Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

Harry Slithers-in: Goblet of Fire: Chapter 14: The Weighing of the Wands

He did manage to finish the bowl and promptly got up to leave. As he did so many other students also stood up. He realised he was not going to have much alone time over the next several days but shrugged it off. When they returned to the Common Room he finally managed to get away from the crowd, although Tracey and Blaise insisted on joining him.

Blaise was surprised to hear Sirius' voice suddenly come from Harry's pocket. He watched, fascinated, as Harry pulled out the two way mirror.

"Hello, Sirius. Any luck?"

"I talked to Dumbledore last night," Sirius began. "Ludo Bagman was there as well and he told me much of what you had already said. Dumbledore said he wasn't happy about it either but that there is nothing he can do. Bagman insisted the rules had to be obeyed and there was no option. Unfortunately, you are going to have to compete."

"Right," Harry replied disappointed.

"I am going to speak to Fudge and Crouch but I doubt they will be able to help. Madam Bones has said she will be stationing aurors at Hogwarts and they will conduct a full investigation. This whole incident is a disaster and when it gets into the papers there will be even more controversy.

"I am staying at Hogwarts until further notice. Dumbledore has arranged for me to stay in one of the guest rooms usually reserved for visiting dignitaries so I will be nearby. If you want to talk use the mirror to call me first and I'll meet you. Students aren't allowed in that part of the castle."

"That's a relief," Harry said. "Knowing you're nearby will certainly help me relax."

"Sirius?" Tracey asked. "Is there anything you personally can do to help?"

"Well; I'm not a teacher so I'm not covered by the rule about not offering help or advice, so there is that. And, of course, there are other options, although I daresay I will be watched while I'm here. I doubt I will be allowed to wander around too much in the lead up to the tasks.

"Having said that, I will certainly help you any way I can. You can ask me anything about the tournament and I'll see what I can do to help. Most importantly, keep yourself safe."

"Thank you, Sirius," Harry replied. "I'll keep that in mind. I guess I should get back to the Common Room now. See you later."

"Goodbye Harry; goodbye, Tracey." The mirror went blank.

"Okay. What exactly is that?" Blaise asked.

"This is a new invention Sirius and Professor Lupin have been working on," Harry explained. "Originally it was Sirius and my father who invented them and now we are working on a way to make them available to the general wizarding public."

"I've got one too," Tracey added pulling her mirror phone out.

"Who else has one?"

"Professor Lupin and Mr. Weasley," Tracey said.

"More are being made, though," Harry added. "All going well they should be available to anyone who wants them within a year."

"I will definitely be buying one," Blaise said, the look of envy on his face all too clear.

{}{}{}

The next morning, Monday, saw classes resume. Harry knew he would have to face the rest of the school and wasn't looking forward to it but it was unavoidable.

When Harry was walking to class he noticed Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be following him. Since they all had Charms this wasn't really surprising but they would normally stay by Malfoy. As they left, however, Crabbe and Goyle again seemed to be following them.

"Why are the two of you staying so close to me?" Harry asked.

"Malfoy told us to keep an eye on you," Crabbe said. Goyle nodded.

"Why?"

"He thought some of the other students might want to hurt you," Goyle said.

As the week wore on Harry became increasingly aware of the anger being directed toward him by students from the other houses, especially Gryffindors. There were no major incidents, however, until potions class on Friday afternoon. As the students were lining up waiting for Snape to allow them to Ron Weasley stepped up to confront Harry.

"Potter, we all know you entered just so you could get even more glory for yourself," Ron said.

"If you believe that then you're even dumber than you look," Harry retorted. "I did not put my name in; somebody else did. I don't even want to compete."

"Don't lie, Potter. We all know you're an attention seeker. You just want everything for yourself." Most Gryffindors nodded in agreement.

"Back off, Weasley," Harry replied. Behind him the rest of the Slytherins were readying themselves for a fight.

Just then Professor Snape flung the door open. "What is going on here?" he demanded.

"Just a friendly discussion," Harry said without taking his eyes off Ron.

"In that case get in here and sit down; all of you," Snape said.

The class filed in and took their seats. The whole time Snape watched them closely; especially Ron.

"Antidotes," Snape said once all were seated. "Today we are going to test the recipes you prepared last week. When they have been properly brewed we will test them on someone." Snape was staring intently at Ron.

Before he could go any further, however, there was a knock on the door. "Enter," Snape said.

Malcolm Baddock, a Slytherin first year, entered. "Excuse me, Professor, but I've been asked to take Harry Potter to Mr. Bagman. He's upstairs with the other champions and they need Potter for some publicity photos."

Harry groaned. 'Great, more attention,' he thought.

"Can this not wait until after class?" Snape demanded.

"No, sir. It will take the rest of the day to complete so he has to come now."

"Very well," Snape said. "Potter, take your things and go."

Harry packed up and followed Malcolm to one of the disused upstairs classrooms. Along the way they talked. It was obvious to Harry, however, that Malcolm was somewhat overawed by him and he was happy when they arrived. At least until he entered the room, that was.

He had barely gotten through the door and seen that the others were already there when a tall, blonde woman he had never seen before swooped on him like a hawk. "You must be Harry. I wonder, could I have a little talk with you before the weighing of the wands?"

"The what?" Harry asked.

"It's an official check to ensure your wands are fully functional since, in the upcoming tasks, your wand is your most important tool," Bagman explained. "By the way, Harry, this is Rita Skeeter. She will be doing a small piece on the Tournament for the Daily Prophet."

"Maybe not that small, Ludo," Skeeter replied without taking her eyes off Harry. "So, about that little chat, Harry? Shall we go?"

"Er-," said Harry.

"Wonderful! This way."

Rita dragged Harry a short distance down the corridor to what turned out to be a broom cupboard. After improvising seats for herself and Harry and setting up a quill so it stood vertically on a page, she began asking questions.

"So, what was it that made you decide to enter?"

"I didn't," Harry replied.

"Oh come now," Rita said "we know you shouldn't have entered but you did. They cannot take that from you. How do you feel now you've been chosen?"

Harry was distracted by the quill which was dancing across the page writing of its own accord.

"Don't worry about that, Harry. It's just taking notes based on what you say."

Harry, however, was reading what the quill was writing and these 'notes' bore resemblance to what he was saying.

"An ugly scar, a souvenir of a tragic past, disfigures the otherwise charming face of Harry Potter…"

"Ignore the quill, Harry," Rita said, noticing this. "How do feel about the upcoming challenges? Nervous? Excited?"

"I don't know. Nervous, I guess."

"Champions have died in the past, haven't they? Have you thought about that?"

"No, although they say it will be safer this year," Harry replied.

"You've looked death in the face before, haven't you? How would you say that has affected you?" All the time the quill was dashing across the page. Harry wasn't sure but he thought it was writing a lot of things nobody had said.

"Er…" he said.

"Do you think an urge to prove yourself is the reason you decided to enter?" Rita asked without waiting for his reply to her previous question.

"I didn't enter," Harry said loudly.

"Can you remember your parents at all?" Rita asked, completely ignoring Harry.

"Er…" Harry said as the quill started another long paragraph. Looking down he saw some of what it was writing. The most recent paragraph read:

'Tears fill his startling green eyes as our conversation turns to his parents.'

"I do not have tears in my eyes," Harry said angrily.

Suddenly the cupboard door was pulled open causing Harry to look around blinking. Albus Dumbledore was standing there, looking in at them.

"Dumbledore," Rita cried; looking, and failing, to give an appearance of delight. Harry noticed the quill and parchment had vanished from between them. "How are you? I hope you saw my article about the International Confederation of Wizards?"

"Delightfully nasty. I particularly enjoyed your description of me as an obsolete dingbat," he replied.

"Well, you have to admit some of your ideas are a little old-fashioned," Rita said.

"I'm sure you have a reason for your rudeness, but for now Harry must return to the room for the Weighing of the Wands. If you would please join me, Harry."

Harry happily followed Dumbledore back to the room. The champions and judges who didn't know Mr. Ollivander were then introduced to him. He would be the person inspecting their wands.

"Mademoiselle Delacour, would you please come forward first," Mr. Ollivander said.

As he examined their wands he described each in turn. Fleur's wand was revealed to contain a Veela hair; apparently from her grandmother. Harry decided to share that piece of information with his housemates when he returned to the Common Room.

Krum's wand had been made by a wand-maker named Gregorovitch. Apparently Gregorovitch was a highly respected wand-maker from Eastern Europe and his wands were regarded as being as good as Ollivander's.

Ollivander was especially pleased with Cedric's wand and happily talked about it for longer than for the other's wands.

When Ollivander checked Harry's wand he described it to all but Harry was relieved when he didn't mention that it was the brother wand of Lord Voldemort's.

Once the ceremony was over Harry hoped he could leave but Ludo Bagman reminded them they were supposed to be taking publicity photos of the champions. It turned out these took a very long time as the photographer had trouble getting everything right. Madam Maxime towered over everyone else and it took some time to get the balance sorted.

That was then followed by individual shots but eventually he was able to go and have dinner. In the Great Hall he described what had happened, mentioning the fact Fleur Delacour was indeed part Veela and including the private interview he had endured with Rita Skeeter.

"So Fleur is a part Veela," Tracey said when she heard this. "And I don't doubt Skeeter's article will be its usual tripe. Have you had a chance speak to Sirius yet?"

"That's next on my list. That meeting went on so long I came straight here to get something to eat," Harry replied.

After he (and half of Slytherin) left the Hall he took Tracey aside for some privacy. They agreed Draco should join them so he was fully up to date with the mirror phone program as well.

What's the latest?" Sirius asked when he replied to Harry's call.

Harry repeated to Sirius everything that had gone on at the meeting, and with what had happened with Rita Skeeter's interview. Sirius agreed that Rita's article would probably be full of lies and exaggerations but, unfortunately, it was likely many people would believe it. Sirius said he would speak to Dumbledore but he doubted it would be possible to do anything about it.

"The most important thing for you, Harry, and for your friends is to stick together. You have the first task coming up in a few weeks and your priority is your own safety. Study hard; find out as much as you can and don't take unnecessary risks. Remember you have to compete but you don't have to win. If you can find an out that won't penalise you in any way take it. Understand?"

"Yes Sirius. I promise I will do my best to avoid injury," Harry said before ending their conversation.