Year Four
Thanks for all the reviews.
You’ll be happy to know I didn’t add much to the last chapter, other than a few clarifying sentences. Once again, if you think I’ve missed anything, or if there’s something you’d like to see, let me know and if I like it, I’ll add it.
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“Dobby is most wroth with Harry Potter,” Dobby said when he popped in one summer morning three days into the vacation. He stood there with his tiny hands on is hips and tapping one of his spindly feet. His ears were twitching to show just how angry he was.
“What? Why?” Harry asked, putting his spoon down and looking at his house elf confused. He couldn’t remember doing anything to make his friend mad.
“Yous was kidnapped and didn’t call Dobby to help,” Dobby said, stamping his foot in frustration.
“I’m sorry, Dobby. I’m unused to having a house elf that I didn’t even think of calling you. Besides, I wouldn’t have wanted you hurt,” the teen said, leaving the table and going to hug his little friend.
“Dobby wills forgive yous this time,” the elf said, hugging the boy back, his posture relaxing at Harry’s explanation. “Next time, yous call me,” he instructed, leaning back, and staring his master in the face.
“I will, I promise,” Harry said with a smile. He returned to the table and his cereal.
“Well, I’m glad that’s over with,” Sirius said, looking at the odd house elf. “Introduce us to your friend,” he said to Harry. He was amused that his godson had befriended a house elf. It was just like the quirky teen.
So, Harry told him and Remus the story of how he met and acquired Dobby. They exchanged looks but didn’t say anything about the strangeness of it. They continued to eat their breakfast, while Dobby returned to fixing Potter Manor. He vowed to check in on his master more often though. Obviously, the boy needed a minder.
“Tell us about what you’re learning from the Scamanders,” Remus said, sipping his tea.
Harry would portkey to the Scamanders every morning to late afternoon every day and then come home and help the two dogmen clean 12 Grimmuald Place. The teen loved the old house and refuse to let them kill the pests here. They were unique in that they were infused with dark magic, making them different than normal magical insects. More aware of their surroundings. More organized. Not complete sentience, but closer to human than their counterparts.
“Mostly we’re going over ecosystems right now. I’m introducing bugs, spiders, birds, and other such things to the biodomes that I already have set up in my suitcase. Newt says it’s important for the wellbeing of the animals that are there,” Harry said, taking a bite of the cereal that Kreacher served. It was a magical cereal that changed flavor with each bite. One bite could be chocolate, while the next could be banana, and so on.
Kreacher had been a tough nut to crack. Harry had had to be extra patient with him. He had yet to get the full story out of him, but he was hopeful of getting it before the end of the summer. He knew it was important somehow. There was an aura about the house elf that said that he was weighed down with a heavy burden.
“That sounds boring,” Sirius said, not sure why the teen was excited over bugs and spiders.
“No, it’s really fascinating,” Harry countered, while Remus kicked Sirius’ leg under the table. Sirius yelped and rubbed his calf, the teen ignored them, he was just too excited. “There is so much to learn if I want to keep everyone healthy and happy. I had no idea that some of the bugs were so important in keeping the plants and water healthy. I mean, who knew that bees were so needed. But you can’t just have bees, you have to have their natural predator, and so on,” he explained, gesturing widely with his spoon in hand, spraying some milk on the walls. “I’m also learning weather spells too because I need to know those as well. It’s all really fascinating.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. Fascinating,” Sirius said, smiling at his godson’s happiness. The teen was really into this Magizoology, so he would support him. “However, I do want you to take breaks. I was thinking about going to the World Cup this year,” he said, a smile of smug satisfaction on his face.
“Which World Cup?” Harry asked, confused. He didn’t know that wizards went to muggle events.
“The Quidditch World Cup. Is there another?” Sirius asked genuinely puzzled.
“In the muggle world there are loads of them,” Harry said, nodding his head. He could think of three off the top of his head.
“Oh, well do you want to go to the only one in the wizarding world?” his godfather asked, all but bouncing in his seat. He didn’t though because he was an adult. However, it wasn’t often that the World Cup was in Britain.
“I’d love to,” Harry said, pleased to be doing something with the man. “Remus, will you be going?” he asked the werewolf. He liked the other man’s quiet nature.
“No, I have to be at Hogwarts. I’m going to be going over my lesson plans,” the gentle man said, finishing off his tea. “Snape didn’t out me this year, but it was a close thing, so I get to at least have one more year as DADA professor,” he stated, smirking at Sirius. They thought for sure the greasy git was going to spread the rumor that Remus was a werewolf, but for some reason he had not.
“That’s great,” Harry said, nodding his head in approval. He really liked Remus as a teacher.
“Well, I think it’s a good thing as well,” Lupin said, getting up from the table. “You’d better get ready, or you’re going to be late,” he pointed out, glancing at the wall clock.
“Shite,” Harry said, scrambling to leave and get his suitcase. He would need it for his daily lesson. They were going over dragon habitats today. He didn’t know why, but the Scamanders thought he needed to know that particularly.
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Around his birthday, Harry had a strange dream about a man sneaking through a mansion. The old man eavesdropped on a group of sinister men and was killed and then eaten by a snake. Harry woke to his scar hurting.
“And you don’t know who these men were?” Sirius asked when he relayed the dream the next morning. It was disconcerting to hear about the dream and the scar pain. They were once again at breakfast, and the dogman was trying not to get up and start pacing.
“No, but the babylike creature was scary,” Harry said, pushing his food around his plate. “He did mention two names, Nagini and Wormtail,” Harry stated as an afterthought. He only just remembered the names.
“Shite, Peter’s escaped again. Dammit, why weren’t we informed,” Sirius said, getting up and going to the floo. He threw some powder in the fire and called the DMLE. After talking in the green fire for a few minutes, he came back to the table. “They didn’t know,” he snarled. “As far as they are concerned, he is still in his enclosure,” he said, slamming his fist on the table. “Amelia said they were keeping him in his rat form to prevent him from escaping. There is a rat still in the cage.”
“Wait, he’s not in Azkaban?” Harry asked, confused.
“No, he’s supposed to be there, just in rat form. Well, that’s where the enclosure is,” Sirius said, running a hand through his hair. He didn’t think it was a fair punishment, since dementors really didn’t affect animagus. However, he’d take that rat being locked up forever. Kissed would be better.
“Someone must have replaced him,” Remus concluded, thinking of the ramifications. “There has to be another Death Eater working with Pettigrew. Someone with connections in the DMLE. Does that mean they are working with You-Know-Who?” he asked, cutting a look to Harry.
“Dumbledore thinks he’s still alive,” the teen said, shrugging his shoulders. “The headmaster has said twice now that the Dark Lord was around still. He said that the boy in the Chamber was You-Know-Who too. So now, we knew Voldemort was named Tom Riddle because of the diary,” he added.
“This is not good news,” Sirius stated, getting up and going to the floo once again. This time calling Dumbledore, telling him about Harry’s dream. He talked to the man for a good ten minutes and then recalled Amelia and told her the same thing he told the headmaster and about the diary. Whether she believed him or not was up to her.
“Well, it’s up to them now,” Remus said, when Sirius came back to the table. “Let’s celebrate your birthday,” he added, trying to cheer the gloomy teen up.
“Alright,” Harry said, perking up a bit. They were going to the zoo, which always made him feel better. He finished off his eggs, toast, and rashers and then downed his orange juice.
They had a wonderful time at the zoo, dream forgotten. Harry got his presents from his friends and his dogfathers. They ranged from books to flying equipment, his second favorite thing to do.
When they got home that night after the presents were opened and the cake was eaten, Sirius asked, “Harry, would you like to be an animagus?”
“Would I?” the teen said, all but jumping up and down.
“I can walk you through it,” the older man said, sitting down and grabbing a book that he had set a side just for this purpose. He handed it to Harry. “This is something that we wrote up when we did it in our time at Hogwarts. It’s a fast-track way.”
Harry grabbed the book and settled into a chair and started reading. It was a potioned based way of doing it. You still had to meditate but you could take a potion when you’ve found your animal. “This is great. I can be one before I take my OWLs,” he stated, thumbing through the book.
“Yup,” Sirius said, smiling at his godson. “I’ll help you make up the potion once you’ve found your animal.”
“I’ll start meditating tonight,” the teen said, settling down to reading.
That’s how they spent the rest of the next two weeks. Harry would go to the Scamanders to learn how to build his areas for different animals, than he’d come home and help clean the house, which was almost done. Most of the creatures were in his bug house or his suitcase. Before he went to sleep, he’d meditate. Unfortunately, he was stuck on trying to force himself to be a spider and that might not be his animal. It was hindering him.
Then it was time to go to the Quidditch World Cup and Harry was excited. The Weasleys were going to be there, and he got to bring Neville and Luna. Hermione was going with Ginny, whom she had befriended through her brothers, while Lee was coming with the twins.
Mr. Weasley won his tickets in a raffle, which was a surprise to everyone. Especially the sponsors of the raffle. They had slotted the tickets for a family of four but listed it as the winner and their family and two friends. When the Weasleys won, they were stuck letting the family of nine go. Molly declined, but the rest were more than willing to venture forth.
The campgrounds were packed, and Harry had never seen some many people in one place. He brought his suitcase with him, so he could work on it if there was downtime. Now that he was here, he didn’t think there would be. They were here for three days. The Weasleys would only be here the day and night of the game unless the game ran more than one day.
They went to their allotted space and set up their magical tent. Sirius went all out and got one that was two stories tall. The four bedrooms were on the first floor, while the living rooms and kitchen were on the ground floor. Kreacher was going to take care of them while they were here.
Harry wandered the campgrounds talking to classmates and those that recognized him from his trips into Diagon Alley. He spent most of his time at the booths set up selling paraphernalia, mostly for the Irish team, but some for the Bulgarian team.
Neville and Luna arrived later that evening. They came separately but at the same time. Xeno dropped Luna off and left after talking to Sirius. Madam Longbottom didn’t say a word, simply nodded and portkeyed away.
“Hello, Harry,” Luna said, coming up to him and giving him a hug. She then put a cork necklace over his head. “The nargles will leave you alone now,” she stated, giving him a wink.
“But what if I want them to bother me?” he asked with faux shock, winking back to show he was joking. He’d kill to see the nargles. He wanted to study them, but they were microscopic, and he wasn’t that skilled yet.
“Silly boy, you can study them from afar,” she said, giggling a tinkling giggle. She knew what he wanted and had gotten him a book on her creatures for his birthday.
“If you two are done,” Neville said, coming up to them and hugging Luna. He then turned and shook hands with Harry. “Alright, Harry?” he asked, looking the boy up and down, like he might have been hurt in the time they had been apart.
“Alright,” Harry said, exasperated. Neville was just so overprotective.
“No wrestling dragons while I was gone?” the sandy-haired boy asked, chuckling a bit.
“No, but me and Sally had a few tussles,” Harry said, laughing at the memory of him and the snake fake fighting. It hadn’t been real, or Sally would have crushed him. She just moved side to side and did not roll around. She was in much better spirits now that she was out of the cold and dank. For something that was a thousand years old, she was quite chipper, which was quite different than the sourpuss she had been when he put her in the suitcase.
“Only you, Harry,” Neville said, jostling the other boy with his shoulder. “Come on, I want to see what they are selling. Gran gave me a few galleons to spend as I see fit,” he said, moving to leave the tent.
So, the trio did what Harry did the day before, and browsed the booths, spending money on things they didn’t need.
The Weasleys, Hermione and Lee came the next day, and the whole group of friends explored the entire campground. Even going into the Bulgarian side. They got to see the team and the Veela, which was an experience for the boys, who were all still in the throes of puberty. Hermione and Luna had a time dragging them all away.
“Wow,” Harry said, fascinated over the Veela, wondering how they were classified. Though he didn’t think they’d ever consent to be locked up in his suitcase. They were thinking, thriving, true individuals. These were not beasts; they were mostly humans. He was going to have to do some research on them. Perhaps the Scamanders could tell him more.
“Now we know what to expect at the game,” Lee said, seeing they were the mascots for the team. He knew the leprechauns were the Irish team’s mascots.
“We’d better watch out for that,” George stated, keeping his hand on his brother’s arm, who seemed to be more affected than him.
“Wow,” Fred said for different reasons than Harry as he tried to go back to the beautiful women.
“Fred,” Hermione snapped, clapping her hands in front of his face. “Snap out of it,” she all but snarled at him.
“Come on, Hermione,” the redhead simpered. “They’re beautiful women,” he protested.
“What are we?” Luna asked in that sweet way a woman does when you had better answer correctly or you’re in trouble.
“Um, just as beautiful?” Fred said, uncertainly. His eyes focused on the two teenage females of the group, and he cowered.
“Good answer,” the petite blonde said with a bright smile, patting his arm.
They went back to Sirius’ tent and spent time talking with the dogman about the game and what to expect. Then the Weasley group had to return to the family tent. Harry, Neville, and Luna spent their time going over homework and talking about Harry’s apprenticeship.
The next morning was the game, and everyone trooped to the stadium. It was an intense game to be sure, with Ireland winning though Krum caught the snitch. After the game was a grand party, though those under seventeen were soon sent to bed. It was around midnight that the trouble started.
“Harry, get up,” Sirius said, shaking his godson with some urgency.
“What’s happening?” the groggy teen asked, grabbing his glasses, and getting out of the bed. Neville was rousing as well.
“Death Eaters,” his godfather stated, handing Harry and Neville their wands. “You two head to the woods, while the other adults and I take care of this,” he said, grabbing Harry’s arm and propelling him to the door and trying to get him to the entrance of the tent. Harry grabbed his suitcase as they left the bedroom.
Harry, Luna and Neville were running away from Sirius, when Harry turned and snuck back towards were the screams were coming from. He ducked from tent to tent and made sure to stay hidden. He pulled out his invisibility cloak and used it to hide. The fires gave him light, and he made sure to stay low. Once he got to where the Death Eaters were playing with the muggles, he opened his suitcase.
“Sally,” he called into the luggage.
She came slithering to the barrier, she looked small sitting there. “What?” she hissed, from the barrier of her area.
Harry went in and opened her portal and said, “I need you to petrify the arseholes who are wearing masks. They are hurting people,” he hissed back.
“My gaze doesn’t quite work like that. I can try, but others might get petrified as well,” she warned, slithering towards the entrance.
“It’s a chance we’ll have to take,” he said, leading her to where she needed to go. She didn’t even have to leave the suitcase completely.
Harry hid under his invisibility cloak and yelled, “Hey, Death Munchers!”
They all looked in his direction and saw the bright yellow eyes. Only her front half was out and when all the Death Eaters saw her, they fell, as did everyone in the vicinity.
Sally turned and went back to her area, and Harry went in with her, closed her portal and booked it back to the woods. He caught up with Neville and Luna and they ran as far away as they could.
Sirius and one other adult, who had been on brooms, caught the muggles. They all looked around to see what happened but couldn’t see anything. Sirius figured he knew what, or who, had done it. He was going to have words with his godson. He recognized the voice.
“Morsmordre!” was heard before a ghostlike skull with a snake coming from its mouth lit the sky.
The three teens were spooked over it and looked around for anyone they knew. They ran into the younger Weasleys and Hermione. There was chaos after that. Ron was accused of casting the Dark Mark, then a house elf. In the end, no one was arrested for it, but the house elf was freed. Harry bonded with her immediately, much to the protestation of Hermione.
The Aurors arrested all the Death Eaters while they were petrified, and they would be healed after they were in cells. The fact that Lucius Malfoy was among them made Amelia’s night, even if it did give her a headache. The others that were caught in the gaze were sent to St. Mungo’s.
“I’d like to see him claim Imperius this time,” Sirius said, a smug look on his face. “Remus is going to be upset that he missed this,” he stated with a chuckle. “As for you, Harry,” he said, giving his godson a crossed look.
They were making their way back to the tent, having left the Weasleys to sort themselves out. They were walking through people trying to put out fires and tending to the injured. It was a bit of organized chaos.
“I didn’t do anything,” Harry said, lying badly. He was holding his suitcase close to his body as if to protect it.
“I’ll forgive you this once but be careful. You almost got caught,” the older man said, ruffling his hair. He was very worried about that.
“They can’t prove anything. I was with Neville all night. Right, Neville?” the dark-haired teen said, looking at his friend.
“Yep, he never left my side,” Neville said sincerely. His eyes never faltered.
Luna just hummed a happy tune as they walked, her hands firmly in both of her friends’.
Everyone decided that it was time to go home. The Black group went back to Grimmuald Place. Xeno and Augusta would come and get their wards in the morning. Winky, the house elf that was liberated, was introduced to Kreacher and Dobby. She was just happy that she was not freed for long.
The rest of the summer was uneventful, except that Lucius Malfoy, and all the others that were there, went to prison. He couldn’t buy his way out of being caught mugglebaiting. Cornelius Fudge was in a state. His best friend, and supporter, was caught red handed and now was outed for being a Death Eater. This would not look good in the polls. He was not a popular person right now.
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The Triwizard Tournament was going to be played at Hogwarts this year. Harry wasn’t happy about that. That meant that the teachers were going to be busy. Then again there usually was an animal in the first task, so he couldn’t wait to see what they brought. Maybe it would be a draken, or a griffin, or something like that. He’d never seen those, so he could study them while they were here.
He spent the first month going over what he learned with the Scamanders with Kettleburn, who warned him that this was his last year with Hogwarts. A woman named Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank would be taking over his job next year, since Hagrid wasn’t qualified to teach the upper years. She agreed to take over as his master in Magizoology, if Harry was agreeable.
Harry thought he should meet the lady first, but he had never met a Magizoologist that he hadn’t liked yet. She seemed like a nice person from what Silvanus said about her. That and she appeared to be quite knowledgeable in her field.
Hagrid had introduced his new hybrid animal to the class, which angered Kettleburn. The Blast-Ended Skrewt, which was a cross breed between a manticore and a fire-crab. Kettleburn laid into Hagrid something fierce and told him in no uncertain terms that if he did something like that again, he’d turn him in and yank his credentials.
Kettleburn took over the caring of the animals for his NEWT classes. Still, most of them died, since they were a new species, and no one knew how the take care of them. Harry took one for his suitcase, it survived, just barely.
Now it was time for the other two schools to come and the whole of Hogwarts was in the chilly October air waiting for them to appear. The Beauxbatons Academy of Magic came by air on the wings of Abraxan horse-drawn carriage. The Durmstrang Institute came by boat via the Black Lake. Neither school seemed impressed with Hogwarts; Beauxbatons more so than Durmstrang.
Harry immediately went to the Abraxan horses, very much in awe of them, and learned all he could about them. Kettleburn and Hagrid taught him how to house them and feed them. He almost missed the feast, but they shooed him away as soon as the horses were bedded down.
Harry missed the speech that Dumbledore gave, but he got there just in time for the feast. He snuck in and sat with his friends. The twins and Lee just smiled at him indulgingly. Neville and Hermione gave him exasperated looks. Luna waved to him from her place at the Ravenclaw table.
“You missed a right boring speech,” Fred said, passing him some dish he’d never seen before. It looked like steak wrapped in bacon.
“Yeah, it was all lovey dovey with hints of violence. About friendship and danger,” George said, putting something slimy on his plate.
“Yes, be nice to the visitors, but don’t enter the tournament unless you know what you’re doing,” Lee added, filling his own plate with what looked like snails.
“I’m just glad I’m too young to be in this tournament,” Harry said, poking at the slime. It was kind of yellow, but it looked edible. So, he took a small bit on his spoon and tasted it. It was actually pretty good. It tasted like cheese.
“Harry, you’re supposed to dip bread in that. It’s fondue,” Hermione said, giggling. She, herself, also had some snails and a salad on her plate and a bowl of soup, that had a cheese crust, on the side.
Neville was sticking with British fare. He had roast beef and potatoes with broccoli. All covered with various sauces, but at least it was normal to him.
“How was I supposed to know? George just put it on my plate,” he complained, taking a slice of bread, and dunking it in the cheese and taking a bite. It did taste good. There were all sorts of other dishes that he had never seen before all around him, some French, some Bulgarian. He tried a bit of everything.
The meal progressed with little interruption. Only one of the Veela girls came and borrowed the bouillabaisse, which caused Fred, and many other males, to go all wonky again. That made Hermione mad, and she almost smacked him. Harry calmed her down, citing that it wasn’t Fred’s fault, nor was it the girl’s fault. It was just nature. Hermione realized she was acting irrationally and settled down. Soon it was time for them to go to bed.
The next day all the would-be contenders entered their names into the Goblet of Fire. Harry had missed that part last night. Fred and George explained it to him this morning. They tried to enter by taking an aging potion and failed. Everyone had a good laugh.
Once more everyone was in the Great Hall, this time for the drawing. Dumbledore was grandstanding and making a huge show of it. The first name was Viktor Krum for Durmstrang. The second name was Fleur Delacour. The Hogwarts champion was Cedric Diggory. The Great Hall was as noisy as it had ever been. The celebration was well underway.
Then the goblet fired up again and a hush fell over the crowd. Dumbledore looked puzzled. Another name shot out. He grabbed it and said, “Harry Potter.”
“What?” came the voices of seven people. All of Harry’s friends, and his master, were in a state of shock and disbelief.
“Harry Potter,” the old man said, again.
Kettleburn stood up and said, “I protest. My apprentice did not do this.” He was certain of that fact. The boy had been with him most of the day, and when he wasn’t he was in class.
Remus also stood and said, “I too protest. There is no way Harry did this.” He knew Harry hated the thought of the tournament.
“I concur,” Harry said, standing with his friends beside him. “I did not do this. I want my godfather and lawyer here right now,” he added, folding his arms defiantly.
“You’ll do as you’re told, boy,” the man named Crouch stated, pointing his finger at the teen.
There were five people looking at him all but demanding that he comply. Madam Maxim (Headmistress of Beauxbaton), Headmaster Karkaroff (of Durmstrang), Bartimus Crouch Sr. (Department of International Magical Co-operation), Ludovic Bagman (Department of Magical Game and Sports), Alastor ‘Mad-eye’ Moody (Ex-Auror, hired for security) and Albus Dumbledore (Headmaster of Hogwarts, Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot).
“No, I won’t,” Harry said, stubbornly as only a teen or very small child could. “I will wait until my legal guardian and lawyer are here,” he repeated and sat down. He pulled his wand and stuck his trousers to the bench.
“Harry, my boy, you need to join the other champions,” Dumbledore said, pointing to the room the others had gone into.
“Headmaster, you can’t be serious,” Lupin stated, going to Harry’s side, and putting his arm over the boy’s shoulder. “He’s only fourteen years old.” There were sounds of agreements and protests.
“His name came out of the Goblet. If he doesn’t compete, he will lose his magic,” the old man said, sadness laced his tone.
To that, there were sounds of shock and dismay. No one wanted the Boy-Who-Lived to become a squib or muggle. Even if some thought he cheated.
“Harry?” Lupin questioned, not wanting his favorite teenager to lose his magic.
“No,” Harry said again. He called Kreacher, and when the grouchy old elf appeared he said, “Get Sirius here now.”
Kreacher popped away and then popped back in and said, “Master is on his way.” He then popped away again.
“I’ll wait,” Harry said, firmly sitting where he was.
No matter what the old men, and one woman, at the head table said to him, he didn’t budge. Sirius showed up five minutes later.
“Just what the bloody hell is going on here!?” Sirius asked, coming up to Harry and seeing the boy’s stubborn visage, he turned to Dumbledore.
“Harry’s name came out of the Goblet of Fire and they’re trying to make him compete,” Fred said in a snide tone, though his face was worried.
“Yeah, they say he’ll lose his magic if he doesn’t,” George added, sneering at the judges.
“Bullshit,” Sirius said, making a great many teens and children gasp. “You can’t be forced into a contract. If that could happen the goblins would do it all the time. Especially, not a magical one. If Harry says he didn’t enter, then he isn’t obligated to compete. Find out who put his name in and make them compete. It’s that simple,” he stated, storming up to the Teachers’ Table and taking the slip from Dumbledore’s hand and reading it.
“Now, Sirius,” the old man started, trying to get the parchment back.
“This isn’t even Harry’s handwriting,” the dogman said, ripping it up and throwing it over his shoulder. “By the way, I’m suing the school for once again trying to harm my godson,” he stated, going to Harry’s side, and whispering to him. “You’re getting a mirror,” he said, handing him a package.
“What’s this?” Harry asked, taking the small item.
“I’ll explain somewhere not here,” his godfather said, getting up and heading towards the door.
They left the Great Hall.
So, it was decided that Harry Potter did not have to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. If the boy wanted to lose his magic that was his prerogative. Well, his guardians. Some called him a coward, but most thought he made the right call. Mainly, his friends.
Hagrid and Kettleburn took Harry to meet the dragons, only if he promised not to tell the contenders about them. With great reluctance he did so. However, he had a wonderful time getting to know the four dragons. A Common Welsh, a Chinese Fireball, a Hungarian Horntail, and a Swedish Short-Snout.
The judges put up a protest that it was cheating, but Harry said that he wasn’t participating, so it didn’t matter. They still complained, but there was little they could do to change the task on such short notice. The only thing they could do was disqualify him.
“Can I keep one?” Harry asked Charlie Weasley, who he automatically liked. They got on like a house on fire. The rugged man was just so gentle with the dragons.
“Where would you keep it?” the older redhead asked, laughing at him good-naturedly. He really liked this kid. The twins had nothing but good things to say about him.
“I have a suitcase,” the teen said, excitedly. “Like Newt Scamander’s,” he added, just in case that needed to be verified.
“Really? Which one would you take?” Charlie asked, honestly curious.
“I think the Common Welsh. She’s more even tempered,” Harry said, then thought about it. “However, I think I’d rather not have a nesting mother,” he stated, thinking his case wasn’t set up for a clutch of dragons.
Right now, Harry was petting the Common Welsh on the nose. She was asleep, and they had hit her with a sleeping charm, but she did let Harry pet her when she was awake. As long as he stayed away from her eggs. The other three, not so much. They let him near, but not in touching distance. Particularly, not the horntail.
“Good call,” the dragon wrangler stated. Maybe they could let the kid have a baby dragon. It might help him understand dragons better. He’d talk to his boss.
Harry didn’t tell Cedric about the dragons, but when he saw the foreign Heads around the paddock, he did tell the twins. They passed it along. It was only fair.
The first task came, and Harry sat with Kettleburn in the teacher’s area. They were there in case there needed to be any assistance needed with the dragons. Not that Kettleburn could do much with all his missing limbs, but Harry was good at calming them. Hagrid was by their side.
Cedric used transfiguration, and Fleur used her wiles, while Krum used a Conjunctivitis Curse, which smashed some of the eggs. Harry was sad about that. He even cried a bit.
When they called his name, he didn’t say anything just like Sirius and Waters told him to. They said not to acknowledge it in any way. So, he just sat there.
They called his name three times and when he didn’t answer they said he forfeited. Suddenly there was a cry of pain from four seats down. Alastor ‘Mad-eye’ Moody, who was there as added security for Albus, fell from his seat and started writhing on the floor.
“I guess we know who put your name in,” Kettleburn said, looking at the man in disdain.
Someone took pity on the screaming person and stunned him. That didn’t stop the transformation of him going from Moody to a much younger man. The fake eye and leg popped off and he was whole.
“That’s Barty Crouch Jr.,” Bagman said, from the Judge’s Booth.
“But he’s dead,” someone shouted from the visitor’s section.
“Obviously not,” Snape sneered, lifting the stunned man, and floating him toward the exit. Everyone stayed out of his way. Amelia Bones was following him. There was no way this was going to be covered up. Fudge was sinking in his chair. Crouch Sr. was hurrying along behind Bones, hoping to cover his arse.
The scores were given with Cedric in the lead. Fleur second and Viktor last. The school celebrated and the parties lasted into the night.
Harry did get one of the Chinese Fireball’s eggs. She was so depressed at the loss of some of her eggs that she had stopped tending to the rest. They had to take them from her and adopt them out. Harry was overjoyed and sad at the same time. He set up a fire in one of the areas in his suitcase and tended it daily.
Crouch Jr. sung like a bird, he was a broken man without his magic, and they caught Wormtail again. They missed You-Know-Who due to his snake, but now they knew he was trying to come back. They were going to be as prepared as they could be.
Crouch Sr. was sent to prison for using an Unforgivable on his son and breaking him out of prison. He went without protest, knowing that he had messed up.
They found the real Mad-eye lock in the visitor’s quarters in his seven-compartment trunk. He was not a happy person. He was particularly put out with Albus. They were good friends after all, and the man should have caught on that the Junior was a fraud.
Harry went to the ball with Luna and had a great time. He and she danced the night away and spent time with all their friends. They even made some friends with the visiting students. It was fun had by all.
The second and third tasks went off without a hitch. Well, Fleur had a problem with the second task, but no one was hurt in the end. Cedric won the tournament, with Viktor coming in second place. Fleur was third.
Harry loved the Sphinx; he went into the maze when the task was done and talked to it. “Hello, Kitty,” he said, hugging its legs. She didn’t even have time to stop him, he just latched on to her.
“What do you want, mortal?” the large catlike creature asked, not sure what to do with the tiny human.
“I want to offer you a home,” Harry said, still hugging the Sphinx’s legs, but petting the fur covered appendage.
“I have a home,” she said, confused as to why he was making the offer.
“This home is secure, and I will make it to your liking,” the teen said, stepping back and looking at her face. “I can bring more of your kind in if you like, or you can be alone,” he offered.
“I prefer the company of many birds,” she said, wistfully. Where she was now was lacking in avians.
“I can do that too,” he said in a happy tone. He knew where to get many birds. There were tons of them in the Forbidden Forest. Or he could order them, Newt and Rolf had shown him how to do that.
“Tell me more,” she said, settling down on her forelegs and listening to him tell her about his suitcase and what it had to offer. In the end she agreed to come with him. She even met Sally for a brief moment and the two became friends, of sorts.
Sirius won his lawsuits against the Ministry and Hogwarts. From the Ministry he got monetary compensation, to the tune of 550,000 galleons.
From Hogwarts, he got a restraining order that Dumbledore was not to have anything to do with Harry unless it pertained with schoolwork, nor was Snape. Albus was to maintain a distance of fifteen feet. While Snape was to cease and desist with all of his crude comments on Harry’s parentage and upbringing. Any violation of these magically enforced orders would see Harry pulled from the school never to return.
The tournament judges were required to submit a written apology, via the Daily Prophet, to Harry for attempting to force him into a contract that was not enforceable. Since they didn’t, due to Harry’s stubbornness, that was all the Wizengamot allowed.
Hphphp
However, the year ended on a dark note. The Dark Lord was back. It came about when he took one of his horcruxes and used it for a ritual and revived himself. It wasn’t as powerful as the original ritual that he had planned, but he was back. Harry found this out in a dream.
“It was a ring,” he told Sirius over the mirror. He had just woken up from the dream and was drench with sweat. His scar was killing him, and he was scared to death. Spiders were crawling all over him, trying to comfort him.
“I don’t understand,” Sirius said, wiping the sleep from his eyes. He shuddered a bit at seeing the spiders. It always creeped him out when they did that.
“The ring was like the diary,” Harry said, rubbing a hand down his face. “I think a piece of Voldemort’s soul is in it,” he stated, trying to explain it as best he could.
“Shite,” Sirius said, wide awake now. “I know what those are. That’s black magic. Pure evil.” His eyes glazed over a moment while he thought about what he knew of horcruxes. It wasn’t good that the Dark Lord had those.
“That’s two that we know about. Do you think there’s more?” the teen asked, worried sick over this. What if his scar was one and that’s why he had these dreams? Did he tell Sirius this?
“Shite,” Sirius said again.
“I wish there was a way to sniff them out,” Harry said, thinking of any animal that could do that. He knew nifflers sniffed out gold, could there be one that sniffed out dark magic?
“I don’t know what to tell you, Harry,” his godfather said, sounding put out that he could not help. He didn’t know any magic that would find them either.
“Well, I’m up now. I’m going to call Madam Bones,” he said, heading to the common room. He shooed off his arachnid friends, put on his slippers and headed down.
“You do that,” his godfather said, yawning expansively. “I’m going to talk to the house elves. Maybe they know something. They are all from dark families.”
So that’s what they did.
Later that morning, Amelia came to Hogwarts and interviewed Harry, but there was little she could do. She did say that she would up security on Azkaban but didn’t know what else to do but wait. There’d be a taskforce on the lookout for the horcruxes, and she’d tell the Department of Mysteries. The one thing she would not do is tell Fudge about their fears. The less that man knew the better.
Sirius talked to the elves and found the necklace. He was going to ask Harry to have Sally bite it like she had the diary.
Word came out somehow, and Dumbledore, in all his wisdom, told the student body. Panic spread rapidly. Muggleborn and half-bloods were very concerned about their families. The likes of Malfoy were preening in their superiority.
On the train, Harry and his group were talking about how they would prepare for the war. Dumbledore was going to start a group he had in the last war called the Order of the Pheonix. Harry knew they were going to use Sirius’ home as headquarters. It was going to be a full summer. He was still apprenticing under the Scamanders, so he wouldn’t be there during the day, but the nights would be full of subterfuge.
He just hoped next year would go smoothly. Somehow, he doubted it.