Author Note
This chapter should bring me up to three hundred thousand words. This story has been a lot of work. I never meant for it to last so long.
Reviews
Alan
I am trying to put more effort into my writing. So that should mean more chapters of this story.
Gon Freaks
Thank you.
loki98065
No, it's just going to be Hermione and Kol.
juan40420
Perhaps I'll do something with this story to explain Sally-Anne's vanishing act.
Shaedy Hoe
I am trying to. I've been writing a lot over on Questionable Questing as posting on a forum makes it a lot easier to get feedback.
Crossworlds 1 - Harry Potter
Part 52
The Great Hall. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Tonight was the night. I'd been waiting for the tournament to officially start all afternoon and right now I was enjoying the pleasant feeling produced by the luck potion that I had consumed just a little of not so long ago.
Everything had gone very well over the last hour or so, I'd gotten all my homework done sooner than normal giving me some free time to help others with their work, much to Hermione's pleasure, and this feeling should last at least until the names were called out. I could see
The feast had been wonderful. I'd gotten more than a little fed up with the lack of any food being offered at Hogwarts beyond what could be considered proper British food, and while it was easy for me to sneak out to get what I wanted it was nice to have some foreign dishes available here at school.
Croissants and coffee for breakfast were an enjoyable change from tea and toast, and apparently, only British wizards and witches seemed to have a great love for pumpkin juice so there was less of that around. I didn't even drink the stuff I just disliked having it around.
And the cheeses. Oh, good lord, I'd missed having a selection of cheeses. I love cheddar cheese, but it made me so happy to have something else to go with my crackers.
As the meal came to an end the lights were lowered and the Goblet of Fire was brought before us. Its flames were much more noticeable now that many of the candles had been put out and the magical artefact drew every eye to it.
"Ladies and gentlemen," said Ludo Bagman "Boys and girls, the time is nearly upon us".
Since Dumbledore wasn't here to dominate every event and to assault with his offensively coloured robes, Bagman, the head of the Magical Games and Sports, Department at the Ministry of Magic, would be the one to read the names out loud when the Goblet provided them. He was an announcer at many a Quidditch game, thus he was used to being heard by a crowd and he had more of a stage presence than any of the judges.
"Here we are," he said as the Goblet gave us the first name "The Drumstrang Champion is Victor Krum!".
No surprise there, nor would it be shocking when Fleur's name was shouted out as she by the most talented witch at her school. She certainly had more confidence than the others and from what I'd heard she was the most talented of the students the French school had sent to Hogwarts.
"For Beaubatons we have Fleur Deaclour!" Bagamn yelled to the crowd.
There was even more cheering. Both Krum and Fleur were well-liked by their schoolmates and Krum had quite a big following outside of his school due to his successful Quidditch career. I knew that since he was attracted to Hermione in the Goblet of Fire book/movie he at least had good taste in women.
"And for Hogwarts we have..."
He paused for a moment to let the suspense build.
"John Hiddleston!" Bagman shouted.
Every Ravenlaw cheered as I got up and headed over to the Goblet of Fire, but none louder than Luna who felt the need to wave as I stood with the other champions. Hermione was more sedate as she knew how dangerous the Trizward Tournament could be, and would have been if I hadn't worked to make the three tasks less insane.
The other houses didn't look pleased, but once the events started, and there were going to be a few this year outside of the tasks, they would get behind me as long I kept winning. I already had a way to get at some of the Hufflepuffs to support me.
Lucky for Harry Potter his name didn't come out of the Goblet of Fire. Although this would have resulted in fewer people giving me the stink eye. The Gryffindors were not happy that one of them wasn't the centre of attention
"Not to worry, your champions will soon return" promised Ludo Bagman.
Those who had their names come out of the goblet were escorted into the nearby trophy room. The rest of the Hogwarts student body was sent back to their common rooms.
"John, aren't you a little young for this?" questioned Fleur.
She knew me a little from the tour I'd given most of the visiting students. Enough that she felt comfortable using my first name.
"I've passed my OWL exams," I said.
That and having permission from a parent/guardian were all that mattered as far as the entry rules were concerned.
"Now that we have our three champions I believe that its time to tell you that the First Task will take place on November 24th so you'll have plenty of time to prepare," said Bagman "We have other less important events planned throughout the year, that you will learn about later, but what matters to you to are the three main events".
I had no doubt the Heads of Drumstrang and Beaubatons would be proving their students with more information once they were out of the castle. The Headmistress of my school wasn't likely to provide me with any aid as I knew that she didn't like me. Mostly because I repeatedly humbled her lions in both classes and duels.
Thankfully, for me, I was one of the people who had worked behind the scenes to arrange all of this so I knew exactly what was involved, and I already had prepared a plan to deal with the wyvern who would be guarding the golden egg.
"Don't forget that the champions need to choose their seconds" reminded Mr Greengrass.
He'd taken the place of Barty Crouch Senior for the Trizward Tournament. As for the seconds, they were people who would take the place of the champions should we be unable to compete in a task for some reason, but not need to withdraw from the tournament completely. They could also fight duels for us if we were challenged, but duels outside of Ministry-approved events such as the contents were now rare events.
My fellow champions had students I'd never heard of selected as their seconds.
"I'd like to have Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff," I said, "If he agrees".
Professor Spourt seemed pleased by my selection, and hopefully, Cedric would be as well and my picking him should get at least some of Hufflepuff house on my side. I knew that he was competent enough to get through the first two tasks in the book/movie so he was a good choice on a purely practical level.
"I think that is everything you need to know until the Weighing of the Wands," said Bagman.
With that, we were sent our separate ways and I wondered if my housemates would want to celebrate. If so I hoped that it didn't take too long as I had something else I needed to take care of soon.
The Chamber of Secrets. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
This was not the life that Draco Malfoy had been expecting. A few years ago he had arrived at Hogwarts expecting to be placed into Slytherin as his father had before him. He'd expected to rule the school, for those lesser than to pay him the respect he was due as a Malfoy. He'd expected to graduate and join his father at the Ministry or even to serve the Dark Lord should he return.
Draco Malfoy had never even seen the Slytherin common room because that blasted Sorting Hat had tried to send him to the wrong house. He could have tolerated becoming a Ravenclaw, but he hadn't even been allowed that small dignity.
His father had been furious and he'd been sent to Drumstang, where the Malfoy name meant little. If not for the fact the school's headmaster had been brought under his father's control either by money or threats then Draco would have had an even worse time at Drumstang.
It had taken him a long time to learn to speak one of the less civilized tongues spoken by most of the students at the school and the language barrier had been a great problem. But circumstances had forced him to adapt.
Now finally after years of work, he was back at Hogwarts where he belonged, having been selected by his school to represent it in some side events to the tournament. He'd only been chosen because English was his native tongue and so that he could act as a translator for more important students. Not that he acknowledged this.
He might currently be a mere guest at the very school he should rule, but at least he now had a seat at the right table. Perhaps he would be able properly to come back to Britain one day with his family once his father deemed it safe for them to return to their true home.
As to why they'd left, someone had been hunting many of his father's old friends. There was some speculation that Dumbledore had completely lost what sanity he'd had left before he died and had gone on a killing spread, even slaughtering the inmates in Azkaban before finally dying.
Lucius Malfoy hadn't believed that the old fool would do something so drastic even when on death's door, he was too soft-hearted, no it had been someone else, and Draco felt fairly certain it was the person who had grabbed him and brought him to this place.
"You should be honoured," said his captor "Few have ever entered the fabled Chamber of Secrets".
Draco didn't panic despite having heard about this place from his father. The last time it had been opened a mudblood died and the school was nearly closed because of the monster that supposedly dwelled here.
The Malfoy heir realised that he must be under the effect of a powerful spell or potion, it was the only explanation as to why his fear was under control. The potion or spell did prevent him from getting a bit angry.
"When I get out of here, I'm going to make you suffer" he promised "My father is a wealthy man he'll make sure you are hunted down and fed to the Dementors".
His captor did not seem concerned. Draco wondered who the man was, he'd never seen him before. He was sitting in a chair and he looked more like a muggle than a wizard yet he must have magic since he'd accessed the Chamber of Secrets, something that only the Heir of Slytherin was supposed to be able to do.
Unless of course the wizard was simply lying about their location. That seemed likely.
"Knowing that why I would ever let you go?" he asked.
Draco quickly realised that his bravado had been foolish. If he died here his father would never know what happened to his son.
"My father is rich he'll pay a ransom for me," Malfoy promised.
Again his captor seemed unmoved.
"And then he'll use his considerable resources to try to hunt me down," said the strange wizard "But don't worry, I'm not going to kill you, not unless I find a good reason to".
Draco knew that his mind was being probed. However, he knew how to defend himself, he forced himself to think about unimportant things, about homework and meals, to keep the enemy wizard away from whatever it was he wanted to find.
"I'll keep you here until I find out what I need," said the wizard "Why not spare yourself some pain. I've been meaning to practice my Unforgivables".
Mafloy tried to be brave, but it wasn't one of his few good qualities and he quickly broke under the mere threat of torture.
"What do you want to know?" he asked.
The stranger smiled at him in a very unsettling way.
"Where is your father?" he asked "Tell me where he is hiding".
Draco wanted to tell this wizard the truth.
"I can't there's a charm," he said "I'm not the secret keeper".
The wizard didn't seem worried about that.
"How do you contact him?" Mafloy was asked, "When and where will you next meet him".
There were many more questions like that. The stranger wanted to know about those who served the dark lord and where they could be found, how many were left, and who they did business with.
Draco's father didn't share important information with his son, but the young man had picked up some useful tidbits of knowledge over the years. Enough to please this stranger when they were shared.
"Who are you" Malfoy wanted to know "Why are you doing this?".
He was surprised that he got an answer.
"I am Kol the Red Mage" the wizard answered "Not that you'll remember that".
Drace Malfoy did indeed remember none of this. He was found hours later smelling of firewhisky near the Forbidden Forest. No one imagined he'd done more than sneak off with some older students to go drinking.
The Great Hall. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
I read through Rita Skeeter's latest piece of trash that some would dare to call a newspaper article and it was only years of training in the mind arts that prevented me from magically burning the paper or tearing it to pieces.
The good mood I'd been feeling since getting valuable information from Draco Malfoy, who was still alive and even having breakfast in this hall (the only sign of anything being wrong was that he looked as if he hadn't slept last night) and that information would prove useful to me in the future.
For now, I had something else to concern myself with.
"How dare she," I growled.
While the reporter had not actually come out and stated that I was cheating, she had hinted at corruption going on behind the scenes. Mentioning what a coincidence it was that the cousin of one of the tournament organisers had become the Hogwarts champion. Even the dull-witted sheep of Magical Britain would be able to pick on Skeeter's not-so-subtle hints.
"Well it does look odd" argued my fellow prefect Cho Chang "I mean your cousin is an organiser".
I was normally more controlled than this, but everyone has bad days.
"All wizarding families native to Britain are related to each other!" I almost shouted, "Everyone who isn't a muggleborn must have at least one family member working in or with the Ministry. So that means pretty much anyone who could have been champion has a family member working in the Ministry who could give them inside information about the tournaments".
At least they considered my words.
"But what about the money?" questioned a Hufflepuff who was sitting behind me "Your cousin donated the prize money. Maybe he just wants to make sure he doesn't have to pay it out".
Skeeter had hinted at that as well. Thankfully the Hufflepuffs were content to mostly stay neutral towards me after hearing I'd chosen one of them to be my second (Cedric had accepted the role) and the Ravenclaws were more curious than judgmental. It was the snakes and the lions I needed to watch out for.
"There are several things wrong with that," I said as I turned my seat "First of all there's no guarantee that I'm going to win. There are three skilled champions in the tournament and they are just as likely to win as I am. Perhaps even more so since they are older".
Their chances weren't so good as I had greater powers and better information, but I couldn't admit that.
"Second of all if my cousin wanted to give me the money, he just give me the money, we have plenty" I pointed out "Third if he was trying to make himself look good while keeping the money it would be much easier to start a fake charity and donate to that charity".
Could people really not think for themselves?
"People really need believing in the rubbish in that paper and read the Quibbler" stated Luna "The snarky slashrat is a much greater threat to this country than any cheating going on in the tournament".
If that creature was real then it was likely the result of someone casting a few unwise transfiguration spells on a pet rat that then escaped.
"Luna, that doesn't help John's case" chastised Hermione.
Aside from myself only she was the only person who was aware of the real reason why I was funding the tournament, or rather the reasons, I wanted to test my skills, in a controlled way and it helped to bring Fudge under my control.
Daily Prophet Office. Diagon Alley.
Like many Wizarding businesses, the country's only magical newspaper had it has offices here in Diagon Alley, even if only a few people ever saw them. Being the only real newspaper, the Quibbler and other publications were magazines, this meant that aside from the Wizarding Wireless and gossip, the paper was the only source of news for the wand wavers who lived in this alternate version of my homeland.
Morning and evening editions are printed every day and despite the use of post owls, the newspaper can be delivered very quickly. A witch or wizard anywhere in Britain can have a copy in hand within a short time of publication.
For example in the second book/movie, when Ron and Harry were spotted by Muggles flying the Ford Anglia, Professor Snape had a copy of the paper in his hand telling him about it very shortly after they arrived at Hogwarts, and most likely he'd gotten a copy of the paper before they'd arrived.
I knew a little about Barnabas Cuffe the current editor of the Daily Prophet, I knew him to be one of the famous ex-students who had been 'collected' by Horace Slughorn who had later given the teacher a signed photograph that the potion's master kept in his office.
It was Barnabas Cuffe who I had come to see, only that was proving hard to do. Despite my having become a wealthy and important wizard, he was refusing to grant me an audience. It wasn't hard to guess why the man didn't want to see me.
"Mr Cuffe is with the Minister," Cuffe's assistant told me.
I wasn't willing to be made to wait like this. I'd worked hard to make Tom Hiddleston a respected and important member of this society, and I knew that Skeeter would not stop badmouthing the Hiddleston name as long as people kept reading her stories, if anything she was just getting started.
"Do I look like I care?" I said.
I was about to make my way to the man's office, knowing that even if they had any security staff that they couldn't stop me when Minister Fudge came out of the manager's office. He did not look at all happy, and I stopped when I saw the two Aurors with him.
Unlike anyone else here they could stop me, I was a great duellist, but Aurors were well trained, and to defeat them I'd have to expose some of my true power. What was going on here simply wasn't worth that. Not if it turned Fudge against me.
"Tom, I know why you are here," said the Minister.
I felt fairly certain that everyone listening knew exactly what I was doing here and why.
"I've already spoken to Mr Cuffe," said Fudge "He's refusing to put a gag on Skeeter. Something about the freedom of the press".
Well, that was hard to argue with as the press should be free to expose the truth and keep people warned, but this wasn't the same thing, Skeeter wasn't trying to keep people honest she just wanted to drag people down into the muck with her.
"I'm sorry, Tom" Fudge was now saying "There is nothing to be done about it".
Yeah, I wasn't going to accept that.
"These things blow over" he assured, "Skeeter is like a wasp going around stinging people, sure it is annoying for a while, but it fades away and she bothers someone else".
He really was a fool.
"You don't ignore stinging insects," I said "You swat them".
I was wasting my time here. I was no Gyffrindor to rush in and make demands, whining for attention. I needed to handle this more like a Slytherin and a bit of Ravenclaw too. I needed to know about this paper and how it works before I could find some way of getting leverage over Cuffe.
Gringotts. Diagon Alley.
Due to my wealth always growing, as I'd made many sensible investments over the years, I'd been assigned a few different account managers since opening my first vault here at Gringotts. My current account manager, who was a goblin that went by the name of Gorefist, was giving me a look of confusion, or at least that was my guess, it was hard to tell since he wasn't human.
"You don't want to do what?" he asked.
Gorefist's office was by far the largest I'd ever seen here at the bank, it was so big that it had room for massive marble pillars and a number of what I assumed were famous goblins. There were tapestries on the walls that depicted ancient battles between goblins and humanity. At least those walls that were not covered by shelves containing books and decorative weapons.
"I want either purchase the businesses that supply the Daily Prophet with paper and ink" I repeated, "Or failing that simply buy out all of their stock".
The goblin needed time to process this, and while he didn't care to find out why I wanted to prevent the Daily Prophet from being unable to do any printing, he did soon realise the flaw in my idea.
"Why would the businesses that are involved in supplying the Daily Prophet, and the other publications in the Magical World, with both paper and ink, ever agree to this? It would jeopardise their profits in the future".
I had already considered this.
"Because it won't affect their profits in the long run. Once the Prophet has agreed to my terms I will free up their supply, the publishers won't have anyone else go to and once the supplies start moving again they will keep buying" I answered, "Wizards don't adapt unless they absolutely have to, so they won't seek out another supplier".
I would, of course, make sure the Quibbler did not suffer, and to help things along I'd give the Lovegood magazine exclusive interviews, I also planned to hunt down Rita Skeeter who would no doubt be seeking more dirt while in her bug form. I hoped that she would be foolish enough to try breaking into my home or to follow me around while at school.
Harming their logistics was likely how the Ministry got the Prophet to agree to publish its lies when it was being used to badmouth Harry Potter and Dumbledore. I could see Lucius Malfoy coming up with the same plan I had and he was rich enough to buy up all the paper the Prophet used so that he could hold it hostage.
If I were the editor of the Prophet I'd have a deal to get my paper from muggle sources cheaply, but it was doubtful that Cuffee would ever consider such an option.
"I don't care about the expense, I just want it done fast," I told Gorefist.
It would cost me, but money was just a tool and I could always get more.
The Great Hall. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Unlike in the book/movie, this event was not taking place in some quiet part of the castle. Instead, it was happening in the open with many witnesses from all of the schools, the press and the Ministry.
I suspected that this was at least partly due to Fudge's concerns about being accused of making secret deals, which Skeeter had hinted out before I'd gotten the newspaper to back off.
Cuffe had given in very quickly when he realised that his business would soon run out of supplies if he didn't agree to my terms. There hadn't even been a missed issue because the Prophet did keep a stockpile, but that wouldn't have lasted long.
The paper's retraction of Skeeter's article made things easier for me as people still believed what was written in the paper. If I'd been planning on staying in this world for much longer I'd be starting my own paper so that I could control the public with it.
I wondered if Cuffe could resist making use of Skeeter's articles for much longer. He might think I was bluffing and let Skeeter spread her foulness again. If so then the Prophet would cease to exist as a newspaper. I would smash the printing press if I had to, even if that was rather drastic.
"Ah, here he is! Champion number three" called out Bagman as I was seen by him "Now we can start the wand-weighing ceremony, or should we should be able to very soon as the judges will be here in a moment".
Since I helped plan all of this as Tom Hiddleston I knew exactly what was happening, but not everyone did so Bagman, who clearly loved being the centre of attention, spoke to the crowd.
"We have to check that the wands of our champions are fully functional as they're the champion's most important tools in the tasks ahead," said Bagman. "The expert will be here in a moment. And then there'll be a little photo shoot".
Bagman gestured to the reporters.
"This is Rita Skeeter," he said gesturing to the witch in the magenta robes as if the others didn't matter "She'll be writing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet".
I got the sense that these two knew each other and rather well.
"Maybe not that small, Ludo," said Rita Skeeter.
Her hair had been put into an elaborate style. She wore jewelled glasses that looked as if they must be rather heavy and I'd never seen such large fake nails. They'd been painted red and they looked more like claws.
"Miss Skeeter, do remember that your boss, Mr Cuffe, has made it quite clear that you are not to write about my family" I reminded the illegal animagus loudly enough for everyone to hear "I have a deal with the Quibbler, you can mention me being here, that is it. The Quibbler has a reporter here to get my exclusive".
She did not like that, and hopefully, it wouldn't matter even if she did write anything as it wasn't her who got to decide what was published. I had a feeling that one way or another that she'd be out of the reporting business before someone had gotten their hands on the Triwizard Cup.
As for the reporter I would be talking to, that was Luna, she'd write the story and her father would publish it in this month's edition. I was still getting on rather well with that family even if I'd broken off the arranged marriage. It had been for the best since Luna's plans for the future required her to stay in this world.
The Headmistress soon entered the hall with Mr Ollivander, I recognised the old wandmaker from when I'd gotten my wand so many years ago. Ollivander seemed a bit crazy, but he was a genius and there was often a fine line between the two. I'd seen Hermione looking as if she could use a straightjacket when working on a very tricky spell formula.
Close behind them came Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, and Mr Greengrass. The Headmistress rather needlessly introduced Ollivander, and then the judges all sat down. Meanwhile, Ollivander called Fleur over.
She handed her wand over, and he tested it quickly, somehow knowing its core just by looking at it, crazy or not, the man certainly knew his wands. After expressing some doubts about the stability of veela hair as a wand core, he handed the wand back to a visibly annoyed Fleur.
Krum's wand also soon passed inspection. His was of a more traditional make.
"Now this one I remember," he said as he inspected my wand "Aspen and phoenix feather, a wand well suited for a duellist who makes good use of charms. How have you two been getting along".
I remembered back to when I first got my wand. You don't really understand that you are a witch or wizard until you hold your wand in your hand. It chooses you and you accept it.
"We had a bit of a rocky start," I told Ollivander "But we reached an understanding and the wand has never let me down".
After that there were photos, and since Cuffe had only agreed that the paper wouldn't write about me I had to let them take my photo, or at least it wasn't worth making a fuss over.
We champions were pushed and pulled around as Rita and her photographer fought over which of the champions should be most prominent in the group photos. Then came individual photos, which were marginally less uncomfortable, and then we were finally free to go.
Well, I had to be interviewed by Luna.
"How do you feel about the Ministry's lack of action when it comes to the Snarky Slashrat?" I was asked.
She'd mentioned that creature before, I hoped that it was random Lovegood madness and not something I would have to deal with later.
"You know you're becoming even more like your father as you grow up," I said to Luna.
She didn't let me change the subject.
"I've always been a Daddy's girl, now answer the question" she demanded.
Since again I didn't have much of a choice in the matter I decided to just get on with it.
"I'm sure the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creature is looking into the matter," I said.
She wrote down something in her notebook. I doubted that it had anything to do with my answer in fact she s if she was doodling.
"Now what do you think about your chances of winning the coming tournament?" I was asked.
At least this had something to do with what the interview should be about.
"I think they are good," I said "The standards of education here at Hogwarts have greatly improved since the school governors have become more involved. The Ministry and many important members of society are contributing to the tournament and a lot of work has gone into making sure it be an enjoyable event that I am quite capable of winning".
Since the Hiddleston name is now closely linked with the tournament and the school, as Tom Hiddleston is a school governor, and an event organiser, I might as well publicly support their work as John Hiddleston.
"Are you looking forward to tasks ahead?" I was asked, "They are supposed to test the limits of the champions. Are you concerned about your safety?".
This interview might have started off a bit si but she was doing a good job of it overall.
"I do want to test my abilities as a wizard" I answered "And I know that the coming events will be safer than those seen in past tournaments. We are a more civilized people now and we don't need to put people into needless danger for our amusement. Still, I think that the events will push the champions and entertain the crowds".
Luna wrote something down and then looked around.
"They'll be serving dinner soon," she said "I want pudding".
Yes, she was becoming more like her father. This worried me a little.
"There's nothing you can do about Skeeter," conveyed an older student.
They were wrong about that. There was something I could do.