Chapter 6
"The Hogwarts Champion is…Harry Potter."
A smatter of applause went up throughout the crowd, but quickly died as they all saw the look on their champions face. Harry didn't need to look at his brother, Penny, or Cedric to know they were all looking at him in confusion. His brother had been with him nearly every waking moment since the Goblet was lit, and he knew it was near impossible that Harry had done it in their brief time apart. Most people seemed to have felt that this was not his style because only a select few that would've hardly known him at all were speaking their congratulations.
The seventh year Ravenclaw head boy rose to his feet with a straight look on his face. All the people that knew Harry were watching him very carefully and could tell he was angry, but it wasn't seen on his face it was felt by the magic swirling around him in an intense build up that nearly everyone in the hall could now feel. The young man swept away from the table, his friends all sitting silently clearly stunned by the turn of events and he moved towards the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All eyes were on him, and the whispers started as he made his way to the front of the hall staring at the Goblet of Fire the whole time. Harry's eyes shifted from the Goblet to Albus Dumbledore, "I suspect you already know I didn't enter my name into the Goblet."
Dumbledore stared at the enigma of the boy in front of him. Harry James Potter was a quiet, yet powerful wild card in his school. He knew the boy had very few friends, and the headmaster was never quite certain of just how the boy became so powerful under his nose, especially considering the active role he had in his little brother's life. Feeling the anger, and slight anxiety from the boy in front of him he knew it wise to be truthful, "Only from your emotions which I have not been able to read since you were a little boy indicate to me that there could have been foul play."
Igor Karkaroff strode forward, "What is the problem, Dumbledore?"
The tall dark haired seventh year summoned his wand to his hand giving Dumbledore a look ignoring the Durmstrang Headmaster, "May I Professor?"
Dumbledore stared at the boy as the whispers continued, "Of course."
Nodding his head, he closed his eyes, and shortly reopened them revealing a brilliant gold shade as he began swirling his wand around in a smooth almost familiar fashion that Dumbledore could swear he had seen before. Lights flashed out of the boy's wand, the fire that was still lit in the Goblet of Fire changed colors several times, and when the boy stopped moving his wand he frowned, "It seems that the Goblet does recognize that I am now in a binding magical contract with it, and that the slip that has my name on it certainly does come from my own hand."
More and more people were becoming restless around the hall, particularly the foreign delegations as Madame Maxime drew closer to investigate. Dumbledore asked calmly, "Is there any more you can deduce from the artifact? Anything I can do to alleviate your concerns?"
The boy showed the first signs of outward hostility at the posed question, "Not unless you can tell me who put my name in this Goblet, and why in the fu-"
The boy paused for a moment and took a deep breath, "And why in the name of Merlin you didn't put a guard on this at all times. It was twenty-four hours, Dumbledore. How hard was it to protect the magical artifact for one whole day?"
The chatter was getting louder around the hall, when Dumbledore bowed his head, "All I can do, Mr Potter, is apologize, and promise you that an investigation will begin in full effect. I will of course inform your parents and see if James can uncover anything of our mystery, but perhaps it would be best if you joined the other champions downstairs now."
Harry bit his tongue about commenting about his parents in front of so many people, but continued to stare at the Goblet as well, "Why is it still lit? If the tournament had officially begun the fire should have burnt out."
Dumbledore stared at the ancient magical artifact for several moments before shaking his head, "It is clear to me the object has been tampered with, but by whom I could not say. It is possible that the Goblet remaining lit is a defense showing-"
Caught off in mid-sentence the goblet swirled out shooting fire in a quick circle powerfully causing Harry and Dumbledore to summon identical shields blocking the fire from hitting anyone in the crowd, or anyone standing nearby. A lone flame shot towards the ceiling, and when it suddenly disappeared the flames of the goblet were extinguished, and a lone piece of flimsy paper fell from the ceiling towards Dumbledore's already outstretched hands.
When the paper landed in his hand his eyes immediately shot around the hall looking for the culprit of whoever's name had fallen into his hand. A terrible feeling began to well up in Harry's insides, but before he could question whose name was on the slip Dumbledore called out, "Justin Potter."
The whispers were no longer whispers, and people were now talking freely. Dumbledore roared out, "JUSTIN POTTER."
Harry looked towards where he had previously been sitting and saw that Cedric and Penelope were now arguing quielty as she had immediately put one hand on Justin's shoulder protectively. Justin for his part looked visibly stunned. His face was pale, and Harry could already see a bead of sweat beginning to form around his brow. He was clearly working himself up into quite a state so Harry walked over to his brother, "Penny, it's okay. Justin, come on."
Justin found his feet trying to keep a straight face desperately. Harry could tell he was struggling.
Shouts came from the crowd in random sections, "He's a cheat." "He's not even seventeen yet!"
Harry eyed the people who were making comments but said nothing as he walked his brother to the front of the hall. Dumbledore stared at the boy clearly trying to use legilimency on him, but it was clear to Harry that the boy's occlumency abilities were far beyond anything short of a full out attack. Dumbledore eventually just held out the piece of parchment towards the boy, and didn't say a word to him, but looked to Harry instead, "Take your brother and go join the other champions. The judges and I will be down in a moment to discuss this unusual turn of events, and the first task."
No one applauded, no one cheered, and Harry merely nodded before stepping away from the headmaster. He began walking through the staff to get to the back-atrium door that would lead downstairs to the trophy room where the other champions would be gathered. It didn't take a genius to realize that his brother was silently following behind him.
Before the brothers could enter the final room that led to the trophy room Harry stopped in mid-track and didn't even turn to look at his brother, "Did you do it? Did you put my name and yours in the Goblet of Fire?"
Justin immediately shouted, "No, Harry, I wouldn't-"
"No one else is going to believe you. You could've done it with our family's cloak. The Goblet of Fire is powerful, but it holds nothing on our family's…particularly powerful relic."
Both boys knew the implied meaning. The Goblet of Fire would easily be outsmarted by a Deathly Hallow, and with it being in Justin's possession it was Harry's number one suspect, "I swear to you I didn't, Harry. After last year I wanted a quiet year. I didn't want this. I wouldn't have done this to you either, not after all-"
"I asked you not to speak of those days again." Harry said harshly.
Justin immediately stopped talking knowing his brother was beyond angry and Harry spoke at the wall still not meeting his brother's gaze, "I will find out about these tasks and make sure you are aware of their challenges with plenty of time to prepare for them. I will ensure you have a sound strategy that should at the very least keep you alive during the tournament. I believe if you are honest with me and had nothing to do with it then Sirius will have been right."
"You think he is on the move." Justin stated and instead of asked.
The Head Boy nodded, "We will have to move quickly if our family is to survive. There are going to be a lot of accusations against us, and hostility towards you, but you need to keep your temper, and don't rise to their bait. It will only make things worse."
"I understand, Harry…Thank you."
The boy behind him was much different than the boy who started Hogwarts four years ago. Justin had been humbled by his near-death experiences and could only consider himself lucky to be alive thanks to his brother's skill with a wand, and his own sheer nerve. Justin spoke, "If there is anything I can do, Harry-"
"Stay alive." The young man said quietly as he marched into the room in front of him.
Justin didn't get another private word in but followed behind his brother into the next room who went across and introduced himself to the other champions, "Seems there was bad business with the Goblet. I can't tell you all much, but I am sure there will be quite the investigation. My name is Harry Potter, and I didn't enter my name into the Goblet, nor did my brother, but I came out as Hogwarts' Champion, and he came out as an unaffiliated Champion."
Krum, a big, surly seeker, looked puzzled as he shook the younger Potter's hand, "Vat do you mean you did not enter?"
Justin tried to shake Fleur's hand but the beautiful blonde French Champion snubbed him by looking alarmed at Harry, "What will they do with the little boy, this contest is dangerous!"
Before Justin could retort Harry held his hands up in a surrender like motion turning to girl, "Mademoiselle Delacour, I appreciate your concern for my brother, but we don't know much yet, and I can assure you my brother has been trained since he was old enough to hold a wand. So while I don't believe him to be a Champion that can win this tournament, I am not too worried about his abilities to survive this contest."
Viktor questioned, "Vat about you? You say you did not enter. Should we be worried about you?"
This caused Justin to snort, and the two looked at him questioningly, but he said nothing as Harry just grinned, "I am Hogwarts' Head Boy, so I suppose I was among the most qualified. I am sure it will be an interesting competition."
Justin murmured something unflattering towards his brother under his breath, but he shook his head as he flicked out his hand, "Expecto Patronum."
An ethereal stag appeared in a fully corporeal form and Justin began speaking, "Mum, the Goblet of Fire was rigged, and Harry's name came out as well as mine. Marauder Code one."
The stag looked at Justin for only a moment before taking off around the room, and then disappearing. Harry secretly applauded his brother. It was an impressive display of magic to his older competition to show his power, and it also was Harry's only jealous point in all of magic. He himself could of course cast a corporeal patronus, but his brother's was out of even his league.
Not another moment passed as the judges and professors began coming into the room, and Dumbledore went straight for Justin, but Harry stepped between the two, "Justin will swear a magical oath that he did not place either of us in this competition and that will be the end of it, Dumbledore."
The old man stared at the younger man with a critical look, and he agreed with the Head Boy for this year. It wasn't often that the staff disagreed with his choice on who the Head Boy should be, but the decision was from almost every professor in the school that Harry Potter was the only man for the job this year. Dumbledore himself wanted Cedric Diggory, but he was overruled, "Mr Potter?"
Justin pulled out his wand silently thanking his brother for stepping between him and the others, "I swear on my magic that I did not put either my name or Harry Potter's name in the Goblet of Fire. Nor do I have any knowledge as to how it may have happened, or who may have done it."
At the end Justin summoned a ball of light to the tip of his wand without any incantation which slightly surprised Harry. He hadn't known that his brother was working on nonverbal casting. When no one said anything Harry spoke, "Mr. Crouch, can you tell us about our first task?"
Before he could say anything Karkaroff came forward, "Now wait a moment! Just because the boy swore an oath does not dismiss the fact that Hogwarts now has two champions. I demand we submit the names of our other students so that we may each have an extra champion."
Crouch argued immediately, "We cannot. The Goblet of Fire has been extinguished. It will not be relit until the next tournament has been voted on and signed by the Minister's of Magic in each respective country."
Madame Maxime rose to her impressive height clearly angered as well, "Then how do we make this fair, 'Ogwarts cannot have two champions, and the rest of us not."
Arguing commenced, and Harry rolled his eyes, but continued to eye each person in the room. As of right now, in his mind everyone was a suspect. He eyed Igor Karkaroff who was a Death Eater in the last war. He considered the possibility that the man may have done this to kill the Potter Brothers for his master in an attempt to gain favor and seek forgiveness for his crimes at the end of the last war. He discounted the idea however, because Sirius had told him the man was a complete coward, and doubted he had either the brains or courage to attempt something like this. The French he waved out of his mind almost immediately knowing they would not want to lower their chances of winning anymore than necessary. Crouch was a possibility; he certainly had disdain for his father who was now the Head Aurors for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, a job that Crouch had lost many years ago. Bagman was an idiot, an alcoholic, and a gambler. He could only see him putting their names in if he was making a bet on who would come out. The Professors for the most part Harry doubted, but Moody was of course a wild card. A new professor this year could be different, but Moody was his dad's old Auror instructor so that did certainly make him an unlikely candidate.
His thoughts flickered to Pettigrew and how he could've pulled this off, but then felt the familiar cold feeling in his gut as he remembered just what fate had befallen the man at his very hands.
He focused back on the conversations swirling around the room, and in a brief pause in argument he asked, "What if the other schools just submitted two more champions? This would allow both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons to hand pick their most powerful or brilliant students. I think we can all agree that anything could happen in this tournament, and no matter how great the current selection of champions are, we could easily slip, or do something equally frivolous that could cost us our lives. If you had two then everyone would have an equal chance at winning. Perhaps it could even be argued that the two visiting schools would have more of an advantage due to my brother's age."
Harry turned away so no one except Justin could see his face and the boy had to stop a grin coming on his face when his older brother winked at him.
Silence overcame the room for several moments, and when no one spoke Dumbledore coughed lightly, "This could be done fairly easily. Only the first task would need to be adjusted, and I believe we could compensate in time. What say you, Barty? Would this satisfy your schools as well, Maxime, Igor?"
Barty thought for a moment while the heads of the other two respective schools discussed the issue between each other for a few moments. At their eventual nods, Barty spoke, "It is unprecedented, but in the name of fairness this could be done. Our Ministry will work on the first task protocols immediately to get this resolved if this can prevent an international incident. We will also be informing the Department of Magical-"
"We are already on it, Barty old boy." A man said entering the room with a group of black cloaked individuals.
James Potter, and a group of very familiar people to the Potter boys swept into the room, and one made a beeline towards Justin embracing him, his own mother, Lily Potter. Sirius Black, Harry's godfather came in next, while Remus Lupin, Justin's own godfather followed Sirius. Kingsley Shacklebolt and Auror John Dawlish brought up the rear. James strode towards the heads of the other two schools offering a hand to each, "My name is James Potter, and I am the Head Auror for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Seeing as my two sons were involved in this, my department will be taking this investigation very seriously. To oversee the impartiality of this case, Senior Auror John Dawlish has been assigned to this case as well. The rest of these Aurors are my own personal team, and we will be at your service for the foreseeable future with the greatest desire to head off an international incident."
Harry's father of course was familiar with Igor Karkaroff, but the two shook hands and his father remained professional, which impressed the oldest Potter son. Usually his father was immature and quick to insult people, especially ones who had ties to the Death Eaters, or had been Death Eaters themselves.
Pleasantries were exchanged, and Ludo Bagman caught James Potter up on what exactly had happened, along with the current compromise. The man was stone-faced as he learned of the current events, but when it was over, he sighed, "If the other two magical schools are okay with this then my department has no right to interfere with that decision."
Madame Maxime spoke after a moment of silence, "Oui, we do agree with the suggestion that will make the tournament fair once again."
Igor nodded his head in agreement, and Bagman clapped his hands, "Oh splendid! In that case perhaps we can adjourn for a few minutes while the Heads of School decide who they would like their second champion to be. At which point we will begin speaking of the first task."
Karkaroff and Maxime departed at once with their champions in tow, and James Potter looked to his youngest son, and saw that he and his mother were exchanging words, so he came over to his oldest to provide comfort, "Are you okay, son?"
A few years back this would have infuriated Harry due to the lack of attention he was used to getting from his parents but after last year he felt that the relationship between himself and his parents was better, and appreciated the attempt his father was making. "I'm fine. The whole thing is bullshit, but I'm okay. I ran all sorts of diagnostics on the cup, but nothing came from it. I didn't recognize any magical signatures, or anything that could tip me off on how they got our names in there. Whoever did this, they were very thorough, and very good at covering their tracks."
James had only recently learned to stop underestimating his son's magical abilities, and if he told him that the person was good, and thorough then he believed him, "Very well. We will do our best. I am sure your mother would like a whirl at the Goblet. We will do our best to keep her from destroying it, but once the red headed fire storm kicks up, heaven knows you can't stop her."
The two men shared a brief grin, and James walked over to his younger son, leaving an opportunity for Sirius to step in, "Look at you, pup. Never would've believed we would end up here."
Harry rolled his eyes, but smiled a little at the man who had cared for him all these years as they embraced, "That makes two of us, Padfoot."
"Anything you need for the tournament, for yourself or Justin, just let me know. Moony and I will get you whatever you need." The man said seriously.
Harry thought for a long moment as conversations continued around the room, "Is it possible to rewind the Marauder's map you think?"
Sirius looked startled by the question, "Like see where someone was hours before? I….I…I don't know. We certainly never tried it, but I suppose it's…possible."
Harry nodded in deep thought, "If all of us worked on it, perhaps we could roll back the charms to show us who might have slipped our names into the Goblet of Fire."
Remus, who had just stepped into the conversation, began stroking his face in deep thought, "Your idea is theoretically possible, but it would take weeks, and the creation of another map. The level of arithmancy you are talking about is Mastery level stuff. If all of us put our heads together I suppose it's possible, but we would also have to figure out how to link the current map with a new map so that way it could be rewound back and forth as we please. It is also dismissing the possibility that someone managed to confound the Goblet in front of everyone, and place two or three names in at once."
Harry nodded but spoke back, "I don't think so. Anytime people were putting names in the cup there was usually a crowd. I believe for this to have worked this person would've needed time and privacy, and if he was so powerful that he didn't need either of those things then we are in a lot more trouble than we think."
The two Marauders exchanged looks, and said, "We will need Lily for something like this."
"It is something we can all work on…as a family." Harry said carefully.
This caused both men to brighten. It hadn't even been six months since Harry and his family had begun to reconcile after nearly sixteen years of bad blood. The fact that Harry was willing to step into a big group project with his family spoke to the milestones they had all crossed. Remus spoke gently, "Your mother I think, would love that."
Harry nodded his head at the men as the foreign delegations returned, and two new students entered the room looking equally puzzled and amazed. They were both girls, one a familiar stunning French girl with red hair that didn't seem natural in color, and the other was a petite black-haired girl that had a completely neutral expression on her face once she made eye contact with the other champions. Harry noted the girl must be a decent occlumens and stored that thought away for the time being. The redhead had a huge smile on her face and bounded over towards Krum shaking his hand, and then moving onto Harry and Justin, "Hi, I'm Aimee for those who haven't met me. This is all so crazy isn't it? Six Champions in a Triwizard tournament."
Harry said nothing at first to the green-eyed girl, but Justin spoke with a slight reddening to his cheeks, "Yeah something tells me they are going to rename this tournament. Maybe just the TriSchool tournament or something?"
This caused the girl to giggle and Harry asked, "Are they binding you to magical contracts?"
The girl stared at him for a moment, and that very light shade of green met with his own dark green when she whispered, "No. Madame Maxime told me that she was selecting me to be the school's second champion, but if I wanted to drop out I could at any moment. She said if I thought I couldn't handle it then she would pick someone else, but I think I am capable of at least finishing. Fleur is definitely the best pick for number one, as she is quite powerful and being part Veela, she is very in tune with elemental magic. But I think I can give everyone a run for their money in this little competition."
Harry couldn't help but feel the two girls who were asked to be champions got the better end of the deals. They could simply quit whenever they wanted. Hell, if they could see that the first task was going to take place in an Acromantula colony, they could just decide it wasn't worth it.
Ludo Bagman came back down with a huge smile on his face, "Would the six champions please gather around."
The competitors all stepped forward and began to make a circle of sorts around the center of the room where Ludo, Barty Crouch, and Dumbledore were all standing. Ludo began speaking once everyone gathered, "Let me introduce our six champions once more so we are all familiar with each other. From Hogwarts we have Harry and Justin Potter. From Beauxbatons we have Fleur Delacour and Aimee Beaucart, and finally from Durmstrang we have Viktor Krum and Alexia Volkov. Congratulations champions."
No one clapped, but everyone could tell that Bagman lived for this kind of controversy, "Now let me begin to tell you all about the first task. Now this task is designed to test your courage in the face of adversity, and we will be pushing you all into an arena with as little information or hints as possible of what you might be facing. Any questions?"
Silence throughout the room, and Harry rolled his eyes. They might as well have just sent them all to bed if they weren't really going to tell anyone anything, but when no one spoke, Ludo clapped his hands together excitedly, "Excellent! The weighing of the wands will be one week from today, and the first task will take place in just over three weeks on the 24th of November. Good luck, champions, and we will see you all at the first task."
This allowed the man to put a hand on Barty Crouch and he began to drag him away so they could discuss changes in the tournament. The rest of the group took this as a dismissal, and as the champions all took a final look at each other the circle broke, and little pockets of groups and conversations took place, and some even began to depart.
James put a hand on both of his sons and steered them away from the others and towards the gathered Marauders and Lily Potter. When they all got in the group, privacy wards started going up and Lily surged forward to hug her oldest son, "Harry, I am glad you are okay. I am sorry this happened, and I am sure if the professors would have had to pick a champion you certainly would've been the first pick."
The young man smiled at his mother's confidence in him, and sighed, "I hope you're right about that."
The woman patted his cheek and then grew serious, "Sirius told me about your thoughts on the Marauder's Map. I'll admit I am not sure it's possible, but maybe we can all put our heads together and figure out something."
Harry nodded his head, and already began planning different strategies he might partake in to get the map to reverse time. James spoke softly, "We are going to head upstairs and start working on the Goblet. Harry, would you like to join us?"
Shaking his head the boy spoke, "No, I think I will just head back to my common room. I've done all I could with the Goblet. If you guys find anything, send a Patronus for me."
James nodded, and requested something else, "Will you walk your brother back to his common room then? It is late, and with what just happened-"
"Dad, I can walk to my own common room."
"Of course dad. It's not like it's that far out of my way." Harry said, easily contradicting his brother.
The man smiled and pulled his son in for a hug. Harry stiffened, still not used to hugs from his father, but patted the man's back as they separated. Hugs continued from his mom, and quick ones between Remus and Sirius. This allowed the final two champions to depart the antechamber, and begin their way upstairs.
It was a mostly silent venture, but when they got to the split that separated Gryffindor Tower from Ravenclaw, the two turned and faced each other for the first time that night. Justin spoke quietly, "I'm scared, Harry. Whoever did this clearly didn't enter me because they thought I could win."
Looking back at his brother he sighed, "Then you prove them wrong. Give them everything you've got, and do your best to win this damn thing."
"Harry, I don't stand a chance against you. You saved my life from Quirrell, Tom Riddle, Peter, and this time you won't be able to help me." The boy said nervously looking at the ground.
"You helped in every single one of those cases, Justin. You just kept fighting even when we were both hopelessly outclassed. I've never once had to question why you were placed in Gryffindor, and now you will show the world. Have faith in yourself. Your patronus speaks miles of your magical power. Don't be so down on yourself, because I would be shocked if any one of those other champions could produce more than a mist. We are going to make it through this…together. I will start investigating the first task in the morning. I've got some friends in the Ministry, and odds are someone will know what's going on. When I know, I will let you know, so you and your crazy friends can work out a strategy. Just remember, Justin…Play to your strengths."
With that, Harry began walking away, and only stopped when he heard his brother call his name. He didn't turn, but he stopped to listen, "Thank you, Harry."
The older brother said nothing, but nodded and continued his way up to Ravenclaw tower.
(A/N) And the plot progresses towards the obvious. Welcome back to another update, and if you want to read all the way through chapter 8 TODAY, you can join me on Discord. Just follow the link below, and please make sure you leave me a review so I can know what you are thinking of the story so far. That's all for now, see you all in 2 weeks!
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