My life - An adventure

Disclaimer: All Harry Potter works belong to J.K. Rowling.

AN: This story is an idea I got from "Harry Potter and the Memories of Old" by Snowy123. Some of spells are from the story "Harry Potter and the Unlocked Knowledge" by kmfrank.

Chapter 13

We got into the great hall-soaking wet, but relatively unharmed, though Minerva had a tizz with Peeves. I applied a quick drying and warming charms to myself. The others followed my example.

We sat down at the table, when a breathless voice called down from the table.

"Hiya, Harry."

I turn around to see Colin Creevy leaning forward. I give him a smile.

"Hey Colin. Had a good summer?"

"Yeah, thanks Harry. Guess what? Guess what, Harry? My brother's starting! My brother Dennis!"

Ahh… Another Creevy. I nod to him with a smile.

"We saw your match at the worldcup, Harry. Great show! Dennis is very excited to meet you. I hope he's in Gryffindor."

"I'll keep my fingers crossed, shall I?"

He nods and again thanks me. And 20 minutes later, Gryffindor indeed had another Creevy. Colin graciously introduced his brother, and my friends and I welcomed him to Gryffindor.

The feast as always was wonderful. Dobby is again joining me at Hogwarts and a much more acceptable Kreacher is taking care of Grimmauld place.

When the last crumbs were cleared of the plates, Albus rises to his feet. With thunder rolling and the occasional lightning flashing across the sky, he looks down at everyone with a smile. "So! Another year. Now that we are all fed and watered, I must ask for your attention, while I give out few notices. But before that, lets give a round of applause to Harry Potter for a fabulous game of Quidditch and for winning the world cup for England."

The whole school rose to their feet clapping and stamping their feet. My cheeks redden in slight embarrassment. I wave to them in acknowledgement. Albus raises his hands quieting the crowd.

"I am also pleased to announce the donation of 70 brand new Nimbus 2004's by the Nimbus Racing Broom Company."

Of course, I had to agree to have my picture taken with the owner while carrying a firebolt, which incidentally is manufactured by the same company.

The hall stares at him astounded for a second before the students cheer their heart out. No more old depleted brooms. All the Quidditch matches will be on even footing from now on.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever- Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."

The corners of Albus' mouth twitched. He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year."

"I would like to ask all of you in welcoming our new defense against the dark arts professor, Alastor Moody." Here Alastor gets to his feet, nods and sits right back down. The hall is buzzing at the news of having such a renowned dark wizard catcher as a professor.

Albus continues. "It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

This stuns the hall to complete silence. Albus continues through the silence. "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year Hogwarts has the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for many centuries. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're JOKING!" says Fred loudly. Of course he has no idea of the tournament, as he wasn't in the same compartment as my friends and I.

Albus chuckles appreciatively. "I am not joking, Mr. Weasley, though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar."

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

"Er - but maybe this is not the time… no…" said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament… well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely."

"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."

"Death Toll?" whispers Hermione in alarm. I shrug at her and continue to listen to Albus.

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament, none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, the champions will be more prepared for the tasks."

Here he stops and takes a sip from his glass. "Though because of the recent tragic events, there has been pressure brought on the ministry to change the location of the Tournament from Hogwarts to one of the other two schools. But we have reached a compromise. Traditionally the school hosting the tournament will get to choose the three tasks. But this year, instead of three tasks there will be seven tasks, six of which will be chosen by Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The final task will be chosen by Hogwarts."

Seven. A magical number.

"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with the entire student and teaching body in October. We will be opening additional wings within the castle for the visiting staff and students to stay. The selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a three thousand Galleons personal prize money, and the many prizes one can win at the end of each task."

This gets the student body buzzing. I can see a lot of people interested in being part of the tournament.

Albus clears his voice and the hall goes silent. "Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts, there will be certain restrictions. We, that is, the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have initially discussed the option of imposing an age restriction on contenders this year, but decided against that. Every school will conduct a series of tests to select a variety of students who are qualified to participate in the tournament. Only these students will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will be difficult and dangerous, and it is highly unlikely that students who cannot cope with these tests will be able to cope with the actual tasks."

He continues. "More information about the tests will be posted on the notice boards in the next few weeks. The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us until end of the tournament. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"

And with that the whole school gets to its feet and head for the common rooms. I follow my friends as we leisurely stroll toward the Gryffindor common room. I listen to the different conversations happening all around me. All of them to do with the tournament and what kind of tests will be involved.

Ron, Neville and I bid good night to the rest and climbed up the stairs to our dormitory. Dean and Seamus are already in their beds. As we are getting dressed, Ron glances at me.

"So… Are you going to take the tests?"

I shrug. "Not too sure…" I mumble sleepily. "Maybe."

"Yeah… I want to try them out." Then, he mumbles something about Malfoy and how he is going to show him.

I lie on my bed listening to the storm raging outside. Would I like to be part of the tournament? Yeah… Not for the money and fame. I already have both in spades. But the adventure… To face the unknown with danger and excitement? Hell yeah!

The first three days of school flew by fast what with collecting pus from bubotuber and tending a Hagrid's new monsters, Blast-Ended Skrewts. Ron complains about getting too much homework in Divinition, while Hermione says that he should have taken something sensible like Arithmancy.

Snape is his usual vindictive self against the Gryffindors. But he completely ignores me. I expected some reaction from him regarding what happened in the summer, but his latest actions have taken me by surprise.

A few students comment about my lack of glasses and I simply tell them I got my eyes corrected. A few girls bat their eyes at me. I don't pay them any attention. I arrange with Filius and Minerva to meet with them on Saturday for the extra tutoring. They both agree not to give me any homework going forward.

Still, the topic of conversation has been between two things, the Triwizard Tournament and Alastor Mad-Eye Moody. All the students who had a class with Alastor are singing his praises. But when asked what he taught all they said that Alastor asked them to be quite about it.

The fourth year Gryffindors were so anxious for the DADA class that they arrived early after lunch on Thursday. Even Ron, Hermione and Neville who spent 3 weeks of their summer with Alastor, are a tad bit anxious on what he is going to teach us.

"What do you think he's going to teach us? The same stuff from summer?" whispers Ron in my ear. I shrug and the four of us took the seats right at the front, when Alastor walked in gruffly looking as strange and frightening as ever.

"Put those books away. You won't be needing them." Growls Alastor. He stumped to the desk and took attendance while his magical eye looked at each one of us as our name is called.

When the last person had declared himself present, he puts away the register and looks up at the lot of us. "I talked to Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures - you've covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?"

There was a general murmur of assent.

"But you're behind - very behind - on dealing with curses," says Alastor. "So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark curses."

He gives a harsh laugh, and then claps his gnarled hands together.

"Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you countercurses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking."

Lavender jumps and blushes.

Alastor continues. "So… do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"

I look around to see several hands rise tentatively into the air. And from there he shows us the 3 unforgivable curses on 3 different spiders.

"Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it - you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed. But that doesn't matter. I'm not here to teach you how to do it."

I do know how to do it. I have seen it many number of times.

After class, which has shaken quite a few of my fellow students, we left to the common room. I glance at Neville to see him shaken up. "You all right, Nev?"

He gives me sad smile and nods. "Yeah, no problem Harry. No problem."

I nod. I can guess what's on his mind. It's not hard really, if you know the story of the Longbottom family. I put a hand on his shoulder.

That Saturday, I meet with Minerva for the first time for my tutoring.

"Tell me, Potter, what do you know of permanent transfiguration?"

"I know it requires a lot of power. The more complex the transfiguration, the more power it needs."

"Correct. Inanimate to inanimate requires the least power followed by animate to inanimate and finally animate to animate. But there are exceptions and consequences. When you permanently transfigure an animal or a bird to an object, you are in effect killing the soul within. To this effect, there are oaths an apprentice must give to a master before he learns the more complex arts within transfiguration and conjuration."

Voldemort never bothered to attain mastery in transfiguration. "What oaths?"

"That you shall never permanently transfigure a living being into a non living being. That you will not use the knowledge gained for increasing personal wealth other than in the direst of situations, with the exception when the knowledge is used as part of a larger enchantment. That you will keep the knowledge of these arts to yourself, until you find someone capable enough to pass on the knowledge. That you will not teach them to anyone, until you attain your mastery and unless that someone gives you the same oaths as you give today."

"I have no problems professor." I flick my wrist bringing my wand into my hand and swear the oaths.

Minerva smiles at me. "Thank you Harry. In the next two years I will teach you two things, to transfigure any object to Gold and to conjure food."

I raise my eyebrows at her. "Did I hear you right professor?"

She smirks at me. "You didn't think what you learn at Hogwarts is the limit to Transfiguration did you? If you have enough power and will, Potter, you can transfigure the moon into a sun. Do you know who the first renowned transfiguration master is?"

I shake my head no.

"Nicholas Flamel. Yes, the same Flamel who made the sorcerer's stone. He passed down his knowledge to a select few people over his long life, one of which is our Headmaster. He took me on as an apprentice a few years after I graduated from Hogwarts. It's been over fifty years and now for the first time, I will pass this knowledge to someone else."

I absorb what she told me and I must say I am humbled.

"When you transfigure one object to another, you are just remorphing it. You don't need more than a clear picture of what you want to complete the transfiguration. But in permanent transfiguration, you need more than a clear picture. You need to know the structure of the object at the atomic level."

She points her wand at a quill and concentrates. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, the quill changes shape and attains a distinct shiny look to it. Then its shape changes to that of a think cylinder. And finally after 3 minutes of pouring magic into it, she transfigured the quill into a thin golden cylinder.

She exhales in relief and smiles. "I haven't done that in many years." She takes a drink of water while I observe the precious metal. It shines like a newly smelted piece of solid gold.

"The same goes for food. You start with the simplest of things and then transfigure the object at the atomic level into the different components that food item should have. With food, always try to choose a base material like wood, which is already organic. It will require much less power to break it down atomically."

I feel the gold in my hands. "So in effect, once I learn how to and if I have enough power, I can conjure any food or pieces of gold."

She nods. "You can. But I must warn you, even the headmaster finds it hard to conjure gold."

"So how does one know what gold or any item looks at the atomic level? And for that matter, why start with gold?"

"I can teach you a spell which will show what any object, animate or inanimate looks at the atomic level. As for why start with Gold, it is the most complex of elements and one of the most precious. If you can transfigure it successfully, you can do so for any object. Do you understand the reasons for the oaths now?"

I nod. "If I were to transfigure galleons out of stone, then there will be more galleons than there should be and the economy will collapse. And if everyone was to conjure their own food, then there won't be any need for growing food, which will effect the balance within nature and also the farmers."

A look of surprise crosses Minerva's face and then she smiles broadly. "I am glad you understand the implications."

She shows me the spell, which will enable me to see the atomic structure of any substance and explains the process of changing the structure. You first start with changing the structure of one atom by adding or vanishing more protons and neutrons, and then replicate the effort to that of other atoms in the molecule, then change the other molecules. I will need to improve the control I have on my magic to a much greater extent.

Minerva asks me to memorize the atomic structure of gold. With occlumency it's a child's play. After she is confident enough, she gives me a shiny steel needle and asks me to practice on it.

I apply the spell to see the atomic structure of the needle, which is vastly different to that of gold. Now, I try to pass my magic into the needle and connect it with just one atom. By lunch, I haven't even managed to connect with a molecule, forget an atom or the protons and neutrons in it.

"It will take much more control before you can do that, Potter." She gave me a couple of exercises to work on. One is to conjure a block of ice and then work on chipping just a small piece of it. The other is conjuring the smallest matter I can imagine. The first to improve my control the second to get my mind used to thinking at the smallest level possible.

After lunch I walk to Filius' room and knock on the door. "Come in, Mr. Potter."

"Hello professor. By the way, if you feel like it, please call me Harry."

The diminutive professor smiles. "Thank you, Harry. Now before we start, have you been in a duel before?"

I smirk at him. "Do you have a pensieve?"

"Indeed I do." He brings it out and I pull the memory of my most recent duel with Alastor and put into it.

"Go ahead professor. Take a look."

He leans forward touching his finger to the silver liquid. After nearly an hour, he comes out of it looking dazed. "My boy, that was a most extraordinary duel I have witnessed for a 14 year old. Why aren't you in Ravenclaw, Harry?"

I smirk. "The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin, but I convinced it to put me in Gryffindor."

He smirks back. "Ahh, yes. The boy-who-lived in Slytherin, that would have created some ruckus."

He taps his table in thought. "I see you went through the standard dodging exercises. That is good. It makes you unpredictable. But if I might say so, you do lack form. If you can develop different forms, it can only be to your advantage. Think of it as a dance, which you have practiced for many hours. When you need it, it will come to you instinctively. It is the same with dueling forms. The more instinctive it is, the less you need to think about it, the more time you can concentrate on sending the curses back at your opponent. Further more if you ever come across an opponent who uses similar forms, you will know what to expect and will be able to counter easily."

I am not too sure I need it. But, what the hell. I will take every single advantage I can get over Voldemort.

"Alright professor, where do we start?"

The next 3 hours before dinner, I spend practicing a single form, while Filius shoots stinging hexes at me. I had to curb the instinct to draw my wand or to duck and follow a prescribed route of twirling away from the hex and sometimes instead of moving the whole body, just moving a single part of it, like my left leg, when the hex is shot at it.

A little tired I take a quick bath and follow my friends to dinner. After that I spent a couple of hours before curfew with Alastor outside the castle under notice-me-nots. He taught a couple of new curses. One is a shock wave, which will throw people of their feet and the other a curse whip. It's basically a curse controlled in the form of a whip. Generally used with a stunner and a bludgeoner. Needs great control to pull it off. After a few tries I got partial success with a stun whip.

The next day I visit the founders' portraits and discuss my various projects with them. I projected my dual with Alastor from the pensieve and Lord Gryffindor was pretty impressed with it. He gives me an idea to improve my wandless magic, which is quite strong, what with keeping my magic at the surface all the time. I promise him that I will practice more and will let him know the results. I explain my rune project to Lady Rowena and show her my notes so far. She corrects a couple of mistakes in the arithmancy, but is impressed with the project. I show lady Helga the few spells I know within nature magic. She likes what she sees but stresses on one aspect.

"Nature is deadly and wild, Harry. If you don't respect it, it will turn on you and destroy you. Such is the same for magic."

But the most important meeting of the day was with Lord Salazar, the result of which has me standing naked in the chamber of secrets. Today I am going to perform the Animagus release ritual. Today my animal side awakens. I am thrilled and excited.

I glance to my right to see Ginny floating on a broom with her eyes closed. I can see a blush on her cheeks. She was surprised when I asked her to be here as I wanted someone I can trust and know enough to bring me back from my animal side. She readily agrees with the condition that I teach her wandless magic. I have nothing against that. She went all red when I tell her that I have to be naked.

I get my mind back on track, as this is the tricky part of the ritual. I draw runes using my wand on both my feet, on the backside of my palms, one on the forehead and finally one at the center of my being, the stomach. The four runes on the limbs will connect my body, with the one on the forehead connecting my mind and finally the one on the stomach connecting the soul.

I lie down on the floor and remove every mental shield I have, even the deepest ones. This is the part Salazar warned me about. If I don't remove the mind shields, the magic will attack the mind in turn destroying it. The first transformation is always the most difficult. It brings out the animal side for the first time and slowly over a period of time; the animal side will mix with the human side. After that I won't be quite human or animal, but somewhere in between.

I see Ginny looking down on me curiously. I wink at her with a cheeky smile. Then, as the final step, I completely release my magic. I can feel the runes activating as the magic passes through them. I feel my consciousness slipping as my soul is united with my body, mind and magic for the first time.

A primal scream rips through my mouth as I feel pain beyond anything I ever experienced. I feel the magic shifting and the body changing. I feel my mind shattering. Every thought… Every memory… So distant…

Another scream rips through my mouth… But it's different. It's not one of pain, but of freedom. I raise my head and scream again… Thirsty… Water… I walk up to the water nearby and lap it up. Then, I catch a sent and look up. Prey… Flying prey… I follow her with my eyes for a moment, before I race after it, climb up a wall and jump of it. I miss prey… Prey is higher… I land back on my feet… I scream in frustration.

Prey comes down. I hear a distant voice calling… "Harry… Harry…"

Harry… I know that name. I look back up at the prey… The face is clearer. I know that face. "Harry… Remember who you are… Remember Harry…"

Remember what? Harry… Harry… And just like that I know who I am. I am Harry James Potter. I roar in triumph. I run around the chamber testing out my legs. I am fast. I am agile. I feel powerful. I like it. I catch the scent again and skid to a stop on the marble surface.

I look up to see prey… Ginny… circling on a broom. I roar at her again. I walk toward nearby water while keeping an eye on her... I lie in the water while staring up at her.

I again hear her calling "Harry…" and respond with a roar of my own.

"Change back, Harry… You need to change back…"

I snarl at her. "HARRY JAMES POTTER! Remember who you are. You are an animagus. You are a wizard."

And my mind kicks in and I lose my form changing back into a 14-year-old naked wizard. I lie on the floor panting. That was an incredible experience. I wonder what kind of animal I am. I can't really remember what I did at first. I felt powerful, graceful and fast.

Ginny lands nearby and conjures a blanket for me as I lie in the water surrounding the chamber. I smile at her cheekily. "Enjoyed the show, Ginny."

She scowls at me, even though her cheeks reddened a little. "I should kick your butt. You nearly got me."

I look concerned. "Err… Are you hurt?"

"I said, nearly Harry. I am fine."

I nod back in relief… The one thing I didn't like about the process was loosing control of my mind. "So, what am I?"

"A very large pig."

I smirk back. "I doubt that. Come on Ginny, where's the Omniocular I gave you?"

She pouts. "Fine, be like that." She takes out the Omni and hands it over to me. "You are a large black cat, I don't know what kind."

I look into the omni and I see what she means. I am indeed a large cat. Around 3 feet high at the shoulders, around 5 feet long and I would say around 250 pounds in weight. I have my mother's eyes even in my animagus form and I like it. I don't like the messed up fur I have on top of my head though. I guess some physical characteristics will carry over. On one of the few occasions I was allowed to watch the TV, I saw a show on large cats. And one particular animal struck me as unique. A Black Panther. Known in other parts of the world as the Jaguar. "The beast that kills it's prey in one bound". A predator, that's what I am. I love it.

I give Ginny a quick hug. "Thanks for doing this, Gin."

"Not a problem Harry. After all, you are going to help me become one."

"Ahh… So you want me to see you naked, eh?"

"HARRY…" She scowls at me.

I laugh at her. "All kidding aside, yes Gin, I will help you become one. You can use the modern method, but it doesn't bring the true unity between human and animal. This method has far more advantages. Your occlumency skills are great, so that will also help you learn wandless magic."

I put on my clothes and we go back into the castle main.

The next couple of weeks race by quickly. After the first transformation, I find it difficult to control my magic. This was expected as my occlumency shields have been in a way destroyed and a part of my soul magic is mixed in with my body and mind magics, increasing my overall available power. That's right. That is one of the reasons why Animagus are more powerful than a non-animagus. Even those who did it the modern way.

It took me a while to build back my occlumency shields to the extent they were before. Especially because of the large amount of time I spent in my Jaguar form. At least four hours every night I went into the forbidden forest and hunted. I came across a couple of Centaurs, but they let me be. I didn't kill any animal. Except for that part, I allowed my animal instincts to take over completely.

Like my animal form has a couple of my human characteristics, my human form developed a few of my animal characteristics over these two weeks. My walk is more graceful and light. My movements are more fluid when I am dueling and if I do say so myself I feel hell a lot more primal. Of course I am part Jaguar now, so it is natural.

Filius did comment on my improved form, though Minerva was clearly disappointed as I took a step back by having less control over my magic than I started with. I promised her that I would spend more time learning to control it. I simply do not want to melt the next pin I release my magic into or nearly kill Alastor when we have another duel.

It's been three weeks since the school started and today there's a notice about the upcoming tests. These tests or challenges will test the students in different fields of magic, including dueling, transfiguration, charms, runes, creatures, potions, and plants. The 5 top students from each of these tests will be allowed to put their names in. At the end, a maximum of 35 people will contend for 1 spot, which an unbiased judge, the goblet of fire will pick.

The tests will be conducted from the following weekend. 2 tests every weekend, and the final 35 people announced on the 20th of October. The two schools will arrive on the night of the 30th and on Halloween, the Goblet of Fire will pick the three champions.

The notice also said there will be an interschool Quidditch tournament for which the team will be selected in the next few weeks by Madame Hooch.

That night at dinner, I get a note from Albus asking me to come to his office.

As I approach his door, as usual, I hear him asking me to enter. "Come in, Harry."

I greet him with a smile. "Hey Albus."

I walk to Fawkes and scratch him eliciting a trill. "Hey Fawkes."

After a few moments of silence, "So Albus, anything new on Voldemort?"

"We are gathering allies for now, Harry." He pauses in thought. "Severus did say that the mark is getting darker."

I nod. "It's inevitable Albus. He will come back one-way or the other. There are too many ways available, for him not to." I continue to play with Fawkes. I really like this bird. "Sirius said there is no news about the wandering merchant…"

"Indeed there is not."

"And of Gringotts?"

He sighs and rubs his crooked nose. "That's a different matter all together. We shall deal with it in due time." Then, he looks keenly at me and smiles. "I see that you have acquired a new talent, Harry?"

I roll my eyes at him and then laugh out loud. "Nothing happens, that you don't know about, does it Albus?"

"You give me too much credit, dear boy. Can I see your form?"

I change into my Jaguar form and give out a mighty roar before I change back. Albus looks practically tickled.

"Ahh… another cat. Marvelous. Which method did you follow?"

"Ritual of release."

He nods. "Excellent method, though not without its drawbacks."

I agree. "I am working on it."

"Good, good."

He strokes his beard in thought. "Might I suggest you register your form with the ICW. It's a much safer proposition than our current ministry."

"Do I need to send the paperwork now?"

"If you can give me the paperwork before the Christmas vacation, I will deliver it myself when I go to our annual meeting."

"Sounds good. That's it?"

"Ahh… My boy, we haven't yet covered the real purpose of the meeting."

"Alright Albus, what's on your mind?"

"The tournament Harry, the tournament. Are you going to take part in the tests?"

I sigh in frustration. "I really like to Albus. I am sorely tempted, if for nothing else, the thrill of adventure."

"But…" He prompts me.

"All modesty aside, let's be honest Albus. If I put my name in, more likely than not, I will win the cup fairly easily. I think it will be unfair to the rest of the students in all three schools."

He smiles at me kindly. "Thank you, Harry, for once again proving my faith in you."

I smile cheekily at him and bow to him in a flourish. "I aim to please."

The next weekend is the school wide dueling tournament. From 4th year Gryffindors Ron is the only person who gave his name. Quite a few people are surprised by my decision not to compete in the tournament.

I walk into the great hall on the day of the dueling test with the rest of the school and sit in the audience section. The rules of the test are simple. You cannot permanently harm your opponent. No unforgivables. The last person standing wins. Or at the end of 5 minutes, if both opponents are standing, who ever gets the most hits wins.

The final list of participants had 1 third year raven, 1 fourth year gryffin, 2 fourth year ravens and 1 fourth year Slytherin (Malfoy), 7 from the fifth year, 11 from sixth year and the largest group 17 from seventh year. A lot less than I thought would throw their name in the hat as the saying goes. I guess the history of the tournament has discouraged many from wanting to enter. That's one of Albus' better ideas, to have the different tasks and the results "deaths", of the past tournaments available to the school.

Draco smirked at me as he got on the stage against a 6th year puff. "Scared Potter?"

I roll my eyes at him. I have seen him in 2 duels so far and for a 4th year, he is not bad. But then, I am at a different level than any of them. At the end, it was Cedric Diggory a 7th year puff won the test, followed by Roger Davis a 6th year claw, Nina Roberts a 6th year snake, Ron and finally Draco.

Ron predictably is very excited about being one of the 35 names. I pull him aside and whisper to him.

"You know Ron, the more tests you compete and come up in the top five, the better chances you will have of being chosen as the champion." He scrunches up his nose and nods.

I throw myself into work over the next month. I spend a lot of time in my animal form including one whole day. I can say quite frankly eating raw meet is not one of my favorite things to do. I also spend a significant amount of time gaining control over my magic. I lock myself in the ROR and spend time shooting spells with different power levels. I also work on the exercises Minerva gave me. It took a huge effort on my part, but at the end I managed to gain the same level of control as I had before I became part animal.

I continue to have duels with Alastor and win most of them. The ex-Auror, though slowed down by age, has a trick or two up his sleeve. I master the stun whip and am on my way to master the bludgeoner whip. I work with him on creating a Confringo slider. It is taking time, but I am making progress.

My classes with Minerva and Filius are going fine. Filius is surprised and excited with the quick progress I am making in mastering the different forms. I put it down to my Animagus form. Minerva is happy with the amount of work I put in to gain my control back, though I am nowhere near connecting my magic at the atomic level.

In the other free time I have, I work on my rune scheme. That's the advantage I have of not having any homework except in Herbology and Potions. It is not hard to convince the different professors. In Runes and Arithmancy, I tell the professors I will submit an end of year project to make up for my homework. In Astronomy I take the end of the year test and get an outstanding in it. This convinced the beautiful Sinistra that I don't need to do any homework. I still have to attend the classes though. That's fine with me. I can simply spend the time staring at her impressive figure. Hagrid, being the dear friend he is, agrees to the no homework policy with the condition that I help take care of some of his animals. And for History, Albus gives me a note for Binns. I am not that great at Herbology and there is no way in hell Snape will ever give me a waiver.

Over these few weeks many people compete in the other 6 tests, including Hermione. She's been acting somewhat distant with me and spends a lot of time in the library. When I ask her about it, she simply says she is falling behind. I think she is a tad upset about losing the top spot.

At the end, it was 26 names, which are agreed upon. Hermione is one of the top 5 people in both Transfiguration and Charms. Ron only made it in dueling. This in itself made him quite popular among the students. Minerva was also quite pleased with his transfiguration skills.

Overall Cedric is the best. He made it in 6 of the 7 tasks only losing out in Herbology to the consternation of his head of house that happens to be the Herbology professor.

Madame Hooch wants me to be part of the school Quidditch team and I tell her that I will do so only if Krum competes for Durmstrang. So at the end, it's between myself, Cedric or Ginny. If Cedric becomes the champion, he can't compete in the Quidditch match. Draco tried out, but lost miserably to Ginny. Like Ron, he only made it in dueling. And surprise, surprise, the twins made it in potions much to Snape's everlasting delight. He he he. I still laugh whenever I remember his face.

Today is the 30th of October. The day when the two schools will arrive. Over the last few weeks the Quidditch stadium is converted to have seating for over 10,000 people. That's 10 times the size it used to be. The great hall is also expanded to seat the other 2 schools.

The school is buzzing with anticipation. My friends, and I walk out to the courtyard to see the guests arrive. It's a cold, clear evening; dusk is falling and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest. A perfect setting. Something magical.

"How do you reckon they're coming?" asks Ron.

"Ships." I answer pointing to the churning black lake where black masts are rising from beneath the lake. 5 ships appear in total and I see a few people dressed in fur-lined clothes. "Durmstrang."

"How do you know?" asks Hermione with a scowl.

"They are wearing fur lined clothes. They are clearly from a colder climate than France."

The students begin to disembark. "Hmmm… I wonder how that works?" I voice to no one in particular.

"Must be a portal, like on platform 9 and ¾."

I glance at Hermione in surprise and nod. "You might have something there Hermione."

"Do you think Krum will show up?" asks Ron.

I smirk at him. "You know you are standing beside a world famous Quidditch star."

Ron punches me on the arm with a smile. "Come of it, Harry… You know you are just… Harry to us mate. Not Viktor Bloody Krum."

"Language Ron!" Admonishes Hermione, while staring keenly toward the ships.

Yeah. I am just Harry. "Well he is a student last I heard. So unless he dropped out, we will see him."

Suddenly someone shouts pointing to the sky. I peer into the sky and again marvel at my new eyesight. I see a dozen carriages being pulled by winged horses, Pegasus to be precise.

The carriages land one by one by the time the Durmstrang population arrives at the courtyard being led by a familiar face. Why if it isn't dear old Igor Karkaroff. He hasn't changed much other than getting old since he last served Voldemort.

"Dumbledore!" he calls heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Albus replies.

"Dear old Hogwarts," he says, looking up at the castle with a smile that doesn't reach his cold eyes. The smile itself is quite a revolting sight considering his yellowed teeth. "How good it is to be here, how good… Viktor, come along, into the warmth… you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold…"

That's when I see my Quidditch Rival, Viktor Krum. His eyes wander around as he steps toward his headmaster. He spots me and nods. I return the favor. Ron stands on tiptoe to get a better look at him.

The Durmstrang students, which I would say amount to around 200 odd enter the castle being led by Snape, who is having a conversation with Igor. Must be catching up on old times. The student body is a mixture of boys and girls, with most of the boys looking more like Gorillas.

I turn around to get a peek at the Beauxbatons when the carriages' doors open and out steps the largest woman I ever saw. I would say she has giant blood in her like Hagrid.

The students dressed in silk clothes and wearing no cloaks, follow the large woman who is clearly the headmistress of the school. They clearly have the largest student population of the three schools nearly double that of Durmstrang.

The giant woman reaches Albus with an easy smile on her face. She extends her hand to Albus who kisses it.

"My dear Madame Maxime, welcome to Hogwarts." Says Albus.

"Dumbly-dort, I 'ope I find you well?" says Madame Maxime in a deep voice.

"In excellent form, I thank you," says Dumbledore.

"My pupils," says Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her. "'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" asks Madame Maxime.

"He is inside, shall we proceed?"

"My steeds require - er - forceful 'andling," says Madame Maxime. "Do you have someone woo can 'elp our grounds keeper?"

"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to help, moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other - er - charges."

Albus leads the Beauxbatons contingent with Madame Maxime into the great hall. As the students follow them, one particular girl catches my eye. She is a strikingly beautiful blonde and as she crosses me, her aura touches my magic trying to overwhelm it. She's got to be a Veela or at least have Veela blood in her.

I push back on her aura by releasing more of my own magic. She slows down, confused and looks back catching my eye. She looks surprised at seeing a 14-year-old boy. But the crowd behind her urges her to move on and she follows them inside.

"Blimey, did you look at her?"

I don't respond to Ron's comment. But Hermione does a little haughtily. "What about her?"

"She's got to be a Veela."

Hermione scorns at that. "No she's not."

I interrupt Ron's reply. "Yes, Hermione. She is. Or at least has Veela blood in her."

She rounds up on me. "How do you know?"

I raise my eyebrows at her attitude. "Because I felt her Aura."

I don't wait for her to answer and follow the Hogwarts' crowd inside. Though I must say she is quite attractive. Since the beginning of the school year, a few girls flirted with me. But I am not really interested in a giggling schoolgirl. I want someone who can handle herself and is mature enough to know what is important.

The enlarged great hall has 9 new tables to them along with a large extended staff table. In order to better facilitate mingling between the 3 school's students, there are no house tables anymore. But most Hogwarts' students sit at their regular tables while the visitors sit among themselves at the new tables spread between the three houses. It's quite a sight to see over 1,000 people sitting in the great hall. The Durmstrang students seem impressed by the setting, while the Beauxbatons students are clearly not.

Ron is preoccupied staring at Krum and nearly misses Albus' opening remarks.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most particularly – guests," says Albus beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."

A couple of Beauxbatons girls laugh derisively at the comment setting Hermione and a few other Gryffindor girls off.

Albus continues, paying no mind to the offensive laughs, though Madame Maxime did give the offending students a hard stare. "The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast. I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

The feast is stupendous. The house elves made variety of foods to accommodate the visitors. I recognize some of the eastern European and French cuisines.

"What is he doing here?" I glance at Ron to see him looking at the staff table. I follow his line of sight to see Ludo Bagman, Percy Weasley and another man with glasses sitting at the staff table.

"They helped arrange the tournament, Ron. And wasn't Percy Crouch's assistant? I bet he's helping Mr. Diggory in his new role as the head of The Department of International Cooperation." Replies Hermione.

"So that's Cedric's dad?" I ask for clarification.

"Yeah, we met him on the way to the world cup."

Once the food was cleared out, Albus stood up. "The moment has come. The

Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Amos Diggory, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

Both acknowledge their introductions and Albus continues. "Mr. Bagman and Mr. Diggory will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

Hmmm… I wonder if that will stay true if Cedric gets selected.

"There will be seven tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways… their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

Feeling the students' anticipation, Albus smiles and directs Filch. "The casket Mr. Filch."

Filch, who's lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, approaches Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looks extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rises from the watching students.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Albus continues calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks. The champion with the highest total will get a head start in the final task and whoever wins it will be named the Triwizard champion and will win the Triwizard Cup. And as specified earlier, the champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Here Albus taps his wand against the casket opening it. He reaches in and pulls out an old wooden cup, with dancing blue flames.

He closes the casket and places the goblet on top of it. He gazes around the student body. "Each school conducted a series of tests over the last few months and picked a number of students who are qualified to participate in the tournament. These students will be allowed to put their names into the goblet of fire and they have twenty-four hours to do so. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete."

"In order to prevent non-qualified students from entering their name, I will personally draw a ward line. Each qualified student will be provided with an enchanted parchment, keyed to him or her. Only students holding this paper will be allowed to cross the ward. Once across the ward, students must write their names and the school they represent on a piece of parchment and throw it into the goblet."

I really doubt anyone who hasn't participated in the tests will put their name into the goblet. Not after reading about the wide variety of deaths that happened in the past tournaments.

"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once the Goblet of Fire has selected a champion, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

All the students get up to leave the great hall at once causing quite the thunderous sound.

"Where do you think the Durmstrang students are sleeping?" Asks Ron.

I smirk at him. "Why, want to join Krum in his bed?"

Ron pales at that and shoots a rude sign at me.

Ron turns to Hermione. "When do you think we should put our names in?"

"The headmaster said twenty four hours. I think we should get a good nights rest and put them in tomorrow morning."

That night is a night of great anticipation in the Gryffindor common room. Minerva handed over the enchanted parchment to the selected students. Along with Ron & Hermione, 5 other Gryffindor's are submitting their names. Fred & George Weasley, Angelina Johnson and 3 other 7th years whose names I don't know. I wished each of them luck though I think it will end up being Cedric.

The next morning practically the entire school woke up bright and early. I join my friends as we enter the great hall, which is decorated for Halloween. Ron and Hermione joined the line of students who are crossing the ward line to put their names in the goblet. Most of them look anxious.

After that, we visit with Hagrid, where we learn that he has a crush on Madame Maxime. The Halloween feast was great. I know my parents died today, but I also know that they are happy and I raise a glass to them hoping they are watching me.

Once the golden plates are cleared of the food, Albus stands up and an immediate silence falls across the great hall. Madame Maxime and Igor look tense in anticipation. Ludo Bagman is winking at a few girls who seem to be stealing glances at him and giggling. Amos Diggory is smiling at his son and gives him a thumbs up.

Albus clears his throat. "The goblet is almost ready. Now when I call out the champions' name, pleas e I would ask them to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he indicates the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions."

He takes out his wand and gives a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins are extinguished, plunging us into a state of semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire now shines more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful to my eyes. Everyone watches, waiting… A few people kept checking their watches… Including me.

"Any second," Lee Jordan whispers, two seats away from me.

The flames inside the goblet suddenly turn red and a tongue of flame shoots upwards throwing out a charred parchment. Albus catches it and reads as the whole hall waits in anticipation. "The champion of Durmstrang… Viktor Krum."

The hall bursts into applause cheering wildly. I join them. No surprises there and Ron agrees with me. Viktor gets up from the table and walks past the staff table into the next chamber.

"Bravo, Viktor!" booms Karkaroff, so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"

The clapping and chatting dies down and everyone's attention is focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turns red once more. A second piece of parchment shoots out of it, propelled by the flames.

Albus reads it out loud. "The champion for Beauxbatons… Fleur Delacour!"

Ahh… The beautiful blonde has a name. Fleur.

Quite a few of Beauxbatons students look disappointed and some even cry as Fleur disappears into the chamber. Now, the home school students wait in anticipation for their own champion.

Another parchment comes flying out of the goblet.

"The Hogwarts champion… Cedric Diggory!" The Huffelpuff table goes crazy. Ron bursts out with a disappointed "No!" Hermione looks disappointed as well, but she restrains from performing any theatrics.

I console Ron by patting him on his back. "Look at it this way, Ron. Now you don't need to worry about getting killed." It does little to console him, but he nods.

Cedric disappears into the chamber after a quick handshake from his beaming father.

After the applause dies down, Albus continues. ""Excellent! Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real…"

But Albus suddenly stops talking and it's clear what's distracting him. The flames within the goblet turn red again and tongue of flame shoots out for the fourth time that night.

I have a sinking feeling inside my stomach. Today is Halloween. In the past three years something always happened during Halloween that effected me. First year, the troll. Second year, the first attack by the Basilisk. Third year, Sirius attempted break-in into Gryffindor tower…

Albus catches hold of the fourth parchment and stares at it for the longest time. Then, his eyes scan the hall and find me. And my heart stopped.

He clears his throat and calls out. "Harry Potter."

AN: That's the end of the thirteenth chapter. Thanks for any reviews.