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“Level Nine - Department of Mysteries.”The metal gate door of the elevator slid open with a loud creak that echoed down the hallway of black tile. Multiple nondescript black doors lined the sides and the black door all the way at the end had a singular opal circle affixed upon it.“This way, Mister Sorenson,” Dumbledore said with a wave of his hand.Seth stepped out of the elevator and followed him as they made their way down the hallway until they reached the door at the end. Dumbledore took out a small piece of parchment that flew out of his hand and up to the door where it folded itself into the shape of a key. The parchment key inserted itself into the lock and twisted. With a soft click, the door gently swung open.The pair stopped past the threshold and into an endlessly vast hall filled with shelves upon shelves of crystal balls of varying sizes.“What is this place?” Seth asked as he looked around.“It’s the Hall of Prophecies,” Dumbledore answered.Seth whistled lowly, impressed by the sight. “You guys have a whole hall just for prophecies? There have to be at least hundreds of thousands of them in here.”“From what I know, prophecies fall under one of the many subjects the Department of Mysteries studies,” Dumbledore explained, “However, only the prophecies and visions spoken and seen by those of European nationality make their way here.”“Interesting,” Seth said, “All I know is that in North America, prophecies get magically recorded into a book that’s been locked away in a pocket dimension that only a handful know about and even less have access too.”Dumbledore hummed contemplatively. “As for the prophecy regarding you, let me give you a little preface. Fourteen years ago, a prophecy was spoken into existence that set off the course of events that led to the end of the First European Wizarding War in which the ramifications and aftermath are still being felt and dealt with to this day.”Seth nodded along slowly. “I see. Does that aftermath have anything to do with what Professor Trelawney said about two fates being tied together?”“It does,” Dumbledore said, and seeing no need to beat around the bush, he added, “Those two fates belong to Harry Potter and Voldemort.”Seth wasn’t surprised to hear that. “I thought so. Hearing you confirm it though, it kind of makes everything that happened the last few years make sense. Harry always seems to be at the center of some plot that connects itself back to Moldy Tarts.”Dumbledore chuckled at Seth’s silly nickname for the infamous Dark Lord. “And what do you plan to do about it?”Seth smiled wryly. “Well I’m already here, aren’t I?”“So you are,” Dumbledore said enigmatically, “Continuing on, three years ago, another prophecy was brought to my attention. And on the exact same day it was spoken, your name appeared in the student enrollment list for both Ilvermorny and Hogwarts.”“Huh. Do you know what day that was?” Seth asked. His eyebrows shot up in surprise after Dumbledore told him. “That’s the day I shrunk.”“I assumed so,” Dumbledore said, “Professor McGonagall brought your name to my attention considering your country of origin was not considered to be a part of Hogwarts’ jurisdiction. I reached out to Ilvermorny’s headmaster and she easily agreed to let you come to Hogwarts instead as she already had quite the time dealing with those affiliated with the preserves.”Seth snorted in amusement. “That must’ve been quite the conversation.”Dumbledore smiled. “It was. When I so much as hinted at a prophecy being involved, she said and I quote ‘Oh hell no! Keep that shit away from here. You can deal with it instead’ unquote.” Seth cackled in delight. “Yes, it was rather amusing to hear such a powerful and strong willed witch practically throw you across the pond so she wouldn’t have to deal with the chaos that would potentially follow you.”“Now I’m really curious to see what kind of prophecy caused all of this brouhaha,” Seth said, wiping away a tear from his eye.“Why don’t you see for yourself?” Dumbledore said.And as if he’d perfectly timed it, they came to a stop in front of a shelf with a crystal ball about the size of an apple that seemed to immediately capture Seth’s attention. Before he reached out to grab it, he looked over at Dumbledore.“The choice is yours to make. You can still turn back,” he cautiously advised.But Seth didn’t need to think about it any further. “No. I won’t turn away. Not when the life of a friend is on the line.”Then he picked up the crystal ball without hesitation and listened to the prophecy it contained. Peter Pettigrew bowed his balding head in fearful reverence as he shakily asked, “Your Lordship is still determined then?”“Of course I am determined, Wormtail,” hissed a cold voice that could send chills down even the strongest man’s spine, “This cannot be done without Harry Potter.”“But my Lord,” Pettigrew stammered out in protest, “Harry Potter is so well protected. And then there’s the matter of that other boy, the yankee. He’s strong, very, very strong.”“Do you…doubt me, Wormtail?”Pettigrew vigorously shook his head as a nervous sweat broke out. “No, no! I don’t, my Lord! I would never!”“And yet, here you are, questioning my plans. Are you attempting to desert me?”“N-Never, m-m-my Lord!” Pettigrew stuttered like a broken car, “I-I have no wish to leave you. None at all! My devotion is to you, my Lord!”“Your devotion is nothing more than cowardice! You would not be here if you had anywhere else to go,” the cold voice hissed viciously.“M-My Lord-”“SILENCE!”Pettigrew immediately fell silent and dropped his head in submission.“I have my reasons for using the Potter boy as I have already explained to you. And as for the American, he is simply an added bonus and rather useful, dead or alive. Why, he’s already granted me the knowledge needed to more easily execute my plan.”The shadows being cast by the nearby fireplace shivered and writhed briefly. A low chuckle from a deep and scratchy voice could be heard. Pettigrew jumped back, startled by the movement. He eyed the shadows with utter terror clear on his face.“I have waited thirteen years. A few more months makes no difference to me. My plan will be effective. All that is needed is a little courage from you, Wormtail. Courage you will find unless you wish to feel the full extent of my wrath.”Pettigrew whimpered as he bowed his head deeply. “Yes, my Lord. Of course, my lord.”“Good. Now be quiet. I think I hear Nagini.”A low hissing sound could be heard as an enormous snake with an ugly diamond shaped head slithered into the room. The cold voice hissed back in response.“Ah. It seems we have an unexpected guest, Wormtail. One who has been listening right outside this room the entire time.”Pettigrew jerked as if he’d been shocked and ran for the door. He flung it wide open to reveal a grumpy looking old man with a stiff leg and a cane staring back in wide eyed fear that he tried to mask as surprise. Pettigrew grabbed him by the arm and dragged him inside. The old man stumbled over his feet and fell to the floor.“So, you heard everything then, muggle?”The old man swallowed thickly before defiantly asking, “What’s that you’re calling me?”“I am calling you a muggle. It means that you are not a wizard.”“I don’t know what you mean by that but I heard plenty enough to interest the police tonight I have,” the man threatened with a steady voice, “And I’ll tell you this, my wife knows I’m up here and if I don’t come back-”The cold voice released a haunting laugh. “You have no wife. Nobody knows you are here. You told nobody that you were coming.” The old man’s mouth clamped shut and fear filled his eyes again. “Do not lie to me, muggle, for I know. I always know.”A wand was raised and pointed at the old man. There was a flash of green light, a rushing sound, and the old man crumpled. He was dead before he hit the floor.Suddenly a pair of narrow slit pupil eyes snapped up and briefly met a pair of wide green eyes.Then, two hundred miles away, Harry woke up in a panic. He sat up, sweating and panting as if he’d just ran a marathon. He grabbed at his forehead where his scar throbbed with a dull ache.“Is it morning already?” Ron groggily asked as he lifted his head up from his pillow with eyes still shut tight from sleepiness.“No, it’s still night,” Harry softly responded.“You alright, mate?” Ron asked, a little more alert but still groggy.Harry nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. Go back to sleep.”Ron groaned in response and his head dropped back down onto his pillow. A moment later, he started giggling and mumbling about his mum’s pot roast.Harry shook his head, chuckling quietly. He lay back down and attempted to go back to sleep but his mind was too full of thoughts about what in the world he’d just seen. Come morning, Seth walked down into the kitchen and covered his mouth as he yawned. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were already at the table enjoying a classic American breakfast alongside Kendra and Bracken.“We have to go back into the forest and see if we can’t find the Forgotten Chapel. I want to know if it’s really as haunted as the Shrieking Shack,” Harry said.Hermione rolled her eyes. “Harry, you know the Shrieking Shack wasn’t actually haunted. And I would rather visit the fairy grove again. One of the fairies promised to show me how to grow those mood-based color changing peonies.”“We’ve already been to the grove a hundred times and who knows if we’ll even be able to find that chapel,” Ron protested.“Well then where do you think we should go, Ronald?” Hermione asked, slightly irritated.Ron scowled. “I think we should go to the demon cave Seth was talking about.”“Speaking of Seth,” Hermione said as she finally spotted him, “Morning. How did you sleep last night? You turned in rather early.”“Yeah. Are you already becoming an old man despite being in a kid’s body?” Ron jokingly asked.“I still think that’s really weird,” Harry said before hurriedly tacking on, “No offence though, Seth.”“It’s okay, Harry. You’ll get used to it soon. At least it’s not like Seth’s some creepy old man or anything,” Hermione assured.Harry nodded. “That’s true.”“Besides, there’s weirder and worse magic out there. Who cares if someone’s body goes back a few years?” Ron commented before shoving a whole pancake into his mouth.Seth shook his head in fond exasperation. “Glad to know y’all are so chill about my condition,” he sarcastically remarked, “And for your information, Ron, I am still spritely for someone who’s technically about to be 24 soon. As for my sleep, it was fine.”Ron, Harry, and Hermione nodded in acceptance but Kendra and Bracken gave him a knowing look since they knew exactly what he was up to last night and how that would’ve messed up his precious sleep schedule. He shot them a sheepish smile and gave a small shrug that had them sighing and nodding.“How’d you guys sleep anyways?” Seth asked, turning the question on them, “Especially you, Harry. You’ve got some really impressive eye bags on you.”“I’m fine. Just a little tired,” Harry sheepishly admitted.“Oh no! Why’s that?” Hermione asked in concern.Harry fumbled a bit for an excuse before settling on one. “I, uh, didn’t sleep too well last night cause I was just really excited about going to the Quidditch World Cup next week. Sirius made it sound like it’s the best thing in the world!”Ron groaned. “Don’t remind me. A week’s just too far away.”Hermione shook her head at him. “It’s only seven more days, Ron, honestly.”“Exactly! Seven whole days!” Ron exclaimed, “This year’s cup is supposed to be the most exciting one since England’s hosting it and Ireland and Bulgaria are playing against each other!”“Tone it down, Ron. We don’t need to hear any more about how amazing Viktor Krum is,” Seth interjected before the redhead could start on that for the hundredth time.“I will certainly not!” Ron vehemently rebuked, “He’s the youngest professional Quidditch player in history! He’s still a student at Durmstrang!”Hermione hummed. “I wonder what sort of curriculum they teach at the other wizarding schools. It would certainly be fascinating to learn other subjects unique to those locations.”Ron groaned. “Would you stop thinking about school while we’re still on summer vacation? The Quidditch World Cup is only a week away!”“I still don’t get what’s the big deal. It’s just Quidditch,” Seth said with a bored expression.Ron gasped in horror. “Blasphemy!”Seth stuck his tongue out and Ron looked like he was about to jinx him when an owl flew through the open window and landed on the table.“Oh!” Hermione exclaimed when she saw the newspaper tied to its leg, “It’s the day’s Daily Prophet!”She removed the newspaper and fed the owl some pieces of bacon. The owl chirped happily in thanks before launching itself off the table and flying out of the kitchen. Hermione eagerly opened the paper only to let out a small shriek that startled everyone.“What’s wrong?” Ron asked.“Look!” Hermione shakily said. She turned the paper around to reveal the headline - PETER PETTIGREW ESCAPES!Harry paled. “He what?! How could this happen?”“It says here that he escaped while in the midst of being transported to Azkaban after the Ministry finally finished interrogating him a few weeks ago,” Hermione said as she read through the article.Seth frowned. “Wait. So he escaped that long ago and we’re only just finding out now?”“I suppose the Ministry wanted to try and save face. Especially after they got slaughtered by the press after Sirius’ exoneration,” Harry bitterly remarked, still sore about how the Ministry tried to delay the process of Sirius’ guardianship over him.“I can’t believe we went through all that trouble to catch him just so he could escape in the end,” Ron moaned miserably.“I wonder if they wanted to try and delay the news because the world cup is so close,” Hermione speculated.Ron shook his head. “There’s no way. He’s just a rat even if he is a Death Eater. What could he do that would affect the Quidditch World Cup which, mind you, will have all sorts of security measures in place?”“I suppose you’re right,” Hermione tentatively agreed.“Still can’t hurt to be vigilant though,” Seth said before sighing, “Just…damn. Now I’m wondering what’s gonna happen at Hogwarts considering everything that went down last year.”“You don’t need to worry about that,” Kendra finally chimed in, “I’m sure your school will have it covered.”Seth narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion. “What do you know that we don’t?”Kendra shared a secretive smile with Bracken. She mimed zipping her lips as Bracken chuckled.“That’s for us to know and you to find out eventually,” the unicorn said.Seth crossed his arms and grumbled petulantly. It was killing him not to know what Kendra knew and she smiled at him knowing exactly how he was feeling and relishing in it like the older sister she was.“So what are you guys going to do today?” Kendra asked curiously, “You still haven’t figured it out yet right?”And just like that, another discussion for the day’s adventure began with the quartet arguing amongst themselves. Prophecies, Pettigrew, and whatever secret Kendra and Bracken knew were forgotten for now.
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The first thing Seth saw as he walked into the Burrow through the Weasley’s front door was Mrs. Weasley tearing the twins a new one.“I’VE ALREADY TOLD YOU A MILLION TIMES! NO MORE OF THAT WEASLEY’S WIZARD WHEEZES NONSENSE!”Seth clapped his hands over his ears as they rang from how loudly she shouted. He could still hear her very clearly though as she continued to angrily rant.“You’ve got the brains! I know you do! But you have none of the motivation to do anything but make trouble! No wonder you didn’t get more O.W.L.s wasting all your time on silly little things like this!” She waved around a bag filled with colorful candy. “This year you better put your time, effort, and focus on doing well so you can get good Ministry jobs, do you hear me?”It was quite clear that Fred and George did not as everything she just said went through one ear and out the other. Still, they nodded obediently.“Yes mum. Of course mum,” Fred blandly said.“We’ll put our time, effort, and focus on doing well to get good Ministry jobs,” George repeated robotically.Mrs. Weasley grew red in the face and looked as if she were about to blow up again. Instead, she threw her hands up in the air and admitted defeat, for now. She didn’t hand back the bag and took it away with her.It was then she finally noticed Seth and smiled at him, her entire demeanor doing a 180. “Hello dear. The others are already upstairs. Go drop your things off. Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours.”Then she stormed off into the kitchen, glaring at the twins before disappearing from view. The twins sighed in relief and were about to greet Seth when-“FRED! GEORGE!”“We’ll talk to you later,” Fred hastily said.“Cheers mate!” George exclaimed.The two fled out into the backyard as Mrs. Weasley came angrily stomping out of the kitchen with a rubber chicken in her hand. Seth took that as his cue to leave and he ran upstairs where Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Harry had all congregated on the second floor.“Hey guys!” Seth greeted.“Glad you could finally join us, Seth” Harry said.Seth snorted in amusement. “Glad I could finally get away from home you mean. By the way, what was that all about?”“What? The screaming mum did?” Ron asked.“Yeah. She was yelling at the twins about these Weasely’s Wizard Wheezes?”Ron, Ginny, and Harry immediately started laughing. Hermione didn’t, although she did look amused.“Mum found this stack of order forms when she was cleaning Fred and George’s room. Great long price lists for stuff they’ve invented, joke stuff you know. Fake wands, tricks sweets, and loads of other stuff. It was brilliant!” Ron explained, “I never knew they’d been inventing all that.”“I did,” Ginny boasted with a smug expression, “They’d been making explosions in their room for ages. No one ever thought they were making things but I knew cause I walked in on them once.”Ron looked at his sister in betrayal. “Why didn’t you tell me?”She rolled her eyes. “Because you’re stupid, obviously. And they bought my silence by agreeing to let me be a partner when they finally made their business official.”“I’m not stupid,” Ron protested.“You can be a little thick sometimes, Ron,” Harry pointed out.Ron looked at him in betrayal. “Harry!”“Sorry,” he sheepishly apologized.“I’ll admit it’s brilliant but some of their stuff was really dangerous. Someone could’ve been seriously hurt!” Hermione remarked.“And that’s also why mum blew up. She found out they were planning to sell it all at Hogwarts. She was furious! Burned all the order forms!” Ron exclaimed.Suddenly, a door opened and out popped Percy’s head. He was glaring at them in annoyance.“Would you all be quiet? I’m trying to work here, you know. I’ve got an important report to finish for the office and it’s difficult to concentrate when people keep screaming outside my door.”“We weren’t screaming,” Ron said irritably, “Sorry if we’ve disturbed the top secret workings of the Ministry of Magic.” He gestured for the others to follow him. “Come on. Let’s go to my room.”They walked off as Percy slammed his door shut behind them. They entered Ron’s room which was cluttered and crowded with the walls covered by posters of the Chudley Cannons. The tiny grey owl Sirius gave Ron at the end of third year was hopping up and down in a small cage and twittering madly.“Shut up, Pig,” Ron said as he made his way in between two of the four beds that had been squeezed into the room. “Charlie’s in here with us because Bill’s staying with Fred and George. He’s the only one who can reign them in. Percy gets to keep his room all to himself because he’s got to work.”“Are you really calling your owl Pig?” Seth asked curiously.“His name is Pigwidgeon. Ron’s just being stupid,” Ginny said irritably.“Yeah, and that’s not a stupid name at all,” Ron sarcastically remarked.Ginny huffed. “Well I think it’s sweet and you can’t change it anyway. He likes it. So HA!”Ron rolled his eyes. “I’ve got to keep him up here because he annoys Errol and Hermes. He annoys me to.”But Pig was zooming around happily in his cage so Seth took his word with a grain of salt. “I take it Percy enjoys working at the Ministry?”Ron and Ginny simultaneously groaned.“He’s obsessed! I don’t reckon he’d come home if dad didn’t make him,” Ron said.“Just don’t ask him about his boss,” Ginny warned gravely. “According to Mr. Crouch, as I was saying to Mr. Crouch, Mr. Crouch is of the opinion, Mr. Crouch was telling me,” she said mockingly, “They might as well get married now.”The group spent the rest of the time chatting away until it was time for dinner at seven o’clock. They made their way out to the garden where they were greeted with two tables groaning under the weight of the excellent feast Mrs. Weasley cooked up. The nine Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and Seth settled themselves down to eat, drink, and be merry beneath the clear summer night sky.At the far end of the table, Percy and Mr. Weasley were talking about something Ministry related.“I say, I still wonder how Ludo Bagman ever got to be head of department. Mr Crouch would never let a member of his department stay missing for so long!” Percy said with great disapproval.“Well I’m sure Ludo is doing what he can for Bertha,” Mr. Weasley said lightly.Percy scoffed. “I don’t mean to sound insensitive. I’m worried about Jenkins as well but we’ve got enough on our plates at the Department of International Magic Cooperation without being made to find members of other departments too. As you know, we’ve got another big event to organize right after the World Cup.”He cleared his throat pointedly and looked down toward the other end of the table where Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Seth were seated. He raised his voice slightly as he said, “You know the one I’m talking about, father. The top secret one.”Ron rolled his eyes and muttered to the others, “He’s been trying to get us to ask what that event is ever since he started work. Probably just an exhibition on thick bottomed cauldrons or something equally boring.”Meanwhile, Mrs. Weasley was scolding Bill about his fang earring and long hair to which Ginny loudly proclaimed that she liked it which in turn made Harry look at his shaggy but short hair in consideration. He quickly pretended he wasn’t though when he got caught by Seth who snickered in amusement.Soon enough, they were enjoying homemade strawberry ice cream for dessert. By the time they finished, moths were fluttering around the table and the air was filled with the scent of grass and honeysuckles.“Look at the time!” Mrs. Weasley said after checking her wristwatch, “You really should be in bed the whole lot of you. You’ll be up before dawn to get to the cup. Seth, leave your school list out. I’ll get your things along with everyone else’s in Diagon Alley tomorrow. There might not be time after the World Cup is over. The match went on for five days last time!”“Wow! I hope it does this time,” Harry said.Seth grimaced. “Oh god. Five whole days of being around sports knuckleheads? No thanks.”Percy nodded empathetically. “I agree. I shudder to think what the state of my in tray would be if I was away from work for five days.”“Yeah. Someone might slip dragon dung in it again, eh Perce?” Fred casually remarked.Percy went very red in the face. “That was a sample of fertilizer from Norway. It was nothing personal!”“It was,” George whispered to the quartet as they got up. He grinned mischievously. “We sent it.” The sky was still dark as the group consisting of Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Harry, Hermione, and Seth trekked up Stoatshead Hill to where they would find their mode of transportation to the site of the Quidditch World Cup. The trek was mostly silent due to the fact that everyone was still sleepy. But Fred and George were silent because they’d left in a foul mood after Mrs. Weasley caught them trying to sneak their joke products out of the house.Eventually, the group managed to reach the top of the hill with the sun still nowhere in sight.“So, uh, how are we getting there?” Seth asked.“We’ll be taking a portkey,” Mr. Weasley answered.“A portkey? What’s that?” Harry asked.“They’re objects charmed to be modes of transportation. Usually unobtrusive items that look like rubbish so muggles don’t find them or pick them up and play around with them,” Mr. Weasley explained. He checked his wristwatch and nodded. “Good! We’ve got ten minutes left. Now we just need the portkey.” He squinted at the ground. “It won’t be big. Come on.”They spread out to search for the portkey though everyone was mostly stumbling about in the dark except for Seth who had excellent night vision as a Shadow Charmer. They were only a couple of minutes into their search when a shout rang out.“Over here, Arthur! We’ve got it!”Two tall figures appeared on the other side of the hilltop.“Amos!” Mr. Weasley called out in greeting, smiling as he walked over to meet with the man who shouted.Everyone followed him and they soon saw that the figures were a ruddy faced wizard with a scrubby brown beard who was holding an old boot and Cedric Diggory.“Everyone! This is Amos Diggory. He works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I’m sure you all already know his son, Cedric,” Mr. Weasley introduced the two.“Yo Cedric!” Seth raised his hand in greeting.“Hello Seth!” Cedric kindly greeted. He nodded to the others. “Hello everyone!”Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny all voiced their hellos but Fred and George remained silent. They were either still in a foul mood from earlier or still bitter about their defeat last year. It was unclear.Mr. Diggory peered good naturedly at everyone gathered. “Are these all yours, Arthur?”Mr. Weasley laughed. “Oh no! Only the redheads. This is Harry, Hermione, and Seth. They’re friends of Ron’s.”Mr. Diggory’s eyes widened. “Merlin’s beard! Harry as in Harry Potter?”“Er, yeah,” Harry awkwardly said.“Cedric’s talked about you! Told us all about playing against you last year and I said to him, I said, Cedric! That’ll be something to tell your grandchildren. That you beat Harry Potter!” Mr. Diggory boasted jovially.Cedric grimaced. “Dad, I told you. Harry fell off his broom because of the dementors. It was a freak accident!”“Yes but you didn’t fall, did you?” Mr. Diggory said as he slapped his son on the back.“That’s because none of the dementors swarmed me like they did Harry, dad,” Cedric argued.“Always so modest, aren’t you Cedric? Always the gentleman! But the best man won! I’m sure Harry would say the same wouldn’t you, eh? One falls off his broom and one stays on. You don’t need to be a genius to tell which one’s the better flier!” Mr. Diggory laughed boisterously while Cedric buried his head into his hands with a groan.“How the hell is he your dad?” Seth whispered to Cedric, “You’re so nice and he’s so…”“Insensitive?”Seth nodded. “Yeah, sure. Let’s go with that.”Cedric smiled wryly. “I got it from my mum.”“Ah. Sounds about right,” Seth said.Mr. Weasley cleared his throat. “Must be nearly time now. Do you know whether we’re waiting for anyone else, Amos?”Mr. Diggory shook his head. “Nope! It’s just us.”Mr. Weasley nodded. “Right then. We’ve got a minute left. We’d better get ready.” He looked at Harry, Hermione, and Seth. “You just need to touch the portkey, that’s all. A finger will do.”With some difficulty due to the bulky packs on their back, the ten of them crowded around the old boot that was held out by Mr. Diggory. They all stood in a tight circle as they waited for the minute to finish counting down.Mr. Weasley eyed his watch. “Three. Two. One. Now.”As soon as he said that, Seth felt as though something hooked at him just behind his navel and jerked him forward. He felt himself leave the ground and could feel Hermione and Ginny on either side of him as their shoulders banged against his. He could feel himself speeding forward in a rush of wind and color while his finger remained stuck to the book.Eventually, his feet slammed into the ground and he staggered slightly before righting himself. Mr. Weasley, Mr. Diggory, and Cedric were also still standing though they looked as windswept as Seth felt. The others weren’t as fortunate as they had tumbled to the ground looking very winded.A bored voice that sounded as if they weren’t being paid enough for the job they were doing announced, “Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill.” The quartet wandered through the camp grounds to retrieve water for the kettle after they’d finished setting up their tent. As they walked through the winding maze of tents, they saw all sorts of wizards and witches from all different parts of the world either doing their best to blend in as muggles or outright ignoring the rules altogether much to the despair of the Ministry workers who ran around like chickens with their heads cut off.They soon arrived in a section of camp that must’ve belonged to Ireland given how green everything was. Every single tent was covered from top to bottom in shamrocks. Just at the edge of this section, the quartet spotted Seamus and Theo arguing with each other. Seamus was dressed entirely in Irish apparel and Theo had the colors of the Bulgarian flag painted on his face. Dean was standing off to the side, looking entirely done with whatever they were arguing about as he dribbled a football between his feet.“I’m telling you, there’s no way Bulgaria’s losing with Krum on the team!” Theo shouted.“Krum’s just one person! Ireland’s current line up shows they’ve got a whole team of Krums!” Seamus argued back.“And I say both teams are terrible because football is much better than quidditch,” Dean interjected.“No, it’s not!” Both Seamus and Theo shouted at Dean.Dean held his hands up in surrender and returned his attention to dribbling the football.Before Seamus and Theo could continue their argument, Seamus spotted the quartet and raised his hand to wave hello. “Oi!”The quartet made their way over and Seamus grinned. “Like the decorations? Ministry’s not too happy about it.”“As they should be. They’re tacky,” Theo snobbishly said.“Oh please. Bulgaria’s not any better,” Seamus rebuked, “At least we Irish have got good taste.”Theo scoffed. “Having good taste doesn’t mean having a good team. Ireland will still lose to Bulgaria. They have Krum!”“Yeah, they do!” Ron enthusiastically agreed.“You’ll be eating those words, Ron, Nott,” Seamus shot back with a grin, “Come on, Dean. Ma’s probably done with breakfast now.”The two ran off leaving Ron and Theo to eye each other appraisingly.“So even a Slytherin can have the right opinion sometimes,” Ron said.Theo huffed. “I should be the one saying that about Gryffindors.”Then the two shared a handshake and nodded to each other in a show of solidarity before Theo left to return to his tent.Seth looked to Hermione and Harry in confusion. “What the hell just happened?”“I don’t know and I don’t care to know,” Hermione said, “Let’s keep moving. I’m curious to see what the Bulgarian section of the camp looks like.”The quartet kept walking until they arrived to see that in the Bulgarian section, each tent had a poster of varying size displaying the same surly face with heavy black eyebrows. The face was moving but all it did was blink and scowl.“It’s Krum,” Ron whispered reverently, “Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian seeker.”“He looks rather grumpy,” Hermione said, unimpressed.Ron looked at her, completely scandalized. “Really grumpy?!”But before he could go on another rant about how brilliant Krum was, Seth and Harry grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him away so they could finally get the water.After filling their pail, they trek back to their tent, running into a few familiar faces along the way - Oliver Wood, Ernie Macmillan, and Cho Chang to name a few.When they arrived at the tent, they saw Mr. Weasley playing around with the matches so Hermione had to wrangle him to light the fire already. The food finished cooking soon enough and they all settled down to people watch for a few hours with Mr. Weasley occasionally pointing out his colleagues from the Ministry as they ran by in a panic.By noon, Bill, Charlie, and Percy arrived looking bright eyed and bushy tailed due to the extra hours of sleep they got.They were halfway through their plates of eggs and sausages when Mr. Weasley jumped to his feet, waving and grinning at a man in long quidditch robes with thick stripes of bright yellow and black and an enormous picture of a wasp splashed across his chest. The man looked like someone who was once athletic before he let himself go but his face gave him a schoolboy appearance.“Ahoy there, Arthur!” The man called out happily as he bounced over to them. “Perfect weather for a perfect day, eh? Hardly had a hiccough all morning. Not much for me to do!”A group of frazzled Ministry wizards rushed past him, pointing at a magical fire in the distance that was sending violet sparks twenty feet into the air. Everyone quietly wondered if the man was willfully ignorant or an airhead.“It certainly is, Ludo!” Arthur said, expression faltering slightly but he still kept an air of polite professionalism. “Everyone, this is Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department for Magical Games and Sports. Without him, we wouldn’t have gotten our tickets for the game!”Bagman beamed, waving it off as if it were no trouble.“Ludo, these are my children. Percy, who just started at the Ministry, and this is Fred, no, George, sorry, that’s Fred, Bill, Charlie, Ron, and Ginny. And these are Ron’s friends Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and Seth Sorenson,” Mr. Weasley said as he pointed them all out.Bagman did a double take when he heard Harry’s name and his eyes performed the familiar flick to the scar. His gaze then landed briefly on Seth as if considering him for a moment, before going back to Mr. Weasley.“Fancy a flutter, Arthur?” He jiggled his pocket which sounded as if it were filled to the brim with coins. “I’ve already got quite a few takers written down.”Mr. Weasley politely shook his head. “No, no. I’m good here.”“Very well, very well,” Bagman said, looking slightly disappointed, “Any other takers?”“They’re a bit young to be gambling,” Mr. Weasley protested, “Molly wouldn’t like-”“We’ll bet thirty seven galleons, fifteen sickles, and three knuts,” Fred said as he and George quickly pooled all their money together, “That Ireland wins but Viktor Krum gets the snitch. Oh! And we’ll throw in a fake wand too.”Bagman’s face shone with excitement as he took the wand from Fred and gave it a wave. The wand squawked loudly before turning into a rubber chicken. “Excellent!” Bagman said with giddy glee, “I haven’t seen one so convincing in years! I’d pay five galleons for that!”“Boys,” Mr. Weasley said in disappointment.“Don’t be a spoilsport, Arthur!” Bagman said, rattling his pockets excitedly, “They’re old enough to know what they want. So you reckon Ireland will win but Krum’ll get the snitch? Not a chance, boys! Not a chance! But I’ll give you excellent odds on that one and add five galleons for the funny wand too!”He whipped out a notebook and quill and began jotting down the twins’ names.“Cheers!” George said, taking the slip of parchment Bagman handed him.Suddenly, a wizard apparated at their fireside and he could not have been more of a contrast with Bagman. The man was a stiff elderly man dressed in an impeccably crisp suit and tie with this short gray hair and narrow toothbrush mustache immaculately groomed. He reminded Seth greatly of upper management at banks and he really hated upper management at banks.“There you are, Ludo,” the man said in disapproval and impatience, “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. The Bulgarians are insisting they have another twelve seats in the top box.”“Oh! Is that what they were after?” Bagman said, “I thought the chap was asking to borrow a pair of tweezers! Got a bit of a strong accent, don’t he?”“Mr. Crouch!” Percy said breathlessly, springing to his feet to stand at attention, “Would you like a cup of tea?”The man, now identified as the famed Mr. Crouch, Percy’s esteemed boss, looked over at Percy in mild surprise. “Oh, yes. Thank you, Weatherby.”Fred and George choked on air and tried to contain their laughter. Ginny tucked her head into Bill’s side as her body shook from the force of her amusement. Harry, Ron, and Seth both slapped a hand over their mouths and looked away while Hermione’s lips twitched violently as she struggled to maintain her composure. Percy went very pink around the ears and busied himself with the kettle.“Been keeping busy, eh, Barty?” Bagman said breezily.“Obviously,” Mr. Crouch said dryly, “We are organizing portkeys across five continents after all.”“I expect you’ll both be glad when this is over,” Mr. Weasley commented.Bagman looked horrified. “Glad?! I don’t know when I’ve ever had so much fun! Still, it’s not as though we haven’t got anything to look forward to. Plenty left to organize, eh?” He nudged Mr. Crouch who was very unamused.“We agreed not to make the announcement until all the details-”“Oh pish posh on the details,” Bagman said, waving at him flippantly, “They’ve signed, haven’t they? They’ve agreed, haven’t they? Besides, these kids’ll know soon enough anyway. I mean, it’s happening at Hog-”“Ludo, we need to meet the Bulgarians so enough shirking of your duties,” Mr. Crouch sharply cut him off. He nodded to Percy who’d just finished making a cup of tea. “Thank you for the tea, Weatherby.”He grabbed Bagman by the arm and began dragging him away.“See you all later!” Bagman called out, “You’ll be up in the top box with me! I’m commentating!”Then he and Mr. Crouch apparated away.“What’s happening at Hogwarts, dad?” Fred asked, “What were they talking about?”Mr. Weasley smiled secretively. “Don’t worry. You’ll know soon enough.”“It’s classified information until such time as the Ministry decides to release it,” Percy smugly remarked.“Oh shut up, Weatherby,” Fred snapped.As the afternoon wore on, a sense of excitement began to build as the start of the World Cup inched closer and closer. By the time the sun set, the air was pratically quivering with anticipation and excitement. The Ministry seemed to have thrown in the towel and stopped fighting every sign of blatant magic, allowing everyone to finally let loose.Salesmen were apparating every few feet, carrying trays and pushing carts full of extraordinary merchandise.“Been saving my pocket money all summer for this,” Ron said as they strolled through the salesmen. He bought a dancing shamrock hat, a large green rosette, and a small figure of Viktor Krum that walked back and forth over his hand, scowling up at the green on Ron’s person.“Wow! Look at those!” Harry said, hurrying over to a cart filled with brass binoculars with all sorts of weird knobs and dials.“Omnioculars!” The salesman eagerly pitched, “You can replay action, slow everything down, and they flash a play-by-play breakdown if you need it! Bargain at ten galleons each!”“Wish I hadn’t bought this now,” Ron said, frowning at his dancing shamrock hat. He gazed longingly at the omnioculars.“Four pairs,” Harry said to the salesman.“No, it’s okay,” Ron said, going red with embarrassment.“Yeah, same here. I don’t even like watching Quidditch,” Seth said.“You won’t be getting anything for Christmas for about ten years,” Harry told Ron, shoving the omnioculars into his, Hermione, and Seth’s hands. “And these’ll still be useful, Quidditch or no,” he told Seth.Ron grinned gleefully. “Fair enough!”Seth sighed and accepted the omnioculars. “Alright, fine.”“Thanks Harry!” Hermione said, “Oh look! I’ll go get us some programs.”With some of their wallets now considerably lighter, the quartet went back to the tent where Bill, Charlie, and Ginny were also sporting green rosettes, Mr. Weasley was waving an Irish flag, and Fred and George had no souvenirs as they’d given Bagman all of their money for the bet.It was then that a deep booming gong rang out somewhere beyond the woods. All at once, green and red lanterns came to life in the trees, lighting a path to the Quidditch field.“It’s time,” Mr. Weasley excitedly said, “Come on! Let’s go!” Despite not liking the spectacle of Quidditch, Seth could admit that the stadium where the World Cup was being held was a sight to behold. The gigantic stadium easily held hundreds of thousands of spectators with gold walls surrounding the field. The flooring and stairs were carpeted with rich purple fabric that didn’t stain no matter how many people walked across it or dropped food and drink on its surface.However, he could do without the pushing, shoving, and loud overly eager chatter that reminded him too much of that one time he’d been tricked into going to a Super Bowl game. He ended up getting beer and nachos dumped on him by some very drunk and overzealous fans. That was the first and last time he ever allowed himself to go to a grand sports event. And yet here he was at a magical grand sports event. Hopefully there would be less alcohol involved, nacho cheese was a terrible thing to try and get out of clothes.“Prime seats, top box, straight upstairs, Arthur, as high as you can go,” a Ministry witch said after checking their tickets.They climbed up the stairs with the crowd that slowly shrank as people veered off left and right through doors the higher they climbed. Eventually, they found themselves in a small box at the highest point of the stadium which was also situated exactly halfway between the golden goal posts on both sides. There were twenty purple and gold chairs organized into two neat rows.So far, the box was empty except for a tiny creature with bat-like ears sitting in the second from the last seat at the end of the second row. The creature was wearing a tea towel wrapped around it like a toga and was hiding its face behind its hands.“Hey. What’s that?” Seth asked, pointing at the creature.Ron squinted at it. “I think that’s a house elf.”“You mean like Dobby?” Harry asked, also looking at the creature, “Kind of looks like Dobby too except Dobby wore a pillowcase, not a tea towel.”As they got closer to the seats, they realized that the house elf was whimpering and shivering fearfully. Hermione went over and crouched beside it.“Excuse me. Are you alright? What’s wrong?” She softly asked.The house elf gave a tiny shriek in fear but opened one hand to allow an enormous brown eye to peek through the gap. “N-Nothing is w-wrong, miss!” A high-pitched voice squeaked with a quiver, “W-Winky is fine, miss!”“But you're scared,” Hermione pointed out.“W-Winky is not liking heights, miss,” Winky stammered, “But Master sends me to the top box and I goes, miss.”Hermione frowned severely. “Why would he do that? Does he not know you don’t like heights?”“M-Master does, miss. But Winky obeys even though Winky is not liking heights because Winky is a good house elf, Winky is,” Winky said, her voice still quivering but one could still hear the note of pride when she spoke about being a good house elf.Then her eye darted over to the edge of the box and she closed her hand to cover the exposed gap with a whimper. Hermione looked as if she had something sharp to say about the house elf’s master but Seth put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head when she looked at him in question.“Not now, Hermione,” he said quietly.“But-” She began to protest.“Trust me,” he said, “I know how you feel but seriously, not now. Especially when her master isn’t even here for you to rip him a new one.”Hermione’s frown deepened but she allowed Seth to guide her away. She pulled out the velvet cover tassel program to distract herself. “A display from the team mascots will precede the match,” she read aloud.“Oh! That’s always worth watching. The national teams bring creatures from their native land to put on a little show,” Mr. Weasley said.The box slowly filled with people who were obviously very important given their high-quality formal attire. Even the Minister of Magic appeared. Percy leapt to his feet and bowed so deeply his glasses fell off and broke on the floor. Fred and George snickered as Percy, whose face was burning bright red, repaired his glasses with a quick flick of his wand before shoving them back on his face and scurrying away to a seat.The quartet made their way through the first row to sit at four empty seats that were right in front of three seats that Lucius Malfoy, Draco, and a woman who must be Mrs. Malfoy were now occupying.Draco perked up when he saw them but kept his mouth shut, warily eyeing his father who looked upon the gathering of Weasleys with a sneer of disdain. However, Mr. Malfoy was unable to say anything cutting due to a soft ‘ahem’ and a pointed look that Mrs. Malfoy gave him. Instead, he turned away and decided it best to ignore them altogether, not that anyone was complaining.A moment later, Bagman charged into the box. “Everyone ready?” He excitedly asked, “Minister?”Minister Fudge gave him a good-natured grin. “Ready when you are, Ludo!”Bagman whipped out his wand and pointed it at his throat. “Sonorus!” Then he spoke out to the crowd with his voice booming throughout the stadium.“Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome! Welcome to the final of the Four Hundred and Twenty Second Quidditch World Cup!”The spectators screamed and cheered and clapped, creating a thunderous cacophony of noise. Thousands of flags were waved around wildly.“Without further ado, allow me to introduce the Bulgarian National Team mascots!”The side of the stands that was a solid block of scarlet roared loudly as a hundred beautiful women glided out onto the field.“Oh! Veela!” Mr. Weasley said as he leaned forward in interest.Everyone watched as the veela took their positions in the middle of the field. Their skin shone brightly like moonlight and their white gold hair fanned out behind them even though there was no wind. Music began to play and the Veela danced with enchanting movements and gestures.Seth watched the display with wary interest. Despite having an immunity to magic induced emotions, he could still feel how strong the Veela’s charm was as it tried to burrow into his brain and lure him into joining them on the field.“Harry! Ron! What are you doing?” Hermione cried out in alarm.Seth whipped his head over to see Hermione and Ginny doing their best to hold back Harry and Ron from clambering out of their seats and jumping over the railing. He scrambled over to help, grabbing them by the collars of their shirts and yanking them back into their seats. The force of the gesture managed to snap them out of their trance.“Huh?” Harry mumbled, blinking as if he was waking up from a nap.“What happened?” Ron groggily asked.“You got charmed into almost taking a swan dive out of here is what happened,” Seth said.Harry and Ron blanched as they both looked over the edge, saw how far a drop it would be, and quickly pressed themselves back into their seats. Mr. Weasley patted them sympathetically on the back.“And now!” Bagman said as the veela retreated to one side of the field, “Kindly put your hands in the air for the Irish National Team mascots!”A green and gold comet zoomed into the stadium, completing one circuit before splitting into two smaller comets that hurtled towards the goal posts on each side. A rainbow arched across the field, connecting the two comets. The crowd oohed and aahed as the rainbow faded and the comets reunited and merged into a great shimmering shamrock that rose up into the sky and began to soar over the crowd with a golden rain falling from it.“Excellent!” Ron shouted as the shamrock soared over them and the golden rain turned out to be gold coins. The shamrock also turned out to be made of a hundred leprechauns holding golden lanterns.“There you go!” He said, stuffing a fistful of coins into Harry’s hands. “For the omnioculars. Now you’ve got to buy me a Christmas present! Ha!”“Not so fast,” Seth said as he carefully inspected one of the gold coins, “This is leprechaun’s gold.”“What’s the difference? It’s still gold, ain’t it?” Ron said.“Gold that’ll turn into stone after a few days,” Seth said as he let the coin drop onto the ground, “Unless you find the pot at the end of the rainbow and get the leprechaun’s blessing, that gold’s not gonna stay gold. It’s useless!”Ron frowned as Harry put the gold down on the ground. “It’s okay, Ron. I’ll still get you a Christmas present,” he said sympathetically.Ron crossed his arms as a surly expression appeared on his face.However, the expression didn’t stay long as Bagman announced, “And now! Ladies and gentlemen! Kindly welcome the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you Dimitrov! Ivanova! Zograf! Ievski! Vulchanoc! Volkov! AAAAAANND KRUM!”Scarlet clad figures on broomsticks shot out onto the field one by one in a blur.“That’s him! That’s him!” Ron shouted, foul mood instantly gone as he whipped out the omnioculars to eagerly follow Krum, “That’s Viktor Krum!”“And now! Please greet the Irish National Quidditch Team!” Bagman yelled, “Presenting Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! AAAAAANND LYNCH!”Seven green blurs swept out onto the field one by one.“And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chair Wizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!”A small, skinny wizard who was completely bald but with a mustache and wearing robes of pure gold strode out onto the field. He mounted his broomstick and kicked open a crate. Four balls burst into the air - the quaffle, two bludgers, and the golden snitch.With a sharp blow of the whistle, the game began and Seth took that as his cue to check out. He was only occasionally aware enough to catch snippets of the game as, unlike with the games at Hogwarts, he knew nobody playing so there was no need for him to invest his energy or attention on it.He only tuned back in when he heard Harry shouting madly in his ear. “He’s got the snitch! Krum’s got the snitch! It’s all over!”Seth blinked and he saw Krum rising into the air with his fist held high with a glint of gold within it. The scoreboard was flashing - BULGARIA 160, IRELAND 170 - for the crowd who didn’t seem to have realized what had happened.Then slowly, the rumbling from the Ireland supporters grew louder and louder until it erupted into screams of delight.“IRELAND WINS!” Bagman shouted, sounding taken aback by the way the match ended, “KRUM GOT THE SNITCH BUT IRELAND WINS! Good lord! I don’t think any of us were expecting that!”Ireland took a lap of victory around the field before coming to the top box to accept the large golden trophy from the Minister of Magic. Bulgaria also appeared to shake hands with the winners but with the way the crowd cheered, it almost made it seem like they didn’t lose at all.Seth got a chance to see the famed Viktor Krum up close and the guy looked just as surly and grumpy as in his poster but now with two matching black eyes. He also seemed less coordinated on the ground than in the air which made Seth wonder if he was a socially awkward duck of a guy.Once both teams left the box, Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and muttered, “Quietus.”“They’ll be talking about this one for years,” He said hoarsely, “A really unexpected twist that was. Shame it couldn’t have lasted longer.” Then he gave a strained smile. “Ah, yes, yes. I owe you how much again?”At that moment, Fred and George had scrambled over from their seats and were now standing in front of Bagman with broad grins on their faces and their hands outstretched. “Don’t tell your mother you’ve been gambling,” Mr. Weasley warned Fred and George as they all made their way down the stairs.“Don’t worry, dad! We’ve got big plans for this money. We don’t want it confiscated,” Fred cheerfully said.“Can’t believe Mr. Bagman tried to skive us of our money though,” George said, shaking his head in disappointment.“Thanks again for that, Seth,” Fred nodded to Seth gratefully, “We wouldn’t have been able to tell the gold he gave us was leprechaun’s gold.”Seth waved off their thanks. “No problem. Just thought it wasn’t right seeing a government official trying to cheat you out of the money you won fair and square.”Percy huffed indignantly. “Just another reason why Ludo Bagman is unfit for his position. Mr. Crouch would never try to pay off a debt with fake gold. He should be sacked!”“Now, now. I’m sure it was just an honest mistake,” Mr. Weasley said placatingly.“Pft! Honest my arse,” Fred said.George nodded. “Yeah! No way was it an honest mistake with all that stammering and stuttering.”“It was quite unbecoming of a ministry official let alone the head of a department,” Percy said in agreement.Fred and George shared a strange look.“I can’t believe we’re agreeing with Percy,” Fred said.“Why is that so strange?” Percy asked in confusion.George nodded grimly. “It means the world’s finally gone mad, Forge.”“I do believe you’re right, Gred!” Fred dramatically bemoaned.Percy gave an indignant huff. “See if I ever agree with you two again.”“Well it certainly won’t be a loss for us!” George cheekily exclaimed.Percy scowled and picked up his pace so he could put some distance between him and the snickering twins.Their group followed the flow of the crowd back to the campgrounds where drunkenly off-key singing was already ringing out into the night. When they finally arrived at their tent, nobody felt like sleeping and given the level of noise, Mr. Weasley agreed that they could all have one last cup of cocoa before turning in. They were all soon arguing about the match.Mr. Weasley frowned when he heard a bang and some screaming and went outside to check it out while the others continued to argue amongst themselves. More screaming and banging could soon be heard outside.“Sounds like the Irish are really getting into it,” Fred said at a particularly loud bang.“It’s not the Irish!” Mr. Weasley shouted as he rushed in, “Quick! Quick! We’ve got to get out of here now!”Everyone exchanged looks of concern before they all ran outside where they were greeted with a scene of utter chaos as people ran about the campgrounds in fear. Smoke and fire could be seen in the distance.“Everybody! Get to the forest and stick together!” Mr. Weasley ordered, “We’ll be helping the Ministry. Now go! GO!”Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, and Percy pulled out their wands and ran in the direction of the fire and smoke. The twins, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Seth ran for the forest but not before seeing a large group of hooded and masked figures marching through the camp and setting tents on fire. There were four figures floating above them, contorted into odd shapes. Two of the figures were small and the sight gave Seth a sick feeling.As the group ran for the forest, they kept getting pushed and shoved around by the hordes of fleeing people. Before they knew it, the quartet were separated from Fred, George, and Ginny by the time they reached the forest.“They can’t have gone that far. Come on,” Ron said.They all pulled out their wands to cast lumos and as light filled the darkness around them, Ron, Hermione, and Seth saw Harry frantically patting at his pockets.“I can’t believe it. I’ve lost my wand!” Harry said in disbelief.“You’re kidding!” Ron exclaimed.He, Hermione, and Seth raised their wands high up to illuminate the ground. They looked around the area but didn’t see any sign of Harry’s wand.“You must’ve forgotten it at the tent or it fell out of your pocket when we ran,” Seth theorized.Harry frowned. “Hopefully it’s the first and not the second. It’ll be a nightmare trying to find my wand out here.”A nearby rustling sound made them all jump and they whirled around to see Draco pushing his way through the brush, slapping some stray branches away from where it snagged on his clothes.“Hey Draco!” Seth waved when Draco looked up to see them all staring at him.“Oh. It’s you four,” Draco said dully.Seth barked out a laugh. “Well don’t sound so excited.”Draco rolled his eyes. “Whatever. You all should get out of sight. The group back there torching the ground are Death Eaters.” He looked to Ron and Harry. “And I’m sure you don’t want any of them to see Granger or Sorenson.”Ron scowled. “I’m sure you know all about that, don’t you? How do we know you’re not leading them straight to us? Your dad’s one of them, aint he?”Draco scowled back. “Father would never! He swore he wouldn’t, especially since mother would jinx him if she knew and she always knows!” But Seth could hear a slight quaver in his voice as if he was trying to convince himself he was speaking the truth.Another rustling interrupted them and this time they whipped around to point their wands at the source only to find Winky fighting her way out of a bush nearby. She was moving in a peculiar manner, as though someone invisible was trying to hold her back.“There is bad wizards! Bad wizards! People high up in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!” She shouted.Then she disappeared into the trees on the other side, panting and squeaking as she fought the invisible force restraining her.“What’s wrong with her? Why can’t she run properly?” Ron asked.“Maybe she didn’t ask for permission to hide?” Harry suggested.“That’s not how that works. House elves still have some form of autonomy. If they disobeyed an order, they’d be punished on the spot whether it by their master or their own hand, not whatever that was,” Draco explained, looking confused by what he’d seen.“You know, house elves get a very raw deal,” Hermione angrily remarked, “It’s basically slavery is what it is! Her master made her go up to the top of the stadium despite being terrified of heights and now he’s got her bewitched so she can’t even run from the tents! Why doesn’t anyone do something about it?”“Well the elves are happy, aren’t they?” Ron said, “You saw Winky back at the match. She said she was a good house elf for obeying her master.”Hermione rounded on him with a furious expression. “It’s people like you who prop up rotten and unjust systems just because they’re too lazy to-”A loud bang echoed from the edge of the forest not too far from where they were.“Let’s just keep moving, shall we?” Harry nervously suggested.Hermione quieted down reluctantly and they set off with Draco in tow. They kept running until they arrived in a part of the forest that was dark and quiet. The noise from the campsite was distant but seemed to be settling.“Sounds like things are calming down,” Seth said.“I hope the others are okay,” Hermione fretted in concern.“They’ll be fine. I’m sure they will,” Ron said assuredly.Suddenly, they all quieted and extinguished the lights from their wands when they heard someone staggering towards the clearing they were in. They waited, listening to the sounds of uneven steps behind the dark trees when the footsteps came to a sudden halt.Harry opened his mouth to call out to whoever was out there but found it covered by Seth’s hand. He shook his head and held a finger up to his lips, telling Harry to keep quiet. Harry nodded and Seth cautiously moved forward to get a look at whoever was in the clearing. He carefully peeked out from behind a tree and saw a tall man around his early 30s with fair hair, pale skin, and a scraggly looking appearance.Without warning, the man pulled out a wand and shouted with a deep and hoarse voice, “MORSMORDRE!”Something vast, green, and smoky erupted from the wand. It flew up over the treetops and into the sky.“What the-” Ron began to say before his mouth clamped shut with an audible click.They all sprang to their feet, staring up wide eyed and slack jawed at the thing that had appeared in the sky. It was a colossal skull made of green mist with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue.“It’s the dark mark!” Draco said, paling at the sight.Hermione squeaked in fear. “Let’s get out of here!”The boys didn’t need to be told twice and they started across the clearing away from the man. But before they’d taken a few steps, a series of popping noises announced the arrival of twenty wizards and witches appearing out of thin air to surround them.Seth whirled around and immediately registered that each of the wizards and witches had a wand out and they were all pointed at them.“DUCK!” He shouted as he tackled everyone to the ground just as twenty voices yelled, “STUPEFY!”There was a blinding series of flashes as fiery red lights flew above them in all sorts of directions.“STOP! STOP! THAT’S MY SON!” Mr. Weasley shouted as he barreled into the clearing looking terrified. “Ron! Harry! Hermione! Seth! Are you alright?”“Out of the way, Arthur,” the cold voice of Mr. Crouch demanded.He and the other wizards and witches closed in on them as they all got to their feet.Mr. Crouch looked at them with a face full of rage. “Which one of you did it?” He demanded, eyes darting between them all. “Which of you conjured the dark mark?”“We didn’t do anything and we certainly didn’t do that,” Seth said, stepping forward to stand protectively in front of the others.“Do not lie!” Mr. Crouch shouted as he pointed his wand directly at Seth. His eyes were wide and he looked slightly mad. “You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!”But Seth wasn’t intimidated by the threat of his wand. “And did you ever think for a moment that there might’ve been someone else? We’re kids for Pete’s sake! How the hell are we supposed to know how to do that?” He gestured up at the mark in the sky.The Ministry wizards and witches all nodded in agreement with Seth’s argument. But Mr. Crouch still looked dead set on arresting one of them.“A likely story! How do we know you’re not lying?” His eyes and wand landed on Draco. “Especially when you have a Malfoy with you?”Draco looked indignant at the implied accusation. “My father was imperiused!”Mr. Crouch gave an ugly snort of derision. “So he claims.”“Come now, Mr. Crouch. They’re just kids,” Mr. Weasley gently reminded.“Yeah. If you want a culprit, there was a man through the trees over there,” Seth said, pointing at where he saw the man, “He was the one who cast the spell. Looked to be around his early 30s with fair hair and pale skin. He looked kinda scraggly, like he doesn’t get out much.”Mr. Crouch swung his wand back to Seth. “And how could you see him so clearly in the dark, young man?”“Barty, that’s enough!” A witch in a woolen dress reprimanded sharply, “We should at least check the area for any signs of others before accusing children of casting a dark spell.”Mr. Crouch reluctantly lowered his wand with a scowl. “Fine.”The wizards and witches dispersed to search the clearing for clues. Mr. Weasley stayed behind with the quartet and Draco, making sure they weren’t injured. Soon enough, shouting could be heard and there was a thundering of footsteps as the Ministry wizards and witches returned to the clearing.“What did you find?” Mr. Crouch eagerly asked.The witch in the woolen dress pursed her lips, looking as if she’d swallowed something sour.“What did you find?!” Mr. Crouch demanded impatiently.Some of the wizards parted to reveal Mr. Diggory carrying a tiny limp figure in his arms. It was Winky. Mr. Crouch staggered back, the blood drained out of his face and left him as pale as a ghost.“This cannot be. No!” He went off to search the forest again.“No point, Mr. Crouch. There’s no one there,” Mr. Diggory futilely said as Mr. Crouch disappeared into the trees. He sighed and grimaced. “Well this is a bit embarrassing. Barty Crouch’s house elf.”“Come off it, Amos,” Mr. Weasley said, “You don’t seriously think she did it? For one, she’d need a wand!”“She had a wand,” Mr. Diggory said.Mr. Weasley gaped at him in shock. “What?”“Here, look.” Mr. Diggory held up a wand. “It was in her hand so that’s Clause Three of the Code of Wand Use broken for a start. No non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand.”“No wonder the Preserves hate working with the Wizarding World when they have dumb laws like this,” Seth muttered under his breath, “They don’t even have a council of non-human creatures in their government so where do they get off on passing laws to govern them.”“What was that?” Mr. Diggory said, looking sharply at Seth.“Nothing, nothing,” Seth said, looking the very picture of innocence, “Just wondering, if she had a wand, where did she learn the spell?”Mr. Diggory frowned. “Well obviously she-"“Are you accusing Mr. Crouch of teaching his elf a dark spell? Especially knowing his opinion of the Dark Arts?” Mr. Weasley interrupted.Mr. Diggory faltered. “Er, well, no, that is to say-”“You better stop right there, Amos,” The witch in the woolen dress warned, “Before Barty returns.”And as if she’d summoned him with a mere mention, Mr. Crouch returned from his search. He was completely silent.Mr. Diggory cleared his throat to get his attention. “Mr. Crouch. Do I have your permission to interrogate your elf?”Mr. Crouch gave no sign he heard Mr. Diggory but he took his silence for permission. He pointed his wand at Winky. “Ennervate.”Winky stirred feebly. Her eyes opened and she blinked several times before raising herself shakily into a seated position. She looked around, taking in the sight of the wizards and witches surrounding her and the green skull in the sky. She gasped and immediately burst into tears.“Elf!” Mr. Diggory sternly said, “Do you know who I am? I am a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.”Seth struggled to contain his urge to knock Mr. Diggory’s lights out at how callously he was treating the clearly terrified Winky who sobbed uncontrollably. “Stop that! You’re scaring her even more.”Mr. Diggory frowned. “Stay out of this, young man. This elf here is in very serious trouble!”“And you’re making it worse by interrogating her like this,” Seth shot back.Mr. Diggory scowled. “Do not tell me how to do my job-”“I will when you’re being shit at it!” Seth harshly interrupted.“Seth, don’t be rude,” Mr. Weasley scolded, “Amos is doing his job as a member of the Ministry. Apologize to him.”“No,” Seth said, refusing to be cowed, “In fact, if you wanna play the political power game, then so will I. I am an official Caretaker of the Fablehaven Preserves. Thus I invoke the right to take charge of the questioning of Winky the House Elf!”All the Ministry wizards and witches looked at him in stunned disbelief.Mr. Diggory stuttered like a broken car. “Excuse me? Did you say you are an official Preserve Caretaker? You? A young boy?”Seth scowled. “I’m tw-fourteen! And yes. I am Seth Sorenson, grandson of Stanley Sorenson and descendant of Patton Burgess, at your service.”Mr. Diggory laughed in disbelief and so were some of the Ministry witches and wizards. But not the witch in the woolen dress who looked at Seth in consideration.“And if we were to ask for proof of your credentials, Mister Sorenson, would you be able to provide it?” She asked.“Absolutely,” Seth responded without hesitation, “Also, the headmaster and teaching staff of Hogwarts are aware of my status so they can vouch for me as well.”The witch in the woolen dress nodded. “Very well then. You may question the house elf. But I request you do it here where we can all see.”“Madame Bones? You can’t be serious!” Mr. Diggory sputtered in protest.“I am quite serious when it comes to special jurisdictions such as the one Mister Sorenson falls into,” Madame Bones said with utmost seriousness, “Now please step aside and allow the boy to do his job.”Mr. Diggory reluctantly stepped away from Winky and Seth nodded his thanks to Madame Bones. He carefully approached Winky and crouched down in front of the still sobbing house elf.“Hey Winky,” he said softly, “It’s okay. You’re okay. Probably feeling a little sore from being hit by a stunner, right?”Winky shook her head, still blubbering but no longer outright wailing. “W-Winky is not hurt. Winky is not even a little sore.”“Of course you’re not. Still, is it okay if I look you over?”After a moment of sobbing, Winky jerked her head up and down. Seth gently looked over her exposed arms and legs for any signs of bruising or cuts but found none.“Alright Winky. Is it okay if I ask you a few questions?”“I-Is Winky in trouble? I is a good house elf! I swears!”“Yes, I know, you’re a good house elf,” Seth said soothingly, “And good house elves answer questions honestly, right?”Winky shakily nodded her head. Her crying slowly calmed.“Good. Now how did you get this wand?”“I is- I is just picking it up, sir. I is finding it on the ground and I is thinking someone lost it. Winky is good house elf! A good house elf returns lost things to its owners!”Seth nodded. “Okay. Did you ever use the wand?”Winky violently shook her head, making her ears flap around. “I is not! I is not doing magic with a wand! I is only picking it up! I is not knowing how to use a wand!”“She’s right,” Hermione chimed in when she saw the Ministry wizards and witches looking skeptical, “Someone with a deep, hoarse voice cast the spell. Winky’s voice is high and squeaky.”Harry nodded. “Yeah. Nothing like what we heard at all.”“And you heard Seth. He saw a man, not a house elf, cast the spell,” Ron added helpfully.Madame Bones looked to Seth who nodded, understanding what she wanted him to ask. “Okay Winky. I believe you. But I have to ask you a very important question and you have to answer truthfully, okay?” Upon Winky’s nod, he asked, “Did you see who cast the spell?”Winky hesitated before shaking her head. “I is- I is not seeing who did it.”Seth frowned, having seen her hesitation. “When exactly did you pick up the wand, Winky? Before or after the spell was cast?”Winky trembled and grabbed at her ears. “I is- I is- I is_”She burst into tears again and Seth rubbed her consolingly on the back.“This is getting nowhere,” Mr. Diggory impatiently interjected, “Elf! Did you know there’s a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand performed?”Winky trembled violently and the water works ramped up again.Mr. Diggory held up the wand in question and was about to press the tip of his own wand against it when Harry suddenly gasped. “Hey! That’s my wand! I lost it!”“You lost it?” Mr. Diggory asked in disbelief, “Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the mark and are now trying to pin the blame on this elf?”“Amos! Think of who you’re speaking to,” Mr. Weasley angrily said in warning, “Is Harry Potter likely to conjure the dark mark?”Mr. Diggory sheepishly backed down. “Er, of course not. Sorry. Got swept up in the moment.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Anyway…” He held the tip of his wand to Harry’s wand and said, “Prior Incantato!”Everyone gasped in horror as the ghostly form of a gigantic serpent tongued skull erupted from the point where the two wands met.“Deletrius,” Mr. Diggory said and the ghostly skull vanished. He looked at Winky with savage triumph. “So, it seems the elf was lying.”Winky shook her hand frantically in denial. “I is not! I is not knowing how! I is a good house elf! A good house elf!”Mr. Diggory looked ready to yank the trembling Winky out of Seth’s comforting grasp especially when Seth said, “You don’t even know if she was the one who cast the spell. All that spell told you is that wand was used not who used it. Besides, are you really back to accusing Mr. Crouch of teaching his house elf dark magic?”Mr. Diggory turned red in the face with indignation but a sharp look from Madame Bones made him hold his tongue from saying anything that could embarrass him further. It was then that Mr. Crouch stepped forward.“Amos,” he said curtly, “I am fully aware that in ordinary circumstances, you would want to take Winky to your department. But I ask that you do not.”Mr. Diggory looked as if he wanted to do anything but what was asked. However, it was quite clear that Mr. Crouch was someone important enough in the Ministry that he didn’t dare refuse him.“Mister Sorenson, I apologize for my earlier behavior,” Mr. Crouch said without a hint of sounding apologetic, “As Winky is under my employ, I ask you to allow me to deal with her.”Seth also looked as if he wanted to do anything but what Mr. Crouch wanted. But he also knew he already overstepped his bounds by interfering with Mr. Diggory’s questioning of Winky and he didn't want to see if he could push his luck any further without causing an international incident. He reluctantly nodded and slowly removed himself from Winky.“M-M-Master,” Winky stammered as she looked up at Mr. Crouch with teary eyes.Mr. Crouch stared at her with a sharp cold gaze that held no trace of pity or sympathy. “Tonight you have behaved in a manner I would not have believed possible. I gave you an order and yet here I find that you disobeyed me. This means clothes.”“NO!” Winky shrieked, “NO MASTER! NOT CLOTHES! NOT CLOTHES!”“But she was frightened!” Hermione protested in Winky’s defense, “She’s scared of heights and those wizards in masks were levitating people. You can’t blame her for wanting to get out of their way!”Mr. Crouch looked down at Winky as if she were something filthy dirtying the ground his shined shoes walked over. He completely ignored Hermione. “I have no use for a house elf who disobeys and forgets what is due to her master and her master’s reputation.”Winky was crying so hard that her sobs echoed around the clearing. There was a very depressing silence that was ended when Mr. Weasley quietly said, “Well, I think I’ll take these kids back now. Nobody’s got any objections? Amos, that wand’s told us all it can. If Harry could have it back, please?”Mr. Diggory wordlessly handed Harry his wand back and Harry immediately pocketed it.“Come on, you lot. Off we go,” Mr. Weasley said as he herded the quartet and Draco away.But Hermione didn’t want to move. Her eyes still upon the sobbing Winky. Even Draco was eyeing Winky with an uncomfortable expression.“Hermione, come on,” Mr. Weasley urged.She turned and allowed him to herd her and the boys out of the clearing and through the trees.“What’s going to happen to Winky?” Hermione asked.“I don’t know,” Mr. Weasley said.“The way they were treating her,” Hermione furiously said, “Mr. Diggory kept calling her elf and Mr. Crouch! He knew she didn’t do it and he was still going to sack her. He didn’t care how frightened she’d been or how upset she was. It was like she wasn’t even human!”“Well she’s not, Hermione. She’s a house elf,” Ron pointed out.Hermione rounded on him and glared. “That doesn’t mean she hasn’t got any feelings, Ron! The way they treated her was disgusting!”“I agree with you, Hermione. But now is not the time to discuss elf rights,” Mr. Weasley said, “I want to get back to the tent as fast as we can.”They continued walking in silence and soon arrived at the campsite where they were met with Mrs. Malfoy frantically looking around for something. She only calmed once she spotted Draco with their group.“There you are, Draco!” Mrs. Malfoy said, rushing over to hold him, “Your father and I have been looking everywhere for you!”“Sorry mother. I was with some classmates,” Draco apologized.It was then she registered the rest of their group and her expression pinched from the knee jerk reaction of the upper crust being forced to interact with the lower crust. But she quickly smoothed her expression to neutral. “Thank you for taking care of my son, Arthur,” she politely said.Mr. Weasley shook his head. “It was no trouble, Mrs. Malfoy.” He gestured to Draco. “Off you go then.”“Guess I’ll see you at school,” Draco said lowly to the quartet.Then he left with his mother ushering him off. Mr. Weasley then continued to herd the quartet back to their tent. The entire campground was quiet. There were no signs of the masked wizards though several tents were burnt and smoking still.Charlie, Bill, and Percy were gathered outside their tent with Fred, George, and Ginny in tow.Charlie looked up upon their approach and sighed in relief. “Oh thank Merlin. You’re all okay!”“Did you get them, dad? The person who conjured the mark?” Bill asked.Mr. Weasley shook his head. “No. They got away.”Charlie, Bill, and Percy all looked different shades of furious and disappointed.“Hey, uh, sorry if I sound out of touch or something but, can someone explain what’s the deal with this dark mark? Is it like a gang sign or something?” Seth asked curiously.Everyone looked at him in surprise.“How do you not know the significance of the dark mark?” Percy asked incredulously, “It was He Who Must Not Be Named’s signature!”Seth raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “I’m American. We didn’t have to deal with Moldy Shorts over there, remember?”Percy gaped at him for his audacity while everyone else looked amused and some even snickered.“It hasn’t been seen for thirteen years,” Mr. Weasley quietly explained, “You Know Who and his followers sent the dark mark into the air whenever they killed. The terror it inspired…just picture coming home and finding the dark mark hovering over your house and knowing exactly what you would find inside.” He shuddered.There was silence for a moment.“Do you think whoever conjured the mark was part of that group who attacked the campgrounds?” Hermione tentatively asked.Bill shook his head. “I don’t think so. They all disapparated as soon as they saw the mark. They were probably all of the Death Eaters who did everything they could to deny they’d ever been involved with You Know Who so they could stay out of Azkaban. Bet they were scared since You Know Who wouldn’t be happy they sold each other out for get out of jail free cards.”“We can’t prove it was them but it probably was,” Mr. Weasley said with a hopeless sigh.“What are Death Eaters?” Harry asked.“It’s what You Know Who’s supporters called themselves,” Bill answered. Harry and Seth made an odd expression and Bill chuckled. “Yeah, I know. It’s a stupid name and yet it still managed to inspire fear just like You Know Who’s name still does today.”“I wonder who conjured the mark then,” Ron wondered.“It’s anyone’s guess at this point,” Mr. Weasley said, “But I’ll tell you all this - it was only the Death Eaters who knew how to conjure the mark. I’d be very surprised if the person who did it hadn’t been a Death Eater at one point in time. Now listen, it’s very late and when your mother hears about what’s happened, she’ll be worried sick. Go get a few more hours of sleep and then we’ll get an early portkey out of here.”After that, it took a very long time for anyone to fall asleep. It was only once Charlie’s snores filled the tent did Seth finally doze off.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
They were back at the Burrow a little past dawn the next morning. They’d just stepped foot past the gate leading to the front yard when they heard Mrs. Weasley’s voice frantically call out to them.“Oh thank goodness! Thank goodness!”She looked close to tears and her face was as pale as a bleached sheet as she ran towards them, still wearing her bedroom slippers. There was a rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet clutched tightly in her hand.“Arthur! I’ve been so worried!” She wailed.She wrapped her arms around Mr. Weasley’s neck. The Daily Prophet fell out of her hand onto the ground and landing in a way that they could all see the headline - SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP - complete with a black and white photo of the dark mark over the treetops.And to everyone’s surprise, except Seth who could see it coming, Mrs. Weasley seized Fred and George, pulling them into a tight hug that banged their heads together.“Ouch mum! You’re strangling us!” Fred whined.“I shouted at you before you left,” Mrs. Weasley sobbed, “It’s all I’ve been thinking about. What if You Know Who had got you and the last thing I ever said to you was that you didn’t get enough O.W.L.s?”That quickly quieted the twins’ complaints. They looked slightly shaken along with the rest of the Weasley children who’d never seen their mother inconsolable like this before.“Now, now Molly. As you can see, they’re all right as rain so do try not to kill your kids through the strength of your hugs,” a tired voice called out, “Look! They’re turning blue!”Mrs. Weasley immediately let go of the twins and began to fuss over them. The others turned to see Sirius walking over and looking as if he’d just sprung out of bed in his tattered pajama pants, ratty band t-shirt, and birds nest hair.“Sirius! You’re here!” Harry exclaimed in surprise.“Of course I’m here, pup,” Sirius said, posture relaxing when he saw Harry unharmed, “As soon as I saw the Prophet, I apparated over and been keeping Molly company ever since, waiting for you all to come back. She was absolutely inconsolable!”“Oh don’t you dare start, Sirius,” Molly scolded, “I wasn’t the one blubbering over a cup of cocoa about how I should’ve used the guilt of false imprisonment to get tickets to the World Cup so I could’ve watched over Harry there.”“Molly! That did not happen!” Sirius sputtered in protest.Mrs. Weasley only raised an unimpressed eyebrow that had any further protests die in Sirius’ mouth. The quartet snickered at his reaction.“Alright now, let’s go in and get some breakfast in you lot,” Mr. Weasley said, ushering them all into the Burrow while scooping up the fallen Daily Prophet.Sirius brought Harry in for a one-armed hug that Harry gratefully returned with two. Soon they were all crammed into the kitchen where Mr. Weasley was reading the paper while Bill and Charlie were reading it over his shoulder.Hermione handed a cup of very strong tea to Mrs. Weasley and Sirius, the latter who poured a shot of firewhiskey into both cups much to Mrs. Weasley’s displeasure. She drank it anyway.Mr. Weasley sighed as he finally lowered the paper. “I knew it. Ministry blunders…culprits not apprehended…lax security…dark wizards running unchecked…national disgrace… Who wrote this? Ah, of course. Rita Skeeter.”“Sounds like her work,” Sirius said as he went to read the paper over Mr. Weasley’s shoulder as well. He pointed at a section of the article. “Oh look! She even added there were rumors that several bodies were hauled out of the woods.”Mr. Weasley groaned. “Well there certainly will be rumors now that she’s printed it.” He released a heavy sigh. “Molly, I’m going to have to go into the office. This is going to take some time smoothing over.”“I’ll come with you, father,” Percy said, puffing up importantly, “Mr. Crouch will need all hands on deck and I can give him my cauldron report in person.”The kids were then ushered upstairs after Sirius gave Harry another hug before letting him go. They all went without objection.“I need to tell you guys something really important,” Harry muttered to Hermione, Ron, and Seth.Ron nodded. “We’re going to my room. Don’t bother us,” he shouted at his siblings.The quartet left for Ron’s room while Ginny went with the twins. Once they were inside and Ron closed the door, Harry spoke. “There’s something I haven’t told you guys. The night before we found out Pettigrew escaped, I woke up with my scar hurting again.”He then went on to explain the dream he had that led to his scar hurting. By the end, Ron looked horrified, Hermione looked skeptical, and Seth was thoughtful.“You don’t think it’s some kind of omen, do you?” Ron asked fearfully.Hermione scoffed. “Oh please Ron. This isn’t Divination. Maybe Harry just had a bad dream and his mind conjured up something in response to Pettigrew’s escape.”“But he had the dream the night before we got the news,” Ron argued.“I don’t know. It’s just a theory,” Hermione defended. “What do you think, Seth?”“I think,” Seth said carefully, “That there’s nothing we can do about it now but we should keep an eye on this going forward so tell us whenever you’re having a weird dream, okay?”Harry nodded and an unpleasant atmosphere settled around them.It was only broken when Hermione cleared her throat. “So, um, did you all finish your summer homework?”Harry and Ron immediately groaned in despair.“I knew I was forgetting something,” Ron said.Seth laughed as Hermione began to lecture the two on the dangers of procrastination while they rummaged through their bags to find their unfinished homework. The day before departing for Hogwarts, the weather turned rainy and depressing as if in response to what happened after the Quidditch World Cup. It’d only been a week since that day.Hermione was currently immersed in The Standard Book of Spells Grade 4. Charlie and Seth were speaking quietly with each other about the former’s still ongoing apprenticeship with Santiago at Isla del Dragon. Harry was polishing his broomstick while Ron watched. And Fred and George were hunched together over some parchment and talking in whispers with Ginny as she wrote something with her quill.Mrs. Weasley eyed them suspiciously. “What are you two doing with your sister?”“Just homework,” Fred nonchalantly said.“Oh really now?” Mrs. Weasley said, not believing them for a moment, “Ginny. I thought you already finished it last month?”“It’s just a little extra tutoring, mum. Can’t ask Percy cause he’s ‘too busy’,” she explained while giving said brother the stink eye. Percy merely turned his nose up at her.“So that’s not a new order form you’re helping your brothers write?” Mrs. Weasley asked.“No mum,” Ginny dutifully responded.“And we feel hurt you would make such an unfounded accusation, mum!” George exclaimed dramatically.“What if the Hogwarts Express crashed tomorrow and the last thing we ever heard from you was just that?” Fred bemoaned.Everyone laughed at their little joke, even Mrs. Weasley.“Oh! Your father’s coming home!” She suddenly exclaimed.She was looking over at the Weasley family clock where, instead of telling time, it told the location of each member of the Weasley family. Mr. Weasley’s hand spun from work to traveling before coming to a halt at home.“I’m home!” Mr. Weasley’s called out from the kitchen.“Welcome back, dear!” Mrs. Weasley shouted in return as she hurried over to him.A few moments later, Mr. Weasley came into the living room carrying his dinner on a tray. He looked completely exhausted.“Well the fat’s really in the fire now,” he said as he sat down in an armchair, “Rita Skeeter’s been ferreting around all week looking for more Ministry mess ups and now she’s found out about poor Bertha so that’ll be the headline in the Prophet tomorrow. We all told Bagman he should’ve sent someone to look for her ages ago.”Percy sniffed disdainfully. “Mr. Crouch has been saying that for weeks and weeks!”“Mr. Crouch is lucky Skeeter hasn’t found out about Winky,” Mr. Weasley retorted, “There’d be a week’s worth of headlines - House Elf Caught Holding the Wand that Conjured the Dark Mark!”“Mr. Crouch is lucky no one at the Daily Prophet knows how mean he is to elves,” Hermione grumped.“Now look here Hermione, Mr. Crouch is a high-ranking Ministry official and deserves unwavering obedience from his subordinates,” Percy rebuked haughtily.“His slave you mean,” she snapped back angrily, “Because he doesn’t pay Winky, does he?”“Alright, that’s enough,” Mr. Weasley interjected. He gestured to the quartet, the twins, and Ginny with his fork. “You all better go upstairs and check you’ve packed properly now.”Hermione huffed and turned her nose up at Percy before storming off. Seth, Harry, and Ron followed after her. They arrived in Ron’s room where he made a loud noise of disgust.“What is that supposed to be?” He walked over to his bed and held up a garment that looked like a long maroon velvet dress with a moldy looking lace frill at the collar and matching lace cuffs.There was a knock at the door and Mrs. Weasley came in carrying an armful of freshly cleaned Hogwarts robes. “Here you boys are. Hermione, I left yours in Ginny’s room.” She sorted the robes into three piles. “Now be sure to pack properly so they don't crease.”“Mum, you’ve given me Ginny’s new dress!” Ron held the dress up for her to see.Mrs. Wesley shook her head. “Of course I haven’t. That’s for you! Dress robes.”Ron looked horror struck. “What?”“Dress robes. It says on your school list that you’re supposed to have dress robes this year for formal occasions,” Mrs. Weasley explained. “Sirius will be buying some for Harry and I wrote to Seth’s family so they could sort that out for him as well.”“You’ve got to be kidding,” Ron said in disbelief, “I’m not wearing that! No way!”“Everyone wears them, Ron,” Mrs. Weasley said impatiently, “They’re all like that. Your father’s got some for smart parties.”“Well then why don’t you shrink one of his and give it to me? I’d rather go starkers before I put that on! I’ll never wear them!”“Fine then! Go naked,” she snapped. Then she looked at Harry, Hermione, and Seth. “And you three make sure to get a picture of him. Goodness knows I could do with a laugh.”She left the room, slamming the door behind her.“Why is everything I own rubbish?” Ron angrily asked. Everyone was tucking into breakfast when Mrs. Weasley rushed to the foot of the stairs in a panic.“Arthur! Urgent message from the Ministry!”Mr. Weasley thundered down the stairs and into the living room where they could see Mr. Diggory’s head in the middle of the flames in the fireplace. They all leaned closer to try and hear what he was saying.“Muggle neighbors heard bangs and shouting so they went and called those, what you call em, please men. Arthur, you’ve got to get over there. It’s a real stroke of luck I heard about it when I came into the office early today. If Rita Skeeter gets a hold of this one…”“What does Mad Eye say happened?”Harry perked up in interest at that and leaned forward more to try and hear better.“Says he heard an intruder in his yard. Says he was creeping toward the house but was ambushed by his dustbins!” Mr. Diggory said.“What did the dustbins do?”“Made one hell of a noise and fired rubbish everywhere as far as I could tell. Apparently one of them was still rocketing around when the please men turned up.”Mr. Weasley groaned. “And what about the intruder?”“Come on, Arthur. You know Mad Eye. Probably just some shell-shocked cat who’s wandering around somewhere covered in potato peelings right now. But if the Improper Use of Magic lot get their hands on Mad Eye, with his record in mind, we could get him off on a minor charge. What are exploding dustbins worth?”“Might be a caution. Mad Eye didn’t use his wand right? He didn’t actually attack anyone.”“Not that I heard. They’ll certainly have a job proving it if he did. There weren’t any casualties.”Mr. Weasley sighed tiredly. “Alright. I’ll be right there.” He rushed into the kitchen. “You have a good term, kids. Molly, are you going to be alright taking everyone to King’s Cross?”“Of course I will. You just look after Mad Eye, we’ll be fine,” Mrs. Weasley assured him and he apparated out of the kitchen.“Who’s Mad Eye?” Seth asked.“Isn’t he that nutter?” George said.“None of that, George,” Mrs. Weasley scolded, “Your father thinks very highly of Mad Eye Moody.”“Isn’t he an old friend of Dumbledore’s?” Charlie remarked.“I think so,” Harry said, “Tonks told me about him when Sirius introduced me to her. Tonks is Sirius’ cousin.”“Oh! Tonks! I was at Hogwarts the same years as her,” Charlie said, “How’s she?”“She’s doing good. Her hair’s a brilliant bubble gum pink right now. Sirius thought it suited her. She said she apprenticed under Mad Eye while becoming an auror,” Harry responded.Charlie blinked in surprise. “Wait, so she’s seriously an auror? We always thought she’d be working at Zonko’s or something. She’s brilliant with pranks!”“Pranks you say?” Fred chimed in.“Harry, perchance we could get a meeting with Tonks?” George asked, batting his eyes at Harry who chuckled.“Don’t even think about it boys,” Mrs. Weasley said from where she was on the phone.“Mad Eye’s a retired auror who worked at the Ministry,” Harry explained to Seth, “Tonks told me how he was the best dark wizard catcher in the business. But apparently he’s been getting really paranoid in his old age. Doesn’t trust anyone anymore. Sees dark wizards everywhere!”Once they finished breakfast, they were soon leaving the house for the train station through the use of a muggle taxi service. Bill and Charlie joined while Percy left for the Ministry. They soon arrived at King’s Cross and made for Platform Nine and Three Quarters where the Hogwarts Express was waiting.After they found seats and stowed their luggage, they hopped back down onto the platform to say goodbye to Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie.“I might be seeing you all sooner than you think,” Charlie said as he hugged Ginny. He grinned at Seth. “And I’ll be joined by some faces I’m sure you’re familiar with.”“Huh? Who?” Seth asked.“And why’s that?” Fred added.Charlie gave them a secretive grin. “You’ll see.”Bill sighed wistfully. “It certainly will be an interesting year, won’t it? I might get some time off to come and watch a bit of it.”“Why?” George impatiently demanded.“A bit of what?” Ron asked in confusion.The whistle blew and Mrs. Weasley shooed them toward the train doors. They clambered back onto the train and let the door close so they could open the window and lean out of it.“Thanks for having us over Mrs. Weasley,” Hermione said appreciatively.“Yeah. Thanks for everything, Mrs. Weasley,” Harry said.“Thanks Mrs. Weasley!” Seth exclaimed.Mrs. Weasley smiled warmly at them. “It was my pleasure, dears. I’d invite you for Christmas but I expect you’re all going to want to stay at Hogwarts this year.”Ginny squinted at her in suspicion. “Mum, what do you know that we don’t?”“Don’t worry. You’ll find out this evening,” Mrs. Weasley said, “It’s going to be very exciting! Though I’m glad they’ve changed the rules.”“What rules?!” Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny shouted.The whistle blew again and the wheels began to turn.“Tell us what’s happening!” Fred shouted in a last ditch attempt for answers.But Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie simply waved and they soon lost sight of them as the train rounded the corner. They closed the window and separated to go to different compartments with the twins and Ginny on a mission to uncover what this mysterious event was. When the quartet arrived in their own, Ron undid his trunk and pulled out the maroon dress robe to fling over Pigwidegeon’s cage to muffle his excited hooting.“Bagman wanted to tell us what’s happening at Hogwarts but my own mother won’t even drop a bone,” Ron complained, “Wonder what it is?”A few hours passed when the lunch trolley came along the corridor. Harry bought a large stack of cauldron cakes for them to share. Several of their friends checked in on them as the afternoon progressed. Seamus, Dean, and Neville stuck around for a riveting conversation about the World Cup.“Gran didn’t want to go. Wouldn’t buy tickets but it sounded amazing,” Neville said, feeling a little jealous.“It was,” Ron sighed dreamily.“Minus the chaos at the end, of course,” Harry said.“Sounds like a normal world championship to me,” Seth said, disgruntled.Dean nodded with all the wisdom of a man who’d been through many championship related fiascos. “Yeah. You should see what happens at the end of football matches in Britain. The fans turn it into a bloodbath sometimes.”“Are you sure you’re still talking about muggle football?” Ron asked, skeptically.It was then that their compartment door opened to reveal Draco. “Ah. Here you are.”“Hey Draco. What’s up?” Seth greeted with a wave.Instead of answering, Draco’s gaze immediately landed on the maroon dress. His nose wrinkled in disgust. “What is that?”Ron burned red with embarrassment. “Dress robes.”“Dress robes?” Draco repeated incredulously, “Absolutely not! Who does this monstrosity belong to?”Everyone immediately looked at Ron whose face burned with a shade brighter than his hair.Draco scoffed. “Of course it’s yours, Weasley.”“And? What of it, Malfoy?” Ron said, defensively.“Well you’re in luck, Weasley. I refuse to allow these ‘robes’ to be seen in public so on the first Hogsmeade visit, you’re coming with me to get you new dress robes,” Draco declared with no room for protest.Ron scowled. “I’m not a charity case, Malfoy.”Draco rolled his eyes. “The only charity I’m giving is the charity of making sure no one ever sees you in that abomination so you better prepare yourself, Weasley. I won’t take no for an answer.”And with that, he closed the door and left the compartment, leaving Ron fuming in his seat. He stayed in a bad mood for the rest of the ride, not really talking much as they changed into their robes. He was still glowering when the Express stopped at Hogsmeade station.The train doors opened as a rumble of thunder was heard overhead. They all bundled up against the downpour that was so thick and fast it was as though they were standing under an ice-cold waterfall.“Hi Hagrid!” Harry shouted at the gigantic silhouette at the end of the platform.“Harry!” Hagrid bellowed back and waved, “See yeh at the feast if we don’ drown!”Hermione shivered as they walked along the platform with the rest of the crowd toward the carriages. “Oooh. I’m glad we didn’t have to cross the lake in this weather.”“Small mercies,” Seth grumbled.“Hear, hear,” Ron and Harry mumbled miserably before simultaneously sneezing. The quartet eagerly made their way into the Great Hall, relishing in the warmth that could be felt through their soaked robes. As they sat down, they looked to the professors’ table where all the seats were filled except for McGonagall’s, who was most likely speaking with the first years, and another chair to Dumbledore’s immediate left.“Where’s the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor? Were they not able to get anyone?” Hermione fretted anxiously.“Maybe they're just late. It’s storming right now, after all,” Harry suggested.Ron moaned as his stomach grumbled loudly. “Who cares? I wish they’d hurry up. I could eat a hippogriff!”As soon as he spoke, the doors of the Great Hall opened and silence fell as McGonagall led the first years to the front of the hall. They looked as wet as the quartet felt. McGonagall placed the customary stool on the ground and plopped the Sorting Hat on top.Everyone stared at it. For a moment, there was only silence. Then its brim opened wide like a mouth and it broke into song.
A thousand years or more agoWhen I was newly sewn,There lived four wizards of renown,Whose names are still well known:Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,Fair Ravenclaw,, from glen,Sweet Hufflepuff,, from valley broad,Shrewd Slytherin,, from fen.
They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,They hatched a daring planTo educate young sorcerersThus Hogwarts School began.
Now each of these four foundersFormed their own houses, for eachDid value different virtuesIn the ones they had to teach.By Gryffindor, the bravest werePrized far beyond the rest;For Ravenclaw, the cleverestWould always be the best;For Hufflepuff, hard workers wereMost worthy of admission;And power-hungry SlytherinLoved those of great ambition.
While still alive they did divideTheir favourites from the throng,Yet how to pick the worthy onesWhen they were dead and gone?Twas Gryffindor who found the way,He whipped me off his headThe founders put some brains in meSo I could choose instead!
Now slip me snug about your ears,I've never yet been wrong,I'll have a look inside your mindAnd tell where you belong!
The Great Hall rang with applause albeit with some of the lower years clapping in confusion once the Sorting Hat finished.“That’s not the song it sang the last few years,” Harry said.“Maybe it wanted to try something new?” Ron suggested.The quartet watched as the sorting commenced and soon came to an end. McGonagall picked up the Hat and stool and carried them away.“About time,” Ron said, grabbing his knife and fork and looking eagerly at his plate.Dumbledore got to his feet and smiled around at the students. His arms opened wide in welcome. “I have only two words to say to you. Tuck in!”The empty dishes were magically filled with food and the quartet eagerly loaded their plates.“Aah! Ars beer,” Ron said through a mouth full of mashed potatoes.“You’re lucky there was a feast at all tonight, you know,” Nearly Headless Nick said as he looked mournfully at the food, “There was trouble in the kitchens earlier.”“Why? Wh appended?” Harry asked through a large chunk of steak.“Pixies got loose in the kitchens. Wreaked havoc and mayhem. Pots and pans everywhere! Place was swimming in soup. Terrified the house elves out of their wits.”CLANG!Hermione had dropped her utensils onto her plate in shock. “There are house elves here?” She asked numbly.“Certainly,” Nearly Headless Nick said, looking at her in surprise, “The largest number in any dwelling in Britain I believe. Over a hundred!”“But I’ve never seen one,” Hermione said.“Well they hardly ever leave the kitchen by day do they? They come out at night to do a bit of cleaning, see to the fires and so on. I mean, you’re not supposed to see them, are you? That’s the mark of a good house elf, isn't it? That you don’t know they’re there.”Hermione stared at him in disbelief. “But they get paid, they get holidays, don’t they? Sick leaves and pensions and everything?”Nearly Headless Nick chortled so much his head nearly flopped off. “Sick leave and pensions? House elves don’t want sick leave and pension!”Hermione looked down at her half-eaten plate and immediately pushed it away. She refused to eat another bite no matter how much Ron tried to persuade her otherwise.By the end of dinner, Dumbledore got to his feet again and the chatter that filled the hall ceased at once.“Now that we are all fed and watered…” Hermione huffed indignantly. “I must ask for your attention while I make an important announcement. The Interhouse Quidditch Cup will not take place this year!”All the Quidditch players and Quidditch lovers were in an uproar, appalled by what he said. He paid them no mind and continued.“This is due to an event that will be starting in October and continuing through the school year taking up much of the professors’ time and energy. But I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. Now it is my pleasure to announce that this year at Hogwarts-”At that moment, the doors of the Great Hall banged open. A man stood in the doorway leaning on a long staff with a black traveling cloak draped around him. Everyone turned to the stranger as he lowered his hood and shook out a long man of dark grey hair. Then he began to walk up towards the professors’ table.There was a dull clunk that echoed through the hall on his every other step as if one of his legs was made of wood instead of flesh. He reached the left end of the professors’ table, turned right, and limped over toward Dumbledore.Every inch of the man’s face was covered in scars, his mouth looked more like a diagonal gash than a mouth, and a large chunk of his nose was missing. One of his eyes was dark while the other was clearly fake with its glassy texture and bright blue pupil but seemed to move around independently, rolling this way and that. It was most likely magical in origin.When the stranger reached Dumbledore, he held out a hand that was as scarred as his face and Dumbledore shook it. The man then took a seat in the empty chair to Dumbledore’s right, pulled a plate of sausages towards him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed it. He then took out a small knife from his pocket, speared a sausage, and began to eat.Dumbledore cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Professor Moody!”Everybody was too transfixed on Moody and his bizarre display to greet him with applause. Only the staff clapped in welcome.“So that’s Mad Eye Moody?” Ron asked.“Must be. He looks exactly like Tonks described him,” Harry said.“I wonder what happened to him that his face looks like that,” Hermione said with a shudder.“Considering his previous occupation, I’m not surprised he’s got a good collection of battle scars,” Harry said.Seth was the only one who didn’t comment on Moody, too absorbed in the strange feeling from the aura the man was exuding. It was a darkness that felt familiar, almost. It wasn’t like the suffocating and grotesque darkness that surrounded Quirrell but a darkness akin to the demons Seth often dealt with as a Shadow Charmer. He frowned, wondering why that was. No way a retired auror, a British one at that, would somehow cross paths with the magical world of the Preserves. The British Wizarding Community thought they were too good to mingle with other communities of the magical persuasion.He stiffened when the fake eye of Moody swiveled around to land directly on him. The blue eye seemed to be trying to stare straight into his soul, peeling back all the layers and making Seth almost feel violated in a metaphysical sense. The bad feeling in his stomach worsened even as the eye swiveled away to look elsewhere.Dumbledore cleared his throat again.“As I was saying, we 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 pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year!”Everyone’s attention immediately went back to Dumbledore at that announcement.“YOU’RE JOKING!” Fred shouted.Muttering and murmuring filled the hall as Dumbledore smiled indulgently.“I assure you, I am not joking, Mr. Weasley. Allow me to give a short explanation as I know most of you will not know what this tournament involved. 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 Dumstrang. A champion is selected to represent each school and the three champions compete in three magical tasks. The school 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.”“Death toll?” Hermione repeated in alarm.But her sentiment didn’t seem to be shared by a majority of the students who all began to whisper excitedly. Even Harry and Ron looked highly interested in hearing more about the tournament. Seth shook his head. He knew exactly the appeal of a competition full of danger but at least he’d grown up enough (and had a few too many near death experiences as well) to wane that appeal by a lot.“There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament, none of which were very successful until now thanks to our own Departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports. They’ve decided the time is ripe for another attempt and worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find themselves in mortal danger. The heads of Beauxbatons and Dumstrang will be arriving with a select group of students 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!”Seth looked around and could see many students gazing raptly at Dumbledore or whispering fervently to their neighbors.“Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts, the heads of participating schools along with the Ministry of Magic have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders. Only students who are of age, which is to say seventeen years or older, will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration.”There was another wave of outrage but this time from the younger students.“We all feel this is necessary given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous regardless of whatever precautions we take. It is also highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to complete them without serious harm. I will personally be ensuring that no under age students hoodwink our judge into making them Hogwarts champion. Therefore, I beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.”The younger students still continued to mutter furiously amongst themselves.“The delegations from Beauxbatons and Dumstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us until the end of the school 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 they are selected. Now it is late and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested when lessons begin tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!”Dumbledore sat back down to talk with Mad Eye Moody then. Everyone took that as their cue to leave and the students all began to get up and swarm towards the doors of the Great Hall.“Too bad we’re not of age this year,” Fred said mournfully.George nodded gloomily. “Yeah. It would’ve been good to get those extra thousand galleons. But we’ve still got all the money we won from Bagman’s bet.”“Thanks again for that Seth. We might’ve been more furious about the age limit if Bagman had cheated us of our money,” Fred said.Seth jokingly saluted. “Always happy to help hold government officials accountable.”“Cheers to that!” George exclaimed.“Wonder who’s this impartial judge though. How’re they going to decide who the Champions are?” Harry wondered aloud.“It’s probably going to be a magical artifact of some kind. It’s the only way you can be truly impartial when making decisions,” Seth theorized.Hermione nodded. “That makes sense. If it were a person, there would be too many ways to sway them.”Ron sighed wistfully. “Wouldn’t it be cool to enter though?”“Yeah, it would,” Harry agreed.“Ron! Harry! People have died!” Hermione shouted indignantly.“Oh pish posh. That was years ago,” Ron waved her off. Then he spoke lowly so the twins wouldn’t overhear. “Hey Seth, you think you could add our names to the running?”Seth deadpanned. “No.”Ron shrugged. “Just had to ask.”They soon arrived at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower.“Password?” The Fat Lady asked.“Bladerdash, a prefect downstairs told me,” George said.The portrait swung forward and they all climbed through the hole. A crackling fire warmed the common room. Hermione cast the flames a dark look and Seth heard her mutter about slave labor. He shook his head and sighed, knowing exactly how she felt but sincerely hoping she didn’t go overboard in her reaction which would hinder more than help.Hermione bid them good night before disappearing through the doorway of the girls’ dormitory.Harry, Ron, and Seth climbed up to reach their own dormitory where Dean, Seamus, and Neville were already getting ready for bed. Seamus had pinned his Ireland rosette to his headboard and Dean had taped a poster of Viktor Krum next to his old poster of West Ham Football.Ron shook his head at the sight of the stationary football poster. “Mental.”Harry, Ron, and Seth got into their pajamas and climbed into bed.“It’d be nice if we were able to go for it, wouldn’t it? You never know right?” Ron said.Harry nodded. “Yeah. It’d be real nice.”Dean and Seamus voiced their agreement with that sentiment. Seth could see Neville shaking his head in exasperation before closing the curtains around his bed.Seth rolled his eyes. “In your dreams. Night guys.”Everyone said night in return and they all settled in to sleep.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The quartet were seated at the Gryffindor table the next day, eating breakfast while examining their new course schedules for the year.“Seems today’s not bad. We’re outside all morning,” Ron said as he ran his finger down the Monday column, “Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and Care of Magical Creatures with, ugh, with the Slytherins still.”Harry groaned when he spotted the class after lunch. “And we’ve got Double Divination this afternoon.”“You should’ve given it up like me, shouldn’t you?” Hermione briskly said while buttering some toast, “Then you’d be doing something sensible like Arithmancy.”“Or have a free period like me cause Ancient Runes isn’t until tomorrow. Nice!” Seth pumped his fist in the air.Harry shoved at him with a scowl and Seth cackled.Ron looked at Hermione as she slathered on liberal amounts of jam onto her toast. “I see you’re eating again.”“I’ve decided there are better ways of making a stand about house elf rights,” she haughtily remarked.“Hey, you know I can help brainstorm some ideas with you, right? House elves seem pretty similar to brownies,” Seth said.“That’s very thoughtful of you, Seth. But I’ll have to decline,” Hermione said dismissively, “Unlike brownies, house elves seem to be tied to a master so their circumstances are completely different.”Seth frowned at her attitude. “If you’re sure…”“I am.”“Alright,” he said, backing down for now, “But don’t be going overboard on your ideas and their execution, okay?”Hermione shoved her toast into her mouth instead of responding which made Seth frown in disapproval. But before he could say anything, there was a sudden rustling noise above them and a hundred owls came soaring through the open windows carrying the morning mail.Hermione received her usual copy of the Daily Prophet while Harry got a letter from Sirius asking what sort of items he wanted in his care package for the week and Seth got a letter from home.Seth read through his letter and squinted at its contents in suspicion.“What’s got you looking like that, Seth?” Ron asked when he noticed his odd expression.“It’s my sister,” Seth responded, “She basically sent me a reminder to be on my best behavior like I’m still five or something cause the reputation of Fablehaven depends on it this year? What the hell does that mean?”“Maybe it’s got something to do with the tournament?” Harry suggested.“But how? Dumbledore made it sound like only three schools participated in tasks of great magical feats and Fablehaven’s a preserve for magical creatures, not a school.”“Perhaps the preserves will be providing magical creatures for the challenges?” Hermione speculated as she stabbed a fork into her scrambled eggs.Seth scoffed in disbelief. “Really? Wizarding Britain, the most self-absorbed magical community in existence, is going to get off its decrepit high horse and willingly associate with the preserves which are run mainly by muggles?”Hermione shrugged. “Just a thought. Dumbledore did say the Triwizard Tournament was about improving international relations, so you never know.”Seth looked back down at the letter in thought. “Yeah. You never know…” The fourth year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were gathered in Greenhouse Three where Professor Sprout showed the class the ugliest looking plants they’d ever seen. The plants looked less like plants and more like black slugs that poked out from the soil. Each was squirming slightly and had an impressive amount of large, shiny swellings on it like pimples that appeared to be full of liquid.“Bubotubers,” Sprout said, “They need squeezing and you will collect the pus.”“Excuse me? The what?” Seamus asked, revolted.Sprout rolled her eyes. “The pus, Mister Finnigan. It’s extremely valuable so don’t waste it. You’ll collect the pus in these bottles. Wear your dragon hide gloves. The pus will do funny things to the skin when undiluted.”The students diligently and carefully went about squeezing the bubotubers with expressions twisted in disgust despite eventually finding the task to be oddly satisfying.By the end of class, they’d collected all the pus and Professor Sprout nodded in satisfaction. “That’ll keep Madam Pomfrey happy for the year. Bubotuber pus is an excellent remedy for the more stubborn forms of acne. Merlin knows we’ll need loads of it once the other schools arrive and winter comes around.”“What d’you think is happening in the winter?” Ron whispered to the others.Harry shrugged.Professor Sprout dismissed them when the bell rang and the Gryffindors walked down the lawn towards Hagrid’s hut where the half giant was waiting outside with several wooden crates on the ground around his feet. Fang was whimpering nearby and trying to hide his enormous body behind a small stool. The crates rattled when they got closer and they heard what sounded like small explosions.“Mornin’!” Hagrid greeted jovially, “Be’er wait fer the Slytherins. They won want ter miss this. Blast ended skrewts!”“Come again?” Dean asked.Hagrid pointed at the crates. “Blast ended skrewts!” He repeated as if that answered everything.“Ewww!” Lavender squealed in disgust.Now that they were closer, they could see what was inside the crates and it wasn’t pretty. The blast ended skrewts looked like shell less scorpions with no heads and plenty of legs sticking out in odd places along their fleshy, pale body. They gave off the very powerful smell of rotting flesh and every now and then, sparks would fly out of the end of a skrewt and it would be propelled forward a few inches.“On’y just hatched. Ye’ll be spending the year raisin and feedin’ ‘em!” Hagrid said.“And why would we want to raise them?” Draco called out in question as the Slytherins approached, eyeing the crates and its contents warily, “I mean what do they do? What’s the point of them?”The Gryffindors all murmured in agreement. What was the relevance of the blast ended skrewts?Hagrid smiled secretively. “Ye’ll learn tha eventually. Fer no, all yeh need ter know is tha the headmaster approved of this project.”Draco scowled, looking none too satisfied with the answer but otherwise didn’t raise any more questions.“Yer jus feedin’ ‘em today. Now yeh’ll wan ter try ‘em on a few diff’rent things. I’ve never had ‘em before so not sure what they’ll go fer. I got ant eggs an frog livers an a bit of grass snake. Just try ‘em out with a bit of each,” Hagrid instructed.“First pus and now this?” Seamus muttered in disgust.Parvati nodded miserably in agreement with him.“OUCH! IT GOT ME!” Dean shouted only ten minutes in.Hagrid hurried over to check on him. He angrily displayed the burn on his hand. “Its end exploded!”“Ah, yeah,” Hagrid nodded, “Tha can happen when they blast off.”“Guess we know where the blast ended part of blast ended skrewts comes from now,” Seth dryly remarked.“Ewww!” Lavender squealed in disgust again, “What’s that pointy thing on it?”“Some of ‘em have got stings,” Hagrid answered. Lavender quickly backpedaled from the crates. “I reckon they’re the males. The females’ve got suckers on their bellies. Might be ter suck blood.”“Well I can certainly see why we’re trying to keep them alive,” Draco muttered sarcastically under his breath, “Who wouldn’t want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?”“They’d certainly make a great guard for the yard,” Tracy muttered back.“I don’t think they’ll be easy to tame. And I don’t just say that because I’m scared of them,” Neville murmured, eyeing the crates nervously.They all looked down at the crates where some of the skrewts started smacking at each other with their fleshy tails and quietly agreed with Neville’s assessment. They sent out a prayer into the universe that they would make it out of Care of Magical Creatures alive and un-maimed that year. The quartet trudged into the Great Hall for lunch, tired from the long morning outside that was filled with mundane and boring tasks with just enough satisfaction or adrenaline to keep them from falling asleep. They helped themselves to the food on the table and Hermione began to eat so fast the boys were worried she’d choke.“Er, is this the new stand on house elf rights? Cause I think you’re just going to make yourself puke instead,” Ron remarked in concern.“No. I just want to get to the library,” Hermione said curtly.“What?” Ron gaped in disbelief, “It’s the first day back! Relax! We don’t even have homework yet!”Hermione just shrugged and continued to inhale her food until she was finished. Then she leapt to her feet. “See you at dinner.” And sped out of the Great Hall.The boys watched her leave in bewilderment.“I’ve got the afternoon free so I’ll go check on her,” Seth said.Harry nodded in agreement. “That’s probably a good idea.”The boys finished their food at a more reasonable pace and Seth got out of his seat. “Have fun at Divination, you two!”Harry and Ron made a face at him that had him chuckling as he left for the library where he found Hermione already surrounded by stacks of books that were piled high above her head. He took a closer look at them.The Care and Keeping of House Elves, House Elves: A History, Magical Creatures of the Speaking Sort, All You Need to Know About the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Magical Creatures and the Dangers They Present, 101 Things You Need to Know About Magical Creatures, A Beginner’s Guide to the History of Magical Creatures, and so on and so forth. The books continued all in the vein of magical creatures with some specifically focusing on house elves.“What exactly is this?” Seth asked.“Research, obviously,” Hermione said curtly, her eyes not leaving the text before her.“Okay,” he nodded slowly, “Research about what?”Her brow ticked in annoyance. “House elves, obviously.”“I got that. But why are you doing this research?”She slammed the book - Liberation or Oppression? The True Nature of House Elves - shut with a loud thud that somehow didn’t manage to attract the attention of Madam Pince. “So I can figure out a way to grant house elves their basic rights.”“And you’re seriously going to do that with all of these books?” He looked at the stack with a critical expression.She glared at him irritably. “That’s what research means, Seth.”“Look Hermione, I understand and admire what you’re doing, really. From what I’ve learned, no magical creature truly chooses to be subjected to ownership at best and slavery at worst,” he said as carefully as possible, “But you’re not going to get anything done just from reading books.”Hermione scowled and opened her mouth to protest but Seth held up his hand. “Hold on. I’m not done yet. If you really want to make a deep and lasting change that affects a whole race of creatures, you need to look at how it’s been done before, like the civil rights movement in America. It wasn’t research or statistics that forced the government to make changes, but the people going out there and making themselves heard.”Her brow furrowed deeply. “What exactly are you trying to say, Seth?”“I’m saying you can’t base everything you know about the situation of house elves and their relationship with wizarding folk solely on Dobby and Winky. You need to speak with more house elves. Go get their side of the story. Learn more about who they are and why they are the way they are straight from the source.”“But they’ve been oppressed for centuries to the point where they don’t even believe they’re oppressed!” She protested.“And any change you try to make won’t mean shit if you’re not taking the thoughts and feelings of the house elves into consideration,” he rebuked. “Look, Nearly Headless Nick said that Hogwarts has the largest population of house elves in Britain so how about instead of trips to the library where you cram your head full of useless information-”“It’s not useless!”He ignored her. “We go on down to the kitchens where we can actually talk to the house elves themselves. I’ve been there before. They’re really nice and seem to enjoy what they’re doing. You can learn a lot.”Hermione frowned and looked down at her books. She was clearly reluctant to have to rely on information that didn’t come from paper and ink. But then she sighed. “Fine. You’re right. I’ll forgo the books-” Seth grinned and she pointed at him sternly, “For now. And go to the kitchens instead.”“Great! Shall we then?” He held his hand out like a gentleman.She rolled her eyes but nonetheless smiled and took his hand. Unfortunately, they were not able to go to the kitchens as the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Hermione left for Arithmancy and Seth spent the two hours of the afternoon lounging around in the courtyard and playing a few games of Exploding Snap with Hannah Abbott, Daphne Greengrass, and Terry Boot.The bell rang again, signaling the end of afternoon lessons. The courtyard soon flooded with students eager to enjoy the last bits of sun before night came. Half an hour later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione showed up and Seth left to rejoin them.“So how was divination?” Seth asked.“Miserable as always,” Harry responded without hesitation.Seth stifled his laughter. “You sure you don’t want to join me in Ancient Runes?”Ron grimaced. “And have to memorize a whole new vocabulary? No thanks. I wonder what’s for dinner tonight. I’m starving.”Hermione rolled her eyes. “When are you ever not?”“Weasley! Hey! Weasley!”The quartet turned around to see Draco coming over with Crabbe, Goyle, Theo, and Blaise in tow.“What do you want, Malfoy?” Ron asked, his mood beginning to sink again.Draco held out a copy of the Daily Prophet to him. “Afternoon special edition. Your dad’s in it and I don’t think you’re going to enjoy it.”Ron apprehensively took the paper and read the article which was full of slander against the Ministry and Mr. Weasley. He scowled darkly at it. “Who wrote this?”“Rita Skeeter, obviously,” Blaise drawled, “She’s even worse than the muggle paparazzi. Mother loathes her after the slew of articles put out about her marriages.”“You’ve got to admit, your mum’s looking more and more like a black widow with each husband, Blaise,” Theo casually remarked.Blaise merely rolled his eyes, not even dignifying him with a response.Ron made a strangled noise as he flipped the paper. “Is that our house?” He groaned. “This is the worst.”“At least you know about it now,” Harry patted him on the back.“Thanks for letting us know about this, Draco. It’s nice to see how caring you are,” Seth said.Draco scoffed. “I do not care about you Gryffindors. I just thought it best for Weasley here to see the paper first hand instead of being told by some nonsensical third hand account that will no doubt lead him to causing a terrible fuss during dinner.”Seth grinned and nudged at him teasingly. “Come on, man. You can just admit you were worried.”“I was not worried!” Draco exclaimed, turning red in the face, “And stop touching me!”He went to shove Seth away but before he could even make contact, there was a loud bang and a roar that echoed throughout the courtyard.“OH NO YOU DON’T LADDIE!”Everyone spun around to see Professor Moody limping his way into the courtyard. His wand was out and pointing right at a pure white ferret which was shivering on the stone floor exactly where Draco was standing. Everyone stared at the ferret in dawning horror.“What the hell did you do to Draco?” Seth shouted.“Did he touch you?” Moody growled instead of answering the question.“No?!” Seth cried out, almost hysterically, “He was just getting me out of his personal space?! Like anyone touchy about his personal space would?!”“Leave it!” Moody shouted.“Leave what?” Seth asked in bewilderment.“Not you,” Moody jerked his thumb over his shoulder to Crabbe who had just frozen from where he was about to pick up the ferret. It seemed that Moody’s eye was indeed magical and could even see out of the back of the head.He turned around to limp towards the ferret who gave a terrified squeak and tried to take off for the castle. Key word - tried.“I don’t think so!” Moody pointed his wand at the ferret again. It flew ten feet into the air before being smacked onto the ground. He growled, “Stinking, cowardly, scummy-”The ferret flew around in the air with his legs flailing about wildly.“Never! Do! That! Again!” Moody punctuated each word by smacking the ferret onto the stone floor.“Professor Moody! You will stop this instance!”Everyone turned to see Professor McGonagall storming into the courtyard with Cedric hot on her heels. Apparently, the Hufflepuff had left to grab the closest professor he could find when he heard the commotion.“Hello Professor McGonagall,” Moody calmly said, still bouncing the ferret.“What do you think you’re doing?”“Teaching.”McGonagall jerked back in shock. “Teach- Is that a student?!”“Yep.”Those who’d just arrived in the courtyard or hadn’t seen what happened looked at Moody in fear and horror.“Absolutely not!” McGonagall pulled her wand out without a moment’s delay. With a loud snapping noise, Draco reappeared, lying in a dazed and bruised heap on the floor and no doubt suffering from a concussion and whiplash.“We never, and I mean NEVER, use magic of any kind against a student as punishment,” McGonagall reprimanded with a thunderous expression.Moody scratched at his chin looking entirely unconcerned. “Well I thought a good sharp shock-”“We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender’s Head of House!”Moody scowled. “Fine. I’ll do that then.” He stared down at Draco with great disdain. “C’mon you.”McGonagall quickly moved to intercept him. “You’ll do no such thing! You will head straight to Headmaster Dumbledore this instance while I take Mister Malfoy to the infirmary.” When Moody made no move to leave, “NOW!”Finally, Moody left but not before asking Draco, “Your Head of House is Snape, is it?”“Yes,” Draco barely managed to mumble out.Moody growled. “An old friend. I’ve been looking forward to a chat with him.” Then he limped off with everyone parting like the Red Sea to let him through.Once he was out of the courtyard, everyone immediately made themselves scarce, including the quartet who watched McGonagall leave with Draco in concern.“George was right. Moody’s completely mad!” Ron exclaimed.“He could’ve really hurt Draco if Professor McGonagall hadn’t stopped him,” Hermione fretted anxiously.Seth scowled darkly. “If she hadn’t stepped in, I would’ve and it wouldn’t have been pretty. What kind of teacher uses magic against a student like that? Then throws them around like some kind of rag doll? That’s cruel and unusual punishment!”“Harry, you know something about Moody, right?” Ron asked.Harry nodded. “Sirius and Tonks told me loads about him. But they never said he’d do something like this.”“Why don’t you write to them? See what they have to say about this,” Hermione suggested.“Yeah. I think I will.”“I’m suddenly not looking forward to our Defense Against the Dark Arts class now,” Ron muttered grimly. Dinner was eaten with a subdued atmosphere as the students in the courtyard were still shaken by what had happened. Gossip also spread about Moody and everyone eyed him warily before quickly looking away whenever his magical eye swiveled towards them. The rest of the professors looked at him with thunderous expressions. Even Dumbledore was frowning severely at him.At least Moody looked as chastised as he could with his scarred face which probably meant he’d been sufficiently told off and warned.“Not going back to the library later?” Harry asked when he noticed Hermione was eating at a more sedentary pace.“No. Seth convinced me to complete my research through other means,” she said.“Research? About what?” Ron asked curiously.Hermione hummed. “I’ll tell you about it later when I’m done.”Fred and George then slid in to sit on either side of Ron while Lee Jordan slid in besides Harry.“Heard about the courtyard incident,” Fred said.“Moody’s really mad, isn’t he?” George said.“Yeah. With a shit ton emphasis on mad,” Seth dryly remarked.“We had him for DADA today,” Lee said.“What was it like?” Harry asked.Fred, George, and Lee exchanged looks loaded with meaning.“Never had a lesson like it,” Fred carefully said.George nodded slowly. “He knows what it’s like to be out there fighting the dark arts but…”“His execution of it…well…”“Let’s put it this way, if it was anyone other than Moody…”“Like Lupin for example…”“It would’ve been beyond cool.”“But it wasn’t.”Lee nodded with a grimace to emphasize the point made by the twins.Ron dug through his bag for his schedule. “We haven’t got him til Thursday,” he nervously said.Fred patted him on the back with a solemn expression. “Best of luck, mates.” The next two days passed by without any more incidents from Moody.Hermione was also making great strides in her research about house elves and their rights. Every chance she got, she would head down to the kitchens to speak with the house elves about their work, their habits, their mannerisms, their working conditions both past and present, and so on.The first time she went down there with Seth’s accompaniment, they had the pleasant surprise of seeing Winky and meeting the infamous Dobby.Hermione was delighted by the fact that Dobby was being paid so he could buy all the socks he wanted and was even allowed to take vacations. However, it was a completely different story with Winky. While Winky was grateful Dumbledore employed her at Hogwarts, she still felt great shame from failing Mr. Crouch and would often seek solace at the bottom of a butterbeer which was apparently like alcohol to house elves.Hermione was deeply confused when they left the kitchens that first time.“I don’t understand. How come she isn’t happy? She can be paid and take vacations and work when she wants to! They all could!”“Don’t forget that their house elves, Hermione,” Seth said.“How can I forget? It’s certainly impossible not to,” she snapped at him.“That’s not what I mean,” he calmly said, taking no offense at her anger, “They’re house elves. They’re magical creatures. They’re not humans. You’re still thinking about this from a human’s perspective. You’ve gotta see it from their point of view. Yeah, they’re basically servants bound to a master, but they seem to take a lot of pride in their work, just like brownies do.”She frowned in contemplation at his words. But it seemed to have the intended effect as from that point on, every time she visited the kitchens, she would carefully listen to each house elf while asking thoughtful questions and taking meticulous notes.Come Thursday, the fourth years were buzzing with energy. Today was the day where they had their first lesson with Moody and no one was looking forward to it.“You know why Snape’s in such a foul mood?” Ron mumbled to Harry.“Yeah, Moody,” Harry said, gesturing at where the scowling potions professor was sitting at the head table and glaring at a completely unbothered Moody.“Did he tell you anything?”Harry shook his head. “Only told me to be careful around Moody.”“Considering what he did to Draco, he’s not wrong,” Seth remarked.“Oooh! I hope everything will go alright during our lesson with him today,” Hermione fretted.And with that, the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws trudged to the DADA classroom after lunchtime. They sat down, took out their copies of The Dark Forces, A Guide to Self-Protection, and waited in unusual silence.Soon enough, they heard Moody’s distinctive clunking footsteps coming down the corridor and he entered the classroom looking as strange and frightening as ever. Now that Seth wasn’t being clouded by emotions of anger, he could once again sense that familiar darkness associated with demons, this time much more strongly due to the close proximity. Moody’s magical eye immediately zipped to him and he patted himself mentally on the back when he didn’t flinch.“You can put those away,” Moody growled, gesturing at their textbooks, “You won’t need them.”They all returned their books into their bags.“Right then, I found a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you’ve had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling dark creatures, is that right?”There was a general murmur of agreement.“But you’re behind,” Moody growled in disapproval, “Very behind, on dealing with curses. So I’m here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other.”He clapped his gnarled hands together. The sharp sound made them all jump.“Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. According to the Ministry of Magic, I’m supposed to teach you counter curses and leave it at that. I’m not supposed to show you what illegal dark curses look like until you’re in the sixth year. You’re not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Headmaster Dumbledore’s got a higher opinion of your nerves. He reckons you can cope. And I say, the sooner you know what you’re up against the better. Do any of you know the Unforgivable Curses?”A few hands rose tentatively into the air, including Ron’s and Hermione’s. Moody pointed at Ron.“Er, my dad told me about one, the Imperius Curse,” Ron answered.“Ah yes,” Moody growled appreciatively, “Your father would know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time it did.”He opened his desk drawer and took out a glass jar where a large black spider was scuttling around inside. Ron recoiled slightly at the sight. Moody opened the jar and turned it upside down, dumping the spider onto the desk.He then pointed his wand at it and said, “Imperio!”The spider leapt onto Moody’s hand then back off it, hanging from a thread of silk, before swinging back and forth like a trapeze. It stretched out its legs rigidly then did a backflip, breaking the thread, and landing on the desk where it began to do cartwheels.Most of the class laughed except for a few who watched the display with a grim expression.“Think it’s funny, do you? You’d like it, wouldn’t you, if I did it to you?” Moody growled.The laughter died instantly.“Total control,” Moody said as he made the spider ball itself up and roll over and over, “I could make it jump out the window, drown itself, crawl down one of your throats.”Ron shuddered.“Anyone else know one? Another Unforgivable?”Hermione’s hand flew into the air again and so, to everyone’s surprise, did Neville’s. Even Neville looked surprised to see his hand up.Moody pointed at him. “Yes.”“T-The…the C-Cruciatus Curse…” Neville meekly said.Moody looked very intently at him. “Your name’s Longbottom?”Neville nodded nervously.“The Cruciatus Curse…needs to be a bit bigger to get the idea,” Moody pointed his wand at the spider, “Engorgio!”The spider swelled until it was larger than a tarantula. Ron pushed his chair backwards as far away from it as possible.“Crucio!”At once, the spider’s legs bent in on its body and it began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came from it but if it had a voice, it would’ve been screaming. Moody didn’t remove his wand and the spider started to shudder and jerk more violently.“Stop it!” Hermione shouted.Seth looked at her and saw she was looking at Neville whose hands were clenched upon the desk. His knuckles were white and his eyes wide and horrified. Seth got a sick feeling in his stomach when he looked back at Moody and saw a faint smirk on the scarred face.Moody finally raised his wand. The spider’s legs relaxed but it continued to twitch. “You don’t need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse. Anyone know the last Unforgivable?”Everyone remained deathly silent. Hermione’s hand shook as she raised it for a third time.“Yes,” he pointed at her.“The Killing Curse,” she whispered.Everyone looked uneasily at Moody as a slight smile twisted his features.“Ah, yes. The worst of the lot - Avada Kedavra, the Killing Curse.”He swiftly pointed his wand at the spider and roared, “Avada Kedavra!”There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound as though something vast and invisible soared through the air. Instantaneously, the spider rolled over onto its back. It was unmarked but unmistakable dead. Several students stifled their cries.“Not nice, not pleasant, and there’s no counter curse. There’s no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it and he’s sitting right in front of me.”Harry’s face reddened and he shrank in his seat under the attention.“Now if there’s no counter curse, why am I showing you? Because you’ve got to know! You’ve got to appreciate what the worst is! You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you’re facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!” Moody roared, making the whole class jump.“The Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That’s what you’re up against. That’s what I’ve got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practice constant never ceasing vigilance. Get out your quills and copy this down.”They spent the rest of the lesson taking notes on each of the Unforgivable Curses. No one spoke even when the bell rang and Moody dismissed them.“Hurry up,” Hermione hissed.“To where? The library?” Ron sarcastically asked.She scowled. “No, Neville.” She pointed up ahead where Neville was standing alone and staring at the stone wall opposite of him with a lost and confused expression.The quartet cautiously approached him as if he were a frightened rabbit which he very well seemed to be doing his best impression of one.“Neville?” Hermione gently called out.Neville slowly turned around, his lost expression making him look even more pitiful up close. “I-I don’t understand…why would he…why would he do that? He knew…he knew…” he mumbled in confusion.“Neville? Are you okay?” Seth asked in growing concern.“He knew…he knew…and he still…he still did that…” Nevile continued to mumble.The quartet gave each other alarmed looks. Then an odd clunking noise caught their attention and they turned around to see Moody limping towards them. They all fell silent, watching him apprehensively as he came to a stop before them. Seth grimaced and fought the urge to gag as the demonic darkness surrounding Moody seemed more potent than before.Then he spoke in a much lower and gentler growl than they’d yet to hear from him. “It’s alright, sonny. Why don’t you come up to my office and we can have a cup of tea?”Neville looked even more frightened by the prospect of being alone with Moody. He couldn’t move or make a sound. Seth took him by the arm and pulled him towards them. He definitely didn’t like the idea of leaving Neville alone with someone covered by demonic darkness the way Moody was.“I think it’s better if he rests in our dorm, Professor. It’s been a long day,” Seth said before turning on his heel and walking away with Neville in tow before Moody could respond. The rest of the quartet quickly followed.Once they were a good distance away, Harry couldn’t help but ask, “Wouldn’t Moody be in trouble with the Ministry if they knew we’d seen the Unforgivable Curses?”“Probably. But Moody said Dumbledore gave him permission and Dumbledore’s always done things his way, hasn’t he? And Moody’s been getting into trouble for years the way dad put it. Reckon he attacks first and asks questions later. Look at his dustbins!” Ron attempted to reason but his expression was full of doubt.“Still…” Hermione looked at Neville in concern, “Maybe we should tell Dumbledore about what happened and Harry, have you written to Sirius yet?”“I was going to after DADA, just so I could have more things to write about,” Harry said.“Let me go talk to Dumbledore by myself,” Seth said, “There’s something off about Moody. Something relating to you know where.” He glanced over at Neville to see if he heard but Neville was still stuck in a daze.Harry, Hermione, and Ron all nodded, keeping their questions to themselves despite their burning curiosity.“You guys take care of Neville, alright?” Seth said, patting Neville on the back. He didn’t react to the gesture. “And don’t let Moody get near him again.” Seth knocked on the door to Dumbledore’s office and waited.“Come in!” Came Dumbledore’s voice not even a moment later.Seth opened the door and stepped inside.“Ah, Mister Sorenson,” Dumbledore looked surprised but also not surprised to see him, “What can I do for you this fine evening?”Seth snorted in amusement. “Not quite as fine an evening as I would’ve liked.”“Oh?”“What’s the deal with Professor Moody?” Seth got straight to the point.Dumbledore frowned. “What do you mean? What happened?”Seth then went on to explain everything that happened in their first class as well as the demonic darkness that seemed to cloak Moody. Dumbledore’s expression was deeply troubled when he reached the end of his explanation.“I hear your concerns, Mister Sorenson, and rest assured, I take them seriously. But unfortunately, I cannot accuse a highly decorated auror such as Alastor Moody of anything, despite the many troubles he’s had with the law, without concrete proof.”Seth sighed. “Yeah, makes sense. Can’t do shit without proof. Still sucks though.”“Indeed, it does,” Dumbledore nodded with a regretful expression, “But at the very least, I can get him to not use the Unforgivable Curses again lest he be expelled from the castle and sent straight to Azkaban. Old friend or not, I am headmaster and as such, the safety of my students must come first.” He looked pained when he said that and Seth wondered how often Dumbledore had to put his duty before his personal relationships before. “Also, I must caution you to tread carefully if you plan to investigate Alastor more thoroughly.”“I will. Stealth’s my middle name!” Seth said with a light hearted grin.Dumbledore quirked his eyebrow up in amusement. “Well it would certainly be interesting to see if you will be able to successfully bamboozle his magical eye. Though, if I may ask, would you be willing to delay your investigation until October?”Seth frowned. “Why?”“I would prefer you didn’t go about doing this investigation alone and unfortunately, reinforcements will not be able to arrive until the delegations of Beauxbaton and Dumstrang do.”Seth’s frown deepened and he tilted his head in confusion. “But why?”“I humbly ask you to trust me on this, Mister Sorenson.”Seth sighed. “Alright, fine. I’ll wait until October. But what’s this about reinforcements? Do I know them?”Dumbledore gave him a secretive smile and his eyes twinkled with mischief. “Like the back of your hand.”
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School life continued on as normal after that. Dumbledore made good on his word and must’ve put the fear of God into Moody as DADA lessons from then on were rather docile in comparison to the first. Instead of doing anything illegal like Gods forbid, using the Imperius curse to force students to learn how to fight it, they practiced combat oriented spells, curses, and counter-curses appropriate for fourth year on dummies and sometimes each other depending on the spell.However, the ex-auror still shouted about “CONSTANT VIGILANCE” at the top of his lungs like the phrase was going out of style. He did it so often to the point where everyone began to get a little annoyed whenever they heard it.“The way he goes on, you’d think we were all going to be ambushed by dark wizards any second now,” Harry muttered irritably as they left the classroom. His ears were still ringing from when Moody shouted the blasted phrase right next to him.Ron nodded glumly in agreement. “I know. Talk about paranoid. Did you hear him telling Seamus what he did to that witch who shouted boo behind him on April Fool’s Day.” He shuddered.“That man honestly needs either a stint in the loony bin or a cabin in the middle of nowhere on a deserted island,” Seth said.“You should be nicer, Seth. He’s obviously gone through a lot and it’s affected him deeply,” Hermione scolded lightly.“Which is another reason why he should be getting the help he needs instead of teaching in a school full of bratty kids and hormonal teenagers,” Seth said as if she proved his point, “You remember what he did to Draco for trying to get some personal space. What do you think he’d do to two people making out in a secluded hallway?”“Making out? What does that mean?” Ron asked, genuinely not knowing.“It’s just the American way to say snogging, Ron,” Harry elaborated.“Oh,” Ron said, nodding slowly, “Americans sure have an odd way of speaking.”Seth snorted in amusement. “Pot calling the kettle black here. I mean, who the hell calls kissing snogging?”Harry sighed tiredly as the thought of a certain red haired girl entered his mind. “I wish I could do some snogging instead of reading up on the Imperius Curse.”Ron groaned. “Don’t remind me. There’s way too much homework this year.”And while normally, they would all ignore Ron when he began to complain about homework, he was actually right this time. All the fourth years noticed a dramatic increase in the amount of work they were required to do this year.McGonagall had explained why when the Gryffindors gave a rather loud and despairing groan after she’d assigned their transfiguration homework for the week.“You’re entering an important phase of your education,” she said, eyes glinting dangerously with a warning that quickly silenced their complaints, “Your O.W.L.s are drawing closer-”“But we don’t take O.W.L.s until fifth year!” Dean protested indignantly.“That may be true, Mister Thomas. But trust me, you’ll need all the preparation you can get. Miss Granger remains the only person in this class who has successfully transfigured her hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion. Shall I remind you that yours still curls up in fright if anyone approaches it with a pin?”Dean turned red as everyone giggled and laughed at him for the embarrassing callout. McGonagall turned her sharp gaze onto them.“I’m glad you all find Mister Thomas’ lack of progress amusing. Shall I also remind the rest of you of yours?”And that shut everyone up real fast.For the rest of their classes, Professor Binns had them writing weekly essays on the Goblin Rebellions of the 18th Century. Professor Snape had them researching antidotes against all sorts of nasty poisons that he promised to test on them if they got on his nerves. Professor Flitwick had them reading three extra books just to prepare for their lesson on summoning charms. And for Ancient Runes, Professor Babbling gave her fourth year students a thick tome written entirely in ancient runes to be translated in one month.Even Hagrid tried to add to their workload by trying to convince them all to come down to his hut in their spare time and on the weekends to observe and take notes on the rapidly growing Blast Ended Skrewts. Everyone politely declined. A week before the 30th of October, the quartet arrived in the entrance hall for breakfast and found themselves unable to get to the Great Hall as an enormous crowd of students were congregated by the large sign that had been placed at the foot of the staircase.Ron, the tallest of them all much to Seth’s annoyance, helped them push through the crowd until they were close enough for him to stand on his toes and read the sign aloud to them.
Triwizard TournamentThe delegation from Beauxbatons and Dumstrang will be arriving at 6 o’clock on Friday the 30th of October.Lessons will end half an hour early.Students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the welcoming feast.
“What do we have last on Friday?” Harry asked.“It’s potions I think,” Seth answered.Harry snorted in amusement. “Snape’s really going to like that, won’t he?”Seth grinned. “At least he’ll go easy on you. I think he might actually poison the rest of us.”The crowd finally began to disperse as the call of food overrode everyone’s curiosity. As the quartet moved towards the Great Hall, they ended up bumping into Cedric who’d been happily chatting with a softly smiling Cho.“Oh!” He said when he saw them. “Hello everyone. Interesting morning, isn’t it?”Ron grumbled something under his breath and Harry nudged him sharply before saying, “It sure is!”“You planning to enter the tournament?” Seth asked curiously.“I’ve been thinking about it but I’m not sure,” Cedric admitted sheepishly, “Everyone’s been telling me to go for it though. Would be nice to show everyone that Hufflepuff isn’t a house to look down upon.”Ron couldn’t help the snort that left his mouth and Harry nudged him sharply again. Ceric smiled knowingly and politely didn’t call Ron out on it.“Anyways, I won’t keep you from your breakfast any longer. C’mon Cho. Let’s go sit at Ravenclaw today.”Cedric and Cho then left for the Ravenclaw table as the quartet walked towards the Gryffindor table.“That idiot as Hogwarts’ champion?” Ron said in a huff as they sat down.Hermione rolled her eyes. “He’s not an idiot, Ron. You just don’t like him because he beat Gryffindor at Quidditch and he’s a Hufflepuff. I’ve heard he’s a really good student and he’s a prefect.”“You only like him because he’s handsome,” Ron bitterly shot back.Hermione shrugged as if unbothered by the accusation which only made him scowl.“Cedric is a pretty good wizard from what I’ve heard,” Seth said, adding his own two cents, “And it doesn’t hurt that he’s good looking so at least we’ll have a hot and competent wizard representing us if he’s chosen.”“Even if he is a Hufflepuff,” Harry said sagely in agreement.Ron looked at Seth and Harry as if they’d committed the ultimate betrayal, making them all laugh at him. With the appearance of the sign, there was a noticeable effect on the castle and its occupants. During the following week, all anyone could seem to talk about was the Triwizard Tournament. Nobody could even bring themselves to gossip about who was kissing who and who was pulling what prank without the tournament being dragged into the conversation somehow.Rumors were flying left and right on who was going to try and become the champion, what the tournament would involve, and what the students from Beauxbatons and Dumstrnag were like.Ron and Harry were eager to join in on the gossip and speculation while Seth and Hermione took refuge in the library and kitchens if only to have a break from everyone talking with such excitement about a tournament where students dying was a common enough occurrence for it to be shut down.Even the professors seemed to fall into the frenzy of the tournament as they could be seen spending whatever free time they had lecturing students to put their best foot forward or assisting Filch in spiffing up the castle’s interior. The portraits and suits of armor had never looked so brand new and clean before and it was kind of disconcerting to Seth since he always felt the muddled colors and squeaky joints spoke of the long history of Hogwarts and added a certain charm to its character.If anyone asked him, he’d say he would be glad when the whole dog and pony show was over cause let’s be honest. If a sparkling and clean castle and well-behaved students were enough to impress some foreign schools from France and Norway, one - they needed better standards - and two - he’d eat his shoe. When the quartet went down to breakfast the morning of October 30th, they found the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. There were now enormous silk banners on each side of the hall, each of them representing one of the four houses of Hogwarts. Hanging behind the teacher’s table was a large banner with the Hogwarts coat of arms on it.The quartet soon found seats at the Gryffindor table by the twins who were hunched over and scribbling on some parchment.“Morning you four!” Fred greeted once he realized they were there.“Excited for tonight?” George asked.“Obviously,” Ron said.“So we got to asking McGonagall about the tournament and how the champions are chosen,” Fred said.“For curiosity’s sake of course,” George quickly added as assurance.“We’re not stupid enough to try and mess with whatever restrictions they’ll put in place to stop not of age students.”“We just happened to see another opportunity to make a little extra money.”“With another bet or two?” Seth asked in amusement.Fred grinned. “Maybe even three if we’re feeling lucky.”“Anyways, McGonagall wouldn’t tell us anything unfortunately,” George said, shaking his head in disappointment.“Not even things unrelated to the tournament?” Harry asked.Fred hummed. “Well…”“I wonder what the tasks will be,” Ron wondered aloud, “You know, I bet we could do them, Harry. We’ve done dangerous stuff before.”“Not in front of a panel of judges you haven’t,” Fred said, wagging his finger at them.“McGonagall told us the champions get awarded points based on how well they completed the tasks,” George explained.“Who are the judges?” Harry asked.“Probably the heads of the schools and some third party figures from the ministry or something. It’d make the most sense,” Seth theorized.“Seth’s correct,” Hermione said, her head now buried in a book, “The heads of the participating schools are always on the panel though I’m not sure if they’ll change that this year.”Everyone nodded along, not surprised she happened to know the answer. Ron squinted at the book in her hands in suspicion.“Hang on. That doesn’t look like any of our required reading,” he accused, “I thought you promised to stop doing too much after what happened last year, Mione.”“You don’t need to worry, Ron,” Hermione said as she turned a page, “This is simply some light research for a project I’m working on.”“Which is?” He asked, refusing to let it go.She sighed and closed her book. “If you must know, I’m researching ways to properly promote better treatment and rights for house elves. While the ones I’ve spoken to in Hogwarts are perfectly content and even willing to push their boundaries thanks to Dumbledore’s kindness, the same can’t be said about those not under Hogwarts’ employ. House elves in situations like Dobby’s where they suffer horrendous abuse as their master’s punching bag or Winky’s where the pride they hold towards their work has become a crippling weakness towards their well-being need protections and standards implemented on a broader scale so they’ll be able to comfortably do their work without being treated as a lesser being simply because they’re magical creatures. Just because they’re not human, doesn’t mean they can’t feel or be hurt like we can.”Seth was half expecting her to finish her spiel with a “Thank you for coming to my TED talk” as he smiled at her proudly and the other guys stared at her in wide eyed surprise.She frowned at their reactions. “What?”“Oh nothing,” Fred said, “Just-”“That’s a really well thought out response, Hermione,” George finished.Hermione blushed lightly at the compliment. “Of course it is. If I want to make a lasting and impactful change, I need to know everything there is to know about what it is I want to change. Seth helped me a lot too since he’s an expert in all this.”Harry and Ron oh’ed and nodded in understanding while the twins were a little confused but decided to think nothing of it. They already knew Seth had a good head on his shoulders.“Well let us know when you finally get your house elf rights movement off the ground,” Fred said.“We’ll be glad to help out since the elves down in the kitchen always treat us well,” George said.“Yeah. It’s not right how some of them are treated by the older pureblood families or even people like Mr. Crouch.”“I heard the Blacks used to kill them and mount their heads on the wall when they got too old.”Everyone immediately looked to Harry who nodded. “Yeah. Sirius told me about that once. He threw them all out before I moved in because he didn’t want to scare me with the sight of them and because he thought they were horrific.”Hermione scowled darkly at the thought of such a disgusting practice. “Harry. Can you please let Sirius know I’ll be in contact with him later? I’d like to learn more about how the Blacks treated house elves.”“Sure,” he easily agreed.“Anyways,” Fred said, bring them back to focus, “Let us know when you’re gonna move forward with this.”“We’ll help you spread the word and see if we can’t get people to help out and join too,” George offered.Harry nudged Ron and he jolted to attention before blurting out, “I’ll be the first to join your movement, Mione.”“Really?” She said in surprise.Ron blushed a bright red and nodded. “Er, yeah. You seem really passionate about it and we’re friends and friends support each other for their passions so I should support you for your passion and uh, yeah…”Seth snickered. “Smooth.”The twins also chuckled quietly while Harry face palmed in exasperation.“Thank you, Ron!” Hermione beamed brilliantly at Ron who’s face managed to grow even redder.The conversation came to an end when the mail owls came flying into the hall and they all returned to their breakfast while continuing to gossip about the tournament much to Seth’s chagrin. There was a buzz of anticipation in the air of the cold clear evening. The moon was shining down upon the Hogwarts students that were all gathered in front of the castle in neat lines based on year. Everyone was eagerly muttering to each other as they all tried to guess how the delegations would arrive.“It’s nearly six,” Ron said as he checked his watch, “How’d you reckon they’re coming? The train?”“I doubt it,” Hermione said.Harry looked up at the starry sky. “Maybe broomsticks?”Seth snorted in disbelief. “All the way from France and Norway?”“Maybe a portkey? Or they’ll apparate here?” Ron threw out more guesses.Hermione scowled. “You can’t apparate inside Hogwarts grounds. How often do I have to tell you?”Dumbledore cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “If I’m not mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches.”“Where?” Many students shouted as they looked around eagerly.“Up there! Over the forest!” Someone shouted.Everyone looked over to where the student was shouting and saw something large hurtling across the sky towards the castle.“It’s a dragon!” A first year Hufflepuff girl shrieked in fear.“Don’t be stupid. It’s a flying house!” Dennis Creevy shouted.Dennis’ guess was closer than they all realized as the large shape was now close enough for the castle lights to illuminate. It was revealed to be a gigantic carriage the size of a small house being drawn by six enormous winged horses.“Oh! Abraxans, the Roman cousins of the Pegasus,” Seth said, easily identifying the horses, “Haven’t seen those since my last trip to the Mediterranean.”The front three rows of students pushed backwards as the carriage hurtled lower and came to land at an impressive speed. With an almighty crash, the Abraxans’ hooves hit the ground and a second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing on its wheels before coming to a stop. The Abraxans tossed their golden manes about and stared at the students distrustfully with fiery red eyes.The door of the carriage, which bore a coat of arms - two crossed golden wands each releasing three stars - opened.A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage and fumbled with the bottom of the doorway for a moment to unfold a set of golden steps. Then he jumped back and stood respectfully by the door.A moment later, a woman who must’ve had some giants in her family due to her enormous size, stepped out of the carriage. She had a handsome olive-skinned face, large black eyes, and a beaky nose. Her lustrous black hair was pulled back into a shining bob at the base of her neck. She was dressed head to toe in black satin with many magnificent opals gleaming at her neck and on her fingers.Seth chanced a glance over to where Hagrid stood with the rest of the staff and snickered quietly to himself when he saw the lovestruck look on the half giant’s face.Dumbledore walked forward to greet her and she extended a hand for him to kiss. “My dear Madame Maxime, welcome to Hogwarts!”“Dumble-dorr, I hope I find you well,” Madame Maxime titled her head in greeting.“In excellent form, thank you!”“My pupils,” she said, waving a hand at the carriage behind her.At her signal, a dozen boys and girls in their early to late teens emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind her. They were shivering which was unsurprising since their robes were made of fine silk and none of them were wearing cloaks appropriate for the weather. A few had scarves and shawls wrapped around them. They were looking up at Hogwarts in apprehension.“Seems Beauxbatons is for mean girls and rich snobs,” Seth muttered to the others.Hermione, Harry, and Ron all giggled and chuckled at his little joke.“Professor Karkaroff has not arrived yet,” Dumbledore said, “Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?”“Warm up I think,” Madame Maxime said, “But ze orses-”“Will initially be seen to by our Care of Magical Creatures Professor.” Dumbledore waved over to Hagrid who startled at the sudden attention and gave a short wave.Madame Maxime smiled in amusement at Hagrid but still looked concerned.“And not to worry,” Dumbledore continued, “Once the representatives from the preserve arrive, they will take over the care of your magnificent Abraxans.”That seemed to calm her down and she even looked slightly surprised. So did Seth as he frowned while the students around him began to mutter to themselves, wondering who and what the representatives of the preserves could be about.“Oh? Britain az finally gotten off zhe igh orse zhen?” Madame Maxime asked with an amused expression.Dumbledore chuckled. “Not without putting a good fight of course. But it all worked out in the end.”Madame Maxime nodded then gestured to her students. “Come.”The Beauxbatons delegation walked towards the castle with the Hogwarts crowd parting to allow them through. Once they were inside, the students went back to gazing around for a sign of Dumstrang and the mysterious preserve representatives.For a few minutes, the silence was only broken by the Abraxans as they snorted and stomped around under Hagrid’s care. Then-“Can you hear something?” Ron asked.Everyone strained their ears and soon heard a loud and eerie noise as if something was rumbling and swirling around.“It’s coming from the lake! The lake!” Lee shouted.The students all looked over to the lake where they saw the once smooth black surface of the water swirling around as a whirlpool formed. Within moments, a long black pole slowly began to rise from the middle of the whirlpool.“It's a ship!” Seth shouted once he saw the rigging.Slowly, a magnificent ship rose out of the water and gleamed in the moonlight. Once it completely breached the surface, the ship gently sailed to the edge of the lake where they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down. Then there was a thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.The silhouettes of what looked to be heavily built people could be seen disembarking the ship. However, once they got closer, the Hogwarts students could see the bulk came from the heavy fur cloaks that were draped around each other. A man with silver hair and wearing a sleek silver fur cloak was leading them forward.“Dumbledore! How are you my dear fellow? How are you?” The man enthusiastically greeted Dumbledore with a wide smile.“Blooming, Professor Karkaroff, thank you!” Dumbledore returned with a welcoming expression.In the light of the castle, Karkaroff looked like a sketchy individual you’d find in the alleyway of a major city what with his tall and thin build, his pale skin, weak chin, and yellow teeth. His smile also didn’t reach his eyes which only added to the sketchiness.“How good it is to be here, how good!” Karkaroff said, “Viktor, come along into the warmth. You don’t mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold.”Karkaroff beckoned one of his students forward and as the boy passed, Seth caught a glimpse of a familiar broody face with thick eyebrows. He could hear Ron release a sound reminiscent to a deflating balloon.“It’s Krum! I don’t believe it. It’s Viktor Krum!” Ron squeaked in disbelief.Hermione rolled her eyes. “For heaven's sake, Ron. He’s only a quidditch player.”“Only a quidditch player?” Ron repeated, looking at her incredulously, “Hermione, he’s one of the best seekers in the world! I had no idea he was still in school!”Ron eagerly went on a bit with the other quidditch obsessed students before they all began to wonder aloud why they weren’t going inside yet.“Not to worry. We’ll be going along soon enough once the last of our guests arrive,” Dumbledore assured them.It was then that everyone remembered what he said about representatives from the preserves and the eager chatter switched back to wondering who they could be and what preserves Dumbledore was talking about.Hermione looked to Seth with a suspicion as to what the truth was. “You don’t think?”Seth frowned. “If the sinking feeling in my gut is anything to go by, I think it is exactly who you think it might be.”As soon as he said that, a horseless carriage like the ones the students rode from the train station pulled up to the front of the crowd. Within the carriage, Seth could see Grandpa Stan, Bracken, Vanessa, Yeshe in her human form, and a few other caretakers he recognized from the South American and Asian preserves. However, his attention was not on the students muttering as Dumbledore greeted Yeshe and the Caretakers, nor was it on Hermione, Harry, and Ron who were poking at him wondering if he knew about this. Instead, his attention was solely on his sister who’d hopped out of the carriage and was looking straight at him with a smug grin.“You!” He pointed at her dramatically in accusation like the little brother he was.Everyone turned to look at him as if he’d gone crazy but he ignored them all in favor of the indignation he felt towards Kendra whose smug grin managed to grow even smugger.
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The students finally filed into Hogwarts where it seemed like half the student populace was trying to get a glimpse at Viktor Krum and the other half was staring at Seth as he glared at his sister who still maintained her smugly satisfied grin.“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me the preserves were getting involved in this tournament,” he grumbled petulantly.Kendra merely shrugged in the face of his ire. “The Ministry emphasized that we had to keep it a secret from all the students of the three schools involved and since you’re a student of one of the schools involved…”“Yeah, yeah. Alright. You made your point. Just can’t believe this is why you wrote to me like I was five years old again,” he said irritably.She patted him condescendingly on the back. “Just had to cover my bases, little brother.”He scowled and batted her hand away. “Stop that! And don’t call me little.”She looked at him with a wide-eyed innocent gaze. “But you are little, little brother!”He pointed at her threateningly though the effect was slightly ruined by the large height difference between them. “Just you wait until I get my growth spurt again.”“I’ll be counting down the years,” she said seriously while struggling to contain her laughter, “How long was it again before you were finally taller than me?”“I believe it wasn’t until he was 18 which means you get to quite literally lord over him for another four years,” Bracken chimed in.Seth looked at him in betrayal. “Bracken! I thought we were friends! What happened to our bro code?”Bracken simply shrugged in response, making Kendra and Vanessa snicker.“Traitors! All of you!” Seth exclaimed in anger.Then he stomped off ahead and plopped down with a huff at the Gryffindor Table where the fourth years had settled. Kendra, Bracken, Vanessa, and the rest of the preserve representatives - Danilo Oliveira from Rio Branco, Brazil, Nina Jeremiassen from Frost Fjord, Greenland, Paras Kansakar from Soaring Peaks, Himalayas, and Dewi Erista Arifinputri from Emerald Terrace, Indonesia - went to join him as well. The Gryffindors began to mutter amongst themselves as they looked at the foreign newcomers with undisguised interest and curiosity.The students from Dumstrang settled at the Slytherin table and Draco looked rather happy about this as he and Theo began talking to Viktor about something. Ron grumbled glumly at the sight.Hermione rolled her eyes at him. “Oh grow up, Ron. It’s not as if you can’t go speak with Malfoy about this later.”Ron’s grumbling ceased but he still looked over at Viktor glumly.The students from Beauxbatons went to the Ravenclaw table and looked around the Great Hall with miserable expressions. Some even wrinkled their nose in disgust at the gold plates and utensils on the dark wood tables.“Sheesh! Spoiled much?” Kendra muttered jokingly to Seth, “You’d think they were being served with paper plates and plastic utensils, not solid gold cutlery.”Seth tried to keep up his angry front but he quickly gave in and accepted Kendra’s olive branch because he too wanted to diss the Beauxbatons students.“Right? And they’re wearing silk too. What kinda rich kid bullshit is that? Just cause something’s silk doesn’t mean its fashion. Pretty sure Monsieur Gilles would have a fit if he saw them.”Kendra snorted in amusement. “Just a fit? He’d have a whole medical episode just from their cloaks! They look like they’re just as thin and useful as tissue paper!”Seth snickered and shared a fist bump with her for the brilliant diss.“Hey Seth,” Dean said to get his attention, “So what’s the deal, mate?”Seth looked over to see that Dean and the rest of the fourth year Gryffindors were looking at him as if they’d never seen him before. “What?”Seamus rolled his eyes. “‘What’ he asks? What’s going on with you and the preserve representatives? How d’you know them?”“And also, what exactly are the preserves they’re representing?” Parvati curiously asked, “Are they all dragon handlers? Since only dragons have preserves right?”“Oh! Does this mean there will be dragons in the tournament?” Lavender asked, looking torn between excitement and fear.“Wouldn’t that be going a bit overboard?” Neville nervously remarked.“It’s a tournament, Nev. Dragons are probably the bare minimum!” Seamus excitedly exclaimed.They then all eagerly looked to Seth for answers. He sighed.“First of all, I know these guys cause it’s part of the family business. And second of all, where’s the fun in telling you about the preserves?” Upon everyone’s groans and complaints, “Besides, I’m pretty sure Dumbledore will explain everything since it’s not like you guys aren’t the only ones who don’t know what’s up.”He waved around and indeed, all of the other Hogwarts students were looking at the preserve representatives like they were zoo exhibits. Thankfully, the attention soon turned away from them and towards the head table when the staff finally entered as all the students had settled down. The Professors took their usual seats with Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Maxime, Grandpa Stan, and Yeshe appearing at the end of the single file line.When Maxime appeared, the Beauxbatons students got to their feet and stood at respectful attention, only sitting back down once Madame Maxime did. She sat to Dumbledore’s left hand side with Karkaroff while Grandpa Stand and Yeshe sat to his right. There were two empty chairs left.Dumbledore remained standing and a silence fell over the hall.“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and most particularly guests! I welcome you all to Hogwarts and hope that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable.”One of the Beauxbatons girls gave what was unmistakable a derisive laugh despite attempting to muffle it with her hand. The Ravenclaw students around her glared or rolled their eyes with a quiet scoff. Madame Maxime frowned in disapproval but Dumbledore looked entirely unbothered.“The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast where there will be much to discuss. I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!”He sat down and the plates in front of them filled with food as usual but there was a greater variety of dishes in front of them this time. Seth practically salivated at the sight of the dishes that were no doubt meant to cater towards the preserve representatives given the spread of various South American and South Asian food. But his attention was mainly focused on-“Tacos! Cheeseburgers! Barbeque! Fried chicken!”“Oh my,” Kendra tacked on in amusement.He glared at her. “You don’t get to make fun of me for this. As much as I’m okay with British food, they have no variety whatsoever so it’s the same thing every freaking day. I haven’t had a good taco since June!”He immediately began grabbing all the non-British cuisine and stuffing his face with a pleased grin.“What’s that?” Ron asked, pointing at a large dish that looked like a shellfish stew.“Bouillabaisse,” Hermione answered.“Bless you!”She rolled her eyes. “It’s French. I had it once during the summer holiday before last. It’s very nice.”“Nice?” Ron looked at the stew with a scrutinizing gaze. He picked up the serving spoon and scooped up a small serving onto his plate. He then tentatively poked at one of the mussels. “How do you eat this?”“It’s very simple,” Hermione said as she took his spoon and demonstrated her instructions, “Just take your spoon and scoop out the meat. Then you eat it.” She held the spoon out to him. “Here!”Ron looked crossed eyed at the meat on his spoon. Then he looked at Seth and Harry for help.“Do it. For Hermione,” Harry helpfully whispered.“And to put us out of our misery with this romcom crap,” Seth muttered quietly.Ron scowled then looked over to Hermione who was still holding the spoon with an eager expression that was beginning to falter the longer he took. He eventually just decided to suck it up and took the spoon from her before shoving it into his mouth. He began to carefully chew on the mussel and his expression slowly turned thoughtful.“Huh. Not too bad. Kind of chewy though.”Hermione beamed. “I told you it was nice, didn’t I?”“Er, yeah. Guess you did,” Ron bashfully agreed.Seth fake gagged. “Ugh. Spare me.”Harry slapped him on the back. “Hey, be nice. Who knows how much progress they’ll be able to make this year?”“Excuse me? Are you still wanting ze bouillabaisse?”They all turned to see who was speaking and it was the girl from Beauxbatons who laughed during Dumbledore’s speech. She no longer held her haughty and disdainful expression, no doubt having seen Madame Maxime’s disapproval at her reaction. She had long silvery blonde hair that fell to her waist, large deep blue eyes, and an almost otherworldly aura that shimmered around her.All the boys around the quartet immediately turned a bright shade of red and suddenly lost the ability to speak.“Er, hold on, let me get another scoop,” Ron struggled to get out before quickly ladling another helping onto his plate.Harry then pushed the bowl to her. “Here. You can have the rest,” he said with more effort than should’ve been needed.The girl smiled, showing off her white even teeth, before picking up the dish and carrying it carefully off to the Ravenclaw table. The other boys were still goggling at her as though they’d never seen a girl before.“She has to be a veela,” Ron said with a frown.“Don’t be ridiculous, Ron. She can’t be a veela. We saw what they were like at the world cup,” Hermione rebuked.“Yeah, we did. Which is why she has to be a veela. Look!” Ron pointed in her direction and they could see the heads of all the boys she passed turn her way. “No way that’s a normal girl. They don’t make them like that at Hogwarts!”“Well I think they make them just fine at Hogwarts,” Harry said without thinking as he glanced over at Ginny who was laughing raucously at something Vanessa said.Seth snorted in amusement while Hermione scowled. But before she could scold them-“Gotta say, Ron’s right,” Kendra intervened before things could get ugly, “That girl has to have some sort of creature inheritance. That shimmery and alluring aura around her isn’t natural.”“Maybe she’s part veela?” Seth suggested.Hermione frowned, still not buying it. But her attention was soon drawn away to the head table. “Is that Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman?”They looked over to the head table to see that Bagman and Mr. Crouch were now sitting at the two remaining empty seats that had been placed there earlier.“What are they doing here?” Harry wondered.“Well they helped organize the tournament, didn’t they? Remember how much Bagman wanted to brag about it back at the World Cup?” Seth pointed out.The topic of discussion came to a close though when dessert appeared and Seth felt like he was going to cry from happiness when he saw smores and cheesecake and so much more spread across the table.Soon enough, the plates were all wiped clean and Dumbledore stood up again. Everyone immediately quieted as they eagerly watched him in anticipation.“The moment has come! The Triwizard Tournament is about to start! Though I would like to explain a few things before we bring in the casket.”“The what?” Harry quietly asked.Ron shrugged.Dumbledore then went on to explain the rules and set up of the Triwizard Tournament before finally getting to the process of being chosen. At the end of his explanation, Filch brought in a large fancily engraved wooden box and placed it in front of Dumbledore’s pedestal.“The Champions will be chosen by the impartial selector - the Goblet of Fire!” Dumbledore announced.He took out his wand and tapped the box three times. The box fell apart to reveal a large roughly hewn wooden cup that was filled to the brim with blue white flames.“Anybody wishing to submit themselves as Champions must write their names and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet. Aspiring Champions have until the beginning of tomorrow’s Halloween feast to enter before the names of the three the goblet has judged most worthy will be chosen at the end of said feast. To ensure that no underage students yield to temptation, I will be drawing an age line around the goblet so none under the age of seventeen will be able to cross.”“I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a Champion has been selected, they are obligated to see the tournament through to the end. Being chosen as Champion constitutes a binding magical contract equivalent to an unbreakable vow. Please be very sure that you are wholeheartedly prepared before you submit your name.”He gave the students a moment to let everything he said digest before continuing.“Finally, I am sure you are wondering about the representatives of the preserves that are here with us. These representatives will act as tournament staff who will handle any and all matters related to the magical creatures that will be included in the tournament. And before you assume anything, I would like to correct a common misconception regarding preserves. It is only in the Wizarding community of the United Kingdom and Ireland that acknowledges preserves as for dragons only. However, true preserves are secret and well-hidden enclosures for all manner of magical creatures. But what makes preserves truly unique is not just the many creatures that call them home but that these preserves are purely run by muggles with or without magical talents. Sometimes they are even run by magical creatures as well!”Immediately, all of the Hogwarts students began to talk amongst themselves. They were surprised, confused, and bewildered by what Dumbledore said. For how could muggles, magical talents or no (and wasn’t that also something startling to learn that muggles could have magic but still not be wizards or witches) be capable of caring for magical creatures?Only Dumstrang and Beauxbatons looked unsurprised by the information. Bagman looked very uncomfortable by all the talk and Mr. Crouch looked as if he’d swallowed a lemon.“I hope you will all still be welcoming and accommodating to our preserve representatives,” Dumbledore continued, “They are not as fragile or ignorant as you have been led to believe. Please also treat this as a greatly unique opportunity to further deepen international relations as our representatives come from North and South America as well as Southeast Asia. Now I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all!” Normally, Seth would be asleep until noon on Saturdays as the weekends were the only days where he could sleep in for as long as he wanted. Unfortunately, what he wanted didn’t matter as Harry, Ron, and Hermione banded together to wake him up at seven in the morning just so they could see who would be putting their name in the Goblet of Fire.It seemed others had the same idea as them as there were many students milling about and lingering longer than necessary at the Great Hall. They all watched the goblet like a hawk to see who would brave the court of public scrutiny to enter their name into the tournament.As the quartet walked towards the end of the Gryffindor table where they would be closest to the goblet. It was situated in the middle of the hall in front of the head table but not on the platform where the table was. They could see there was a thin golden line floating around the goblet and forming a circle about ten feet in radius. The decorations in the Great Hall had also changed. The banners of the houses and Hogwarts crest had been replaced with hundreds of carved pumpkins sitting in every possible corner and floating about randomly in the air. A cloud of bats was fluttering around the enchanted ceiling.“Anyone put their name in yet?” Ron asked a Ravenclaw girl who was seated nearby.The Ravenclaw girl nodded her head. “All of Dumstrang and Beauxbatons did but I haven’t seen anyone from Hogwarts yet.”“Bet some of them put it in last night after dinner was long over,” Harry said as they continued walking, “I would’ve if it’d been me. Wouldn’t have wanted everyone watching.”“Same. What if the goblet just lobbed it right back out?” Ron said, shuddering at the thought of such embarrassment, “I wouldn’t be able to show my face again!”The quartet soon sat down by Dean and Seamus who were in the middle of discussing which Hogwarts students who were of age would be entering.“There’s a rumor going around that Warrington got up early and put his name in,” Dean said.“Who’s Warrington and why do we care about him?” Seth asked as he eagerly grabbed a plate of crepes and an accompanying pot of whipped cream to dump on them. Despite being woken up at an ungodly hour during the weekend, his mood was light as no one had asked him anything about the preserves yet. Everyone was too distracted by the goblet and the choosing of the Champions.“He’s that big bloke from Slytherin, the one who looks like a sloth,” Seamus answered.Harry made a disgusted face. “If we’re going to have a Slytherin Champion, I’d rather it be anyone but him.”“You and me both,” Dean agreed with a grimace.“And all the Hufflepuffs are talking about Diggory but I wouldn’t have thought he’d want to risk his good looks,” Seamus said contemptuously.“Well don’t you sound a little bit jealous there,” Kendra remarked teasingly as she came over to sit with them.“Morning Kendra,” Seth said through a mouthful of crepes and cream.Kendra grimaced in disgust. “Eww. At least cover your mouth.”Seth swallowed his mouthful and grinned. “No. Because I decided I’m mad at you again so you get no basic manners from me.”Kendra rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Anyways, what are you talking about?”“The boys are talking about the Hogwarts students who put their name in the cup and we were just being told about Cedric Diggory putting his name in,” Hermione responded.“Oh! You mean the good looking Hufflepuff?” Kendra asked. Hermione nodded. “Huh. I mean, he looks way too nice and goody two shoes for me but he seems like a well-rounded wizard so he’d be a good choice.”Seth gave her an incredulous look. “Who are you and what have you done with my sister? Kendra would never turn down a fellow goody two shoes, especially not one as hot as Cedric.”“He’s also way too young for me so pass,” Kendra said dryly.“Fair enough.”Suddenly, people began cheering and they all looked over to see Angelina putting her name in the goblet with a confident grin.“Finally! Someone from Gryffindor!” Seamus shouted in relief.“I really hope you get chosen, Angelina,” Hermione said as she clapped for her.Angelina’s grin widened. “Thanks you guys! I hope so too.” Seth begged off of sticking with the rest of the quartet in favor of going with Kendra to see what the preserve representatives would be up to. It was better than hanging around the Great Hall and seeing who else would put their name in or looking around the grounds for Viktor Krum like Ron wanted to.“So this is where you guys are bunking, huh?” Seth said as Kendra led him to a clearing in the Forbidden Forest that he knew was near the Centaur Encampment.The clearing was filled with various tents of all shapes and sizes, no doubt they were both mundane and magical in nature but he couldn’t guess which one was which without going into them. There were also cages and enclosures littered around the edges but they were all empty.“The creatures for the first task will be arriving a few days before it happens,” Kendra explained upon his questioning glance, “Then we’ll only be supervising for the second task and the third will also have creatures arriving a few days before.”He half frowned, half pouted at the lacking information. “That’s really all you can tell me?”She shrugged. “Unless the other schools try to cheat by figuring out the tasks beforehand, I’m not letting out a single peep.”“Well then I guess I’ll just have to ask you again before each task.”“You really think the other schools won’t be honorable and not cheat?”He gave her a flat, unimpressed look and she chuckled.“Yeah, fair. They’ll totally find a way to cheat. Now come on, enough tournament talk. I know you’ve got some weird game still going on with Paras that you guys haven’t finished yet.”“Hey! 5D chess is not weird!” Seth protested.“It is when you add smell of all things to it,” Kendra retorted.He scoffed and turned his nose up at her. “You’re just an uncultured swine. Maybe you should stick around so Paras and I can teach you a thing or two.”She smirked. “I’d like to see you try,” she said before ruffling his hair.He smacked her hand away and stomped off in a childish huff. She followed after him with a snicker. By half past five, it was time to return to the Great Hall for the Halloween Feast and, more importantly, the announcement of the School Champions. When Seth entered the Great Hall with the rest of the preserve representatives, the hall was almost completely full. The Goblet of Fire was still where it had been earlier but with the golden circle now gone.And with the circle gone, Seth felt something odd about the goblet. He frowned as he felt a familiar sort of magic had been cast on the artifact. But before he could walk closer to see if he couldn’t discern it, Hermione waved over at him to join the others at the Gryffindor table.“Did you have a good time catching up with your sister?” Hermione asked as he sat down beside her.Seth smiled wryly. “As well as I could considering she kept lording her secret tournament knowledge over me.” He glanced over at Kendra who seated herself with the Hufflepuffs this time. She held out a peace sign and winked cheekily at him as if she knew exactly what he just said. He shook his head and turned back to the rest of the quartet. “By the way, does anything seem weird about the goblet to you?”Harry, Hermione, and Ron all looked at the goblet, trying to discern what Seth was getting at, before looking back at him and shaking their heads.“No. Why?” Harry asked.Seth frowned. “I don’t know. Something just feels off about it. And it’s a familiar kind of off too.”“Do you think it’s something that’s preserve related?” Hermione asked.“Maybe…”“Or maybe you’re just hungry,” Ron said, eagerly looking at the empty plates, “I know I’m famished! When’s the feast going to start?”Hermione rolled her eyes but before she could retort, Dumbledore rose from his seat to commence the feast. Everyone eagerly dug into the food but there was an air of impatience lingering as they dined. Soon enough, students began to crane their necks towards the head table and fidget about impatiently as they waited for Dumbledore to finish eating.After what felt like an eternity, the plates were soon magically cleared and there was a sharp increase in noise within the hall which died instantly when Dumbledore stood up from his seat.“And now, the moment I know you have all been eagerly waiting for…the choosing of the Champions!”The Goblet of Fire’s bright blue flame increased in brightness and intensity in response to his words. Everyone eagerly watched the goblet as its flames suddenly turned red. Sparks began to fly from it and in the next moment, a tongue of flames shot into the air and a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it.Dumbledore caught the parchment and read its contents. “The Champion for Dumstrang will be Viktor Krum!”“No surprises there!” Ron yelled as a thundering round of applause and cheering swept through the hall.They watched as Viktor rose from where he sat at the Slytherin table and made his way towards the side chamber by the head table where the Champions would gather after the feast. The goblet’s flame turned red a moment later and a second piece of parchment shot out.“The Champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!”“Oh look! It’s Regina George,” Seth said as the girl who resembled a veela got gracefully to her feet and used a hand to flick her silvery blonde hair back. She then walked to the side chamber like she was on a fashion show runway.Hermione and Harry snickered at the reference while Ron just looked confused. A moment later, the goblet’s flame turned red one more time and a third piece of parchment shot into the air.“The Hogwarts Champion is Cedric Diggory!”“Alright! Good for you, Cedric!” Seth shouted, clapping along with the rest of the school with Hufflepuff being the cause of a great uproar as they jumped to their feet and screamed in joy while Cedric made his way past them with a pleased grin but humble demeanor and walked to the side chamber.“We now have our three Champions!” Dumbledore said once the cheering died down, “I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Dumstrang, to give your Champions every ounce of support you can muster. By-”Suddenly, he stopped speaking and everyone could immediately see why when they watched the fire in the goblet turn red again. Seth frowned and he squinted at the flame when he saw it flicker black in a blink and you’ll miss it moment. His eyes widened in alarm when he finally managed to figure out what that familiar feeling was. He locked eyes with Dumbledore and whatever the Headmaster saw of his expression made him frown severely.The goblet’s flame sparked and a long flame shot into the air. Another piece of parchment drifted down from it into Dumbledore’s trembling hand. He held out the parchment and stared at the name written upon it for a long moment.Everyone stared at Dumbledore as they waited for him to speak.After another long moment, he finally cleared his throat and said, “Harry Potter.”