Chapter Text
There was a throng around the Goblet as people worked their way through the abundant breakfast the morning of October Thirty-first. The ones too young to participate were all making small betting pools about whom the champions would be. It was the only way they could participate after all. Alex himself was curious about how the cup chose its champions and how well those warding spells actually worked. Leaning against the doorway, he spotted some familiar figures leaning over a paper and whispering to each other. Quietly, he found that he was easily able to walk up behind them.
“An aging potion would probably work better than an aging spell. We are almost of age anyways. We just have a couple more months.” The quieter redhead whispered.
“I concur Forge. I am sure this will work.” the other replied.
“Or, you could do the potion and have someone else do the spell for you. That way, if one does not work, the other might.” Alex said, making the twins nearly shriek in surprise.
“Why would you help us? I thought you detested the idea of the tournament.” George challenged, looking at him with suspicion.
“I know that you are going to try no matter what. It would be better if you had someone with at least a semblance of skill helping you.” Alex replied before admitting, “I also would like to make sure those wards are functioning properly. Harry does normally have someone try to cause trouble that he gets sucked into every year.”
The twins nodded and gestured, “We already have the potion.”
“We were just making sure it was enough. If you would be so kind,”
“We would love to have you apply the aging spell.”
Alex, himself, wanting to be prepared for any eventuality, had looked up and practiced the spell before heading to the Goblet the night before. It was a rather simple spell that laid itself over the twins and entwined with the potion. Minds firm, the twins walked into the hall with Alex following a short moment later. He stood in the line as they reached the ward line, ready for whatever would happen. To his pleasant surprise, the boys were thrown away from the Goblet and given long white beards, earning laughs from the onlooking students. His mind even further set at ease by the confirmation that another student in Harry’s year could not place his name in the Goblet, Alex stepped forward. As he thought about the Goblet, he realised that perhaps it was a bit sentient. With that thought, he probed it with his magic to draw its attention.
“I have no idea if you can hear me,” he started, communicating the words both vocally and with magic, “but if you can, I am only putting my name in case someone manages to place Harry’s. If you end up being forced to draw Harry Potter’s name, please draw mine so that I can protect my cousin from those that intend to hurt him.”
With that message, he dropped his name into the Goblet and went to sit at his table. They still had classes to attend, though he doubted there would be many that paid attention.
***
The day passed quickly and soon it was the dreaded moment. Alex found himself sitting in tense anticipation while he waited for the names to be revealed. Dread pooled in his stomach and rose through his chest. It was getting all too close to stifling him as the names were revealed in flaming scraps of paper. Victor Krum was met with cheers and unsurprised chatters. He was quickly followed by Fleur Delacor in her enchanting glory. Then, there was a moment of pause as the Goblet stalled in ejecting the name of the Hogwarts champion.
Finally, the name burst forth in a singeing burst of flame. Dumbledore looked shocked as he called out, “Alexander Taylor! The Hogwarts champion is Alexander Taylor!”
A cold stone of disbelief and anger sat in Alex’s stomach. Harry’s name was going to be drawn. Someone succeeded in forcing Harry into the competition. Alex had failed to protect him. He stalked up to the front of the Great Hall. The only option left for how Harry was going to be forced into the competition was to make him be a fourth champion. How was the question. How did the person do it? That did not matter any more. How was he going to protect Harry? That was the true question. That was the reason he had come here in the first place. That was the reality. He slowed as he passed Dumbledore. There was only so much time before the Goblet would surely send Harry’s name out. He needed to make sure that he was there for Harry. There was no way he was going to let Harry endure the stares and whispers of the entire school on his own. The Goblet, almost as if it read his mind, expelled the name that Alex was dreading in a burst of terrifying flames. Dumbledore looking shocked, as he reads out the name on that tiny scrap of paper that somehow signed that unfortunate fate of the boy-who-lived.
“Harry Potter!” he called, “Come up here.”
Alex quickly steered his cousin with him through the door as they met up with the rest of the champions.
“What is this?” Karkaroff demanded as he saw the two Hogwarts students.
“Harry’s name was drawn from the Goblet,” Alex replied coldly.
The man spun on Dumbledore as he entered the doors shortly after the pair, “I call for a misdraw! You should not be allowed to have two students participating for Hogwarts! There were only supposed to be three champions!”
Alex, exhausted from the emotional turmoil and irritation that he was feeling, snapped at the gloomy man, “Harry didn't ask for this! The cup didn’t want this either! All you care about is the way that this impacts your schools, but this is the life of a fourteen-year-old! He has had no training or experience with something like this! This is an event that was designed with people that have several more years of schooling than him! I am disgusted to even imagine you as a headmaster of a school!”
As he finished his tirade, Dumbledore could be heard asking Harry, “Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?”
As Harry expressed his innocence, Alex turned on the Headmaster, “How dare you say that to him. How dare you! You are supposed to be protecting the students of your school, but this is the fourth time in four years that Harry has been placed in danger! Yes, I came here to protect him, and I failed, but you have far more authority and flexibility than I do as a student! You had better hope that Harry makes it out of this alive or I will make sure you understand why my step-father was perfectly content and confident in sending me here on my own.”
Bartemius Crouch, timid as he was feeling, interrupted the arguments that had started. “As much as none of us in this room likes the idea, what is done is done and there is no way to get the boy out of it. The contract is final. If the boy does not participate, he will lose his magic.”
Silence drowned the room as the reality set in for Harry, Alex, and the other champions. This was happening. A young man, hardly more than a child, was going to be forced into a competition that was known for killing people. There was no way to get him out of it. There was no way for him to just sit out. The only hope that Alex had of protecting him was to help him determine the challenges and plan for them.