#

"Blimey, Harry," said Ron. "If you wanted to spend time with me that badly, you could have just re-enrolled, you know?"

Hermione laughed and hit Ron with a cushion from the lounge. He immediately retaliated, grabbing her and tickling her ribs mercilessly.

The Gryffindor common room was unsurprisingly noisy, considering there was a party raging in it.

Huge banners celebrating the two "Gryffindor Champions" hung from the rafters. Food and drink flowed freely to all, many of whom, Harry was surprised to see, were not even Gryffindors at all.

Ron and Hermione were doing their best to cheer Harry up, knowing becoming a Triwizard competitor was one of the last things the raven hair boy wanted.

Fred on the other hand, loved it, and so apparently did George.

Ron's twin brothers were amongst the loudest of the part-goers, often switching places and telling outrageous tales of how they had gotten their names into the Goblet of Fire.

"It's true, I tell you," yelled Fred. "I hung from a rope tied to the rafters and George lowered me down to just above the Goblet. He let the rope slip and only managed to stop me when I was two inches from entering the Tournament in a whole new way!"

Raucous laughter followed his announcement, despite almost everybody knowing it was just a tale.

"Are you going to come to classes?" asked Hermione.

"Might as well go to a few," said Harry. "I think I am going to need to learn a lot if I am going to survive this thing."

"We'll help," volunteered Hermione.

"Yeah," said Ron. "Even if we can't use the, thingy, we can still spend a bit of time getting you up to speed."

Harry nodded and took another sip of his Butterbeer. It tasted bitter, but that was probably just his feelings tainting the flavour.

"Any news on that front?" asked Hermione.

Harry shook his head. The healer insisted he avoid using the Time Turner, or any other magic like it, in case it was contributing to his health problems. It meant missing quite a few extra hours of fun with his friends, but he wasn't too worried about it anymore, not when his life was likely in much more immediate danger.

A Geas placed on him by the Goblet of Fire was trouble enough.

"Nah," he said. "But it might be a bit dangerous to use around here. You know, in case anybody finds out about it."

They both knew he meant Dumbledore. Things were still not exactly perfect between Harry, Sirius and the headmaster, and this latest travesty didn't help.

"Pity," said Ron. "Otherwise I could watch the task, and then come back a few hours to tell you how to do it."

"I can just imagine Dumbledore letting that one slide," laughed Harry.

"You don't think he had something to do with it, do you?" asked Hermione. "I mean what's does he stand to gain by forcing you into it?"

"I don't know," said Harry, leaning back into the soft seat. "Somebody put my name in, and somehow managed to get it drawn."

"Maybe it was the Goblins," said a blonde girl, taking the seat next to Hermione. "Daddy says their betting was all messed up by the World Cup result and they have to make an even bigger spectacle of the Tournament in order to make back the money they lost."

"Hello, Luna," said Ron. "How have you been?"

"I am well, aside from a small infection of Nargles, thank you, Ronald," said the girl, not taking her seeming overly large eyes away from Harry. "Hello, I'm Luna Lovegood."

Not knowing what Nargles were, or how serious an infection was, Harry hesitated a moment before shaking hands.

"Hello, I'm Harry," he said, trying not to stare at the girl's boggling eyes.

"I think it's very brave of you to be part of the Ministry conspiracy like this," she said. "I'm sure the Goblins won't try to kill you directly, but daddy says they have far too much riding on the outcome of the tournament to let Hogwarts win."

"Pardon?"

"Luna's dad is the editor of the Quibbler," explained Ron. "He has some rather, different, ideas about the things happening around the place. Last year he printed several issues dedicated to your innocence. Unfortunately he thought you were a House-elf under Dumbledore's control."

"A what? A House-elf?"

Hermione actually giggled, but Luna wasn't fazed at all.

"It's okay, Harry, or Hobby, as I know your real name is," said Luna patting Harry's hand comfortingly. "Dumbledore's charms keep you from realising your true status, but deep down you can't help it. That's why you used to work so hard for those horrible Muggles who owned you."

Hermione stopped giggling and Ron's smile froze at the mention of Harry's treatment by the Dursleys. Harry felt his own confused smile slipping.

"Will we be seeing Ginny at school this year, Ronald?" said Luna, apparently completely oblivious to the sudden awkwardness and tension. "I do hope she doesn't spend another year sitting around doing nothing. I rather miss her."

"Maybe," said Ron, shaking off his apprehension. "She might come to watch the tasks."

"I look forward to it then," said Luna standing up. "Nice to meet you, Hobby."

"Don't worry about her," said Ron, as soon as the girl moved away. "She's always been a bit strange. We used to call her Looney Lovegood."

"Used to?" asked Hermione pointedly.

"Yeah, well, all right, still do, but she's harmless as they come. Just a bit nutty, and her old dad's even worse. They live near us and she'd play with Ginny all the time. Always full of her dad's weird stories, she is."

Harry nodded, not quite sure what to make of the strange girl and her comments.

"It's a bit strange though," said Hermione thoughtfully. "Is, if she is not quite all there, how come the hat put her into Ravenclaw?"

Neither boy could think of a reasonable answer to that one.

#

Fred stumbled from the medical tent heading towards the entry to the second task. Cedric followed, leaning heavily on Ron and George's shoulders. They were weaker than newborn kittens, but no longer in pain, and their minds were remarkably clear, compared to just a short while ago.

In the tent behind them, Madam Pomfrey was still ranting about dangerous, barbaric home-remedies.

His mum was off to tell the rest of the family of Fred's recovery and to take the Diggorys to a good vantage point.

"How's our boy doing?" he asked.

Ron frowned.

"He is making his way up the mountain, but it's hard going," Ron answered.

"Did he take the broom?" asked Fred, already expecting the answer.

"Yes," answered Ron. "He can't know you need it."

"Doesn't matter," said Cedric. "We'll take the third part, the Mines. Broom won't work in there."

"How do you know that?" asked George.

Cedric suddenly looked lost for words.

"You set him up," said Ron, stopping suddenly. "You poisoned the bottle, didn't you? I bet you've got an antidote or something somewhere."

"Don't be stupid," snapped Cedric. "I was given a bit of information, that's all."

"Did you know about the dragon too?" asked Fred, recalling how Cedric's plan seemed so well thought out, letting him get the first egg quickly and with apparent ease.

"Look, it doesn't matter," said the older boy, lifting himself off Ron and George to stand on his own. "What matters is that we go to the Mine. Our best chance is for both of us to tackle the Mine together, which involves less moving and more problem solving. Unless you think you're up to swimming through the Lake?"

Fred pushed aside his anger and looked to his twin. George shook his head.

"He's right," said George. "Harry will be lucky to even make it up the Mountain before the time limit expires, and the lake without the Gillyweed is going to be impossible. The mine is your best bet for any points."

Ron stood up straighter, looking off in the distance towards the Mountain.

"Don't count Harry out yet," he said with grim determination. "You should never count Harry out."

Fred found himself hoping Ron was right.

#

The days following the drawing of his name were quite stressful for Harry in entirely new ways. Unable to leave the school due to the Geas, Harry found himself being treated almost worse than in second year before his conviction.

Many people shrank away from him, obviously still harbouring doubts regarding his mental stability after the Heir of Slytherin debacle and the sham trial that sent him to Azkaban. To these people, he was a potential Dark Lord just waiting to lash out and murder them as they passed him in the hall.

To others, he was a curiosity – the boy-who-lived-and-escaped-from-Azkaban. They gawked and stared, and often spoke about him without regard to his presence in the same room.

Yet others had a dimmer view of him and avoided him completely for reasons Harry could not bring himself to care about. Unfortunately, the majority of Hufflepuff and Slytherin house seemed made up of these people.

Even the foreign students fell into one of these categories, with the added benefit of open hostility from a few and distain from the others.

Very few treated Harry as one of them, and almost all of them were from Gryffindor.

"Don't worry about it, Harry," said Ron, as they attended classes. "Last year I learned to care less about what other people thought, and concentrate on those few who mattered."

"I know, Ron," said Harry. "I watched you deal with it, but this is different."

"Why? Because it's about you and not me? Ya big headed prat," laughed Ron, slapping Harry's shoulder playfully. "Just tell them to bugger off if they get under your skin, it might not help your cause at all, but it sure does make you feel a bit better."

Harry nodded and tried to ignore the mixture of stares he kept getting, but one particular person kept catching his eye, and he found it very hard to ignore her.

Cho Chang was a very pretty sixth year Ravenclaw. Her lustrous black hair and oriental features stood her out from the other students, attracting a lot of attention from many of the males in the school.

It seemed to Harry that the girl had just suddenly appeared in the school out of nowhere. Actually, so did a lot of other girls he had not really noticed before, but there was something special about Chang. In fact, if it wasn't for Fleur Delacour and a few of the other visiting students, Harry was certain Cho would easily be the most beautiful girl in the school.

The French beauty definitely had some sort of magical assistance, as her photo, while very attractive, did not do the things to Harry her presence in person did. It was a pity she never looked at him with anything except a sort of wry amusement.

"Harry, you're drifting off again," said Hermione, giving Harry a slight shake.

Harry shook his head and looked around. They were in defence, once again about to undergo another traumatic experience with the new Professor. Sirius told Harry everything he knew about Moody, including the fact the man was more than halfway insane, but he emphasised one thing above all others; pay attention.

Apparently, Moody personally trained many of the toughest Aurors before retiring, and was likely to slip in some sort of hint of what the first task was, despite the magic preventing him from assisting Harry directly with it.

So far, all he did was teach them about the Unforgivables, something Harry would have preferred to miss, since it was highly unlikely any of the tasks involved the Imperius Curse.

It didn't help matters when Harry was the only person in the class able to throw it off, especially when even Moody could not explain why or how.

A stunner suddenly flew from the apparently empty desk at the front of the class and slammed into Seamus Finnegan, knocking him to the ground unconscious.

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" screamed Moody, appearing standing on top of his desk, wand waving.

Ignoring the few who screamed and leapt from their seats, Ron, Harry, and Hermione calmly took out their quills and prepared to start taking notes.

One good thing was that it was a much more interesting class than History of Magic.

#

Harry staggered towards the table, and reached out his hand to touch the Wood box with the Hogwarts Crest carved on its lid. The box briefly glowed blue before shooting a huge gout of sparks into the air, signalling those below that they could tackle the next two portions of the tasks early.

"Pity there is nobody waiting at the water's edge or the doors of the mine to take advantage of the extra time gained by finishing before the limit expired", he thought.

"You succeed," said a deep voice, its thick Bulgarian accent making it hard to understand. "I not believe you vould. Vell done."

Harry raised his head to see Krum seated comfortably on a large rock nearby, overlooking the sheer cliff face above the deep lake. He barely looked ruffled; some dirt on his face and clothes the only sign that he partook of the ordeal.

No doubt about it, the man was tough.

Footsteps on the gravel path to the side of Harry forestalled his reply. Fleur appeared around the corner, looking considerably worse for wear. Various rips and burns marked her robes, and her hair was a mess of twigs and sticks. Dirt smears ran across her porcelain face, somehow not detracting an ounce from its beauty, but she was only breathing heavy, as opposed to Harry's ragged panting.

"You made it," she said, looking haughtily at Harry after sending red sparks into the sky by touching her schools crest. "I am surprised."

Harry thought about commenting on the fact he was there before her, but let it ride in favour of more breathing.

"Vill you try, Lake?" asked Krum.

"I have to," said Harry, nodding and forcing himself to stand up straight.

Krum looked mildly impressed. Fleur looked incredulous.

"But, you can 'ardly walk!" she said.

Harry lofted his broom up and smiled.

"That's what this is for," he said.

Realisation dawned on the two other champions; Harry completed the Mountain without using up his broom's flight time. Both looked suitably impressed now.

"And you?' asked Krum, turning to Fleur.

Fleur nodded.

"Aimee is working on ze Mine, but I will have to do ze lake. Zen we shall both join 'er to finish if he is out of zat swamp yet."

"How you go down?" asked Krum, pointing to the lake below them.

Fleur smiled and took a handful of the slimy Gillyweed from her pocket.

"Like zis," she said, jamming the weed into her mouth before running past Krum towards the cliff.

Harry didn't have time to cry out before she spread her arms and leaped off the edge. He raced over to stand with Krum, making it there just in time to see the girl complete a perfect swan dive into the lake with barely a splash to mark her entry into the deep water.

"Vonderful," said Krum admiringly, and Harry had to agree.

"Your turn," said Krum, smiling as he bowed slightly and sweeping his hand out to indicate Harry should follow Fleur.

"What about you?" asked Harry. "Aren't you going to help your team mate?"

"I finish my job. Others do theirs. All good," Krum said.

Harry understood. Each of the Durmstrang champions was responsible for his own part, and Krum had completed his. The Geas obviously was not forcing him to do any more.

"Fair enough," said Harry.

"Good luck," said Krum, standing back to allow Harry room to fly passed.

"Thanks," said Harry.

Then he stepped off the cliff.

#

Harry flew high above the Hogwarts grounds and watched Fleur and the other Beaubaxton champions train. They seemed to be practicing some sort of ritual, with Fleur acting as the caster. She stood in front of a very large, transfigured lion, singing and swaying as if dancing for it.

Aimee and Michael disillusioned themselves as soon as the practice began, and tried to sneak up on the lion, despite the ground being littered with various noise making traps. Once again, one of them trod on something they shouldn't have, Aimee this time, and a small explosion of fireworks erupted from her position.

The lion, startled at the sudden commotion, roared angrily and turned away from Fleur. A Red stunner shot out from Michael's side, knocking the lion out before it could make a move.

Immediately a very loud argument in high-speed French took place between the trio, with Fleur apparently berating the others, who were not taking the abuse lying down. Tempers got the better of them all, as their voices rose even more, and it was obvious their practice for today was at an end.

Shaking his head in a very unbird-like manner, Harry wheeled about and headed back to the castle to report. It was the fourth time he pulled off spying on the French champions, but it didn't gain the Hogwarts team any new information.

Fred managed to observe the Durmstrang team practicing, and reported them taking a very different tactic involving the three champions attempting to overcome another group of students with brute force. The six defending students relied exclusively on a single combined fire spell, constant shields, and stayed standing shoulder to shoulder in a cohesive unit rather than spreading out to make a real battle of it.

It was all very strange and, once again, didn't help the Hogwarts team at all.

"Same as last time," said Harry, after transforming next to Cedric and Fred on the roof of a nearby tower. "Delacour tried to charm a lion this time, while the other two snuck up on it."

"Well, I am buggered if I know what it is," said Fred. "How about you, Ced?"

The seventh year shook his head and Harry again felt tension when Cedric looked at him. For no specific reason, he got the feeling the Hufflepuff seventh year was harbouring a serious dislike of him. Maybe he still bought into the whole 'setting a snake on Justin' thing, or still held reservations about what really happened with Ginny and the Chamber of Secrets.

Whatever it was, it didn't stop the older boy from taking position of leader of the trio; a spot neither Harry nor Fred disputed.

"We are going to have to practice some basic teamwork and get both your defence skills up to scratch," said Cedric. "It seems to me, whatever the task is, there is going to be a battle involved, since both teams are practicing combat or stealth against an opponent."

"We could just sneak over to the stadium and have a look," said Fred. "It's pretty obvious the others know what's going on, and it's not that far away."

The location of the World Cup stadium was a revelation to Harry, although it came as no real surprise that Hermione worked it out after taking one look at the stars on the night of the game.

Secretly building a massive arena only a few kilometres from Hogsmeade was a nifty trick to have pulled off. Having it readily available for the Hogwarts task was inspired. Obviously, Professor Dumbledore had a lot to do with both the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament.

"No," said Cedric, shaking his head. "Watching the other schools train is one thing, but I'll not be a party to outright cheating."

Fred rolled his eyes, and Harry couldn't help but agree. Cedric was being a bit unreasonable about it.

"Besides," Harry said, smiling at Fred. "I know you've already tried."

"He's got you there," Cedric laughed.

Fred joined in, not at all ashamed of getting caught out.

"Both George and me nearly got nabbed," he admitted. "Even Sirius hasn't been able to get close enough to find out what they have planned. Security is rock solid, just like the world cup."

"Didn't stop the Death Eaters," said Harry thoughtfully.

The laughter and smiles fell away quickly.

"Come on," said Cedric, obviously uncomfortable in the suddenly sober mood. "Let's go practice some more. Harry, I'd like to try teaching you how to transfigure rocks into animals, big ones if possible. Fred, you need to practice the disillusionment charm some more. If the French think it's going to be useful, we should all know how to do it."

Nodding in agreement, they started heading towards the classroom set aside for practice. Nobody needed to say what they were all thinking:

How had the other teams found out what the task involved?

#

Remus Lupin examined the Goblet of Fire closely.

The flames were no longer active, making it difficult for him to investigate the weave and interaction of its spells directly, but there was still an amazing amount of magic coursing through the artefact.

It was the second week of his investigation, and so far he had very little to show for his time.

Although a master of enchanting objects, the Goblet of Fire was no Marauder's map, and its construction made that parchment look like a child's toy in comparison.

Where dozens of spells went into the map, hundreds went into the Goblet.

Where four underage wizards poured hours of their magic into the map, teams of wizards poured weeks of magic into making the Goblet.

It was in a class of its own.

However, Remus was not attempting to recreate Goblet, just determine if anything unusual occurred recently to make it select Harry's name. So far, everything appeared correct. There was the smallest hint of a Confundus charm, but it didn't seem powerful enough to have confused the Goblet that badly.

Weasley said he tricked another boy into putting in his brother's name, but he didn't say how he achieved that. There must be more to it than simply switching bits of paper, and others would likely have done the same thing as the twins. Maybe he was detecting the residual of Confundus charms on the papers themselves.

Turning his back on the Goblet, Lupin hurried from the room, intending on retrieving the paper with Fred's name on it.

In the suddenly dark room, a glimmer of movement from the shadows revealed that Lupin was not as alone as he thought. The only indication of the identity of the other occupant was the dull thudding noise of a wooden leg leaving the room, and it went unheard by anybody.

#

The surprised look on Krum's face just before Harry fell out of sight made him smile, but it didn't distract from jamming the broom between his legs and accelerating into a graceful curving fall.

The lake was huge, running the full length of the valley. The fairytale-like castle of Beaubaxton School sat perched near the top of a mountain part way down the lake's length. A winding path led from the school to a jetty big enough to accompany the massive Durmstrang ship. That was where the other contestants would have started from, if things had gone to plan.

Harry could make out hundreds of stands lining the banks of the lake and on many of the artificial clouds floating above him. He couldn't really understand what the spectators hoped to see that they wouldn't view better on the huge, floating crystal balls spread out amongst them, but the stands were packed. Maybe they had very good Omnioculars.

Cedric's belief that the location of the next objective would be the deepest part of the lake made a lot of sense. All of the teams were meant to spend time making their way there, overcoming any number of creatures and the currents of the water itself to get to the most obvious place. It was unlikely anybody expected a champion to have a broom for this task, especially not after the way the task description pitched the broom as being required for the Mountain challenge.

Fred, that master of rule bypassing, made sure to check thoroughly, but there was nothing to stop them from using the objects gained in the first task for any part of second. Likewise, obtaining a map of the lake was perfectly allowable, as was charming it to work something like the Marauder's Map, although they could not take it with them into the task.

Pinpointing the location the wizards would place the objective of the trial was not difficult, once you took into consideration the mentalities involved. Right in the middle of the central square of the main Mere village was such an obvious choice that it was practicably a certainty, especially since it was also the deepest part of the lake.

Using the broom was a shortcut.

The original plan was to have Harry fly out, swallow a bite of Gillyweed, and then complete the underwater task. He would have ample time to make it back to the shore where he could wait for the Gillyweed to run out, and then join Fred in the Mine.

All three agreed beating the mountain without the broom was likely the hardest task, and Cedric was the best equipped to do so. Gaining time for the other two tasks by finishing the first one early also made it the most important. The Hufflepuff was confident enough to feel there was even a decent possibility of him making it back down to help in the Mine too.

This division of the tasks made the most sense, utilising each of them in the best way possible, and their near disastrous lack of teamwork in the first task taught them a valuable lesson about working together and using each other's strengths.

Fred's devious mind was well suited to the expected curse-breaking challenges of the Mine, but any help he could get from Cedric or Harry would be appreciated.

Flying was Harry's greatest strength. It was the best way to overcome Harry's lesser skill, and neatly bypassed most of the need to overcome the creatures and other obstacles in the lake to reach the objective.

The incapacitation of his two teammates left Harry with few options, but the plan was still his best bet, except now he could not afford the time of waiting underwater for the Gillyweed to expire, and taking a smaller dose might mean it didn't work at all.

The Bubblehead charm was not something Harry could pull off well, but he had to try. Surprisingly, he managed a passable casting on only his second hurried attempt.

For a moment, he caught a brief glimpse of Fleur swimming the same direction as he was going. A horde of Grindylows chased along behind her, darting from cover to cover in a vain attempt to remain hidden until they could launch an ambush. Even swimming, she was as graceful as ever, and truly a distracting and wonderful sight for Harry to admire from his lofty vantage point. Then he was past her, and a few seconds later arrived at the spot he estimated and hoped was above the centre of the underwater city and its main square.

Cutting the power of the broom, Harry tilted forward and awkwardly tried to control his plummet. Spiralling madly, he gave the broom the briefest surge of power just before hitting the water.

The shock of the cold and the collision made Harry cry out, gaining him a mouthful of water that leaked passed his imperfect Bubblehead charm. Spluttering, Harry managed to grab one of Fred's small packets of the strange powder that was the third of the contents gained from the Golden Eggs, and tore it open.

Immediately it glowed brightly, chasing away a horde of closing Grindylows and startling a few curious Merepeople. They shielded their eyes against the unexpected glare with webbed hands, some even dropping vicious looking tridents to do so.

Silently thanking Fred for his obscure potions ingredients knowledge, Harry waved the packet around him, spreading it about to give maximum illumination, and protection. A carefully cast locating charm directed him downwards, into the dark depths, as he expected.

Strapping the broom to his back again, Harry concentrated hard, and then transfigured his unusually wide belt into lead. The weight immediately pulled him down, unfortunately outpacing the slowly sinking circle of light.

"Lumos!" cast Harry, the spell echoing eerily inside his bubble of air.

Pressure began to build on his chest as he sunk, making it harder to breath with every second. Water leaked into his bubble faster too, putting him in serious danger of drowning if he didn't reach the bottom soon.

The light from his wand penetrated the gloom like a spotlight on a foggy night, creating a thin cone of visibility that faded away into the depths, illuminating nothing of value before it too surrendered to the foreboding blackness.

#

"Ron," said Hermione, taking a seat next to her boyfriend. "Did you put your name in the Goblet?"

"'Course I did," said Ron, without looking up from the game of chess he was playing with Neville.

"What about you, Neville?" asked Hermione.

Neville looked a bit embarrassed, but answered anyway.

"No," he said. "I was too scared of getting caught trying. Look at what happened to Dean."

"What, a week's detention? That's just Snape being a git," said Ron. "I bet the only reason the slimy bugger was there at that time of the morning was because he was dropping every Slytherin's name into it that could afford to bribe him."

Neville laughed, but Hermione remained thoughtful.

"What about you," Neville asked Hermione.

"No," she said.

"Couldn't you think of a way then, eh?" asked Ron, the huge grin on his face giving away the fact he wasn't serious.

"Very funny," said Hermione, rolling her eyes upwards. "You know very well I thought of at least seven ways that stood a fair chance of working, since you bugged me about them often enough."

"How did you do it?" asked Neville, abandoning the game he was losing anyway.

"Well, since Hermione wouldn't tell me her ideas, I just went for the easiest way I could figure," said Ron. "I got a large stick and stuck the entry on the end of it, then poked it in over the line."

Neville's mouth gaped open.

"It was that easy?" he asked.

"Yeah, but the tricky part was not getting caught trying," said Ron. "So many people were sneaking in and out at all hours of the day and night, and Moody was hanging around half the time too. It was pretty hard to get a chance to have a go, but even old Mad-eye has to go to the privy every now and then."

"Interesting," said Hermione thoughtfully.

Neither boy was under any illusion she was talking about Ron's ingenuity.

#

The days before the first task started to fly past faster than Harry could keep track of. His waking hours became a blur of classes and practice with Fred and Cedric.

Often others would join him, although the magical Geas of the Goblet of Fire severely limited what help they could give. At any time, if somebody tried to help them directly, like Sirius showing them a specifically useful spell, the trio suddenly felt very uncomfortable. If they persisted, the feeling got worse, gradually growing into pain.

They came up with many ways around this 'no outside help' rule, but it did make it a lot harder to ask for assistance. It was a mystery how the Durmstrang team was able to get around it so easily, although Fred thought it might have had something to do with them already knowing what the task was.

Along with the burdens of having to compete, Harry found himself growing increasingly worried about why his name was put into the Tournament. Sleep was getting harder to come by, despite his exhaustion after spending hours trying to learn everything Cedric and Fred could show him.

Not that Cedric was handing the stress any better. The seventh year had the additional load of his N.E.W.T. exams at the end of the year.

Only Fred seemed to be taking the additional work in his stride.

"Just means I don't get quite as much time to prank people," he said, laughing.

Ron, Hermione, and surprisingly Neville, were all helping Harry with his 'normal' schoolwork. The Geas didn't affect that, even after Professor Flitwick suddenly altered the fourth year Charms curriculum to include several spells that Harry was having difficulty with, despite the fact the charms were not normally taught until seventh year.

Remus and Sirius were more limited in what aid they could provide, much to their frustration.

His godfather was a lot more excited than Harry, and kept slipping hints and suggestions into everyday conversation for what he believed Harry should be studying. Many of the suggestions were good, and Cedric usually accepted them without argument.

Some however, were not so useful, not to Harry anyway.

"A contraceptive charm?" asked Harry, looking up from the book Sirius just happened to leave sitting open near Harry. "How can a contraceptive charm help me?"

"Not with the tasks," said Sirius. "Well, not unless this year includes a few pretty unusual events! No, you are a very desirable lad, don't snort like that – it undignified, and you need to take certain precautions to make sure some wily witch doesn't take advantage to rope you into a life-time commitment."

Harry closed the book and pushed it aside.

"I don't have time for this," he said.

Sirius laughed.

"Gotcha," he said, grinning like a mad man.

Harry couldn't help it, and started laughing too.

"Not that it's a bad charm to know or anything," added Sirius.

"Not for a while yet, I think," said Harry, still laughing at his godfather's trick.

"Anyway, I shortened the odds on you a bit," said Sirius. "I placed a rather large bet today."

"I really don't think we are going to win Sirius," said Harry.

"Win? I didn't say I'd bet on you to win," laughed Sirius teasingly.

"Git," laughed Harry. "Why don't you go see if your chances of hitting on Professor Sinistra are any better?"

Sirius sighed dramatically.

"Alas, I fear the good Professor will never forgive Padfoot for spending so much time around her last year," he said. "That and I really think she likes the mutt better than me."

"Not surprising," said Harry. "Padfoot didn't fill her room up with roses."

"It was meant to be romantic!" objected Sirius.

"Then you should have picked just the roses, not ripped up the whole plant."

"I was a bit rushed!"

"You were being stupid and you know it. She didn't find it charming the way you expected her to, since you ruined her charts."

"How do you know all this?" asked Sirius, giving Harry a suspicious look.

Harry grinned.

"Spies," he said, trying for mysterious.

#

After a seeming eternity of black nothing, oddly shaped buildings rose out of the gloomy floor of lake to meet Harry as he sank. Single story little huts made out of stones and reeds wound together somehow, lay spread out haphazardly beneath him.

Stranger still were the little things he recognised as a part of normal houses, like the gardens and flower boxes. It didn't matter how strange and exotic the plants growing in them were, they gave Harry a funny feeling of comfort, since they were so 'normal'.

The locating charm pulled Harry's wand away to the right. He twisted until he faced that way, but made no real effort to swim in that direction. The practice sessions he endured taught him some very valuable lessons about moving in water, especially his almost complete lack of ability in the art of swimming.

No matter how vigorously he kicked and swung his arms about, the most he ever managed to accomplish was to tire himself out totally for the sake of a few dozen metres.

He did manage to change his slow motion plummet's direction slightly though, angling to avoid landing on the roof of one of the Merpeople houses, just in case it couldn't hold his weight. The garden was not so fortunate though.

Harry didn't realise just how fast he was falling until his legs buried themselves up to his knees in the muddy flowerbed. The ground absorbed a lot of the impact, luckily, but he still toppled over to land on his behind, crushing more of the weird, dull coloured flowers growing there.

It took him a few minutes to dig and pull himself up, completely demolishing the rest of the garden, much to the delight of the Merpeople onlookers who gathered around him, and the horror of the house's owners, who watched from their open doorway.

"Maybe they're the Merpeople equivalent of the Dursleys," Harry mumbled to himself, in an attempt to feel slightly less guilty at his vandalism.

Finally freeing himself from the soft ground, Harry cast the locating charm again, and headed off along the lakebed in the direction it tugged his wand, in long, loping strides. While not the most efficient way to move through the water, it was still considerably better than swimming, or 'drowning by degrees' as Fred called Harry's lamentable style.

On his way, Harry briefly entertained doubts about the validity of the locating spell. Cedric assured him it would always direct him to the centre of the lake, but couldn't explain how it was doing it, which didn't inspire confidence.

Typically, Fred shrugged and gave his usual sage advice. "If it doesn't work you're no worse off," he said. "You'll still have no idea."

Mindful of the water splashing around his chin inside of his faulty bubblehead charm, Harry made his best speed along the winding gaps between the houses, following the ever-decreasing twitches of his wand as best he could.

He couldn't help himself but let out an excited yell as a large clearing appeared ahead of him with a brightly lit table, twin to the one on the top of the mountain, sitting in its exact centre.

Then a giant squid swam into view.

#

Severus finished packing up the disaster of a class after the last horde of moronic students for the day finally left him alone and automatically performed a quick stock take of the student's supply cabinet.

He learned long ago that, every single day, somebody would manage to use up or ruin the cabinet's supply of some 'essential to the next day's lesson' ingredient. It was as if a force akin to the curse of the Defence position lurked in the Potions labs, secretly sabotaging them in an attempt to make it impossible to complete the year's curriculum.

Snape was certain that if he chose to make tomorrow's lesson about boiling water, fifteen minutes into his lecture on the correct procedure to be used, a drought would dry up the Hogwarts lake.

As he suspected, several ingredients were suspiciously low in quantity, which would not be a problem if the majority of students tomorrow had their own, required, standard potions kits. No doubt, some unforseen disaster will mean almost every single kit would suddenly be under supplied, and the cabinet would run dry before the day was out.

That was how things tended to work out for Severus.

Taking note of the needed ingredients, he closed the door and walked to his own private supply cabinet. No disasters had yet penetrated the ward-covered walls of this very special walk-in storehouse, making it the perfect place to keep large quantities of everything, including things that would never be used on any approved Hogwarts potion list.

Previously he used to unlock the cabinet and allow some of the less clumsy or dishonest students to retrieve what was required, but the Granger girl proved he was far too trusting last year, removing one of the precious Basilisk Fangs before he had been able to properly catalogue and store it.

Now only Severus entered the room, making the whole nightly stock-take and refill routine necessary in the first place. Multiple layers of charms, weaved into the very walls and doors themselves, made it impossible for anybody else to force entry into the room without using a significant amount of power and skill, much more than anything a student could generate.

Except maybe Granger, reflected Severus silently, as he turned the large brass key in the lock. She could possibly master an unlocking charm complex enough to open the door, despite the spell being above seventh year level, if she was motivated enough.

The massive, complex lock opened with a barely audible click, and the door swung open without a squeak, stopping Severus in his tracks.

Normally the lock groaned in protest, and the door needed to be nudged open. Its rightmost hinge would give out a setting-teeth-on-edge squeal that often made students cringle. While it was frustrating that new high-security doors were not perfect, Severus had purposely left the defects, simply because of the reaction it could cause in the mindless drones snoozing away their time in his class.

The fact it now opened silently was a very disturbing occurrence.

Severus didn't move for a moment, painfully aware something was not right. Somebody had been in the cabinet. They fixed the squeaky hinge, probably in order to avoid being overheard, and managed to open the door without setting off any alarms.

With exaggerated care, Severus drew his wand and slowly finished opening the door. For the next quarter of an hour, he thoroughly cast over a dozen detection spells, and checked for any possible trap or surprise.

While lacking the skill, there were several dozen other people who could possibly be motivated enough to attempt to get into the cabinet, the Weasley twins amongst them. It would not be the first time those idiotic Gryffindors managed to exceed everyone's expectations, and Snape knew he would be high on their list of pranking targets.

There was also the fact both Black and Lupin were often in the castle of late.

The detection spells ended, showing nothing unusual anywhere in or around the cupboard. There was a faint trace of recently cast spells, but nothing lingering.

Slowly and carefully, Severus examined his store room. Everything looked to be in perfect order, but looks could be deceiving. With an annoyed sigh, he resolved himself to the fact he was now going to have to inventory the much larger room to find if anything was missing.

Hours and multiple double checks later, he was certain select ingredients had been taken; ingredients that once before had been stolen from his stores.

There were a few potions that used these particular stores, but chief amongst those was a potion used for any number of nefarious actions.

There was little doubt in Severus's mind that there was an 'innocent' explanation for making

Polyjuice.

#

Harry sat on the parapet of the tallest spire of the castle and watched the sun start to sink below the horizon. Hedwig perched on the wall next to him, keeping him company.

Being back at Hogwarts was nice, especially since he still didn't have to attend classes. No longer having to sneak around the place in his Animagus form like last year was a bonus too.

The cold air stung his nostrils and made him cough a bit, sending shooting pains through his chest. Two weeks after the first task and the injuries still pained him occasionally.

The Geas forced him to stay at the school, despite the next task taking place in France. Harry was almost willing to believe the headmaster was behind the strange magic, but, for the moment, the compulsion to stay at Hogwarts was overwhelming.

"Mizter Potter?" said a soft voice from behind him, with a decidedly French accent.

Cursing at his failure to notice somebody approaching him, Harry turned around, hand automatically dropping to his wand.

Cho Chang stood alone on the tower smiling at him.

Harry felt his heart flutter at the sight of the pretty, sixth year Ravenclaw seeker.

"Cho?" he asked, a bit redundantly. "What are you doing here?"

Cho laughed, a throaty sound that ran shivers up and down Harry's spine. He liked that laugh, and wanted to hear a lot more of it.

"I was out flying and you all alone up here. I thought I'd join you," she said.

Harry noticed a broom in her hand, and the slightly windswept look of her glorious long hair.

"And the accent?" he asked, numb at the unreal nature of their conversation.

Stunning girls just did not suddenly pop up in front of Harry Potter for a pleasant chat. Something was going on.

"Sorry, my idea of a joke I guess. I figured since every other guy in the castle is jumping six feet at the slightest hint of that Veela tart, that it might give you a bit of a jolt," she said, tilting her head thoughtfully. "It didn't though, did it?"

"Tart? I'm guessing you aren't a big fan of Fleur's either then?" said Harry.

"No," said Cho, walking over to lean on the wall next to him. "Although I am surprised the Hogwarts rumour mill seems right about the feelings between you too. Did she really try to seduce you?"

Harry burst out laughing.

"Seduce me?" he giggled. "No. She won't even deign to speak to me."

"Oh," said Cho, moving closer and turning her face to look directly into his eyes. "Although I personally don't think too many words are really needed to seduce somebody."

Harry felt the heat of her body where they were touching. He was terrified, excited, and not a little bit nervous. There was an almost hungry look in her eyes.

Suddenly he realised it was not his imagination. The shy smiles across crowded rooms and between classes, the occasional smattering of small talk, even the way she often seemed to show up in the same places as him, he was right about all of it; Cho was flirting with him.

"Really?" he asked calmly, amazed at his own courage and control.

"Really," she confirmed.

She leaned in, pressing her lips against Harry's in a soft, and yet somehow passionate kiss. Harry found himself returning the kiss. A dozen other fantasies flitting through his mind, along with many tales and advice Sirius shared with him.

Moaning softly, her arms snaked around his neck, and he wrapped his around her waist in response, neither breaking the increasingly energetic kiss. Their bodies pressed together firmly in unconscious expressions of desire.

Forgotten, Hedwig hooted in annoyance and took to air.

Neither teen noticed, but the person hiding in the shadows of the door did.

#

"Harry, is there something going on between you and Cho?" asked Hermione worriedly.

Harry tore his eyes from the Ravenclaw beauty.

"What? No," he said quickly, returning to his breakfast. "Don't be stupid."

Hermione harrumphed.

"Good," she said, rather forcefully.

"Why, you jealous or something," asked Harry, amused at his best friend's display.

"Please!" said Hermione in mock outrage.

Harry laughed and began eating, but all too soon, his eyes returned to the darkhaired girl at the other table. For a brief second, he caught her eye. She smiled quickly, but turned to talk to her friends without any other sign of seeing him.

It was enough.

"You know she is with Cedric, don't you?" asked Hermione.

Harry paused, his spoon halfway to his mouth.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah I do."

Hermione didn't say anything else, but he could feel her disapproving look.

#

"Each champion is permitted to invite three friends as spectators to the task. The two top students from each house for each year, will also be given the opportunity to attend," said Professor McGonagall, causing a rustle of excitement to ripple through the room.

"Lucky you are friends with Harry," Ron loudly stage whispered to Hermione. "Otherwise you wouldn't be able to go."

A few chuckles greeted his comment and even the stern Professor smiled before continuing. Despite missing many months of the previous year, Hermione was still the highest scoring student of her year. Surprisingly, Ron was doing quite well too, although not even close to the top of his classes in any subject.

"Those of you lucky enough to be invited may take only a single trunk, and will be expected to continue with their studies while away from the castle. You will have an opportunity to visit the two other schools and possibly partake in some joint classes, as we will arrive one week before each event and leaving one week after."

"As Deputy Headmistress, it is my duty to stay behind to run the school while the Headmaster is away," said the Professor.

Harry groaned. "Please don't tell me Snape is going to be chaperoning us," he said to Ron.

Ron stopped smiling and anybody who overheard Harry suddenly blanched.

"However, as two of the champions are Gryffindors, I feel my head of house duties override those of the Headmistress, and I will be accompanying you all."

Half of the common room breathed a sigh of relief, much to the Professor's amusement. She continued her speech, explaining the expectations and rules of those going on the trip, but Harry wasn't paying that much attention anymore.

With Hermione already qualifying to attend on her own merit, and Ron a foregone conclusion, Harry was left with two places to fill.

The only other person that immediately sprung to mind was likely to have an invite anyway, since her boyfriend was also a Hogwarts Champion.

And Harry had no idea who else to invite.

#