AN: Apparently I got really inspired. Because with this chapter, I wasn't going to finish up until Sunday. So all you guys get an early update. I definitely had fun writing this.

Hope you enjoy!

~NicoDiAngeloLover7

Touched by Death – Chapter 22 (We're in Trouble)

So, it turns out that Sirius was not pleased at all… Sirius didn't bother writing a letter back, he showed up in person. If Marcus wasn't so furious himself, he may have laughed. It was weird to see Sirius so 'serious', the man was usually all jokes and laughter most times. Though it was not surprising to hear that Sirius demand to see Albus, so he could curse the man dead and bring him back just to kill him again. He was not going to let his godson be forced in a tournament that would kill the fourteen-year-old. Marcus shared the same sentiment.

Sirius' temper was slightly calmed when Marcus explained that the headmaster was already unconscious at the moment. There was a flicker of amusement in the man's eyes at the fact that Marcus was the one that cursed him. And the fact that Minerva McGonagall was put out that she hadn't cursed the man first. What really calmed Sirius down was the fact there was no way Dumbledore could get out of breaking his probation and booted out of Hogwarts. The man had broken it and all Sirius had to do was report about the mind blocks and tempering with the Goblet of Fire. The man would have to grab one of the reports that Marcus would write up about the goblet.

Marcus was required to write a report and send it off to Gringotts about the damage done to the goblet and what was done in order to fix it. The Goblet of Fire was an ancient artifact and tampering with it broke more than a dozen wizarding laws dating back centuries. The Slytherin had inspected the Goblet of Fire after he sent off the letter to Sirius. Since every student had been dismissed, Marcus locked the doors to the Great Hall, so he wouldn't be disturbed. It was a lengthy process and a lot of murmuring in Latin and he would be able to read the runes. The runes would glow this bright illuminated blue before floating in the air in front of him. It was easier to make sense of the runes that way, instead of slowly going around the Goblet. Some of the runes were tinted red to show altercation to it. They were supposed to glow bright blue before shifting to gold. The gold showed the strength of the runes, which should still be as strong as when the Goblet was created. Marcus frowned as he watched some of the runes shift to a pale grey. Some of the runes were losing strength, there was a reason why the Goblet was not supposed to be tampered with. There was one good thing, none of the runes were fading to pitch black.

Marcus huffed, irritated. He wished that maybe he cast more than two curses at the Headmaster. The man had to meddle with stuff that he didn't understand. The Goblins would be pissed when they finally received his report of the damage done. Marcus flicked his wand as he muttered a few words under his breath. It was an ancient saying to help reveal a person's magical signature. It was a deep kept secret, that not many would share. The saying wasn't in Latin or English, either. And you had to perform a Goblins' version of a Wizard's Oath. Which its punishments were much more severe than a simple Wizard's Oath.

The 7th year waited for the spell to take effect before fancy script started to write it self in front of Marcus. A lot of it was runes before fading into a recognizable name. It glowed in an ugly brown color, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Marcus scoffed, that man had to have a long ass name that nobody cared for. But that's how magical signatures worked, they appeared as that person's full name. A fake name wouldn't register, it would be their binding real name. That was when Marcus noticed a second name appeared, Bartemius Crouch, Junior. His eyebrows were ruffled in confusion. He knew the man, he had been one of the death eaters of Voldemort before he came to his downfall. The man was currently resting in Azkaban, or maybe he did and was now free. This was something that Marcus needed to report to Amelia, a check needed to be done. The goblins would have the first copies of everything and he would send an additional. The woman would require evidence for such an accusation. Marcus watched as the names faded after a few minutes. He took a deep breath, he needed to solidify the runes that had been weakened before returning the goblet back to the Goblins. After all, it had been them that the ministry had borrowed the artifact from. The Slytherin doubted they would allow another wizard or witch to use the artifact for least another few centuries. The tampering would not be well received, especially since it was by wizards. Marcus traced the malfunctioning runes with his wand as he muttered under his breath. This would take several agonizing minutes to correct. The pale grey runes brightened for a moment before it was slowly shifting back to a pale blue. That was when the runes suddenly brightened again and shifted to gold. Marcus stepped several feet back as the other gold runes also glowed brightly before there was a small blast. Had Marcus been too close, he would have been blasted off his feet. It made the Great Hall look golden for a few moments before the runes completely faded back into the Goblet of Fire. The runes were required to be in unison in order to continue to work properly. Because if the runes weren't fixed, it would spread to the other runes and eventually render the goblet useless if it got too bad. That was only when all the runes faded to a pitch black one by one. Marcus wouldn't' have to worry about that since all the runes were back to golden. Everything was back to its original state before Dumbledore decided to tamper with something he didn't understand.

Marcus sighed, the goblet was fixed but that usually took a lot of magic. So, the process left the Slytherin a little tired. Crafting runes was a lot harder than most would expect, especially when they had to be repaired. He wasn't too worried since he had a huge magical reserve, especially since his magic was fully matured. He still needed to send a letter to Gringotts, so the goblins could pick up the goblet and get it under lock and key. He would keep the Great Hall locked while he went back to the Owlery to send another letter, this time it was for Gringotts. It would make no sense for some curious student to decide to snoop and ruin the hard work he just did.

It probably would take an hour or two at most for a Goblin to arrive at Hogwarts to retrieve the artifact. Maybe sooner since certain goblins didn't have to worry about the wards at Hogwarts. Considering the fact that it was the goblins that helped craft majority of Hogwarts' wards.

As it so happened, the goblin that had chosen to go, surprised the Slytherin.

"Master Head Goblin, Xurnak. It's an honor to meet you, again," Marcus tilted his head down slightly in respect.

The goblin looked slightly impressed, it was hard to tell sometimes. "Curse Master, Flint. Good work, as always. You have done well, have you thought about our offer?"

"Black if you please, I was made Heir by Lord Black. I have thought about it and I accept. But I do not wish to retain the position at Gringotts. I would prefer the position we spoke about last time we spoke," Marcus' voice was courteous.

The goblin didn't look offended, it was evident he was thinking. "My apologies, Heir Black. Very well, it is manageable. I will note it down. I will also be recording your work today, you might be looking at some contracts in the future."

Marcus nodded, "I appreciate that. May your enemies bleed before you." Marcus was well aware, even if the Head Master goblin was speaking to him. He had things to do back at Gringotts.

Xurnak gave a nasty grin, "May your gold ever flow."

There were a lot of resources that Slytherins had, but there been very little concerning past Triwizard Tournaments. Marcus wasn't sure he was surprised or not by how many of his Slytherins wanted to help out his boyfriend. Malfoy still hated Harry's guts and Pansy went along with Malfoy. Most the material founds was most about the death rates and eventual shut down of the tournament. There had been some useful information on what the task would test you on. But for each tournament, it was different. The first task was about courage, the second around resourcefulness, and the third was about self-reliance. Typically, the third task was always about a series of challenges to test their skill knowledge and instinct. There really wasn't exactly a rule book about the tournament lying around. Since in years past, the age limit wasn't set at maturity level. Terence hadn't been too pleased about what everyone found, he had been hoping to find something that would help. He didn't like the idea that Harry would be facing the same challenges he was. But he was 17 and had more experience than Harry. Hopefully Marcus might find something out from Krum.

Turns to find out, Krum didn't have much success either. Most of the Bulgarian students were disgruntled that Hogwarts had two champions. Just like Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor, they believed that the Boy-Who-Lived cheated. So, if there was any sort of book, Durmstrang wasn't up for sharing it. Krum had been really apologetic about it, though it was a bit harder to understand his words. They were still respectful that Krum might have some friendship with those Hogwarts students. But that didn't mean that they trusted them.

That had brought Marcus' conversation back with Sirius. The man was still mad about the fact his godson had been entered into the tournament.

"Where is Harry?"

Marcus had been marking up some last-minute report for Professor McGonagall before he looked up. I imagine he's with some of his friends, Seamus and them.

"So, you haven't told him?"

Marcus looked annoyed, "told him what!?"

Sirius had this wowed look on his face. "You don't know?"

"What do I not fucking know!? Spit it out, Sirius!" the hidden questions were starting to piss the Slytherin off. And being worried about Harry, was not helping matters.

"We need to find Harry, now!" Sirius snapped as he left the Great Hall. The Goblet of Fire had already been taken and returned by Gringotts by then.

Marcus rolled his eyes, but he followed Sirius to where ever he thought Harry might be. Hopefully the man would elaborate on whatever he had on his mind.

"There's a 24-hour window from the time the champions are chosen. I thought you knew about this, but I'm guessing it must be a well-kept secret," Sirius was practically running to the seventh floor by then.

Marcus almost stopped in his tracks. "So, Harry has 24 hours from the time his name came out of the goblet? He wouldn't have to participate?" The Slytherin was hot on Sirius' heels.

"Yes," Sirius didn't bother to look if Marcus was behind him. "It's a rule that goes back centuries. It all came about when a champion was chosen centuries ago and had been forced into the tournament and was pregnant at the time. It was added so she wouldn't have to lose her baby or her magic. Especially since her magic was feeding the baby."

The explanation made sense to Marcus and he wanted to kick himself for nothing thinking of asking Sirius in the first place. The Black family was an Ancestral family for a reason. They had a fountain of knowledge passed from Black to Black and kept most of it in their family library. It did make Marcus curious if one of the Blacks in the past had known that specific champion all those years ago.

Marcus cursed under his breath when he came to the Fat Lady. Sirius looked just as irritated especially when she refused to let them through without a password. There had never been a reason for Marcus to know any of Gryffindor Tower's passwords. He mainly waited outside the portrait or they would meet up somewhere. But Marcus had no idea where Harry could be. Gryffindor Tower was the only place that Marcus could think that Harry might be.

Sirius slightly winced at the string of curse words that fell from the Slytherin's lips. It made him wonder if Marcus was a lot more worried than he was. And that was saying a lot. Not even the words that Marcus was Headboy would allow the Slytherin inside. Sirius happened to glance behind and slightly winced, this wasn't going to be good.

"Mr. Flint, now what do you think you are doing!? You do realize this not appropriate behavior that I would expect from my Headboy," rang McGonagall's voice.

Marcus turned around to face Professor McGonagall and actually looked slightly embarrassed. He hadn't counted on a professor showing up.

"I need to get into Gryffindor Tower, professor," Marcus responded.

The stern professor raised an eyebrow. "And why would you need to get inside the tower. As I recall you have a dorm of your own. Even the dorms in the Dungeon."

Marcus knew that McGonagall had a point. "There is a 24-hour window, I need to get to Harry. There is a way to get Harry out from being forced into a tournament that he has no wish in being in. I'm not going to let Harry die if I can help it. The age was raised for a reason. So, I need to get into the tower."

McGonagall's eyes softened. She always had a soft spot for her lions, especially Harry. He always had a tougher life than most. Her eyes narrowed, and she turned towards the Fat Lady. "Peruvian Vipertooth."

Marcus raised an eyebrow at the name of the password.

"Wait here," Minerva ordered.

It might have taken the transfiguration ten to fifteen minutes before she returned. And she didn't return with a brunette fourteen-year old.

"Where is he?" Marcus growled.

McGonagall didn't look impressed. "Mr. Flint, I would watch your tone. Nobody has seen Mr. Potter except when he entered for the first twenty minutes before running back out. According to Mr. Fred and George Weasley, there wasn't a nice welcome for Mr. Potter. They were not very pleased. Gryffindor house will be hearing from me and they won't like what I'll have to say," The hint was heavy on what the stern professor meant. And she wasn't happy with her Gryffindors. She wasn't able to do anything right now not with everything going on with Dumbledore. She had already received the report from Marcus and everything was being submitted. There was another meeting due in a few weeks to decide what to do that manipulative headmaster. She was a little impressed with how fast that Amelia seemed to work.

"Fucking hell! This is complete bullshit!" Marcus shouted, and his voice echoed through the seventh-floor corridor.

McGonagall didn't say a word about the abrasive language.

Marcus wasn't sure what to do. Harry wasn't anywhere to be found. And he could bet that Seamus, Dean, and Neville were with Harry. There was no way they would let Harry be alone. Marcus should be there for Harry as well, not trying to endlessly search for his missing boyfriend.

Sirius muttered a quiet 'fuck' underneath his breath. He didn't doubt that Minerva might try to curse him for his bad language. He wasn't a Hogwarts student like Marcus, so the restrictions didn't apply to him. And if he tested Minerva enough, he definitely would be dodging some lethal spells. Minerva was a force to be reckoned with. Sirius wasn't sure where else he godson might be. And that in itself was making Sirius and Marcus worry.