Chapter Two - The Goblet

Nine Years Later

Albus Dumbledore, Supreme Mugwump, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was a happy man. His efforts in having the Triwizard Tournament reinstated had been a success and the other schools, the Durmstrang Institute and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, had sent their delegations who now sat in the Great Hall, feasting along with Hogwarts students.

It had been a rough few years for the ageing Headmaster, especially after the disappearance of the Boy-Who-Lived from his muggle relatives. To this day, there had not been a single trace of the boy had been found, much to everyone's consternation. The fact that Dumbledore had placed the child with his muggle relatives against the will of the Potters only made things worse, however he knew that it was a necessity. Not that it mattered however, as his excuses and elaboration on the blood wards meant nothing when the boy had vanished anyway.

His plans for young Harry were in tatters, and it was all he could do to keep his positions, something that had cost him a lot of influence. He had called in every possible favour to maintain the status quo, and had lost the support of many of House Potter's ally houses. He hadn't even intended for the boy to find out about his heritage, but none of that mattered now. There were signs that Voldemort's return was imminent, and he was still at a loss as to how to counter the monster that Tom Riddle had become. He had a rough idea of course of how Voldemort was still alive, and the thought of it still made his blood run cold.

After the opening of the Chamber Of Secrets two years before, he had managed to force his way into the chamber when a student had been taken, saving Ginny Weasley from a terrible fate, and destroying Tom Riddle's diary in the process. He now knew that it had been a Horcrux, vile soul magic he hadn't dared to think someone was capable of, and yet he had been proven wrong. However Voldemort still lived, something he could discern from the fact that Severus Snape's dark mark had not yet vanished. It could only mean there were more Horcruxes out there, and he believed with every fibre of his being that a Horcrux had latched itself on to the Potter boy on that fateful night.
He knew that the boy was still alive, thanks to the instruments in his office. The signs were faint, but they were there. He still lived, however any attempt at finding him had met with zero success. He gave off a sigh as he glanced around the great hall, taking in the students and smiling faintly. He did not consider himself a bad man, however he thought himself practical. He knew that sacrifices would have to be made to take down the monster that Tom Riddle had become, and this tournament was one of his most desperate attempts at finding the Boy-Who-Lived, using the powers of the Goblet of Fire.

It was a little known fact that the Goblet of Fire, itself a very old and powerful artefact, upon choosing a champion also had the power to summon the champion, should said person not be present in the vicinity. It was using this artefact that he would attempt to summon the Potter boy to Hogwarts from wherever he had either been taken, or was hiding. Naturally, he had kept this plan to himself, otherwise he would never have been allowed near the artefact, regardless of whether his actions were for the greater good. After all Harry Potter was only 14 years of age, and thus was not old enough to be submitted as a Champion. 'Nothing a good confundus charm can't fix' he thought to himself, stroking his beard.

He thought back to the events of last year, when Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban prison. He had tried quietly to have the man captured and returned to prison; he did not want the Ministry to discover his part in the plans to have the Black Heir framed. However his efforts had been for nought, and Sirius had discovered and flushed out Peter Pettigrew from Gryffindor Tower, where he had been hiding in his animagus form as a garden rat. The fact that said garden rat had been a pet to one Ronald Billius Weasley had only made things worse, especially considering how fanatical the Weasley family were in their support for the aged Headmaster.
Pettigrew had been captured and turned in to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement by Black, who had sent discreet letters to Amelia Bones who had shown up at the school for the arrest. Thankfully for Dumbledore, Peter was later found dead in the Ministry cells, having apparently died from a heart attack. If they had interrogated him thoroughly, Albus would have been implicated in several things that he did not want people to know, but thankfully that had been prevented by his death. Sirius however, had taken up the mantle of Lord of the house of Black, and had even joined the Conservative faction in the Wizengamot. He still voted against many pro Death Eater legislations put forward, however after having discovered how young Harry had been treated at the Dursleys before his disappearance, he also voted heavily against Muggle protection bills.

Sirius had yet to speak to Albus Dumbledore privately since the events of last year, only doing so out of necessity when the Wizengamot was in session and even then it was clear to everyone present that the new Lord Black disliked the Chief Warlock with a passion. Naturally he blamed Dumbledore for what had happened to his Godson, something that Albus tried to deflect with all manner of excuses.

The Headmaster glanced once more at the unveiled Goblet and smiled once more. After the choosing of the champions, he could hopefully put his old plans back into action.

- Scene Break -

The Night of the Champion selection

It was the night of the Champion selection, and Albus Dumbledore thought everything was proceeding quite nicely. The Champions for the Durmstrang Institute and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic had been chosen, Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour respectively. It was now the moment of truth, all of his efforts this year in having the tournament reinstated had led to this.

The Goblet of Fire's flames flared a violent red, spouting higher than before as it spat out a small piece of parchment that he knew held the answer to all of his problems. Grabbing the parchment as it fluttered down, he knew he had to put on something of an act here. Adopting a worried and confused expression upon his features, he read the name on the parchment as a whisper at first, before calling it out to the great hall at large.

"The Champion for Hogwarts...Harry Potter!"

There were gasps around the room and the students all began excitedly muttering to each other at this recent development. Behind him at the staff table, all of the teachers looked beyond shocked. 'Good' he thought to himself. He called out the name again, now adopting a frantic look on his face.

"Harry Potter!" He shouted.

As if in reply, the flames of the goblet began flaring wildly, exiting the goblet and surrounding the artefact in a flowing ring. This new ring of crimson fire then seemed to move off to the side, settling beside the goblet and forcing the Headmaster to step back. The flames then rose in height and began swirling like a vortex, reaching up from the floor to the ceiling and causing a strong gale to spread throughout the great hall. Dumbledore was intrigued at this, he had been wondering how the summoning process would work and this was quite showy, he thought.

A sudden crack of what sounded like thunder coming from the Vortex made almost everybody jump, however they craned their heads to see what was happening as the swirling flames seemed to be dying down, where a faint shadow could be seen standing at the bottom. When the flames were low enough, a gasp reverberated around the hall from students and teachers alike as the flames unveiled a young man standing where the middle of the vortex had been.

The young man in question currently had his eyes closed, however that wasn't the strange part. He was wearing what looked to be a black trench coat on top of a grey uniform of some sort, complete with shin guards, breast plate and a grey kepi atop his head. In his hands was what the muggleborns and those who knew a bit about muggles knew was a firearm of some kind, however it was not one that they had ever seen before. Even stranger to Albus Dumbledore however, was the fact that this was no 14 year old boy, but a man fully grown. And yet, he could tell that this was Harry Potter. His scar was there upon his forehead, that lightning scar that had become so famous in the Wizarding world. There was utter silence in the room, which was broken by an almost nervous sounding Albus Dumbledore.

"Ahem… Harry?" He questioned in a low voice, edging slightly closer to the uniformed man.

The young man's eyes opened upon hearing his name, and he jumped at seeing an entire hall full of people staring at him. 'Wait, where in the Emperor's name am I?!' he thought, panicking slightly. He looked to the side slightly and saw an extremely old and strangely dressed man who was edging towards him, softly calling his name. His panic grew as he realised he did not recognise anyone here, or the location. He raised his E-22 Blaster Rifle and took aim at the ancient man.

"Stay back! I am Captain Harry Corvin of the Imperial Army, an officer of the Galactic Empire. I demand to know who you are and where you have brought me to?!" He called, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

A very quick red spell was cast from behind the staff table, striking the young man in the back and causing him to collapse, stunned. Ironically, this left everybody else in the hall stunned as they looked at Professor Severus Snape, his wand still pointing at the collapsed figure. Dumbledore, for his part, inclined his head in thanks. He knew all too well the dangers of muggle weapons. But now he had to try and figure out what on earth was going on here. Turning to Professor McGonagall, he spoke quietly yet firmly.

"Minerva, please dismiss the students back to their dormitories."

He then turned to the Hogwarts Matron. "Poppy, please take young Harry up to the hospital wing. I shall have Severus escort you, I believe it would be in your best interests for our… guest, to be restrained for the time being, at least until he has calmed down." He said, looking once more to Severus pointedly, who made his way around the table and began levitating the apparent Hogwarts champion from the hall.

The scraping of benches on the floor marked the students exit from the hall, allowing the Headmaster to think on what had occurred. How was Harry Potter a grown man? What was that uniform? He didn't recognise it at all. Yet what played most on his mind was the young man's statement. He was an officer of some Imperial army… but what in Merlin's name was the Galactic Empire?!

Author's Notes: I must say I enjoyed writing this chapter, so many possibilities and yet so little time. The next chapter will focus slightly on getting to know Harry as he is now, having grown up as a citizen of the Galactic Empire. As you can see, he named himself Harry Corvin- so as you can probably guess, he was adopted by the Corvin family. The noble houses of the Wizarding World will play a major part in this story, and so will the Potter family name- but it is something he will use for official purposes only, due to the love he has for his adopted family.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!