Harry stepped into a not often used classroom, Dawn perched on his shoulder. It was a rather small classroom, most tables were pushed to the backside, making a lot of room in the middle. Three tables were placed together in a line, with a long velvet tablecloth. Each of the three schools sigils was embroidered onto the cloth, right in front of three of the five seats placed behind the tables. On one of the others was Ludo Bagman sitting, talking to a woman in a crimson robe, Harry had never seen before. The other champions were already there. Ulrich was standing at the window, staring outside, while Akiko was reading a scroll near the door. Sitting on one of the tables in the back was Cassius Warrington, who raised his head and glared at Harry when the boy entered. A man with quite a belly and a camera were lurking in the background.
Bagman, who suddenly noticed Harry's arrival, jumped with a grin of his chair and made his way over to him. Dawn twisted a little due to his sudden move. Harry felt her disapproval through the bond.
"Ah, there you are. Our Champion number four! Come inside, come inside Harry. Don't you worry, this is just the weighing of the wands! nothing to be nervous about."
"Weighing of the Wands?" Harry asked uncomfortably.
Bagman still smiled, putting his arm around Harry's shoulders, or at least he tried before Dawn pecked at his advancing hand. The man pulled back his hand with a wary look at the black bird before he returned to the former smile and nodded to the boy.
"Yes of course. We have to check your wands, so we know those are in working condition and aren't tampered with for the upcoming tasks since those are your main tools of the challenges." Ludo Bagman's grin was white and bright, trained by years in the limelight. "The specialist is upstairs at the moment with Dumbledore. After the weighing, there will be a little photo session nothing big. Speaking of which, may I introduce?" He waved at the blond in the red robes who was staring at Harry like he was a fine piece of meat, making the boy instantly a little uncomfortable. "Rita Skeeter of the Daily Prophet. She will write a little piece about the tournament."
Rita stepped closer, her eyes focused on Harry. "Maybe not so little."
She had an artistic blond lock hairstyle, that didn't seem to move at all, thick-rimmed glasses with stones on them and wore strong red lipstick. Her fingers ended in long equally red fingernails. She was pretty in a way, but everything about her beauty looked somewhat artificial. Harry for a brief moment thought what she would look like without the make-up and he guessed he would probably need a chisel to find out. Her eyes were so focused on him.
"May I have a little word with Harry before we begin Ludo?" Her eyes weren't moving from Harry while she said it. "The youngest champion in history, you know...just to give this story this little something."
"Of course!" Ludo laughed nodding. "I mean if it is okay with Harry."
"Uhm" Was all Harry could say before Rita's long fingers gripped his upper arm in a surprising strength. She pulled him out of the classroom and opened the door next to it.
"It's so noisy in there with all the people, don't you think?" It was obvious she didn't need an answer from him. "This is more like it right?"
It was a broom cupboard. Harry stared at her in disbelief.
"Come come, my dear, right in here, wonderful." She said while sitting down on an upside-down bucket. She pushed Harry onto a crate and closed the door. It was pitch black making Dawn chirp a little. Only the glowing golden eyes of Harrys familiar were seen.
"Let's see..." Rita said and Harry heard her crocodile leather purse open. She pulled out a few candles and with a swish of her wand, those lit up and floated upwards a little. Now they could at least see what they were doing, even though Harry wasn't sure what that was.
"You don't mind me using my Quick-note-quill right Harry? That way I can talk to with you more easily."
"A what?" Harry blurted out. Yet he was certain his answer wasn't really needed here. Skeeter smiled whitely at him and put her hand into her purse, producing a lime green quill and a scroll. She put down the parchment on a box of Charles-Callitons-Complete-Cleaner for all occasions and rolled it out. Then she sucked at the tip of the quill for a short moment, before setting it down on the parchment. It stood on its tip by itself and shook a little almost like a cat shortly before it made its jump.
"Test: My name is Rita Skeeter, a journalist for the Daily Prophet."
Harry looked down at the quill and it moved by itself. He watched as it wrote:
"The stunning blond Rita Skeeter (43), whose sharp feather has poked holes in quite a few overblown egos-"
"Perfect." Rita smiled and quickly ripped the written part from the parchment. "Now Harry, tell my...why did you put yourself in the Tournament?" She leaned forward, the candles gave her a certain sinister look due to that.
"Uhmmm" Harry said, but the quill was really distracting. And he wasn't alone in that. Dawn was peering at the twisting and turning feather too, while Harry felt a certain giddiness he knew too well through their bond. Even though he hadn't said anything, the quill was already writing.
"An ugly scar, a memory of painful days long gone, disfigure the otherwise rather charming young Harry Potter, whose emerald eyes-"
"Don't mind the quill, Harry." Skeeter said in a firm tone, making Harry slowly look up, so only one pair of eyes followed the moving quill.
"Now tell me, Harry, why did you do it?"
Harry shook his head. "I didn't. I have no idea how this all happened, but I didn't throw my name in."
Rita raised one of her thin eyebrows. "Come now, Harry. my darling. No need to be shy or fearful about getting into trouble. We all know you weren't allowed to do it, but that doesn't really matter now does it? Our readers love the rebel kind of guy quite well you know?"
"I didn't do it!" Harry said firmly. "I don't know who-"
"What are your feelings about the upcoming tasks? Are you nervous? Frightened? Excited?" The last one was spoken like she really hoped he would say that.
Harry frowned a little. "I haven't really thought about it. Nervous I guess." Harry said and he felt his stomach crunched now that he thought about it really. Rita leaned even closer.
"But Champions have died before." Her tone was light and a little too happy for the subject of death. "Have you thought about that?"
Harry swallowed hard. Of course, he had done that. "They said this year would be safer."
The quill darted back and forth between them like it was on skates.
"Of course you have looked death into the eye before haven't you dear?" Rita asked, looking knowingly to his forehead. Harry raised his hand in a self-conscious way and rubbed over the lighting scar he disliked so much now.
Would you say that has made you more reckless?" Rita probed even more.
"Uhm." Harry again was confused by the sudden change of topic.
"Do you think, your childhood trauma makes you feel like you have to prove yourself always in a new way? To honour your name and family? Did you put yourself into this tournament so you-"
"I didn't do that!" Harry said with force, while he felt annoyance creep through his body.
"Do you even remember your parents?" Rita asked without reacting to his angered hiss.
"No." Harry said flatly.
"What would your parents think if they knew you joined the Triwizard Tournament? What do you think? Would they be proud? Worried? Angry?"
Now Harry was really pissed off. How the hell would he know what his parents would feel about this? He couldn't even remember them and now he should answer this? He looked down at the quill, reading the words that it had written last:
"Tears fill those incredible green eyes when our conversation turns to his parents, of whom he has almost no memories left."
"There are NO tears in my eyes!" Harry called out loudly, slamming his hand on the box between them. Dawn took that as the signal to let loose. With a loud chirp, she swooped down from Harry's shoulder, her beak gripping the lime green feather and starting to shake it like a dog with a thick rope. Harry wasn't sure if it was her hunting instinct and the similarity to her favourite game, chasing a quill or if she wanted to destroy the object of her bonded partners distress. Either way, the strong dark beak finished off the feather rather quickly, causing Rita to jump to her feet by the sudden move. She shrieked slightly but before she could say anything the door to the closet opened. Harry turned his head, blinking into the bright light outside.
In the door stood Sirius, wearing his smart robes, frowning ever so slightly at the scene that was displayed in front of him. Dawn took that opportunity and returned to Harry's lap, placing down her prey there. The quill was in a crappy state, yet it still shivered slightly, like the spells that gave it life hadn't disappeared entirely.
"Lord Black!" Rita called out, scrambling to her feet.
Sirius took his eyes away from his godson and turned to the blond woman.
"Rita. What a surprise. May I ask why you hide with my dear godson in a broom closet?" Sirius' hand was still on the door handle, while his other waved at Hary to signal him outside. The boy obliged and to his surprise not only Sirius was there, but also Remus and Mr Ollivander, who watched the scene with interest.
Rita Skeeter also stepped out of the closet, smiling brightly at Sirius. "Oh we were just talking a little bit." She said lightly.
"In a broom closet?" Sirius prodded. While he did smile, it turned thinner, more fake.
"We needed a quiet place for a few moments."
Sirius shook his head slightly, still staring at her. "Well, I hope you didn't interview my godson, who is a minor, without the consent of his legal guardian. That would be...a rather unpleasant thing." His smile turned even thinner. Rita laughed a shrieking laugh and shook her head.
"Lord Black, always good for a joke. Now if you excuse me?" She quickly returned to the room where the other champions were waiting. Sirius' eyes followed her until she was out of sight. Then he turned to Mr Ollivander.
"Lord Ollivander, would it bother you to wait with the others? I have still things to talk about with my godson." His hand rested on Harry's shoulder. The old man smiled and nodded.
"Oh yes, of course. And please Mr Ollivander is fine. I don't mind my lordship at all." His strange gaze looked over at Harry or more likely Dawn before he turned and walked slowly into the room. Sirius who had stood straight and stiff the whole time slumped a little before shaking his head.
"Harry, when I said I wish you would visit broom closet with girls in Hogwarts, I didn't mean Rita Skeeter." Harry's godfather joked a little, shaking his head. Harry felt himself blush.
"I...that wasn't planned. She just took me by surprise you know?" He tried to explain.
Sirius waved him off. "Yeah, she is like a bull terrier when she sees a story. Next time that hag tries to press you for information, say "I will only speak to the press when my guardian is present." In my opinion, you shouldn't even need to say this, it should be self-explanatory, but apparently, it is not." Sirius sighed a little, shaking his head again. "Not your fault Harry. Maybe we are lucky this time." Dawn spread her wings and fluttered over to the tall man, landing in his arms, nuzzling his chest. "Hello, there little girl. You did well." He smiled, petting her, before hugging Harry as well. The boy enjoyed the hug immensely, before stepping back with a frown.
"What are you doing here Padfoot?" He asked, looking over at Remus, who also stepped up and patted him on the shoulder too. Sirius smirked a little.
"Do I really need a reason to visit my favourite godson?"
Harry snorted in response. "Okay and really now?"
Sirius still smirked, before nodding. "We really wanted to visit you. Then I thought I really should visit Mr Ollivander since he is the last Most Ancient and Noble house and it wouldn't do not to visit him, really." His voice got a certain tone as he imitated Narcissa. Probably he did it because she wasn't near and would hex him for it. "And we were really surprised when we heard that he would visit Hogwarts for the weighing of the wands and I said to Remus, "Let's escort this fine gentleman, a man of his importance shouldn't travel alone"." He winked over at Harry while he said it while Remus only shook his head with a smile.
"And where is the headmaster?" Harry frowned while he asked. Bagman said that Ollivander was with Dumbledore after all. Sirius laughed a little.
"Well, about that, he will be here any moment now I think. You see when we reached Hogwarts I somehow had a hunch where this meeting would be." He patted his pocket, which was suspiciously bulged like a certain piece of parchment Harry knew quite well. "And you shouldn't force a distinguished man like Mr Ollivander to climb all these stairs, so we came here right away. Dumbledore should be...Ah, there he is." Sirius looked over Harry's shoulder with a mischievous smile. Harry turned seeing his headmaster hurry along the corridor in his orange robes with golden stars on them. The Headmaster reached them and looked a little out of breath.
"Ah Harry my boy, good, good you are here. Wonderful." He then turned his eyes to Sirius. "Sirius, Remus, what brings you here? I was surprised when the wards alerted me to your presence."
Sirius smile was thin again, calculated, as he stepped behind Harry and placed his hand on his godson's shoulder.
"You see Albus, Remus and I just happened to be in Ollivanders shop when he stated he had to leave to come here for the weighing of the wands."
Dumbledores eyes twinkled strongly, as he raised an eyebrow. "Happened to?" The headmaster asked, somewhere between amusement and annoyance. Sirius didn't miss a beat.
"Oh yes. And well we thought, we would join him, making sure everything would be handled the right way here. After all, that is what should happen since Harry is a minor and I am his guardian. But I think the notification for me was lost in the mail." Sirius smile could have cut glass at the moment, thin and sharp.
Dumbledore stared at Sirius for quite some time. And the black-haired lord continued talking.
"And since this whole tournament mess, as well as all the other things that we better not speak of that happening under your guidance, I thought I would watch this one closely. You understand, better safe than sorry."
Dumbledore still stared at Sirius. In his mind, he played out all the things Sirius probably meant. The Dursleys, The stone, the troll, the chamber, Peter. The list of things Sirius made Dumbledore accountable for was getting longer and longer. Finally, Dumbledore nodded slowly.
"Yes, lost in the mail, of course." Then he turned his old eyes to Harry. "Maybe we should join the rest of them." Harry nodded and Sirius stepped out of the way.
"Lead the way headmaster."
Dumbledore strode ahead and lead them into the room. The other judges, Greif, Nobunaga and Umbridge had arrived in the meantime, sitting at the other champions had sat down by now on chairs near the door. Harry quickly sat down next to Ulrich. Skeeter and her photographer had retreated to a corner of the room, waiting eagerly. Again a parchment was placed next to the woman, quill ready. Dumbledore stepped into the centre of the room, folding his hands. Sirius and Remus retreated to the corner opposite of Skeeter.
"Wonderful, we are all here now. Lord Black and Mr Lupin are here in representation for Mr Po...Lord Peverell, since he is underage. May I introduce Mr Ollivander?" Dumbledore said to the champions, while he sat down at the judge's table as well. "He will test your wands for the tournament and check that there isn't a problem with those."
The old man with the pale eyes stepped forward, still having a strange aura around himself. Harry had always felt a little uneasy with the man even though he had only met him once.
"Miss Musashi, would you please be the first?" Ollivander said while walking to the centre of the room. Akiko stood and walked over, bowing deeply in front of the old man. In Japan, wandmaking was a honourable and praised trade and only the best were allowed to practice it. She handed over her wand only with slight hesitation. Ollivander turned the object between his fingers with surprising dexterity.
"Hrmm, ten inches, not too flexible, made from cherry wood. The core." He waved the wand one time. "Ah yes, Kirin hair. Hard to get by here in the west, but that wouldn't be a problem for you young lady." He swung the wand around again and with a slight puff of smoke, a pink flower came from the tip. He took both the flower and the wand and handed it back to Akiko, who received it with a bow.
"In perfect condition." He said and the girl walked back to her place.
"Mr Warrington."
Cassius passed Akiko on the way and strode proudly with a puffed chest to the old man, handing over his wand with a slight bow. Ollivander nodded to himself.
"Ah, yes this is one of mine, I remember quite well. Eleven and a half inch, oak, with dragon heartstring as its core and mildly flexible. In perfect condition, I might add." Harry glanced down at his wand, that was covered in fingerprints and felt his ears heat up a little in embarrassment. He picked up the edge of his robe and tried cleaning it, but it only caused him to shoot out a few golden sparks, making Akiko look at him with a bit of pity. Even more embarrassed, he stopped his attempts.
Meanwhile, Olivander had finished shooting out small green flames from the wand and handed it back to Cassius.
"You are good to go young man. Mr Kurfurst please."
The teenager rose from his seat and shambled over to the old man. Briskly he held his wand to the man. Ollivander raised the wand to his eyes looking at it with interest.
"Well, this is something. Ebony, thirteen inches, inflexible. Work of Gruber, a good friend of mine...But oh my, really?" His eyes searched Ulrich. The teenager only nodded grimly. "Vampire blood. Oh dear, I would never use such a core, far too unstable for my taste. But the wand picks the wizard so...Let's see." He raised the wand and with a bang, a few doves flew out of the tip. "It is in optimal working condition. Still, I do express my concern about this one." He handed it back to Ulrich, who after a nod from Madam Greif returned to his seat. Harry rose.
"Ah, Lord Peverell. Yes, yes. The new name takes time to get used to." The old man smiled at him when he handed his wand over. It felt weird handing someone his wand. Yes, he had done it before, with Sirius but that was in the heat of the moment, this was something else.
"Oh yes." Ollivander said and his eyes were almost glowing while his finger runs along the length of the Holly wand. "This one I remember really really well. Peculiar wand."
Harry also remembered the day he had bought the wand very well. Ollivander had measured him and then handed wand after wand after wand to the boy. Harry had felt like he had swung every wand there was in the shop when he had finally found the right one - Holly, eleven inches and the feather of a phoenix. Ollivander had been surprised, to say the least, he didn't expect this wand to be Harry's.
Harry had to ask for Mr Ollivander to explain that the phoenix feather of his wand was from the same phoenix that made up the core of Voldemort's wand. Harry had never told this to anyone, not Ron, not Hermione, neither Sirius nor Narcissa. He liked his wand quite well and when it came to Harry, his wand wasn't at fault for the relationship to Voldemort's wand-like he wasn't at fault for being related to Aunt Petunia. He just hoped really really hard that Ollivander wouldn't state this particular detail about his wand in front of everyone here. He had a strange feeling that Rita Skeeter would have a stroke or something if she heard that.
Ollivander took a lot more time with Harry's wand turning and twisting it, inspecting it from every side. Finally, he made wine pour out of the front before handing it back to Harry stating it was in perfect condition.
"Thank you, Garrick." Dumbledore had risen from his seat and the old wandmaker smiled, nodding. "Thank you all for your time, you can return to your lessons now, or probably head right down to the Great Hall." He smiled. Harry sighed in relief and was about to walk over to Sirius and Remus to talk to them when the large man with the camera rose to his feet and coughed slightly.
"Photos! Dumbledore, Photos!" Bagman called out with a bright and white grin on his face. "All the champions and judges together? What do you say, Rita?"
"Uhm, yes first a group shot." Her eyes darted to Harry. "And then a few portraits."
Luckily the shooting was quickly done by. Neither Dumbledore nor Madam Greif seemed all too eager to draw this out longer than needed. Takeda Nobunaga seemed more accepting but Harry wasn't sure whether this was because he liked this or more like he didn't really care for this to happen. His tendency to look to the side and into the distance during the shooting made it seem like it was more of the second. Ulrich, who Harry would have guessed would be used to this, seemed to prefer the edge or background of the pictures, while Cassius seemed all too eager to stand in the front. Harry was quite happy not standing in the middle of the attention, even though he had the feeling Rita thought different about this. But dark glares from Sirius prevented her from going overboard.
Finally, it was time and they could all leave. Harry quickly made his way over to Sirius and Remus and they walked out of the room together, relocating to a different classroom. It hadn't been used for quite some time and dust was on all the surfaces. A few bugs were sprawled around the room. Harry sagged down on a chair. He sighed in relief. Dawn took off from his shoulder and started chasing a big beetle through the room for a few moments and for a short while all three wizards were content in watching the young phoenix chase her prey. Finally, the bug escaped out the window and Sirius had to close it so that Dawn wouldn't fly outside too. Both adults sat down next to Harry.
"Well, that was something." Remus said with a slight chuckle. Harry nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I'm just happy when this is over." Harry sighed again before nodding. "Sirius we have to repay Miss Skeeter. Dawn destroyed her quill and I think it was an expensive one."
Sirius just snorted once. "Harry, that old hag has it coming. She is a hound of sensation and making a name for herself."
Harry nodded. "I guessed. Still, Dawn did it and I don't want people to say we wouldn't stand for what we do." Harry petted his familiar who had landed on his knee and was looking at him curiously. Sirius nodded slowly.
"Fine, I will take care of it." Sirius leaned back and rubbed over Harry's shoulders. "How have you been Prongslet?" His tone was warm and friendly. Harry slumped a little bit after taking a deep breath.
"Fine...I guess. There are only a few people believing me but other than that I think it's okay. No need to worry." He mumbled out. He didn't want Sirius to worry about him just because he couldn't handle people being mean. His godfather rubbed his shoulders again.
"Okay, I won't ask. You can come home any time you want, you know that right?" The black-haired man said it with such warmth and Harry felt a little pang of joy when he heard the word home. Sirius was right, Grimmauld Place was his home after all. He chuckled a little to himself.
"You just want someone to protect you from Narcissa." Harry said with a smirk, to which Sirius made a barking laugh.
"Caught me red-handed Prongslet. Of course, it isn't because I don't want you near and love you and all of that." He ruffled the boy's hair and Harry felt better than he had felt for days now.
"I bet. Now, why are you two really here?"
Sirius face sobered up real quick and he looked over to Remus. The scarred man nodded, leaning his elbows on the table and folded his hands.
"As you know Harry, I looked into the rules of the tournament to try and find out if there is a way to get you out of it." Remus' voice was a little raspy like always. Harry felt his hopes come up, while he looked over to the sandy-haired man in quite some hope. Remus shook his head. "Sadly there isn't a way to get you out. Once you are in only death or completion are the ways out."
Harry sighed, letting his head hang low. His fingers played with one of Dawn's tail feathers and she nuzzled his other hand with her head. Remus kept talking.
"But, that isn't all I found out. While I did see that you can't get out, there isn't a rule or anything in place that says you have to try to win either." To that, Harry raised his head.
"What do you mean?" He asked carefully. Sirius smiled leaning back and letting his friend continue to explain.
"It means you don't really have to compete. You arrive at the tasks, you basically step in and can initially throw the towel as the muggle would say. You forfeit right from the start and can't get hurt really. Also whoever put you in for this will not get what he wants, that is probably you risking his neck."
Sirius made a snorting sound. It was obvious who he thought had put Harry in and he would do nothing more gladly than walking down into the dungeon and show that greasy bat down there, how he could use a wand really.
Harry groaned. "Oh god. Isn't there a way I don't make myself look like a total idiot there? I can practically see Malfoy's gleeful grin already when I chicken out on every turn."
On this Sirius frowned, looking sternly at his godson. "Harry, this is about you being safe. Yes, it might not be the most awesome thing but I want you to still do it because seeing you get harmed...I wouldn't be able to bear it." His voice was glum and Harry felt a lump in his throat as he nodded slowly.
"Sorry, Padfoot." He mumbled a little and Sirius reached out hugging him warmly.
"It's okay. I know the last few days must have been tough for you." He said.
Harry nodded, a little sad. "So this is it? I pull out and everything is done for?"
Sirius smirked, shaking his head. "Oh no, of course not. We will prepare you anyways, just in case you can't pull out or something happens. I mean we talk about dragons."
Harry raised his head. "Are we sure it is dragons?"
Remus nodded. "Oh yes, pretty sure. Hogwarts bought a few tons of meat from Garrison Slaughterhouse and also Flintstone and Sulfur from a Quarry in Wales. Dragons eat Flintstone to grind the meat in their bellies and Sulfur to fuel their flames."
Harry raised his eyebrows. "How do you know this?"
Sirius smirked a little. "Well, the Quarry is owned by our family and we asked Lord Greengrass to keep his eyes open. Garrison is one of his guys. But there is more. The amount of Sulfur is too much, in proportion to the amount of meat. Calculating for four dragons it the meat will last about two months, so it is highly likely that it is the first task, but the Sulfur would last for almost a year. So either Hogwarts has strange plans involving Sulfur ooooor those are breeding mothers, who would bask their eggs in flames quite often to heat them."
Harry blinked. Sirius and Remus looked pretty grim. "Is that bad?"
Remus nodded slowly. "Dragons, as they are quite dangerous, but breeding mothers are even more aggressive and dangerous than a normal one. I have no idea what Dumbledore is thinking really."
Now it was on Harry to snort. "The headmaster is a genius, but he tends to put dangerous things into the school. I'm not really surprised." He was thinking about the stone. "So they want me to fight a mother dragon?"
Sirius shook his head. "Highly unlikely. Fighting one would be suicide. Dragons aren't defeated by a single wizard without stupid amounts of luck. No, we believe he or she will be guarding something. That is our closest guess. And we have already a plan in place I case you can't pull out. We will work with your strength."
Harry frowned a little confused. "My strength?" What strength did he have. He was good at DADA but that was basically it.
Remus nodded. "You are a brilliant flyer." He said as if that would explain everything. Harry frowned.
"Yeah, but I probably won't be able to take my broom with me." It was unlikely and Harry wouldn't base his strategy on that assumption.
Sirius nodded but raised his index finger. "Yeah, that will probably be the case but we never know and if it is, you can just summon it with a simple Accio charm."
Harry frowned. They were working on the summoning charm with Professor Flitwick but so far he hadn't been able to do it and it was only two weeks time, two weeks filled with classes and homework. And he said so.
Sirius again rubbed his shoulder, not noticing the annoyed grumble from Gryph between the folds of his robes.
"We will help you."