Chapter 2

As it had and always would, life carried on after the attack on the Quidditch World Cup. After an Auror found them in the woods, Harry and Viktor were escorted back to the campsite to their friends and teammates respectively. Before separating, both promised to write to one another and hopefully meet up again in future. Once Harry returned to the Weasley tent, he was dive-bombed by his friends. Hermione was especially worried over his disappearance during the attack, and it took multiple assurances from the Harry himself that he was able to keep himself safe until rescue came.

Though, admittedly, he kept silent about how he wounded four Death Eaters; killed another five, and became friends with Viktor Krum himself. Harry certainly didn't think the time was right to spill such information.

Not wanting to spend another moment in the campsite, the Weasleys, Hermione, Harry and the Diggorys (who had come along for the match), sought out a private portkey which brought them back to the Burrow, where Molly was anxiously waiting for news of her family's safety after hearing about the attack on the wireless and seeing the hands on the clock for those who left for the match turn towards 'mortal peril'.

There Harry and Hermione stayed with their hosts until the first of September. And Viktor stayed true to his promise of exchanging letters almost immediately.

The morning after returning from the World Cup, Harry was woken to the sound of something tapping against the curtained window. Beside him, Ron was still fast asleep, snoring loudly. Harry grabbed his spectacles, shuffled over to the window, drew the curtains apart, and saw what was making the tapping noise. His eyes widened.

It was an eastern imperial eagle. Harry opened the window, admittedly marvelling at how majestic it was. The eagle stared back at him for a moment, appearing to scrutinize the human in front of it. Then, it stuck out a leg. Harry immediately noticed a letter tied around it.

"Is it from Viktor?" asked Harry.

The eagle appeared to nod. Harry immediately untied the letter from its leg.

"Wait here, you had a long journey."

The eagle made no inclination of movement, merely sitting on the windowsill in silence as Harry disappeared back into the room. He placed the letter on Ron's desk, and went through his trunk to look for the mice he would feed Hedwig with. Said snowy owl was shaken from her slumber by the sound of her owner digging through his trunk. Blinking slowly, she turned towards the open window, and made eye-contact with the eagle.

For several moments, both birds of prey made no noise or movement, just staring at one another like a battle of who-blinks-first. Hedwig was the first to break the silence; a single, quiet hoot escaping her beak. The eagle responded with a slightly louder cry, but not loud enough to wake a still-snoring Ron.

Harry finally found the dead mice in a box under a stasis charm. Opening it, he turned towards the eagle, only to notice it staring at Hedwig, who was staring back at it as well.

"Sorry, Hedwig. Did I wake you?"

The snowy owl turned to her owner, and gave a nonchalant hoot.

"I hope you don't mind me giving the eagle here one of your mice. It had a long journey delivering me a letter."

Hedwig gave another nonchalant hoot, turning her gaze back at the eagle. Harry plucked a mouse from the box and went back to the windowsill.

"Here, this is what my owl, Hedwig's her name, usually eats after long journeys," said Harry, putting the mouse in front of the eagle, "I don't know much about eagles, but since you are a bird of prey, I assume that this is something you eat as well?"

The eagle made no sound, just staring back at Harry with piercing eyes. It stayed that way for several moments, and Harry began to worry that he had offended the majestic bird by offering it a measly mouse as a thank-you for the letter.

His fears were ultimately unfounded, as the eagle took the mouse into its beak, gave a somewhat muffled cry, and flew into the room onto the top of a wardrobe to eat its meal in peace. Staring at the eagle a moment longer, Harry returned to the letter, and was about to open it when Hedwig hooted to get his attention, nudging her beak against the cage door.

Harry opened the cage, letting the snowy owl out. Hedwig fluttered down onto his shoulder, nipped at his ear gently in affection, before hooting towards the letter.

At his owl's prompting, Harry broke the wax seal, opened the envelope, and pulled out the letter inside.

Harry,

How are you? I hope you got back home safe. I remember seeing a mad push-and-shove for the portkeys leaving the grounds before we left.

Bulgaria is in uproar. Three of our reserve players were killed last night, and the people are demanding answers and retribution. I can expect your Minister to come under heavy fire from wizarding Europe and within Britain itself, since from what I heard, the British Ministry had taken a long time to intervene when the Death Eaters attacked.

'I'm not sure about that…' Harry thought to himself, knowing how corrupt the Ministry was and how the general wizarding population would just follow anything the Minister or the Daily Prophet says.

I really wish this clears up soon. My father has a lot of work to do now, being the Minister's aide, in handling this fallout.

I hope this letter gets to you safely. It's not often that Velia, my family's eagle, delivers letters across the continent, but I'm confident that she'll make the journey. Please reward her for her hard work, she's a really exceptional eagle.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Viktor

Harry smiled. He was glad to hear that Viktor got back to Bulgaria safely, though his heart went out to the families of the reserve players who were tragically killed in the crossfire. Bulgaria had every right to be mad at wizarding Britain, he thought; they send their best players to the World Cup, only to come back with several of them dead or wounded.

'Well, I better not keep him or Velia waiting too long.'

Harry put the letter back into the envelope, and returned to his trunk. He deposited the letter into a compartment, and pulled out an empty envelope, parchment, ink bottle and quill. He then went back to the desk, and wrote out his reply.

Viktor,

I'm doing quite well, thanks for asking. I'm glad that you also got back home safely, I presume you had a good rest too?

I'm sorry to hear that three of your teammates were murdered. Let me assure you that my heart goes out to them and their families, and that no one but the Death Eaters are to be blamed for their deaths.

To be honest, I'm not confident that the British Ministry is going to handle the fallout properly. They are incredibly corrupt, and for all we know, they may just release some empty statement of promising to bring justice to those responsible and then sweep the entire thing under the rug. I don't know how they are going to do it, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

But what I do know is, Velia is indeed an exceptional eagle. She managed to find where I am currently staying, admittedly arriving when I was still sleeping. She is really majestic, and I think even Hedwig, my snowy owl, is also taken to her too.

I did reward Velia for the long journey, though I only had Hedwig's mice to give her. What do eastern imperial eagles usually eat? The next time she comes around again, I'll be sure to give it to her then.

Please send my regards to your father. And I too hope to hear from you again soon. All the best in your future endeavours.

Yours sincerely,

Harry

Just as he signed his name off at the bottom of the parchment, Harry heard wings flapping down on his left. Velia had finished the mouse, and had landed on the desk, waiting for Harry's reply to her owner's letter.

The bespectacled lad slipped the parchment into the enveloped, sealed it, and tied it to the eagle's leg, "Here Velia, take this to Viktor. Please send him my regards."

Velia let out an acknowledging cry to Harry, and another, slightly softer one to Hedwig, before taking off from the desk, flying round the room once, and out the window into the distance, eventually disappearing from sight.

Harry stared at the open window for several moments, until a rather loud yawn brought his attention back into the room. Ron had woken up.

"Morning, Harry."

"Morning, Ron."

As expected, the Ministry did come under heavy backlash for its folly in the attack of the World Cup, though this was partly fanned by the sensationalist flames by a certain Rita Skeeter. But as Harry also expected, the Ministry came up with a "promise" to find those responsible and bring them to justice, but penned his scepticism to Viktor in a subsequent letter later that night when Velia came round again.

Over the rest of the summer, Harry and Viktor traded letters daily, writing about mainly Quidditch and school life – like which teachers do they hate the most, or the funniest thing they have witnessed, to name a few -, and giving Velia quite the workout. Harry learnt that the eagle's favourite food were hares, and there were plenty about in the hills of Ottery St. Catchpole for him to stupefy and take back to the Burrow. Surprisingly though, Viktor also wrote that Velia was partial to garden gnomes as a snack.

Harry found it amusing as Mrs. Weasley began to notice that the garden gnome population had been steadily decreasing, scratching her head as to why the little miscreants had suddenly stopped invading the garden, not that she wasn't pleased by it.

Other than Hedwig, no one else in the Burrow knew of Harry and Viktor's correspondence. Harry had asked if he should tell the Weasleys about their communication, mentioning that Ron was a huge fan. Viktor's reply hadn't been comfortable with that notion, stating that he didn't want either of them to get hounded any more so, when they probably had constant fan letters and booby-trapped messages to deal with every day. Here, Harry raised an eyebrow. While he expected a celebrity seeker like Viktor to receive fan mail, other than that particular Valentine's Day letter from Ginny in second-year, he'd never received any sort of fan mail at all.

Nonetheless, in his reply, Harry didn't mention that, and agreed that it was for the best to keep their correspondence between themselves.

The days went by, spent working on the garden (which got progressively easier due to the gnomes disappearing), playing Quidditch, either alone (which Harry took as an opportunity to practice several tricks from Viktor), or with the other Weasleys kids, and studying for fourth year (much to Hermione's delight and Ron's consternation). But no matter the day's activities, Harry always found time to write to Viktor, or simply to read past letters.

Despite being in relatively good company with the Weasleys and Hermione, Harry found his greatest solace in exchanging letters to his seeker friend across the continent. Even though it was only in words, Harry felt his greatest bond form with Viktor. Over time, the bond grew stronger and closer than Harry could say for both Ron and Hermione. Sure, he had gone through plenty with Ron and Hermione, but as Viktor said in the woods, they were in the same boat as famous celebrities wanting a normal life, and ought to look out for one another.

Harry felt Viktor couldn't have said it better.

Then, two days before September 1st rolled in, Harry received another letter from Viktor. After rewarding Velia with pieces of chopped hare, Harry sat down to read what his friend had to tell him now.

The subject matter, it seemed, was both intriguing…and concerning.

Harry,

I don't know if your Ministry or Hogwarts has made any statement or announcement recently, but apparently, there's some big event happening this year. I overheard my father talking to the Minister about it. Something about a tournament between the three European wizarding schools – Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang?

I'm curious if you've heard anything from your side. I heard the British ministry and your headmaster Dumbledore were in negotiations over it too, at least, that was what I overheard from my father.

What do you think about this?

Your true friend,

Viktor

Harry put the letter down. Somehow…he didn't feel comfortable about what was going on. A tournament between Hogwarts, the French school Beauxbatons and Viktor's school, Durmstrang? Was that why the year's school-list included dress robes among the textbooks and usual stuff?

Harry fell into deep thought. Whatever tournament this was; he knew that something big was going to happen because of it. And if fate decided to mess with him again, he was going to be thrown into the middle of the fracas.

Letting out a sigh, Harry took another piece of parchment, and wrote his reply.

Viktor,

As far as I know, neither Hogwarts nor the British Ministry has said anything about a tournament happening. But if it is indeed true, then I am concerned.

Something happens during each year of my Hogwarts education that threatens the lives of mine and those around me. I told you what they were back at the World Cup. If there is a tournament happening, I have strong suspicions that I am going to be unwillingly thrown into it in some form or another, usually at the threat of my life.

I really hope that would never happen, but after what happened over the last three years, I have little hope that this year would be any more peaceful as the previous three.

I hope to hear from you soon,

Your true friend,

Harry

September 1st came, and Harry's concern came to fruition. At the Welcoming Feast, Dumbledore first announced the cancellation of Quidditch for the year (which nearly started a riot in the Great Hall) and second, the reinstatement of the Tri-Wizard Tournament (which quickly pacified the would-be rioters, particularly the Weasley twins).

While the rest of the school excitedly gossiped and speculated about the upcoming tournament, Harry felt his stomach churn. Later that night, while the rest of Gryffindor house was still chatting away in the common room, Harry had retreated to the dorms, placed privacy wards on his bed, and wrote an urgent letter to Viktor.

Viktor,

It's really happening. This tournament you talked about, it's the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Dumbledore announced it during the Start-of-Term Feast earlier.

I got a really bad feeling about this. I just know that somehow, one way or another, I'm going to get involved in this tournament, completely against my will. It doesn't matter that Dumbledore said there will be an age line to ensure only of-age students can participate, I'm almost certain that that would not stop whatever, or whoever, wants to threaten my life through this tournament.

What should I do?

Your true friend,

Harry

Finishing the letter, and sealing it in an envelope, Harry put on his father's Invisibility Cloak, left the dorms, cut through the still-lively common room, and disappeared through the portrait hole. He navigated through the corridors, passed through the Entrance Hall, and crossed the moonlit grounds towards the Owlery.

Entering the home of the owls, Harry glanced about for Hedwig. Finding the snowy owl up on a rafter, he whistled for her. Hedwig, seeing her owner, flew down from the rafter and onto his outstretched arm.

"Hey girl, could I trouble you to deliver this letter to Viktor in Durmstrang?"

The owl gave Harry an incredulous glare, as if saying, 'You're asking me to do what?!'

"I know it's a long journey, Hedwig, but this is important," Harry pleaded, "Maybe you'll see Velia while there? And I'll give you more bacon when you return, okay?"

Hedwig scrutinized her owner a moment longer, but the reward of one of her favorite treats and possibly seeing the eastern imperial eagle again eventually won her over. Taking the letter in her talons, Hedwig took off from the Owlery and into the night.

It would be 36 hours before Hedwig returned with Viktor's response. At breakfast, the snowy owl joined the hundreds of owls flooding into the Great Hall to deliver the mail. Hedwig dropped the letter into Harry's lap, before fluttering down in front of his plate. She hooted insistently, pecking at a rasher of bacon. Harry pushed the three rashers off his plate, leaving Hedwig to happily attack her reward. Making sure no one was watching, Harry slipped the letter into his pocket, intending to read it in a more private place.

After morning lessons and lunch, the Gryffindors had a free period. Harry retreated to the library, found a quiet spot away from the other students, and took out Viktor's letter.

Harry,

I'm aware. Karkaroff too announced it to the whole of Durmstrang yesterday.

But first, calm down. Don't work yourself into a panic. We don't know anything yet, and nothing has happened so far. We aren't seers, we can't see what the future holds. The most we can do now is mentally prepare ourselves for all possible outcomes.

And besides, we'll be seeing each other again soon. As your friend, I promise you that I'll stick by you to ensure your safety through this year.

But for now, just stay calm. Stay strong, and stay brave. You can count on me to know that we will get through whatever comes our way this year. Take care, I will see you soon.

Your true friend,

Viktor

Harry released the breath he had been unconsciously holding. His stomach was still churning, but it had eased a little. Closing his eyes, Harry brought Viktor's letter to his chest, trying to steady his worried breaths. Viktor was right. Nothing had happened yet, and he can't see the future. He had to be strong, calm, and brave, not just for himself…

…but for Viktor too.

The end of October came within sight, and with it news that the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were due to arrive on the 30th. Lessons were halted for that particular day as Hogwarts prepared for the arrival of their foreign guests. Until then though, routines were still carried out. But for Harry, the status quo was changing.

Why?

It didn't seem like it to anyone, but the Golden Trio had begun to fray. Harry was increasingly irritated and exasperated by how overbearing Hermione and Ron both seemed to be this year, what about house-elf rights and Quidditch respectively. To be fair, Harry did wonder what was his role in this change, but he put it to the flows of life, and how he had found a better friend in Viktor, someone who understood his troubles and not tried to either brush them off nonchalantly or inundate him with pointless rationality that do not solve the issues at hand.

Harry was slowly, but surely, drifting away from Hermione and Ron, not that they, or anyone else, realized it. But when the 30th finally came, things went into uncharted territory, though Harry kind of expected that to happen.

The entirety of Hogwarts, staff and students, were all gathered outside of the castle on the grounds near the Great Lake. The sun was beginning to set, and the temperature was falling thanks to the autumn wind. Warming charms were already being utilized amongst the impatient students, just as someone spotted something in the sky.

It was a humongous house-shaped carriage, painted light blue, and led by winged horses on reins. It was clearly the Beauxbatons delegation. The Hogwarts students all whispered to one another excitedly as the carriage landed with steady thud on the ground, the horses braying loudly as Hagrid went to calm them.

The door of the carriage swung open, and a male student, dressed in a blue silk suit, hopped out. He pulled out a set of folding steps, and stood to attention at the side of the door. A giant of a woman stepped out of the carriage, inciting more whispers from the Hogwarts students. Behind her, were two dozen students in neat rows.

Harry watched as Dumbledore came forward with a charming smile. He stopped in front of the giantess, clearly dwarfed by her height.

"Madame Maxime, it is our pleasure to host you here in Hogwarts this year," Dumbledore greeted, kissing Maxime's outstretched hand.

"Ah, Dumblydorr," Maxime spoke, her accent apparent, "charming as always. I presume you are doing good?"

"As good as I can be, Madame Maxime," Dumbledore nodded, "Would you like to head to the Entrance Hall first to escape the chill?"

"Zat would be most appreciated," said Maxime, "But our 'orses…zey need proper care."

"Not to worry," Dumbledore beamed, "Our Care of Magical Creatures professor, Rubeus Hagrid, will take care of your horses right away! Believe me, he is excellent with animals."

Maxime turned to Hagrid, who was soothing one of the horses inaudibly.

"Very well," the headmistress turned back to Dumbledore and nodded, "but could you inform zis 'agrid zat our 'orses consume only single-malt whisky? Zey get very temperamental if fed anyzing else."

"That will be arranged right away," Dumbledore reassured.

Satisfied, Maxime called her students to follow her. The Beauxbatons delegation dutifully followed, silent amidst the whispers from the Hogwarts students. A good number of them were really good-looking, hence the whispers, Harry inwardly noted.

With the Beauxbatons students disappearing into the castle, the consensus amongst the Hogwarts students was about how the Durmstrang delegation was going to show up. Harry heard all kinds of theories being thrown back and forth, but he only had one thought in mind.

Viktor. He was going to see Viktor again.

Harry felt he must have been really excited, for his heart was beating wildly and he could hardly keep still at the thought of Viktor. His mind was completely engrossed with their upcoming reunion, that he barely heard Lee Jordan shout something about the lake bubbling.

Indeed, when Harry and his schoolmates turned to look towards the lake, it's once gentle, clear surface was rippling and bubbling, as if an underwater volcano below was waking up from its slumber. The bubbling grew more vigorous, and Harry began to wonder if Durmstrang was going to make its entrance in a spectacular explosion of water, glory and awe.

Well, as it turned out, it wasn't so much of a wall of water from an explosion below the surface and a tremendous loud noise of glory, but Durmstrang's entrance still left many in awe nonetheless.

Something appeared to break the bubbling surface of the lake. It looked like a sharp, pointy pole at first, but Harry quickly realized it was the mast of a ship as more of it rose out of the water and came into view. The mast was followed by the bow of the ship, then its three towering sails, and finally its stern.

More excited voices broke out amongst the Hogwarts students, as the bubbling began to subside and the ship appeared in all of its intimidating glory and sailed towards the shoreline. It came to a stop, presumably where the water was still deep enough without it running aground, and the anchors were dropped with loud splashes. A long gangway was seen lifted over the side of the ship, and dropped onto the shore with a thud.

The gossiping grew louder as people began to appear coming down the gangway. All of them, with the taller man who was presumably the headmaster, were wearing thick fur coats and hats.

The general question amongst many of the Hogwarts students was where in the world could Durmstrang be. Wherever it was, it must be extremely cold, if this was the students' regular uniform.

All thoughts of frigid weather and wondering where Durmstrang was hidden away though were not present in Harry's mind. He only had one objective. He scanned the Durmstrang students, ignoring their headmaster, Igor Karkaroff greeting Dumbledore warmly.

It only took him a moment. There standing pride of place next to Karkaroff looking decidedly annoyed, was Viktor.

"Harry! It's Krum! It's Viktor Krum! I can't believe it, he's actually here!" Ron whispered excitedly beside him, his voice joining the other excited gasps and squeals as more of their schoolmates recognised the famous seeker.

Harry ignored Ron, his heart now thundering like a bullet train going at top speed. With his own excitement growing, he couldn't wait any longer.

Meanwhile, a dour expression graced Viktor's face, clearly showing his displeasure of being shown off by his headmaster like some prized pet. However, the dark frown was quickly erased, when a voice rang out that silenced everything else.

"Viktor!"

Immediately, the seeker's heart warmed immensely, and not because of his fur coat. He turned away from the headmasters, a smile stretching across his thin lips as his pen pal of several months broke away from his staring schoolmates, and dashed towards him, a look of absolute joy radiating from his face.

"Harry."

Viktor opened his arms, just in time to catch Harry as the shorter male ran into him, the seeker's strong physique preventing the both of them from toppling over. Harry's arms wrapped around his waist, and he returned the gesture with his own arms embracing his friend.

Completely oblivious to the wide eyes and slack jaws all around them, they were in their own little world, reunited after months of separation.

"It's so good to see you again, Viktor."

"It's good to see you too, Harry."

To Be Continued.

I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so far. I hope none of the characters are too OOC, especially Harry's reaction at the ending, but I just thought it would be the best fit for him, and to set the stage for his secret friendship with Viktor to come into full view in front of everyone.

I would like to give special thanks to MarauderBlood, bragoblaze, James Birdsong (guest) and the one guest who left reviews.

Please leave a review, feedback is greatly appreciated. No flaming or hate of any sort will be tolerated.

- SilentGhostWriter2017