Broken Rules
Somewhat stiff and confused applause echoed through the Great Hall as everyone watched Harry and Draco walk together toward Sirius, taking the half-burnt parchments with their names before heading for the side door.
Draco was truly stunned; he stared fixedly at the paper in his hands, brow furrowed and body tense.
Even Harry leaned over his shoulder to look at it. Draco's name was clearly written there, and he could easily recognize that it had been done in his own handwriting. It was the same neat script he always used on his assignments.
Draco lifted his gaze to Harry before letting out an annoyed sigh.
"This is your fault. In the end, your curse finally spread to others," he said at once, his tone full of irritation and carrying a dry hint of mockery that only someone like Harry could recognize.
Harry looked at him for a moment, amused by his frustration, before quickening his pace, faintly satisfied that he was not the only one who had fallen into the mess.
The room they entered was decorated with portraits of witches and wizards. In front of them, a warm fire crackled in the fireplace. As soon as they stepped inside, the painted figures turned their attention to the boys; one lady in a portrait even followed them with her eyes as she glided toward another frame nearby and began whispering something into the ear of a different wizard.
Meanwhile, the previously chosen champions, Viktor Krum and Luciel, stood near the fireplace. Luciel was trying to strike up a friendly conversation with Viktor, but the latter kept a serious expression, clearly doing his best to ignore him as he leaned against the side of the hearth.
Fortunately for him, when Harry and Draco entered the room, Luciel shifted his focus.
"Oh, it's you two. It was obvious someone from your group would end up a champion," he said upon seeing them, accepting it naturally. "So then, which one of you is it?"
Harry looked at him with a faint smile.
"Well… it seems it's both of us," he replied.
That made Viktor lift his head, his gaze serious and fixed, brow furrowing slightly. Luciel, for his part, studied them for a moment, raising an eyebrow before breaking into an amused smile.
"Always causing trouble. Well, that means that at last—" he was about to continue when, before he could finish, raised voices echoed down the same corridor Harry and Draco had just come through, accompanied by hurried footsteps.
"…don't play with me, Sirius. You know perfectly well that the only idiot capable of causing something like this is you. Do you think we're fools? You put Harry's name in the Goblet, but you also put Draco's?" said a voice they immediately recognized as Narcissa's. She sounded furious. Normally she was not one to speak too much, but when she was angry, she always had plenty to say.
"My dear cousin, I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding. Yes, I put Harry's name in because I was very eager to see him in action, but I was not the one who put Draco's name in. You know how vindictive those brats can be, and I'll already have enough trouble defending myself from one. But both of them? I'm not that insane," Sirius replied, trying to calm her down.
"Then this could be a trap. All the more reason for my son not to compete in this nonsense," Narcissa said immediately.
"Who would set a trap specifically for Draco? With Harry, I wouldn't doubt it for a second, but Draco… maybe one of his friends put his name in as a joke, or perhaps the Goblet simply malfunctioned," Sirius said calmly.
Harry had been listening to everything, and the irritation settled in quietly. Draco's amused glance was enough to make the thought linger longer than it should have.
At times, even he himself began to wonder whether there might not be some truth to it after all.
At that moment, the people entering the room finally came into view.
Sirius walked at the front, wearing a somewhat forced smile.
Behind him came Narcissa, visibly furious; Wanda, quite calm; Madame Maxime, with a frustrated expression; McGonagall, stern; and Karkaroff, clearly irritated. Dumbledore, Crouch, and Bagman followed close behind.
"This is a trap. Obviously, it's a trap," Karkaroff said, his smile tight and his eyes cold as ice.
"Yes, you've been repeating that the whole way here," Sirius replied irritably, throwing him a sharp look, as if thoroughly tired of hearing it.
"I was not aware the rules allowed the host school to have the right to two champions," Karkaroff added, letting out a short, unpleasant laugh. "Oh, perhaps I didn't read the rules carefully enough," he added sarcastically.
"That's impossible," Madame Maxime cut in. "Hogwarts cannot have two champions. It's unfair."
"Could you all be quiet for a moment?" Sirius said, fixing the headmasters with a cold stare. They let out annoyed huffs before moving closer to their respective champions.
Even so, Narcissa's gaze continued to bore into Sirius's head, prompting him to release a tired sigh before turning toward Draco and Harry.
"Did you put your name in?" he asked Draco directly.
"No," Draco replied just as directly.
"Do you know who might have done it?"
At the question, Draco seemed to think it over for a moment.
"I might have an idea, or several, actually, but none of them are particularly concerning. Pansy Parkinson and Lucius Carrow are possible candidates," he replied. "Even Daphne, just for fun. Not counting you, of course, who, frankly, is still the most suspicious," he added.
"Ahem, I already said it wasn't me," Sirius defended himself. "Still, we'll have to question them, just in case," he added before glancing toward Narcissa, who was listening closely to her son's words.
Narcissa seemed to calm down a little. If her own son said it was not concerning and that he might even know who had done it, then perhaps Sirius was right and some student had done it without thinking too much about the consequences.
With that settled, Sirius looked back at Draco calmly.
"Do you want to compete?" he asked this time, his tone more serious, though still relaxed.
Draco remained silent for a moment, as if he were genuinely considering it. Then he glanced at Harry. "If I agree to compete, is it against him or with him?" Draco asked, pointing at him.
Harry, who until moments ago had not seemed particularly invested in all of this, now had his full attention lit up. He looked at Sirius as well, waiting for his answer, a clear spark of competitive excitement evident in both of them.
Sirius knew this perfectly well, so he gave them the answer they most wanted to hear.
"All the trials are designed to be against each other," he said with an amused smile.
"Good. I don't think I'd have any problem giving it a try, then," Draco said at last.
Narcissa and Wanda, who knew just how competitive their sons were, especially with each other, could not help letting out a sigh. At the same time, they felt it might not be such a bad thing to give them a proper outlet to compete, one that would not end like the incident with the detective game in Ravenclaw Tower.
"Fine, then let him compete," Sirius said without overthinking it.
That, however, immediately stirred up protests from Madame Maxime and Karkaroff.
"He cannot," Karkaroff said furiously.
Madame Maxime also seemed about to start speaking in French, but Sirius raised a hand to stop them.
"Just choose another champion and be done with it," he said, as if the solution were so simple that arguing about it was pointless.
"That cannot be done," Crouch suddenly interjected, his voice cold and serious as he stood in the shadows of the room. "Only those chosen by the Goblet may compete—"
Sirius stared at him without saying a single word, which was enough to make him fall silent.
"The Goblet was the first thing to break its own rules. Are you blind, or are you simply choosing not to see? Everything is already broken. Or do we need to destroy the Goblet in order to move forward?" Sirius said, his gaze icy.
"The Goblet of Fire is an extremely ancient artifact. Attempting to tamper with it could put the students in danger—" Crouch began, but Sirius cut him off before he could finish.
"Yes, yes, ancient and all that nonsense," Sirius cut in flatly. "You can stop there. Your involvement in this was never requested. If the three headmasters agree, you have nothing more to say," he replied, his tone openly disgusted, before turning toward Madame Maxime and Karkaroff. "So let's do this. The champions chosen by Beauxbatons and Durmstrang can be changed if necessary. That way, there's no issue, right?" he said to both of them.
For a moment, they both fell silent, weighing the pros and cons. There were clearly more advantages than drawbacks, and that was hard to ignore.
"I suppose it could be done that way," Madame Maxime said after glancing at Luciel and then at Hogwarts' two champions.
Karkaroff still looked irritated, but he also knew it was a very reasonable option. What bothered him the most was agreeing with Sirius.
"Well… I suppose it's the bare minimum," he said coldly.
"Then is everything clear, or does anyone have any objections?" Sirius asked, looking around.
Crouch seemed to have several, but no one appeared particularly interested in hearing them. With all three headmasters apparently settling the matter so simply, he was left standing there with an annoyed, frozen expression.
"Then please go fetch the chosen champions and let's finish this," Sirius said, sounding slightly tired as he waved a hand dismissively.
Madame Maxime and Karkaroff left together, heading back toward the Great Hall, while the others remained in silence for a few seconds.
Harry watched his godfather with a cold look, while Sirius kept returning his gaze with carefree smiles, as if nothing were wrong.
Moments later, Karkaroff and Madame Maxime returned, each accompanied by a student, both wearing expressions of surprise and confusion.
One of them was roughly Viktor's height, though more muscular, with a sharper, more severe face. He was clearly Durmstrang's second choice, in case Viktor had not been selected.
Madame Maxime, for her part, brought along someone quite familiar.
Fleur.
She first looked at her cousin, Luciel, then at Harry and Draco, as if waiting for an explanation.
That explanation came from Sirius.
"Very well. Now that we're all here, I'll explain how this will work. Each school will have two champions, but they will also compete against each other to secure victory for their school and prove who truly deserves the title of champion. That means they will not only compete against the champions of the other schools, but also against their own. Hogwarts has two champions who are completely immovable, but Durmstrang and Beauxbatons may replace one of theirs if they deem it necessary, while the other will remain equally fixed," Sirius explained, as everyone nodded in understanding.
"That just makes things far more exciting than before, doesn't it?" he added with an enthusiastic smile. "The first task will take place on November twenty-fourth and will be a trial meant to test your skill, competence, and training. There, you will show whether you are truly ready to represent your schools and prove to the audience what you are made of. That's all."