Disbelief. That was the first thing Harry Potter felt after his name came out of the goblet. He walked into the antechamber behind the teacher's table in a haze. He hoped someone would walk up to him call him a fool and say it was all just a joke.

That didn't happen. What happened instead was the adults forcing him to participate in a deadly tournament. When they first told him he didn't have a choice and had to fight in it his whole body became numb with shock. From then on he couldn't move or speak just look at what was before him with unseeing eyes not hearing anything else the people around him said. Because of this he was unaware of the change in expressions on the other champions' faces.

Cedric Diggory's mercury eyes showed fear. The seventh year Hufflepuff was fearing for the boy's health seeing how the Gryffindor's skin lost all color. The young seeker always had a pale skin color, but right now the fourteen year olds' face was chalk white and he wasn't reacting! To anything, not to the accusation, or the side comments from Professor Snape or Professor Moody insisting that someone wants the boy dead. It scared him how Potter's once easy to read face froze into numb shock.

Fleur Delacour knew all too well what it felt like to be accused of doing something and not being given a chance to defend yourself because people just know you did it. She knew what it felt like to be stared at all the time no matter where you go, what you do. The young part vela knew how cruel the wizarding world is putting you on a pedestal one moment and dragging you through the mud the next. She was warned by her parents about the British newspapers and they even showed her examples how the reporters wrote stories that destroyed people. What really shocked her was that most of the times the stories barely held any truth. She looked at the boy with sympathy.

Viktor Krum wasn't someone who talks much. Most of the time he had to talk he said what needed to be said jut to fall silent after that. When he was with his friends or family he talked nearly nonstop. He loved to have teasing banters, light, playful conversations, deep, heart-to-heart talks, and deep opinion exchanges with his loved ones. Because of this he knew when someone is paying attention, and the young, messy haired boy clearly wasn't for some time now. It was clear to him that something snapped in the boy and after tonight he never will be the same as before. He could only pray for all of their safety and hope for the best as he looked at the fourth champion with weary eyes.

Harry was in an emotional turmoil. Tons of feelings swirled inside him, but he couldn't separate one from another. He wasn't able to tell what kind of emotions were fighting inside him to get to the forefront. When he couldn't take the inner turmoil anymore and walked out of the antechamber not paying attention to anything. He made his way up to the Gryffindor common room and walked in while being on autopilot. He was rudely shaken out of it as his housemates began to shout profanities at him.

"Cheater!"

"Attention-seeker!"

These and all kinds of things were shouted at him. He didn't care. As long as he has his friends he could weather through this storm. He just needed the reassurance that he wasn't alone, but as he reached the bottom of the stairs, which led to the boys dorms he met his friends. He nearly sighed a breath of relief when Ron opened his mouth and along with Hermione crushed his hope.

"How could you Harry? I thought we were best mates! Why didn't you tell me you put your name into the goblet? And why didn't you tell me how you did it? You knew I wanted to be in the tournament!" shouted the ginger haired male.

Harry couldn't believe his ears. His best friend thought he wanted to fight for a sack of galleons in a tournament where his life was at stake? He looked at the ginger and saw his face turn red from anger so he turned to Hermione, who always thought logically, but her face was marred with disappointment.

"How could you do this Harry? You knew the age restriction line was there for a reason! You shouldn't have put your name in the goblet! This tournament was constructed for students of age! What would your parents think of you for endangering yourself like this!" Hermione was ranting. She had told both of her friends how dangerous the tournament was and how countless participants had died. She looked up about to continue her rant when she saw Harry's empty eyes. They shocked the muggleborn witch so much that her words got caught in her throat.

"If you really think so low of me, we don't have anything to talk about." answered the green eyed boy. His voice void of any emotion. The messy haired wizard pushed his way through between them and walked up silently and quickly disappearing in the darkness. He felt his heart break as he left behind the two people he once called his friends. He thought he will be able to forgive them one day, until he saw his trunk wide open and it's contents thrown around across the whole room. He grabbed everything and put them on his bed to organize them and see if anything was missing. His work was rewarded with the crushing reality of his most valuable things missing. He looked it over again to make sure he had the list of stolen items right. He took out the list he wrote at the end of the summer of every property he took with himself to school in his trunk. He made a copy of the list, put the original back in his pocket and began crossing out everything on the list he found then at the end he circled the missing items. After he was done with it he confirmed what he already knew, his inherited invisibility cloak, the marauder's map, his sack of galleons, his dress robes, his firebolt and even his scrapbook full of pictures of his parents were missing. He walked out of the room with the list and his wand in his hands. As soon as he closed the door behind himself he warded it like Bill taught him so only he could open the door. Once done he marched down to the common room, through it, and many hallways, and down a couple of stairs before reaching his head of house's personal chambers. Knocking quite forcefully a couple of times then waiting less than a minute for the door to open.

Minerva McGonagall Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts was sitting in her personal chambers slowly sipping a cup of strong tea when someone forcefully knocked on her door. She got up and opened the door. To say that the Transfiguration Professor was surprised was an understatement. Because the person at the door was none other, than Harry Potter, who she had been thinking about. She was concerned when she saw the anger on his face.

"What's wrong Mr. Potter?"

She watched as the boy took a deep breath calming himself down somewhat before giving her a parchment. She looked at it, but didn't understand so she turned her attention back to the boy, who let out a sigh then answered.

"The items on that list is what I brought to school with me this year. The crossed out things were just thrown out of my trunk to somewhere in my dorm. Everything I circled in is the items that had been taken from me while I was in that antechamber."

"WHAT?" screamed the Professor. Harry just nodded then continued his explanation while they were going back where he came from.

"The cloak and enchanted parchment are family heirlooms Professor." at this revelation the cat animagus' anger increased tenfold. It was already bad that her lions stole from one of their own, but family heirlooms being stolen was a great problem, because if they didn't give it back she had to help Harry take it to the DMLE and take them back with force and make the thief or thieves pay a hefty interest.

When the Fat Lady let them in they heard the other fourth year boy's angry shouts at the prospect of not being able to open the door. The loudest of them all was Ron, while Neville sat on a couch quietly, waiting patiently. McGonagall stepped forward, shot off a bright red spark, which created a loud bang when it touched the ceiling. The boys jumped then turned towards the newcomers. They sported different expressions. Ron was about to complain to his Head of House about not being able to open their dorm room's door, when the Professor walked past them with Potter hot on her heels up to the room. They heard the soft click of the room's door.

McGonagall walked in the dorm after her lion. She looked at the open trunk, then at the possessions of her lion on his bed covering every inch of it. She watched him go over to his desk and sit down in his chair. The Professor stood beside the bed waiting for the other occupants of the room. As soon as the last boy entered the room she pointed her wand at the door shutting and looking it in a matter of seconds. She looked at her lions sternly only to note that Longbottom seemed totally confused by the placement of Potter's things, while the other three paled at the sight no doubt piecing the clues together. She turned to her innocent lion and motioned for him to sit down on his bed, Neville did so.

"Where are Mr. Potter's stolen possessions?" asked the Head of Gryffindor House. She was too angry to beat around the bush and pull the story out of them right now.

The culprits froze at the anger on her face and in her voice. They were about to answer the question when they remembered their other crime. They stayed silent for three whole minutes, before Dean Thomas gathered all his courage and answered the question knowing full well that the later they answer the more severe their punishment will be.

"The money pouch is in Ron's trunk, the cloak is in Seamus' trunk, his broom is in my trunk and we his the parchment in Neville's trunk figuring that no one would look for it there."

"And the dress robes and the scrapbook?" prompted McGonagall already dreading the answer. She absent mindedly summoned Potter's hidden things as she waited for the answer. She didn't miss however Thomas swalowing hard before opening his mouth again.

"We burned them." squeaked the boy fearfully before pointing to a pile of ashes she, herself along with Potter and Longbottom missed completely. "After we tore them to pieces." whispered Finnegan.

The Professor could only stare at the remnants of the possessions of her lion. She saw from the corner of her eye as Potter stood up and walked up to the pile of ashes. She turned her attention back to the culprits. She tore them apart with her words so loudly, that all male of the Gryffindors heard every word of it. She only stopped in her tirade when she heard a strangled sob come from behind her. Whirling around she came across a sight that broke her heart.

Harry walked up to the pile of ashes. He kneeled down beside it and dug through it trying and failing to find a picture that was at least mostly intact. The longer he looked the more desperate and miserable he felt until he couldn't take it anymore and began sobbing while still looking. As he let his brain process the loss of his scrapbook he broke down, he mourned for the loss of his mementos, the link to his parents laid at his feet and wouldn't have known had he not been told before hand because it was unrecognized able. He slowly stood up and watched how some of his tears fell on the ashes.

"Mr. Potter?" asked the Deputy Headmistress stepping closer to the teenager. She reached out to pull him into a hug, but her hand stopped in the air not knowing if he would accept it or not. The decision was made for her a couple of seconds later, when her student came over to her, hugged her and cried into her robes. She pulled him closer, embracing her lion she tried to calm him down, but he was unconsolable. The Transfiguration Professor waved her wand at the black-haired boy's things sending them in the teen's trunk. She steered the crying orphan to his bed and tucked him in after she gave him his cloak. He pulled it under the cover and put it under his head. The boy buried his head in the cloak, letting his tears wash over it as he slowly fell asleep.

Professor McGonagall set up a ward around the emotionally shaken teen and his things. It will dissolve once the boy crosses it tomorrow. Once done she turned back to her other lions. Her face became a mask of fury as she looked at them. Ever since she saw that pile of ashes she knew she will give out very harsh punishments. Her cheeks turned red while her lips became a thin line and whitened.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor per culprit." hissed McGonagall. "Until further notice you're not allowed in Hogsmeade. As for your detentions you will come to my classroom at a 7 pm sharp tomorrow." The Professor stopped there thought for a little bit then coming to a decision she ordered the culprits to gather their sleep clothes, because they will go to bed in that very instant. "In the morning all three of you will report to my office at 8 am sharp. If you fail to come or come late your punishment will be more severe." were McGonagall's parting words.

Harry slept fitfully that night. He had nightmares throughout the night. They all centered, around the same thing, losing everyone he still held dear. In his dreams he lost his godfather to the dementors while Pettigrew stood over Sirius and laughed at the sight of the soulless body of his ex-friend. He lost his adopted uncle to the Ministry of Magic's corruption and bias. In his dream he watched helplessly as the biased politicians shipped the werewolf off to Azkaban first then dropped him off in a foreign land after snapping his wand and wiping his memory to the point he couldn't remember how to talk. In his last nightmare he saw the students of Hogwarts attack his beloved owl and kill his companion mercilessly.

The messy-haired young wizard woke up suddenly with a gasp passing through his lips. He sat up fastly, looking around the room fearfully after a night filled with nightmares. Harry jumped out of bed switched his rumpled clothes to fresh ones, then he resized his trunk after he put his things in it, put the feather light charm and protective wards on it before putting it in his pocket. Pulling his winter cloak on and wrapping his scarf around his neck he left his dorm room.

He walked up to the owlery slowly to wake up completely. While he was climbing the stairs to the owlery he heard a couple of voices arguing about something. Running up the remaining way silently and hiding in the shadows, to watch what they were doing. The young Gryffindor didn't need to wait long to discover what they were doing.

The five Hufflepuff in the owlery were arguing in hissed whispers not realizing, that they weren't alone anymore.

"Which one is his?" asked a fifth year boy. He had never paid any attention to the Gryffindors. In his opinion the red clad House gets too much attention. Jeff Davids loathed Gryffindors, but he downright despised Harry bloody Potter. The Gryffindor Golden Boy, as he was referred to behind his back, always got what he wanted because he's Dumbledore's favorite. The Headmaster favored his old House pretty obviously. Davids was always a head shorter than the boys his age so he bulked himself up to not to be seen as a weak and easy target for the Slytherins. It worked so well for him that he unknowingly turned from victim to bully, or more like his House didn't know about him bullying others. He hated the Potter boy's guts since he saw him, because he didn't need to be tall or strong. The infuriating boy didn't need to protect himself he was protected by the adults. But now the boy had stepped over a line and lost that protection. He could easily bully him now without the fear of the Headmaster's wrath.

"That one!" pointed Roger Boon at a beautiful snowy owl. The bird was resting on a perch sleeping peacefully.

"Perfect." purred Davids as he and the others took out their wands and pointed them at the unsuspecting pet.

The ringleader Jeff Davids stepped forward. He shot a cutting curse at the bird only for it to dissolve in front of the startled owl on a well-placed, strong protego shield. The Hufflepuffs froze in shock for a second, but the moment the bird shot off of her perch flying towards them. They began throwing curses at the bird until a well-placed bombarda maxima blowed her into the wall of the owlery knocking her out. Their glee over their victory was cut short when they remembered that someone else was there. They were just turning around, when a red clad figure ran through their group and went over to the bird. The small figure moved so fast they couldn't dream of figuring out. After the Gryffindor kneeled down beside the snowy owl.

Harry's heart was in his throat as he looked his friend over. He let out a relived sigh of relief as he felt her soft breaths and pitter-patter heartbeat. He pulled his scarf off and bundled his friend up in the warm cloth. The green-eyed boy stood up with his owl in his left arm, while he held onto his wand with his right hand.

Jeff Davids let out a cruel laugh at the sight of Potter. The 14-year-old had a distraught look on his face. It gave him such happiness to see the heartbroken glances the boy graced his unconscious owl that he didn't see what the words he said to break the boy further really did it to him.

"Thanks for lending us your owl for target practice."

Harry froze down at the words, then his mind snapped crushing his Gryffindor Golden Boy mas and pulling his true self to the fore front, which caused his magic to go high wire and breaking all the blocks placed on it with resounding snap. He felt an incredible amount of power rush through him warming him up. The emotions he suppressed before came forward only to coerce his magic to manifest more and more and make his spells come out faster, stronger and more accurate than ever before. Feeling all the betrayal and hurt he felt since came to Hogwarts he turned to the bullies, who harmed his friend. Looking down at Hedwig white hot fury coursed through him making his wand let out a steady stream of sparks before he began to shot wordless spells at them with just his intention, feelings and magic to do it without any knowledge of the spells he used.

The Hufflepuffs didn't know what happened to the boy they were tormenting, but he went from distraught to furious in a matter of seconds. It wouldn't have posed a problem if it weren't for his strong magic moving around the owlery like a beast that was let out after being caged, for a life and starved for a long time. This metaphor was proved right when the boy attacked them viciously with all types of curses. There were cutting and bombing curses for the most part, but it wasn't only those spells, there were boiling, bone breaking and body binding curses shot at them too. They tried to fight at first only for their attempts to be swept aside, then tried to defend themselves. They watched dumbstruck as the Gryffindor cut through their defenses like it was nothing. It only took the messy-haired wizard 30 seconds to beat his tormentors in this uneven duel.

Once Harry was done with them he regarded them with one last meaningful glance warning the badgers against telling on him.

Jeff Davids felt like years ago, when he was weaker and others joked about him. He went back to victim from bully in such a short amount of time it left him breathless. He watched transfixed and dumbstruck as the boy's figure slowly disappeared in the shadows of the tower as he left behind the owlery and the Hufflepuffs he beat in it without even a backwards glance.

Harry James Potter was angry no scratch that he was furious, the audacity of those badgers was the very last drop. He has had enough of everyone walking over him. He won't be anyone's scapegoat or blame person and he sure as hell won't let the people take their frustration and anger out on him. It was high time to show everyone what he was really made of. Having been put down mercilessly before for what he was capable of he learned not to let anyone see his true self, other than Hedwig of course, since the first test in elementary school where he scored 100% easily while his aunt's and uncle's perfect little boy was barely able to get 40% even with cheating. But it didn't matter because his relatives never believed anything he said so when Dudley told his parents at home how his cousin cheated to get the best mark he knew what will happen. First his uncle beat him to not to be able to get away then took off his belt and whipped the boy with it. He got, ten lashes for that good grade along with a threat to have more and more lashes if dared to be better than Dudley in school. After that accident his grades became so bad that he went form best to worst student. His teachers had been shocked, at first they tried to get the boy to do the tests to the best of his abilities seeing that they knew the boy knew all the answers and was their brightest student, but the boy refused and they couldn't do anything other than watch him play dumb while simultaneously filling his notebooks with writings in different languages and equations that high school and later university students, who's future work relied on math and phisique, learned.

The messy-haired wizard grimaced at the memories of his time in elementary school. He had viewed Hogwarts as a chance to get away from his "loving" family and finally be himself. Those plans got buried with him befriending Ron, then it was thrown out of the window with Hermione. Between his two ex-friends he was either distracted from homework by Ron or bullied into doing worser than Hermione. That will change now. He will be the best student leaving the Ravenclaws and Hermione crying. He planned to get Arithmancy and Ancient Runes books to learn something useful this year.

The green-eyed boy was pulled out of his musings when his owl let out a weak hoot. He looked down at her watching how she slowly opened her eyes and blinked up at him. Her yellow eyes were filled with pain making his fury rear up again.

"It's okay girl. I'm going to help you, we just need to get back to my dorm."

Walking through the halls he changed his mind and went out of the castle, down the grassy ground to the Black Lake, where he sat down with his friend on his lap. He carefully pulled the scarf apart freeing his owl from it's confines. Lifting his hands he put them on the bird's back and began metodically feeling around for bruises and broken bones. He found a couple of fractures in her back and pulled muscles in her wings.

After the medical scan he gathered some of his magic in his hands and let it seep into his friend healing all of her injuries. As soon as she was healthy again she spread her wings testing out the movements. Finding everything alright she raised her grateful gaze onto her master. She got a warm, relieved smile back. Harry then bundled her back up and walked back in and into the Great Hall in front of the Beaubaton and Drumstrang delegations.

The Bulgarian students watched the fourth champion's actions with confused interest while the French girls were melting at the sight of such a caring teenaged boy. Seeing how they all wanted to get to know him more they followed him to the Gryffindor table sitting down around him. At first they wanted to say something, but refrained from it so as not to make the powerful champion angry for fear of his magic turning from soothing warmth to hostility. It didn't really help because as soon as the first Hogwart's students walked in the boy's mood began to turn sour prompting his magic to spike sporadically. It felt as if someone was charging the very air with electricity. When the first members of his House sat down small sparks of electricity began to appear around him. With the number of Gryffindors increasing around him his magic's offensive defense came out stronger and stronger.

The foreign students didn't understand why the boy reacted like that at the mere presence of his Housemates until the taunts and jeers began. It was obvious to them that they either didn't feel the angry magic or they were dismissing it. Watching with growing fear as the boy's electric doom shield expanded getting closer and closer to them. Viktor, who sat on the young champion's right reached out his hand to see what it would do to him. He was pleasantly surprised when his hand passed through it as if it wasn't even there. Not too long after his little experiment a sixth year Gryffindor tried to grab Harry, but the moment he touched the doom he got a big shock and was flung across the table behind him.