WHATEVER WILL BE, WILL BE
A story by pixiepoop
FOREWORD BY PIXIEPOOP.
First of all I have to acknowledge my beloved beta-reader, Elanor Gamgee (or Cap'n Kathy of the good ship R/H) who was the driving force and inspiration behind this story. Without her encouragement I certainly would not have continued with it. (so if you don't like it blame her). Second of all I should probably say that I don't own any of the characters, or indeed, the plot, because J.K. Rowling wrote them. Let us all bow down and praise Her. And thirdly I should say that I love reviews, even if they're reviews that say "You can't write. Stop it." because it's always nice to have some idea of what people think.
So anyway. Er…I hope you like it.
***
"He's looking at you again."
Cho Chang looked up briefly from the Daily Prophet and frowned. "Who?"
"Who else?" Lorla Quirke, who was seated on Cho's right side and happened to be her best friend, nodded towards the Gryffindor table. "The school champion."
Cho blinked and looked in the direction her friend was indicating. Lorla was quite right- Harry Potter was gazing at her from his seat at the Gryffindor table. It wasn't the first time she'd caught him doing this, either. Lorla raised her eyebrows at Cho suggestively.
"Third time this week," she remarked. "He must reeeeally like the scenery around here."
"Must he?' Cho said rolling her eyes. Far from dismissing the frequent amount of times Cho had caught Harry giving her the gaze, as Cho had done, Lorla seemed to have interpreted it in an entirely embarrassing way, and was now convinced Harry was desperately in love with Cho. It was utterly ridiculous of course, and they both knew it, but that didn't stop Lorla from teasing her about it.
Cho smiled and waved at Harry. He seemed quite taken aback, and blinked a little. He waved back and then looked back down at his breakfast. No sooner had he done so, however, than he got up and left the table with the curly haired girl who seemed to be his constant companion.
"You scared him off," Lorla observed. "That's new. Usually it's the other way round."
Cho chose to ignore that remark and instead said, "Pass the milk please."
Roger Davies, captain of the Quidditch team and seated opposite her, obligingly shoved the pitcher of milk towards her. "Not too much," he warned, "that's full cream milk. I don't care if we're not having a Quidditch season this year- I won't have you getting out of shape."
Cho ignored this as well, and poured it over her cereal. Harry was still making his way out of the Hall.
"Wonder what he's got to look so upset about?" Mandy Brocklehurst, a fourth year seated on Cho's left side, was staring at Harry with nothing less than spite. Cho didn't bother to rebuke her, although it was quite obvious that Harry did have something to be upset about. As he walked past the Hufflepuff table several jeers from the students greeted him. The Slytherin students at the next table laughed nastily and imitated them. One voice rang out above the rest. Cho could hear it from her place at the Ravenclaw table.
"Hey, Potty! Can I have your autograph? It might be worth a Knut or two!"
Spiteful laughter rang out. "Hey Potty!" someone else cried out, picking up the taunt. "King of the wimps!"
"Spotty Potty! Where's your crown, Spotty Potty?"
Cho immediately looked up at the teachers' table, to see if Dumbledore was going to do anything about the taunting. But the headmaster wasn't there, and Harry walked out of the Hall with his head held high and staring determinedly straight ahead. The curly haired girl was clutching his arm and muttering something very fast in his ear.
"Huh!" Mandy said, as she finished her breakfast and got up from her seat. "His girlfriend's obviously shameless, sticking around with him. See you guys later."
"Bye Mandy," Cho said absentmindedly.
"You'd think they'd do something about it," Lorla murmured. But no one did; Professor McGonagall was also absent from breakfast, Professors Sprout and Flitwick frowned disapprovingly but most of the other teachers simply looked down at their plates uncomfortably, as if too ashamed of Harry to do anything about it. Professor Snape was actually smiling, as was the Headmaster of Durmstrang, what was his name? Professor Castor-Oil or something like that. Cho didn't like the look of him. He smiled at the Slytherins in a way very similar to Professor Snape's smirk, and twirled his greasy little goatee around his finger.
It took a while for the unkind laughter to die down even after Harry had left the Hall. Cho frowned, wondering where this sudden fluctuation in hostility had come
from. Ever since Harry had been announced the fourth school champion on Halloween, he'd been labelled a school outcast, but it was unusual for students to be so blatant about expressing any dislike they held for him. Especially in front of the teachers like that.
"That's a little odd," she murmured to herself. "What set them off?"
"Hmm?" Lorla said.
"Nothing," said Cho, shaking her head. In any case, she didn't really have the time or energy to wonder about it. It made her a little indignant, but it wasn't her problem. Harry looked perfectly able to cope with such things.
"Oh no," Lorla sighed suddenly, "Here comes the French lot."
Lorla obviously wasn't the only one to notice either- boys from all different tables turned to look as their guests from Beauxbatons entered the Hall. Madame Maxime and Professor Dumbledore led the way, talking quietly. Madame Maxime was looking distinctly disgruntled about something, but as Professor Dumbledore continued talking, she smiled, almost unwillingly, as though Dumbledore had coaxed her into a good mood.
"Very well, Dumbly-door," she purred, as they approached the Ravenclaw table, "You may sit," she added to her students, as they obediently filed into a respectful line in front of her. Dumbledore and Madame Maxime strolled off together towards the teachers' table, still talking, while her students chose seats at the Ravenclaw table.
A very irritated voice sounded above Cho's head. "Is thees seat taken?"
Roger Davies looked up at the girl who had addressed him, the blonde champion of Beauxbatons, Fleur Delacour, and dropped the kipper he was holding.
Lorla rolled her eyes at Cho in disgust as Roger stammered and leapt up to pull out the chair for her.
"Sure, you're more than welcome! Is that okay? Can I get you anything?" Roger stammered enthusiastically, "Want a kipper? Lovely weather isn't it?"
Fleur, however, didn't seem to be in the mood for small talk. She had an expression on her face similar to the one Madame Maxime had been wearing moments earlier, except even more so.
"What's the matter?" Lorla asked, heavily sarcastic, "Split a hair?"
Cho suppressed a smile. Fleur didn't seem to have caught the joke.
"No!" she snapped, "'Ave you not seen ze newspaper zis morning?"
She frowned at the copy of the Daily Prophet Cho was still holding in her hands. "Zat!" she spat, "Zat rideeculous publication! It is full of lies and propaganda! You 'Ogwarts students are always building yourselves up to be such heroes! Fi donc!"
Roger blinked at her. "We're…we're not all that bad, surely?"
"No, we're not," Lorla said sharply.
"Well, no, not all of you," Fleur said, suddenly brightening as she spotted something over Cho's shoulder. "Just that leetle boy…"
"What leetle boy?" Lorla said, deliberately mocking Fleur's heavy French accent. Cho snorted into her cereal, trying to turn her laughter into a cough.
"Oh, you know," Fleur said impatiently, still looking at whatever she had seen, "Zat leetle boy 'oo is ze false school champion! Ze Potter boy."
"Oh, him," said Lorla, and fell silent.
Cho finally spoke up. "He didn't ask to become school champion," she pointed out.
"Well, 'ee should not have deigned to put 'is name in ze Goblet of Fire!" Fleur shot back.
"Oh, Sacray blue!" Lorla cried melodramatically. "How dare he! The English pig!"
Fleur had obviously cottoned onto Lorla's taunting, and tried to wither her with a look. Unfortunately for Fleur, she didn't know what a waste of time trying to wither Lorla was. Lorla's exuberance and blunt honesty had got her into a trouble more than once, as had her notoriously bad temper, something Lorla put down to her red hair. "It's the curse of the redheads ," she'd
protest, when told to calm down, "I can't help it." Cho sometimes wondered why Lorla was sorted into Ravenclaw, because, though she was incredibly clever and quick-witted, her intelligence was quite overshadowed by her bravery and guts. For all her shortcomings, though, Lorla had proved herself time and again to be the best type of friend- unwaveringly loyal.
"I'm not entirely sure it was something he did on purpose, you know," Cho said thoughtfully, more than anything to divert Fleur's attention away from Lorla before something was said that would be regretted later. "I mean…his face when they pulled it out of the Goblet," Cho continued, "It was so surprised, I don't think he intended to become school champion. Maybe it was just a joke." She gestured with her hands around the Great Hall. "In any case, he doesn't deserve to be treated so badly."
Fleur was now looking at Cho incredulously, as though no one had ever dared to challenge her opinion before.
"Are you trying to say zat 'ee deserves zee honour? Zat zee chance most of us would die for should be rewarded to 'im because 'ee wanted to play a joke?"
"Heaven forbid," Lorla muttered.
"All I'm saying is," Cho said reasonably, "is that he seems to have been pushed into the situation unwillingly. As far as I can tell." She frowned, "And I don't see why everyone's being so horrible to him all of a sudden. What did he do, kill a judge?"
"Haven't you read the paper this morning?" a voice said behind Cho, making her jump. The voice's owner was identified almost immediately, as Fleur's expression quickly melted from highly irritated to opulently charming.
"Bonjour, Cedric," she crooned. Cedric Diggory, his hands resting on the back of Cho's chair, shot Fleur an easy smile.
"Hi, Fleur." He looked back down at Cho. "And good morning Cho."
"Hi," Cho said shortly. Cedric nodded towards Roger and then sat down in the unoccupied seat next to Cho. Lorla gave her a little nudge under the table and grinned at Cedric. "Hi, Cedric, how's it going?"
"Great. Yourself?"
"Fantastic!" Lorla shot him a dazzling smile. Cho rolled her eyes at Lorla's obvious flirtation as Cedric settled himself more comfortably in the chair.
Cho liked Cedric. She really did but- that was the thing, it was impossible not to like him. Partly because of the stubborn streak in her, no matter how many times she denied its existence, Cho hated being told what to do. She hated being forced into anything, and she hated being manipulated. She had automatically been compelled to like Cedric, preceding their first meeting, after hearing nothing but good things about him, and then after meeting him, liked him more than she had previously imagined. She prided herself on being a very egalitarian sort of person, and not letting a person's reputation cloud her own opinion of them. But Cho thought Cedric's reputation must have affected her judgement. She didn't know him that well, but she knew he must have some faults. Everyone had faults.
Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and star performer on the pitch, Cedric Diggory was possibly the most popular boy at the school- presently, anyway. His popularity and sporting talent did nothing to affect his affability, and he remained good-natured, kind and decent. As was the way with all people who seemed so flawless, he made Cho nervous. (She always told herself her discomfort had nothing to do with Cedric's obvious good looks either.) The conversations they had had always revolved around Quidditch, a subject Cho herself was quite passionate about. But Cedric had been playing Quidditch for quite a bit longer than she , and by comparison, she felt like her own talent for the game was dwarfed by his.
Not that she had any doubts about her abilities-being the only girl on her own Quidditch team didn't make her feel left out- it made her feel special, and her male team-mates
did nothing to dissuade this. As charming a person as he was, Cho tried not to have any romantic or silly view of Cedric Diggory. He appeared to be perfect, but Cho knew there must be some major fault or nasty character trait lurking behind those large grey eyes and
that handsome face.
Presently he was flashing her his trademark knee-buckling smile, and he took the newspaper from her hand.
"Sorry. Couldn't help overhearing," he said quietly. "Maybe you should read current events instead of the sports pages."
He flipped back to the front page- which Cho had ignored after barely glancing at the cover- and held the article in front of her face. It was headed by a large obnoxious headline:
Hogwarts Hero A Real Champion
She met Cedric's eyes and then turned back to the paper with a frown. Lorla read over her shoulder.
This year marks a milestone for both Hogwarts school and its resident Champion, Harry Potter. Famous since birth for his defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Harry once again shows his true shining colours as on October thirty-first he was singled out by his strength as the champion of Hogwarts to compete in the fabled Triwizard Tournament, which will take place at Hogwarts this year, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent.
In the tournament, Harry will not only be confronted with tasks that are magically advanced for a boy of his age, but he will also be competing against students from two of the other leading wizarding schools in Europe, Beauxbatons Academy and Durmstrang Institute.
An attractive and fascinating young man, Harry remains down-to-earth and modest despite the enormous popularity he has received since first coming to Hogwarts at age eleven.
"I often come out here by myself just to reflect on how lucky I am," he says, as he shows me his own personal place for reflection, along the shore of the lake in the picturesque Hogwarts grounds. "I've got everything I could ever want here- I know I've been blessed, and I thank God for every day because of that."
An ugly scar, souvenir of a tragic past, disfigures the otherwise charming face of Harry Potter, whose eyes reflect a pain that one does not often see in such a young boy.
"I would call my past traumatic, yes- it's made me keen to prove myself and live up to my name. I know I wasn't supposed to enter the tournament but I wanted to show everyone that I wasn't just a famous name- I'm much more than that."
Tears fill those startlingly green eyes as our conversation turns to the parents he can barely remember.
"I suppose I get my strength from my parents, I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now," the fourteen-year-old boy wonder said, "Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it…I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament because they're watching over me."
And not just his parents- but someone else special too. Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students at the school.
The article went on and on- continuing from page two onto pages six and seven- Cho skimmed through the sickening article until she found the last paragraph:
Harry may well have his work cut out for him, despite his amazing talent both on the sporting field and in the classroom. "As long as I believe in myself and think of my parents, I feel safe. I know it's not going to be easy but it's a mountain I can climb. If I can accomplish this, I know I can do anything."
The other school champions are Fleur Delamour (from Beauxbatons) and Quidditch star Victor Krum (of Durmstrang).
"I have a feeling this is what everyone's so upset about," Cedric said, neatly folding the paper and tucking it under Cho's plate.
Fleur's eyes flashed. "Do you not sink it is an outrage? It does not even mention ze true school champions until ze last paragraph!"
"Que sera, sera," Cedric said, giving her a sheepish grin and shrugging. "You've got to make allowances. He is the famous Harry Potter and all that."
"Huh!" Fleur made a very unimpressed noise. "I sink it is a disgrace, first 'ee puts 'imself into ze competition, zen 'ee refuses to let anyone else receive ze publicity."
"Yeah," said Lorla loudly and sarcastically, "An absolute outrage. That should be your head plastered on every newspaper in the country. We've all suffered a great loss."
Fleur didn't miss the barb in that comment. Neither it seemed, did Cedric. He caught Lorla's eye and gave her a wink. "You've got a point, Lorla," he said, getting to his feet. Fleur's attention immediately returned to Cedric, and she preened in a way that made even Cho feel disgusted.
"Oh Cedric, you are too much!" she simpered. He grinned.
"Gee, thanks, Fleur. See you later, everyone. Bye Cho." His hand grazed Cho's shoulder as he left, very slightly, and Cho registered this fact subconsciously. Lorla gave a little groan. "He's so hot." She glanced at Cho. "Are you all right?"
"Mmmm," Cho murmured, idly picking up the paper again and quickly dismissing Cedric Diggory and his perfect teeth from her mind. This was far more interesting. "I guess can see the point Fleur's making…" she said slowly, after a few moments contemplation. Fleur nodded and looked satisfied. "But…I don't know. Something about this article seems fake. I think there's been a bit of paraphrasing in here. Not entirely honest paraphrasing, either." She sighed, shrugged and stuffed the paper in her bag. "I think everyone's making a big deal over nothing. He's just a kid. He's not hurting anyone."
Fleur looked suitably outraged. "Not 'urting anyone? Ze only people zat aren't going to be 'urt are 'Ogwarts, wiz zeir deux champions!" She seemed to have had enough. "I 'ave to go. I must return to ze carriage."
"We'd better go too," Lorla said, unable to suppress a smirk, as Fleur made a great show of swishing her hair as she walked off. "Bye, Roger."
Roger was staring in a fixated fashion at Fleur's retreating back. Lorla rolled her eyes and gave him a smack on the head as they walked past.
"Oh, grow up, idiot."
***
End of Chapter One. Obviously. (PS what did you think?)