Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns all rights to Harry Potter

Authors Note: Apologies dear readers for the week long wait for this next chapter but I've been rather busy unfortunately. Anyway, happy reading.

Chapter Thirty Three:

By Monday the fourteenth of November Harry's irritation had reached boiling point with the idiots wearing Potter Stinks/support Cedric Diggory badges on their robes. He wanted to shout that he didn't put his name in but knew that most people still didn't believe him.

Hermione had come to him after the defence against the dark arts class the previous Monday and confided the fact that she'd always believed he didn't put his name in the Goblet but was being careful because of Ron.

The only one of Harry's friends, or perhaps he should say "former friend" who didn't believe him was Ron, a fact which still stung even as Harry went on with his school work and prepared for the tournament as best he could.

Harry's mood was bad when he entered the second class that Monday morning, potions. His mood was not improved by the snide remarks and stupid jokes from Draco Malfoy and his cronies who guffawed and sniggered in amusement.

And then of course, there was Professor Snape. The perpetually greasy haired, sour faced potions master had been even more cold, sneering and rude to him following Halloween than he'd been at any point before and it was clear to Harry that Snape would believe Dumbledore to be the tooth fairy before he'd believe Harry was innocent.

Harry had only just unpacked his ingredients, potions equipment and notes, when there was a loud knock on the classroom door and in stepped Colin Creevey a third year boy who practically hero worshipped Harry and grinned and waved when he saw him causing Harry to sigh.

"Yes, what is the meaning of this interruption?" Snape snapped rudely at Colin as he looked down his hooked nose at the boy.

Harry had to admire the way Colin's confidence protected him from being afraid of Snape as the third year stood to his full height and said with no trace of fear "sorry to interrupt Professor Snape but Mr Bagman and Mr Weasley need Harry for the wand weighing ceremony".

Harry frowned having not heard of this term before and wondered just why his wand would need weighing. He was torn. He didn't want to stay and have to put up with Snape and the majority of Slytherins but at the same time he didn't want to leave class and give the potions master another reason to detest him.

"Mr Potter is busy as are the other students preparing to brew up a particularly difficult potion, he cannot be spared at this time" Snape responded coldly.

"I'm sorry professor, but Mr Bagman and Mr Weasley insisted that Harry has to come at once" Colin replied apologetically.

Snape's face was beginning to turn red and he was glaring hard at Colin "they said to give you this". Colin fished a hand into his robes and extracted a piece of parchment "it's a permission slip from Professor Dumbledore for Harry to be excused from class".

"Oh...very well!" Snape said through gritted teeth.

He rounded on Harry "clear up your things and leave at once. Be back here in twenty minutes Potter, no later or I shall be handing out a detention" Snape looked very smug and Harry glared at him.

"Please, Sir?" Colin said now sounding a bit nervous.

"What?!" Snape snapped.

"Mr Bagman and Mr Weasley said for Harry to bring his things Sir as the ceremony won't end until the lesson is finished".

Snape looked like he could cheerfully throttle both Harry and Colin but he simply said "fine. Potter take your things and get out of my classroom!".

Feeling grateful to be out of such a tense atmosphere, Harry packed away his things in record time, slung his bag onto his back and exited the room after kissing Daphne and said "see you in a bit" to his friends.

"Thanks for that Colin" Harry said gratefully as they walked along the corridor.

"Hey don't thank me Harry" Colin replied "Mr Bagman and Mr Weasley really DO want you for the wand weighing".

"What is this wand weighing ceremony?" Harry asked the mousy haired boy.

Colin shrugged "beats me" he said "but it must be important or they wouldn't ask for you".

They went up several floors until they reached the third floor and halted outside of a small classroom "they're in here" Colin told him "have fun". The third year walked off whistling.

Harry shook his head, chuckled and turned the knob of the door entering the classroom.

The first thing he noticed was that the classroom was very small indeed. He was also surprised to see that there were no tables or chairs in the room except for one in the room's centre.

As Harry looked over to the windows he saw his fellow Champions Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour and Victor Krum all standing next to each other, not speaking and watching Mr Bagman and Percy who were deep in conversation about something or other.

Harry paused for a moment trying to decide whether to join the others or stand on his own. In the end he shrugged his shoulders and thought 'why not?' as he joined the his fellow Champions by the window.

"Hi" he said by way of greeting. Krum greeted him cordially enough as did Cedric but Fleur simply "harrumphed" and walked away causing Cedric to shake his head "she's too full of herself that one" the older boy remarked quietly.

"Thinks she'll beat you just because you're only a fourth year" Krum observed "but I don't agree".

Harry wasn't surprised to hear that Fleur held distain for him but he was surprised to know that Victor Krum didn't agree.

"You...you don't?" Harry blinked.

"Of course not" Krum said bluntly "the teachers wouldn't let you compete in this tournament unless you had a lot of skill, no matter what Fleur Delacour thinks".

Harry felt touched by that and said "thanks" as he couldn't think of anything else to say by way of reply. Krum merely nodded and turned towards the window.

"Ah Harry my boy!" Harry groaned as Ludo Bagman strode over to the Champions, ignored the other three and shook his hand. He had met Ludo Bagman several times before when he'd visited his uncles at the Ministry and had found the guy to be disingenuous and a prat.

"Hello Mr Bagman" he said politely.

"Glad to see you could make it!" Bagman said effusively before turning to the other three and informing them as well as Harry that they were almost ready for the wand weighing ceremony.

Just as he said this, the door to the classroom opened and Professor McGonagall entered escorting a familiar elderly wizard who smiled at the four Champions and the others in the room "good afternoon everyone" said Mr Ollivander warmly.

Professor McGonagall retreated from the room after acknowledging everyone present.

As Ludo Bagman brought the four Champions over Mr Ollivander shook hands with all three of them "ah Mr Potter, Mr Diggory, a pleasure to meet you both again and Mr Krum and Miss Delacour a pleasure to meet you for the first time" he said warmly.

Harry shook Mr Ollivanders hand with some apprehension. He had been a bit freaked out by the old wizard when he had purchased his wand, especially as the old wizard had predicted he would do "great things".

"Now, I'll inspect Mr Krum's wand first" Mr Ollivander said as he guided Krum over to the table that had been set up in the room's centre.

Mr Ollivander felt all along the length of the wand, closed his eyes and said, more to himself than the others, what the core was and what it was made of, before he placed the wand on the scales and noted down carefully the length and width.

Once the wand had been weighed Mr Ollivander aimed in the direction of the far wall and fired off a spell. Blue butterflies began to flutter around the room causing Harry to grin. "A very good wand Mr Krum, in excellent condition, I assume you polish it?".

"I do Sir" Krum replied respectfully as Mr Ollivander handed him his wand like a baton.

Mr Ollivander repeated the weighing and testing process with the remaining three wands including Harry's, pausing for a moment and Harry had the impression the old wizard was thinking about the fact the wand had the same core as Voldemort's.

Eventually, the weighing and testing process was done and Harry was about to leave the room "oh no Harry my boy!" cried Ludo Bagman "you can't leave yet! Ms Skeeter is going to writing an article on the four Champions don't you know!".

Harry looked around and jumped when he saw, for the first time, a tall, thin witch with hair so blonde it was almost white.

She very red lips that were drawn up in a smile. A smile that didn't reach her eyes. Harry disliked her at once even as she absently tapped her quill on a notepad she was holding.

"Ah Harry" she said overly sweetly as if they already knew each other "come with me I'll interview you first as you're the surprise Champion".

Before Harry could say "no thank you" or "leave me alone" she had already steered him over to a broom cupboard, opened the door, pushed him inside and slammed it behind them.

"I know this cupboard is a little bit cramped but I'm sure you won't mind slumming it for a bit so we have privacy" she said, again smiling in that disingenuous way.

Harry wanted to protest that he wasn't some pampered little prince but somehow had the idea that this Skeeter woman wouldn't listen to him so he stayed silent.

"Now Harry" she began sweetly as he gagged at the smell of the ridiculous amount of perfume she was wearing "tell me, why did you put your name in the Goblet? fame? money? glory?".

Harry could already feel himself getting annoyed with her as he replied testily "I didn't".

"Oh come now Harry" Skeeter chuckled "you can't surely expect my readers to believe that".

"It's bloody true!" Harry snapped.

"Well moving on..." Skeeter said sceptically as Harry watched the quill race over the parchment on it's own.

"What's that quill doing?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh take no notice" she waved away his question "it's just taking rough notes".

Skeeter leaned forward "so Harry how does it feel to be in a dangerous tournament such as this and competing against three, older, more talented witches and wizards than yourself?".

Harry glared at her and didn't speak.

She raised an eyebrow but didn't press the question "how do you think your parents would feel if they were alive, about your entering this tournament?".

"I didn't...hey what have my parents got to do with this?!" Harry demanded angrily.

"Do you still cry for them at night? do you think they'd be disappointed in you for entering the tournament? proud? worried?".

"Hey my eyes aren't glistening with the ghosts of my past!" Harry protested "I'm done answering these questions".

He stood up, pushed past Skeeter and opened the broom cupboard door and found himself face to face with Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

"Professor!" Harry said in surprise "I was just...err...I mean..." he tailed off as Rita Skeeter appeared next to him.

"Ah yes" Dumbledore said "I was informed you were being interviewed by the lovely Ms Skeeter".

Harry blinked, wondering if he'd just heard right as it sounded as though the Headmaster had just used sarcasm. Dumbledore winked at him and now Harry knew he'd not imagined it. He grinned, glad to know someone else couldn't stand the woman.

"Ah Dumbledore, I wonder if I could get a few quotes from you on Harry entering himself into the tournament" Skeeter said sweetly.

Dumbledore stared at her over his half-moon spectacles impassively before his face broke into a smile "nothing would give me greater pleasure dear Ms Skeeter" the sarcasm was back "but I am afraid I must escort Mr Potter to my office".

"Oh I see" Skeeter was smiling as if in the know about something. Clearly, she thought Harry was about to be punished.

Dumbledore guided Harry away and out of the room. They pair of them were silent until they reached the Headmasters Office up on the seventh floor.

As they reached the office Dumbledore asked Harry to sit down and then offered him a cup of tea. Harry accepted it gratefully as he said "thanks for getting me away from that...that woman Professor. I couldn't have stuck it a moment longer, what with her questions about...about my parents".

"Think nothing of it my boy" Dumbledore replied warmly "I've been bothered many a time by Ms Skeeter I'm sad to say".

"She doesn't strike me as a very nice person" Harry commented as he sipped his tea.

Dumbledore chuckled briefly but then his look turned serious "she isn't Harry" he said with no trace of humour.

Harry raised an eyebrow as he frowned "you need to watch what you say around her Harry" Dumbledore warned him "Rita Skeeter has no scruples. She has no compunction when it comes to writing stories and will write anything, no matter how false that will sell newspapers".

"But...then...why hasn't she been removed?" Harry asked not understanding.

Dumbledore sighed "sadly she is friends with the editor of the Daily Prophet who is as much of a sensationalist as she is. Coupled with that she has friends in the Ministry who fight her corner even when she goes too far".

Harry left the meeting with Dumbledore feeling very downcast and very foolish for his anger at Rita Skeeters questions had given the horrible woman exactly what she needed to write up a false story about him and he had no doubt he'd be seeing it within days.

The rest of Monday and the whole of Tuesday passed quietly by. It was only on Wednesday morning, waking up to a bad feeling in his gut, that Harry knew something had happened.

Harry, with Neville, Hermione and Lauren, met up outside the Great Hall, as usual, with Daphne, Astoria and by this time Millicent who apologised for previously not believing him.

As the group entered the Great Hall there was a buzz of excitement and most of the students seemed to have their faces buried in newspapers or were discussing something within it to those next to them.

Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw Draco Malfoy, his nemesis, grinning at him like a Cheshire cat. This alone, convinced him that something was up.

As he reached the Gryffindor table, Ron, who was sitting down, frowned at a copy of the prophet, stood up.

For a moment, neither of them spoke and then Ron burst out in a rush "I'm sorry for everything Harry! sorry for not believing you and I can't believe what that old cow Skeeter wrote! do you want me to hex her Harry?".

Harry gaped in surprise at the change in Ron's behaviour wondering if the redhead was feeling quite right "err...what?" Harry replied intelligently.

"I said I'm sorry mate..." Ron paused uncomfortably "that is...if you still want to be mates with a prat like me?".

Harry stared at him for a long time wondering what to do. He had hoped for this moment since Halloween but he'd not dared to believe Ron would come around so soon.

Shaking his head, he pulled the startled redhead into a hug "come here you bloody idiot" he muttered.

After a moment he pulled away and said "I forgive you Ron" and then he said words he'd not thought to say before "I get now why you were mad".

Ron looked embarrassed "I'm always in the limelight. You get seen so often as the sidekick of Harry Potter and then it looks like I'm getting more fame being in the Triwizard Tournament".

"Ah but now..." Ron's protest was cut off as Harry finished "I'm sorry for not considering your feelings more mate. I promise I won't be such an idiot either from now on".

"Boys" muttered an exasperated Hermione nearby in a fond tone.

The entire group sat down and Harry sighed "so just what has that old cow been saying about me then?" he asked.

Ron coughed a little and then handed over the newspaper.

Harry took it and, opening it to the relevant page at the front, he read aloud the article about the tournament "on the thirteenth of November I had the chance to sit down and talk with all four Champions in the Triwizard Tournament. I talked with Mr Cadric Duggary, Mr Victor Krem and Miss Flora Delacourt as well as Mr Harry Potter".

Harry shook his head in disgust at her deliberately getting wrong the names of his fellow Champions. He read on and after a brief section talking about the other three Champions he discovered that the piece on him ran to one and a half pages and was filled with the most ridiculous tripe he'd ever heard.

It declared that he'd put his name in the Goblet. Had supposedly admitted his parents would be ashamed of his "glory hunting" and that he cried for them every night. He screwed up the paper in disgust and didn't speak for several minutes such was the level of his anger at such false words.

"What I want to know is why she's allowed to get away with it" Daphne said hotly and Harry felt warm all over at her defence of him.

In a glum voice Harry explained what Dumbledore had told him about Skeeter.

"There must be a way to stop her" Hermione said thoughtfully.

Harry snorted "well if you find one Hermione let me know".

"I will" she replied determinedly.

The morning of Thursday the seventeenth of November started out strangely. Harry, his cousin and their friends were eating breakfast in the Great Hall when Hagrid walked up to their table, made a show of coughing and bent down slipping an envelope onto Harry's plate.

Before a bemused Harry could question the half-giant, Hagrid was already on his way over to the staff table to have his own breakfast.

Frowning, Harry picked up the envelope, shook off the egg that had smeared it and opened it as the group looked on in interest.

Harry pulled out the note, unfolded it and read quietly "Harry, I've got something to show you, it's important. Meet me tonight at midnight under your invisibility cloak outside my cabin. Come alone and don't let it slip beyond your circle of friends. Your friend, Hagrid".

Harry frowned even harder and passed the note around to the others who all read it as well. They seemed to be at a loss for words too and Hermione voiced the obvious point "doesn't he know that if you're caught you'll get into trouble?" she said.

Harry shook his head "it seems that whatever this thing is he wants to show me, is more important than that".

The rest of breakfast was spent in quiet speculation as to what Hagrid would show Harry that night.

At half past eleven that night, Harry waved to his friends, slipped on his invisibility cloak, took out the marauders map and began the long journey down through the castle and out across the grounds to Hagrids Cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Harry still couldn't understand what Hagrid thought so important to show him at such a late hour, but then again he'd given up trying to understand his large friend years ago.

Harry threw off the cloak was about to knock on the door when he heard familiar excited barking from inside and the door opened anyway. He was speechless as he stared up Hagrid who was wearing a horrible looking yellow jacket, had an oversized flower in his top pocket and had clearly tried to tame his hair in a losing effort using what smelt like grease or vaseline.

"Uh, Hagrid" Harry began uncertainly "why are you dressed up like that?".

Hagrid beamed "I got a date" he said happily.

"At this hour of the night?" Harry questioned "and I thought you were going to show me something".

"Well yeah, I am" Hagrid replied "but this is something I figured Olympe would want ta see too".

"Who's Olympe?" Harry asked feeling confused.

"Madame Maxime" Hagrid explained "we've been getting to know each other a bit see and I invited her as a sort of...date".

"But won't she notice me?" Harry asked in bemusement.

Hagrid grinned "that's why I told ya to bring the cloak" he explained "you keep it on and follow us to the surprise. You won't believe what it is!".

Harry wasn't altogether sure he wanted to see the surprise Hagrid had given the mans fondness for dangerous creatures.

Harry heard heavy footsteps approaching the cabin and at Hagrids urging he threw the cloak over himself shaking his head all the while at why people had to be so secretive all the time.

"Olympe I'm so glad ya could make it!" Hagrid sounded overjoyed at the arrival of the very tall woman and Harry watched as his friend held out an arm which she took and the two strolled off.

Harry had to work hard to keep up as Hagrid and Madame Maxime chatted away happily and she questioned him over the surprise "Hagrid, I am anxious to see the surprise you have for me" she said warmly.

Hagrid replied "we'll be there soon Olympe. You won't believe what it is!".

After much walking Harry could see some type of enclosure not far from them. He could also see a large number of people milling around and several people ran inside the enclosure. A large spout of flames made him freeze in his tracks.

'There's only one creature that breathes that much fire!' Harry thought in shock. Why on earth would Hagrid think he'd want to see a dragon?.

Shaking himself mentally, he ran to catch up with Hagrid and Madame Maxime and caught up to them as they stood just outside the enclosure. Closer up Harry could finally see a very tall dragon with spikes on it's back as it belches flames up into the sky and men and women attempted to subdue it.

Harry was surprised to see one of the handlers, having spotted Hagrid, hurrying over and saying in a friendly tone "Hagrid! glad you could make it". It was Charlie Weasley, the second eldest Weasley brother who looked after dragons in Romania. Harry couldn't imagine what would bring him to the Forbidden Forest of all places.

"And I see you've brought someone with you to see the dragons" Charlies tone was less warm now but he shook Madame Maxime's hand and greeted her politely.

"How are the dragons?" Hagrid asked sounding concerned. 'Concerned?!' thought Harry in disbelief.

"Well, the Welsh Green, Swedish Short-snout and the Chinese Fireball aren't too bad. They're a bit disoriented right now but we're pacifying them with plenty of meat".

Charlie went over to the enclosure fence and tapped it hard "it's this fellow in here, the Hungarian Horntail that's causing all the trouble. He's in a right fury over being brought here".

"This is the first task" Hagrid said. Harry thought for a moment he informing Madame Maxime but then realised that the slight lean to the left was Hagrids way of letting him know it was him that was being spoken to.

"I already know this, we were informed in the summer" Madame Maxime said with a frown as she stared at Hagrid.

"Well...of course ya do!" Hagrid said "I was just...a..." he tailed off.

Harry wasted no time turning and running through the trees of the forest, tripping over rocks several times and slipping on wet leaves as he ran full pelt out into the Hogwarts grounds and past Hagrids Cabin up the sloping lawns towards the castle.

His heart was hammering in his chest and his mind awash with all sorts of thoughts. 'Are the tournament organisers mad?' thought Harry as he ran. 'How on earth can they expect us to deal with a dragon?'.

It was with these thoughts in mind that Harry reached the portrait hole to Gryffindor Tower, said the password, startling the Fat Lady who could see nothing in front of her and then entered the common room once he'd taken the cloak off.

As Harry reached the common room he could see Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Lauren all gathered around the fireplace on sofa's and armchairs having no doubt waited up to see just what Hagrid had wanted with him.

"Harry you're back!" his cousin leapt up from her armchair upon seeing him. The others all looked over at Harry.

Taking in his dishevelled and worried appearance, Neville asked "Harry, what happened?!".

Harry walked wearily over to one of the sofa's and sat down on it. Slumping backwards and tossing his cloak to one side he muttered "dragons".

"What?" they all chorused.

"Dragons" Harry repeated more loudly "the first task, it's dragons".

"Bloody hell Harry!" Ron exclaimed "how do they expect you to face one of those?".

Harry laughed humourlessly "believe me Ron, I was asking myself the same thing as I ran back here".

"Did Hagrid say what you have to do?" Hermione queried.

Harry shook his head miserably "no. I don't think he's allowed to say what the actual task is. He'd probably be in trouble for even showing me the dragons".

"We need to get you ready then" Lauren said, practical as ever.

Ginny nodded in agreement "we can help you learn spells to defeat it".

"I don't know. Would that be allowed?" Harry was unsure of the rules of the tournament and so was grateful when Hermione said "wait here" and ran off to her dormitory.

A short time later, Hermione returned holding a piece of parchment. She handed it to Harry and said "I copied this from a book on the tournament last weekend. Read what it says in the section on rules".

Harry read aloud and his face split into a wide grin at what it said. It was true that teachers were not permitted to give assistance to the Champions beyond the usual advice of playing to strengths, but the considerations of fair play were not extended to friends or family which meant that Harry's friends and cousin could, indeed, help Harry learnt how to deal with a dragon.

"Well" said Harry as he set the parchment to one side. He looked at his friends and cousin, seeing their eager faces and asked "who wants to help me learn about defeating a dragon?".

Every single one of his friends plus his cousin offered their help in researching jinxes, curses and shield spells to help him with the task and it was agreed by everyone that they would start at lunchtime tomorrow.

It was a mark of the fact that Ron and Harry had only recently repaired their friendship, that Ron didn't even so much as protest at having a short lunch with him instead committing one hundred per cent to helping Harry learn to protect himself.

The next day Harry, Cedric, Fleur and Victor were summoned to the Quidditch Stadium by Professor McGonagall who escorted them there and once there it was explained to them that the task would involve capturing a golden egg that each one of the dragons would be holding and they were wished good luck both in preparing and in performing the task itself.

Harry was on his way back from the stadium when he met Professor Moody just inside the door to the castle and accepted the mans offer of a cup of tea in his office.

Once they were there, Moody asked him outright "what are your plans for completing the first task?".

Harry was gobsmacked at Moody's mentioning of the task and explained that he and his friends were going to look up various spells to help him deal with a dragon.

"Your best bet Potter, is to play to your strengths, so think carefully, what are they?".

Harry thought for a moment and replied "well, I'm very good at defensive magic and offensive spells and I'm really good at flying...though since we're not allowed a broom that doesn't matter much".

"No you aren't allowed to bring a broom with you" Moody conceded "but there are certain spells that might be able to help you with that".

Harry's eyes widened as he grasped what the grizzled teacher was saying "you're saying I should...".

"I think you know what I'm saying Potter" Moody said gruffly "and I think you ought to get straight back to searching, don't you?".

Harry drank his tea, thanked Moody and ran full pelt out of the office and all the way back to Gryffindor Tower where he found his friends engrossed in a game of wizards chess.

Ron's pieces had just defeated a disappointed Hermione, when Harry approached breathless and shaking with excitement "I know how to get past the dragon!" he shouted.

When they enquired as to how Harry informed them "I need to learn a summoning charm!".

"Of course!" Hermione shouted "a summoning charm it's so obvious!".

Harry smiled as his friends immediately launched into suggestions of where to find the spell they needed and where to place the broom so Harry would be able to summon it.

It was agreed by all that they should undertake at once to find the spell so Harry could begin practising and hopefully get it right for the first task which was scheduled to be in just a weeks time.

Harry had hope for the first time in a while that might survive the tournament in one piece.