8 Chapter 8 Weighing Wands and Slaying Serpents

When Harry stepped through the door, all three champions looked at the tiny first year. Fleur Delacour said, "What is it? Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"

Harry shook his head and said back, "No, you're fine Ms. Delacour. I've been chosen as a sacrificial offering to the gods so I'll be contributing my death for the entertainment of the masses as the fourth champion."

Victor Krum paused a moment before he threw his head back and started laughing hysterically. As a sports star of Europe, he could certainly appreciate a gladiator joke and coming from such a small student made it all the more absurd.

Cedric Diggory did not laugh as he was aware of the rumors of Harry beating a troll the prior night and was surprised at the lack of denial from any of the sources. Harry himself was fit for a first year and could easily pass for a second or third year student, but Harry had clearly not even begun puberty yet so he was still quite small to the three seventh year students. Cedric even heard a rumor that Harry had once declared that he would likely be forced to compete. Until now he had of course ignored that one.

Victor's laughter died when Ludo Bagman entered and stated how miraculous Harry's entry as the fourth champion was.

The three other champions looked back at Harry who once again had his 'resigned to execution' face.

Not a moment later Dumbledore and the other headmasters followed by the Hogwarts staff entered the room.

Everyone proceeded to argue back and forth about how unfair it was that Hogwarts had two contestants, completely ignoring Harry's highly likely impending death.

Snape added his two cents of course, "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules. He has been crossing lines ever since he arrived here."

Harry calmly stated back, "Your confidence in my abilities is overwhelming professor. Remember, white lilies."

That shut the man up who was in fact finding it a bit difficult to honestly accuse a mediocre first year of cheating on such a scale.

Dumbledore used the lull in the conversation to calmly ask, "Harry, did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?"

Harry shrugged, "If I wanted to commit suicide Headmaster, I would have just asked Professor Snape. He'd probably make it painless. So no, I did not put my name in the Goblet of Fire and I was nowhere near it today or last night."

Even Snape nearly turned green a bit at the blatant accusation that he would be so willing to kill Harry. He couldn't show it however and remained stern faced to the other teachers. None of the teachers could deny Harry had an alibi for the prior night and this morning had many students keep watch on the goblet and none saw Harry approach it. There was simply no gap he could have used to slip his name into the goblet without witnesses.

Harry himself however wondered if his name going in the Goblet and the Troll getting in were coincidences. Maybe one was a distraction for the other? In which case, the likely culprit would be Quirrel. Quite thorough too, Harry had to admit. Place a troll where Harry was likely to encounter it, perhaps spell the stairs to prevent escape, and use the distraction to enter Harry's name in the goblet. Harry was kinda impressed a man with such poor acting talents could plot his murder so thoroughly.

Harry was tempted to ask if he could examine the Goblet so he could place it in his inventory but Harry's energy sight along with his new insights into magic pretty much told him how the goblet worked and even what happened to it. The Goblet of Fire's creation predated the Olympics and the Torch of the Olympics was actually an imitation of the Goblet. Few knew how it actually worked but Harry could tell the Goblet couldn't connect to someone who didn't have the will to compete. If Harry had never considered or at least slightly desired to be chosen, the last paper would have burned to scrap. As for how it came out? Harry figured Quirrel used the Confundus Charm to make the Goblet forget there were only three schools. Quirrel could have taken Harry's name off a piece of homework and entered it as the only name of a fourth school. Not that it mattered how it was done.

As they continued to argue, Fleur Delacour asked Harry, "What are ze white lilies for?"

Harry shrugged and said, "My funeral, obviously."

The french champion blanched at that and remained silent while watching the adults and her own headmistress accuse Harry of cheating.

Crouch told everyone that a name that comes out of the Goblet, regardless of age, would be bound in a magic contract to compete. Breaking that contract would risk Harry's magic.

Once they reached the point where they realized further arguing was meaningless, they got back to explaining the first task.

Which was pretty much nothing. They referenced it would be based on daring and when they entered they could only bring their wand. Harry wondered if he could transfigure a sack of goodies into a wand and bring that. They also mentioned that Harry wouldn't have to take the end of the year exams which made his grades this year completely pointless.

Harry left the room alongside Cedric Diggory who asked, "You really think you're going to die?"

Harry answered back, "Most likely, but then again, it won't be the first time. We'll see what happens. Good luck."

Harry split off and returned up the stairs. Paintings were gossiping with each other and a few called out to Harry which he ignored. When he returned to the dorm he was asked if he was really going to compete and Harry affirmed he would. Harry then walked over to Hermione and asked, "Do you know which teacher you're going to prank yet?"

She yelled, "How can you treat this as a joke?!"

Harry smiled back, "Don't worry too much, the only time I joked was about the white lilies. Worst case scenario I stop holding back and win the bloody tournament."

Hermione looked like she was about to argue but she held it back for now. She was however determined to learn exactly how strong Harry was, if only for her own peace of mind.

A few of the Gryffindors tried to congratulate Harry which Harry responded to by thanking them and asking them what they would be wearing to his funeral. Harry wanted to make it clear that a first year didn't belong in the Triwizard competition.

The next morning, Filch's pet cat Norris was found petrified in front of a girl's bathroom. On the wall next to the petrified cat was the message "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, Beware," written in chicken blood.

Harry's face turned pale as he remembered one of the requirements of his quest. He first thought the Basilisk would be a part of the tournament. But now it seemed a creature that could kill with a look was wandering around without notice.

He wasn't worried about himself. A level lost could be regained, though indescribably painful. But no one else would come back if they looked a basilisk in the eye.

Harry covertly left school the following Sunday to buy several portable stereo speakers and after some unusual arrangements he got a recording of the crowing of roosters. He didn't bother putting them in his inventory after he finished inscribing them to be mostly magic proof since if he encountered a Basilisk he might not have time to pull them out so he shrunk them and placed them in his pockets. Harry didn't know if the recording would actually kill a basilisk but if nothing else it would at least drive it away right?

Two weeks passed by without another basilisk encounter. Harry was in Potions class where Snape said, "Today we will be working on antidotes. At the end of class I will poison one of you and we shall test if the antidote works properly or not. Potter! If you have anything against being poisoned, speak up now."

The fact that Harry refused to speak a word in his class was at first frustrating for Snape who would constantly try to provoke a response out of him. Now however he had changed his methods and was quite pleased with the results.

Unfortunately for the poison happy professor, the door opened at that moment and a student Harry didn't recognize said, "Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Harry Potter upstairs."

Snape didn't give the student a glance and coolly said, "Potter has another hour of Potions to complete, he will come upstairs when this class is finished."

The student replied, "Sir, Mr. Bagman wants him, all the champions have got to go, I think they want to take photographs."

"Very well, very well, Potter, leave your things here, I want you back down here later to test your antidote."

The student interrupted, "Please, sir. He's got to take his things with him, all the champions-"

"Very well! Potter, take your bag and get out of my sight!"

Harry wordlessly got up and childishly waved goodbye to Snape who pretended, at least Harry thought he pretended, to grind his teeth in frustration.

Harry was escorted to a room where he was informed that his wand was going to be weighed and checked that it was fully functional. Harry felt this was going to become very awkward very quickly.

Next a woman wearing bright clothes and too much makeup asked for an interview and didn't give Harry time to decline. It was however amusing when she tried to drag Harry into a broom closet and Harry didn't move though he was less than half her size. Stats were funny like that. Once the woman got it through her head Harry for some reason couldn't be dragged, she decided to just interview him there.

"So why did you decide to enter the Triwizard Tournament?"

Harry realized instantly the type of interview this was going to be. Unfortunately for the reporter she was facing the son of James Potter who had been raised on decades, if not longer, of cable television and video games. He answered, "I lost a bet with my Godfather and I am a man of my word, I don't welch on my bets."

"How do you feel about the tournament?"

"Terrified, I can only hope that most of my limbs remain attached and I am still alive at the end of the tournament."

"Where have you been for the last year?"

"My Godfather Sirius Black secretly escaped prison and rescued me from my abusive relatives."

"Notorious mass murderer Sirius Black?"

"That's the one, not sure if you'll be allowed to print that though since his escape has been really hush hush. It's thanks to him I'm not dead though. Still irresponsible of him though to make me enter my name if I lost that bet. Guess he didn't think I'd actually get chosen."

Dumbledore showed up a moment later but didn't hear what they had spoken about. Seeing his approach let the reporter know the interview was over so she promptly thanked Harry and left.

Dumbledore asked, "I hope you were careful Mr. Potter. Ms. Skeeter-"

Harry interrupted, "Is the type who wouldn't give the truth unless it's the juiciest piece of gossip around. I do hope she forgives my use of imagination and doesn't trust the words of an eleven year old orphan."

Dumbledore became quite confused at this but got the feeling Ms. Skeeter's story would not go the way she wanted.

The Headmaster escorted Harry to where the other champions were sitting and over to an old, crazy looking man. Dumbledore introduced the man as Mr. Ollivander and said, "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."

The strange man could tell the exact details of a wand and seemed alarmingly obsessed with them. He checked over Fleur's, then Cedric's, then Krum's, giving each a wave and casting a spell.

"Good," said Mr. Ollivander, handing Krum back his wand. "Which leaves. . . Mr. Potter." Harry got to his feet and walked past Krum to Mr. Ollivander and handed over his wand.

The strange man immediately frowned upon touching the wand and said, "Mr. Potter, this isn't the time for jokes, where is your wand?"

Harry feigned confusion and said, "Mr. Ollivander, I found that in a trunk in my father's old house and have been waving it since then." Harry took the wand and made a swish and flick motion before casting the levitation charm and causing a stool to float.

Dumbledore noticed this and asked, "What could be the problem Mr. Ollivander?"

The odd man took back Harry's wand and said, "Mr. Dumbledore, this is a stick," before handing it to the Headmaster. He then said, "I only recently heard about Mr. Potter's return and have been waiting for him for some time but he has yet to come in for a wand."

A number of stares were exchanged and conversations exchanged below hearing level. At least Harry knew that he couldn't transfigure a sack of goodies into a wand and take it into the tasks. Obviously someone had attempted such a thing before which was why there was a Wand Weighing prior to the tasks to begin with.

Bagman stated that after the wand weighing, a wand could not be changed which meant if Harry didn't have a wand now, it was against the rules for him to use one during the tasks.

Dumbledore immediately offered to give Harry his own wand, but Bagman said that each champion's school could not aid them and Dumbledore giving Harry his wand would certainly be considered aiding meaning it was not allowed.

When the other competitors heard this, each was trying to figure out where they could buy white lilies and what they would wear to the funeral.

Things got a little hectic the next week when a muggleborn student was found petrified next to an equally petrified ghost.

Harry knew that had the ghost not been there, the muggleborn student would have died.

Harry couldn't gamble on other students getting lucky on their own encounter so it was time to slay a basilisk. Some of the more ancient books he found did include the legends of the Chamber of Secrets which seemed to be built under the Black Lake. The Basilisk could likely come and go through the pipes but Harry had no way to access them and the entrance remained mostly hidden. Ok, Harry had already seen the concentration of exotic energy coming from the sink in the bathroom next to where they found Filch's cat. He was mostly stalling since he didn't want to die of something stupid.

The next Saturday Harry told Hermione and Neville he would be doing personal study for the rest of the day and headed off to the bathroom.

The moderately perverted nature of the ghost who resided there did not help the atmosphere.

Harry said, "Open," in parseltongue which caused the sink to shift and open. Harry jumped down which led to another slide that took him below the Black Lake.

Harry had the background noise meter of his settings hiked up to ten and slowly made his way through the dust and bones.

When Harry found a cast off skin, he was more than a little surprised he could shove the whole thing into his inventory. Harry wondered how that worked. The skin and what little Harry knew of Basilisks told Harry this one was likely over a thousand years old, perhaps bred by Salazar Slytherin himself.

Harry found another door that he opened with Parseltongue and entered the chamber beyond.

The chamber was thankfully empty though the magic on the giant face at the end of the room told Harry it likely opened up when addressed. In that case, Harry had time.

Harry removed the half dozen stereo speakers from his inventory and spread them around. Once finished, Harry analyzed the structure of the exotic energy and found what was basically the password.

Harry shouted, "Speak to me Salazar Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts four," in parseltongue which engaged the face to open.

Harry closed his eyes and used only his energy sense. The giant snake that came out was at least sixty feet long.

Harry pressed the play button on the remote in his pocket and every speaker loudly called out the sound of crowing roosters.

The snake hissed in pain but recognized Harry was the source. It smashed its head at Harry who jumped out of the way. The basilisk opened its mouth and struck out but missed only due to disorientation.

Harry recognized from the beast's energy that the sound was definitely harming it but not enough to kill it on it's own. It was a thousand years old after all.

Harry conjured a spear and slashed the beast. Although Basilisk hide was highly resistant to magic, it was only mostly resistant to weapon damage and Harry's sharp spear and fast swing was enough to break the serpent's skin causing it to cry out in pain and anger.

It backed up and swung its tail at Harry who used the spear to vault above the swung which smashed violently into the wall.

Harry conjured another spear and taunted the beast by getting closer. The basilisk was not considered the king of serpents without reason and Harry's taunt caused the great beast to strike Harry with its fangs.

Harry positioned himself and stabbed his spear through the snake's mouth. However before it could penetrate far enough the shaft of the spear broke and the rest of the conjured spear faded.

The basilisk reared back and flailed about faster than Harry had time to dodge sending him flying across the floor. A fourth of Harry's Health vanished which made Harry instantly regret not putting more points in STR since that increased his physical defense.

Harry ducked another tail swipe looking to tear his head off his shoulders and conjured another spear. The massive snake faced Harry once more and gave a repeat performance of trying to bite him but getting stabbed in the mouth. The spear snapped again but Harry knew it was coming this time and was able to dodge the follow up attack.

At this rate Harry would need five or six more stabs or one lucky shot, but the Basilisk only needed a single lucky shot. The continued blaring of crowing roosters caused the ancient creature enormous pain which was the only reason it lacked its usual patience that made it so deadly. The longer the fight went, the more it would get used to the pain, however.

But the basilisk wasn't the only one learning. Harry had never gone an entire fight relying only on his energy sense and now he was kicking himself for it. Harry was beginning to notice that before the giant magical beast moved, the flow of exotic energy would shift around. Harry was starting to figure out how to predict the snake's movements from this alone. Mostly. He wasn't an expert in snake biology after all.

Harry's next conjured spear wasn't a light one as the prior spears had been, this one was solid metal with a spear head that was thicker than normal. It was in fact too thick to pierce deeply into flesh, unless it pierced a location there was already a hole.

Harry concentrated with all he could and stood before the snake. Harry bent his knee and dropped the tip of the spear, feigning weakness and injury. Though struck twice before, the basilisk's instincts couldn't stop it from striking at that moment. Harry felt the energy in the creature's muscles burst out and in that moment Harry launched himself forward and drove the spear up. He didn't piece the exact spot of his prior two shots but the roof of the beast' mouth had already been compromised and thanks to the strength of the strike the spear successfully shattered the roof of the snake's mouth and pierced into the brain, silencing the millennial old serpent for good.

Unfortunately for Harry, his plan had a minor setback.

[You have been Poisoned with Basilisk Venom.]

The spear went further into the skull than Harry anticipated nearly piercing through the other side of the head. Those fangs Harry had been so careful to stay away from using the length of his spear shaft had pierced his arm.

Harry felt the poison reduce his health without signs of stopping. Soon his body's integrity would be compromised and he would dissolve into particles of magic and lose a level. It was certainly going to hurt.

Suddenly a mass of exotic energy and another form of energy Harry didn't recognize flashed into existence next to him. It took the form of a thin orange and red turkey shaped bird. A phoenix?

The phoenix walked over to Harry and tilted its head over the wound and produced three teardrops which fell into the wound which had yet to close.

[Basilisk Venom Neutralized.

You have gained the Perk Poison Immunity from having a neutralized form of the strongest poison running through your veins.]

Harry raised an eyebrow and turned to the Phoenix and said, "Um, thank you?"

The phoenix nodded and trotted away before bursting once more into flames and leaving him alone.

Once Harry was no longer dying, something rather odd happened. Harry felt the mass of dispersing exotic energy that filled the Basilisk suddenly converge on him.

[You have leveled up.

You have gained the Perk Instant Death Immunity from absorbing the essence of a Basilisk's eyes.]

Harry looked over the details of his new perk and wondered if this meant he could shrug off the killing curse. He could still be crushed by a boulder, but any effect that simply caused instant death wouldn't work on him anymore. That was useful.

Harry thought it was quite the windfall, but he did remember that Hell mode did come with fabulous prizes.

After recovering his strength, Harry got up and touched the Basilisk on instinct. The entire beast was somehow dragged into his inventory but not as a giant snake carcass. Instead of a single inventory slot showing dead basilisk, there were inventory slots filled with basilisk skin, slots filled with basilisk venom and basilisk blood somehow already in vials, and slots with basilisk meat, basilisk bones, and basilisk fangs.

Harry didn't find any Basilisk eyes in his inventory but that didn't surprise him. His combat strategy revolved around leaving the eyes undamaged so he could use them later, but their essence which contained their value seemed to have been absorbed by Harry. Considering how useful that perk would be, he wasn't going to complain.

Though the eyes were useless, the skin still had properties to resist exotic energy. Harry was tempted to take it somewhere to make armor, but decided against it for now. It would be better if he started on a Crafter Path and once it was strong enough Harry could make something himself without wasting it.

At this point Harry likely would have left if the basilisk hadn't smashed a wall revealing a secret corridor. Yup, going down there.

Harry hadn't noticed the wall with energy sense meaning the path was likely hidden through a mechanism rather than magic.

Harry lit the torches in the room which seemed to be a private study. Harry almost gleefully proceeded to rob, no, loot the library into his inventory. Yup, it was Salazar's.

Harry silently thanked the dead man before leaving.