George was sick of it all, he could see how miserable Ron and his two amigos were, it was basically his purpose to make people laugh, so to see how terrible this Triwizard Tournament was making his younger siblings feel (Harry and Hermione were as good as family at this point) he knew he had to do something. His pranks certainly made some people smile but did nothing to get rid of the “Potter Skinks” bullshite or get rid of the seemingly permanent scowls on the trio's faces.
None of the well-practised classics, fake wands, canary creams in the dessert, an army of nose biting teacups, and even some fireworks with a Weasley Twin™ twist (inspired by Charlie and his true love - dragons) did anything! More specific pranks like, spelling Malfoy’s shoes to trip him every time he said “Father” and “Potter”, making a dummy that looked an awful lot like a certain potions professor that flails its arms like one of those car dealership thingies Hermione’s mentioned, did little for his friends.
NADA!
After some contemplation, George knew what he had to do - figure out how Harry’s name ended up in the goblet. And so, George grabbed a scrap of loose parchment from his bag and began to scribble, the brainstorming began; all possible and not so possible ways for someone's name to end up in that goblet:
- Older student?
- Teacher?
- Levitation?
- Person
- Paper
- Throwing the paper?
- Bewitch the goblet?
- A loophole in the rules?
But how did the goblet choose Harry and Cedric?
None of the other schools got two people. If Harry or Cedric were worthy or whatever one or the other would be chosen for Hogwarts, not both. Unless… one was put under a fourth school? Would that be allowed? But if they could trick or change the rules slightly then it could work.
Not a champion from Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons each, but one from each school entered… including whatever one Harry was entered under.
That small change would probably do it. But who? Okay, dumb question- it's Harry. Very coincidental that it's the boy-who-lived that was chosen. But how did they get close enough to the goblet to put it in? Okay, another dumb question, basically all the teachers here are somewhat shady, like Snape, or it could be one of the Baby Death Eaters following their parent’s orders.
All that is left is proving it.
It has to be public, but he needs to guarantee it will work, or everything will be worse for his adopted brother and he’ll look like a fool, and not in a good way.
But how to make sure he has an ironclad argument…
He’ll make a Practice Cup! (trademark pending) Figure out what protections were put on it and test his theories. But where could he find a damn list of what is put on the goblet? It probably changes each time, and it's been literal centuries since the last tournament.
Who in the name of Merlin would know? Dumbledore, the other headmasters, but it's doubtful they’d help, especially one half the infamous pranking duo. Of course, the ministry officials would know, but there's no chance in hell they would help, especially if they're all like Perfect Prefect Percy. Who else would have an idea? And would help? Someone who’s smart as hell and cares about Harry?
Hermione!
Of course! That probably took too long to have figured out. She has the practical knowledge and George has the out of the box ways to get around it all.
George will have to write it all down, properly, and present the idea to her, if nothing else, they could at least get the students to lay off him and help narrow down who's capable of doing this. If it's all a dead end, he’ll continue with the pranks and pray it helps some.
Hermione is done with it all, with bloody Ron, the rest of the damned school, and all of goddamn wizard-kind for having no common sense and with that old coot Dumbledore for not even trying to help Harry! Who at the end of the day is still a damn fourth year! Still 14, no matter what he's gone through and survived.
But other than sending howlers to the whole school and helping preparations for the tasks what could she do?
And then comes George Weasley, one half of the insane Weasley Twins™, with an idea as crazy as he is... But damn it could actually work.
Late one night the two meet in the common room, cast in flickering orange light from the dying fire, they smirk at each other, the dim light making it look far more sinister than two school children have any right to look. But these are no ordinary students. Not that anyone truly thought either of these kids could be capable of the feats of magic that they are.
“How is it that you and your sidekicks can sneak out to save the school every Tuesday?” George whispers.
“I’ve got some tricks up my sleeves…” The witch throws the invisibility cloak over herself, immediately disappearing from sight. It really is wonderful how much Harry trusts her, she just had to pop up to his dorm ask to borrow an incredibly powerful artifact and Harry said okay, no questions asked, no doubt about her intentions. Not that she will do anything to endanger him, but it still puts a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“Hell yeah,” the twin whispers to himself, before disillusioning himself.
The two dart down the dark hallways, having to silence themselves due to how loud their laughter and running steps are as they chase each other in an improvised game of tag. After a couple minutes of fooling around, they arrive in the seventh-floor corridor and Hermione begins to pace in front of where she knows the room of requirement is, though to George she looks like she’s gone batty.
“Just you wait George Weasley.” She scolded as the ginger urges her to one of the deserted classrooms that is his favoured place to plan havoc and create instruments of chaos.
A plain-looking door, that looked identical to all the other doors in this corridor, appears in front of the two.
“You weren’t kidding when you said you had tricks up your sleeve Granger.” The 6th year smiles in delight, following the short black woman through the innocuous door.
The room is a library, shelves of books surrounding them, plush couches and armchairs are spread around the space with an abundance of blankets draped on everything and at least two pillows on all of the couches and armchairs. A large fireplace is crackling brightly in one corner, and lighting the rest of the room in the same warm light are candles on several small tables scattered around the room and floating similar to the great hall. The soft sound of classical music comes from a record player he spots between the fireplace and a bookshelf. It is clear as day that this is what Hermione finds comforting, and as soon as they step foot in the room her dark eyes, like fathomless pits, brighten, twinkling in the firelight.
She leads him to the loveseat directly in front of the fire and begins to pull out rolls of parchment and summon a stack of old tomes.
“So, we need to figure out what exactly Dumbledore put on the Goblet, recreate it, and then test all possible ways to get someone’s name into it.” The ginger begins.
“Thanks to you and Fred we already know an ageing potion won’t work.”
“Your welcome,” he laughs while doing a theatrical little bow from his place next to her, winking and blowing a kiss at her before he returns to his relaxed posture.
They begin to bounce ideas off one another on possible protections, searching through books on the tournament and ways to protect an object with specific guidelines. George summons a couple of other books that he’s heard Bill reference he uses in his work as a curse breaker. They analyze Dumbledore’s words when he introduced the Goblet of Fire, they research age lines and everything else they could think of and compare their information to what they’ve observed. They fill a seemingly endless amount of parchment with their notes.
Slowly the two nod off, both too stubborn and determined to suggest going back to Gryffindor Tower, they fall asleep against one another warm from the softly blazing fire and safe in each other’s arms.
Days pass with the two meeting every night in the room of requirement and narrowing down their plan, they know they only have one chance to prove Harry’s innocence and show the rest of the wizarding world that using common sense isn’t that hard.
Once they are almost certain of all of the protections placed on and around the Goblet, George pulls the scrap of paper he wrote his initial ideas on out from under a mountain of books and parchment. From those ideas, they discard some and add other ideas based on what they've found. They create, to the best of their abilities, a Practice Cup, which they use to narrow down their ideas until they have two they know would work on almost every combination of protections. Then to ensure that no one could accuse Harry of using their methods to get through they plan a foolproof way to prove his innocence.
Finally, it's the day of the weighing of the wands. The one day other than the days of the tasks when they know every official involved in the tournament along with several reporters and photographers will be in the great hall for dinner. Hermione hears about how terrible that Rita Skeeter was to Harry during the interview and knows that she will address that wretch later, but knows that any reporter would scrap their story in the face of the gold she and George were about to hand them.
Like every dinner since his name was called their group of friends form a huddle around Harry, blocking any outsiders from sitting anywhere near their Chosen One. Most of the quidditch team, some of the fourth years, Colin Creevey (who Hermione made sure had his camera out and ready), along with some of Fred and George’s friends (who quickly became their friends too), including Lee Jordan who Hermione knows planned to become a reporter and is, according to George, planning on creating a school newspaper. This will be the perfect opening article for their friend. Neville and Hermione bracket Harry with George quickly sliding next to the brightest witch of their age, which raises some eyebrows but the matching bloodthirsty smiles stop any queries. They may be a pack of reckless and brave Gryffindors but even they know better than to cross either of them.
For the entire meal, the group is on the edges of their seats, waiting for what could make the two most unlikely people team-up. In the pause before dessert appeared Hermione warns their group, "Trust me and George, we know what we're doing. Colin, Lee be ready - this is going to be good."
George nods slightly before waving his hand under the table. The light from the candles flares while Hermione stands on the bench and casts a mild sonorous on herself.
“Ms. Granger, what is the meaning of this?” Professor McGonagall questions from the head table.
“As many of you know, Harry Potter is my best friend and I will not stand for this. He did not place his name in the Goblet of Fire. And I will prove it.” Her voice is severe, much like McGonagall when enraged. A number of the guests look unsure about what this curly-haired, plainly dressed, black, muggleborn child was doing, other than embarrassing herself. Most of the students however knew Granger is not one to be trifled with (unless one is particularly stupid).
“Sit down child.” Madam Maxime commands.
“No. If all of you are so insistent that a fourth-year could get around the protections on the Goblet, then I will prove how anyone with common sense could do it.”
“I think we should allow her, after all, I can't see any harm coming from letting her try,” Madam Bones says from her place at the table, Hermione can see the interest in her eyes, if Hermione is right someone is attempting to kill Harry Potter, from under the nose of the ministry, with no one aware, as per usual.
“Dumbledore, please create a copy of all the protections placed on the Goblet of Fire,” She instructs.
“Very well my dear,” The wise wizard agrees. He then elaborately swishes his wand for a long moment.
Hermione has a single-minded focus, unaware of the world around her, but George can see the people from the Daily Prophet, Colin, and Lee snapping pictures and taking notes.
“Is everyone in agreement that this is an exact copy of the Goblet?” The head table confers before turning back to the young girl and confirming.
She nods regally, stepping gracefully down from the bench, “George Weasley will be helping me. Neither of us are of age so the Goblet should not allow us to enter our names,” she grins before snatching a slip of parchment from his bag. She writes George Fabian Weasley with a flourish and shows the paper to the students around her, “This does indeed say George Fabian Weasley, correct?” at their agreement George rises from his seat. They pause a moment, allowing Colin to snap some perfect pictures as they look directly at his camera, and then stare down the head table as they walk intimidatingly towards the so-called responsible adults.
She once again writes on the parchment, though this time she adds the Peruvian school of magic Castelobruxo Escuela de Magia and shows it to the authority figures who all looked skeptical and curious, “This says George Fabian Weasley, Castelobruxo Escuela de Magia, yes?” She smirks at their agreement, and with her head high makes her way to the Goblet of Fire.
Hermione stands at the edge of the bright blue age line and levitates the paper in, the copy goblet’s blue flames shot up illuminating the hall in a cold blue. The gasps of shock brought a sick sense of joy to the two. Her dark skin is highlighted by the light and it makes her afro look like a halo.
“Now George would you do me a favour and write my name on a piece of parchment?”
“Of course,” and with a flourish the Weasley Twins™ are famous for writes Hermione Jean Granger, Mahoutokoro School of Magic.
The witch turns on her heel, “Professor Snape, do you have any Polyjuice Potion?” He sneers but in the face of her unwavering gaze summons a small bottle. George plucks a strand of hair from her sweater while she is distracted and adds it to the potion, “How advanced of a potion maker must someone be to make Polyjuice Potion Professor?”
His sneer grows but he answers in his usual drawl, “A very advanced seventh year could possibly brew this complex potion, but it is best left to those with a mastery of potion-making.” Hermione nods. Merlin how sad, both she and George brewed it long before their third year, though they were geniuses in certain subjects.
“As some of you saw, the hair I grabbed was not from her head but off her sweater. So, I could have done that at any time without her noticing,” George speaks, “Any of age volunteers? Who wants to be Hermione Granger, Brightest Witch of our Age,” he turns to the head table and with a mischievous smile offers the potion to Professor McGonagall, who arches one of her brows and denies his offering.
“Fine, let’s see… Captain dear Captain, Oliver Wood! Up you come, mate, how do you feel about becoming a fake Triwizard Champion?” The quidditch keeper laughs as he makes his way to the younger wizard.
“Now fair warning,” George says while Oliver already begins to drink the nasty potion, “That potion tastes Nas-Ty!” He laughs alongside most of the Great Hall at the look of disgust on the seventh year’s face. George quickly casts a barrage of charms, changing his school uniform to perfectly match Hermione’s, skirt and all, much to the delight of Flitwick who lets out a squeak of excitement at the show of such advanced charm work.
“Alright, Oliver?” Hermione asks her “twin”.
“Yeah, bloody weird this is being in a bird’s body,” Hermione’s voice responds, adding to the laughter in the great hall.
George dramatically bows to Oliver-Hermione and offers the paper with Hermione Jean Granger, Mahoutokoro School of Magic written on it to him. Oliver-Hermione walks determinedly to the Goblet passing through the age line and other protections easily and drops her name in, once again the flames shoot up bright, the way the light cast shadows on Hermione and George's faces makes their sadistic smiles look all the more ruthless.
“How long till this wears off mate?” Oliver questions as he makes his way back to his place at the Gryffindor table.
“Good question… I’d say about an hour, which is plenty of time for you to figure out how to change your uniform back! Oh, and just a tip Captain, it won’t do you any good to change into any other uniform!” His voice holds pure glee.
The two students wait for the hall to calm down (and give Colin a couple more chances for photos) before they turn in unison to the Triwizard Tournament Officials, with bloodthirsty grins once again on their faces they stare them down.
“We have one last way to prove that Harry Potter did not put his name in the Goblet of Fire,” George begins.
“Harry, would you come up here for a moment?” Hermione requests smiling softly at her best friend, “Don’t worry it will only take a moment” She wishes she didn’t need to force her friend in the spotlight but knows this is the only way to make sure no one could doubt him.
The boy-who-lived slowly makes his way to his two friends. The only thing that prevented him from bolting was trust in his friends.
“Now many of you know what a Vow on One's Magic is, for those of you who don’t, once you make the Vow if you are lying your magic will be taken as a forfeit,” George intones seriously.
“If Harry is willing he will make that vow,” It is only Hermione’s knowledge of Harry’s need to prove his innocence and get out of the Tournament that gives her the confidence to do this in front of the entire school.
“Yes. I’ll do it.” Harry gasps smiling weakly at Hermione and George.
“George if you would?” Hermione steps to the side allowing Harry and George to face each other and clasp arms.
“Of course,” then in a whisper, “Harry all you need to do is say yes or no and repeat after me, I’ll say Did you, Harry James Potter, blah blah then you’ll say, No, I Harry James Potter did not blah blah and once we’ve finished cast any spell. Don’t worry, you know that you didn’t do this. Is there anything else I should ask – anything at all?” Harry nods slightly, “Sirius Black is innocent, Pettigrew is alive.” George nodded, he knew what his friend needed him to do.
George raises his voice, “Let all those here listen to the Vow of Harry James Potter. And know the price of this Vow.”
“Did you Harry James Potter willingly enter the Triwizard Tournament?” His voice and face are dead serious, a strange thing for most of Hogwarts to witness, the twins usually had smiles, some silly expressions, or had scheming looks on their faces. Only a select few had ever seen a look like this on their faces, and they knew full and well how important this all is for George for such a solemn expression to mare his face.
“No, I Harry James Potter did not willingly enter the Triwizard Tournament.” Gasps come from the assembled students and officials, but not as many as there would have been had Hermione and George not done their demonstration beforehand.
“Did you Harry James Potter plan to enter the Triwizard Tournament?”
“No, I Harry James Potter did not plan to enter the Triwizard Tournament.”
“Did you Harry James Potter request anyone enter you into the Triwizard Tournament?” Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw how Moody shifted uncomfortably and knew to keep an eye on the strange professor.
“No, I Harry James Potter did not request anyone enter me into the Triwizard Tournament.”
“Did you Harry James Potter meet Peter Pettigrew in your third year at Hogwarts?” Shock rang out in the great hall, anyone who knew the story of the Potters knew of his heroic sacrifice.
“Yes, I Harry James Potter did meet Peter Pettigrew in my third year at Hogwarts.” Murmurs of doubt came from all around them, it was impossible.
“To the best of your knowledge Harry James Potter, did Peter Pettigrew give the location of your family to Voldemort?”
“Yes, to the best of my, Harry James Potter’s, knowledge Peter Pettigrew did give up the location of my family to Voldemort.” People yelled out in shock, this was insanity, to hear Harry Potter say Peter Pettigrew was guilty was ludicrous, like all other wizards his age would have grown up being told stories of Pettigrew's bravery. How the boy-who-lived could say something like this was inconceivable.
“Did you Harry James Potter meet Sirius Black during your third year at Hogwarts?”
“Yes, I Harry James Potter did meet Sirius Black during my third year at Hogwarts.” Hermione can see countless quills writing, and in her peripheral Madam Bones is furiously scribbling notes with a look of rage on her face.
“Harry James Potter, did Sirius Black attempt to kill you?”
“No, Sirius Black did not attempt to kill me.” Hermione knows what everyone is thinking- but Sirius Black broke out of Azkaban to kill Harry Potter.
“Let all those here know this Vow has been taken and sworn by Harry James Potter.”
“Lumos” his wand lights up brightly. The absolute chaos in the hall is incredible, not only did someone put his name in the Goblet of Fire but Sirius Black was innocent!
“Order!” Madam Bones shouts, standing, and casting a silencing spell over the crowd. Hermione calmly makes her way to her two favourite wizards, bracketing Harry’s other side and puts her arm around his side in comfort, George's arm joining her around his shoulders.
“In light of this news, I, Amelia Bones of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, will be leading the investigation into these allegations,” she pauses staring at Hermione, George, and Harry to let them know they will be speaking further, “Additionally, I will be requesting a full team of Curse Breakers and Unspeakables look into and attempt to break the contract between Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” Harry lets out a huge sigh and looks as though all the stress that was holding him tensely disappeared, Madam Bones continues, “Should anyone have any information in regards to the matters of the Goblet of Fire or Sirius Black please contact the DMLE and it will be addressed.”
This went far better than either George or Hermione could have expected, a full DMLE investigation and curse breakers and unspeakables trying to break the contract was the absolute best-case scenario that neither of them dared hope for.
They know Harry would be okay.