Disclaimer:
I solemnly swear that the literature and works of the Harry Potter Verse belong to JK Rowling, Bloomberg and Warner Bros. The only thing I own are the one-shot ideas that popped into my head and whatever OCs I would create for them. This is a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life or fiction are purely coincidental. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...
Mischief Managed Damn It!
Title: The Oath of a Flame Mage 3 (Working Title)
Posted Date: October 15 2023
Tags: Pyromaniac Harry, Bad Dumbledore, Street Smart Harry, Bad guys go crispy quickly, Interference Order of Phoenix
Possible Challenges: Harry going to a different school, Harry forced into TWT
Possible Pairings: Harry x Tonks, Harry x Fleur, Harry x Susan
Susan Bones sighed as she sat down by the house table to eat her breakfast, idly listening to the students talking with one another about the first task that was about to happen in a few hours time while her mind went back to Halloween night of her current fourth year in Hogwarts.
The night for the selection of the champions for the Triwizard Tournament.
That night was one of anticipation, not only for something new to break the monotony of lessons and Quidditch, but for the chance to meet other students from other schools. Although she was not sure about the two schools; Durmstrang did have the reputation of being an academy that played rough with Dark Magic, although they supposedly had some standards when they expelled Gellert Grindelwald in his youth for apparently experimenting with magic too much even for their culture. Beauxbatons on the other hand gave off a sense of pride bordering on arrogance with their charm works and their display, supposedly for their "elegance", especially their champion Fleur Delacour. Something about the woman just rubbed her wrong, and it was not because of her being a Veela if the dumb expressions worn by the male students were of any indication along with the family name.
At least Hufflepuff got the chance to be in the spotlight with Cedric Diggory being Hogwarts's Champion, although to be frank, Susan believed that everyone from Hogwarts was happy for the distraction, given all that had happened over the past 4 years, what with possessed teachers, a fraudulent professor with a penchant for obliviation, a basilisk, petrifications and bloody dementors, all of which resulted in students being pulled out of the school by parents decrying it as a death trap. Her aunt Amelia had considered pulling her out of Hogwarts last year, but she managed to persuade her to hang on for at least another year since she still had Hannah around, with the consensus that she would be taken out of the school if one more incident happened.
With all that had occurred in the school thus far, the students were just waiting for the other shoe to drop for this event, and they got the answer in the form of a fourth name being drawn. Said name being one of Britain's biggest, and currently missing since 1988, celebrities.
Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, or the Boy-Who-Vanished, quoted by Rita Skeeter.
She remembered the articles well enough, but it was her aunt who told Susan what was really going on with the search. How the boy's muggle guardians have been abusive up until the period when he disappeared and somehow managed to evade all manners of tracking from the Aurors and hit wizards employed by the minister or others. The boy was slipping into legend for the manner he was avoiding detection, with some of the students claiming that he was actually dead but the adults did not want to admit to it. It was only thanks to Amelia that Susan knew the boy was alive.
For now at least.
"Susan." The girl blinked while turning to find her childhood friend sitting next to her. "Are you awake yet?"
"Morning, Hannah. Just thinking about the task later." She greeted her friend.
"Yeah, Cedric has been going nuts in trying to find out what the task is. I am not sure if he was able to get anything until last night." Hannah Abbott replied as she grabbed some food to assemble her plate. "Even then, he is acting like someone just walked over his grave, and I can't get anything out of him."
"With whatever they are building outside, he may have every right to be nervous." Susan answered before movement at the corner of her eye drew her attention to the doors of the Great Hall and she groaned. "Oh No."
"Here." Hannah handed her a rune stone from her pocket. "It's charged. Do it now." Susan gripped the stone tightly in the nick of time as Zacharias Smith walked over with a slimy sneer.
"Oi, Abbot. Where is Bones?" The boy looked about as though he could find her by himself. "I want her to come by my side for this task."
"She left to get some work done before the task, not that it is any of your business. And it is also up to her if she wants to go with you." Hannah spoke with narrowed eyes.
"She should be grateful that I chose to have her as my girlfriend." Smith puffed out his chest as though to show his superiority.
"She is not an object, Smith." Hannah's eyes appeared to become slits as she glared at him. "And if you even think of trying anything with her, I will show you what Amelia Bones was able to teach me regarding boys before I leave what is left for her to take out." That she had both a wand and a knife in her hands with her eyes looking downwards made it very clear what she wanted to do, and the boy decided to cut his loss and moved away. She kept glaring until the boy went to the other end of the table before turning around. "All clear." Susan slowly powered down the rune until Hannah and a couple of others who just sat down could see her, thankfully helping to block the view of others who might be finding her.
"Sorry for the trouble, Hannah." Susan spoke while palming the rune stone.
"No problem. I am only disappointed I did not get the chance to hex Smith. I have an interesting spell to try out on him." The twin tailed girl let out a scary cackle that made the senior student near her edge away in fear. Susan sighed at the statement and recent behaviour that was becoming more common these days.
Growing up together, Hannah had taken up the role of being her protector when dealing with some of those children from ministry functions trying to cosy up to her to gain a connection with the DMLE, rather helpful given Susan's shy nature. She got more protective of Susan when puberty hit Susan like overcharged Bludgers shortly before their third year and boys started to take notice. Susan still remembered the one time Hannah chased around a fifth year student all over the courtyard with a Beater's Bat after the guy made a crude comment about Susan. Professor Sprout had no idea whether to reward her or to punish her, while Professor Flitwick laughed his head off at the hilarity of seeing a bigger boy running in fear from a small girl barely reaching his chest. Hannah ended up with a stern warning not to do it again before the professors left.
The others however gave her a high-five.
But ever since their mutual friend, and Hannah's not-so-secret crush, Neville Longbottom got taken home after the near fatal attack by the Dementors near the end of their third year, Hannah had gotten more proactive in ensuring her safety, especially when the boys in their own house and year group were getting a little cocky with their actions. Justin seemed nice until he showed that he was apparently a loose rag in getting girls to like him and go on dates, while Ernie was acting like his father and being more pompous with each day passing. But Zacharias Smith was the worst, what with his family supposedly being linked to Helga Hufflepuff and being on the Wizengamot. He had set his eyes on her since puberty and had been pushing for dates and not so subtle hints about his father seeking an audience with Amelia for a discussion on contracts.
Susan got the feeling the man would get hexed instead if he offered even a hint about contracts. Maybe she could ask her aunt for a memory to view?
"I wonder if we will finally meet the missing Potter." Hannah mused as she bit into her toast.
"Depends on the supposed contract. If he is required to come, I would think the committee would have some method of contacting him." Susan replied, a note of uncertainty evident in her tone. "If not, the goblet could take either his magic or that of the cosigner." Hannah hummed at that. "What do you think?"
"Common sense would say that the goblet would not work, or if it does, take only the one who wrote the name into the Goblet. But then, this is Hogwarts." Hannah huffed while blowing the hair strand in front of her eyes. "I can only imagine how Potter would feel if he gets summoned out of nowhere and is made to take part in this."
"True. Auntie is coming later to make sure nobody tries to force him into this if he does come here." Susan noted the decreased chatter and they turned to face Professor McGonagall coming up to the podium.
"Good morning to all students and guests." Her voice sounded firmly in the Great Hall. "In 3 hours, the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament will begin. We ask that whosoever wishes to see the task, be ready to move to the stands erected outside of the Forbidden Forest within the hour. Please ensure you follow the instructions and walk the designated paths to the stands. Thank you." The professor stepped down while the hall filled with chatter once more.
"We will find out all about this within the next few hours then." Hannah inhaled the rest of her food before getting up. "I better grab some stuff from the dorms, for all I know, we may need to wait a bit." Susan nodded while getting up and following her friend as she maintained the rune stone activation to avoid Smith and any other guys looking for her.
She had a bad feeling about this task.
~ooOOoo~
"Where is he, Dumbledore?" Cornelius Fudge asked the Hogwarts headmaster with a tone bordering on a snarl. The two were with the other headmaster or headmistress of their respective schools along with Bagman and one Ministry flunky randomly chosen to help with the judging. Further away from them, two Unspeakables were checking on the Goblet that was still lit, the blue flames being a somewhat ominous sign for the occasion at hand. They still had 30 minutes before the start of the task, and the other champions were already coming to the tent to prepare for their challenges.
He had not been having a good year so far with the escape by Peter Pettigrew and Bellatrix Lestrange, the Dementors going on a rampage with Neville Longbottom nearly getting kissed, his grandmother going on a warpath against him, the Quidditch World Cup ending with drunk people dressing up as those Death Eaters to attack wizards and witches (he refused to believe the eyewitnesses reports of said Death Eaters were supposedly his financial backers who were not drunk) and the Dark Mark appearing in the sky shown on the Daily Prophet. With the current issue of Harry Potter's name coming out of the Goblet, he was now under a great deal of pressure to find the boy before he ended up being considered as defaulting on the task and losing his magic. The populace would serve Cornelius's head on a silver platter by the end of the day!
"He will be here." Dumbledore on the other hand was calm as a cucumber in that rather annoying manner that he knew better than everyone else and was withholding valuable information just to make himself seem more important than him, the Minister for Magic! "The Goblet would not let a champion be away from the task. In the event the aurors cannot find him in time, we will use the goblet to force his return here."
"But Dumbledore, is that not too sudden?" Madame Olympe Maxime, the rather 'big' woman towering over them, asked with a frown and concerned tone. "The boy would be confused, and given the task?"
"Well, the boy should not have his name added if he did not want to enter." Igor Karkaoff scoffed, the only one still holding on to the belief that the boy cheated somehow despite not being at Hogwarts at all and that Dumbledore was somehow involved with this to give the British a higher chance of winning the tournament.
"The boy did not enter his name, that much is clear." The French headmistress looked at him with narrow eyes.
"Whether he entered himself or others entered it, it does not matter." Dumbledore smoothly interrupted the argument. "The moment his name comes out of the goblet, Mister Potter is bound to the tournament and he will have to come to us one way or another."
"But he cannot be expected to do this immediately." Olympe tried to insist on the issue.
"It is pointless to argue on this. He will be here in some manner, and we can't hold back the tournament any longer or the other champions would be considered as defaulting and will lose their magic." The Ministry flunky told them while checking his watch. "We will proceed with the three champions first before we deal with Potter." Igor certainly agreed and moved to the tent to find his champion, Olympe moving shortly after with clear reluctance to leave the issue as it was but needing to check on her champion. The Ministry flunky followed after Bagman who skipped ahead with rolled eyes for the ex-player's exuberance, leaving Cornelius with Dumbledore.
"I will say this right now, I am already up to my elbows trying to keep my administration afloat with the mess that has been going on, and this problem with the Goblet is not helping." Cornelius spoke tersely at Dumbledore with a frown. "I will not help you with whatever schemes you have planned for the Potter boy, and for the sake of everything, you better forget them."
"Cornelius, it is vital that Harry Potter returns to us for the greater good of our country. The signs are there, Voldemort is returning." Dumbledore answered in that calm patronising tone that Cornelius hated very much, and he flinched at the name used.
"Lord Thingy is dead! Get over it, you bloody war-monger!" Cornelius shouted at him with his Auror guards waving on the students who turned at the sound. "He is already dead thanks to Harry Potter, you are just fishing for trouble and likely trying to drag the boy into your mess. Like it is not enough for the boy to suffer from those muggles you placed him under, and DON'T say it is for his good to be with family." Cornelius interrupted Dumbledore who was going to speak the same words as before. "At any rate, I need to prepare for a scenario where he cannot come at all and you will not mess this up. You don't have your usual favours to help you out. One more mistake, and you can kiss your position as headmaster goodbye by the end of the week." Cornelius turned and made his way to the stands, needing to have a quick word with Amelia who was on-site to aid with the security in case Harry Potter did come. His guards followed while maintaining an eye on Dumbledore, showing how much his star had fallen to have people suspicious of him.
Not that the old wizard cared even if he was a little miffed at the disrespect shown towards him.
Not that it would matter to him when the pros outweigh the cons.
Dumbledore knew the risks of using the Goblet to get the boy into a contract with a tournament known for the high death toll, but it was necessary to have him in Hogwarts where Dumbldore would guide him to his destiny. Voldemort was on the move and based on Severus's increasingly clear Dark Mark, Voldemort was on the verge of returning. He just needed the push to come back to life.
That, and the right bait.
~ooOOoo~
"I am having a bad feeling about this." Susan rubbed her hands slowly to get the goosebumps on her hands down. "I think we need to move."
"I would agree with you, but we are stuck here as it is." Hannah looked about their surroundings with a lot of the other students boxing them in. At least Macmillian, Fletchley and Smith were not near them despite their attempts. "Oh, looks like they are starting." A few minutes in and the girls along with a few others were staring in disbelief and growing dread.
"Are they bloody insane?!" Megan Jones's words were audible over the sounds of chatter and the roar of the dragon that was brought into the field where a nest of eggs was placed. A Swedish Short-Snout if Susan recalled her species correctly. "Nesting Mothers of all things!"
"This is going to be bad." Hannah gripped Susan's hand tightly. The two watched the Hogwarts champion come out of the tent, and even in the distance, they could see his face paling to the point that it looked like all the blood was drained from him at the sight of the dragon. He took a breath and raised his wand to begin the task.
They watched Cedric transfigure one of the bigger rocks into a relatively big dog that went on to distract the dragon so that he could get the gold egg from the nest and hightail it back to the tent, only getting injured midways the dragon lost interest with the dog and blasted fire at him on one side.
They then watched Delacour charm her dragon, the Common Welsh Green, to sleep through a mixture of singing and her allure that made a few others drowsy from the action, and got her egg with nothing more than a burnt skirt when the dragon snorted in its sleep and let out some fire from the nose.
Krum's challenge with the Chinese Fireball was the worst and the most brutal. His tactic was certainly the opposite of Delacour's as he used a Conjunctivitis Curse to blind the dragon before rushing for the golden egg. The dragon stumbled about in its agony and clipped him in the shoulder along with destroying some of the eggs. The roar that came from it was that of a mother moaning the death of her children, and it made Susan sick to her stomach at some of the students being so callous about the whole thing.
Then it came time for the fourth dragon to be brought in for Harry Potter's challenge. And to the shock and increasing fear of all, it took a team of eight dragon handlers to drag in what had to be the biggest and meanest dragon for this challenge. The Hungarian Horntail certainly looked like it was created for the sole purpose of making life hell for whoever or whatever stood in its path or dared to threaten its young.
"Oh, you have got to be -" a loud roar overrode what Hannah was clearly saying in frustration "- kidding me!"
"That's it. Potter is toast, and that's if he gets here." Another voice commented and the others started thinking the same only for Dumbldore's voice to call out.
"As Mister Potter has yet to be found, we are going to invoke the powers of the Goblet to summon him. We ask that no one leaves their spot to avoid interfering with the process." The old wizard announced while the Goblet was brought out of the tent with the Unspeakables and the headmasters. The Goblet was lit and was giving off mystical blue flames that silenced everyone looking at it, even the dragon was hunched down by the nest looking at it. Once it was done, Dumbledore turned to look at the artefact.
"By the power of the Goblet, we hereby ask that our wayward champion be found and be brought here for his task!" The headmasters and Unspeakables pointed their wands at the goblet, the French headmistress clearly more reluctant than the others, and the goblet responded by issuing out the famous blue flames from before. The flames rose higher and gathered to form a flaming circle with smoke gathering in the middle, the size growing along with the sounds of the roaring flames. Some of the more squeamish students started to move away from the flames while the Horntail watched the flames carefully. Then the ring of fire turned orange before a giant fireball erupted from it and descended to the ground, exploding spectacularly with three figures getting thrown out of it in different directions. All eyes were locked onto the trio who quickly rolled about to get rid of the flames, one standing out more due to his youth and general muggle appearance compared to the other two older and more obvious looking wizards.
"Damnation, what just happened!" One of them yelled as he used his wand to spray water on the robes. That same wizard happened to be the closest to the dragon, and he ended up looking up when he had some drool dripped on him, barely having time to scream when the dragon opened its mouth to swallow him whole, earning fresh screams from the audience as it chewed on the morsel.
"What the?! Dragon!" The other one paled and looked about him, seeing the presence of the headmasters in the distance. "Wait, we are in the tournament! That means!" The man turned to look at the third member in shock before shaking his head. "Fuck this! I ain't getting eaten here!" The man tried to apparate only to splinch into two and hit the ground with a scream, the anti apparition wards being active in the area. His scream attracted the attention of the Horntail, the dragon having gotten hungry from the first bite and now turning its head to look at the second invader to her nest. That guy moved about frantically with his arms, his screams increased as he watched the dragon come closer with drool dripping from the open mouth, his screams and scent of blood making the dragon's instincts sharpened for the kill.
"Stay back, you beast!" That man swung his arm so that he was on his back to get a better aim with his wand. "Avada Kedavra!" The signature green spell shot out of the wand and hit the dragon right in the head. Everyone was silent for a while, before the dragon narrowed its eyes and hissed angrily.
"Ah shit!" The man cursed right as the dragon opened its mouth and let out a stream of fire that incinerated him instantly. The dragon huffed with smoke coming out of its nose before turning to the last intruder to her nest who at that point had put out the flames and straightened up to look about himself in quick movements before focusing on the dragon with a hard stare.
A stare that had the dragon roaring in challenge before letting loose fire that covered the spot he was in.
Everyone screamed at that point, thinking this was the end of their saviour, for who else could it be? Cornelius Fudge was seen fainting at the sight, likely at the prospect of losing his position for not stopping the task. The French headmistress was screaming at her Bulgarian counterpart who looked spooked but not as affected as the rest. And Dumbledore looked stricken at the situation.
Susan could not help but think the man was going to need a lot of favours to get out of this mess.
"Look!" Hannah's shout drew hers and the attention of others closest to them back to the ring where the fire was still going despite the dragon having stopped roaring out the flames. The flames were swirling about like a typhoon that was getting thinning out before the flames at the ground level parted to reveal the young wizard waving his wand in a circular motion to control them, having lost the cloth around the face to reveal raven black hair and green eyes that were glowing brightly with power. His clothes were also mostly untouched but the outer shirt was burnt off from the flames, showing his physique that was covered in a slightly torn white shirt.
"So you like to play with fire, huh?" The audio enhancement charms picked up on the young wizard's words as he paused his wand motion to draw the flames into a tight ball of fire glowing a scorching white. "You can have this back." Slamming a foot forward, he let out a yell and shot the ball right back at the dragon. Upon contact with it, the ball effectively blew up the dragon and forced it back a few feet, the sudden burst of fire and sound making the audience scream and back up instinctively. The dragon shook its head and snarled its rage at the young man for daring to use its flames against it. The young wizard responded by rushing forward towards the dragon that was quickly regaining equilibrium, and to Susans's surprise along with others, he actually kept his wand before slowing down.
"What is he doing?" They got their answer in the form of him conjuring up flames of his own that surrounded him before he flew upwards like a rocket to avoid the tail swipe from the dragon. He flipped a few times before slamming down on the head with a bicycle kick that knocked it straight down to the ground. The dragon did not like it at all and raised its head with enough strength to send him off its head before it smashed its head against him and sent him flying straight at the stands where Susan and Hannah were. The other students scrambled to get away, forcing Susan and Hannah to stay where they were as the wizard got closer only for his feet to erupt in flames and slowed his descent until he crashed into the seats next to Susan, allowing the two girls to see the wizard in question up close.
"Damn, that dragon can hit hard." Harry Potter cracked his neck and winced from the pop while getting up before noting the girls next to him. "Oh, sorry about the crash landing. I was not expecting to be dragged to some place with a freaking dragon trying to burn or eat me alive. I will be getting out of your way." With that, he bent his legs and jumped off the seats before flames exploded out from the boots and propelled him towards the dragon that was raring to go against him.
"Susan, I hope your aunt is ready to handle Potter, because she will need it to deal with a guy who must have iron Quaffles to deal with a dragon head-on." Hannah just spoke with a flat tone. Susan could only nod her head numbly as she watched the wizard known to stop Lord Voldemort now going head to head with a Hungarian Horntail without hesitation despite being out of his element, the grin on his face while shrouded in flames doing something weird to her tummy.
This was going to be complicated.
Author's Notes:
I will be honest with you guys, I am considering opening an AO3 account and start cross-posting this set of story ideas along with posting future stories there because Fanfiction is getting very unstable, half the time I am viewing a story and it starts missing two or more of the latest chapters, and the emails are also not showing at times. Not to mention the fact I have been getting trolls in my reviews and PM inbox a few times, it is very distracting and demoralizing to say the least. The site really needs to be more stable and better options to block out the trolls.
For now, I will hold out to see if Fanfiction would get better in the future.