And So, We Begin In Earnest
Allison had been dodging the Weasley Twins for weeks, and having the best time doing it! They still didn't know how to get into the Room of Requirement, and she wasn't about to tell them so easily. That would ruin the game! It was only fair that if they wanted information she had, either they ask around and find it themselves, or they catch her first. And as they hadn't managed either quite yet, she was having a lovely time freaking them out by disappearing into random sections of the castle and coming from somewhere completely different hours later.
As it was, she has been practicing her cartography and building a multi-level map. It worked a bit like a hologram, and a sensor in one. It would only hold as much information as was contained within the Hogwarts ward system, but she could access it anywhere. As she explored new parts of the castle, unseen for ages upon decades, her map filled itself in with details from her.
It was almost time for dinner though, and she was running late. She didn't often used the secret passages she had found, especially not the special ones. But she was in a bit of a rush and she didn't have time to run up the stairs. A whisper to a small wall carving opened up a panel in the wall, and she emerged one hall over from the Great Hall. Joining in with the throngs of students, she didn't notice one lone Gryffindor puzzling over where she had come from.
~~~~~
The Goblet of Fire rested on a dais at the front of the Great hall. Its ghostly blue flame reflected a sickly flow onto the assembled students. Tim had a bad feeling about this. Nothing ever went well when mysterious magical artifacts were involved. Dumbledore had announced the Tri-Wizard Tournament the second night of the school year, leaving the first for the students to get settled in again. Now, it was only a week before the tournament's champions were chosen, and the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had arrived the night before. He puzzled over the large goblet, emanating an energy even he could feel.
This didn't bode well for a peaceful Halloween Feast. And he was so looking forward to getting to enjoy some good old fashioned pumpkin pie! Oh well, maybe the house elves would let him have some of the leftovers?
~~~~~
The Goblet of Fire had chosen its champions, much to the ire of most of the Great Hall. Cedric Diggory would represent Hogwarts, and Allison was proud of her house mate. He worked hard, and he deserved to get the chance to show the results of that work.
But the Goblet seemed to have other ideas. The entire hall went silent as Albus Dumbledore (Emphasis on the dumb, in her humble opinion) plucked a fourth strip of paper from the air. The name he called out turned her blood to ice.
"Harry Potter . . . Harry, come up here my boy."
Allison was frozen in time, all she could see was another dark haired child. Another man waiting at the end of the walk of shame. Another crowd whispering and assigning blame. She shot up into the bench and slammed her combat boot into the table, eyes narrowing. Dumbledore wasn't going to say anything to defend a little boy? To keep people from making him the mad guy? To protect him from the mob who would just as soon tear him apart than sing his praises?
Then she would do it herself.
~~~~~
Harry was petrified (not literally, and he would never say the expression out loud after the basilisk incident in second year) as he stood from his seat, walking as though going to his death. He dragged his feet, halfway to the podium when a loud bang rang out. He ducked instinctively and covered his head, turning and drawing his wand. What he saw and heard left him speechless.
At the Hufflepuff table, the blonde transfer, Alison he thought her name was, stood on the bench, one foot atop the table. One elbow rested on her upraised knee, wand hanging from her fingers in a way that he knew she could snap it into her palm from in a percentage of an instant. She narrowed azure eyes, which he was just noticing hints of green in, standing up straight, and she opened her mouth.
"Before magic herself, as Hadrian James Potter's closest blood relative of the eligible age, I, Allison Evans-Quinzel, will take his place in the Tri-wizard Tournament! So mote it be."
She practically hissed the words, her rage a cold weight on the room as magic flashed gold around her, signifying the change. In the silence that followed, Allison walked up to where Harry stood, setting a hand on his shoulder as he shook. Her eyes softened as she took him in, pushing his messy nest of raven hair away from his face.
"Go on back and sit with your friends. We'll talk later, I promise. I'm not gonna let them force you into this."
Harry scurried back to the Gryffindor table and made it to his seat just in time to watch the tail of her robes disappear into the room which held the other champions.
Hermione spoke what they were all thinking, and Harry snorted at how much she sounded like Ron in that instant.
"Blimey Harry, your new cousin's bloody scary."