Harry's POV.
After what felt very similar to flying on a broom, in pitch blackness, the black fades and I am blinded by a light.
He noticed he was in the Great Hall. He was at Hogwarts! He smiled ecstatically and from ear to ear, he was back at Hogwarts! He hadn't seen it whole since the muggles blew it up. They hadn't cared that it had been a school for innocent children, they had magic, therefore they deserved to die. He could still see the coffins, one of which his daughter Lily was in, smell the burning flesh. They had thought the children would be safe at Hogwarts, they were wrong. They still had hope that this would end soon, even if it was slowly dying.
Years of shock managed to keep him from reacting to the people sitting beside him, Ron and Hermione. His Hermione was last seen ten years ago, not even ten years of war stopped her from preaching and believing in equality. The muggles said they wanted peace, they lied. They arranged a meeting to discuss a peace treaty between the two races, it was all a lie.
They sent her body back to her family, one piece at a time.
Ron would have been better off if he had died with her. He stopped living, joining all the raids towards the muggles, the more violent, the better. Three years later he joined Hermione. Harry still believes Ron went on that raid knowing he would not return. He destroyed that muggle base, taking himself and over five hundred muggles with him. After Ron died, the family was reduced to Teddy, Fleur, Arthur, Fred II, George, Al, Rose, and James. Everyone else had died already.
It was that moment when Harry swore to himself to never let that happen again, no matter the cost. No matter how many innocent, as if there were any, muggles would suffer something that hadn't and wouldn't happen. They would all perish, his race will live on. He swore it.
His thought process was broken off by hearing, "The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!"
He was back in time for the drawing of the champions. He knew what was going to happen next. The goblet fire turned red once more and popped out another name.
"Harry Potter."
Just like last time, everyone turned to look at him, no clapping, then the students started to whisper. However, instead of sitting there in shock, he got up and went to the professors' table. He walked with confidence and grace, sure of himself in a way that he had never been before. He walked with feline grace, something that his younger self lacked. He was a new creature now, he wasn't going to hide it.
When he reached the table Dumbledore said, "Well, go inside Harry."
Harry listened, like he did the first time, and went through the doors, he was greeted by a smaller room full of paintings and a lit fireplace.
Victor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour were in a group near the fireplace. When they heard the door open they all turned to look at him.
"What iz eet?" Fleur asks. "Do zey need us back in ze Hall?"
"No." he replied, smiling a little at remembering how flustered he was the first time. He did not miss the inquisitive looks from the other champions though, however, he remained silent. The silence was interrupted when Ludo Bagman appeared through the door. He took Harry by the arm, either ignoring or not noticing Harry scowl.
"Extraordinary!" Ludo exclaims, squeezing Harry's arm. "Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen, Lady, he added approaching the other three champions, "May I introduce the fourth Triwizard Champion, as impossible it may seem!" Bagman finishes, looking impressed.
The three champions had the same reactions that Harry remembered. Cedric appeared confused, Victor looked to be determining if Harry was a threat or not, Fleur looked at him with deprecation and threw a tantrum that would make a three year old proud.
Fleur's reaction was hard to handle. She was the last to die, one of the last to leave him. Seeing this child looking so much like her, but not was almost as hard as seeing Ron and Hermione. Fleur hadn't looked so young and innocent in a long time. Not since the muggles took her daughter, Victoire. Not since they found Victoire's body in the streets, raped, bloodied, and broken.
She had only been 22. Harry was the only one that was aware that she and Teddy were talking about marriage. They only got to tell him. Victoire was the first of all the children to fall to the muggles. She was what made all the children hate muggles with such a passion that it rivaled Death Eaters.
All the wizarding world still believed they would be able to defeat the muggles easily when she died. They would realize they were wrong when it was too late.
The word muggle was spoken with hate, they stopped venturing out into the muggle world. They even stopped visiting the Grangers, two people that the children had thought of as grandparents. It broke Hermione's heart, but she understood. Victoire's death pained her just as much.
Fortunately, the door opened again, bringing Harry out of his thoughts, now was not the time for a pity party. Even if the party was justified. Dumbledore, followed by Crouch Sr, Karkaroff, Maxime, McGonagall, and Snape stepped inside the room.
"Madame Maxime!" Fleur said, when she saw her headmistress, "Zey are saying zat zis boy is to compete also!"
Harry felt anger wash over him at that remark. He literally bit his tongue to keep from telling her what the little boy thought about her behavior. For a moment or two, he had been worried that he wouldn't be able to stop associating the people that were here now from the people he knew from his past. However, he was relieved to see how easy it would be to not do that. These people were still children, they had not seen the horrors of war, they were still innocent. If things turned out like they did last time, people would ignore him, which was probably for the best. They would all turn on him the moment they realize what he had become anyway. He would be no better than Voldemort to them. Even if he was trying to save them, they wouldn't care. He would rather do cruel things and see them live long, happy, healthy lives than to see the entire world turned into one giant grave. It would be easier to just push them away, they were not the ones he had lost, they never would be. Ginny would not be his wife, Ron never his second in command, Hermione not their healer. They were just children, innocent naive children. Not the broken, bitter adults he had lost.
Maxime's arrogance did not help him in dealing with his temper, which was always close to the surface for the last few years. One thing he knew he hated was pretentious people. They reminded him too much of the muggles that hunted them. That killed their children because they were an affront to God. He couldn't help but remember two muggles killing their own child because he turned out to be one of those abominations, all while preaching they were doing God's good work, in the same arrogant tone, so full of conviction.
Harry closed his eyes to let the memories fade away. Trying to not let the memories overwhelm him. He had missed most of Maxime's ranting, however, Karkaroff picked up where she finished. He must have been trying to scare Harry into submission with the glare he was trying to scare Harry with. It wasn't working, he had seen far worse.
Sadly, his luck did not continue. Snape always knew how to push Harry's buttons. He had completely forgotten what Snape had said all those years ago until they were said again.
"It is no one's fault but Potter's, Karkaroff," Snape said softly, his black eyes alight with malice, "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules. He has been crossing lines ever since he arrived here..."
It wasn't the worst thing Snape had ever said to him, but he just snapped. The first time, Dumbledore stopped him, that did not happen this time. The temperature in the room dropped drastically, not even the fire was heating anything. The shadows danced around the room like they had gained a life of their own.
Those in the room looked around in confusion, trying to find the source of the disturbance. It did not surprise Harry that Dumbledore that Harry was the cause of the disturbance. The others looked to where Dumbledore was looking. Harry saw more than one pair of eyes open wide, bringing him satisfaction, even if they had no clue what they were seeing.
If Harry could see himself he would understand their reactions. The floor he was standing on was frozen, forming a strange snowflake pattern, his body at the center. The shadows danced around him, clinging to him like a second skin. His eyes looked to be glowing in the dimly lit room. Harry would never know that the first thing the Dumbledore, Snape, and Karkaroff thought was: Voldemort.
They did not look much alike, aside from the hair. However, their stances were identical. Harry had the same air of confidence around him, that same feel of power. That same cruel, insane edge that Voldemort had. He looked far darker than Dumbledore and Snape had ever seen him, causing them to think that maybe Harry had finally been pushed too far.
With deliberately slow and smooth movements Harry took out his wand. He did not miss the several hands that moved a little towards their own, he smirked at that. He smirked at their fear of him, he was sure that they would fear him more in the future.
"I, Hadrian James Potter, swear on my magic that I did not put, nor did I ask anyone else to put my name in the Goblet of Fire. So mote it be."
A soft light glowed around Harry. When it vanished Harry murmured, 'Lumos,' and a light shone out the end of his wand.
He met Snape's eye, knowing that Snape would give in the urge to use Legilimency.
"Now that it is all cleared up, may I go? I have better things to do than listen to a bunch of children fight over their new toy."
Maxime, Karkaroff, and Fluer all blushed at the comment, but not lessening their glare. However, before they could say anything an inhumane scream of pain filled the air. Everyone turned to see Snape fall over. It did not last longer than five seconds, and none of them saw the smirk that graced Harry's face before it was replaced with a look of confusion and apprehensive.
When Harry felt the legilimency probe his occlumency barriers he grabbed Snape's conscious and threw it back, adding the sense of the Cruciatus curse. Harry wanted to cackle at the thought that Snape could do nothing about it. He would have to admit that he was using Legilimency on a minor, which is a one-way ticket to Azkaban.
After so many years he could not stand the man. Yes, he had named a son after him, but that was Ginny's idea. It was agreed that the children would be named to honor someone lost in the war. His first child was named James Sirius, to honor his father and godfather. Ginny chose Albus and Severus for the next child. He will never understand why she chose them, Albus only ever saw Harry as a weapon to end Voldemort. Severus, the man that despised Harry for simply existing, even if he did love his mother. Harry was sure that Snape held nothing but contempt for him. He would have understood if he had actually done something to him, but it was purely because he was James's son, at least at the start. Harry could see the gradual hatred shift from being his childhood bully's son to jealousy. Harry had been pitied, adored, and worshipped, while Snape was bullied and hated. However, the ultimate hatred Harry had for Snape was seeing the similarities between some of the wizards that betrayed their own kind to live. They only gave enough information to both sides to remain alive. And once it was clear who the victors would be, showed their true colors.
Those traitors were quickly found and tortured for information, Harry left them in a state worse than the Longbottoms.
Severus! Severus, what happened?" Dumbledore's voice bringing him from his thoughts, he could see that they were all looking at Snape apprehensively.
"Severus!" Dumbledore's voice was once again heard throughout the room.
"I'm fine!" Snape almost snarled in response. After some difficulty, he stood up, trying to hide it, even though it was impossible to not notice the trembling in his hands.
"What happened?" Dumbledore inquires gravely, Harry could see the interest on the others; faces. McGonagall showed true concern though, concern about Snape. This time he did not have to fake curiosity, he wondered what Snape would do.
Snape's eyes landed on Harry and Harry was not able to hide the vindictive smirk that graced his face. Snape's eyes got a little wider and he got a little paler if that was possible. Snape quickly looked away from Harry to turn to Dumbledore.
"It was nothing!" he snarled, trying to sound intimidating. Harry thought that if he wasn't so pale and shaky it would have worked better.
Dumbledore was obviously not satisfied with the answer but did not push. He would probably ambush Snape later to get the truth out of him. That almost made Harry feel sorry for the Potions Master, almost.
After seeing nothing else was going to happen, Harry spoke up. "Can I go now? Since I already proved I did not enter myself?"
Harry knew that he couldn't, that he would be forced to participate. Everyone turned to look at Harry. Maxime and Karkaroff looked at him in rage, as everything was his fault. Apparently, the wizarding oath, that would have taken his magic if he broke it, wasn't enough for them. He ignored everyone and looked at Bagman, waiting for an answer.
Bagman wiped his face with a handkerchief and turned to Crouch Sr.
"We have to follow the rules," Crouch stated monotonously, "And they clearly state that all names that come out of the goblet must participate in the tournament."
"Well, Barty knows the rules back and forth," Bagman states, turning to Maxime and Karkaroff as if that was everything to say on the matter.
"I insist on adding the names of my students to the Goblet again," he said a little demented in Harry's opinion, "We will continue to put our students' names in the goblet until we have two champions from each school, it is only fair, Dumbledore."
"Karkaroff, the Goblet does not work like that," Bagman tried to explain, "The Goblet of Fire has just gone out. It won't reignite until the start of the next tournament."
"In which Durmstrang will not be participating!" Karkaroff shouts. "After all the meetings and negotiations and compromises, I did not expect something of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!"
"Empty threat, Karkaroff," growled a new voice from near the door. "You can't leave your champion now. He has to compete. They all have to compete. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore, said. Convenient, eh?"
Moody had just entered the room. He limped towards the fire, and with every right step he took, there was a loud clunk.
Harry almost cackled. Barty was back! He did not know how, yet, but he would so take advantage of having one of Voldemort's loyal Death Eaters so close. He would have much fun tormenting him, just a little. Still, Barty would be a valuable resource. He could use him to contact Voldemort. From what he had learned, it was the ritual that caused Voldemort to lose his sanity. Now, however, he could make Voldemort his own body, which wouldn't drive him more insane as time went on. Maybe they could bond over some muggle torture. There was nothing like a good old fashion torture session to bring two people together, or at least to extremely bloodthirsty people together. They would be good allies, as long as Voldie did not expect Harry to grovel at his feet.
"Convenient?" Said Karkaroff. "I'm afraid I do not understand you, Moody.
Harry barely recalled the conversation that followed and he had to admit that Barty was an amazing actor, with a lot of self-control. If Karkaroff had been responsible for Harry going to Azkaban, he would kill him the first chance he got.
When Fleur started going off about eternal fame and glory, that there was no reason for Harry to compete since he was going to get both and a thousand galleons if he won. He wasn't able to hold back the laugh at that comment. It wasn't even very loud but seemed to echo in the small room. All faces turned to look at him in confusion.
"Eternal fame and glory?" he asks, lifting an eyebrow. "Tell me, Fleur, what were the names of the last three champions to participate in this tournament? Or just the winners really?"
There were several moments that no one said anything and Harry's eyes did not leave Fleur's. When a minute had passed and Fleur did not respond, a somewhat vindictive smirk appeared on Harry's face.
"Huh. Apparently, eternity does not last as long as I thought," he replied, his voice a perfect mixture of innocence and sarcasm. Harry caught Barty containing a smirk and he almost chuckled. It looked like Barty thought the situation was as amusing as Harry thought it was.
Unfortunately, Fleur did not find it amusing. She actually stomped her foot on the ground and almost shouted, "You could still win the thousand galleon prize money."
Harry chuckled as if she was nothing but a troublesome child throwing a tantrum over not getting her way.
"I am Hadrian James Potter, Heir to the Potter House and last living Potter. My inheritance makes the Malfoys look poor. A thousand galleons are nothing but pocket change to me. As you can see, I have absolutely no reason to want to be in this tournament. Besides, I have already proven without a shadow of a doubt, that I did not enter this tournament. Now can we get this done with? I have better things to do than listen to people throwing temper tantrums." He asks, looking at Bagman, the one supposedly responsible about all things tournament-related.
"We do not know how this situation came to be," Dumbledore said, talking to everyone in the room, "It seems to me that he has no other choice but to accept it. both Cedric and Harry have been chosen to compete in this tournament, so that is what they will do."
"Ah, but Dumbly-dorr..."
"My dear Madame Maxime, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it."
Dumbledore waited a few moments to give Maxime a time to reply. She didn't, she just glared. She wasn't the only one either, Snape looked furious, Karkaroff livid; Bagman looked rather excited. Harry did not care, he was just glad things were moving forward. The rest of the conversation went just as Harry had remembered. Only a few minutes later Cedric and Harry were heading to their common rooms. Harry was wondering what he should do next when Cedric broke the silence.
"I'll tell the rest of the Hufflepuffs that you didn't enter the tournament. I will tell them about you took an Oath."
Harry glanced at Cedric from the corner of his eyes. Last time Cedric didn't believe him, no matter how much he told him that he hadn't entered. He supposed that taking an Oath made it rather obvious that he hadn't done it. What he wouldn't have given to have known that the first time around, it would have saved him a lot of trouble.
"You don't have to," Harry assured him. He was rather curious about what would be different this time around.
"I know that I don't have to, but you will have one less problem to deal with this way. I think that not everyone will believe that you didn't enter the tournament, but at least this way you won't have any trouble with the Puffs. Some may not like it, but they won't blame you," Cedric replied.
Harry smiled, "Thank you. I'll see you later, yeah?" he said, walking towards the stairs, "Oh, by the way, congratulations." he added turning around to smile at Cedric.
"Thanks, Potter," he replied, a boyish smile on his face and Harry vowed that he would make sure that Cedric would survive the damn thing. If things went as he wanted then there wouldn't even be a graveyard involved this time around.
He wasn't surprised when he saw that the Gryffindors' reaction was the same as the first time. On one hand, he thought that maybe it would be best like this maybe it was best that they drift apart, he didn't think that his best friends would agree with his plans, no matter how vague they were at the moment. He would miss them. But he knew that they wouldn't condone what he wanted to do, especially Hermione.
If he kept repeating it, then maybe he would actually believe it. He knew that a part of him was still grieving. That bit of him didn't want to be near them. He didn't want to see them and see the people he had known. But he had always been a Gryffindor no matter how much Slytherin he had in him, so he didn't want to take the cowards route and avoid them. However, nothing stopped him from employing his Slytherin side and finding ways to make them avoid him.
On the other hand, a part of him was bursting with joy, his friends, his family they were alive! Alive and whole and he would make damn sure that they continue to stay that way.
Harry went to bed with a small, satisfied smile on his face. He may not know what the future held, but it could not be worse than the present he had left. He knew that he still had to figure out the whole Voldemort situation and he couldn't forget Dumbledore either. He didn't think that Dumbledore would sit by and let the muggles be destroyed. He didn't think he would find a solution at that very moment, however, it has been years since he slept in a bed. Years since he could sleep knowing the world will still be there when he woke up. With that last thought, he fell asleep.