Chapter 143 - 143- champions

HARRY'S POV

Thinking about it, Harry could come up with multiple ways to put his name in the goblet.

He could have thrown the piece of paper like a basketball, could have banished the paper into the cup, and could have confude an older student to take it for him, yet, thinking about it, he chose the easiest method- Dobby.

House elves are really sneaky, if they don't want to be found they won't, especially Dobby, who took upon himself to become a ninja, so Harry was sure no one will see the little guy, yet the biggest reason he has to have Dobby's help was that no matter who put the name he would need to put another paper in- Harry's secret.

After researching the Fidelius charm for almost a month he had better understanding of it, the charm he casted that makes him seem normal and entirely not unique wizard will work also on objects, which means he has to make sure the goblet will know the truth so it will spit his name.

Having Dobby Put his name, Harry left to bed, it was a long day, and tomorrow he has blacksmithing lesson

The next week had Harry and Luna talk with the other schools' students every meal, and he would have to admit that although he hasn't learned something new about magic, he did learn little bits about their schools.

The two schools had one main difference between them and Hogwarts- they didn't took only children from their own country.

In fact, Europe entirely was divided to eastern and western where the east side of wizards go to Durmstrang and the west to Beauxbatons, which was the reason many students of Beauxbatons looked down on Hogwarts.

You see, while Hogwarts is very impressive for just the UK, the school in France has five times the faculty and is three times its size.

Even without consideration of the size, because students come from many different countries, some that are colder and some that are hotter, the entire castle is always in room temperature, with the exception of the library, which is kept a little bit colder to protect the books.

With them talking about already missing the sea, and a few other things, Harry managed to figure out the school was located in Porquerolles Island, something he would have Remus go check when he finished with the Britain houses.

Durmstrang wasn't as easy to figure out.

He wasn't sure if it was because they were hiding things or if that's truly all they knew, but the only thing the students talked about when asked about the view of the school was ice, ice, and some more ice.

They did though, talked about the so called 'dark arts' they were practicing.

According after speaking to them Harry understood they don't learn any heavy magic with the exception of some minor rituals for physical enhancement, as for the dark spells? They are just learning a few more powerful spells in their DA class which is their version for defense class.

One thing that changed was the amount of magical power that Harry had in storage.

With more people dueling, the amount grew so Harry had enough to create another SCAMER without harming the daily functions, not that he did, he has no need for that, at least not for now.

As the week gone by, more and more students has put their name in the Goblet, though, the biggest surprise were the twins, who didn't even try, as they said "We are swamped in orders, and with the band and making pranks? Why would we? It's not like we need the money."

When he told them he was going to compete and explained why, they just grinned to him and said good luck.

Another person that he needed to have a conversation with before the competition begin was his investor- AKA Daphne Greengrass, though surprisingly, he wasn't the one to approach her, she approached him.

"Hey Harry," it was Thursday when she came o him as he left breakfast, on the way to class. "I have something for you." The smile on her face made it obvious she got one of the blood samples he needed.

"Great! I'm stuck in my research, maybe that is what I need! What did you get me?"

Pulling her hand out from her bag a vial of blood was in it.

"It's the blood of Nymphadora Tonks, the only known Metamorphmagus in Britain, it took my father a lot of time to convince her to give this vial, so I hope it's worth it."

"Oh, it will be."

By the time she gave him the vial they were near the history classroom, yet before she walked in Harry called to her.

"Wait, I need to tell you something so you won't be blindsided." A frown appeared on her face.

"What?"

Casting a small silencing charm Harry said

"Well, I felt I don't have enough time so I decided to join the Triwizard tournament."

"YOU DID WHAT?"

Rolling his eyes Harry said "I joined the tournament to have more time."

"How on earth joining a tournament that you would need to study and practice for save you time?"

"Not having to go to classes will save me time, especially that I won't try to win, just do the minimum in every test and spend more time on research."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh."

"Great!" The smile went back to her face. "Good luck at getting the Goblet to choose you then!"

All of that led him to right now, Halloween 1993, when the names are being pulled out of the cup.

The Durmstrang students who didn't got chosen looked fine with it, not surprising, considering they told him how Karkaroff told them that if anyone but Krum was to be chosen he will make sure they can't compete and lose their magic.

On the other hand, the Beauxbatons students were disappointed, with two even crying, as they all put their names in the cup.

The Hogwarts champion," Dumbledore called, "is Harry Peverel!" The clapping only came from Luna and the foreign students as Harry raised from his chair, walking toward where the other two champions are.

Yet, before he reached half way through, someone yelled "That can't be right! He isn't 17, hell, he is only a fourth year."

Turning his head back, Harry smiled toward the audience saying "The cup doesn't care for age, the only thing that did was the age line, so, like many of the sixth years, I tried to go in, only I succeeded. I guess even Professor Dumbledore make mistakes." The smile on his face might look charming, yet the anger he felt from the headmaster made it hard to be genuine.

Walking away, Harry reached the other two champions.

""Harry?"" They both looked surprised that he was there.

"I managed to put my name in the goblet, I'm the third champion."

Before any of them could say anything an scared looking Marcus came in, behind him walking Ludo Bagman.

"Extraordinary!" Bagman yelled, "Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen. . . lady," he added, approaching the fireside and addressing the other three. "May I introduce - incredible though it may seem - the fourth Triwizard champion?"

Harry couldn't help but snicker as he watched the two champions expressions change when hearing that, especially as they sized Marcus before looking at him with questions in their eyes.

"This one used to be my twin before I got kicked out of the family for having a brain, you might know him as the boy who lived." Harry rolled his eyes at the nickname.

"You weren't kicked for having a brain, you were kicked because you are Slytherin."

Before any of them could say another word, More people walked in - Barty Crouch senior and Junior, the three headmasters, Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall and Lily Potter.

"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" Madame Maxime said imperiously as they walked in. "I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," said Professor Karkaroff. He was wearing a steely smile, and his blue eyes were like ch.i.p.s of ice. "Two Hogwarts champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions - or have I not read the rules carefully enough?"

He gave a short and nasty laugh.

"C'est impossible," said Madame Maxime, whose enormous hand with its many superb opals was resting upon Fleur's shoulder. "Ogwarts cannot 'ave two champions. It is most injust."

"Not to mention we were under the impression that your Age Line would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, his steely smile still in place, though his eyes were colder than ever. "Otherwise, we would, of course, have brought along a wider selection of candidates from our own schools."

"What mister Peverel did," Professor Snape said as he looked at Harry "while I admit I haven't seen coming, isn't against the rules. What we should be asking is what mister Potter did, and why?"

"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Marcus?" he asked calmly.

"No!"

"Of course my son didn't put his name!" Lily Potter said "Nor did he ask anyone older then him to put it for him!" She added when Dumbledore was about to open his mouth.

"Ah, but of course she is lying!" cried Madame Maxime. Snape was now shaking his head, his lip curling.

"He could not have crossed the Age Line," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "I am sure we are all agreed on that -"

"Oh, but we can't, after all, we have a student that did it already, do we not?" Professor Karkaroff interrupted.

"Boy, how did you move past the age line?"

"I didn't." Harry said, eyes twinkling with mischief. "I threw a paper ball with my name on it like a Quaffle." The people around him were all quiet, until Krum laughed, " I like you Harry."

"Mr. Crouch.. . Mr. Bagman," said Karkaroff, after seeing no one cares about the young student being the champion, his voice unctuous once more, "you are our -er - objective judges. Surely you will agree that this is most irregular?"

Bagman wiped his round, boyish face with his handkerchief and looked at Mr. Crouch, who was standing outside the circle of the firelight, his face half hidden in shadow.

"We must follow the rules," Barty Crouch senior said "and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament."

"Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front," said Bagman, beaming and turning back to Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, as though the matter was now closed.

"I insist upon resubmitting the names of the rest of my students," said Karkaroff. He had dropped his unctuous tone and his smile now. His face wore a very ugly look indeed.

"You will set up the Goblet of Fire once more, and we will continue adding names until each school has two champions. It's only fair, Dumbledore."

"But Karkaroff, it doesn't work like that," said Bagman. "The Goblet of Fire's just gone out - it won't reignite until the start of the next tournament -"

"- in which Durmstrang will most certainly not be competing!" exploded Karkaroff. "After all our meetings and negotiations and compromises, I little expected something of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!"

"Empty threat, Professor Karkaroff," Crouch junior said "You can't leave your champion now. He's got to compete. They've all got to compete. Binding magical contract, remember?"

As the a.d.u.l.ts continued to argue, Harry activated his earring and listened to GAI reading a book to him.

While in the middle of listening, he caught Batman was actually explaining about the task.

"The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges.

The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests."

"Harry, Marcus, I suggest you go up to bed," said Dumbledore, smiling at both of them. "I am sure Gryffindor and Slytherin are waiting to celebrate with you, and it would be a shame to deprive them of this excellent excuse to make a great deal of mess and noise."

Harry didn't returned to the Slytherin common room that night, instead he went to the ROR and celebrated not needing to go to any class this year anymore with his three friends.