"Cedric you goin' ta enter?" Wayne asked as the sixth year came into the common room. Harry and he were waiting for the girls to come in before heading to the hall for breakfast and receive their upcoming schedules. Harry looked at Cedric with interest as did those around the common room.

Cedric grinned, "Well we can't win Quidditch this year so we might as well when an international tournament." The common room cheered especially the quidditch team members, Harry managed his own loud cheer which Cedric nodded to, fully aware that it was still hard for Harry to make that much noise. "Oh and Jer said he would enter," that got a few cheers but not much. Jeremy, Cedric's fellow year mate was nowhere near as popular with others in the house.

"Hey, don't leave me out," Manoj Pandit added as the seventh year. Manoj, a seventh year, popular with the younger years that he mentored received louder cheers. Including one from Susan and Isobel who just joined the common room with some other girls.

"Congrats Cedric," Izzy only spoke to Cedric out of the three making most of the common room snicker at the other two. Isobel did not like Jeremy which was common knowledge in the house. Manoj pouted and she cracked a grin at him making the others laugh and Jeremy roll his eyes.

"Alright all of us need to get to breakfast and get our schedules," Cedric called to those that were left.

"Yeah, yeah," Wayne said as he and Harry got up and made their way to the door. Some of Hufflepuff were already at the Great Hall which was typical, also typical was the presence of all of Ravenclaw with Professor Flitwick handing out schedules. Slytherin was nearly all there while Gryffindor was about only a third full, but everyone present was talking about the tournament announcement. Harry was happy to see the extra chairs were no longer present in the Hall as he took his seat.

"Who else do you think will enter?" Izzy asked as they sat.

"I don't give a damn who it is as long as it bloody well ain't me," Harry muttered. The fourth years around him started cracking up laughing.

"Don't worry Harry, we'll keep you far away from the judge on Halloween," Professor Sprout said from behind them. This caused another round of laughter from Puffs near the group while Harry shrugged at her. "Schedules dearies." She handed them over to the fourth years before moving onto the fifth years.

"What's up first?" Wayne said without looking up from his breakfast.

"We've got Care first up," Harry said.

"And we've got Arithmancy," Susan said with a grimace.

Izzy groaned, "That mean's we have to go back and get that damn book." It was shared by the two others around them in the subject. Harry smirked while Wayne openly snickered. Izzy aimed a kick at his shin only she was the one that yelped in pain, "What the hell?"

Harry started laughing as Wayne grinned charmingly, "Spelled my shins." Izzy looked ready to jump him, but Susan stood and placed a hand on her shoulder holding her in place, causing both boys to let out loud laughs.

"And then Ancient Runes, lunch and closing with a double herbology." Susan said as finishing the day off.

"Double herbology, that doesn't sound promising. Last time we had a double it was those mandrakes." Harry said with grimace remembering the bothersome humanistic plants. Susan nodded with an equally put off look.

"Come on Iz, we need to go get our books." Susan pulled Izzy up from where she was alternating eating and still glaring at Wayne.

Wayne winked at her and Harry elbowed him, "Ya know she's gonna get you back?"

"Ah, that's half the fun," Wayne grinned causing Oliver and Rodger to laugh, "lets get to Care. I wanna see what Hagrid's got for us." The five Hufflepuff fourth years that had Care of Magical Creatures got up to make the trek down to Hagrid's.

"Lo there," Hagrid called to the group who had been joined by Terry and Anthony from Ravenclaw. The Gryffindors filed down next, followed by the Slytherins. Harry rolled his eyes when he saw Draco direct a glare towards him. Wayne winked at the Slytherin causing others to laugh. Draco looked to be going for his wand. "Nuff o' that!" Hagrid's booming voice rang out around the area for class by his hut today.

"Today we got an in'ersting creature fo' ya," Hagrid gestured to some cages that held what seemed to hold jewels with all the glinting of the sun reflecting on them. "One ter' a group." Wayne went up and grabbed a cage for him, Neville, and Harry. He brought it back looking at it with wide eyes. He set it on their wood table and the other two boys shared his look.

"That's a fire crab," Neville said looking it over.

"Right you are," Hagrid said. "Five points ta Gryffindor. I got a friend ta lend 'em ta me. Which one of ya' know where they're from?"

Oliver raised his hand, "Fiji."

'Right again. Now these 'ere are protected by many Ministries. This 'ere jeweled shell being why." He gestured to the shell of the crustacean. It looked to be all jewels, but Harry noticed a thin line under the jewels, showing it was just encrusted in jewels still having a normal shell. "People like ter take their shells an' use 'em for jewelry or potion cauldrons."

"Potion cauldrons?" Wayne asked rather loudly while looking at the shell.

"For dece'ation. It doesn't actually do anythin' fer the potion."

"Well that's fuc," Wayne stopped himself, "stupid." Harry and Neville snickered next to him as Hagrid's face showed he knew what Wayne was about to say. Not that Hagrid seemed to mind.

"Five points ta Hufflepuff." That made Harry and Neville snickers turn into a full-blown laugh as did most of the class.

"Now there are different kinds of fire crabs and ya can tell by 'er shells. Some of 'em have ruby shells, sapphire or emerald." The class continued with little issue as Hagrid explained more about fire crabs and their defense mechanism which include Draco pissing his crab off getting his eyebrows singed off much to the amusement of the class and Hagrid. The half giant did his best to hide it, but Harry could tell he was still amused. They were dismissed without an assignment, so it was a rather nice way to start the year.

Harry and Wayne parted from Neville as they went to head up to Ancient Runes while Neville left for Divination. Harry and Wayne entered the Ancient Runes class with a few others from Care to find the other students in the class already present. Harry and Wayne took the seats saved for them next to Susan and Izzy. Harry gave a smile and nod to Daphne Greengrass who returned it.

"How was Care?" Susan asked as while she looked slightly haggard.

"Cool we worked with fire crabs," Harry replied.

"Wicked shells on 'em." Wayne added with a grin.

Izzy groaned, "Sometimes I really wish I would have taken that instead of arithmancy." Others in the classes seemed to share her opinion causing those who did not take the hardest elective to snicker, including the Professor. Harry just shrugged, "I'm sure Hagrid will have something terrifying at least three times this year." That caused the whole class to laugh loudly and Izzy to stop pouting and nod her agreement with a look of horror.

"And on that note," Professor Babbling stood, "welcome back to another year. We'll be continuing with Elder Futhark runes and then starting into Younger Futhark runes and starting Anglo-Saxon futhorc runes." She handed out a rough schedule that they would follow for the year. "We'll start as you can see with some mainly just review of Elder Futhark runes. And since today some of you seem to already be stressed," She trailed off with a grin to which most of the class vigorously nodded, "we'll start with a simple review to get you back into the swing of runes. I want you all to pick something from the summer that you did and write about it in runes. You can use parchment and quill but that means I want your best work." The class worked in relative silence with some talking here and there. Professor Babbling would correct some students and have them practice the rune on a separate sheet if she spotted a way to help. Most of the class wrote about the World Cup but there were a few family trips that were written about. The class ended without an assignment leaving Harry and Wayne grinning.

"What are you grinning at?" Izzy said with narrowed eyes.

"Two for three with no homework," Wayne gave a fist bump to Harry. Most of the class shot those in Care a dirty look much to their collective amusement. They made their way down to the greenhouses accompanied by the Slytherins in the class.

"Hello Daphne, I got to meet your mother last year," Harry said holding his hand out for her to shake.

Daphne gave Harry's hand a shake with a small smile, "She mentioned it. She also mentioned we would be spending Yule with you all but that's on hold thanks to the tournament." Daphne had a quiet but steady voice. "These are Tracey Davis and Lilith Moon." She said motioning to the girl on her left with light brown hair as Tracey while Lilith had deep black hair that almost looked blue.

"Nice to meet you all," Harry said with an easy grin which Tracey matched. Lilith nodded but still looked guarded. "You probably all know each other but this is Susan, Isobel, and Wayne Hopkins." Susan and Isobel nodded and shared smiles with the other girls having had met them before.

Wayne though hadn't and bowed with his arm outstretched, "Ladies." He grinned which caused Susan and Isobel to roll their eyes. Lilith narrowed her eyes at him, but Tracey and Daphne just shook their heads and grinned at Susan and Isobel.

"So, you were going to come to the Yule celebration?" Susan asked.

"My father is Lord Sinistra's cousin, but we usually go to my mother's side." Daphne could not completely hide her annoyance.

"Yeah, Nev's told us about Cormac," Harry mentioned.
Izzy huffed out a breath and gave a shudder, "Gods I'd probably curse that jackarse if I had to have him at Yule."

That got a laugh from all three Slytherins, "My Uncle's just as bad," Daphne deadpanned. As they got closer to the Greenhouses they could see others gathered.

"Daph," Lilith spoke with an Irish accent. "Malfoy's there." The three Slytherin girls schooled their faces.

"He'll bother you if ya' talk to me?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes. The Slytherin girls nodded. "Hold up guys," Harry said and the three other Hufflepuff's got his look while the Slytherins tilted their heads at him. "We'll stay a few steps behind." He nodded that they should go forward. The girls with green piping on their robes nodded and gave him a small grin.

They heard Wayne's voice, "The little ferret's really askin' for it." Harry, Iz, and Susan just nodded and then resumed their walk. They reached the other fourth year Puffs and Snakes who had come from Divination and Harry noticed they were all looking at him again. Some of the Slytherin's were smirking including Malfoy while Rodger looked amused. Rodger's look was shared by the other Puffs though one or two looked worried.

Harry raised an eyebrow at his fellow students while Wayne asked, "What now?"

"Trelawney predicted your death again." Rodger said matter of factly which turned into a grin and laugh at Harry's words.

"Bloody fuckin' hell," He looked like he was about to continue but Wayne elbowed him cutting him off. Harry turned sharply but Wayne just nodded to the see-through door as Professor Sprout opened it and ushered them in.


"Right welcome back," Mr. Red said as the younger teens entered the abandoned classroom that served as the Reaver's Den.

"To the pranking hall of wonders," Mr. Orange finished with a flourish and a bow. The younger teens laughed and bowed to the two older ones.

"Watcha ya working on?" Mr. Gray asked as Mr. Red stirred a potion.

"Ageing potion," Mr. Red replied with a grin.

"Keep it away from me," Mr. Green said at the exact time Miss Purple said, "You think that'll work?"

The twins laughed at the two vastly different expressions on the younger teens faces. Mr. Green looked at the cauldron as if it was the devil incarnate while Miss Purple was looking at the ingredients with interest.

"It's one option," Mr. Orange said. "Until we know who the judge is,"

"And how they plan to enforce it," Mr. Red finished. "And don't worry we have no wish,"

"To piss off your mum," Mr. Orange said with a shiver causing the others to laugh.

"Okay moving away from the tournament," Mr. Brown said as Mr. Green was still eyeing the potion with suspicion. "You said you had something for us?"

Mr. Green nodded and turned away from the potion as Mr. Red finished and wisely placed a protection charm around it. "I told Padfoot about losing the map last year and he thought that was tragic." Misters Orange and Red hummed a funeral hymn. Mr. Green rolled his eyes, "He gave me this the day before yesterday." Mr. Green pulled out a large piece of blank parchment. He placed his wand to it, "The Marauders live on." Slowly familiar lines filled the pages and the castle, and its denizens came to fill the parchment.

"Wicked!" All the teens said in awe especially when they saw the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets on it.

"How did he add the Chamber?" Miss White asked.

"I don't know he wouldn't tell me which I'm pretty sure means Mooney did it." That got laughter from the whole group. "Mischief managed still closes it. And he gave me a spell to use to wipe the map the Headmistress has, permanently if I can get to it."

"Nice," Mr. Gray gave Mr. Green a fist bump.

"Do you know where she has it?" Mr. Brown asked.

"No not yet. All the bloody portraits make it hard to look for." Mr. Green said shaking his head. "Might need to find a spell to help locate it." He mused and the twins nodded.

"I found something for our resident ferret," Miss Purple said grinning she handed over a list of ingredients. "It'll turn him into a miniature troll."

Mr. Red laughed, "Where did you find this?"

"In the restricted section yesterday," Miss Purple said.

"Slughorn's assignment?" Mr. Green said.

"Yep, apparently it was made for 'life-like' toys. They used muggles." Miss Purple made a grimace at her last words.

"Is it permanent?" Miss White asked her voice rising a bit.

"No Slughorn will be able to reverse it, probably Madam Pomfrey too."

"But muggles?" Mr. Brown asked picking up on Miss White's thoughts.

"It is from the 11th century and it was in the restricted section," Miss Purple stressed.

The twins were eyeing Miss Purple, "How did you get into"

"The restricted section in 4th year potions?" Mr. Orange finished.

"Slughorn lets advanced students have access to it." Miss Purple said with a shrug. "I'm surprised you two aren't apart of his Slug Club."

Mr. Green snorted, "They'd have to show how smart they are for that." Mr. Orange and Mr. Red grinned and winked at that causing the others to chuckle.

"We don't have to send away for ingredients this time," Mr. Red said getting back to the potion. He was still holding the list. "These are in the greenhouses and,"

"In the Forbidden Forest we'll get em." Mr. Orange finished.

"And I'll take the greenhouse ones," Mr. Brown said as he made a copy of the ingredients he would need to get.

"What about in the meantime? Miss White asked surprising the others, "what," she said a bit annoyed. "If he's making other Slytherins stay away from the other houses the little prick deserves everything he gets." She huffed, "stupid rivalry."

"Padfoot gave me this," Mr. Green said pulling out a potion that was electric blue in color.

"I'm almost afraid to ask," Miss Purple said eying the potion as if it might bite which was a definite possibility given who brewed it. Messers Red, Orange, and Grey laughed loudly while Mr. Green snickered.

"It's a little something cooked up by Moony to silence my dad for a few days during OWLS," Mr. Green continued to snicker. "Padfoot remembered it. All we have to do is slip it in his drink and the little pissant won't be able to speak for three days."

"I bet the Slytherins with brains will appreciate that." Miss White grinned.

"Best part is none of the professors figured out an antidote." Mr. Green grinned. "I'll get it to Blitz."

"What about a welcoming prank?" Mr. Grey asked wiggling his eyebrows.

"I'm game, though if we do anything too bad aunt Minnie will really start to try and find us and then turn us into tea cozies or something," Mr. Green said with a wince and all the Reavers nodded.

"Good point," Miss Purple said. "We'll work on ideas and if anyone thinks it's too far we nix it?"

"Sounds good to," Mr. Red said.

"Us, we don't fancy pissing,"

"our illustrious former head of house,"

"on a world stage," Mr. Orange finished.

"Alright see you guys later," Mr. Green said with a nod towards the potion, "I'm getting far away from that." He turned on his heel only to stop at the door.

Miss White called out, "Hold up I'm coming with you." Harry turned with a grin and bowed her forward out the door. She grinned at him, and they left oblivious to the smirks of the others.

"You're really serious about avoiding this tournament?" Susan commented as they started down the hall.

Harry shrugged, "Somethin' shitty always seems to happen on Halloween."

Susan's eyes widened a bit as she realized the truth of that statement. She shook her head, "That…" she trailed off not sure what to say. Harry nodded and led them to the painting hiding the entrance to the kitchen. "is a good point," Susan finally said as the head elf came up to them.

"Hey Blitz," Harry's voice came out with more gravel than usual Susan noticed. She attributed it to the tension running through him. She put her hand on his back and rubbed it in a soothing motion. Blitz grinned as he saw of the tension bleed from the boy who did not seem to be aware of it.

"Ello Harry, Miss Bones." Blitz gave a bow.

Susan grinned, "Blitz, you can call me Sue you know."

"Miss Sue." Blitz bowed again.

"He likes ya' better," Harry chuckled and handed Blitz the potion. "Mind putting this in the blond ponce's pumpkin juice."

Blitz grinned as he held it up to the light, "I remember this, gladly." The two fourth years laughed as Blitz moved away snickering.

"Come on, I'll help you review for transfiguration." Susan leading Harry out of the kitchens.


Harry and his friends sat in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and notice much to their pleasure it hadn't changed much from last year with Professor Lupin. They did not expect much difference though with Moody teaching. The Hufflepuffs waited quietly knowing far more about Moody's temperament from Sue than the more boisterous Gryffindors. The door slammed open behind them causing the class to jump and turn. Susan, Harry, Wayne, Neville, Isobel, Oliver, and surprisingly Seamus Finnegan all turned with their wands out while the others just stared wide-eyed at their grizzled professor, still dressed in his trench coat and eye whirling about.

"Good! Seven of you are only mostly dead!" Moody followed by shouting at the others, "Constant Vigilance! That's what keeps you alive against the Dark Arts!" He intermittently shouted some words causing the fourth years to jump.

"Fourth year you learn about curses so put the books away." Many of the students smiled and a few cheered. Sue though did not look particularly thrilled.

"This is not going to end well," Sue muttered to Isobel which cause Moody to grin manically.

Isobel gulped, "Bugger." Harry, Wayne, and Neville looked over from their three-seater desk and then to Moody and their smiles died.

Moody went to the board as he spoke the chalk wrote on its own, "We'll start you off on the worst of the worst. The unforgivables." The chalk wrote out unforgiveable curses followed by the numbers one, two, and three. "Who can tell me about the unforgivable curses?" The class was quiet focused on Moody but Hermione Granger raised her hand. "Yes?"

"Hermione Granger," she introduced herself first, "there are three sir, all band at separate times and are named unforgiveable do to the intentions needed to cast them."

"Good and they all end you in a one-way trip to Azkaban!" Moody barked. "They require as Miss Granger said, intent to due harm and control. Now who can give me one?" Moody nodded to Ron Weasley, "You must be one of Arthur's boys." Ron for once felt pride when someone compared him to his family. Moody's way was a bit nicer Harry thought as Ron straightened a bit.

"The imperius curse, my dad told me about it. It controls thoughts." Weasley's voice came out strong after starting somewhat hesitantly.

"Aye your dad would no all about that one, gave the Ministry quite a bit of grief during the war. Why?"

Susan raised her hand and Moody nodded to her, "Death eaters pled the imperious curse," she spat out. Moody seemed somewhat taken aback but covered it quickly. The shared class of Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors all locked a bit fierce at her words, a marked difference from the Slytherins and Ravenclaws earlier in the week.

"Right! Scores of wizards and witches swore they only did the Dark Lord's bidding under the imperius curse. There is no way to test for the imperius once it has been lifted." Moody said and the chalk moved down under where imperius was written and made room for more words. "If cast correctly the imperius curse has no tells. Someone who is learning the curse or does not have the willpower to control the individual does not have full control. The imperiused individual will appear in a dream like state and their eyes may be unfocused." He then took out a scorpion that had been resting in a jar on his desk. "Imperio," he cast the spell on the scorpion and then used his wand to direct the scorpion to hop from desk to desk, student to student causing quite a few shrieks from students, and then a series of acrobatics Harry had never seen a spider do leaving many of the students laughing.

Moody upon seeing the laughter slammed his hand down on the desk regaining their attention, "You think that's funny do you? What should I have it do next?" He directed it above a container of water. "Drown itself?" The scorpion tried to resist the water and gave off screeches before Moody placed it back into it's container. He looked at the students and saw his point was made but followed with, "Wizards have cheerfully killed their whole families while under the curse." He paused and then added, "The imperius curse can be resisted or thrown off entirely by someone of remarkable strong will or trained in occluemcy. Now the next curse?" Neville raised his hand. "Mr. Longbottom?" Moody questioned recognizing the boy somewhat.

Neville nodded, "The cruciatus curse," his voice was taunt with anger and his eyes had darkened almost to black. His look cause most of the Gryffindors and some Hufflepuffs to look at him with surprise while Moody looked appraising. Harry and Wayne took exception to the looks from their fellow fourth years with glares. Harry's eyes turned almost a glowing greening while Wayne had put his hand on Neville's shoulder and his other gripped his wand tight to the point where his knuckles were white.

"The torture curse," Moody said solemnly regain the attention of the class causing Harry and Wayne to lessen their looks but Neville still remained on edge as he looked at the scorpion, having a good idea of what was coming next. "The curse causes unimaginable pain throughout the whole body. The stronger the castor, the more hate the castor has, the more intense the pain." Moody's words seemed a bit far off and he shook his head bringing himself to the present. The more discerning students noticed and wonder of the war. He levitated the scorpion out of the jar again. "Crucio," the spell again with no color or wand movement hit the scorpion and screeching of the likes the students had never heard came from the scorpion as it seemed to fold in on itself. Moody upon seeing the looks on the students' faces ended the spell. The scorpion continued to twitch in the air though as he placed it back into the container. "The torture curse leaves no physical marks or wounds yet can drive those under it quite mad." Neville's jaw twitched as he clenched his teeth. This time Harry put a hand on his shoulder and Neville calmed though he looked at Harry with sympathy and Harry nodded. Both boys knew what the last curse was. The whole class by this point seemed to sense what was coming.

"The final curse?"

It was Oliver who answered, "Oliver Rivers, avada kedavra. The Killing Curse." Oliver's jar was clenched as well as he spoke. Susan was hit with a memory of being at a memorial with the Rivers' in attendance.

"The killing curse," Moody nodded. "There is no guard against, no spell to block it, and again no physical signs it has been cast apart from death." He levitated the scorpion out of the container once more and placed it on his desk. "Avada Kedavra." This spell unlike the other two shot out in a blaze of green and hit the scorpion. It surrounded the scorpion and flung it aside before dissipating leaving a dead husk behind. "Only one person has ever survived the cures." All eyes turned towards Harry, but they flinched back, even Moody. His eyes had the same green glow of the killing curse and his lips were curled back in a snarl. His scars only adding to the fierce expression. Neville gripped Harry's shoulder which snapped him out. Harry turned to his friend, and they shared a look before both boys seemed to find a calm. Moody watched with interest at the interaction. "The killing curse takes intent." Moody's words again returned the class to him. "All of you could cast it at me and I'd not more than a nosebleed." He said but privately shivered a bit once he saw the three boys looking at him.

"Now up, form a line. You're all going to experience the imperius curse." Some of the student's looked shocked. "You need to know what it feels like to fight it." He groused which seemed to interest the class, even Susan who was still a bit shocked Moody planned to curse them. The first up was Ron Weasely who looked around wondering how that happened. Moody said the word and Ron looked to Harry as if he spaced out before he belted out an impressive rendition of God Save the Queen. It ended and Ron looked rather shocked as did the rest of the class, Ron's hand went to his throat as it left behind a twinge. Seamus did an impressive river dance which was followed by Parvati giving a ballet performance. The lined moved forward as students had their turns and then took their seats all having been placed under the curse successfully. Hannah impersonated a chipmunk much to her chagrin while Ernie hopped around the room on one leg.

Susan's turn came and there was a moment of what looked like to Harry a struggle before she jumped on the desk to her side and another moment where she flexed to jump again only to pause before jumping. "Good Bones, you resisted it!" Moody growled, "Five points to Hufflepuff." Isobel went next and was a gave Ron Weasley a hug causing the boy to turn as red as his hair. Isobel shook her head as if to clear cobwebs from it as she took her seat next to Sue. Neville went next and again there was a hesitation before he did an impressive series of acrobatics around the classroom. "Five points to Gryffindor, good attempt Longbottom." Moody growled. Neville took his seat but his friends could see he looked irritated with himself. Wayne came to the front of the line and looked determined. Moody cast at him, "Imperio." Nothing happened for a good five seconds before Wayne before he jerkily made his way through a military salute. Moody looked impressed, "That's what it looks to fight it off!" He shouted to the room. "Ten points to Hufflepuff." Harry was next and he looked at Moody with a hard stare. The whole class seemed to lean forward to watch without their say so.

"Imperio." The curse was said, and Harry felt as if he was falling into a state of sleep, actually it felt like that one time he ate a gummy bear Sal had hidden away. That had been Harry's first and only foray into drugs. He remembered the weightless feeling and loss of control almost instantly and hated. Harry had learned one thing well throughout his young life, and that was he hated losing control of a situation.

The class looked on as Moody's face took on a more concentrated look and he jabbed his wand forward again. A thought floated to the front of Harry's mind, jump. It said twice before Harry shook his head and it cleared away. His eyes refocused on Moody, "No." His voice was low and gravelly surprising the class and Moody, they hadn't heard it that bad before. His friends though looked concerned. Harry moved and took a seat at no direction.

"That was damn impressive Potter," Moody growled. "Ten points to Hufflepuff for fighting off the imperius curse." Harry nodded but kept his eyes forward as the rest of the class failed to throw off the curse despite being buoyed by Harry's attempt. The bell tolled and the class started to pack up. "Read pages 10-20 on the blasting curse for next class."

The class exited with some students looking excited and rambling about the epic class while others were pensive. Harry and his friends stopped outside the classroom and leaned against the wall for a few moments. They shared some glances before nodding to each other. "Come on Nev, I'll go with you to divination." Rodger said as he nodded to Oliver. Neville gave the quite Hufflepuff a grin and they moved away Rodger engaging Neville in a conversation about Herbology to take his mind off the class.

"We have Ancient Runes," Isobel said quietly her usual cheer somewhat subdued. They nodded and started on their way.

By the time they came to the ancient runes classroom they were more upbeat. They took their seats and pulled out their hieroglyphs text. They were surprised when the three normally closed off Slytherins entered with grins. The trio of snakes took their seats in front of the friends and grinned. "The common room has never been so blissfully quiet; you don't happen to know who we should thank?" Daphne Greengrass asked them with a raised eyebrow. This caused them to grin.

Harry's voice came out normal for him as spoke, "I dunno what you could possible mean?" The three girls giggled and it was joined by Susan and Isobel with Wayne chuckling.

"Alright class already to get started on hieroglyphs?" Professor Babbling asked cheerfully and then snickered at the look given to her by the students. "Oh, come now it won't be so bad. The English text is the translation." The class sighed in relief. "Granted you'll be doing assignments in the glyphs but the point is for you to truly understand how the Egyptians both used it as their written language and in the Runic magic." The rest of runes passed with little fanfare much to the approval of those who had come from Defense. They were given another reading assignment for next class.

Harry and the others moved out of the classroom when the tone sounded as they nodded their goodbyes to the three Slytherin girls Harry broke from his friends. "I'm goin' ta see my mum. Meet up later?" They nodded understanding his reasoning. Harry took off at a brisk pace throughout the castle and made his way to the astronomy tower. He knocked on his mum's office door and received a call to enter.

Aurora was sitting behind her desk in the more conservative robes she wore for teaching. She gave Harry a smile and transfigured one of the office chairs into something more comfortable. "Harry to what do I owe the privilege?" Harry shrugged and flopped down into the chair. She cocked her head as she looked at him. He pulled his Defense text out and started reading it over. Aurora let him read and went back to grading some papers her seventh years had done over break. She noticed he finished whatever his DADA assignment appeared to be and moved to open his ancient runes texts on her desks. She let him continue and kept one eye on him as she continued her grading. She finished and watched him as went back and forth from the two and took notes, she noticed him trying some hieroglyphs for himself. Finally, he finished his work and looked up at her. She was surprised to sadness in his eyes. "Harry what happened?" She got up and moved to his side.

His voice came out quiet as a whisper, "we went over the unforgivable curses in defense today."

"Oh Harry," she murmured and pulled him for a hug. "It's alright. I didn't know he would start out with them." She muttered. Harry pulled back and looked at her. "They come up in the fourth-year curriculum but not usually until the end. And only briefly but somehow I don't think Moody kept to that?"

Harry shook his head, "No he showed them to us all." Aurora's eyes narrowed and Harry knew she was irritated.

"Paranoid codger," she said which got Harry to laugh. "How do you feel?"

Harry shrugged and shook his head a bit, "there was no mark, nothing."

"Part of what makes them so terrifying to wizards and witches." Aurora remarked. She held him close to her and he was content to sit there with her.

"He tested the imperius on us," Harry mentioned after a few minutes.

Aurora straightened, "What" she hissed out the word.

"I threw it off," Harry said he sounded proud and also had a grin on his face as Aurora had remained still as stone.

"Good." Aurora managed to get out before adding, "Go to supper I need to speak to Minerva." Harry nodded and pushed himself forward. Aurora stopped him and gave him one more hug before he left. He grinned as he heard, "Son of a bitch!" he started whistling as he made his way to the Great Hall.

Harry took his seat at the Hufflepuff table, and his friends looked at him curiously. "Mum's pissed." His friends burst out laughing knowing Moody was in for it and Sue grinned dangerously.

"Wait until my aunt gets my owl." This caused them even more laughter much to the amusement of those around them.


"Damn China they're not playing are they," Wayne said as they came down to the potions lab. Mr. Filch was being trailed by his cat as he furiously scrubbed a picture frame housing quartet of wizards singing. They were currently stumbling around as Filch worked making the teens chuckle. The Hufflepuffs nodded and filed into the room and took seats in the back leaving the front half for the Slytherins. "I hate sharing classes with the Goldilocks," Wayne muttered as Slytherin poured into the classroom led by Malfoy.

Malfoy sneered at the Hufflepuffs, "Leftovers." His two goons laughed loudly while Pansy Parkinson giggled this high-pitched screech, er laugh.

"I thought only dying cats made that noise not pugs," Izzy sneered back and them. The Hufflepuffs laughed and Harry spied a few Slytherins grinning behind the cohort of mini-death eaters.

"Why you little," Pansy started forward with Malfoy pulling his wand but they were cut off by their professors greeting.

"Ho there take your seats, sorry for the delay." Slughorn said coming out of his office without looking up. "Take your seats," Slughorn said surprisingly stiffly once he did look up and spied the confrontation. He shot his Slytherins a glare. "Today we're going to brew the Pepper-Up potion. What does the Pepper-Up potions treat?" Slughorn asked once they took their seats. "Miss Moon?"

"The common cold and hypothermia," She answered succinctly.

"Good, good five points to Slytherin." The Slytherins who followed Malfoy around grinned at the Hufflepuffs and got eyerolls in return. "Now you'll be happy to know this potion has less 'disgusting' ingredients," he said getting around of laughs from the students. "The main ingredients are elderberry, a popular immune booster throughout the world both wizarding and muggle." As he spoke many of the students took notes as words appeared behind him on the board. "Then we have peppermint leaves, dried billywig stings, fire seed and salamander blood."

"I thought you said not disgusting," Wayne snarked at the last one causing the class to laugh.

"Less disgusting, my boy." Slughorn said with a grin to match Wayne's and wink to the class. "Now you need to be extra careful about the fire seed, you need only one for a batch of pepper-up potion. Does anyone know why?" Harry grinned as he stuck his hand up. "Yes Mr. Potter?"

"It causes fires," Harry said quietly though the sparkle of mischief in his eyes reminded Slughorn of Harry's father.

Slughorn chuffed, "I take it Lord Black's been teaching you some potions?" Harry and his friends grinned. "But it does indeed cause fires, so you'll need to add it once your cauldron has cooled. It is also most notably an ingredient in Pepper Imps from Honeydukes." Many of the students looked interested in that tidbit. "Now it's a fairly straightforward potion so it'll be a good chance for me to see where your brewing skills are after the summer. Once you complete the potion, we seal it with a final spell which I will supervise. Off you go, the fire seed will be on my desk. If you brew the potion well enough for the hospital wing, I'll give you extra credit." That got the attention of many of the class, and they moved quickly to take their ingredients out and prep them. Harry worked his way through the potion helping Wayne a time or two with measures of ingredients.

"Watch the potions," Harry muttered to Wayne as he moved to go to Slughorn's desk for the fire seed. Harry nodded in the direction of Malfoy.

"Gottcha," Wayne said as he added his salamander blood. Wayne held his wand in his hand as he stirred. Harry grabbed the two fire seeds and dodge a curse that was shot at him.

Slughorn saw the flash out of the corner of his eye and whirled around. The spell hit the wall with a crash as part of the stone chipped away. "Wands away now!" Slughorn snapped and glared at the class. Slughorn waved his wand and the potions in the class seemed to freeze. His stasis charm took hold. "Everyone sit down and place your wand in front of you on the desk." The class looked shifted nervously as they did what instructed. Slughorn started at the back with the Hufflepuffs, "Prior Incantato," the spell enveloped Ernie MacMillian's wand and an echo of the animal transfiguration spell appeared. Some of the students glanced around nervously. Harry was eyeing Malfoy who seemed be keeping his control for once. Harry and the rest of the Hufflepuffs' wands much like Ernie's only had their last transfiguration spell. Harry moved his gaze to the goon squad and noticed Goyle fidgeting in his seat next to Pansy. "Well Mr. Nott that's a detention and I'll be having a chat with Professor Flitwick." The Slytherin boy groaned, and his head hit the desk, a cheat spell had come up. He shot his fellow Slytherins a glare his eyes zeroed in on the desk with Pansy and Goyle. Slughorn came to Malfoy's desk and glared at the boy and his widened in slight surprise to find his last spell was a locking charm. Crabbe passed as well. Goyle and Pansy were last and Slughorn performed the spell over Goyle's wand cleared leaving only Pansy's. "Prior Incantano," Slughorn said in a resigned tone. An echo of a minor cutting hex appeared in a smokey form. "Miss Parkison make you way to the Headmistress's office without delay. I will be there as soon as class ends." She glared at the desk and went to grab her wand, but Professor Slughorn had taken it. "You will not be needing this." He pocketed the wand. She huffed in annoyance and stormed out of the room shooting a glare at Harry. "Twenty points from Slytherin." The Slytherins groaned. "I had hoped I already stressed how important safety is in potions. This is a final warning for everyone in this classroom. If any of you interfere with another student's potion again, I will see you suspended and banished from my classroom." The rest of the class passed in silence except for the final sealing spells.

Harry and the Hufflepuffs were out of class as soon as it ended eager to not have to deal with whatever whiny rubbish would come from Malfoy. "What a dumbarse." Isobel stated once they entered the common room. The Hufflepuff fourth years laughed.

"Whose a dumbarse?" Cedric asked from his spot playing chess against once of his friends.

"Parkinson shot a cutting curse at Harry during potions," Sue answered. The older Hufflepuffs looked over Harry for any damage. "Harry dodged," Sue added seeing the looks and Cedric nodded.

Wayne laughed, "And then Slughorn checked everyone's wand. The pug got caught and so did Nott for having used a cheat spell in charms." The Hufflepuffs listening joined in the laughter.

"Thank Merlin we got rid of Snape," a sixth-year chipped in.

Harry and Wayne dropped their bags next to a study table with Susan and Isobel. The four pulled out their transfiguration texts. They worked on their animal transfiguration for a good hour before it was time for them to head to dinner. The four Hufflepuffs went with a bit of a spring in their step. Not only was the potion ready for Malfoy but Dumbledore was going to be at dinner tonight with Ludo Bagman. Harry was tipped off by the house elves that they were going over some final planning before the other schools showed up next week.

The fourth year Hufflepuffs laughed when they noticed Pansy getting a death stare from some of the older Slytherins. It was apparent why once they looked to the hourglasses holding the points. Slytherin only had a handful of green gems left. Harry gave a low whistle, "Damn Aunt Minnie must be pissed."

"The pug probably threw a tantrum." Is commented with a laugh. They sat down to dinner and waited.

"Harry, Wayne, Is, up for a bet on the Falmouth game?" Rodger asked with a grin towards one of the Hufflepuff fifth years, McGiffin who usually ran a betting pool on Quidditch. Falmouth kicked off against Bellycastle.

"Bellycastle by fifty," Isobel said without hesitation and stuck her tongue out at her friends before handing over a galleon.

Wayne looked outraged and countered, "Falmouth by 100." He pulled out some sickles to give to McGiffin.

Harry shrugged before pulling out some sickles from his pocket, "Falmouth by twenty." Wayne looked at Harry with faux betrayal causing others to laugh, "I like my money." Harry grinned and Wayne laughed.

"Anyone else?" McGiffin asked.

"I've got Puddlemere over Montrose by forty."

"Appleby over the Cannon's by 150." That was chorused by boos from those Quidditch fans around the table. A bang followed by a flash was heard throughout the hall. All eyes went to the Slytherin table where the flash originated. A yell that quickly turned into a high-pitched squeal was let out by a certain blond as he shrunk down into a tiny troll about five inches tall. All eyes in the hall followed the noise to the Slytherin table. Laughter rang out as Crabbe looking confused picked up a struggling ugly looking blond troll in Slytherin robes complete with instead of a wand, a club. The little troll was yelling at Crabbe and hit him with the club.

"Ah," Crabbe dropped the little troll and shook his head and rubbed the knuckle that had been whacked. More laughter was heard as the Malfoy troll landed in a bowl of dressing. More laughter followed and at the head table Professor Slughorn let out a long-suffering sigh before getting up and walking to his house's table. He fished the blond troll out of the dressing waved his wand to clean the troll off and then left the hall to more laughter.

The Headmistress stood only to be interrupted by another bang and flash of light that blinded the hall. A purple haze was to the right of the Headmistress. A loud, "Bahhhh," was heard through the smoke. The smoke cleared and standing on the seat where Dumbledore had been seating was a goat with an impressive beard dressed in Dumbledore's purple and yellow robes. Another "Bahhh," was let out and the goat had a bewildered look as it looked around. Behind the head table more purple smoke seemed to flow out of the large windows and spelled into existence, "Miss Purple, Mr. Orange, and Mr. Green hope you enjoyed the festivities."


"Alright Hufflepuff," Professor Sprout said as the whole of the house gathered in the common room. "You all looked splendid, proud Badgers you are." Her cheerful voice made them grin as she looked them over. "Let's go meet our new arrivals." She led the house out of the common room and up to the first floor of the castle. The day was finally here for the other two schools to arrive and truthfully the students of Hogwarts couldn't wait if only to get their professors to relax. The past month had been filled with endless etiquette drills, cleaning, and massive amounts of points lost. The only highlight had been an unexpected prank from the Reavers that turned the professors into racoons for a day causing classes to be canceled. It also had the pleasant side effect of the teachers realizing they had perhaps taken things a bit to the extreme with their preparations. As it was you could see your reflection perfectly in every suit of armor at Hogwarts.

The Hufflepuffs lined up by year as they waited in the courtyard with the other houses. Ravenclaw was on their right while on their left and Gryffindor on their right while Slytherin next to Ravenclaw. All the years were dressed in their full uniforms and lined up by year. The professors also appeared to be in their best robes all bearing on outer robe with the Hogwarts emblem on it. Harry looked around and found his mum. She grinned and winked at him. She gestured for him to turn back around. As he did one of the Gryffindor first years shouted, "Up there. It's a flying house!"

The students snickered but did turn and saw a shape growing bigger and bigger as it flew towards them. Hagrid broke from the ranks and help up to large flares directing what the students could now see was a massive carriage being pulled by winged horses.

"Cor, that's big." Wayne whistled lowly.

"The carriage or the horses?" Is asked.

"Both."

"They're Abraxans" Harry said quietly.

"Beauxbatons' breeds them," Oliver mentioned.

"Damn," Rodger whistled this time, and everyone's eyes widen as they turned back to face the carriage. "Talk about big. She's taller than Hagrid." Out of the powder blue carriage strode a large, beautiful woman decked out in fine black robes and dark jewelry that only made her look more imposing. The large female looked at the grounds of Hogwarts and then it's students with a small smile.

Headmistress McGonagall strode forward, "Madame Maxime, welcome to Hogwarts!" She spoke in a loud, clear, welcoming voice.

"Professor McGonagall, Zank you for hosting us." The woman said with an accented voice. As she spoke students filled out of the carriage. They were dressed in fine powder blue silk robes. They shivered slightly as a Scottish breeze blew throughout the courtyard.

"Perhaps you all would like to wait inside," Headmistress McGonagall said noticing some of the students shivering. "Ravenclaw will be hosting you all."

Madame Maxime grinned at her students who nodded, "We would." The Headmistress gestured for the Beauxbatons contingent to enter, and Professor Flitwick broke from the ranks to escort them. Many of the Hogwarts student snickered at the height difference though they were silenced by a look from their Headmistress. The students either turned back around or watched as Hagrid tangled with the large horses moving the carriage off.

"This is rather underwhelming," Iz complained as they Hogwarts student continued to wait. They had been waiting and even the most well-behaved students were starting to fidget. Harry looked at the Headmistress and noticed her lips were pursed in irritation.

"The lake!" Lee Jordan, the Gryffindor friend of the twins shouted causing everyone to turn to the Black Lake. It was bubbling and slowly a mast rose out of the water followed by an old galleon warship. The warship appeared entirely above the water finally and bobbed there before resting. The flags unfurled and the crest of Durmstrang was flying as a plank was thrown from the boat to reach the grounds of Hogwarts. The students of Durmstrang were led out of the ship by a tall man in white fur robes. He marched the troop up to the courtyard. Harry noticed his Headmistress's smile was somewhat forced.

"Headmaster Karkaroff," she greeted him and gestured to the students dressed in large brown fur robes and hats. "Durmstrang welcome to Hogwarts."

Karkaroff gave somewhat of a grin showing off yellowed teeth and nodded, "Headmistress McGonagall, Durmstrang thanks you for hosting us." He looked past the Headmistress and to Hogwarts with hard look to decipher in his eyes. Harry narrowed his as he tried to unpiece it and landed on derision. He moved his eyes to his mum's and looked over to Karkaroff. She nodded to Harry with a warning in her eyes. Harry nodded back but it turned into a snicker as he heard Iz speak.

"Ew, did you see his teeth," Isobel muttered causing laughs and shared looks of disgust by those near her.

"Azkaban will do that," Oliver said with some surprising venom in his tone. "He's a Death Eater." That got the attention of the Hufflepuffs that heard him. Harry now understood his mum's look and the Headmistress's hidden irritation.

"Please join us inside Hufflepuff will be hosting you." She gestured for Durmstrang contingent to make their way into the castle. The Hufflepuffs caught a bit of derision on the face of the Durmstrang Headmaster at the name of their house.

"Well, someone just moved to the top of the prank list," Izzy snarked. The three Reavers nodded in return. The rest of Hufflepuff gave the Durmstrang headmaster a glare that even made the Slytherins step back much to the amusement of the Hogwarts professors. The Headmistress cleared her throat, and the students got the message and moved to the Great Hall. The Headmistress shared a look with Professor Sprout who grinned widely. The professors followed their students who remained surprisingly orderly while being led into the hall by the Hufflepuffs. The students filed in and were surprised to see the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students standing as the Hogwarts students took their seats. The two schools only took their seats once their respective Heads sat. The Durmstrang students shed their outercoats as they sat. They looked less intimidating without the heavy bulk of their furs. It was then that whispers were herd and Wayne and Izzy both gasped. Harry turned and raised his eyebrow at the two.

"Viktor Krum," Izzy whispered nodding to the Durmstrang contingent sitting at the front of the Hufflepuff table.

"Shite, think he mind an autograph?" Wayne muttered.

"Probably best not to ask on the first night," Susan laughed.
"Right," Wayne said still starstruck. Harry laughed at his friend before turning his attention to the Head Table. Headmistress McGonagall narrowed her eyes at her students' whisperings which is all it took for them to stop. Harry looked around at the newcomers while his Headmistress welcomed them to the school. Most of the Durmstrang students were looking around the Great Hall with interest especially the ceiling. The Beauxbatons students meanwhile had varying looks of contempt or boredom. Harry caught Susan's eyes and nodded to the front of the Ravenclaw table. Susan grinned, "Beauxbatons is rather palatial."

Iz snorted, "French." Their friends chuckled quietly. The food appeared and Harry realized he tuned out the welcome speech. Harry looked over the food selection and noticed some foreign dishes among the usual.

"I bet Blitz was thrilled they had more to cook," Harry spoke quietly his voice somewhat gravelly clueing his friends into his discomfort with the new additions especially as one of the Durmstrang students noticed his scar and this time whispers of his moniker were heard. Even some of the Beauxbatons students turned. Harry kept his face blank but his friends on the other hand shot the foreign students a glare. The rest of the meal went rather normally for a Hogwarts meal with din of talk about classes and the upcoming tournament. Dessert appeared and Harry helped himself to some crème brulee.

As dessert finished Dumbledore stood from his seat at McGonagall's direction. Dumbledore was dressed in maroon robes with star patterns on it, many of the Hogwarts professors had groaned when they saw the robes earlier even Bagman looked presentable in black suit though his outer robe was bumblebee yellow. "Thank you for the magnificent meal Hogwarts and such a warm welcome." A few Beauxbaton's students snorted.

"What? They don't have warming charms in France?" The sarcastic comment surprised many when it came from second year Ravenclaw girl who rolled her eyes. Most of Hogwarts and Durmstrang started snicker leaving those from Beauxbatons blushing and their Headmistress to frown. Headmistress McGonagall cleared her throat and the students quieted though Harry spied amusement in her eyes.

Dumbledore than cleared his throat though it could have been easily classed as a laugh. "This year I have the pleasure of working with my colleagues across our countries and school to bring back the most prestigious Triwizard Tournament!" Dumbledore spoke a tight voice not that Bagman seemed to notice as he led the cheer that was taken up by the students in the hall. Dumbledore's fellow government officials from Bulgaria and France clapped politely.

"So Durmstrang's in Bulgaria?" Harry asked quietly as people were still cheering. He noticed the Bulgarian version of Bagman from the Quidditch world cup.

"Nobody's sure but it answers to the Bulgarian ministry." Oliver answered as the clapping died down.

"Eternal Glory awaits those who win the tournament but take heed for the tasks you will be asked to complete are not for the faint of heart." Dumbledore spoke giving all the student's a hard stare. "As you know only those who turn seventeen by midnight tonight may enter their name into the competition tomorrow. "Mr. Filch if you please," Dumbledore called. The doors to the Great Hall opened and in walked Mr. Filch with his Mrs. Norris trailing him. He was carrying a large chest that seemed too much for him. It towered over him as he huffed and puffed up to the front stairs.

Wayne groaned, "That's a bloody great impression on 'em." Some of the Hufflepuff snickered while others grimaced. Mr. Filch lugged the chest to a rather simple pedestal Dumbledore levitated in front of the head table at the center. Mr. Filch set it on with a loud thunk. Mr. Filch slinked off as Dumbledore reached his arm up with his wand and touched the top of the chest. With a trickle of sparks the chest slowly disappeared leaving with it a large dark clay goblet. Dumbledore gave another tap of his wand and woosh of blue flames enveloped the goblet before settling above the rim. "The Goblet of Fire. Those that seek entrance need only to cast their name into the goblet. As of this moment I declare the Triwizard Tournament…"

A loud bang and a flash of silver and gold fireworks exploded over the head table. As the gold and silver sparks fell and landed on the foreign dignitaries, laughter rocked the room. Dumbledore was replaced by an impressive hog, Ludo Bagman was buzzing around the head table now a bumblebee, while the French Minister for International Magical Co-operation was now an impressive eagle draped in a Ravenclaw scarf. The Bulgarian Head of International Magical Co-operation was now a roaring lion with a felt top hat attached to his head that was red and gold Gryffindor colors. Madam Maxime had shrunk down to a green coil of a hissing snake that flashed silver. Finally, the Durmstrang headmaster was half on the table as a growling badger with a Hufflepuff scarf on. Another explosion with more silver and gold blasts formed the words, "The Reavers welcome you to Hogwarts! Prepare to lose!" A cheer went up through the Hogwarts students while Headmistress McGonagall muttered something and stood up with a flick of her wand the animals were reverted to normal.

"As you know by now, when caught the Reavers will be punished. You're all dismissed to your common rooms, now!" She turned and started to try and sooth the ruffled feathers of the foreign ministry workers. Her fellow headmasters while annoyed seemed easier to placate, well Madam Maxime anyways. Headmaster Kararkoff stormed off much to the amusement of the Durmstrang students who followed.

A/N: I'm not dead! Just busy with an actual job for once in my life and major case of writer's block. Hopefully the next one won't take as long since I feel like I'm back on track. Thanks for readin!