The Interdimensional Goblet of Fire

A pillar of flames burst to life, whirling in heatless blue. It only lasted a few moments before fading away, revealing…

A figure in a black hooded cloak who instantly whirled in place, their upper face in shadows, revealing a scowl as they seemed to take in everyone. Albus reeled back as he felt the glare and hatred rolling of the young man as an almost physical attack. Before he could reach for his wand, the man screamed something in an unfamiliar language, then raised his hands and sent a wave of what felt like lightning that washed over the Headmaster in a wave of pain unlike anything he had felt outside the cruciatus curse.

As Dumbledore collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony, he was only peripherally aware of his staff engaging the stranger. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to make out much of the battle, other than knowing that the doors to the Great Hall had been blown off their hinges and the man escaped through them.

Several long, agonizing minutes later and Poppy was feeding him a series of potions, each one worse than the one before. When he could finally sit up without trembling, he looked first to his Deputy, then to Severus. While the Potion’s Master shook his head, Minerva merely scowled, her lips pursed into a sour look. “I don’t know what has been brought to our halls this day, Albus, but that man… he was trying to kill us all. If we hadn’t outnumbered him, he very well might have been able to do so. Once Filius banished him through the doors though, we lost track of him.”

Albus blinked before slowly nodding. “Well then, it is most fortunate that you were all here and able to protect the students under our care.” Pausing to look around the Great Hall, he noticed that the students were huddled together in groups, with the Hogwarts students collected into their respective houses, while the other two schools had rallied around themselves. Older students appeared to have organized things but he didn’t have a chance to think more on that before he felt the wards informing him of someone passing through them.

The Headmaster sighed. “It would appear that our mysterious guest has left the castle. We will get no answers from him for the moment.” Slowly, he made his way to his feet, ignoring the way that Poppy hovered over him. Looking at the Goblet that had made all of this possible, he drew his wand. Before he had taken the chance on enchanting the Goblet, he had made sure to study it. There was a pile of notes hidden in a locked drawer in his desk about those observations.

Waving his wand over the Goblet, it only took him a moment to confirm what he had hoped. The Goblet had made a connection to four champions. That meant that one way or another, the stranger would be returning. If things had gone the way he intended, that meant that he would have access to the Boy Who Lived again. Only this time he would be better prepared.

After ordering the staff to get the students on their way back to their dorms, ship, and carriage, the Headmaster made his way to his office. He needed to think on how he was going to influence someone who seemed so filled with rage and hatred.

***

There was something off about this strange world that he found himself summoned to, for that was the only explanation for how he had been taken from the middle of combat. The feeling of the Force was more vibrant and alive than anywhere he had ever been. It was almost as if he could just reach out and touch it rather than searching for it.

Stalking away from the castle, he thought about the Force Users that he had encountered. They weren’t any sect of Jedi that he knew of. They seemed closer to the witches of Dathomir than Jedi. Not to mention their language, which wasn’t close to standard. They also appeared to have used some sort of foci rather than channeling the Force directly. No lightsabers. No melee weapons at all.

Regardless, he needed to get away. There were too many people for him to deal with, especially if that was some type of training monastery. While he may have been powerful for one of his age and training, he could be easily overwhelmed by numbers. That had been proven time and again during training.

Reaching out with the Force, he searched for a smaller concentration of people. There appeared to be some type of settlement nearby, easily within walking distance. There even appeared to be a trail leading in that direction. Guiding the Force into his limbs, he swiftly closed the distance, slowly when he drew near and folding himself within Force Stealth.

What looked to be a primitive village matched with the asthetic of the castle. The two were definitely related. The people in the village even had the same feel to them in the Force, though there weren’t nearly as many of them. Some even seemed to be alone, probably in their homes, reinforcing the village theme.

Making his way to one of the loners, it was a simple thing to force the lock and gain entrance to the home. The old woman who lived there was easily subdued and he was able to take his time parsing through her mind for the local language and information about the strange sect of Force users.

Several hours later he was lounging on her rocking chair, some type of local drink in his hands, as he pondered what he had learned. The locals called themselves witches and wizards in their home language and hid themselves away from the rest of the world, rather than trying to conquer or coexist. Nothing like the Sith or Jedi. Their world was also relatively young in terms of known history, only a few thousand years, though not much was known by the woman who now lay comatose in the other room.

The wizarding world called what they could do Magic, which would normally be a local superstitious mistake about the Force. However, he wasn’t all that sure if the locals were wrong. They could do things with their version of the Force that he had no equivalent to in the teachings of either Jedi or Sith. Unfortunately, the woman didn’t know much about how their magic worked, other than a basic education. He wasn’t able to glean as much as he would have liked from the woman. She seemed to have been content with a simple lifestyle and rarely used her magic other than simple quality of life improvements.

Charms for doing the dishes and cooking food and cleaning house. What a waste of the potential that was the Force. There had been glimpses of greater things possible with their Magic but the woman had no ambitions. He would need to find others to learn more. At least he had a basic understanding of their language no, though he would need to parse through more minds and get practice before he could trust to fully understand it.

For the moment, this home would serve as a base for him to get his bearings and figure out what his options were. He would meditate on the information he had gleaned as well as try to understand what this uncomfortable tugging on his senses was. It led back in the direction of the castle of Force Users and made him extremely wary. Something had been done to him above and beyond his summoning.

***

The meal was simple, having been prepared using the skills he’d gleaned from the old woman, who still remained comatose where he had left her the night before. Levitating the dishes into the sink, he returned to the chair where he had done his thinking.

Meditation had revealed some sort of connection between him and something in the castle. It tugged at his connection to the Force, demanding attention. There was a malicious intent to that connection, one that reminded him of his interactions with some of the Sith Artifacts. Created through Alchemy, some of the things, such as holocrons, were rather benign. Others were decided dangerous, with their own intelligences. This connection resembled those objects. There was a malevolent intelligence behind whatever it was, one that hungered for his Force.

Leaving something of this nature unknown would not be good for his health. He’d heard too many horror stories, not to mention seen first hand how badly things could go when dealing with artifacts and alchemy. That something had been latched onto him without his knowledge only spoke of bad things. No one did such a thing with good intentions.

The trick then was how to get into the castle. They had already displayed their hostility with their kidnapping of him, a feat that he still did not understand. Further, many of the older wizards had attacked him. Granted he had attacked first, but the way in which they responded, some with lethal intent, indicated that they would be less than responsive should he just try to show up.

Perhaps it was time to parse a few more minds and see what capabilities he could learn that way. This new magical way of using the Force had several techniques that he didn’t have equivalents for. There were hints of skills like Force Stealth that may help him with his infiltration.

***

While it had only been one day since the Choosing Ceremony for the Champions of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Dumbledore had been busy studying and preparing for the fourth entrant. Young Harry had been so filled with rage, not to mention the attempts on his life. The Headmaster hadn’t recognized any of the techniques that Harry had exhibited during their brief encounter and while that worried him slightly, he felt that he would be better prepared now.

The largest problem would be keeping the students safe. He couldn’t afford a scandal on Hogwarts grounds before he was ready to unveil the new Savior of the Wizarding World. At least long enough to deal with Tom. Then it wouldn’t matter what happened to the Potter heir.

Figuring out the right way to influence the boy was what was taking all of Albus’s attention. There weren’t any existing connections between Harry and anyone under Dumbledore’s power. Given the performance last night, forcing him to obey at wand point seemed tricky at best. The boy had displayed considerable power and a ruthlessness that reminded him of Gellert at the height of his power.

Looking down at the wand on his desk, he knew that in a direct duel he would have the advantage. Between the Elder Wand and over a century of experience, there was no one who could best him. However, Harry seemed like the type of person who would be perfectly fine striking from the shadows, just like Tom.

Perhaps it wasn’t necessary for Dumbledore to manage the boy at all? If Severus could leak the boy’s existence to some of Tom’s other followers, they could start giving Harry something else to worry about. Then when he was on his last ropes, the Headmaster could swoop in and save him, earning goodwill and showing the wizarding world he was a wizard not to be trifled with.

Yes, that would serve all his needs. Sliding the Elder Wand back into a pocket, he stood from his desk and headed to the flue to talk to his Potions Master. Time to put the spy to work.

***

Looking down at the comatose woman slumped beside the corpses of her partner, Harry pondered if perhaps he should have studied some of the other techniques that had been offered for infiltration and interrogation. The domination and seduction methods had been proven effective at digging for information that the targets weren’t even aware they knew and could help with putting together connections and long term benefits. However, he had been too enamored of the combat capabilities that had been on offer.

Shaking his head, he paused for a moment before once again igniting his lightsaber and quickly decapitating the woman. No reason to leave her behind. While it was unlikely, a good practitioner in the mind arts may be able to piece her mind back together and discover information about him. No witnesses meant no witnesses.

Turning away, he headed back to the first house he had found himself in. This had been the third home that he had infiltrated and gleaned the information from and his knowledge of the language was near enough that he could interact with his targets before ransacking them for information. He was confident that he could move through the village undetected now, though he was still at a loss on how to break into the castle.

Thinking back on those seduction techniques, he wondered if he would have been able to build himself a cadre of Sith trainees to help him with his assault, but only for a moment. He knew he wasn’t skilled enough in something he had only half heard about and never studied. His was the way of the sword and he would focus on that.

Once he was back in his thinking chair, he mediated over the new information he had obtained from the couple. There had been hints of something from the past that beckoned to him, something about a conflict between the wizards. About a time filled with fear and uncertainty.

Several hours later he opened eyes that had been tinted red but were slowly fading back to green. The things the wizards did to their own people. It sort of reminded him of the war against the Jedi but on a much smaller scale. That fear was the same though, the sense of helplessness against a greater foe. The fact that the wizards had basically given up was amusing, or would be if he had more support.

Harry knew that he was a powerful Sith, especially for his age. He also knew that he was only one person and far from his support structure. Additionally, with the wizards phobia of technology, not to mention his own ignorance of the local tech base, he couldn’t rely on winning through that means either. That meant he had to either find a way back or had to build a new power structure here.

Would he be able to find and convince the remnants of the pureblood faction that these people remembered as being the aggressors of their war? More importantly, would he be able to convince them to join him or would he be forced to fight them as well?

This would require more meditation. No matter what he decided though, tomorrow he would make a move.

***

Rather than head directly for the castle, Harry decided to take a more circumspect route. Along the way though, he managed to spot two different groups of wizards outside the castle, one based out of a wooden construct on the lake, and the other from a large wooden land vehicle. Taking a moment to parse through stolen memories, he found the names of the other groups.

It would appear that there were more factions at work than he originally surmised. The wizards were even more fractured than just the so-called Purebloods and their opponents. Would he be able to make use of these other two factions?

With new options on the board, he decided to take the day to study the students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. By the end of the day he was once again cursing himself for not learning the seduction techniques. It appeared that the Beaxbaton contingent had all been selected for their looks which even he had to admit were exceptional. They would have stood out among the Sith and their thralls. Perhaps something could be done about that later. Instead he focused on the more martial of the two schools.

From what he had been able to overhear, while not espousing the same standards at the British purebloods, those of Durmstrang still saw themselves as superior to the other two wizarding schools. They certainly appeared the more warlike of the three groups.

Spotting one of the few adults heading from the ship towards the castle, Harry made the decision that a meeting was needed. Settling into Force Stealth, he followed the man until he was out of sight of both the castle and the ship on the waters, then quickly rendered him unconscious. He resisted the urge to rummage through the man’s mind. This needed to be a more cooperative venture, rather than just ransacking the man for information. He needed someone who could make better use of the information he had gleaned, as well as provide more current information around the circumstances that had brought him here.

Levitating the man behind him, Harry headed towards the woods, a place deemed out of bounds by the few minds he’d rifled through. Other than the fact of it being inhabited by supposedly dangerous creatures, he hadn’t found any reason for someone like him to avoid the forest, which meant he should be alone there with his guest.

Once he had put enough distance between himself and the castle, Harry woke up his guest.

***

Igor Karkaroff startled awake, immediately going for his wand, only to discover to his dismay that he couldn’t find it. A voice broke him from his panic, only to reignite it as he saw a young man holding his wand.

“I will not hurt you unless you force me. I am holding onto your wand for the moment, wizard, to ensure that we can have a conversation. Should you prove agreeable, no harm shall come to you. Should you disagree…”

The young man trailed off before raising an empty hand. That hand was wreathed in lightning for a moment and those green eyes darkened with a tint of red that reminded him of the Dark Lord enough that he shuddered. As much as he would have liked to disagree, especially with someone who had just kidnapped him, he hadn’t survived this long by taking chances.

“What do you want?”

The young man seemed to consider him for a moment before slowly nodding. “That is the all important question, isn’t it? What I want most is information.”

Igor could feel a pressure against his mind. It wasn’t quite legilimency, but it was something similar. He scowled at the young man. “Again, what do you want? And why me?”

“What I want is information, as I said. As for why you, Igor? You weren’t party to my kidnapping, meaning I want to be more diplomatic in my interactions rather than the way I would deal with those of Hogwarts.” The young man leaned closer, those eyes darkening even further reddish in tint. “But more importantly, it’s because you were willing to sell out your fellows in order to survive. And you are a survivor, aren’t you, Karkaroff?”

The Durmstrang Headmaster felt a bead of sweat trickle down his brow. The meeting was too similar to being in the presence of the Dark Lord. Why would a young man feel that way? “Who are you?”

The smile on the young man’s face did not reassure him. “I’m the one who will topple Dumbledore from his throne and kill him. Where your Dark Lord failed, I will succeed, because I will not toy with my prey.”

Going over the number of wandless spells that he could use, Igor came to the unfortunate conclusion that he was not in any position of power in this conversation. He had always been a planner more than a fighter, hiding behind others. While he considered himself a decent enough dueler with a wand in his hands, he didn’t have that wand at the moment. So he would negotiate. “Just who are you to think you can replace the Dark Lord and defeat Dumbledore? He’s not considered the greatest wizard alive for no reason.”

Lightning once again coalesced over that upturned fist. “Because I am Harry of the Sith. My people have been conquering worlds for thousands of years. By summoning me to this one, those in Hogwarts have declared themselves my enemies. To fight them, I will use the very wizards they deposed over a decade ago. Once again those of pure blood will rise up and retake their rightful places atop the wizarding world.”

Igor watched as the Sith slowly handed over the wand. The lightning did not fade away this time as the young man, Harry, watched him put the wand in the pocket of his robes then keep his hands in plain sight. “So you would champion the pureblood agenda to get what you want?”

Harry smirked. “Isn’t that what you did, Igor? You may believe yourself superior due to your blood status, but you also know that there is strength amongst the newbloods as well. I have seen it in your mind, which is an open book to me.”

Karkaroff scowled. He had always hated the mind arts and was now regretting not studying them more. Perhaps he would have been able to avoid this young man. There was no use dwelling on that now though. He needed to understand more. Suddenly, a realization overcame him. “You said they summoned you! You are the ones my students spoke up. Arriving in a pillar of flames and striking down Dumbledore with your lightning. They said the Hogwarts staff drove you off. How can you claim to be all powerful?”

The Sith scoffed. “I never claimed to be all powerful. And yes, the Hogwarts staff drove me off after my summoning. I was in a strange new world, with no idea how I got there, who I was facing, or what their powers might be. That was two nights ago. I have since addressed many parts of my lack of knowledge thanks to the good people of Hogsmeade. Now that I have had time to meditate on what has happened and what I will face, I am better equipped to meet them.

“The Sith have always met their opposition with numbers. While we are individually powerful, we also know the strength in numbers, especially against a numerous foe. I would consider myself capable against any of the faculty of Hogwarts, or any of your three schools.” With that statement those eyes drifted completely to red, staring seemingly into Igor’s soul.

“I will teach you what I know of the ways my people use magic to wage war. And you will help me to reconnect with the network your Dark Lord left behind.”

Igor unconsciously clutched at the dark mark on his arm, noting the way the Sith’s eyes followed the movement. Slowly nodding, he asked the only question that he could at this point. “What do we need to do?”

The way the Sith smiled would haunt his dreams for months.

***

Dumbledore looked at the Goblet of Fire that continued to hold a prominent place in the Great Hall. While the fires had extinguished themselves, the artifact was of importance to the Headmaster and other than keeping it in his office, keeping it out in the open where it could be watched over was the best option. Sooner or later the Goblet would draw Harry back to Hogwarts and when he did, the wards and traps that he had set around the artifact would ensure that Harry was there waiting for Albus and in a more malleable attitude than before.

Thinking of the Boy Who Was Summoned, Albus had to wonder what had driven Harry towards the Dark Arts and how he had learned to cast such dark magic not only wandlessly, but silently. The cruiciatus required a level of hatred that spoke of a deep seated darkness. Would the Boy Who Lived be able to live up to being the symbol that he was needed for? Would he be able to bring hope to the Wizarding World?

Leaning back in his chair and looking over the Great Hall, the Headmaster began to wonder if maybe he should look at things differently. If Harry could not be the savior then perhaps he could be the greater darkness to threaten the world? Then the two forces of evil could face off against each other and when the survivor emerged (most likely Voldemort, given his horcruxes), Albus could swoop in and finish them off.

Plans were coming together. One way or another, he would be back where he belonged, Tom would be dead again, and Harry would be dealt with.

***

Lucius Malfoy was used to being one of the most powerful people in the room, either magically, economically, or politically. Between those three metrics, he commanded respect and wielded influence. It was the rare wizard who could make him bend the knee and only one time before had he done so, having believed his father that the Dark Lord would increase each of those metrics for his family.

Abraxus Malfoy had been wrong. The Dark Lord did not share power and while Lucius had enjoyed the activities that the Death Eaters engaged in, the very reason for his joining their ranks had been denied to him. Even worse, those very resources had instead been wasted in frivolous manner. Very few of the other Death Eaters had the skills to make use of the resources devoted to the cause and even though the Dark Lord was charismatic and intelligent, that intelligence did not lend itself to the economic or political field, beyond that of recruiting others to the cause.

With the fall of the Dark Lord over a decade ago, alongside the passing of so many families that had opposed the Malfoy interests, the prospects of the family had grown prodigiously. Even the stigma of having been identified as one of the Death Eaters had been buried beneath a golden carpet. Sure, there were those of the so-called Light that would always view the Malfoy’s askance. The rest of the Wizarding world looked to them, and Lucius specifically, as a pillar of the community.

Now though, things were looking to return to those dark times. Severus had approached him with two pieces of news. The first was that the Boy Who Lived and Disappeared had been summoned to Hogwarts and then disappeared again, chased off by Hogwarts staff. The second piece was that the reason for the summoning was that the Dark Lord was also returning.

Leaning back in his study with a glass of wine in hand, Lucius contemplated the news. He knew what would be expected of him and what would happen should he not follow through with his previous oaths. However, he also knew that things were never quite what they seemed. Glancing over at the letter sitting on his desk, he considered the contents.

Igor Karkaroff was considered a traitor to the cause, having given up names of other Death Eaters to save himself. The man had only joined the Death Eaters to further his own agenda, not that Lucius blamed him. More importantly though, he said that the Boy Who Lived wasn’t quite the paragon of the Light that he had been portrayed as.

While the impending resurrection of the Dark Lord wasn’t currently known outside of Lucius, Severus, and whoever was actually enacting the ritual, his powerbase was very much still intact. Only the most fanatical of followers or those without political or economic power had been locked up in Azkaban. The rest had managed to stay free and maintain their lifestyles and riches.

What Igor was proposing was gathering up those like minded individuals and listening to Harry, who called himself Sith rather than Potter. He seemed to want to champion the pureblood agenda, only this time without all the subservience, branding, and madness that characterized the Dark Lord’s reign.

Could this boy be trusted? He was supposed to be the epitome of goodness, the next Albus Dumbledore. How did he go from that to a pureblood champion?

Perhaps he would meet with the two and get a chance to feel the boy out. If he truly was as powerful as Igor was saying and was willing to advance the cause, truly advance the cause rather than just mouth platitudes and cause wanton destruction, Lucius might be willing to lend his aid.

***

Harry finished carving the acromantula before turning off his lightsaber. Levitating the remains, he moved to leave the darkened areas of the Forbidden Forest towards the meeting grounds that had been selected previously. Karkaroff had informed him of the uses for the beasts and it was a way for him to help contribute towards the cause.

Having been summoned to another world and possibly dimension, the young Sith was without the normal resources available to him. Not to mention lacking in all the considerable technology that he had once taken for granted. The Wizards preferred to do things with their magic that could not be easily replicated with technology. At least according to the wizards that he had gleaned and reinforced by discussions with the Durmstrang Headmaster. Harry wondered just how true that was, especially with the planet being primarily human. They were an inventive species for the most part.

Entering the clearing, Harry made his way to stand next to Karkaroff, placing the pieces of spider in a pile near the man. A moment later a house elf was summoned to take away the pieces for processing and later sale, leaving behind some of the silk and pieces from an earlier kill. These would be used for the bargaining with this Lucius Malfoy.

From what Igor had told him, the man was one of the most influential wizards in the area. With wealth and charisma, the man had become a leader in society, even after having been caught backing the previous Dark Lord. That took talent, talent that Harry would like to see brought to their cause.

Harry wouldn’t rely upon just the cause as incentive for Lucius to join. There had to be more to encourage someone like that to invest their skills and resources. Learning the Sith techniques would be part of it. He had other plans as well.

There was a crack of displaced air as a tall individual in black robes, with long hair, and what looked to be a decorative walking stick, appeared in the clearing. He was accompanied by an attractive older woman who Karkaroff identified as Narcissa Malfoy. That meant that the man was Lucius.

Lucius looked around the clearing for a moment before his attention fixed on Harry. Holding out an arm, he waited for his wife to take her place, before moving to stand before the young man. He offered a slight nod, which was returned. Internally, the Malfoy Head was pleased to see that no immediate obsequious demand was made.

“Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. I am Harry of the Sith. I asked Igor to invite you here for a preliminary discussion in neutral territory. While you know nothing of me other than what you were told in a letter, I have been told much of you and what I have heard has been greatly intriguing. I hope that after our discussion here you will find me equally as intriguing.”

Lucius glanced from Harry to his wife before returning his attention to Sith. There was no demands made, no threats offered. It was to be a discussion between equals. He allowed a small smile to grace his lips before nodding again. “Very well then. Let us discuss what interests we might share and how we can leverage those interests into something mutually beneficial.

Harry returned the smile and nodded. The Sith then launched into a discussion about the resources he could bring to the table, such as the Sith Techniques, as well as the riches of the Forbidden Forest. He presented the acromantula silk and chitin, in addition to several vials of venom. He also demonstrated Force Lightning, though not on any of the people present. Rather he had Igor summon one of the animals of the forest and used that as the target.

Most importantly, he explained what he wanted from Lucius. It wasn’t the money, though that was a part of things. It was the economical expertise. Harry knew what he was good at and what he wasn’t. He also knew that he wasn’t knowledgeable about the local economy, either wizard or muggle. Lucius was being offered to control all the funds of the organization and seeing them grow. It wasn’t meant as a short term type of smash and grab either. There was discussion of true long term goals, about projects and how to leverage their resources to the best advantage.

While terror tactics were good and all, they were not conducive to longevity without overwhelming power to back it up. The Sith Techniques would allow those involved to easily dominate the battlefield, but with their numbers that was only true on a local level. If they made themselves a big enough threat, that could invite scrutiny from the mainland before they were ready for that type of attention.

The more they discussed, the more confident Lucius became. In addition to being impressed with the practicalities, he was also impressed with the power and charm of Harry of the Sith, as he preferred to be called. The sense of power was one that felt similar to the Dark Lord, as did the repressed anger and hatred that seemed to radiate from the young man. However, there was no sign of the madness that had characterized the Dark Lord's final days before the man had gotten himself killed trying to kill the young man before him.

Lucius decided he would bring up the most important piece of information he had to off. “Just before I received your letter, I received a flue call from Severus Snape. He informed me that he knew of a plot to resurrect the Dark Lord. That the ritual was already planned and that nothing could stop it. He also told me of your summoning and what it could mean for those in the pureblood supremacy circle. My thinking is that he was trying to point me and my fellows at you. How will that affect your plans, especially if you are looking to recruit many of the same people?”

Harry returned a flat look before scowling. “That is an interesting piece of news. I know of methods from my own people of returning from the dead, usually through Force Possession and facilitated by artifacts. It does not seem that you know the particulars, meaning that Severus Snape does not know the particulars.”

Tucking his hands into the opposite sleeves, the Sith continued. “Do you think your Dark Lord could work together with me, or would he hold my supposed past against me?”

Lucius frowned before shaking his head. “The Dark Lord is not one to share power, a detail I wish I had known before joining his ranks.”

Harry nodded. “As I feared. There are those among the Sith, especially the Lords, who are similar. I had hoped… well, we shall deal with things as they are. I would rather not fight against two powerful wizards at the same time, so we shall have to see what we can do to keep your Dark Lord from returning until after we have dealt with Dumbledore and his faction. We can still maintain our timeline for the greater events, but will have to focus on learning more on whatever means are being used to return Voldemort to life. Once we have dealt with that, then we can focus on eliminating Dumbledore and his influence.”

Lucius returned the nod. “I’ll see what I can learn from Severus. In the meantime, would you be so kind as to demonstrate some of your Sith Techniques while we are here.”

***

“Let me see if I heard you correctly, Igor. Dumbledore just explained that each of the champions are bound by magical contract and that if they do not compete, they will be stripped of their magic by the Goblet. As part of my summoning, I have been chosen as a competitor and thus also bound to that contract.”

Igor winced at the feeling of rage emanating from the young Sith, then nodded. “I had raised concerns about your summoning and what it meant for the tournament and if we should postpone things until you had been discovered.” A crooked smile graced his lips. “The man is too certain in his seat of power and has no idea about our connection. However, I looked into his claim and there is precedent to what he says. Past champions have lost their magic.” He felt sick just thinking about it. Imagine having to live as a muggle after having a lifetime of magic.

Harry scowled at Igor before nodding curtly. It was not the man’s fault for bringing him such news and he should properly be thanked. However there was nothing good in what had been presented. He would be forced into the light at the first task and have to confront Dumbledore far before he was ready. There were too many details to take into consideration and their timeline was for months, rather than mere weeks.

Igniting his lightsaber, the burgeoning Sith Lord launched it spinning into the forest, guiding the blade to slash through several trees. He only wished he was closer to the dark heart of the forest so that he could at least unleash that rage against a living opponent. For now he would have to satisfy himself with wanton destruction.

Once the blade was retrieved and deactivated, he turned back to Karkaroff. “We shall need to plan on how to accomplish my participation in the first task without giving away our intentions to the Hogwarts contingent. What can you tell me about the tasks?”

***

Beckoning towards one of the fallen trees, Harry summoned the hulk and ripped it to pieces with the Force before transfiguring those pieces into some comfortable chairs for himself and Igor. Once seated, he allowed himself to go over the information. “These dragons. They are to be held in the Forbidden Forest and will be here soon, a matter of days if not hours. That gives us an opportunity, I think. I have always had an affinity for animals, an ability unique among my fellow Sith. Perhaps we can make use of the creatures to further our agenda.”

Waving towards the forest, he utilized one of the most useful spells that he had learned from Lucius and summoned a collection of snakes, directing them to watch for the dragons and to inform them of their arrival. While his sentries scurried off, he returned his attention to Igor.

“Continue to work with your champion and see if you cannot bring some of your other students to the fold. Our group is still small and a few more bodies in the wings would help should the worst happen during the task.” Staring at the Durmstrang Headmaster, he allowed some of the rage to bleed into his eyes, their normally green hue dipping towards a fiery red. “I have no intention of pretending to be the champion of Light, nor do I want to become a new Dark Lord for the people to fear, at least not until we are ready to come into the open. Secrecy is our greatest ally right now. Once we have grown stronger though…

“The Wizarding World will belong to the Sith and the Purebloods.”

***

Dumbledore watched as the champions made their way into the tent, hiding a frown. There was no sign of young Harry. None of his contacts had been able to find the boy either. Without the connection to the Goblet he would have thought the boy to have disappeared again. Turning away from the tent, he scanned the audience that surrounded the arena. No sign of the boy there, though there were far more adults than he had expected. Perhaps that was due to his having arranged for an article in the Daily Prophet stating that the Boy Who Lived would be participating as a champion, with the threat of losing his magic if he didn’t compete. He had only done so to ensure that Harry knew he needed to attend. The boy needed to be under Albus’s guidance for the greater good.

Unexpected consequences. The Headmaster really should have known that something like this would have happened given the popularity of the Boy Who Lived story. Something that Albus had ensured of over the years.

With a sigh, he turned to head towards the Judges’ Table. One way or another things would be decided regarding Harry. Either the boy would show and Albus would have him under his sight and thumb. Or Harry would fail to show, thus losing his magic and ceasing to be a threat. It would mean finding a new foil to use against Tom. Perhaps another young man. Wasn’t young Mr. Longbottom another possibility for the prophecy?

***

Once the dragon was replaced after the third champion made their way back to the tent after successfully retrieving their egg, the audience waited with baited breath for the Boy Who Lived to arrive. Minutes passed with no sign of the Savior of the Wizarding World. Finally, Ludo Bagman touched his wand to his neck for the sonorus spell.

“Will Mr. Potter please report to the arena floor at this time. This is the final warning for your participation in the event.”

Suddenly a loud crack echoed through the air and a black cloaked figure appeared in the center of the arena. Slowly reaching up, the figure took hold of their hood and drew it back, revealing a young man with a head of messy black hair and bright green eyes that almost seemed to glow in the flickering torchlight of the arena. Those eyes scanned the audience before a smile graced his lips.

Without any visible air, the young man’s voice boomed out. “Greetings, witches and wizards. I am Harry Potter and I thank you for coming to see me this evening. While I was illegally kidnapped by Albus Dumbledore and forced into this competition at the threat of losing my magic, I am nonetheless here to give you a show.” With that, he turned to glare at the Hogwarts Headmaster before offering a mocking brow.

The audience was full of chatter at Harry’s words and Albus didn’t have a chance to do anything about them before the young man drew his wand and shot up a series of flares. Around the outside of the arena there were a trio of roars before shouting could be heard from the direction of the dragon encampment. Suddenly the three other dragons from earlier flew into the arena, landing with a thump around the boy.

Gasps and wails of terror filled the air as all four dragons turned their heads skyward and released simultaneous streams of fire. The very air cracked and broke from the combined heat, unleashing a blast of air that nearly pushed back the audience. The dragons then seemed to nod to the young man before turning to face the audience.

Once again Harry spoke without using his wand though everyone could hear him. “Dragons are noble and powerful creatures who have their own language and culture. These four resent their being used as a piece in a mere game. I explained to them before tonight what was going to happen and then negotiated with them to keep them from running rampage and killing everyone.”

Harry’s booming voice cut out and he looked to speak to the dragons, though no one outside the arena could hear what was said. The dragons turned their heads to look at Harry for a moment before nodding and returning their attention to the audience. The young man then raised his hands and made a complicated gesture before snapping his fingers.

Massive acromantulas popped into existence before each dragon. Even before the audience could scream in panic the dragons pounced on the large spiders, messily slaying and then feeding on the creatures. Many in the audience were audibly sick at the sight.

“Dumbledore has an entire forest filled with these acromantula. A forest right outside of Hogwarts, the same Hogwarts filled with children. These dragons, my dragons, will be joining me in clearing the forest of those spiders. As for my task…”

He trailed off and held one hand aloft, where the golden egg rested in his palm. Harry then made the egg disappear into his robes before walking up to one of the dragons just as it was finishing off its meal. Hopping onto the back of the dragon, he seemed to lean in and give it directions. With one last snap towards the audience, the dragon took flight, followed by the other three. Considering that all four dragons should have been locked up, that was enough to send the audience scrambling for safety.

However, the dragons soared straight up, then over the audience well out of wandshot and disappeared in the distance.

Many of the adults, once they were able to calm themselves, turned towards the Judges table and the Hogwarts Headmaster seated there looking decidedly ill.