Harry Potter: Don't touch

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Potter's lessons went by in a flash. Unlike Finch-Fletchley, who had slept unconcernedly through all the lessons - though he wasn't sure about divination - Harry couldn't bring himself to settle down. Casting another Aweak on himself, he began trying to predict the reactions of those around him to their foursome of champions. Now Potter wasn't sure if it was the right thing for him to do to try and enter the Tournament. Potter hadn't seen Fred and George, they were either asleep, in class, or in the Hospital Wing, but he knew they had no regrets. Finch-Fletchley didn't bother much, either; he was sleeping peacefully, and he was fine. But he couldn't do it himself.

He'd had a similar feeling six months ago, when he'd accidentally injured Zhou by breaking the rules. But then, nothing had happened, and Chang had said it was okay, even though she didn't know the whole truth. Now what he did was far beyond good. Yes, Moody had said it would be good training, Finch-Fletchley was no doubt in favour, well, Fred and George Weasley couldn't be against any event that involved breaking the rules. Were these people an authority to him? Should he himself have thought about what he was doing. How would he fight against a basilisk when of the defence spells he only knew Protego? This was all something he should have thought about before he decided to pay a nighttime visit to the room with the Cup.

Towards evening, Harry was able to calm down. Three things helped him in this.

The first was the Aweak spell. Not only did it take away the drowsiness, but it also brought back clarity of thought. Having used this spell for the fourth time - which was not good, his body couldn't go without sleep for long - Potter began to look at the situation optimistically.

Second - Elemental. Potter decided to visit his owl. And that was it. He just looked at the living creature that would love him despite how many rules he would break, and calmed down completely.

The third was the book in the Room-by-Wish. Harry wanted to see if his Confundus had worked. To do so, he went to the wonder-room and asked her to provide him with a book about the uses of Confundus. From the information gleaned from this book, Potter deduced two basic facts.

1) Targeted and powerful Confundus is difficult to apply. Very difficult. It's better to use Obliviate.

2) It is possible to use Confundus on a sentient inanimate object or an inanimate object with only the potential for sentient perception. However, successful application requires three times the effort for the same application on an animate object alone. This is mainly due to the ability of animate objects to feel emotions. And in the event that Confundus was successful - the inanimate object should have glowed orange. And the Goblet of Fire certainly didn't glow after Potter's attempt.

In other words, the likelihood that the Goblet of Fire "forgot" that there were only three schools in the Tournament is incredibly small. Confundus worked completely differently from most spells. To use most powerful spells, one had to perform the necessary actions with as much effort as possible. With Confundus it was a different story, the more unexpected the application of Confundus, the more powerful the spell. For example, if you've spent your whole life preparing for a Confundus exam, it will be very weak, if you get it at all. However, if you were playing Quidditch and Lord Voldemort suddenly jumped out of the bushes and you foolishly hit him with Confundus, Voldemort would probably forget who he was for about two months. A strong Confundus is a sudden Confundus.

Upon learning that he had failed, Harry rejoiced and changed his mind on the matter of the Tournament for joy. So what if he broke the rules? That bloke in the Hospital Wing with the beard tried to break the rules too, yet he wasn't even taken off the points. Conclusion? Dumbledore valued rebels and allowed them to try to compete in the Tournament. Well, in that case, how is Harry himself any worse? He'd spent so much time preparing, studying spells, and here was an opportunity to test himself. Why does he dislike himself so much? If his plan with Confundus had succeeded, he would have been champion, and Moody, Tonks, and the Gryffindors would have definitely approved of that, because of the Weasley twins. Riddle, Creevey, and more Ginny Weasley would probably appreciate it. Oh, and Dumbledore wouldn't have minded. How Zhou would react was of course a question, but either way Potter would be able to convince her of the rightness of his intentions. Thus, Harry regained his cheerful disposition.

* * *

Potter didn't tell Justin about the failure of their plan. Nor did he tell Fred and George, who came to dinner smiling happily. Harry didn't want to upset them. Finch-Fletchley gave out one joke after another, and the Weasley twins were busy at dinner entertaining three faculty tables at once, much to the disappointment of the Slytherins and Durmstrangs.

"Why tell me something if you're not sure of it yourself," Potter reassured himself. - Who knows, maybe the Goblet of Fire purely theoretically can't glow orange, or maybe the book was inaccurate. And everyone's having so much fun, even Dumbledore and McGonagall are smiling as they glance over at Fred and George, who are having a good time, but they're doing everything within the rules and being quite peaceful.

Finch-Fletchley added a little tartness to the honey barrel with his careless remark.

- Did you tell Zhou about our success?

Given that they were sitting at the claw table and Zhou was sitting next to Potter, the question was purely rhetorical. Finch-Fletchley didn't seem to doubt that Harry had told everything, and with his question he wanted to raise Potter's sincerity in Chang's eyes. However, the opposite came out. Harry gave Finch-Fletchley an expressive look, caught the look that meant "well, what the fuck did you open your mouth for?" and reached for his frog legs.

- Said what? - Zhou interjected.

'A word is not a sparrow.

- Anyway, I had planned to tell you a long time ago, but you were in the Hospital Wing and we ran out of time. The point is, Justin, the Weasley twins and I tried to throw our names into the Goblet of Fire tonight," Harry said.

- But why? Did you two seriously want to enter this Tournament? - Zhou didn't seem to much approve of such actions on Harry's part.

- 'Well... Yes, actually,' Potter admitted.

Chang took a deep breath and said hopefully:

- You didn't make it, did you? Don't tell me you did!

- No, of course not," Potter shook his head. - You weren't here yesterday. Dumbledore drew a forbidden line and enchanted the Goblet of Fire. We were able to get round the line, but we couldn't get the spell off the Goblet of Fire.

- Don't listen to him," Finch-Fletchley intervened. - We've done it. Or rather, we've probably succeeded. So in about fifteen minutes we'll be school champions. Hopefully, I'll be the first to be chosen by the Cup.

Potter turned away from Zhou to Justin.

- 'I was reading a book today, it says the conditions that must be met to enchant an artefact. We didn't fulfil those conditions. Yeah, we tried, but we failed.

- Really? - Finch-Fletchley gloomed.

- 'Unfortunately, yes,' Harry turned to Zhou again. - 'You're not mad at me for not telling you, are you? I planned to, it's just that you got sick at an unfortunate moment. Thought it would be alright if I told you before the announcement.

- I'm a little angry, I could have told you beforehand,'' Zhou thought for a while. - Forget it, though. It's not like it's a big deal, you didn't make it. Just, Harry, please, if you want to do something unusual, tell me first, okay?

- I will! - Harry nodded.

That seemed to be the end of the topic.

* * *

And so dinner was over, plates cleared of food. The twins stopped entertaining the people and sat down at the claw table as well. The Headmaster rose from his seat.

- The Goblet of Fire is about to make a decision," Dumbledore began. - I think it needs another minute. When the names of the champions are known, I will ask them to come to the table and proceed to the room adjoining the hall. - He pointed to the door behind the professor's desk. - There they will receive instructions for the first round of the competition.

- When your name falls out of the Fire Cup, you'll have to explain yourself," Finch-Fletchley whispered, so that Zhou wouldn't hear him.

- It won't fall out," Potter replied in a whisper, and then added, "I hope...

The lights went out in the Great Hall, and after a few minutes the flame of the Goblet of Fire suddenly turned red, a pillar of sparks erupted, and a burnt piece of parchment popped out. The hall froze. Fear and panic returned to Harry Potter for a moment, but he shoved those feelings deep inside himself. Their plan had failed. His name purely theoretically could not be on that parchment. Dumbledore reached out and picked up the parchment, lit by a bluish-white fire, and read in a loud, distinct voice:

- "Durmstrang Champion - Viktor Krum."

Harry exhaled, but the hall erupted in joyous shouts and thunderous applause. Victor Cram was loved for his great Quidditch game. However, Potter was sure that as a paddler he was definitely stronger than the Durmstrang student. The noise in the hall died down and the next piece of parchment flew out of the Goblet of Fire. This time Potter had time to get a good look at it. It was definitely not their company's note. Which meant that if their plan actually worked, there was a nine point four ninths chance that there wouldn't be any illegal notes among the first two.

- "The Beauxbaton champion is Fleur Delacour!"- Dumbledore proclaimed.

To the applause of the hall, a tall blonde girl stepped out from behind the near edge of the Ravenclaw table.

- Fucking hell! - Finch-Fletchley spoke up.

- Pourquoi diable est-elle?(1) said Evette Roux, who was sitting across from Potter.

Harry recognised the Beauxbaton champion as the same girl he'd had his eye on yesterday, and with whom Justin had made a bet.

- Come on, don't get upset," Harry tried to reassure his friend. - Look how pretty she is, she's probably met a lot of guys and has forgotten about the bet.

Harry regretted his words twice. The first time was when, zero point one hundredth of a second after he'd said it, Fleur Delacourt gave Finch-Fletchley a mocking look. The second time, zero point two hundredths of a second after he said it, Zhou spoke up:

- Do you think she's beautiful? Who do you think is prettier, her or me?

Over the selection of suitable excuses and streamlined answers, Harry didn't notice a third name come out of the Cup.

- "Hogwarts Champion - Cedric Diggory."

But the odds of there not being a single 'forbidden' note from the first three pieces of parchment were already too small. Twenty-seven three hundred and forty-thirds, that is, about eight per cent. The plan obviously wasn't working. By now, even the Weasley twins had realised it.

- Shit, that's it? - Fred's smile slid off his face. - Did we really fail?

It was then that Harry belatedly realised exactly who the champion was. It was Cedric! Cedric Diggory. Well, not him, but he's a Puffin. Captain of their Quidditch team, Tonks' boyfriend. Indeed, the Cup has chosen the most worthy. A little belatedly, Potter joined in the applause as well.

- Excellent! We now know the names of the champions," Dumbledore announced cheerfully. - I am sure that I can rely on all of you, including the students of Beauxbaton and Durmstrang. It is your duty to give your full support to your friends who are defending the honour of your schools. By supporting your champions, you will make a truly invaluable contribution...

Dumbledore stopped suddenly. The Goblet of Fire turned red again. Potter's mind raced through all of his arguments for why their plan should NOT have worked. Why was the Goblet acting so strangely then? A few seconds later, a burnt piece of paper flew out of it. Dumbledore didn't expect it and didn't catch it, but it landed on the floor, following the laws of physics. Well, at least something here obeyed physics.

Zhou gave Harry a hard look.

- 'Um... I don't know what's going on. Our plan didn't work. It's probably just a blank piece of paper," Potter tried to justify himself.

The whole room watched as Dumbledore picked up the strange piece of paper from the floor and stared at the name. And the headmaster's face ran the gamut of feelings. Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, misunderstanding again, only slightly different, horror and realisation of failure.

- The champion of Georgemania High School was Fred Weasley.

1) Why the hell is she?