Tragedy avoided

Professor Sprout floated the book to herself hoping she and her Puffs would be kinder to Harri in this chapter. She still couldn’t believe they all had let a competition affect them in such a childish way.

The prospect of talking face-to-face with Sirius was all that sustained Harri over the next fortnight, the only bright spot on a horizon that had never looked darker. The shock of finding herself school champion had worn off slightly now, and the fear of what was facing her had started to sink in. The first task was drawing steadily nearer; she felt as though it were crouching ahead of her like some horrific monster, barring her path. She had never suffered nerves like these; they were way beyond anything she had experienced before a Quidditch match, not even her last one against Slytherin, which had decided who would win the Quidditch Cup. Harri was finding it hard to think about the future at all; she felt as though her whole life had been heading up to, and would finish with, the first task....

Cassandra had to wonder how long Harri could sustain herself in this book with as much stress as she was going through. It wasn’t even surprising with what the girl went through every year it had taken her a month to feel any real fear. With the way Harri had been treated before along with the ideas her relatives had forced upon her, it wasn’t a shock to see she cared more about what others thought of her than her own safety. The Dursley’s had pounded the importance of your peers thinking highly of you into Harri’s head her entire life, as they hid her existence like she was some great shame. Coming into the wizarding world were Harri would have been regarded as some great hero, only to have the idolization of her peers taken away yet again must have been a shock. She could understand why Harri would care so much about what others thought of her, and want to keep their opinion of her high. Hogwarts was probably the first place anyone ever thought she was more than a waste of space. Cassandra was once again stuck wondering where exactly Harri placed her own life and self value in her priorities.

Harri wrote back to Sirius saying that she would be beside the common room fire at the time Sirius had suggested; and she and Hermione spent a long time going over plans for forcing any stragglers out of the common room on the night in question. If the worst came to the worst, they were going to drop a bag of Dungbombs, but they hoped they wouldn't have to resort to that - Filch would skin them alive.

Harri sent a grateful smile towards Hermione. She didn’t know what she would do without the other girl. While she knew Hermione wouldn’t have wanted to drop Dungbombs and the other young witch hated getting in trouble; knowing Hermione would have for her made her chest warm. She would never stop appreciating how far Hermione was willing to go for her.

In the meantime, life became even worse for Harri within the confines of the castle, for Rita Skeeter had published her piece about the Triwizard Tournament, and it had turned out to be not so much a report on the tournament as a highly coloured life story of Harri. Much of the front page had been given over to a picture of Harri; the article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven) had been all about Harri, the names of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions (misspelled) had been squashed into the last line of the article, and Cedric hadn't been mentioned at all.

After hearing how Harri’s interview had actually gone, Cedric was relieved he wasn't mentioned by Rita Skeeter. He didn’t think his counterpart was going to like not being mentioned though. This could very well push him further into believing Harri had lied. He could only hope that his counterpart saw the truth soon. It sounded like Harri could use all the friends she could get in this book. He also just didn’t like the idea that he would allow a competition to blind him so thoroughly.

Amos gritted his teeth. Leave it to Rita Skeeter to miss the entire point she was supposed to be writing. It did not shock him Potter had been splashed all over the front page. With Potter in the tournament he doubted even Viktor Krum would be paid any attention to.

I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now....Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it....I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me…

“I never said any of that and I don’t cry!” Harri glowered, crossing her arms. How could Rita write such blatant lies and get away with it? She had barely said two actual words to the woman. 

“Don’t worry,” Sirius whispered next to her. “We’ll find a way to keep you out of the tournament next year and far from that daff woman. Anyone who believes her lies was born yesterday.”

“Then I’m sure all of my school mates were born yesterday.”

Harri has at last found love at Hogwarts. Her close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harri is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Harri, is one of the top students in the school.

“While Hermione is very pretty she’s like a sister,” Harri said, crunching her nose up. The thought there could ever be more between them was gross. It would be like dating Ron. The idea was just wrong and unholy. 

“I also don’t like women,” Hermione pointed out, sending a smile at Harri. It was nice to be called pretty. No one but her parents ever said that.

From the moment the article had appeared, Harri had had to endure people -Slytherins, mainly - quoting it at her as she passed and making sneering comments.

"Want a hanky, Potter, in case you start crying in Transfiguration?"

Harri threw bean bags at the Slytherins. While they had no reason to believe she hadn’t cheated her way into the tournament this was too far. What happened to her parents wasn’t a secret and their comments were crass.

It was things like this that made Neville glad he had kept his parents a secret. He could only imagine what his schoolmates would say about the fate of his own parents.

“I’m disappointed in all of you,” Sprout’s disapproval rang through the room. “To think my students could be capable of such cruel, compassionless acts of bullying. I expect more from you all, especially from those from my own house.”

“I don’t know who gave any of you the right to mock someone for not having parents let alone someone whose parents gave their lives up for the betterment of Britain. Harriet is a person, who deserves all of your respect whether you think she does or not solely for the fact she is a fellow human being. I don’t know why you all felt as if you could treat her story and her feelings as if she were nothing more than public property but I will not stand for it. Mark my words, if this continues there will be no TriWizards tournament at Hogwarts as you all clearly aren’t mature enough to participate.”

Blaise wished the books would move on. They were hurting their chances with Potter.

“Doesn’t say it was us,” Daphne complained as she rubbed her shoulder where Harri had hit her.

“It doesn’t say it wasn’t either.”

"Hey - Harri!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Harri found herself shouting as she wheeled around in the corridor, having had just about enough. "I've just been crying my eyes out over my dead mum, and I'm just off to do a bit more..."

"No - it was just - you dropped your quill."

It was Cho. Harri felt the color rising in her face.

“Sorry shouldn’t have snapped like that,” Harri winced, feeling bad. She knew what it was like to have someone take their anger out on you for something you didn’t do. She never wanted to do that to someone.

“It’s okay you're under a lot of stress,” Cho assured the younger witch. She doubted any of this would have been easy for Harri’s counterpart.

"Stunningly pretty? Her?" Pansy Parkinson had shrieked the first time she had come face-to-face with Hermione after Rita's article had appeared. "What was she judging against - a chipmunk?"

"Ignore it," Hermione said in a dignified voice, holding her head in the air and stalking past the sniggering Slytherin girls as though she couldn't hear them. "Just ignore it, Harry."

The Grangers were proud their daughter would have chosen to raise above the rude remarks thrown at her and her friends. They were raising a truly wondering young woman.

But Harri couldn't ignore it. Ron hadn't spoken to her at all since he had told her about Snape's detentions. Harri had half hoped they would make things up during the two hours they were forced to pickle rats' brains in Snape's dungeon, but that had been the day Rita's article had appeared, which seemed to have confirmed Ron's belief that Harri was really enjoying all the attention.

“Yes I rather enjoy the whole school mocking me and Rita writing lies about me,” Harri snorted sarcastically as she threw another bag at Ron.

“I haven’t done it,” Ron grumbled, confused why his counterpart would continue to keep his silence this long. After the article, why couldn’t he have seen how miserable Harri was? A month of not talking to Harri left a bad taste in his mouth. He hoped his counterpart would go and apologize soon.

Hermione was furious with the pair of them; she went from one to the other, trying to force them to talk to each other, but Harri was adamant: She would talk to Ron again only if Ron admitted that Harri hadn't put her name in the Goblet of Fire and apologized for calling her a liar.

“I for one hope you stick to your guns. He should be the one to come to you,” Fleur stated, eyeing the book in distaste. Harri shouldn’t have to apologize. She should demand the proper respect she deserved.

“It’s not up to you to fix their issues,” Nick Granger expressed gentle. “While I’m sure it wasn’t pleasant to have your friends arguing and putting you in the middle of it all, it really isn’t that different than when you and Ron fight and drag Harri into the middle of it. Except I didn’t hear Harri telling either of you to bend to the other during the last book. She let you two have it out until you fixed it yourself.”

But this was a downright lie. Harri liked Hermione very much, but she just wasn't the same as Ron. There was much hess laughter and a lot more hanging around in the library when Hermione was your best friend. Harri still hadn't mastered Summoning Charms, she seemed to have developed something of a block about them, and Hermione insisted that learning the theory would help. They consequently spent a lot of time poring over books during their lunchtimes.

It hurt Hermione to hear it confirmed Ron meant more to Harri than she did. It was as if she was being confirmed to being their tag along. In this book she had been doing her best to keep Harri’s spirits up and her out of trouble. She had stayed by Harri’s side and supported her, but none of that mattered to Harri because she wasn’t Ron. Hermione was aware she didn’t have a whole lot in common with either of her best friends, but she thought it wouldn’t matter. They had all been through so much together. They had a bond that wasn’t likely to fail in this lifetime or so she thought.

Viktor Krum was in the library an awful lot too, and Harri wondered what he was up to. Was he studying, or was he looking for things to help him through the first task? Hermione often complained about Krum being there - not that he ever bothered them - but because groups of giggling girls often turned up to spy on him from behind bookshelves, and Hermione found the noise distracting.

“If I could make them go I would,” Viktor promised. The library was meant to be a place of peace. He was sure he was there not only for the tournament but hoping for a break from all the the giggling school girls that no doubt followed him around. 

"He's not even good-looking!" she muttered angrily, glaring at Krum's sharp profile. "They only like him because he's famous! They wouldn't look twice at him if he couldn't do that Wonky-Faint thing -"

“Tell me how you really feel,” Viktor laughed, finding it refreshing that someone cared so very little about his fame. He was starting to see why Harri enjoyed the other girl's company.

“Sorry,” Hermione flushed, looking away as she added, “If it makes you feel any better I haven’t said it yet.”

"Wronski Feint," said Harri, through gritted teeth. Quite apart from liking to get Quidditch terms correct, it caused her another pang to imagine Ron's expression if he could have heard Hermione talking about Wonky-Faints.She also thought Hermione was being a little unfair. Krum wasn’t exactly hard on the eyes. Even if he wasn’t a professional Quidditch player Harri thought he’d turn a couple heads, maybe not as many as he did now, but her point stood.

“I think that was a compliment,” Harri grinned at the bemused expression Viktor sent her.

Harri peered over at Viktor assessing him trying to decide if she agreed with her counterpart. He was tall and in far better shape than most wizards. He currently wasn’t frowning which was a bonus. She could admit that when he smiled he was rather easy on the eyes. And above all else from what she could tell he was kind.

“Definitely a compliment,” Harri declared after she was done looking him up and down. It was worth the way Sirius dragged her into a head lock and messed her hair up as he cried about her being too young for boys to hear Viktor truly laugh for the first time since coming to this room. She hoped he did it more often.

"What about Ron, though?" she said. "Don't you want to go with him?"

"Oh...well..."Hermione went slightly pink. "I thought we might meet up with him in the Three Broomsticks...."

"No," said Harri flatly.

"Oh Harri, this is so stupid -"

“Why is it on me when he’s the one who started this all?” Harri grumbled, crossing her arms. She didn't want to have to always be the bigger person. She was tired of it. She had been the bigger person for years. Her counterpart was also ignoring the way everyone was treating her once again instead of starting fights over it, wasn’t that enough? Couldn’t she just be selfish this once without having to accept the way people constantly treated her? Why wasn’t she allowed to demand more from those around her?

Harri felt wonderfully free under the cloak; she watched other students walking past them as they entered the village, most of them sporting Support Cedric Diggory! badges, but no horrible remarks came her way for a change, and nobody was quoting that stupid article.

Guilt filled several students. If this room had not pulled them from time, they would have made Harri so miserable being literally invisible was the only way she could relax. They would have been so awful to her over something she never even did. They couldn’t even imagine what she must have been going through. How could any of them call themselves good people when they were capable of this?

Rita Skeeter and her photographer friend had just emerged from the Three Broomsticks pub. Talking in low voices, they passed right by Hermione without hooking at her. Harri backed into the wall of Honeydukes to stop Rita Skeeter from hitting her with her crocodile-skin handbag. When they were gone, Harri said, "She's staying in the village. I bet she's coming to watch the first task."

Harri made a mental note to stay as far away from Rita as possible. She was going to remember where she was in these books and avoid those places all year next year. If she could help it Rita Skeeter would never lay eyes on her.

"She's gone," said Hermione, looking right through Harri toward the end of the street. "Why don't we go and have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, it's a bit cold, isn't it? You don't have to talk to Ron!" she added irritably, correctly interpreting her silence.

“Good because I’m not going to,” Harri huffed, glad to see her counterpart being so stubborn about it.

“I think my counterpart is starting to see that,” Hermione sighed, as she refused to meet her parents' eyes. She was sure they had more to say about her trying to make Harri and Ron make up.

On her way through the pub, Harri spotted Ron, who was sitting with Fred, George, and Lee Jordan. Resisting the urge to give Ron a good hard poke in the back of the head, she finally reached the table and sat down at it.

Fred’s eyes narrowed at the book. Did he know why Ron and Harri weren’t talking? He couldn’t see himself not giving Ron a hard time about it if he did. Little prat must have lied to him as to why he wanted to hang out with them.

“Should have,” Harri muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, right," said Harri. She took a swig of butterbeer under her cloak. "Hermione, when are you going to give up on this spew stuff?"

She wasn’t going to give up on helping the house elves. Hermione didn’t see why she should give up. Even if Harri and Ron didn’t agree with her they could have at least supported her a little in her goals.

"When house-elves have decent wages and working conditions!" she hissed back. "You know, I'm starting to think it's time for more direct action. I wonder how you get into the school kitchens?"

"No idea, ask Fred and George," said Harri.

“Don’t sick her on us,” the twins cried together. 

“Serves you right for believing I cheated my way into the tournament.”

Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot were swapping Chocolate Frog cards at a nearby table; both of them sporting Support Cedric Diggory! badges on their cloaks. 

Harri threw bags at both of them. While she understood they were trying to support Cedric, wearing a badge that also flashed she stunk was just cruel. 

Ernie and Hannah took the hit gracefully. They deserved that. They could only hope their counterparts laid off Harri soon. She didn’t deserve the way she was being treated.

Right over by the door she saw Cho and a large group of her Ravenclaw friends. She wasn't wearing a Cedric badge though....This cheered up Harri very slightly....

“Thanks,” Harri said genuinely. Her best mate didn’t believe her but Cho who was a complete stranger to Harri in these books was kind enough not to wear a bandage or mock her over Rita’s fake article. It was nice to know good people existed. Even if Cho’s counterpart did think Harri cheated her way in at least she was being decent, more than Harri could say about most.

“Anytime,” Cho promised, sending a charming smile towards the younger girl. She was glad she hadn’t followed her House in their decision to isolate Harri. She hoped her counterpart continued to be kind.

Fred raised a questionable eyebrow. Would Cho be added to the list of people he was going to have to compete against for Harri’s affection? Harri had already said she wasn’t interested in another woman at the moment but would that change? He was currently on Harri’s ever growing shit list, not that he planned on staying there long, but he was going to be annoyed if Cho used this book as an opportunity to try and get closer to Harri. Diggory was enough to deal with at the moment. 

Cedric shook his head, he knew that smile. Cho found Harri as attractive as Harri apparently found Cho. He wasn’t surprised Harri was earning herself another admirer. He was sure the number would only continue to grow as she branched out and made new friends here in this room. 

What wouldn't she have given to be one of these people, sitting around laughing and talking, with nothing to worry about but homework? She imagined how it would have felt to be here if her name hadn't come out of the Goblet of Fire. She wouldn't be wearing the Invisibility Cloak, for one thing. Ron would be sitting with her. The three of them would probably be happily imagining what deadly dangerous task the school champions would be facing on Tuesday. She’d have been really hooking forward to it, watching them do whatever it was...cheering on Cedric with everyone else, safe in a seat at the back of the stands… She and Cedric would still be on speaking terms, she could openly support him. They’d still be friends…

Harri's face twisted into bitter resentment. Of course she would be robbed of having a normal year. Why would she ever be allowed to be a regular student? She deserved to be able to sit on the sideline and cheer Cedric on, but no she was Harriet Bloody Potter. She hated being who she was with every fiber of her being. Why couldn’t she just be normal like everyone else?

Cedric was shocked to hear Harri once again wanting to support him even after he had been a complete dick to her. He prayed his counterpart would come to his senses soon and see the truth. He didn’t want to hear about him hurting her any further. 

She wondered how the other champions were feeling. Every time she had seen Cedric lately, he had been surrounded by admirers and looking nervous but excited. Harri glimpsed Fleur Delacour from time to time in the corridors; she looked exactly as she always did, haughty and unruffled. And Krum just sat in the library, pouring over books.

Harri frowned, wishing her counterpart wasn’t the only one panicking and miserable. She didn’t like to think of herself as a coward but it felt that way hearing how unfazed the other three were. She seemed to be the only one so affected, though she was the only one who was being forced to compete. If she had put her name in the Goblet would she be as unruffled as they were?

Harri thought of Sirius, and the tight, tense knot in her chest seemed to ease slightly. She would be speaking to him in just over twelve hours, for tonight was the night they were meeting at the common room fire - assuming nothing went wrong, as everything else had done lately…

“With my luck everything will go wrong,” Harri grumbled. There was no point in hoping her talk with Sirius would go well. 

Sirius pulled her into his side and sighed, “I’m starting to understand we need to prepare for the worst when we make plans regarding you then triple whatever the worst case scenario we came up with. I’m sure I’ll figure it out..”

“We’ll figure it out together,” Harri insisted, not wanting to be left out of any of the decision making.

“Together,” Sirius swore, tightening his hold on her. “Me and you against the world kiddo.”

Perhaps she thought it was an insult to her mulled mead, but Harri knew better. Moody had told them all during their last Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson that he preferred to prepare his own food and drink at all times, as it was so easy for Dark wizards to poison an unattended cup.

“You eat the food here,” Harri pointed out, confused.

“I have no choice now do I?” Moody retorted. “I run diagnostics on everything. Something you all should get in the habit of doing. You all could have been poisoned.” 

"Can your eye - I mean, can you -?"

"Yeah, it can see through Invisibility Cloaks," Moody said quietly. "And it's come in useful at times, I can tell you."

“Unfair,” the twins moaned. Their plans on talking Harri into letting them have some fun in her cloak next year dying. If Moody was going to be a Professor they would never get away with it. 

Hagrid was beaming down at Harri too. Harri knew Hagrid couldn't see her, but Moody had obviously told Hagrid he was there. Hagrid now bent down on the pretext of reading the S.P.E.W. notebook as well, and said in a whisper so low that only Harri could hear it, "Harry, meet me tonight at midnight at me cabin. Wear that cloak."

Harri wondered what Hagrid could want. She hoped it wasn’t anything to do with the Skewts. The tournament was around the corner and she didn’t think her counterpart could deal with anymore on her plate. But if he wanted her to bring her fathers cloak it was something he wasn’t supposed to be doing. He had permission for the Skewts. 

“We don’t encourage students to break curfew,” McGonagall sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

It was true that going down to Hagrid's at midnight would mean cutting her meeting with Sirius very fine indeed; Hermione suggested sending Hedwig down to Hagrid's to tell him she couldn't go - always assuming she would consent to take the note, of course - Harri, however, thought it better just to be quick at whatever Hagrid wanted her for. She was very curious to know what this might be; Hagrid had never asked Harri to visit him so late at night.

“You’re also just nosy,” Fred teased as he smirked over at Harri.

“Hagrid wouldn’t have asked me to break the rules without a good reason,” Harri shrugged. She did want to know what Hagrid wanted with her.

 The Creevey brothers had managed to get hold of a stack of Support Cedric Diggory! badges and were trying to bewitch them to make them say Support Harri Potter! instead. So far, however, all they had managed to do was get the badges stuck on POTTER STINKS. 

“It was a nice thought,” Harri shook her head. Malfoy was older than both boys and had a leg up on them by coming from a magical family. She doubted they would succeed, but at least someone was trying.

"You there, Harri?" Hagrid whispered, opening the door and looking around.

"Yeah," said Harri, slipping inside the cabin and pulling the cloak down off her head. "What's up?"

"Got summat ter show yeh," said Hagrid.

There was an air of enormous excitement about Hagrid

“You aren’t,” Madam Bones hissed. “You know that’s against the rules.”

It didn’t take a genius to know Hagrid loved dragons. That level of excitement must be over the beast. He was going to help Miss Potter cheat.

"Shhh!" said Hagrid, and he knocked three times on the door bearing the crossed golden wands.

Madame Maxime opened it. She was wearing a silk shawl wrapped around her massive shoulders. She smiled when she saw Hagrid.

“You've made me a third wheel on a date?” Harri questioned, clearly confused. What was going on?

“Oh Hagrid,” Madam Bones sighed. Two competitors would know of the dragons it seemed because of the man. 

"Yeh'll enjoy this," said Hagrid gruffly, "worth seein', trust me. On'y - don' go tellin' anyone I showed yeh, right? Yeh're not s'posed ter know."

"Of course not," said Madame Maxime, fluttering her long black eyelashes.

“Hagrid!” McGonagall cried. “You cannot not fall for that woman's lies.”

“Madam Maxime is not a lair,” Fluer stated hotly.

Hagrid led Madame Maxime around a clump of trees and came to a halt. Harri hurried up alongside them - for a split second, she thought she was seeing bonfires, and men darting around them - and then her mouth fell open.

Dragons.

“Dragons,” Molly gasped, clutching her chest. “They're going to make you face a Dragon?”

“Looks like it,” Harri said dryly, not looking forward to hearing about how she got eaten by a dragon.

Both Sirius and Remus pressed closer to Harri. She couldn’t face a dragon. It took a team of fully trained wizards to bring one down. What were the organizers thinking? How could any of the competitors fight a dragon?

Viktor, Fleur and Cedric all paled.

Harri watched the dragon nearest to them teeter dangerously on its back legs; its jaws stretched wide in a silent howl; its nostrils were suddenly devoid of flame, though still smoking - then, very slowly, it fell. Several tons of sinewy, scaly-black dragon hit the ground with a thud that Harri could have sworn made the trees behind her quake.

Harri thought Charlie’s job sounded insane. Absolutely not, no thank you. She was perfectly content with never having to subdue a dragon. She would leave that to the clinically insane. How This was Charlie’s idea of fun she would never understand. She made a mental note never to cross Charlie Weasley. Anyone who actively took down dragons for a living wasn’t to be messed with.

"What breeds you got here, Charlie?" said Hagrid, gazing at the closest dragon, the black one, with something chose to reverence. Its eyes were still just open. Harri could see a strip of gleaming yellow beneath its wrinkled black eyelid.

"This is a Hungarian Horntail," said Charlie. "There's a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one - a Swedish Short-Snout, that blue-gray - and a Chinese Fireball, that's the red."

“Traitor,” Harri cried as she pouted at Charlie, “You brought the dragons that are going to eat my counterpart. I thought you liked me.”

“I didn’t know you’d be in the tournament when I agreed to bring them,” Charlie argued, “and if it makes you feel any better, it hasn’t happened and I’ll refuse to bring four next time.”

"I didn't know you were bringing her, Hagrid," Charlie said, frowning. "The champions aren't supposed to know what's coming - she's bound to tell her student, isn't she?"

"Jus' thought she'd like ter see 'em," shrugged Hagrid, still gazing, enraptured, at the dragons.

“She’s so going to tell Fleur,” Harri snorted as she rolled her eyes.

“At least the playing field would be even,” Fluer sniffed defensively, not entirely liking the fact Madam Maxime had used Hagrid and was going to cheat for her. She didn’t know a lot about dragons but she was sure she was up to the challenge. She didn’t want to have to cheat in order to win.

"Four..." said Hagrid, "so it's one fer each o' the champions, is it? What've they gotta do - fight 'em?"

“I can’t fight a dragon!” Harri moaned as she sank into Sirius. What was her counterpart going to do? She was so dead. She didn’t know the first thing about taking a dragon down.

“You don’t have to fight a dragon,” Charlie assured her, he wouldn’t have agreed to bring them if the dragons would have been hurt. Though what she was going to have to do wasn’t much better. “You’ll be fine. Nobody expects you to single handedly take down a fully grown dragon. They wouldn’t make the task that hard.”

"Just get past them, I think," said Charlie. "We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, Extinguishing Spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don't know why...but I tell you this, I don't envy the one who gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end's as dangerous as its front, look."

“Why do I have a feeling that’s the one I get paired with?” Harri asked dejectedly as she eyed the book distrustfully.

“Because your luck is terrible,” Cedric joked weakly, wishing Harri would be wrong, but with her track record the chances were slim. Harri was more than likely correct in her assumption she would have to face the Horntail.

"Just hope she’s still fine after she’s faced this lot," said Charlie grimly, looking out over the dragons' enclosure. "I didn't dare tell Mum what she’s got to do for the first task; she's already having kittens about her...." Charlie imitated his mother's anxious voice. "'How could they let her enter that tournament, she’s much too young! I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit!' She was in floods after that Daily Prophet article about her. 'She still cries about her parents! Oh bless her, I never knew!'"

“Charlie! That was almost sweet until you bought that bullshit up,” Harri scoffed snidely. “I thought you were smart enough to know better than to listen to Rita Skeeter.”

“I didn’t know you all that well, still don’t,” Charlie shrugged her remark off. “Your parents' death was tragic and you're rather young. I can see how it would sound believable. Besides, Mum said it not me. I was just repeating it.”

Harri glowered at him from her seat, tempted to toss something at him too. She didn’t cry! She also didn’t appreciate the fact Molly seemed to think she had entered herself into the tournament. She wasn’t brave enough to throw a bean bag at Molly though.

She didn't know whether she was glad she’d seen what was coming or not. Perhaps this way was better. The first shock was over now. Maybe if she’d seen the dragons for the first time on Tuesday, she would have passed out cold in front of the whole school...but maybe she would anyway....She was going to be armed with her wand - which, just now, felt like nothing more than a narrow strip of wood - against a fifty-foot-high, scaly, spike-ridden, fire-breathing dragon. And she had to get past it. With everyone watching. How?

“I don't know enough to get past a dragon either,” Harri complained, shooting Charlie a dirty look. She had thought maybe it would be easier since Charlie seemed so calm about her facing a dragon. She clearly needed to disregard anything Charlie deemed as not that hard in the future. Fighting a dragon and stealing one’s egg was suicide no matter how you looked at it.

“You killed a basilisk with a sword,” Blaise drawled slowly as if she was stupid, “I like your odds against a dragon with a wand.”

“But that was all Fawkes!”

"Who's there?" said Karkaroff again, very suspiciously, looking around in the darkness. Harri remained still and silent. After a minute or so, Karkaroff seemed to decide that he had hit some sort of animal; he was looking around at waist height, as though expecting to see a dog. Then he crept back under the cover of the trees and started to edge forward toward the place where the dragons were.

“So everyone but me gets to know about the Dragons,” Cedric voiced his concern. Did he really have no one in his corner? Hagrid hadn’t chosen to help him, only Harri.

“I’m sure someone will tell you,” Harri said, trying to ease Cedric's clear annoyance at the fact no one had seen fit to share this with him too. He was a champion too and if Hagrid was going to help her, he should have extended that curiosity to him too. It was only fair.

By the looks of it, the only champion who would be facing the unknown on Tuesday was Cedric.

Cedric wondered if Harri would tell him about the dragons. He would hope so, he’d hate to be the only one who didn’t know. He had been extremely rude to her when her name was pulled though. It would be understandable if she chose not to tell him. It would hurt, but he would try to understand where she was coming from.

"Never mind me, how are you?" said Sirius seriously.

"I'm -" For a second, Harri tried to say "fine" - but she couldn't do it. Before she could stop herself, she was talking more than she’d talked in days - about how no one believed she hadn't entered the tournament of her own free will, how Rita Skeeter had lied about her in the Daily Prophet, how she couldn't walk down a corridor without being sneered at - and about Ron, Ron not believing him, Ron's jealousy… About her friendship with Cedric ending.

Sirius was glad to see that he instilled enough trust in Harri’s counterpart that she wanted to open up to him; wanted to share her problems with him. He hoped their relationship would still get to this point. He hoped to be there for Harri in any way she would allow him.

Cedric winced at the reminder his actions had hurt Harri.

Sirius looked at her, eyes full of concern, eyes that had not yet lost the look that Azkaban had given them - that deadened, haunted look He had let Harri talk herself into silence without interruption, but now he said, "Dragons we can deal with, Harri, but we'll get to that in a minute - I haven't got long here...I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. There are things I need to warn you about."

“No,” Harri cried eyes wide. “Dragons first! Everything else can wait!”

“I’m sure I have a good reason for putting off helping you with the dragons,” Sirius assured her, having a hunch on what he wanted to talk about. “I won’t leave you without a way to defend yourself, don't worry.”

“But what if we get interrupted and you don’t get to tell me about the dragons?”

"Karkaroff," said Sirius. "Harry, he was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?"

"Yes - he - what?"

Viktor brows furrowed as he leaned forward. He had never liked his headmaster but to learn he was a Death Eater. Why had he been allowed to teach let alone run a school? This had to be a mistake.

"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," said Sirius bitterly. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names...he put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place....He's not very popular in there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well."

“I didn’t know what Karkaroff was,” Viktor maintained, his voice the softest it had ever been. “I am not the type to use Dark magic on others. I would not harm my other competitors for a game.”

“I believe you,” Harri said encouragingly as she sent what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “I don’t think you're the type. And I think after meeting the darkest wizard known to man more than once, when I say that it means something.”

"- and reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm," Sirius said hastily, seeing Harri about to speak, "but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely; Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had."

Moody leaned forward as someone shared his suspicions. It was becoming far more likely someone had really tried to attack him. Where were they now though? They had gotten past him to put Potter’s name in the Goblet. How were they doing it?

"So...what are you saying?" said Harri slowly. "Karkaroff's trying to kill me? But - why?"

“Karkaroff doesn’t have it in him with me there,” Moody shook his head. Karkaroff was nothing more than a coward. Moody just couldn’t see him giving up his life for someone he knew would torture him if not out right kill him for what he had done. Even if Karkaroff hand delivered Potter to Voldemort, there was a high chance Voldemort would still kill him. Kararoff would know that.

"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins," said Sirius grimly. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, Harri. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."

"So...so Voldemort could have found out about the tournament?" said Harri. "Is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?"

Several eyes widened. Bertha Jorkins! Of course, that is why she had been taken, the tournament. You-Know-Who really was trying to get to Potter through the tournament. This must be how he planned to murder the girl. If he couldn’t do it himself, have her die tragically facing trails she could not handle.

"I don't know," said Sirius slowly, "I just don't know...Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your name in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it hook like an accident."

"Looks like a really good plan from where I'm standing," said Harri, grinning bleaky. "They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff."

“Don’t joke like that,” Hermione hissed, hating how Harri so casually joked about her death. It wasn’t funny. This whole situation was dangerous and Harri needed to focus on staying alive. Talking about dying wasn’t going to keep her breathing. Any doubt and the dragon could actually kill her.

“Sorry.”

"But you can do it alone," said Sirius. "There is away, and a simple spell's all you need. Just -"

But Harri held up a hand to silence him, her heart suddenly pounding as though it would burst. She could hear footsteps coming down the spiral staircase behind her.

“No,” Harri groaned desperately, “You haven't told me about the dragons yet!”

How was she going to survive now? Sirius was supposed to help her! She was supposed to be able to count on him!

Sirius' heart sank as he heard the disappointment in Harri’s voice. He had let her down. His life as a fugitive had meant he had to choose his own safety over Harri’s.

It was Ron. Dressed in his maroon paisley pajamas, Ron stopped dead facing Harri across the room, and looked around.

“Prick,” Harri hissed angrily. “Couldn’t mind your own business.”

“I haven’t done it!”

"Just thought you'd come nosing around, did you?" Harri shouted. She knew that Ron had no idea what he'd walked in on, knew he hadn't done it on purpose, but she didn't care - at this moment she hated everything about Ron, right down to the several inches of bare ankle showing beneath his pajama trousers.

"Sorry about that," said Ron, his face reddening with anger. "Should've realized you didn't want to be disturbed. I'll let you get on with practicing for your next interview in peace."

“Oh fuck you,” Harri snarled, her mood completely soured now. “Wasn’t enough for you to be a complete ass hole to me for weeks, but now you have to ruin the only chance I had at surviving this stupid thing.”

“For the last time, I haven’t bloody done it yet! Stop yelling at me for it,” Ron yelled back, face red. “I wouldn’t ever put you in danger on purpose! Even if I was mad at you I wouldn’t ever put your life at risk. Fuck you for thinking I’d sink that low.”

“Language,” Molly hollered, bringing an end to their argument, neither happy with the other.

"There you go," Harri said. "Something for you to wear on Tuesday. You might even have a scar now, if yon're lucky....That's what you want, isn't it?"

She strode across the room toward the stairs; she half expected Ron to stop her, she would even have liked Ron to throw a punch at her, but Ron just stood there in his too-small pajamas

“Git,” Harri spat, still simmering in her seat. Ron sat stock still oddly silent, his anger from earlier nowhere to be seen now.

“Who wants to read next?” Professor Sprout asked, hoping to stop another fight from breaking out.

“No,” Harry shook her head as she stood. “I’ve had enough with the book for a day. I don’t consent to anymore being read today.”

As Harri stormed off the books vanished from the room.