[23]
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"Absolutely not!" Minerva's voice sliced through the thick silence like a blade as she stared down Professor Moody after placing her son behind her. Milo could feel his mother's tight grip over his robes, a death grip that claimed that she wasn't going to let him do anything foolish in those moments. "That wouldn't come close to fixing the issue at hand! They are both underage!"
Her voice quivered with anger, Milo was sure she was furious with the man for even suggesting such a thing with Milo around. She knew ow her son's mind worked and she knew how dedicated he was to his brother. However, Milo replacing Harry in the competition wouldn't solve the problem as she stated. Neither one of them were seventeen and Hogwarts already had their champion.
Speaking of which or rather the witch, poor Angelina looked more confused than ever. Standing across the way from her were two of her friends. Harry, one of her quidditch mates that she was fond of, and Milo, a friend that dated back to the time when she was in her second year. Both of the boys didn't look like they wanted anything to do with the tournament, yet everyone seemed to wrapped up in the idea of just how Harry's name got into the goblet. She could easily read every thought that crossed Milo's mind in that moment because she knew the boy all too well.
She remembered Milo aboard the Hogwarts Express, how excited he had been to meet his brother and spend time with Harry. How desperate he had been in order to get his family back to where he wanted it to be. Now with Harry facing danger, it seemed Moody's suggestion was transpiring all sorts of ideas in his head.
"No, Milo," she whispered to him as the adults around them argued, " don't even think about it. Let them sort it out."
He obviously wasn't listening, but Harry was as he quickly grabbed Milo's arm, shaking his brother in place. "I can do this, Milo," Harry told him, but at the sound of his voice cracking, he didn't sound at all reassuring.
Milo really wasn't listening to a word around him as he looked across the way and saw Artemis standing only a few feet from him. No one seemed to notice her, but he wasn't about to call her out either, she was obviously there for a reason and while he had been faced with a dilemma, she didn't look all that concerned.
"It seems he is not as strong-willed as I thought he would be," Artemis said as she stood behind Moody. "He certainly enjoys the Imperius Curse, I thought it would be much more difficult to gain control over him. Either I am underestimating my abilities or I overestimated his."
Milo didn't say anything, which only brought a smile to the goddess's lips. "You are free to speak, Milo Potter, they will not hear our conversation, I've made sure of it."
As if the vow of silence had been unleashed Milo blinked several times before his eyes focused on Artemis. "You did this?!" He cried out. "H-h-how...Harry is just a child! He's my little brother, you know how I feel about him-"
"I did not place your brother's name in the goblet, Milo," Artemis answered calmly despite the boy yelling at her. "That was not my own doing and I would have no intentions of placing your brother in harm's way. I may not be able to protect him in the traditional sense but I would never want to see an innocent Potter hurt. I know how I can be of service to you in situations though, so I gave you this option. It is solely up to you whether or not you take it."
He just stared at the goddess for a few moments, shaking his head back and forth after a short while. He could see her train of thought and in a way, he had basically begged Artemis so long to protect his little brother. This was the only way she was able to do it, by taking Harry out of harm's path and placing Milo in it, at least, she would probably be able to assist him in order to keep him safe.
"I will not be able to interfere," she interrupted his thoughts, bringing him to look back up and focus. "I will not be able to interfere with the competition. The magic will not involve me to do so and the fates have warned me about the consequences of interfering with someone else's fate."
"The centaurs told me the same thing," Milo whispered. "Back in my second year, they told me not to interfere with Harry's life. It had to go accordingly or I would find myself in trouble and I have. Every year that I've interfered and tried to help Harry, it's almost cost me my life."
Artemis frowned, she seemed to be regretting her own decision to even offer Milo such an option. "You do not have to do this, Milo, if you do not wish-"
"Of course I don't want to do this!" He huffed. "I don't wish this upon myself, I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. I've been telling everyone how dangerous this was going to be, but no one dared to listen for one second! The problem is, I can't let Harry go through with it. I just...I just can't. You should have seen him yesterday, talking about how all he wanted was to go through the term with drama focusing on him and I want that for him more than anything. After everything he has been through, he deserves that."
"And what of yourself?"
Milo glanced down at the floor, shoving his hands into the pocket of his robes. "Regardless of the outcome of this tournament, I've been blessed with many great things in life. I suppose its time that I start paying it forward. How do I go about making the trade?"
Harry stood with a blank expression on his face as everything in his world seemed to be spinning. However, he was definitely alert when his brother walked over and snatched the small piece of paper that he held in hand.
"Milo!" He called out and that seemed to alert everyone as Milo walked out of the chambers with no one stopping him. Minerva seemed to enter a panic, running after him with a panicked expression.
"Milo Potter! You stop right there!" She called after him. "Just what do you think you are doing?"
Milo had found a quill resting at the podium on the stage where Dumbledore usually made his announcements. He quickly picked it up and jotted his name on the back of the piece of paper before making his way over to the goblet. Suddenly, Minerva drew her wand, not allowing her son to just throw his name into the goblet to make the trade.
"You put that down right now!" Her voice was begging him, rather than demanding it in her usual stern tone. But Milo didn't dispose of the piece of parchment just yet as he looked at her and then over to Harry. His little brother was frantically shaking his head back and forth, begging Milo as well to not do it.
"Milo!" Minerva took another step towards him cautiously, afraid that if she approached him too quickly that he would place his name in rapidly. She thought about using her wand but that would probably make the boy panic as well as his hand hovered over the goblet. "This won't solve anything. I know what you're thinking, but it won't solve anything. Please, we can figure something else out."
"There is nothing else, Mum," Milo told her, "the contract is already set unless I do something right now. Harry is younger than me by a whole year and he didn't grow up with magic. I did...I grew up with magic and I learned everything I know from the best. I think it would be better off this way."
"NO! MILO! NO!"
The boy felt his heart aching on the inside of his chest as his mother was pleading with every ounce of her being, but Milo really felt like he had no other choice as he threw in the parchment paper into the goblet. Immediately, the red flames burst upwards causing Milo to fall back so that he wasn't hit and he fell off the stage and onto the floor of the Great Hall.
The deed was done and the trade had been made.
Milo remained on the floor only to have his mother's arms wrap around him seconds later. She seemed so conflicted on whether to allow herself to break down from the fear of what could happen or be scolding him for making such a stupid and rash decision. He only hoped that she wouldn't blame herself, but she was the only reason why he felt confident enough to take Harry's position. She had taught him well over the years and while his decision was not a result of her teaching, he was sure it could be put to use in the tournament.
"No, you shouldn't have done that!" Harry told him as he made his way over, he was visibly upset as his small body trembled. "It was my name that was called out, you should have just let me deal with it! I could have handled it...I don't want you getting hurt."
"Well, it seemed we were going to be at a standstill anyway, Harry, because I didn't want you getting hurt either. Obviously, someone put your name in the Goblet with the intention of you competing. They wanted you in this tournament and I don't trust that for one second."
His eyes flickered over in the direction of Dumbledore for a second as the man stood beside a confused-looking Moody. However, Milo turned back to Harry and his mother, while Angelina made her way over and knelt down in front of the group.
"You Potter boys just can't stay out of trouble, can you?" The girl smiled at them. "You both are too brave and stupid for your own good."
She was trying to keep the mood light as everyone around them seemed to be in a solemn or bewildered state of mind with the events that had just unfolded. She offered her hand to Milo to help him up and as he reached out his hand to take it, Minerva released her hold on him, but remained on the floor, looking absolutely shattered.
"Don't expect me to go easy on you in this competition, Milo," Angelina told him, "we're friends but it's just going to be like out on the quidditch pitch. All friendships are on hold while the snitch is in the air."
For the first time that evening, Milo smiled before Angelina drew him closer to whisper something in his ear. "Let's send back Krumcake and Flowercrown back to their schools by the end, wishing they didn't bother coming here to waste their time, alright?"
"I think we can manage that," Milo answered as he shot a look in the direction of Viktor and Fleur, who did not look happy with the results that there would be two Hogwarts Champions competing.
As Milo walked over to Harry, he could see his brother's frown as never-fading. "I told you I would keep you safe, right?" Milo whispered to him.
"Yeah, but I didn't want this," Harry told him quietly. "This is the last thing I wanted."
Harry didn't say anything else before he left the Great Hall to head back to the Gryffindor Tower with Angelina not too far behind him. Milo was left as people were getting ready to disperse after being told that the first task would take place on the twenty-fourth of November. Fleur and Madam Maxime looked just as upset as Karkaroff and Viktor as they stalked off.
But Milo's priority was his mother as he walked over to where she was sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table. "Mum," he began as he went to sit across from her, "I'm sorry-"
Before he could sit down, Minerva pushed herself up bringing him to frown because she immediately wished him a good night before heading off to her chambers for bed. Milo stood there for an extra few seconds, royally hating himself for putting his mother in such a predicament, but he honestly felt like his hands had been tied.
When he reached the Hufflepuff dorm, Milo prayed that everyone had gone to bed and that he wouldn't have to deal with explaining anything until the morning. But life was never that easy, especially since he was a Potter. As soon as he walked in, it seemed half of his house was up in the common room, trying to figure out what happened. After all, the last thing they had seen was Harry being selected and Milo running after him to put a stop to it all. He really didn't want to talk about it and he was actually thinking about just strolling past all the Hufflepuffs and making his way to the dorms without a word.
He had almost made it too until Ernie called out to him. "So what happened? Is your brother competing?"
Milo stopped and turned around, facing all of them, including Cedric, Heidi, and Max that were all watching him in that very moment.
"No," he answered and he could see the relief on all of their faces. Probably just thankful that it wasn't going to be another year of Potter drama, but Milo decided to drop the bomb on them before making his way back towards the dorms.
"I'm competing. Surprise."
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Almost instantly, Cedric was on his tail as Milo had just entered his own room. He was about to open up the trunk and check on Paden and the mooncalf, but Cedric stopped him by closing it immediately.
"What the hell do you mean, you're competing?"
"It is exactly what the statement is telling you, Cedric," Milo sighed, really not in the mood to deal with anything more that night. "I...as in me....am competing...as in I am now part of the tournament. Not Harry. I took his place."
Cedric didn't know what to think in that moment as silence loomed over them. Milo attempted to open the trunk again, but Cedric slammed it close the second time around. "After all the grief you gave me about putting my name in the tournament and now you're competing-"
"I'm not doing it for the fame or for the money!" Milo snapped at him. "Nor am I doing it in hopes of bettering failed relations with my parents. Those were your reasons, Cedric. I am doing this for Harry. I took his place in order to keep him safe! I could care less if I lose the whole damn thing, I have no intentions of winning. All my intentions were focused on keeping Harry safe and leaving him out of the drama for once in his schooling career."
"But the whole reason that you didn't want anyone joining was because it was dangerous! Is it suddenly not dangerous now?" Cedric questioned them, Milo's dormmates all stood outside the door exchanging looks with each other as the two fought.
"I didn't say it wasn't dangerous! Why don't you clean your ears and just listen to me! It seems no one listens to me until it's too late, but for once just listen! I know of the dangers which is why I didn't want anyone joining. But someone put Harry's name in the goblet. They wanted him in danger and so I didn't let that happen."
"No, you sure didn't. Instead, you put your own life in danger. Was two times not enough for you? Nearly twice you've could have died over the last couple of years and now you're setting yourself up for the possibility of another?!" Cedric was hounding him with questioned, looking just as upset as Minerva and Harry, making it all that much worse for Milo. "What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking about my brother!" Milo said finally getting the trunk open and placing his hand in it so that Cedric wouldn't slam it closed again. "That's what I do, that's what I am supposed to do. I am the oldest and without our parents here, I have to look after Harry because no one else is. Sure, some people claim that they are, but they've been putting him in danger long before this. I'm not letting him get hurt..."
Cedric wasn't necessarily angry with Milo, but he was upset with the dangers that suddenly had been placed on Milo's shoulders. Now he understood why Milo had been so upset over the matter when Milo thought he was going to be selected. It was terrifying being on the other side having to worry about someone else.
Suddenly, before Milo could even think to tend to Paden or the mooncalf, Cedric watched as he collapsed to his knees and began crying over the open trunk.
It seemed like regret had finally caught up with him.
"Milo," Cedric's voice suddenly became soft as he lowered himself down to Milo's side. "It's-"
"You didn't see how she looked at me..." Milo whispered through his tears. "You didn't see her face..."
"Milo, I don't know what you're talking about. Who looked at you-"
"My mum."
Milo leaned over the trunk, shaking his head. "She's so disappointed in me for what I did. She begged me not to do it, Harry too. But I had to, they don't see it...no one does, but I had to do it, Cedric and I can't go back on it now. I'm in the tournament and that's it."
Cedric looked back at the crowd that had formed outside the dorm with curious Hufflepuffs gazing in. "Well, Milo," he said placing his hand on Milo's back, " it's not like you're going to be alone during the tournament. We're already here, ready to stand behind you every step of the way."
"HUFFLEPUFF IS GOING TO WIN!" one of the Hufflepuffs yelled from the back. "FINALLY!"