I know this is short; I apologise, I wanted to get to a stopping place when I ran stale

Year 4

The World Cup

There was no way the Daisy Chain were not going to be cheering on Ireland in the Quidditch world cup, featuring Slytherin's own Viktor Krum as seeker, and with Slytherin's own Marcus Flint as a second string chaser.

The Irish were playing Brazil, a raucous lot, whose mascots were jungle fae of a rather feral kind, snarling jaguar spirits. It was much easier to warm to the genial leprechauns of the Irish, even if the gold they tossed about was rather transitory.

The match was a little anticlimactic, with the Irish outscoring the Brazilians and Krum catching the snitch within half an hour of the start of the match! The Brazilians were not good losers, and stormed off when the Irish captain offered to play a couple of exhibition matches for the entertainment of the crowd.

A quick huddle had Ireland's second string players lining up to play the starter team, just to entertain, something the crowd appreciated, and there were cheers for every good play, whichever side made them. Flint was in his element, doing something he had never ever dreamed that he might do for real, playing quidditch in front of his own countrymen at an international match. Flint was currently a man who would walk in front of an Avada Kedavra for Daisy, who had organised the Irish scouts.

Rufus Scrimgeour managed a sour smile for Viktor Krum Prince, introducing his 'uncle', Severus Snape. Viktor was the hero of the hour, but Scrimgeour still felt sour over his humiliations in regards to the dementor debacle of the year before. Severus Snape-Prince was not someone Scrimgeour was comfortable with, any more than he was comfortable with Lucius Malfoy. However, he was polite enough. Severus Snape also was accounted a friend of the Goblin Nation, which confused Scrimgeour no end. He also hated having to deal with a Goblin who was dressed as casually and stylishly as Lucius Malfoy, and who sported a tie pin which subtly declared him a vassal of Houses Potter and Peverell. The Potter-Black alliance in the Wizengamot was very powerful, with votes from the newly-reappeared Dagworth-Granger family, the Peverell seat, and including in the alliance the Prince, Longbottom, Bones, Abbott and Macmillan seats.

Daisy and her family loved wizarding tents. It was fun to camp out with all their friends before returning home the next day, the portkeys staggered to avoid trouble. And it was highly amusing to watch Narcissa Malfoy and Molly Weasley stalking around each other like cats in an alley, trying to be polite for the sake of their betrothed offspring, and actually managing to be civil in comparing notes of their respective babies.

There were those people who looked at Petunia and her half goblin baby with disgust, but Narcissa gritted her teeth to cuddle small Henry Snagfang Evans Hook, now mobile enough to get into mischief. Her determination to meet him was partly because Molly looked horrified.

"You've warded against the fae, of course?" she asked Petunia.

"Yes, Griphook says goblin children are at risk until they are seven," said Petunia.

"We had wards for Draco; the Malfoy line have Veela and other fae in their blood," said Narcissa. "Actually he looks much the way Draco did at that age, though the fragility is deceptive."

"I'm glad to have a woman to talk to about it," said Petunia. "You know what men, even the good ones, are like."

"Oh, yes," said Narcissa.

sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"I can't believe what that old fool has done," said Severus, who was visiting the Granger-Evans ménage in Potter Manor. The families had decided to move lock stock and barrel, as the Grangers were finding that they were more involved in the wizarding world than the muggle world these days. Lucy and her parents also moved in to a barn conversion, and Lucy's mother helped Emma. Dan had qualified as a healer, and worked in St Mungo's, while Emma brewed from their new home. Potter Manor was a friendlier location than Prince Manor, and though not large by the standards of some purebreds, it made two very nice self-contained dwellings as well as the central part where the family might meet up. Indeed, they tended to eat together, even when the children were at school.

"What has Fumblebum done now?" asked Sirius. He and Remus were also regular guests.

"He is reviving the Triwizard Tournament," said Severus.

"Good grief, wasn't it stopped because so many people died?" asked Remus.

"Yes," said Severus, acidly. "He informed me, with that damned twinkle of his, that it would bring international co-operation, and that he would set up an age line to prevent anyone not over 17 from entering."

"I'm glad I'm Daisy Evans, not Harry Potter," said Daisy. "You can just bet someone out to test the chosen one would drop my name in it."

"And just in case he does, it constituting a binding contract which could strip you of your magic, we need to make sure there are ways round it," said Severus.

"We register Daisy's official signature as Marguerite Harriet Jamie Evans-Potter at Gringotts as her only true signature for documents," said Griphook, unperturbed. "Then if someone uses a slip from a piece of schoolwork, it don't count."

"Simple but brilliant," said Severus.

"Wizards aren't logical," said Griphook. "How do you think we came out of the geas laid on us at the end of the last war having essential control of the economy?"

"I must say that waging war on the economic front is more effective," said Severus.

"Do we assume that if I am entered it will be about trying to kill the potential spare chosen one, and what if he does it to Neville?" said Daisy.

"Buggeration," said Sirius.

"Advising Neville to adopt a middle name or two and signing them at Gringotts will do the same thing," said Griphook.

"If it's me, should I take the bait?" asked Daisy.

"No," said Severus. "We'll find out what's going on and sort them out."

"And Dumbledore has filled the DADA position with Alastor Moody, so I won't be there this year," said Lupin. "I cannot reasonably be supposed to be a better teacher than a retired auror."

"Andi wants to drop teaching so you could go as the history teacher," said Sirius. "I'll have that sorted out through Minnie."

"You didn't fancy arranging an accident to Trelawney and turning up in a gypsy skirt and long wig did you?" asked Snape.

"Now that would be a jape and a half," said Sirius. "But I don't think I could pull it off. Sorry."

"I might get a dog to guard my potion stores," said Severus.

"If her name comes out, I'll do it," said Sirius.

"Well, everyone needs dress robes because fourth years and up are going to the ball," said Severus.

"Now that is too much of a coincidence," said Daisy. "Fumblebum is either going to put in a name of his choice himself or expects someone else to do so. Or why have a ball reaching down as far as the fourth year when most fourth years are socially inept, have two left feet and the male ones smell too bad to want to dance with them?"

"Oy!" said Dudley.

"It's hormones, nothing personal," said Daisy. "I only smell bad once a month now I've become a werewoman."

Had not Severus made sufficient improvements on the wolfsbane potion this would not have been as funny, but Remus laughed heartly.

"A good way of looking at it until you settle fully into being a woman," he said.

The journey to school included the usually expanded compartment, and serious discussion about how dangerous the Triwizard competition might be, and how those who had defected from Durmstrang needed extra protection.

"We think we might have an idea about getting round the age line," said Fred.

"Don't," said Daisy, seriously, "It is something which is giving all the adults in our lives collywobbles about it being some kind of trap. Seriously, who in their right mind revives a competition known for its death rate? Severus reckons the headmaster is going along with it because he reckons that someone is going to put Harry Potter's name in, in the hopes he is still alive, and make him turn up to compete. And if they are going to do that, can you imagine what that means?"

"Someone wants to make sure Harry Potter is dead," said Draco.

"Give that boy house points," said Daisy.

"But if you've inherited the prophecy, won't your name come out?" asked Padma.

"This is why I, and Neville too, registered formal names for the signing of binding documents," said Daisy. "Because Nev is possibly at risk too."

The Weasley twins nodded.

"Right, so our main aim is in protecting those of you who might be targets, rather than the spurious glory of winning the contest," said George.

"The money would have been nice though, to set up our joke shop," said Fred.

"You two can speak perfectly sensibly when not out to rile people," said Daisy. "Look, if you need investors, why not ask the biggest richest voting block in the UK's wizarding world? In fact, I wager Sirius would be more than happy to do it, as a fellow marauder."

"There is that," said George.

"And thanks, we'll think about it," said Fred.

There were times to consider a few pranks before Halloween, when the other schools were to arrive, once the new firsties were settled in.

The teapots sang in beautiful harmony,

"Brew-brew-brew bop a lula brew brew" while Severus' coffee pot sang in a strangled falsetto

"why-hy hy am I-hi-hi so dryhy-i-hy, my oh my, he drinks me dry-hy-hy."

"Good grief, did they have to research the worst sort of songs of our era?" said Severus, to Lupin, who was still teaching History.

"I suppose it could be worse," said Lupin.

The tea strainers took up the refrain,

"Pot shewaddywaddy, pot shewaddywaddy."

"It's worse," said Severus.

"Ah the magic of music," said Albus.

"This is what happens when the brighter elements take two or three OWLs a year or two young," said Severus. "Too much time on their hands."

"But delightful charm work," squeaked little Flitwick.

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

The Daisy Chain were frankly scornful of the shivering French witches and wizards who seemed not to have taken into account the latitudinal difference between the South of France and Ayreshire. That the Durmstrang ship could come up directly in the lake was frankly worrying.

"It's like L-space if all bodies of water are connected," muttered Dudley, who was a fan of Terry Pratchett. "And they all look like apes too."

"Only not as handsome as the Librarian. And let's keep a close eye on them, and get Myrtle to watch out for them too," said Daisy. "We have our Viktor and others to protect."

The erstwhile Durmstrang pupils were, in fact, all wearing emergency portkeys. One could not be too careful with an ex-deatheater for a headmaster of the Germanic school. The Daisy Chain ruthlessly de-sorted all their associates to make sure that no one table held a majority of any one house so that any intelligence passed to the pupils of either school would be for nothing. The newcomers hesitated, procrastinated, and were beamed at by enough people to find themselves split up and scattered.

"All in the spirit of international and interhouse co-operation," said Daisy, innocently, when McGonagall tried to ask what they were doing so spread apart.

The Daisy Chain did note the old-world courtesy with which the foreigners treated their heads.

"You do not rise for your headmaster?" asked the blonde and lovely girl who was causing some of the boys to gibber slightly.

"No, to receive respect we consider it necessary to behave in a way which is respectable," said Daisy. "You are part Veela, and I do wish you'd tone it down, I hate watching boys' tonsils."

"I am Fleur Delacour, and I cannot entirely help it."

"Ah? Oh well. You'd better sit with the Daisy Chain then, our boys are too sensible to be gulled with glamour and befuddled by bewitchment," said Daisy.

"Indeed," agreed Dudley.

"I am impressed," said Fleur. "I thought it might be because you were leetle boys, but I see, you have true loves."

Millie leaned smugly on Dudley, Ginny on Draco and Hermione on Neville.

"Eh bien! Though you are but children, you are more comfortable to be with," said Fleur.

"Oh, we do have conversation," said Daisy. She had the tact and reticence however not to ask if the visitors were all barking mad to lose a year's education for the dubious honour of visiting a foreign school when most of the visitors would not even be participating in the competition.

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

The Goblet of Fire chose a boy called Albrecht Sternschein, Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum-Prince.

The Daisy Chain shouted approval for their Viktor, and conjured illusions of dancing leprechauns.

And then the Goblet of Fire spat out another name.

"Harry Potter," said Dumbledore. The name burst into blue flame, and formed a circle, like some flaming hoop for muggle motorbike stunts. The room fell silent in expectation.

Daisy felt a most unpleasant pull where, she later described it to Severus, she would have had balls if only she had any, half lifted in her seat and fell down again as the hoop turned a most sickly pink and fizzled out.

Daisy fought nausea.

"Well, I never," said Draco. "I say, you types, had you noticed that Professor Moody is looking most awful green about the gills?"

"Why would Moody want to involve Harry Potter?" wondered Hermione.

"When is a Moody not a Moody?" said Luna.

"When he's a ringer," said Dudley. "Gosh, I didn't think there was anyone outside of Azkaban with a functioning dark mark any more."

"Let's borrow Sev's mark-in-a-jar and portkey him into the dungeons into a trap," said Daisy.

"Be careful, Daisy! You might get Bellatrix Black by mistake!" said Hermione.

"Not if we target it within yards not miles, and Luna looks at the patterns," said Daisy.

"It's muffled; I can only see it now because I'm looking," said Luna. "But we can do it."

"Well tell Sev first," said Hermione.

"Yes mummy," said Daisy.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Severus was horrified to discover that the children thought that Alastor Moody was a ringer; the supposed old Auror had been sneering at Severus saying "Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater," and Severus had been smiling at him beatifically and talking about his clever cat named Alastor.

He shuddered at Daisy's description of the feeling of what appeared to be some kind of magical portal, and was relieved that she had not been dragged into the circle of fire. Plainly the portal had recognised that Daisy was not disguised as Daisy but thought of herself as such.

"We will set up a dungeon room, the one Lupin used to use, and you will set off the portkey effect and immediately portkey out," he said. "And then I raise anti-portkey wards."

"We'll do it overnight," said Daisy. "Any glamour will be less effective and any polyjuice will wear off when he's asleep."

Severus nodded. He did not approve of late night excursions, but under the circumstances, it was justified.

In the event, they caught a slim, sandy haired man.

"Barty Crouch Junior," said Severus. "Another dead man with too, too solid flesh."

"You knew him, Horatius?" said Daisy, recognising a Hamlet quote when she heard one and deciding to cap it.

"Yes, he was a couple of years below me at school," said Severus. "Well, he isn't going anywhere; you children stay here, and I'll go see if I can find the real Alastor Moody."

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

He returned an hour or so later.

"The real Alastor Moody was being kept prisoner in his own multidimensional trunk," he said. "I took him to the hospital wing, and he was so surprised he might even be accepting that I am not a death eater any more."

"So I should hope," said Daisy. "If he doesn't accept it, he had better beware of the Daisy Chain when he's better and suffer its outrageous slings and arrows."

"He's impressed by your constant vigilance in noticing something was wrong," said Severus. "Now off to bed with the lot of you. And those of you who are not Slytherin had better stay here for the night."

This was Luna and Neville, who beamed at him.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Scrimgeor was horrified to be told who had been impersonating Moody, and why; Severus had used veritaserum.

"So ... HE is planning on making a new body?" he was shaking.

"Yes, and if I was you, I'd order the damned Unspeakables to put his horcruxes through the veil soonest, however marvellous the artefacts they are in," said Severus. "I didn't risk my life and soul helping to get them just to have Voldemort on the loose again. I'll consider any refusal to do so a direct snub of the Potter family and its allies," he added.

"Yes, quite, I will see it done myself," said Scrimgeour. "And Crouch ... well both must be arrested, of course."

"And please don't lose them," said Severus, waspishly. "Constant vigilance!"

"Quite so," said Scrimgeour. He had been trained by Moody after all.

Severus left Alastor to explain matters to Dumbledore. He had better things to do, and he suspected that the old Auror could put things more ... succinctly ... than he could. Albus was supposed to be an old friend of Moody after all.

The headmaster looked quite shell-shocked for several days. As Daisy said, the retired auror could manage a more pithy soliloquy than any mere Prince of Denmark any day.

Meanwhile, the Daisy Chain discovered that the first task was dragons, and ruthlessly coached Viktor in how to say 'your pardon, great mother, I need the false egg in your nest', and 'I not speak very well, pardon me' in parseltongue, having tested out that dragons could comprehend it.

Daisy snuck out to explain to the dragons that they were being used in a stupid competition, and to ask them not to hurt the contestants too much unless they hurt them first.

The boy from Durmstrang used the conjunctivitis curse and Severus went white when Daisy leaped onto her broom and flew into the arena to grab the real eggs and move them before their mother stood on them. She was flying just about under the feet of the dragon, and only her fast reflexes kept her and the eggs safe.

"I am going to kill someone over this crazy idea," Severus muttered. "Should never have let her speak to Hagrid. Memo to self, keep Daisy locked in a box for the rest of her school life."

Herr Sternschein was badly burned, and none of the dragon-loving Daisy Chain were in the least bit sympathetic. Daisy herself soothed the Chinese fireball, using curing runes and explaining that her eggs were safe whilst Severus had kittens over her safety. Daisy sat on the ground petting the big, scaled head while she did her rune work.

"How does she get away with it?" demanded Severus.

"It's Daisy, what do you expect?" said Hermione, unanswerably.

Fleur got a little singed, and Viktor spoke quietly but firmly, and was escorted by the cranky Hungarian Horntail to remove the wrong egg.

Albrecht Sternschein had to be withdrawn from the competition being too badly wounded to go on, and Karkaroff glowered at Viktor.

"Of course, if I had been still at Durmstrang, I would have known no better than violence, and would not have learned to speak to dragons," said Viktor, to his fan club. "I am very glad that English I am now. Or Irish. Begorrah."

Once the collective Daisy chain solved the riddle, Daisy stood up in the great hall.

"I swear upon my magic that if any of my friends or their family are harmed by the execution of the second test, I will declare a blood feud on anyone who agreed to this ridiculously puerile test," she said.

Dumbledore went white.

The second test was going to have to be seriously modified. Just in case. Daisy had, after all, been making friends with Fleur. And Fleur had asked Viktor to the ball as they were both in similar case, and were immune to each other's fame or allure.

Dumbledore was thinking of plywood cutouts.

It was such a shame Harry Potter had not been alive to be summoned. Dumbledore had not confessed to Moody that he was fairly sure that his old friend had been impersonated, but that he wanted to see how the scheme played out, in the genuine hope that Harry Potter was alive. But the gate had not brought anyone, and that made the rest of the competition pointless, in any case.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

The next anticipated event for the competition was the Yule Ball, and Dumbledore had already made it compulsory to remain for it for fourth years and above. Viktor and Fleur decided to go as a couple, because it would mess with the heads of the organisers, Fleur having been let in on the belief of the Daisy Chain that the revival of the Triwizard Competition was nothing but an excuse to find Harry Potter.

Fleur, not happy that she would be at a disadvantage in a watery environment, was happy to go along with any plans to mess with Dumbledore's head. As the fourth year had to go to the ball, whether they wanted to or not, the Daisy Chain talked almost all the whole year into foregoing formal robes to dress as pirates. Practising saying 'AARRRGH' and 'Yo ho ho!' amused the fourth well enough. The Room of Requirements was raided for old clothes to be adapted, and the Hufflepuffs were the envy of their fellows when they unearthed a trunk in their boxroom of knee breeches and velvet coats. Ron Weasley led a daring raid on Sybil Trelawny's tower for scarves to make bandanas from, and Ginnie Weasley's sewing skills were in demand for costumes, while Daisy conducted the Slytherin pirates in singing "Yes, we have no bandanas." Slytherin House did, however, have curtained doors to help the warmth of the dungeon, and brass curtain rings were pressed into service for earrings, and Draco came up with the idea of transfiguring woolly hats into tricorns. Daisy turned a cushion into a parrot which shouted 'pieces of seventeen' to reflect that they were on a Galleon standard, not a Spanish Dollar.

"Oh bother," said Daisy, when it was too late to do anything else. "We could have gone as Maoris and done the Haka."

"We can do that next year if they keep the ball," said Neville. Hermione rolled her eyes, but Daisy was well aware that she was wondering where to research the Haka.

sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

The Yule Ball proceeded with more enthusiasm on the part of the younger members after the Daisy Chain sabotaged the Weird Sisters and their drab music with silencing spells after about half an hour, and let loose with a rune-protected ghetto blaster with Inkubus Sukkubus, Linkin Park, Khorne and moshed to Let The Bodies Hit the Floor. It tickled their collective sense of humour that the lyrics almost mirrored the dark rite Barty Crouch Junior had planned to use Harry Potter for.

The faculty might have taken a dimmer view had not Severus been moshing with Sirius and Remus, and the headmaster was doing his best to join in. It may be said that Severus was only moshing to irritate Scrimgeour.

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Somewhere in Little Hangleton an obscene baby was being tended not very well by Bertha Jorkins under Imperius curse. Despairing of Junior returning to him, the Nappied Nutter made Bertha take the dark mark in order to call for any followers who were still loyal. As most of these were in Azkhaban inside anti-apparating wards, he was doomed to deal only with Yaxley and McNair. They were, however, able to fill him in on the fate of Barty Crouch junior, and how Harry Potter had not turned up in any way, shape or form. They had been lucky that the aurors searching the area had not found Bertha and her charge – or unlucky in Bertha's case – but what Yaxley and McNair did not know was that apparition alerts had been set up, anti-apparition wards triggered as soon as a task force was sent in, and the two death eaters, Bertha and the Putrid Prodigy were arrested and the big snake killed. It soon became clear that Bertha was a victim, and Severus Snape was sent for to remove her dark mark before she was bundled off to St Mungos. The Unspeakables got the Barmy Baby to study instead of the horcruxes, but it did not survive long.

The Spirit of Tom Riddle emerged crying

"I will retuur...nnnoooooooooo!" as it dissipated.

Albus Dumbledore could not believe that Voldemort was dead because the prophecy had not been fulfilled.

"Meh," said Daisy, drinking hot chocolate in Severus' rooms with the Daisy Chain. "If I was the prophecy, I reckon lifting out the dark mark was what killed him for real."

"I wouldn't say you were wrong," said her betrothed husband.

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

The Daisy Chain were a bit more worldly wise by this Valentine party, and consequently the confetti raining down on the heads of those in the great hall was found to be heart-shaped paper packets containing condoms. The purebloods had to have the concept explained to them, and several of the items were swiftly and covertly slipped into pockets by the older students. Severus sighed, rose, and said,

"And I just transfigured all those in Slytherin pockets to contain a hole, so please maintain continence."

He could not prevent brisk trade for the items between his upper classmen and members of other houses but he might scare some of them into abstinence.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

The second task went ahead, with Viktor an easy victor, as Fleur did not like cold water. Karkaroff had been unable to kidnap Viktor as the boy refused to be alone with him, and was guarded by members of the Daisy Chain at all times. Right after the competition, when Viktor was weakened and vulnerable, Karkaroff thought he had a chance until he slipped into the medical tent and discovered a dozen Viktor Krums. Polyjuice was such a useful potion.

Karkaroff declared that the whole competition was unfair as his man was too badly hurt to compete, and by the way it wasn't fair. He wanted to take his students and retire but apparently this was against the rules.

As the honking daffodils were going on bloom, Daisy and friends decided to teach them the Song of the Drunken Philosophers. They got the Mandrakes singing the words.

This resulted in several weeks of detention with Madam Sprout who was not amused to be informed that René Descartes was a drunken fart, I drink, therefore I am.

Grubby and dung-flavoured but unbowed, Daisy suggested a prank on the examiners when they came, as most of the school was not exempt from OWLs and NEWTs.

Madam Marchbanks was horrified to find the shards of a chicken egg and a toad amongst them. Trevor was happy to co-operate for a bit of bribery. The sound of hissing behind a sofa caused her to flee.

Dumbledore himself investigated and discovered a muggle draught excluder in the shape of a snake, charmed to hiss if a noise was heard. Such sophisticated Waffling logic was the province of Hermione Granger, though they had all participated.

The examiners were much relieved.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Fleur fared better with the maze challenge, when it came, and she and Viktor decided to share the prize. They did extensive tests on the cup before touching it, as Fleur could manage the arithmancy to work out where it ported them to.

It was not Little Hangleton.

The Daisy Chain celebrated the end of the competition with a smooth set of switching charms, set off by runes, to swap the costumes of the two visiting schools, including a switch of garments by gender. The butch boys from Durmstrang looked particularly silly in powder blue twinsets.

"Mischief managed," said Daisy.

The end?