Supreme Champion
In his dreams Harry discovered Voldemort was going to attempt to get him into the TriWizard Tournament. In retaliation he tricked the Goblet of Fire to emit the names of the people who wanted him in the tournament. Four names came out, including Albus Dumbledore. Now the new Supreme Champion is forced into the tournament. See how he fares. Dumbledore!Bashing.Harry Potter, T, English, Humor, chapters: 13, words: 62k+, favs: 5k+, follows: 3k+, updated: Apr 29, 2020 published: Jun 22, 2015, [Harry P., Fleur D.] Albus D.
Chapter 1: Time For A Different Tournament
Chapter 1
"Clean your hands you filthy rat," the small figure said.
Lord Voldemort was currently being bathed by an incompetent rat by the name of Peter Pettigrew. On the way back to Britain the weak man attempted to Apparate on his orders. Unfortunately he had forgotten that the many years that Wormtail had spent as a rat had rather diminished part of the man's magic.
It had resulted in him and Wormtail temporarily getting lost on an island in the middle of the ocean. After all the travelling, after all the times Wormtail had managed to drop him in mucus and horse droppings, he was now being bathed in a somewhat near working bath at the home of his father's house in Little Hangleton.
Once he was washed he recounted everything that had happened to him and all his future plans.
"We will get my loyal Death Eater into Hogwarts," the Evil Baby Thingy said. "He shall put Harry Potter's name into the Goblet of Fire, thereby placing him into the tournament. He will have to compete or lose his magic. My plan is foolproof."
And through the night he talked to either himself or to Wormtail, who was cowering in the corner from the gaze of his dear snake, Nagini. Moronically, he spoke about where he was to himself and that he was intending to kill the Muggle gardener when he had the chance. He thought it would be hilarious irony if he killed him, as he had framed him for the murder of his paternal family all those years ago.
If he had known that he was sharing his thoughts with an unknown Horcrux, Harry Potter, he would not have dared think about his plans.
Two hundred miles away, the boy called Harry Potter woke with a start.
Harry Potter had heard everything the Dark Lord was discussing with Peter Pettigrew in his head. How he managed to have a connection like this to Voldemort, he did not know. However, for once he was glad he was connected to Voldemort. He now had to find out a way to thwart his plans. He knew what he would do to start destabilising the plans.
In the darkness of his room he called out to a dear friend of his whom he knew would be delighted to help. A friend whom was very much loyal to him alone.
Two months later...
31 October
Harry Potter smirked as the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore spoke to the crowd of assembled students.
"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" — he indicated the door behind the staff table — "where they will be receiving their first instructions."
Instead of listening to the elderly wizard, Harry laughed in his thoughts on what would now happen to Voldemort and Barty Crouch.
In the past two months since he had the dream, he had worked on delaying the Dark Lord's return to power. Back on the night he had the vivid dream of Voldemort speaking of his plans to no one in particular he had been on full alert. That night he had called his faithful friend Dobby the House-Elf.
Dobby had been instrumental in guaranteeing his life and guiding him around since then. The elf had transported him to Little Hangleton where he had the elf's help in disposing of the remains of Voldemort's father and filling the grave with transfigured skunk bones, courtesy of Dobby who found the remains. That was the backup plan in case the Goblet of Fire didn't work. As he heard that Voldemort was intending to kill a gardener, he found a local man named Frank Bryce. He had managed to placate the man when he came across the angered man. He convinced the elderly man that he didn't believe him to be a murderer and to go on a well deserved trip. Frank was currently in Brighton, well away from Voldemort.
The original plan, which was still going, was to confuse the Goblet of Fire. Dobby once again had been a major help in that field. The crazy house-elf had gone back to Malfoy Manor to snoop and retrieve a book for Harry on Magical Contracts.
Harry had found a spell in the book that would be of immense help. He had written down his name on parchment and cast a spell on it. He had then tossed the parchment into the Goblet of Fire. It wasn't entering his name into the tournament. His name had to be supplied into the Goblet of Fire for it to work. Once that was done anyone who was attempting to get him into the tournament under their own intent in placing his name would be named instead when the Goblet would identify his name entered into the tournament.
"The Hogwarts champion," Dumbledore called, "is Cedric Diggory!"
The Hufflepuff table went into an uproar of cheers. Harry smiled at this. They deserved recognition after all the teasing Hogwarts did to them.
"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real —"
But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.
The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it were four pieces of parchment.
IlIlIlI
Dumbledore eyed the parchments coming out of the Goblet of Fire.
What was going on with the Goblet? It was only supposed to emit four names. He didn't care about the other three. He needed Harry Potter in the tournament.
He knew quite well that Barty Crouch Junior was in the school. The wards of his office always informed him who was behind his door when someone visited. He had stunned the imposter when he had first came up and fed him Veritaserum.
He needed Voldemort to return before Harry would reach adulthood. The boy was only easy to manipulate as long as he resided in Number Four Privet Drive. Once the boy was of age he would undoubtedly move out and seek independence for himself.
He tried to grab hold of the four parchments but Ludo Bagman beat him to it.
"What's the meaning of this Dumbledore," he exclaimed. The joyful man read the first name he could find.
"Tom Riddle," he called out, looking out at the students.
There were only three reactions to the name. Dumbledore had gone into shock at hearing the name announced. The old man was wondering what was going on. Ginny Weasley at the Gryffindor table looked frightened out of her wits and Hermione Granger was looking at Harry Potter inquisitively.
Dumbledore looked towards Harry Potter and noticed a small grin on the boy's face. It made him feel quite uneasy.
"Barty Crouch Junior," Ludo called out, now feeling squeamish. He was getting scared. How could a dead man be in the tournament?
Up at the entrance of the chamber the imposter was feeling terrified. This wasn't supposed to happen. The moment a name was called there was no way out. There was no way the Dark Lord could come to Hogwarts. But he couldn't lose his magic either.
"Peter Pettigrew." Bagman was now feeling faint. Two supposed dead men were named in the tournament. Ludo Bagman knew these men must be alive. He knew the rules of the tournament. Only alive people could be entered. Dead people could not.
Dumbledore was furious. This would be a whole lot of damage control to take care of. He still needed Harry in the tournament.
But who was the fourth named?
Bagman looked up from the fourth parchment and glared at Dumbledore, muttering under his breath before speaking up.
"Albus Dumbledore."
Then he lost it. Albus Dumbledore looked on, shocked. Did his name come out of the Goblet of Fire? He looked out among the students to see angry glares coming from Slytherin. He turned his head around to see other reactions. The Hufflepuff table was glaring at him for stealing their thunder. The Ravenclaw table looked at him as if he should be discussed.
Some Gryffindor students were cheering for him. Mainly the obnoxious ones. His eyes flickered to Harry Potter. The boy was glaring at him in an inquisitive manner. Harry Potter caught his gaze. The boy merely him a brief but hard wink while glaring at him. And that's when he realised it.
Harry Potter tricked the Goblet of Fire.
Chapter 2: Is That The Face Of A Killer?
Chapter 2
Harry was one of two minds.
Elation from not partaking in the TriWizard Tournament. He knew he would not have come out of it alive, as he knew from the dreams that Voldemort was going to kill him in the Third Task. He was also massively surprised when the Goblet of Fire selected Albus Dumbledore as a TriWizard Champion.
He had rigged the Goblet of Fire to spew the names of the people who were intending to use him for the TriWizard Tournament. He knew that the names of Tom Riddle, Peter Pettigrew and Barty Crouch would appear.
But to have the name of Albus Dumbledore come forth as well set off a round of questions in his head. What did the old man have to gain from trying to place his name in the tournament? What were his intentions? Did he know that Barty Crouch Junior was at Hogwarts?
He made his way to the Room of Requirement. Dobby had told him about this room back at the beginning of the school year. He sequestered himself into a comfy chair in the room he wanted, which was a resemblance to the Gryffindor common room.
He thought about the events of the past few years. About the Philosopher's Stone, protected by mediocre traps that children got by. The Chamber of Secrets; how could Dumbledore not know it was a basilisk. Sirius Black escaping from Azkaban. His final thought were on Privet Drive. Year after year he was sent back there without getting any help or counselling for the events that had transpired in the castle walls. He knew quite well that Dumbledore was the one whom had left him at the Dursley's as Hagrid had told him.
Something else clicked in his mind, something that refused to leave his head until he checked up on it. Using the magic of the room, he found a book on the Fidelius Charm. It was light and contained only twenty-two pages. When he had finished he book he was furious. He had already heard that Dumbledore cast the charm to hide his parents from Voldemort's reign of terror. The old man knew that Sirius was not the Secret-Keeper, yet he sent him to Azkaban.
He finally came to the conclusion that was running in his mind. Dumbledore was trying to control him.
IlIlIlI
Beyond the wards of Hogwarts, a curly haired blonde woman had Disapparated away back home to her apartment.
Rita Skeeter was overjoyed with the information she had retrieved. She had snuck into Hogwarts in her Animagus form, as the Headmaster always tried his best to get her evicted. However, because of the event that was transpiring at Hogwarts this year, she had perfect access to the castle without raising suspicion. She was very much hoping to use the opportunity to get an interview with Harry Potter, the most famous student at Hogwarts.
Instead she had gold on her hands. Everyone knew how the Goblet of Fire worked. Everyone knew the Goblet of Fire would only accept people who were living. Rita knew what this meant. It meant that Peter Pettigrew and Barty Crouch Junior were both still alive. She had no idea who Tom Riddle was though.
And the best to happen. Albus Dumbledore, the incompetent Headmaster of Hogwarts and the one to activate the Goblet of Fire, had entered himself into the Tournament. It was pretty obvious as the old man didn't say or do anything to deny it. She knew to herself that writing the article on this development would be fun.
As she used her Quick Quotes Quill for the article she wondered how much chaos would commence.
IlIlIlI
Albus Dumbledore sat in his office pondering how things went so wrong.
Once the hall had emptied itself of students and the castle's guests he had tried to check what charms he could find on the Goblet of Fire. He had cast every complicated charm he knew to try and discern what had caused it to behave the way it did, only to find nothing. There was already too much magic on the Goblet to find any tampering.
As there was no sign of tampering, it would not let him leave the tournament. Signs of tampering would get the named participants out of the tournament. Everyone was going to believe he put his name in the Goblet. The year of isolation he was planning for Harry Potter would be turned on him instead, he realised. Damn Harry Potter.
All he could hope for now was that someone other than Rita Skeeter would publish the fiasco first.
IlIlIlI
"Hey Hermione, where's Harry?" Ron asked, looking around the common room for his friend.
"I don't know, Ron," she said exasperatedly. "He'll be back soon. Just play some chess for the time being."
Shrugging, Ron went over to the nearest table and set up his chess set. Soon he was playing a full game with Seamus Finnegan.
IlIlIlI
Later on that night, a very excited House-elf named Dobby was making his way to the bed that his master Harry Potter had set up.
Dobby loved his friend. No one had ever shown him respect or kindness in his life. The poor elf was treated to a poor life of beatings and tossed into open furnaces by the Malfoy's.
Dobby knew the elder Malfoy's biggest secrets. While out in public Lucius and Narcissa would both be considered one of the best couples in the Wizarding World, their marriage considered unbreakable. Behind the closed doors in their Manor the couple would be constantly arguing. Narcissa had five years ago discovered a better use of the frying pan in her kitchen. Next to being a common visitor handing galleons to the Minister For Magic he was a common visitor at St Mungo's as he didn't know healing spells.
Everything had changed for the elf when he visited Harry Potter in his bedroom two years prior. He remembered being asked to sit down. He had nearly broken down from that question. No one had ever asked him a question before or spoken to him kindly before. He quickly devoted himself to the first person to ever show him kindness. Once he started to know Harry Potter better he realised they weren't so different. Both of them, forced to work and punished if they argued with the forcer about anything.
Dobby was appalled at how the leader of the light, Albus Dumbledore, condemned Harry Potter with a disgusting family. Dumbledore had himself told the magical community he had hid Harry away and was watching him himself. Dobby quickly realised the old man had an agenda. It had intensified in the past hour when he hid himself in the old man's office and overheard his musings. He was quite sure Harry Potter would want to know what was going on.
Dobby found his bed and was about to get in when something caught his eye. He made his way to a wrapped package that was lying on a small table. There was a label on it that merely said DOBBY. Dobby tore open the fabric felt package. Out fell some socks and a note. Dobby picked up the note.
Dobby, thank you for all your help with everything. As a token of my gratitude, I got you these socks. Enjoy.
-Your Friend Harry Potter
Dobby picked up the bundle of socks. There was at least ten pairs. Nearly all of them were brightly coloured with tints of red and gold over them. There were a few plain ones too, but that still mattered a lot to Dobby.
Tears in his large green tennis ball eyes from the gesture, Dobby climbed into his bed, holding onto his bundle of socks.
"You're my best friend Harry Potter."
IlIlIlI
The next morning saw several owls fly in to the Great Hall with the Daily Prophet in their talons.
Hermione picked up the one delivered to her and spewed out the pumpkin juice she was drinking, dousing Ron and his food.
Harry peered over and read the article Hermione was looking at.
ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
"SEEKING GLORY"
by Rita Skeeter
Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is up to his tricks again.
Last night, the 31st of October, Hogwarts played host to revealing the names that came out of the Goblet of Fire for the TriWizard Tournament.
Representing Beauxbatons Academy of Magic is Fleur Delacour, daughter of the former French Minister For Magic, Julien Delacour. Representing Durmstrang Institute is Viktor Krum of the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team with whom he is Seeker.
However, Hogwarts seems to have selected five champions. However, I must tell my readers a certain rule in regarding the Goblet of Fire. From the books I have read about the Tournament, if someone tries to enter a name of someone who is dead it will not be accepted. Therefore there was a huge surprise when the names of Peter Pettigrew and Barty Crouch Junior came out of the Goblet of Fire. Another named Tom Riddle came out, yet no information has been found on this character. Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff House was selected for Hogwarts, who is very much alive.
The biggest surprise was the fifth name. Albus Dumbledore's name came out of the Goblet of Fire. The man whom celebrates many titles: Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, defeater of Grindelwald, Flamel's apprentice, and Headmaster among many others, was selected to partake in the tournament. Albus Dumbledore is clearly seeking out more glory for himself, as it is well known he is obsessed with his fame. He is also known to be quite barmy. Maybe he is seeking the prize money to buy his favourite sweets and has stopped stealing money from private vaults.
In regards to the two supposed dead people I call on the Ministry of Magic to investigate how they could be alive.
This reporter will bring you more of the news of the supreme champion Albus Dumbledore as it unfolds.
IlIlIlI
Albus Dumbledore sat up at the Head Table, glaring at the article in the paper. With this information out in the open, Rita would undoubtedly seek information on Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Once she would find that there was no trial, he would be in very deep trouble.
How dare Rita suggest he wanted fame. He didn't need any more. He already knew that he was the best and most famous wizard in the world.
I do not steal from vaults, he thought angrily. Except for Harry's. But it's not like he needs it. Hmmm, a thousand galleons would buy me plenty of sweets. I am definitely entering this tournament.
IlIlIlI
In Little Hangleton Tom Riddle AKA Lord Voldemort heard the most disconcerting news. The previous night at a late time Barty Crouch informed him what had happened with the Goblet of Fire.
Voldemort was undoubtedly furious with the outing of his name in the tournament, knowing full well what it meant if he didn't participate.
Wormtail had retrieved the Daily Prophet for him from Barty. Everything was now going down the drain. Not only was his filthy Muggle father's name exposed as his, but his two most useful spies had been ousted as alive. The least he could hope for was for Dumbledore to get himself killed in the task.
Now he was being lowered into a cauldron in front of his father's grave. He needed to get the ritual done now. As he knew Wormtail was only with him for protection he was absolutely convinced that his blood would be forcibly taken after his hand would be chopped off.
Wormtail raised his wand, closed his eyes, and spoke to the night.
"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!"
The surface of the grave cracked. What looked like human bones were lowered into the cauldron. The diamond surface of the water broke and hissed; it sent sparks in all directions and turned a vivid, sickly looking green
And now Wormtail was whimpering. He pulled a long, thin, shining silver dagger from inside his cloak. His voice broke into petrified sobs.
"Flesh — of the servant — w-willingly given — you will — revive — your master."
He stretched his right hand out in front of him — the hand with the missing finger. He gripped the dagger very tightly in his left hand and swung it upward before bringing it down on his arm.
He screamed long into the night with the pain that had been brought upon him.
"B-blood of the enemy … forcibly taken … you will … resurrect your foe."
He had to pretend and force the idea that he was the enemy to make this work. He didn't notice the colour in the cauldron was already going wrong. When he had eventually pierced his skin and dropped a trickle of blood into the cauldron he noticed the colour difference.
The cauldron was now spitting red and purple sparks in the air above the cauldron, while the liquid inside was pale brown. Wormtail was becoming terrified. It wasn't supposed to be this colour. It was supposed to be white.
Quickly he conjured a ladle and started stirring the contents inside the cauldron hoping to get it to turn white. Instead it turned from brown to dark pink.
Wormtail was suddenly tossed several feet as the cauldron exploded with the content that was in it.
The cauldron tipped over, flattening Nagini and tossing a very unusual figure out.
Right now the Dark Lord Voldemort was unconscious. He would be for some time. Wormtail hadn't realised it, but he had attempted his Animagus transformation unconsciously in his mind just before he chopped his hand off. The bones of the skunk that was placed in the cauldron coincided with the small arm of the rat. The excessive amount of years as a rat had made the blood Peter had withdrawn from himself made it a combination of skunk, rat's arm, and rat's blood.
The Dark Lord was a sight to behold. The appearance of the man was now half rat from the waist up while from the waist down he was now a skunk. As Wormtail had started stirring the potion in the ritual the magic belonging to Lord Voldemort was brushed and thrashed around before it was supposed to enter him. As the cauldron exploded before his magic had re-entered him he had lost the magicks of his body.
Lord Voldemort turned into a squib.
Chapter 3: Prank Fuelled Leading
In Auror Headquarters alarms were going off in the office of Kingsley Shacklebolt.
The dark skinned man quickly found what the problem was. It seemed there was a high amount of magical energy crackling in the air in Little Hangleton, a known Muggle location. He called for two Aurors to assist him to the location.
Nymphadora ("Write that again and I will hex you") Tonks and Proudfoot were called up to help Shacklebolt. All three of them apparated to the Little Hangleton Cemetery where the magical energy was being detected.
"Scour the place for the magical residue," Kingsley ordered.
Proudfoot made his way to the older graves of fifty years while Tonks and Kingsley scoured the more recent ones. He came across a strange sight when he came to the Riddle Family grave.
He immediately recognised a man whom was believed to be dead for thirteen years. He immediately put magic suppressing cuffs on the rat like man.
He looked then at the most strangest creature he had ever come across. Never in his wildest imagination did he think he would come across a giant half skunk, half rat. There was a flattened snake underneath the cauldron.
Something caught his eye that was lying in the pocket of Peter Pettigrew. He pulled out a wand that he recognised immediately. He'd had a confrontation with Lord Voldemort fifteen years prior that he escaped from. He recognised the wand of Lord Voldemort.
Something was not right here. He needed to call some people in the Ministry to help out. He wasn't going to call Dumbledore. He always found the man suspicious in the war, even if he was the leader of the light.
IlIlIlI
Draco Malfoy was thoroughly enjoying himself. Normally he would be happy when he got the chance to show Potter that he was above him, which never went down well. Or when Pansy would proceed to show him what a good kisser he was. What he didn't know was that Pansy only did it for the Malfoy money. She wanted gold desperately and she knew the Malfoy family had plenty. Marry and Divorce Draco, that was her plans.
"And there we go," he said to himself, finishing the charmed badges he had created. Now he had three different badges for the tournament ready to sell. All he needed now was the Doubling Charm. With the help of a reluctant Sixth Year he managed to achieve what he was desiring.
"Let's see," he pondered as looked at the badges that said Dumbledore Stinks, Support Cedric Diggory: The Real Hogwarts Champion, and Dumbledore Is A Moron.
"Do you really think you're going to get away with it?" the sixth year asked him.
Draco smirked. "We'll see," he laughed. Then a strange sense hit him. "I just got the feeling Potter will buy one."
He shook it off. Potter was Dumbledore's Golden Boy. He'd back up the old man. He didn't know how wrong he was.
IlIlIlI
The next day Harry was on his way to the Owlery to see his faithful owl. Hedwig always relaxed him when his friends were annoying. Ron was talking aloud in support of Dumbledore in the Tournament, which Harry quickly found annoying as he was currently pissed at the Headmaster. Hermione was harassing him to tell her what he had done to the Goblet.
He knew he hadn't slipped up. He had made sure to have his regular expression on when the champions were selected. Of course he should have known she would suspect him. Everything that had happened on Halloween at Hogwarts was somehow related to him.
He was now ascending the steps to the Owlery. He turned in the door and saw a sight he hadn't seen before.
There was a silvery blonde woman in the room, who was stroking Hedwig's feathers.
"You are such a beautiful owl."
HOOT.
"I know you know."
HOOT.
"Who is your owner?"
HOOT.
"Harry Potter."
HOOT.
"I think he's gorgeous."
HOOT.
"I'd love to see his bare chest."
THUD.
Fleur smiled evilly. She had come up to send a letter to her parents and found the magnificent snowy owl. She knew this was Harry Potter's owl. She heard the girls of Hogwarts saying that Harry Potter owned a beautiful snowy owl. When she heard someone nearby, Hedwig looked at the door happily. Fleur had noticed Harry out of the corner of her eye and decided to play a trick on him. And it succeeded.
She walked out the door and found Harry Potter unconscious. Smirking, she leant down and Renervated him, moving herself close to him.
Harry's eyes opened immediately and saw the most gorgeous dark blue eyes he could see.
The girl had lovely silvery blonde hair that had flowed perfectly with her figure. He so desperately wanted to reach up and touch the girl's hair and let his hand run freely.
"Enjoying the view," she asked, a brief smirk on her lips.
Harry panicked. Had he been too obvious?
"N-no," he spoke quickly.
"That's a shame," she said wistfully. "It has such a wonderful round shape, doesn't it. Such an amazing size."
Harry's mouth opened in shock at what he was hearing.
"Such roundness," he said slowly, before mentally slapping himself in the head.
Fleur helped the young boy up and pointed at the sun. "It is isn't it."
Harry went as red as a fire engine when he realised it was the sun she was talking about.
"Good bye, Harry Potter," she said kindly, before walking away with a little smile on her face.
IlIlIlI
Gringotts
Harry Potter strode into the wizarding bank. Dobby had brought him to London through elf- apparition.
He was soon steered into the office of his Account Manager, where an exchange over arguments about Bank Statements came into the fold. Eventually his parents will was discovered in the meeting and both wizard and goblin fantasising hurting Albus Dumbledore.
IlIlIlI
"Alright, tell me what happened," Amelia Bones ordered. "Why are you alive?"
It was now morning in the Ministry of Magic. Overnight she had been awoken and alerted that Peter Pettigrew was found alive in a Muggle cemetery. It wasn't until now that she got the chance to interrogate the man.
Peter knew he couldn't escape if he tried. That would alert the Ministry that he was an Unregistered Animagus. Also there was magic suppression cuff on his arm, meaning his transformation wouldn't work.
Amelia nodded to her Auror. The Auror force fed Peter Veritaserum with three drops on his tongue.
She repeated her question to him. "Because I'm not dead."
Amelia realised she asked the wrong question. "Did you fake your death?"
"Yes I did," he said monotonously. When Amelia asked why he elaborated. From there more questions were asked and answered. By six that night there was an immediate trial set for Peter Pettigrew. Voldemort was still knocked out and locked in a Ministry Chamber while the trial had taken place.
Rita got all the juicy news in the room, despite the fact no reporters were seen in the room. But she knew how to spin that. Soon it was reaching newspapers all over Britain.
Sirius Black is innocent.
IlIlIlI
Also that morning another silvery blonde haired wizard was walking into the Dining Room in his manor.
Upon seeing that his breakfast wasn't on the table he wasn't happy.
Stifling a deep yawn he called to his wife.
"Honey, where is my breakfast," he called out.
His wife , whom was in the kitchen was angry. But she had the easiest way to get back at him.
"They're being cooked on the frying pan."
She heard a small scream from the next room. Currently Narcissa was very angry at her husband. She hadn't yet had the chance to knock him on the head since the Quidditch World Cup for his antics.
"What the fu-"
"Don't you swear in my house, Lucius."
Her husband quickly apologised as he read through the article on the Daily Prophet. How could the Dark Lord get himself into the Tournament? Especially when the members of the Ministry still had people hunt for the elusive Dark Lord in South-eastern Europe.
CLANK.
Lucius jumped up and saw what was being laid down on the table in front of him and his wife's current hairstyle
"There's no plates right now," Narcissa said, with a huge smile on her face. "Eat out of the frying pan."
Lucius fled.
Narcissa smiled at her retreating husband. It was always amusing aggravating the man. She had fixed up her hair to look like her sister Bella's, whom he was still scared of many years later.
She sat down for her own breakfast, summoning a plate. While eating she picked up the Daily Prophet. She smiled as she read. It's good to be in charge, she thought.
IlIlIlI
Albus Dumbledore made his way through angry students and crowds the next day. The Hufflepuff students glared at him with the utmost loathing on their faces. The Slytherin students were no different, like Hufflepuff they were wearing badges that said Dumbledore Stinks. He knew who the perpetrator was immediately. But this time Draco Malfoy had actually covered his tracks, which was quite amusing to the headmaster, as the boy was not Slytherin enough to cover anything up.
The Ravenclaw's were looking at him curiously and whispering to the people they were with. It was very disconcerting for the headmaster
Then he came across Harry Potter, who was walking by with a goofy look on his face, who was also wearing a Dumbledore Stinks badge(much to his disconcert). Malfoy was massively surprised when Harry Potter bought one off him.
"Harry, my boy," he said jovially. "May I speak with you in my office."
Harry's countenance changed immediately. Now in front of the Headmaster stood a very pissed off and angry Harry Potter.
"Headmaster," he said coldly. Albus Dumbledore frowned. What had warranted the behaviour he was now seeing in Harry Potter? "Does your meeting involve academics?"
"I just want to have a talk with you, Harry. In my office."
"If the meeting doesn't involve academics, then I'm afraid I must call my Head of House Professor McGonagall as a witness to the proceedings."
Dumbledore was confused. The boy hadn't automatically done as he asked? This wasn't a matter that could be heard by his Deputy. Even she was angry with him for putting his name in the Tournament and didn't believe him. He was furious when he found her just half an hour ago with the badges Malfoy created, hers saying Support Cedric Diggory: The Real Hogwarts Champion.
"Surely we can overlook that."
"I'm afraid not Headmaster," Harry said smoothly. "You know what, I find it odd that you seem to be somewhat having a fond interest in me. Do you often meet with your young, male students or is it just me?"
Dumbledore screwed up his face in disgust. Of course he was gay but he didn't like what the young boy was implying.
"Harry-"
"Why are you calling me by my first name?" Harry asked. He shook his head. "It is a huge lack of professionalism on your part." Harry continued before the old man could interrupt. "If you wish to have a conversation in your office, it had best be about academics. However, as it isn't, I will just say that I wish you a good day. And that I believe Cedric Diggory is the true champion."
And with that Harry left a dumbfounded Dumbledore sputtering in the hallway, whom was wondering what the hell had just happened?
IlIlIlI
Sirius Black was wandering the streets in his Animagus form, looking for some food for himself and Buckbeak.
He had been back on the run for three months since he left Hogwarts, wandering the streets in search of food and news from the wizarding world.
He was in Huddersfield the previous day. Now he had travelled ten miles away from there in the past twenty four hours. It was now night-time and he didn't know where he was.
He started looking around for a sign or a business. He noticed an ominous glow nearby. He ran forward to see what it was. It was a pub, in bright neon writing it said The Hanged Man.
But where was he. He didn't have a map to tell him where he was.
He decided to sniff the air. What in blue Merlin was that smell? He put his snout to the ground and sniffed harder and started walking towards the foul stench to see what it was.
In Little Hangleton Graveyard Auror John Dawlish was gagging at the smell that had been left behind the previous day. Just before the unusual skunk had been taken away it had left off a terrible protruding smell near the spilled cauldron. He was sent on cleaning detail of the area and he hated it. It didn't help that he was partnered with the annoying new Auror Tonks.
He eyed the entrance of the graveyard, wondering when he would be able to leave. He strained his eyes to see who had come into the graveyard. Immediately he started hyperventilating when he saw the dog that had entered the graveyard.
Great Merlin, he thought. The myth is true. Black dogs haunt graveyards. And he promptly fainted.
Tonks, who had been working on the Sirius Black case extensively by order of her boss, Amelia Bones, had been informed that Sirius Black was an illegal Animagus. The moment she saw the dog she went over to the dog she believed to be Sirius Black.
"Hello, man's best friend," she said softly to the animal. The dog nuzzled himself on her hand, enjoying her touch.
She pulled out the recent edition of the Daily Prophet she had on her, the one that declared that Sirius Black was indeed innocent.
"Look at this."
Upon seeing the headline Sirius fainted. Tonks knew this was indeed Sirius Black. She transformed the dog back into his human form, which had immediately reawakened him.
"I've been cleared," he said slowly, in an ecstatic but slow voice.
Tonks nodded. "But there's still something that needs to be cleared up. You need to register your Animagus form with the Ministry."
IlIlIlI
The article that appeared in the Daily Prophet the next day once more brought chaos.
MINISTER FUDGE OUSTED AS MINISTER FOR MAGIC
by Rita Skeeter
Last night in the Ministry of Magic an Auror appeared with a deliriously happy Sirius Black who had proceeded into the office of Amelia Bones to clear his name. What happened in the room was the unravelling of events that had transpired on the 2nd of November 1981.
It was revealed in an recent issue that Peter Pettigrew was captured alive and thoroughly questioned about why he was indeed still living. The interrogation had revealed the innocence and framing of Sirius Black.
It had also revealed the incompetence in the investigation the Ministry had constructed in what happened. Minister Cornelius Fudge was first on the scene on the London street and had proceeded to have the wand of Sirius Black's snapped, and along with Bartemius Crouch and Albus Dumbledore had him sent off to Azkaban without a trial.
Albus Dumbledore, who has often told people that it is better to do what is right than what is easy, sent off the celebrated Auror to Azkaban without a trial. This was not right to do. He is currently under a lot of scrutiny for entering himself in the Triwizard Tournament.
After Minister Fudge was ousted, he was immediately arrested on several counts of fraud, embezzlement and bribery.
After Amelia Bones declined the offer, Sirius Black was voted in as the Interim Minister until a new Minister is elected.
Albus Dumbledore was hyperventilating when he read the last line in the article.
"Oh, Merlin!" he sobbed. "We're completely screwed!"
Oh well, he thought. It could be worse. At least I know what's going to happen in the TriWizard Tournament. That will be a huge advantage.
An owl suddenly flew in to his office and delivered a note to him. He was being summoned for a meeting in the Ministry in the Department of Magical Games and Sports.
He went off to the meeting, expecting to just find Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch. Instead, when he got there there was a room full of the ICW's from France and Bulgaria, Ludo Bagman, Amelia Bones, the new Minister Sirius Black and Obliviators.
"Hello, Albus Dumbledore," spat Ivan Dmotjir, the ICW Representative from Bulgaria. The French ICW Representative, currently Julien Delacour, father of Champion-to-be Fleur Delacour and former Minister, looked as much pissed off as Ivan. Both of them were furious and pissed off with Albus Dumbledore for how he behaved at the TriWizard Opening. When they found out they couldn't remove him from the Tournament, they unceremoniously succeeded at managing to remove Albus Dumbledore from the ICW in anger.
But now there was a new plan. One that the prankster Minister had come up with.
"Albus Dumbledore," said Sirius Black mischievously. "As you already know what is involved in the three tasks in the TriWizard Tournament we have come to a warranted decision to have your memories removed of what is entailed in the tasks."
Dumbledore tried to escape, but the room was heavily warded and there were guards at the door. He later woke up at Hogwarts with no memory of what was going to happen in the TriWizard Tournament. As he hadn't stored his memories of the knowledge of the tasks around his Pensieve he would not find out easily what would be in the first task.
After the business was concluded in Obliviating the knowledge from Albus Dumbledore Sirius Black went down to the Holding Cells deep in the Ministry. The only people that could access this room was the Minister for Magic, the DMLE Head, Amelia Bones, and the Chief Warlock, whom would soon be replaced.
He took a look into the cell that belonged to the Dark Skunk. He knew who it was immediately and how it happened. Back when he sniffed around the graveyard in his Animagus form he had smelt the scent of Harry at the Riddle grave. He knew how it must have happened. His godson had therefore tampered with the ritual and pranked Voldemort into the form of a half rat, half skunk.
Another idea came to mind, one that would indeed humiliate the now squib Dark Lord before being tossed in Azkaban. Smiling evilly, he noted the idea in his head. Force the squib lord into the Tournament.
IlIlIlI
In the Gaunt Shack in Little Hangleton, a dark cave by the seaside, in a Gringotts vault, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, and in the forehead of a famed wizard, the soul containers belonging to Lord Voldemort dissipated for the final time. As it was soul magic that had made these objects, the magic of the Horcruxes went away when it sensed the original soul had lost its magic.
In the tattoos of the Death Eaters, the soul magic that was used in creating the Dark Marks had dissipated. However, as Lord Voldemort had leeched off a small amount of his followers magic for his own self, the magic in the disgusting tattoos had turned the followers into instant squibs along with their master.
The result ended up with Lucius unable to perform a simple spell, earning the ire of his irate wife, whom proceeded to whack him constantly that day with the dreaded Frying Pan.
In Azkaban, the increasingly insanely loyal Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange stabbed herself to death, disgusted that she had lost her magic, as did her husband and his brother.
In Hogwarts the imposter Barty Crouch had lost his magic. The real Alastor Moody decided to try and escape one more time, refusing to give up hope, and found a squib in the room. Smiling viciously, he took out his revenge on the man for kidnapping him. The chain of events following this would have both Crouch men in Azkaban and would start the reforming of the Wizarding World.
Severus Snape would stay on at Hogwarts for the time being, as there was 'no silly wand waving' in his Potions class.
IlIlIlI
Harry was dragged to an abandoned classroom by his closest friend, Hermione Granger. Upon arriving, she locked the door.
"Now, Harry," she said. "You are going to tell me what you have done."
Harry smiled cheekily. "Ok, it was my fault. I made the Rabbit of Caerbannog in a bad potions attempt. I'm a failure and I accidentally killed the French warriors that had shown up."
Hermione couldn't help herself. She burst into loud laughter. It was wonderful to hear Harry cheery for a change. Normally he would be morose and depressed, never showing much happiness.
She changed her tone of voice. There was really no need to be bossy in asking what was going on.
"Harry, can you tell me what is going on."
"Can I trust you not to tell anyone?"
"Harry, I'm your friend," she said shocked. "Friends trust each other. A true friend remains loyal and that's what I want to be."
Harry looked at her. She looked at him pleadingly, desperate to be given a chance. But the problem was her blind faith in authority figures. But he decided to tell her everything.
Somehow he had switched her allegiances in that conversation from liking Dumbledore to hating him.
In return for opening her eyes to the uselessness of Albus Dumbledore, she decided to help Harry get the girl he was currently having a crush on, whom she had noticed seemed to have a crush on him too. After all, he knew very little about women.
IlIlIlI
In Nurmengard Prison Gellert Grindelwald was being given his daily breakfast by the guard that came to his cell.
"How are you today, Nikolai?" he asked cheerily to the guard.
"Not good, I think my wife has found out I have a mistress," Nikolai grumbled.
"You told her about me," Gellert faked sadness, eliciting a laugh from the guard.
"I have some good news for you, all the way from British soil," he whispered.
"What is it?" asked Grindelwald.
In response Nikolai tossed in the Bulgarian version of the Daily Prophet.
Five minutes later the guards of Nurmengard heard howling laughter from the cell of Gellert Grindelwald high above.
"Oh, Albus you bloody moron," Gellert laughed, wiping a tear from his eye. He picked up the paper again to read the story. "I always prayed for you to be humiliated sometime, now I've got my wish."
Chapter 4: How Can You Tell It's A Bad Day?
Chapter 4
With a predatory gleam on her face, the woman left the kitchen. In her hand was the most deadliest weapon men would fear when they said or did something stupid.
The woman was approaching her target, she was now mere feet away from the opened door to her target's bedroom. She managed to sneak in to the dark room without making a sound. She eyed the place she wanted so badly to hit. The man was snoring away loudly. There was no way he would have heard her coming in to the room. Smiling predatorily, she swung the cast iron frying pan into the man's face.
Lucius Malfoy was immediately thrown from his bed from the impact the Frying Pan had given him.
Lying on the floor, he cursed in his head that he married Narcissa. He only chased her at Hogwarts because she was beautiful and a member of the prominent Black Family. What he had not taken into account was the threats he got from her sister Bellatrix of dismemberment if he hurt her and Narcissa's obsession of hitting bad husbands with a frying pan.
"What did you do that for?" he shouted at her.
"I've been hoping to do that to you ever since your antics at the Quidditch Cup."
Lucius stared at his wife. "What makes you think that it was me?" he said coolly.
Smirking she said, "I can recognise a moron like you anywhere."
Managing to draw himself up to full height, he glared at his wife. "You couldn't recognise me," he said haughtily. "I was wearing a mask."
He realised too late what he had said. Narcissa's eyes had narrowed and her body language was screaming 'I'm gonna hit you with a Frying Pan until you're brain damaged.' There was only one way out of this. He immediately grabbed his wand and screamed "Sectumsempra."
Except nothing happened. Narcissa was preparing to dodge when she realised nothing had happened. Lucius looked at his wand, as if he was seeing it for the first time. The spell hadn't come out? What was going on?
"Expelliarmus," he called out, pointing his wand at his stunned wife. Still nothing happened. He started shaking his wand, thinking it had somehow malfunctioned. No sparks appeared, not even a flicker of one.
His eyes darted to his wife, who was slowly advancing on him, holding that terrifying weapon called a Frying Pan.
After seven hits, Lucius had gone unconscious in terror. Narcissa looked at her Frying Pan proudly. She couldn't believe she had underestimated Muggle ingenuity years beforehand. She knew quite well Muggles made these awesome creations. Five years prior she had came across their former house elf Dobby making their food on a frying pan. She had yelled at the elf for taking something so Muggle in to the manor. After 'accidentally' hitting Lucius for the first time with it she realised she found something worse than the Cruciatus Curse as Lucius curled up in his bed to cry through the pain on the first night. Not even the Dark Lord could do that to him. In gratitude to Dobby for bringing the deadly weapon to her knowledge she started whacking Lucius every time he would abuse the poor elf. She was glad the elf was gone. She only wished the little creature had brought her with him. Anything was better than being married to a pure-blood snob.
IlIlIlI
The reunion between Harry and his godfather Sirius was filled with joy for both.
It was now the Hogsmeade weekend and Minister Sirius Black decided to take the day off to finally spend some time with his godson. Amelia Bones was taking over for him for the day as there wasn't much for the DMLE to handle at the moment.
"It's wonderful to see you again Sirius," Harry beamed. "Especially with clean clothes and nice hair."
Sirius had started changing his attire. His hair was still straggly from his stay in Azkaban, but was considerably shorter to look like it had from his days at Hogwarts. He was wearing clean clothes and smelled fresh.
"Come on, Harry," he said in a friendly tone. "Let's go get a drink."
Godfather and Godson walked into the Three Broomsticks. Upon entering the bar the entire room went silent. Although everyone now knew Sirius Black was indeed innocent, most couldn't handle seeing him as they had all grown to hate him for being a supposedly loyal Death Eater and that he was now the Minister for Magic.
Madam Rosmerta came over to Sirius. "Your private room is ready Minister."
"Thank you very much Rosmerta," he said.
Many patrons sighed in relief that Sirius wasn't going to be in the same room with them. Harry looked at Sirius curiously, wondering why Sirius requested a private room.
Minutes later he found his answer.
"Tell me Harry," said Sirius, gulping down some Firewhisky. "What did you do to Voldemort?"
Harry panicked at once. He looked at his godfather and noticed his shoulders shaking in mirth.
"What do you mean?" Harry tried to ask innocently.
Sirius started laughing. "You think I don't know that it was you. I could smell you in that graveyard Harry."
Harry sighed. He related to his godfather what he had done. He told him he had read Voldemort's mind and discovered his plans for him and his rebirth. He told him how he placed skunk bones in the grave of Voldemort's father up to his pranking of the Goblet of Fire.
By this time Sirius was laughing so loud, he couldn't control himself at all.
Harry had so far not mentioned to his godfather his suspicions of Dumbledore and that Dumbledore was pilfering money from his account and had gone against his parents will.
"And now you've pranked Dumbledore into the tournament," Sirius laughed. "I'd love to have seen the look on the old coot's face."
Harry stared at Sirius. He spoke of Dumbledore in a disrespectful manner. But why?
He asked him.
"Because once I was pardoned by Amelia, I told her Dumbledore knew I was innocent," Sirius said. "I had never seen anyone as angry as I have seen her that day. She said Dumbledore should have ordered me a trial. Apparently as Chief Warlock he could have placed me under his protection instead of having you go back in time to rescue me. That is a decision the Minister can't override."
Harry sighed in relief. That just made everything easier to talk to Sirius about Dumbledore. So he relayed his discoveries from the past while since Dumbledore's name came out of the Goblet of Fire. When he told him about the Fidelius Charm, Sirius' face was in a mask of fury.
"Are you telling me he knew Pettigrew was the Secret-Keeper, and yet he left me to rot in Azkaban," he snarled.
Harry nodded.
"I'm ordering him in to a trial," Sirius fumed. He relaxed himself before he could get even more angry.
"We've spent enough time cooped up in here Harry," commented Sirius. "Let's go down to the pub."
They went back down to the pub. No one noticed Sirius returning so there was no silence.
"'Ello, 'Arry Potter," said a voice.
Harry turned to the voice. Fleur Delacour was standing behind him, holding a tray with drinks.
" 'Ow are you today," she said kindly.
Harry mumbled 'fine' while staring at the floor.
"Minister Black," she introduced herself. "Nice to meet you. I'm Fleur Delacour."
"Ah, you're Julien's daughter," he asked. She nodded in response. "How is he?"
"He's 'ere," she said. "Why don't you join us for a drink?"
Harry was mouthing at him no. Sirius knew immediately what had been running in his godson's head when he saw the behaviour. There was no way he was going to let Harry get away from this.
"Of course we will join you," he said amiably. He looked at Harry. "Why don't you take the tray for Fleur. Be a gentleman."
Harry was glaring daggers at his godfather. He knew what he was trying to do. Harry never felt so awkward in his life.
"In fact you should take half of the tray," he said smirking. "Share something with Fleur."
This time both youngsters blushed red. Sirius laughed to himself and made his way over to the table Julien Delacour and his wife Apolline were at.
"Hello Julien," Sirius said sliding himself into the seat. "How are you today?"
"Ah, Sirius," Julien smiled. "How good to see you again. This is my wife Apolline, by the way."
"Charmed," Sirius said, taking her hand and kissing it. Turning to Harry he smirked. "Why don't you try this on Fleur, Harry?"
Harry once again blushed. Inside he was furious. Why was his godfather doing this to him?
Fleur held out her hand to Harry, hoping for him to kiss her hand. Secretly she was hoping for him to kiss her somewhere else.
Feeling incredibly awkward, Harry shakily took her hand and placed a gentle kiss on it.
The ice was soon broken. They all settled in at the table, Sirius was having a pleasant conversation with Julien and Apolline. Fleur had broken the ice by asking Harry about himself.
He told her a bit about his life. He didn't tell her about his time at the Dursley's, but he told her about how he discovered magic and how he was enthralled with it and a bit about his friends.
She, in turn, told him a bit about herself. Although she was raised in a loving family, she experienced quite a bit of bullying at school and had very few friends. They were soon laughing at a joke she told about a salamander and Harry felt all the awkwardness go away as he began to get to know her.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Harry looked up from his conversation with Fleur to see a very angry Ron Weasley glaring down at him.
"Why are you not sitting with us?" Ron said angrily. "Instead you decide that we're not good enough for you that you have to sit with opposing schools. She'll try to find out from you what Dumbledore is going to do in the Tournament."
Harry gritted his teeth. He was not happy with his so called friend at the moment. Ron had tried making badges in retaliation to Malfoy's Dumbledore Stinks to Dumbledore: Supreme Championand tried to get Harry to do it. Harry had told him coldly he would not support Dumbledore. Ron had called him a traitor and stormed off to the Great Hall in search of food. Harry was slowly beginning to realise Ron was like a parasite. He never let Harry be by himself. When he tried to make more friends Ron was always against it. He had also realised Ron was trying to make him lazy. Why else would he insult work and studying. Ron only liked food and Quidditch. Maybe Hermione was right. Ron was a terrible friend.
Withholding his gaze, Ron turned and stormed away. He jumped in the air slightly before disappearing to his table.
" 'Zat ought to do it," Fleur said, stowing away her wand.
Harry looked at her wand and then back at Ron, who was messily eating a beef stew. Hermione was sitting with him and as usual looked repulsed by his table manners.
"What did you do to him?"
"Whatever he normally does the most will increase his desire for what he does the most," she said with a little smile on her face.
What did Ron do the most other then laze about? The answer quickly appeared in Harry's head.
"Eating," he muttered.
Fleur looked at him before bursting into laughter. Harry joined in laughing.
FLASH!
Harry blinked as the bright light of the flash went off.
"Our new Minister enjoying a drink with the French Representative for the ICW and Harry Potter," said a voice. Harry looked up and drew eyes with a curly haired blonde. "And let's not forget Fleur Delacour, Champion of Beauxbatons."
"Hello Rita," Sirius said edgily. He kept his tongue held. There was no reason to annoy Rita with the amount of reputations she had ruined.
"Minister," she said cordially. Her eyes drew to Harry. "Harry Potter. How nice to meet you."
Harry decided to mimic what he had done to Fleur earlier. He took Rita's hand and kissed it.
"Quite the charmer, aren't you Mr Potter," she spoke. "Go get a drink Bozo."
Her loyal photographer scurried over to the bar.
"Mr Potter," she asked, feigning nervousness. "Could I possibly have an interview."
Harry felt nervous. He didn't want to talk with the reporter while he was enjoying himself.
"Maybe later on today," he caved. "Not while I'm enjoying myself. I'll see you here in two hours."
"Splendid," she praised him and then walked over to the bar.
"Harry, do you know what you have done," Sirius hissed.
"What?"
"That is Rita Skeeter," he hissed. "She's famous for destroying reputations."
At hearing this Harry had two thoughts. One was to avoid her at all costs and leave while he could. On the other hand he could possibly give her the dirt on Dumbledore he found out. The Wizarding World would be furious with him.
"What about Dumbledore's reputation?" Harry asked his godfather.
Sirius was about to retort until he realised what Harry was saying.
"Now, that's a good idea," he noted. "Yes, we will meet her in a couple of hours. I'm going to be there to make sure nothing gets out of line. Now back to what I was saying about the Kneazle Julien..."
Harry went back to his conversation with Fleur. Unconsciously he had brought his arm up and placed it around her. Fleur shivered with happiness at the feel. Her crush on Harry was growing by each new second she was getting to know him.
Sirius smiled at the spectacle in front of him. It was good to see Harry cheerful. From what he heard from Remus Harry was usually morose and depressed at school.
"Another drink, Rosmerta," he called over to her.
Two Hours Later:
"Be careful about what you say about yourself, remember," Sirius said warningly.
"Yes, I remember," Harry groaned. Sirius had lectured him on what to say and what not to say to Rita for the interview for the past thirty minutes. They both knew she would still want to know about him no matter what they told her about Dumbledore.
The door of the private room opened and Rita Skeeter walked in.
"Minister," she said respectively. "Harry Potter."
"Tell me Harry," she said, pulling out a Quick Quotes Quill. "What do you not like about the Wizarding World?"
Before Harry could answer Sirius butted in. "Rita, you might want a Dicta-Quill for this interview. It would be more interesting."
Rita knew what the tone in his voice meant. The man knew of a scandal and was going to let her in on it. She put away the Quick Quotes Quill and pulled out the Dicta-Quill.
"Alright," she said. "What's the scandal now?"
IlIlIlI
Dumbledore was not having a good time. Students were shooting him glares all around the castle. He had lost his favourite socks. His Sleekeazy hair potion was not working on his long beard and for some reason he felt that he had been modified somewhat but he couldn't place it.
"Chocolate frogs," he said to the gargoyle.
"The stairs are already open, you fool," hissed the gargoyle.
Dumbledore didn't realise the stairs were open. Who was in his office? The last thing he remembered before going up the stairs to his office was thinking of lacing his lemon drops with Firewhisky.
He woke up an hour later to find himself sitting in a comfy grey chair.
"Awake, are you Albus Dumbledore," growled a menacing voice.
Albus looked up into the smirking face of a goblin who was wearing a neat red uniform. Quickly he had guessed he had been kidnapped by the goblins and was now being held captive in Gringotts.
Two hours had gone by and The Comfy Chair was getting irritating. Every few minutes a hard filled cushion would magically appear out of thin air and slam into his face and he was now itching all over his face. Unfortunately his hands were magically restrained from giving himself a scratch.
The smaller goblin of the group came over to him. Smiling viciously at him, the goblin proceeded to whack him with a wiffle bat. Hours later the goblins sent in the most annoying and talkative goblin to deal with him.
After listening to the goblin for fifteen minutes prattling on about three people who had never been in his kitchen and trivia about The Goblin Ranger he had caved. He left Gringotts a poorer man that day, as he had 'borrowed' more of Harry's money than what was in his actual account.
"Lemon drops," shouted a voice. "Get your lemon drops here. Lemon drops."
Tears in his eyes from not being able to afford the wonderful sweets any more, he apparated back to Hogwarts.
He made his way to his office in a completely depressed and morose mood. Upon re-entering his office he was once again grabbed. He didn't have enough time to react before his wand was taken off him.
"You are under arrest Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore on the orders of Minister Sirius Black."
Rufus Scrimgeour put magical restraining cuffs on the old man. With the help of the other four Aurors that were sent to Hogwarts with him to arrest the Headmaster he forced the old man on his feet as he had fallen down from the shock. Dumbledore tried to struggle and was immediately stunned with four wands.
"Get him back to the Ministry and into a Holding Cell," Rufus ordered.
When Dumbledore woke up the next time he recognised the familiar walls in the Ministry's Holding Cells. He had visited this room many times in the past war to try and offer redemption to the arrested Death Eaters. None of them were compliable.
Desperately thirsty and hungry as he hadn't eaten since having his lemon drops early the previous day, he began edging his way to the toilet in the room. He tried to flush it to get clean water but it wouldn't flush. He had just started drinking the foul taste when the cell door opened and a glass of pumpkin juice was given to him. He hungrily gulped down the drink in hope of getting rid of the foul taste that was now roaming his stomach. It did very little to get rid of the taste.
He was suddenly lifted from his weak position on the floor by two Aurors who then escorted him to the Wizengamot Chambers. He was forced into the seat in the middle on the floor. The rattling chains on the arms of the seat sprang up and folded itself around his wrist, preventing him from escaping.
He looked around in fear and confusion. People looked at him in pity, others in confusion, and many others in anger. He could not tell if they were angry at him or angry that he was arrested and treated like a criminal.
Augusta Longbottom headed the seat of the Chief Warlock for the questioning. She had spoken with Sirius Black before coming in and knew what questions to ask. She never fully liked Dumbledore as he used his power to prevent the Lestrange's from receiving the Dementor's Kiss, citing that they deserved the chance at redemption. She didn't believe that Bellatrix would ever repent for her crimes. The insane witch would kill herself than rather feel remorse for her actions.
"Trial of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore on the-"she intoned.
Dumbledore didn't hear her. He was near to falling asleep throughout the talking. Fifteen minutes later he heard the first charge that woke him up entirely and put fear into him.
"You have been charged with pilfering money from the account of the Potter Family," Augusta said. "However, we have already been informed by the goblins that this charge is now void and has been settled."
"Second Charges consist of going against the Will Of The Potter's-"
Albus once again went into shock. More charges were read, all of which were true but not important. Didn't these people understand what the Greater Good was?
In the end he was force fed Veritaserum as he had become a hostile witness to the court. From there on in he told the truth while under the influence of the potion. Most were disgusted and furious he had violated the last wishes of the longstanding Potter line and knew who the Secret Keeper was, and yet failed to inform them of it when he claimed that Sirius Black was the Secret Keeper.
"Those in favour of the accused being guilty," more than half of the witches and wizards present put up their hands.
Dumbledore was voted guilty. He was expecting himself to be escorted to Azkaban immediately following the trial, however, a different conviction came.
"It has been suggested by our Minister Sirius Black, which I am in full support of," Augusta continued. "That Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore will be forced to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. At the end of the Triwizard Tournament, whether he wins or loses, he will then be sent to Azkaban for his crimes."
"You are also dismissed as Headmaster from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry due to confliction with the Tournament. Case Adjourned."
IlIlIlI
Ron Weasley was furious as he read the Daily Prophet. He hated reading so much, but he wanted to read this particular article in the hopes of seeing Dumbledore being cleared of all charges. Instead he found out that Dumbledore had been sacked as Headmaster. The article even mentioned that Harry Potter brought the information to the light.
That was it. There was no way Harry deserved his friendship any more. He would stay away from him completely. Hermione had taken to moving away from him more than half the time as well ever since his appetite had started increasing. At the thought of food he reached for the kippers and bacon to help start his day, ignoring the disgusted look from Seamus Finnegan, who was sitting beside him. Ron soon found himself sitting alone. But he didn't care. Food was more important than friendship. Right?
IlIlIlI
Albus Dumbledore had no place to stay at the castle. The wards which were now controlled by his former Deputy Minerva McGonagall who had now taken up the mantle of Headmistress had let him in, but had restricted him from entering certain places. He couldn't enter the Great Hall to eat anything. His office had barricaded against him which was now controlled by Minerva. He couldn't even access his old quarters from thirty years prior from before he had been made Headmaster.
"What are yeh doin' Dumbledore?" came a heavy gruff voice.
Dumbledore turned to face the one man who put too much trust in him. However, instead of seeing a happy and loyal Hagrid, the man was looking at him suspiciously.
"Why didn' yeh tell the Ministry Sirius wasn't the Secret Keeper all those years ago?" he asked him. "Yeh told me to get Harry away from tha' 'Lunatic Black' because he was the one who betrayed them."
Dumbledore was not expecting this. He had gone through hell for the entire day and hadn't come across one friendly face throughout it all. The remembrance of that goblin taunting him about his fear of commitment came into his mind.
He had no idea how he convinced the suspicious half-giant, but now he had regained a small bit of trust back and was allowed to sleep in Hagrid's Hut for the night. He received a bit of food to eat, but Hagrid's cooking was rather poor as usual, until he found out that Hagrid accidentally gave him Fangs dinner by mistake which was expired pork. But Dumbledore didn't care. He was glad enough to get some food. He soon fell asleep on the rickety couch in Hagrid's Living Room.
Late in the night Fang woke up feeling queasy. The poor dog was beginning to feel sick from the meal that was meant for Dumbledore. The dog ran around the Living Room whining before eventually throwing up on the sleeping figure of the former Headmaster on the couch. The dog went back to sleep peacefully afterwards. Dumbledore, being a heavy sleeper did not wake up and would not see the mess until the following morning. By then it would be too late.