Muggle-Raised Champion

Ramaranth

Disclaimer – I solemnly swear that JKR owns everything Harry Potter. Whether or not I am up to no good with her characters is for you to decide.

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8:50am

Thursday, 24 November 1994

The Great Hall, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

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One thing that came from living with the Dursleys for all of those years was the fact that Harry'd learnt to survive with little: little food; little clothes; little possessions; little private time; and little sleep. It was this last one that Harry was currently thankful for.

After a night where he'd gone to bed late and then promptly spent most of it tossing and turning, he could honestly say that he was bone dead tired. But tired or not never got the chores done or, in this case, the Task performed.

Breakfast that morning was spent at the Gryffindor table, after all, the three real Champions had claimed the remaining tables as theirs. He didn't eat much, but again, that wasn't something that he was unused to.

Token effort or not, soon he was going to be facing a dragon and even his plan wasn't without an element of risk, no matter how small it was.

"If the Champions would kindly make their way to outside the Castle," Headmaster Dumbledore instructed, "you will be shown where to go to prepare for your First Task."

The fork that Harry had been holding dropped with a clutter and he pushed his way up from the table.

"Good luck, Harry," Hermione smiled.

"Thanks," he replied automatically.

As he rounded the long table, Harry recognised the rounding applause and cheers that the other three Champions were being given.

Cedric, the one receiving most of the encouragement, looked quietly confident, if not a little shy about the whistles and cat-calls that he was receiving. Fleur, the French Champion strode out of the hall with her nose high in the air, as if those around her were beneath her notice; and Krum, the Durmstrang Champion acted exactly as if the renowned quidditch star expected to win and that there was simply no need for the others to even bother trying.

The foursome met outside the great doors to the castle where a bustling and beaming Ludo Bagman showed them the way to the Champion's Tent. Harry couldn't help but shoot a nervous glance at a particular bush that they passed on their way around the Black Lake.

The inside of the tent appeared much larger than it did on the outside. If Harry hadn't encountered this phenomenon before, he would likely have tried to back out and walk around it, much like he'd seen people do on the show Doctor Who whenever he'd been able to take a peek at the Dursleys' television.

Each corner of the tent had been set up for a Champion with a chair and a small table filled with bottles of water and a couple of towels. The centre of the tent was left bare, and that was where Mister Bagman had the four congregate.

"Yes, well, now that we're all here, it's time for a few instructions," Bagman stated. "The Task will begin once the stands are filled and the ... er, objects have been placed where they need to be. You will compete one at a time and will be judged on how long the Task takes you, as well as how you accomplish that Task. In a moment, I will be getting you to draw a ... a model of the thing that you'll have to face out of this bag," here he held up a simple leather sack, "that will also give us your order. Oh, yes, there was one more thing that I had to tell you: your Task is simply to collect the golden egg."