Chapter 37
The match between Hufflepuff and Slytherin was essentially the fight of the seekers, both teams being fairly pedestrian. Cedric was more experienced; Draco was more flamboyant, and could broomsurf. But in the end, Cedric's patience and longer arms paid off, and Draco was pipped to the snitch, and Slytherin went into the unenviable position of fourth.
"Well, I'm prettier than Ceddie," said Draco.
His girlfriend cuffed him round the back of the head.
"And vainer," she said.
"Naturally," said Draco, with hauteur.
Gryffindor played Durmstrang next, which was more exciting. The Durmstrang players were bigger and stronger than the Gryffindor children, but also inclined to foul and lose points to penalties. Krum was good and Harry knew he would have his work cut out, as the score slowly, but steadily, mounted, first one team, then the other, Jurko valiantly doing his best to keep out quaffles flung hard enough to make them almost as dangerous as bludgers.
And then both seekers saw the snitch, and dove for it. Viktor's arms were longer, Harry's moves were crazier, and as Viktor was about to reach for it, Harry jinked in front of him.
The snitch vanished, fluttering away from both.
"It's been two hours, Viktor," said Harry. "The scores are close to even; how about we call it a draw and take joint first?"
"I agree," said Viktor. "We both need to land."
They landed and Madam Hooch came over.
"Which of you has the snitch?" she asked.
"Neither; we're calling it a draw," said Viktor. "We don't want to exhaust ourselves for the competition and as honours are even, and it is a game for fun, it seemed fair."
"Very sportsmanlike, Mr. Krum, Mr. Bohun," said Madam Hooch.
There was a massive party in the great hall.
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Viktor called a meeting of all the champions.
"We all know that this competition was purely an excuse to find and humiliate Harry Potter so he could be used to reincarnate the so-called Lord Voldemort..." he began.
"Wait, what?" said Cedric.
"Oh, didn't you guess, Cedric, when Professor Moody was outed as Barty Crouch junior?" said Jurko. "I'm sorry, we'd have told you, but you're supposed to be legendary at knowing what's going on which is why you're head boy."
"Uh... that passed me by," said Cedric.
He was filled in, rapidly.
"Good, we are all on track with this?" said Viktor. "Well, I have been thinking. None of us wants the Dark Lord rising again, yes?"
"Or, indeed, no," said Harry. "Are you appealing to everyone to let Jurko and me take the damn portkey first?"
"But no, Jędrek; I was proposing that we should all cheat in what we carry, and go fully armed, with spare wands, and ready to help."
"The power he knows not is the ability to make friends," said Jurko.
"Bollocks, the power he knows not is extreme hyperactivity and Cossack boisterousness," said Draco.
"Or perhaps a bit of both," said Harry, cheerfully. "Viktor, we won't turn down any help, and we are certainly going loaded for bear."
"Excuse?" said Viktor. "Your idiom..."
"If hunting bear, with a muggle firearm, you use the biggest shot you have," said Harry. "It means carrying everything you have."
"Ah, understanding now," said Viktor. "We all go loaded for bear and ready."
"And under invisibility cloaks," said Harry. "Except me. Jurko and I have one, and Barty had one, and we found two rather grotty ones in the room of requirements which aren't wonderful but will help."
"Draxko and I can fit under one," said Jurko. "Kill the snake first, she's a horcrux."
"I wish we could cure her, she'd make a smashing pet as we couldn't keep the basilisk," said Harry.
"You spend too much time with Hagrid," said Jurko.
"Nonsense," said Harry. "Now, we aren't asking anyone to come unless you want to."
"We want to," said Fleur.
"Indeed, I... this is a shock, but I'm in," said Cedric.
"Then we don't turn it down." Jurko nodded.
"But Draco is just a kid..."
"I will go with my brother Cossacks," said Draco, staunchly. "Listen, they took off the dark mark my dad was stupid enough to get, and he understands love again, and that means I have a kid sister and real parents who both love me, and if I have to die for them, I will, because that evil bastard is dangerous, and in robbing people of all that is positive to make them his conscienceless killers he's worse than anyone who just plays on the fears that the muggle-born might change society. Besides, you know what they call societies which don't change?"
"Stagnant," said Jurko. "And like a stagnant pool it stinks with the corruption of decay and death. You've been reading muggle anthropology books again."
"Hermione's parents have an interesting library. Dad likes the Grangers a lot and borrows their books too," said Draco. "And he's investing heavily in computers. What? I like being stinking rich. It keeps me in Sleekeazy hair care products."
"And chocolate," said Harry.
"Yes, and chocolate," said Draco. "I support Dark Chocolate Lord Percy."
"He wrote to Sevek about some awful woman who is the minister's undersecretary," said Jędrek. "Sevek sent him a babbling and will-weakening potion to put in her tea at a strategic moment, and now she's under investigation for babbling all her secrets about her plans for Fudge, and she's certainly fired, all Percy had to do was to set her off with a couple of innocuous sounding comments."
"Quality! His dark bittersweet fiendishness has begun!" said Harry.
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The champions retired to the room of requirements to practise working together. They evicted a family of pink bunnies which had somehow got off the bunnied steppe aspect.
"Maybe we should open another gate from the steppe to the acromantula patch to feed the smaller spiders," said Jurko. "It's one way to cull them."
"Yes, but we'll make them less aggressive than the ones we used to protect Fleur, or the spiders will wax aggrieved and will refuse us their silk," said Harry.
"Good point," said Jurko. "We don't want to be raising bunnies which eat acromantulas."
Cedric shuddered.
"You get them to give you silk?" he said.
"Yes, we trade pigs for it," said Harry. "Milliszka's family weave. We do well out of it. I don't know why nobody has done it before."
"Scared of spiders," said Cedric.
"I find nothing to fear in spiders, what is the problem?"asked Viktor.
"Viktor, mate, these spiders are the size of ponies," said Cedric. "They like centaurs as a main course and firsties as a snack."
"Why are such dangerous creatures permitted at a school?" demanded Fleur.
"Because Dumbledore's crazy, of course," said Draco. "Famous sport, lassoing them, though."
"You're all crazy too," said Viktor, without rancour.
"Thank you," said Jurko.