Harry Potter: Don't touch

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On the thirty-first of October at two o'clock in the morning and forty-seven minutes, all of the Puffenduites were peacefully asleep. Or rather, almost all of them...

- Shall we? - Justin whispered.

Harry listened carefully to Ernie's sniffling.

- Do you think Ernie's a heavy sleeper?

- Whatever, I'm sick of lying here," Harry could barely see Finch-Fletchley's face without his glasses, even though his eyes were used to the darkness, but he was sure he was making his usual disgruntled expression. - A one-man theatre. You could bring him along and Hogwarts would have six champions instead of five. One more, one less, we'll be killed after the results are announced anyway.

- If we follow your logic, we could make the whole faculty champions. Let's just do this properly, follow the plan.

- Harry, come on, we said we'd meet at three in the morning, ten minutes isn't going to solve anything. And it'll take a while to get there, we'll all know tomorrow anyway. And I think we'll get away with it, Fred and George will blame it on me, I'll blame it on you, and you tell them what Mad-Eye told you.

- I won't betray Moody," the thought of "blaming Mad-Eye" didn't even cross Potter's mind. The only thing Harry couldn't accept at all was betrayal. - Let's wait a few more minutes, at least.

- ERNIE, WE'RE GOING TO THE THREE WIZARDS TOURNAMENT, COME WITH US? - Justin suddenly said loudly.

In this silence it was like shouting. Harry leapt to Finch-Fletchley's bed and pointed his wand at him.

- If you yell again, you're going to spend the next few minutes in a stunned state.

- Come on, see, he didn't hear anything. If he had, he'd have had a reaction, come on! - Finch-Fletchley jumped up and started to dress, not at all bothered by the wand pointed at him.

- What if one of the neighbours heard you? - Potter didn't relax.

- The walls are thick in here, and the sound doesn't transmit. I screamed when you magnetised me with the beckoning spell and no one heard me.

- All right," Harry, though a little angry at Finch-Fletchley, acknowledged his point, put on his glasses, and began to pack. He decided to bring Tom Riddle with him just in case. He obviously hadn't been sleeping at night, and they might need some adult help to get through Dumbledore's line.

* * *

- What took you so long? - One of the Weasley twins asked as they approached the hall.

Justin looked at Harry expressively. He looked at Harry with a look that said, "I told you so!" unspoken.

- I told you we're meeting at three o'clock, so why would we come any earlier?

- Makes sense," agreed the other twin. - Okay, we've done a little preparation, and look what we have.

The first twin took out four vials from the pockets of his robes.

- The black ones are yours, you'll need a bigger dose. The red bottles are ours, just a couple of sips," he said. I've coloured them on purpose so they won't get mixed up.

- Well, let's tell me at once who's Fred and who's George," interposed Finch-Fletchley. - I want to know who I'm talking to.

- I'm Fred," said Fred.

- You'll never guess my name," said George wryly.

- Well, it doesn't matter, I have a slight doubt," Potter intervened. - I went to see Zhou in the Hospital Wing today. Just before lights out. There was some bloke there with a huge beard. I wasn't listening to Snape, but it seemed like a side effect of the potion.

- Hmm," George thought.

- I don't care, we only live once, we'll try it anyway," Fred said confidently. - By the way, did you tell her about our plan?

- No," Harry blushed. The fact that he had decided not to tell his girlfriend anything bothered him quite a bit. - Why tell her anything if it might not happen. That's if we make it work, I'll tell her tomorrow.

- He just doesn't want to compete with her in the Tournament," Finch-Fletchley put in. - He'll tell her about the plan, and she'll ask us to go with her, and then she'll take the cup from him. What's the use of that?

- Now, are we here to chat or what? Let's go now, and be vigilant, all right? We're not the only smart ones. Who knows who else might try to make their voice heard tonight," Potter said.

- 'Aye, Mad-Eye Potter,' Finch-Fletchley saluted and walked into the room with the Cup.

The twins walked in after him. Potter was the last to enter.

- Colloportus! - he pointed his wand at the door.

- 'Excellent precaution,' George complimented him. - Okay, who's going to apply the Confundus?

- What do you mean, who? - Harry wondered.- There are only two sixth years amongst the four of us.

- Actually, I thought you were some sort of Confundus expert," George frowned. - I personally can't remember the last time I used it. Fred, can you?

- I've never even known him," he grimaced.

Harry clutched his head.

- I think our plan has already failed at the first stage," Finch-Fletchley commented phlegmatically. - Personally, the only thing I can do is to embarrass a freshman, and that's only if he's as intelligent as Crabbe. I thought you were going to be the one to throw the Confundus, Harry. I thought you said you trained him.

Yes, Potter was indeed training to cast the Goblet of Fire himself. Mad-Eye had shown him how to use Confundus against artefacts, which the Goblet of Fire was, as well as how to purposely make him forget certain information. And Potter had practised, a lot of practising. Snakes would forget how they got here, and some would imagine themselves to be a basilisk, all just as Harry had intended. He doubted it was what was called a powerful Confundus, however, and had not given up trying to make it stronger, but after Fred and George had started to participate in his plan, Harry had calmed down and decided that sixth years should definitely be able to use simple spells at a high level.

- Yes, I've been preparing. But..." Harry hesitated. - Okay, we didn't come here for nothing. I'll give it a try. Confundus!

The orange beam hit the Goblet of Fire and disappeared. The Goblet has no reaction.

- Did it work? - George asked. - It didn't seem to have any effect.

- Well, I did it right, I used it without preparation. But did it work? Who knows?

- That sounds convincing," Fred drank the aging potion without thinking. - Well, I'll be off, then.

He calmly crossed the line Dumbledore had drawn. And... Nothing happened. Harry even felt a kind of disappointment. Was the Hogwarts Headmaster's defences so easy to bypass?

- "I wrote on a piece of paper that I'm from Georgemania School," Fred took a piece of paper out of his pocket and waved it around. - What a laugh it'll be when the commentator announces us, Fred from Georgmania and George from....

Flash. The Weasley's were thrown outside the restricted line. Harry had already worked out the nearest route to the Hospital Wing, because he could have been badly bruised. Fred stood up quickly, as if nothing had happened, and examined himself carefully.

- A beard," he commented. - It happens. I'll try again.

Harry didn't have time to object, because George intervened. He had a better argument.

- No, wait, you shouldn't try again. It's my turn, because if only one of us has a beard, we'll be recognised!

George drank the aging potion and, ignoring Potter's objections, stepped into the circle.

- Just so I can rely on your sanity one more time! - Harry exclaimed unhappily.- Forget it, Harry, I've got a brilliant plan," and after waiting for George to fly out of the circle like his brother, Finch-Fletchley took out his paper and pointed his wand at it. - Vingardium Leviosa!

The piece of paper flew up and, at the command of Justin's wand, headed towards the forbidden line.

- That might work, Justin, you're a head! - Potter praised his friend.

The paper reached Dumbledore's forbidden line, then it hit an invisible wall and burned.

- Good thing I have a spare," Finch-Fletchley was not discouraged. - Anybody got any ideas?

- They certainly don't," Harry pointed at the Weasley twins, who were sporting beards. - I do, because I'm prepared.

It was time for plan B. Tom Riddle has been sitting in his diary for nearly a century. If the forbidden line needs a piece of paper in contact with the name of someone over eighteen, it will get it. For example, you could put all the papers on the diary, then airlift the diary to the Goblet of Fire and drop them from there.

Potter pulled out the diary and pen and began to clarify this point with Riddle.

- What's in there? - George looked away from the game of 'Who can pull his beard the hardest'.

- His centenarian mate, don't mind him," Finch-Fletchley waved his hand.

And what did George do after that? That's right, he decided to ignore it!

I've got a problem with the Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore's got some sort of restricted line that can only be crossed by someone over seventeen, so can I carry our papers over and throw them into the Goblet? You're obviously over seventeen. - Harry wrote.

Harry, I'm probably going to upset you, but I'm sixteen.- Tom replied instantly.

'I wonder how he's not bored there at all?- Harry mentally pitied him. - 'His only entertainment is talking to me.

'I know you're sixteen,' Harry wrote. - 'But you've spent a lot of years in a diary! So for the forbidden line, you'd be an adult.

Doesn't count, I'm a memory of my sixteen-year-old self, so I'm always sixteen.

Harry snickered. Plan B had failed before it even reached the preparation stage, and he had no plan C.

- 'Listen, Harry,' Justin exclaimed. - I've got a brilliant idea. Why don't you take Element, eh? She's smart, isn't she? Give her four pieces of paper and she'll carry them in her beak. I'll bring her mice every month for a year after that!

- The owl's about six years old at the most," Potter snapped at him. - Justin, we need some real ideas!

- Oh, yeah, yeah, right," Finch-Fletchley snickered.

- Look, what if..." George said suddenly.

Half an hour passed. The twins were arguing about whether the cross-dressing trick would work, Finch-Fletchley was trying to find the upper limit of the barrier.

Suddenly a brilliant thought visited Potter's brain. He had an epiphany!

- I've got it! - Harry exclaimed, drawing the attention of the Weasley twins. - Why are we even trying to cross the forbidden line?! We could just pull the Goblet of Fire out of it. Accio Goblet of Fire!

Harry pointed his wand at the centre of the ancient artefact. The Goblet of Fire did not react to the spell and remained where it was.

Finch-Fletchley looked away from his study of the magical barrier and asked glumly:

- And you were the one who said something about normal ideas?

* * *

Two hours have passed.

- I don't mean to interrupt you, but the teachers will be awake soon, and the elves will start making breakfast," George said. - I don't think I'll want to sleep under the invigorating spell, but that's not the problem, we'd better call it a night. It wouldn't be good if we got caught out here.

- Don't distract me, we're almost there! - Harry shushed him.

They had finally succeeded in moving the Goblet of Fire. Potter had thrown an invisibility cloak over it half an hour ago, and now, using Accio Maximus on it, was moving the Goblet along with it. A couple of times the mantle flew in alone, as it didn't fix the Cup properly, but things got much better once Justin was included in the process. With a weaker mantle reinforced with a stronger mantle on one side... Anyway, it was hard to explain the system, but it worked, the Cup started to move. Simply put, Harry would pull the mantle against the cup and move it, very weakly, but it would move, and Justin would stop the mantle from simply flying around the obstacle, as all objects did when the beckoning spell was used on them.

George had spent these two hours trying to use every spell he could to break through Dumbledore's defences, or at least make a small gap. To no avail.

Fred took a more clever route, he used magic to write his name and school on the floor next to the goblet and was now trying to rip out that piece of floor and throw it at the goblet.

- We don't even know if Confundus worked! - Between attempts to break through the defences George was the voice of reason.

- 'Stay out of the way,' Harry said

- 'We're almost done,' Finch-Fletchley was focused on controlling the position of the invisibility cloak.

Another half hour passed.

Fred had failed in his scheme, as soon as he managed to pull a piece of the floor out, it immediately burned. He, along with George, now joined Harry and Justin. For ten minutes there were only cries of "Accio maxima!" in the room. And so, after so much labour, the Cup emerged - or, one might say, crawled out - from behind the barred line.

- YES! - exclaimed Justin.

- Harry walked over to the Cup and threw his own in. - In case Confundus didn't work, no one will even know we tried to participate.

- That we specifically, yes," George tossed his paper. - However, a goblet outside the forbidden line and a missing piece of floor might give them a bad idea.

- If this works out, it will be our grandest prank ever. No, it'll be the biggest prank in the history of Hogwarts," Fred was the third. - 'Imagine if George and I took first place! Weasley and Weasley took the Three Wizards' Cup!

- I think they'll change the name," Finch-Fletchley came up last. - When there are five Hogwarts contenders in the Tournament, it's no longer the Three Wizards' Cup, it's the Seven Wizards' Cup, maybe, but not the Three Wizards' Cup. I'm personally more worried about the other schools. Their representatives might take offence at us.

- In fact, if we succeed, tomorrow will be a difficult day," Potter remarked. - There's the international scandal with the two countries, the deterioration of relations between the schools, the disdainful looks of the Slytherins, serious conversations with the Dean and probably Dumbledore, and I'll have to explain myself to Moody, who won't approve of me telling the other students about the confundus.

- Don't forget that you have to explain yourself to Zhou tomorrow," Finch-Fletchley reassured him. - And you didn't mention the tough tests and the scary monsters either. We're used to it, though; we caught a basilisk at the last Tournament. Well, we were in our second year playing it - not a pleasant experience.

- Then I'll go to the trials with Hagrid's roosters," Harry decided. - But that's only if we succeed. If we don't, at least we had a good time! Right?

- Yeah," George agreed. - You say that like you don't even want our plan to work anymore. You two are in the gang, by the way. Let's get a move on. You get to bed, Fred and I are going to the Hospital Wing to get rid of the beard. It's fine if we tried to put our name in the cup, it'd be suspicious if we didn't, but you two better keep a low profile, it'll give you something to think about. And yes, if it works out, tequila's on us. All right, let's go! We'd be stupid to get caught right now.