Chapter Text
Everything had been going so well. Harry had gotten away from the Dursleys weeks before time, giving him a chance to do his homework. He had spent the summer with the Weasleys, gone to the World Cup, though, that could have been better if the Death Eaters had not decided to ruin that day. He had spent time with his friends, gotten to eat proper meals, slept in a nice bed and gone to Hogwarts without a problem.
Then, after he arrived at Hogwarts, things had still been fine. Almost perfect. No professor was after some sort of artifact, no basilisk was trying to kill people or a magical dairy hellbent on killing him and no criminal escapee trying to murder him. Merlin, even Snape's classes had been decent.
Sure, he would have preferred if Quidditch had not been cancelled for this Tournament thing, but all and all, it had been a bloody good year so far.
But of course, of bloody fucking course that was not going to last. No sir, Harry Potter was not allowed to have a single year where things were just a smidge normal. Harry was pretty sure at this point that he was cursed.
Because how else can this turn of events have happened? How come that the goblet of fire, a magical semi-sentient artifact, managed to spit out his name out of it when he had not gotten close to that thing since the night the foreign students came? How come that he was chose when only of age students were allowed to participate?
He had seen the age line; he had watched what it could do to those that tried to fool it. In fact, he had helped those that had been affected by the adverse reaction of the line by trying to fool it.
Harry had needed to restrain the twins from trying to do something else to be able to put their names in the goblet.
And of course, this had to happen on the worst day of the year, at least for him, 31st of October, better known as Halloween. Why did everything bad have to happen to him on this fucking day?!
"Harry Potter" the headmaster called once more after he noticed that the teen was not getting up.
Harry did not want to stand up, he was already feeling the startled looks from his peer’s morph into hateful glares. He did not want to walk around with those glares fixed on his person. He rather hoped that the ground would open up beneath him and swallow him whole, that way he would not have to deal with this.
"Get up Harry! " Hermione gave him a not so gentle push that had him out of his seat and onto the floor. Not looking the least bit apologetic at her actions when she was faced with Harry’s glare.
Great, he thought, as if I did not need to give them another reason to look at me. Harry rose to his feet and made his way towards the headmaster; keeping his head high at all times. He had done nothing wrong so there was no reason for him to look guilty or apologetic.
He took the piece of burnt parchment and followed the path that the other champions had taken before him. While he walked, he caught a glimpse of Professor Snape's face. What he saw almost made him stumble on his step.
Maybe it was a trick of the light or his stressed mind doing something to help him cope with reality but... If he didn't know better, Harry would say that Snape looked concerned for him.
But surely, that could not be, he hated him. Always had and always will. Harry should probably start considering on getting a pair of new eyeglasses.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
From their place on the Gryffindor table, two pairs of worried blue eyes stared at the petit figure of their friend as he disappeared the way the other champions had gone. Both of them had seen how pale Harry’s face had been, not to mention that he had looked sick, despite the teen trying to put on a brave face.
"Guess he wasn't getting enough attention this year" they heard their little brother say bitterly, "he must have cheated somehow to get to participate" they saw many of their fellow lions nod in agreement, which made them frown and promptly glare at the instigator of such a reaction.
They all knew that Harry hated to be the center of attention, he had even confessed to them that he hoped this year would be a normal one. Lee had been with them when Harry said as much, which was why he was looking baffled at everyone's response to the younger Weasley's words.
Those in the Quidditch team were also very aware of just how much Harry resented his fame and tried to escape it as best as he could, it was precisely because they cared little for his fame that he had come to like them a lot. Even Wood, who tended to gain the hate of many for his obsession with winning at every game they played, had gained the boy’s friendship. The members often found it cute when the youngest member would follow the former Gryffindor around like a lost duckling.
Upon graduating, Oliver had pretty much tasked the members of the quidditch team with watching over their little seeker - knowing full well that the boy had the worst of lucks. Plus, people tended to turn against him the moment something unusual or dark happened.
Knowing what they did, the team members could not help but come to the conclusion that something fishy was going on. And it obviously consisted in endangering their teammate.
When Fred and George saw Hermione open her mouth, they thought that she would reproach their brother and defend Harry, she was her best friend after all. They were sorely disappointed.
"Of course, he wants the attention Ron, he revels in it. But I doubt he was the one who came up with the idea, he is not smart enough to pull this off" she said, her nose up in the air.
The twins exchanged offended looks with each other and the other members that were nearby. While it was well known that Harry did not like to put much effort in his schoolwork, he was by no means dumb. In fact, he was brilliant in his practical classes – except in potions - way better than Hermione was, the so called brightest witch of their year. It was the theorical parts that he had trouble with, unlike the know-it-all.
Leaving aside the fact that one of his best friends considered him dumb, Fred and George found it more offended by the accusations Harry’s best friends were throwing at him. It was as if they did not know him at all.
“But he was not in the castle all day yesterday, he was with us having a Quidditch match” Lee pointed out, “he would not have been able to put his name” the team members were quick to agree to his words.
“Then he must have asked someone to put it in” Ron spat, hateful stare looking at the door Harry had walked out off.
“But then it would not have worked, we saw a fifth year Ravenclaw ask a seventh year to put a piece of parchment with her name in it on the goblet. The moment the seventh year dropped the name, the goblet spat the parchment towards his face!” Katie reminded them, wincing at the memory of the day before.
The parchment had been on fire when it was spat out, so it had come as no surprise that the seventh year had been burned as a consequence. Thankfully, it had not been anything serious, but many suspected that he would be walking around with no eyebrows for a long time.
But no matter what the team members said, the pair refused to believe that his friend was innocent and kept throwing dirt all over his name. At least the rest of their housemates had stopped throwing vitriol at Harry, but they still suspected him.
Fred and George could do nothing about Harry’s name appeared on the goblet, but they could do something about his ungrateful friends. They finally had the test subjects they had been searching for to test the new product they had developed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Fleur was the first to notice Harry when he finally made his way towards them, her beautiful face marred with the frown she was throwing at him.
“Are we being called?” she asked, her French accent thick as she spoke. It was clear to Harry that she had not spoken in English very often.
“No, I…” Harry bit the bottom of his lip, “I was asked to come here”
“Vy? You are not a champion” said Krum, dark eyes looking at Harry as if he was an interesting insect.
“If only your words were true” muttered the young wizard bitterly, not really wanting them to hear him. But he had not counted on Cedric coming closer to him and hearing him.
“What do you mean Harry? What happened after we left?” he asked, looking concerned when the green-eyed teen began to look a little green. “Harry?”
Harry closed his eyes and breathed deeply, willing the nausea to leave him so he may speak to them. It would not do to embarrass himself in front of them, he needed them on his side before the professor came flooding towards them.
Opening his eyes, he stared at each champion in turn and began to tell them what had happened. He told them of the goblet spitting a piece of parchment with his name on it, how he had been called by the headmaster to stand, how he had been reluctant to stand and how he had been pushed to come here. He made sure to point out that he had no interest in participating and that he had never put his name in the goblet, Harry prayed that they would believe him.
Krum’s face grew grave at the younger wizard’s tale, “how old are you, Potter?” he inquired.
Harry blinked, “fourteen, I turned fourteen three months ago”
“A child!” the French witch exclaimed, “they want a child to participate in sis tournament?!”
“Harry, do you have the piece of parchment with you?” Cedric asked, a pensive look on his face. Harry nodded and quickly took it out of his pocket, giving it to Cedric’s offered hand.
Krum came to look over the Hufflepuff’s shoulders, something that was easy as he was a good head taller than the other teen. “Is this your handwriting?”
Green eyes stared at the parchment in the older wizard’s hands, growing confused when he saw that it was indeed his handwriting. Upon closer inspection, Harry noticed that it looked as if the parchment had been torn from a bigger document and then he saw it.
“It from my Herbology assignment, the one I delivered three days ago” he replied, wondering how this could have ended up in the goblet, he doubted that his assignment suddenly decided to jump into the flame of the goblet, now that was too weird even by his standards of weird.
“How can you tell?” Cedric did not see how he could tell where it had come from, there was only his name written with a couple of splotches of different colored ink and in the back there didn’t seem to be anything special, just a small grease mark.
Harry took the parchment and pointed at splotch of red-ish colored ink that looked a bit faded, they way it does when you wipe away the ink when it’s still wet. “This is not a splotch of ink, its blueberry sauce” he said looking at the three champions, “that day I was writing the essay in the great hall, and I had been eating a blueberry pie, a little of it fell into my parchment but because I was running late to class, I never got the chance to clean it properly” he explained.
“So, someone took your assignment, ripped your name from it and threw it at the goblet, oui?” Harry gave a cautious nod, still unsure if they others believed his words “Sis means someone wants you in the tournament” Fleur concluded, feeling sick with the implications that the whole thing was not as safe as it had been promised to her headmistress.
If a boy who was a member of one of the rival schools had been entered, despite there being an age line to prevent it, what hope could they have that the tournament would be safer than past ones.
Harry turned towards Cedric, “Do you think I-“
“HARRY POTTER!”
The green eyed teen jumped three feet of the group at the sound of the scream, his heart going to his throat and panic setting into his bones. Turning towards the entrance of the room, he saw in fear as several professors and ministry officials practically ran towards him, Headmaster Dumbledore being at the head of the group.
On instinct, Harry backed away and got behind Cedric, wanting to place a barrier between him and the oncoming stampede of adults. The three champions saw the boy’s strong reaction to the loud voice, making them frown, and swiftly placed themselves between the him and the adults. Just in time to stop Dumbledore from reaching the boy.
Albus frowned at the shield that was formed around Harry, which he quickly changed into a grandfatherly smile. “If you would please step aside, we need to speak with Mr. Potter” he said, his eyes twinkling as if he had not just ran like he had been chased by the devil to get here.
“You can do wat from vere you stand” reasoned the Bulgarian wizard, glaring at the older wizard for causing so much unnecessary panic to the younger wizard that was already scared to begin with.
Albus’s smile dropped a little before it was back in full force, “Of course, my boy” ignoring the teen’s bristling at the disrespectful way he had been addressed, he turned towards his student. “Harry, did you put your name in the goblet of fire?” he asked calmly.
Feeling grateful to the other champions for standing between him and the angry looking adults. He still did not like the idea of being interrogated for something that was not his fault but at least he was no longer on the front row of it, “No, sir” he replied once he got over the small knot that had formed on his throat.
“Lies!” the giant headmistress protested, “Ze boy lies!”
“I’m not lying! I didn’t put my name in the goblet!” countered the teen, looking at the older teens willing them to believe him. “I was not even in the castle when it was time to put our names in, I was in the Quidditch pitch with my team”
“Don’t believe the boy, it’s clear that he is lying” sneered a skinny dark-haired man dressed in furs, “how did you do it, boy? How did you fool the goblet into entering the game?”
“I didn’t, I swear!”
“Now now my boy, you can tell us the truth, that’s all that we are asking” said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling brightly – as if he was enjoying the show.
“It’s the truth!” Harry felt like pulling at his hair. Why were they not believing him? He was telling the truth, he hadn’t put his name in the goblet, he had constantly said that he did not want to participate. Everyone had heard him, or at least, he thinks the majority of the student body did.
How was he supposed to convince them when they did not believe him? He needed to prove his innocence. He could ask them to call for his Quidditch team to prove that he had been where he said he was, but what if they still did not believe him?
Harry thought fast and hard for anything that he could do that prove he was innocent, just when the Headmistress looked ready to start yelling again, something came to mind. Something he had read in passing on some texts while investigating for his homework.
The passage had said something about Lady magic judging any oath done in the name of magic. Said that if someone swore something false under their magic, they would be punished, but if it was true, Lady magic would stand besides them. He was not sure if it would be worth it, but he was desperate, and desperate situations required for desperate solutions.
Harry took out his wand and pointed it at the sky, gaining the attention of all those present. “I swear on my magic that I did not enter my name in the goblet of fire, nor had any intentions of joining the tournament. May Lady Magic judge my words and, should I lie, let her strike the punishment she sees fit, so mote it be” he said in a loud and clear voice.
His actions made everyone gape at the teen. Swearing on your magic was not something easily done, for the punishment for deceiving Lady magic tended to be the loss of the individual’s magic. Not to mention that invoking Lady magic placed a heaving toll on the wixen’s body and magic, which was why swearing on your magic was not usually done.
And yet, this tiny boy was doing it? Did he have a death wish?
No sooner had Harry stopped speaking, when he felt a heavy presence around him. He felt it proving at his memories and words, it was a strange feeling, like when you had someone hanging of off you. After what felt like an eternity, Harry felt the presence move towards his wand and he startled when he felt the ghost of a hand be placed above his.
Next thing he knew, a bright silvery light burst out from his wand and showered everyone in the room. A soft giggle was heard and Harry felt a something warm press itself on his forehead, just a little to the side from where his scar resided. Instantly he felt more at peace, it was as if he had just drunk a bottle of warm sunlight.
When the light faded out, Harry felt exhaustion hit him like a brick, making him fall to the ground. But before he hit the floor, an arm secured itself on his waist and brought him towards someone’s chest, turning towards the owner of the arm, he saw Krum’s worried face.
“I’m fine, just a little tired” he said, giving what he hoped was a reassuring smile that he was not sure it convinced the taller wizard.
Leaning on the Bulgarian wizard, he faced the adults in the room, “I’m innocent, now what?”