Chapter 7 - The Twiwizard Tournament

She sat there like always, the sounds of father drunkenly yelling inside the house as the bright moon glared down upon her. While she was far too young to understand exactly what he was talking about, she knew he was upset. Was it because she did something strange again?

She didn't like it when he was upset. He would hit and scream at her, calling her a freak, as if that would somehow make him feel better. That's why she sat outside, on the front step of the house, waiting for her father calm down.

However, today was different. This time, someone approached her, a boy, looking barely older than her. What caught her attention were his eyes, they shone a bright golden colour that seemed to glow in the dark. It seemed so pure, so warm, unlike the dark cold look of her fathers.

The moment he spoke, it was filled with concern. "Do you need help?"

She tilted her head, not knowing his intent. The boy was asking if she needed help? Did he even look at himself? A slightly torn oversized jacket, scratches on his face, and he looked out of breath, as if he was running from, or after something. In short, if anyone needed help, it was him.

So she asked him back. "Do you need help?"

The boy looked taken aback, as if the thought never occurred to him. "I...don't know."

She pondered over those words, testing the limits of her young mind as she tried to comprehend them. Why wouldn't he know? Isn't it natural for one to know when they need help? Is what she thought with difficulty. At least, when her father needed help, he would always yell at the phone for money.

"Is he hurting you?" The boy asked, pointing at the door behind her before pointing at a bruise on her arm.

She simply nodded as the boy frowned. He looked as if he wanted to do something about it, but he knew that he didn't have the means to do anything. That's probably why he looked frustrated.

"Can you...sit with me? Until he calms down?" She asked hesitantly.

He looked surprise before nodding. The two children sat in silence for a long time, even long after the yelling had stopped, they still sat there, finding comfort in each others presence as the girl fell asleep. The boy kept watch over her, all throughout the night. Not once did he nod off, not once did he move. He could have continued his search for that one thing he was searching for, but still, he stayed. All until the pitch black sky up above lit up with the first sign of the new day coming.

When the girl woke up, it was bright, the sun up high. She found the torn jacket covering her body, like a blanket, and the boy nowhere to be seen.

...

"Vincent, wake up, we're nearly there."

Vincent groggily opened his eyes and yawned. He stared outside the compartment window where a large castle across a lake came into view, the castle that was known as Hogwarts. Along with Harry, Hermione, Ron and Arnya, they had shared a compartment of the Hogwarts Express together. It seemed that Neville, however, had joined sometime along the way while he was asleep.

It's been a good couple of weeks since the Quidditch world cup incident. Vincent had returned to London the day after, staying another night at the Weasley's before heading back. He had told Mr. Weasley about his suspicions, but even with the evidence that the Omnioculars provide, it seemed like he still couldn't believe it was possible that Crouch could do such a thing or be somewhat involved, being a someone who values the rules over his own son. Mr. Weasley did suggest that it must have been some sort of malfunction in the Omnioculars, despite how unlikely it was.

While Vincent did somewhat expect the outcome where no one would believe him, it was still somewhat frustrating nevertheless.

Vincent's gaze turned to Arnya whom was back to her usual activity of reading. For some reason, he felt like there was something she wasn't telling him. The feeling happened a couple of days after the incident, when they were both roaming the streets of London. He had no basis for it, but the feeling still remained.

He then noticed Ron's bad mood and turned to the others with a questioning look.

"Malfoy came by," said Harry, making Vincent give an understanding nod, knowing full well how the boy could get to Ron.

He heard a small hoot and turned to see a small, little owl, the size of a small ball, energetically flapping about it's cage. Sometime after Vincent left the Burrow, Sirius had gifted the little thing to Ron to make up for the fact that he doesn't have a pet anymore thanks to Sirius' actions the previous year. It's name was Pigwidgeon, a name that was made by Ginny apparently.

Vincent thought the little guy was somewhat adorable and chuckled as he scratched it's chin through the cage. He felt a tug at his ear and turned to see Nyx puffing out it's cheeks in jealousy with Blimp zooming around in circles behind it, trying to catch it's tail. He couldn't help but smile as he patted Nyx's head with a finger.

When they exited the train, with thunderous sounds coming from above. Harry spotted Hagrid and gave a shout of greeting which the kind giant of a man returned.

"I really don't fancy the thought of going across the lake in this weather," Hermione muttered, shivering in the cold rain.

As they got across the platform with the rest of the students, they spotted several carriages that stood there, waiting for them. Vincent scratched the bony-like, winged horses that pulled them, hearing them neigh in delight.

"Vincent, what are you doing?" Harry asked asked.

"Nothing," said Vincent as he joined them in the carriages, thankful for the cover it provided from the rain.

With the door closing behind them, the carriage was pulled forward, splashing it's way towards Hogwarts. The moment they passed the gates and reached the entrance, they all rushed through, trying not to stay too long in the rain. They only looked up the moment they entered the torch-lit entrance hall.

"Blimey," said Ron, shaking his head and sending water everywhere, "if that keeps up the lake's going to overflow. I'm soak—woah?!"

Vincent dragged Ron out of the way as a large red balloon filled with water fell where he was just standing making the redhead glare upwards.

"What the bloody hell Peeves?!" Ron yelled.

A rather small little man was floating above them, dressed in a bell-covered hat and an orange bow tie. His face had a malicious smile as he held several balloons in his arms, taking aim again.

Vincent flicked his wrist sending a rod rocketing forward, stabbing through Peeves balloon in his hand. Peeves, in surprise, let slip several balloons from his arms, dropping most of it on the floor where students backed away from.

"OI?! Can't you see where your throwing?! I'm trying to have some fun over here!" said Peeves, annoyed as Vincent caught his returning rod, gaining the attention of a majority of the students.

"The Mad Scientist is back?"

"Again?"

"What kind of crap is he going to do this year?"

Vincent could only groan in response to all of the conversation around him as Professor McGonagall came dashing out of the Great Hall to reprimand Peeves. Due to his infamy, plenty of the students had a downright terrible impression of him of one who seemingly loves to blow stuff up.

"Well, I guess that's my fault," Vincent could only think miserably as they all entered the Great Hall, showing all it's splendour.

Golden plates and goblets reflected the light of the ceiling full of floating candles. The four house tables were full of students, talking to each other, and the head table had all the teachers keeping watch. Although, Vincent noticed there was one empty seat.

"Must be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," Vincent thought as he made eye contact with the man next to the seat, a rather sallow-faced, hook-nosed man, the Potion master, Snape, who after looking at him gave a curt nod before returning to look over the other students.

Also Vincent's teacher in potion making. The man had taught Vincent the fundamentals in the craft, leading Vincent to experiment on his own. To that point, Vincent regarded the man as a mentor of sorts.

Vincent carried Aryna off of her wheelchair and into her seat, making her give a nod of thanks just as someone came up to them.

"Hey! Vincent! Harry!" Colin Creevy, a third year student came up to the two of them as they sat down.

"Hey Colin," Vincent greeted with a smile, as did Harry, although he looked somewhat wary. The kid may be a bit of a fanboy to Harry, but he really did like how energetic he was.

"Guess what? My brother is starting this year!"

"You have a brother?" Vincent asked.

"Yep! His name is Dennis! I hope he's in Gryffindor!" Colin said excitedly.

"Do siblings end up in the same house?" Harry asked.

"Not really, the Patil twin's are in Gryffindor and Ravenclaw separately. They even look the same, so you'd think they'd be together, right?" answered Hermione.

After some time waiting, the doors of the Great Hall opened again, making the once noisy hall silent. Professor McGonagall was leading a long line of first years to the front of the hall. Since it was raining outside, the whole lot of them were drenched, shivering in the cold as they lined up.

Professor McGonagall placed a three-legged stool before the first years with a very old, dirty patched hat. Vincent recognised it as the Sorting Hat, a living hat that's sorts the first years into their houses. Vincent also suspected that it has other abilities due to his interactions with it, making him realise that it held many secrets.

"Speaking of which, I was never sorted was I?" Vincent thought as he sat through the hat's song and sorting of the children. "Guess that makes me a freeloader at Gryffindor, huh."

"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted, as a small mousy-haired boy took off the hat and ran excitedly to the Gryffindor table.

"Colin, I fell in!" he said shrilly, throwing himself into an empty seat. "It was brilliant! And something in the water grabbed me and pushed me back in the boat!"

Vincent assumed that the young boy was Colin's brother, Dennis. They both seemed to share the same sort of energy.

"Dennis! Look here, this is one of the people I've told you about! He's the Mad Scientist!" Colin introduced Dennis.

Vincent winced as the young boy looked up at him in awe. He gave a smile as he held out a hand. "How are you doing? Dennis right?"

"Yes sir! I've always wanted to meet you! Is it true you nearly blew up Hogwarts?!" Dennis asked excitedly as he shook hands with Vincent.

Vincent's smile turned slightly cramped. "That...is somewhat true..."

"Wicked..." Dennis had literal sparkles in his eyes as Vincent pained expression expressed how very much he'd like to move on from that particular topic.

With the last boy being called to Hufflepuff, Professor McGonagall removed the hat and stool, carrying them away as Dumbledore got to his feet. The old man's silver hair and beard shone amongst the candlelight, his eyes carrying that mysterious twinkle in them as he gazed over his students.

He opened his arms in welcome as his deep voice echoed across the hall. "I have only two words to say to you...Tuck in."

"Hear, hear!" said Harry and Ron loudly as the empty dishes filled magically before their eyes.

Vincent loaded his own plates with several fried vegetables and turkey legs before digging in. As he did so, Nearly Headless Nick came around, initiating a conversation with them about Peeves making a mess in the kitchens earlier since he wasn't allowed to attend the feast due to a council held by the ghosts.

"There's no knowing what he'd do if he attends, no wonder the ghosts didn't want him here," Vincent thought to himself.

Suddenly, a clang sounded out, making them turn to see Hermione looking shocked as her knocked over golden goblet stained the white linin cloth.

"There are house-elves here?" she asked, staring in horror at Nearly Headless Nick. "Here at Hogwarts?"

"Certainly," said Nearly Headless Nick, looking surprised at her reaction. "The largest number in any dwelling in Britain, I believe. Over a hundred."

"Remember Dobby? He sometimes helps me out when selling stuff during the Quidditch matches," said Vincent, making Hermione turn on him.

"You knew?" Hermione seemed to glare at him, making Vincent nod. "And you condone this...slave labor?!"

Vincent frowned. "Even if I don't like it Hermione, this type of thing has been going on for thousands of years, if not longer, what do you want me to do about it?"

Hermione looked almost disappointed in Vincent as she turned back to her food, leaving it untouched. She refused to eat another bite after that and gave Vincent the cold shoulder.

Vincent sighed as he continued to eat. To say that he wasn't bothered by her words would be a lie, but at the very least, he shouldn't waste the food that the elves made for them. Again, Vincent had no idea how to respond to such a situation. He had always helped those who he could help with his power. Never once had he had to go against something deeply ingrained within a society, a society that he should have had nothing to do with in the first place. He wasn't even sure if he should do anything about it, given that the House-elves took pride and joy in their work.

He stabbed his spoon into his pudding with a little frustration as he pondered over the situation, something that didn't go unnoticed by Harry who looked a little concerned, but didn't say anything.

When all the dessert had been finished, Dumbledore once again got to his feet, silencing the Hall once again.

"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices.

Dumbledore went on to explain several small things which included the boundaries, and several items that had been banned by Mr. Filch, the caretaker of Hogwarts. To the dismay of many, Dumbledore also announced that the Quidditch games would be cancelled for the year due to an event that would be held at Hogwarts.

"What?" Vincent heard Harry gasp.

Dumbhedore went on, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -"

He was cut off by the sounds of thunder, accompanied by a loud banging sound as the Great Hall doors burst open. A man shrouded in a black cloak, holding a long staff walked up towards the teachers table. He lowered his hood, revealing a mane of messy, dark grey hair. Every step he took was accompanied by a dull clunk. When he reached the table, a flash of lightning illuminated his face, leaving gasps of horror and shock across the students as they looked at it.

Vincent had never seen such a face. Every bit of skin revealed seemed to be covered by scars, his mouth looked more like a slash in the face and a large part of his nose was missing. But what really caught his attention was the man's eyes. One of them was small, dark, and beady while the other was somewhat large, with an electric blue pupil moving about ceaselessly, as if it was out of control. It kept spinning around, even to the back to the man's head, showing only whiteness at the front.

After he shook hands with Dumbledore, he made his way to his seat, sitting down.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody."

No one clapped except Dumbledore and Hagrid who stopped fairly quickly after realising no one was joining them. It seemed that Moody's odd appearance transfixed everyone there.

"Moody?" Vincent heard Harry muttered to Ron. "Mad-Eye Moody? The one your dad went to help this morning?"

"Who's Mad-Eye Moody?" Vincent asked curiously.

"He's an Auror, one of the best even," Ron explained as he whispered in a low, awe voice. "Around half the prison of Azkaban is filled because of him."

Vincent gave a low whistle, as he looked back at the man who's blue eye was constantly jumping around, analysing everything in it's sight.

Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honor 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."

"You're joking!" Fred Weasley's voice echoed loudly within the Hall, making several people laugh, taking away the attention from the new teacher

"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang."

"There's other schools of magic other than Hogwarts?" Vincent asked, curious.

"Of course, look at Hogwarts, you can't believe that this houses every single magically gifted child from around the globe do you? There's plenty of schools all around the world other than the three just mentioned." Hermione seemed to forget about giving him the cold shoulder as she explained.

"Huh, that's pretty neat," said Vincent as Dumbledore continued to explain the tournament.

"A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."

"Death toll?" Hermione whispered, looking alarmed. However, she seemed to be the only one that seemed anxious about that. Everyone else were either whispering excitedly to one another.

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.

"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."

Vincent looked around the Hall, seeing people looking excited at the prospect of such glory and riches. Everyone seemed to daydream about being the Hogwarts champion. That was until Dumbledore crushed a majority of their dreams.

"Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion. I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.."

The disappointment was immeasurable to say the least. Plenty of people shouted out in outrage, looking furious at their chance for fame being taken away from them.

"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"

As everyone exited the Great Hall, Vincent felt a chill at his back, almost like someone was staring at him, and turned just as he reached the doors. All he could see was all the teachers making chatting amongst themselves, nothing of the sort was out of place.

Vincent lingered around a little longer before turning back and

As everyone discussed how they could possibly get around the age restriction, particularly the Weasley twins, .

Not a single feeling of wanting to enter could be felt as he climbed the steps to the dormitories.

"It has nothing to do with me anyway," Vincent thought absent-mindedly as Neville talked about how his grandma would have wanted him to try. "Wonder who's going to be picked and what the challenges are."

"What about you Vincent? Think you'd like to enter?" Ron asked as they walked past the Fat Lady's portrait and into the Gryffindor Tower.

"As if," said Vincent. "I'm fine just watching. I really don't want to stand out more than I already have."

"But, think about all the glory and fame!" Ron argued, eyes gleaming at the possibility.

Vincent shook his head as stopped beside Arnya whom had silently tagged along with them without a single sound.

"Arnya..." Vincent began before stopping. "No never mind. See you tomorrow. You too Hermione."

Arnya just gave a questioning look before nodding as she wheeled with Hermione towards the girls dormitories.

Vincent sighed as he scratched his head. He wanted to ask what was on her mind, but decided that if she didn't say anything to him about it, it was probably none of his business.

"Well, at least I didn't get into trouble on my first day back," Vincent muttered as he slipped into bed. "That's at least something, right?"