Fleur De Lis

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"The Hogwarts Champion is...Harry Potter."

A smatter of applause went up throughout the crowd, but quickly died as they all saw the look on their champions face. Harry didn't need to look at his brother, Penny, or Cedric to know they were all looking at him in confusion. His brother had been with him nearly every waking moment since the Goblet was lit, and he knew it was near impossible that Harry had done it in their brief time apart. Most people seemed to have felt that this was not his style because only a select few that would've hardly known him at all were speaking their congratulations.

The seventh year Ravenclaw head boy rose to his feet with a straight look on his face. All the people that knew Harry were watching him very carefully and could tell he was angry, but it wasn't seen on his face it was felt by the magic swirling around him in an intense build up that nearly everyone in the hall could now feel. The young man swept away from the table, his friends all sitting silently clearly stunned by the turn of events and he moved towards the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All eyes were on him, and the whispers started as he made his way to the front of the hall staring at the Goblet of Fire the whole time. Harry's eyes shifted from the Goblet to Albus Dumbledore, "I suspect you already know I didn't enter my name into the Goblet."

Dumbledore stared at the enigma of the boy in front of him. Harry James Potter was a quiet, yet powerful wild card in his school. He knew the boy had very few friends, and the headmaster was never quite certain of just how the boy became so powerful under his nose, especially considering the active role he had in his little brother's life. Feeling the anger, and slight anxiety from the boy in front of him he knew it wise to be truthful, "Only from your emotions which I have not been able to read since you were a little boy indicate to me that there could have been foul play."

Igor Karkaroff strode forward, "What is the problem, Dumbledore?"

The tall dark haired seventh year summoned his wand to his hand giving Dumbledore a look ignoring the Durmstrang Headmaster, "May I Professor?"

Dumbledore stared at the boy as the whispers continued, "Of course."

Nodding his head, he closed his eyes, and shortly reopened them revealing a brilliant gold shade as he began swirling his wand around in a smooth almost familiar fashion that Dumbledore could swear he had seen before. Lights flashed out of the boy's wand, the fire that was still lit in the Goblet of Fire changed colors several times, and when the boy stopped moving his wand he frowned, "It seems that the Goblet does recognize that I am now in a binding magical contract with it, and that the slip that has my name on it certainly does come from my own hand."

More and more people were becoming restless around the hall, particularly the foreign delegations as Madame Maxime drew closer to investigate. Dumbledore asked calmly, "Is there any more you can deduce from the artifact? Anything I can do to alleviate your concerns?"

The boy showed the first signs of outward hostility at the posed question, "Not unless you can tell me who put my name in this Goblet, and why in the fu-"

The boy paused for a moment and took a deep breath, "And why in the name of Merlin you didn't put a guard on this at all times. It was twenty-four hours, Dumbledore. How hard was it to protect the magical artifact for one whole day?"

The chatter was getting louder around the hall, when Dumbledore bowed his head, "All I can do, Mr Potter, is apologize, and promise you that an investigation will begin in full effect. I will of course inform your parents and see if James can uncover anything of our mystery, but perhaps it would be best if you joined the other champions downstairs now."