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After two months of having what was arguably the worst time of her life, it was finally November First. Iris had been anxiously waiting for this day, as they would be receiving both their instructions and the date of the first task. The majority of the Hogwarts student body, with the exception of the Gryffindors, had been exceedingly cold towards the Potter twins since their names were drawn. They would whisper about them in the hallways, sending nasty looks their way when one of them walked by. The Hufflepuffs had laid off a little with their aggression which Iris suspected was Cedric's doing.

Her stomach had been flipping all day in anticipation, wondering when they would gather the champions to tell them. She made it through the day without too much trouble, not at all looking forward to double Potions with the Slytherins after lunch. Double Potions was often a horrible experience, but these days it was nothing short of torture for the Potter twins. Being shut in a dungeon for an hour and a half with Professor Snape and the Slytherins, all of whom seemed determined to pick on Harry and rile him up (which wasn't a hard thing to do recently), was about the most unpleasant thing Iris could imagine.

Iris had never been a particularly angry or defensive person, it seemed all of that went to Harry, and so most of the class was spent attempting to hold her brother back. She had already struggled through one Friday's worth, with both her and Hermione sitting next to him intoning "ignore them, ignore them, ignore them" under their breath, and she couldn't see why today should be any better. 

When Iris' usual friend group, minus Ron, arrived at Snape's dungeon after lunch, they found the Slytherins waiting outside, each and every one of them wearing a large badge on the front of his or her robes. She was unconcerned for only a moment before seeing that they all bore the same message, in luminous red letters that burnt brightly in the dimly lit underground passage:

SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY-

THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION!

"Like them, Potters?" said Malfoy loudly as Harry and Iris approached. "And this isn't all they do - look!"

He pressed his badge into his chest, and the message upon it vanished, to be replaced by another one, which glowed green:

POTTER STINKS!

The Slytherins howled with laughter. Each of them pressed their badges too until the message POTTER STINKS was shining brightly all around the twins. Iris sighed, irritated, but not really surprised. Harry, however, could not say the same as his face and neck started turning pink.

"Oh very funny," Hermione said sarcastically to Pansy Parkinson and her gang of Slytherin girls, who were laughing harder than anyone, "really witty. "

Iris would be forever grateful to her best friend for always sticking up for them. Unfortunately, though, Ron was standing against the wall with Dean and Seamus. He wasn't laughing, but he wasn't sticking up for Harry either. 

"Want one, Granger?" said Malfoy, holding out a badge to Hermione. "I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood sliming it up."

Iris' jaw dropped, infuriated by the nerve of the blond boy to call someone such a horrible name, especially Hermione. It seemed some of the anger Harry had been feeling for days and days seemed to burst through a dam in his chest. He had reached for his wand before he'd thought what he was doing. People all around them scrambled out of the way, backing down the corridor. 

She would have been right there with him if she didn't know it was a horrible idea. Iris grabbed his wand arm, trying to get him to lower it, but he shrugged her off, fury masking his face.

"Harry!" Hermione said warningly.

"Go on, then, Potter," Malfoy said quietly, drawing out his own wand. "Do it, if you've got the guts —"

Iris hissed at her twin, "Harry don't —"

For a split second, the two boys looked into each other's eyes, then, at exactly the same time, both acted. 

"Funnunculus!" Harry yelled. 

"Densaugeo!" screamed Malfoy. 

Jets of light shot from both wands, hit each other in midair, and ricocheted off at angles - Harry's hit Goyle in the face, and Malfoy's hit Hermione. Goyle bellowed and put his hands to his nose, where great ugly boils were springing up - Hermione, whimpering in panic, was clutching her mouth. 

"Hermione!"

Ron had hurried forward to see what was wrong with her; Iris gently dragged Hermione's hand away from her face. It wasn't a pretty sight. Hermione's front teeth - already larger than average - were now growing at an alarming rate; she was looking more and more like a beaver as her teeth elongated, past her bottom lip, toward her chin - panic-stricken, she felt them and let out a terrified cry. 

"Oh Hermione," Iris whispered, staring panicked at the growing teeth.

"And what is all this noise about?" said a soft, deadly voice. 

Professor Snape had arrived. The Slytherins clamoured to give their explanations; Snape pointed a long yellow finger at Malfoy and said, "Explain."

"Potter attacked me, sir -"

"We attacked each other at the same time!" Harry shouted. 

"- and he hit Goyle - look -"

Professor Snape examined Goyle, whose face now resembled something that would have been at home in a book on poisonous fungi. 

"Hospital wing, Goyle," Snape said calmly. 

"Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron said. "Look!"

He forced Hermione to show Professor Snape her teeth - she was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar. Pansy Parkinson and the other Slytherin girls were doubled up with silent giggles, pointing at Hermione from behind Snape's back. 

Snape looked coldly at Hermione, then said, "I see no difference."

Hermione let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears, she turned on her heel and ran, ran all the way up the corridor and out of sight.

It was lucky, perhaps, that both the twins and Ron started shouting at Snape at the same time; lucky their voices echoed so much in the stone corridor, for in the confused din, it was impossible for him to hear exactly what they were calling him. He got the gist, however.

"Let's see," he said, in his silkiest voice. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention each for the Potters and Weasley. Now get inside, or it'll be a week's worth of detentions."

Iris' ears were ringing. The injustice of it made her want to curse Snape into a thousand slimy pieces. She had never felt so angry in her life. Not even the Dursley's had sparked these emotions in Iris and as she glared at the awful man. She decided in a split second that the week of detention would be worth it, and so she hoisted her bag up further on her shoulder, spun on her heel and jogged after the direction Hermione had gone, Snape be damned.

It wasn't hard to find Hermione; the connection Iris had built with her over the years made it easy to locate the bushy-haired girl. She quickly caught up to her, finding Hermione on her way towards the Hospital wing sobbing as she attempted to cover the teeth, which were now mid-chest length, with her cloak. Her eyes lit up only slightly when she noticed Iris coming up next to her, and the kind-hearted Potter girl wrapped her arms around Hermione without hesitation, hazel eyes tearing up as her best friend trembled with sobs in her hold.

Iris held her for a long time before the two of them finally made their way to the Hospital wing where, upon seeing Hermione, Madame Pomfrey immediately sat her down and took her wand out. Handing Hermione a hand-held mirror the medi-witch told the young girl to stop her when her teeth returned to their normal size. Watching as her friend's teeth retracted back into her mouth, Iris thought back to Malfoy and Snape and her feelings of anger returned. She would most definitely be having some words with Dumbledore after this.

Soon enough, Hermione was back to normal, though Iris noticed that she hadn't stopped Madame Pomfrey when her teeth were exactly where they were before. The old witch left the two of them sitting on one of the many beds, saying Hermione was good to go and that if the same person messed with her again to let her know because she had a few choice words for them.

"They look good," Iris reassured her with a smile, "Don't tell your parents though."

Hermione laughed a little, "Oh trust me, I have no plans to."

The two girls stood up just as a new person walked into the room. They both recognized him immediately as Colin Creevey. Making a beeline for Iris with a massive grin on his face, Colin eagerly spoke, "Iris! I was sent to get you and Harry — only you weren't with Harry like you were supposed to be, but he said you would probably be here — and he was right! They want all the champions upstairs for pictures and stuff!"

"Oh!" Iris' stomach lurched with the realization that this was what she had been waiting for, "Alright then, I'll see you later Hermione?"

With a nod and a supportive arm squeeze from Hermione, Iris followed Colin out of the Hospital wing. He led her down the corridor and up some stairs, beaming the entire way.

"You look very nice today Iris— well you always look nice, but I was just saying you look nice today too!" He rambled on.

Iris chuckled, smiling at the younger boy, "Thanks, Colin."

Ever since his first year, Colin had had a crush on the Potter girl. He didn't make it that hard to tell, and though Iris didn't reciprocate his feelings, she had always found his gestures sweet.

"It's amazing, isn't it, Iris?" said Colin, practically bouncing as he walked with her, "Isn't it, though? You being champion?"

Iris hesitated for a moment, her hands wringing together, "Well, I guess we'll see." She smiled somewhat bitterly as they rounded one last corner.

"Good luck!" said Colin when they had reached the right room. Iris rapped on the door and entered. 

It was a fairly small classroom; most of the desks had been pushed away to the back of the room, leaving a large space in the middle; three of them, however, had been placed end-to-end in front of the blackboard and covered with a long length of velvet. Five chairs had been set behind the velvet-covered desks, and Ludo Bagman was sitting in one of them, smiling cheerily.

Viktor Krum was standing moodily in a corner as usual and not talking to anybody. Cedric and Fleur were in conversation. A paunchy man, holding a large black camera that was smoking slightly, was watching Fleur out of the corner of his eye. 

Bagman suddenly spotted Iris, got up quickly, and bounded forward. 

"Ah, here she is! Champion number five! In you come, Iris, in you come. . . nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment -"

"Wand weighing?" Iris repeated curiously. 

"We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead," said Bagman. "The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a little photoshoot. Your brother is just having a quick interview with Rita Skeeter for her article for The Daily Prophet."

He left her with a friendly smile, returning back to his seat behind the table. Iris glanced towards the door to the broom cupboard, knowing exactly what was taking place behind it. She then felt a hand land softly on her shoulder.

Turning to find Cedric standing before her, they greeted each other with a quick kiss.

"Are you nervous?" He asked, his hands resting on her upper arms.

She tilted her head back and forth, considering, "I don't think so... just anxious to get it over with I suppose."

He rubbed soothingly up and down her arms, nodding understandingly.

"A picture of the happy couple?" A voice cut in.

It was the man with a camera; Iris guessed he was from the Daily Prophet as well. They glanced at each other before shrugging in agreement.

"Sure, that's fine," Iris told him with a light smile.

After positioning the two so Cedric was standing behind Iris with his arm draped around her back and his hand resting on her waist, they smiled nicely as the wizard snapped his photos. Just as he was finishing up, the familiar face of Dumbledore walked in the door accompanied by someone Iris hadn't seen in a good few years.

"Mr Ollivander!" Iris smiled brightly, walking over to the old wizard. She shook his hand warmly, "It's been a while, how have you been?"

The kind man's pale eyes lit up as he looked at the young witch with a smile, "Just fine! Very good to see you, Miss Potter."

Dumbledore turned to her, "Where is your brother?"

Iris gestured towards the broom cupboard mouthing, "Rita" at him. With an understanding nod, the Headmaster walked over and pulled on the door.

"Dumbledore!" Iris heard Rita Skeeter cry, with every appearance of delight, "How are you?" she said, standing up and holding out one of her large, mannish hands to Dumbledore. "I hope you saw my piece over the summer about the International Confederation of Wizards' Conference?"

"Enchantingly nasty," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "I particularly enjoyed your description of me as an obsolete dingbat."

Iris slapped her hand over her mouth to hold in a laugh. Rita Skeeter didn't look remotely abashed. 

"I was just making the point that some of your ideas are a little old-fashioned, Dumbledore, and that many wizards in the street -"

"I will be delighted to hear the reasoning behind the rudeness, Rita," said Dumbledore, with a courteous bow and a smile, "but I'm afraid we will have to discuss the matter later. The Weighing of the Wands is about to start, and it cannot take place if one of our champions is hidden in a broom cupboard."

Iris could tell Harry was very glad to be getting away from the woman as he practically ran from the cupboard. The other champions were now sitting in chairs near the door, and he sat down quickly next to Iris, looking up at the velvet-covered table, where four of the five judges were now sitting - Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Mr Crouch, and Ludo Bagman. Rita Skeeter settled herself down in a corner.

"May I introduce Mr Ollivander?" said Dumbledore, taking his place at the judges' table and talking to the champions. "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."

Iris grinned in delight as Harry's head snapped over to the old wandmaker. She sat in her chair as the other champions one-by-one handed over their wands to be examined. Once Harry had gone, it was her turn.

"Excellent," said Mr Ollivander, handing Harry back his wand. "Which leaves. . . Miss Potter."

Iris got to her feet and walked past Harry to Mr Ollivander. She handed over her wand. 

"Aaaah, yes," said Mr Ollivander, his pale eyes shining. "Yes, yes, yes. How well I remember."

Iris remembered too, that day was one of the best of her life.

"A very fine wand, this one. Ten inches... cedar... quite bendy flexibility... unicorn hair," Ollivander hesitated for just a moment before speaking, "This hair, in particular, happens to be from the exact same unicorn as Mr Diggory's wand."

Iris' eyes widened at that. She looked over to Cedric, her face turning pink as she shifted under everyone's knowing gazes. Mr Ollivander didn't waste any time in finishing up, producing a flare of bluebell flames from the tip of Iris' wand.

"Very good." Mr Ollivander approved.

"Thank you all," said Dumbledore, standing up at the judges' table. "Now, your instructions. Barty, do you want to do the honours?"

Mr Crouch nodded swiftly. 

"Yes," he said, "instructions. Yes... The first task is designed to test your daring," he told Iris, Harry, Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor, "so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard... very important..." He observed all five of them carefully, "The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges. The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests."

Mr Crouch turned to look at Dumbledore.

"I think that's all, is it, Albus?"

"I think so," said Dumbledore, "You may go back to your lessons now - or perhaps it would be quicker just to go down to dinner, as they are about to end —"

Happy with how everything had gone, Iris got up to leave, but the man with the black camera jumped up and cleared his throat. 

"Photos, Dumbledore, photos!" cried Bagman excitedly. "All the judges and champions, what do you think, Rita?"

"Er - yes, let's do those first," said Rita Skeeter, whose eyes were upon Harry again and now Iris. "And then perhaps some individual shots."

The photographs took a long time, but eventually, Iris and Harry made it to dinner where the two of them sat alone at the Gryffindor table. They didn't talk much as they ate, and quickly headed back to the Common Room where they then went their separate ways. Entering her dormitory, Iris was greeted by Hermione, stating that a letter had arrived for her.

Knowing there was only one person who would be sending her a letter, Iris hurried over to her bed where Hermione had left it and eagerly opened it. In her godfather's familiar scrawl was written:

Iris -
I can't say everything I would like to in a letter, it's too risky in case the owl is intercepted - we need to talk face-to-face. Can you ensure that you are alone by the fire in Gryffindor Tower at one o'clock in the morning on the 22nd of November? Harry should come too.
I know better than anyone that you can look after yourself and while you're around Dumbledore and Moody I don't think anyone will be able to hurt you. However, someone seems to be having a good try. Entering you in that tournament would have been very risky, especially right under Dumbledore's nose. 
Be on the watch, Iris. I still want to hear about anything unusual. Let me know about the 22nd of November as quickly as you can. 
Sirius

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hi guys!

so it's been a long while, and I feel bad because I'm always taking breaks, but I gotta be honest when I say that I completely lost inspiration for this story. I couldn't get myself to write anything for this at all and it was absolutely awful.

however, even though it's been months I am so beyond excited to be able to say THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR 100K READS!! that's crazy!

I'm hoping to get back into this story now that I'm writing again, so I hope you guys are ready for the crazy stuff I have planned!

and just because why not, here's a qotd!

Who's your favourite Harry Potter character?

mine is actually Harry himself I think! I just love his sass and even though he's a huge dumb boi he's my huge dumb boi