Harry was surprised at the amount of people that got up early the next day. He had managed to stay up under his cloak most of the night. The Durmstrang students all put their names in first thing in the morning. Karkaroff didn't approach the goblet. Harry watched with great interest as some students tried to cross the age line and ended up with beards. Professor Dumbledore approached him holding a plate full of breakfast.
"You need to eat," he said. "If you want to take a break, let me know."
"I'm fine," Harry said. "Thanks for the food."
Harry sat, invisible, eating breakfast as Fred and George tried putting in their names. He watched Angelina enter. Things got a little boring between breakfast and lunch and even more boring as the day went on. Dumbledore brought him a lunch tray, and Remus and Snape each visited him a few times, offering to take a shift. Remus mentioned that his fellow Gryffindors were worried about his disappearance. When it was almost time for the feast, Dumbledore brought the goblet into the great hall. Harry wearily removed his cloak and followed.
"Any suspicious activity?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry shook his head. He sat down at the Gryffindor table for the feast. He struggled to keep his eyes open as he ate and was relieved when Dumbledore said it was time to select the champions. Harry waited with baited breath and was so happy to discover that there were only three champions, and he wasn't one of them.
Harry slept most of the day on Sunday. He was feeling better when he went to Care of Magical Creatures class on Monday until Hagrid mentioned that they're taking blast ended skrewts on a walk.
"Take this thing for a walk?" Malfoy repeated in disgust, staring into one of the boxes. "And where exactly are we supposed to fix the leash? Around the sting, the blasting end, or the sucker?"
"Round the middle," said Hagrid, demonstrating.
Harry couldn't get annoyed with Draco for complaining since he also disliked the skrewts.
School continued peacefully. Harry was excited about the first Hogsmeade weekend. He stocked up on chocolates and Honeydukes and had butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks. Harry remembered that he would have spoken to Sirius that night. He decided to write him a detailed letter instead. He wrote about how panicky he was before they announced the champions and his fear that Voldermort would have taken advantage of tournament to lure Harry into a trap. He mentioned that he saw the dragons for the next task and he also saw Madame Maxime and Karkaroff looking at the dragons, so Cedric is the only champion who doesn't know what the task is. He eagerly sent the letter off with Hedwig and was delighted to receive an answer the next day. Sirius told Harry to tell Cedric and to be careful around Karkaroff. He said that he speaks to Remus regularly so he knew about Harry's worries. He had considered going over and staying up all night with Harry, but Remus said that Harry wanted to be alone.
After breakfast, Harry approached Cedric.
"The first task is dragons," he told him.
"What?" said Cedric, looking at him.
"There are three dragons, one for each champion," Harry explained. "You have to get past it."
"Are you sure?" Cedric said in a hushed voice.
Harry nodded.
"But how did you find out? We're not supposed to know."
"I was walking through the forest, and I saw them," Harry lied. "I also saw Madame Maxime and Karkaroff looking at them, so I'm sure the other champions know."
Harry sat with his friends the day of the first event. When they announced the first task, Harry turned to Ron, Fred, George, Lee, and Angelina and said, "Aren't you happy you're not in it now?"
Harry sat nervously and watched each champion steal the egg from the dragon. He was relieved when the task was over.
In the Gryffindor common room that night, Fred and George handed out sweets. Neville was eating a custard cream and suddenly turned into a canary.
"Canary Creams!" Fred shouted to the excitable crowd. "George and I invented them – seven sickles each, a bargain!"
"You know who we need to try it on this summer?" Harry asked, taking out seven sickles.
"Why wait for the summer?" George asked.
"Sirius isn't here now," Harry reminded him.
"Remus is," Fred said.
"We promised not to prank him in school," Harry reminded him. "Besides, after the ton tongue toffee, he probably won't trust you."
"Who?" Neville asked.
"Professor Lupin," Ron answered.
"You're supposed to keep it quiet!" Harry complained.
"Keep what quiet?" Lee asked.
"We have a prank war every summer," Fred explained. "Me, George, Ron and Harry against Sirius and Professor Lupin."
"It's supposed to be a secret!" Harry protested. "That was part of the deal!"
"Let's show him anyway," George said. "I'm sure he'll appreciate them."
With Fred and George leading the way, the entire Gryffindor house walked to Lupin's office.
"Good evening, professor," Fred said cheerfully.
"We thought you looked a bit thin after being sick last week," George continued.
"So we decided to bring you a snack to bring you back to yourself," Fred finished.
"Do you think I would ever take candy from you again?" Lupin asked, smiling at them. "It's especially suspicious when you bring the whole house with you. I'm assuming the results are funny, and its Sirius's turn. I ate the last hexed candy."
He disappeared into the fireplace and came back a minute later with Sirius.
"Hi, Sirius," Harry said cheerfully. "We were just celebrating not having to fight a dragon and decided to include Professor Lupin in the celebration. Would you like a custard cream?"
Sirius looked suspiciously at the creams. "I'm assuming that whatever it will do to me isn't permanent?" he asked Fred and George.
"It's funny!" Neville chimed in. "I had one and I'm fine."
Sirius took a tiny bite from one of the creams. He waited a moment and turned into a canary. When he turned back, he joined in the laughter. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some coins.
"My investment for your company," Sirius said. "Keep up the good work."
"I wouldn't be so positive," Remus said seriously. "Four boys just broke a promise they made, and those four boys are going to have detention tomorrow night."
"I'm sorry, Professor Lupin," Harry said.
"We're sorry, too," Fred and George chorused.
"You'll be sorrier tomorrow night," Lupin told them.
As all the Gryffindors returned to their common rooms, everyone was talking about how cool Professor Lupin was. The only students who weren't so happy were the four who were dreading their detentions.