Arch Mage, the Path of Magic Chapter 30 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans, Kairomaru is here with another chapter of Arch Mage, the Path of Magic! The Quidditch World Cup is taking place in Britain! With so many izards and Witches from all over the world gathering, you can bet that Harry wants to go and see what he can see and hopefully learn! The game will probably be entertaining too. Kek! But some people just can’t let a good thing be and have to make nuisances of themselves. After summer, Fourth Year begins and Harry learns about the event taking place at Hogwarts this year.

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 30 – Quidditch World Cup and Fourth Year

“Portkeys still suck.” Harry breathed out as he lay on the ground.

“They do.” Tonks agreed as she lay on top of him, both sprawled on the ground from their less than stellar landing after the Portkey travel to the Quidditch World Cup.

With merely a thought from Harry, both he and Tonks floated off the ground and back onto their feet. Tonks waved her hand and the dirt left both of their clothes. She gave Harry a grin and a wink as they moved aside so that the next arrivals wouldn’t crash down on top of their group.

“Sorry about that Harry, but all travel to the World Cup has to be done by Portkey. It gets very hard to keep this many Wizards and Witches hidden during a big event like the Quidditch World Cup.” Sirius explained as their group of Ted, Andromeda, Remus, and Hermione made their way towards the tired looking Wizard stationed next to the Portkey arrival area.

Hermione, while not an avid Quidditch fan, was absolutely thrilled to see so many foreign Witches and Wizards in one place. She’d profusely thanked Harry and Sirius for securing her a ticket to the World Cup. “How do they keep this all hidden, by the way?” Hermione asked curiously as she tried to look around at all the arriving Wizards and Witches.

“Name?” The tired-looking Wizard asked the group. The man sounded like he’d been run ragged all day.

“Black.” Sirius informed as he took out their group ticket and handed it to the other man.

“Right, let me see…there it is…Black, you’re seven hundred meters that way.” The Wizard pointed down a long path. “You’ll need to speak to Nigel Wright; he’s been put in charge of that area.” He tapped the group ticket with his wand, making an intricate black mark appear on it, before handing it back.

“Will do.” Sirius nodded and their group began walking down the path.

“The fog spell is interesting.” Harry remarked as the group walked down the long path. The High Sorcerer was looking at what was almost a wall of fog that blocked the stadium in the distance from view. “I believe that’s how they hide most of this.” Harry smiled at Hermione.

Hermione gave Harry a flat look at pointing out the obvious, but the little smile that formed a second later was cute. “What kind of spell is it? A Charm, probably?”

“Ministry patented,” Tonks chuckled at Harry and Hermione’s curiosity. “It’s a Charm that keeps large areas from being seen, so it’s good for big events like this.”

“This is a Non-Magical campground, isn’t it? How are they hiding the Wizards and Witches that aren’t so good at blending in?” Hermione asked another question as she noticed a spell or two going off in the sea of tents. Many of said tents looked rather Magical in nature too.

“The higher-ups at the Ministry argued about it for a while, from what I hear.” Tonks rolled her eyes since that was just another normal day at the Ministry of Magic. “They thought of just having the Obliviators running around and wiping memories anytime one of the Muggle workers saw Magic. But it was pointed out that would mean paying the Obliviators a massive amount of overtime. You can bet Fudgey wouldn’t have that, the cheapskate. So it was eventually decided to take every Muggleborn at the Ministry and then make them a part of the staff. The Muggle workers have a single Memory Charm applied to them, instead of being Obliviated a few dozen times a day.”

“Obliviation on that level would damage their minds. How could anyone think that would be a good idea?” Andromeda questioned, looking unimpressed with what the original plan had been. “I know most of the Ministry doesn’t really seem to care much about Muggles, but that’s just criminal!”

Ted gently took his wife’s hand and gave it a small squeeze. “At the very least, it seems like someone with some sense made a better plan.”

“That’s a fairly low bar to clear.” Tonks muttered, but it was easily heard by everyone. “The Muggleborn workers get a bonus for doing this, the campground workers don’t get their minds fried, and all monetary transactions are kept in Pounds Sterling so that no Galleons, Sickles, or Knuts are seen by Muggles or end up outside of Magical circulation.” The Auror was clearly trying to see the silver lining of the situation. It was better than focusing on how badly the event could have been bungled if it was left completely in the hands of Purebloods that didn’t know anything at all about the Non-Magical World.

“I’m almost curious about who came up with this new plan.” Remus said with a thoughtful look on his face. “There’s not too many positions in the upper levels of the Ministry that aren’t held by Purebloods after all.”

The group made it to the area that the first Wizard had mentioned a short time later and headed straight for the man with the clipboard that was clearly waiting for arrivals.

“How can I help you?” The Wizard, if the badge bearing the Ministry’s insignia was any indication, asked them as they walked towards the stone cottage that housed the campground office.

“Mr. Wright?” Sirius asked the younger man.

“That’s me.” Nigel gave the group a smile.

“Black, I booked about six days ago.” Sirius informed the Muggleborn Ministry worker with a polite smile.

“Black…Black…there we are.” Nigel nodded as he found the name on his clipboard. He held out his hand for the Pounds Sterling that would be used to pay for the reserved space. Sirius dug in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a pouch. Pulling a roll of Pound notes from it, he handed Nigel a couple large bills. Nigel quickly and efficiently made change and handed Sirius a campground map with their spot marked on it. “Enjoy the Match; the betting pools are really heating up if you want to get in on the action!”

“Maybe, maybe…” Sirius chortled as he waved back at the man. “Let’s be off!” He proclaimed as their group marched into the sea of tents. With the map it wasn’t hard to find their spot and with only a few wand waves Remus and Sirius had the tent set up. Entering the large tent Harry found it to resemble a comfortable house. It had four bedrooms and a full bathroom with a good-sized common area/sitting room.

The next several minutes were spent getting settled into their rooms; Andromeda and Ted in one, Sirius and Remus bunking together in another, Hermione and Tonks in the third, and then Harry on his lonesome in the final bedroom. It would be good to prepare for tomorrow, since they’d be leaving bright and early. Once everyone was settled in the group met up in the sitting area. Sirius and Remus were going to walk around and see what was for sale at the various stands that had been set up. Sirius promised to get a set of Omnioculars for everyone while they were out. Remus promised to keep an eye on Sirius, much to everyone’s amusement. Harry, Hermione, and Tonks were going to do much the same. Ted and Andromeda would be going out to take in the stalls once Sirius and Remus came back since someone had to watch their tent. In a massive gathering like this, there would undoubtedly be at least a few people looking to nick a few things without anyone the wiser.

Sirius and Remus headed out together first.

“Let’s grab the Omnioculars and maybe chat with a few of the foreign ladies, Moony!” Sirius laughed brightly at getting to hang out with his oldest friend at such a large event.

“This is entirely why I have to watch you, Padfoot.” Remus chuckled at Sirius being his old self.

The group of Harry, Tonks, and Hermione left next. In no time at all their tent was lost in the sea of other tents and both Harry and Hermione were trying to take in all of the sights and Magic they could. It was fascinating for the two of them to see so many different Wizards and Witches from all over the world.

Harry saw a tent with a spangled banner and the words ‘The Salem Witches Institute’ a few minutes into their walk. There were several Wizards and Witches cooking over campfires as well. Including a trio of Egyptian Wizards (if the Egyptian Flag hanging on their tent was any indication) that were sitting around a purple campfire cooking what may have been a rabbit. Harry was quickly heading over to the men with a polite smile and a friendly greeting.

“Harry!” Hermione called after him for just randomly approaching people without a thought.

Tonks shook her head once as she followed after Harry, just in case anything went wrong. “A little self-control would be appreciated, Harrikins.”

“That’s interesting.” Harry grinned brightly at seeing the purple fire.

The three Egyptian men all grinned at the young man.

“Coquina Fire…doesn’t burn meat.” One of the men told Harry about the magical fire they were cooking their rabbit over in accented English.

“Really?” Harry examined the fire with his Mage Sight spell for a moment. “It produces enough heat to cook meat, but won’t burn it no matter how long the meat is left over the fire… That’s a well-made spell.”

Another of the three Wizards chuckled at Harry’s interest. “Used in cookery back home for a very long time.”

Hermione looked at the purple fire with interest. “Is it hard to cast?”

“No, no, not difficult.” The third Wizard shook his head. “Just like this.” He pulled out his wand and made a loop, a swish, raised it until the tip pointed straight up into the air, and then flicked it. “Ignire.” A small wisp of the purple fire escaped the tip of his wand.

Hermione so wanted to take out her wand and try the spell, but since she wasn’t seventeen yet, she knew it would get her in trouble. This was still a Non-Magical campground, so it would be held against her if she performed Magic here.

Harry, not having a wand, simply held up his right index finger and focused for a few seconds. A purple flame appeared over the tip of his finger, much like a lighter. “Huh, it is pretty simple to cast.”

The three Egyptian Wizards looked stunned at Harry’s display of wandless magic for a moment before they all smiled and gave him a short applause.

Harry, Hermione, and Tonks bid the three men farewell, letting them return to their soon-to-be meal.

“Are we going to have to chase after you every time you see some Magic that you don’t know?” Tonks asked Harry with a perfected ‘big sister’ tone.

“I will make an effort to hold back, but will promise nothing.” Harry snarked back with a grin.

Hermione sighed at Harry’s antics, though it fit her best friend’s attitude towards Magic perfectly. “There’s bound to be a lot of spells and Magics that we don’t know here. I’m interested too, but you can’t just run up to every random Witch or Wizard that you see, Harry.”

“This is one of the largest gatherings of Wizards and Witches in the Magical World.” Tonks said with a grin. “Enjoy it while we’re here since it doesn’t happen often, Harrikins. Just don’t go overboard.”

Harry took on a thinking pose, as if considering Tonks’s words. “I suppose that’s an acceptable compromise.” He snickered at the flat looks both Hermione and Tonks gave him. “Let’s go see some more interesting stuff!” He grabbed hold of Hermione’s hand with his right and Tonks’s hand with his left, nearly dragging them both along.

“Harry, I can walk!” Hermione had an adorable blush on her cheeks at holding hands with Harry.

Tonks just laughed as she went along with Harry’s excitement. It was always nice to see him so excited and in wonder when it came to Magic.

The trio explored the large gathering with curiosity as they saw various bits of Magic being done by many of the foreign visitors. Harry would nearly drag Tonks and Hermione over to some sights that caught his eye. Hermione did it more than a few times as well, pulling Tonks and Harry along with her. Even Tonks had seen a few things that she’d stopped Harry and Hermione to look at for a bit.

The smell of various foods was filling the air as the three walked into what had become the ‘food stall’ area. As they took in the various wonderful aromas and were deciding on what to try out, Harry felt something familiar brush against the very edges of his permanent Occlumency.

“Ah, I know that wonderful young man~” Fleur’s teasing tone got the group’s attention. The Veela was standing behind the three of them with a lovely smile, her left hand holding Gabrielle’s right.

“Fleur…” Harry greeted her with a smile. Then he looked down at Gabrielle with a big grin. “Gabby!” He knelt down and opened his arms for a hug.

Gabrielle burst into giggles as she let go of Fleur’s hand and nearly leapt into Harry’s arms, hugging him tightly. “Harry!” She laughed, her pronunciation of his name clearly having improved a little since the last time she and Harry had spoken.

Harry picked Gabrielle up and rested her on his hip. “Are you enjoying the World Cup, so far?”

Gabrielle nodded excitedly and started to speak rapidly in French, Harry barely keeping up at all with her words. She wanted to tell her ‘big brother’ about all of the things that she’d seen! Harry happily listened, piecing together anything he didn’t understand from context clues as best as he could.

“Ah, my beauty was snubbed for Gabby’s cuteness.” Fleur said with a dramatic sigh, her hand over her heart.

“Wotcher, Fleur.” Tonks greeted Fleur with a grin.

“Hello, Tonks.” Fleur returned the greeting with a smile.

Fleur looked at Hermione and greeted the younger girl with a warm smile. “Have you been well, Hermione?”

Hermione blinked and then nodded. “Yes. It’s lovely to see you again, Fleur.” She usually only saw Fleur at Harry’s birthday (it was also where they’d initially met) so meeting her outside of said celebration was a treat.

“It’s wonderful to see you too.” Fleur grinned, seeing Hermione slightly affected by her Allure, which could mean that the younger Witch had some interest in the same sex. The way that Hermione was able to brush off the Allure after a moment or two showed that she had some skill in Occlumency too. “You know, Harry mentions you in his letters often.”

“Good things, I hope.” Hermione gave Harry a side-eye.

Harry grinned. “Only the best, of course.” He bounced Gabby on his hip a little, the young girl happily holding onto him with a big smile.

“We were about to get crepes, if you’d like to join us.” Fleur offered the three of them. She pointed to a stall just a bit further down from where they were currently.

“I’ve never had a crepe before.” Harry admitted as the group all agreed to go.

“They’re sweet and delicious. Most certainly the ones from Café du Sucre! I didn’t know that they’d have a stall at the World Cup.” Fleur said, promoting a business that was favored by her family in France.

As they moved forward in line at the crepe stall, Harry watched the three pâtissiers make the crepes with Magic. Ingredients were levitated, sauces were made, all with skill as treat after treat was made and sold. Looking over the menu Harry figured a strawberry crepe couldn’t be too bad. When they got to the front all five orders were given to Fleur so that she could order from the Witch behind the counter that seemed to recognize her. In quick French, Fleur ordered a Strawberry crepe for Harry, a Chocolate one for Hermione, Blueberry and Chocolate for Tonks, Cherry and Cream with Caramel and Chocolate drizzle for Gabrielle, and Strawberry Cheesecake for herself.

“Hmm, sweet, but not too sweet. I like it.” Harry nodded as he finished his first bite.

“You can’t go wrong with chocolate.” Hermione smiled as she took another bite of her sweet crepe. It was a huge event, she’d let herself have a bit of sugar, even if her parents often warned her away from it. The ‘perils’ of having dentists for parents.

“We should fill up before the match in the evening.” Tonks smiled at the others, a small bit of chocolate on the corner of her lip.

“Uh, Nym, you’ve got a little…” Harry tapped the side of his own lips.

Tonks grinned; Harry saw the gleam form in her eyes, as she licked the chocolate off the corner of her lips almost seductively. “Thank you, Harry…” Tonks said with a lilt in her tone.

“Uh huh…” Harry deadpanned at her attempts to fluster him; making Tonks pout playfully.

Fleur and Hermione both noticed the exchange with some interest, but let it go without saying anything.

“I’m surprised that you didn’t bring Luna, Daphne, and Astoria.” Fleur mentioned as the five of them finished off their crepes.

Harry shrugged, having Gabrielle sitting in his lap as he floated in the air, his legs crossed. “Luna and her dad are in Sweden looking for Crumple-horned Snorkacks. Daphne’s not a big fan of Quidditch at all, and I don’t think Astoria is either. No reason to spend the Galleons on tickets in that case.”

Fleur nodded in agreement. “Fair point.” Tickets to the World Cup weren’t exactly cheap.

From there the group continued their exploration. They tried food from various stalls crossing multiple regions and countries. Harry enjoyed a kebab of lamb meat with veggies from one stall especially. He was fairly certain the stall used sea salt instead of table salt and while he couldn’t identify all of the herbs and spices used, it was quite delicious. After stuffing themselves with various foods the five of them went on to the vendor stalls and looked at the many things for sale.

“Harrikins is going to spend all of his money.” Tonks playfully jibed as Harry bought another magical trinket from a stall.

“Souvenirs, Tonks!” Harry waved her off with a laugh. “Not to mention what I might be able to learn from some of them.” He patted one bag in particular that he’d put a few specific trinkets into.

All in all it was a fun day of seeing all the different people and the Magics they brought to the Quidditch World Cup. When night began to fall they walked Fleur and Gabrielle back to their tent where Appoline and Marius were waiting. Both parents thought it was quite cute how Harry was giving Gabrielle a piggyback ride.

Harry, Tonks, and Hermione returned to their tent and had a light dinner with Andromeda, Ted, Remus, and Sirius. After dinner, Sirius passed out the Omnioculars he’d bought for everyone and the group made their way towards the stadium in the distance. Harry was slightly annoyed they had to walk up a large set of stairs to get all the way to the top box. They had Magic! Lifts would be beyond simple for Witches and Wizards!

Seeing the Malfoys in the Top Box next to Minister Fudge had also been annoying too. But Fudge had clearly wanted as many ‘influential’ people around him as possible for such a large event.

“Lucius, how’ve you been?” Sirius had a grin on his face as he addressed the Senior Malfoy. “Cissa, nice to see you again.” He greeted his cousin with formality afforded to a relation, though there was no warmth in his voice.

“Black.” Lucius replied with a small nod.

“Sirius.” Narcissa Malfoy gave her cousin an equally cold greeting.

“That’s not polite, Malfoy, you forgot the Title again.” Sirius was enjoying this; getting to use formality to prank the ‘former’ Death Eater was just too good.

“Lord Black.” Lucius nodded stiffly to Sirius.

Harry thought it was amusing how red Draco’s face was turning from this, honestly. The teen still thought so very highly of himself and his family. Harry had no idea why though. Neither Draco, nor the Malfoy Family, had done anything of real note in Magical Britain in decades.

Andromeda and Narcissa seemed to have a silent conversation between sisters, before Andromeda gently nudged Sirius and got the old Marauder to drop the prank as their group moved to their seats in the Top Box. Harry thought he saw Fudge attempt to get his attention, but a look from Sirius in the Minister’s direction had stopped that immediately. It was nice to have such a caring godfather like Sirius. Getting settled into their seats; Harry was surprised to see the Weasley’s in the Top Box.

“Harrikins!” Fred and George greeted with bright smiles.

“George, Fred.” Harry greeted both brothers in turn and smirked slightly when he saw them droop a little at correctly identifying them.

Tonks smiled at one of the older Weasley’s that Harry didn’t know. “Charlie, surprised they got you to leave the Reserve.”

Charlie Weasley chuckled as he greeted Tonks. “Nice to see you again, Tonks. Dad sent an Owl saying that he’d won the tickets from the big Ministry drawing, and it seemed like a great time with the family, so, here I am.”

Harry knew that Tonks and Charlie had dated in Hogwarts for a time. Tonks had talked about it a bit when she’d been home during the school year the two had dated. The two had broken it off and stayed as friends when it was clear that their wants for the future were very different. Still, it was nice to finally put a face to the name.

Once greetings had been exchanged between everyone, Harry took his seat and had Hermione on his left and Tonks on his right.

Before the match began both Team’s Mascots took to the field for a show to get the fans fired up. Bulgaria’s Mascots were a group of beautiful Veela that began to dance and quickly whipped the men of the crowd into frenzy.

Harry noticed some of the men in the Top Box forced themselves to remain still, but did find it amusing that during the Veela’s show, Lucius’s hand hadn’t left Draco’s shoulder. The blonde teen seemed to be enthralled by the Veela and their dance. Which was made more humorous because Harry knew Draco looked down on ‘creatures’ just as much, if not more, than he did Muggleborns and Muggles.

“Leprechauns!” Tonks cheered as the Irish Team’s Mascots started flying in formations around the stadium while dropping their fake gold on everyone.

The rainbow trail following the small Fae Folk as they flew around was a nice touch in Harry’s opinion, his Mage Sight helping him examine the Magic of the Leprechauns. He briefly wondered if it would be possible to chat with a Leprechaun about how they used Magic.

Shortly after the displays by the mascots, the Ireland versus Bulgaria match started and everyone in the stadium was amazed at the skill and speed displayed by the Irish and Bulgarian Quidditch Teams. Even Harry, who wasn’t much of a Quidditch fan, could admit that the skill on display was incredible. Needless to say, the rest of the match was just as amazing and when Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker, caught the Snitch it was to a raucous cheer and applause from the crowd of one-hundred-thousand.

It was with great cheer that the Irish Team supporters left the stadium, though the Bulgarian Team supporters were still in high spirits too since Krum had caught the Snitch and the match had ended at a close 170 point to 160 point game. Already, late night parties were breaking out and renditions of both Teams’ Official Cheers were being sung, horribly off-key, by the Witches and Wizards that were already tipsy from drinking during the match. Thankfully the group made it back to their tent before things got too raucous. Tonks was already laughing about the Aurors probably having to be called in to keep the celebrations from getting carried away. It paid to be on a three-day break for her!

After a quick round of showers for everyone, it was time to call it a night, or very early morning. Harry had a little grin on his face at seeing Tonks and Hermione ready for bed. Tonks was wearing a baggy t-shirt and some cotton short shorts, rather normal for her at home. Hermione was wearing a flowing nightgown that stopped just past her knees; though she seemed to fidget a little with Harry seeing her in it, she didn’t seem to want him to stop either.

“Bedtime.” Tonks yawned as she and Hermione headed to their room for the night.

Harry relaxed in his bed with a smile after such a good day. There were many trinkets to send to his friends as souvenirs from the World Cup. He had a few to further examine to try and figure out their Magic. And he got to spend the day with people that were important to him. Now he was going to enjoy a good sleep so that he could get up in the morning and pack up with everyone.

So he thought, at least.

-Campgrounds ~ Just after Two in the Morning-

“What was that?” Harry questioned dazedly after being awoken by a loud blast going off a distance away.

“Harry! Wake up! There’s trouble! We need to get out of here!” Sirius called out after throwing open the door to his godson’s room in the tent.

“What’s going on?!” Harry demanded as he quickly got out of bed. A series of explosions and screams were heard and he was quickly awake. With a quick thought along with a flex of his magic Harry had switched his pajamas for his day clothes on his body.

“A group of Wizards are attacking the campground from what I’ve heard! They’re heading our way so we’re getting out of here!” Sirius explained quickly as he ushered Harry out of the room.

Sirius and Remus led the group out of the tent, wands drawn and on alert. Tonks followed them with Harry and Hermione behind her, while Ted and Andromeda brought up the rear. It seemed they hadn’t left quickly enough though. The group causing all of the panic and destruction was already in sight. The masked Wizards continued to set tents ablaze with spells and they quickly took notice of the group.

“Death Eaters?” Sirius looked confused, but he and any Witch or Wizard that was alive in the Seventies would know those masks and robes anywhere.

The Death Eaters were quick to turn their wands on the group.

“None of that.” Harry said as he reached out with his magic and grabbed hold of not only the wands aimed at them, but the robes the Death Eaters wore.

Riiiiipppp

Harry snatched the robes straight off the men’s bodies, making many of them fall to the ground in the process. Had the situation not been so serious, he may have made a remark about the grown men being left in nothing but their skivvies in the middle of the panic that they’d caused.

“What?!”

“Who dares?!”

“My wand!”

The Death Eaters were clearly confused as they scrambled back to their feet and realized they’d all been disarmed already. A few of them vanished instantly in the swirl of Portkey travel. Those left behind quickly found themselves bound and unable to move as Harry locked them down with his Bind spell.

The fires were still spreading, and the panic was still high; the group of Death Eaters had already caused enough chaos that people were solely focused on fleeing. Sirius and Remus moved forward and stunned the captured Death Eaters for good measure while Tonks tapped her Auror Badge with her wand twice to send a signal for other Aurors to come to her location.

“Harry?” Hermione nearly had a death grip on Harry’s arm and was surprised when he started to levitate into the air.

“I’m just getting rid of the fires, Hermione.” Harry said with a quick nod. Hermione let go of his arm after a second and Harry rose high above the tents that filled the massive field. Seeing the flames were widespread, but only in one area of the entire gathering, Harry quickly got to work.

Reaching out with his hands, Harry let his Magic spread across the area. Once he had reached everywhere the fire had spread, he ‘took hold’ of the flames with his Magic. Clenching both hands into fists, the flames were instantly snuffed out. The sudden drop in light and heat actually made some of the fleeing Witches and Wizards stop screaming and look around. Some smoke was still in the air, but it was clear that the true danger had passed now.

A bolt of green light shot high into the air before it burst and twisted into the visage of a green skull with a snake coming out of the jaw and hissing at everyone below.

Even at the height that he was at, Harry heard more than a few screams and several shouts of ‘Dark Mark’ among the remaining Wizards and Witches in the area. Even the newly arrived Aurors saw the mark in the sky as they Apparated around Tonks’s location in response to her emergency signal.

“So, this is Tom’s symbol, huh?” Harry wasn’t much of a fan, though the spell itself seemed somewhat interesting. “That’s enough of that, though.” He swiped his hand in the direction of the Dark Mark. Two lines cut the mark into fourths and destabilized the spell. The Dark Mark began to fade away much more quickly that it was supposed to while Harry floated back down to the ground. Had he known that he’d be questioned by the Aurors for the next hour (with Sirius present, of course) he may have delayed his descent for at least a little while.

The madhouse that this incident would undoubtedly make the Ministry into was already giving Tonks a headache, though she kept her complaints to herself as she started working with her fellow Aurors. They had to take the Death Eater’s wands and robes into evidence, while the men themselves were freed from Harry’s spell; only to flop to the ground since they were still unconscious from Sirius and Remus’s Stunning Spells.

-Next Day-

Death Eaters Attack Quidditch World Cup?!

The headline took up the entire front page of the Daily Prophet by itself. The article below it was rather lengthy for being mostly speculation, as the Aurors hadn’t released any kind of statement on their investigation. There were only a couple of pictures of the scene as well, though nothing that actually showed the Death Eaters, only the aftermath of their attack. The damage wasn’t even severe, given that Harry had snuffed out the fires before they could spread too far and cause a real disaster.

Harry had immediately Floo called Fleur to ask if she and her family were safe when they’d returned home. To his great relief, they’d been far enough away that the panic of the attack hadn’t even reached their tent by the time Harry had ended the incident. They’d still left and returned to France hours early compared to their scheduled morning Portkey departure time, but that was to be expected.

A letter to Fred and George was sent with Hedwig to ask if they and their family were alright shortly after Harry had finished talking to Fleur. He didn’t know their Floo address and with Sirius out meeting with people that he called ‘the old crowd’, Harry only had Hedwig to try and contact the Weasley’s.

“Still…” Harry mused to himself after Hedwig had disappeared over the horizon. “This was a rather uncoordinated and small scale attack.” That wasn’t anything like what he’d heard about the Death Eaters from Sirius, on the rare occasions that Sirius would talk about such things with Harry.

-Hidden Location-

“WHAT?!” Voldemort nearly burned the copy of the Daily Prophet that Peter had brought to him. “WHO DARES ACT IN MY NAME WITHOUT MY ORDER?!” The Dark Lord raged as his hateful red eyes raced through the article, picking up every detail of actual importance. “My mark was seen and then erased? Is someone trying to insult me?” The newspaper crumpled from the strength of his grip. “It was not yet time for anyone to know that I had returned.” Voldemort nearly ground his teeth in rage at his plan to lie low, for now, being ruined. “It seems that I’ll need to contact Lucius earlier than scheduled. He’d better have that fool Fudge in his pocket like his father kept Bagnold strung along.” This story needed to be written off as a bad joke as soon as possible, something that Cornelius Fudge would more than likely be happy to do if anything that he’d learned about the man while possessing Quirrel was true.

The Daily Prophet turned to ashes in Voldemort’s hands as she stood up from his seat and stalked towards the Floo. He had much to do before he could strike back at those that stood against him. A permanent body, one powerful and worthy of him, first and foremost. Then a compatible wand of equal power. Then he’d be ready to punish those that had betrayed him and bring them back under his heel where they belonged. But now, because of said fools, he was forced to speed up his contact of his remaining subordinates before he was prepared.

“I’ll make sure they all suffer before I finally let them die.” Voldemort swore to himself as he wondered just who among the ones that renounced him to save their own skins had been part of this idiotic attack. “Wormtail!”

A moment later and Peter entered the room with his head bowed and his body visibly trembling. “Y-Yes, my Lord?”

“Feed Nagini and don’t disturb me! I have to contact Lucius and get this story buried.” Voldemort hissed at the sniveling coward.

“Yes, m-my Lord! It w-will be done!” Peter quickly backed out of the room, never having raised his head to look at Voldemort even once.

-Diagon Alley ~ August 25th-

“Why do we need Dress Robes?” Harry felt like he had to ask again after seeing the item on the list of requirements this year. He’d been wondering what they were necessary for since he’d never seen anyone wearing them at Hogwarts before.

Sirius shrugged since he didn’t know either. “Not sure. We never needed them back in the day.” He looked thoughtful as they headed for Twilfitt and Tatting’s, a higher end shop for clothing. “Maybe they plan to hold a ball this year for some reason?”

“A ball?” Harry couldn’t imagine why they’d hold such a thing when they never had before. “I doubt I’m going to enjoy formalwear anymore than I do already.”

“Cheer up, Harry.” Sirius chuckled as they entered the shop, the little bell over the door ringing. “If it is a ball, you can take one of your girlfriends to it and have some fun.”

Harry gave Sirius a flat look. “Hermione and Daphne aren’t my girlfriends.” He wouldn’t say ‘no’ if they wanted to try dating him or anything. But as it stood, they were all just friends.

Sirius gave Harry a smirk. “Yet.”

Harry’s retort was put on hold as Madam Twilfitt herself came over to the pair with a smile to ask about what they needed.

-September 1st-

“Harry.” Daphne greeted Harry when he opened the door to the compartment that she, Astoria, and Tracy were occupying.

“Daphne.” Harry smiled at her before catching Astoria in his arms. “Hello, Astoria.” He grinned at the new Second Year.

Astoria laughed as she hugged Harry. “Hi Harry! I haven’t seen you since your birthday! You should come over to visit more!”

Harry chuckled and levitated her back into her seat next to Daphne. “I’ll make a note of it for next summer.”

“You were packing your summer pretty full, from what I remember.” Tracy teased lightly.

“Perhaps.” Harry admitted with a shrug as he levitated his trunk into the overhead rack.

It wasn’t even two minutes after Harry sat down that the door was opened again.

“Hello everyone.” Luna smiled at her friends before tapping her trunk with her wand and letting it float up into the overhead rack next to Harry’s.

“Luna.” Harry pulled her into a hug as she sat down beside him.

Luna eagerly returned the hug and pulled back with a smile a long moment later. “Hello, Harry!” She smiled brightly at her ‘brother’. “We didn’t find a Snorkack. But the pizza bagels were tasty while we camped out.”

Harry chuckled as Luna told him about her long trip to Sweden with her father. He’d heard about most of it from Luna’s letters while she was on the trip itself, but he’d happily listen again for his ‘little sister’.

“Am I the last one?” Hermione asked rhetorically when she opened the compartment a few minutes later. Her trunk floated up into the storage rack with barely a thought and motion of her wand, no incantation or movement required.

“You’ve been practicing.” Daphne said, noticing the ease with which Hermione had used the silent and point-casted Levitation Charm.

Hermione smiled. “Just metal exercises mostly, since I can’t use Magic at home. But they’ve certainly helped!”

“Harry, whatever happened with your ‘Potion Pills’?” Daphne asked a bit later as the Hogwarts Express left Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters.

“I should be getting confirmation about their acceptance sometime soon.” Harry shrugged at the time it took for his creation to be tested and verified by St. Mungos. “Keep an eye on the Daily Prophet, since it’ll be announced there when ‘Potter Potion Pills’ are verified and approved.”

Tracy snorted at the name. “Alliteration much?”

“Already got a slogan too.” Harry said with a grin. “Pop Potter Potion Pills! They’ll cure what ails you!”

That got a round of laughter from everyone in the compartment for a bit.

Daphne got her laughter under control a moment before the others. “So, after they’re approved, you’ll show me how to make the basic one, right?”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll show you the recipe.” Harry smiled at her. “It’ll cost you though…” He teased with a little chuckle.

“Oh? You’d charge me? Your friend?” Daphne asked, pretending to be affronted, though the grin on her lips kind of ruined the image. “I suppose I could give you a Galleon or two.”

Harry cocked an eyebrow at her. “What? I don’t recall saying that I would charge you money.”

Daphne raised one of her own delicate eyebrows. “Oh? Then what do you want?”

“Well…” Harry jokingly gave Daphne a once over, his eyes trailing up from her feet to her blue eyes. “I could think of something.”

The Stinging Hex impacted a small Barrier right in front of Harry’s forehead.

“Ha…ha…” Daphne fake laughed as she put her wand away. “You’ll have to do better than that to get me out of my robes.”

“But I could get you out of your robes?” Harry asked with a ridiculous ‘suave’ look on his face.

“Harry!” Hermione lightly swatted him on the arm.

Tracy burst into laughter while Luna and Astoria giggled at the back and forth.

Daphne, her cheeks now dark pink, lightly kicked Harry in the shin as she looked out the window.

“No worries, Daphne.” Harry consoled his friend. “I’ll teach you. I know you want to be a Healer in the future. If my basic recipe can broaden your horizons when it comes to Healing, then I’m more than happy to give you that first step.”

“Thank you…” Daphne was now blushing for an entirely different reason as her stomach filled with butterflies from the way Harry smiled at her.

-Hogsmeade Station ~ Later-

When the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station it was to a veritable downpour. The sky was thick with black clouds and Harry didn’t fancy getting soaked. He held Luna back for a bit as the other students either disembarked and ran for one of the carriages, or they hung back as well, not wanting to get soaked by the rain.

“Watch this.” Harry smiled at Luna and Astoria as he conjured a Protego and held it over his head like an umbrella. The Shield Charm was able to block both spells and physical objects, but was better at blocking spells. Rain, however, didn’t have nearly enough force to break a Protego. Harry trotted off the train in front of all the other students and even did a lively little step as he walked along, showing off his solution to the downpour.

In no time at all, Fred and Geroge, both with their own Protego over their heads, were on either side, matching Harry’s jaunty steps like something out of a musical.

The laughter that erupted from the train as more and more students got the idea and created their own Protego ‘umbrellas’ made all three boys smile and laugh.

“Thank you, Harry!” Luna beamed at him as she stepped off the train under the safety of her own Protego.

“Don’t mention it, Luna.” Harry chuckled as he sent her off towards the carriages. “I’m going to go cover the First Years.”

Bidding a temporary farewell to his friends, Harry trotted over to Hagrid, who was standing beneath his large, pink umbrella, and calling out for the new First Years.

“Firs’ years! Firs’ Years over here, please!” Hagrid called out loudly. “Alright there, Harry?” He smiled at the young man coming over.

“Just fine, Hagrid. Thought I’d give you a hand keeping the First Years dry in this downpour.” Harry offered while expanding his Protego so wide that it was practically a roof over the area where the First Years were starting to gather around.

Hagrid couldn’t help but chuckle as the new First Years marveled at the display of Magic while gathering around him. “I appreciate that, Harry.” He turned to smile at the First Years. “Is everybody here? Anymore First Years?!” Hagrid called out to the platform, but there were only a few upper years walking towards the last of the carriages. “Alrigh’ then, follow me!” He led the way down the rocky path towards the lake and the small fleet of wooden boats that awaited the group. “No more than four in a boat!”

The new students quickly got themselves sorted, many still amazed that the heavy rain wasn’t beating down on them. The incredibly massive, off-white spell kept them all completely safe from the downpour.

Hagrid sat in the lead boat and looked over his shoulder at the rest of the boats. “Looks like there’s not a seat left fer ya, Harry.” He apologized genuinely, not sure how Harry was going to keep the new students dry if he couldn’t travel across the lake with them.

“I’ll just walk then.” Harry waved it off as no big deal. Seeing the disbelief on the faces of the new First Years, Harry grinned at them and then stepped onto the surface of the lake.

“No way!”

“He’s standing on water!”

“Can we learn to do that?!”

“That’s so cool!”

Harry and Hagrid chuckled at the amazement; though Hagrid wasn’t doing the greatest at hiding his sheepishness for forgetting what Harry was capable of.

“Right then, forward!” Hagrid tapped the front of his boat and the small fleet began to float across the lake, the downpour almost forgotten as the students ‘oohed’ and ‘awwed’ at the sight of Hogwarts coming into view. Harry easily kept pace with the boats as they didn’t travel very fast. It was part of the ‘show’ to let new First Years see the castle in all its glory on the first night. “Heads down!”

Only Hagrid really needed to duck as the boats passed beneath an ivy covered overhang and into a small cave with a rocky beach that connected to the castle.

“And this is where we part ways for now, little Firsties.” Harry conjured a wide-brimmed pointed hat, the point facing downward from two ninety-degree bends in the top of the hat, and held it over his chest as he bowed. “Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!” After his little bout of showmanship, Harry put the newly conjured hat on top of his head properly and flew over to the double doors that led into the castle. He smiled as he heard the amazed gasps and exclamations of the First Years before opening and closing the door behind him.

“Excellent work, Mr. Potter, take twenty points for Ravenclaw.” Professor McGonagall said as Harry nearly ran into her behind the double doors.

“I didn’t expect to run into you, Professor.” Harry admitted with a grin. “How do you know what I did?”

“Miss Granger told me what you were up to, Mr. Potter. The carriages are a bit faster than the boats for a reason, after all.” McGonagall gave Harry a small smile before motioning him towards the Great Hall to join the rest of the students before she brought the new First Years inside.

Harry quickly entered the Great Hall, slipping in and letting the large double doors close right behind him. He made his way to the Ravenclaw table and sat between Luna and Hermione, the two having clearly saved him a seat.

“Did you take care of the First Years, Harry?” Luna asked with a smile.

“Sure did.” Harry confirmed with a grin as he gave her a quick side-hug. “Thanks for saving me a seat.” He then leaned over and pulled Hermione into a side-hug as well. “You too, Hermione.”

“Harry!” Hermione blushed cutely at the unexpected hug.

When the First Years had entered the Great Hall, led by McGonagall, the Transfiguration Professor gave him a slight nod. Harry noticed several of the First Years look at him with smiles and realized that his conjured hat made him easy to spot. He smiled back at the First Years and even waved to a few of them that waved to him first.

‘Maybe I should keep the hat?’ Harry thought to himself with a barely suppressed chuckle. ‘I could even do whole outfits, maybe?’ Sure, he might get in trouble for breaking the Hogwarts uniform, but what was a few points lost when he could have a little fun?

Harry listened to the Sorting Hat’s song and applauded politely like most of the Great Hall. The Sorting moved along as it always did. Some students were sorted near instantly, while others took a few moments. All in all, the Sorting only took about ten minutes this year. Once the Sorting Hat and stool had been taken away by McGonagall, the feast started as it always did, with food appearing on every serving platter on every table. Harry helped himself to some steak, potatoes, and greens first, with a nice bit of gravy for the potatoes. Once dessert came around Harry had a bit of treacle tart and once finished waited for the plates to become spotless again. When the last of the food disappeared Dumbledore stood up. The chatter filling the Great Hall died down quickly, leaving only the howling wind and pounding rain of the storm outside to be heard.

“So!” Dumbledore smiled at all of the students of Hogwarts. “Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices. First and foremost: Defense Against the Dark Arts this year will be taught by my good friend and recently retired Auror, Alastor Moody!” He motioned to a grizzled and haggard looking man with a scarred face and a magical false eye. The former Auror stood up for a moment, the magical eye swirling around to take in every student and all of the teachers as if it could see through physical objects.

‘It probably can.’ Harry thought to himself, wondering what kind of Magics had gone into making such an item.

Harry continued to listen, sort of, as Dumbledore went over what new items Filch had banned this year. Then the Headmaster gave the standard announcements that the forest was forbidden and that Hogsmeade was only for Third Years and up. It was only after these, standard, start of the year announcements, that Harry realized Dumbledore had more to say.

“It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year.” Harry heard a lot of muttering and whispering at that announcement. Dumbledore continued on before the mutters could grow too loud. “This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the Professors’ time and energy. But I am certain that you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event which has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year!”

“You're joking!” The Weasley Twins exclaimed loudly. Both looked like they were a hairs breadth from leaping to their feet in excitement.

‘That might explain why Dress Robes were on the Items List this year.’ Harry realized that such an event likely included other events around it.

“I assure you that I’m not.” Dumbledore chuckled at the loud exclamations from Fred and George. “Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament... Well, some of you will not know what this Tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely.” Dumbledore chuckled even though McGonagall looked distinctly unamused by the Headmaster giving the students permission to daydream. “The Triwizard Tournament was first established around seven hundred years ago, as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of Magic. Those three being Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools 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. Well, until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the Tournament was discontinued.” The Headmaster looked a trite sheepish at that admission.

“Death toll?” Harry mumbled as he cocked an eyebrow that a school event had led to deaths.

“There have been several attempts over the last century to reinstate the Tournament,” Dumbledore continued with his explanation. “None of which have been very successful. However, our own Departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that, this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.”

‘Why don’t I believe that?’ Harry snarked to himself while the rest of the students listened on.

“The Heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short list of champion hopefuls in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place on Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which three students are the most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons of prize money.”

“How interesting…” Harry murmured to himself at the idea of the Triwizard Tournament. Looking down the Ravenclaw table, Harry saw a great many of his House mates chatting excitedly. It wasn’t just the Ravenclaws though. At every House table, Harry could see people either focusing intently on Dumbledore and what the Headmaster was saying, or else they were whispering fervently to their neighbors. Dumbledore raised his hands for attention before he spoke again, and the Hall quietened once more.

“Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts,” The Headmaster began, “The Heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have all agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age, which means seventeen years or older, will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This…” Dumbledore had to raise his voice slightly, as several people had made noises of outrage at the restriction already. “Is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the Tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below Sixth and Seventh Year will be able to cope with the trials. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student can offer their name to our impartial judge to try and become Hogwarts’ Champion.” His light-blue eyes twinkled as he glanced over at the Weasley Twins. “I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.”

‘So he admits that the tasks will still be dangerous?’ Harry ran over the Headmaster’s words in his head. ‘What about earlier when he said that the Champions wouldn’t find themselves in mortal danger?’ A contradiction right off the bat, but one that could prove interesting.

“The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October, and remaining with us for the greater part of this 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 he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. So now I bid you all a good night.” Dumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to Alastor. There was a lot of scraping and banging as all the students got to their feet. The four Houses all headed towards the double doors and into the Entrance Hall.

As Harry headed up the stairs to Ravenclaw Tower, he pondered on the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament. It would be interesting to see what the other two premiere Magical Schools in Europe taught their students. Durmstrang was a complete mystery to him, but after his visit to Fleur and his tour of Beauxbatons earlier this year, he knew a decent amount about the French school.

“Wait a minute…” Harry perked up as he made the connection. “Fleur is in her last year at Beauxbatons and one of their top students. I bet she’ll be coming to try and become Champion.” A bright smile formed on Harry’s face at the thought of having a school year with Fleur.

His Fourth Year at Hogwarts was shaping up to be very interesting, indeed!

-End Chapter-

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Well, the Quidditch World Cup was fun…right up until the end there.

Too bad for the Death Eaters, but Harry is just SO FAR out of their league as a Magic user! Kek!

Voldemort rages at the stupidity and foolishness of those that abandoned him after Halloween of Eighty-One. Now he has to speed up parts of his overall plan! Those responsible for this will be begging for death by the time that he’s done with them!

Harry meets up with his friends on the Hogwarts Express and enjoys a fun journey. You can tell they’re all getting older as they joke with each other in more mature ways.

Harry takes care of the new First Years to help them avoid becoming completely soaked in the downpour that greets the Hogwarts students this year! Quite nice of him and he even got rewarded with House Points for it.

The Triwizard Tournament has been announced!

Will Harry end up forced into it?

Is Alastor Moody really ‘Mad-Eye’ Alastor Moody?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!