Chapter 6.5- Doom Days

“Well, everything is as it should be. Magical purity of 97%, nothing beyond the pale” He said and I noticed that the parchment that had previously followed the other woman around now floated near his head and was taking note of his words.

“97%?” I found myself asking.

“No one has a complete 100% magical purity. You breathe air, drink water, and eat food do you not? All those things have some sort of effect on our magic so it never gets to 100%. To be completely honest, 97 is a bit on the high side but considering you live in Hogwarts of all places, and can trace your magical legacy back millennia, then it is no surprise”

“Wait wait. Hold on. What does my magical legacy have to do with any of this? Could you explain everything to me from the beginning” I pressed.

“Basically, things from without ourselves affect our magical purity. A muggleborn would be expected to have a lower magical purity than a pureblood by at least a few percentage points. The father back your magic goes, the purer it tends to be”

“I’m halfblooded” I cut in with a raised eyebrow.

“The Potter family has recorded history that dates back as far as Rome’s first conquest of the British Isles so that tends to cancel things out” He replied with an easy smile, not caring much about being interrupted, it seemed,

“Like I was saying, apart from that. Living in places with low levels of magic concentration can have the same effect as having non-magical parents. You live in Hogwarts so there’s no risk of that” He said, and I nodded. I didn’t have a full picture or even complete answers to all my questions but it was clear from his tone that D’Artagan had no further interest in the subject.

He waved his wand and a series of screens formed around us. “Now for the last part. Strip”

“What?”

“Strip. All your clothes and underwear. You’ll be changing into these after the physical examination” He said, pointing to a set of robes that seemed to reveal themselves out of thin air. They were red and black duelling robes with the Hogwarts crest on the left breast. All in all, they looked fashionable enough. They weren’t made of the same quality of materials as my own robes but that was par for the course.

“You’re not leaving” I point out to him.

“I’m going to need to examine your for physical additions and abnormalities” he responds.

“And I need to be naked for that?”

“Precisely”

I felt my skin burn red as I began to undress under his dispassionate gaze. Doom would make him pay for his humiliation.

XXXXXXX

“Ready, Potter?” Mcgonagall asked as we began the long walk down to the Quidditch stadium.

“As I’ll ever be” I replied.

“Good. You were a scarce sight for the past month” She began, probing.

“I was excommunicated from the House, yes” I said.

“Yes, that decision has been overruled. If you would note, you were Gryffindor’s colour on your robes now. Your space within the dormitory has been returned and you should feel free to return to it tonight.”

“Thank you for the offer, Professor”

“Professor, you call me. At least you remember that much, Potter. I understand that as Triwizard champion, you are granted certain leeway from attending all classes to pursue self study in preparation, but to attend no classes at all is far beyond the pale. Even the champions from other schools do not hesitate to take advantage of the resources available here at Hogwarts. I assure you that your Professors are some of the best in their respective fields” She pushed.

“Yes, Professor. You are right.” I said, pouncing once she stopped for breath. My response took her by surprise, and I pounced on that with an easy acquiescence.

“I will join the classrooms starting next week” I told her, and she smiled brightly at me. Good thing I hadn’t specified what classes exactly I would be joining. After a month to get used to Tom Riddle’s knowledge, I was at a level that was easily beyond every NEWT student this school could boast of.

“There you are, Potter” Moody announced himself with his voice just as we left the castle’s doors and hit the ground.

“Professor Moody” I said in greeting, knowing full well just what this man was.

“I hope you have prepared for this task, boy” He said.

I nodded in reply, remembering that he had some duty of making sure that I survived and somehow even won this thing. He must have been shitting his pants, terrified.

“Really? And what have you done to prepare to face a hell-“

“Alastor!” Mcgonagall’s enraged voice cut into whatever he had been about to say.

“Need I remind you that you have sworn an oath?” She pressed.

“Like Karkaroff and Maxime haven’t already broken theirs to prepare their students”

“Regardless, there is honour to being of Hogwarts, and I will not see that honour besmirched. Leave us now” She said, with no room for argument and shockingly enough ‘Moody’ stepped back and yielded to her authority.

“Have it your way, Minerva” He said and as he turned to me before he left, our eyes met. Brimming with curiosity, I pushed. Just as Tom Riddle used to. I caught the glimpse of what seemed to be a massive dog with fire at its feet as it ran through the air before I felt myself be thrown out of his head.

The look he gave me shifted from pitying to considering.

“Come along now, Potter”

The rest of the journey to the tent was spent in silence, each of us with our thoughts. Mcgonagall contemplated whatever it was she did, while I tried to decode what I had seen in Crouch’s head. A dog? What had that had to do with anything. Even his words before Mcgonagall had stopped him. I’d heard the word “Hell”.

The mystery entertained me until I reached the tent and my thoughts turned to dragons and a future of fire and claws to deal with.

I was the first to arrive, but the others joined in virtually no time- having chosen to use brooms to cover the distance between the castle and the Champion’s tent rather than walking like Mcgonagall and I had. Now that I thought about it, it was more likely that the brooms wrote the expected means of transport and that Mcgonagall had taken a longer route to give us time to talk and me time to clear my head.

Bagman was the last to walk into the room. The Heads of the three schools had come in earlier, and so had the ICW representatives, two women with brown skin but naught in common beyond that. Where one had a head full of black hair that fell down to her waist and a svelte frame, the other was brimming with muscle and had blonde hair cropped close to her head.

“Ready for the Hellhound, everyone?” Bagman announced once he had a look around. The room froze.

“Ludovic Bagman!” The black haired woman screamed in consternation while the Blonde one looked about to curse him even as the rest of the room froze. Cedric looked like he wasn’t even breathing. Fleur and Victor had looks on their faces that showed they were trying to be shocked but they knew. Me? I had no control over it. I broke out into laughter. Hysterical, full belied laughter that had me doubled over.

A/N; Saw it coming?