29 Ep. 29

After dinner, Dumbledore introduced the Triwizard Tournament to the students.

"Settle down, students. I have an announcement to make! We are to have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming 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."

There was mayhem in the Great Hall. You see, Dumbledore didn't exactly explain why the Quidditch Cup had to be abandoned, nor why there were two visiting schools. Obviously, this reveal would make anyone giddy.

"Settle down!" No one cared about the old man. Too excited.

"Oi. The Headmaster said 'Settle down'. Are you going to listen, or should I make you?" I said, boosting my voice with my charming magic. Not the Veela one, the Incubus one.

There was instant calm in the Great Hall and Dumbledore could continue. He was also a little dazed, but I didn't use powerful magic, so he shrugged it off almost immediately.

"Right. As I was saying, we will host the Triwizard Tournament. The tournament will consist of three tasks of different nature. I assure you that all the tasks are grueling and will pose a challenge to even the brightest wizards and witches. For that reason, the Ministry of Magic has decided that only those already of age, meaning 17 and older, can participate. To choose the contestants, we will use this!" He unveiled the Goblet of Fire.

"The Goblet of Fire, an impartial judge. Anyone who wishes to submit themselves as champions can do so by writing your name on a slip of parchment and dropping it inside the goblet. You have until tomorrow after dinner to submit your names, exactly 24 hours. I have personally inscribed an Age Line around the goblet, so that no one under the age of 17 may enter. I will repeat it once more: the tasks will be grueling, but the champions are forced to participate once the goblet chooses them. Now, off you go!"

I was the first to stand up with a slip of parchment already in my hand. Why would I go to the Common Room just to come back here? I could see that, every step I took, the smiles on the Hogwarts students widened. If I were to enter, we would win for sure. That's an objective assessment of myself compared to all other students.

When I did throw my slip in, there was thunderous applause.

"We won!" shouted Fred and George

"I wanted to participate…" said Katrina. Sorry, but it's better if you don't.

"Sorry, but why are they already celebrating?" asked Gabrielle.

"Ah, that's because I am absolute in Hogwarts. The moment I decided to participate, I had already won the tournament."

"Humph! My sister will show you who's boss!" She said while pouting. God, how can such a creature even exist?! Too pure for my sinful eyes! Well, anyone is too sinful in front of Gabrielle. I pinched her cheeks a little. Just too adorable.

I decided to stay in the Great Hall to look at how people tried to creatively put their names in, even though they were underaged. There was a first year that brought out his fishing pole, so another fifth year tried to put his name in with it. Let's just say that he looked more like a reel than the actual thing. Fred and George still tried to put their names in with an ageing potion. Daphne Greengrass actually tried using runes to trick the Age Line. Props to her for getting the right idea, but she was just too weak to keep the trick up for enough time.

Oh, did I mention that Ron now had a decent friendship going on with Harry since he saved the redhead last year after Sirius kidnapped him and his 'rat'? I didn't, did I? Well, he does, but it's not at the level of besties as in canon. Oh? Someone just blew up. Must be Finnigan. Did… Did he just try to blow up the Age Line?! He's mental, but also a legend.

Fleur just gracefully dropped a slip in. Nothing less from someone who's partly Veela. Well, most Beauxbatons students were quite orderly while dropping their names. On the other hand, Durmstrang only sent two students: Viktor Krum and another extra that I didn't bother identifying. Some Crabbe guy. Crabbe… Oh, right, that guy. Strange choice, Igor, but I guess that he has some sort of plan.

The next day, classes were pretty much a formality, even Potions. All the students and the teachers were curious to see who would be chosen. Ah, Dumbledore informed my mother again, so I got my third howler in seven years. Long story short: 'if you die, I'll kill you again. If you win, you'll get a reward'. I glared at him all throughout breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This is the third time- actually second time- that he does something like this.

In the end, it was about time for the champions to be selected. Dumbledore had everyone quieten down, then the flame in the goblet turned red.

"The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum!" cheers ensued and Krum was escorted to a side room.

Another red flame, another name. "The champion of Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!" Even more cheers than before erupted, in particular from the male students.

Then, the 'last' red flame and the last name. "The Hogwarts champion… Well, we all knew it would end up like this: Azagareth Maleficarum!" All hell let loose. Like, the floor was trembling, the candles were quivering, my eardrums were almost bleeding (figuratively). I stood up, shook Dumbledore's hand, then turned to the Goblet of Fire.

"Azagareth, my boy, you need to head to the side room…" said Dumbledore.

"Oh, yes. I am just waiting for the last name." A deathly silence fell in the hall.

"What do you mean?" Just as Dumbledore finished asking that, the flame turned red and spit out another paper slip.

I grabbed it myself and read it: "Harry Potter! The fourth champion from an 'independent institution', whatever that means!" I passed the paper slip to Dumbledore and headed to the side room. While passing, I whispered: "Bring him to the room. Maybe I can fix it."

Inside the side room, I found the first two champions.

"Hey there! Hope we will have a nice competition. Excuse me if I arrived a little later, but there has been a problem out there."

Krum raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean a 'problem'?"

"Someone added Harry Potter's name under a fourth school, so he is the fourth champion in this tournament. He isn't capable of doing it alone, neither did he want to participate, I checked with Legilimency. Someone purposefully put the name inside the goblet."

Fleur covered her mouth and got worried about the kid. She's been staying with the Slytherins the last couple of days, so she met the him.

"Sabotage?" asked Krum

"Probably. However I should be able to do something. Don't worry, in any case the tournament won't change. If everything goes wrong, we will just have to compete with an extra kid."

"I see. I look forward to competing with you." he extended his hand, so I shook it like the bro chad I am. How was that meme? 'Two totally straight dudes chilling in the tub five feet apart because they're not gay'? Why did I even remember about that?

After a few minutes, Dumbledore, the other two Headmasters, Snape, and Crouch (Oh, yes, he was there too) came in with Harry.

"I protest!" said Maxime

"It is unbelievable that Hogwarts resorted to such methods!" said Karkaroff.

They both started making a fuss while Harry, Dumbles, and Snape were looking at me calmly. I couldn't take those two old fools, so I cast a spell to take away their voice. "I will have order. And I will have it now." My eyes flashed a red glint, which I caught from the reflection in an old trophy. "Harry doesn't have the capabilities to put his name in the goblet, you should all recognize it. Even I would take an hour to modify that artefact, and I am, well, me. This is someone else's doing. Headmaster, do you mind if I see that slip of parchment?"

"Here you go." he said and passed the burnt thing to me. I used my eyes to check what kinds of magic were there. I ignored the shudders from everyone present in the room.

"Let's see… There is certainly a Contract magic placed on it. I can tell that it is connected to both the Goblet of Fire and Harry. Well, the same applies to my slip of parchment." I said, also taking out my own slip that I had pilfered from Dumbledore's pocket before coming in the room. "There is also a remnant of dark magic, probably an Unforgivable. *Sniff* It also smells like a certain someone..." I started folding the parchment into an origami.

"What is he doing?!" asked Crouch. He only received shrugs and curious looks in response. I, on the other hand, finished my bird origami.

I brought the paper construct close to my face. "Fly. Find your owner." The bird chirped to life and started flying. It ended up going back towards the Great Hall, so I followed it. "What are you waiting for? Come with me." The rest of the people in the room started hurrying back to the Great Hall. The birdie flew high in the hall, then zeroed in on Moody. I gave a quick glance to the Triwizard Cup and confirmed that it is already a pre-programmed Portkey. Fantastic, I can get rid of him. The paper bird landed on Moody's shoulder and started pecking at him.

I used magic to move everyone that was close to him in another location. Moody was already panicking, but still kept up his act.

"What is the meaning of this, brat?!"

"You know, the first time I saw you I could smell a very distinct smell on you: Goblin piss. Now, I am sure that you don't drink Goblin piss for leisure, nor would a great Auror like you allow a Goblin to piss on you, so that left only one little option: Polyjuice Potion." I started walking towards him while taking away his wands and flask with magic. "Now, tell me who you are and I might just spare you."

I 'Accio'-ed my cane and it flew from my enchanted pouch into my hands. I unsheathed my sword and continued walking towards him.

"Dumbledore! Call back this crazy mutt! He must be under Imperius!"

"Did you already forget? Imperius doesn't work on me. I will give you one last chance, then I will start cutting you up. Who are you?" I put my sword on his shoulder blade. Polyjuice or not, he would lose his limb today.

He started laughing like the madman he really is. "He, hehe, hahaha! So you found me… Well, no matter. HE will kill you, filthy mon-" I cut his left arm. He started screaming and holding his shoulder.

"I see that you do not understand human language. You did give me an interesting information: you're a Death Eater." Many loud gasps could be heard at that point. "Well, let's see who you really are." I used a reversal spell on him and slowly Barty Crouch Jr. appeared in front of everyone.

Well, it was him, just without an arm and an eye that grew into the magical eye. It looked quite gross and painful. "I see. Bartemius Crouch Junior. Headmaster, I will leave him to you and the Aurors from the Ministry. I would suggest directly extracting all of his memories, before anyone can occult the evidence. A Dementor's kiss or something similar would render this capture useless."

"Yes, let's get him out of here. Igor, Madame Maxime, please follow me to my office. You too, Barty. Azagareth, calm down the students and try to find the real Moody. Oh, dispel your spell on our guests." I nodded and acknowledged his request. They all brought Crouch Jr. away, excluding his arm.

I picked up the severed arm and sat on top of the teacher's table. I started snacking on the leftover blood. It had a rotten flavor, so I almost spit it out. I threw the arm away and looked at the students.

"People! Students! Visitors! Whoever you are! Silence!" The room calmed down almost immediately, courtesy of my charming magic. "Good. As you have seen, yet again our DADA professor was a nutjob. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for us, he has been discovered!" I took a dramatic pause, which allowed them to internalise the good news.

"Now, the Triwizard Tournament will still happen, but I am sure that our Headmasters and Headmistress will put in place several security measures to keep all of us safe. Other than that, Harry Potter will have to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, unless I get permission to tamper with the magical contract that binds the contestants, so we will most likely have four contestants in this year's tournament!" Another pause, which allowed me to look at all of their relieved faces.

"Now, I want you all to keep calm for now and stay here with the Professors while I deal with the Headmaster's request. Are you all capable of doing that, or should I knock you out?" I received a room full of nods. No one wants to get knocked out, after all. Oh, what good pets I have. I meant fellow students! Yeah, definitely.

Anyway, I left the students with Snape, McGonagall, Flitwick, and so on. Most of the Professors would be useless in a fight against a real Death Eater, but I had basically put in Azkaban almost all of them, along with actually killing them myself by draining them of their blood. At any rate, they should be safe.

I headed to 'Moody's office and opened his trunk. I found a regular enlarged compartment, then I cast a spell to override the wards and enchantments in order to access Moody's prison. I found him in better condition than in canon, so I floated him out of the trunk and casted a few healing spells on him. I also added a suspended animation spell, to keep him still while the important stuff with the Death Eater is going on. I apparated back to the Great Hall and had him float in place behind the teachers' table.

Okay, now that that is done, I should be able to have a pretty relaxed tournament. Unless Dumbles decides to interfere if 'Junior' spills something about the Portkey. Well, I can just talk with him if that happens. A pretty good day in the end.