One Amalgamated Halloween…

By Ordinaryguy2

1994, HALLOWEEN, HOGWARTS

Harry Potter stormed through the halls of Hogwarts.

"I really hate Halloween!" he practically yelled, startling several of the portraits that hung in the hall.

"Why is it that every Halloween something has to pop up and mess with my life!"

He stopped at a window and looked out. He could see a line of people going up the dock to the Durmstrang ship floating on the Black Lake. Over to the right of the window Harry could just catch a glimpse of the Beauxbaton carriage, and it seemed like all the students were already inside.

"I can't believe I got dragged into this stupid tournament," he muttered to himself in the cold night air. "Professor Moody is probably right; someone is trying to kill me. Very publicly, too. And Dumbledore is making me participate anyway. Doesn't he know that just puts me at risk?"

He'd already gone to Gryffindor Tower. A few students had been out in the hall, mostly with romantic partners, though that did not stop them from giving him the evil eye. As Harry neared the portrait entrance, he spied Ron waiting there, sulking, as was his want when he was upset about something. Harry had wanted to just go in and maybe talk to Hermione and go to bed so he could hopefully put this day behind him. But Ron, instead of being mad at the situation Harry found himself in, the idiot accused him of cheating his way into the tournament and not helping him to do the same.

As if Harry really wanted in this death trap of a tournament. Ron was an idiot. And, at this moment at least, was not proving to be a very good friend.

Instead of going up to his bed or seeing Hermione, Harry went to cool off by walking through the corridors.

"How am I supposed to compete in this contest?" he complained out loud. "Fleur is a Veela! And Krum is… Krum! And then there is Cedric who is probably the top student of the school!"

Harry resumed his pacing. "According to Hermione, this whole contest was cancelled because of just how deadly it is. And if someone is trying to kill me, they are sure to sabotage me, making it even deadlier for me. I'm dead meat for sure."

There was a soft pop beside him, making Harry start to reach for his wand. He stopped when he recognized just who it was.

"The great Harry Potter sir must not give up!" exclaimed the worried house-elf who was twisting his ears. "The great Harry Potter Sir will do great things if he tries! Very great things!"

For a moment, Harry glared at the house-elf. "Dobby, did you put my name in the Goblet of Fire?"

Harry wouldn't put it past the somewhat demented house-elf. In his Second Year, Dobby had gone to great lengths to try and keep him from Hogwarts. Who knows what the house-elf would do if he wanted the 'great Harry Potter sir' to prove just how great he was to the rest of the school?

The house-elf looked hurt at the accusation. "Dobby has not done such a thing. Dobby does not know who put the great Harry Potter Sir's name in the burning magic cup."

"Sorry, Dobby," Harry said regretfully, hanging his head for thinking that about the house-elf, though Harry did feel he had reason to suspect him after all Dobby had put him through during his Second Year. "I'm rather overwhelmed right now. I don't know what to think. According to Dumbledore and the judges, I've got to participate. If I don't, I would lose my magic."

Dobby's mouth hung open in horror at the thought of Harry Potter losing his magic. "What does the great Harry Potter Sir need to prepare himself?"

Harry hadn't really thought about preparing himself. He'd been too busy ranting and raving to even consider it. If he hadn't run into Ron, then right now he'd probably be joined with Hermione as she put together a huge curriculum for him to undertake to get him ready for the tournament.

"I need someone who can help me get the skills I need to survive this tournament and take down those that are against me. I need someone who can help me be a person who can get through all of this alive… and whole."

Dobby paused as an idea came to him. "Dobby thinks he know an answer! Yes! Yes! Dobby does!" Taking Harry's hand, Dobby began to pull him down the hall and on to another.

Soon, after going up some stairs, and dodging around a suit of armor that had evidently been cursed to kick whoever walks by, Dobby had Harry standing in front of a very bizarre portrait of a knight trying to teach a few trolls how to ballet.

"The come-and-go room!" Dobby said excitedly. "It can give you help you be needing!"

Harry glanced down the hall both ways. There was no door near them, but that didn't necessarily matter since this was a magical castle. "Um, is this room behind the painting?"

Dobby smiled in amusement and shook his head, sending his ears flapping around. "No, no, no. You must be walking down and back again three times. You must be thinking about what you are needing for the room to help the great Harry Potter Sir."

The boy winced at the constant honorific the house-elf kept giving him. He took a few steps forward before pausing to think of just what it was that he needed again. "Ok," he quietly said to himself as he began pacing. "I need to meet with someone who can help me get the, uh, abilities I need to survive the Tri-Wizard Tournament. I need to be strong enough to face whatever comes at me. I need someone who can help me get through the tournament alive." He continues to recite his mantra softly as he paced. Finally, as he completed his third trip, a round doorway appeared in the wall with wisps of vapor emanating from within.

"That's ominous," he said. He glanced down at Dobby. "You are sure this is safe?"

The house-elf tilted his head as he twisted one of his ears nervously. "Dobby never said the come-and-go room was safe. Dobby said it would help the great Harry Potter Sir."

Harry grimaced. He knew the smart move would be to go get Hermione. Another part of him wanted to impress her by solving his problem without her help.

Stepping inside, he saw a glow on the far wall. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

"Where the hell am I?" said a male voice from the direction of the glowing section of wall.

Harry slowly continued forward, squinting through the haze. "Uh, who are you?"

There was a large chunk of yellow, glowing amber that stood seven feet high and just over eleven feet long. Harry couldn't tell how deep it was, but it was deep enough that if held a man inside of it.

"Hey, what's going on? Where am I?"

"Um, hello?"

"Who are you, kid? Did you put me in here?"

Harry's eyes widened in alarm. "Uh, maybe inadvertently."

The man sighed, leaning against his side the amber wall. "Ok, so this wasn't a kidnapping?"

"What? No!" Harry said, hoping that this wouldn't get him arrested.

The man was Caucasian with an American accent. He had dark hair and seemed to have been hiking.

"Ok," the man said, accepting what was happening with surprising ease. "I appeared to have teleported here. You have an England accent. Did I just go from Africa all the way to jolly ol' England?"

"You were in Africa?"

The man chuckled at that. "Yeah, keep up with me, kid. Now, am I in England?"

"Scotland, actually."

The man grinned. "And we are in a castle, right? Man, that brings back memories."

Harry fidgeted. "I-uh, I'm Harry. Harry Potter."

The man grinned, turned totally to face Harry, revealing that he bore an eyepatch over one eye. "Xander. Xander Harris."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief that the man seemed to have never heard of Harry before. In his opinion, this was going to make this easier to deal with.

The American then rapped the amber in front of him. "I don't suppose you know how to let me out?"

Harry winced. He glanced back for Dobby, but the house-elf was nowhere in sight. "Not really. This is my first time in this room."

"How about why I am here?"

Harry gave a guilty look and gave a quick explanation that ended up quite a bit longer when Xander started asking questions. Harry, not wanting to be rude to the man he had inadvertently kidnapped, answered everything, including much of his own history that was pertinent to everything.

"Wait, what year did you say this was?" Xander suddenly asked, startling Harry.

"It's 1994. It's actually Halloween. Nearly the day after Halloween."

"Damn. Time Travel," Xander muttered. He was now pacing in the strange amber prison like an animal. "Harry, you said this is a magical school, right? You've studied all sorts of magical phenomenon, right?"

"More or less, yeah," Harry answered with a shrug.

"Ok, have you heard reference to the Slayer before?"

Harry frowned. "No, sounds scary. Is it some kind of monster?"

Xander snorted. "Maybe for a couple days a month."

"The Slayer is a werewolf?"

"Different monthly problem," Xander deadpanned.

Realization caused Harry to blush. He didn't joke about such things. He'd seen Hermione hit Malfoy last spring. Harry wasn't about to give her a reason to take a swing at him.

"Slayers are always female," Xander said, realizing the younger guy was clearly uncomfortable about such subjects. "And if you haven't heard of Slayers in this magical school, then I probably got grabbed from an alternate universe. Do you have vampires here?"

Harry's head tilted in surprise at the question. "Well, I've heard about vampires. Only from books, really. I don't know if I ever met one, though some people joke that our potions professor must be one. From what information I have come across, vampires are mostly not like in the movies. They rarely hunt people. Just a sort of dead, but not dead sentient being that needs blood to consume and has to avoid sunlight. I think I even heard someone mentioning that their family lawyers were actually vampires."

Xander stared at the teen for a moment. "Definitely a different universe. What about Werewolves? Zombies? Demons?"

Harry frowned. "We have werewolves, though not all of them are bad."

Xander nodded. "Yeah, it's that way where I come from, too. By best friend's ex-boyfriend is a werewolf. He's a great musician, too."

"As for zombies," Harry continued, "I think the Wizarding World calls them Inferi, though maybe that is just a type of zombie, I really don't know. As for demons, I don't think they exist. At least I hope not."

Xander tapped the walls of his amber cage. "Hmm, with what you said about vampires, demons, as well as what you said before about needing a wand to focus your magic, I think it is safe to say that I am almost definitely a different universe."

Now it was Harry's turn to fidget. "Sorry about that. I didn't realize that this room would just pluck someone away from their lives. I just… I don't know."

Xander's curiosity started to rise. "What did you expect to happen?"

"Uh, that maybe I'd get a ghost coach or maybe a portrait advisor of one of the previous contestants."

"Wait? What do you mean by 'portrait advisor'?"

It took a few minutes for Harry to fully explain how portraits in the Wizarding World were actually animated and had a pseudo-life of their own.

"Great Googally-Boogally! That- that could be such a nightmare in so many ways. But we are getting away from the subject."

"You mean getting you out of that amber chamber?" Harry said.

"No, I don't think that will work that way." He paused to scratch his chin, "Well, maybe it would, but I don't want to risk it." He traced a hand over the transparent amber wall again. "I think once I help you and you leave this magical room, I will go back to Africa with my team. And since I've had some dealing with magic and with wishes, I need to know the exact words you used to call me here."

Harry felt a catch in his throat. "I'll try."

"Do or do not, there is no try," Xander said in a low croaky voice.

"What?" Harry gave Xander a perplexed look.

"Sorry, it was a movie quote from where I'm from."

"I haven't seen many movies," Harry said with embarrassment. "I think I heard Dean and Shamus say something like that."

Xander felt a pang in his heart not being able to imagine growing up without movies, especially Star Wars. "Just tell me what you asked for, ok?"

Harry turned to the wall, hoping that not staring at Xander would help him to focus on what he'd said when calling this room into being.

"Well, I know I asked for someone to help me get the skill I needed to survive this contest. Also, to be able to fight those that are out to get me. That I needed someone who could help me be someone who can survive the tournament and everything that goes with it."

Meanwhile, Xander was running his hands over the ceiling. "Ok, that's everything, right? And for some reason you got me instead of a genie. Not that I recommend genies or anyone else handing out wishes."

"Uh, ok," replied the confused teen.

"Right then, let's get to it." The one-eyed man sat down on the floor and crossed his legs. He rested his hands on his kneecaps and closed his remaining eye. "Ok, Harry, here's the thing. I think this room… maybe even this castle is sentient, or maybe semi-sentient. Since it brought me here, I'm going to try and communicate with it. See if it can tell me what it thinks I am supposed to do."

Harry glanced around the room. "Sentient? I never thought about that before. It would explain the moving staircases, I suppose. But, you've done things like this before? Talking to sentient rooms?"

"Nope," Xander said, popping the 'p' of the word. "But how hard can it be, right? So, just be quiet and let me try this," he said and closed his one good eye again.

Harry nodded and quietly fretted. Soon the amber cage seemed to light up, and Xander seemed to sit straighter in the flickering ambiance.

The proclaimed Boy-Who-Lived nervously kept watch going on ten minutes before the light show came to an end.

Harry stood directly in front of the block of amber, watching as Xander shook his head and started to rise to his feet.

"Well, I got the gist of things," he told Harry. "I am from an alternate universe and will be sent back once you leave this room. Which is a good thing since I probably have several worried slayers looking for me right now."

The teen breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to hear it. I really didn't mean to waylay you like that."

Xander snorted. "Trust me, kid, you are by far one of the better people to have captured me, whether you meant to or not."

"How often do you get captured?"

"Too often to count. One of the worst though was when my hot new science teacher turned out to be a giant preying mantis who wanted to mate with me and then eat me." He shivered. "I still haven't entirely recovered from that."

"One of my teachers turned out to be a werewolf and tried to kill me and my friends," Harry said.

"This isn't a contest," Xander said flatly. "Even if it was, I still would have won. But let's get back to what the castle told me to do."

"It spoke to you?" an incredulous Harry said.

"She did. And remember that pronoun. She lets everyone else get away with calling her an it because they don't know better. But now you do know better, so she will hold you accountable."

"Ok, but, I still don't understand how Hogwarts can be alive. Does it have something to do with all the magical students coming her for a thousand years?"

"What, like magical life created by osmosis over the centuries?" Xander ran a hand through his hair. "That would be a lot nicer than the truth."

"What's the truth?" Harry asked, curious now about the history of his home.

"The truth is that the founders, when they were getting ready to set the foundation of this castle, took a young woman, Isabel, who had been a protégé of the four, and placed her under the very first stone. You should know that Isabel was already dying due to a nasty curse, and that this was actually her request. She already assumed she would return as a ghost. This way when she died, she would have a body again, though that body would turn out to be a massive castle."

"So she is a ghost? Hogwarts is just a haunted castle?"

Xander knocked on the amber wall. "Listen to me, Harry. Isabel is no ghost. Not… really. The founders, with her permission, transferred her essence through sacrifice into the castle itself. Basically, she is the castle."

The blood had left Harry's face. "That sounds like dark magic," he spoke in a whisper.

The light in the room flickered and shook briefly.

Xander gave the boy a weak smile. "Yeah, I don't think she liked you saying that." The one-eyed man turned as if listening to someone.

"Is-is she talking to you? Why doesn't she talk to me? The other ghosts in the castle will talk with me."

Xander held up his hand for Harry to be silent while he continued to listen to the castle. "Yeah, hmm, she can't talk to the students or interact with them much. This room is kind of an exception, but she still can't talk one-on-one with you. One of the early headmasters, actually it was a headmistress, used the control of the wards to silence Isabel, so she could promote her own agenda, instead of that of the Founders. Each headmaster after that has had a chance to reinstate Isabel, but instead have reduced her abilities to influence things even further for themselves."

The teen's mouth hung open. "I should tell Dumbledore. I'm sure he'd do something to help her. I can't imagine what it would be like to see everything in the castle, but not be able to be a part of it."

Xander held up his hand for Harry to stop. "Isabel says that Dumbledore (now there's a crazy name) knows about it already. In fact, he also uses it to manipulate events the way he wants."

Harry shook his head. "You're wrong! Dumbledore will help! He's the leader of the light!"

"That's just a title he made for himself," Xander said. "Isabel wants you to ask the room for a spell book that will show whether or not you have been given potions to influence you or make you loyal to someone."

"You're wrong!" snapped Harry, who was now feeling like he wanted to leave this room and Xander.

"Really? Then ask for the book, cast the spell, and prove that Dumbles is innocent."

Gritting his teeth at hearing the mockery of the headmaster's name, Harry snarled, "Fine! Give me the book I need!"

The spell book appeared on a pedestal in front of him, almost causing him to step back. It was already open to the necessary page and the spell was highlighted in a yellow glow. Harry looked at the cover seeing the title 'Common Protection Spells for Every Witch and Wizard'. It was old and seemed very basic as far as spell book were concerned. On the front page was the Potter family crest stamped within which surprised the teen as he has never known his family had a crest.

"Where did Isabel get this book?" Harry asked anxiously as he traced his fingers over the crest.

Xander's head tilted to the side, listening again to the unheard ghost. "She says it was being kept in Dumbledore's personal library along with many other Potter books."

Harry grimaced. "This proves nothing."

Xander gave a weak smile. "Just do the spell."

Harry looked over the spell several times. He didn't have to wave his wand since this one was on himself, but he did have to be holding it. Quietly he said the spell, which Xander couldn't hear. He could, however, see the bright orange aura around the teenage wizard.

"That-that can't be right," Harry mumbled as he looked over the written spell again and cast it on himself again.

Xander called out to Harry several times before the teen would look over at the man trapped in the amber cage. "Hey, listen to me, Harry. Just because you have a loyalty spell on you making you loyal to the headmaster, that doesn't mean he is the one who gave it to you or even knows about it, right?"

Harry's eyes were just a little wet. "It was a potion. Not a spell. And I know you think that Dumbledore did this."

The one-eyed man gave a sheepish shrug. "I've been wrong before. But either way, you need to be freed from this."

"Why?"

"Well, because-"

"No, why do you care?" asked Xander.

Xander scratched the back of his head. "I've been labeled 'The One Who Sees'. Ironically, it was done by the bastard that crushed my eye in its socket. But my friend Buffy cut him in half. But regardless of that, other entities and powers-that-may-be have also commented on my being One-Who-Sees. Basically, as far as I and my friends can figure, I'm able to look though the crap and see the right issues instead of following the ones that mislead everyone. I'm not infallible. Not by any means. One look into my personal history will tell you that. But, everything I've heard from you tells me something stinks in Denmark and some people want to lead you around by the nose."

"A purging potion," Harry muttered.

"Say what now?" Xander asked.

"The spell says that to counter the loyalty potion, I need a purging potion."

Xander nodded, then smacked his lips. "Sounds… fun. Can you get one?"

A laugh burst out of his mouth. "Well, if I go down to the Infirmary for one, that would let the headmaster or whoever know that I am ridding myself of their loyalty potion. I could brew it myself, but I can't get ahold of all the ingredients."

Xander had tilted his head again, listening to a silent voice. "Isabel suggests calling your house-elf friend. What the heck is a house-elf?"

Harry wiped his eyes. "You mean Dobby?"

There was a loud pop with the sudden appearance a short, long-eared, large-eyed humanoid creature. "The great Harry Potter sir had called for Dobby! How can Dobby be helping the great Harry Potter sir?"

"Um, Dobby, hi, again. How have you been?" he said.

This seem to cause a rush of emotions in the house-elf who began calling out how great he thought Harry Potter was, that he was even concerned about the wellbeing of a lowly house-elf.

"Please, please stop!" Harry begged, uncomfortable with the praise.

Dobby sucked in a great breath and turned to stare compliantly up at a very uncomfortable wizard.

Xander, meanwhile, was trying to hold in the laughter he felt ready to burst out of him. "Looks like you found your friend."

Dobby gasped. "The great Harry Potter sir considers Dobby a friend?"

Knowing there was going to be even more antics because of that, Harry decided to head it off. "Stop, Dobby. Don't… just hold still for a moment." Harry looked onto the large eyes of the house-elf and now understood what the term 'puppy-dog eyes' meant. "Yes, Dobby, you are my friend. And I hate to ask this, but can you get me a purging potion without letting anyone know about it, and promise not to tell anyone about it?"

Realizing he was allowed to move again, Dobby nodded his head enthusiastically. "Dobby can do this." He then popped away, and within three seconds he popped right back with a glass vial filled with a brown syrup. "And Dobby is promising not to tell."

"That looks… unappetizing," Xander commented.

Harry grimaced. "It looks like-"

"Don't say it!" Xander called out. "You're the one that has to drink it."

Harry looked at the vial again and made a face. "You know, I could probably see if Dobby could get you one, too."

"No thanks!" Xander said. "I think I am inaccessible to him or anyone else. Except for Isabel, that is."

After some more urging Harry finally downed the substance in one go.

"So how was it?"

Harry was smacking his lips and making a face. "Kind of like chocolate. If the chocolate had been coated in olive oil that had started turning."

"My sympathies. Now this purging potion, what all can you expect when it starts working?"

Harry gulped nervously, shifting his feet. "I'm going to need a bathroom!"

A door appeared in the wall next to him and Harry bolted inside of it, ripping off his robe as he shut the door.

Xander sat down and leaned against the amber walls of his container. "Poor kid." He sighed. "So, Isabel, why don't you tell me about yourself. I know you don't get much of a chance to talk to anyone."

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It was a subdued, trembling Harry that walked out of the bathroom over an hour later. "That was one of the worst experiences in my life. And I've been up close with Voldemort, Dementors and the Dursleys."

"Sorry about that, Harry," Xander said with a chuckle, "but hopefully it will be all right in the end."

"Is that American humor?" Harry eyed him coldly.

"Don't be like that, Harry. I'm on your side after all."

Dobby popped in and gave Harry a cup of tea, gave him a weak smile and popped out again.

"You have a loyal friend there," Xander said.

Harry nodded and took a sip. "Yeah, he once tried so hard to save me in my Second Year here, he almost crippled me for life on purpose."

Xander eyebrows rose. "I think I am missing some commentary."

Harry waved it away. "It's all in the past. He thought there was a worst threat here, so he tried maiming me in order to try and save me. Right now, I have to figure out what to do about Dumbledore along with this bloody Tournament. I didn't think he was trying very hard to get me out of the tournament, now I think he wants me in it. For all I know, he is the one that entered me."

Xander had his head turned as the invisible Isabel was telling him something. "Isabel says there is something going on with Dumbledore right now and she would like to show us."

Running his hand over his mouth again, Harry just nodded.

The wall opposite Xander's amber prison lit up similarly to that of a large television screen. The view on the other side was that of the headmaster's office. Albus Dumbledore was looking through an old scroll, making notations onto a piece of parchment.

The old wizard looked, and said 'Come in, Ronald', just before the youngest male Weasley came storming into the office.

"How did he do it?" Ron Weasley demanded, as he automatically began to pace the floor as if he were familiar in doing so there.

"If you mean how did Mr. Potter get his name into the Goblet of Fire, I am not you certain," responded the wizened wizard.

Ron snorted in disgust. "The showoff couldn't even let me in on how he did it! Can you believe that? I'm supposed to be the best mate he has ever had, and he doesn't even let me in on it!"

"I take it that Mr. Potter is still denying having entered the contest?" Dumbledore wily asked.

"I'm sure he would if I could find him! The cheating bastard never came back to the tower!" Ron stopped in his tirade to reach out and snag a handful of lemon drops that Dumbledore kept on his desk, making the older wizard wince as the teen preceded to jam several of the sweets into his mouth, then shoved the rest in his pocket.

"Am I to understand that Mr. Potter is wandering the halls instead of consulting his friends at this late hour?"

"Would I be here complaining about him otherwise?" Ron snarked, forgetting about who he was talking to.

Dumbledore stroked his long beard as he thought. "I suppose a night on his own in the halls of the castle instead of his bed might do some good."

"I hope he never comes back," said a more subdued Ron, as the calming drafts laced into the candy began to take effect.

"We still have need of him, Ronald. However, I think a time of letting young Mr. Potter struggle on his own for a bit might be good. In fact, after the First Task concludes may be the best time for you to return to being friends with Mr. Potter."

Ron began to choke on the candy in his mouth. Finally, he managed to spit them all out into his hand which he then put them all in his pocket with the other candies. "You want me to go back to being friends with that cheat?!"

"It is what I am paying you for, Ronald," stated the headmaster, more coolly than he had spoken before.

Ron swallowed nervously. "Uh, yeah, I guess. But it just bothers me. How could he have done it when sneaky gits like the twins couldn't get past the age line?"

Dumbledore almost rolled his eyes at seeing how Ron tried to change the subject. "I have been giving it some thought. My only guess at this point is that he used his invisibility cloak to sneak across the age line to enter his name."

Ron starred in open-mouthed surprise. Then anger returned to his features. "He could have easily let me have a go at entering my name with that cloak of his, the bloody git! But no, he wants all that fame for himself! I can't believe I have to stand by and let that sneaky, self-centered git marry my sister!"

Dumbledore was looking at his lemon drops. Either the calming potions had been put too thinly on them or the blasted Weasley boy was become immune to them. The wizened wizard attributed it to Prewett heredity going through puberty, and made a mental note to have Snape make a stronger batch next time. "Now, Ronald, you know Mr. Potter must marry Ginerva in order for your family to inherit his family fortune when Voldemort finally kills him. You are key to making that happen. You can only have a short reprieve from being Mr. Potter's friend. If you were to permanently lose his friendship, it may make it difficult in getting him married to your sister."

Ron snorted in annoyance. "As if! Harry's desperate for friends. I could probably burn up everything he owns right in front of him, and he'd still want to be friends with me afterwards."

The headmaster shot him a sharp look. "Do not treat this matter lightly, Ronald. If you were to permanently lose his friendship-"

"I know! I know! But I won't," insisted the redhead. "Hey, can I keep his invisibility cloak when we are through with him?"

"I'm afraid not. I have plans for that particular item. I wouldn't have returned it to Mr. Potter, except I had sworn an oath to his father to return it."

"Can I at least borrow it? I just want to see if it could get me into th-"

The screen on the wall faded from existence. Harry sat there in horror after having listened to the plans of two prominent people in his life. He would have been sick except the purging potion had already removed everything.

"You know what, Harry?" Xander asked. "People suck. Just remember not everyone is like that."

The screen returned to the wall. This time it showed a pretty, bushy-haired teenage girl sitting alone in the Gryffindor common room in a chair close to the entrance. She had a thick book in her lap that she was totally ignoring as she stared at the portrait hole while biting her lip.

"Huh, she reminds me of Willow," the one-eyed man stated.

"What?" Harry said, shaking off his surprise at suddenly seeing his friend's image.

"My best friend growing up, Willow. She was always of the books, and later of the computers, too. Super brainy, and she later became a super witch, too."

"Um, this is my Hermione. I mean, this is Hermione. She's my… I hope she's my friend. I-I don't know what I would do if-if she was like Ron. Paid to be my friend."

Xander felt for the kid who had just learned he was just being raised for slaughter by people he loved. He knew he'd do what he could to help this kid's life get set straight. "Isabel says that she is your true friend, though she has also been given some loyalty potions towards the headmaster."

Magic began to crackle around the young teen. "I'll… I'll…"

"Easy, Sparky! If there is going to be any revenge, then you need to understand the landscape. You need to know all of what has been going on."

Harry glanced back at Xander and then over to where he assumed Xander saw Isabel. "Could Hermione come here? She is a lot more logically minded then me. She could help me through this. Plus, I don't want her there alone in the common room when Ron comes storming in. He's sure to start a row with her if he thinks she is siding with me."

Xander turned to listen to thin air for a moment.

"Very well, Isabel is making the screen into a temporary portal so please get her through quick."

Harry noticed Hermione in the screen suddenly standing up, dropping her book and staring right at him. "Hermione, quick! Come here!"

"H-Harry?"

"Harry," Xander said, "Tell her to come with you if she wants to live."

"What?" both teens said, turning to him in horror and surprise.

"It's a great movie quote, and one that probably would have been better used at a different time," Xander reluctantly acknowledged. "But she does have to hurry. Ron will be there soon."

That was something Harry did understand. "Hermione, please, just hurry through the portal and I will explain everything!"

Taking in a deep breath, Hermione launched herself through the portal which turned out to be as easy as stepping in the next room. Not realizing it would be so easy, she ended up colliding with Harry, knocking them both to the floor.

"Sorry, sorry," Hermione said, trying to get back up.

"Um, no worries," Harry said, easing himself off the floor.

Hermione looked back the way she had come and saw the common room. Ron had come in and was heading toward the stairs to the dorms, only pausing to grab some cookies someone had left out, and then chucked an inkwell at Crookshanks who easily dodged it.

"I'll tear his ears off!" she shrieked. "No wonder Crookshanks always disliked Ron! Ron's a complete arse!"

"You have no idea," Harry responded, placing a calming hand on her shoulder.

Then Harry went on to explain about everything he'd been shown. She had believed him up to the point of Dumbledore. Finally, Dobby was asked to obtain another purging potion. Harry hated letting her do that to herself, but the alternative seemed even worse.

Isabel -by way of Xander- revealed that Dumbles has been having Harry guided through several events. Testing him to see just what he could expect from the boy. Training the boy to do what it took to win, even to the death. The Dursleys were the first thing he'd been subjected to. After that it was a series of events every year.

Hermione listened to most of it from the bathroom where the purging potion was working on her.

When she was finally silently sitting close to Harry in an antique love seat while sipping her tea, she looked up and spoke. "I don't know about you, Harry, but I want to kick some bloody arse!"

"Language, Hermione!" Harry said with amusement, a grin growing on his face. "And hell yeah!"

"Excuse me, oh dynamic duo," Xander intruded. "But, if you recall, you were originally seeking a way to survive the Triwizzy thing. And Isabel has a price."

Both teens froze. "Wait, what do you mean, 'a price'?"

Xander sighed. "Nothing's ever free, kiddos. But, Isabel assures me that she had studied you two enough to know that you would be more than willing to do most of her chore list even if she wasn't making it a requirement."

"Then why is she making a requirement?" asked Harry. "Why not just ask us?"

"Because she wants it done sooner than later, and if it's a requirement, then you want to try get it finished so it doesn't get in the way of the other things you want to do, like donuts! No one should ever have something keeping them from getting to donuts. Those confectionary delights with their filling, oh, it would just be so bad if you missed out on those because you had not cleaned your room first. Or if you forgot to take out the trash. Then there is the homework. I always had prob-" He seemed to stop when an unseen person began speaking to him again. "Sorry, I was just trying to make a point."

"What are these things she wants us to do?" Hermione asked.

Xander held up a finger. "First off, you two, please talk directly to Isabel. I know you can't see her or hear her, but think of it as if you were talking to a deaf person via someone on the phone. It's just polite."

"Sorry, Isabel," Hermione said, trying to look where she thought the spirit was. "There has just been a lot thrust upon Harry and myself. I am usually better mannered."

"Uh, me too, though a little slower on the uptake," Harry said, copying Hermione.

A scroll appeared in Hermione's lap. With a moment's hesitation, the teen took it up and read it. "Most of this seems… fairly simple. But some of this might take a bit… if we can even manage it."

"I'm game," Harry said, looking soberly at the list. "I just hope it is in my abilities to do so."

"And that is where I come into play," Xander said, rising to his feet. "Isabel's been explaining how she wants me to help you out. And how she can make it possible. See, it goes back to something that happened when I was just a few years older than you are now. It was coming near Halloween and I lived over a very volatile magical piece of land that was called the Sunnydale, otherwise known as the Hellmouth. Not that most people knew that, but anyway, back to the story. There was this vile prankster of a magic dabbler named Ethan Rayne. He put up a costume shop in town right before Halloween, but had set it up so that everyone who put on his costumes actually became those characters. Mayhem ensued. I for one became a soldier in the army. My friend Willow had gone as a ghost and then was one. Buffy became the 18th century lady she had dressed up as and so on and so forth."

"How does that help us?" Harry asked.

"Patience, grasshopper. My story does not end there, but you've heard enough of it for what I need to tell you. Isabel wants me to help you to find a character to do a partial transformation of, so you can survive this tournament you are in."

"You think I should be a soldier like you had become?"

"Yee gadz! No, that was just what I went as because I had no cash for a fancy costume. Even so, the military memories are still floating around in my head and have been rather useful on occasion. For you, Harry, I am thinking more of something from the superhero line, or something likewise powerful. Now, tell me what ideas you have?"

Harry just stared at the man.

Xander rubbed his head. "Please, tell me you have comic books in this universe."

"Uh, I know what comic books are," admitted Harry. "I've just never been allowed to read any."

Xander frowned. "This is sort of like how you never heard of Star Wars, right?"

Hermione gasped. "You've never seen Star Wars, Harry?" causing Harry to slump down in shame.

"Hold it, you two. Isabel's told me that most of the fiction in this world is the same as on my world, which is why I am compatible here."

"How is this going to be affecting Harry?" asked Hermione. "It sounds like you are planning to make him into so sort of amalgamation."

"That's the five-dollar word. Amalgamation, thank you," Xander chortled. "Now the process will give Harry the characteristics of the character. The powers, abilities, the tech, the knowledge."

"But I want Harry to be… Harry," said the teen witch.

"And he will be. Just… more."

She turned to Harry. "I'm having reservations."

Harry let out a sigh. "What were you telling me before about the survivability rate of previous tournaments?"

Her head hung low. "I'm not happy about this."

"I'm not either," he replied, taking her hand in his. "But, I don't know what else to do."

"I could help you." She looked at him pleadingly. "I can research everything you need to know about the Tournament. I can help you train and learn new spells."

"Normally I would agree with you, Hermione. But, now I know I have Dumbledore, Ron and who knows who else all ready to drag me down. We need something extra on our side. Xander, Isabel and this amalgamation thing looks to be it."

She tackled him into a hug, startling him.

Xander gave Isabel a smirk, but wisely stayed silent.

"Fine," Hermione stated. "But I am going through the process, too."

"What? No!" Harry pulled away from his schoolmate.

"It's not up for discussion, Harry. I have a feeling that before this is over, I may need an extra edge to get through this, too." She turned toward Isabel. "Is it possible to include me, Isabel?"

"The lady says 'yes'," answered Xander. "Now let me explain some of the requirements for this to work. Ol' Ethan used costumes to match identities to. Isabel has to use something slightly different. Basically, she and I need to use the most common characteristics you have to the character you choose. There has to be some similar references for the spell to latch onto. Maybe something in common in your history or character so that it would be an easier match."

"How do we go about choosing someone?" Harry asked.

The walls of the room began to be covered with small screens of different people.

"Is this…" Hermione got to her feet followed by Harry. "These are who we choose among?" She stared at a woman in the small screen begin to twirl a glowing lasso and then lassoed a plane about to take off, stopping it with sheer strength. In another screen, a woman leapt out of an ancient temple while being chased by a horde of screaming native headhunters. Harry was watching a screen showing a man in a leather loin cloth swinging from tree to tree while chatting with a nearby monkey. On the next screen, a large, horned humanoid beast strode through a castle filled with living furniture and fixtures.

"This could take a while," Harry said as he glanced down the rows and rows of screens.

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AuThOr'S NoTeS: 10/01/2019

I wrote this while sick, so I hope there weren't too many mistakes. It's just an idea I came up with, and I thought with October being the time when several of the Buffy Halloween stories start coming in, I thought I would try and have one ready. I already have an idea of who I will amalgamize the two teens with so if you have an idea of your own, I suggest you write it yourself.

This can also be a challenge for any author who want to try the amalgamation storyline.