A/N: I'm SO sorry that I accidentally uploaded Chapter 3 twice. I replaced it with chapter 4 now. I promise I didn't ignore your reviews letting me know about it, but for some reason ffn stopped sending me e-mail notifications without me changing anything in the settings. I thought that meant that I didn't get any reviews and it took me a few days to actually check on that. I'm really sorry :(
Lucius was furious, rightfully so, and immediately went to the Ministry. From what Hermione heard, Moody was almost fired for assaulting a student, but Dumbledore managed to save him and so he got away with a 'sincere' apology to both Draco and his parents. Hermione had also heard that Lucius had not accepted said apology and had made it very clear that if Moody ever raised his wand against his son again, it would not be the Ministry he would turn to.
Fortunately, Durmstrang was not brought up again, although her father made it rather clear that she should not draw too much attention to herself for the time being when she talked to him through the mirror. She did notice, however, that he was rather proud of her for having been able to disarm Moody.
During the next Defence lesson, the former Auror left them alone and she was glad about that. He wanted to practise resisting the Imperius Curse and while Hermione would have loved to show off with her abilities, she lived with Lucius and Narcissa and the fact that she already knew how to fight the curse was something she should rather not brag with. Instead, Moody chose to focus on Harry, who did very well.
The Wednesday marking the arrival of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons soon came and they all gathered by the Entrance Hall, where they were ordered into lines in front of the castle by their Heads of Houses.
McGonagall reminded them again to be on their best behaviour and told off the Weasley twins for talking about prank articles they were selling. Apparently, the two of them were trying to start a business and that reminded Hermione of her idea from the previous year to have them pull a prank on Dumbledore. But there was a risk that this would be traced back to her and with her father's warning to keep her head down, she dismissed the idea for now.
It was cold and windy for early autumn, but a clear day. Hermione wondered how their guests would arrive when they saw a something large moving towards them from the direction of the Forbidden Forest.
A panicking first-year – from Gryffindor the Brave – shrieked that it was a dragon, another voice suggested that it looked like a flying house.
It was neither. It was a gigantic powder-blue carriage drawn by twelve huge winged palomino horses with red eyes – Abraxans. Hermione had read about them.
It landed in front of them, not losing speed before all Abraxans and the carriage touched the ground.
The door opened and a boy clad in the same blue as the carriage jumped out and unfolded a set of golden steps. A woman as large as Hagrid climbed out – no wonder the carriage was so big!
Hermione and Draco looked at each other before turning back towards the headmistress of Beauxbatons. It had to be Beauxbatons, as Hermione knew from her father that Durmstrang would arrive with Karkaroff.
Despite her size, the woman was rather good looking, with her olive complexion, bound back black hair and black eyes. She was dressed all in black satin and wore a necklace and rings with large gemstones. Usually, Hermione would have regarded that as gaudy, but it suited the large woman.
Dumbledore stepped forward and she had to bend down quite a bit to kiss his cheeks. "My dear Madame Maxime, welcome to Hogwarts."
About a dozen boys and girls got out of the carriage after her and judging by the way they looked like they were freezing, Hermione guessed that they hadn't been prepared for the Scottish weather.
Like her students, Madame Maxime preferred to wait inside for Durmstrang to arrive and after Dumbledore had assured her that Hagrid would take good care of her Abraxans, who apparently only drank single-malt whiskey, which sounded like a pretty expensive diet, especially with creatures their size, she led her students inside.
To be perfectly honest, Hermione would have preferred to follow them inside at that point. She should have worn gloves. Her fingers were freezing. She rubbed them together and was just considering casting a Warming Charm on her pockets and keeping her hands in them when Draco pulled off his own gloves and handed them to her with a smile. "Told you you'd be cold."
She hesitated, but then took them with a sheepish smile of her own. "Thanks." They were a bit big for her, but made of the finest dragon leather and wonderfully warm and soft on the inside.
"Can't let you freeze your hands off."
She rolled her eyes, but huffed out a laugh nonetheless. It was sweet of him.
It wasn't before a loud noise from the lake distracted them from each other that Hermione realised that they had stared into each other's eyes for quite a while. When she quickly turned her head to the lake, she briefly wondered how Lucius and Narcissa would feel about it, if there was more than friendship between them. But she dismissed the thought. Draco had been her friend for years and he probably didn't want to change that.
There was a disturbance on the water, bubbles were coming up, waves crashed on the banks and then a ship's mast appeared from below the surface, followed by the rest of the ship. Hermione's eyes went wide. It was magnificent despite the fact – or because of it – that it looked like a shipwreck resurrected from the deep. An anchor was thrown and a plank was lowered onto the bank.
Draco next to her grinned, impressed. And Hermione was, too. Although she did think the Abraxans were beautiful, this was a more notable arrival than a carriage.
The students were disembarking first, mainly boys, but also a few girls, wearing heavy fur cloaks. At least they wouldn't be cold.
The headmaster came last. Karkaroff was tall and lean, the fur coat he wore was elegant and silver, the same colour as his hair and goatee.
"Dumbledore!" He called in a strong voice and when he reached him, he shook his hand with both of his. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"
Hermione felt Draco's breath on her ear as he leaned in to whisper something. He had done that countless times, but this time she had to supress a shiver. "Igor is laying it on pretty thick."
She bit her lip to stop herself from giggling.
"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied cheerfully and Hermione noticed that the bright smile Karkaroff gave Dumbledore did not reach his eyes.
"How good it is to be here, how good! Viktor, come along into the warmth. You don't mind, Dumbledore, do you? Viktor has a slight cold."
A boy stepped forward and this time Draco didn't quite whisper. "That's Krum!"
When they entered the Great Hall, everyone was just talking about Krum. Theo was asking everyone whether they had a quill, because he needed an autograph.
Hermione rolled her eyes at her cousin. "Theodore, he'll be here the entire year, calm down."
To her surprise (and slight annoyance) Pansy was just as excited, especially as the Durmstrang students sat down at the Slytherin table, the Beauxbatons students sat with the Ravenclaws.
Hermione was grateful that they didn't sit with them, because they seemed to complain about literally everything. It was too cold in the Great Hall, it was all so plain and so on. It wasn't like anyone forced them to stay. The Durmstrang students, on the other hand, seemed to be rather pleasant. Krum was talking to Draco about Quidditch now, which was good, because that way, Draco didn't notice that one of the Beauxbatons girls looked very much like a Veela and had the attention of most of the boys.
Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime joined the teachers at their table and Hagrid happily told Madame Maxime about how well her Abraxans were doing. She barely gave him a nod in return.
Then Dumbledore came in, bringing with him Ludo Bagman and someone else Hermione didn't know. She leaned to Daphne next to her. "Who's the other one with Dumbledore? Not Bagman, I mean."
"Bartemius Crouch, the Head of the Department of Magical Co-operation." She wrinkled her nose and leaned in closer. "During the war, he was Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He was ruthless. He was the one who threw Sirius Black into Azkaban without a trial and he gave Aurors the right to kill Death Eaters on sight."
"Why is he here?" Hermione looked at him, trying to hide her disgust. Kill Death Eaters on sight. So that was why they had gotten away with killing her mother and Narcissa's sister and brother-in-law.
"He and Bagman organised the Tournament together," Draco said from her right. "Father told me when you were … doing something else. I forgot about it, to be honest." She had probably been with her own father then and he didn't want to say it out loud. She nodded.
When everyone was seated, Dumbledore welcomed everyone and one of the Beauxbatons students made a rude sound. Not that Hermione minded anyone being rude to Dumbledore, but that was still rather inappropriate. And it made Draco turn towards the Beauxbatons students for the first time.
To her surprise, his eyes only lingered for a moment on the Veela-like girl before he turned to Hermione. "Mother would be appalled at those manners."
"Even I am appalled at those manners," she said and Draco grinned at her.
Dumbledore started to talk about the Tournament, explained that Crouch and Bagman had made sure that everything would be as safe as possible for the champions and that they would be tested in magical prowess, daring, power of deduction and their ability to cope with danger.
At least that did sound rather interesting.
"As you know," Dumbledore explained further, "three champions will be chosen, one for each school. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the tasks and the champion with the highest total, will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector … the Goblet of Fire.
Filch brought a wooden casket and placed it on the table before Dumbledore, who opened it with a flick of his wand. Using one's hands for such a simple task was obviously too easy. He put his wand aside, reached inside the casket and lifted out a simple wooden cup. Well, simple except for the blue-white flames with which it was filled.
Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the Goblet on top before he told everyone that they had until Friday to submit their name and school on a piece of parchment to the Goblet, which would be placed in the Entrance Hall, surrounded by an Age Line to prevent students under 17 from participating. Hermione guessed that many would try anyway. On Friday, it would select one student for each school.
"Finally," Dumbledore finished seriously, "I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this Tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet, he or she is obliged by a binding magical contract to see the Tournament through to the end." Hermione frowned. That was rather harsh for a so-called friendly competition. "There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. And you are not allowed to accept help directly related to the tasks from your teachers or any other adult. Of course you may undergo general training, but once you know what the task is about, you may not ask your teachers, headmasters or anyone else for tips on how to solve the respective task. Therefore, please be sure before you throw your name into the Goblet."
The next two days were fun, really. It was entertaining to see what people came up with to try to cross the Age Line. Most notably the Weasley twins who took some potion which made them age outwardly, but the Age Line still detected their true age. All they got for their trouble was a visit in the Hospital Wing, because they now looked like two wrinkled old men with long white beards that rivalled Dumbledore's.
All students Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime had brought submitted their names and Hermione knew that some Slytherins in their seventh year did too. She also saw Angelina Johnson, who was in the Gryffindor Quidditch team, throw a piece of parchment in.
Other than that, she didn't know who else from Hogwarts had tried their luck when she came to the Great Hall on Friday. After lunch, which was once more far too plain for the Beauxbatons students – Hermione was already tired of their bratty behaviour – Dumbledore stepped forward. "The Goblet is almost ready to make its decision," he announced cheerfully.
The students cheered, so did Ludo Bagman, who was once more seated next to Bartemeus Crouch, wo just clapped politely, like the teachers.
"When the champions' names are called," Dumbledore ventured on, "I would ask them to please come to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table and go through into the next chamber, where they will be receiving first instructions."
With a wave of his wand, he dampened the lights in the Great Hall, including the ceiling and the windows, and the Goblet of Fire shone brightly from where it stood in front of the teachers' table.
The blue-white flames suddenly turned red and the Goblet spit out a first piece of parchment. Dumbledore caught it. "The champion for Durmstrang is Viktor Krum!"
Loud cheers again as Krum stood from their table and walked towards the door Dumbledore had indicated earlier. "Bravo Viktor." Karkaroff's voice could easily be heard over the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"
The noise died down and the blue flames of the Goblet turned red once more and again Dumbledore caught a piece of parchment from the air. "The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!" The Veela-like girl stood.
The cheers were especially loud from the male audience now and Hermione found herself pleased when Draco once more merely clapped politely.
The bratty Beauxbatons students remained bratty as they cried and moaned about not having been chosen. Fleur Delacour on the other hand almost floated towards the door Krum had already vanished through.
A third and last name was selected. "The champion for Hogwarts is Cedric Diggory!" Dumbledore called out and again, loud cheers erupted, especially from the Hufflepuff table. Hermione knew Diggory a little. He was a Quidditch player and generally pretty popular, as far as she could tell. He seemed to be a good candidate, although she would have preferred a Slytherin.
"Excellent," Dumbledore beamed. "I am sure I can count upon you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will …"
All of a sudden, he fell silent, as the fire in the Goblet turned red again and another parchment was thrown into the air and caught by Dumbledore like all the others. He looked down on it and frowned. Hermione knew then and there that this frown was an act and what name he would read out loud any second. She held her breath.
"Hermione Granger."
Hermione sat perfectly still, all eyes were on her, at least the ones of those who knew her.
"Miss Granger, as you were so eager to participate, come forward." His voice sounded angry. Another act. He had to be quite satisfied with himself, the old bastard.
Instead of Hermione, Snape stood up and with billowing robes rushed around the teachers' table and was basically in Dumbledore's face when he spoke. "Have you completely lost your mind now?"
Madame Maxime shouted something about cheating and Karkaroff, too, got to his feet. "Yes, Dumbledore, what is that about? Two Hogwarts champions?"
Snape whirled his head around, facing the other Death Eater. "The girl is 14, Igor."
Karkaroff's expression changed from outrage to shock. "14? Are you trying to kill her, Dumbledore?"
That he was, Hermione thought. But strangely enough, she wasn't afraid, just angry.
"Miss Granger," Dumbledore repeated. "I don't know how you managed to get your name in there, but now go through the door, please!"
Snape turned to the Slytherin table. "Blaise, the password to my office is Jewelweed, go through the floo and tell Lucius what is going on. Now."
For his sake, Hermione hoped that he would remember to change the password later, considering each and every student had heard, and with the exception of Neville Longbottom perhaps, they would certainly remember.
Blaise stood up and ran.
Karkaroff looked at Snape. "Lucius Malfoy?" He asked, trying to make it sound like he only knew the name because who didn't know the Malfoys?
"She's his ward." At that Karkaroff's act slipped and his face looked genuinely troubled for the split of a second; then his mask was back in place.
Before Dumbledore could call her again, Hermione rose from her seat and Draco jumped to his feet, too. "You're not going. You are too young to enter into a magical contract."
"Unfortunately, she has entered," Dumbledore said calmly. "By submitting her name. The Goblet didn't care about her age. That was what the Age Line was for. However, she somehow managed to get through …"
"She didn't!" Draco stepped forward, glaring at Dumbledore coldly, looking every bit like a younger version of Lucius. "She had no interest in submitting her name whatsoever."
"Mr Malfoy, sit down, or I'll have you thrown out."
Hermione put a hand on Draco's arm. "It's alright. I'm sure your father will be here very soon. He'll sort this out."
"Well, I fear not even Lucius Malfoy will be able to sort the mess you made out, Miss Granger."
"Yes, I'm sure he won't be able to afford to buy her out of a bloody contract," Snape drawled angrily.
"Well, about that. Please follow me."
Finally, the heads of the three participating schools, Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, Mad-Eye Moody for some reason, Bartemeus Crouch, Ludo Bagman and Hermione Granger entered the room next to the teachers' table.
The other three champions stood up as the rather large group of people came into the relatively small room.
Madam Maxime turned to her student. "Hogwarts is trying to cheat. They have a second champion."
"What?" Fleur Delacour stared at Hermione, then Dumbledore. "That's against the rules!"
Karkaroff stared at Madame Maxime in disbelief. "Is that your problem now, Olympe? The girl's life is at stake and you're worried about who has how many champions?"
"She's younger than us, isn't she?" Krum asked.
Karkaroff nodded towards his student. "Yes, 14."
"Albus, I have to agree with Severus. This is ridiculous." McGonagall turned from Dumbledore to Ludo Bagman. "Mr Bagman, how much is the fine? Maybe we can pay it from the school budget and the Malfoys will refrain from taking any further action."
Snape snorted. "Good luck with that."
"I don't know what the fine is. Professor Dumbledore put the contract in place." Everyone looked at Dumbledore who looked sincerely puzzled.
"Mr Bagman, Mr Crouch, I don't understand why you are talking about a fine. You both agreed that the conditions of the contract should be the same as in the very first Tournament."
Bagman nodded, confused. "Yes, the participants must see the Tournament through, cannot receive help and all that … What does that have to do with anything?"
It was Crouch who understood. "Dumbledore, don't tell me you made this contract an Unbreakable Vow."
"Of course I did! I thought we all agreed on that. I asked you twice, if you were sure." He was the picture of innocents and sincerity.
"On the content, not the penalty!" Crouch barked back.
"Does that mean we're going to die, if we break the contract in any way?" Fleur Delacour had grown pale.
Yes, Hermione thought, that was exactly what he meant. And the Beauxbatons girl wasn't quite as stupid as she had first thought.
After another moment of shocked silence, pretty much everyone was suddenly talking at once. Professor Snape looked like he was ready to murder Dumbledore on the spot, so did Professor McGonagall. Moody stood by the wall, looking annoyed. Karkaroff, too, objected to forcing a 14-year-old to participate in a dangerous event and was outraged that the equivalent to an Unbreakable Vow had been used for a sporting contest on all champions without their knowledge, and Madame Maxime still didn't seem to grasp the full problem or she simply didn't care as she was still going on about how terribly unfair it was that there were two champions for Hogwarts.
Dumbledore just stood there and repeated again and again that nothing could be done and it was not his fault that she had put her name into the Goblet and that he had thought that this was what Crouch and Bagman had meant with their wish to implement the conditions of the original contract. Which both men denied vehemently.
That chaos went on for a few minutes.
"Enough!" Hermione's voice carried through the room and all the adults fell silent and turned to her in surprise. Slowly, head held high, posture straight, she walked towards Dumbledore.
Karkaroff, who stood in her way, stepped aside, looking at her intently, as if he was seeing something familiar in her.
Good. It was time. She thought of her father's words, how he had talked about taking the reins out of Dumbledore's hands. Well, she would make a start. Even if it meant taking a risk.
When she stood directly in front of the headmaster, she looked up and locked eyes with him, her voice as she spoke was calm, but firm. No one else made a sound. "Let's stop playing games, headmaster. You know perfectly well that I did not put my name into the Goblet of Fire and I know perfectly well why you put it in. So let's end this farce."
Dumbledore's eyes widened, Professor McGonagall gasped, Snape stood perfectly still, expression neutral. She couldn't see the others, as she was still looking straight at Dumbledore.
"So you are a Parselmouth, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore finally broke the silence.
"I am, as you well know and would have suspected ever since you read my letter to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy without my permission almost two years ago. And just for future references, Professor, it's Miss Riddle to you." She let that sink in for a moment. "As I know you suspected as well, since the World Cup at least, when your Death Eater wannabes attacked the Muggles." He clearly wanted to protest, but she didn't let him. "I am the heiress of the Houses Slytherin and Gaunt, and a descendant of the House of Nott. My father was Tom Riddle, my mother Cyrelia Nott. Both of them framed as criminals and eventually murdered by you, directly or upon your order. And now you want to get rid of me as well, I expect. Well, good luck with that."
He did not reply and the realisation that she had shocked him, that he hadn't expected her to come clean like that, came with some satisfaction. She held his gaze for a moment longer before walking past him and towards the door. She heard Snape's familiar steps behind her. Then someone else started walking. She didn't turn around, but it had to be Karkaroff, judging from the sound his heavy boots made on the stone floor.
She left the room and went back into the Great Hall, where Lucius just entered from the other side, followed by Blaise.
His eyes fell on her and the two Death Eaters in her wake and he came towards them.
They met in the middle of the Great Hall, everyone's eyes were on them. Very good, that was what she wanted.
"Blaise told me what happened. Where is Dumbledore?" Lucius asked.
"It's of no use. The magical contract he was talking about and that he personally applied to the Goblet of Fire, is in fact something akin to an Unbreakable Vow." Lucius froze, the anger in his eyes turning to shock. Hermione continued anyway, more for the sake of the audience than for Lucius, who had already understood. "If I, or any of the other chosen champions for that matter, refuse to participate or are actively assisted by the teachers or other adults, except for general training, the respective candidate will immediately drop dead." Shocked murmurs all among the students and the rest of the teachers. She waited until it was mostly silent again. "Therefore, I will, of course, participate. But would you go to the Ministry with me, please? I would like to have my name changed to Hermione Riddle." As Lucius' eyes widened just a fraction, she took her wand from the holster and pointed it at the locket she had been carrying around her neck ever since she had first met her father in person. Hidden from everyone's view by a charm. "Finite Incantatem." Now everyone else would be able to see it for what it was. Not a simple trinket, but an heirloom of the House of Slytherin.
As soon as they had left the castle, Karkaroff turned to his old friends. Before he spoke, he took his wand and said "Muffliato." At Hermione's questioning gaze, Snape explained.
"This is a charm which prevents us from being overheard. I'll teach it to you later." He sounded resigned.
"She's really his daughter, isn't she?" Karkaroff asked and Lucius simply nodded. The headmaster of Durmstrang turned to her. "I didn't really doubt it. You look a lot like your mother, but when you faced Dumbledore in there, you were all your father."
Snape turned to Lucius and told him about what had happened. Neither of them seemed angry, at least not at her. There was, however, plenty of anger towards Dumbledore.
"You're right, it's time to stop playing games," Lucius said finally. "Before we are once more stripped of all influence and accountability, we need to feed the public with the truth, little by little. But first of all, we need to get Dumbledore out of this bloody school."
Hermione knew that was a certain risk, but not acting at all would probably be the bigger risk.
"I'm not sure it was wise to accuse him of murder at this point, but it was good that you included your father in this. It's not yet time to reveal that he's alive."
She nodded.
"You do know what it means to change your name, though, don't you? There will be a lot of backlash. Tom Riddle is perceived as Lord Voldemort, the most hated man among our kind."
"I'm aware and I can take it. I'm not hiding anymore. And maybe we can use this to our advantage. The public won't like that he tricked students into an Unbreakable Vow for the sake of getting to one of them, just because she has the wrong father."
"Maybe." He looked at her thoughtfully as the door to the castle opened once again and their friends were coming out.
"You really have to participate? There's no way out?" Greg asked worriedly. She simply shook her head.
"I'm sorry, but we cannot elaborate on that right now," Lucius interrupted. "Draco, Theodore, you can come. We are first going to the Notts, they're your family as well and have a right to know, then to the Ministry. We'll have your name changed, which won't be a problem considering we have the Ancestry Retrace. And then we'll have Dumbledore fired. This time, I'm not going to give the Wizengamot and the Board of Governors a moment of peace before it's done. None of the candidates knew about the Unbreakable Vow and one of them is legally too young to enter into any contract at all. This will break his neck, at least when it comes to his position as headmaster. I'll sleep easier when he's not in the same building as all of you anymore. Severus, I will keep Draco and Hermione at home for the weekend, they will return via your floo network Sunday night. Please deliver the message to the future headmistress." Her Head of House nodded and Lucius turned to Karkaroff. "Will you join us at the Ministry? Your student is affected as well. And there may be a meeting at Malfoy Manor tonight."
Karkaroff paused. "He's back in England?"
"Yes. And he will be furious."
"I'm sure he will be, my friend." He looked at Hermione, then back at Lucius. "Get Cassius, I'll check on my students and then meet you at the Ministry. As to the meeting, you know that I'll come, if he calls."
"I do."
Karkaroff turned to Hermione once more and bowed formally. "It's a pleasure to have made your acquaintance, Miss Riddle. Despite the circumstances."
"The pleasure was all mine, Headmaster Karkaroff."
~tbc~