The Intelligent Potter

*** Present, Good ol Hoggy, Events Chamber 3

Almost the entirety of the school and all of its guests were seated in the hastily transfigured bleachers as the dozens of press reporters took pictures of the three champions.

Fleur was coldly staring straight in front of herself, with a look of disinterest, in spite of which, the non-occluded males were still drooling over her.

Krum looked surprisingly awkward on the ground, Harry had seen his graceful flying but apparently, his grace was only in the air. The Bulgarian seeker was looking gruff and somewhat uncomfortable.

Harry himself was looking fairly relaxed but he knew he stuck out like a sore thumb from his much older competition. Not only was he much shorter than either Fleur or Krum but his features were still very much more childish, despite his scarily good fitness for his age.

The event was being hosted by a very excited Ludo Bagman, who Harry noted was the head of the department of magical sport as well as an old beater from the Applebys.

"WELL HELLO LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, TO THE CEREMONY…OF THE WEIGHING OF THE WANDS!" Bagman yelled at the top of his voice, along with a sonorous charm on his throat, making Harry wince from the loudness of the man that was standing right next to him.

"SO, THE WAY THAT THIS WORKS IS-" Bagman began to yell but Ollivander tapped him on the shoulder.

"I think I can handle it from here, Ludo." Garrick Ollivander said calmly, before stepping forward, "The point of the weighing of the wands, is merely to check that all participants are using legal wands that do not disadvantage them and that they do not have illegal extensions as defined by the International Condeferation of Wizards, for general sport and duelling. This simple check has turned into a ceremony over the years, may I now ask the oldest champion to step forth, Mr Victor Krum." Ollivander said formally.

The stoic Bulgarian stepped forward and handed his wand to Ollivander who turned it over a few times.

"Ah, a Gregorovitch creation, 10 and a fourth inches, hornbeam wood and a dragon heartstring core, very fine craftsmanship…but I've always found them a little…"

Ollivander trailed off, as he thought for the word.

After a bit, he shook his head and waved the wand, conjuring a golden snitch which he handed to Krum, along with his wand.

"The wand of Mr Krum is in perfect condition and perfectly legal for the Triwizard Tournament." Ollivander announced, "May I now have the second oldest contestant, Ms Fleur Delacour."

The French witch strutted up to the old wand-maker and handed her wand to him proudly.

Ollivander turned the wand over in his hand and waved his own wand over the thing a few times.

"A custom wand?" he asked Fleur, who nodded proudly.

"A custom wand, nine and a half inches, Rosewood with…Veela hair, quite unconventional and possibly temperamental but perfectly legal and in great condition, can I have Mr Potter up here now?" Ollivander said.

Harry went up, handing his wand to Ollivander who seemed to forget where he was for a second as he gazed at one of his own creations.

"Ah, one of my finest creations, Mr Potter, you've kept it in excellent condition, 11 inches, holly, with the feather of a phoenix."

With that, the old man handed Harry's wand back to him.

"Well, that concludes the ceremony of the weighing of the wands." Ollivander bowed out.

Ludo took over again and Harry silently apologised to his poor ears.

"WELL, NOW IT'S TIME FOR THE PRESS TO DO THEIR THING, FEEL FREE TO STICK AROUND GUYS AND GALS!" Ludo said.

Not many people left, for many, this was the biggest part of the entire ceremony, especially because Harry got in.

Before they started, one reporter raised her hand and spoke before anybody called on her, "Do you think I could perhaps have an exclusive with young Harry, he might be too shy to answer some of my questions out here in the public eye…"

Immediately, Harry knew something was up, the look in the reporter's eye didn't bode well for the interview, she was eyeing him like a piece of meat.

Ludo Bagman, the gormless idiot that he was looked positively delighted with the idea, "OF COURSE RITA, I'M SURE HARRY WON'T MIND!"

"Actually, Ms Skeeter," Harry said, recognizing her name as that of the Daily Prophet's gossip-monger, "Not only is it illegal for me to conduct a private interview without the written consent of my guardian, I'm sure I can answer all of your questions appropriately out here."

The reporter looked like she was about to protest, so Harry continued.

"I'm sure you don't want to get onto the wrong side of my guardian, Sirius can be a bit…overprotective."

Rita looked mighty displeased, but knew she couldn't handle the full wrath of the house of Black which could crush her budding career right into the ground at that moment, if any of its members felt so disposed.

"Very well, Harry. Let me start off this press interview with a question for you, how did you manage to get into a competition where your rivals are almost 4 years your elder, is there perhaps a technique to maybe…convince the goblet?" Rita said suggestively.

"Ms Skeeter, the goblet is a very powerful magical artefact, if I were even close to capable of hoodwinking it as you are suggesting it, then I wouldn't need to because I'd already be capable enough to breeze through its testing without even a chance for anybody else. I believe that I got in purely on merit, and my significant duelling practise which led to my win in this year's under-17 duelling world cup." Harry said tactfully.

"Ah, but what about your name coming out of the goblet twice?" Rita said triumphantly.

"I believe that I have already mentioned that I'm not capable of confounding the goblet, it is possible that it was an attempt to enter me into the competition from either a well-wisher or somebody who knows of the death-toll of the competition." Harry said.

"Do you think you can last against such experiences competitors?" Rita asked innocently, waiting for something she could paraphrase.

"Yes." Harry gave a simple one-word answer.

With that disappointing interview, the topics of discussion moved on to the other participants as well, though Harry still got a fair amount of questions.

*** End of Chapter