dumbledore could have done it to begin with?" offered Hermione, feeling discomfort with accusing the Headmaster with such a thing.

"If Dumbledore wanted me back then I doubt that he'd have done so by throwing me in a tournament where there's a high mortality rate," said Harry.

"So you're adamant that Professor Dumbledore knew you were alive?"

"Of course he knew," scoffed Harry. "It'd be more surprising if he didn't know. The man has connections all over the world and while I trust the people I learnt from there's no guarantee that someone didn't let slip where I was for the right amount."

"If that's the case, then why didn't he come find you?"

"I've asked myself that question many times," said Harry with the faintest hint of sorrow in his voice, something which momentarily caught Hermione off guard. "From what I heard during my travels about him, I learnt that above all else Dumbledore has a plan in place. It was from that knowledge that I constructed my theory as to why he never did search for me."

"And why's that?" asked Hermione.

There was a pause as Harry contemplated whether to actually answer the question that he had been asked. Given everything else he had discussed this evening, he figured that it would be less hassle answering Hermione. "Because of all of Dumbledore's plans, I didn't fit into them."

...

Hermione made her way to the Gryffindor common room at a slow pace, her feet shuffling across the cold stone floor as she ignored the ongoings around her. The after dinner crowds paid her no mind as she chewed on a thumb while deep in contemplation. Given the fact it was a common occurrence for her to be in such a position, nobody paid her any mind.

Thankfully, without these disturbances around her, she was allowed to gather her own thoughts for the first time in what felt like weeks. Which given the fact she couldn't exactly pinpoint when she had started to fall under the effects of the curse could very well have been weeks. There was no real way to figure out when it had began considering that seemingly nobody had noticed the fact that she hadn't been herself, or at least not to a noticeable extent. It was either that or there had been a second curse placed on her which caused others to not notice the odd behavior she had been showing.

She truly hoped it was the latter instead of the former.

Pushing that to the back of her mind for now, she considered the things which needed immediate attention. Firstly, she needed to look over days worth of assignments and lessons. There was no telling just how much study she had only been half aware she was doing. She dreaded the thought she may have handed in a sub par assignment which would paint her in a poor light. That would have to be rectified as soon as possible.

Secondly, she and Harry had agreed that it would be foolish to try and figure out who it was that had cursed her. If they had been able to do so in the method that they had then there was no guarantee that they weren't already aware that they had broken the curse. If this was the case, they would effectively be chasing a ghost given the fact that they only had one potential lead and that wasn't even a guarantee. Also didn't help that with their one lead being Dubledore there would have been minimal to no evidence for them to go off. For now, they had to be patient to see if anybody would make a mistake in the future.

Ascending the stairwell, Hermione was greeted by the figure of the Fat Lady relaxing in her portrait. "Balderdash," she said to gain access to the common room, bracing herself for the immediate onslaught of sound that crashed into her. As expected with the first event of the tournament being the following day, the amount of banter happening between all of the occupants inside was almost deafening. Pushing through the crowd and ignoring the conversations going on, Hermione made a beeline straight for the bedroom. Even though it would be good for her to mingle with the crowd after having not known what kind of conversations she had made over a stretch of time she just wasn't feeling up to it. For now, peace and quiet were the order of the evening along with a long hot shower.

A very long shower.

...

Standing in front of her mirror, Rita Skeeter waited for inspiration to arise as dress after dress glided in front of her leith frame. It was a big day and she needed to look her best. The world would be watching after all.

Making her selection, Rita set about dressing herself for the festivities when there was a small tap at the window. Given the fact she was on the second story of her house she couldn't help but feel more than a little confused.

Looking over her shoulder she saw a large tawny owl standing there with two things of note. Underneath it's right talon, it held a copy of The Quibbler. For what reason the creature had bought her the pathetic excuse of a paper could only be determined by the fact that the owl held an unfriendly red envelope it it's beak.

Rita wasn't unfamiliar with Howlers. After all, many of her pieces upset at least a handful of people yet in doing so entertained the masses. It was a small price to pay and the gripes of a small few were of no issue.

This however was not a Howler that she cold ignore. She recognised that owl far too much to simply ignore the message that it had delivered. The tawny owl belonged to Barnabas Cuffe, the editor of the Daily Prophet and her boss.

If her boss was delivering her a copy of the sorry excuse for a paper that labeled themselves as a competitor with their fanciful articles then for once it meant that they had published something worthwhile. Given the date and the fact that Barnabas had felt the need to send her a Howler made her fear just what The Quibbler had published.

...

Fleur sat in the corner of the tent eyeing off her competition. After all of the training that she had gone through over the weeks since she had had her name pulled out of the Goblet of Fire, Fleur knew that it had all been for this moment. She also knew that the rest of her peers had been preparing just as hard as she had.

While Krum was an obvious threat, she knew that she she couldn't dismiss Cedric. The Hogwarts student had a home advantage and while many wouldn't consider such a thing, it did mean that he had the greatest access to resources. It would be foolish to underestimate him.

There was one person who seemed more than flustered as he paced back and forth frantically, muttering incoherently. Bagman was dressed in his old Quidditch colors in some sort of attempt to make himself seem far more relevant than he had any right to be when surrounded by the three champions. Undoubtedly though his attempt to calm his panic was due to the fact that the fourth champion had yet to show themselves.

"Ze crowd will grow restless at this rate," announced Fleur in annoyance. The people gathered in the tent had been waiting for quite some time for the last champion to make their appearance. Given the time that they had been awaiting they could only imagine that the crowd was getting more than a little irritated for nothing to have happened thus far. "If you do not hurry ze proceedings along there's no way to know how rowdy ze crowd will get."

"Yes, I know but if I'm not here to tell Harry of this task..." started Bagman before getting cut off by Krum.

"If that is the case one of us will tell him," stated the professional Quidditch player. "If he is not here then he is not here. You cannot expect us and the crowd to wait. Come now, tell me that I am wrong."

Bagman's confidence was visibly crumbling. "Well, no, you're not wrong but what if one of you were to...to...not give Harry all of the details..."

"With all due respect, with Harry being three years younger than us he is at a disadvantage to begin with," declared Cedric. "He's going to have enough trouble without us actively trying to sabotage him. If he gets here in time, I can guarantee you that at least one of us will inform him of the event."

"Well said," stated Fleur, giving Cedric a courteous nod.

"Here, here," added Krum.

Without anybody willing to back him up, Bagman sulked out of the tent with his theoretical tail between his legs. "Cheers for having my back there," said Cedric.

"It was good of you to speak up as you did," admitted Fleur. "While we are champions of our respected schools, I think I can safely assume that all of us wish to see each other alive at the end of zis tournament. That includes 'Arry."

"Of course," said Cedric.

"Are you proposing that we share information with one another?" asked Krum.

Fleur opened her mouth to object before pausing. It hadn't been her intention for such a suggestion to be made by one of her competitors having only wished for the three of them to share any intel with Harry. Fleur was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Only ze most basic of notes," she said, rolling with this opportunity without making it sound as if it wasn't her original plan. "It is still a competition after all so no sharing of tactics per say, just what to expect in ze challenge ahead."

"I can agree to that," said Cedric.

"As can I," proclaimed Krum.

"It feels like I've walked in to the wrong side of the conversation here," declared Harry as he made himself known.

"'Arry, where have you been?" asked Fleur as she looked as the younger boy as he made himself comfy on a chair.

"Does it matter," shrugged Harry as the announcement rang out for the Cedric to make his way into the arena. "Have fun with your dragon."

"Dragon? How do you know about the dragon? We only just got told..." started Cedric before whipping his gaze to the other two representatives to see them look away sheepishly. "All three of you knew about the dragons beforehand?"

"Did your Headmaster not tell you?" asked Krum.

"No, he did not," grumbled Cedric. "What we agreed on takes place immediately after this, understand?"

"Provided you survive," chirped Harry.

"As much as I want to hate you for that comment, I'll settle for scolding you once this is over," declared Cedric as he exited the tent.

"So, did I miss much?" asked Harry.

"Just ze part where we picked which dragons we would each be facing," stated Fleur.

"Which one did I get?" asked Harry.

"The Hungarian Horntail," said Krum.

"That's the biggest one, yeah."

"That would be correct, and the most vicious," provided Krum.

Harry simply shrugged. "It doesn't change my strategy," he said casually.

"I look forward to seeing you perform 'Arry," said Fleur, offering Harry a warm smile.

"Trust me, it isn't going to be much of a performance."

Both Fleur and Krum looked at one another in confusion as they tried to make sense of Harry's words.

...

Harry pushed the drape aside as he stepped into the arena. The roar of the crowd, while deafening, was nothing compared to the roar of the dragon that towered before Harry. The Hungarian Horntail looked every part the ferocious beast that it was The scales rippled with every little movement that it made as it protectively moved around the nest of eggs. Amongst those eggs, the golden egg shimmered when with every ray of light that scrapped it's surface. It truly was a beautiful sight to behold.

Yet Harry paid no attention to either the eggs nor the ferocious dragon that guarded them. His eyes were glued to the audience. Harry's piercing gaze spread throughout the arena as Ludo Bagman spoke his piece yet Harry paid little attention to his words before pointing his own wand to his throat. "Attention all," said Harry, glancing at the dragon to ensure that he was safe for the moment. Given that he hadn't made any movement towards the eggs at this stage, Harry assumed that the dragon didn't see him as a threat as of yet. He knew that it would go south very quickly the moment the Hungarian Horntail treated him as a threat.

As the crowd died down, Harry pulled out a vial from his pocket and held the blue liquid for all to see. With his wand still pointed at his throat, he spoke so that everybody in the arena could hear. "I need a quick clarification from the judges," he said as he shook the vial in his hand. "According to what I've been told in regards to the rules of this competition it is illegal for me to have brought anything else other than my wand. Thus, according to the rules of the competition I should be disqualified."

Harry lowered his wand from his throat as he glanced at Ludo Bagman, the commentator for the task at a loss for words as he looked to the fellow judges for some manner of guidance. As they bickered amongst themselves, Harry turned his attention to the dragon nearby. Despite the threatening shudders it was creating along with the ever present roar, it remained rooted in place as it guarded the eggs beneath it. It made no move towards Harry however and Harry had a feeling as to why.

It was well recorded that dragons were intelligent creatures and with Harry so casually standing before it, Harry assumed that the Hungarian Horntail considered him a distraction. Harry was standing there right in front of it's gaze but was making no move towards either him or the eggs despite the time that Harry had spent in the arena. There had been no threatening moves made or any progression at all, the teenager had remained rooted in place since the moment he had stepped into the arena.

"Due to, unforeseen circumstances," said Bagman as he did his best to compose himself after the development that had occurred. "The judges and I have determined that Mister Potter, due to having not had proper guidance in the lead up to the task, poorly prepared for the task and wished to find a cheap way to quit without attempting the task set before him. Provided Mister Potter..."

Having gauged the jist of what Ludo was discussing, Harry uncorked the vial in his hand with the flick of his thumb before drinking the contents in the vial, causing Bagman to stop his speech once again. Without hesitation, Harry drunk the contents before placing the empty vial in his pocket. He said nothing as he merely gazed at the panel of judges to see how they would act due to his actions.

"Well, due to Mister Potter having consumed his potion, we will of course be deducting him points on his upcoming performance," declared Bagman trying to retain some manner of control over the situation.

"Upcoming performance," repeated Harry as he put his wand back on his throat once more so that everybody could hear. "It's interesting that you say that because the potion that I brewed, as will be clarified by Hogwarts own Professor Snape, allows the consumer to go for a number of days without the requirement of sleep. While the eventual feedback will cause me to rest for at least twenty four hours I fully intend to use the time I now have to wait for my moment. It may take an hour, it may take a day or even two. For those of you willing to watch, strap yourselves in because I can ensure a whole lot of nothing is going to happen for a long time."

Pocketing his wand, Harry finally moved from his position as he walked to the side wall of the arena. Under the cautious gaze of the dragon, Harry sat down with his back against the barrier behind him. The Hungarian Horntail watched him cautiously but made no moves with the fear that if it were to leave it's nest, somebody it couldn't sense would take it's eggs away.

And thus began the longest recorded task in the history of the Triwizard Tournament.

...

Hope you enjoyed.