Year Four: The Goblet of Fire

The three magical schools of Europe compete for eternal glory in the form of the Triwizard Tournament. Death Eaters are rising, gathering followers to join Voldemort. Dark times are approaching, threatening everything Marie loves. It's time for bravery. To be the light in terrible darkness...

Chapter Ten-Insight

Piles of books littered the table at the back of the library, more than one opened and propped on top of one another, rolls of parchment scattered. Marie's wild dark hair could barely be seen as she dozed off, head balanced on a large Charms tome. Her hands were covered in ink, blackening the tips of her fingers. On top of her school work, the Slytherin had taken the role of Hogwarts champion seriously and had started to take out extra books from the library in order to take in any additional knowledge and spell work that could be used to her advantage. Rita Skeeter was right, she was facing older students who knew more than her simply by default. It was why books such as Standard Book of Spell Grade 6, Advanced Defensive Theory, 1001 Jinxes and Hexes, Transfiguration for the Inquisitive Minds, and many others along similar themes lined her table.

Not to mention that the library provided an excellent hide away from the rest of the school. If the whispering was anything in the beginning, it was tenfold now. When the Daily Prophet came out with the Triwizard Tournament edition, it was the talk of the school. Marie had received a copy and paled drastically when she saw that the champions had made the front page. It shouldn't have been so surprising as the tournament was the big event of the year. What startled her the most was her own image next to Harry's.

She had never seen them standing together before. Of course not, she was always trying to avoid instances with him, or at least being too close for too long. The only image she had was a weathered photograph she kept with Remus and it was of Lily and James holding the newborn twins. She could hardly breathe as she stared at the newspaper's photo. Hermione was right, it was impossible not to notice how similiar they looked. Dark unyielding hair, slender frames, the same jawline, and courtesy of the image being black and white, their eye color wasn't revealed but it was clear that they were both bright in color scheme, doubled by the contrast of their dark hair. Fortunately, none of her friends made any comment about their similarities as Pansy was quick to find Marie in the article.

Triwizard Champions by Rita Skeeter

...the champion for Hogwarts, alongside the famous Harry Potter, is Marie Rogue. Rogue is a Slytherin fourth year, just as underaged as Potter, but this young witch isn't about to let her youth get in her way.

"If Tess could do it, so can I," Rogue informed Skeeter.

That's right, the "Captain" Tess Andrews. The well loved Auror that faced her death in a brutal werewolf attack where she gave her life to save Marie Rogue only last year. Andrews was a Triwizard champion for Hogwarts back during her school years as well. Could this be an attempt to follow in the Captain's footsteps? To achieve some closure?

Rogue's uniquely green eyes glaze over with unshed tears at the mention of the fallen Auror, tragic memories fluttering through her mind's eye. Though not a single tear falls as she continues to answer questions about the upcoming tasks, completely composed.

"You're not at all worried about the other champions? Students older than yourself and with years more experience," asked Skeeter, concerned for the young girl's well being. "Not to mention the additional competition of the famous Harry Potter."

Rogue doesn't so much as flinch at the mention of famous Harry Potter, who single handedly conquered the Dark Lord as infant.

"The first task calls upon our nerve and daring," says Rogue. "Age and experience will be incredibly useful, but they're not the deciding factors."

Marie thought her face was going to catch fire once she read the artistic liberty Skeeter took with her reaction to Tess' death. Even though it was correct, it was terribly embarrassing to read in addition to having everyone else with a subscription to the Daily Prophet read it as well. How she wished the article ended there, but Skeeter had interviewed other students about her as well.

Rogue, left without family, has found friendship and support through Draco Malfoy, a wizarding aristocrat coming from a purely magical lineage. In fact, the Malfoy family has been so generous as to take Rogue into their home when she was left alone in the world.

"Draco and Marie are best friends," says Pansy Parkinson, fellow fourth year and friend to both Malfoy and Rogue. "They're hardly apart, and we all support Marie one hundred percent as the Hogwarts champion. She may be younger than the two other schools but she's brilliant."

There you have it, readers. Marie Rogue is one of the two champions for Hogwarts and is said to be brilliantly determined. The first task is November twenty-fourth and then we'll see if Rogue can live up to everyone's expectations.

Pansy was ecstatic that her quote made the paper and Draco was quite pleased with how he was portrayed while Marie felt the pressure weighing her shoulders down. Fortunately, Rita Skeeter spent a large portion of the article discussing Harry Potter and his tragic past, so the Slytherin quietly hoped that her bit would be overlooked.

Far from it. The stares were more open than before and the whispering only increased once they read the article. She remained with her friends or hidden in the library, but when she was out in the public eye for the ever critical examination, she would keep her back straight and act as if she couldn't hear them. Except it was much more difficult to pretend she wasn't a champion and only a normal student when people would come directly up to her to offer their condolences about Tess, or well wishes, or she even had a blushing Hufflepuff first year bring up her copy of the Daily Prophet and ask for her autograph. The amount of focus was startling and it only worsened as the first task approached.

Which was exactly why she practically lived in the library with as many books as she could get her hands on. She spent hours with her towers of books, flipping through and trying to take in as much as she could as well as practice new spells. With the minor problem of being unable to practice magic in the quiet library, she would have to load up her bag and find a spare classroom (free of Peeves the poltergeist). From there, she would set up a space to practice spells and magic.

Unless, of course, she fell asleep in the library.

The library was the perfect hiding place. It was a big space with bookcases that reached the ceiling, concealing even him from being unintentionally spotted. Honestly, he used to hate being in the library. Surrounded by walls of dusty books and low whispers, school work mocking him, the Quidditch pitch calling him. Whenever he was dragged there, his parchment would be covered in Quidditch strategies and plays rather than essays and homework. Now, here he was of his own free will and quite frequently at that. After failing his final year and taking on the Flint curse of troll characteristics, it made sense to seek solace in the quiet room. The anger that swelled within him and dared to overtake him was a daily occurrence and noise only made it worse, coupled with his newly heightened hearing.

Last year was terrible for him, not just because of the stress of his seventh year but he never realize what a force anger could be. Sure, he had a temper anyway that got slightly out of hand every now and again, but the new level he experienced was like a physical wave that crashed into him again and again and dared to pull him under. He was angry at everything, all the time. He was angry at homework, for teachers assigning so much. He was angry at other students for talking too loud, for giggling, for whispering. Everyone seemed to be talking at once, right in his ear. He snapped at his friends without warning when it all started to bubble up and become too much. Everyone seemed to understand that they needed to keep some distance. That is, everyone but Marie Rogue.

Instead of staying far away from him, the dark haired girl held her ground and even approached him out of concern. He didn't need anyone's concern-their pity. All he wanted was for people to stay clear of him. He didn't want help, he wanted to punch and to break whatever got in his way. He wanted to shout, to vent, to scream at the curse to leave him. Every moment of every day, he had to be mindful of his strength or else he might lash out and hurt someone. Emotions were more confusing than ever because everything fell back to anger. He was angry that he was upset, angry because he cared, angry because he was happy and who was he to be happy, the troll.

More than once he had allowed anger to take the reins and twice Marie had caught his rage. She had asked him about the Quidditch tryouts and why she hadn't been selected as the third Chaser. Really, it was a moment of selfish impulse when he decided to cut her from the team dispite her earning the proper marks for flying. He didn't want her to get hurt like the year before when she had taken the Bludger when she acted as substitute. It was only one instant, after all, how many times had he taken a hit? More than he could count, that's for certain. It was a decision he had made on his own without any input from her or anyone else. Then when she questioned his choice, that red hot anger came over him. He was the captain, who was she to question him? And he shouted at her and told her that she would only bring the team down as she was a girl. He had startled her so badly that she back stepped and fell, looking up at him with those bright green eyes, wide with fright.

Guilt struck him like a blow to the head. And that wasn't even the worst. At the end of the year he had received the dreaded letter stating that he would have to retake his final year at Hogwarts. Frustration taking over, he had stormed out of the castle and sought refuge in the Slytherin locker room where he proceeded to smash and break whatever he could grab. His fists had gone through the black board in two swift hits. He didn't feel the board splinter and pierce his skin. There was no pain or hurt, the anger washed it all away. The anger felt good. And then, there she was again, standing right in the doorway as she watched him in shock. Hell, he wouldn't have even seen her if she hadn't shouted his name and he turned on her in an instant.

"WHAT? COME TO MOCK THE TROLL?"

He sounded inhuman, more troll than wizard as he roared at her. Roar was the proper word, much more animalistic. She didn't run from him like she should have, like any other person with a shred of self-preservation would have done. It was when she started to approach him when the anger shifted to fear. While anger was red hot, fear was bone chilling clarity. If she got within arm's reach he could seriously hurt or even kill her, just by accident.

"DON'T...Don't...come near me..."

Marcus snapped his textbook shut, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. Glancing out the window to see that darkness had blanketed the grounds, his chair scraped back as he got to his feet, stretching to his full height. He slung his bag over his shoulder and walked to the end of the aisle, listening. There wasn't any giggling from the younger students who would come by to look in on Marie like she was something to be observed. Clearly, they were rude and not to mention irritating to listen to, so the older Slytherin made it his job to pass by Marie's section if the whispering got out of hand. His appearance was enough to scare them off and the Slytherin girl would be completely unaware, lost in her work.

Looking around the neighboring bookcase, he could see her mountain of books and the top of her head. He sighed and gave a roll of his eyes. He shouldn't be surprised. Champion or not, she was still Marie. He walked over to her and gave her shoulder a shake.

"You should go down to dinner. It's late," he instructed. She stirred and he was quick to leave, not wanting to be caught by her. Something inside his chest coiled tight whenever he looked at her and was reminded that she was the Hogwarts champion.

She didn't put her name in and he believed her. It meant that someone else wanted her to be thrown into the dangerous tasks ahead. He volunteered his name, he wanted to be challenged, to be threatened. What could threaten him? What would be a risk to him? Part wizard, part troll, it made him more than durable. And say something did happen and he was hurt to some degree...it wouldn't be anyone's loss...

Marie slowly woke up with the page from the Charms book sticking to her cheek. She looked around confused. She could have sworn that someone was talking to her or maybe it was her stomach reminding her of dinner? No matter the reason, she did collect her belongings and return the books she wasn't checking out before heading down to the Great Hall.

Her walk was uneventful as she was still spacing out and yawning, exhausted. When she almost entered the hall, she caught sight of Harry moving toward her. Wide awake and mildly alarmed, she started to back track her steps. Had he noticed their similarities? Was he going to question her? Demand answers? What would she say?

"Marie," he called once he was close enough. He kept his voice low. "I need to talk to you."

She nodded mutely. Her heart was pounding away. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, what am I going to say? Do I tell right out or should I wait for him to actually admit it? I should probably wait, oh no...

He looked around quickly before grabbing her by the arm and leading her around the base of the staircase. Her breathing became shallow, mouth going dry as he looked her right in the eye and neither one said anything for a moment. He still kept a grip on her sleeve, keeping them close so to be overlooked if anyone walked by. They were practically nose to nose and Marie thought the secret was going to burst forth from her chest.

"The first task," he whispered. "The first task is dragons."

She found her voice once more. "Wh-what?"

Harry looked around once more before repeating himself. "The first task is dragons. They've got one for each of us. They're enormous, Marie, and we've got to get past them somehow."

"Get past-how on earth-dragons?" she repeated, covering her own mouth.

"I don't know," he admitted, "but I do know that Fleur and Krum already know, Madame Maxime and Karkaroff were there as well."

"And how on earth did you find out?" she asked, raising a skeptical brow. Harry paused for a guilty moment and Marie gave a knowing nod, thinking back to first year.

"Of course. Hagrid has a penchant for dragons," she said, answering her own question. Glancing around, she saw that they were still alone. "But Harry, why are you telling me?"

Her brother looked at her in disbelief. "It's just...it's fair, isn't it? Now we're all on even footing, aren't we?"

There was the sound of approaching footsteps and just before they could spring apart and go their separate ways, Marie whispered loud enough for him to hear.

"I'd do the same for you, you know."

REVIEW! Sorry that this one's a little short but I didn't want to smash everything into one because I think it would be too much. So, instead we have pieces of the Rita Skeeter article, some Marcus Flint insight, and of course, Harry's warning about the dragons.

Your thoughts would be lovely as always! Or even predictions as to how the task will go because I'm super excited to write it!

Next time: The first task.

Enjoy!