August to November 1994, summer before and 4th year

"Scenes of Terror at the Quidditch World Cup," Harry read aloud, looking at the moving picture of the Dark Mark. "Guess that explains where your father went yesterday, Theo."

"He seemed quite shaken during breakfast," Theodore said.

Harry hadn't noticed anything amiss with Mr Nott that morning, but Harry didn't know Theodore's father as well as Theodore did.

"They say here that the masked wizards, presumed Death Eaters, all disapparated the moment they saw the Dark Mark."

Theodore huffed. "Cowards."

"Well," Harry said, folding the Daily Prophet in half, "as there are no such things as coincidences, this might be a sign. Maybe the Dark Lord's return to power is near or something."

"A Dark Lord's rise to power, maybe," Theodore said, watching Harry intently.

"Can't imagine why anyone would want that. Sounds like too much effort for too little in return, if you ask me. Being powerful is nice and all, but being in power is too much of a hassle. Wait – was Susan planning on going to the Quidditch World Cup? I don't remember."

Theodore sighed. "Her aunt obtained tickets for the whole family."

"Oh. I hope she's alright. Let's go and write her a letter. We can ask her to meet up in Diagon Alley when the book list finally turns up, while we're at it – and I still need to reply to Black."

Harry had decided to just give up on waiting at the Dursleys for the Hogwarts letter to arrive this year. He would see what consequences would follow – maybe there wouldn't even be any. With the number of students that attended Hogwarts it made more sense for the letters to be written and sent automatically, so it was likely that no one actually read the address written on his. He wouldn't put it past the old headmaster to personally check his address, though.

Meanwhile, Sirius Black was writing to him regularly and Harry answered each letter politely, because he needed the man to be on good terms with him. It was very obvious, though, that Harry and his godfather were not alike at all. The man was immature, reckless, couldn't stay put for long periods of time, and he was, for some reason, under the impression that Harry was just like his father, James Potter – even though Harry thought the way he wrote made it quite clear that he was not his father, nor did they resemble each other in any way other than appearance. Harry was a Slytherin, for goodness' sake. A fact that Sirius Black liked to pretend wasn't true - or some kind of mistake.

Still, living with a wizard, no matter how childish, would be so much more beneficial than living with the most boring Muggles under the sun. For now, Harry was still (officially) staying with the Dursleys. But he and Petunia were working on it.

Susan, in her reply just a day later, told Harry and Theodore that her family had been lucky, because they hadn't stayed the night and apparated right back home after the match. When the three of them met up in Diagon Alley, Susan further explained that her aunt had been called back a few hours after their return home to help with the damage control and hadn't left the Ministry since. When Harry asked for details, Susan explained she was worried and confused and didn't want to talk about it.

"Did you hear about the Tournament, by the way?" she said, deliberately changing the topic. "My aunt didn't want to tell me at first, but with all the work she's been doing recently it just slipped."

"Tournament?" Harry asked. "What Tournament?"

Susan looked around first and then lowered her voice, "They want to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament. The Ministry is working hard to make it happen at Hogwarts this year. There's a lot to organize, though – they have to work hand in hand with the foreign governments and the other two schools, they have to plan the tasks and security measures and all that."

Harry turned a questioning look at Theodore.

"The Triwizard Tournament is a competition between the three largest schools of Europe's magical community. They will tell you it is meant to promote friendly relations between the schools, but it's really to see who is the best. The rivalry got so out of hand that they had to discontinue the Tournament due to the high mortality rate."

"Sounds fun," Harry said. "I look forward to watching that."

"Not to participating?"

"Eh," Harry shrugged. "Why put in the effort?"

"I agree with Harry," Susan said. "Although I am sure they will ensure the champions' safety this year, I would not want to risk my life for fame and money."

"Yeah, I got enough of both to last me for a lifetime," Harry said. "It's really not what people make it out to be. Not that I'm complaining about having so much money. So, what are the other schools like?"

"French and Dark, respectively," Theodore said.

Both Harry and Susan huffed that – one in amusement, the other in indignation.

"Really, now," Susan said. "They are just like us. There is no need for prejudice."

"Ah, but the Beauxbatons students are French, Susan," Theodore said. "And everyone knows Durmstrang puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts in their education."

"Be that as it may, there is no reason to judge those people before you have ever met a single one of them."

"Right," Harry said, trying to find something to distract his friends from starting an argument over morals of all things. "Is the Tournament the reason we are required to bring dress robes?"

Susan nodded. "There will be a ball for the fourth years and up. The champions are required to attend, but it's voluntary for everyone else. Oh, it will be lovely. I've only been to political balls and those are no fun."

"Pureblood balls aren't very fun, either," Theodore commented.

"I've never been to any ball," Harry said.

"All the more reason to attend this one," Susan said. "Oh, I hope someone will ask me to be their date. Someone cute."

"Not us, then," Harry said.

"Oh, hush, you are plenty cute. But I don't want to go to a ball with a friend, you know?"

"Er, if you say so?"

"I do. What about you two?"

Harry shrugged. He glanced at Theodore. "Does it have to be someone of the opposite gender?"

"Are you planning on asking out a cute boy, Harry?" Susan said in a gushing voice. "Do you already have someone in mind?"

Theodore pressed his lips together in a thin line and said nothing.

"No," Harry said, looking away from his friend and back to Susan. "I don't particularly care."

Susan sighed. "Of course you don't."

o

"So," the blonde boy said, "going to enter, Potter?"

Harry narrowed his eyes and watched in satisfaction as the blonde boy took a step back.

"No."

Harry wasn't allowed to, anyway. Not that the age-line would have stopped him.

Susan was so proud of him for it.

Harry watched the blonde boy gulp. "Really? I thought you of all people would …"

"No."

He was aware everyone in the common room was listening in. Otherwise, he would have just left it at that.

"I have no reason to enter. Not even to prove my own powers – certainly not to prove my own powers. That would be quite unwise, wouldn't you agree?"

For a moment, the blonde boy looked ready to argue. Then he seemed to think better of it, nodded, and ran – no, left. In a hurry.

Harry focused back on his math puzzle. He was very close to a breakthrough with his work on the Pensieve, but he needed certain texts that could only be found in the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts Library and until he found a way to either get a pass or sneak in undetected, he had to occupy his mind with other methods. Advanced Muggle Math had seemed perfect and now he was amusing himself with Algebra and Analysis and the occasional Sudoku during class. The latter was just the right amount of mindless scribbling and actual logical thinking to do without looking, so that Harry could disguise his little pencil and the Sudoku book with a Disillusionment Charm and solve them in the middle of a lesson with his teachers being none the wiser. The only exception to that was Professor Moody.

Mad-Eye Moody was an interesting Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor – certainly better than Quirrel or Lockhart, not that that was an accomplishment in any way – but outside the classroom the man just made Harry highly uncomfortable. His magical eye could see through Disillusionment Charms, furniture, possibly walls and certainly clothes. The man, himself, was paranoid beyond help and also thought it was a good idea to transform students into animals and bounce them around for punishment. He also thought it was a good idea to demonstrate the Three Unforgivable Curses in front of fourteen-year-old children. The man certainly deserved his nickname.

Also, no normal Auror should be able to just perform those spells that flawlessly. Or be allowed to use the Imperius Curse on students. Harry was sure that went against the moral code or something.

Harry really did not like the man.

Not because of the morality question, of course, Harry was just highly uncomfortable with the invasiveness of it all – the magical eye, the power the Imperius Curse gave him over the students, no matter how temporary.

Harry wasn't the only one. According to Susan, most of Hufflepuff House felt the same. They were more than uncomfortable, though, and also concerned about the morality part of it all. But Hufflepuffs had an inter-house system for these situations to help each other cope and comfort everyone, especially the younger students, and all that stuff. Harry knew why the Sorting Hat had never even considered Hufflepuff for him.

The Hufflepuffs were also the only of the four houses that was pretty much of one mind when it came to favourite candidates for the Triwizard Tournament. The Gryffindors were mostly hoping to be selected, themselves. The Ravenclaws Harry wasn't sure about as he hadn't really heard anything on that front. The Slytherins were very secretive about it, not telling each other who wanted to participate nor who they were hoping would be chosen. And the Hufflepuffs …

The Hufflepuffs were all rooting for Cedric Diggory, whoever that was supposed to be – apparently everyone but Harry had a crush on him. (Though Theodore heavily objected to that statement.) Any Hufflepuff would do, of course, because Hufflepuff deserved some recognition, but Cedric Diggory would be perfect, really. Harry supposed they were right. Hufflepuffs were nice. And helpful. And nice. Loyal, too. Hardworking. Good minions, if you needed that sort of people. He should probably stop thinking that thought of line, he had already offended Susan's house pride once too often.

("I do have other friends than you two, you know?" – "Those aren't friends, they are just being Hufflepuffs." – "Excuse me?")

The uproar that came with Cedric Diggory's name emerging from the Goblet of Fire was thus not surprising at all. Good for Hufflepuff, Harry thought as he watched the tall, dark-haired and handsome young man walk down the aisle between the tables. He could see why everyone supposedly had a crush on Diggory.

"Harry Potter."

Harry blinked. "What?"

"Harry," Theodore hissed. "Your name just came out of the Goblet of Fire"

Harry groaned. "You've got to be kidding me."

They weren't kidding him.

They were even accusing him and, okay, that was fair, he could have definitely done it – not that he had – but, really? There was no benefit in becoming a champion for Harry. It was just not worth it. He also would have competed for Hogwarts and not some random fourth school. He did have some school pride, after all. Or house pride, at least. A little bit. Not that he begrudged the Hufflepuffs their champion. Good for them, really.

This was ridiculous. What did the old man mean 'did he put his name in the Goblet of Fire?' Of course not! Harry wasn't mad! Mad-Eye Moody certainly was, but not Harry! Really, now! And listen to the madman, he made a good point. Harry was fourteen years old. Harry was definitely too young to trick this old, magical artifact. Yes. Totally. (It would have been so very easy.)

"Not much to go on," Diggory said on their way back to their respective common rooms. "'Courage in the face of the unknown', very informative."

"I'm sure it will all work out," Harry said, trying to remember how people were supposed to sound encouraging. "You are nearly finished with your education and the Goblet chose you for a reason." That sounded good, right?

Or maybe not, because Diggory gave him an odd look. "So … tell me … How did you get your name in?"

"I didn't," Harry said as they crossed the Entrance Hall. "This whole Tournament business doesn't really sound worth it, if you ask me." He shrugged. "If you're into that sort of stuff, then all the best for you, but I won't bother."

Diggory stopped at the top of the stairs. "You aren't even going to try?"

"No," Harry said, descending without a pause in his steps.

"Ah, okay," Diggory said in a strange voice. "Well … see you, then."

Harry waved as the other boy went down the corridor that led to the kitchens and then descended the next staircase towards the dungeons.

When he entered the Slytherin Common Room, he was not surprised to find nearly the whole house waiting for him. But no one dared to speak up.

Harry stopped in the entrance, sweeping his gaze over his assembled housemates. It wouldn't hurt to give them a brief explanation, would it? The Slytherins wouldn't question him, either way, nor turn their backs on him. Harry had made it clear long ago that he was to be left alone.

"Someone apparently wants me to get killed, so they tricked the Goblet of Fire. According to Mr Crouch I absolutely have to compete, but that doesn't mean I have to give it my all, so don't expect me to put any effort into it."

Harry looked around for any reaction, but there was none. So he nodded, satisfied, caught Theodore's eye and left the common room for their dormitory.

"You cannot drop out?" Theodore asked, once they had reached their empty dorm room.

"Binding magical contract," Harry said, "with an ancient, powerful, magical, runic artifact."

"Ah," Theodore said eloquently. "Shit."

"If I could examine the Goblet of Fire, I might find a way out. But I can't do that without raising unwanted questions. The Goblet has been taking away, so I can't just do it in secret."

Theodore nodded. "You will have to participate, then."

Harry shrugged. "Guess so. I'm not worried, though. I'm not going for first place, but I won't just let anything kill me, either."

"I would be very worried, otherwise," Theodore replied dryly.

Harry patted his arm, ignored how Theodore stiffened under his touch and then got ready for bed.

The next morning, the Slytherins whispered and watched with wary eyes and congratulated him with tight smiles and when Harry just stared at them with a flat expression, they left him be. They really had learned their lesson in his first year.

The rest of the school wasn't that nice about it, but who cared? Certainly not Harry.

Susan, thankfully, believed him – though she was probably the only Hufflepuff and it showed when her housemates started avoiding her. It hurt her, Harry knew. After all, Susan considered those people her friends for some unfathomable reason. The whole situation also worried her, because someone had put Harry's name in the Goblet and that person most likely didn't have good intentions and they had absolutely no idea who it could be – but Harry didn't care.

"They will reveal themselves, eventually," he told Susan. "There's no need for me to do anything."

"I thought you liked figuring things out."

"Puzzles, yes. But there is too little information to go on and if their plan really is to get me killed, all I have to do is stay alive to lure them out. Easy."

"If you say so," she said, not sounding convinced.

"I do say so," Harry said firmly.

"How are your other projects coming along? Are you still stuck with the Pensieve?"

"For now. I'm waiting for the right time. I believe I will be quite occupied with all my math problems for a while, though, so that's completely fine."

"The right time for what?" Susan asked, frowning.

Harry glanced at Theodore. "I think it might be better if you don't know."

Theodore hid his smile behind a book.

Susan narrowed her eyes at them both. "Why does that sound like you plan on doing something dangerous? A Pensieve isn't even a dark object."

"Don't worry about it," Harry said cheerfully. "I promise there is no danger in what I'm doing. Not for me, anyway."

"That doesn't reassure me at all."