Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
More Important Than Any Broomstick - Chapter 29 - The Hogwarts Champion
"What?" whispered Harry to Hermione. "How?"
"Harry Potter!" repeated Dumbledore.
"You have to go," whispered Hermione.
"But I didn't enter," whispered Harry.
"I know but…" whispered Hermione.
"HARRY POTTER!" shouted Dumbledore.
Harry stood up and walked toward Dumbledore. He felt every eye on him. He heard about half of the Gryffindors cheer. He heard Malfoy shout, "He's a cheat!" just before falling backwards on the floor. He noted he'd have to thank Hermione for that.
Dumbledore handed him the slip of paper with his name on it. It didn't even look like his handwriting, yet was somehow familiar. The headmaster then motioned for Harry to go where the other two champions were, without shaking his hand.
He found himself in a smaller room filled with portraits of witches and wizards. The only other occupants were Fleur and Viktor. Viktor glared at him while Fleur said, "What! You cannot be ze Ogwarts' champion. You are much too young! Eet iz an inzult!"
Harry held back a retort as Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Maxime, Crouch, Bagman, Black, Lupin, and McGonagall all came bursting into the room. Dumbledore grabbed Harry by the shoulders and asked, "Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?"
"No,"
"Did you ask someone else to put it in for you?"
"No."
"But of course `e iz lying," said Madam Maxime.
"I am not!" shouted Harry. "I did not enter this tournament, and I am NOT going to participate!"
"But of courze you did, little boy," shouted Fluer Delacour. "You wizh to be famous!"
Harry looked at her for a second in shock, and then moved his hair to reveal his scar. "In case you didn't know, I'm already famous! I'm Harry Bloody Potter, and I already can't go anywhere without people gawking at my bloody scar!"
"`Arry Potter," said Fleur, taking a step back, obviously deflated. "I `ad no idea."
"Well now you know, and I refuse to play this game of yours, so I'm going back to Gryffindor Common Room so you can plan your stupid tournament!"
"You can't leave now," said Crouch. "The Goblet of Fire constitutes a binding magical contract."
"Not if I didn't sign my name!" shouted Harry. "Goodbye!" Harry turned and started walking toward the door. Harry didn't notice the look of admiration that was forming on Fleur's face. Krum did, as he stood there silently, and glared even more fiercely at Harry, who wasn't paying him the slightest bit of attention. Sirius and Remus were proudly watching Harry stand up for himself.
"Harry," said Dumbledore, causing Harry to pause, "I truly hate to ask this of you, but I feel I must. I believe that you didn't enter and I can understand how you feel, but if you won't compete, then Hogwarts has no champion, and we forfeit this contest before it has begun, thus humiliating our school, especially since we're hosting the tournament. So please, if Hogwarts means anything to you, compete."
"Wait," said Sirius, "I'm his guardian and I forbid it."
"If Mr. Potter agrees to compete," said Mr. Crouch, "then even his parents couldn't stop him from competing if they came back from the dead." Sirius glared at Crouch.
"Well, Harry," asked Mr. Bagman, "What is your decision?"
Harry took a deep breath. "Well, I guess for Hogwarts' sake, I'll do it. But I'm not happy about it!"
"Damn," muttered Karkaroff, who was obviously hoping to eliminate one of Krum's competitors.
"Harry," said Dumbledore, "I would like a moment alone before it begins."
"No talking him out of it now," said Bagman.
"No cheating," shouted Karkaroff.
"Alright," said Harry, and Dumbledore led him through another door that was in the room.
As soon as they were through the door, Dumbledore shot a spell at it to insure privacy. "Harry," he said, "I wouldn't have asked you to enter if I didn't have full confidence in your abilities."
"Thank you, sir," said Harry, unsurely.
"I just want you to make sure that you don't reveal the extent of your powers in this tournament, unless your life is in danger. Specifically, at least make sure you use your wand while you're facing the challenges."
Harry chuckled, "Alright, sir. I won't beat them too badly."
"Good," said Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eye, then let's get back so they can announce the date of the first task.
As Harry got back to the Gryffindor common room, he was greeted by a party that Fred and George had thrown for him. He noticed Ron sitting in one corner of the room glaring daggers at him, while Hermione was sitting on the other side of the room, glaring daggers at Ron. Neville and Ginny were nowhere to be seen, so Harry suspected they were in a broom closet somewhere. Harry ignored the celebrations and marched straight toward Hermione.
He sat near her and said quietly, "Hey Mine, what's wrong?"
She sighed and said, "Oh, it's just Ron. When we got back here, he declared that you're some kind of `Glory Seeker' and you can't resist the temptation to get your name in the paper. He actually reminded me of Draco when Lockhart made you pose for that photo in Flourish and Blotts." Then she looked more seriously at her boyfriend. "They're not making you compete, are they? If they say it's a binding contract or something, you can say you didn't sign it."
Harry took a deep breath. "They're not making me compete, but I am." He put up his hand to stop Hermione's protests. "Dumbledore told me that if I don't compete, Hogwarts will have to forfeit. He asked me to compete for Hogwarts' sake. He asked me in private to try to hide some of my powers, specifically my wandless magic, unless my life's in danger. He doesn't seem to think I'll have any trouble in the tournament. I hope he's right. I just can't help being nervous about it. I hope Sirius isn't mad at me. He didn't want me to compete."
"You should have obeyed him, Harry," said Hermione. "He's your legal guardian. That means he's your parent now! I understand your disobeying the Dursleys, but Sirius has tried to be a good father to you, and you've just disregarded his first big parental decision."
"You're right," said Harry. I should apologize to him. He walked up the stairs to his dorm, and a few minutes later Hermione distinctly heard his voice whisper, "Goodnight, Mine," out of thin air.
Not long after that, Harry, under his invisibility cloak, knocked on the door of Sirius' room. When the door opened, Sirius looked around for a few seconds until Harry's voice said, "Can I come in."
"Fine," said Sirius, sounding a bit unhappy.
Once Harry was inside and had removed the cloak, he said, "Sirius, I owe you an apology for disobeying you tonight. You're my guardian and I should have listened to you." Harry sighed. "I guess I've gotten so used to ignoring the Dursleys that it comes natural to me. I shouldn't have agreed to compete once you said you were against it."
Sirius smiled, "I'm glad you said that Harry. I was wondering whether you took me seriously as a parent. Well, what's done is done, but I'd appreciate it if you don't do it again." Harry nodded. "So, what did Dumbledore say when you two were alone?"
"Only to not show off my wandless magic. He seems to feel that I have nothing to worry about with the tournament."
"I'll admit that you're a hell of a lot more prepared for it than that `fairy princess' Fleur or `sawdust for brains' Krum, but everybody, even you, can have bad luck. I'll be keeping an ear open to any news I can find out about the first task, and if I think the other schools are cheating, I'll cheat too." Sirius smiled at Harry, and Harry smiled back. "You'd better get back to bed."
"Yes sir," said Harry, pulling his map out and slipping on his cloak. "Goodnight."
-
Harry got back to the common room to find it was deserted except for a lone figure with bushy brown hair sitting in the same chair she'd been in when he'd left. He removed his cloak and said, "Hermione, love, you shouldn't have stayed up for me. We've got to get up for practice."
"I'm not tired," she said, shaking her head, revealing a silver necklace Harry had almost forgotten about. It had a silver stag on it.
"My mother's necklace," Harry said, admiring it. "Hold on! If you're still wearing this, how come Malfoy's hex got you?"
She put her head down as her ears turned pink. "Er, after we'd gotten the basilisk armor, I'd stopped wearing it, but after I got hexed, I realized how stupid that was, so I started wearing it again."
Harry sighed, "Well at least the hex you got didn't do any damage. In fact, I think you rather like the results."
"Don't you," asked Hermione. "I'm sure you prefer not having a buck-toothed girlfriend."
"Honestly Hermione, I never thought of you as my buck-toothed girlfriend. You were my beautiful, intelligent, compassionate, wonderful girlfriend before that happened, and you still are. I suppose you have an even prettier smile now, but all I cared about was making you smile."
Hermione smiled brightly at him. "Are you trying to get a midnight snog out of me?"
Harry winked at her and grinned, "Is it working?"
"Definitely," she said as she leaned toward Harry.
-
The next day at training, Ginny proudly proclaimed, "I managed to do some nonverbal magic yesterday!"
"Really," said Lupin. "That's great! What spell did you use?"
Her ears turned pink, "Er, I was mad at someone. He said Harry cheated and wanted glory. He also said Harry wouldn't stand a chance in the tournament." Hermione covered her face and was apparently trying her best not to laugh.
Harry smirked, "You really don't have to defend me Ginny, but who was it and what'd you do to him. It looks like Hermione already knows."
Ginny smirked and said, "It was Ron and I nonverbally bat-bogey hexed him. Neville and I had just gotten to the common room and Ron started shouting. Neville went straight up to his dorm, leaving Hermione, Ron, and I alone in the common room. Ron ran up the stairs after I hexed him, with both me and Hermione laughing at him."
Harry chuckled. "I wish I'd seen that. Hermione, why didn't you tell me about that?"
"Er," said Hermione blushing, "I was preoccupied."
"I'm sure you were," said Ginny with a wink.
-
By the end of practice, Ginny had only been able to duplicate the nonverbal hex once when she was getting increasingly irritated at Harry for dodging her every spell and herself for not hitting him. Fortunately for Harry, he managed to raise a shield in time to block the hex. Ginny was still happy that she'd sent the silent hex anyway, and vowed to practice day and night until she could do every spell without saying a word. Neville looked discouraged.
Hermione walked up to him and said, "What's the matter, Neville?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing. It's just that I'm practically a squib. I'm never gonna be able to do this."
"Nonsense!" said Hermione. "You're doing just as well as Ginny in occlumency. As far as quiet spells go, you just need to concentrate more. Try and get yourself to imagine Snape's face on whatever you're targeting. That might help."
"I'll try," said Neville, with his head hung down. "See you later."
-
When Harry and Hermione went down to supper that night, Malfoy walked up to them and showed off a badge that said, `Support Viktor Krum!' When he touched it, the display changed to, `Potter Stinks!'
Hermione pointed her wand at the badge Malfoy was wearing, and said a made up Latin phrase while she changed the badge with a thought. She then said, "Now the badge is even better."
He looked down to see the badge now read, `Kick Me!' He grabbed it and tried to unhook it, but it wouldn't come off his robe. However, when Malfoy touched it, the display changed to, `I Stink!'
Both Harry and Hermione laughed as Draco ran in frustration to his dormitory for a new robe.
"Zat ez very funny," said Fleur Delacour, walking up from behind her. "I am not familiar with zat spell."
"Hello Fleur," said Harry. "I never heard of it either. This is my girlfriend, Hermione Granger."
"`ello, eet iz zo nize to meet you," said Fleur, shaking Hermione's hand with an obviously fake smile.
"Arry, I'd juzt like to zay zat I admire ze way you ztood up to ze ministry yesterday, and `ow you dezided zat you would compete for ze honor of your zkool," she said in a soft, seductive voice while Hermione glared at her.
"Er, thanks Fleur," said Harry. "Hermione and I have got to go now."
Fleur appeared frustrated, "Wouldn't you rather ztay `ere with me and let zis, Air-mow-knee go by herzelf?"
Harry looked confused. "Er, no. I'll, er, see you in the tournament." He then grabbed Hermione's arm and walked off. He whispered, "What was that girl's problem?"
Hermione kissed Harry on the cheek and smiled. "You don't really know, do you?"
"No," said Harry, looking more confused than ever.
"Harry, that girl obviously likes you, and she was turning on all her charms, but they didn't work one bit on you. She seemed to expect you to drop me at once. That seemed a bit weird. But she really got frustrated when you didn't. I'm surprised she'd go for someone your age anyway," said Hermione.
"It's the fame," said Harry. "She didn't like me at all until she found out who I was!"
-
The next day, Hermione was in the library alone. She was supposed to meet Harry there after her Ancient Runes class, but it got out a bit early and Harry wasn't there yet. She pulled out her laptop and started studying.
"Is ziz seat taken," asked a male voice Hermione wasn't familiar with.
She looked up to see Viktor Krum. "Actually, my boyfriend will be here in a few minutes. I'm saving the seat for him."
"Oh vyes. The famous Harry Potter. I believe he ez famous vor something he vould have no memory ov. I, on the other hand, know vat I'm famous for. I vill only be a minute," he said, sitting in the forbidden chair.
Hermione didn't hear the click that happened when he sat down. "You are a very pretty girl. I am sure that I can make you much happier than Mr. Potter. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but I don't have trouble following me everywhere. I can make you much happier…"
"I'm very happy with Harry!" shouted Hermione, forgetting she was in a library. "I believe I told you I was saving that seat for him, Mr. Krum!"
"Very vell," said Krum, getting up, "Have it vour way, but before this year is over, you vill be asking me to date you."
"You wish!" shouted Hermione.
As Krum left the library, he ran into Harry. After glaring at him for a second, Viktor continued walking. When Harry reached Hermione, she said angrily, "Did you see Mr. Krum on the way out of the library?"
"Yeah," said Harry. "He glared at me. What happened?"
"That arrogant prat tried to get me to dump you for him! Can you believe it? After I refused, he said by the end of the year I'd be asking him out!"
"I think you made him mad," said Harry smiling.
-
Not long after that, Harry found himself summoned out of Sirius' class for what was termed, `The weighing of the wands.' Before the actual ceremony, the Daily Prophet reporter, Rita Skeeter, tried to pull Harry into a broom cupboard for an interview before she tripped and fell on her supplies, causing all her ink to splash onto her dress as she fell onto her quick quotes quill, which broke under her weight. Harry smiled at this, pleased with the accident he'd caused. She cleaned her dress with her wand, but by then Dumbledore and Ollivander had shown up and the wand-testing began. Harry was surprised to find that Fleur was part Veela, and was disturbed at the way she winked at him when she revealed that fact. When the photographer was about to start taking pictures, he too suffered an accident, falling onto the camera, breaking it. Harry and the others quickly left before he had a chance to repair it.
-
As the weeks flew by, Harry and Hermione worked harder and harder at everything, including their transformations, so that Harry would be prepared for anything. Neville had finally managed his first nonverbal spell - levitation. One week before the first task, Harry and Hermione both managed a full transformation to their forms, the golden eagle and eagle owl respectively. They transformed and then flew around the grounds over the forest for a few minutes, until they noticed a sight they'd never seen before. They didn't even know that you could see this anywhere within a hundred miles of Hogwarts. Dangerous beasts, with several wizards trying to control them. What they saw were three fully grown fire-breathing dragons.
-
Please review.
I believe I should explain my feelings on Viktor. In GoF, he was always polite to her, but at that time she was single with low self esteem and ate up his compliments. He had no reason to be rude. Even then, he had some jealousy toward Harry, but didn't have any argument with him after Harry made it clear he wasn't competition.
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