Chapter 355
(AN: Leave a comment and a review, your feedback helps me a lot.)
If you want to support me and read ahead!
Patrë-on.com/Se7enX
Yeah! Here's the new chapter!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-In the Chamber of Champions-
"What did you say?!" Karkaroff asked shocked and irritated.
"I said that the two old people should stop acting like crybabies and resolve this problem calmly like real adults would do, but that would be overestimating your capabilities" I said, facing Karkaroff with a mocking smile.
"Listen here boy..." Karkaroff started to say with a furious expression, but I simply ignored him, turning to the Headmaster.
"So Headmaster, you said yesterday that a student putting their name on the cup would be a magical contractual act, right?" I asked, not paying attention to the Karkaroff next to him who was staring at me while grinding his teeth.
"Yes, I said that" the Headmaster nodded.
"In this case, as we were chosen as champions we are under a magical contract, and we will all be obliged to compete in the tournament, right?" I asked again, this time looking at Mr. Crouch as well.
"You're right Mr. Night. According to the rules of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, once chosen as champions, you must compete in all three tasks," Mr. Crouch said, without any change in his expression.
"Well, then that means it doesn't matter what any Headmaster or Headmistress here thinks," I said, looking at Madame Maxime and Karkaroff to make it clear that I was talking about them, "Since the four of us..." I gestured for me, Harry, Fleur and Krum, "are in a magical contract, we just have to accept it and continue with the tournament"
"So you mean we should accept that Hogwarts has 2 champions?!" Madame Maxime asked indignantly, "No, no, no! I will not accept this"
"Yes, if we can't remove any champions from Hogwarts, then the right thing to do would be to let us choose another champion for our schools!" Karkaroff proclaimed.
"Unfortunately that's not how it works" Mr. Crouch said, "The time for the cup to choose champions has passed, and now we can't take other names from it"
"Then forget the cup! There must be other ways to allow us to have two champions as well!" Karkaroff complained, before looking at the Headmaster, "And besides, we still want an explanation as to why the cup expelled the names of two Hogwarts students."
And hearing the Durmstrang Headmaster's questioning, Headmaster Dumbledore looked at me and Harry.
"Did you two put your names in the Goblet of Fire?" he asked us.
"No sir" Harry said.
"Yes" I replied with a shrug.
And with my answer the Headmaster looked at me for a few seconds before nodding his head and returning his focus to Harry.
Looking to the side I could see Professor Flitwick looking at me with an amused look while Professor McGonagall stared at me with her lips pursed in a way that showed she disapproved of my actions, but I could feel the concern coming from her.
And as for Professor Snape, well... he had his usual sneer, so I decided to ignore him.
"Harry, did you ask an older student to put your name in the cup?" the Headmaster asked the boy with black hair and glasses.
"No," Harry said vehemently.
"It's obvious he's lying!" Madame Maxime exclaimed.
"I am not!" Harry said, gaining courage from seeing me face them.
But in addition to courage, he was also feeling anger and irritation with all these questions and suspicious looks, whereas in fact he was the victim of the situation.
"So how did your name end up in the cup?" Madame Maxime questioned, using her tall stature to look at Harry, who didn't flinch or back away.
"I don't know! Do you think I would actually want to participate in this stupid tournament?!" Harry asked, facing Madame Maxime.
And looking at him somewhat surprised I nodded my head impressed.
And it wasn't just me who was looking at Harry differently.
And Madame Maxime, who hadn't expected to be confronted like this, prepared to open her mouth again, and I could feel that Harry was about to explode, as his magic and emotions were getting out of control.
I then placed a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to me, and I shook my head before taking a step forward.
"If you're so doubtful about Harry's answer, and the fact that he didn't actually put his name in the cup, then how about he swears a magical oath to prove he's telling the truth?" I asked, looking everyone in the eye.
And Harry, who knew what a magical oath was thanks to the magic lessons he was taking with Sirius, stopped, blinking for a moment before that this was a good idea.
"Yeah, if this proves that I am telling the truth and that I do not want to be in this tournament, then I will swear a magical oath" Harry said, already taking out his wand.
And those who previously accused him of lying stopped, realizing that he was serious.
"A magical oath will not be necessary" the Headmaster said.
"I agree with Albus" a new deep and slightly hoarse voice said from the door, "Clearly the boy didn't put his name in the cup" Moody said, approaching us.
"What do you mean 'clearly'?" Karkaroff asked, and Moody's magical eye focused on him, before the old auror growled.
"Night putting his name in the cup isn't that surprising since he just needed to pass the age line, but with Potter it was different" he started to say, "His name was chosen as a fourth champion without a school, and to do so it would be necessary to modify the cup, something that only an experienced and very powerful wizard could do."
"What do you mean Alastor?" Professor McGonagall asked nervously.
"What I'm trying to say is that someone put Potter's name in the cup with less than positive intentions."
"And what intentions would those be?" Karkaroff asked in sarcasm, "I don't see anything negative about having the chance to become one of the Tri-Wizard Tournament champions."
"Wow, talk about being stupid," I muttered, and Karkaroff's head snapped towards me so fast I could almost hear it snapping.
"Yeah, seeing nothing negative about being forced to participate in a deadly tournament must be a sign of stupidity" Moody nodded, amused by my choice of words.
And I could hate Moody because I knew he was actually a Death Eater, but I would accept this temporary truce with him in favor of bullying Karkaroff.
"Wait Alastor, so you mean that whoever put Harry's name in the cup wants him to…" Professor McGonagall started to say, but Moody finished for her.
"Wants him to die? Yes" he said.
And with that sentence, a tense silence fell on everyone in the chamber.
And Harry, who was the main focus of all this confusion, stopped, feeling his mind freeze for a few moments.
He then started to sweat, and I could feel the fear, nervousness, and panic rising in him.
'I guess when you're forced to face the fact that someone might be plotting your death that's a completely expected reaction' I thought, placing my hand on his shoulder and giving it a light supportive squeeze..
"This is nothing more than a conspiracy theory of yours Moody" Karkaroff snorted, "There is no proof that this is all part of a murder plot beyond your paranoid assumptions"
"These theories and assumptions are what led me to arrest many dark wizards, and you must know very well how good I am at it, Karkaroff," Moody said, approaching with a fierce expression the traitorous ex-Death Eater, who unconsciously took a step back.
"Alastor!" the Headmaster exclaimed in warning, causing the old auror to stop with a growl.
"Tsk, just now that the show was getting interesting" I said, earning me some strange looks.
"Annoying boy" Karkaroff muttered, looking at me.
"Crying bitch" I said, not even trying to hide it or keep it down.
"You... What did you call me?!" Karkaroff exclaimed angrily, "How dare you you insolent brat!"
"Yawn... Are you done with your show?" I asked boredly, and this only seemed to enrage the Headmaster of Durmstrang further.
"You dare to mock me?! Brat, you don't know who I am or what I'm capable of..." he said, approaching me, not noticing that Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, Moody, and unexpectedly Fleur took out their wands.
"You wouldn't happen to be threatening my grandson, would you?" a new calm yet powerful female voice sounded, making everyone stop.
And looking in the direction of the voice we could all see Nick and Penny entering the chamber, with Penny staring coldly at Karkaroff.
"Grandson?" Karkaroff repeated, until the realization hit him and he slowly turned to me, who waved at him with a cheerful smile on my face that basically said 'Yes bitch, she's talking about me!'.
'Those looks of surprise and shock are always fun to see' I thought.
End.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------