Secrets and Strategies

"People would really think that?" asked Harry skeptically.

"Of course they would, most witches and wizards are fools." said Salazar, dismissively waving his hand, "Either way, they will not feel particularly threatened, as all they will see is a boy that is fairly powerful, and knows a single powerful spell. That is much less threatening than a boy who is much more powerful than he should be for his age."

"That still sounds pretty threatening to me."

"Would Riddle seem particularly threatening to you if he was average in terms of power, but knew one very powerful spell?"

"Very much so, actually." replied Harry, "That sounds like teaching Malfoy the Killing Curse - we'd all be dead by nightfall, probably Malfoy as well; he's stupid like that, it's not hard to imagine."

"You understood the point." said Salazar.

"Right, but I have a few questions." said Harry, "Won't people be curious as to how I'm slightly more powerful than I should be? Because even if they think it's some random, powerful spell, they'll at least realize I have to be somewhat powerful to use it."

Salazar shrugged.

"Magic is a muscle. The more you use it and the more stressful your exercises are, the stronger it gets. People would just assume you use your magic more often. Besides, it is not as difficult as it may appear, thanks to how it is only required to last for a minute or so, as well as the slight advantage of it being specially created for Mages."

"But most people don't know that magic is like a muscle." said Harry, "They think it's like a raffle kind of thing, that some people are just stronger than others. That's what I thought, anyway."

"As I have said countless times, your generation appears to be filled with idiots." remarked the portrait. "However, for once they are not entirely incorrect. While your power increases by a certain amount each time you use magic, it increases by a certain amount each time, and can only increase so much. For some wizards, that amount, as well as it's limit, are higher than others."

"Am I one of the people for which it increases a lot more than most?"

"I would believe so." said Salazar.

"Am I really more powerful than the average witch or wizard?"

"Not yet. Based on how you've described your generation, I would place you at an equal level to a powerful seventh year." said the portrait, "Your power is currently impressive for your age, but nothing more. If this spell was not based near entirely off wandless magic, you would not be capable of using it to the level you can. Your instincts unconsciously guide you, making the spell far easier to use."

"Fine, then I'll try the spell again in a bit. But are you sure Hedwig won't become a phoenix or something by the first task?" said Harry, looking over to where Hedwig was sleeping upon one of the stone serpent heads, "Maybe she could help?"

Hedwig had been spending nearly as much time in the chamber as Harry, although she did go to the Owlery during the night. Harry was not willing to risk her wellbeing, not when there were so many petty school children running around, looking for some way at getting back at him. In their eyes, he had stolen their prize - never mind the fact that they would have never been selected a Triwizard Champion in the first place.

"The only way she could undergo the stasis that soon is if you kept constantly placing her in life threatening situations, resulting in the need to transform." explained Salazar, "As you might have guessed, I would not recommend it. Either way, revealing her to the world is not at all a good idea."

Harry nodded slightly, before lying down on the stone floor. If he had to use that damn spell again, he was going to make sure he was well rested.

.....

Fleur Delacour sat within the confines of her private room in the Beauxbatons Carriage, staring out at the cloudy Hogwarts sky. She alone was still in her room, as the other students were all in the main living area of the carriage. Just because they had been part of the delegations did not mean that they were exempt from classes; that was a privilege only Fleur got to enjoy.

Her room was painted blue and gold, decorated in a Victorian style that matched the furniture. There was a lovely king sized bed in the center, with a desk to the side, facing the window. There was also a full body mirror on the opposite wall, with a bathroom attached to it. All in all it was rather lovely, and an exact copy of her bedroom at home. It had taken time to transfigure everything perfectly, but the feeling of comfort it provided Fleur with made it more than worth it.

She was currently resting upon her large bed, pondering on the recent events that had occurred, most of which centered around Harry Potter.

As she had expected, her name had come out of the Goblet of Fire. It was rather surreal, even if she knew it was coming. The sight of Eloise, Clara, and Juliette crying in shame had been more satisfying than she could have ever suspected. The three of them had been among those who created many of the false rumours that were connected to her name, so Fleur found it rather hard to carry any sympathy for them.

After shaking hands with Albus Dumbledore (who had made a point not to look her in the eyes), she made her way over to the door of the antechamber. She had turned her head before entering the room, her eyes meeting the famous Potter's. He was clapping with everyone else, no hint of being under the allure visible.

She, unlike her beloved sister, had not been a firm believer in the legends of Harry Potter. She had decided that the events of Godric's Hollow, 1981, was a circumstance of pure chance. Her point of view made sense; Harry Potter had been a year old at the time, it was highly unlikely that he would ever amount to anything special.

Fleur had not been sure how much she stuck to that belief anymore. He was clearly resistant to her allure, making him the first male besides her father to perform such a feat. She had to admit that there was indeed something different about the boy - not necessarily a good kind of different, but different.

Her theory had been proven correct when he had entered the antechamber.

Leave it to the British Ministry to mess up something so important.

Fleur had no clue whether or not Harry Potter had entered his name into the goblet. She could not see how he could accomplish such a thing, even if she could understand why someone might want to enter.

She had carefully considered the matter when she had gone to bed the night of the selection, eventually concluding that the boy could not have entered his name. It was clear that he could not have asked an older student, as he had been chosen as the fourth champion, rather than the Hogwarts one.

She supposed that if someone had simply written a random school down on their slip of paper, they would become champion of the school they had chosen. After talking to Madame Maxime, however, she realized that such a thing could not have occurred.

Dumbledore's age line had done much more than restrict students below a certain age; it had also tracked magical signatures, and prevented the inclusion of any entries carrying a name belonging to someone whose magical signature was less than 17 years of age.

In other words, the only logical way that his name could have been entered was if he had gotten to the goblet before the age line had been set up. That would not be likely either, as the age line had been set up by Dumbledore a few short minutes after the Goblet of Fire had lit by Mr. Crouch and Ludo Bagman.

.....

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