I own nothing. J.K.R Owns everything :(
Chapter 30: Fourth Year (Part 18)
17, August. 1998. 1.30pm...
"Right what happened is I was telling Cedric about the dragons when Moody showed up and took me to his office. In the office he told me to play to my strengths against my dragon." Harry started.
"He helped you and knew that you knew about the dragons?" Ginny asked.
"Yes he did. He let me figure out that my main strength is flying." Harry grinned.
"So I helped Harry work on the Summoning Charm so he could summon his Firebolt for the task." Hermione explained. "We spent a whole night on it and after a few hours he got it."
"Which was a good idea." George grinned.
"Very good." Harry agreed, "Anyway this is the day of the task before it starts." he said as the memory started.
Harry had been focusing so hard on learning the Summoning Charm that evening that some of his blind panic had left him. It returned in full measure, however, on the following morning. The atmosphere in the school was one of great tension and excitement. Lessons were to stop at midday, giving all the students time to get down to the dragons' enclosure - though of course, they didn't yet know what they would find there.
Harry felt oddly separate from everyone around him, whether they were wishing him good luck or hissing "We'll have a box of tissues ready, Potter" as he passed.
"Which didn't help." Harry glared at Draco.
"Hey! It wasn't just me." he protested.
"You still didn't help."
"Fair enough."
It was a state of nervousness so advanced that he wondered whether he mightn't just lose his head when they tried to lead him out to his dragon, and start trying to curse everyone in sight. Time was behaving in a more peculiar fashion than ever, rushing past in great dollops, so that one moment he seemed to be sitting down in his first lesson, History of Magic, and the next, walking into lunch... and then (where had the morning gone? the last of the dragon-free hours?), Professor McGonagall was hurrying over to him in the Great Hall. Lots of people were watching.
"Potter, the champions have to come down onto the grounds now... You have to get ready for your first task."
"Okay," said Harry, standing up, his fork falling onto his plate with a clatter.
"Good luck, Harry," Hermione whispered. "You'll be fine!"
Lily glared at Ron, "You should have wished him luck too."
"I wasnt there." Ron frowned, "I was talking to Charlie."
Charlie nodded, "He was." he confirmed.
"Yeah," said Harry in a voice that was most unlike his own.
He left the Great Hall with Professor McGonagall. She didn't seem herself either; in fact, she looked nearly as anxious as Hermione. As she walked him down the stone steps and out into the cold November afternoon, she put her hand on his shoulder.
"Now, don't panic," she said, "just keep a cool head... We've got wizards standing by to control the situation if it gets out of hand... The main thing is just to do your best, and nobody will think any the worse of you..."
"You were worried werent you?" Alice asked.
"Of course I was." Minerva sighed. "I thought he'd get injured quite badly."
"Thank you for the confidence boost." Harry chuckled.
"Harry, you were a 14 year old going up against a dragon." she said, "What else was I supposed to think?"
"Maybe that I'd faced Voldemort twice already, faced a Basilisk and lived and that maybe there was a chance I'd be absolutely fine?"
"I didnt know about the Basilisk until we covered it." she reminded him, "Add to the fact that no matter how much danger you had been in previously you were still only a 14 year old boy against a very dangerous dragon."
Harry shrugged, "Thing's like that are normal for me." he stated.
He ignored the incredulous looks sent his way but the majority of the room.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes," Harry heard himself say. "Yes, I'm fine."
She was leading him toward the place where the dragons were, around the edge of the forest, but when they approached the clump of trees behind which the enclosure would be clearly visible, Harry saw that a tent had been erected, its entrance facing them, screening the dragons from view.
"You're to go in here with the other champions," said Professor McGonagall, in a rather shaky sort of voice,"and wait for your turn, Potter. Mr. Bagman is in there... he'll be telling you the - the procedure... Good luck."
"Thanks," said Harry, in a flat, distant voice. She left him at the entrance of the tent. Harry went inside.
Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a low wooden stool. She didn't look nearly as composed as usual, but rather pale and clammy. Viktor Krum looked even surlier than usual, which Harry supposed was his way of showing nerves. Cedric was pacing up and down. When Harry entered, Cedric gave him a small smile, which Harry returned, feeling the muscles in his face working rather hard, as though they had forgotten how to do it.
"Harry! Good-o!" said Bagman happily,
"He really is a nutter." Dudley muttered making most nod.
looking around at him. "Come in, come in, make yourself at home!"
Bagman looked somehow like a slightly overblown cartoon figure, standing amid all the pale-faced champions. He was wearing his old Wasp robes again.
"Well, now we're all here - time to fill you in!" said Bagman brightly. "When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag" - he held up a small sack of purple silk and shook it at them - "from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different-er-varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else too... ah, yes... your task is to collect the golden egg!"
"So, they just have to get the egg from the dragon. That won't be too hard." Regulus said.
"Says you." Harry muttered. "It's different watching than it is experiencing it."
"You made it look easy." Fleur commented, "But it was quite difficult." she admitted.
Harry glanced around. Cedric had nodded once, to show that he understood Bagman's words, and then started pacing around the tent again; he looked slightly green. Fleur Delacour and Krum hadn't reacted at all. Perhaps they thought they might be sick if they opened their mouths; that was certainly how Harry felt. But they, at least, had volunteered for this...
And in no time at all, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet could be heard passing the tent, their owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking.. Harry felt as separate from the crowd as though they were a different species. And then - it seemed like about a second later to Harry - Bagman was opening the neck of the purple silk sack.
"Ladies first," he said, offering it to Fleur Delacour.
"Very courteous of him." Fleur muttered sarcastically.
She put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon - a Welsh Green. It had the number two around its neck And Harry knew, by the fact that Fleur showed no sign of surprise, but rather a determined resignation, that he had been right: Madame Maxime had told her what was coming.
The same held true for Krum. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number three around its neck. He didn't even blink, just sat back down and stared at the ground.
Cedric put his hand into the bag, and out came the blueish-gray Swedish Short-Snout,
"Ugh. Just your luck getting the worst of the lot." Frank muttered.
Harry just smiled.
the number one tied around its neck. Knowing what was left, Harry put his hand into the silk bag and pulled out the Hungarian Horntail, and the number four. It stretched its wings as he looked down at it, and bared its minuscule fangs.
"Well, there you are!" said Bagman. "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see?"
"So you were last?" Lily asked. Harry nodded.
"Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment, because I'm commentating. Mr. Diggory, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now... Harry... could I have a quick word? Outside?"
"Er... yes," said Harry blankly, and he got up and went out of the tent with Bagman, who walked him a short distance away, into the trees, and then turned to him with a fatherly expression on his face.
"Feeling all right, Harry? Anything I can get you?"
"What?" said Harry. "I - no, nothing."
"Got a plan?" said Bagman, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "Because I don't mind sharing a few pointers, if you'd like them, you know. I mean," Bagman continued, lowering his voice still further, "you're the underdog here, Harry... Anything I can do to help..."
"No," said Harry so quickly he knew he had sounded rude, "no - I - I know what I'm going to do, thanks."
"Nobody would know, Harry," said Bagman, winking at him.
"No, I'm fine," said Harry, wondering why he kept telling people this, and wondering whether he had ever been less fine. "I've got a plan worked out, I -"
A whistle had blown somewhere.
"Good lord, I've got to run!" said Bagman in alarm, and he hurried off.
Harry walked back to the tent and saw Cedric emerging from it, greener than ever. Harry tried to wish him luck as he walked past, but all that came out of his mouth was a sort of hoarse grunt.
Harry went back inside to Fleur and Krum. Seconds later, they heard the roar of the crowd, which meant Cedric had entered the enclosure and was now face-to face with the living counterpart of his model.
It was worse than Harry could ever have imagined, sitting there and listening. The crowd screamed... yelled... gasped like a single many-headed entity, as Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout. Krum was still staring at the ground. Fleur had now taken to retracing Cedric's steps, around and around the tent. And Bagman's commentary made everything much, much worse... Horrible pictures formed in Harry's mind as he heard: "Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow"... "He's taking risks, this one!"... "Clever move - pity it didn't work!"
"That was the worst." Fleur shuddered. Harry nodded.
And then, after about fifteen minutes, Harry heard the deafening roar that could mean only one thing: Cedric had gotten past his dragon and captured the golden egg.
"Very good indeed!" Bagman was shouting. "And now the marks from the judges!"
But he didn't shout out the marks; Harry supposed the judges were holding them up and showing them to the crowd.
"One down, three to go!" Bagman yelled as the whistle blew again. "Miss Delacour, if you please!"
Fleur was trembling from head to foot; Harry felt more warmly toward her than he had done so far as she left the tent with her head held high and her hand clutching her wand. He and Krum were left alone, at opposite sides of the tent, avoiding each other's gaze.
The same process started again... "Oh I'm not sure that was wise!" they could hear Bagman shouting gleefully. "Oh... nearly! Careful now... good lord, I thought she'd had it then!"
"This is horrible." Lily said.
Ten minutes later, Harry heard the crowd erupt into applause once more... Fleur must have been successful too. A pause, while Fleur's marks were being shown... more clapping... then, for the third time, the whistle.
"And here comes Mr. Krum!" cried Bagman, and Krum slouched out, leaving Harry quite alone.
He felt much more aware of his body than usual; very aware of the way his heart was pumping fast, and his fingers tingling with fear... yet at the same time, he seemed to be outside himself, seeing the walls of the tent, and hearing the crowd, as though from far away.
"I felt sorry for you being in there alone but zey wouldn't let me go back in." Fleur admitted.
"Very daring!" Bagman was yelling, and Harry heard the Chinese Fireball emit a horrible, roaring shriek, while the crowd drew its collective breath. "That's some nerve he's showing - and - yes, he's got the egg!"
Applause shattered the wintery air like breaking glass; Krum had finished - it would be Harry's turn any moment.
He stood up, noticing dimly that his legs seemed to be made of marshmallow. He waited. And then he heard the whistle blow. He walked out through the entrance of the tent, the panic rising into a crescendo inside him. And now he was walking past the trees, through a gap in the enclosure fence.
He saw everything in front of him as though it was a very highly colored dream.
There were hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at him from stands that had been magicked there since he'd last stood on this spot. And there was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground.
"It looks worse when it's light outside." Alice said.
"I thought it looked better. At least when its light I could see it better." Harry shrugged.
The crowd was making a great deal of noise, but whether friendly or not, Harry didn't know or care. It was time to do what he had to do... to focus his mind, entirely and absolutely, upon the thing that was his only chance.
He raised his wand.
"Accio Firebolt!" he shouted.
Harry waited, every fiber of him hoping, praying... If it hadn't worked... if it wasn't coming... He seemed to be looking at everything around him through some sort of shimmering, transparent barrier, like a heat haze, which made the enclosure and the hundreds of faces around him swim strangely...
And then he heard it, speeding through the air behind him; he turned and saw his Firebolt hurtling toward him
Everyone in the room let out a relieved sigh and cheered.
around the edge of the woods, soaring into the enclosure, and stopping dead in midair beside him, waiting for him to mount. The crowd was making even more noise... Bagman was shouting something... but Harry's ears were not working properly anymore... listening wasn't important...
He swung his leg over the broom and kicked off from the ground. And a second later, something miraculous happened...
As he soared upward, as the wind rushed through his hair, as the crowd's faces became mere flesh-colored pinpricks below, and the Horntail shrank to the size of a dog, he realized that he had heft not only the ground behind, but also his fear...
"Good." James said, "Now it'll be much easier."
He was back where he belonged...
This was just another Quidditch match, that was all... just another Quidditch match, and that Horntail was just another ugly opposing team.
He looked down at the clutch of eggs and spotted the gold one, gleaming against its cement-colored fellows, residing safely between the dragon's front legs.
"Okay," Harry told himself, "diversionary tactics... let's go..."
He dived. The Horntail's head followed him; he knew what it was going to do and pulled out of the dive just in time; a jet of fire had been released exactly where he would have been had he not swerved away... but Harry didn't care... that was no more than dodging a Bludger.
"Great Scott, he can fly!"yelled Bagman as the crowd shrieked and gasped. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?"
"Victor wasn't happy about that." Fleur laughed, "He kept muttering that he should have thought of that. He admitted you were a better flyer than him, though." she added. Harry blushed.
Harry soared higher in a circle; the Horntail was still following his progress; its head revolving on its long neck - if he kept this up, it would be nicely dizzy - but better not push it too long, or it would be breathing fire again -
Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth, but this time he was less lucky - he missed the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet him instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed his shoulder, ripping his robes -
Everyone winced.
He could feel it stinging, he could hear screaming and groans from the crowd, but the cut didn't seem to be deep...
"Good." Sirius sighed in relief, "You never told me about that."
"I thought I did." Harry shrugged.
Now he zoomed around the back of the Horntail, and a possibility occurred to him...
The Horntail didn't seem to want to take off, she was too protective of her eggs. Though she writhed and twisted, furling and unfurling her wings and keeping those fearsome yellow eyes on Harry, she was afraid to move too far from them... but he had to persuade her to do it, or he'd never get near them... The trick was to do it carefully, gradually...
He began to fly, first this way, then the other, not near enough to make her breathe fire to stave him off, but still posing a sufficient threat to ensure she kept her eyes on him. Her head swayed this way and that, watching him out of those vertical pupils, her fangs bared...
He flew higher. The Horntail's head rose with him, her neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying, like a snake before its charmer... Harry rose a few more feet, and she let out a roar of exasperation. He was like a fly to her, a fly she was longing to swat; her tail thrashed again, but he was too high to reach now... She shot fire into the air, which he dodged... Her jaws opened wide...
"Come on," Harry hissed, swerving tantalizingly above her, "come on, come and get me... up you get now..."
"Were you trying to convince her to eat you?" Ginny demanded.
"No. I was trying to convince her to follow me." Harry smirked, "What did it look like from the stands?"
"Terrifying." she scowled.
"Very terrifying." the others who had been there agreed.
"We thought you were trying to get her to eat you." Charlie snorted, "If it weren't for the fact they'd all been fed the night before she probably would have before we could stop her."
And then she reared, spreading her great, black, leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small airplane - and Harry dived. Before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding toward the ground as fast as he could go, toward the eggs now unprotected by her clawed front legs
"Go, go, go." the Marauders urged.
- he had taken his hands off his Firebolt - he had seized the golden egg -
The room erupted in shouts of triumph and everyone started cheering and clapping.
And with a huge spurt of speed, he was off, he was soaring out over the stands, the heavy egg safely under his uninjured arm, and it was as though somebody had just turned the volume back up - for the first time, he became properly aware of the noise of the crowd, which was screaming and applauding as loudly as the Irish supporters at the World Cup -
"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!"
"See. I didn't even take 10 minutes." Harry smirked at Draco.
"I said I bet you wouldn't last 10 minutes and you didnt even take that long so it doesn't count." Draco shrugged.
Harry saw the dragon keepers rushing forward to subdue the Horntail, and, over at the entrance to the enclosure, Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, and Hagrid hurrying to meet him, all of them waving him toward them, their smiles evident even from this distance. He flew back over the stands, the noise of the crowd pounding his eardrums, and came in smoothly to land, his heart lighter than it had been in weeks... He had got through the first task, he had survived.
"That was excellent, Potter!" cried Professor McGonagall as he got off the Firebolt - which from her was extravagant praise. He noticed that her hand shook as she pointed at his shoulder. "You'll need to see Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your score... Over there, she's had to mop up Diggory already..."
"That didn't help. I thought it was worse than it was because you said it like that." Harry told Minerva.
"Sorry Harry, I'll admit I was in shock a little bit. And Cedric was a mess before Poppy got to him." she admitted.
"Yeh did it, Harry!" said Hagrid hoarsely. "Yeh did it! An' agains' the Horntail an' all, an' yeh know Charlie said that was the wors' -"
"It is." Charlie nodded, "By the way Harry, you managed to annoy her so much she wouldn't eat for three days."
"I live to annoy those who try to kill me." Harry smirked.
"Thanks, Hagrid," said Harry loudly, so that Hagrid wouldn't blunder on and reveal that he had shown Harry the dragons beforehand.
Professor Moody looked very pleased too; his magical eye was dancing in its socket.
"Nice and easy does the trick, Potter," he growled.
"Right then, Potter, the first aid tent, please..." said Professor McGonagall.
Harry walked out of the enclosure, still panting, and saw Madam Pomfrey standing at the mouth of a second tent, looking worried.
"Dragons!" she said, in a disgusted tone, pulling Harry inside. The tent was divided into cubicles; he could make out Cedric's shadow through the canvas, but Cedric didn't seem to be badly injured; he was sitting up, at least. Madam Pomfrey examined Harry's shoulder, talking furiously all the while. "Last year dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next?"
"Were-toads?" Ginny suggested innocently. This made those who knew Umbridge taught the next year to laugh, except Minerva who just smiled.
"You're very lucky... this is quite shallow... it'll need cleaning before I heal it up, though..."
She cleaned the cut with a dab of some purple liquid that smoked and stung, but then poked his shoulder with her wand, and he felt it heal instantly. "Now, just sit quietly for a minute - sit! And then you can go and get your score."
She bustled out of the tent and he heard her go next door and say, "How does it feel now, Diggory?"
Harry didn't want to sit still: He was too full of adrenaline. He got to his feet, wanting to see what was going on outside, but before he'd reached the mouth of the tent, two people had come darting inside - Hermione, followed closely by Ron.
"Harry, you were brilliant!" Hermione said squeakily. There were fingernail marks on her face where she had been clutching it in fear. "You were amazing! You really were!"
But Harry was looking at Ron, who was very white and staring at Harry as though he were a ghost.
"Harry," he said, very seriously, "whoever put your name in that goblet - I - I reckon they're trying to do you in!"
It was as though the last few weeks had never happened - as though Harry were meeting Ron for the first time, right after he'd been made champion.
"Caught on, have you?" said Harry coldly.
"Harry." Lily groaned.
"I deserved it." Ron sighed.
"Took you long enough."
Hermione stood nervously between them, looking from one to the other. Ron opened his mouth uncertainly. Harry knew Ron was about to apologize and suddenly he found he didn't need to hear it.
"It's okay," he said, before Ron could get the words out. "Forget it."
"No," said Ron, "I shouldn't've -"
"Forget it,"Harry said.
Ron grinned nervously at him, and Harry grinned back
Hermione burst into tears.
"There's nothing to cry about!" Harry told her, bewildered.
"You two are so stupid!"she shouted, stamping her foot on the ground, tears splashing down her front. Then, before either of them could stop her, she had given both of them a hug and dashed away, now positively howling.
"Barking mad," said Ron, shaking his head. "Harry, c'mon, they'll be putting up your scores..."
Picking up the golden egg and his Firebolt, feeling more elated than he would have believed possible an hour ago, Harry ducked out of the tent, Ron by his side, talking fast.
"You were the best, you know, no competition. Cedric did this weird thing where he Transfigured a rock on the ground... turned it into a dog... he was trying to make the dragon go for the dog instead of him. Well, it was a pretty cool bit of Transfiguration, and it sort of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got burned as well - the dragon changed its mind halfway through and decided it would rather have him than the Labrador; he only just got away. And that Fleur girl tried this sort of charm, I think she was trying to put it into a trance - well, that kind of worked too, it went all sleepy, but then it snored, and this great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught fire - she put it out with a bit of water out of her wand. And Krum - you won't believe this, but he didn't even think of flying! He was probably the best after you, though. Hit it with some sort of spell right in the eye. Only thing is, it went trampling around in agony and squashed half the real eggs - they took marks off for that, he wasn't supposed to do any damage to them."
"So my idea was rubbish compared to what you did." Sirius smiled.
Ron drew breath as he and Harry reached the edge of the enclosure. Now that the Horntail had been taken away, Harry could see where the five judges were sitting - right at the other end, in raised seats draped in gold.
"It's marks out of ten from each one," Ron said, and Harry squinting up the field, saw the first judge - Madame Maxime - raise her wand in the air. What hooked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight.
"Not bad!" said Ron as the crowd applauded. "I suppose she took marks off for your shoulder..."
Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air.
"Looking good!" Ron yelled, thumping Harry on the back.
Next, Dumbledore. He too put up a nine. The crowd was cheering harder than ever.
Ludo Bagman - ten.
"Ten?" said Harry in disbelief. "But... I got hurt... What's he playing at?"
"He's playing favourites." Hermione giggled, "Not that it'll work."
"Harry, don't complain!" Ron yelled excitedly.
And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too - four.
"Four?!" many people shouted.
"He gave me 2. Cedric got 2 as well. He was obviously playing favourites with his student." Fleur muttered.
"What?" Ron bellowed furiously. "Four? You lousy, biased scumbag, you gave Krum ten!"
But Harry didn't care, he wouldn't have cared if Karkaroff had given him zero; Ron's indignation on his behalf was worth about a hundred points to him.
Ron grinned at Harry, who returned it.
He didn't tell Ron this, of course, but his heart felt lighter than air as he turned to leave the enclosure. And it wasn't just Ron... those weren't only Gryffindors cheering in the crowd. When it had come to it, when they had seen what he was facing, most of the school had been on his side as well as Cedric's... He didn't care about the Slytherins, he could stand whatever they threw at him now.
Astoria giggled, "Most of the Slytherin's were on both of their sides too and were cheering, but they'd all deny it if they were asked." she informed them, making them chuckle slightly.
"You're tied in first place, Harry! You and Krum!" said Charlie Weasley, hurrying to meet them as they set off back toward the school. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I'd tell her what happened - but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah - and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes... Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent."
Ron said he would wait, so Harry re-entered the tent, which somehow looked quite different now: friendly and welcoming.
"You noticed that too then." Fleur smiled.
He thought back to how he'd felt while dodging the Horntail, and compared it to the long wait before he'd walked out to face it... There was no comparison; the wait had been immeasurably worse. Fleur, Cedric, and Krum all came in together. One side of Cedric's face was covered in a thick orange paste, which was presumably mending his burn. He grinned at Harry when he saw him.
"Good one, Harry."
"And you," said Harry, grinning back.
"Well done, all of you!" said Ludo Bagman, bouncing into the tent and looking as pleased as though he personally had just got past a dragon. "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! If you look down at those golden eggs you're all holding, you will see that they open... see the hinges there? You need to solve the clue inside the egg - because it will tell you what the second task is, and enable you to prepare for it! All clear? Sure? Well, off you go, then!"
"That can't be as simple as it sounds." Remus said.
"It's not." Harry said cheerfully.
Harry left the tent, rejoined Ron, and they started to walk back around the edge of the forest, talking hard; Harry wanted to hear what the other champions had done in more detail. Then, as they rounded the clump of trees behind which Harry had first heard the dragons roar, a witch leapt out from behind them.
It was Rita was wearing acid-green robes today; the Quick-Quotes Quill in her hand blended perfectly against them.
"Congratulations, Harry!" she said, beaming at him. "I wonder if you could give me a quick word?How you felt facing that dragon? How you feel now, about the fairness of the scoring?"
"Yeah, you can have a word," said Harry savagely. "Good-bye."
And he set off back to the castle with Ron.
"Well... That was the first task." Harry said, "And that's how I have the pure white scar on my shoulder when I'm Shadow."
"Wasn't that the only one you got during the tournament?" Hermione asked curiously.
Harry thought for a moment, "In the task's then yes." he nodded. "Otherwise you know the rest..."
"And are smart enough not to let it slip just yet." she finished for him, he nodded again.
"Exactly. If none of you object we're going to skip the Yule Ball."
"Why?" Neville asked.
"It didnt go well for us three. Specifically, those two had a fight and I was distracted all night." Harry sighed, "There is a little bit I'll have to show you though." he added.
"When?" Hermione asked hesitantly.
"Dont worry. It's you know... The thing me and Ron found out about..."
"Ah. Forgot about that." Ron winced, "We were in the wrong place at the wrong time." he muttered.
"I'd rather he'd have told us himself but I'm also glad we overheard. Better than a month's worth of detentions anyway." Harry added.
"What did you find out?" James asked curiously.
"You know what he's going to say." Hermione smirked.
"Wait and see." the whole room chanted.
Harry grinned, "So you figured out I'm not saying anything that you don't know about."
"No, you're just too predictable." Fred smirked.
"And you always say 'wait and see' or 'later'." George added with a shrug.
"Well let's continue so you can find out." Harry smiled.