AN:

This is going to be a dark Harry story. Harry is a Slytherin and Neville is the Boy-who-lived which means Voldemort paid a visit to the Longbottom household on Halloween night. Harry's home was visited by the Lestranges and Barty Crouch Jr. on the same night when they were looking for Harry on Voldemort's orders. Exact details of the night would be revealed in the next chapter or so.

Harry is a prodigy student especially in Transfiguration. His charm work isn't shoddy either but not as good as his transfiguration. He is no merlin reborn though, just ahead of his year mates. In terms of raw power, Neville is much stronger than him but combat won't rely only on raw power.

One field where you could call Harry a once in a millennium is in mind arts. Harry's occlumency is impenetrable and his leglimency is advanced enough where only a good occlumence would notice the intrusion.

No Weasley or Dumbledore bashing, no evil Weasley or Dumbledore, no stupid oath stuff, no SLASH.

All characters have been aged 2 years partly because I want them to be more mature and partly because I am a little uncomfortable writing intimate scenes among fourteen year olds. If it puts you off, you can ignore the age rise as I won't reference to it often.

I do not want to give away the pairings so I will add or remove people based on how far the story has come. So if you are someone who search for fanfics based on a particular character filter then this story can suddenly appear in your search results.

Chapter 1

A hand reached up to try and tame the unruly mane of jet black hair, only to fail yet again. A pair of emerald green eyes stared back from the stained and cracked public washroom mirror at a pale, fair and fairly attractive young man of 16. He was dressed eccentrically, like he was cosplaying someone from the 16th century. His cloak was black, with silver and green trimming. To add to the effect, he had a bulky iron trunk and a caged snow-white owl as his possessions.

Harry Potter let out a sigh and left his hair alone. He knew a losing battle when he saw one. His thoughts were a mess. In less than 10 minutes, he would be leaving for what was to be his 4th year in magical education. Yes, Harry Potter was a magician, or a wizard to be more appropriate. He and his kind waved around pointy wooden sticks and broke every scientific law known to man. Atleast the British ones did so; he had no idea what primitive ones in Africa got up to.

The last three years of his life had been, to put it mildly, eventful. He had found out that there was a reason behind all the wacky stuff he could do and that he was not a freak, as his relatives led him to believe. He had found his parents, or what was left of them. He had even found his godfather, who turned out to be a wrongly convicted mass murderer. He found out that the people responsible behind him growing up without parents were a group called death eaters and that they had recently come out of the woodworks. The principal ones responsible, namely the Lestrange Trio and Bartemus Crouch Jr. were still in Azkaban or dead, so that meant no need to leave for a revenge quest just yet.

However, the man responsible for it all, one named Peter Pettigrew had wormed out of his claws last year, courtesy the golden trio of Neville Longbottom, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Just thinking about that night filled Harry with a black rage. That was why he was standing in front of a public washroom mirror trying to centre his thoughts. Cursing the boy-who-lived and his sidekicks on sight would not do. He wanted to drop out and go looking for Pettigrew but Sirius had forbidden him from it. He had promised him that if he found Pettigrew, the rat would die, no mercy. Harry needed to control his emotions using occlumency.

It might be a little arrogant, but it was safe to say that Harry Potter was a prodigy in mind magics. Before Professor Mcgonagall visited him, Harry thought he was an alien from another galaxy, like Superman. His accidental magic had manifested in the form of hearing his relative's thoughts. When he was in a stressful situation, he could often implant thoughts in his uncle's mind to lay off of him. It wasn't mind control; he couldn't make anyone do anything. But a person is more likely to listen to something they perceive as their own idea. It was a shame that the person could easily dismiss the idea too, or he would have had equal shares of food as his cousin Dudley while growing up. On second thought, even half of Dudley's shares would be good enough for him.

He had been able to escape the worst of the beatings thanks to his abilities, and since joining Hogwarts his relatives had adopted a strategy of apathy towards him. Out of sight and out of mind is what the Dursleys practiced these days. Harry's control over thought manifestation and leglimency had grown significant enough that if he felt them wavering in their stance, he helpfully reinforced the revulsion they felt towards him. The boy who dreamed that the Dursleys would treat him like a family was long dead, and Harry even had real parents now.

Having identified all sources of inner conflict, Harry ruthlessly smothered them. That was better. He made his way out of the washroom and onto the king's cross platform. It might sound weird but the train that took all students to Hogwarts left from platform 93/4. The entry was a magical portal that existed in the barrier between platform 9 and platform 10. Wizards like to hide in the most populous muggle locations. Harry supposed it was part of a psychological desire to thumb the muggles. Muggles, since time immemorial had tried to exterminate the menace of magical population. So magicals won a symbolic victory by hiding right between them. The two sides were locked in an eternal game of peek-a-boo. Of course there were those who lashed back at the muggles in less legal ways, but the magical government tracked and imprisoned them whenever they could. Personally, Harry thought the entire power struggle was pointless. He hated hiding but thought it was a necessary evil. No one wanted to deal with the can of worms that would accompany going out into the spotlight. He felt that with a few well directed imperius curses the threat of muggles ever discovering magicals could be contained.

Harry made his way onto the platform only to be engulfed in a cacophony of voices. Anxious parents and melancholic students were to be seen whatever way he turned his eyes. For most, Hogwarts meant leaving behind their families. For Harry, Hogwarts meant freedom. Leaving for Hogwarts was a happier day than his birthday. A red steaming engine greeted him. Was the station located in a pocket dimension, or did the portal transfer him to a separate location? Harry took a mental note to research about the king's cross portal. One could say he was somewhat nerdy, though Harry would strongly disagree.

He made his way onto the train just as the train started moving and looked for his friends' cabin. He found them in the 5th car. "5 galleons say our Daph will be beating off boys this year asking her to Hogsmeade" the voice of Tracey Davis floated out. Tracey was a petite half-blood Slytherin in his year. She had brown eyes, blonde hair and could be described as energetic and bubbly, though her Slytherin cunningness was just lurking underneath. Harry considered her somewhat a leach, since she had attached onto Daphne Greengrass since their first day at Hogwarts. It was the way things were in the noble house of Slytherin. A pureblood's protection went a long way in reducing the amount of hazing a firstie went through. Harry personally had managed to avoid the worst of it after making it onto the Slytherin Quidditch team after the first week. Their head of house, Severus Snape didn't like rules being bent to accommodate Neville Longbottom on the Gryffindor Quidditch team so the entire first year batch of Slytherin got an impromptu Quidditch tryout. In hindsight, it might have been organized to give an excuse to allow Draco Malfoy on the team. Too bad Malfoy sucked so bad that he got outclassed on a Cleansweep 7 against Harry's rickety old Shooting Star that he got from the school broom shed.

Over the years, a true friendship had blossomed between the two girls. Daphne Greengrass was a pureblood from a prominent business oriented family. She had sea-green eyes and a head of raven black hair, not unlike his own. She had a cute angular nose, pale complexion and nice curves. Daphne Greengrass was Harry Potter's best friend. They had not gotten off to the best start, what with their blood differences, but their shared experiences over the years had made their bond unbreakable. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Harry would trust his life in Daphne's hands in a heartbeat. Their bond had evolved beyond regular friendship to where they considered each other family.

Before Daphne could retort, Harry decided to make his presence known. "Not 5 minutes onboard and you girls are already gossiping. Ohh hey Daph, you….. had a growth spurt ?" Harry was stumped at the site of Daphne. Summer had been kind to Daphne, since she seemed to sporting quite a bit of growth in the chest department. Earlier, Daphne was one of the hottest girls in their year but now, it was not even a competition. Harry's awkward comment was greeted with a groan from Daphne and a fit of giggles from Tracey.

"Thank you for noticing that I have grown tits, Harry. Merlin, you are such a boy!" Daphne replied.

"Don't pretend you don't like the extra attention Daphne, who knows someone special could even ask you to Hogsmeade now." Tracey winked suggestively at Daphne, earning a blush.

"Anyone I should know about? We wouldn't want our Daphne to start dating just about anyone now, would we?" Harry asked while settling his trunk in the overhead compartment.

"Wouldn't you like to know? Some secrets stay between us girls Mr. Potter" Tracey hit back at him while smiling coyly at Daphne.

"Just give it a rest Tracey. Tracey is being childish Harry. If there's someone I want to go on a date with, I will very well ask. It's not like anyone would be stupid enough to deny me." Daphne said imperiously. Daphne was a very proud girl alright.

"So how was your summer Harry? You didn't come to the Quidditch world cup finals. Daphne's father had reserved an entire section of a viewing box. You should've seen Krum dive after the Snitch; I thought I might get a heart attack just by watching him. The Irish won of course. Why didn't you come?"

"Breathe Tracey, breathe. Summer was like usual, nothing special. I read about the cup in the Daily Prophet, though. Quite a catchy after match celebrations, I must say. Nothing caps off a Quidditch world cup like a floating green skull in the sky." He sent an image of the Dark mark to Tracey's mind along with some worrying thoughts to distract her.

"We had left before that happened, though I think Daphne's father stayed back for finalizing some business agreements." Tracey finished lamely, too late realizing that she had put her foot in her mouth.

"He made it back fine, not that he was in any danger. Though I don't think he was expecting the mark in the sky. None of them were, scared the bejeesus out of them. I don't think he will be playing dressup anytime soon." Daphne finished bitterly. Daphne's father was a death eater who had bribed his way out of Azkaban after Voldemort's fall at the hands of Neville Longbottom.

"Hey, where's Blaise?" Harry quickly changed the topic. Her father was a sore topic for Daphne. It was safe to say that Daphne hated no one in the world as much as her father. Her father was the vilest man he had ever known.

"Dunno, probably boning some gullible Hufflepuff in one of the cabins. Hey, I am going to look for the food cart lady. Do you want me to grab something for either of you?" Tracey asked. Blaise was a pureblood of Italian descent. His mother had married seven times and seven times her husband had died. Lady Zabini was rumoured to have had a hand in most of those deaths since every marriage left her considerably wealthier. Growing up with a rotating cast of fathers had psychologically impaired Blaise where he hated commitment and kept going through a series of meaningless flings as a substitute for real relationship.

"No thanks, but do you mind dropping in on Tori. Just make sure she's all settled in and doesn't need anything." Daphne asked.

"Suuuure, I will do your sisterly duties so that you get more snog time with Harry." Tracey said in an innocent voice before bolting out.

"WE AREN'T DATING TRACE!" they both shouted in unison but Tracey was already gone. Daphne was once again blushing and he was quite sure that he was in a similar condition. Don't get him wrong, Daphne was absolutely gorgeous and he would have to be gay to not want to date her, especially when he was single. But Daphne represented a lot more to him than broom closet visits and a teenage romance. Their bond was just too precious for him to risk it on teenage feelings. He'd rather have her as a friend than risk everything for a few dates. Granted he was being a chicken, but then no one ever accused him of being a Gryffindor. Daphne was perhaps the one true relationship he had in the world and he just couldn't afford for awkwardness to mar their bond in case they didn't work out.

Daphne schooled her blush and then said, "You didn't answer Tracey's question Harry. Why didn't you come for the Quidditch finals? I was looking forward to seeing you." There she was, nothing escaped her attention. She knew him well enough to know when he was dodging.

"You know why, Daph. Your father wouldn't have liked seeing me there."

"His feelings do not matter Harry. And if this is about you being a half-blood then Tracey was there too." Daphne said heatedly.

"It's about me being a boy, Daphne. He would've misinterpreted our closeness and I'd rather you not suffer at the hands of that monster." Daphne seemed to shudder at his words before composing herself.

"It was surprisingly normal this time. I guess worries of Dark Lord's imminent return didn't leave father with enough time to molest me." Lord Damien Greengrass, head of the Greengrass family was a monster more vile than Voldemort himself. The mere thought of him brought bile to Harry's mouth. After the birth of his second daughter, the healers had declared that his wife, Lorraine Greengrass ne Selwyn was unable to bear anymore children. She would've met a fate not unlike Theodore Nott Sr.'s first wife if Selwyns weren't such a powerful and influential family. As such, the avenue of second marriage to produce a male heir was closed off to him.

That was when that monster turned his sights on Daphne. His plan was to get Daphne married to some weak, halfwit pureblood that he could control and then have her bear a fullblooded Greengrass heir. In his twisted mind, this was a way of producing the best possible Greengrass heir to protect the future of Greengrass name while removing the influence of other houses from their DNA. He had begun what he called teaching Daphne her place since she had turned eleven. Inappropriate touches became a common theme. Often, he would sneak into her bedroom at night to "play" with her. Often he would bare himself to her and make her touch him. He had left her virginity alone, since that was necessary if he meant to secure a pureblood marriage of any value. All his efforts to "protect" family name would be for naught if the perceived father of his child wasn't good enough. In that direction, he had already sent proposals to the Crabbe family for a betrothal. Too bad Lucius wanted Daphne to marry Draco to take control of Greengrass fortunes. If not for the Malfoy greed, Daphne would be betrothed to Vincent Crabbe by now.

So it was no surprise that Daphne was a traumatized girl when he had first met her. She had been molested by her father for years, while her mother was a mute spectator, preferring to ignore it and hoping that everything would turn out fine. As such, she wasn't the greatest believer in friendships, thinking that Harry and every other boy wanted to do stuff like her own father. How Harry had won her over was a story for another time though.

He moved besides Daphne to embrace her. "I promise I wouldn't let that monster hurt you Daphne."

"You can't promise that Harry, no one can. But I appreciate the thought nevertheless." Daphne said with a tone of melancholy that broke his heart.

"If I could, I would get you away from him right now but I have no legal leg to stand on. Unless you plan to run off into the wild with me, we have to endure him for a few more years until you are legally an adult."

"Maybe I would if you asked, Harry. But let's not talk about my shitty situation anymore. Tracey would be back any minute and I have something for you that I would rather she not see."

Harry's eyes lighted up. "Did you manage to get the Greengrass Grimoire for me Daphne?" Grimoire was a family journal updated by heads of houses every generation. It contained knowledge and spells that families guarded fiercely. Potter Grimoire, along with the rest of Potter family treasures were burnt down when Voldemort had set fire to the Potter Manor with his grandparents inside it. As such, Greengrass grimoire was Harry's way of "leveling up the playing field".

Daphne's face quickly acquired a pained expression. "I tried Harry, I truly did. But it's impossible. There are charms to strong and complex woven in for me to unravel. It's even impossible to take the grimoire out of the library room by anyone other than father. It can't be copied or taken notes from. The wards and enchantments protecting it are even beyond NEWT level."

Harry grew frustrated on hearing Daphne's words. "You know how important that Grimoire is Daphne. You saw how weak I was last term. If it wasn't for Neville fucking Longbottom, the dementors would've sucked out our souls."

"Don't sell yourself short Harry. You cast a corporeal Patronus, that too in our third year. How many people can boast of such a feat?"

"More than one, apparently if Neville's lion patronus is any evidence. And do you remember the size of that thing? It was big enough to drive the scores of dementors away. Mine on the other hand was barely able to contend with a couple of dementors. Now I owe a life debt to Longbottom, because I was too weak."

"Don't make this a dick measuring contest Harry. Longbottom is…. a freak of nature. He is like a bull, all power but no finesse. You need more than just raw power to win your battles. Besides, don't all three of us owe him a life debt?"

"No, I am pretty sure you and Sirius don't owe him anything. Life debts are weird in that way. Only direct action causes magic to acknowledge a Life debt. Since my stag patronus was protecting both you and Sirius, so technically, Neville's patronus saved just me. Magic doesn't take causality into account; otherwise every time someone stopped another person from going to a place where they might die, then a life-debt would be owed. So yeah, just me. Thankfully the guy is too much of an idiot to ever call it in. Not that I am going to remind him of it by acknowledging it. Let's just hope that he forgets all about it and I never have to worry about it."

"Don't be so paranoid Harry; Neville cannot control your actions by using a life-debt. Repaying the debt or not is entirely up to you."

"Not really, if he calls it in I will keep feeling subtle tugs by my magic to repay it. I can ignore it, sure but the fact that Neville can hold any sort of power over me pisses me off. Never again Daphne, never again will I be so weak that I have to rely on golden boy to save my ass. I promised you that I will protect you. How am I supposed to keep that promise if I am not even strong enough to save myself? Your father is much stronger than a horde of dementors."

Once again, he could see pain and despair flash across Daphne's face. Daphne had more or less resigned herself to her fate. But if he had anything to say about it, that man would never touch Daphne. "Don't worry about the Grimoire Harry; it isn't all it is drummed up to be. More often than not, it is page after page of egotistical family heads rambling page after page about how their inventions or even just ideas are the best ones in the Grimoire. I read atleast 50 pages on how my great-great grandfather invented a cauldron that could be heated or cooled to a desired temperature by pressing a rune. There are too many entries that are just old crones rambling on and on about how their achievement is that they purged muggles and mudb- I mean muggleborns. There are some good inventions there too, no doubt, but too few of those are unique spells that you can't learn from another tome. Grimoires are just a way for previous generations to tell their descendants how great they were and why they should be revered."

"That may very well be, Daphne but still; I would've liked to get a look at some of your family spells."

"You mean the ice spells? I learnt a few of them that were on my level of difficulty Harry so that I can teach them to you. But you have to promise me that you won't use them until absolutely necessary. If father ever finds out that you cast one of our signature spells, he'd know that I had taught it to you."

"You don't have to worry about it Daphne. You have my word."

Daphne nodded at him before waving her wand. A couple of books flew out of her trunk. "I brought these for you Harry; they should help you learn the more frowned upon branches of magic that aren't available in Hogwarts library."

Daphne handed him a couple of books. Harry saw that the titles were 'Embrace your Dark Side by Wartimus Wilkins' and 'Blood Magic-The fount of power within by Juniper Dread.' "These are some of the most prized collections of father's library Harry. Each of them costs atleast 10,000 galleons in the black market. They are banned by the ministry and carry an Azkaban sentence if found on anyone so be careful that Draco doesn't catch you with them. I'll get you more once you are through with them."

"Thanks Daphne, this means a lot to me!"

"I just don't want you to lose yourself to your hate, Harry. Dark Arts are not like regular magic. They feed off of your emotions, which causes more dark emotions to fester. It's a vicious cycle Harry that has consumed too many promising witches and wizards to count."

"It won't happen to me Daphne, I swear. But I cannot ignore this. I, Daphne, am not strong enough; last year proved that well enough. I have a long list of names that I have to tick off. Pettigrew is out there somewhere. Dumbledore might be a manipulative and biased old bastard but he did say that Voldemort isn't dead and might return someday. There are a few in Azkaban that I have to grant freedom permanently. All these people are much stronger than me, so I need the dark arts to somewhat reduce the gap. I will never have my revenge as I am like now. The time to be weak ends right now. I have been complacent for too long, now is the time for me to act."

Daphne's hands moved to take hold of his. "I know revenge is important to you, but please don't forget that there are people that care for you, I care for you. I don't think I can lose you Harry. I will promise you this, Harry. I will always stay by your side. If you fall in too deep, I will pull you back with my bare hands if I have to. I will not lose you, not to your darkness and certainly not to some death eater has been."

The tender moment that the two of them shared was broken by the sliding of the door. Daphne jumped back as if she was shocked. Standing at the entrance were Draco Malfoy and his two human plushies Crabbe and Goyle.

"Not interested in buying anything, why don't you try the cabins ahead" Harry mocked.

"I am not selling anything you half-blood filth. Daphne, I see you still keep this pseudo-orphan around. Feeling sad for the poor underprivileged is nice but you don't make them sit with you dear." Crabbe and Goyle broke into what he assumed was laughter though it easily could've been another comment. Sadly he didn't speak Troll tongue. Daphne just turned her nose up at Draco.

"Ohh well, not all of us can be rich enough to hire two male escorts. Though with how smart they are, they mustn't have cost much."

"They aren't my escorts Potter, they are my friends."

"That Daddy bought for you."

"What would you know about friends Potter? Go and stick with your loser club of Davis and Zabini. Davis has no father; Zabini has no father and guess what? You have no father. But I am sure you are the President of your loser club Potter, because you don't have a mother either." More laughter followed from the two baby trolls.

Alright, this guy was starting to piss him off now. Too bad he had half a brain unlike Ronald Weasley, who was too stupid to do anything other than shout and draw his wand. That made it easy for Harry to kick his ass; Weasley, like Malfoy, was pants at dueling. Harry was beginning to think that conceding verbal defeat and cursing the shit out of Malfoy wasn't such a big hit to his ego after all.

Draco's comment however had hit a nerve with Daphne, "At least he isn't a constant disappointment to his parents like you, Draco. I saw your mother at the Quidditch finals. Tell me, does she always look like she has shit under her nose or is it just when you are with her."

"How dare you Greengrass! When my father hears of this-"

"Tell your father how you got humiliated by a girl yet again, Draco. I don't care. But leave before I decide that cursing you will be less trouble than hearing your grating voice. How your parents survive in the same home as you for the entire summer is a mystery to me."

"Greengrass I am warning you-"

"Leave NOW! Like RIGHT NOW! Or they will be scraping pieces of you off the train tracks for miles." Daphne had withdrawn her wand and was pointing it in Malfoy's face with the telltale sign of an orange blasting curse on the tip. Boy, when Daphne got mad, she didn't hold back at all. Harry was conflicted between drawing his wand at Malfoy's group and stopping Daphne from getting expelled or worse. Thankfully, Malfoy and his cronies made it easier for him by almost tripping over each other to scamper off. Daphne shut the sliding door with a bang.

"Woah, calm down Daph. They're gone."

"Like you have a leg to stand on. You project your thoughts when you are pissed off and I can recognize which thoughts aren't mine. You wanted to curse him too."

"Yes, like make their boogers grow wings and scratch their faces, or turn their legs to jelly. Not drop their legs at Peterborough and heads at Edinburgh." (Actual train stations on the imaginary route of Hogwarts Express as claimed by Pottermore)

"I just hate that pompous prick."

"You know he does that because he has a huge crush on you? This is his way of courting you."

"Shut up or you will be saying hello to my breakfast. He didn't see the books, did he?"

"No, of course he didn't. I disillusioned them the moment they stepped in. They wouldn't have seen them anyway, all three of them were too busy staring at your, umm, growth spurt."

"Gosh, this is going to be a problem with every boy at Hogwarts, isn't it?"

"Yes Daphne, your beauty is a curse; one that most girls would die for." Daphne just groaned in response.

Tracey eventually managed to find her way back to tease them some more. Blaise decided to drop by towards the end of their journey too; all too eager to describe in detail how Mandy Brocklehurst was a maiden no more. Harry gave it a month before Blaise grew bored of her. Daphne took him up on it with a 10 galleon bet, much to the chagrin of Blaise. Daphne didn't believe it would last a fortnight.

Rest of the journey was uneventful. Ronald Weasley dropped by once to loudly reprimand them for failing to control their housemates before Granger decided that he had made enough of a fool of himself and dragged him back to wherever Neville Longbottom was holding court. Considering how little attention they paid Weasley, yes the journey ahead was uneventful.

They made their way around the lake in horseless carriages. The lake threatened to pour out and drown their carriages, with how much it was raining. Harry's time flying in the rain meant that he knew the impervious charm well enough to keep the four of them relatively dry. After the cold and soggy journey, the warmth of the Great Hall was a welcome relief. Firsties got sorted after the old hat sang yet another different song; one of the Gryffindor ones loudly exclaiming how he almost drowned in the lake. Typical loudmouthed Gryff, too stupid to realize when he was knee deep in danger; he'd fit right in with the rest of his house.

It wasn't until it was time for Dumbledore's after dinner rambling that something important came along. He began by saying something about fanged Frisbees and Screaming Yo-yos which Harry mostly ignored as his eyes drooped but then his next statement jolted Harry awake.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

"What?" Harry gasped. He looked around to see his fellow students similarly stumped. Dumbledore 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—"

Dumbledore's address was interrupted by a deafening rumble of thunder and the bang of Great Hall doors. A gnarled old man with a wooden leg and spinning fake eye stepped in. It was like the Frankenstein just walked in. He looked around the hall before making his way to Dumbledore. A scarred hand outstretched which Dumbledore shook before the two started talking in whispers. It looked like Dumbledore was making some inquiries but he couldn't be sure. Once Dumbledore was satisfied, the scarred man took a swig from his flask before taking a seat next to Mcgonagall.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against Dark Arts Teacher, Professor Moody" Dumbledore finished brightly in silence. It is customary for a new professor to be greeted with customary applause, if only to be polite. Moody got pindrop silence with not a single student or professor following Dumbledore's lead.

"So we get a zombie as teacher because Remus is unqualified. Good job Draco," Harry snarked bitterly. He liked Remus. He was a reminder of the family he could've had. The man had taught him Patronus charm though he was irked by the fact that he wasn't the only one in the year he taught that.

"That's more than a zombie, Harry. Dumbledore got the grim reaper to teach DADA this year," Daphne whispered from besides him. He turned towards her to see her face had gone white as snow.

"What's wrong Daph, you look worried?"

"That's Mad-Eye Moody, Harry, the man responsible for half the people sitting in Azkaban. He hates death eaters like a plague."

"Well that's a good thing, isn't it?"

"He isn't too sympathetic to their families. He is known to curse woman and children alike just to get to his target. Elizabeth Rosier's cousin had to spend a year at St Mungo's when he killed her uncle Evan Rosier. He and Dumbledore are supposedly good friends."

Harry was more than a little horrified. To curse woman and children, that was a low. But then, what else could be expected from one of Dumbledore's friends. The man himself was a ruthless manipulator, as he had witnessed over the years. His godfather wouldn't still be on the run if Dumbledore had decided to throw some weight around. He didn't even want to start on what Dumbledore did to push out a favorable narrative at the end of second year. Just goes to show you that the "light-sided" people were no saints and more often than not just as single-minded.

"You think he is here for some other reason?"

"Why would a decorated ex-auror want to teach students?"

"Money, maybe?"

"Cute Harry but Moody isn't lacking for money. No, it's more likely that he is here for some other reason. The man is deranged and a risk to anyone even remotely associated with the Death Eaters."

Before Harry could reassure Daphne Dumbledore continued his speech. "As I was saying, 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!" one of the Weasley twins exclaimed loudly. Harrry never bothered with them enough to tell them apart. The outburst acted as a pressure release valve and most students broke out in laughter.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar..."

McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

"Er— but maybe this is not the time... no..." said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament... well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely. "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. 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.

"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 shortlisted 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."

"A thousand galleons? That's a pittance. How bad is our economy doing if the ministry can just spare a thousand galleons for a competition at this level," Daphne fumed besides him.

"Queenie, a thousand galleons isn't a pittance for regular people like me. Besides, I believe the real prize is the reputation and exposure the champions will gain." Harry put in.

"Then they should very well acknowledge it by giving out a meaningful prize money. They are embarrassing us in front of the International Council of Warlocks. No self-respecting wizard or witch would risk their life for a thousand galleons."

"I don't know about that. Hey look, the Weasley's all seem to be drooling at the idea of getting their hands on a thousand galleons."

"Well of course they are Harry, they are Weasleys. What else do you expect? But I hope you aren't entertaining similar thoughts, right? The last time this tournament was held, half the spectators died along with all the champions." It was impossible to get anything past Daphne.

Before Harry could reply, Dumbledore continued, ""Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the Heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age — that is to say, nineteen years or older — will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This" — Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious — "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." His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over several mutinous faces. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under nineteen. "

"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!"

"There you go; Dumbledore himself is making sure no underage student can participate. Nothing can go wrong now, I am sure," Harry said as they made their way to the Slytherin dorms in the dungeons.

"Mock him all you want Harry but you better not submit your name for participation. If it is a thousand galleons you need, I can lend it to you."

That was the wrong thing to say and to her credit, Daphne realized that immediately. Harry's face had immediately gone cold. "Thank you for your concern Ms. Greengrass but the House of Potter isn't gone so far as to need hand-outs from a student."

"Harry that's not what I meant-"

"Good night Daphne" Harry hurried past her to make his way for the common room on his own. He knew Daphne did not intend to insult him but Harry had always been a bit prickly about his family since he had found out he had one beyond the Dursleys. His family wasn't very well respected in pureblood circles on account of his father marrying a muggleborn. But they had been quite affluent before the war. The Potter Metals had a sort of monopoly over magical metal production with the Goblins of Gringotts being their only meaningful competition. Potter Metals profited off of the general public's wariness of goblins as well as beneficial laws from Wizengamot which severely restricted Gringotts.

All of that had come to an end when after the war, there was no one left to look after the company. The company did not have a board of directors and when there was no family left around, the control of operations fell to their accounts manager Flintaxe, a goblin. From there it was as easy as taking candy from a toddler to bankrupt the company and kill the only competition that Gringotts had. Freezing every knut for business expenditure without explicit approval from a missing heir meant that Potter Metals couldn't pay its employees. No employees meant no production and no revenue to pay off the expenses. In the end, the company was declared bankrupt and the goblins picked it up in an auction they organized for peanuts.

If it weren't for a Wizengamot ruling, the goblins would've even refused to release any funds for his parent's medical bills in the Janus Thickney Ward. Between his parents' medical bills and Potter Metals liabilities, there weren't any overflowing vaults left for him to inherit. Thankfully his trust vault was insulated from liabilities and mostly untouched. The golden days of the Potter family were behind it which made Harry all the more prickly at any perceived slight. He thought about going back and apologizing to Daphne for his coldness but then decided against it. He'd let her stew in guilt for now and talk to her in the morning. It would take her mind off of the tournament.

It took reaching the entrance for Harry to realize that he hadn't picked up the password from one of the prefects. He could wait for someone or…

"$Open$" He enunciated in Parseltongue. The empty wall melted to reveal the Slytherin common room entrance. Some people had already made their way back. He hurried up to the fourth year male dormitory to find Blaise and Theodore Nott already there.

"Dude did you see Greengrass, man she has grown." Blaise was speaking to Nott.

"Gross, Blaise. She's our friend. Don't be so crass." Harry made his presence known. Their current disagreement notwithstanding, Harry wasn't going to allow the two boys to talk perversely about Daphne.

Nott immediately looked startled but Blaise continued, "Like you weren't watching! What size do you think they were? B-cups?" Blaise turned to him.

"You are the tits expert Blaise."

"They look good on her, she looks good. You two dating Harry?" Nott asked him. Nott could be described neutral. The two power centres in their year were him and Draco. He had Daphne, Blaise and Tracey to back him while Malfoy had Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson. Not, Lilith Moon and Millicent Bulstrode were the neutrals, drifting from one camp to another as the wind blew.

"No, Theo we are just friends." Harry said while getting ready for bed.

"This is your chance Theo. Ask her out but you have to share with us how those babies look. They look like they'd be nice to hold even though they are no D-cups. Guess who has D-cups?"

"Susan Bones?" Nott supplied.

"Yes, but more importantly Mandy Brocklehurst. Merlin those things are heavenly." Blaise had a way of working his "scores" into his conversation.

"You mean, you-"Nott asked.

"I am proud to report that earlier today, I, Blaise Zabini had the pleasure of introducing Mandy Brocklehurst to the sweet pleasures of womanhood," Blaise finished pompously.

"Go to sleep Blaise or I am going to kick your ass." Harry grunted.

"You do know what Malfoy and his possum are doing downstairs? They are influencing the firsties while you are going to bed. First impressions are important Harry."

"I know Blaise, but I can't bring myself to care much right now. Besides, knowing him, he'd turn more of them away than towards him." He knew he should go downstairs and cut Malfoy to size, but all he could think about right now was that in two months, Hogwarts would be hosting a deadly tournament and Harry Potter wanted in on it.

AN:

Too much tits? Initially, there wasn't even one reference to tits and then I decided to include one and that opened the floodgates. This won't be a pattern in the following chapters. This chapter is exposition heavy so I decided to include them to make it a little lighter. I have tried to avoid walls of text as much as possible by working expositions into dialogue. I hate exposition as much as the next guy but it is necessary considering this is the first chapter and I am not writing the story from the beginning. Some exposition has been intentionally left out for further chapters. I understand that as a reader you will have tons of questions. I ask that you stay patient and all relevant details of the past will get exposed slowly.

A personal quirk of mine is to mock established clichés of fandom. I myself will be adopting a few clichés but I will be mocking a fair few of them too. Call me a hypocrite if you will. Example- Goblins are honest bankers that are tripping over themselves to help anyone who says a phrase like "May your gold flows and your enemies bleed." As you can see in this chapter, I have projected Goblins as greedy and mean who won't miss the slightest technicality to screw someone over with zero sympathy. This view is actually canon since JK Rowling presents them similarly.

I have also decided to present Malfoy as somewhat witty. I don't like a dumb Malfoy, it makes things too easy. I don't know what I did in this chapter will be considered bashing. Harry and most Slytherins have a POV which is quite different from Gryffindors and Dumbledore. As such, they will badmouth them. In my opinion, this isn't bashing but if you think so, then my apologies but this will continue.

Dumbledore's speech is mostly directly paraphrased from the original Goblet of Fire. Sorry if that is off-putting but I needed the speech. Again, not going to be a regular occurrence except for when I need to do a canon info dump

One important thing I would like to stress out is that just because Harry or someone else says something doesn't necessarily mean it's a fact. Everyone has their own biases. Case in point-Moody's reputation. Slytherins have their own take on the incident alluded to and so do the Gryffindors and really happened will be revealed in a couple of chapters.

I will be answering any questions you have in AN here so if you have a question, please leave a signed review or atleast mention a penname. Quite difficult to address a concern if you are named "Guest". Lastly, subscribe and leave your reviews. It helps me grow as an author.