Chapter 2
The Paths
Founder Ymir looked upon the small crowd of her subjects that she had brought to the paths after freezing time in their world. She had just finished explaining the situation in Eren's birth world and had discussed plans on how to handle it. It was now almost time for Eren's old name to be called from the Goblet of Fire.
"Founder Ymir," She turned to Commander Erwin, giving him her attention. "I just wanted to say, on behalf of the Survey Corps and all of Paradis, thank you for sending Eren Jaeger to our world. Thanks to him, we've managed to save many lives, improve our technology and understanding of the world around us"
"You are welcome," Founder Ymir nodded at him. She then felt a build-up of energy on the paths. "It's time. Good luck my dearest subjects"
"Alright, let's go create some chaos in my birth world," Eren smirked as all his friends smirked back in agreement.
Founder Ymir smiled as a harmless white flame surrounded them, transporting them to the other world. "This shall be entertaining"
Hogwarts
Dumbledore looked around the hall, trying not to smile. Many people had shown up for the choosing of the champions. Minster Fudge and Undersecretary Umbridge had come with the other Minsters from France and Bulgaria. Rita Skeeter from the Daily Prophet was joined by reporters from the other countries.
And Madam Bones and Auror Shacklebolt were here too. They were still annoyed at Dumbledore, for having missed that the Alastor Moody that had come to Hogwarts was fake. Thank goodness, Dumbledore managed to read Barty Junior's mind before Fudge idiotically brought a dementor to 'kiss' Barty. He didn't tell Bones what he saw, only he could use the information anyway. It was for the greater good
The boy-who-lived's name had just been called, much to many students and guests' shock and anger. Over the years, Charlie had not shown whatever power he had used that night, but hopefully being in the tournament will bring out that power.
He looked over to where the chosen champions stood, glaring at Charlie, who stood with a smug look, despite not entering the tournament himself. 'While Mr. Diggory is good,' Dumbledore thought to himself. 'I'm sure once the tournament begins, they'll see that young Charlie is more powerful'. As he turned to address the hall, the goblet started to flare red again. Confused, he reached up as one more piece of paper flew from the flames.
"Another one!"
"Someone else cheated!"
"Who?!"
Everyone quietened down when Dumbledore finally caught the paper and read the name on it. 'Impossible!' He thought in shock. "Harry Potter!" He read out loud, surprising everyone, having heard of the twin.
"Is this a joke?!"
"Charlie Potter's squib brother?!"
"How could a squib have been chosen?!"
"Look!" Sirius Black, the current Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, shouted as the goblet's flames turned white. Multiple white flames shot out, a massive one flying through the doors with a faint sound of neighing, while the smaller ones landed in the middle of the hall. Three landed near the goblet.
The flames died down to reveal a mix of teenagers and adults. They were all dressed the same. Boots with leathers straps wrapped around white pants. Some sort of light brown jacket under a short green cloak. Dumbledore's eyes were drawn to the metal contraptions that were handing off their hips.
'What are those?' He thought before turning to the three adults in front of the goblet. He addressed the tall, blonde man in the middle, "Hello good sir, welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. May I ask for your name?"
"I'm Commander Erwin Smith of the Survey Corps," Erwin said with authority, before looking around the hall. "School for Witchcraft you say? May I ask why we are here?"
"Ah, you see, the goblet of fire brought you here," Dumbledore answered, pointing to the goblet behind Erwin. "A few seconds after spitting out a name for the tournament we are currently holding"
"I see," Erwin said, looking over the other people the goblet brought, all who were standing still, looking back at him, waiting for orders. "And what name was that?"
"Oh, it's Harry Potter," Dumbledore answered, holding up the piece of parchment with the name
"Harry Potter, hmm," Erwin looked to think for a moment, before turning to the ensembled group in the middle of the hall. "Eren!" He shouted, startling many of the watching students and guests.
Dumbledore watched a teenage boy walk out of the crowd. A boy with dark brown hair and piecing green eyes. 'Green eyes,' He thought, looking closely at the now slightly familiar boy. 'Could it be?'
"Sir!" The boy stopped in front of Erwin, standing straight with his left arm behind his back and his right hand fisted over his heart.
"Eren," Erwin started. "If I remember correctly, your birth name was Harry Potter, correct?"
"Yes, sir," The boy, Eren, answered promptly. "It was before the Jaegers adopted me and renamed me Eren, sir"
"Hmm," Erwin turned back to looked at Dumbledore, showing little emotion. "I assume being sent back home is non-negotiable?"
"No," Dumbledore answered, gesturing towards the champions. "Those who are picked by the Goblet, must participate in the Triwizard Tournament. The moment their name comes out of the goblet, a magical contract is made between them and the goblet, that states that if they forfeit or don't participate, the goblet strips them of their magic"
"What?!" Dumbledore jumped and looked over at the champions, all glaring at him, even Charles.
"Dumbledore, is this true?" Madame Maxime asked. "Because I do not remember seeing or hearing about any sort of contract"
"There has always been a contract," Dumbledore tried to calm them down. "It's part of the Triwizard Tournament"
"Triwizard?" Erwin raised an eyebrow. "That indicates there to be three participants, and yet, I see four standing there, with one looking younger than the other three"
"Yes, well," Dumbledore tried to answer. "It seems somehow, Charlie and his brother's name had been placed into the goblet and the goblet was tricked into selecting them. Now, it seems Hogwarts has three champions"
"Three?" The shorter male asked, stepping forward. "Excuse me, but I call bullshit. For one, Eren never went to this school, so he can't be your champion. And two, you already have one extra champion, already making it unfair for the other competitors."
"And you are, sir," Dumbledore asked, slightly shocked at the language.
"I'm Squad Captain Levi Ackerman," Levi said with a blank face.
"Well, Mr. Ackerman," Dumbledore explained. "I'm sure young Eren would like to fight alongside his true twin brother. After all, family look after one another." Dumbledore kept his grandfatherly smile on his face while thinking, 'And having his weaker brother here will make Charlie looking better and stronger'
"How about we asked Eren if that is what he wants," Erwin said, turning to Eren, who had remained quiet and still saluting. "Eren, what do you want?"
"I wish to represent the Survey Corps, sir," Eren said with a slight smile at his commander.
"There, it is decided," Erwin turned back to Dumbledore, just picking up on a slight break in his grandfather mask. "Eren Jaeger, previously Harry Potter, will be the champion for the Survey Corps."
"Of course," Dumbledore conceded, before thinking of a different approach. "Then, at least let us accommodate you."
"I suppose that is fair," Erwin nodded after thinking a moment. "Without our horses, we have nothing"
"Horses?" Cedric, Hogwarts' other champion, asked, getting everyone's attention. "Um, when the goblet brought you, one of the flames went out the door, and I could've sworn I heard neighing in it"
"Hmm, Squad Leader Hange," Erwin turned to them. "Take a Moblit, Connie, and Jean, and go see if this is true"
"Right!" They nodded before walking through the crowd, motioning for the three mentioned to follow. Dumbledore, along with everyone else, couldn't help but noticed the crest on the back of green cloaks. It looked like two wings, a silver one and blue one, crossed over one another
"Hem, hem," Everyone turned to the Minster's Undersecretary, as she spoke in a fake sweet voice. "I wish to bring to everyone's attention, that Eren Jaeger, was it? That Mr. Jaeger is still down as a squib, and squibs aren't allowed to hold and/or use a wand"
"Yes, that is true, Dolores," Dumbledore nodded, looking sadly at Eren. "I'm sorry, my boy, but rules are rules"
"That's fine," Eren said, after a quick look at his captain for silent permission to speak. "I'll just use my special abilities and my ODM gear." He patted at the contraption on his hips.
Before Dumbledore could tell the boy no, the French Minister spoke up, "That is fine. According to the tournament's rules, if a participant does not have access or need for a wand, they can use whatever abilities or equipment they have at hand"
"Yes," The Bulgarian Minister nodded in agreement. "I believe this was made possible because Mr Jaeger is not the first squib to be chosen by the goblet. In fact, after looking at the tournament's history, I found that a squib actually won the tournament." This information got many of the Hogwarts students muttering in shock, surprise, and a bit of disgust at idea of a squib winning.
"Thank you for that information, sirs," Erwin politely nodded in the two ministers' direction. "Is there anything else we need to know?"
"Yes," Bagman shook himself out of his stupor. "The first ask will be held on the 24th of November and that it will be a test of courage"
"I see," Erwin raised an eyebrow at the low amount of information. "Now, while we wait for confirmation on the horses, is there a rule book or information on this tournament we can look at. So, we know what to expect"
"Yes," Madam Bones answered, levitating her copy of the book over to the man. "This has the information you will be needing. And can I just say, you are being very accepting of all this, especially magic"
"Yes, well," Erwin nodded in thanks as he plucked the book out of the air. "With all the stuff we tend to see on a weekly basis in the Survey Corps, this is tame."
"I just realised, you keep saying corps," Bones pointed out, after thinking about it. "As far as I'm aware, the only place that uses that is the military."
"That's because we are a part of the military," Levi confirmed, much to the shock of everyone but the people in green cloaks.
"The military?"
"So, they're soldiers?"
"The boy-who-lived's brother is a soldier?"
"Yes, we are called the Survey Corps of the Paradis Island Military," Erwin nodded in agreement, standing even more straighter in pride. "We are also called the Scouting Regiment, Recon Regiment and Wings of Freedom, among other names"
"And before you say anything about the teenagers you see," Levi could see what many of the adults were about to say. "Where we are from, let's just say we have no choice but to recruit teenagers. Besides, by the time they finish their training and join one of the regiments, most of them have grown up fast and are no longer considered teenagers very much"
'This isn't good,' Dumbledore thought, looking over at Eren and then at the reporters currently writing everything down. 'The boy-who-lived's weaker squib brother is part of a military. This could make Charlie look bad.' But before he could do anything, the group from before returned
"Erwin! Levi!" Hange exclaimed excitedly, causing some of the other soldiers to roll their eyes, very used to their antics. "You not going to believe what we found!"
"Oi, four eyes," Levi said with an annoyed look on his face. "Settle down and tell us, did you find our horse?"
"Yep, I found all of them and more," Hange said, walking over to stand next to Eren, pointing at the goblet that was no longer lit. "It seems that goblet thing was very generous. Along with our horses, it's given us what looks like a small, compacted version of our Headquarters." 'More like our Founder Ymir was generous' was the unsaid thought of all the soldiers.
"Excellent," Erwin said, turning to nod at the other adults. "Ladies, Gents. I thank you for being patient with us and I hope we can have a good working relationship while we are here." He took note of who nodded back and who didn't. He turned to the other soldiers. "Scouts! Let's move out!"
"Sir!" They all shouted, making that fist of heart salute. They waited until Erwin, Levi and Hange had walked past them to lead them while Eren had re-joined his friends.
Everyone, student, teacher, and guest alike, watched as the soldiers followed their leaders out the door. Many thinking, 'That could've gone better'