The potions class had been tense after Kaneki's little stunt. His entire day had been kind of shity but he let Snape of all people be the straw that broke the camel's back.

He was also way more worried about this than he'd been before. He'd gotten too close to being a danger to the people around him. The "what if" of losing control was now at the forefront of his mind, looming over him like.

He'd been in the middle of gathering his supplies when a boy popped into the room and said something to Snape who scowled in response.

"Potter, go with him." He said curtly.

"Hmm?" Kaneki questioned

"They need you for the weighing of the wand ceremony, for the tournament," the boy said anxiously.

"Go ahead mate, I'll put this back for you," Ron told him.

Kaneki nodded in thanks and left the room, happy to be out of the uncomfortable atmosphere.

Their walk wasn't too interesting, they made small talk, Kaneki found out the boy's name was Colin Creevey. Kaneki let him know that he preferred to be called Kaneki and Colin respected that.

Viktor Krum was standing moodily in a corner as usual and not talking to anybody. Cedric and Fleur were in conversation. Fleur looked a good deal happier than Kaneki had seen her so far; she kept throwing back her head so that her long silvery hair caught the light. A paunchy man, holding a large black camera that was smoking slightly, was watching Fleur out of the corner of his eye.

Bagman suddenly spotted him and got up quickly, and bounded forward.

"Ah, here he is! Champion number four! In you come, Harry, in you come.. . nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment -"

"Wand weighing?" Kaneki asked.

"We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead," said Bagman. "The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore.

…

Eventually, they all gathered for a photo, and his snowy hair, muggle clothes, and age gap in comparison to the other champions made him feel out of place.

He gently rubbed his eyes to try and abate his tiredness when the flash of a camera nearly made him jump.

A woman with blond hair, vibrant green clothes, and an air of trouble, sauntered confidently into the room.

"What a charismatic quartet! I'm Rita Skeeter and I write for the Daily Prophet, but of course, you know that don't you? It's you we don't know! You're the juicy news." She said as she strolled toward them.

"What quirks lurk beneath those rosy cheeks? What mysteries do those muscles mask? Does courage lie beneath those curls? In short, what makes a champion tick? Me, myself, and I want to know, not to mention my avid readers. So? Who's feeling up to share? She said, slapping Fleaur's cheek, running a finger down Krum's arm, ruffling Cedric's hair, and wrapping an arm around Kaneki, ignoring how uncomfortable the four of them were with the contact.

"Who wants to go first?" She asked.

She pouted at the silence that she got in response. "Right then, let's start with the youngest," She said before trying to pull Kaneki into a broom cupboard.

Key word tried. Kaneki was a lot more stable underneath his chunky sweater and he reflexively pulled away leaving the reporter mildly surprised.

If he hadn't just blown up at Snape he might have felt angry but as it was he just tired. "Sorry, could we do it out here?" He asked, running his hand through his hair in a self pacifying gesture.

Rita smiled sweetly "of course," she said, but it was clear that she wanted to do this privately.

"So tell me Harry, where have you been for the past two years?" She inquired.

"Asia, I would rather keep the details private but I go by Ken Kaneki now," He responded. His tone wasn't hostile but it couldn't be classified as friendly either, merely formal.

"Oh? Have you been at Mahotokuro then?" she prodded.

"No. As I said, I would prefer not to talk about it," he said.

"But then how have you been continuing your magical education?" She pushed resulting only in Kaneki raising an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Fine, Fine, How did your name end up in the goblet then?" She asked.

Kaneki deadpanned at the reporter. "I was on another continent minding my own business, I have no clue" He shot back.

"What about the eyepatch? A fashion statement?" She asked.

"No. I thought this was about the tournament?" he said.

Rita feathers were ruffled by the deflective, vague, and sarcastic answers. She'd been expecting a meek child, something that Kaneki just wasn't in the mood to be today.

"How do you feel? A mere boy of 12 about to compete against three students, not only vastly more emotionally mature than yourself but who've mastered spells that you couldn't attempt in your ditziest daydreams? Champions have died in the past, haven't they?" said Rita Skeeter briskly. "Have you thought about that at all?"

"I'm not worried. I'm not aiming for victory, all I have to do is survive and the one thing I can never seem to properly do is die," Kaneki said, scratching his chin. He was unstable and with his luck, the tasks would make him do something incriminating in front of everyone.

"Of course, you've looked death in the face before, haven't you?" said Rita Skeeter, watching him closely. "How would you say that's affected you?"

Kaneki thought about it for a moment "I'm not afraid of death, only of the prospect of not being able to protect the people I love," he admitted, that was probably the most truthfully he answered any of the questions.

"What do you think your parents would say if they knew about this. Would they be proud or disappointed?" She presented.

The words reverberated in his head. Would his mother be proud?

"It's better to be hurt than to hurt others"

Would his mother be angry for disobeying her? Would she hurt him again? Please no, please!

He stood lost in his thought for a second when he realized he still had to answer a question. "I'm not sure," he said scratching his chin. No, he was a killer. If his parents knew they'd be rolling in their graves!

"Shall we move on to the others?" Madame Maxime said

"O-of course," Rita said though she clearly wasn't fond of the idea of ending Kaneki's interview yet.

…

"May I introduce Mr. Ollivander," said Dumbledore, taking his place at the judges' table and talking to the champions. "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."

Kaneki was looking around, when he noticed an old wizard with large, pale eyes standing quietly by the window. Oh! That was the guy he'd bought his wand from Kaneki noticed in mild surprise

"Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first, please?" said Mr. Ollivander, stepping into the empty space in the middle of the room.

Fleur Delacour swept over to Mr. Olhivander and handed him her wand.

"Hmm..." he said.

He twirled the wand between his long fingers like a baton and it emitted a number of pink and gold sparks. Then he held it close to his eyes and examined it carefully.

"Yes," he said quietly, "nine and a half inches. . . inflexible . . rosewood . . . and containing. . . dear me-!"

"-An hair from a veela," said Fleur. "One of my grandmother's."

"Yes," said Mr. Ollivander, "yes, I've never used veela hair myself, of course. I find it makes for rather temperamental wands...however, to each his own, and if this suits you.."

Mr. Ollivander ran his fingers along the wand, apparently checking for scratches or bumps; then he muttered, "Orchideous!" and a bunch of flowers burst from the wand tip.

"Very well, very well, it's in fine working order," said Mr. Ollivander, scooping up the flowers and handing them to Fleur with her wand. "Mr. Diggory, you next."

Fleur glided back to her seat, smiling at Cedric as he passed her.

"Ah, now, this is one of mine, isn't it?" said Mr. Ollivander, with much more enthusiasm, as Cedric handed over his wand. "Yes, I remember it well. Containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn. . . must have been seventeen hands; nearly gored me with his horn after I plucked his tail. Twelve and a quarter inches. . . ash. . . pleasantly springy. It's in fine condition...You treat it regularly?"

"Polished it last night," said Cedric, grinning.

Mr. Ollivander sent a stream of silver smoke rings across the room from the tip of Cedric's wand, pronounced himself satisfied, and then said, "Mr. Krum, if you please."

Viktor Krum got up and slouched, round-shouldered and duck-footed, toward Mr. Ollivander. He thrust out his wand and stood scowling, with his hands in the pockets of his robes.

"Hmm," said Mr. Olhivander, "this is a Gregorovitch creation, unless I'm much mistaken? A fine wand-maker, though the styling is never quite what I. . . however. ."

He lifted the wand and examined it minutely, turning it over and over before his eyes.

"Yes.. . hornbeam and dragon heartstring?" he shot at Krum, who nodded. "Rather thicker than one usually sees. . . quite rigid. . . ten and a quarter inches. . . Avis!"

The hornbeam wand let off a blast like a gun, and a number of small, twittering birds flew out of the end and through the open window into the watery sunlight.

"Good," said Mr. Ollivander, handing Krum back his wand. "Which leaves. . . Mr. Potter."

Kaneki got to his feet and walked past Krum to Mr. Ollivander. He handed over his wand.

"Aaaah, yes," said Mr. Ollivander, his pale eyes suddenly gleaming. "Yes, yes, yes. How well I remember."

Kaneki could remember too. He could remember surprisingly well considering that most of his time at Hogwarts felt like a fever dream.

Mr. Ollivander had been very surprised that Kaneki had been so compatible with this wand. "Curious," he had said, "curious," and not until he'd asked what was curious had Mr. Olhivander explained that the phoenix feather in his wand had come from the same bird that had supplied the core of Lord Voldemort's.

Kaneki had never shared this piece of information with anybody and he really hoped that Mr. Ollivander wasn't about to tell the room about it. He had a funny feeling Rita Skeeter's Quick-Quotes Quill might just explode with excitement if he did.

Mr. Ollivander spent much longer examining Kaneki wand than anyone else's. Eventually, however, he made a fountain of wine shoot out of it, and handed it back to Harry, announcing that it was still in perfect condition.

"Thank you all," said Dumbledore, standing up at the judges' table. "You may go back to your lessons now - or perhaps it would be quicker just to go down to dinner, as they are about to end -"

Feeling that at last something had gone right today, Kaneki relaxed as he walked down to the great hall.

…

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