Chapter 9

Rita Skeeter

"I found him!"

Harry heard someone hurry to his side but he really didn't want to open his eyes yet. He felt warm and relaxed; something he hadn't felt all night. A cold hand touched his face making him shiver. Reluctantly, Harry slowly opened his eyes to see Hermione's concerned face as four redheads came into sight. Harry was suddenly confused. Why did everyone look so relieved? It was still an hour before breakfast started, wasn't it?

They all were wearing cloaks along with scarves and gloves. Wrapped in his cloak that still had the heating spell on it, Harry could only feel the cold breeze against his face. It was still cold out but certainly not as cold as before when he had been talking with his godfather. How long had he been out here? It didn't seem like that long to have everyone so worried.

"We've been looking everywhere for you, Harry," Hermione said quickly. "Professor Dumbledore was about to start a search for you. What are you doing out here in the cold? Have you been out here all night?"

"What?" Harry asked in confusion. "Why would Dumbledore start a search? The majority of the school is still sleeping."

The four Weasley siblings looked at each other nervously. "Er—Harry, it's nearly time for lunch," George said. "You must have fallen asleep out here or something. You've been 'missing' for a few hours."

Harry let out a groan and he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He could already feel stiffness in his neck and knew he would probably be paying for falling asleep out here for the remainder of the day. "Sorry," he said softly as he put his glasses back on his face. "I guess I was more tired than I thought. Are Sirius and Remus here yet?"

"They're coming?" asked Ron.

Harry nodded as he looked out at the lake. The sun was nearly above them directly. He had been sleeping for a few hours. "Sirius wasn't happy when he found out someone entered me in the Tournament," Harry said in the same quite voice. "It didn't help that I wasn't exactly thinking clearly when I told him. I was hoping there was some way to get out of it."

"How were you able to talk to Sirius?" Hermione asked in confusion. "There aren't exactly any fireplaces out here."

Harry pulled out his mirror and handed it over to Hermione. "Sirius has the other," he said. "I just have to say his name and we can talk. Apparently Sirius and my dad used them quite a bit when they were in separate detentions."

Fred and George looked at the mirror eagerly. "Brilliant," said Fred in amazement. He then looked at Harry with a baffled look on his face. "Er—don't take this the wrong way, Harry, but why would you want to find a way out of the Tournament?" he asked.

Harry looked over at Fred in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?" he asked. "This Tournament was created for seventh year students, not fourth. I'm not ready for anything like this and even if I was, I wouldn't do it. I don't need the attention that comes with this. I don't want the attention that comes with this." He returned his eyes to the lake. "I think I'll just stay out here."

"You have to face everyone sooner or later, Harry," Hermione said gently as she handed the small mirror back to Harry. "We know you didn't put your name in the Goblet. You had no time. You were in the hospital wing. We believe you. That's all that matters."

Fred and George approached Harry and helped him to his feet. "Now, dear brother," George said with a smile and a wink. "It is our duty and privilege to prank anyone who gives you a hard time."

"Think of it as a trial run for our joke shop," Fred added. "You will be providing us test subjects—"

"—who need to be taught a lesson," George finished for his brother.

"At least you aren't testing your experiments on me anymore, I'm all for it," Ron said with a grin. "Let's go to lunch. I'm starving."

"Ron!" Hermione scolded. "I can't believe you can think of food at a time like this." Receiving only a helpless shrug from Ron, Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back to Harry. "So what happened last night? Diggory said you were pretty shaken up when we talked to him this morning. Does Dumbledore know who put your name in the Goblet?"

Harry shook his head as the group started walking back to the castle. He removed the heating charm from his cloak and shivered when the cold finally reached his body.Entering the castle, Harry couldn't help but feel relieved. Hermione and Ron believed him along with Fred, George and Ginny. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

They entered the Great Hall and sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table. Ron and Hermione tried to start several conversations but it was clear that the only thing that really was on everyone's minds was the Tournament. There was a large crowd at the Hufflepuff table around Cedric Diggory mostly consisting of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students. Everyone seemed to be hanging on Cedric's every word. Harry had to smile when Hermione let out a huff in annoyance. At least they were focusing on Cedric and not on him.

"Honestly, I can't believe some people," Hermione said. "How can they just fawn over him like this?"

"Fame is a fickle thing, Miss Granger," Fred said seriously earning snickers from George, Ginny and Ron. Even Hermione smiled slightly at the comment. After all, who knew better about how fickle fame was than the friends of the-boy-who-lived?

After lunch, Harry, Hermione and the Weasley siblings retreated to the Gryffindor Tower. Knowing that Harry wanted peace and quiet more than anything, Hermione and the Weasley siblings surrounded Harry at a table in the Gryffindor Common Room as they worked on their schoolwork. Several people tried to approach Harry and ask about the Tournament but the four Weasley siblings sent everyone away with a look while Hermione kept Harry focused on anything but those who tried to talk to Harry about being the fourth Champion.

By late afternoon, everyone knew to keep their distance from the table in the far corner of the Common Room. When Gryffindors had been denied the chance to question Harry most simply found a spot in the Common Room and worked on schoolwork while stealing glances at Harry hoping against hope for a chance to speak to him. Conversations were kept to whispers except for the occasional outcry in annoyance.

This was extremely irritating but Harry bit his tongue and tried to ignore it. He hated that people were treating him just like they had in his first year. He had thought those in his own house knew him well enough to know he hated attention. He didn't think he needed to resort to having the Weasley family serve as his bodyguards although it seemed to amuse Fred and George to no end.

Everyone was paying too much attention to Harry or their own schoolwork to notice the portrait entrance opening and two individuals entering the Common Room. No one saw how they scanned the room trying to find one individual out of the mass. They did notice a mass of red hair near the far corner and figured that was the best place to start.

"This is just sad," the voice of Sirius Black proclaimed loudly, getting everyone's attention. "It's Sunday afternoon and everyone is inside—in here, studying. Life at Hogwarts has certainly changed."

Everyone stared in shock. Sirius Black, the only man to escape Azkaban, godfather and guardian to Harry Potter was in their Common Room along with their former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin. "Yes, it's amazing how much can change in a year," Remus observed. "I can't seem to remember ever seeing such a sight."

"I think there may be a Dementor around or something," Sirius said thoughtfully, "because this has to be my worst fear: children studying willingly on the weekends. Next thing we know Snape is going to be running around the halls with a smile on his face…laughing…singing…dancing—"

"Aargh!" Remus shouted in disgust. "Sirius, stop that! You're going to give everyone nightmares." He shivered visibly. "Including me."

Sirius grinned as he enfolded his fingers and stretched out his arms in front of him. "Then my work is done," he said proudly then looked at the students who were watching them in amazement. "Now, do any of you know where my godson may be hiding?"

Harry closed his books and stood up. "I'm right here, Sirius," he said then carefully maneuvered around everyone to reach his guardians, desperately trying to hold back a smile. "You two really know how to make an entrance." Harry looked at Sirius with a raised eyebrow. "Snape singing and dancing? Could you think of anything less likely to happen or more traumatizing?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know stranger things have happened," he said then thought for a moment. "I can't think of anything right now but give me some time." Sirius looked at Harry closely, his recent good mood now gone from his face. "Are you free for a walk around the grounds?"

Harry nodded then left with his guardians, completely forgetting about the entire Common Room full of people had been watching them. The moment they stepped out of the Gryffindor Tower Harry found himself pulled into a fierce embrace by Sirius followed by another from Remus. Looking up at his guardians, Harry could see it on their faces. He still had to compete in the Tournament.

"What did Professor Dumbledore say?" Harry asked softly.

Remus let out a sigh as he put an arm around Harry's shoulders and started to walk down the hallway, silently implying for Harry and Sirius to keep up with him. "He apologized for not informing us about your outburst on Friday," he said softly. "Even though we don't agree with the way it was handled both Sirius and I agree that this is the best solution especially with you now in this Tournament. You are going to need to keep your head in these tasks and having your Magic acting up could be disastrous for you."

"We tried to get you out of the Tournament, Harry," Sirius added. "We really did but the binding magical contract is irreversible. Believe me when I tell you that Dumbledore knows he messed up. He knows there's someone here that is trying to hurt you. He's rechecking everyone that has arrived to find out who is the threat."

"What do you think of all this?" Harry asked softly. He couldn't help but wonder if something else had happened in Professor Dumbledore's office. Sirius was being a little too diplomatic. Sirius was never diplomatic. Remus was the diplomat. Remus was the calm one. Looking from one guardian to the other, Harry started to feel nervous. "What's going on?"

Sirius and Remus shared a quick glance. "Let's just say we're not exactly seeing eye to eye with Dumbledore right now," Remus said carefully. "We don't agree with Dumbledore forcing you to compete since you didn't enter your own name in the Goblet." Harry moved to object in Dumbledore's defense but Remus stopped him. "Yes, we know about the contract, Harry, but that doesn't mean we have to like it. Dumbledore assured us no one would be able to get past the protection he had put on the Goblet."

"And from what I've heard no one did," Harry assured Remus as they reached the moving staircases. "No one under the age of seventeen passed the age barrier. That was the restriction."

"Meaning anyone over the age of seventeen could have somehow confused the Goblet into accepting your name somehow," Sirius concluded. "That seems a rather complicated task for a seventh year to manage which leaves the adults. My key suspect is Karkaroff."

Harry shook his head as they descended down the stairs. "I don't think so," he countered. "Professor Karkaroff and Madam Maxime weren't happy about me competing in the slightest. Karkaroff even threatened to take Krum out of the Tournament. The only other adults that I saw were Crouch and Bagman but why would they enter me? It doesn't make sense."

"No, it doesn't," Remus agreed. "Bagman doesn't have the brains to even try to pull something like this off and Crouch wouldn't even dare do something like this especially with everything that's happened lately." Both Harry and Remus glanced at Sirius who was now being oddly quiet. It had been a large blow to the Ministry when Sirius had been declared innocent. Since he hadn't been given a trial, many questions had been raised to the treatment of those punished for Death Eater activities all those years ago. Questions that the Ministry really didn't want being asked which was why they had been so eager to give Sirius anything he wanted, included guardianship of Harry Potter.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and continued walking to the Entrance Hall. Students passing by gasped at the sight of Sirius Black walking by with Harry Potter. Sirius Black was almost as much of a celebrity as Harry. Many were curious how someone who had spent so much time in Azkaban could be a suitable guardian for a teenager, let alone Harry Potter.

Walking in silence until they stepped onto the grounds, Harry didn't like the tension he could almost feel from his guardians. It pained him to know that he was the reason they were like this. "I'm really sorry about this," Harry said softly. "I didn't mean to make you angry—"

Sirius suddenly stopped walking and pulled Harry into a one armed embrace. "Don't you even start," he warned. "This is not your fault Harry. We're not angry at you, not in the slightest. We both know this is a lot to take on, especially with you being three years younger than the other competitors. All of this pressure is the last thing you need right now."

They spent the remaining time until dinner just talking about nothing in particular. Sirius and Remus had even admitted disinfecting the Black House was more of an obstacle than they had originally thought. Apparently Kreacher had done everything except clean for the past twelve years. Harry just listened, relieved for the distraction they provided. For a short while, everything felt normal.

Sirius and Remus had bid goodbye just as dinner was starting but not before overloading Harry with advice. They promised to be there for the first task at the end of November to support him and also warned him about the press. Having the-boy-who-lived in the Tournament was bound to be big news, worrying the two Marauders that Harry would be used as a ploy to sell papers. Harry promised that he wouldn't talk to any reporters without them there which eased the worries of the two men. They knew Harry wasn't ready for how cruel the press could actually be.

The next few days were certainly uncomfortable for Harry. He was rarely left alone which prevented many from approaching but didn't stop everyone from staring. It seemed like the Gryffindors could care less whether Harry entered himself or not. They were just overjoyed someone from Gryffindor was in the Tournament. The Hufflepuffs were clearly divided. Cedric Diggory was a part of the Hufflepuffs who were sympathetic to Harry's situation, bringing a lot of his house with him. There were some, however, that thought Cedric was being too forgiving since this had been a chance for the Hufflepuff house to bask in the lime-light that was usually given to the Gryffindor or Slytherin houses.

The Ravenclaw house was also split but weren't as visible about it. The only house that was extremely vocal about Harry being in the Tournament was the Slytherin house. Draco Malfoy wasted no time before he started taunting Harry about how dangerous the tasks would be. Harry didn't say anything since he knew it was the truth. That was the entire reason the age restriction had been established in the first place.

Unable to handle the stares and whispers any more than he absolutely had to, Harry ended up spending the majority of his free time in the library. He worked through his homework only to then dive into other books on charms, spells, hexes…anything that could possibly help him with this Tournament. He knew he would need all the help he could get.

By the time double Potions arrived on Friday afternoon, Harry was desperate for a weekend in solitary. Malfoy had to add to the aggravation by promptly displaying his new invention along with his housemates. All of the Slytherins wore large badges on their robes that lit up with the phrase: Support Cedric Diggory, the REAL Hogwarts Champion. Harry immediately turned away and stared out the window. He needed a vacation.

The next thing Harry knew Ron attacked Malfoy. Returning his attention to the situation, Harry noticed everyone's badges were now lit up with 'Potter Stinks' instead of their original phrase. Harry quickly helped Hermione pull Ron away from Malfoy and held him tightly, waiting for Ron to calm down. Without warning a shot of light flew past Harry and Ron, hitting Hermione.

Harry and Ron quickly turned to Hermione who was clutching her mouth. Without thinking, Harry pulled out his wand and quickly disabled the jinx. Moving Hermione away from the crowd, Harry slowly pried Hermione's hands away from her mouth and took a look. He could only bite his lip when he saw Hermione's front teeth had grown to look more like a beaver's than a human's. Hermione reached up and felt her new teeth as tears filled her eyes.

"We should take her to Madam Pomfrey," Ron muttered from where he was standing behind Harry.

Looking over his shoulder, Harry could see that Ron felt guilty for starting the fight and knew it was partially his fault too since Ron had been defending him. "You're right," Harry said then returned his attention to Hermione. "Do you want us to go with you Hermione? All you have to do is nod and we'll stay by your side no matter how long it takes for Madam Pomfrey to fix it."

Hermione stopped crying as she looked from Harry to Ron. Even with covering her mouth, Harry and Ron could see that she was smiling at the gesture. She shook her head and moved to leave but stopped at looked at her friends again.

"We know," Ron said tiredly. "Take notes and tell Snape where you went. We'll take care of it, Hermione."

Hermione left quickly as Professor Snape arrived. Harry stayed back as everyone entered the classroom so he was the last one. The moment he reached Professor Snape, Harry took a deep breath and faced the Potions Master. "Professor, Hermione was hit with a jinx and needed to go to the hospital wing," he said as brave as he could muster. "If she could make up the work—"

"—I'm certain she will find me," Professor Snape interrupted. "Now move along, Potter."

Knowing better than to argue, Harry did as he was told and sat down next to Ron. They began their work on antidotes, Harry and Ron taking as many notes as possible for Hermione. They both knew she would be extremely upset if they didn't document everything no matter how small the detail may be. Everyone had just started gathering their supplies to brew when there was a knock on the dungeon door. Harry was too focused on making his potion correctly to notice.

Professor Snape did notice and wasn't too happy about it. "Yes, Mr. Creevey?" he said coolly.

"Er—Harry's needed upstairs," Colin said nervously. "Mr. Bagman wants to see him and the rest of the champions."

Harry bit back a groan of annoyance as he heard this. Couldn't he get away from the blasted Tournament for just one hour? Was that too much to ask? He gripped the table tightly, causing his hands to shake. Everyone took a step back in alarm as their cauldrons started to shake uncontrollably. Closing his eyes, Harry tried to push away his anger. Getting angry wasn't going to help anything. Destroying everyone's antidote wasn't going to help anything either.

The cauldrons stopped moving causing the entire room glanced at Professor Snape nervously. No one knew what to do now…at least until Snape glared at everyone and they immediately got back to work. It wasn't like Snape would answer any questions they had about what just happened anyways.

Slowly opening his eyes, Harry noticed Professor Snape was now standing to his right and looking at him out of the corner of his eye before returning his attention to Colin. Harry let out a sigh as he subconsciously reached up and felt his necklace that was hidden underneath his collared shirt. He had thought Dumbledore had taken care of this. That was why he had to wear this necklace all the time.

"Potter, pack up your things," Professor Snape said coldly. "I will see you and Miss Granger later to make up the time you both have missed."

Harry nodded then packed up his things, muttered an apology to Ron and left the dungeon. He followed Colin into the Entrance Hall and down the hallway to a small classroom. Colin had tried to start a few conversations but Harry was too deep in his own thoughts to reply. He needed to talk to Professor Dumbledore. He needed to find out what in the world was going on.

Inhaling deeply, Harry knocked on the closed door then slowly opened it. He poked his head inside to see that there was a large open space in the middle of the room with five chairs placed neatly in a row. Ludo Bagman sat in one as he talked to a woman in deep red robes that Harry didn't recognize. Viktor Krum was leaning against one of the desks by himself while Cedric and Fleur talked quietly to each other.

Bagman was the first to notice Harry and quickly stood up. "Come in, Harry," he said cheerfully. "Once the rest of the judges arrive we'll being the Wand Weighing ceremony. Your wand is checked to make sure there are no problems since you'll need it in the upcoming tasks. Dumbledore is upstairs with the expert. We will then have a small photo shoot." Bagman then looked over at the witch he had been taking to before. "This is Rita Skeeter, a reporter for the Daily Prophet. She will be writing a small piece on the Tournament."

Rita Skeeter looked directly at Harry. Her complex curly hair didn't seem to suit her face or the shiny eyeglasses she wore. "The size hasn't been determined yet, Ludo," said Rita. "Perhaps I could have a small interview with Harry."

"I'm sorry, ma'am," Harry said politely suddenly glad that Sirius and Remus had warned him about reporters. "I'm not allowed to talk to the press without one of my guardians present."

Rita Skeeter frowned for a moment but quickly recovered. "I won't mention it if you won't," she offered.

"Miss Skeeter," Cedric said as he walked over to Harry's side. "Harry said no. If you want to interview him so badly then maybe you should ask his guardians for permission." He glanced over at Harry and winked before returning his gaze to Rita Skeeter. "That is, of course, unless you're afraid of Sirius Black. You're not afraid of him, are you?"

Evidently Rita Skeeter was afraid of Sirius because she backed off immediately. Cedric pulled Harry over so they both were standing by Fleur. They didn't have to wait long for Professor Dumbledore to arrive followed by Professor Karkaroff, Madam Maxime, Mr. Crouch and Mr. Ollivander. Harry had to assume that Mr. Ollivander was doing the actual Wand Weighing since he had bought his wand from him in Diagon Alley just over three years ago. Rita Skeeter took a seat as she pulled a roll of parchment and a quill that immediately started to write on its own.

Professor Dumbledore motioned for the champions to sit down. Once they complied, Dumbledore looked over his shoulder at Mr. Ollivander and nodded. "Lady and gentlemen, this is Mr. Ollivander," Dumbledore said pleasantly. "He will be the one checking you wands. If you could pull your wands out, we shall begin."

Fleur's wand was first, rosewood, nine and a half inches with a hair from a Veela as the core. Harry fought to keep his mouth from dropping. So Fleur was part Veela. Cedric was next, ash, twelve and a quarter inches with a unicorn hair as the core. Viktor followed. His wand was ten and a quarter inches with hornbeam and dragon heartstring as the core. Which left Harry for last.

With a flick of his right wrist, Harry had his wand in hand. Ever since Remus had given him a wand wrist holster for last Christmas, Harry never had in wand any place else. Sirius had also taught Harry proper wand care this summer which was a good thing or his wand would not look presentable at all. Harry handed over his wand and jumped back when Mr. Ollivander gasped in shock and dropped it quickly.

Everyone crowded around to see what had happened as Mr. Ollivander looked at Harry with an impressed look on his face. "You have begun to personalize your wand, Mr. Potter," the wand maker said. "Quite remarkable. Most don't even begin such a task until they are out of school. Eventually, only you will be allowed to even touch your wand without feeling any pain."

Harry looked nervously at Professor Dumbledore for help. He wasn't aware of doing anything like that. He had just been using it a lot during the past two summers. "I'm sorry, sir," Harry said to Mr. Ollivander. "I—er—I didn't know."

Professor Dumbledore knelt down and picked up the wand with ease. "There's nothing to apologize for, Harry," he said pleasantly. He waved his free hand over the wand then handed it to Mr. Ollivander.

Harry couldn't help but remember the day he had first entered Mr. Ollivander's shop and had been given the eleven inches long, holly wand with a phoenix feather as the core, the same core that was in Lord Voldemort's wand. Harry held back a shiver at the thought. He really didn't want to share anything with Voldemort. He could only imagine what people would say if Rita Skeeter published that little piece of information.

With the Wand Weighing ceremony over, everyone lined up for a few photographs then were dismissed. Harry declined the offer for individual shots and left as soon as he could. The moment he stepped out of the room Harry couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. He had survived but he had hated every minute of it. He had hated Rita Skeeter trying to signal him out and somehow Harry knew this was only the beginning.