Harry Potter and the Aliens

Part 8

At the Halloween Feast: There was a lot of speculation going on about who was going to get picked. Finally it was time, and Minerva stood up as chatter died down. "The Goblet is almost ready to make its decision," she announced. "The champions are asked to come up here and into the chamber behind the hall-" she indicated a door behind her- "Where they will receive their instructions for the first task."

The room was silent, and then the flames in the Goblet turned red. Minerva caught the charred slip of paper that came out of it, and read out, "The champion for Durmstrang is Viktor Krum." Krum came up to the Head Table, and went through the door as people applauded him. Karkaroff was obviously ecstatic; he shouted, "Bravo, Viktor! Knew you had it in you!"

The applause died down after a minute, and the fire in the Goblet turned red again. Minerva read off the slip "The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour."

Another smattering of applause as Fleur walked up to the Head Table and disappeared into the chamber behind it.

The Goblet's flames turned red once more, and Minerva read out, "The champion for Hogwarts is Cedric Diggory."

The Hufflepuff Table went crazy as Cedric also went into the chamber. It was some time before Minerva could be heard over their cheers, but finally she said, "Well, now we have our three champions. I hope you all will cheer your champions on, and-" She abruptly stopped talking, and everyone could see why, as the flames had turned red once more. Minerva automatically caught the slip, and stared at it, disbelief written on her face as everyone stared at her.

Finally she snapped out of it, and read out, "Harry Potter."

The room was stunned. Emiko looked at Harry, puzzled, and noticed he looked like he was in shock. People were staring at him blankly, and Hermione gave him a push. He walked up to the Head Table, looking stunned still, and everyone else was stunned too- and whispering amongst themselves. As Harry disappeared behind the door, Emiko noticed Sirius looked wary, not shocked. "Something's not right," she said aloud.

The students close to her heard her, and turned to look at her. "Minerva-san said there's no way for a school to have two champions," she said. "And judging by the look on Harry's face, he had nothing to do with his name coming out of that Goblet."

"You sure?" Ron asked.

"Positive," Kisshu said. "He wasn't faking that. Someone else did this."

"But who would do that?" Hermione asked.

"If these tasks are as dangerous as they say, someone who wants revenge on Harry," Emiko said. "Which means it's not Dumbledore."

"What makes you say that?" Fred asked.

"Because if Dumbledore was looking for revenge, and did it that way, it would have been my name coming out of the Goblet; I'm the one who ruined him, not Harry," Emiko said.

"So someone who wants revenge on Harry," Hermione said. "I can only think of one person."

"Who?" Ron asked.

Hermione gave him an exasperated look. "Who's been after Harry since he was born?" she asked pointedly.

"Oh…. that's not good," Ron said nervously. "Does that mean You-Know-Who is here?"

"My guess would be that he has someone on the inside," Kisshu said. "And obviously someone older, because they'd have to not only fool the Goblet, but they'd have to get across the Age Line to do so."

"Minerva-san should know this," Emiko said.

"I'll come too," Kisshu said. They went up to the Head Table, which went unnoticed by most; there was a lot of whispering still going on. The Heads of the other schools had gone to the chamber where the champions were already, but Emiko noticed Sirius was glowering at Snape. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Snape is convinced Harry put his name in to get himself more glory," Sirius snarled. "If the git had paid ANY attention to Harry over the last four years, he would have noticed that kid hates attention."

Snape glowered at Sirius, and Emiko said, "Harry didn't put his name in; he wasn't faking how stunned he looked. Someone else did this, and we're going to tell Minerva-san that."

"Try not to kill each other while we're gone," Kisshu said, and he and Emiko went into the chamber.

They found Minerva, Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime arguing, and Krum, Fleur, and Cedric looking unsure. Harry just looked numb. Moody was in there too, and Emiko wondered why, but her attention was diverted by Karkaroff exclaiming, "I was unaware that the host school was allowed to have two champions, Minerva. Is there something you're not telling us?"

"I have no idea what happened either," Minerva snapped. "I was also under that impression, and there's no way Harry could have gotten across the Age Line. None of the other students managed it; how could he possibly have gotten across?"

Before Karkaroff could go off into a rant, Emiko said, "Minerva-san, let me see the paper with Harry's name on it."

Minerva turned, startled, and the others seemed startled too. Minerva took the slip of paper out of her pocket and handed it over. Emiko looked it over, and looked at it closely. To her surprise, the school name on there wasn't Hogwarts. "What is 'Darinton Academy'?" she asked.

The others looked at her oddly. "I have no idea, why?" Minerva asked.

"That's the school name on here," Emiko said. "It's a little burnt, but it definitely doesn't say Hogwarts. Whoever put Harry's name in must have used some kind of spell to make the Goblet think there were four schools in the Tournament."

"And considering Charms is not Mr. Potter's best subject, there's no way he could have performed a Confundus Charm that powerful," Minerva said. "I think that settles it; someone else is behind this."

"But why?" Madame Maxime asked. "'Oo would do zis?"

"Someone who wants Harry to be in danger," Emiko replied. "Minerva-san said that the tasks are very dangerous; whoever did this either wants Harry to be in danger- or they want him dead. And there's only one person I can think of who wants Harry dead."

Everyone in the room except Kisshu stared at her before Karkaroff said, "Isn't that a bit of a stretch of logic, child? He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has been gone for over a decade, if that is who you're talking about."

"Karkaroff, have you read the Daily Prophet lately?" Minerva asked.

"No, I've been busy arranging for my students to come to this tournament," Karkaroff said.

Minerva looked over at Emiko, who snapped her fingers, and the previous week's Monday edition of the Daily Prophet appeared. She flipped to the article Minerva had shown her, and handed it to Kakaroff. He read it, his expression turning from disbelief to nervousness to fear, before handing it over to Madame Maxime. She read it as well, and she also looked at least nervous. "So… you think You-Know-Who put Harry's name in the Goblet?" Cedric asked after a minute.

"Not personally," Kisshu said. "He most likely has someone on the inside. My assumption is one of the staff here, but I could be wrong. It could be he's got someone hiding out in the area who came to Hogwarts to do this. But whoever it is, I'd suggest you all keep your guard up- especially since Emiko and I aren't allowed to participate in the Tournament."

"You're not allowed to participate as champions," Minerva corrected. "If something happens that you know is not supposed to be a part of the Tournament, then you can either let us know, take care of it yourselves, or both."

"Minerva, before we get into this further, perhaps you could explain who these two are?" Karkaroff suggested.

"I apologize, this is Emiko Ikisatashi and her older brother, Kisshu," Minerva said. "They and their adoptive mother Yuki are staying here to both help with the Tournament and because Emiko wanted to stay with her friends."

"So zey are not students?" Fleur asked, curious.

"Emiko was on the list of First Years, but as her magic is already under her control, it wasn't really necessary to have her come to Hogwarts," Minerva explained. "Dumbledore decided that he'd use her in his plot to control Harry Potter, but it didn't work out, and she managed to convince the Minister of Magic that Dumbledore was up to no good. I don't know what's going on with that currently, but I was made Headmistress of Hogwarts after Dumbledore's less than legal activities became known to the public. Emiko, Kisshu, and Yuki have been very helpful to me and Hogwarts in general, and I trust them."

Emiko heard something outside the room, and realized after a minute it sounded like yelling. "Uh…. Koumori-san and Sirius are fighting," she said. "Minerva, maybe you could fill us in later? We'd better go stop them."

"Fine," Minerva sighed. Emiko and Kisshu ran back to the Great Hall, and found Sirius and Snape yelling at each other, wands drawn. Remus was trying to calm them down, but as Emiko and Kisshu approached them, Snape used a Banishing Charm on him, and he went flying. Snape then pointed his wand at Sirius, and Emiko snapped her fingers. His wand went flying into her hand, and both men turned to stare at her.

"Look, I know you don't like each other, but I don't think a room full of students is the best place to have a fight, especially with wands involved," Emiko said. "What started this, anyways?"

"Severus decided to inform Sirius that his godson was an 'incurable rule-breaker with an inflated head', and Sirius took offense to that," Professor Sprout said wearily.

"Snivellus is just too hung up on the past to realize that just because Harry looks like James doesn't mean they're the same person," Sirius snarled. "From what I've seen, Harry hates being the center of attention, and James loved it."

"And what did you say to him?" Kisshu asked.

"Nothing, I just hung him up by his ankle," Sirius said, snickering.

Kisshu snorted, and Snape glared at him briefly before Sirius continued, "He should do laundry more often…."

Snape snarled and started to lunge at Sirius. Emiko pointed Snape wand at him and shouted, "Petrificus Totalis!"

Snape froze up, and Emiko sighed. "Really, Professor Snape?" she asked. "I had to defeat you with your OWN WAND? I understand you don't like Sirius, but you antagonized him, not the other way around. You can't really expect him to sit there and do nothing while you insult his godson AND his best friend. And on top of that, you attacked Remus when he tried to stop you two from fighting. I realize you don't like each other, but at least while we have guests, could you two TRY to stay away from each other?"

"I have been trying," Sirius said grouchily. "If he wasn't so hung up on the past, this wouldn't have happened."

Emiko sighed. "If this happens again, I'm siccing Aunt Yuki on you," she warned them, and freed Snape from the spell. Snape glowered at her, and Emiko said, "And Professor Snape, I think once you cool down, you should apologize to Remus, as he was just trying to make sure you BOTH didn't get hurt."

"He doesn't have to apologize to me?" Sirius asked.

"We'll work that out after he cools down," Emiko said, and snapped her fingers. Snape vanished, and Professor Sprout asked, "What did you do with him?"

"I sent him to the Potions room," Emiko said. "Is Remus okay?"

Madam Pomfrey looked up from where she was checking on Remus and said, "Barring a headache, he'll be fine. He wasn't injured, luckily; just knocked out."

"I'm gonna kill that-" Sirius started, but Kisshu said, "Save the killing for later, okay? I'm fairly certain it's not going to help Harry if you get arrested for murder."

Sirius deflated a bit as Minerva came out of the chamber behind them with the others. "What happened?" she asked wearily.

"Severus antagonized Sirius, who retaliated, and then Severus attacked Remus when he tried to stop their fight," Professor Sprout said. "Emiko took Severus's wand and used the Full Body-Bind Curse on him, and then started scolding them. And then she sent Severus to his classroom. Crisis averted- for now."

Minerva sighed. "I'll have a word with him," she said wearily. "And return his wand."

"What's the decision on Harry?" Sirius asked.

"He has no choice but to participate, unfortunately," Minerva said. "We determined that someone entered him as a student of another school and somehow used the Confundus Charm on the Goblet, but as of right now, there's no way to take him out of the Tournament, since when his name came out of the Goblet, it sealed a magical contract just like with the others. None of us are particularly happy with this, but unfortunately there's nothing we can do. I need to announce this."

She walked to her spot at the Head Table, and called, "Your attention, please."

The chattering stopped, and Minerva said, "For those of you curious, Harry Potter's name was entered under a different school by an unknown person; we are guessing an adult. We're currently working to see if there's a way to get Mr. Potter out of the Tournament, but in the meantime, we ask that you be careful, as whoever put his name in may still be near this school. Please report anyone suspicious to a teacher or staff member immediately. We will work to make sure whoever is behind this is caught as soon as possible, and the Ministry has been informed as well."

A sixth year at the Ravenclaw Table called out, "Are there going to be Dementors here this year too?"

"No, I have told the Minister that I will not allow Dementors at Hogwarts ever again," Minerva replied. "Last year was more than enough."

Ludo Bagman stepped up and said, "We'll get this sorted out, don't you worry!"

Minerva nodded and said, "As it's getting late, I would suggest you all go to your common rooms, if not to bed."

There was the sound of many chairs scraping the stone floor, and students headed off. Karkaroff swept off with Krum, and Madame Maxime did the same with Fleur. Cedric looked at Harry, then said, "Best of luck, I guess we'll be competing again."

"Yeah… thanks," Harry said glumly.

"I'll try to make sure my Housemates aren't too hard on you," Cedric added. "I know it's not your fault- and I don't particularly want your friends on my case."

"Thanks, Cedric," Harry said, a bit more cheerful. Cedric clapped him on the shoulder and headed off.

Sirius came over after he was gone and asked, "You going to be okay, pup?"

"I'm just not sure anymore," Harry muttered. "I never asked for this, and now it's yet another thing I have to deal with. I've hated being famous from day one, and now it's just going to get worse."

"We'll do all we can to help you," Sirius said.

"Sirius is right, Harry," Minerva said. "If we can't get you out of this tournament, we'll at least make sure the students don't harass you about it. I can't say we can help you with the tasks, because that would be unfair to the other champions, but we'll at least help you get through this."

"Thanks, Professor," Harry said. "I'm going back up to Gryffindor Tower."

"They'll be celebrating," Minerva commented. "Has anyone seen Yuki?"

"I saw her drag Ronald Weasley off after Emiko and Kisshu left," Professor Flitwick replied. "I don't know what that was about."

Emiko concentrated, and said, "She's in an empty classroom with him. She's got her mom look on, and that means we shouldn't bug her. I'm sure she'll tell us what happened later."

"Uh… okay…." Harry said.

"We'll go with you to Gryffindor Tower," Kisshu announced. "Your Housemates are going to want to party, and I can tell that's the last thing you want to do."

"Thanks, Kisshu," Harry said.

"I'll come too; I should let them know that they can't stay up all night," Sirius said. "At least I'm Head of Gryffindor House; hopefully they'll listen to me."

Harry grinned. "It's still hard to think of you as actually being serious," he said.

"I'm always Sirius," Sirius said, grinning back. "Let's go."

They set off, and reached Gryffindor Tower a while later. Sirius gave the password, which was 'Balderdash', and the painting swung open. Sure enough, everyone was celebrating, and celebrating loudly. The noise died down a bit when they saw Sirius, and he took the opportunity to say, "I know you're all happy that someone besides Cedric got into the Triwizard Tournament, but since Harry doesn't actually share that happiness, I'd appreciate it if you didn't bug him, and kept the noise level to a minimum. Those of you who have my class tomorrow, get some sleep, 'cause if you fall asleep in class, you might wake up as something else- namely a pink vampire bat!"

This caused about half the people in the room to gulp and head for the stairs as Sirius said, "Oh, and for those of you in my seventh year class, I've got a guest speaker for you."

"Really? Who?" a seventh year girl asked.

"Wait and see!" Sirius said, sniggering. The girl pouted and headed upstairs. Soon the room was mostly clear, and Hermione came over. "Hi Hermione," Harry said.

"Hi Harry," Hermione said. "How are you doing with all this?"

"I wish it was over already," Harry said. "Do you know anything about why Ron got dragged off by Yuki?"

Hermione looked a bit nervous, but said, "I think she wanted to lecture him about jealousy issues."

"In other words, he's jealous that Harry's in the spotlight again?" Kisshu asked. "He doesn't seem very smart to me."

"Great…." Harry said.

"Maybe Aunt Yuki can help," Emiko said.

"Imouto-chan, I don't think Aunt Yuki can help Ron get smarter…." Kisshu said. "Last I checked she couldn't heal idiocy."

Sirius snorted as Harry said, "I don't think Ron's an idiot… or at least, not always."

"He should know by now that you hate being in the spotlight, and then gets jealous of you for exactly that reason," Kisshu said bluntly. "That's idiocy."

"I couldn't agree more," Yuki said from behind them, coming through the portrait hole with Ron, who was sulkily rubbing his ears.

"What happened to your ears?" Harry asked.

"Mrs. Ikisatashi used them to drag me around," Ron said sulkily.

"What did we talk about, Ronald?" Yuki asked.

Ron sighed and said, "We talked about how fame wasn't everything and that no one in their right mind would want to be famous. And we talked about how being jealous of someone famous was the sign of a complete idiot, because fame is the worst evil known to mankind."

"She told you my horror stories, right?" Kisshu asked.

"Right," Ron said gloomily, and shuddered. "Sorry, Harry," he said. "I should have known better than to get jealous of you, and I'm swearing off the whole 'being famous someday' idea. Mrs. Ikisatashi's stories were more like horror stories than anything else."

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

"I was declared the best Cyniclon warrior in the history of my people at age ten, and my life went downhill from there," Kisshu said. "No end of fan girls, and everyone who wasn't a fan girl either hated me or wanted something from me. It was hell, and I was actually glad to be exiled to Earth. If they had made me stay, I'm fairly certain at least one fan girl would die a horrible death at my hands."

Harry sighed and said, "Thanks, Ron. I'm glad you're not giving up on me just because some jerk forced me into participating in the Triwizard Tournament."

Ron smiled a bit, and then Yuki said, "Bedtime, all of you. And yes, Sirius, that includes you. Don't think I don't know that you've been staying up much later than I told you you should."

"I'm a grown man!" Sirius protested.

"A grown man who is still recovering from a decade in Azkaban and nearly two more years on the run," Yuki commented. "Don't make me teleport you."

"Okay! Okay! I'll go to bed!" Sirius said irritably. He ruffled Harry's hair and said, "Night pup. This one's worse than Molly Weasley."

"I heard that, Sirius," Yuki said as she shooed Emiko and Kisshu off.

Sirius cringed as Harry, Ron, and Hermione laughed.

Well, things are heating up. I hope you enjoyed this, and see you next chapter! Please review on the way out!