A/N: Lol, so I was reading the book, and noticed that it was spelled Maxime, not Maxine. RIP me. Sigh. Sorry for the longer wait on this. I know that I haven't exactly been consistent before now, but I was on vacation recently, and didn't end up having a lot of time to write.
Also, sorry on the long wait. I hit a stump, and then I had to move in to my new apartment and this just took a back seat. I know I tried to have a schedule, but with classes coming up, well, I'll try to get it to be beta asap.
Harry woke up the next morning wishing that he hadn't. He had been able to escape from everything to the sweet shelter of sleep, but now, it was time to face the music. On the bright side, he had already confessed under Magical Oath that he had nothing to do with the Goblet choosing him, to both the teachers and the students. All he had to do now was to let the Hogwarts rumor mill do its work. It wouldn't stop some of the more persistent ones, specifically Weasley, but it should hopefully quell most action against him. While Ravenclaw wasn't the house of the loyal, it couldn't be said that they didn't use common sense and Harry had his own network. Now, he was really thankful that he was at least on friendly terms with Cedric.
As he got out of bed, he noticed that Michael was still very weary of him. He had already silenced most people's questions about him with a frosty look. Until Susan and Hannah had later apologized, he was mainly a loner, sticking with Daphne and Neville.
As he made his way to the Great Hall, he had noticed that almost everyone stopped to stare at him.
'I guess this is how Thomas always felt. I got a little bit of this during First year, but at this scale…' He saw Fleur sitting further down, and made his way to Ravenclaw table, sitting near the edge next to Luna.
"Hello Harry." Luna never had any problem using people's first name, which often made people wary or put off by her.
"Morning Luna. Good to see that at least you're always as cheerful as ever."
"Yes, although there is a lot of chatter. You seem to be infested with Wrackspurts again. Normally, they leave you alone."
"Peculiar."
Susan and Hannah made their way over to him, ignoring the unspoken rule about sitting with your house. "Cedric came in last night and told us what happened. We never had any doubt, but it was nice to see that Cedric believed you." Susan started. Hannah nodded along.
"Yea, you should have seen Sprout. I don't think I've ever seen her mad. But, after Cedric explained that you took an oath, she seemed to be placated. Although, she spoke the question on all our minds: Why you and not Thomas?"
"Trust me, I've been wondering that since last night. When I came in last night, I could have sworn it was Thomas getting into trouble again."
As they were speaking, Flitwick came up behind them. "Harry, I just wanted to inform you about the Weighing of the Wands ceremony that will be coming up. It will be next week, during Herbology."
'Oh fantastic, that's going to go well with Sprout. Maybe if I was any good at the subject…'
"Thanks Professor."
"I'm sorry that you've gotten dragged into this. But, I am sure that you will represent Ravenclaw as well as any other student would."
"Thanks Professor."
As he left, his friends continued talking, Susan the first to pipe up. "So, who do you think put your name in?" Hannah was listening with rapt attention, while Luna was just playing with her toast and making a house, humming all the while.
"I have no idea. Professor Moody thinks that someone Confunded the Goblet into thinking there is a fourth school."
"A Confundus charm? That's it?" Hannah asked.
"Yea, but an exceptionally powerful one. As for who, well, I have no idea. Again, I would have thought that they would have entered Thomas."
"Yea, he does always to get into trouble. First the trouble in First Year with Quirrell, then the Chamber, then the whole debacle with Pettigrew…"
The two girls nodded. "Anyway, we should be off to class. Herbology."
Harry nodded. "I have to get to Transfiguration. I'll talk to you two later."
With that, they got up and split up. As Harry started to make his way towards Transfiguration. As he stepped in, he found that most no one else was there, and decided to sit down and sift through his thoughts.
'What do I do? Bollocks, I have 24 days to prepare for a task I have no clue about. Why me? Who entered me? Was it Pettigrew? No, I would have seen him on the map. I always have an eye out for him."
Harry was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't realize that someone had entered the room, but he couldn't help but notice the clearing of a throat behind him.
"Ahem."
He looked up and saw Daphne, her blue eyes boring into his. "Good Morning Potter."
"Morning Greengrass." They tended to default to the more formal greeting when they were in public. While not super close nor super distant, they only opened up when around people they knew.
"Am I safe to assume that you didn't put your name in?"
Harry shot her a quick look that said, 'Are you bloody mad?'
"Ok, ok, I was just asking. I sent a letter to Father explaining as such anyway last night. Rumor's going around that you gave a Magical Oath?"
Harry nodded, and Daphne just smacked him in the head. "What the bloody hell was that for?"
"Don't take that tone. You are heir presumptive to an Ancient and Noble House, whether your parents like it, or even know it. That being said, you are a powerful ally, and as much as I hate to admit it, make for decent company. One single oversight in wording could have cost you your magic."
"I know Greengrass, I, unlike my brother, made sure to study very thoroughly when I was young. My wording was perfect to convey my actions: I did not enter myself in the Triwizard Tournament, nor did I ask someone else to enter my name or take any measures to try to be selected. I made sure not to say that I did not write my name on the paper. That could have cost me dearly if Dumbledore's analysis comes back positive"
Daphne just raised her eyebrows.
"The magical contract binding me to compete is dependent on the constantly bleeding magic of people. I need to see if there is a way to stem that." Harry trailed off. "Anyway, some of my magic is infused with the writing, and a powerful object like the Goblet can use even that to make a contract."
"So, what is Dumbledore doing?"
"The only thing he can. He's testing the paper to see if it matches with my magical signature. If it matches, there is nothing he can do, and I'll have to compete. I am meeting with him tonight, but not just for that. I'm supposed to go for a reprimand."
"For what?"
"For calling Karkaroff a Death Eater."
Daphne just started laughing. Soon, other people started filing in.
"What's so funny Greengrass?" Malfoy asked, walking in.
"Nothing Malfoy." Daphne and Malfoy had a staring contest. It was known to people in the right circles that the two of them had a kind of ongoing rivalry. Daphne led one faction, the neutrals, in Slytherin while Draco led the other, the blood purists. Those that sided with Dumbledore in Slytherin were few and far between, and so let themselves be folded into the Neutrals.
While Harry wasn't on terrible terms with Malfoy, he was much closer to Daphne, and that was saying something considering their own relationship. As it was, he gave Daphne his support. The Ice Queen vs the Prince of Slytherin. Harry's support gave her the support of many upper years, all throughout the houses, but the most important of which were in Slytherin. While it may have be Slytherin power struggle, that didn't stop people from other houses from getting involved, and that's where Harry's friends were useful.
The reason he knew them was that he was trying to work on dueling. The Room of Requirement and a penchant for offensive magic could not substitute for an actual opponent. Most of them had scoffed when he had approached them, but after a few had been…. persuaded and Harry's pockets were slightly lighter, they saw the potential. They were the reason he was as good as he was at dueling, and 2 years later, they now came to him. His magical stamina and the power with which he could imbue his spells combined with his quickness made him a formidable dueler. While he couldn't quite beat the sixth and seventh years, his stamina allowed them to practice for longer fights. If he were willing to use his ice, it would be a different story, but their spell repertoire as it was now, was too diverse for him to overcome in a standard duel.
"Potter."
"Malfoy." While Harry had given Daphne his support, Malfoy and he were still on decent terms. While he could accept traditionalist views, he sided more with Daphne.
After a short three way staring contest, more students started coming in, forcing the three to disperse. Soon, McGonagall herself entered the classroom.
"Settle down everyone. If everyone could put their essays on their desk, I will collect them."
As this was standard procedure, there was no rustle as the essays were already there, although there were a couple of quick scratches from quills, mostly from Ravenclaw as people tried to fit in some last detail.
McGonagall waved her wand, but she apparently decided to have a little bit of fun, as instead of summoning all of the parchment, she transfigured legs and charmed all the essays to march to her desk.
"Now that you have researched and written about Cross Species Switches, I want someone to explain why Cross Species Switches are easier the more similar the targets are." She saw Daphne's hand and called on her.
"It is as so because the switching spell is actually a transformation spell. Inanimate switching spells tend to be rather simple because of the lack of moving or living parts. So, similar animals, because of similar appearance or structure require less concentration for a successful transformation."
"Correct Greengrass, 10 points to Slytherin for an excellent explanation."
Daphne smirked towards Harry, who just shrugged. Tracey Davis, her best friend, was giving her a thumbs up for the points.
The rest of the day passed by rather quickly. He spent most of the day in the Room of Requirement with the upper years. He had arranged a kind of dueling club among them. They would alternate, half of them dueling each other while the other half watched each dueler. The half that watched would then give critique to the duelers afterwards.
It was an efficient system that allowed people to learn much more quickly than simple trial and error, and this is turn made the whole group's prowess increase.
Today, he was matched up with Adrian Pucey, a sixth year.
"You know Potter, Warrington was exceptionally mad yesterday after the choosing Ceremony."
"Yea well, I didn't like Warrington anyway, and he had no chance. If he wanted to be champion so badly, he should have used the skill he so proudly boasts about. He can go shove his head up his arse." Harry fired off a volley of stunners and an Incarcerous, just to keep Pucey occupied.
There were more than a couple snickers from the people watching the duels. Most of the others, like Marcus Turner, were too busy concentrating on their opponent.
"Yea well, I know Slytherins aren't the most welcome at Hogwarts," Harry nodded, noting that he only counted 3 from Slytherin not including Pucey. Harry dodged an Expelliarmus, but got hit with a Jelly Legs. He idly dispelled it, waiting for the next spell. "Just thought that the more… courteous of us mind lend a hand. And give you a warning. Warrington might retaliate." With that ending, he transfigured the stone into a circular wall around Harry, before releasing an Aguamenti."
"Glacius." Harry figured that Adrian had been trying to freeze him, so froze the water before it got to him. Harry had to quickly dodge the Percutio spell that broke through the ice.
'He used the distortion to hide the spel'sl light. Nice.' Harry first visualized the stone as multiple sections, before deciding on a transfiguration. He decided to use only the back two thirds so that he still had cover, then transfigured the wall into a stampede of duck sized horses.
As Harry took a second to catch his breath, he looked back. The sudden wave was too much for the sixth year to vanish all at once, although a third of the horses were already gone. While he was still preoccupied, Harry cast a disillusionment charm on himself.
Harry was just about to cast a weak reductor at him when suddenly, Pucey suddenly wordlessly cast an Expelliarmus towards him. The spell caught him off guard and he lost his wand.
"Good job Potter." Rachel Haverford came up to him, patting his back.
"Man, you almost had me there," Pucey said, panting. He handed Harry back his wand.
"The only disappointment is that you should have been more aware. While the transfiguration was a large one, we all know what your stamina is like, so Pucey didn't expect you to continue to take cover and was searching his periphery for shimmers."
"Well…" Pucey interjected. "Something on your mind Potter?"
"Why?"
"Well, you seemed a bit slower than usual."
The other person watching, Elena Turpin, nodded. "Yea, I noticed that too."
"I don't know. Probably the tournament."
"Oh, did I get to you? I didn't mean it, although what I said was true."
Harry shook his head. "It's more than that. If it were just mishap happening to me, I wouldn't care. But someone actively tried to have me compete. How did they even enter me?"
"Well, I have no clue. All of here can promise you it's not a prank by any of us, right?"
Sounds of agreement echoed in the hall. Harry was simultaneously relieved and disappointed. "I almost would have felt better knowing it was you. I would have been furious, but, at least I would know. Anyway, you guys keep practicing. I have to go see Dumbledore."
He said his good-byes as he exited the Room. He was glad to have allies. He knew all of them were fine. He had at first been paranoid about sharing his secret of the Room with them, so had gotten a Blood Quill the summer before second year and had them all sign a contract that the knowledge of the room and how to use it would not be shared, nor would they show it to anyone without getting permission from him. The only exceptions were those who had already known about, which numbered few.
As he made his through the corridors towards the Headmaster's tower, he realized that this was the one time he was counting on Dumbledore. He really wanted some good news.
As Harry got to the gargoyle, he realized, that he didn't know the password. He sighed, randomly naming Muggle candies until the gargoyle started to move on "Snickers." He shook his head at Dumbledore's propensity to make his password Muggle candies, although he supposed that most Purebloods like Lucius Malfoy wouldn't be able to get in.
As he made his way up, he heard Dumbledore's customary "Come in," before he even got to the door. As he entered the room, Dumbledore was sitting at his desk. Harry unconsciously fingered his wands. He looked around for Fawkes, finding him as a chick. Harry wondered if Dumbledore had planned this, knowing that Harry, despite his usually cold nature, couldn't help but fawn over cute things.
"Please sit, Harry."
"It's Mr. Potter. Just because you can call Thomas by his first name doesn't mean you can do the same with me."
"Then please sit Mr. Potter." Harry reluctantly went away from Fawkes.
"I'm afraid that I have bad news. The writing on the parchment is indeed yours."
"I figured as much." When nothing further came out, Dumbledore beckoned for him to continue. "I mean, if they went through the trouble to enter me, they would have made sure to do it correctly. That would be like setting up protections that a first year could get through." Harry mercilessly jibed the Headmaster over the events of first year.
"Yes well, I think we were both hoping for a mistake." Harry nodded. "Mr. Potter, do you have any idea why someone would want to enter you in the Tournament?"
'I could think of a couple…' Harry put up his Occlumency shields. His standoffish nature allowed him to develop them quickly, but they would crumble quickly if Dumbledore really wanted to get in his head. "I have no idea sir."
"Hrmmm…" Dumbledore seemed to be thinking, stroking his beard.
"Sir." Dumbledore looked up at Harry quizzically. "Is it possible that the person who entered my name was attempting to enter my brother? It could have been possible that he or she had just seen "Potter" on the slip of parchment and assumed it was him. I know some haven't heard of me."
"Yes, that is a possibility. But as you said, if they were careful enough to enter your name without getting caught, there is also the very real possibility that you were the target."
"How would they have done it?"
"Quite easily. If anyone had access to the school, they could get anything that you wrote your name on, an essay or assignment, torn your name off, duplicated it and then repaired the parchment." At Harry's suspicious look, he continued. "I have known it was your writing since late last night. I have been up thinking about how it could have happened."
"Of course Headmaster. I know I took an oath, but can I have your confidence that I did not enter myself?"
"Indeed. I looked for any loopholes in your oath, but it was quite sound. But, as there is nothing we can do about your entrance to the tournament, would you like me to inform your mother and father? Or have you already?"
"I normally don't correspond with James and Lily." Dumbledore gave a small frown at the use of the Potters' first names, but brushed it aside.
"Now that we have gotten that out of the way, we must discuss your behavior last night. Harry, why would you aggravate Headmaster Karkaroff like that?"
Harry merely shrugged his shoulders. "To me, he is just a coward. He sold out his fellow Death Eaters just to get out of prison. I'm not saying I don't appreciate having less of them around, but he didn't release those names out of the goodness of his heart. He was attacking my person and character, I'm not going to just sit down and take it, not from him or anyone. No one should dish out anything they in turn can't take."
Dumbledore just sighed. "Harry, you must be better than others."
"Again, it's Mr. Potter. And honestly, I don't care."
Dumbledore looked at him. He kept his emotions in check, and he couldn't skim anything off of the forefront of his mind. Dumbledore just sighed.
"Fine. How did you even find out that he used to be a Death Eater?"
"Isn't it a matter of public record? Even if it wasn't, I've lived around James. He isn't exactly the most discreet person. Once the tournament was announced, I heard about it from James fairly quickly. It wasn't long until he also blurted out some information about Karkaroff, along with a few choice expletives."
Dumbledore would have to have a few words with James. "I must ask you Harry to at least try to get along with Karkaroff."
"I'll stay away from him if he stays away from me."
Dumbledore gave the signal for Harry to go, so he took his leave.
The rest of the days passed in a blur. He spent a lot of time with Susan and Hannah. Amelia was furious when she heard from Susan what had happened. Harry only caught a few snippets from the letter she sent back Susan, including a few choice words like "old bastard" and "castration".
Soon, the day of the Weighing of the Wands had come. Harry resigned himself to his fate, and while he was working with Susan and Hannah, he walked up to Professor Sprout.
"Professor, I'm sorry, but I need to go to the Weighing of the Wands."
Professor Sprout always had liked him because he worked hard, even if he usually got Acceptable's on his assignments.
"Ah, yes, that. Well then, off with you Potter."
Harry was slightly concerned as he walked off, but honestly, it could have been much worse. If it was Thomas in Potions, he wouldn't be surprised if Snape gave him a 0 for the day. His oath and Cedric's vouching for him were probably the reason Sprout was only a little snappy at him.
As he left the Greenhouse, Susan and Hannah smiled at him. He forced a smile on as well, not looking forward to this.
He made his way to the empty classroom Flitwick had told him about. He had, in the beginning, wondered about why so many classrooms in Hogwarts were empty. Then, a bit later, he realized that it must be because of the war. It affected the numbers of teachers, and the numbers of child-bearing witches.
As he looked, however, he couldn't quite find it. However, he saw Cedric walking over, and joined him.
"Morning Harry."
"Cedric."
They walked in silence for a while.
"Hey Potter," Cedric began, but he was interrupted.
"I thought we agreed to be on a first name basis," Harry said, somewhat dryly.
"Ok, then Harry. I just wanted you to know that I've tried telling people to stop wearing those badges."
Harry shrugged. "It's nothing much. It's mainly a ploy by Malfoy to try to discredit me and make me look bad. There's a power play going on in Slytherin House."
Cedric raised his eyebrows. "Really? I haven't heard of it."
"I wouldn't imagine. I'm not saying you're not well respected. But, while you may be a pureblood, that's not your primary identifier. It's something mainly people in those circles know about."
"Then how do you know?"
"I'm friends with one of those involved. Plus, I am still heir to the Ancient and Most Noble house of Potter."
"Hrmm." Cedric seemed to be thinking of what to say next. Harry spoke first.
"But yea, it's fine. Nothing worse really than second year. Really, you'd think some of these people are still first years, the way they act. Not surprising though, seeing as most of those wearing the badges seem to be Gryffindors, probably because it was me instead of Thomas. Hypocrites."
"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know."
"Don't worry about it. They're a minority, and when they realize they were wrong, they'll go back to exactly how they were."
When they had reached the classroom, they had found Fleur and Victor already there. While Fleur was standing in the middle of the room, Victor stood in the corner. Ludo Bagman sat in one of five chairs behind some velvet covered tables, presumably for the five judges.
"Anyway, I'll see you later Cedric."
Harry went off to talk to Victor. He didn't particularly feel like talking to Fleur after the choosing ceremony. He thought that she would understand, at least a little bit, what with her talking about blessings and curses.
Victor, once he had noticed that Harry had come over, grunted a bit and looked over.
"Hey Krum."
Krum nodded his head.
"So, you don't like the attention? I figured as much a week ago, but I thought you would be used to it."
"You can never get used to those vultures. I like playing Quidditch."
"I don't know about Quidditch, but I enjoy flying. Although I make a decent chaser."
Krum looked over. "Want to fly?"
Harry just scoffed a bit. "For fun? Sure? If you want even a remote challenge, ask Cedric. He's also a seeker," he said, pointing towards the unsuspecting Hufflepuff.
Krum nodded, and they sat in silence for a while. "You didn't want to be here."
"Yea, I sai-"
"Last night, you said you didn't enter. But I can tell, you didn't even want to try. Why?"
"It's just, like I said, people die in this tournament. And all the attention, that is not something I want. I won't lower myself to hide, and I always wish to better myself, but this is just unnecessary."
"That's a little bit how I feel. I love Quidditch, and flying, and I want to be the best. But sometimes, the media is too much."
Harry couldn't think of anything to respond with, so it was Krum who spoke up again. "But, I think you should apologize to the French girl."
Harry was about to say something, but Krum cut him off. "Yes, she was out of place. But, while you were justifiably angry, drawing a wand is a bit much. And, I think she was somewhat right. You were angry because somewhere, there was still a part of you that wanted exactly what she said. I can tell in your posture. The others may not pick up on it, but I can sense a tension, a readiness to explode. You may not want to be here, but now that you are, you're ready to win."
Krum walked off, leaving Harry to mull over his words. Maybe he was right. He was always trying to be better, to be better at magic. And he had been thinking about the tournament. Sure, reason about why he was entered, but less so about the more time had passed. Recently, it had been about what the first task would be. He had thought it was to help guarantee his survival, but if he was being honest with himself, he wanted to win.
He looked over to Fleur and Cedric. He decided that he would try to find her afterwards. Rita had been over by Bagman, having her stupid photographer take photos. Harry had a bad feeling about his. Rita started to make her way over.
"Would you care to give an interview, Harry? As the youngest champion?" She had already grabbed his arm and started to make her way over to a door, before Harry wrenched her arm away.
"Actually, I wouldn't. Why don't you just run along Ms. Skeeter?"
She just huffed at him and started to look at the other three champions, but they are grouped together. She then took out her quill, a green little monstrosity, which started to take notes, presumably with Rita muttering under her breath. Harry decided to cast a quick charm at it. A small, delayed charm, and just, in time, as the rest of the judges walked in moments later, along with Mr. Ollivander.
"Hello to all of you," Dumbledore announced. All four of them bowed their heads a little. He and the other judges made their way to sit at the table. May I introduce to you, the premier wand maker in England, Mr. Ollivander?"
The old man gave a smile and wave upon being introduced.
"He will be inspecting your wands to make sure that all is in working order before the tournament begins."
Harry zoned out, thinking about his wands. He lightly traced over both of them with his arms crossed. His first wand was in a holster on his right forearm, his second on his left. He only barely heard what each contestants' wands were: an inflexible 9 ¾ inch rosewood wand with a Veela hair core for Delacour, a springy 12 ¼ inch ash wand with a unicorn hair core for Cedric, and a rigid 10 ¼ inch hornbeam wand with a dragon heartstring core for Viktor. Then, it was his turn.
As Ollivander called his name, he twitched his right arm. As his wand snapped in place, his twirled it so the handle faced Ollivander.
Ollivander took it. "Ah yes, I remember this wand. 11 inches of holly, nice and supple, with a phoenix feather core. Quite an unusual combination, not the only thing unusual about this wand though, hrm?"
Harry just prayed Ollivander didn't say anything else. Luckily, Ollivander seemed to sense this, and decided not to say anything further.
"Yes, there is nothing wrong with any of their wands. They are all in working order." Before anyone could do anything else, Harry brought up a question. "Ollivander, should something happen to this wand…"
"Are you allowed a secondary wand? Yes, but to use it, I need to inspect it."
Harry internally sighed. He hadn't wanted to reveal too much. But, his competitive side came out, and he wanted to win and make sure he didn't get disqualified due to a stupid technicality. He twitched his left arm this time, letting his other wand come out.
"Ho, interesting, yes, not a wand of my creation. Looks to be a Mavers creation. Ebony, 11 ¼ inches with… interesting. With Basilisk fang and venom as its core." At mention of the core, Harry drew sharp looks from many. Dumbledore for one was now staring very intently at him, while Cedric was looking at him very curiously. "Ingenious, using the fang to prevent the venom from eating out the wood. Yes, this wand is also in working order."
Dumbledore had dismissed them, but then Bagman suddenly shouted, "Photos! Dumbledore, photos! Of the champions and the judges, please?"
Harry just stood there. Maxime tended to cast a shadow on everyone with her height, and everyone else kept trying to make themselves look better. Karkaroff, insufferable as he is, kept twirling his goatee to make it look better. Krum kept trying to sulk, but the photographer kept trying to bring either him or Delacour to the front. Cedric just kind of nervously stood there, not used to this kind of attention. Harry just let himself be moved wherever, but Skeeter seemed to be fixated on him. In the end, after the group and individual photos, they were finally able to leave.
Harry decided to catch up again with Cedric.
"So Cedric, any luck with Chang?
"No, not yet. I've decided to wait until after the First Task. If you live, I'll ask pretty quickly. It not, then I'll wait a bit."
Harry put on a hurt expression. "Cedric, you have so little faith in me. I thought a little bit about what Krum told me. And I intend to win."
Cedric looked taken aback. "Really now? Well, best of luck to you."
Harry nodded, and they went their separate ways. Before it was too late, Harry called out.
"Cedric!"
The Hufflepuff turned around, a curious expression on his face.
"I never thanked you for telling people you believed me, and for the badges. I already knew due to Susan and Hannah, but, well, thanks."
Cedric just stood there for a moment, before smiling. Then they went their separate ways.
When Harry arrived at the Great Hall, Harry was almost attacked with questions from Ravenclaw table. Susan and Hannah had apparently already decided to sit down there, and he sat down next to them. Hannah popped the first question.
"So, how was it? What was it?"
Harry shrugged.
"Dumbledore just brought in Ollivander to make sure that everyone's wands were in working order. It was probably a measure against tampering, either positive or negative, when the schools were much more competitive."
Susan nodded. "My auntie told me a little bit about the tournament. Apparently, the tasks aren't the only event. And in history, there even used to be a dueling event occasionally!"
"Well, I don't think there will be one now, what with Dumbledore and all."
Susan and Hannah nodded in agreement. "Auntie said that she was having a talk with Dumbledore, but there is nothing he can do. She's continuing to look into it, but…"
"It's ok Susan. I'll compete. Krum and I talked." Hannah interjected here.
"What, you talked to Krum!?"
Harry shot her an annoyed look as suddenly, there was a lot of interest again at their part of the table. Davies, of course, being the loudest.
"Potter! You talked to Krum!? What was he like!? Can you get an autograph!?"
Harry just ignored him. "Anyway, he said something to me that I've thought about. I've decided I'm going to compete, and even try to win."
Susan looked a little nervous. "Are you going to, you know…?" Hannah nodded, looking at Harry expectantly.
"Not if I don't have to, like life or death."
Susan nodded, satisfied. "You know, if anyone finds out, it won't matter that you're not the Boy-Who-Lived. You're never going to get a quiet moment. And heaven knows what either You-Know-Who or Dumbledore will do with the knowledge."
"I know."
The next week passed by. Harry had been excused from exams, and most of what they were doing was topics he had already studied during the summer. He spent most of his time thinking for new idea and research, and then going to the Room of Requirement when dueling session wasn't there. He went to those as well, but he didn't think dueling would come in handy.
He mainly focused on spell repertoire. Because the first task was supposed to test courage, he learned the Conjunctivitis curse. He also made sure Sonare, the shrieking spell was ready. He had to wear ear muffs for that.
A week before the task, he had been approached by the Weasley twins. They were… free minds as it were. As such, they didn't follow Ron's example, following Thomas like a lost little puppy. When Harry mentioned who the Marauders were, they had been happy to give him the map.
"Hey, Gred, Forge."
They just smiled at that.
"Well, seeing as you're our friend," Fred started.
"And not quite as annoying as your brother," George interjected.
"We thought we could help you out."
Normally, the twins didn't approach him like this, out of the blue. They were on good terms, but not so much as to randomly strike up conversation.
"And what is it that you have to tell me?
"Well, we heard that our brother Charlie's at Hogwarts."
"You might want to look around."
This caused a raised eyebrow from Harry. He was well aware of what the second eldest Weasley child did for a living. "Anything you want me to do in return?" Harry asked.
"Yea," Fred said, while George handed Harry some bags. "Leave some of these around in places and ways where some people will eat them and tell us the results. Or make sure we can see them."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Will any effects wear off?"
"They should. If they don't, then you're at liberty to stop leaving them around."
"Fair enough. By the way, you mentioned Thomas?"
George just shrugged. "You know how he is. The same as always. Talking about you and semi-ranting."
Harry walked away, keeping the twins advice in mind. They had their own plans for life, which also conveniently distanced them from one Molly Weasley and therefore, Dumbledore. Harry quite liked the twins. They had a good sense of humor. And their pranks never permanently harmed people. Unless they deserved it.
Harry went back to his room and checked the map. He barely found Charlie in time, walking back towards the Forbidden Forest.
When darkness finally fell, Harry snuck out of the castle. Honestly, they needed to make it a little harder. But, having the map helped. He made sure to cast a Disillusionment charm on himself. It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough. When he got to the forest, he thought he heard a noise, and started making his way over. Halfway there, he saw Hagrid and Madame Maxime walking in the same direction. He really wish he had Thomas's Invisibility cloak, but it would be too noticeable if it disappeared.
As he started to follow them, being careful with his footsteps in the darkness, the noise that he had heard started to get louder and louder until it was finally a roar. Hagrid and Madame Maxime had stopped, and when Harry was finally able to get a look at what it was, his heart dropped.
There were four dragons. One for each of the champions. Out of them, one of them was being especially difficult. It was all black with horns protruding out. He would have to consult a book to determine what breed it was. Magical creatures were not his strong suit. He saw Charlie Weasley go up to Hagrid, a delighted yet haggard look about him. No doubt because of the dragons. He seemed to have a pretty one-sided conversation with him, and pointed to Maxime.
He started to make his way back before anyone noticed him, or the lack of him in his Common Room, when he saw Karkaroff. He glared at the man, even though he couldn't see Harry. Karkaroff was on his towards the dragons. Someone must have tipped him off as to their location. He had no doubt that Karkaroff would tell Viktor, just as Maxime would tell Fleur.
While Harry wanted to win, he also didn't want anyone to lose their life. And being unprepared for a dragon is a surefire way to do that.
When Harry found Cedric the next day, he was predictably surrounded by quite a number of older Hufflepuffs. He also saw Cho Chang there, and they were all laughing about something. It was nice to see only a couple were wearing the badges that Draco had made. When he approached, some of them jeered, but most were friendly. Cedric just sat up and looked at him.
"What's up Harry?"
"Could I have a word, Cedric? Away from your friends?"
There was some outcry at this, but Cedric raised his hands to placate them.
"It's okay, I'm not going to bite," Harry muttered, rolling his eyes at the group.
Cedric just smiled and let himself be led away. Once they were away, Cedric dropped the smile.
"Ok, what is this about? You wouldn't just come up to me in the middle of the day asking to talk."
"I wanted to give you a warning. I got tipped off, and I imagine that the other two champions were tipped off last night by the heads of their schools. I don't think Sprout would cheat so here I am."
"Are you saying you know what the first task is?"
"What I'm saying is that being prepared for a dragon wouldn't hurt your chances at living."
The color had left Cedric's face.
"You're serious?"
Harry just nodded.
"Unless they're here for some other reason. But I saw Maxime and Karkaroff looking at them last night. I'll give you the same advice you gave me. Try not to get yourself killed."
Cedric solemnly nodded, before turning away to go back to his friends.
Harry was nervous. Well, it's not like he entered himself, so it's not his fault he was in this mess. But to face off a dragon. Susan and Hannah were horrified when they learned what he had to face. He had spent the last week trying to think of a way to combat it.
Earlier that week, he had been confronted by Thomas and Ron. Thomas just stopped him in the corridor in front of the Great Hall.
"Is there something you need Thomas?"
"Why is it you?"
Harry just cocked an eyebrow.
"Why are you the champion?"
"Well, technically, it's Cedric who's champion for Hogwarts."
"That doesn't matter!"
At this point, he had drawn a bit of a crowd.
"And why doesn't it matter Thomas?"
"Cause I'm the Boy-Who-Lived!"
Harry just sighed. He had thought Thomas had been knocked down a peg over the last few year. 'I guess I was wrong. Or, Ron pulled him back up those pegs.'
"And why should I care about that?"
"Why should you get to do something that I don't? You're just my brother."
"What does it matter that you're the boy who lived? That doesn't matter, you're just another student right now. And I didn't even ask for this. Even you should have heard that by now."
By this point, something of a small crowd had gathered.
"I don't, and neither do a lot of people, care that you're the "Boy-Who-Lived"," he remarked, rolling his eyes at the title and air quoting. "You may or may not have defeated Voldemort when we were young, but right now, you're just another student. You're somewhat talented, I'll give you that, but you're an arrogant toe rag, just like James."
Thomas himself had flinched at the name, but got over that. "What do you mean I may or may not have? I'm the Boy-Who-Lived, of course I defeated You-Know-Who!"
Harry just tiredly glared back. "You mean to tell me that a boy with no extraordinary magical prowess defeated a fully grown wizard? It's more likely that something that Lily did affected him and you."
At this point, Weasley had stepped in. "Why do you keep calling them Lily and James?"
"Because calling them Mom and Dad would be wrong."
Harry had turned away at that point.
After pouring over some books, Harry found out that the fearsome black dragon was the Hungarian Horntail, one of the most ferocious dragon breeds, if not the most ferocious. He tried thinking of anything he could do to combat a dragon. If he had an army, stunners would work. But dragon is so resistant to everything that in a one versus one situation, he wouldn't be able to directly attack the dragon. His best bet would be transfiguration, or aiming for the eyes.
As he looked up, he saw the other three champions. While all three were pacing and seemed nervous, they also seemed to have a plan. The best that Harry could come up with was "Maybe use transfiguration, and don't die." Not the best plan, but a plan. Ok, maybe more like 12% of a plan.
Harry continued to think, so much so that he didn't notice Fleur giving him a look. She was specifically focused on the scar, giving it a funny look.
Bagman came in with a flourish, followed by the other judges. Unfortunately for him, when he entered, he tripped over his feet, making a fool of himself. He soon gathered himself and addressed the champions.
"Oh, good, all of you are here! Well, now that's settled, it's time to explain the first task to you. Now, as you will probably remember, you were told that today, you would all go through a task meant to test not only your daring, but your ability to think through the unknown, armed What you will be facing off against today are… dragons!"
If Bagman had been expecting any surprise, he was disappointed. No one even tried to pretend that they didn't know, and just kept listening.
Bagman cleared his throat. "Ahem, well, like I was saying, we have four dragons, one for each champion. Crouch, if you will?"
Crouch came forward with a purple silk bag. "Inside this bag is a miniature model of the dragons that we have. Each of you will grab one, and that is what you will have to face. The model will also have a number accompanying it, indicating the order in which you will face off with your opponent."
Bagman cut in again. "Well, ladies first," he said, gesturing towards the French delegation.
Delacour faced the bag with a resigned determination, and reached in. When she pulled her hand out she pulled out a small Welsh Green with a 2 around its neck. Viktor in turn pulled out the Chinese Fireball with a three, and Cedric pulled out the Swedish Short Snout, with a number one.
Harry resigned himself to his fate, reaching in and pulling out the dragon he had been dreading, the Hungarian Horntail.
"Excellent! Now, the other judges and I have to go take our places, but each time you hear whistle, that means it's time for the next champion to emerge, starting with Mr. Diggory.
As soon as the judges left, the champions went back to their pacing. Cedric seemed the most nervous, probably because he was going first. Harry approached him before he lost the chance.
"All right there Cedric?"
"Not really. Knowing that we're going to be facing dragons, well, what was the Ministry thinking?"
"Who the hell knows? But hey, you have better look than me."
"Oh?"
"Yea, this," he said, pointing to his dragon "is a right piece of work. One of the most dangerous breeds."
Cedric winced. "That does make me feel a little bit better."
"Well, you can go complain to your dad later, he works in the ministry."
"So does yours."
Harry's face darkened. "Oh, right, I heard about what you said."
At this Harry chuckled. "I reckon half the school heard it, and then the other half heard it within the hour."
"Look, Har-"
Whatever else he was about to say was cut off by the whistle.
"Good luck Cedric."
Cedric looked grim as he walked out, and the massive cheers from the crowd told Harry that Cedric had made it to the enclosure, and the dragon.
The gasps, cheers, and roars (from the crowd and dragons) didn't help Harry's state of mind as soon, Delacour and Viktor left the champion's tent. Soon, the whistle blew, meaning that it was his turn.
He stepped through the tent and into the enclosure, where he was met with hundreds of faces. He took a deep breath and took in the enclosure. There was stands that were magicked around them, but other than that, it was quite empty. It seemed that they were protected by some sort of spell. The black dragon was quite frightening, thrashing her spiked tail, leaving great big gashes in the ground.
Harry pulled out his Holly wand and went to work, transfiguring the ground into some rocks that he could use as cover. He then started testing what he could do against the Horntail.
He sent some stunners, and Impedimenta, a banishing charm and even a Confringo. The most effective was the Confringo. And even that was hardly capable of slowing down his massive opponent.
The Horntail shot a jet of flames towards him, and he ducked behind one of the boulders that he had transfigured. Harry steeled himself, and brought out his second wand. Once the heat had subsided, he dove out, shooting a Percutio at the dragon. The piercing curse hit dead on, blasting a small hole in the dragon's leg. 'Almost any other creature and that would have gone clean through the legs, bloody dragon-hide.'
All Harry had really managed to do was to royally piss off the Horntail. It started to claw its way over to him, slowly, in order to protect its eggs, but surely. Harry turned back, trying to think of something while hiding from the dragon's fire.
'I could disillusion myself. But, if I did that, the dragon's sense of smell might give me away. But, maybe all of the other scents will throw it off.'
Harry was so engrossed that he almost didn't catch the movement in the corner of his eye. It was only by reflex that he dove and cast an Impendimenta. Such a weak spell did hardly anything with the dragonhide protecting the beast, but it slowed it for the fraction of a second that he needed to keep his head.
"Bloody hell!" he shouted, unintentionally quoting the Weasley brat.
He started shooting spells at it, but all he was doing was annoying it. The tail came for him again and he dove.
He was out in the open then when the dragon opened its mouth to fry him. By instinct, Harry shot a mild cutting curse at it, and the exposed flesh was torn open.
The dragon roared in agony, thrashing around, but had made enough distance so as to not damage the eggs. Eventually, the dragon started to calm down, but it focused its eyes on him. They were will with a cold, calculating hatred. This time, when it blew fire at him, it barely opened it mouth.
Harry could feel the heat before it even got halfway to him. He dove, but the Horntail seemed to know what he intended. Its tail shot out at him, earning him a small gash to his leg.
Harry cursed his carelessness. "Bombarda!" he yelled with his left before the dragon could do anything else, casting a Protego with his right, shielding himself with dust from the dragon's vision. He got to his feet, disillusioning himself in the process but keeping an eyes on the Horntail.
Once he disappeared, the Horntail started to look around. Eventually, as Harry moved around, the dragon seemed to lock on in his general direction.
'So, even a dragon's nose can't follow me exactly with this many people shouting and obscuring my scent.'
He kept moving around, focusing while he did. Eventually, he cancelled the disillusion, and transfigured the ground into iron chains, the links of which were as thick as he was and then some.
The dragon drew its attention to the chains as they started moving, the links clinking against each other. It tried to escape, and blew fire at them, but Harry kept him at bay, casting an Aguamenti with his ebony wand, both to quench the fire, and also to set up his next move.
"Glacius." What water hadn't been vaporized from the fire started to freeze around the dragon. not enough to freeze it completely, but enough to slow it down and impede it enough to allow the chains to do their work. While he controlled the chains with his right, he transfigured more chains with his left and added them to his control, tying the Horntail's mouth shut and keeping it down.
Once it was sufficiently subdued, he walked over to the eggs, and picked up the golden one. The crowd cheered in triumph. Susan and Hannah were especially ecstatic. Neville gave him a thumbs up and Daphne nodded. The other two schools were politely clapping, and about a third of Hogwarts didn't know whether to clap for him or not. Once the dragon handlers came, he slowly dispelled the chains that held it down.
Harry just reveled in the success. It didn't matter whether some of them didn't really care for him. He was always respected by those in Ravenclaw and a few throughout. He was loved by his friends, and t appreciated by his acquaintances. But he had never felt like this.
'Is this what Thomas feels like all the time? Always being the center of attention, adoration? It's a little much, but I could definitely get used to this.'
Harry was brought out of his musings by some shrieks ad roars. Harry whirled around, looking back at the dragon. It had gotten out of control, possibly by luring the handlers into a false sense of security.
Instead of going for the threats, it decided to go for those who were helpless, slamming itself in the magical barrier. Harry started sprinting back, hurling spells at it all the way, but at this distance, nothing seemed to be doing anything to the magically resistant hide. Dumbledore and the other judges and tecahers were also hurling stunners, and it almost seemed like they might take it down when they went down.
Within two slams, the barrier broke. Apparently, it was a temporary runic barrier that was being directly powered by some of the teachers, because there was backlash. It threw many of the teachers off balance, going so far as to knock some of them unconscious. The students who were now exposed starting screaming, and started panicking in their rush to get to the exits. No matter what though, most wouldn't be fast enough to escape the dragon's wrath.
The dragon seemed to have pinpointed on an area. The area where Susan, Hannah, and the others were sitting. Harry started hurling everything he had, many of which bordered or crossed the Ministry definition of "dark".
"Ossis Effergo! Confringo! Sanguis Fervo!" Susan and the others were blocked off by the crowds, and were also hurling spells at it. Nothing seemed to be having an effect. Finally, the dragon reared up and got ready to incinerate them.
Harry was too far. "NO!"
It was as time itself had frozen. It wasn't for nothing either. It was the first time Harry had been able to channel without focusing.
As the dragon started to unleash its breath, an icy blue mass started to grow in front of Susan and the others. It grew meteorically, covering Harry's friends before the fire was even a third of the way there. The shield started to curl back on itself while growing thicker.
Eventually, the blast of fire hit the shield, dead center, and it held strong. The fire spread out, before being returned to it sender. The dragon, startled both by the returning fire and the shield, stopped its assault.
Harry turned his attention to the dragon, his now icy blue eyes boring into the dragon's.
"You, won't ever hurt them." It was a reversal of roles, and now even the dragon looked cowed.
He raised his hands, molding the ice to his will. The shield spilt into pieces, striking themselves against the dragon. One piece pierced the tail, and from there, ice started to spread, never stopping until the dragon was almost fully encased, with only its nose and eyes uncovered.
Harry finally stepped back, before he noticed the whole arena focused on him. He looked for Susan and Hannah, who seemed sad and apologetic. Daphne was as cold and calculating as ever. Neville gave him a timid thumbs up, which he had to smile at.
Then he saw her. The Delacour girl. She looked at him with a mixture of fear, gratitude, and determination. He turned away from her, scowling all the way.
He tucked his wands back in his holsters, and walked back to the stands, away from the chaos he was leaving in his wake.