The new Hogwarts Court walked towards the Great Hall for breakfast as the day for the Goblet of Fire to be placed in the room had arrived at last. However, the occurrence did not capture Harry Potter's attention at all, although the events that would follow certainly did. Rita Skeeter had written an article that would trigger a scandal of such magnitude that Magical Britain would not be the only one to be affected. Harry was sure that the whole continent would feel the impact. After all, what was more outrageous than the head of the ICW being caught in an international lawsuit for his immoral behaviour and blatant criminal responsibility?

This situation would give Amelia Bones the necessary leverage to modify the tournament as she wished and the Wizengamot would be submerged in chaos, something that Lucius and Sirius would take advantage of. That is without mentioning Miss Blair. The woman was gaining quite a lot of influence for her brilliant proposals and strategic mind. The fact that she held the votes of the Potter and Greengrass families might have also helped to increase her reputation.

Though there was still time to cancel the competition and avoid international ridicule because the champions had yet to be chosen, so the Triwizard Tournament was still not official. Not that Harry wished the thing to be cancelled. Fleur and Viktor had just arrived and Harry would not allow for his Court to be divided sooner than necessary. However, he was sure the new Minister would try to do that exactly, hence the reason for the wait.

The only thing about the Tournament that intrigued Harry was the identity of the future champions, considering that three members of his Court were submitting their names. Fleur and Viktor had come to the school to compete, but even in that situation, they had asked for his approval to do so. Cedric had no wishes to get even close to the object, but his father was pressuring him to put his name as a possible champion. Nevertheless, he had disregarded his father's letters and also asked for Harry's approval. To say the last Potter had been pleased when the newest members requested his consent would be unable to describe the male’s satisfaction at the development.

The three of them were going to put their names in during breakfast, giving the image of a united front. The teen wondered if fate shared his same kind of humour because it would be amusing if the three of them managed to get selected. Not that it would happen, of course, but the idea of the Court being so well represented still entertained him.

The large group arrived at the Great Hall, commanding the attention of every person in the room with their mere presence. As usual, they sat in the middle of the Slytherin table, ignoring everyone in the hall.

"One would think that we are the foreigners by the way they stare at us," Daphne huffed.

"It could be worse," Adrian commented.

"And how is that possible?" Hestia questioned the older boy with an expression that conveyed her incredulity.

"I don't know. Maybe they could all be against us for some reason and we would get the cold shoulder instead of fans," the boy shrugged.

"That's impossible. Not even during the worst times Hogwarts would teachers be so useless in preventing bullying, especially if it was on such a large scale." Neville dismissed the fifth-year.

"Well, I'm not so sure about that," Justin muttered, reminding the Court that, before they had intervened, the school was almost as safe as the Forbidden Forest.

"Good morning, students," the school's headmaster greeted, interrupting their conversation. "Now that most of us are present, it's time for the great announcement! The day for the Goblet of Fire to choose the champions has arrived at last!" the man announced, unveiling an oversized goblet that rested on a pedestal. The object began flaring with intense blue flames until the fire turned into a gentle blaze that lit the cup. All in all, it was an interesting, if overly dramatic demonstration. "All of the students who are of age are invited to put their names on a piece of parchment. Don't forget to write the school you belong to, otherwise, you won't be selected. The Triwizard Tournament will bring honour to the three chosen champions and eternal glory to the winner of the competition!" Dumbledore's exclamation was followed by excited conversations and rowdy chatter.

"If I may have your attention please," Minerva McGonagall announced and every student fell silent with a simple glare of the woman. "Thank you. First of all, I wish to announce that the first inter-house Quidditch matches will begin this weekend. The Hogwarts matches will begin in two weeks and I'm glad that so many teams will be participating. I will use this opportunity to remind our new students that they still have time to join any team or club, and even form their own until tomorrow evening, before the feast. I wish to congratulate every single one of you because, although this year has been filled with radical changes, everyone has adapted and thrived. I'm proud of you," the woman announced and the silent hall erupted in polite applause.

"I don't know about you, but I think McGonagall would be the perfect Headmistress when Dumbledore's out," Fred commented, impressed by the woman's ability to command respect.

"From what my father told me, he'll only give up his position if his body expires, and maybe even then he'll try to remain as headmaster," Cedric told the others, an amused smile playing on his lips.

"Don't tempt us," little Luna muttered, making more than one choke on their food at her bold statement.

"There's something I wanted to ask you," said Neville looking at the French girl in front of him. "Veela are some of the greatest illusionists that exist, to the point they're able to perform an Illusion Solidification and Transformation, and even Guise Manipulation similar to Metamorphmagi. Is that because of their innate magic or is it taught from one generation to the next?" The boy's question was enough to earn the interest of the whole Court and Fleur herself looked surprised.

"We are, indeed, great illusionists," the girl answered after brief seconds of hesitance. "Although, I am not sure how to answer your question... Maybe it is a mix of both plus a dash of legilimency. My grand-mère taught me about illusions for as long as I can remember, but I know that most magicals are not able to learn how to use them."

"That's interesting. You already know that I'm interested in that branch of magic and, a few days ago, Aunt Eleadora sent me a really interesting book. The author was an expert in Occlumency, to the point that few illusions affected him. He wrote about Veela and their true faces. While Veela allure didn't affect him, their disguise did. According to him, it wasn't a simple illusion, but something that changed their physical form," Neville told the others and Harry understood at last where his friend was going.

"Veela disguise themselves as beauteous females. However, it's not an illusion. It's Guise Manipulation. They're able to change their appearance without being Metamorphmagi, with more limitations, of course. The theory is that their illusions are able to cause real physical changes as long as the caster is powerful enough," Harry commented and the Gryffindor boy nodded.

"I am not sure how to explain this," Fleur muttered, her brow furrowing a little. "Full Veela indeed possess that ability, but I'm not sure it's an illusion, because their descendants are not able to assume the… ehm... less attractive form," the girl explained.

"Or maybe it's so intrinsic to a Veela that not even they know how they do it," Neville suggested.

"The same way Harry is able to use magic as he pleases, but he doesn't know how to teach us," Viktor muttered and looked at the younger boy, while the group looked at each other.

"You could try," Harry told the girl after a moment. "Neville's theory is valid, the most you can lose are a few hours a week."

"I want to try if Neville is willing to help me," Fleur agreed.

"It'll be good to have someone else to practice with, besides Marcus," Neville nodded. "Thinking about it, all of you need to meet Aunt Eleadora as soon as possible."

"Their specializations," Draco muttered, smacking his forehead in frustration.

Seeing the blond's comic reaction would have made Harry laugh any other day but, at that moment, he felt like the densest human being on the planet. The boy had totally forgotten to introduce their new members to all the possible branches of magic that they could begin studying. Perhaps he had been too concerned with his efforts in trying to train two of them to a decent level in the mind arts or in trying to guide them through animagus training... Maybe it was because the whole Court had been far too concerned with training them as duellists. It could also be the fault of the Carrow twins, who carried their new cats everywhere, and the small balls of fur managed to distract him all the time. He took a deep breath and began planning, thinking about who to blame was only a waste of time.

Fleur was already training as an illusionist, but he needed to ask the girl whether she was willing to continue on that path and whether she wished to study another subject. Viktor was on his way to becoming a spell crafter and had been sharing his knowledge with all the Court, especially his new shadow, who was also known as Hestia. However, there was always room for improvement and the older boy would benefit from learning another discipline. Justin and Cedric were the real reason for his concerns. While both were extremely talented, the poor education they had received during their formative years had hampered their development. At the moment, Cedric was struggling with meditation and Justin had troubles with trying to bend his magic to his will. Their frustration with this situation hindered their performance while training. It was a vicious cycle... What a troublesome situation.

The boy decided that they would put a brief stop to the new members' general training and each member of the Guild would explain their specializations so they could choose the fields that caught their fancy. He decided that the duelling and spell casting would take priority over their training; they could still exercise in the mornings... At that moment, Harry decided he would personally instruct the two Hufflepuffs in order to shape them up as soon as possible.

"Use Legilimency," Luna suggested, looking at no one in particular.

"For what?" a confused Blaise asked.

"For them, that way you'll be able to guide them," the little girl said, looking at Harry expectantly.

"I didn't even know that it could be used that way," the boy sighed.

"Me neither," Luna shrugged.

"Okay, I'm confused," Cedric said, expecting some kind of answer.

"We'll be changing our training schedule," Harry announced, signalling for the Hufflepuff prefect to wait a little for his explanation. "It's time to train in the mornings again. I expect you in our room at six," he stated and Theo groaned. "All our free time will be dedicated to duelling and spell practice, aside from our studies. We will all explain the fields we have decided to study and teach them where possible... Though, if you choose a field that none of us is studying, then you will have to wait until you meet Aunt Eleadora. I will help the ones that are having trouble with the mental part of our training." He didn't need to say names, everyone understood who he was referring to.

"We have to be careful while organizing our schedules. This year will be full of activities," George warned the group.

"That's true, but we need to be ready when the time comes," Luna answered. Her words accompanied by her grave expression caught the attention of her friends.

"Do you have any feeling of what may happen?" Daphne asked.

"I have no idea," Luna sighed, rubbing her face in frustration. "The only thing I know is that something will happen, but I don't know when or even how. This Tournament is the key for things to begin, that is the only thing that I know at the moment," Luna sighed.

"We can cancel the Tournament. It wouldn't be hard," Harry told the girl, already thinking of alternatives for Fleur and Viktor to stay longer.

"That's not a good idea. They want something with this. I don't know whether it's to attack the students or if they have another objective, but if we cancel it, there will be more collateral damage... Besides, we at least have time to prepare before everything happens," Luna murmured, her features marred with a frown.

"That means we need to be ready," Draco sighed, but unlike his defeated tone, his face was etched with determination.

"I think it's time to put your names in the Goblet," commented Terrence, breaking the tense atmosphere that was beginning to form.

Without further encouragement, the three adults stood up and walked towards the artefact. Maybe because they were the first ones to put their names in the Goblet or perhaps it was because their presence commanded attention, but it only took a single instant for the whole room's focus to be centred on them. Even the professors were observing the trio. The three members of the court presented a united front, showing the camaraderie that had been formed in such a short time. They looked at each other and placed their names in at the same time. The cup's fire intensified for a brief moment. The sepulchral silence was broken by tumultuous applause. The furore did not stop even after the whole Court had left the great hall.

That whole day was marked by the fact that Harry Potter had been far too immersed in his thoughts to pay attention to anything around him. The boy was pondering the Tournament and Luna's eerie warning. So far, the girl had never been wrong and he doubted this would be the exception, so it was time to plan. Their training would once again be increased because, even though he loathed putting his friends in danger with every fibre of his being, he knew that the whole group would be involved in one way or another.

Professor Flitwick would be more than willing to continue showing them how much they needed to improve, so the duelling part was taken care of. Though Harry would need to push the new members in order for them to obtain the necessary skills to survive a possible confrontation and, if possible, mastering different spells. Not an easy task because mastering any spell was beyond arduous, and yet it gave you an edge over most of the magical people who were satisfied with only being able to cast it... He also needed to consider other aspects of their training.

At the moment, most of them were adept in the mind arts. Even two of their new members possessed an enviable skill in the field. Viktor had been taught by his mother and his skills with Legilimency were on par with Harry's. Not mentioning the fact that Fleur had an uncanny and beyond extraordinary talent for both fields. She had told the others that Veela possessed a natural inclination for the mind arts because it aided with their illusions. The fact that there were other people as talented as himself amused the younger boy because, until then, he had believed himself to be a prodigy with the mind arts. It seemed that once again he had allowed his ego to take control...

Thinking about the new members of his Court brought other problems to his mind. The Triwizard Tournament was meant to be a tool to finally get rid of the headmaster, but his plans were taken off his priority list. Harry would be lying if he said that the way in which Albus Dumbledore observed him did not perturb him. It felt as if the man was expecting something from him and there were the few occasions where the old man looked so filled with grief, as if he was mourning someone... The man's gaze was always fixed on him and that fact disquieted Harry more than he was willing to admit. However, there was nothing he could do against the headmaster for that reason alone. Hence, Harry decided to find other ways of dismissing Dumbledore as headmaster. Now, though, there was a more pressing threat he needed to take care of.

Tom Riddle was turning into a really annoying bug that refused to stop being such a hindrance. The man and his followers needed to be eliminated. The problem was that Voldemort had hidden and the cowards of his followers were too useless to act alone. It was good that Ragnok had cleared their vaults to the point they were almost empty, all because the Death Eaters decided to pay for barriers to be placed for the three tasks. Not for a second did Harry believe that act was done because of the kindness of their hearts. They wanted something, which meant that Voldemort wanted something.

For a time, he had believed that they wanted to murder as many children as possible in order to intimidate the magical population into submission. However, there were other much more frightening possibilities. They could be planning on killing Amelia Bones and placing another person in the position, they could be trying to start a war with France and The Union of The Northern Countries. There were far too many variables to know what their real purpose was. So all he could do is taking extra precautions in order to prevent as much damage as possible in any foreseeable scenario.

However, even with his good intentions, the populace came in second place. Harry's priority was his family. Therefore, the armour that his elves and the goblins were improving would be needed sooner. During their last confrontation, they had ended up victorious because they had the element of surprise and superior protective gear. He doubted they would be so lucky again.

That was the reason he was creating a mark of his own, or at least he wanted to believe it was.

All his free time was dedicated to this endeavour and not even his friends knew what he was doing. During the process, he had gained abundant knowledge regarding runes and the book that Hwasa had given him had helped him have a deeper understanding of what he was doing. Perhaps it was the hardest thing he had ever tried to do because every single line in the design needed to be thorough or dangerous results would follow.

However, all his sacrifice was paying off. So far, he had the basic design but it still needed improvement before he would be satisfied with the result. All the information that Ragnok was giving him about the Dark Mark was essential for him to know what not to do. The thing that Tom had crafted was useful, but far too unstable. It was the perfect example of raw magic with nothing to guide it because not even the man himself was able to understand its intricacies. Voldemort's Dark Mark had barely enough power to summon his followers and leech off magic in times of need. The Royal Mark, on the other hand, was able to offer a way of communication, sharing magic, and to control the people who were marked to a certain degree. This is the result he wished to emulate, though the idea of controlling the ones he thought as family made him uneasy.

Harry also considered the security measures during the Tournament. Ragnok was taking care of the wards personally, so Harry had no doubts that they would be safe, but he still needed to speak with the man about the Dark Mark and if there was any progress in removing the thing.

Madam Bones was placing Aurors among the spectators and Auror Moody was in charge of the security, so that was another thing taken care of. Harry still needed to know where the tasks were going to take place in order to set up extra security measures, which meant he needed to speak with Marcus before planning anything. He would contact the man as soon as possible.

Also, the story of the founder’s plagued Harry’s mind. To say it had been a revelation was an understatement. Rita was already working on the book and had requested a meeting with the hat, something that he had no doubt the woman would obtain as long as McGonagall was in a good mood... Maybe it would be good to publish the real story of Voldemort along with the book, yet that man didn't deserve so much attention, so an article would have to do. The problem was that Rita would already be under much scrutiny for her articles and that book would put her in mortal peril. She needed more security.

Harry sighed at all his self-imposed tasks. He was fourteen, so no one expected him to act like an adult, even less to contribute to society, but he did. Revolutionary, that is what he wished to believe he was. Somewhere in the time he had spent in his parents' world, he had decided that he would change it for the better. Perhaps his upbringing had ensured he had grown up with a hero complex or something similar, but he refused to be a simple observer when faced with injustice... Or maybe he was pursuing a lost cause and getting involved in matters that had nothing to do with him. Who knew?

The boy got out of his musings thanks to his own brain refusing to continue cooperating with him. He looked around the Court's headquarters and noticed that George, Theo, and Justin were poring over a piece of parchment. It took him a few seconds to recognize the Marauders Map. Ah, so that was it. George's project had been creating a new map after they had found so many different passages and a few strange chambers that they did not dare to venture without further preparation. After the Court was created, Hogwarts had given them access to a few places they still needed to examine.

Their first discovery had been a passage that led to Honeydukes. Harry had been surprised and beyond peeved at the idea of the school having so many secret entrances. Hence, he began a quest to seal all the passages and create new ones. Much to his surprise, the eldest twins had been the ones who contributed the most with their experience and the map.

It was curious, he had forgotten about its existence after the Weasley twins joined during his second year... Well, at least it had been an enlightening day.

“So, we forgot about the map,” Fred began explaining, eyeing with obvious nervousness a scowling Daphne. “Although it is not our fault!”

“We used it until we start hanging out with Harry,” a sheepish George said. “One time we forgot the map and found Filch lurking in the corridors.”

“We explained we were helping a friend with his homework and were ready to be punished,” the other continued.

“He just told us to be more careful with the hour next time and let us go,” a still surprised boy explained.

“Since that day we kind of forgot about the map because Filch would only greet us and keep patrolling. By the way, what did you do to him?”

“The wonders that politeness can do,” Hestia huffed.

“Yeah, anyway. We managed to write our ideas to replicate it, though we absolutely forgot about the journal Harry loaned us,” Fred said, handing the map and a stack of parchments filled with annotations and a few doodles.

“That is also not our fault,” George tried to explain. “We had so much catching up to do that most of our time was dedicated to studying.”

“And our free time was for training,” Fred muttered.

“It is nobody’s fault. I also forgot about it,” Harry sighed. “Find a way to re-create it, then we will find a way of giving a copy for each member. Though we will need better security measures than a simple phrase. I will talk with Rome, he will organize the elves to seal the passages on both sides. We will need to create new ones. Any suggestion?” asked a thoughtful teen.

"One in each common room so the students have a way to escape the castle if necessary. Though I have no idea where they could connect to," Blaise muttered.

"What about Harry's businesses in the village?" Viktor suggested.

"I'm with him," Theo nodded.

"I think we should have one in our headquarters. The shrieking shack already has a passage; we can change it and make the place presentable. That way we have another meeting point outside the school in case of an emergency," Daphne said.

"I'll talk with Ragnok about buying the place. I would rather do everything in a legal way so no one trespasses on the property," Harry stated.

In that strange turn of events, he now was the owner of a dilapidated shack that Nile had the pleasure to redecorate. Although Ragnok had insisted on placing the wards first, so no one managed to enter his new... recently acquired shack. The boy hoped that his elves worked their magic on the place because he refused to sully the Potter name by owning a simple shack. Nevertheless, the important thing was that the elves somehow managed to create a passage from their room to that place, discovering in the process that the Whomping Willow was another entrance. Access to that was blocked just in case other people were aware of its existence.

In comparison, creating a passage for Slytherin had been simple, although, they had a lengthy debate over where it would lead to. In the end, one of the restaurants was chosen. They would have a harder time creating the passages in the other common rooms, but there was no hurry and they could wait until summer. Aside from the three other passages, the group had yet to decide where the others would be placed and what protections the entrances would need so they only opened for those in need or something similar so no attacker could use them.

Ah, he had almost forgotten about the other reasons for his constant stress: the rooms Hogwarts had shown them.

They would be nothing impressive, if the contents of each one were not so peculiar. There had been a secret room in the lowest level of the dungeons, which had contained different manuscripts and strange ingredients filled a whole wall along with pieces of wood. Unfortunately, it had also been encoded by the previous Queen, but it was not hard to conclude that it was the place where Salazar Slytherin had crafted his own wand. Another room was also in the dungeons, but in one of the middle levels that no one frequented. It was filled to the brim with knickknacks and other pointless artefacts... At least that had been their first impression, which didn't last long. Justin managed to glimpse an opalescent stone that caught his fancy and decided to summon it. The thing had a rune etched on the middle and its magic was still active. Therefore, many of his elves had been assigned to go through the room. So far, they had found different types of weapons, a whole pile of rune-etched stones, antique books, a few vials of poisons that Blaise and Flora battled over, and a few magical artefacts they did not know the use of.

However, their most impressive discovery had been the Ward Stone vaults. Each was in an essential part of the castle. The dungeons, the astronomy tower, the ground floor, the library, and near the greenhouses. At first glance, they were nothing impressive, just a room with a huge stone that lay on a pedestal in the middle of the room. It was easy to miss the hundreds of ward stones that decorated the walls or how detailed the runes on the pedestal were... Harry knew it would be extremely hard to replace the stones and activate the wards.

Nevertheless, George had looked ecstatic, his eyes almost twinkling while he admired the handiwork. Theo, Draco, and Hestia were not far behind, but the sheer fascination George had with runes was a disturbing sight to witness.

There were other rooms, but they had decided not to explore them until they were ready to confront any danger, or until their flayed nerves recovered.

The characteristics of the room they discovered in the restricted section had been discouraging enough, influencing their decision to wait until a more appropriate moment. Guarded by particularly vicious fairies and two annoying boggarts, besides the eerie looks of the place, it was not an environment Harry considered inspiring. The fact that they had received similar greetings in the other rooms and that the ambience was not better may have also been an important factor at the moment in taking the decision. While Harry had no problems in burning the little pests, he doubted that the castle would appreciate his violent initiative, so he needed to think of a non-lethal method of incapacitating the room's protectors... Besides, fairy magic was far too volatile to confront and he was too pleased with his features to change them for whatever abomination fairies could think of.

Maybe once the armour was improved he would be ready to confront the little devils.