Betrayal

Harry froze. He was incredibly aware of the strong silence in the hall, a silence more powerful than any Harry had ever felt before. He received none of the applause that the others did, none of the excitement.

He turned to Ron and Hermione, hoping to be told that this was some form of practical joke. Hermione was staring blankly at him, her mouth wide open. Ron, however, was sending him one of the most hateful glares Harry had ever received in his life. He turned to Tonks and Hestia, whose expressions were nearly identical to Hermione's.

"Harry Potter! Up now, if you please, and join the others." called Dumbledore from the front of the hall.

Harry slowly stood up from his seat, suddenly becoming aware of the recording orb that was now pointed directly at him. He slowly began walking towards the front of the hall, avoiding the eyes of all others. Almost everyone seemed to either be angry or in shock, though Harry was sure the latter would be wearing off in a bit.

He passed Dumbledore without shaking his hands, the headmaster's curious, and somewhat disappointed expression instantly deterring him.

He must be wondering whether I used the invisibility cloak to pass the age line. Hopefully he'll realize I didn't do it.

Harry could not fault the logic in that theory. He had learnt from Salazar that the famed Peverell cloak was capable of completely hiding its master, including both physical and magical traces. Getting over Dumbledore's age line would probably have been a piece of cake with the cloak.

Harry entered the antechamber to find the other three champions. Fleur stood by the fireplace, slightly apart from Cedric and Krum. Harry wasn't particularly surprised when he noticed both of the males' drooling ever so slightly, their eyes glazed over. Cedric seemed to snap out of his daze at the sound of Harry's footsteps.

"Hey Harry!" he exclaimed, "Do they need us back in the hall or something?"

Before Harry could answer, the door to the antechamber swung wide open. More than a dozen different witches and wizards all rushed inside. Harry recognized a few of the people: Mr. Crouch, Ludo Bagman, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Madame Maxime, and Karkaroff. The rest he did not know, although it was not particularly hard to realize they were ministry workers. All of them were shouting loudly, making it impossible for a word to be heard. Eventually Dumbledore raised his hand, motioning for silence. Once everyone had listened, he turned back to Harry.

"Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire, Harry?" asked Dumbledore.

"No." he replied, aware of the scoffing noise that came from Snape.

"Did you ask someone of age to enter you into the tournament?"

"No, I didn't." said Harry, gritting his teeth.

"He is clearly lying!" exclaimed Madame Maxime, her french accent easy to be heard, "How else can his name have possibly come from the goblet?"

"What?" yelled Cedric in confusion. Krum and Fleur simply narrowed their eyes, directing their glares, as well as their curiosity, at Harry.

"You want this little boy to compete?" asked Fleur, her voice carrying a french accent like her headmistress, although hers was much softer and attractive. "How did he even manage to put his name in the goblet?"

Harry glared at her, though she did not seem to notice.

"I am sure we can all agree that he was not capable of passing the age line Dumbledore created." said McGonagall. All the others within the room nodded, although Dumbledore was still staring at Harry in barely hidden disappointment.

Seems like he's reached his decision.

"How it happened is not of current importance." said Dumbledore a moment later, "It shall be investigated later, but as of right now, we must come to agreement on how we will be going forward."

The door of the antechamber swung open once more, now revealing Fudge, as well as the other two ministers.

"This is very bad, Dumbledore!" said Fudge, "We've just ended the broadcast, people will be outraged! One of the main reasons we were allowed to reinstate the tournament was because we had created an age limit! Over a million people have just seen the age limit broken, live!"

"As I have told the others, an investigation will be launched." assured Dumbledore in a tired voice, "Mr. Crouch, what are the rules pertaining to this unlikely event?"

"He will have to compete, or risk losing his magic."

"What?" said Harry dangerously, "I didn't even want to compete in the first place!"

"This is a chance of a lifetime!" declared Fleur Delacour in disbelief, "The honor of his school, fame and glory!"

"I'm fairly certain I have enough fame and glory to last a lifetime!" declared Harry cooly, his anger and rage causing him to slip into Parseltongue. Nearly everyone in the room paled slightly, none more so than Karkaroff and Fudge. Only Dumbledore, Snape, and the Veela girl (as Harry was no longer interested in thinking of her as anything else) did not have a reaction that indicated some sort of fear. Krum and Delacour's eyes both widened, before narrowing just as quickly. They clearly seemed interested in discovering any potential advantages their opponents had.

"W-well, I su-suppose he will have to c-compete." stuttered out Fudge, "For his safety, of c-course."

"Very well." said Dumbledore in an exhausted voice, "Obviously, his points will not be tallied with Hogwarts; we can come up with a more specific set of rules at a later date."

"As for your briefing," began Mr. Crouch, "Your first task is to face the unknown. You will therefore not be given any clues."

Harry paled slightly at that. He had just remembered that the first task of the tournament was infamous for having people die while fighting dangerous beasts.

This was better than your other assassination attempts, Riddle.

At least, Harry hoped it was Riddle. If someone had entered him as a form of practical joke, the students of Hogwarts would be finding a dead body lying around very soon.

I might be the first person to hope I'm being assassinated by Voldemort.

"We will be collecting you for the Wand-Weighing ceremony a week before the first task." said Bagman excitedly. "For now, I believe that is all."

"May I go, Professor?" asked Harry, turning to Dumbledore.

"Yes, Harry, you may." the headmaster responded, still wearing the same slightly disappointed expression. Harry made his way over to the antechamber door, swiftly moving past Miss Delacour and Madame Maxime, both of whom were glaring at him as they spoke angrily in rapid French.

Karkaroff, on the other hand, had held Krum back. Harry had a feeling that it had to do with a fear of him being a Parselmouth, although he wasn't sure. It was a very bad mistake on his part; the only reason he had not been to concerned was because most people already knew he was one. He knew very well what people thought of Parselmouths, Salazar would probably give him an hour long lecture for it.

Salazar.

He would have to sneak out to the Chamber of Secrets earlier than he usually did tonight. There was no way he could afford to forget any important details from what had just occurred; he was in desperate need of his ancestor's help.

He walked out of the antechamber with Cedric, the two of them making their way through the now empty Great Hall and up several staircases. They eventually reached the fourth floor landing, where their paths split. They both nodded silently towards the other, before continuing on their journey back to their dormitories.

Harry continued on for another floor before he heard a soft hoot from behind him. He turned around, spotting Hedwig, who was flying directly at him. She landed on his shoulder and began to nip at his neck and ears. She evidently saw and understood what had happened, as she was clearly trying to cheer him up.

After a few more minutes of walking, Harry had finally arrived at Gryffindor tower. He was incredibly nervous as to how they might react. He had spent the last month and a half showing everyone how incredibly dangerous the tournament was. Surely they would believe him, right?

He walked through the portrait hole of Gryffindor Tower to find everyone seated inside the common room, all glaring angrily at him.

"You said you wouldn't enter!" yelled Ron angrily. "You kept going on about how we would die if we tried. Was it just some plot to get us to not enter? Give yourself a better shot?"

"I didn't put my name in the goblet!" defended Harry.

"That's a load of dragon dung!" roared McLaggen from the other side of the room. "How else did your name come from the goblet?"

Harry's mouth fell wide open.

Have they seriously forgotten that someone trying to kill me is like an annual tradition at this point?

He turned to Hermione, but even she was shaking her head at him, her expression similar to what Dumbledore's had been. The three chasers were the only ones who didn't look like they wanted to murder him at the moment, although they did seem rather upset. To be fair, they had been trying to enter the tournament.

At least I know Salazar will believe me. Maybe Tonks and Hestia as well. Sirius, too.

But that did not change the fact that his friends, his first friends (and for quite some time his only friends) did not trust him, and did not want him around.

A minuscule spark of electricity sparked from his left fist, though nobody saw it. The same happened with his right, though instead of electricity, a small flame flickered in his palm. A wave of raw magic was coursing through Harry's body at the moment. The magic was filled with anger and annoyance, and was incredibly powerful.

In one swift motion, Harry turned around, departing from the room.

At least I'll be getting to the chamber early, like I wanted.

.....

Can't wait to read more exciting chapters then what are you waiting for Join my p*atreon right now.

2+ FREE ADVANCED CHAPTERS FOR ALL FREE MEMBERS.

60+ Premium chapters.

Link: p*atreon.com/Dream_Guardian (Remove the *)