The Goblet of Fire - Harry Potter Male Reader Insert

17: A Failed First Task

A/N: This chapter contains a version of the first task that's a bit more realistic than the one in the books or in the movies. A bit more graphic, too. You have been warned.

Y/N dragged Harry's pale and limp form through the portrait hole, Harry had one arm flung over Y/N's shoulders and he used it to support himself as he weakly limped over the the nearest squashy armchair. As they approached it, Harry had another vomit attack, and he threw up all over a red Gryffindor rug near the still-lit fire.

"Good lord, what on earth happened to him?"

Startled by the sudden voice, Y/N whisked his head in the direction of the fireplace, where the head of Sirius Black was casually sitting, as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

Y/N sighed and summoned his wand. He pointed it at the large stain of greenish-yellow bile on the rug and muttered, "Scourgify." The puddle vanished.

"We just found out what the first task is," Y/N told Sirius gravely, as he gently lowered Harry into a squashy armchair. "Dragons."

At the mention of the word itself, Sirius' face paled. But it seemed he had soemthing else on his mind.

"As dangerous as that is, I unfortunately have some more pressing matters to discuss with you two," said Sirius regretfully. "I hate to add to your stress, Harry, but I haven't got long here... I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. There are things I need to warn you about."

"Frick," said Y/N, irritated. "Just another thing for Harry to stress over."

"What is it?" said Harry weakly.

"Karkaroff," said Sirius. "Harry, Y/N, he was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?"

"Yes - he what?" stammered Harry.

"He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year - to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."

"I already knew that." Y/N said. "But why the hell did they release him?"

"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," said Sirius bitterly. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names... he put a load of people into Azkaban in his place... he's not very popular there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student that passes through that school if his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well, Harry. Stay close to Y/N, and don't leave his side."

"Okay," said Harry, slowly. "But... are you saying Karkaroff put my name in the Goblet? Because if he did, he's a really good actor. He seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop me competing."

"We know he's a good actor," said Sirius, "because he convinced the Ministry to set him free, didn't he? Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet -"

"You and the rest of the world," said Harry bitterly.

" - and reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm," Sirius said hastily, seeing Harry about to speak," but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely, Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had."

"I still don't think it's Karkaroff who put Harry's name in," said Y/N. "He may be power-hungry, but the man's a total coward. He wouldn't go so far as to try and do a favour for the people he snitched on."