"That was excellent, Potter," Professor McGonagall said.
"Thank you, Professor," Harry said. "I need to go see Madam Pomfrey. The Horntail hit me with one of her spikes."
"Ah, of course. It is right through there. Get yourself looked at, at once," Professor McGonagall said sternly as she motioned towards a tent.
"Yeh did it," Hagrid said hoarsely. "Yeh did it against the Horntail."
"Yeah, I know. It went alright," Harry said. He received a half-smile that looked more like a grimace from Moody before he entered the tent
Madam Pomfrey didn't look happy and Harry could understand why. If he were the healer dedicated to a bunch of children, he wouldn't like dragons on the grounds either.
"Dragons!" she said in a disgusted tone. She pulled Harry inside with her. He looked around.
The tent was split into cubicles. Harry could see Cedric's silhouette through the canvas. He was well enough to sit up at least.
Harry pulled his shirt off so Madam Pomfrey could take a look at the wound on his back. She shook her head. "Last year there were Dementors, and this year they have dragons.
What are they going to bring into this school next? You are very lucky it didn't hit anything vital, It will need some thorough cleaning before I can heal it. Stand still," she said.
Harry shifted so she would have an easier time cleaning the wound and then he relaxed. He was so glad that all his new scars were hidden under the glamour.
She probably wouldn't be impressed by the orc wedding scars he had no matter how impressive they were to orcs.
Pomfrey poured some kind of liquid into the wound. Harry did his best not to react to the stinging sensation he felt. Then there was a soothing feeling and the wound was healed.
"Now, just sit quietly for a minute! And then you can go get your score," Pomfrey said She bustled out of his section of the tent and walked over to Cedric. "How does it feel now, Diggory?" she said.
Harry tuned them out. Cedric's health wasn't his business. He rolled his shoulders and healed what little was left of the wound to heal. Then he put his shirt back on.
"Harry!"
Suddenly Harry had an armful of bushy-haired Hermione. "You were brilliant," she said. She could understand now how he'd been so calm. He had done great. "That was just amazing."
Harry looked down at her with a smile. "Thank you, Hermione," he said. He hugged her back. "You helped a lot."
Hermione stepped back from him and looked over her shoulder. Ronald was standing there. "Harry," he said very seriously. "Whoever put your name in that Goblet… I reckon they're trying to do you in."
Harry tilted his head to the side. Frankly, he didn't care that much about Ronald. He guessed the guy didn't have to run around thinking that he hated him though.
He shrugged. "That has occurred to us a couple of times I guess," he said.
"I'm sorry," Ron said. "I was an idiot."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, you were," he said. "Everyone does stupid things sometimes. But you know… You should have known me better than to think that I wanted to be in this tournament.
I forgive you though." He looked over at Hermione. "I guess I should go out there and hear what they have to say," he said.
Hermione nodded. She looked over at Ron as Harry walked out. "He has forgiven you," she said. "I guess he just wants you to realise that you have to think before you act next time."
Ron nodded and sighed. "I really messed up this time," he said. He walked with Hermione after Harry.
They stopped before they entered the enclosure. They could hear just fine from where they stood.
Hermione did her best not to listen to Ron's commentary as Harry was given his scores. It looked good. It didn't even matter that Karkaroff only gave him a four.
He was tied for first place with Krum. She raised an eyebrow as she watched Charlie Weasley come running over to Harry.
She couldn't hear what they said to each other, she was too far away. Harry seemed to be heading back into the champions' tent after he'd spoken to the second oldest Weasley though.
She figured they could meet him in the common room. She had a book she wanted to read.
Harry stepped into the tent. He smiled at Cedric, Delacour, and Krum as they came walking in together. He wished he could just heal Cedric's face.
He was pretty used to dealing with fire burns - especially from dragons. "Good one, Harry," Cedric said.
"You too Cedric," Harry said.
"Well done all of you," Bagman said as he bounced into the tent. "Now, just a quick few words.
You've got a nice long break before the second task, which will take place at half past nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth, but we're giving you something to think about in the meantime!"
Harry stayed behind in the tent after Bagman left. He looked down at the egg. The egg held the clue.
He moved it around in his hands. He wanted to go see how the dragons were doing. Poor Britkrein needed some comforting.
"You 'ave changed."
Harry looked up. He hadn't realised that he wasn't the only one left in the tent. It was Miss Delacour. The part Veela was looking at him intently. "The others might not notice, but I do," she said.
"Really?" Harry said. "What makes you think that?"
"I don't think," Fleur said. "I know. I can tell that you are different." She walked up to him. Her allure was coming off her in waves.
No fourteen-year-old boy should be able to resist that unless they were gay."
She knew Harry had been affected just weeks ago. So what had happened? "You shouldn't be able to ignore this?" she said.