Harry made his way into the Great Hall for dinner with a smile on his face. Although the idea of fighting a dragon was not very appealing, just knowing what to expect made him feel a lot better about his chances of surviving at least the first third of the tournament. Plus, he still had a little more than a week to figure out what he was going to do. He decided to spend the rest of his night in the library trying to find out how to attack a dragon, and hopefully by tomorrow he could have someone else thinking about the challenge as well.

Dinner was already half way over by the time Harry noticed an empty seat across from Neville and sat down. As he began to eat he noticed Ron, who was sitting at the other end of the table, get up and walk out of the Hall after glaring at Harry for a few moments. He didn't mind, and in fact was happy Ron had not decided to make a scene during dinner. Meanwhile, Neville had stopped eating and was looking at Harry with a curious look on his face.

"What's got you so happy, Harry?" Neville asked. Harry thought about what he should tell his friend, and Neville truly was a friend. Harry regretted the three years in which he had known Neville and not let him get as close as he allowed Ron and Hermione. Harry wondered how much he should tell him and how much he should keep to himself. While he didn't want anyone to find about his advantage, he knew a little extra help couldn't hurt. And maybe he had been underestimating Neville all of these years.

"Neville, you can keep a secret can't you?"

"Of course, Harry."

"OK. I know what the first task is going to be." Harry said prompting a shocked reaction from Neville. Harry leaned in a little closer and whispered "Dragons."

"Seriously? Wow, that is going to be tough."

"Yeah. You don't happen to know an easy way to bring one down, do you?"

Neville laughed and answered "No, I don't think there is an easy way. Gran took me to a dragon preserve once on vacation and we saw the dragon handlers trying to get one into a cage. It took ten wizards a half hour to do it." Harry frowned, clearly this was going to be even more difficult than he had anticipated.

"Well, I don't have to cage one or even kill it. I just have to take something from its nest."

"You don't really think that is going to be easier, do you? Dragons are very protective of their nests, Harry. You really don't want to fight one head on. Maybe you could try distracting it somehow, and then get to the nest while the dragon is gone." Harry nodded at the idea, it was one he had been considering.

"But how do you distract a dragon?" Harry wondered.

"I dunno, but they've got to be scared of something right?"

"I guess. I'm heading to the library after this, hopefully I can find some way to get their attention."

"Do you want some help?" Neville offered. "I'm caught up on my homework, and I would probably just end up playing exploding snap in the common room the rest of the night otherwise."

"Thanks Neville, that would be great."

"No problem. I..." Neville stopped what he was saying and looked up. "Harry, Hermione's headed this way." Harry turned around and sure enough, his bushy haired old friend was headed directly towards them. He tried to keep a neutral expression on his face while she sat down at the table next to him. Neville, having watched how the three 'friends' had acted around each other since Harry's name came out of the Goblet of Fire, eyed Hermione with suspicion.

"Hi, Harry." she said quietly.

"Hello Hermione. Is there something I can do for you?" Harry asked, causing Hermione to frown.

"I don't want to fight anymore, Harry. I want things to go back to the way they were."

"We're hardly fighting Hermione. In fact, this is the first time you've talked to me in almost two weeks. So what has changed? Did you finally realize that I have been telling the truth this whole time?" Harry retorted.

"I don't know. I want to believe you, but Harry I saw how excited you got when they announced the tournament and I know how competitive you can be."

"Sure I was excited, but so was the rest of the school!"

"Hermione," Neville spoke up for the first time, "I thought Harry was supposed to be your best friend. I trust him to be honest, why don't you?" Harry and Hermione were both a little shocked by this statement, as neither of them had ever heard Neville speaking so strongly in defense of anyone before. Harry smiled, Neville was a better friend than he had given him credit for.

"Neville, this is between Harry and I. Please let us..."

"No, Hermione." Harry said, cutting her off. "It's a good question."

"It's not that I don't trust you, I just thought that there was more going on here than you've told us. I guess you could be right. Just let me think about it, OK?" Hermione asked. Harry merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Hermione, I think I have already lost Ron's friendship. I hope I don't lose yours, but I haven't done anything wrong here."

"Surely things with Ron can't be that bad." Hermione said, not responding to the rest of Harry's statement. "You two can patch things up, right?"

"I don't think he wants to. I know you have seen how he has treated me the last two weeks. In fact, I had hoped you would say something about it."

"I thought that if I got involved I would make the situation worse. I didn't want to take a side if that meant the three of us wouldn't be friends anymore."

"Things can't just go back to the way they were, Hermione. Everything has changed. I don't want to lose you, but I can't force you to see it my way. Just think about it. I'll see you later." Harry pushed his chair back and with a nod to Neville left the Great Hall leaving Hermione and Neville alone. Hermione sat thinking, obviously on the verge of crying. Neville looked at her, wondering what her reaction would be. He had already chosen his side, and in retrospect it wasn't a hard choice at all. Harry had always treated him as a friend. He had the feeling that Ron, on the other hand, was only nice to him because of Harry.

"Hermione, Harry seems to really care about you and I know you care about him. He probably should be angrier with you than he is. For both of your sakes, I hope you don't drag this on too much longer." Neville quietly gathered his things and got up from the table to follow Harry to the library.

As he left, Hermione finally started to cry. She wished she could find some way to mend all of the broken friendships between herself, Ron, and Harry. Harry didn't seem to think it was possible, and Ron had given no indication he was interested in doing so. 'How did things get so messed up?' she asked herself as she tried leave the Great Hall before anyone could see her crying. She didn't notice, however, that two tables over a certain blond Slytherin had been watching the entire scene since Hermione came in with more interest than anyone would have expected. Daphne sighed, hoping her Gryffindor friend could make it out of this situation without being hurt too badly.

"Settle down and get your seats. Weasley! Ten points from Gryffindor for being unprepared." The Gryffindors in the class groaned as Professor Snape docked more points from their house, like he did in every class. Most of them had learned by now not to fight it, losing points was inevitable in this class. Ron Weasley, however, seemed to have missed that memo.

"But that's not fair! Look at Malfoy, he has less of his stuff out than me!" Ron argued. And it was true, Draco wasn't even at his table and all of his potions supplies were still put up. Not that it mattered to Professor Snape.

"Ten more points from Gryffindor for talking back to a teacher. I suggest you be quiet unless you wish to spend tonight in detention." Ron finally seemed to get the hint and sat down, clearly still angry about losing twenty points. Harry and Neville watched from their table at the other side of the room, each happy that Snape had not picked them to pick on today.

"For the next two weeks you will be split into pairs to work on a new assignment. Each pair will be given the ingredients for a type of poison, but not the name of the poison or instructions on how to brew it. You and your partners must not only identify the poison and brew it successfully, but must also determine the antidote and brew that as well. The poisons I have picked for you may be obscure, so I do not expect any of you to be successful." Snape explained. "Ever since the delegations from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons arrived the Headmaster has become obsessed with increasing cooperation amongst young wizards and witches. Therefore, he has requested that any class groups consist of students from different houses. The pairs for this assignment will all have one student from Slytherin, and one from Gryffindor."

All of the students groaned at this announcement, while Professor Snape just looked mildly amused at their unhappiness.

"All of the pairs have been randomly picked. When I call your names come to the front of the room, pick up your ingredients list, and find a table to sit at with your new partner. I suggest you use today's class to determine what poison you have been assigned." With that he began to call out names. Neville was paired with Blaise Zabini, Hermione with Vincent Crabbe, and to Harry's amusement Ron was partnered with Draco Malfoy. Harry felt relieved, he didn't want to work with the blond idiot either.

"Daphne Greengrass... and Harry Potter." Professor Snape finally called out. Harry looked over at Daphne who had an exaggerated look of disgust on her face, but when she looked at Harry he saw a small smile that was quickly hidden. They both walked up to the front to receive their list of ingredients, but when they turned to find a desk Snape stopped them. "Ms Greengrass, let me assure you that you will not be punished for your partner's ignorance."

"Thank you Professor, I had feared my grade for this assignment would be unusually low." Daphne said as she glared at Harry. Harry spotted an empty table towards the back of the room and motioned for Daphne to follow towards it. When they finally sat down Harry heard his partner start to laugh quietly.

"What was that all about?" Harry asked her.

"Sorry Potter, but look at it from my side. Professor Snape just promised me a better grade than our project deserves, what was I supposed to do? Say, 'No thanks sir, I don't want the free points'?"

Harry nodded, knowing she had a good point. "Well I'm glad it worked out like this anyway. I was trying to find a way to talk to you, and this just made it a lot easier."

"Is this about my offer a few weeks ago?" she asked, speaking in whispers so that they would not be overheard.

"Yes. I know what the first task is going to be. I probably shouldn't say much more here, but why don't we meet tonight in the library after dinner to work on this assignment. Then I can explain about the tournament and show you what I've been working on."

"Sounds interesting, just what have you been doing these past few weeks?"

"You'll see, I promise." Harry answered. Daphne realized she wouldn't be able to get anymore information out of Harry until later and decided to start working on their potions project. An hour later when the class ended none of the groups had been able to find a potion which contained their ingredients in the fourth year potions book. 'I should have known that Snape wouldn't make the assignment that easy.' Harry thought.

"Alright Potter, I'll see you in the library after dinner. Don't be late." Daphne said in her most intimidating tone of voice. Harry was laughing on the inside, knowing that she was just trying to keep up appearances. Harry thought this game was pretty funny as well.

"Fine Greengrass. Try not to get lost." Harry said in an equally harsh voice. Daphne huffed at him, turned away, and walked out the door without speaking another word. They somehow both managed to hold in their laughter.

Harry rushed into the library and began looking for Daphne. Off to one side he saw Hermione, who had not noticed him coming in. She didn't seem to notice Viktor Krum staring at her from a few tables over, either. Harry shrugged it off, deciding it was really none of his business. He was about to start looking down the aisles when he heard someone calling his name,

"Potter! Over here." Daphne was sitting at a table in the corner that was surrounded on three sides by bookshelves. It would make a good place for them to be able to talk and not be overheard. Harry set down his bag and sat down at the table. "So what took you so long? I've been here for fifteen minutes and you left dinner before I did."

"Sorry, I got stopped by Professor Moody."

"Ah. I think that weirdo has been hit with a few too many curses."

"Maybe. He kept asking what I was doing to prepare for the tournament."

"And what did you tell him?" Daphne asked, interested in how Harry would deal with the curious professor.

"Not much, I didn't want him to know that I know what the first task is."

"I'll make a Slytherin out of you yet, Potter." she laughed.

"So, how much of the project do you want to do tonight?" Harry asked, changing topics.

"Let's at least find the name of our poison and how to make it. Once we do that we should easily be able to find the antidote."

"What makes you think that?"

"I owled home today and asked my father to send his copy of '1001 Poisons and Their Antidotes'. Apparently the Hogwarts library doesn't carry it because it is a 'dark' book. Useful is more like it."

"So we could just wait and find our potion then, too."

"Quit being lazy. Here, look through this for our potion." she said as she tossed a book his way. Harry grumbled, but obliged. A half hour later their efforts were rewarded. "Hey, I think this is it!" Harry said excitedly as he passed the book to Daphne.

"The Draught of Everlasting Night…" she read, "… will blind anyone who ingests it. After approximately 48 hours the effect will become permanent if the antidote has not been taken."

"And all of the instructions we will need to make it are here, too. Let's copy this down and then get out of here." Daphne nodded in agreement and began writing down the instructions while Harry copied the notes on the potion's effects and other properties.

Another fifteen minutes and they were walking out the door, headed for the third floor classroom where Harry had been training himself for the last few weeks. Once inside Harry cast locking charms on the door and silencing charms on the room to prevent people from listening. He had known basic versions of the charms even before he began training, but the versions he was now using were far more advanced Daphne noticed.

"Nice, Potter. I'm surprised you know those. They are sixth year spells aren't they?"

"Yes. So far I am about a third of the way through the sixth year books for Defense, Charms, and Transfiguration. I have been studying those three almost nonstop since that day we talked by the lake."

"So that's what you've been doing, learning more spells?"

"Well, that and trying to make myself stronger. I figured out if I push myself really hard that after I've been able to rest I feel stronger than I did before." Daphne looked a little confused by this statement.

"Potter, what do you mean? How much magic are you using to do that?"

"Generally I just use the most powerful spells I know for as long as I can until I don't have the energy to do them any more. By the time I'm done it takes all the concentration I've got to cast a simple Lumos."

"You really shouldn't be doing that. It takes days to recover from magical exhaustion like you are talking about, and I don't know what is going on but doing that to yourself is not supposed make you stronger. Something else must be happening here."

"It doesn't take days. After a good night of sleep and a big breakfast I feel ready to do it again."

"Still, it just isn't possible that beating yourself up every night is going to make you stronger. You could actually be doing real damage to your magic." Daphne responded with a still slightly confused look on her face.

"I don't think so, but I will stop until I've had a chance to look into it a little more. Good enough?" Daphne nodded in agreement. "Now, about the first task. I have to get past a dragon and steal a golden egg from its nest."

"Hmm, I guess you've already looked up spells that are useful against dragons?"

"There are a few that might work. Their eyes are weaker than the rest of their bodies, so it might be possible for me to blind it and get to the egg that way. Neville and I have been trying to find something that might distract it."

"Longbottom?" she asked skeptically.

"He's a lot smarter than people give him credit for. Apparently wolves sometimes attack dragon nests and try and steal the eggs, so dragons naturally hate them. I've been working on transfiguring a rock into a wolf."

"Can you do it?" she asked.

"Not as good as I would like, but it will be ready in time. So far the best plan I have come up with is to transfigure a couple of wolves, fire my best spells at the dragon, and hope I can grab the egg in the confusion."

"Risky, but it could work. I'll think about it, maybe I can come up with something you hadn't considered." As Daphne concentrated on the problem Harry focused on his new friend. He knew she was very smart, but unlike Hermione her first reaction would not be to surround herself in books and hope the answer to a problem could be that way. Harry realized that he enjoyed having a Slytherin point of view around and wondered, not for the first time, why the bitter rivalry between their two houses had been allowed to continue. It also angered him that they both felt the need to hide their friendship. People like Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley would never leave them alone if they knew.

"Do you think I should tell Cedric Diggory about the dragons?" Harry asked, breaking the silence which had overtaken the room for the past few minutes.

"That depends." Daphne answered. "Are you merely trying to survive this tournament, or do you want to win it?" Harry paused to consider that question for a moment, taking out his wand and staring at it as if it knew what he should say.

"At first, I was shocked about being forced into this tournament. When I realized there was no backing out I felt overwhelmed and a little scared, but now I think I may have a shot to do well here." He answered, finally looking up at Daphne with a smile. "I want to win." Daphne grinned back at Harry and found herself fighting off the strange urge to hug him.

"I was hoping you would say that. In that case, don't tell Diggory. Never give up an advantage over the competition if you don't have to. We'll find a way to beat your dragon." she said confidently.

"I wasn't so sure before, but I believe we will. Now, let me show you those spells I was working on…"

For the next hour Harry demonstrated for her all of the spells he hoped would help him against the dragon. Daphne was impressed not just by the number of spells he used, but by the power with which he was able to cast them. Clearly he was strong for his age, his ability to successfully produce a patronus had proved that to her, but she found herself wondering just how powerful her friend really was.

The next morning Harry received a letter during breakfast from an owl he did not recognize. Seeing that the letter was signed 'Padfoot' he quickly hid it and shooed the owl away. Harry looked around, trying to determine if anyone had noticed his letter, but most of them were busy receiving their own mail. Excusing himself, Harry left the Great Hall to go back to his room and read the letter.

Harry,

Be in the Gryffindor common room tonight at 11 PM.

Make sure you're alone.

-Padfoot

Harry grinned happily; he was excited to talk to his godfather again and wondered what kind of advice he might have. He spent the rest of the day impatiently watching the clock, wishing he could make time move a little faster. After dinner he trained as hard as ever, for the moment forgetting his promise to Daphne, hoping it would help him pass the time. Eventually Harry was exhausted and it was almost 11, so he made his way back to the common room which was thankfully empty. He wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do if someone had been there. As the clock chimed, Harry wondered what exactly he was waiting for. His question was answered when the fireplace began to spark and a head came out of the fire.

"Sirius!"

"Hey kid. Sorry it took so long. I've wanted to talk to you for weeks, but I have to keep on the move."

"Don't worry about it, I understand."

"Harry, I have to know. Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?"

"No, I don't know how it happened."

"In that case you need to be very careful. Someone is trying to manipulate you or get you hurt. You need to be on the look out for anyone acting suspiciously. Get your friends to help."

Harry snorted at his godfather's comment. "If you mean Ron and Hermione, then I'm out of luck. They didn't believe me when I told them I didn't put my name in the cup."

"Fools! And Hermione had seemed so smart when we met."

"I still have a few friends, like Neville Longbottom, but most of the students think I am an attention seeking cheater."

"Longbottom? I knew his parents, good people. Now, about the tournament, what do you know?"

"I'm not supposed to know this, but the first task is dragons. I'm working on a plan."

"Good. Listen Harry, I have to go. The place I'm talking to you from isn't secure. Keep your friends close. Forgive Ron and Hermione if they deserve it, but be careful. I learned the hard way that a friend can betray you. Good night, Harry. I will stay in touch when possible.

"Good night, Sirius." With that the face in the fire disappeared, leaving Harry alone to think about the things his godfather had told him. Sirius was right; he needed to place more importance on finding out who entered him into the tournament. Who knows what else they might have planned for him. Harry yawned, decided to wait until tomorrow to start worrying, and went to bed.

"Potter, stay behind." Professor Moody commanded as the class let out. Harry sighed, wondering what was going on. When the last student had left, Moody sat down at his desk and motioned for Harry to take a nearby seat.

"So, what are you going to do about the first task?"

"What do you mean, sir?"

"The dragon, boy! Hagrid showed you the dragons last night, did he not?"

"Professor, I really have no idea what you are talking about. I haven't talked to Hagrid in a few days."

"Hmm, he told me he got that Weasley boy to give you a note telling you to meet him last night. You didn't get the note, did you?"

"No. I'm not really surprised; Ron and I aren't exactly friendly right now." Harry explained.

"I see. Well, let me explain to you what you should have seen. You're going to have to get by a dragon and take something from it. So lad, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know sir." Harry answered, pretending that he had not spent weeks thinking about the problem.

"You have to play to your strengths. Like Quidditch, I hear you are good on a broom."

"That's true. But will I be allowed to bring my broom?"

"Of course not, but there is nothing in the rules that says you can't summon it. You know the Accio charm, don't you?"

Harry nodded and answered "Yes sir. I could do that." Privately, Harry was thinking that it was a great idea. On his broom he could move much faster, allowing him to get the egg easier. "Thank you, Professor. I'll keep thinking about it."

Professor Moody smiled oddly at him, before taking a flask out of his coat and gulping down its contents. Harry got his things and left, wondering why his professor was so interested in his plans for the tournament.

The first task was only two days away. Harry thought that with using Moody's idea to summon his Firebolt he had a better than average chance at completing the task. He was currently in the third floor classroom he had taken over practicing his summoning when he heard a knock on the door.

'I remembered to cast that silencing charm, didn't I?' Harry wondered. Checking again, he found the charm in place. So whoever it is must have known he was in the room. And the only person that knew he came here was…

"Hello Greengrass." Harry said as he opened the door for her. She came in with an excited look on her face.

"I've got an idea, Potter. It is going to sound crazy, but I think it is worth a try."

"OK, what is it?" he asked.

"Let me explain. The wizarding world has a lot of stories that parents tell their children in order to teach them some moral or idea. Some of the 'darker' families, including mine, tell a collection of stories starring Salazar Slytherin which are supposed to teach proper behavior for a Slytherin. I'm guessing that you, a Gryffindor raised by muggles, haven't heard of them?"

"No. They sound like fairy tales though, are you sure these stories aren't just made up?"

"I pretty certain that they were just made up, but every story has a little bit of truth to it. And the story I am thinking of is called 'Salazar and the Dragon'."

Harry laughed, "So let me guess, it's story time now right?"

"Exactly. Now I'm not sure exactly how it goes, so I am just going to give you the basic story. One day Salazar Slytherin was chasing an enemy through the forest and stumbled onto a dragon. The dragon was going to attack him, but Slytherin managed to convince it that he meant her no harm. He warned the dragon that there was another wizard in the forest that would hurt her and her children. The dragon, thankful for the warning, let Slytherin go. A few hours later Slytherin found his enemy and realized he was heading towards the dragon, so Slytherin made no attempt to capture the enemy and let him face the dragon. When the dragon saw the other wizard she immediately killed him and fed his remains to her young."

"Well that was a gruesome story, but what is the point?" Harry interrupted.

"Quiet, I'm not done. Anyway, Slytherin made his way back to the village and told his cousin about what had happened. The cousin was jealous, and desired to have his own dragon to command. So he went into the forest, found the dragon, and ordered her to do his bidding. The dragon was offended by this and killed him as well. So what do you think?"

"You guys are raised with stories like this? What was that even supposed to teach?"

"Slytherin was smart and let the dragon take care of his enemy for him. Also, the cousin was stupid and disrespected a potential ally."

"OK, but people can't talk to dragons. I've read a bunch of books by dragon handlers and none of them could do it."

"But you're forgetting Salazar Slytherin was a parseltongue. And that ability is hereditary, meaning that his cousin could have been one as well and that is why he was able to talk to the dragon. Parseltongues are very rare, so it isn't surprising that none of the dragon handling books would mention it." Daphne stated proudly.

"So you want me to talk a dragon into giving me an egg from its nest?"

"It's not a real egg." She pointed out.

"And this entire idea is based on children's story." Harry said, still wondering what to do with the idea.

"Yes, but what could it hurt to try? You already have a back up plan."

"Fine, I'll try it. But if the dragon bites my head off while I am trying to strike up a conversation I am going to haunt you."

"And Nearly Headless Nick would be so jealous that you get to go on the Headless Hunt. Where is the downside, Potter?"

Harry and Daphne both started laughing, and for a while Harry's worries about the tournament lifted and his thoughts were focused on how much he enjoyed the company of his new friend.

Author's note on characters and their personalities:

One of my goals with this story was to keep the characters close to how they are portrayed in the books, but allow them to change in reasonable ways which all link together. I see every small change in personality as either a direct or indirect result of Harry meeting Daphne in first year. For example, Daphne prevents Harry from taking Ron's point of view that all Slytherins are evil. Because of this, Harry is able to realize that the typically Slytherin traits of cunning and ambition aren't evil. The Sorting Hat had pretty much confirmed that Harry had the potential to have those traits in him from the beginning. So perhaps Harry has become a little more cunning than the books portray over the years. Hermione's out of character reaction to his name being pulled out of the Goblet of Fire could be a reaction to that small change. As for Ron, I assume that the fact that Hermione did believe Harry in the books introduced a little doubt into his mind regarding his accusations towards Harry. But in this case he sees Hermione's disbelief as confirming his suspicions and thus his reaction is a little more extreme. Neville seems braver in this story, but my point of view on his bravery is that it has to be brought out by his sense of loyalty and friendship. In other words he is willing to be brave for his friends, but reluctant to be brave for himself.

In any event, the main idea is that one small change in the past can cause large changes in the future. It's all different now, so let's see where it takes us.