He walked forward, the wind was blowing in the forest, but Barry felt nothing, not even the burning cold that was so familiar to him.Ahead was a lake, the water was black, not a single ripple, a smooth mirror-like surface. Barry scooped up some water with his hand, and it was indeed black, not an illusion created by the reflection of the black sky. He lowered his hand, freeing himself from the water, which did not even think to splash...
He saw himself in the reflection. Barry was no longer young; although he was in his early thirties, he clearly did not look young, his face gaunt, his former brilliance lost, his green eyes reflecting pain and fatigue. Allen sat down at the edge of the shore, hugging himself, and began to look into the distance.
Someone was walking towards him, the silhouette of a young man, or rather a boy. The closer he got, the clearer it became who it was.
A thin boy, shorter than average, wearing old, worn-out clothes that were too big for him. He had black hair and green eyes hidden behind equally old glasses with lenses broken in places. It was impossible not to recognise Harry Potter...
The boy sat down next to Barry and stared into the distance with him.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked.
"Huh? What?" Barry didn't understand.
"I asked if you're okay," the boy asked more firmly. "Are you managing with your task?"
"Well, more or less," Allen nodded.
Harry sighed sadly and began to nervously fiddle with the hem of his shirt.
"I'm sorry it turned out this way," Barry said quietly. "I didn't want to take your body.
"I'm not offended," Harry smiled. "It wasn't my choice... Besides, I don't think I could have done it as well as you."
Barry looked at his companion. Talking to the soul of a dead person was quite unusual, but Allen had long since ceased to be surprised. He understood that he was asleep. At least in his dreams, Barry Allen could be himself.
"But it's not over yet," said the man.
"He's close, I know," Harry exhaled. "You'll manage, Barry, I know that too."
At least one thing was comforting: the real Harry Potter wasn't angry with him. Should he be? Barry didn't worry about that now.
***
The third and final test lay ahead. The second test had been difficult for "Harry": the second task was to swim across the Black Lake and rescue the captives from the mermaids. Each participant had one important person to rescue from captivity. But Fleur Delacour didn't make it to the spot, and Harry had to rescue her sister himself. The only thing that made him happy was that even though he finished last, he came in second because he showed courage and pulled Fleur out along with Hermione and Gabrielle Delacour.
His relationship with Ron was fine. The boy understood that Harry had simply invited Hermione and that it didn't really mean anything. But Hermione herself preferred to be in the company of the Boy Who Lived rather than him. Harry could sense how hard it was for Ron to watch this, and he tried his best to support him.
***
An alarm sounded throughout Hogwarts. In the middle of the night, a huge noise woke up almost everyone in the school. Harry decided to find out what was going on, even though it was difficult, as the Gryffindors were not allowed to leave their dormitory. But he slipped out unnoticed and went to look for the source of the problem.
Harry hid behind a wall that led to the corridor. In that very corridor stood the teachers, who were arguing with each other. The boy saw Cara swearing at Professor Moody, while Professor McGonagall tried to calm them both down. Barry had never seen his friend behave like this before. What could have made Cara so angry that her words made his ears ring?
"Bastard!" shouted Professor Denvers, her eyes flashing — she was ready to shoot Moody with lasers.
"Please, gentlemen, calm down!" Minerva tried to hug her colleague and push her away. "Alastor, what are you doing?!"
"How was I supposed to know she had beams coming out of her eyes?" The man lowered his head, looking at the women from under his brows.
"Damn pervert!
Harry covered his mouth in surprise, trying to stifle a cry. It seemed he was beginning to guess what had caused the explosion. Meanwhile, Albus Dumbledore approached the feuding teachers. The headmaster tactfully sent everyone to their rooms, taking Moody with him, while Minerva McGonagall went with Cara. Harry followed them, adjusting his invisibility cloak so that he was completely invisible.
The Dean of Gryffindor escorted the Muggle Studies teacher to her room and quickly walked away. "Harry" slipped unnoticed into the room and saw Cara begin to smash everything around her. A book hit "Harry" on the shoulder, and he cried out, completely giving himself away.
"What?" the woman's eyes widened. "What are you doing here?"
"I was curious to see what all the noise was about at Hogwarts..."
Kara sighed wearily, plopping down in a chair and rubbing her temples.
"Moody what..." Harry dared to ask. "Was he bothering you?"
"At least he tried," Kara smiled. "He picked the wrong target.""Harry" smiled quietly. He remembered that there was another person hiding behind Moody's persona, and for some reason, he thought that the real Alastor Moody would not behave like that.
Kara didn't send Harry away; on the contrary, she was glad to talk to her friend. But their conversation didn't last long, as Harry was a student and was supposed to be in his dormitory by now. Professor Denvers helped him move to the Gryffindor dormitory with her extrapolator. Harry was surprised that such technology worked in the school building, where magic blocked all Muggle technology.
***
The scar hurt, and his heart was pounding. This could only mean one thing — the fateful hour was near. He had been waiting for this for four years, and now the time had come. Of course, Harry knew that he would not be able to defeat Voldemort right away, but he would at least try. The boy remembered that someone had to die in this battle, and he decided that he would not allow that to happen...
Applause rang out across the arena, and the four participants were ready to enter. This moment would decide the fate of the champions, who would become the winner and receive eternal glory. Dumbledore, in his usual manner, encouraged all the boys, and after the starting gun sounded, the passages into the maze opened. "Harry" glanced around the arena — his friends waved cheerfully at him. He noticed Mad-Eye's gaze, who nodded firmly at him. And then the boy entered the maze, hearing the passage behind him close.
Harry walked slowly, holding a stick with a lumos in his hands. It was dark, and the maze itself was no less terrifying. A woman's scream rang out, and the boy instinctively turned around. Finding no source of the sound, he moved on.
And then he noticed Fleur lying on the ground, being engulfed by the maze, which was wrapping her in vines.
The boy did not count how much time had passed, but time was passing very slowly, and it was probably only after about an hour that "Harry" saw Viktor Krum about to attack Cedric Diggory. He reacted immediately and cast the Ostolbeney spell, throwing Krum back and saving his friend and rival at the same time.
The boys walked forward in silence, searching for the cup that would determine the fate of many. And then a blue light appeared ahead. "Harry" and Cedric began to rush forward, each trying to outrun the other, but Cedric slipped and the vines began to pull him in.
Harry stood there for a few seconds, unable to decide what to do next. Cedric was his friend, and he should probably pull him out, but on the other hand, if he did, they would both touch the cup and be transported to that place. Deciding that it was better for Cedric to be pulled in by the vines but to stay alive, "Harry" ran forward. He touched the cup and was transported...
It really was a graveyard. The very graveyard he had dreamed about, where everything was supposed to happen. "Harry" slowly walked around the statue of death, after which he was pressed against it, and a stone sword was pressed against his throat. He silently watched as Peter Pettigrew recited a ritual incantation, cutting the boy's hand to get his blood.
The cauldron where everything was happening caught fire and was covered in dark smoke. At that moment, the Death Eaters arrived, ready to meet their master.
Harry felt a chill run down his spine when he came face to face with Tom Riddle, the Dark Lord Voldemort, the murderer of James and Lily Potter. The Lord greeted everyone present in his usual manner, dousing almost everyone with filth.
"Harry Potter!" Voldemort smiled snake-like, sending another wave of goosebumps down the boy's spine. "What a meeting!
He quickly made his way towards him, staring intently into his eyes.
"I've been waiting for this moment for many years, and now, finally, it has come!" whispered the Lord. "Thanks to your 'noble' mother, I couldn't kill you, couldn't touch you. But now..."
Lord pressed his finger against Harry's scar, and the boy let out a piercing scream from the throbbing pain. Then Harry was thrown to the ground, where he was able to catch his breath and recover.
"Get up!" Lord shouted. "Get up and fight!"
Harry tried to get up, but because of Cruciatus, sent by Voldemort, he couldn't do it right away. Barry Allen regretted a thousand times that he had agreed to do this. He would rather his soul continue to dwell somewhere in the afterlife than be in Harry Potter's body and go through the worst events of his life.
"Avada Kedavra!" The boy couldn't hold back any longer and cast the spell at his enemy.
But Voldemort easily deflected it, and it hit one of the Dementors.
"Fool!" laughed the Lord and flew towards him. "I will destroy you, Harry Potter! And then no one will dare to doubt my power!"
"You should tone down the drama, you look ridiculous," Harry said without thinking. The Lord's face immediately contorted into a malicious grimace, causing the boy to cower in fear.
"You're dead! Avada Kedavra!" the man shouted, and a green beam shot straight at the boy.Fortunately, Harry managed to deflect the spell with Expelliarmus, and the cemetery was flooded with bright red and green light. They stood there for several minutes until blue lights began to fly out from the centre of the point of contact, turning into silhouettes of people. Ghosts had come to Harry's aid.
Of course, nothing here was going according to the canon. The only thing that more or less matched was the ghost of the old Muggle who stood between the two combatants. What followed was completely unbelievable, and Voldemort would surely have noticed and been surprised if he hadn't been completely preoccupied with killing his enemy. Here was the ghost of Oliver Queen, who stood next to "Harry." There was the ghost of Harry Potter himself, who took the side of his protector (lucky for Barry that Lord Voldemort and the other Death Eaters didn't see this). They were joined by the ghost of Caitlin Snow, or rather, both of them, as Killer Frost was also there; since they were two different personalities, there were two souls.
And next to Barry himself, on both sides, stood two Burrows. His mother and his daughter, both ready to defend their son and father.
"Let go of the wand and run to the portal!" Burrow Allen shouted.
"Harry" took one last look at the ghosts of his friends, who were smiling and staring determinedly at Voldemort. The boy got out of the duel, and while the ghosts distracted the Lord, he used the Accio spell to take the cup and return to Hogwarts...
...The boy fell to his knees, exhausted, as the arena erupted in applause and victory music played. He couldn't think about that now, his mind still replaying the events of the past few minutes. Only when Dumbledore approached him did Harry fall into his arms and whisper.
"He's back. You-Know-Who is back.
No one but Dumbledore heard him. Albus's face immediately searched for the frightened expression, but so that the others would not see his concern, he lifted Harry and declared him the winner of the Triwizard Tournament.
"Harry" needed to catch his breath, so he slipped away from the cheering crowd and headed for his room. But on the way, he ran into Mad-Eye, which meant only one thing — his troubles were not over yet. He slowly followed him, wand at the ready.
"Well, how was it? Meeting him in person?" asked the man when they found themselves in Professor DADA's office.
"Scary," Harry replied dryly. Deciding not to beat around the bush, he answered him directly: "No more games. I know who you really are!"
The man turned to him, looking at him predatorily.
"And who do you think I am?
"Do you want me to tell you my name?
"Who am I?
"Barty Crouch Jr. You kidnapped the real Alastor Moody and took his form to get in here. I know everything about you, you used my name!
"How perceptive you are..." the man drawled.
But before he could attack him, the headmaster, Professor Snape, and several Aurors burst into the office. They immediately exposed the fake Moody, and now Barty Crouch Jr. stood before them. He was immediately taken away, and "Harry" was finally able to relax.
***
The end of the school year was near. Hogwarts remained calm, and nothing bad seemed to be on the horizon. "Harry" was happy to watch Cedric having fun with his friends. He was truly happy to know that he had saved a life. When Diggory saw the boy, he waved cheerfully and then disappeared with his friends...
...The students and teachers saw off the representatives of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Harry, along with his brother and friends, Ron and Hermione, watched from a distance. Of course, they all knew what had happened on that fateful night. All the troubles and misfortunes faded into the background; now it was time to prepare, for war was approaching.
Harry noticed Barry walking away, but only to meet Caitlin and hug her. Judging by their behaviour, something had changed in their relationship. Harry didn't say anything out loud, but he was happy for them.
But there was no time to relax, because war was indeed close...
***
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