Disclaimer: I do not own the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Anything familiar you see in this story, whether it be characters or plots, belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Brothers, and whoever else owns the rights.
Author's Note: Well… I live. If you're on my Discord server, the following message will be familiar to you, but for those of you that aren't, I just want to apologize again for the massive wait time in between updates for this fic and A Job Done Too Well. Things have been a bit rough for me. Writer's Block coupled with a general lack of motivation to attempt to write anything overlayed with my first quarter at college where I didn't exactly do great (1.3 GPA drop from my High School average).
That being said, though, I'm hoping next quarter turns out better for me and I'm glad to be back writing. This chapter won't pick up where we left off, but rather during Harry's Fourth Year. The reason for that is that there simply wasn't much that could be written in a chapter between the first and fourth years that wouldn't be a complete canon rehash.
Shoutouts go to Discord Members 1saaa, Luq707, Sinisterfox, ubiquitouslyverbose, and Sectumus for helping with the planning and editing of this fic.
Lastly, I'd like to thank my wonderful Beta, Athena Hope, for her help editing this fic.
Another special thanks goes to the amazing ACI100, who graciously agreed to go through and edit this chapter, along with providing writing feedback on it. No plot points were changed during the editing of this, but I still wanted to re-upload it.
Self-Promotion: I have a Discord Server where you can talk with me and other readers. Also as part of the server, you get early access to all of my chapters. To join, paste the following link into a new tab and remove the spaces: discord . gg / Bfwywpf
It had been a little over a day since the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrived at Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament and the novelty was already beginning to wear off. It was interesting at first to hear about and meet the foreign witches and wizards, but Harry soon discovered that the vast majority of them wanted nothing to do with the students of Hogwarts.
Harry was almost completely disinterested in the selection of the champions for the Triwizard Tournament. Angelina was vying for the role of Hogwarts Champion, but she was one of many sixth and seventh years in contention. Harry would have rathered a Quidditch season than the Triwizard Tournament but, for the sake of Gryffindor and Hogwarts Pride, he supposed he would pay attention.
The lights of the Great Hall dimmed into darkness, drawing Harry's attention to the Staff Table at the front of the room. The only light remaining in the room came from the candles sitting within carved pumpkins and the Goblet of Fire — now the brightest item in the room. Its sparkling bright, blue-white flames were almost painful on the eyes.
Everybody sat in silence waiting… and waiting… until, suddenly, the flames inside the goblet turned red and sparks began to fly. A flaming tongue licked the air, sending a charred piece of parchment fluttering out of the goblet and eliciting gasps from the gathered students.
Dumbledore snatched the parchment out of the air and held it at arm's length so that he could read it by the light of the now blinding blue-white flames.
"The champion for Durmstrang… will be Viktor Krum!"
"No surprise there!" Ron bellowed as the Hall erupted into applause for the international Quidditch star. Harry noticed Krum rise from the Slytherin table, and slouch up toward Dumbledore; he turned right, walked alongside the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber, as Dumbledore had instructed earlier.
"Bravo, Viktor!" the booming voice of Karkaroff rang out, so loudly that everyone in the room could hear him — even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"
As Krum exited the Hall, the applause and side-talk died down. Everyone returned their focus to the goblet which almost immediately turned red again. A second piece of parchment shot out, once again propelled by the flames.
"The champion for Beauxbatons…" Dumbledore announced in the same tone of voice, "will be Fleur Delacour!"
The tall, silver-haired girl who had asked Harry, Ron, and Hermione for the bouillabaisse the previous evening rose from the Ravenclaw table to a polite smattering of applause. Harry could not help but notice that not all of her classmates were pleased to see her chosen. As Harry scanned the Beauxbatons delegation, he noticed two of the girls who hadn't been selected dissolve into tears, lower their heads into their arms, and begin to sob.
When Fleur Delacour vanished into the side chamber, a wave of silence fell over the crowd. This time, the silence was a stiff, tense silence, filled with enough excitement that you could almost taste it — the Hogwarts champion was next…
Harry could feel the anticipation amongst the Hogwarts students as they waited with baited breaths.
Dumbledore's voice had a special note of enjoyment when calling out the representative for his school. "The Hogwarts champion… is Cedric Diggory!"
"No!" Ron yelled loudly, disappointed that Angelina hadn't been chosen. Ron's disappointment was heard by nobody other than Harry due to the cries of jubilation ringing out from the Hufflepuff table. It looked as if every single Hufflepuff had jumped to their feet and was attempting to make as much noise as possible while Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table.
The applause for Cedric lasted for so long that it took Dumbledore several attempts before he could make himself heard again.
"Excellent!" he called out happily as the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you — including the remainder of the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang — to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering on your champion, you will contribute in a very real —"
Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking mid-sentence, and it was no question to anyone in the room why — the Goblet of Fire had turned red again.
Sparks flew out of it. A long flame suddenly shot into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.
Dumbledore reached a long hand out and snatched it out of the air, holding it out and staring at the name upon it. There was a long, awkward pause, so silent that you could hear a pin drop. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out the name on the parchment. "Harry Potter."
Harry sat there in shock, well aware that every head remaining in the Great Hall had turned to look at him. He was completely stunned. A sense of numbness spread across his body — surely he hadn't heard Dumbledore correctly.
There had been much noise when the other names were drawn, but for Hary, there was no applause. On the contrary, a buzz filled the hall as students and staff alike began whispering to those around them. Harry had eyes only for Ron and Hermione, with who he was practically pleading.
"I didn't put my name in! You know I didn't!"
No response came. The two just stared blankly back at him.
Up at the staff table, Professor Dumbledore had straightened, nodding to Professor McGonagall before calling out again, "Harry! Harry Potter! Up here, if you please!"
Harry found no support or encouragement in any of the faces around him but those of Katie Bell, who flashed him a quick smile and nodded her head towards the head table as if to say, 'Go on. Get up there.'
Harry slowly got to his feet, his limbs feeling like they were made of lead, tripped on the hem of his robes, and stumbled slightly before setting off up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. It felt like an arduously long walk of shame to the top table — the buzzing growing louder and louder each second with more and more eyes training to follow him.
"Well…" Dumbledore began, his voice devoid of the cheerful tone it had possessed earlier, "through the door, Harry."
As Harry walked by the staff table, he was met with openmouthed stares from every single person sitting up there — including Hagrid. Even the paintings were staring at him, moving from frame to frame, spreading the news of his selection as the fourth Triwizard Champion.
Harry entered the side chamber to the sight of Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour, and Cedric Diggory all standing around the fireplace in the back of the room. They looked like a strangely impressive group, silhouetted against the flames. Krum, hunched-up and brooding, was leaning against the mantlepiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric was standing with his hands behind his back, gazing into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when Harry walked in and cocked her head in an inquisitive pose.
"What is it?" she asked. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"
She clearly thought he had come to deliver a message. Harry, however, had no clue how to explain what had just happened. He just stood there, looking at the three champions. The international Quidditch star, one of his Inter-House Quidditch League rivals, and the indescribable Frenchwoman.
As Harry scrambled to think of a response to the Beauxbatons champion, he heard the sounds of scurrying feet behind him, and Ludo Bagman burst into the room, taking Harry by the arm and leading him forward.
"Extraordinary!" he muttered, clamping down tighter on Harry's arm. "Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen… lady," he added, approaching the fireside and addressing the other three in the room. "May I introduce — incredible though it may seem — the fourth Triwizard champion?"
Viktor Krum straightened up, his surly face darkening as he surveyed Harry. Cedric looked completely nonplussed by the matter. Fleur Delacour, on the other hand, just smiled at Bagman and said, "Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman."
"Joke?" Bagman repeated, bewildered. "No, no, not at all! Harry's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!"
Fleur frowned. "But evidently zair 'as been a mistake," she replied haughtily. "'E cannot compete. 'E is too young."
Well… it is amazing," Bagman said, rubbing his smooth chin and smiling down at Harry. "But, as you know, the age restriction was only imposed this year as an extra safety measure. This age restriction is not in the official rules, and since Harry's name came out of the goblet… there's just no backing out at this point. Harry will just have to do the best he —"
Before he could finish, the door behind him flew open again to reveal a large group of people making their way in: Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, and Professor Snape.
"Madame Maxime!" Fleur cried at once, striding over to the rather large headmistress "Zey are saying zat zis… leettle boy is to compete also!"
Harry felt a ripple of anger flow through him. Little Boy?
Harry didn't know how much longer this ordeal would last, although he sincerely hoped Dumbledore would put an end to his misery quickly. Unfortunately, he was in for a long wait as both Karkaroff and Maxime engaged in angry arguments with Dumbledore over Hogwarts gaining a second champion.
By the time Harry returned to Gryffindor Tower that evening, it seemed as if the party that the twins had undoubtedly thrown in celebration of his selection by the Goblet had died down. There were a few people left in the common room when Harry entered — Fred and George among them.
"Ickle Harrykins!" Fred called out upon spotting him.
"Congratulations!" George chimed in.
"You really should have told us you were entering, though."
"Doing it without getting a beard? Absolutely brilliant! You must tell us how you did it!"
"I- I di-." Harry stuttered. "I didn't do it. I don't know how —"
Before Harry could finish, he heard Angelina Johnson huff and interject, "I can't say I'm not disappointed that I wasn't chosen, but at least someone from Gryffindor was."
Not knowing how to respond, Harry nodded in acknowledgment and began to make his way to the stairs leading to his dorm. Before he could start climbing, he was intercepted by Katie Bell.
"Hey, Harry."
"What's up, Katie?"
"I just wanted to say that, despite what everyone else seems to think, I don't think you put your name into the Goblet. If you had, I really doubt you would have looked so confused and hesitated to go up to the staff table when Dumbledore read out your name."
Harry internally sighed in relief. "Thank you, Katie. Thank you for believing me. You have no clue how much it means to me."
Katie smiled. "If you ever need someone to talk to who believes you about this — or just someone in general — I'm always happy to."
'I doubt I'll be taking Katie up on her offer, but it's kind of her to put it out there.' Harry thought to himself before replying, "That means a lot, Katie. Thank you. I'm going to head to bed now. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight, Harry," Katie replied with a smile before walking over to and beginning to climb up the girls' staircase.
Harry turned towards his own set of stairs, but the twins were waiting for him, intent on blocking his path.
"Harry…" George began. "You should know that Ron…"
"What George is trying to say is that Ron is not happy with you right now," Fred finished.
"What do you mean?" Harry replied, puzzled.
Fred and George looked at each other before George responded, "We'd best let him tell you. But we wanted to let you know that, outside of Quidditch, we'll mostly be trying to stay away from you."
"It's nothing personal," Fred quickly added. "It's just that, well, Ron is family and, even if he's a pigheaded git at times, Mum would kill us if we didn't stick with him. Family sticks together and all."
Harry nodded. "Thanks for telling me. Goodnight, Fred. George."
He then trudged up the stairs to his dorm where he collapsed onto his bed. 'Why is it always Halloween that these things happen?'
In the days following the Halloween Feast, Harry quickly came to see what the twins had meant about Ron being upset with him. And it wasn't just Ron. Seamus had gone on a tirade upon seeing Harry the following day and the vast majority of Hufflepuff House either glared at him or completely ignored him whenever he passed them in the halls. Even Professor Sprout couldn't hide her newfound distaste for Harry when addressing him during Herbology.
The one thing that hadn't changed was Snape and the Slytherins taking advantage of anything Harry did to demean him. Malfoy and his cronies had ambushed him in the halls outside of Snape's classroom before potions and showed off their new badges that Harry was quite confident had been funded by Lucius Malfoy.
"You like them, Potter?" Malfoy had asked tauntingly before pressing a button changing the lettering from 'Support CEDRIC DIGGORY — The REAL Hogwarts Champion' to 'Potter STINKS.'
"Real witty, Malfoy," Hermione had commented sarcastically upon seeing the badges.
Harry, on the other hand, merely laughed them off. "Potter Stinks. Really, Malfoy? Did Crabbe or Goyle come up with that? I thought you were more creative. I suppose there's a reason you're not in Ravenclaw."
That infuriated Malfoy, who snarled at Harry and drew his wand, yelling, "Densaugeo!"
As soon as Malfoy reached for his wand, Harry drew his own and cast, "Furnunculus!"
Harry's spell hit Goyle in the face, causing massive boils to sprout up all over his nose, while Malfoy's had hit Hermione, who whimpered in panic and covered her face with her hands, clutching her mouth.
Ron ran forward and dragged Hermione's hands away from her face to reveal a rather unpleasant sight. Hermione's front teeth — already larger than average — were now growing at an alarming rate; she was looking more and more like a beaver as her teeth elongated past her bottom lip, toward her chin.
"And just what is all this noise about?" Snape uttered as he exited his classroom, noticing Harry and Malfoy with their wands still drawn. "Ah, Champion Potter. I am unsurprised to see you are part of this. Mr. Malfoy, please explain what occurred."
"Potter attacked me, sir —"
"We attacked each other at the same time!" Harry interrupted.
"— and he hit Goyle — look —"
Snape examined Goyle, whose face now resembled something that would have been at home in a book on poisonous fungi.
"Hospital wing, Goyle," Snape said calmly.
"Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron shouted. "Look!"
He forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth — she was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar.
Snape looked coldly at Hermione. "I see no difference."
Hermione let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears, she turned on her heel and ran all the way up the corridor and out of sight.
"Now then, Champion Potter. Let's see how many points you just lost Gryffindor House…"
'HARRY POTTER — THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FOURTH TRIWIZARD CHAMPION' screamed the headline of Rita Skeeter's latest inflammatory article. The sensationalist reporter had really taken Harry to town, Katie mused to herself as she read through the article. She wasn't quite sure what all Harry had told the reporter, but she was positive it was nothing like what Skeeter had written. It was no secret to Katie that Rita never wrote her articles to tell the truth, but rather to spread her own popularity.
She supposed that Harry really had no way of knowing this as he was muggle-raised and, from what she had seen, never really seemed to pay much attention to the Prophet. While she and Harry had finished their conversation agreeing that he would reach out to her if he needed or wanted help, Katie felt that she should talk to him anyway. The Triwizard Tournament was bound to bring what seemed like unwanted publicity to Harry and considering Hermione was a muggleborn, Katie figured she was the person closest to Harry who best knew her way around wizarding media. Her father had made sure to explain to her how all of that worked while grooming her to join the house quidditch team.
That evening, Katie made her way over to where Harry and Hermione were sitting in the common room. She frowned at the sight of Weasley missing. Katie wondered for a moment whether he was off in the library, but she saw him sitting in a corner of the room with Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan.
Her frown deepened, but she tried to ignore her dread as she turned toward the fourth-year duo. "Do you mind if I speak with Harry in private, Hermione?" she asked the brunette, who had her head buried in a notebook whose contents she couldn't quite make out.
Hermione looked up and narrowed her eyes slightly at Katie and opened her mouth to say something before Harry nudged her and whispered something in her ear. Hermione, clearly unenthusiastic about leaving Harry alone with Katie, stood and huffed, "He's all yours."
She then turned to Harry and said, "I'll be in my room. If you need me, have Parvati, Lavender, or Ginny get me."
Harry sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Sorry about that. Hermione isn't very happy with Skeeter right now and she doesn't seem to want me alone with anyone other than her."
Katie smiled reassuringly. "I completely get it, don't worry."
Katie continued, adopting a more serious expression. "Skeeter is the reason I wanted to talk to you, though. I can tell from your reaction to the article today that you weren't expecting what came out of your interview. Skeeter is a sensationalist. She writes her articles to get a reaction from her readers, not to tell the truth."
Harry frowned. "Aren't there laws against that? I think Hermione said that in the muggle world it's called 'libel' or something."
"Yes, it's called libel," Katie replied. "For whatever reason, though, the wizarding world has never enacted libel or slander laws. As a result, there are very few reputable reporters."
Noting Harry's silence, Katie pressed on with what she had originally wanted to talk about. "I know you said that you would let me know if you wanted or needed help, but I really want to help you, Harry. Hermione is wonderful, but because she has never lived in the wizarding world outside of Hogwarts, she just doesn't know as much about it as I do. I know I've only lived in the wizarding world full-time for a few years, but I have learned a lot about it in that time. So, please, Harry, let me help you with the tournament.
"I'd rather not have Angelina murder me once she realizes that her star seeker can no longer play Quidditch," she added with a joking smile.
After what felt like ages, Harry smiled and replied, "I'd love your help, Katie."
Katie felt her face light up with joy as she replied, "We should meet a little bit every day to practice spells for the first task that way, no matter what it is, you'll be prepared. I might only be a year older than you, but that doesn't mean I don't know a lot of useful spells that you don't."
"That sounds great!"
"It's a deal then. There's an abandoned classroom just down the hall from History of Magic. Meet me there after dinner tomorrow and I'll start teaching you some new spells."
"See you then!"
Author's Note:
I'd like to once again apologize for the long delay in getting this written and posted. As I said earlier, school kept me busy as did just a general lack of motivation to write. However, with this chapter setting up and beginning the divergence and turn to the dark, I have a strong feeling that, bar school consuming all of my free time, updates to this fic will be more frequent.
Happy New Year 2022!
- Asmodeus Stahl