Chapter 4 The Contract that Broke the Camel's Back

'Pettigrew alive, Black innocent' blared the newspaper headline.

"For once, Skeeter actually wrote what really happened," Harry reflected in surprise. He was having breakfast with Remus and Sirius, his newly released godfather, in the latter's parental home, 12 Grimmauld Place, London. He had spent the holidays thus far travelling back and forth between the Grangers' house at the start of the holiday while Remus was recovering from the June full moon, then three weeks with Remus in his cottage, followed by another week at the Grangers during the July full moon, and then back to Remus, including his birthday celebration, until Sirius' trial. Now that Remus had told Harry that he was a werewolf, he could be more open about the reason for why Harry could only come and visit for three weeks at a time. The only way that Harry could get his head around how much prejudice against werewolves there was, was from the fact that it had taken Remus three years before he would tell Harry about it, and even then only because Harry had voiced his upset about another secret that nobody had bothered to tell him during the same period, that Sirius Black was his godfather and had spent 12 years in Azkaban.

Remus' cottage wasn't big enough for three people, so they had moved to the Black townhouse. It was unbelievably filthy, despite the fact that a house-elf had been living there since before the house had still been inhabited by Walburga Black, the mother of Sirius. The bound house-elf, Kreacher, was not quite sane. Not that Dobby, the free house-elf that Remus and Harry jointly employed, was entirely normal either, but Dobby had managed to clean three bedrooms before the humans had moved in after yesterday's trial, and was even now acting like a miniature whirlwind getting the kitchen in order while cooking them breakfast.

"Skeeter's only criterion for what she will write seems to be whether it is sensational enough for her, even if that happens to be the truth," Remus agreed.

Harry was having a very enjoyable summer holiday. He had done his homework while staying with Hermione, which had still left enough time to enjoy various muggle entertainments. While he was living with Remus they had done their usual holiday routine of Defence training in his unplottable cottage, potioneering, and stories about his parents, who Remus had been close friends with. In addition, unlike last year, there was no scare of an Azkaban escapee, so Harry had had more freedom to roam outside the wards around the cottage. And Dobby and Remus had done a lot of work in the garden, which meant that Harry could potter around, pulling up the odd weed and eating the first harvest of blackcurrants straight from the bushes. A big contrast to the kind of gardening he had had to do for his aunt, who never thought he had done things well enough or fast enough or that he had become filthy while doing it.

Harry's Hogwarts letter had arrived days before his birthday, but they had waited until after the trial, so that Sirius could join them to shop for his school supplies. During the preparation for the trial Sirius had been kept in St Mungo's, and though he had been a prisoner, they had taken excellent care of him, so he was looking much better than he had after escaping from Azkaban and then being on the run for a year.

To Harry's delight, no-one had mentioned a need to stay with the Dursleys, and to top off the best summer Harry had ever had, the Weasleys had written that they had gotten tickets for the Quidditch World Cup, including tickets for Harry and Hermione. Sirius had wanted to go as well, but by then it was too late to get tickets. Therefore, Harry had flooed to the Burrow the day before.

The World Cup match was brilliant. A significant fraction of the global wizarding population had descended on a muggle campsite in England. Nobody seemed particularly bothered that wizards were doing magic out in the open, and the campsite manager was walking around in a daze, having been obliviated several times already. And then Ministry employees started making mysterious comments about an upcoming event at Hogwarts.

Both teams were flying on Firebolts and the play was much faster than the Hogwarts games Harry was used to. Victor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker, was especially impressive, regularly managing to outmanoeuvre the Irish Seeker, and even pulling off a successful Wronski Feint. The rest of the Bulgarian team were not quite as good, though, and the Irish Chasers were racking up goals. In fact, the Irish were getting so far ahead in points that they managed to achieve what the Weasley twins had bet all their savings on with Ludo Bagman: Bulgaria caught the snitch, but Ireland won the World Cup.

However, Harry's life was simply not meant to stay so idyllic even for the duration of the summer holidays. This time, the break came in the form of a Death Eater attack on the campsite in the middle of the night. Mr Weasley had woken him and Ron up, and all the teenagers had been sent off into the nearby wood, while the of age Weasleys had gone to help stop the Death Eaters. It quickly became apparent that nowhere was safe, explosions sounded from all directions, Harry, Ron and Hermione got separated from Ginny, Fred and George, people from different countries were stumbling around in the dark, they even ran into Draco Malfoy, who was suspiciously relaxed about a Death Eater attack going on as they spoke. Then, within hearing distance of the three, the Dark Mark was cast, a group of ministry personnel showed up who all cast stunners, barely missing Harry, Ron and Hermione as they ducked for cover, and more or less by accident hitting the house-elf Winky. A very confused interrogation ensued, with lots of unsubstantiated accusations flying, especially when it was found that the Dark Mark had been cast with Harry's wand, when Harry had only realised his wand was missing while they had been stumbling through the wood. It was clear, though, that neither Harry nor Winky would have nor could have cast the Dark Mark. Despite that, Mr Crouch appeared so upset about the accusations against his house-elf, that he gave Winky clothes to free her on the spot, and Harry's saving people thing kicked in. Before he could act on it, the teenagers were hustled away from the ministry workers by Mr Weasley, back to the tents, where they were relieved to find that Ginny, Fred and George were unhurt and the of age Weasley children only had some minor wounds. They all talked to clear up some of the confusion of what had just happened, but since all the Death Eaters had gotten away it was mostly about what had happened the first time that Voldemort had made a bid for power. Since it was still the middle of the night, they soon went back to catch a few hours of sleep, after which they returned to The Burrow.

The next day, once there was a moment that was quiet enough that Harry could get away, he went into the garden and called for Dobby.

"Dobby, last night Mr Crouch set free his house-elf, Winky."

"Dobby knows."

"Do you think she would agree to be a free, paid house-elf, like you?"

"Dobby doesn't think so."

"What do you think is going to happen to Winky?"

"Dobby doesn't know." When Harry left a silence, Dobby continued, "house-elves who are freed are treated like vermin. They usually fade away."

That's what Harry had been afraid of; he had another worry as well, though, "Dobby, the bound house-elves aren't very nice to you, are they?"

Dobby looked confused. Then he tentatively offered, "does Harry Potter sir wish Dobby were like the other house-elves?" He followed that with, "Dobby could work for less. I would be happy to be paid a sickle a week."

"No. No, Dobby. What I was driving at is that if you think no-one else will want to employ Winky, then I could offer to pay her. But if she doesn't want to be paid, I could offer to take her on as a bound house-elf. Only, I don't want her to be unkind to you. And there is also the problem that there wouldn't be any more work than there already is."

Dobby beamed at Harry, "Harry Potter is an even greater wizard than Dobby already knew. Dobby would be happy if Harry Potter took in Winky, whether paid or not."

"Alright then, do you think that Winky would hear me if I called her?"

"Dobby calls Winky," and indeed she popped in.

"Hello, Winky, I'm Harry Potter, I was there yesterday when Mr Crouch said he would give you clothes. Only, I don't agree with him that you are a bad elf. I think you are a good elf, and I would like to pay you to come and work for me. Would you do that?"

"Winky is a bad elf, but not so bad that she would accept pay."

"Oh, ok then. Would you agree to be my bound house-elf, then?"

"Harry Potter wishes Winky to be his elf?"

"Yes, there would be one condition, though. You have to be nice to Dobby, who is also a good house-elf."

Winky looked at Dobby, and it looked like they were having a silent conversation. Then, she turned back to Harry and said, "Winky agrees."

"Is there anything we need to do for you to become my house-elf?"

"No, master. Winky is Harry Potter's house-elf."

"Excellent. Can you two work out between you who will do what?"

Dobby offered tentatively, "and Kreacher?"

Winky looked affronted that Dobby would speak out of turn, but then attempted to school her features when Harry said, "An excellent suggestion. Yes, please also help Kreacher, and agree with him who will do what in the Black house."

Remus and Sirius came to platform 9¾ to wave off Harry as the Weasleys boarded the Hogwarts Express. Sirius got some strange looks, but Harry figured that as long as no one attacked him, anything else would fade with time as people got used to thinking of him as being innocent.

During the train ride, Malfoy came to ridicule them for not knowing what was going to happen at Hogwarts. Ron started a fight with Malfoy, giving Harry time to think of a scathing reply, "you mean you've come to flout your disregard for the rules of the Ministry that the information would be kept out of the public's knowledge until the proper time? Just like your dad breaking the law in his Death Eater get-up. You really have no idea how despicable you show yourself to be, don't you?"

Of course, Malfoy couldn't let that pass, scoffing in return, "as if you have so much respect for how proper wizards act, with your mudblood and blood-traitor friends."

Fortunately, they left before Ron could try to attack them.

After the sorting and the feast, Professor Dumbledore introduced the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody, announced that there would be no Quidditch Cup that year, and that the Triwizard Tournament would be revived, without the traditional mortal risk, and open only to of age students.

Classes ran in their usual way, though Hagrid seemed to have lost his penchant for introducing them to the impressive but somewhat dangerous animals after the execution of Buckbeak, and gave them flobberworms to take care of. Herbology, Charms and Transfiguration had their usual excellent teaching. Divination and History of Magic were as usual useless, with Astronomy somewhere in the middle, and Potions the subject that Harry was doing reasonably well in thanks to the holiday teaching of Remus, but that he still hated because of Snape. Defence teaching looked to be getting another good year. Moody, as a retired auror, obviously knew what he was talking about. Too obviously, in fact, with all the scars he had acquired after years of fighting Death Eaters. Admittedly, he was rather intimidating, but Harry didn't mind, he much preferred that over the friendly but useless teaching of Lockhart.

And then Hermione had got it in her head to start S.P.E.W., the Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare. Hermione had tried to sign up Harry and Ron as members, but Ron had claimed that house-elves like being enslaved. Harry had qualified that not all house-elves like being enslaved. Hermione, thinking that she had an ally, had asked Harry to become a member, but Harry had stalled her by saying he would sign up if Dobby signed up. He had called for Dobby and a rather strange discussion had ensued, in which Hermione was articulate and heated, while Dobby became ever more quiet, but nevertheless refused. When he thought that Hermione went from heated to aggressive, he interrupted her, thanked Dobby sincerely for coming, and sent him back. He noticed how relieved Dobby was to leave. Harry protested how Hermione had treated Dobby, but she didn't seem to understand why the opinion of one free house-elf was more important to Harry than the need for all house-elves to be free, so rather than let the disagreement turn into a fight, Harry went to bed, but over the following days it became clear that Hermione was not about to agree to disagree easily.

In the middle of October, Harry had a nightmare about someone called Barty talking to the Dark Lord about the Triwizard Tournament, until a snake showed up and told him that the caretaker was listening outside the door. His dream ended with the murder of the caretaker, and Harry woke up with his scar burning.

Dear Remus and Sirius,

I just had a dream, except it was not like a normal dream, it felt more like I was witnessing something real. Someone was talking to me about the Triwizard Tournament, and I was talking back to him as if I knew him. After waking up I forgot his name, sorry. Then a big snake showed up, "I" knew her by name as well, and she told me that the caretaker was listening to our conversation outside the door. I invited him to come in and after a brief conversation I killed him. Then I woke up and my scar was burning, a bit like when I was near Quirrell, but worse.

Sorry that I can't remember more of the details, but I thought I should let you know. Is there a quicker way to get in touch? I'm fine, but worried about what might be going on.

Harry

Dear Harry,

Thank you for letting us know immediately. We are worried as well, but also don't know if there's anything that can be done. We have forwarded a copy of your letter to Professor Dumbledore, just to keep him informed.

We know three ways of sending a message that are faster than an owl. One is the floo. Although you can't use the fireplace in Gryffindor tower to travel, you can use it to talk to someone by throwing some floo powder in the fire and sticking your head into the green flames. The bag we put in the envelope contains floo powder. If you, or the person you want to contact, are not near a floo-connected fireplace, you can give a message to your Patronus. Since a Patronus is there to protect you, it is best to try and think of the message as either asking for protection or to offer information that will enable the recipient of the message to protect themselves as you cast the Expecto Patronum, though with practice it becomes easier to send any kind of message. We would encourage you to practise. We're looking into the third way, and will let you know.

Stay safe,

Remus and Sirius

A week later, Sirius sent him a mirror with instructions. After classes, Harry went up to his dormitory to try it out. He agreed that it was great to be able to hold a two-way conversation at any time.

By the time the delegations of the two other schools arrived, Hermione had stopped glaring daggers at Harry and Ron, and although it was clear she hadn't forgotten their lack of support for SPEW, they at least tried to interact like they used to.

After the Halloween feast, the Triwizard champions were chosen by the Goblet of Fire. When Cedric Diggory had been chosen as the Hogwarts champion, Harry had released a breath he had not realised he had been holding. Although he had largely forgotten about his unusual dream two weeks before, he had subconsciously been worried. And then it had happened, a fourth piece of parchment had been ejected out of the Goblet, and the headmaster had read out the name 'Harry Potter'. For a moment Harry sat there in stunned silence, but then the training that Remus had been giving him tried to surface with rule number 1: 'Don't panic!' Hermione pushed him towards the front of the hall. Harry almost followed her prompt, but before he had actually gotten up, an idea that had been struggling to surface became clear, and he turned in his seat and grabbed Hermione's hand to keep her from pushing him off the bench.

"Aw," Hermione yelped.

"Hermione, think!" Harry hissed urgently, "did you not agree with Remus and Sirius that I should try not to jump into danger so readily?"

"Yes?"

"If I get up, I acknowledge that that piece of paper refers to me, and that might be the cue for the Goblet to bind me to the Tri-wizard contract."

Hermione looked taken aback, but it took her only a moment to understand what he was saying, and she sat up straighter and nodded at Harry.

"Please. Try to think of a way for me to reinforce that that piece of paper does not refer to me," he pleaded. Just to emphasize that, even though Professor Dumbledore had now called for Harry Potter for the third time, Harry took another bite of food and tried to look unconcerned. However, his mind was going a mile a minute. Even if he didn't have the encyclopedic knowledge of Hermione, he had always been better at performing in life-threatening situations, and in addition he had suspected something unpleasant might be happening after his unusual dream, so he quietly asked Hermione, "can you see Fred and George?"

Hermione looked down the table and said, "I can see one of them."

"Please signal that you would like both of them to come over."

The buzz of conversation was slowly increasing, but Harry continued to ignore it, and took another bite. When Fred and George showed up, he mimed for them to squeeze into the seats, and then asked them, "Ron said you know how to administer an unbreakable vow. How do you do that."

After a brief hesitation, one of the twins explained, "you need someone administering the vow, who asks what you're vowing. They hold the wand arm of the one making the vow. And then you need a binder who casts the spell over the two entwined arms. The vow is usually administered in the form of questions, to which the one making the vow says 'I do'. Normally three questions are asked, though the third question can simply be, 'does this complete your vow?'"

Although Harry didn't notice it at the time, the twins were sufficiently flustered that they did not engage in twin-speak. Harry nodded, and asked, "Hermione, do you have parchment and a quill, please?"

Hermione produced the items. Professor Dumbledore meanwhile had made his way over, and said to Harry, "Mr. Potter, please come forward and join the other champions," but Harry ignored him. Instead, he shoved his plate to the side and started writing. Once he had a first draft, he cast three duplication charms and handed them to Fred, George and Hermione, continuing to polish the wording on his own copy.

Hermione quickly read it, and whispered "Harry, the Goblet of Fire is a really powerful artefact; it is quite possible that this will kill you."

"It is the lesser of two evils," Harry stated.

"But you just used the argument that you were not going to jump into danger, and here you're doing just that."

"I have no faith whatsoever that when they say they have made sure that the tournament is safe, that it actually is. And, on top of that, even if it's not actually life-threatening for three 17-year-olds, then it probably is deadly for a 14-year-old."

Hermione didn't look entirely convinced, but nevertheless took out her own quill and started to annotate the vow. The other prospective judges had started to make their way over to where Harry was sitting, but Dumbledore intercepted them and convinced them to go back to their seats and let Harry get on with it. After merging the different versions, Harry asked Fred and George, "will you help me make this unbreakable vow?"

The twins had an unvoiced conversation between them, and then said, "we agree with Hermione that this is probably just as risky as taking part in the tournament, but if you are determined, then we will."

"Thank you," Harry said simply, "don't let anyone interrupt you until you get to the end."

Fred got up, but Harry stayed seated, so George also stayed seated and clasped Harry's arm. At a nod from Harry, Fred cast the spell, and George asked in a loud voice, "Do you, Harry James Potter, vow that you did not enter your name into the Goblet of Fire, did not ask anyone else to enter your name, and that you have no idea how an entry with the name 'Harry Potter' ended up for consideration as a champion in the Tri-wizard tournament?"

"I do."

"Do you declare that you will not take part in any of the tasks of the Tournament?"

Professor Dumbledore tried to interrupt Harry with a shout, but Harry loudly proclaimed, "I do." Only the ones sitting nearest Harry could hear him, but the second strand of light binding their arms together was visible to enough people that Harry thought the message would get through even to those who wouldn't have been able to hear him.

"Do you declare that there is a different person, whose first and last names are either also Harry Potter, or who is using Harry Potter as a pseudonym, and that this person entered themselves into the Tri-wizard Tournament?" Although George was shouting this last question, Harry was sure only a few, sitting nearest to them at the Gryffindor table, had heard it, but again Harry shouted "I do," and lifted up his arm so that a few more people could see the third strand completing the vow and then fade away.

Harry took the written vow from George and cast several duplication charms and got up to hand a copy to each house table and also to each judge. The judges read the vow and conferred for a few minutes, after which Dumbledore spoke to everybody present, "the person who put the parchment with Harry Potter on it in the Goblet of Fire has entered themselves into a binding magical contract. The judges ask this person to come forward and participate as the fourth champion." He stayed silent for a few moments and then added, "failure to participate will lead to the Goblet of Fire taking this person's magic away from them." When that was also met with silence, he finished with, "the organisers of the Tournament will now meet with the champions. The feast is now finished and I wish everyone else a good night."

Back in the Gryffindor common room everybody wanted to talk to Harry, but since he didn't have a clear recollection of his dream and didn't want to talk about it anyway, there were only so many times that he could say that he didn't know how his name had come out of the Goblet before he was fed up, so his answers were getting progressively shorter as he made his way through the crowd, until he could get to his dormitory where he closed the curtains around his bed and called Sirius on his mirror. After explaining the situation, Harry said, "I'm worried about my safety here. Can I come and visit you?"

"Yes, of course. Do you want me to apparate to the Shrieking Shack and collect you?"

"Hold on. Dobby."

"How can Dobby serve Harry Potter sir?"

"Can you take me to my godfather?"

"Dobby would be happy to, does Harry Potter wish to leave now?"

"Do we need to leave the Hogwarts wards first?"

"Dobby could take Harry Potter directly from here to the doorstep of godfather's house?"

Harry looked outside the curtains, and, seeing that his roommates were all still in the common room, correctly having assumed that Harry needed a moment alone, stood up next to his bed and held his hand out for Dobby to take, "yes, please, Dobby."

"I don't feel safe in Hogwarts," Harry said once he was sitting with Sirius and Remus in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, "someone obviously got around the protections the headmaster put in place and managed to hoodwink the Goblet of Fire. The person who entered themselves under the name Harry Potter into the Tournament presumably hoped that I would be forced to participate, and now that I won't I worry they will attack me in some other way."

Sirius nodded, but neither of them spoke for some time as they thought through what had happened, until Remus tentatively spoke, "you could apply for admittance to a different school and then tell the press that you've done so."

"You mean a muggle school? Isn't Hogwarts the only school of magic?"

"I was thinking of Ilvermorny, the school of magic in the USA."

"And allow Voldemort to take over?"

"Harry," Remus chided, "first of all, I think that declaring that you're thinking of leaving is not the same as actually leaving. Just saying that you're applying to a different school might create enough of a panic about their precious 'Boy-Who-Lived' wanting to leave, that they'll get serious about protecting you, hopefully doing enough that you'd be willing to go back. Secondly, I've said this several times already: it's not your responsibility to prevent Voldemort from coming back."

Harry looked at Sirius, silently asking for his opinion. He answered, "I think it's a good idea. However, it would be better to hammer Dumbledore repeatedly with bad press. How about I floo the Daily Prophet and ask a reporter to come over right now? Then you can make a statement about how Dumbledore just read out your name, indicating he was going to let you get roped into the Tournament, when he had several other options. Then tomorrow we see about applying for Ilvermorny, while we also go public with all the irregular things that have happened at Hogwarts in the last three years."

They agreed to that, Sirius refused to allow Rita Skeeter to be the reporter to interview his godson, and the reporter said the interview would still make it in the Daily Prophet of the next morning. It made the front page:

Dumbledore drops the Quaffle

Yesterday, the champions were selected for the Triwizard championship. After the three champions were selected by the Goblet of Fire, a fourth name came out of the Goblet. In the past, Triwizard tournaments have led to many deaths of champions and even of members of the public, so as one of the ways in which the organisers said they were going to reduce the risks, only of age students would be allowed to compete. However, the headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledor, had warned the students that the competition would still be demanding and dangerous. What did Professor Dumbledore do when a fourth name came out of the Goblet? Lord Sirius Black, the godfather of the student, pointed out the many options that Professor Dumbledore had, but did not use. He could have immediately burned the parchment to prevent an illegal fourth entry from being forced into a binding magical contract by the Goblet of Fire. Upon reading the name, he could have disqualified the entry because it was the name of an underage student, who couldn't have entered himself, as Professor Dumbledore himself had protected the Goblet with an age-line, only allowing of-age students through. He could have conferred with the other judges of the tournament. He did none of those things. He simply read out the student's name, Harry Potter, as if he expected Mr Potter to step forward as a champion. And when he did not, came towards him and asked him to join the other champions.

'I immediately realised that if I got up from the table, that that would be acknowledging that I had been selected, thus forming the binding contract.' Mr Potter said in an interview. How did Mr Potter become so primed for fearing danger at Hogwarts? 'My life has been in danger numerous times over the past three years at Hogwarts. From a troll that got into the castle, from Professor Quirrell just disappeared who was being possessed by [You-Know-Who], from a basilisk roaming around the halls of the schoolstudents were being petrified while the Board and the headmaster were fighting a turf-war, and from dementors repeatedly coming onto the schoolgrounds.' We agreed to speak more of these dangers in a few days, but for the moment focus on the Triwizard championship. 'Seeing how Professor Dumbledore tried to get me to accept the magical contract of the Goblet of Fire, fearing for my life if I were to be forced into a competition for adults as a 14-year-old, and seeing that the staff of Hogwarts were not going to do anything to protect me, I felt I had no choice but to make an unbreakable vow that I was not the one the piece of parchment referred to and that I would not compete. My fellow students warned me that it might endanger my magic by pitting an unbreakable vow against the Goblet of Fire, but I felt I had no choice,' Mr Potter said, citing the previously mentioned life-endangering situations for his lack of confidence in the Hogwarts staff to keep him safe.

Are we going to lose our hero who defeated You-Know-Who because Professor Dumbledore can't or won't protect his students?

Two days later another interview with Harry made it to the front page of the Daily Prophet, giving details of the numerous times his life had been endangered by the actions or inactions of the headmaster. Sirius Black had also spoken about the many shortcomings in the classes. This was mostly based on Harry's observations, but they had felt it would sound more convincing coming from his godfather. After another two days, another front page article reported that Harry had applied to Ilvermorny to finish his schooling.

Harry had argued that, while they were waiting if Remus' hope that there would be such outrage over Harry threatening to leave that they would drastically improve security, he rather liked the idea of visiting Ilvermorny, and Sirius agreed, while Remus acquiesced.

Harry did entrance exams, and the results were rather variable. Transfiguration was an elective from second year, and Harry tested at fifth year level there. In Charms, Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Arithmancy, Harry tested as the fourth year he was in Britain. Magical Creatures was compulsory from first year, while Harry had had one year of Care of Magical Creatures, plus his third year of Defence class, which had emphasised protection against dangerous magical creatures, so there Harry's experience was rather uneven but covered what was taught over several years in Ilvermorny. Unsurprisingly, in Potions Harry tested as a second year, as he did in Runes, which was also a compulsory subject from first year. Lastly, History class was obviously USA-centric, so there Harry tested like a first year. Harry had no interest in keeping Astronomy, which was an elective, so he had foregone that test.

Harry really liked the tour of the school. Or, more precisely, how everyone acted. Everyone he had been introduced to was easy-going. No-one stared at him, or whispered behind his back.

When they talked about their impressions that evening, Harry admitted that he would prefer to stay. Sirius was enthusiastic about the prospect. Remus was very quiet, but when Harry asked him about laws concerning werewolves he said that as long as he wasn't found near non-werewolf humans during the full moon, that the laws were much less restrictive. However, Harry was still left with the impression that he wasn't keen on moving, although he raised no objections.

Because Ilvermorny was a larger school than Hogwarts, it would be possible for Harry to attend classes at the different levels at which he had been tested, with both second- and third-year classes in Magical Creatures. That would give him 10 classes, the same as he'd had in Hogwarts. Sirius bought a house for the five of them.

Dear Hermione and Ron,

Sorry for leaving without saying goodbye. At first, I thought I was just visiting S and R to talk over the situation, but on reflection I concluded that the person who entered me into the tournament was not going to give up, but try to kill me some other way, so we've left the country. If it's up to me, we won't return until at least NEWT exams.

I think Dumbledore has become senile or in some other way lost the plot. Hagrid told me on 31 July 1991 that Hogwarts was the safest place in Britain, but that was a statement about the past. A troll, a Cerberus, a possessed professor, a fraudulent professor, petrified students a basilisk, a "memory" of Voldemort and dementors have been trampling through Hogwarts, which is an utterly ridiculous situation for a school. I'd advise you to emigrate as well before it gets even worse.

And then I haven't mentioned the education yet. I only tested as a fourth year for half my subjects, and am far behind in the rest.

How are you two doing?

Take care,

Harry

Dear Harry,

A storm of opinions is raging. In the Ministry, the Wizengamot, the Daily Prophet and even on the streets of Hogsmeade, but so far nothing much has changed. Accusations are still flying about your leaving. Accusations directed at Dumbledore, at Crouch and Bagman, the ministry heads of department responsible for the Triwizard Tournament, at yourself, but because opinions are divided about who is responsible, or sometimes even about what actually happened (the Daily Prophet being the gossip rag that it is, even contradiction its own reporting on your interviews), opinions have only given rise to lots of hot air and nothing tangible. Professor Dumbledore has held onto all his positions, his supporters outnumbering his detractors by a narrow margin.

Yesterday, the first task of the Triwizard Tournament was to steal a golden egg from nesting dragons! Although I miss you, I sympathise with your decision to leave. I hope your unbreakable vow or the Goblet of Fire did not cause you any problems?

Love,

Hermione

Dear Hermione,

No, 24 November was an unremarkable day, not a twitch from the Goblet. Am I glad I didn't have to try and get past a dragon.

Life is unremarkable here. It's such a relief. I'm trying to use the lack of distractions productively. I've joined the potions club, as it's rather demeaning to have potions class with the second years. I hope to eventually catch up to my year level. Still, I have left time in my schedule to join a quidditch team. It's also the main way that I've started to make friends. After all, class-time is not conducive to socialising, and in the weekends many people, regularly including myself, go home.

I'm not surprised that nothing has changed. It seems that accountability, responsiveness and journalistic integrity are unknown concepts in wizarding Britain. I haven't been here long enough to learn about the other two, but when trying to understand the political climate here it's already clear that many people complain about the lack of responsiveness as well: nepotism rather than economic policy, no separation of powers, a legislative body that alternates between getting stuck in regulatory minutiae and trying to keep the status quo for those in power. At least we have a living history professor, who noted my interest in these larger questions, and how they compare between Britain and the USA, and that I'm not bothered about obtaining an OWL certificate, so she's encouraged me to attend classes in whatever year covers a subject that interests me. I had no hope of obtaining an OWL anyway, as I know almost nothing about magical USA.

Best wishes,

Harry

Dear Harry,

Professor Moody has disappeared. He hasn't been seen since the last class before the first task. It's interesting to be just as clueless as everybody else for a change. I'm not condoning all the rumour mongering that is going on, but after the bland message that Professor Dumbledore gave about it, I've started thinking about how he presented our previous 'adventures' to the students, and how it only serves to emphasise the dividing lines in the school, as everybody interprets the situation according to their biases.

I'm glad you're paying more attention to your studies. You'll not be surprised I'm one of very few people who has started planning for our OWLs, but I'll need it to do well in my 10 remaining subjects.

I'm also glad you're starting to make friends. I expect hardly anyone has heard of Harry Potter, and that it's a relief to you.

I'm rather jealous that you can discuss questions of contemporary society in your history classes. It's all well and good to learn about goblin rebellions and the time when there were still giants in Britain, but I have yet to find a good book on how those influences resulted in, or at least reflect on, the idiosyncrasies in contemporary politics and economy that you indirectly complained about.

It must be lovely to see S and R regularly. How have they been during and after the move?

I include a Christmas present, since mail takes such a long time to arrive. You're not to open it until Christmas day.

Love,

Hermione

Dear Hermione,

Merry Christmas.

S and R are well. R was actually the one to suggest moving here, but I got the impression that he was sorry to have done so. Not that he has said so, but of the three of us he's Dumbledore's staunchest defender. Surprisingly, S defends him too. When we talked about this, they both categorically stated that they would have lost against V without him. I wonder. He was the Chief Warlock, and thus part of the ministry's ineffectiveness, but he also led a vigilante group. I used to like him, but, looking back, that was really only because he was always nice to me, not because he was actually any use. He kept sending me back to the Dursleys, he was always conveniently absent during the various crises (or, as you referred to them: 'adventures'). He never shares information or decision making, and not just with students.

Oh, got side-tracked there. I was talking about R. His situation is actually better here, so that's not the reason why he's sorry we came. If that's what his problem is. Well, was really, he seems fine now.

Yes, I'm very much enjoying that I'm just one more unremarkable student here.

How have your parents been about our 'adventures'? Are they relieved I stopped pulling you into dangerous situations?

Guten rutsch (goot'n rootsh, a half-German student taught us that's what they say in Germany, it wishes you a good slide into the next year, we had to laugh about that)

Harry

Dear Ron,

Merry Christmas.

How are you? What has been happening in the Triwizard Tournament? Have you talked with your parents about my worries that the sabotage of the champion selection is one more sign that Voldemort it trying to come back? How are the visitors from the other schools? Do they come to Hogwarts classes? Whose death is Trelawney predicting now?

Here things are blessedly quiet. Just studying hard and still playing quidditch. I'm two years behind in potions, magical creatures, and runes, (which are mandatory subjects from first year here), and only ahead in transfiguration (which is an elective from second year).

Merry Christmas,

Please be careful,

Harry

Dear Harry,

Happy New Year. честита нова година.

Yes, the Daily Prophet had actually reported about S emigrating without problems on the USA side. Apparently, that was sensational enough that they didn't feel the need to embellish that with their usual lies and misleading conjectures.

Ron and I have had a fight. There was a Yule Ball as part of the Tournament, and I went with Viktor Krum, the Durmstrang champion. (Although I'm sure you remember, he's the Bulgarian Seeker.) We had fun. And then Ron ruined my evening by shouting about me consorting with the enemy. When I accused him of being insufferable just because he hadn't had the guts to ask me himself he didn't deny it. Viktor asked me two weeks after the announcement of the ball, so Ron had ample time. I'm not sure we're going to reconcile. We've been at odds ever since you left. Although he hasn't said anything to me, from his reactions when others were talking about you, I think he agrees you shouldn't have left. In case I hadn't made that clear yet, I think it was the right decision. And I know you hated being caught in the middle before when the two of us fought, but you did often manage to mediate between us.

Anyway, Viktor is really nice. Like you, he hates his fame, and is not good at dealing with either the adulation when they win or the vilification when they lose, and especially not with the way people change their opinions when he's always the same person. And much better one-on-one than in a group setting.

Because of the Yule Ball, I didn't get to visit my parents. I've glossed over the worst parts of our 'adventures'. I was worried they wouldn't let me go back if they knew. But I think you're right that things are getting worse, and that I should discuss it with them. And don't say you pulled me into dangerous situations, I chose to come.

Love,

Hermione

Dear Hermione,

Happy New Year.

I'm not surprised to hear that Ron has joined my critics, I have yet to hear from him since I left. Sorry that he tried to ruin your evening, just remember that you had fun, and that he's changeable.

Albus Dumbledore showed up here. Wanted to talk about us returning to Britain. I told S to tell him that he could write what he could offer that we already have here (like not having to wait 13 years for a trial, and better treatment for those not entirely human), or can't get here (like telling me everything that he knows about V), and how he was going to prevent a repeat of my life being routinely endangered at Hogwarts.

Did I tell you that Transfiguration only starts in second year as an elective here? The reasoning is that Magical Creatures needs to be a mandatory subject because you don't want to run into some dangerous animal and not know what to do, or even know it's dangerous. It might also be different from Britain because there are real wilderness areas left in the USA. And Runes is also mandatory from first year here. Opinions about why that is are more divided. The professor himself said that the difference is at least partly because there is not a blanket ban on rituals here. And also because it's completely different from wanded magic, and therefore suits different people.

Anyway, Transfiguration was the only subject in which I was ahead relative to fourth-years here, so I'll be doing my OWL in June.

Hope you are well,

Harry

Dear Harry,

Sorry for the slow reply. I've been thinking a lot about what you said about the dangers at Hogwarts. I've been talking to the visiting students, and while accidents are frequent at Durmstrang and Beauxbatons as well, they are of a different kind. Both schools are larger, and they have more students in a single class, which leads to exploding potions and spells being mispronounced, and animals getting out of control before the teachers notice. However, there are no professorships suspected of being cursed, and dangerous creatures being maliciously let into the school.

Despite all that, I'm hesitant to leave. I worry what's going to happen to the younger muggleborns if V or his followers take over once more. I'm studying the network that detects accidental magic. Do you know how the USA enforces the Statute of Secrecy and reverses accidental magic?

Love,

Hermione

Dear Hermione,

Unlike Hogwarts, attending Ilvermorny is not free. Although I could afford it, S insists on paying my tuition. There are bursaries for those who can't afford it. The difference with Hogwarts is a matter of age. Over its long history, Hogwarts has been donated most of the properties in Hogsmeade, and the rent is the largest income source. Like with many other things here, Ilvermorny is trying to copy what Hogwarts has done, but it's a fifth of Hogwarts' age, hence the need for tuition.

It's the same here, class sizes are twice what they are in Hogwarts. Then again, we don't have a Snape or Hagrid making classes unnecessarily dangerous. Knock on wood.

R went to the MACUSA and got the runic array they use here for detecting underage magic. I was rather surprised they just handed it to him. R was too, but they explained that they won't tell you where the stones with the runes are, because of the possibility of sabotage, but that working out the locations from the runes would be impossible.

Enforcement of the Statute varies with the population density here. In the middle of nowhere only quite strong magic would be detected. It's funny, really, because hicks in the outback are more likely to be right to be conspiracy theorists.

Hope you are well,

Harry

Dear Harry,

The second task was in the Black Lake. In February! Each champion had a hostage to save, I was Victor's. They explained to us that they were going to render us unconscious while we were under the water. They just assumed we would agree. Didn't talk to my or Cho Chang's parents. It wasn't quite as dangerous as a dragon, but it was bad enough. The golden egg they had to take from the dragon contained a clue in Mermish, which sounded like very loud screeching. You had to hold it under the water to be able to hear it. The champions were supposed to work this out by themselves, but Headmaster Karkaroff simply told Victor. Headmaster Karkaroff is also blatantly unfair in awarding points as a judge. The clue said that they would take something the champions would sorely miss, and that 'after an hour it will be gone, it won't come back.' Cho and I were the champion's dates to the Ball, but Fleur Delacour's date was obviously not someone she would sorely miss, because they had used her little sister. Fleur was attacked by grindylows and was forced to give up, and she was totally in panic mode. The threat from the clue turned out to be empty, the merpeople brought back her sister unharmed. It was just an attempt to increase the stakes. What with the cheating and the bread-and-circuses attitude towards 'entertaining' life-threatening danger it's all a big disappointment. Although I find it really interesting to talk to students from other countries, the Yule Ball is the only token effort that the organisers made to facilitate international magical cooperation, one of the stated aims of the Tournament. Token, because of course almost everyone went with someone from their own country.

Many thanks for the runic array. I wonder whether it's actually impossible, or whether magicals simply have never heard of reverse engineering.

Love,

Hermione

Dear Hermione,

Sorry to hear that the Tournament is not just a bad experience for me. I miss all of you, but I very much enjoy the lack of life-endangering situations, whether they were supposed to be entertaining to others or not. And then there's the difference between the Dursleys and S and R. S is great fun, though sometimes maybe a bit much; he even treats our running away from the growing danger in Britain as a successful prank. R is more level-headed, but I think he might have listened to Dumbledore's arguments of why we should go back. I do still think of our stay in the USA as temporary and intend to move back to the UK, possibly after graduating from Ilvermorny. If you need further help with preparing for the worst-case scenario, please ask.

I guess it might come across wrong to wish Victor good luck in the third task.

Please be careful,

Harry

Dear Harry,

Wow, Harry Potter found someone who might be more irresponsible than himself. Watch out. (Even I don't know how much of that was sarcasm and how much real worry.)

I've looked into the history of underage magic detection. It already existed before the Statute of Secrecy and was used to identify muggleborn students. Professor Babbling (of Ancient Runes) has agreed to help me try and understand it. It's definitely an advantage that it was originally purely a Hogwarts based country-wide 'ward', while the Ministry laws for the reasonable restriction of underage magic and their tapping into the ward was added only about 300 years ago. There is a book at Hogwarts that records children's names when they do their first significant accidental magic. I looked for everybody in our year, and the magicborn in general were earlier than the muggleborn. It's the only evidence I've ever found that muggleborn are different, although I'm inclined to explain it as the magicborn learning to copy from their parents while muggleborn re-invent the wheel every time so to speak. By the way, you were the earliest in our class, despite being one of the youngest, before 1 September 1981 (the book is only separated by schoolyear, not dated).

Thinking of the worst-case scenario, does Dobby still work for you? If yes, could you ask him if he would be able to come over if I needed help? Would he even be able to hear me, or would I need to send a letter asking him to come? Would the Ministry be able to detect him apparating?

Love,

Hermione

Dear Hermione,

I'll have you know that I've been a model student now that my life isn't constantly being endangered. Puh.

Yes, both Dobby and Winky are here with us. Dobby would be happy to help you. He's unsure whether he would be able to hear you. Yes, the Ministry would be able to detect a house-elf apparating across the border, though not that it was Dobby. And although it's illegal, it's also unenforceable. Plus, the only ones who own house-elves are rich purebloods, who are more equal than the rest of us (even in the USA, though not to the same extent as in the UK). Nevertheless, it might be best not to practise, but if you need him it will be fine. Kreacher, the Black house-elf, is still in the UK, but Kreacher hates S and was into the pureblood dogma, so S thought you'd be better off calling on Dobby.

S gave me a way of instant communication that they had found and used while they were in Hogwarts. S and R are trying to remember how they made it so that they could make another pair for us.

Yes, I'm sure you're right that the earliest magic is a reflection of emulating our parents, and not the drivel about purebloods having stronger magic.

Best wishes,

Harry

Unknown to any of Voldemort's opponents, Barty Crouch Jr / imposter Moody had taken the real Moody to the Little Hangleton graveyard, and when Pettigrew didn't show up with Harry Potter (A. N. see Harry's next letter in chapter 5), Barty Crouch Jr, despite having no magic anymore, which the Goblet of Fire had taken, carried out the ritual to revive Voldemort using Moody for the blood of the enemy. Moody didn't survive the night; Voldemort didn't think he had anything to prove concerning Moody, so he had not bothered to duel him.

Dear Harry,

Victor won the Triwizard Tournament. He's confessed to me that after the cheating by Karkaroff it felt like a rather hollow victory. Please don't spread that around, Victor may not like the gawking masses and the intrusiveness of the media, but negative press tends to have unpleasant consequences. Did you get a lot of mail, or more specifically hexed mail, after the articles about Sirius and about you leaving?

The third task was a maze. There were obstacles like an acromantula and sphinx, and the hedges that made up the maze could turn into obstacles themselves. There was also an animal that we've been taking care of in Creatures class all year. We suspect it was an illegal cross between a manticore and a firecrab that became ten feet long. Hagrid has regained enough confidence to once again be a menace. I love him, but I wish he wasn't our professor. Or, as you might say, that Dumbledore was not too busy with being Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump to supervise his new teachers.

Love,

Hermione