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Chapter 22: Danger at the Cup

Thanks for all the reviews. I wasn't going to have them stay at the Cup, but then I changed my mind and let my muse take over.

Every time I went to edit this, it got longer, so it might have a few mistakes.

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The next day was spent pretty much like the first. The boys wandered around and met people they would have known in school, had they attended Hogwarts. There were some diehard fans of the Irish quidditch team, which only made sense given the location. Though there were quite a few that had kind words to say about Viktor Krum, who was the seeker of the Bulgarian team. It was a tossup on who was more popular.

They met quite a few that could tell them the stories that happened over the years at Hogwarts, and they slowly got the picture of what life was like at that school. To say they were unimpressed was an understatement. The bigotry and bullying were worse than they thought. Hermione had been sheltered in Ravenclaw. Had she been in Gryffindor or Slytherin, it would have been ten times worse.

Those two houses' rivalry was legendary. It didn't help that Dumbledore and Snape helped propagate it either. Both by letting Slytherins get away with murder, and Dumbledore by letting Gryffindors get away with a slap on the wrist when they were caught doing anything wrong. The other two houses laughed at the house point system. They said it was pointless with Snape and Dumbledore giving out and taking points.

In what would have been the boys' first year, there was the troll, the dragon, and they found out that there was a corridor that had traps that started with a Cerberus. They didn't know how it ended because no one they talked to had reached the end. But there was devil's snare, flying keys, a giant chess board, and another troll. That was as far as anyone got.

The second year, the year that Ginny Weasley died, there were people petrified, as in frozen solid. Some missed the whole year, because the headmaster didn't want them to order the ingredient for the potion, mandrakes, to revive them since they were growing it in the greenhouse. They knew how that ended. At least they thought they did.

The third year was quiet besides the regular bullying and such.

There were also the horrible teachers; Snape, Binns, someone named Trelawney. Plus, the string of DADA professors; Quirrell, Lockhart, and Balers. All of them were bad, and the kids they talked to, all felt that they hadn't been taught anything to defend themselves, let alone any defense against the dark arts.

Two of the three DADA professors died while performing their duties to the school. Quirrell and Balers. No one knows how they died, and Lockhart had gone with the headmaster to slay the beast and he was never heard from again. Dumbledore said he fought gallantly, and that he left on another great adventure.

That there was a curse on the DADA position was an open secret. Everyone they talked to wondered who they were going to have next, and how they were going to die. There was even a wager going on. Much to Harry's and Neville's amusement and chagrin. It was a morbid thing to bet on.

They did find out how the school had kept things quiet. The kids couldn't talk about what happened at the school to adults. Not about any of it. If an adult came up to them while they were telling Harry and Neville, they started talking about the weather of all things. But they could spill it all to other children, which they seemed to want to. The Hogwarts kids didn't know them from Jack, but they wanted to vent to someone new, and vent they did.

"You know if we hadn't had to run because Dumbledore couldn't help put his crooked nose into where we lived, we could have had that party years ago," Harry said as they made their way back to the tent. "Mum got so freaked out that they all but abandoned that plan."

"You mean that networking party? Yeah, I think Gran was looking forward to that too," Neville said, remembering that she had had it all planned out and it was going to be grand. "She was also a bit relieved because my parents were getting better little by little," he added.

"It's too bad that it never happened. Oh well, we still have the correspondence that we still fill out weekly," Harry said, referring to the post they still got from some of his diehard fans. No matter how hard he tried to talk them down, they still wrote at least once a week. Some were even high on the political hierarchy.

"I wonder if we can pick up a few pen pals," Neville said, looking around at the people milling about gossiping. "We know the names of a few kids now," he added, remembering some of the more connected people they talked to, like the Greengrass and Bones girls. There was the Weasley kids as well, but they might not be up to talking to anyone. The Patil twins seemed to be open to communication.

"We'll see," Harry said as they moved along the pathway. They were almost to the tent, and he was still going over all he had heard. Maybe if it was a slow year for the Hogwarts students, they might be open to writing. They could continue using their aliases. He wasn't sure how that worked with post owls though. He'd have to ask Sirius or his mum.

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While Harry and Neville were listening to the kids, the adults had been getting the lowdown on what they could too. Mostly gossip, but it was better than nothing. If they found something juicy, they went straight to the source and got the truth of it. That's how they found out what happened to Ginny Weasley, and the coverup of her death.

"It was Malfoy," Sirius said as they gathered in the tent before the game. They had about two hours before it started, and they were all winding down. "He paid for the coverup," he added with a grimace. He hated it when that man threw his money around to get what he wanted. Narcissa was his cousin and married to the git, making Malfoy family.

"Why?" Harry asked, very much confused. That didn't make a lick of sense. Malfoys hated the Weasleys and vice versa.

"He was the reason the beast was released," Sirius said, wanting nothing more than to go to the press with that news. Even if it did come back to bite his family a bit. "I got it straight from Arthur. I found a loophole in his vow. I just told him to start discussing it with his family and then left the room. I came back in as Padfoot and listened in. In a roundabout way, they told me that there was a diary that his daughter was writing in that Malfoy had slipped her. She opened the famed Chamber of Secrets," he said, looking around the room to see them all staring at him intently.

"The kids we talked to told us about that. The Chamber of Secrets bit, not the diary," Harry confirmed. "They were scared shitless that year," he added, taking a swat to the back of his head for his cussing. "About five students were petrified, and a ghost," he finished, glaring at his mum from under his bangs.

"Language," Lily said, then nodded for Sirius to continue. She ignored the glare. She had been correct; Harry was a moody teen.

"Dumbledore finally figured out where the Chamber was when the last message was written at the end of the year. He took his DADA professor, Lockhart, down there with Fawkes, his phoenix, to kill the beast. Only he and the bird returned with a destroyed diary. When he confronted Malfoy about the book, he struck a deal with the man. Lockhart was to disappear, off on a new adventure, Ginny was to be sent off to a new school, even though both were dead, and the rest of the students were put under a geas not to tell tales out of school," the dogman said, snarling like the dog he could turn into. It was a coverup of major proportions. "They tricked the Weasleys into making a vow to go along with their plot."

"He just didn't want his school's good name tarnish," Sally said, she too was growling. Remus reached over and rubbed her back to calm his usually laidback girlfriend down. Mandy and Lily didn't look much better.

"That about sums that up," Sirius said, closing his eyes in thought. "We can go to the press with this. Arthur was tricked into keeping it quiet. He thinks that Malfoy is getting away with murder, and that Albus is an accomplice. He wants the world to know but is bound by that oath. He is none too happy with the headmaster either." The poor man was at his wits end on how to get justice for his only daughter.

"We should find that Skeeter woman and give it to her. She can do what she wants with it," Harry said with a bit of passion. He never liked that woman, but if you want someone raked over the coals, she was the woman to do it.

"That would still affect Arthur," Lily said, worrying her hands. "It was his daughter that opened it after all." She wanted to have Albus' name tarnished, but the Weasleys were innocent in this. Ginny was just a little girl who foolishly wrote in something she probably thought her mother had gotten her. There was no crime in that.

"He's fine with that. He's madder than anything at Dumbledore for tricking him into keeping quiet," Sirius said again, putting his hand on her arm. "Albus abused his grief to protect the school and coverup two crimes, including the death of his daughter. He'd gladly tell anyone who will listen. However, he and his family are bound by vows and geas." It was a sad sight to see the Weasleys grieving over the girl without any way to get justice. It made Sirius' blood boil just thinking about it.

"Besides, we can't let Dumbledore and Malfoy get away with two people dying and nobody knowing about it," Harry said, hugging her from behind. He was almost taller than her now. "Don't you want revenge on him?" he asked, knowing that she did.

"Not at the cost of others," she said with a sigh. "However, if Mr. Weasley is okay with it, have Alex call the PR company and see if we can't get something released to the press that doesn't have our name on it," she said, not wanting to be tied to it in any way.

"I'll do that when we get home. Right now, it's time for quidditch. Boys, go get ready. Put your paraphernalia on and let's get going," Sirius said, going to put his warpaint on as well. They were going to sport Ireland's colors and root for them, even if they felt that Bulgaria would win. Krum was just that good.

Lily would be staying in the tent. She wanted Harry to have fun without her hanging about in his head. She could use a cloak, but she wasn't that into quidditch.

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The game was as exciting as they thought it would be, and they were all happy they came. Ireland won, but Krum caught the snitch. It was a record breaker to be sure. They decided to stay for the night and the adults were just settling down for the night when there was a disturbance. The kids had long ago retired, but the adults had been going over what to tell Alex the next day.

"Harry," Lily said, having stuck her head through the wall of the tent to see what was going on, "you need to get up." Sirius and the others had left to help at the first scream.

"Why?" the groggy teen asked, sitting up in his bed and looking at his mum. He could see she was worried. Then he heard the screaming and was wide awake. "What is that noise?" he asked, looking around the room and scanning for danger. He had already grabbed his wand and was pointing it at nothing, but he was wary.

"There's a mob of men and women dressed as Death Eaters," she said, fretting her hands. "Sirius and the others have already gone to help, but you and Neville need to lead the noncombatants to the woods," she said, making get up motions.

"Alright, go wake Neville," he said, getting out of the bed and grabbing the nearest shirt, which was the one he wore earlier that day. She nodded and left. He pulled it over his head and was picking up his jeans from the day before too. He didn't care if they were slightly dirty, and he was sure no one else would either. He strapped his knife on his thigh, then he put on his trainers without socks. He grabbed for his hoodie and was out the door.

When he was done, he went to the hall to wait for his foster brother. Neville was only a few seconds behind him. They both had their wands in their hands, along with knives strapped to their thighs. They had been taught to not rely on just their wands, and that anything can be used as a weapon.

Lily stayed out of Harry's head and by his side. This was not the time for hiding who they were. She was going to lead people to the woods, and scout around to make sure they were in the clear. She led them out of the tent and to the nearest group of people trying to escape.

"Get your wands out," Harry barked at them as he neared them. "Even if you can only do a shield, you can help," he said in a much softer tone. They were mostly adults and should know some defensive spells. "Cast a shield and keep the kids in the middle and follow us," he said, making a down motion to make them crouch down.

The group of six adults took out their wands, cast a shield, put the two kids in the middle, and followed them to the end of the tent line without incident. The group then ran to the trees, with Lily guiding them further in.

Harry and Neville went back to get more. They went from tent to tent to see if they were empty or not. They ran into people, singles and couples, and told them to run and in which direction they should go. Harry made sure they all had their wands out, shields cast, and to be ready to escape if need be. Lily would go with them to the tent line if they were too scared to move on their own.

It was when they ran into a group of school children that things got dicey.

"We can fight," one of the boys said, belligerently. He didn't look old enough to own a knife, let alone a wand. He must be a short eleven-year-old since he had a wand in hand. Either that or he stole it from an adult.

"No, you can't," Harry said, firmly. He knew the type of education they got at Hogwarts, and none of it was towards fighting. They could escape, sure, but fight, he seriously doubted it.

"Follow us," Neville said, taking the mouthy one by the arm and ducking down and using the tents as cover, he moved towards the woods. He made sure to keep the kid's arm in his grip.

"Where are your parents?" Harry asked one of the girls, who was gripping the hand of a smaller girl. She had her wand in her other hand and was scanning the area around her with fear in her hazel eyes. He remembered talking to her earlier that day, she was Daphne Greengrass.

"They went to fight. We were all in the tent together. We came as one party. We left the tent when we heard someone talking about burning it down. The younger ones were still asleep, we had to wake them and run," she answered in hushed tones. She pulled the younger girl along, almost yanking her arm out of the socket.

"Calm down, the fighting is over there," Harry said, pointing to where he heard spells being cast. "You're going to hurt her in your fear," he pointed out. They looked a bit alike, so he assumed they were sisters.

Greengrass softened her grip, but she was still holding on firmly. The younger girl gave Harry a look of gratitude. She was hurting and scared. She had left her wand in the tent, they had been in such a hurry to leave that she had left it on her bed, so she was more afraid than her sister.

They were silently running from tent to tent, and almost to the tent line, when suddenly there were three people in front of them. All of them were dressed in black robes and bone white masks. They were standing in the middle of the path.

"What have we here?" one man said, pointing his wand at Neville, who was the tallest. His voice was soft yet menacing. He sounded like he was sneering at them. "A group of mudblood children." How he came to that conclusion baffled them all, since Harry was sure most of these kids were purebloods.

"Death Eaters!" one of the younger children shouted, and then started screaming like that would help.

Harry cast a silencing charm on her and pushed her behind him, along with those he could reach. "Leave," he said, keeping his wand pointed at the one in the middle.

"Oh, ho, look who thinks he's a hero," the one on the right said in a jovial tone as he cast a stinging hex to Harry, who casually batted it away.

Harry and Neville started backing up and pushing the kids, behind them, into an open area. The kids would have room to run for it there. "We don't want to fight you," Neville said, still keeping his wand up and ready.

"No? Well, we want to fight you," the middle one said, stalking closer to them. He still hadn't fired off any curses. The two at his side where still firing off mild hexes that were being batted aside, not knowing they would be useless because of the two teens' amulets. They kept firing and laughing at Harry and Neville.

"Cowards," was all Harry could say to that. Anyone who would fight children or teens were cowards.

Lily came back at that moment and saw what was happening, so she flew away to get Sirius. He would help them. Not that she didn't think her boys could handle it, but they could use the help with the children there.

Harry felt the kids keep moving even after he stopped. He lifted his wand to cast a shield just in time. The one on the left fired off a curse that they didn't know what was because it was cast silently. The purple light splattered against the shield, and the kids behind Harry scattered.

Neville had his own shield up and the two stood there protecting the children behind them as spell after spell splashed against their shields. When they no longer heard the retreating footsteps, they took to the offensive. The two boys started bouncing around and throwing every spell they could think of at the three people, who were suddenly shocked at the turn of events.

The Death Eaters were sloppy. It had been years since they fought, hence their picking on children and muggles. They got clipped by many of the teens' spells and were flailing about like idiots. They had quite a few broken bones, fingers, ribs and such. There were bruises littering their bodies as well.

Neville even got one in the shoulder with his knife. The man tore it out of his shoulder, making it bleed profusely. Neville called it back into his hand and re-sheathed it. He'd have to clean it later. Harry threw his knife at the middle one and got him in the leg. He called his knife back and made that wound bleed as well.

"Get them," the one in the middle shouted as he cast a healing charm on his leg. He then cast a Cruciatus at Harry, who just ducked out of the way as he cast a body bind curse at him, which got him. The man fell to the ground, and one of the other men was about to revive him, when he to was caught with a Petrificus Totalus. Harry quickly set about tying them up from afar. He had to levitate them and then cast an Incarcerous on them.

It was at that time Lily came back and was encouraging Neville, who was almost finished with his enemy. This one was a bit wilier than the other two, even with his wounded shoulder. He was jumping around more, and was casting silently, like Neville.

"You've got this, Neville," Lily said, moving to where he couldn't see her as to not be a distraction. "Sirius is on his way," she said, hoping that that would encourage him.

Harry still was busy tying up the other two from a distance, and he was causing the one that Neville was fighting to lose his concentration. Neville took advantage of that and wrapped him in ropes. He then cast the Petrificus Totalus on him. The three Death Eaters were down.

"You should've killed them," came a voice from the side. It was Greengrass. The look on her face said it all. There was a deep-seated hatred on that pretty face. Harry had to wonder what put that there. He knew that many lost their loved ones to these guys, but that was something greater.

"Do you honestly think the government would have let us get away with that? We're not at war," Harry said, knowing damn good and well they'd be chucked in jail for killing 'fine upstanding citizens'. Especially, in front of so many witnesses.

"Point," she conceded, moving more into the open. Her hand still firmly gripping her sister's. She glanced at him and nodded her head. Then she went towards the woods pulling her sister along. The little girl turned back and waved her thanks and goodbyes at them.

"Let's get you to the woods," Lily said to the others, gathering up the children that hadn't run. She followed the two girls and Harry and Neville looked around to make sure there were no more Death Eaters ready to follow them.

Sirius came up then and was examining the men that were tied up. He waved his wand and checked the spell work. These three were neatly tied up and ready for arrest.

"You two did good," he praised. He clapped them on the back, and then they all heard, "Morsmordre!" bellow out in the midnight sky. An image appeared that was a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth and circling around the head.

With that the Death Eaters further away yelled in fear and disappeared. The three that were tied up were ported away as well. Much to everyone's surprise and frustration.

"Dammit," Harry said, kicking a rock and making it slam into a nearby tent. Neville just watched him, a furrow on his brow. He was just as pissed.

"They must have had a group portkey," Sirius said, spitting on the ground in frustration. He hadn't thought to check for those because the whole campground was supposed to be warded against them. Blast the ministry. Someone there had to have had a hand in making the one that got the Death Eaters through those wards.

"What the hell is that? And why are the Death Eaters afraid of it?" Harry asked angrily, pointing to the apparition like picture in the sky. It was smoky and green in color.

"That, my dear boy, is the Dark Mark," someone said from behind them. That caused them all to turn with wands raised. It was no surprise that the headmaster came too late to help.

"Albus," Sirius said, motioning for the boys to come to him. "Gary, Stewart, meet the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore," he said, making sure to use their aliases.

"Come now, Sirius, you do not have to lie to me. I know that is Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom," the old man said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"No, this is Gary Kesler and Stewart Brown. They are the brothers of mine and Remus' girlfriends," Sirius said, holding firm to his story.

"If you insist," Albus said, his eyes still twinkling knowingly.

"What is the Dark Mark?" Harry asked, still standing by Sirius. Lily stayed hidden by one of the tents, having come back from seeing the children to the woods. She didn't want to be associated with Gary and Stewart.

"It is the symbol of Voldemort," Dumbledore said, sounding wise. He ran his hand down his beard and looked at Harry over his half-moon glasses. "You know who that is?" he asked, like Harry was uneducated.

"Just because I didn't go to Hogwarts, doesn't mean I'm stupid," Harry snapped at the man. "I don't like you. Sirius, I want to check on my sister. I want to make sure she's okay," he said, turning his back on the old man.

"I'll take you to her," Sirius said, trying not to laugh at how blatantly the boy shunned the headmaster. "Come on, Stewart, your sister is probably worried about you too," he said, making a 'come on' motion with his hands.

"Sirius, I need to speak to you about Harry Potter," Albus said, with a gleeful tone. His eyes still glued to Harry.

"No, you don't," Sirius said, leading Harry and Neville away from the man. "I've said all I'll ever say to you about my godson," he stated, moving along at a clipped pace. Dumbledore followed along at a leisurely stride, his legs much longer than anyone else's.

"It is imperative that I speak to you about his role in the coming war. Surely you can see with the Dark Mark in the sky that war is coming," Albus said, his voice urgent. He was still staring at Harry, like he was talking directly to him.

"Harry is a fourteen-year-old boy. He will not fight in a war, if there is one," Sirius said, pulling Harry to his other side, away from the headmaster. He stopped to glare at the old man. "I'll thank you to quit scaring mine and Remus' girlfriends' brothers," he snapped, making Albus finally look at him.

"I know that is Harry Potter," the old man said, trying once more to catch the young man's eyes.

Harry just ducked his head. He didn't want the old man to know he had Occlumency shields. It wasn't his business. "My name is Gary Kesler," Harry stated, making his tone harsh. "Sally is my sister and Remus' girlfriend. I've met Harry Potter and he doesn't come out in public, probably because of the likes of you," he added, pointing at the headmaster with an accusing finger.

"It's exactly because of people just like him," Sirius said as he started walking again.

They made it to where the rest of their group were waiting for them. Remus and Sally came up to Harry and started fussing over him, like a big sister and her boyfriend would. The same for Mandy and Sirius with Neville. They all ignored Albus, who was watching them with sharp eyes.

"Can we go home now?" Harry asked, looking at Sirius, who was in charge of the group.

"Let's get the tent down and we'll leave," Sirius said, moving to where the tent was. They could leave it until tomorrow, but Albus might find it and go through it and find things he shouldn't. It was a slim possibility, but it was there. That and it would give them a private place for Lily to get into Harry's head. She was still lurking around the tents, just out of sight.

"Okay. I don't want looters to get my stuff anyway," Harry said, following behind Remus, who was walking behind Sirius.

They made it to their tent, none the wiser, and Albus followed them at a distance. Harry moved to his room and waited for his mother. She came in a few minutes later.

"I had to find a way in so that Albus didn't see me," she said, a smile playing at her lips.

"I don't see why we have to hide from that old man," Harry said, folding his arms.

"He's still in some powerful political positions. If we can get some of what's been going on at Hogwarts out, then he will lose some of that power and we'll not have to hide from him anymore," she said, then she ran a hand down his face, as she was wont to do. "Relax, we won't hide forever. You're growing up to be a fine fighter. You'll be able to stand your own ground soon," she added. Then she went into his head. "I'm proud of what you did tonight," she said, giving him a warm feeling in his mind.

"Thanks, Mum," he said, feeling much better with her peptalk. He knew there was going to be a reckoning soon. He just hoped they were ready for it.