When Viktor woke the white walls of the Hogwarts infirmary greeted him.

His head and body ached and the last thing he remembered was leaving the changeroom for the Third Task. Somehow his memory ended there. Someone had clearly been waiting to ambush him, but it had been his fault to send Andrei and the rest of the Durmstrang boys off before him.

These kinds of tricks were commonplace in Durmstrang, and at official Quidditch games. While he hadn't expected this in Hogwarts, that didn't mean his expectations would be a reality. It didn't even mean that it was someone from Hogwarts that had sabotaged him.

The chance to compete and win, to prove himself to be something other than a Quidditch player had slipped through his fingers due to his own carelessness. It was something that Viktor knew would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"You're finally awake? Good."

The witch bustled around him as the curtains sprung open, sunlight streaming into the room. Several potions were placed on the table beside him.

"Nasty business being under the Imperius Curse. A Mediwizard from St. Mungo's will arrive in a few hours to check up on you, so don't even think about disappearing back into that ship of yours before that, understood?"

The witch gave Viktor a stern glare, and Viktor nodded meekly, wishing he could shrink back into his pillow. As he gulped down the potions handed to him without verbal complaint despite their unnecessarily bitter taste, he wondered if people were terrified enough by the Mediwitch to avoid the Infirmary at all costs. There weren't too many beds considering the size of the castle, after all.

"Potter! If you move from that bed, I will Full-Body bind you, are we clear?"

Viktor jerked around quickly enough to see Harry Potter salute the Mediwitch with a forced grin.

The woman sighed. "Don't force yourself, Potter. You are only a child. I know what you're thinking, but the fact that one of you managed to return alive is more than we could have hoped for, no matter what happened."

Potter's grin quickly turned bitter.

Viktor looked questioningly towards Madam Pomfrey, and the woman sighed again.

"I suppose you'll find out soon enough. Cedric Diggory, unfortunately, didn't survive the Third Task. We will not go into how —" the woman cast a stern glance in Potter's direction "— but Potter was the one who brought him back when the task ended."

Viktor's gaze darted back to Potter.

Whatever had happened obviously had something to do with him being cursed and forcefully removed from the competition. It could have been him instead of Cedric, if he had gotten far enough into the maze, Viktor realized.

Whatever Potter and Diggory had experienced, Viktor didn't know if he would have fared any better. In fact, it would have been worse had he been involved in that. He could only imagine the drama and politics that would have been involved in a famous foreign Quidditch player to have died in the tournament with Britain's hero.

Rather, he sympathized more with the boy than he expected.

It had grown obvious he was thrust again and again into spotlight he didn't want, and Potter being dragged into the Triwizard Tournament had been for whatever purpose had killed the other Hogwarts champion.

Viktor may hate being seen as the 'dumb Quidditch player', but he realized that was far better than having the weight of the world resting on his shoulders.

When Madam Pomfrey finally left. Viktor turned to Harry.

"I know we don't really know each other, but whatever happened there, I believe you. If you survived, you deserve to win." Viktor paused for a moment, sorting through his thoughts. "Perhaps it's just the ramblings of a wizard who just woke from the Imperius Curse, but I don't think you are a person who would lie about something like this."

Viktor saw the surprised expression on Harry's face. It urged him to want to comfort the younger male a little more in his broken English that had always made him feel self-conscious.

"Thanks, Krum. I appreciate it."

Viktor was glad to see a little more life in Harry's eyes.

Written for [684 words]

Hogwarts Assignment: Floristry Task 11 – Write about someone being gracious in the face of disappointment