Chapter 1

It had been a week since Harry Potter's name had come out of the Goblet of Fire, and the only one who had really stuck by him was his one true friend Hermione Jane Granger. There were others around the school who had told him that they believed that he had not entered himself in the Tournament, but they were not in a position to back him vocally because of the backlash they would had received for their support, it had been Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley who had approached him first, soon followed by Susan Bones, Padma Patil, and then to Harry's surprise, Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis from Slytherin. It made Harry feel good having others believe in him, but the only one helping him was his friend Hermione.

What was causing him to go over the frustrations he had come up against was the latest interference to his efforts to ensure his continuing survival through the end of this Merlin forsaken tournament. He had made an offhand comment to Hermione while they were studying about hiring a tutor to catch him up with the other champions who were three years his senior. Hermione jumped on his ramblings and the next thing he knew; they were standing outside Professor McGonagall's office door waiting for her to answer their summons. When they were escorted into her office, Hermione took the lead.

"We have been studying nonstop for the last week, but the truth is that Harry is woefully unprepared for this tournament or the tasks that he will inevitably face. In my research, I found that it is not uncommon for the tournament to lose at least one or more of the champions during the tasks, and I also learned that the last tournament was decided by the fact that the winner had only lost his head while the other two were eaten by a Nundu. What we propose is that Harry hires a tutor from outside the school to help train him. In the rules of the tournament, it says that a champion can bring in a trainer from outside his or school to help prepare, it is only forbidden to get help from his own teachers or faculty. We would like to propose Remus Lupin as Harry's trainer since he is no longer on staff here at Hogwarts."

"That is an excellent suggestion Ms. Granger, and one that I support whole heartedly. I will take your suggestion to Professor Dumbledore as soon as I am done with my next class, and then we can contact Remus after dinner to come back to Hogwarts, hopefully by tomorrow. Ten points to Gryffindor for your continued support of Harry." It was with a much lighter heart that Harry and Hermione headed back to the library to look for more spells that he needed to learn to survive.

Later in the great hall during dinner, Harry realized that there was virtually no chance that the tutor would be allowed. While Hermione was considered by many to be the smartest witch of the age, she still believed that authority figures would do what was best for the ones that were in their care. Harry was wise to the world having grown up with the Dursley's and their abuse. Time after time Harry had learned the lesson that the only one he could count on was himself instead of the adults that were in his life. Report Vernon to a teacher for beating or starving him, arrive home and receive a beating for the call Vernon or Petunia got from the teacher as they 'investigated' the allegations. Harry had learned how to read people from a very early age, the better to not be there when something triggered the urge to beat Harry before throwing him back into the cupboard. So when Harry saw the look on his head of house's face, he knew that the answer that she had for them was no, no matter how much it would increase the chances of survival for one Harry James Potter.

After dinner, it was with great regret that McGonagall informed them that their request was denied, the reasons given were cost, Remus being a Werewolf, and the fairness to the other competitors. The head of Gryffindor was very visibly unhappy, but she assured them that Professor Dumbledore was always looking out for the students and what was best for them. Harry didn't even bother listening to the rest of her excuses for the reasoning of the Great Albus Dumbledore, just walking away as he became more convinced than ever that it wasn't just Voldemort that wanted to kill him.

The sound of the door of the classroom that Hermione and he had claimed for themselves to train opening drew him out of his funk and into readiness, since there were at least a dozen locking and silencing charms on the door to keep from being interrupted. Harry and Hermione drew their wands and faced the door, only to be stunned as the door opened, backwards. It is not that the door opened outwards into the hall when it was supposed to open into the classroom, it was that the edge with the hinges opened into the room while the handle side acted as the hinged area. With a happy giggle, a small, blonde girl with slightly unfocused silver grey eyes skipped through before closing the door behind her. She waved at the two of them, showing them that she was not holding a wand, and then she skipped passed them to the teacher chair, where she sat and immediately began to spin the chair around, giggling in delight.

Harry and Hermione looked into each other's eyes in question, and then Hermione slowly moved over to the door and began to cast charms at the door. The more charms she cast, the more frustrated she became, until with a resigned sigh, she turned and stalked toward the young girl who had joined them in their room.

"How did you get through the door without breaking or even disturbing any of the wards we put on the door?" Hermione had the look that Harry had termed her 'terrier sensing a hidden rat' look which meant she would drag the information that she wanted out of the strange girl no matter what it took.

The blonde giggled and held a sign up that had not been in her hands a moment before. The sign said that they would have to trust her and follow her if they wanted answers, but that they needed to stop talking. Harry and Hermione looked at each other again, and then both turned to the girl and nodded their heads. With a large grin, the girl stood and walked over to the rear wall, where she walked back and forth three times and then placed both of her hands on the wall and pushed. With barely a sound, the stones that made up the now revealed hidden door swung into the secret passage and the two stunned teens saw a lighted passage that led up and away from where they were. With a wave of her hand, the blonde girl led them into the passage and on to a new path for their destiny.

It was less than ten minutes later that the door to the classroom swung open violently and Professor Snape barged in wand drawn. "Potter, come out from under that invisibility cloak and accompany me to the Headmaster's office. You were not given permission to use this classroom, and you will have detention for your lack of respect in not asking before you just took over what is not yours. Potter. Potter! Accio Potter's invisibility cloak." When nothing happened and he got no response from Harry or Hermione, Severus Snape began casting stunning spells at random, trying to get the two Gryffindors to reveal themselves. With one final cast, he turned to the door and spoke.

"Albus, I do believe that they have somehow deceived your spy network. They are not in here, and it appears that they may not have been in here today."

A shimmer in the hall quickly became Albus Dumbledore, as he disbanded his disillusionment spell and walked in to the classroom behind his friend Severus. "I suppose I should have expected Miss Granger to set up several blinds so that she could help her friend Harry. Even now, the listening spells in here are registering their voices indistinctly, mixed in with ours. Annoyingly clever girl that Granger, it would be so much easier for Harry to fulfill his destiny if she were not there to help him all the time. I will need to consider whether or not she is of use to my plans or if there is a way to guide to a proper wizard to bring power back into a fading line. Let's go check a few of the other classrooms that they might be in and see if we can find the wayward children. It would not do for Harry to push his magic to the point that it releases him from the restrictions that he has."

It was with mounting fury that Harry and Hermione watched the projection on the wall of what was happening in their former training room. It was Hermione who broke the silence first. "What are the two of them playing at? The way they were talking, it is almost as if they want Harry to walk to his death willingly, with a vacant smile plastered to his obedient face. I can't believe that the Headmaster and Professor Snape would do that to you, not matter how much Professor Snape hates you." Harry just met her eyes and shrugged. It didn't surprise him that Snape would be in on a plot to help him to his demise; it was only Dumbledore's duplicity that gave him a moment's pause. Looking back on his life, he realized that Dumbledore had probably been in on most of the plots to hurt or kill him as he grew up.

"Thank you for rescuing us from the room." Harry said to the blonde stranger who had led them to the room they were in. "I am Harry Potter, and this is my best friend Hermione Granger. Would it be rude of me to ask for your name, and how you knew that we were in need of rescue?"

"Oh, oops, I forgot that part since we have done it all before at one point or another." The blond girl said with a bit of a hidden smile. "My name is Luna Lovegood, third year Ravenclaw, and I have convinced myself that you need help with the tasks set about before you."

"How do you know what the tasks are, they have not even told the champions anything that would help them to figure it out, just for them to be prepared for anything." Hermione asked, at once cutting right to the heart of the matter, while Harry felt content letting his friend quiz Luna for answers.

"I am not allowed to share family secrets with you just yet, but it would benefit Harry greatly if the two of you would trust me. What I can tell you is that the first task that Harry will have to face is getting past a nesting dragon to collect a false egg from her clutch without injuring the dragon or her eggs."

"WHAT!!! What the hell are those idiots thinking?" Hermione ranted. "It would be bad enough to send adult wizards to face a dragon, but those idiots are forcing Harry to compete as well. He might be killed or maimed for life and they are treating this whole thing like a game."

"Hermione, calm down and breathe. I agree with you and if there was any way that I could get out of it, I would; but they told me I would lose my magic if I did not compete. What I think is stupid is the fact that they expect us to go at this blind, with no knowledge of what we have to face." Harry was terrified about what he now knew, at least if Luna really knew the truth. "Luna, I need you to tell me how you know about the dragons, though now that I know, some of the comments that Charlie Weasley made this summer about seeing us this year now make sense."

"I can tell you, but I need you to promise me something, and also let me do something to protect you from revealing secrets to people who have no need of learning them."

"Hermione and I will promise to do whatever you need us to, since we are both set on me living through this tournament." Harry said while looking for and receiving confirmation from Hermione's expressive eyes.

"Okay," Luna said as she pulled her wand out from where it was tucked in her hair behind her ear. "This is a family spell that will keep your mind secure from those with nefarious intent." Her wand began to weave a pattern that was becoming almost visible in its complexity and power.

The almost completed pattern made Hermione gasp and whisper in awed surprise, "It's a fractal."

No sooner had she said that, than a burst of intense light that shifted through all the known colors, and even a few that were unknown, before fading once again. It was a very surprised Harry and Hermione who found themselves lying flat on a soft pad with no real knowledge of how they ended up where they were. Sitting up, the two blinked like two confused owls as the spots slowly cleared from their vision. What they saw was Luna sitting in a comfortable looking recliner, her body draped across it with her legs dangling over the arm and swinging as she read a newspaper that she held upside down. When she felt their eyes focused on her, Luna folded her paper and put it aside where it popped away in a small puff of smoke, and then she pushed herself to her feet in one smooth motion.

"Sorry I didn't warn you about the effects of the spell, but it was best for you not to fight it. You were right when you said it was a fractal pattern Hermione, and now that it has been place in your minds, there is no possible way to read your thoughts without you allowing access. Anyone who tries will end up lost in the infinite unless you expel them or they retreat right away. One of my relatives learned about fractals and the complexity of them while he was visiting New Mexico in the US, and created the spell I just used on you to protect our family's secrets, so thank you for allowing me to cast it on you."

Luna paused to focus on her thoughts and then continued. "The first thing that I need to tell you is that I am a seer, but not in the way that either of you think. I am not like cousin Sybil, who is like a blind dog searching for a bone, once in a while getting lucky and finding one. I am more in line with the chaos readers of the ancient Persians, who saw all roads to the future, and had to focus to see the ones that had the most beneficial outcome for the ones they served. It is why people call me Loony, I find it difficult to remain in the present place, time, and dimension for long when there are so many interesting things to see and experience. It is more important than anything else in this world that neither of the two dark lords learns the truth about my abilities or the world will burn."

"Two dark lords? I thought that Voldemort was the only dark lord around." Hermione was looking at Luna with her usual intensity; it was Harry who answered her question though.

"Hermione, isn't it obvious to you who she is talking about? Riddle is one of the dark lords, but it is so obvious to me now that I think about it, Albus Dumbledore is the other."

"No he is not! You take that back Harry. Albus Dumbledore is the leader of the light and a great man who defeated Grindelwald, and then held Voldemort in check so that he couldn't take over England." Hermione was almost trembling as she defended the figure of authority that she had placed on a pedestal above all others, including her friend Harry. "It was said that the only one Lord Voldemort feared in the last war was Albus Dumbledore and that he was the greatest light lord since Merlin, I read all about him in The Fight against the Dark."