Triwizard Worldwide

When Teddy rolled out of bed on Boxing Day, he nearly stepped on James. As they were on holiday and there was no work to be distracted from, the younger boy had been allowed to stay in the dorms with Teddy. It had been fun. The Hogwarts group had congregated in one of the classrooms with the Kyoto boys to open presents and give Teddy a hard time about all of the psycho fan gifts he'd received.

There was one present in particular that Teddy was after this morning. He'd gotten no less than 30 copies of it, so it wouldn't be hard to find. He grabbed a copy of his biography and hopped back into bed, drawing the curtains. Ever since his less than stellar Animagus lesson before break, he'd been reading bits and pieces of it in the mornings before his friends woke up. It wasn't the best source of information, but as Harry had only known them for a little while, and he couldn't talk to his grandmother about his parents, he'd try this. He stuck to the passages that were backed by some sort of evidence—Ministry reports and such—and left Skeeter's frequent flights of unflattering commentary alone. He laughed quietly as the section on his life began. It was weird reading about himself. Most of it was either skewed or downright wrong. That was enough—if she couldn't get 17 years worth of information right, then he doubted she had the bits about his parents right either. He tossed the book back into the pile and closed his eyes again. He still wanted the wolf form—something that would make him feel close to his dad—but if he really thought about it…. He knew Professor Exely was right. From his first lesson, it had been clear what his real form was. He'd known all along, and now he'd work harder.

"Champions have to meet in the conference room," Freddie said through a mouthful of raspberry doughnut.

"Thanks, mate." Teddy grabbed some bacon, a doughnut, and a glass of orange juice and made his way over to the side room. Ayira and Matteo were already there with the judges.

"Happy…um…what is it?" Watkins asked Krane.

"Boxing Day," she said.

"Right. Happy Boxing Day, everyone! Now, school starts up on Monday, so we thought we'd go ahead and give you the information about the second Task."

At this, all of the champions stopped eating. The second Task had seemed so far off two days ago….

"Again, we won't be telling you what you'll be doing. However, in addition to your wands this time, you'll be allowed a broom. Ecko Broom Designers is donating three broomsticks from their Legacy line. This Task is designed to test your resourcefulness—another reason we aren't giving anything away. Now, if there are no questions, you may rejoin your friends."

The three of them nodded, grabbed their plates and walked back out into the dining hall.

The San Antonio Botanical Gardens were gorgeous, but Teddy didn't know why the judges thought the students wanted to look at flowers all day. He'd wandered off from the group and found himself in some kind of pyramid-greenhouse thing. Just as well. He hardly ever got to be alone. It was nice to have a moment to himself just to thi—

"Teddy! Teddy Lupin!"

Teddy sighed. A reporter. "Hi," he said. "Er…I was just off to catch up with—"

"Oh, this won't be but a second. Could you tell me how the Tournament is going?"

"Fine. I'm excited for the next Task," he said, with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. Harry'd given him a long lecture on being supremely careful in interviews, and avoiding them if at all possible.

"Know what they're putting you through next?" the man asked, obviously keen on getting that bit of information first.

"No, unfortunately," Teddy said. "They said it's something to test our resourcefulness."

"Hmmm…interesting. And what about outside the tournament? Sources say you've struck up a relationship with one of the students from Japan?"

"I…er…" Teddy chuckled nervously.

"Teddy!"

Teddy turned to see James, Freddie and Kyo walking down the ramp toward him.

"We've been looking everywhere for you!" Freddie said.

"Er…I have to go," he told the reporter. Without waiting for the man to respond, he followed his friends out of the greenhouse.

"Who was that?" Kyo asked.

"A reporter. He..er…he asked about us."

"What did you tell him?" Kyo asked. He didn't sound nervous at all, just curious.

"Nothing. You guys came along before I could answer."

"I don't mind," Kyo said. "I mean…if you want to tell them…you don't have to worry about me. I mean, not that you have to. You might not want to say anything."

"Don't worry, I know what you mean," Teddy said, smiling. "And maybe I should say something. It might cut down on all the fan mail I get."

"Or," Freddie said as they walked past the rose garden, "They might start sending you hexed gifts out of jealousy. Let's wait until you've made it through the tournament alive before you go public."

Teddy laughed. Freddie had always been the pragmatic one…. "Cheers, mate."

They were about to join the group in the desert exhibit, when another reporter jumped out at them. "Teddy Lupin!"

It took all of Teddy's resolve not to heave a dramatic sigh. "Yes?"

"Wonder could I have a word with you? In private, perhaps?"

"Go on, guys," Teddy said.

"Let's go find Harry," Kyo told James and Freddie pointedly.

"Good man," the reporter said, oblivious. "Now, Teddy, to business. You dominated the European tournament—"

"I don't know about 'dominated'…" Teddy mumbled.

"And now it looks like you're set to do the same in the world tournament. Any thoughts on speculation that you'll take the Cup?"

"Er…that's not a Quick Quotes Quill, is it?"

The reporter laughed. "No, son. Writing notes down myself."

"Okay then…I guess all I have to say is…well, I'll do my best. Matteo and Ayira are both really good and really powerful. I'll just…play to my strengths."

"Indeed…" the reporter said. He put his notepad away, and Teddy hoped he was finished. Not so, apparently. The man put a hand on Teddy's shoulder and steered him a few steps away from the exhibit entrance.

Teddy knew something dodgy was coming. He could see Harry shouldering his way through the students and professors to get to him. He kept his hand clenched around his wand in his pocket. "Yes?"

"Listen, son…. Off the record, there's a lot of money going into the business of…er…speculation, if we want to keep the word alive."

"You mean gambling."

The man chuckled. "You could call it that. Now…you're a good competitor. It's easy to see. Most people are putting their money on you. Now if you were to win…." He made what Jessie would describe as "duck face" and shrugged his shoulders. "That would be fantastic. And you'd deserve it! Make no mistake…. But, if you were to lose. Well…. It wouldn't be the end of the world, would it?"

Teddy quirked an eyebrow at the man. He knew where this was going…. "I reckon not. Not as long as I knew I'd fought as best I could."

The man cleared his throat and looked over to the glass doors. Harry was marching over to them. "Exactly…and it would be good for business. All these people trying to make a quick penny off of you…. It's not really fair. Better the tournament ends without them exploiting you, right?"

"I don't like being used," Teddy said, in a way that conceded and threatened all at the same time.

"Exactly! So… maybe all the fighting…all that competitive edge… maybe you tone that down a little. Don't take it so seriously. And…you'd still get the prize money. I'd make sure of that."

"Teddy? Everything alright?" Harry said, jogging up. James was at his heals.

"Yeah. He was just…letting me know about the piece he's writing. It's on the champions." He nearly gagged when the man winked at him. He obviously thought he'd sold Teddy on the idea. "But I should get back to my friends," Teddy told the reporter.

"Of course. Nice to meet you, Mr. Lupin."

"What did he really want?" Harry asked quietly as they walked back to the group.

"He wanted me to throw the competition."

Harry sighed. "I figured something like this would happen. People are getting worried about how well you're doing." He said this with a smile, obviously proud of the fact that Teddy was so amazing that he was getting bribe offers. "Don't worry about it. Go back with your friends."

"Cheers, Harry."