Chapter XIX: New Developments
(Daphne P.O.V)
Daphne sat silently at her boyfriend's bedside, her rune inscribed hand locked with his as she did her best to focus on anything other than Harry's condition. Yes, she was glad that according to Madam Pomfrey, Harry seemed to have stabilized, and in truth, she felt a bit of pride in the fact that she'd been able to help the Medi-Witch heal her boyfriend, but it didn't change the fact that images of Harry's failing health had been engraved into her mind forever.
She was overjoyed to see the warm tan color return to his skin, but she couldn't ignore the fact that just a day ago it had been paler than she'd ever seen before. She was glad that Harry had stopped squirming from the pain he'd been feeling in his body, but she wasn't satisfied with not understanding why it had happened in the first place. She was thrilled that the blood pouring from Harry's scar had finally stopped flowing, but the fact his forehead was still heavily wrapped in bandages because neither her or Madam Pomfrey could be certain it wouldn't happen again infuriated her. In short, she was happy Harry was looking better but felt sick at the fact she was clearly missing something important.
Have you always been able to talk to snakes? Daphne pondered to herself as she looked down at Harry his breathing at a now consistent speed, No, there's no way he knew about it before the task, he would have said something to us. Still, how can you be a parseltongue and not know it? She sighed deeply, You really are full of mysteries Flyboy.
"Water," A weak voice croaked out, and instantly, Daphne felt as if a jolt of electricity had raced through her heart as she looked at Harry, his eyes fluttering open at a snail's pace, "So thirsty." Without thought, Daphne's hands raced towards the water pitcher, quickly pouring a glass as she watched Harry attempt to pull himself into a seated position.
She placed down the cup, wrapping her arms around Harry as she helped adjust his position before taking the cup and pressing it gently to his lips. Slowly, Harry's chapped lips parted and with haste, she watched as Harry chugged down the full cup like a man who'd been stranded in a desert before Daphne removed the cup from his lips. Her boyfriend's eyes still had yet to open completely, but a wave of desperation overtook her as she hugged him tightly, "You're awake," She said a sigh of relief expelling from her lungs, "Thank Merlin you're awake."
"Da-ph-ne," Harry croaked out slowly in broken pieces as she felt his arms attempt to wrap themselves around her, "Where am I?"
Daphne attempted her best light-hearted chuckle as she tightened her arms around Harry, heat filling the rims of her eyes, "The infirmary," she said as playfully as she could, "You'd think with how often you've ended up here you would know the place by heart."
But Harry didn't laugh, his face fixed in a mixture of fear and confusion. It looked almost as if his mind had entered a semi-conscious spiral as Harry desperately tried to recall what had happened to him. Once more in a low and broken tone, he whispered, "How did I get here?" Daphne felt her heart sink as she saw the pleading look of desperation in Harry's face before he broke contact with her turning to his right where the accursed golden egg rested untouched upon his bedside table. "The last thing I remember," Harry started, "I was racing towards the egg and then I felt myself blackout." Once more Daphne had found her boyfriend's eyes, this time full of concern, "Did I win? Do I still have my magic?"
"It's complicated," Daphne said gently, as she took Harry's hand into hers, "You did retrieve your egg, and you do still have your magic. But-" Harry peered into her eyes desperately wanting to understand more of what had happened, "But the you that got the egg… I don't know, it's hard to explain. It was almost like your body was there, but you weren't yourself."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked his eyes glowing with concern and confusion, "How could I be there and not be there at the same time?"
"Harry you-," Daphne gripped his hand tightly once more, "You started speaking parseltongue, I don't know what it was that you said, but whatever it was had scared the Horned Serpent so badly it desperately tried to flee the entire arena." Daphne felt Harry's eyes bleed into hers as she took a momentary pause trying to sort out her thoughts, "Harry, the fact that you spoke parseltongue has everyone in the school a bit freaked out. I'm not sure if you know this, but the last known person to be able to speak parseltongue according to Slytherin History was Voldemort himself."
Never before had she wished so badly to be able to read Harry's mind. Daphne had felt like she'd developed a rather strong telepathy with Harry, enough to know that currently his mind was rapidly racing through a flurry of memories. For a brief moment, it had looked like another wave of pain had overtaken him before to her great surprise, she watched as Harry shifted, throwing the infirmary bed covers off him as he pushed against her resistance to keep him down. "Harry, you need to slow down. You've been out for-"
"Is Sirius here?" Harry asked a firmness in his voice that Daphne hardly recognized, she'd heard it only twice before, and it never meant anything good. "Daphne, please, is Sirius here? I need to tell him something. It's important."
The fierce look in Harry's eyes had sent a chill down her spine, and reluctantly, she felt her grip around Harry's hand loosen as she turned away looking down at the bed rather than her boyfriend, "They're staying at Hogsmeade right now. They were here a bit earlier, though Dumbledore tried to fight hard against it, he didn't want anyone to come and see you. He claimed you were too dangerous in your current state."
"Then how did-," Harry started before she noticed Harry's body tremble in fear as he faced her once again, "Daphne," He said his voice more frightened than anything she'd heard before, "Did I- did I hurt you?"
Daphne shook her head vigorously, "No, you didn't hurt me. Dumbledore was just being overly-cautious about your condition." She combed her hair in a nervous pattern before she whispered, "Technically, I'm not supposed to be in here either, but Madam Pomfrey let me in, she said that our Rune-Bond helped relieve some of your pain." She swallowed hard, "Michael, Neville, Blaise, Tracey, Astoria, Cedric, and Hermione all tried to come and visit, but Dumbledore wouldn't let any of them through." She was quiet for a moment before she noticed Harry's expression shift greatly at her next question, "I can send Dobby to get Sirius, but Harry, what did you see, what do you need to tell Sirius so badly?"
For a moment, Harry was quite then he spoke, "I think," Harry said with a pause, "I think that Voldemort might be returning a lot sooner than I- than any of us first believed." She saw through the reflection of the golden egg a glare of pure rage grow across Harry's face as he whispered, "I won't let him hurt you," He said plainly, "Whenever it is that he comes back, I won't let him hurt any of you."
"I know I'm not as strong as you Harry, but together, I'm certain that we can handle anything that's coming," Daphne said fiercely. "Whatever storm looms on the horizon, we'll all bear it, and will weather through it, together."
"Right," She heard Harry say with an accepting nod which brought a smile to her face that he'd finally accepted the offer to share the burden, "Together." Slowly, Daphne reached for him once more, guiding him gently back down into the bed before she too climbed onto the cot curling into him and resting her head atop his chest.
True to her word, she summoned Dobby to deliver the message to Sirius that Harry had indeed woken up, but despite Harry's instance, she had made it clear to Dobby to inform Sirius and the others to wait until tomorrow morning to visit. She heard Harry released a tired sigh as he rested back onto his pillow, and a smile grew across her face as she felt Harry's hand run mindlessly through her hair before in an attempt to lighten the mood, Harry asked, "So um, you never exactly told me how I did on the First Task, did I at least beat Krum?"
"You're such an idiot Flyboy," She said curling deeper into Harry's frame, "You nearly died, and you're worried about if you beat Krum or not?" Completely as expected, a sheepish grin formed across Harry's face as Daphne let out a gentle sigh, "Technically, you tied with him, but everyone who wasn't against you from the start knows it was complete crap. Most people are just afraid because of the whole speaking to snakes business. Cedric's been trying to calm the castle down but even his influence isn't working all that well. But I guess you want specifics, huh?"
Harry nodded and she continued, "Well, to the surprise of nobody, Karkaroff tried to give you a zero, but because you completed the task, he was forced to give you a one. Madame Maxime was surprisingly sympathetic though, I suppose it's because her champion also happens to be a bit abnormal, being a Veela and all that. I think the most surprising was Crouch, with him being famous during the post-Voldemort trials, you'd have thought he'd have gone the same way as Karkaroff, but he also gave you a generously high score, as did Dumbledore."
"Great," Harry said as he rolled his eyes, "I didn't beat Krum thanks to some Death Eater scum and now I get to deal with the entire school thinking that not only am I a cheater, but I'm the next Dark Lord. This should be fun." Daphne felt her boyfriend's eyes rest upon her again, "Sorry that I never seem to make things easy on you."
"If I wanted things the easy way," Daphne said with a soothing laugh, "I wouldn't have agreed to go out with you in the first place. As Michael would say, it's a pain but in the end, I think it's worth it." Harry grinned as Daphne shrugged, "Plus, now our epitaphs kinda match, the Next Dark Lord, and his Girlfriend the Ice Queen… can you think of a more powerful couple."
Harry snickered at Daphne's whimsical remark, "I don't think I can… but if I'm being honest, I think I like Princess and Flyboy a bit more." Daphne nodded in agreement and Harry for what Daphne felt like was the first time in ages, smiled as he wrapped his arm around her waist, taking in her lemony scent as he placed his chin atop her head before slowly drifting back to sleep, this time, at peace. We're going to be okay Harry, She thought to herself firmly, I'm not going to let anything happen to you either.
(Michael P.O.V)
A Frightening First Task
By Rita Skeeter
As many are aware, the Triwizard Tournament has returned to the scene of the wizarding world. It is a time of great magical competition between three of the greatest schools of magic in Europe and serves not only as invaluable entertainment but also a measuring stick to uncover which school's magical curriculum is the most effective, and likely to bring about prosperous young wizards.
Being an Alumni from Hogwarts myself, I must claim that I have some bias favoring my former school, and due to that, you can imagine my shock when I had found out that not only had Cedric Diggory, A Hufflepuff Prefect, been selected as the Hogwarts Champion, but our very own Harry Potter had been selected by the goblet as well.
Sensing a big scoop, this reporter did whatever she could to uncover the mystery of how Harry Potter's name had come out of the Goblet, and many from the ministry and the general public who will remain unnamed had floated around the idea that perhaps Harry was a Darker Wizard than anyone even dared to believe. I consider myself a rather pragmatic individual and seeing that all accusations against Mr. Potter had been nothing more than random theories, I dismissed the ideas reporting just what I could find to be true for certain.
However, with the completion of the First Task now in the books. This reporter has reason to believe that perhaps the 'Dark-Wizard Potter' theory as it has come to be known among its theorists, may have more credence than I first believed. While Champions; Victor Krum, Fleur Delacour, and Cedric Diggory have all joined me already for their post-task interview (see p.4), Harry Potter had been incapacitated after successfully retrieving the egg in quite an obtuse way and was unable to sit down and chat.
All those in attendance of the First Task had vastly different views on how the young Gryffindor 4th year would perform in such a monumental task, but I'd be willing to bet on my life that not one of the spectators had expected Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, to speak Parseltongue! That's right my wonderful readers, I do not kid you when I say that Harry Potter, the vanquisher of the Dark Lord seems to share a trait with the Dark Wizard himself, as most people are firmly aware that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named also carried the ability to speak to snakes.
It is important to note, however, that fellow Hogwarts Champion, Cedric Diggory defended his fellow schoolmate in an unyielding manner claiming that, "The ability to talk to snakes itself isn't an evil trait." While to an extent this is true, a parseltongue is indeed just an ability, it was one carried by both Herpo the Foul and the Dark Lord. Some may argue this is nothing but a coincidence, but this reporter believes it better to be safe than sorry.
Michael snarled as he put down the article, slamming it against the library table as anger coursed through his veins at the defamatory remarks he'd just read, "Absolutely unbelievable," he spat, "Just last year you deliver Pettigrew to them on a silver platter, and now, just because you can talk to snakes, they want to throw you under the bus."
"I don't know why you bother to even read the Prophet," Hermione said with a sad shrug, "It's always been nothing but a propaganda machine. Though I can't deny, there is something a bit frightening about you being able to talk to snakes, Harry. They're not exactly the most friendly-looking animal on the planet.
He turned to face his friend, that had been released earlier today from the infirmary. He'd seen Harry down before, Michael dared to say he'd even seen his friend look completely hopeless at times, but never before had he seen Harry look so lost and confused. Slowly he watched as Harry placed his hand to his still bandaged forehead, his scar had stopped bleeding for the most part, but it certainly had been irritating him a lot more than usual. He had missed his friend of course, but Michael had wished Harry had been able to stay in the infirmary rather than being forced out against Madam Pomfrey's wishes due to his necessity to solve the puzzle for the next task.
He watched as Harry stared blankly off into the distance, not responding to Hermione's comment as she continued on, "I saw Sirius and Professor Lupin earlier today," She had said trying to break the tense feeling at the table, "I'm sure that must have been nice for you, right Harry? Especially after the whole ordeal with the first task."
If only you knew, Michael thought to himself as he glanced at Hermione, That meeting was anything but pleasant. He felt his heartrate rise rapidly as his mind drifted back to the conversation he'd been a witness to among Harry, Tonks, Sirius, and Remus. Things just keep moving from bad to worse, not only is the order faking an ambush, if Harry's vision was correct, that means we have less time to prepare for Voldemort than any of us hoped.
We're all still too weak, Michael cursed in his head, We can tangle with the Death Eaters well enough, but if just the presence of his magic in Harry's mind is capable of dealing this much damage, Voldemort's power must be insane. It's not just that we're on different levels, he's in an entirely different dimension. "Yeah," Harry said breaking the silence of the table as he faced Hermione, "It was nice to see them again." He watched sadly as Harry lifted his egg, Flitwick had been ill today and had canceled class giving the three of them a free period, but try as they might they couldn't solve the egg. It was painfully obvious that clearly there was a piece of the puzzle that was missing. "I'm going to go, I'm feeling a bit tired right now and could use a nap before lunch."
"Rook," Michael called out as sympathetically as he could, "We'll figure this out, all of it." He watched as Harry nodded silently, leaving the library and leaving him alone with Hermione. Damn, Michael cursed in his mind, It's always just one thing after another. He looked across the table at Hermione who was eying him curiously as she continued to jot down notes from her charms textbook. He knew that Hermione suspected there was more to Harry's blackout then just exhaustion, she wasn't an idiot after all, but he wasn't quite sure how to answer any question she might ask. After all, it wasn't as if he knew much more. Yes, he knew that Voldemort and Harry shared some kind of connection, but simply knowing that didn't explain how or why it was that way.
For a while longer, Michael sat at the table scribbling down possible theories regarding the noise that erupted from the Golden Egg. A god awful screech that shook the walls of the room from the vibrations. His list was short, but the puzzle was exciting. A different language? Perhaps a spell needs to be used? Environmental Issue? It wasn't much, but it was a start, and he planned to figure the puzzle out, both his honor as a Ravenclaw and progress of his best friend counted on it. However, knowing there was very little he could test with the egg no longer being in the library, he rose to his feet with a tired yawn as he called out to Hermione, "I'm starting to think Harry may have had the right idea, I think I'll go take a nap before lunch as well. I'll see you around, Hermione."
She nodded softly, and with that, Michael forced his legs forward, moving them to the edge of the library. Never before had he wished he would've just stuck around at the library for a little longer so badly as he did at that moment. His stomach churned at the sight that filled him with complete revulsion as once more he saw Boot leaving a broom closet with another girl that wasn't Susan. His eyes lit ablaze with fire, but remembering what had happened last time, he took a deep breath, calming himself down as he stared at the floor desperate to move onto the next hall.
His eyes were glued heavily to the floor as he pushed past, but as he should have expected, Boot wasn't smart enough to leave well enough alone, bumping into the back of him, "Whoops, sorry Corner, didn't see you there." Michael gritted his teeth, he wanted nothing more than to break the boy before him into pieces, but remembering the events of last year, he thought better of it. "This setting does seem awfully familiar, doesn't it?"
Michael clenched his fist tightly with anger as Boot place his hand atop his shoulder, "So what's the situation Corner? You planning to belittle me again, maybe try to teach me a lesson. You know, I've been practicing every day waiting for a rematch."
"You wouldn't be worth the magic," Michael said cooly as he brushed off Boot's hand, "I recommend you start running in the other direction, I'm in an awfully foul mood."
"Oh I don't doubt it," Boot said with a smirk, "Finding out your best friend is a piece of Dark Wizard garbage must be a hard pill to-"
But before Boot could even finish his sentence, he reached for Boot's outreached hand clenching it tightly in his grip as he turned to glare menacingly at Boot, "You can try and torment me all you want, I don't care. But I want to make this perfectly clear. If you ever disrespect Harry to my face again, not even Morgana herself could fix what I'll do to you." Feeling an immense amount of trembling in the other Ravenclaw's hand, Michael released his grip watching as Boot's hand fell numbly to his side, his form paralyzed with fear. With a satisfied smirk, Michael placed his hands to his pocket as he continued down the hall, his mind once more returning to the sickening state his friend had found himself in.
"D-don't turn your back on me!" Boot shouted, "I won't tolerate being disrespected like that. Petrificus Totalus!" Almost as if Michael had eyes in the back of his head, he weaved out of the way of the desperately-fired spell, before easily dodging two more. With the initial firing at an end, Michael had stopped to turn and face the pathetic fourth-year.
"You're a shameful excuse for a wizard," Michael said as he slowly approached Boot, "You talk about deserving respect like you're Malfoy, but you're an even worse wizard than he is, something I thought was impossible. You're a cowardly wizard who will only fire on an opponent stronger than that from the back, and even then, your extreme lack of any sort of magical talent won't even allow you to hit an opponent who isn't even looking. Honestly, you should thank Merlin every day for the charming smile of yours because without it, you'd have absolutely nothing going for you, you second-rate piece of shit."
"How- how dare you!" Boot roared with anger as he lifted his wand, but his movement was too slow, allowing Michael time to physically grip Boot's wand in his hand forcing it away from his body. "You-you're just like Potter. You're a complete freak!"
Michael remained silent until he cursed aloud hearing the tapping of footsteps approaching behind him, culminating in a voice he'd been hoping to never hear from again, "Causing trouble again I see, Mr. Corner," The crooked man snarled, "Perhaps cleaning every toilet in the castle wasn't an adequate enough punishment last year."
"Give me a break," Michael groaned, "I haven't even fired off a spell. Check our wands if you want to, I-"
"Unfortunately, I don't have that ability, Mr. Corner," Filch spoke resentment lacing his voice, "So I suppose the only thing I can do is assign you both detention. And just to make sure you learn the lesson, you'll be joining Hagrid on some 'special business' that he has in the forest tomorrow night."
"Surely you don't mean the forbidden forest, do you?" Boot said his voice shaking with fear, "You can't do that, it's forbidden for a reason!"
"Then perhaps you shouldn't have been causing so much trouble," Filch retorted with anger, "Hopefully the fear of the forest will set you two boys straight. Now, be off with you, I have to report your punishment to Hagrid." As Filch marched off, Michael rolled his eyes before turning his attention to the complete mess that was Terry Boot.
"No, no, no, he can't do this," Boot whispered to himself, "Not the forest at night, who knows what kind of monsters live there. This can't be happening-" Michael then felt Boot's eyes glare into him like daggers, "This is all your fault! Now we're going to-" But without another word, Michael walked off not bothering to listen to the rest of Boot's rant. He sighed heavily, his mind in a hundred other places before he turned to face forward seeing commotion beginning to grow in the hall, Honestly Red, what do you see in him?
(Dumbledore P.O.V)
Dumbledore paced around his office sporadically, his mind filled with a pool of questions and he had no idea where to start. It was clear that Harry's participation in the Triwizard Tournament had already placed himself farther on Sirius' bad side than desired, but now with Harry ending up once more in the infirmary, Dumbledore had wondered if he'd pushed the Lord of House Black to a point of no return. He prayed that it wasn't the case as being close to Harry was a necessity for his plan, but at the moment, he knew there were bigger problems at stake.
Not only were the Order under the command of Sirius Black about to undergo a rather dangerous operation for an associate who he himself was still not privy to the identity of, but he also couldn't shake the words that had been delivered to him by Remus himself just a day prior. A Rudimentary Body, Dumbledore thought to himself, No doubt it's a weaker form than the parasitic body he was using before, so why would Tom voluntarily switch to a weaker body? Dumbledore had asked himself that question, though he knew why better than most, there is only one thing Tom wants, and that's immortality. If he switched body forms, it's because it helps him get closer to his goal. I fear that Harry may have been right in his assessment, Riddle is returning far faster than any of us hoped.
He looked over at the cabinet where the destroyed diary rested locked beneath a myriad of charms. His gaze then shifted towards the Sword of Gryffindor that rested proudly on his wall, its steel now coursing with the venom of the slain basilisk from the chamber, Is it time to inform Harry about everything I know regarding the Horcruxes? No, He thought to himself, No, it's far too soon, and there is still so much left to confirm.
Dumbledore sighed deeply as he fell into his chair behind his mahogany desk, his old bones weary and his mind exhausted. Harry, he thought to himself as a sad smile crossed his face. Visions of the boy's broken mind after the first task filled his memories. He felt tired just thinking about how long it had taken to fix the damage the boy's occlumency structure underwent from Voldemort's body shift. In fact, he wasn't quite sure he was capable of fixing all the damage in the boy's mind from the mental explosion. Dumbledore had known that their memories could be shared through the Horcrux that resided within Harry's mind, he had not expected pain to be transferable as well. If Harry can feel Tom's pain, Dumbledore pondered to himself, Then might the reverse be true?
It's certainly not my first plan, Dumbledore thought to himself, But it's certainly worthy of some tests. Harry, The elderly Hogwarts Headmaster thought to himself once more, Please forgive me… I swear it's all for the greater good.
(Astoria P.O.V)
Astoria had never been the most popular Gryffindor. Being known around the castle as Harry's little sister had given her some reprieve for some time, but ever since Harry's name had come out of the goblet, she'd found herself once again slipping deeper and deeper into obscurity. Honestly though, for the most part, she didn't mind it, not having Lavender, Fay, and Parvati hounding her for tips in order to get closer to Harry despite being Daphne's sister was a blessing in disguise. What she didn't like, however, was the looks that were being sent her way due to her association with Harry.
It wasn't that she couldn't handle glares, she dealt with people given her strange looks her whole life, but she couldn't stop her blood from boiling every time someone would look at Harry with contempt. She was thankful that the Gryffindor Quidditch team remained on friendly terms with Harry, and even Ron had managed to keep any negative feelings he may have held to himself, but for the rest of the castle, many had fallen back into the hive-mind of the castle's beliefs under the control of the Daily Prophet propaganda.
She watched in anger as a group of Gryffindor's hustled past Harry whispering things at a level too low for her to hear, but it wasn't like she needed it, the fear on their faces had said it all as they rushed as far away from Harry as possible taking a seat at the complete opposite end of the table. She felt her head begin to overheat as she growled lowly before the tired and uninterested voice of Harry cut through the silence, "Let it go Short-Stack, it's not worth getting upset over. It's bad enough Corner got detention for trying to stick up for me and Cedric is getting dragged through the mud, it's not worth it."
"It just gets me so mad that no matter what good you do for the wizarding world, these idiots read one article and all of a sudden you turn into the devil himself," She grumbled as she met Harry tired green eyes. "Honestly, it's baffling at how dumb people can be."
"It's irritating, sure," Harry said with a yawn, his rather nonchalant attitude catching Astoria completely off-guard, "But at the same, it's not like everyone knows me the way you do Short-Stack. To them, they just see the guy who happened to have been marked by Voldemort and can talk to snakes. I can't say I don't get it, even if it is a super dumb way of looking at a situation."
"I really wish you would stop saying his name out loud," Katie Bell, one of the few Gryffindors who still decided to sit beside Harry said.
"Fear of the name promotes fear of the man," Harry said, "At least, that's what Sirius always told me. He's a strong wizard, but he's not a god, after all, he did lose to a baby." Astoria knew there was more to what Harry was thinking. She'd seen Harry's practice indifference, and while to others it may have seemed believable, she knew better, Harry wasn't nearly as relaxed as he was playing it.
"A right ballsy-baby too with the way you tangled with that snake," Fred chimed in with a soft chuckle in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"If that's how you handled a Class Five beast, it's no wonder you send MoldyShorts packing," George finished. For the first time in a while, she watched as a whisper of a genuine smile appeared on Harry's face, and while Astoria knew that Harry had more than his fair share weighing on his mind, she was glad that Harry still had the ability to grin.
"Honestly, it's complete crap that you only tied with Krum," Fred started, "I mean, I like the guy on a broomstick, but he's certainly lacking in the personality department."
"Not to mention anyone with eyes would have seen you woulda got the Golden Egg on your own before whatever the freak accident that happened, well, happened," George said bluntly, "Knocking you points because you can talk to snakes is complete bull."
"It doesn't matter, it's just one task," Jordan said with a shrug, "But I do have a case of Butterbeer on you winning this whole thing with Davies on the line so if you could kick some ass on the second task that would be great, Potter."
Katie nudged her boyfriend's rib enough to make him grunt slightly before Angelina called out, "Speaking of the Second Task, I asked Diggory if he figured out anything with his egg but he said he had no luck so far, how are you faring, Harry?"
"About the same," Harry said with a frustrated groan, "Corner's working on some theories, but all I've gotten from the egg is that it screams something awful every time I open it." Astoria watched as Harry rubbed his bandaged forehead, "It's bad enough we have to compete in these stupidly dangerous tasks, but making us solve riddles too is starting to feel like cruel and unusual punishment."
"If anyone can figure it out, I'm sure Michael can," Astoria piped up cheerfully but Harry's face remained as stoic as ever only delivering a gentle nod.
"Yeah," Harry whispered, "It's too bad he's not going to be able to help much tonight though. I really don't know what Filch was thinking, Hagrid seems nice enough, but sending two students with him into the forbidden forest at night just sounds like an invitation for trouble."
Astoria nodded, she couldn't help but feel the same way and felt irritated that Michael had been punished for standing up for Harry and hadn't even cast a single spell. Lately, she'd been starting to feel that every single person outside of their little group was rooting against Harry, and it had been driving her wild. Her older brother had caught a notorious Death Eater just last year and had also been responsible for saving Merlin-Knows how many lives during the World Cup by taking action against the Death Eater raid, and he wasn't even being treated with the slightest sliver of respect.
Her train of thought was broken as a streak of yellow and black caught her eye. Directly across from her, and now standing right behind Harry was the 'real' Triwizard Champion, who in a similar manner to Harry, was looking a little worse for wear. "It's good to see you back on your feet Potter. I was worried that my only competition in this tournament wasn't going to be able to continue forward."
Astoria watched as Harry turned to face the older wizard a gentle smile on his face, "Well, you know me, I'd hate to make things to easy for you." Cedric released a quiet chuckle before she watched her brother's face get serious, "Hey, I haven't really said it yet, but thanks for standing up for me in my stead. I read about what you said in the Daily Prophet, and I know you've been receiving some backlash for it. You didn't have to do that, but you did it anyway, so yeah, thanks for that."
"Don't get all sappy on me, Potter," Cedric said with a teasing grin, "I already made the mistake of not standing up for you before when your name came out of the Goblet, I wasn't about to make that same mistake again. We're friends, after all, I'm sure if the roles were reversed you'd have done the same for me."
Harry nodded and Astoria felt a warm feeling fill her heart. To her, Harry was a strong wizard. He knew plenty of spells, he could stay calm under pressure, and no matter the occasion, Harry always found a way to rise to it. But as she watched Cedric slip beside Harry at the Gryffindor table, the two laughing over a joke Cedric had made at Krum's expense, she couldn't help but smile. That is what made Harry truly powerful, more than anyone she knew, Harry knew how to inspire people to stand beside him, even when the whole world seemed to be against him.
However, despite being surrounded by the Quidditch Team and Cedric, she couldn't help but realize that a certain blonde-haired boy was missing. She'd grown so accustomed to Damyan being by her side over the last few months that his absence from the breakfast table had certainly felt noticeable. As she thought of the blonde boy, she couldn't help but remember the 'Allergy Attack,' he claimed to have had during their charms class. She knew there was something more to Damyan, something he wasn't telling her, and being the curious witch that she was, it bothered her severely.
She didn't have much time to linger on that thought though, as the house tables sprung to live with a delicious spread of breakfast delicacies. She was happy to see that despite everything that had happened recently, Harry hadn't lost his appetite, but it seemed that this breakfast was destined to pan out a bit different than normal as she watched the Elderly Headmaster rise from the staff table and clear his throat before lifting his wand to his neck. "Pardon the interruption, but it seems I have forgotten to inform you all of a rather important development." The commotion within the Great Hall came to a stop as all eyes fell upon the Purple-Robed Headmaster.
"As the month of November comes to a close, and the winter holidays approach at a much quicker pace, I feel it is only right to inform you of the Yule-Time celebration being held right here at Hogwarts." Instantly every sherd of attention had been focused on Dumbledore as he smiled, "As has been the tradition since the conception of the Triwizard Tournament, the Holiday Season brings forth a rather joyous event, the Yule Ball."
Astoria had to fight hard against her laughter as she saw the eyes of every girl in view light up like Christmas Tree decorations while most of the boys in attendance had their face sink quicker than the titanic. Harry being Harry though had simply looked past her and smirked gently at her older sister from across the hall bringing a gentle smile to Daphne's face. "While no regular student is required to attend, it is the long-held tradition that each Champion attends alongside a date to commence the event."
Astoria had nearly wanted to barf at the googly-eyes that Cho was desperately sending towards Cedric, but it was hardly the only thing that caught her eyes from the Ravenclaw table. She couldn't be certain, but for a moment, she could have sworn that the French Minister's Daughter had glanced at Michael with a surprisingly warm look, though it was clear that Michael's head was currently somewhere else.
"Also, it is my duty to inform you that as has been agreed upon by not just myself but both the Headmistress and Headmaster of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang respectively, the event will be open to all students who are of Fourth Year age and above." This announcement had been met with its fair share of groans, "However, if students below the fourth year are invited to attend the Yule Ball by an upper-classmen, they too are welcomed to attend." This had changed the groans into desperate glances from every second and third-year student she could see as they searched desperately for potential fourth-year dates. "The Yule Ball is set to be held on Christmas Day, and formal-wear is required. Please be sure to represent your school with dignity should you attend, and for those of you unable to be at the celebration, I do hope you sign the form announcing your intention to return home for the Christmas Holiday as it will make our organization process flow at a much smoother rate. With all that said, please continue enjoying your breakfast and I wish you all a fantastic day."
"I guess that explains what the formal-wear on the back to school list was for," Harry said with a grin as he turned towards Astoria. "I sure am lucky your sister still wants to be seen with me, because if she didn't, I'd say that finding a date for this thing might be harder than facing a dragon."
Astoria smiled as she shook her head. Harry was going through hell, she knew it all too well. Not only had the school once again attempted to ostracize him, but he had to compete in this god awful tournament that constantly placed him in danger. She wasn't quite sure exactly how much pressure her Older Brother was truly under, but the fact he still was attempting to crack jokes had shown her that even if Harry had been thrown into the fire, part of that sarcastic boy she'd met last year was still there.