The Boy Who Lived (Harry Potter AU)

Chapter 41

1st September dawned on a Saturday. As was their custom, the entire crew had spent Friday night over at Potter Manor. Lily had given strict instructions to all, that no one should unpack their trunks and since no one wanted to attract the wrath of Lily Evans Potter, they did as she asked. Everyone woke up nice and early, did their morning workout, had a bath and a healthy breakfast and got ready. Harry was the Gryffindor Quidditch Team Captain, Ron and Hermione were the Prefects for Gryffindor in the 6th year, Catelyn and Leo were the 5th year Prefects, Luna and Daphne were the Prefects for Ravenclaw in the 5th and 6th year respectively.  Vega Black was sorted into Slytherin  while Edward "Teddy" Lupin, Hope Lupin, and Corina Malfoy were sorted in Gryffindor whereas Lillian "Lily" Longbottom was sorted into Hufflepuff. The Five of them were in their 4th year.  Both Sirius and Bellatrix were heard lamenting the fact that Vega was sorted into Slytherin and that none of her kids were sorted into Slytherin respectively. The Weasley twins and Angelina had graduated Hogwarts with 7 NEWTS each. The Potter Family elves, Rio and Rionna took everyone's luggage to Kings Cross while the adults side along apparated the kids. They got on the train with enough time to spare. After keeping the luggage at the luggage rack, they jumped down to say Good Bye to their Parents. After saying goodbye, they sat down in their compartment as the train left. 

After the Welcome Feast

"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now thatwe are all fed and watered," ("Hmph!" said Hermione) "I mustonce more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices."Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list ofobjects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended toinclude Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-BashingBoomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirtyseven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, ifanybody would like to check it."The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued,"As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on thegrounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year."It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-HouseQuidditch Cup will not take place this year.""What?" Harry gasped. He looked around at Ron, Hermione and Ginny,his fellow members of the Quidditch team (Ron played Keeper, Ginny, Hermione and Catelyn were Chasers, Leo and Corina were beaters . They were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore, apparently too appalled to speak.Dumbledore went on, "This is due to an event that will be startingin October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking upmuch of the teachers' time and energy — but I am sure you will allenjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that thisyear at Hogwarts —"But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunderand the doors of the Great Hall banged open.A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff,shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hallswiveled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by afork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered hishood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table.A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. Hereached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavilytoward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling.Hermione gasped.The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and itwas a face unlike any Harry had ever seen. It looked as though ithad been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had onlythe vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, andwas none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to bescarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunkof the nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made himfrightening.One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large,round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, andfrom side to side, quite independently of the normal eye — andthen it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head,so that all they could see was whiteness. The Potter, Blacks, Weasleys, Longbottoms and the Lovegoods recognized him as Alastor " Mad Eye" Moody, the man who mentored everyone of them and a Legend in the Auror Department. Moody reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand thatwas as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbledore shook it, muttering words Harry couldn't hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of Moody, who shook his head unsmilingly and repliedin an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to theempty seat on his right-hand side. Moody sat down, shook his mane of dark gray hair out ofhis face, pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what wasleft of his nose, and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of hispocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. Hisnormal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was stilldarting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and thestudents."May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Artsteacher?" said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. "ProfessorMoody."It was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause,but none of the staff or students clapped except Dumbledore andHagrid, who both put their hands together and applauded, but thesound echoed dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairlyquickly. Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moody's bizarreappearance to do more than stare at him. Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, hereached again into his traveling cloak, pulled out a hip flask, andtook a long draught from it. As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloakwas pulled a few inches from the ground, and Harry saw, below thetable, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot.Dumbledore cleared his throat."As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students beforehim, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody,"we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over thecoming months, an event that has not been held for over a century.It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year.""You're JOKING!" said Ron Weasley loudly.The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrivalsuddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively."I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "though now that youmention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about atroll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar . . ."Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly."Er — but maybe this is not the time . . . no . . ." said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament . . . well,some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely."The Triwizard Tournament was first established some sevenhundred years ago as a friendly competition between the threelargest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, andDurmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school,and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. Theschools took it in turns to host the tournament once every fiveyears, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities — until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that thetournament was discontinued.""Death toll?" Hermione whispered, looking alarmed. But heranxiety did not seem to be shared by the majority of students in theHall; many of them were whispering excitedly to one another, andHarry himself was far more interested in hearing about the tournament than in worrying about deaths that had happened hundredsof years ago."There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstatethe tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which hasbeen very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports havedecided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hardover the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will findhimself or herself in mortal danger."The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arrivingwith their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection ofthe three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartialjudge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousandGalleons personal prize money.""I'm going for it!" Seamus Finnigan hissed down the table to his buddy Dean Thomas, his facelit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches. He wasnot the only person who seemed to be visualizing himself as theHogwarts champion. At every House table, Harry could see peopleeither gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or else whispering fervently totheir neighbors. But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hallquieted once more."Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the TriwizardCup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools,along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an agerestriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age —that is to say, seventeen years or older — will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This" — Dumbledore raised hisvoice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at thesewords, and both Seamus and Dean were suddenly looking furious — "isa measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks willstill be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and itis highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will beable to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered overFred's and George's mutinous faces. "I therefore beg you not to wasteyour time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen."The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of thisyear. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreignguests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. Andnow, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alertand rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime!Chop chop!"Dumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to Mad-EyeMoody. There was a great scraping and banging as all the studentsgot to their feet and swarmed toward the double doors into the entrance hall.

"They can't do that!" said Dean Thomas, who had not joinedthe crowd moving toward the door, but was standing up and glaring at Dumbledore. "We're seventeen in April, why can't we have ashot?""They're not stopping me entering," said Seamus stubbornly, alsoscowling at the top table. "The champions'll get to do all sorts ofstuff you'd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousandGalleons prize money!""Yeah," said Alex Summers, a dorm mate of theirs with a faraway look on his face. "Yeah, a thousandGalleons . . .""Come on," said Hermione, "we'll be the only ones left here ifyou don't move."Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Draco, Alex Seamus, and Dean set off for the entrance hall, Seamus and Dean debating the ways in which Dumbledore might stop those who were under seventeen from entering thetournament."Who's this impartial judge who's going to decide who thechampions are?" said Harry."Dunno," said Seamus, "but it's them we'll have to fool. I reckon acouple of drops of Aging Potion might do it, Dean. . . .""Dumbledore knows you're not of age, though," said Ron. "Yeah, but he's not the one who decides who the champion is, ishe?" said Seamus shrewdly. "Sounds to me like once this judge knowswho wants to enter, he'll choose the best from each school andnever mind how old they are. Dumbledore's trying to stop us giving our names.""People have died, though!" said Hermione in a worried voiceas they walked through a door concealed behind a tapestry andstarted up another, narrower staircase."Yeah," said Seamus airily, "but that was years ago, wasn't it? Anyway, where's the fun without a bit of risk? Hey, Alex, what if we findout how to get 'round Dumbledore? Fancy entering?" "What d'you reckon?" Alex asked Dean. "Be cool to enter,wouldn't it?" They made their way up to the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, which was concealed behind a large portrait of a fat lady in a pinksilk dress."Password?" she said as they approached."Balderdash," said Dean, "a prefect downstairs told me."The portrait swung forward to reveal a hole in the wall throughwhich they all climbed. A crackling fire warmed the circular common room, which was full of squashy armchairs and tables. The boys except Harry went up the spiral staircase towards their dorm while Harry and Hermione sat in front of the fire. 

" So what do you think? Is the Triwiz worth it?" asked Harry. "No. Eternal glory is not all that it sounds to be. Ask anyone, no one would know or even remember the name of the last champion of the Triwiz." said Hermione. " Rightly said. Anyway I am done. Let's go to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight my Love." said Harry as he kissed her forehead as they went their separate ways. Seven four-poster beds with deep crimson hangingsstood against the walls, each with its owner's trunk at the foot.Dean, Draco, Ron, Neville, Alex and Seamus were already getting into bed; Seamus hadpinned his Ireland rosette to his headboard, and Dean had tackedup a poster of Viktor Krum over his bedside table. His old posterof the West Ham football team was pinned right next to it."Mental," Ron sighed, shaking his head at the completely stationary soccer players.Harry got into his pajamas and into bed. A house-elf  had placed warming pansbetween the sheets. It was extremely comfortable, lying there inbed and listening to the storm raging outside."I might go in for it, you know," Alex said sleepily through thedarkness, "if Dean and Seamus find out how to . . . the tournament . . . you never know, do you?"

Harry grinned into his pillow as Hermione sent him a wave of love through their bond. 

Note:

Contains parts from HPGOF as I wanted the real scene from the book.