1,528Hey friends and fans, Kairomaru is here with another chapter of Arch Mage, the Path of Magic! The Goblet of Fire has been lit! Champion selection begins for the Triwizard Tournament! Which three students will be chosen? Will there be a fourth Champion? Harry just kinda wants to check out the Age Line and, if possible, the Goblet of Fire itself. But the Triwizard Tournament could be interesting too.
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Chapter 32 – The Goblet of Fire, Champion Selection
It was very early morning, well before dawn, and the Goblet of Fire was on a pedestal in the Entrance Hall, surrounded by a faintly glowing circle of runes. Unseen, unheard, and unnoticed, a single person approached the pedestal after a quick cast of the Revelio Charm, silently and wandlessly. With nothing of note being detected by the spell, the invisible person raised an unseen eyebrow.
'No watchers? No faculty at all? Just the paintings?' Harry wondered about the lack of any kind of security for the Goblet of Fire. He noticed more than a few of the paintings on the walls were asleep in their frames, but several were indeed keeping watch, glancing at the Goblet of Fire occasionally, whether because they'd been asked to watch it, or just out of curiosity, was up to debate. 'Lucky for me that what I want to do won't be noticed.' With that, Harry approached the Age Line with curiosity and interest. Activating his Mage Sight spell, Harry looked at the Age Line and started to decipher the way the Ward worked as he walked around the outside of the faintly glowing circle.
After making a complete circle around the Age Line, Harry quickly went through the entire structure of the spell in his head. It was certainly a foolproof bit of Charms work that made up the temporary Ward. Anything that wasn't at or above the age set by the caster couldn't cross the line without triggering its defenses. There was also nothing within the structure of the spell that said one couldn't do the opposite, setting a maximum age that prevented anyone of that age or older from crossing the ward line.
'Quite the useful Ward, if a bit limited in its function.' Harry mused to himself after finishing his inspection of the Age Line. Now that he understood the spell, it wouldn't be hard to 'put it together' from its various features and learn how to cast it himself. 'Interesting and a new bit of Magic for me. Now…about that Goblet.' Harry turned his sight on the Goblet of Fire, the blue flames not making a sound as they danced within the wooden vessel.
The Age Line had been drawn with a roughly three meter radius from the pedestal in the center. Six meters in diameter was more than enough to keep any underage student from stretching their arm to drop their name in from the edge of the Age Line, that was obvious. However, as Harry had quickly discerned, the Age Line had a very large flaw in its defense.
It only worked on living things.
'I'm hesitant to levitate anything into the Goblet though, since Magic is very much tied to the one casting it, a Levitation Charm may be noticed by the Age Line.' Harry pondered on his current quandary with a small grin on his lips. The problem with spells that were held to keep their effects was that the link between the item being bespelled and the Witch or Wizard casting the spell could potentially be detected. 'But it's a bit far to lob a piece of balled up parchment and get it into the Goblet. I'm sure Dumbledore considered that when he made the Age Line as wide as he did.' Not that Harry believed there wouldn't be dozens of balled up pieces of parchment around the pedestal by the time of the Halloween Feast tonight from underage students trying just that. 'However, simple solutions often have the highest likelihood of succeeding, especially when it comes to very specific Magics like this Age Line.'
Harry, still unseen beneath his invisibility spell, pulled out a single piece of parchment from his pocket. On the parchment was his name, written in his neat script, and also kept invisible so long as it was held by Harry. With just a thought, Harry made the small parchment fold itself into an origami crane (something he'd seen on his family's trip to Japan), then he used an Animation Charm on it. The origami crane flapped its tiny wings and was airborne a second later. The Animation Charm required no upkeep after being cast and would naturally fade once it used up the magic that Harry had supplied it with, so the chances of it being detected by the Age Line was zero. The animated origami crane became visible just after crossing the Age Line, Harry's invisibility no longer covering it, but it flew straight into the Goblet of Fire and was consumed in a brief flare of blue flames only a second later. Not hearing a sound from any of the paintings around the entrance hall, Harry's unseen grin became a little smirk. It looked like he'd be getting away with his early morning hours excursion.
'And if I do get chosen, it'll be a successful prank that Sirius could never top since there was no Triwizard Tournament during his school days.' Harry chuckled to himself, his spell keeping everything silent regardless. 'Besides, this tournament could make the school year much more entertaining.' Harry smiled in amusement. 'Let's see if I can glean anything from you.' He looked directly at the Goblet of Fire with his Mage Sight spell; his eyes glowing brighter than usual as he poured more of his magic into it (though still going unseen because of his invisibility).
The Magic within the Goblet was still the same dull hue of blue light, much like the stone that made up Hogwarts. The Goblet was ancient, just like the castle, and much like Hogwarts, held its secrets close. The only things that Harry could parse out was that the Goblet of Fire was self-sustaining, requiring no outside Magic to function, and that its purpose was to choose three competitors for a competition involving three events. What criteria it judged by was unseen, even as Harry looked deeply into the Magic that he could see and tried to delve further.
'Ow… Gonna have to refine the Mage Sight spell a bit more if I want to look into the Magic of an object for long periods of time.' Harry thought to himself as he closed his eyes from the strain that prolonged use of his Mage Sight spell had caused. 'Still, this was quite interesting. I do wonder who made this Artifact though.' The Goblet of Fire was far more than any mere Enchanted Object, and Harry had read about Artifacts before. 'But to commission an Artifact just for an inter-school tournament seems a bit excessive.' Then again, Andromeda, Ted, and Sirius had all said that a number of Witches and Wizards had more Magic than sense, so perhaps this was just another showing of that?
With his curiosity settled for the moment, Harry walked back up the stairs and returned to Ravenclaw Tower. He'd catch a few more hours of sleep before joining everyone for breakfast.
-Breakfast-
"Good morning, Fleur." Harry greeted his friend with a warm smile as he got to the entrance hall and saw her waiting for him. The gaggle of boys staring at her as they walked into the Great Hall was expected, as were those that walked into the stone walls on either side of the large double door that led into the Great Hall when they wouldn't take their eyes off of Fleur.
"Bonjour, mon chéri." Fleur smiled beautifully at Harry. The boys staring at Fleur all stopped walking entirely and just stood in place now. "Bonjour, Hermione, Luna." Fleur greeted the two girls on either side of Harry with warmth.
"Good morning, Fleur." Luna smiled back brightly.
Hermione gave the Veela a smile as well. "Good morning, Fleur." She then narrowed her eyes at the gawking boys all around the entrance hall. "Could you all stop staring, please?"
Harry chortled in amusement. "They can't help it, Hermione." He motioned to the Goblet of Fire, still on the pedestal and waiting for students to submit their names. "Fleur is just more enchanting than entering their names for the Triwizard Tournament."
Fleur playfully rolled her eyes, even as her smile grew a little more. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Harry."
The reminder of the Triwizard Tournament seemed to snap a few of the older teens out of their staring. More than a few quickly straightened themselves up and practically marched towards the Goblet of Fire. Hermione let out a small huff when she saw the older teens puffing themselves up in an attempt to look impressive as they each put a slip of parchment with their name on it into the magical blue flames of the Goblet of Fire. Not a single one of them hadn't been at least glancing at Fleur while they did so, obviously trying to impress the beautiful Veela.
As the group of friends entered the Great Hall, it was to the sight of the Hall decorated for Halloween. Live bats flew about in the air in small groups before resting on the stone walls for a while as another group flew from the walls and around the Hall, above the floating candles and jack-o-lanterns. Stacks of more jack-o-lanterns took up every corner of the Hall as well, flames flickering inside them. With a grin, Harry blew out one of the floating jack-o-lanterns and took control of the smoke let off by the snuffed out candle. The smoke multiplied into a cloud, turned a glimmering blue color and then separated into a dozen 'Muggle style' ghosts that flew about the Hall, sometimes sneaking below the tables and coming out the other side to startle a few students.
"So, who all have submitted their names?" Harry asked curiously, as if he hadn't just added to the ambiance and decoration of the Great Hall for his own amusement.
Fleur answered once she sat down. "All of the Durmstrang group did so when I arrived at the entrance hall. A few others after that, mostly girls from Hogwarts, and then several students from Beauxbatons as well." She grinned as a yelp was heard from down the Ravenclaw table as one of Harry's 'ghosts' flew from under it and back into the air. "A nice bit of Charms work, mon chéri."
Harry just grinned at her as he made his plate.
"The boys from Hogwarts were too distracted, I guess." Luna giggled as she levitated the food she wanted onto her plate…noticeably without her wand. After most of September learning from Harry, simple spells like the Levitation Charm were easy for Luna to do wandlessly.
"So it would seem." Hermione shook her head once as she made her plate. "I almost feel like I should apologize to Fleur for their actions." She looked at Fleur with an apologetic smile.
"Non, it's fine." Fleur waved it off. "I'm used to it. Most especially from those who have no experience with the Allure of a Veela."
"Morning all!" Tracy greeted the group as she plopped down on the seat next to Hermione's.
Daphne sat down on Tracy's opposite side a moment later. "Good morning." She smiled at her friends. "Quite a lot of people crowding the entrance hall this morning."
Luna finished sculpting her food, her breakfast now vaguely resembling a castle with a dragon standing in front of it, before she spoke. "I wonder why?"
Astoria joined them with a laugh. "Someone just tried to get past the Age Line!"
Tracy perked up with a big grin. "What happened, Tori?"
"They were forced backwards and then grew a long white beard like Dumbledore's!" Astoria burst into giggles.
"Hah!" Tracy laughed loudly once before controlling herself to giggles. "That seems like something Dumbledore would do!"
Harry chuckled, having seen that within the structure of the Age Line last night. "Harmless enough. Might need to get Madam Pomfrey to remove it depending on how the spell works."
Daphne nodded with a little grin. "I'm sure they will. A light-hearted prank for those trying to break the rules. Dumbledore's not one to be malicious after all."
"Quite benevolent, considering that entering the Triwizard is a binding magical contract that forces each selected competitor to see the Tournament through until the end." Fleur said after a sip of her juice. "Considering how dangerous the Tournament is supposed to be, a much harsher punishment wouldn't be out of line as a warning."
"I did read about the death toll in the history of the Triwizard Tournament." Hermione agreed with a nod. "Smacking a child's hand to prevent them from touching a hot stove is better than letting them touch it, after all." A single instant of sharp pain was much better compared to the intense and lingering pain of a burn.
The conversation carried on, but no one seemed to notice that Daphne had gone quiet for a while. Her eyes were looking at her food, but she didn't take anything from her plate. 'Not malicious… Benevolent… Painful, but for a good reason…' Daphne's mind circled these points for a while before she snapped out of it when Astoria nudged her, looking slightly concerned for her big sister. Daphne gave Astoria a smile before starting to eat again.
After breakfast, Fleur placed her name in the Goblet of Fire for all of her friends, both Hogwarts and Beauxbatons, to see. A round of applause came from almost everyone that had watched, especially from the male population of Hogwarts.
Harry, Luna, and Astoria convinced Hermione, Tracy, Daphne, and Fleur to watch others put their names into the Goblet of Fire for a little while. It didn't take much convincing though as all of them were curious about who was entering and what underage students might try to get past the Age Line and submit their names too.
They didn't have to wait very long before a ruckus from the staircase got everyone's attention. Fred and George Weasley, along with their friend Lee Jordan, were clambering down the stairs with laughter.
"Just done it!" Fred declared with a bright smile.
"Only a drop!" George had a big smile on his face too. "Only needed to be a few months older!"
Lee Jordan saw curious eyes, especially from the younger students, and stage whispered to all of them. "Aging Potion! We're going to split the one-thousand Galleons prize money if one of us wins!"
That got quite a bit of excited chatter and murmuring started among the students.
Fred approached the edge of the Age Line, George and Lee right beside him. All three boys were visibly shaking with excitement as they pulled out their parchments. Even from a distance, everyone could see the names on the parchments, written in big letters and with 'Hogwarts' written in smaller letters after the names.
"This hasn't worked for anyone else; you know?" Hermione spoke up to warn the three Gryffindors.
She was ignored entirely.
"C'mon then, I'll go first." Fred said before taking the first step into the Age Line.
When nothing happened for a second, George and Lee both smiled and jumped into the Age Line as well. All of the students cheered…for a second. With a sound similar to the sizzle of a skillet, all three boys were launched back from where they stood, stumbling and staggering before they hit the floor in a heap. A 'pop' was heard and Lee, Fred, and George each grew a long white beard very reminiscent of Dumbledore's own.
"Ahahahahaha!" The gathered students laughed loudly, pointing at the three boys as they got back to their feet.
George, Fred, and Lee took it in good stride, the three laughing along with everyone else, even stroking their new beards as if they were wise old men thinking deeply about something.
"I did warn you." Dumbledore's amused voice quieted the students as he exited the Great Hall. "I suggest you three head to Madam Pomfrey. She's already helping Miss Fawcett from Ravenclaw and Mr. Summers from Hufflepuff, both who aged themselves up a little as well." He gave Lee, George, and Fred a friendly smile. "Though I must say, neither of their beards were quite as nice as your three."
Fred, George, and Lee all headed off to the Hospital Wing, laughing the whole way.
"Would you all like to see the Beauxbatons carriage?" Fleur offered her friends with a grin.
"Yes, please." Harry returned the smile, waggling his eyebrows like Sirius had shown him as well.
"Harry." Hermione gently swatted his arm with a roll of her eyes, though her little grin gave away her lack of any crossness with him.
Tracy snickered behind her hand while Astoria and Luna both giggled.
Daphne shook her head, shooting Harry an unamused look. Harry laughed at the look and Daphne sighed before a smile crossed her lips. "No mischief out of you, Harry."
"Mischief? Me?" Harry placed his hand on his chest with a mock look of shock on his face.
"Yes, you." Hermione, Daphne, and Fleur all said at the same time.
Harry laughed at the three of them, along with Luna, Astoria, and Tracy.
Fleur smiled at Daphne and Hermione. "I'm sure we can get him trained properly in time." She said with a playful wink.
Daphne and Hermione both felt their cheeks burn red and looked away from everyone else, much to Astoria and Tracy's continued amusement.
Fleur led the group out of the castle and across the lawn towards Hagrid's hut. The powder blue Beauxbatons carriage was parked close, roughly two-hundred meters away, and a paddock made of roughly hewn trees held the Abraxans that pulled it. The almost elephant-sized equines were munching on the grass or taking large, gulping drinks of single-malt whiskey from a large trough at the edge of the paddock.
"You think we'll be having a lesson about them this year?" Tracy asked while motioning to the Abraxans.
"I'm sure Hagrid will at least let us look at them from the edge of the paddock while he talks about them." Hermione said with confidence, knowing how much their Care of Magical Creatures Professor loved large (and potentially dangerous) beasts.
Fleur stopped at the door of the massive carriage and tapped it once with her wand. The door opened and the metal stairs came down a second later. "Welcome to our home away from home." She laughed softly while inviting them inside.
"Oooh…" Luna and Astoria let out awed sounds as the interior of the already massive carriage proved to be even larger than it should be.
"Wow, you all don't want for space, I see." Harry commented on the scale of the Space Expansion Charms.
The inside of the Beauxbatons carriage was resplendent with hues of blue, silver, and gold. The floor was white marble and the interior was filled with living vines full of flowers. Couches and coffee tables were set up in the large common space while a pair of staircases clearly led up to a second floor that was separated into a boys' side and girls' side.
Tracy let out a low whistle. "This is nice. Is this what Beauxbatons is like?"
"Yes." Fleur and Harry answered at the same time.
Harry shared a quick grin with Fleur, even as he felt the eyes of his friends nearly burning into him as they stared. "What?"
Hermione opened her mouth to ask a question, but then closed it a second later. "Hah, no, no, I'm not going to ask." She exhaled heavily.
"You've been to Beauxbatons, huh?" Daphne looked into Harry's eyes closely. "That wouldn't have been during school last year, would it?"
Harry merely shrugged. "I can neither confirm nor deny." The grin on his face made it all too obvious what the answer was though.
"Come, I'll show you my room." Fleur giggled melodiously as she took Daphne's hand and pulled the girl up the stairs. "Sorry, Harry, but the wards won't let you pass."
"Too bad for you!" Astoria teased Harry as she quickly followed after Daphne.
Luna gave Harry a quick hug before following the other girls.
None of them seemed to notice the brief look that Harry shared with Fleur, both knew that no wards would stop Harry if he really wanted to get to Fleur's room.
Harry managed to hold his smirk until the girls were up the stairs, deciding to sit on one of the couches and wait for a bit while activating his Mage Sight spell to examine the carriage. 'Space Expansion Charms are interesting. I wonder if an expanded space could have multiple exits? If it existed in a nebulous point between two trunks or something, it would be impossible to find by a great many Locator spells. Then again…expanded spaces always run the risk of being compromised. It would be quite the loss if one of the points was damaged and the entire spell came undone. Maybe something that I could experiment with at a later date?'
"Mr. Potter?" The deep voice of Madam Maxime brought Harry from his musings as he deactivated his Mage Sight spell. "How did you get into our carriage?"
Harry stood up and gave Maxime a polite bow. "Headmistress Maxime, pleased to meet you." He greeted her properly before straightening up. "Fleur invited me and her other friends from Hogwarts to see the inside of your lovely carriage. However, as I am a boy, I couldn't go with them to see her room." Harry made sure to over exaggerate his disappointment at that.
Maxime let out a small exhale (though given her size it was comparable to a heavy sigh from most people) as she looked at Harry's face. "We have those Wards for a reason, Mr. Potter. As long as you cause no trouble, you may visit here with Fleur escorting you from time to time."
"Wouldn't dream of causing any trouble, Headmistress." Harry assured her with a smile.
"See that you do not." Maxime gave him a short nod before moving across the common area and to a large door. The incredibly tall woman entered what appeared to be a chamber behind the elegantly carved wooden door before it closed behind her.
Harry knew that he wouldn't cause any trouble within the Beauxbatons carriage. 'After all, I wouldn't want my easy access to be revoked.' He glanced up the stairs that led to the girls' side with a little grin.
-Halloween Feast-
The feast had been quite lavish this year, with desserts and sweets from many of the foreign countries that both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons took their students from. Every House sat at their own table, along with all of the Durmstrang students at the Slytherin table and all of the Beauxbatons students at the Ravenclaw table. It was only a few moments after the golden plates and platters cleared themselves of food that Dumbledore stood up and moved around to the front of the Professor's table to stand next to the pedestal the Goblet of Fire rested on. The entire pedestal had been moved shortly before dinner and watched over by Dumbledore himself since then to prevent any underaged students from entering their names without the Age Line to stop them.
Harry had been amused to find out that he'd been correct about the many attempts from younger students to lob parchments with their names on them into the Goblet. Had it not been for the House Elves that served Hogwarts, the entrance hall would probably still be littered with the many scraps of paper.
The unexpected guests of Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry, along with Bartemius Crouch, Head of International Magical Cooperation, had been a brief surprise at the beginning of the Halloween Feast. However, the two men were to be part of the five judge panel for the Tournament, so it made sense that they'd be here for the Champion selection.
The Goblet of Fire's shimmering blue flames spiked and Dumbledore waved his wand to lower the lights in the Great Hall. Only the flickering candles inside the floating jack-o-lanterns remained to give illumination alongside the blue flames of the Goblet. Dumbledore stood next to the Goblet as the blue flames swirled about. When the flames turned red a spark leapt from the fire and a singed piece of parchment floated through the air. Dumbledore plucked the falling parchment from the air and opened it.
"The Champion for the Durmstrang Institute is…Viktor Krum!" Dumbledore announced and the Hall erupted into cheers. The large teen was congratulated by his peers and Karkaroff was applauding more than most of the students. Viktor made his way up to Dumbledore and was motioned towards the antechamber behind the Professor's Table.
"I knew it'd be Krum!" Ron Weasley declared loud enough to be overhead above the applause.
The red flames flared high again as Viktor headed into the antechamber. With another blast of sparks, a new piece of lightly singed parchment floated downwards. When it was in reach, Dumbledore caught it and proceeded to open it. After a second to read, the Headmaster looked up and spoke.
"The Champion for Beauxbatons Academy of Magic is…Fleur Delacour!" Dumbledore declared and the Hall, most especially the male students, broke into raucous cheers. Fleur playfully rolled her eyes as she stood up from her seat across from Harry. As she walked towards the front, Fleur was congratulated by her friends from Beauxbatons and more than a few of the Hogwarts students (all of the boys especially). Fleur and Dumbledore exchanged a few short words before Fleur also headed for the antechamber just as the Goblet's red flames flared up once more.
With an impressively high burst of flames, the last parchment that held the Hogwarts Champion's name began to flutter towards the ground amid a shower of sparks. Harry noted that the magical flames turned back to blue and died down a second later, the Artifact's work done until the next Triwizard Tournament. When Dumbledore caught the parchment, covered with many lines of creases, the blue flames were fully snuffed out as if someone had blown out a candle. All that was left was the wooden goblet, sitting on its pedestal.
"The Champion for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is…" Dumbledore stopped as he read the name on the parchment. A perplexed look of confusion filled the old man's face as he stared at the name on the lightly charred parchment. The Headmaster looked up and his eyes landed on Harry's for a rather long and silent moment. "…Harry Potter?"
"HAH!" Harry barked out a laugh as he stood up from his seat.
Hermione looked at Harry incredulously. "Harry?!"
"What?" Harry looked at her with a brilliant grin, his green eyes filled with mirth. "You know this is absolutely something I would do, Hermione."
Luna hugged Harry around the middle and Harry returned the hug for a moment. "Do your best, Harry!"
"I will, Luna." Harry patted her head before he started to walk towards Dumbledore. He noticed the entire Great Hall was silent as he walked, almost every face he saw stared at him in either shock or outright suspicion. When he reached Dumbledore, he gave the Headmaster a smile. "Should I wait in the antechamber, sir?"
Dumbledore shook himself once and nodded. "Yes, yes, Harry, go on back and wait. We'll be there shortly." He wanted to ask questions, of course, but now wasn't the time.
Harry nodded to his Professors as he walked the length of the table and smiled at Hagrid as he passed the friendly man at the very end. Hagrid looked just as shocked as everyone else, just staring at Harry instead of giving him a wave or a smile like he usually did when they saw each other. He opened the antechamber door and stepped inside, seeing many portraits of Witches and Wizards, along with a crackling fireplace. Viktor Krum was standing beside the fireplace, his arms crossed and a surly look on his face. Sitting in the plush armchair in front of the fireplace was Fleur, looking a mix of expectant and calm.
When the door was fully opened, both Fleur and Krum looked at the third Champion that they'd both be competing against in the Triwizard Tournament.
"Good evening." Harry greeted them with a smile.
Krum looked confused, wondering why someone that was clearly not yet seventeen was here.
"Merde…" Fleur let out a little sigh before a smile crossed her beautiful features.
The door closed behind Harry just as the quiet murmuring that had begun nearly exploded into noise as all of the students and Professors (along with the two guests of Bagman and Crouch) burst into loud questions and exclamations.
Harry only smiled as he walked over to Fleur and took a seat on the armrest of the chair she was sitting in. "Looks like we'll be competing, Fleur."
Fleur made sure Harry could see her blue eyes roll at his words. "So it seems, Harry." She held his gaze for a second. "Could I ask how you managed this little surprise?"
"You just did." Harry replied with a barely repressed snicker. Fleur didn't look amused and Harry playfully pouted at her for a second. "The Professors are probably going to burst in here to ask that very same question shortly, and I'd rather only have to explain it once."
"You are too young to be a Champion." Krum spoke with certainty, his accent noticeable even though he hadn't mispronounced anything.
Harry nodded once to the Professional Quidditch player. "Indeed, yet the Goblet of Fire clearly thought I was the best for Hogwarts." He gave the surly-looking teen a smile.
The door to the antechamber nearly burst open as a large group of people entered all at once, the loud ruckus from the Great Hall had died down, but was still more than loud enough to be heard while the door was open. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, Snape, Maxime, Karkaroff, Bagman, and Crouch were now taking up a large amount of the space in the room. The vanishing of the sound from the Great Hall as the door was closed made the antechamber seem almost silent.
"What is the meaning of this, Dumbledore?" Madame Maxime asked as she straightened herself up to her considerable full height, her head barely brushing the chandelier above.
"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore." Karkaroff's smile was steely and his eyes were like chips of ice in their coldness. "We were under the impression that your Age Line would prevent younger students from entering."
"It's no one's fault but Potter's, Karkaroff." Snape said in a soft tone, even as he glared at Harry with malice. "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules. He's been crossing lines ever since he arrived at Hogwarts-"
"Thank you, Severus." Dumbledore shot Snape a very blatant warning look as he cut the man off. It was clearly a reminder that the Potions Professor was on thin ice in regards to Harry as a student of Hogwarts. One altercation between Professor and student was already one too many.
Snape still glowered at Harry from behind his long, greasy hair.
Dumbledore turned to look at Harry and asked calmly. "Mr. Potter, did you place your name into the Goblet of Fire?"
"Yes, Headmaster." Harry admitted with the same calm tone.
There was almost an outburst from Karkaroff and Maxime…
"Shh." Harry shushed them and both the Headmistress of Beauxbatons and the High Master of Durmstrang moved their mouths, but no sound was heard.
"Mr. Potter!" McGonagall looked at Harry sharply while Karkaroff and Maxime realized they'd been silenced.
Flitwick looked at Harry for a moment. "Mr. Potter." It wasn't a request and Harry merely waved his hand lazily.
"How dare…" Karkaroff looked like he was about to go for his wand.
Maxime only eyed Harry warily now, though she didn't make any moves she did turn to Bagman and Crouch. "Mr. Crouch, Mr. Bagman, surely this will not be permitted?"
"Well, I mean…with the rules…" Bagman was wiping his round face with his handkerchief, clearly not used to being put on the spot like this.
Crouch had no such problems. "Being chosen by the Goblet of Fire constitutes a binding magical contract. Mr. Potter must compete now…" The man said curtly as he approached Maxime. In the light of the fire, he looked almost sickly, his eyes clearly had bags under them and his skin seemed almost paper-like in both texture and color.
"Well, Barty knows the rulebook back to front, so if he says so…" Bagman was clearly throwing the other Ministry Head under the bus, as it were.
Karkaroff looked furious still. "I will be lodging formal complaints against the British Ministry of Magic and with the International Confederation of Wizards! Mark my words!"
"Sure thing, what would you like them marked with?" Harry asked with a prankster's smirk.
"Mr. Potter!" McGonagall gave him a severe look that warned him not to open his mouth again unless spoken to.
Dumbledore stepped in to try and quell the building tension. "Mr. Potter, could you enlighten us as to how you entered your name into the Goblet of Fire? Did you have an older student submit your name?"
Harry shook his head. "Oh no, that wasn't necessary. As you know, I'm a High Sorcerer; so all I had to do was use my vast knowledge of Magic and…" Seeing he had the attention of everyone in the room, he barely stopped himself from laughing. "Cast an Animation Charm on the parchment I wrote my name on and have it fly into the Goblet." Harry let out a small snort at seeing the stunned looks on everyone's faces. "I never had to cross the Age Line at all. I noticed many had my first idea which was to try lobbing their parchments into the Goblet from outside the circle, but the distance made that a bit difficult given the Goblet's size and how poorly paper travels when thrown."
Bagman, looking like he wanted to not be in the growing tension within the room once the shock started to wear off, quickly spoke up again. "Well, now that we have our three Champions, should we crack on?" He wiped his face once more with his handkerchief. "We've got to give our Champions their instructions, right? Barty, would you like to do the honors?" He passed the buck onto Crouch again.
"Very well." Crouch took a breath as he looked at the three Champions. "The first task is to test your daring…so we won't be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a Witch or Wizard…very important." He nodded once, as if confirming that for himself. "The first task will take place on November Twenty-Fourth, in front of all the students, Professors, and judges. The Champions are not permitted to ask for nor accept any help from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. The Champions will face the first challenge armed with only their wands. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the Champions are exempt from end-of-year tests." Crouch turned to Dumbledore. "I believe that's all of it, Dumbledore?"
"Yes, I think so." Dumbledore agreed with a nod. "Would you like to stay the night at Hogwarts, Barty? You look a bit under the weather."
Crouch waved Dumbledore off. "No, no, Dumbledore. I need to get back to the Ministry. I left young Weatherby in charge…very enthusiastic…perhaps a bit too much…" Crouch looked a bit more exhausted than he had even a minute ago.
Sensing the end of the meeting, Karkaroff quickly motioned for Viktor to follow him and nearly stormed out of the antechamber.
Likewise, Maxime put one of her large hands on Fleur's shoulder and spoke to her quietly in French. What Fleur whispered back seemed to stun Maxime as the large woman blinked twice before standing back to her full height and beginning to head out of the room with Fleur following after a moment later. Fleur shot Harry a look and motioned with her eyes towards the door.
"Harry, I believe you should head to Ravenclaw Tower." Dumbledore did his best to give a pleasant smile to Harry, despite the prodigious young Wizard's prank having caused quite the situation tonight. "I'm quite certain that Ravenclaw House will wish to celebrate tonight."
"I'd also like to see you in my office tomorrow, Mr. Potter." Flitwick said, sharing a long look with Harry.
"Yes, Professor." Harry knew he'd be getting a lecture for this, but he still couldn't wait to tell Sirius about it over the Communications Mirror later tonight. He left with a quick nod of his head to Dumbledore, Flitwick, and McGonagall. He met Snape's angry eyes and blasted a short but powerful message against the Potions Professor's Occlumency. 'Why were you even here?'
Harry nearly snorted as he saw Snape visibly straighten up, the dour man looking to be barely restraining himself from shouting. Not giving him the chance, Harry left through the door.
It was little surprise that Fleur was waiting for him at the far end of the Great Hall as Harry exited.
"Have fun, mon chéri?" Fleur asked with an amused grin on her lips.
"A little." Harry replied with his own amused chuckle.
Fleur turned and placed both of her hands on the wall on either side of Harry's head, trapping him. "Don't think that I'll go easy on you, Harry. I'm very competitive, you know?" She said with an almost predatory grin. "I'm well aware of your strengths as well." Fleur stared into Harry's eyes. "So, I'll be using everything I have to beat you." She leaned forward suddenly and Harry's eyes were drawn to the movement of her chest. The way her bosom bounced in the thin, blue silk robes could only mean one thing.
"How daring." Harry said, putting on his best smirk to hide the fact that Fleur was having an effect on him. 'Thank you, dad.' Harry thanked Sirius mentally for his many 'secret' lessons about dealing with women.
"I'm very daring, mon chéri." Fleur leaned into Harry's ear to whisper breathily. "It comes with being a Veela~" She lightly blew on his ear before pulling back with a grin. "I'll see you tomorrow, Harry."
Harry nodded, glad that the Hogwarts robes were so loose and flowing right now. "See you tomorrow, Fleur-mmh" His words were cut off as Fleur leaned in to capture his lips in a soft kiss.
Fleur pulled back with a smile. "Goodnight, mon chéri~"
"G-Goodnight…" Harry said, before internally cursing himself for the stutter when he saw Fleur's smile widen.
It was definitely Fleur '1' to Harry '0' now.
Fleur made sure to sway her lovely hips as she left and Harry watched the show unashamedly until Fleur was out of sight.
"This is gonna be a fun year." Harry smiled as he made his way up the stairs, barely even thinking about it as he used his Flight spell to change staircases whenever the stairs moved.
-Ravenclaw Tower-
"Harry!" Luna hugged Harry the second he came through the door.
"Luna!" Harry spun her around once with a laugh, making Luna giggle brightly.
"Harry!" The rest of Ravenclaw cheered loudly for 'their' Champion.
Harry was quickly inundated with his friends and housemates. Hermione looked a bit cross with him, for a bit, for breaking the rules of the Triwizard Tournament though.
"You could get hurt." Hermione said when Harry suddenly pulled her into a hug. Her feelings couldn't be hidden behind her normal respect for rules when Harry held her like this. "I don't want that."
"I'll be fine, Hermione." Harry squeezed her a little closer, making Hermione squeak and blush. "If this tournament can harm me, imagine what it would do to any other student." He used Hermione's greatest weakness against her…logic.
Hermione squeezed Harry tightly this time. "That's not fair…"
Harry smiled into her bushy hair. "I know."
Hermione smiled a little as she pulled back, looking into Harry's emerald eyes with her warm brown. Harry gave her a playful grin, seeing Hermione's cheeks turn pink just a little.
"Group hug!" Luna said as she wrapped her arms around both Harry and Hermione.
"Luna!" Hermione blushed as she was flush against Harry's chest again.
"Group hug!" Harry repeated with a laugh as he squeezed Luna and Hermione both. He snuggled into Hermione's soft bushy hair and grinned when he heard her squeak, even as she squeezed him closer.
-End Chapter-
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Well now…that's a bit of a deviation from Canon, huh? Harry actually entered HIMSELF into the Triwizard Tournament! You don't see that in every story!
Harry is such a little prankster when he wants to be! Makes Sirius proud! Kek!
Karkaroff is angry. Krum is still a bit confused. Snape is angry. McGonagall is exasperated. Flitwick knows he has to have words with Harry about this. Maxime is surprised and now a bit wary of Harry. Dumbledore clearly knows this is going to be a whole slew of extra work for him now.
All in all, a damn good prank that Harry can brag to Sirius about.
Andromeda probably won't be amused though. Ted will probably worry about Harry, but also know that, logically, Harry will almost assuredly be fine.
Tonks is going to let out the BIGGEST sigh when she finds out. Heh!
Hermione is worried, of course. Harry, her best friend (and crush) just entered himself into a Magical Tournament that was cancelled BECAUSE of the death toll! But hugs and snuggles make things better! Lol
Fleur seems very interested in the challenge! She's a very competitive girl! She also knows just how to start her and Harry's little battle. The first 'victory' is already hers! Harry's not complaining too much though.
How will the Triwizard Tournament play out?
Keep reading to find out!
Until I get your reviews, later!