Ashes of Betrayal
"An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind."
–Buddha
Chapter Three-Reactions
Going into the office he had been in once before, Harry was greeted with the other two champion's disbelieving and shocked stare. It took a minute but Malfoy managed to croak out a, "Potter?" which caused Belle to whip her head in his direction. There weren't many Potters in the world after all.
The red head was openly gaping even as the other professors ran into the room. Harry rolled his eyes. Everything was very reminiscent of what happened three years ago.
After she got into the room, the giantess Headmistress walked over to her champion.
"Madame Maxime! C'est vrai! Ce garçon, il est Harry Potter et il va être dans le compétition!" whispered the girl in rapid French to the taller woman while casting the raven haired champion awed looks.
To her question, the giantess nodded and simply said, "Oui ma chère."
Meanwhile, the Hogwarts professors were trying to get over their shock while Platov went over and congratulated Harry with a bright smile. The two talked in rapid Bulgarian, which startled the professors seeing as how Harry had only been free for three months. The situation was rapidly becoming similar to the events of the last tournament.
Finally, the Headmaster of Hogwarts cleared his throat.
"Harry?" he asked cautiously. The teen turned from his conversation with Platov and regarded the eldest wizard in the room with a guarded face.
"Headmaster Dumbledore?" he replied after a look from his Headmaster, clearly trying to be polite.
"Why?" was all he could bring himself to say with a sad look in his eyes.
Stiffening, Harry replied, "After my withdrawal from your school, I enrolled at Durmstrang, since it was a year-round school. Headmaster Platov gladly allowed me to enter and unlike certain others in the Wizarding community, those at Durmstrang did not believe in what I was convicted of. Therefore, it was a comfortable environment to learn in. Since the top of the school were allowed the opportunity to come, I was invited to defend the honor of my school," he finished emotionlessly.
In front of him, Harry could see the sadness in the eyes of his old professors besides Snape, who donned an emotionless mask.
Clearing his throat, Professor Dumbledore turned to the other guests of the room to avoid the private conversation taking a public spin. He looked to Chris Conway, the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports saying, "Now Mister Conway, if you will please tell the champions the rules about the competition?"
The middle-aged man flushed slightly at being in the spotlight with some of the most powerful and famous wizards and witches of the century in the same room. Eventually, the dark brown, blue eyed man opened his mouth to say, "Thank you Headmaster. Now, we are here to commission the Triwizard Tournament in celebration of the defeat of You-Know-Who. You are all in a magically binding contract, so even if you wish, none may withdraw from the competition; you must see it to the end. Now with that said, our first task is generally to test the contestants' courage so instructions will not be given until right before the task. The first task shall take place on the twenty-fourth of November. So, I wish you all the best of luck!"
Like Ludo Bagman, Conway's eyes were gleaming in anticipation of the contest. The other Ministry official, from the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Emmanuel Richards, was an elderly wizard with a stolid face. His short cropped gray hair framed dark brown eyes as he overlooked the ceremony.
"Now I'm sure your schools are looking forward to celebrating with their Champions," beamed Professor Dumbledore, "so let's not keep them waiting! I'm sure they would want their Champions there to celebrate!" he finished as he ushered everyone from the room.
Madame Maxime latched onto her champion and the pair swept from the room while talking in rapid French regarding the evening. Likewise, a smug Snape beckoned to Malfoy as the pair left in silence, at least until they left the room.
However, as Harry made to depart, the Headmaster of Hogwarts stopped him with a request, "Can I see you for a moment in my office Mister Potter?"
Harry looked quickly to his Headmaster.
Platov nodded his acquiesce so Harry merely said, "But of course Headmaster Dumbledore."
The Head of Durmstrang turned to Harry. "Mister Potter, will you need my presence there or shall I return ahead of yourself to the dungeons?"
Harry thought for a moment before saying in a more relaxed voice, "That's alright Professor, I will not need you there. I'll head back to the dungeons after I'm done with Headmaster Dumbledore's meeting."
Platov nodded his understanding and turned to leave.
As the door closed behind the sandy haired Headmaster, the office was deathly silent with only Dumbledore and Harry in it.
Coming out of his reverie, the blue eyed wizard said, "Shall we go Mister Potter?" Harry nodded and gestured to the elder man to lead. The pair walked in silence bar the quiet footsteps and swish of the robes as they made their way to the Headmaster's office.
"Lemon Quills," he said to the gargoyle as the password, making the statue leap aside to grant entrance to the spiraling staircase leading to the office.
Harry walked up the stairs forcing himself to not let his thoughts wander to the past, when he went up these same stairs more times than he could count. All those times, Dumbledore had been supportive and an almost grandfather-like figure to him, but all that had changed now. Now, the place served as a place that had nothing more than bad memories… memories of a time when undying trust laid between the two.
Dumbledore opened the door and stepped through. He waved towards the chair opposite his and waved his wand to conjure a teapot with cups.
In the silence, Headmaster Dumbledore poured the tea for Harry and himself.
Glancing around the office, Harry found that it looked the same as ever. Silver instruments littered the office and the place that Fawkes usually occupied was empty. The phoenix was no doubt on a missive delivering letters or such.
Picking up his teacup, Harry ran his right hand over it while his left clenched the handle. With his minute gesture, Harry confirmed what was in the tea for he knew that the Headmaster often laced them with calming potion or sometimes Veritaserum for an interrogation.
True enough, Harry detected another mix in his drink along.
Raising his eyebrow the raven haired teen asked, "Calming draft?"
Dumbledore inclined his head and said, "I figured that we would need it as emotions could run high in moments like this," before taking his cup and draining it, therefore showing to Harry that there was nothing in the tea that the Headmaster wouldn't be willing to drink from himself.
Likewise, Harry knocked back his cup and after the warmth of the tea flooded his stomach, he felt the familiar effects of a calming draft relax his features. From years of using it, calming potions, along with a multiple of other types of potions, no longer had the desired effect on him, only giving the teen a slightly more relaxed attitude.
"So what do you want to talk about Headmaster?"
Albus sighed with only a faint glimmer in his normally twinkling eyes.
"Can you tell me what happened during Azkaban?" he asked uneasily, thinking that he was one of the main ones that placed Harry in Azkaban in the first place.
Shrugging, Harry said, "Nothing much really. The usual Dementor attacks on my sanity, visions every night from Voldemort of the attacks he staged, oh and did I mention wallowing in self guilt and hatred from my parents and Cedric's death?" he finished bitterly and sarcastically.
Closing his eyes, Dumbledore allowed a single tear to streak its way down his right cheek and into his pearly white beard.
"Harry, I'm so sorry."
The younger wizard just sighed and said, "Whatever, now what is the reason for this meeting? If you've come to apologize then you did it. If there's nothing else, I'll be going."
"Actually, I want to ask on how you gained so much knowledge even with your time in," pausing for a second Dumbledore eventually said, "Azkaban."
Swiping his bangs back to show his scar, Harry said, "My connection to Voldemort. The Dementors made the link stronger and he was constantly studying the Dark Arts to defeat you and Hogwarts. To escape the horrors the Dementors dragged up, I sought refuge in his mind. Needless to say, I learned more than every through the connection. My knowledge of the Dark Arts was another reason I chose to go to Durmstrang. It could nourish my understanding in the Dark Arts, along with the fact that no one knows who goes there and where it was. Eventually, I was able to block off Voldemort from my mind when he went on one of his raids even if at the time I didn't know that it was called 'Occlumency.' On the day he was defeated, I knew from the start what his plan was in delivering that letter, so I was prepared and struck when he least expected it."
For a moment, both sat in silence until Dumbledore said, "That's all Harry. Thank you for telling me and I think I'd best let you go now."
Nodding Harry stood up and went over to the door and just as his hand was on the knob, Dumbledore called out.
"Harry."
The raven haired teen turned around to face the Headmaster.
"I'm so sorry Harry," he said, eyes bright with tears of sadness and grief. It was also the first time today that Harry noticed many wrinkles that hadn't been there before. Now more than ever before, Harry felt that the old wizard looked his age. "Will you please forgive me?"
Seconds drifted by and turned into minutes. Dumbledore could see the uncertainty in the student he had come to see as his grandson's eyes. Those normally bright emerald eyes that sparked life now dulled to a darker and more serious green, but no less spectacular.
Dumbledore was thrown back into the present by the turning, opening, and finally shutting of the wooden door.
Harry had left without a word or a backwards glance.
After Harry's conversation with Albus, he left the office and walked off towards the dungeons and the dorms for Durmstrang for the next year.
In the eerie silence of the night, Harry's footsteps resounded on the floor, bringing a slight echo down the hallways. He looked around the walls at the portraits that lined them and the empty classrooms that used to be where he went to learn wizardry.
Sighing, Harry continued down until he hit the dungeons. There's nothing I can do about that now. Just forget about it Potter!
As he walked into the tunnel towards the hidden dungeons, Harry passed the Slytherin common room. He saw a figure just outside the room and hoped to walk past them without having to converse with said person.
However, it seemed as if luck was not on the teen's side.
"Potter."
Coming to a stop right next to the figure in the shadows, Harry turned to the speaker and simply said, "Malfoy."
For a moment, neither spoke. Both were staring at the other, who was about the same in height, give or take an inch.
Grey eyes met green before Malfoy made his move. He held out his right hand between the two and said, "Looks like we're competing against each other again Potter," he paused before adding, "Welcome back Potter, it's been dull without you here."
Looking at the hand held before him, Harry hesitated slightly before grasping it and saying, "Thanks Malfoy."
The other boy nodded before saying, "Give Granger and Weasley hell for me will you?" Instantly Harry's eyes hardened at the names of his two former friends. Their betrayal along with Sirius and Albus had hurt the most. Harry guessed he should have been used to it. He knew that Ron was easily swayed if fourth year had anything to do with it. He had expected Hermione to have more common sense along with Dumbledore but they didn't see through the ploy. Harry had expected Sirius at least to trust him on blind faith in his godson for he himself had been framed, but that didn't work as well. The rest of the Wizarding world can go to hell for all he cared. They never trusted him before, and they never will. He was only there when they needed him and cast aside when he had outlived his use. Harry knew that the school along with the Wizarding community would turn on him in a heartbeat just like in his second year, but he never expected those four to turn their backs on him.
Tightening his grip on Draco's hand slightly, Harry replied fiercely, "I will, don't worry, I will."
About a month before his arrest, Draco Malfoy had gone into hiding because he turned his back on the Dark Lord and his own father. Therefore, he lived in seclusion for a good two years with no one for company except books. Even the use of owls was too dangerous, so he never heard the news. Harry knew that Draco would never believe it in the first place raised his standings in the raven haired teen's book any day.
Sure the pair had hated each other, but both had gotten over it by the end of the school year.
Nodding, Malfoy released his handshake and turned to the trapdoor opening the Slytherin common rooms.
"Castus Sanguineus," stated Malfoy as the password. The trapdoor swung open and he opened it, pausing slightly before turning to Harry's back, who had started walking to his own dorms.
"Good luck Potter." The "click" of the trapdoor echoed slightly in the dungeon's hallway as Harry resumed walking and walked to the rooms set aside for Durmstrang. After muttering the Belgian password, Harry walked into room, which erupted in applause and cheering.
The next morning, the Durmstrang group walked together to the Great Hall to have breakfast. As usual, Harry walked at the back, talking with his best friend at the Dark Arts School, Derek Williams.
The light brown haired boy with coal colored eyes was about three inches taller than Harry, which wasn't saying much seeing as how Harry was almost the shortest one there. When Harry had enrolled at Durmstrang, he spent the first month at the school as "John Evans" and found after bringing up the subject with as little suspicion as possible that most of the school believed in his innocence.
Derek was a half-blood like Harry. He seemed to know what to say to cheer the raven haired boy up and likewise knew when to not press the issue. When Derek had first met "John" he knew that there was more to the story, but both got along surprisingly well.
Right now, both were discussing the matters of last night after Harry had left the Great Hall to go into the office.
"You should have seen the looks on their faces Harry!" said Derek after wiping his eyes from tears of laughter. Harry smiled at his friend. He was a balanced mixture of both Ron and Hermione but with much more loyalty.
"After you left, I swear the whole hall was so silent, not a rustle could be heard! Then suddenly, the entire place erupted in gossip and such. It was simply hilarious!" Harry grinned at that. He could easily imagine that.
"So what took you so long?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Dumbledore. He wanted to know all the information about how I got here and what I did after I left his sorry excuse for a school," replied Harry, "then I got pulled over my Malfoy on my way to our dorms."
Derek grimaced slightly and patted Harry on the back.
"Tough luck mate! Well on the bright side, you won't have to have classes with the other students from the other schools! Well breakfast is here so let's get our minds off of the more pressing matters…also known as our stomachs!" finished Derek as the group arrived about ten feet from the entrance.
Harry rolled his eyes and then glared at the unsuspecting boy.
"What?" asked Derek after seeing the glare directed at him.
"Did you know that by saying that you've probably jinxed it!" exclaimed Harry, "I wouldn't put it past Dumbledore to arrange some classes with the other schools to get my ex-friends to apologize and all will be well in the world again."
Wincing, the brunet shrugged and said sheepishly, "Oops?"
Rolling his eyes once more, Harry chuckled lightly before walking through the opened doors.
The moment the party stepped through, everything dropped silent. With a questioning glance at Harry, Derek asked with his eyes on what to do next, as the party had stopped as well.
Harry gave Derek a look that clearly said, "Are you an idiot or is it just because you haven't eaten yet?" Grabbing his friends forearm, Harry dragged the marginally heavier boy over to the same seat both occupied last night.
Sitting down, Harry gestured at the seat next to his as Derek sat down. Everyone else followed their examples and placed food on their plates while pretending nothing was amiss. Eventually, the room returned to regular volume though the Durmstrang assembly could still feel their gazes every now and then.
"This is almost as bad as when you revealed who you really were to us!" exclaimed Rosa Beckley from across Derek. She too was a friend of Harry's though not as close as the other boy was.
Nodding Harry said, "You should have been here for second year when everyone found out I could speak Parseltongue or when I was picked three years ago! I swear, kids have nothing better to do than gossip about the latest craze."
The three of them laughed that.
"So Mister almighty Potter," gushed Rosa with emphasis on the "almighty", "I've been meaning to ask for a while now. Where did you come up with the name 'John James Evans' from? Every time I see you I keep forgetting… until last night, where I wrote it on the back of my hand so I wouldn't forget."
Putting down her silverware, Rosa showed the back of her right hand and in ink the words were "Ask Harry about J.J.E.!" Seeing her hand, Derek and Harry glanced at each other before the three burst out laughing.
"It's nothing so mysterious or anything," he said after swallowing some scrambled eggs, "The 'John' came from my third year Professor's middle name. He was the one that taught me the Patronus Charm and was a friend of my father's. He died believing that I was innocent. 'James' was my father's first name and 'Evans' was my mother's maiden name."
The three lapsed in silence and ate. Bringing up matters concerning Harry and what happened before he came to Durmstrang was always a mood killer for the moment.
About fifteen minutes into the meal, Headmaster Dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat. Instantly, the room fell silent and looked to see what he had to say.
"It has been decided that in order for the three schools to mingle with one another more, each Saturday, a different class will be taught in the Great Hall where all schools will attend and the three professors will help everyone. This will get the students to become friendlier with one another. These subjects range from Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Transfiguration! On a different note, Hogwarts' Defense Professor, Professor Redwood, has unfortunately taken medical leave. Therefore it gives me great honor to fill the post with no one other than Professor Sirius Black!"
Though the man had not yet arrived yet, the students clapped politely but Gryffindor house was particularly loud.
Turning to Derek in horror and seeing the expression match his friend's, Harry said, "Bloody hell! What did I tell you when we came here! That meddling old coot probably wants to repair my 'relationship' with my dear ex-godfather! And leaving on medical emergency my arse! Dumbledore probably pulled some strings again!"
"What are we going to do?" asked Derek.
"There's nothing to do!" Today's Monday so we won't have class with him until Saturday but we'll still see him in the halls!"
Just then, the side doors leading to the enlarged staffs' table opened and in walked no one other than Sirius black.
A/N–Hope you like this update! There's some info on how Harry came to Durmstrang and how he met his friends! HOPE YOU REVIEW ME!
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