Hiya! I'm back! And this chapter will start another short saga in itself, too. But this saga'll only go for three chapters, and it's super subtle in one of them. Or, I hope it will be; that's what I'm aiming for…
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Tina left the castle together on Saturday and set off through the cold, wet grounds toward the gates. As they passed the Durmstrang ship moored in the lake, they saw Viktor Krum emerge onto the deck, dressed in nothing but swimming trunks. He was very skinny indeed, but apparently a lot tougher than he looked, because he climbed up onto the side of the ship, stretched out his arms, and dived, right into the lake.
"He's mad!" said Harry, staring at Krum's dark head as it bobbed out into the middle of the lake. "It must be freezing, it's January!"
"It's a lot colder where he comes from," said Hermione. "I suppose it feels quite warm to him."
"Yeah, but it's loads warmer where I come from," said Tina, wrapping her cloak tighter around herself. "And I don't mean Massachusetts."
"And there's still the giant squid," said Ron. He didn't sound anxious — if anything, he sounded hopeful. Hermione noticed his tone of voice and frowned.
"He's really nice, you know," she said. "He's not at all like you'd think, coming from Durmstrang. He likes it much better here, he told me."
Ron said nothing. He hadn't mentioned Viktor Krum since the ball, but Harry had found a miniature arm under his bed on Boxing Day, which had looked very much as though it t had been snapped off a small model figure wearing Bulgarian Quidditch robes. According to Tina, she and Hermione had talked about the argument at the ball a little, and Hermione was in no way damaged by what Ron had said. She had, however, asked that Tina and Harry serve as liaisons between her and Ron to find out why he had acted the way he had, but as Ron refused to bring up the subject, this had proved impossible.
Harry kept his eyes skinned for a sign of Hagrid all the way down the slushy High Street, and suggested a visit to the Three Broomsticks once he had ascertained that Hagrid was not in any of the shops.
The pub was as crowded as ever, but one quick look around at all the tables told Harry that Hagrid wasn't there. Heart sinking, he went up to the bar with Ron, Hermione and Tina, ordered four butterbeers from Madam Rosmerta, and thought gloomily that he might just as well have stayed behind and listened to the egg wailing after all. Tina gave her butterbeer to Hermione and broke off from the group temporarily to visit with Terry Boot and his friends.
Switching POVs here. Sorry, guys! I had hoped I'd never do this in a story because it'd get confusing, but there's like, a four page conversation between Harry and Ludo Bagman here, so I didn't want to put that in for no reason; there's absolutely no place for Tina in there, not even for Ron or Hermione for that matter. So, you can see this little visit with Terry through Tina, then I'll be switching back to canon.
"One sec" Tina mouthed, handing Hermione her butterbeer. She pushed her way through the crowd (in an overly aggressive manner, which she had learned parted crowds easily) to where Terry and many of his friends from the ball were seated.
"Hey," she said brightly. They greeted her in turn. Tina noticed that Ginny also seated amongst the group, next to Michael Corner no less. What's more, his partner from the ball, Mandy Brocklehurst, looked rather sour and kept glaring at Ginny out of the corner of her eye.
"Hi Tina," said Terry, looking mildly surprised. "I thought you couldn't come. Didn't you have homework?"
"Well, I did," said Tina truthfully. "But, I decided I'm much better off getting fuel to help me through the nightly workload than I am sitting alone in the common room waiting for my books to mean something."
Everyone chuckled, and Mandy Brocklehurst gave a particularly loud snort.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know," said Terry, smiling guiltily. "If I had I wouldn't've made plans."
"Oh, no that's fine!" said Tina, shaking her head profusely. "I knew you would. I just decided I'd drop by to say hi before I go sit with my friends."
Ginny rolled her eyes as she looked back at Hermione and Ron, the latter of whom was trying in vain to wipe a large amount of butterbeer off the front of his robes.
"Interesting friends you've got," said Lisa Turpin, her eyes narrowed in the direction of Ron's spill. Tina raised her eyebrows and saw Ginny do the same. Before she could utter a word, Ginny had stood up.
"That 'interesting' friend of hers happens to be my brother," she said coolly, causing Lisa to turn a magnificent shade of crimson. Lisa didn't speak again.
"Um…right," said Tina, hoping to change the subject. "So, I see you guys went to Zonko's, eh?"
Anthony Goldstein nodded and grinned, opening the bag to reveal a large number of stink pellets and several of the brand-new Snapping Socks that the store had introduced, which began to bite their owners if their feet smelled too bad. Terry himself had a pack of these which he proudly unsheathed from the bag, and series of Filibuster Fireworks as well.
"For my brother," he said innocently, but no one at the table seemed to believe him as his brother was two.
"All right," said Tina as Mandy returned to glaring at Michael and Ginny. "I better go, my friends'll be wondering where I am. Bye Terry, bye Gin, see you guys later!"
With that, she jostled her way back through the crowd and to the table where Ron and Hermione sat waiting.
"Where's Harry?" Tina asked.
"Bagman wanted a word with him," said Hermione, looking disapproving. "I'll bet he's offering to help Harry again or something like that…and in any case he really shouldn't spend so much time away from work to be sitting with goblins and schoolboys in pubs…"
Ron rolled his eyes and Tina stifled a giggle. She didn't know who to agree with; she liked Bagman, but like Hermione felt that he paid little attention to his work.
"Ah, well, he's leaving now," she said, peering over the many heads in the pub. "And there's Harry!"
Right. Back to Harry, then.
"What did he want?" Ron said, the moment Harry had sat down.
"He offered me help with the golden egg," said Harry. Tina gave him a dismal look then, threw her head onto the table. Harry found out why in a moment.
""He shouldn't be doing that!" said Hermione, looking very shocked. (Tina began banging her head on the table) "He's one of the judges! And anyway, you've already worked it out — haven't you?"
"Er..nearly," said Harry. Tina lifted her head to raise her eyebrows at him.
"Well, I don't think Dumbledore would like it if he knew Bagman was trying to persuade you to cheat!" said Hermione, still looking deeply disapproving. "I hope he's trying to help Cedric as much!"
"He's not, I asked," said Harry. Tina resumed her banging, though it wasn't hard enough to be worthy of that name.
"Who cares if Diggory's getting help?" said Ron. Harry privately agreed.
"Does it really matter?" said Tina, sounding annoyed as she lifted her head. Her hair was rather ruffled, but the region above her eyebrows wasn't damaged in the least bit. "Even if Bagman didn't offer him help, Harry's not the kind of person who'll accept the offer to cheat."
Ron looked slightly put out that Harry hadn't taken advantage of Cedric's ignorance and Hermione nodded pointedly.
"Those goblins didn't look very friendly," she said, sipping her butterbeer. "What were they doing here?"
"Looking for Crouch, according to Bagman," said Harry. "He's stilli ill. Hasn't been into work."
"Maybe Percy's poisoning him," said Ron. Tina rolled her eyes. "Probably thinks if Crouch snuffs it he'll be made head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation."
Hermione gave Rona don't-joke-about-things-like-that look, and said, "Funny, goblins looking for Mr. Crouch….They'd normally deal with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."
"Not necessarily," said Tina. "They run Gringotts, so they could deal with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement if someone broke in or something."
"Crouch can speak loads of different languages, though," said Harry. "Maybe they need an interpreter"
"Worrying bout poor 'ickle goblins, now, are you?" Ron asked Hermione. "Thinking of starting up S.P.U.G. or something? Society for the Protection of Ugly Goblins?"
Tina snorted. "Ha, ha, ha," said Hermione sarcastically, casting her friend a disapproving glance. "Goblins don't need protection. Haven't you been listening to what Professor Binns has been telling us about goblin rebellions?"
"No," said the other three together.
"I can't retain History," said Tina. "Potions, sure. Charms, fine. History? No. Anyway, what about the goblins?"
"Well, they're quite capable of dealing with wizards," said Hermione, taking another sip of butterbeer. "They're very clever. They're not like house-elves, who never stick up for themselves."
"Uh-oh," said Ron, staring at the door.
Rita Skeeter had just entered. She was wearing banana-yellow robes today (Tina snorted yet again); her long nails were painted shocking pink, and she was accompanied by her paunchy photographer. She bought drinks, and she and the photographer made their way through the crowds to a table nearby, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Tina glaring at her as she approached. She was talking fast and looking very satisfied about something.
"…didn't seem very keen to talk to us, did he, Bozo? Now, why would that be, do you think? And what's he doing with a pack of goblins in tow anyway? Showing them the sights…what nonsense…he was always a bad liar. Reckon something's up? Think we should do a bit of digging? 'Disgraced Ex-Head of Magical Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman…' Snappy start to a sentence, Bozo — we just need to find a story to fit it in —"
"Trying to ruin someone else's life?" said Harry loudly.
"A few people looked around. Rita Skeeter's eyes widened behind her jeweled spectacles as she saw who had spoken.
"Harry!" she said, beaming. "How lovely! Why don't you come and join — ?"
"I wouldn't come near you with aten-foot broomstick," said Harry furiously. "What did you do that to Hagrid for, eh?"
Rita Skeeter raised her heavily penciled eyebrows.
"Our readers have a right to the truth, Harry. I am merely doing my —"
"Who cares if he's half-giant?" Harry shouted. "There's nothing wrong with him!"
The whole pub had gone very quiet. Madam Rosmerta was staring over from behind the bar, apparently oblivious to the fact that the flagon she was filling with mead was overflowing.
Rita Skeeter's smile flickered very slightly, but she hitched it back almost at once; she snapped open her crocodile-skin handbag, pulled out her Quick-Quotes Quill, and said, "How about giving me an interview about the Hagrid you know, Harry? The man behind the muscles? Your unlikely friendship and the reasons behind it. Would you call him a father substitute?"
Hermione stood up very abruptly, her butterbeer clutched in her hand as though it were a grenade.
"You horrible woman," she said, through gritted teeth, "you don't care, do you, anything for a story, and anyone will do, won't they? Even Ludo Bagman —"
"Sit down, you silly little girl, and don't talk about things you don't' understand," said Rita Skeeter coldly, her eyes hardening as they fell on Hermione. "I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl..not that it needs it —" she added, eyeing Hermione's bushy hair.
"Stop right there," said Tina, standing up just as suddenly as Hermione had. "You know what? I've had enough of you. You and your…your twisted little stories…your hideous clothes…your quill…and your complete and total disregard for other people. Now I only want to have to say this once: Stay away from my friends."
Tina said this all very calmly, though she was shaking slightly. Then, smiling innocently, she lifted her flagon of butterbeer above Rita Skeeter's head and tipped it over.
Several people gasped, while others laughed and clapped; Rita was dripping in the liquid that matched her robes and everything from her hair to her quill was soaked. (Tina hadn't drunk any of her butterbeer) She looked utterly shocked as she examined herself then looked back at Tina. Tina merely smiled wickedly and handed her empty flagon to the photographer, Bozo.
"Enjoy," she said.
"How dare you…" began Rita, her false cheeriness lost. "You cheeky little brat! You mark my words, I'll get you…both of you," she jerked her head at Hermione. "You're meddlesome miscreants, you two girls, and you're going to pay for it."
"Let's go," said Hermione, who was still fuming, "c'mon, Harry — Ron…"
She grabbed Harry by the arm and Tina seized Ron and they left; many people were staring at them as they went. Harry glanced back as they reached the door. Rita Skeeter's Quick-Quotes Quill was out and it was dry; it was zooming backward and forward over a piece of parchment on the table.
Tina looked somewhat calmer and rather pleased with herself, though was still slightly pink from her brief spell of anger. Hermione, while looking triumphant nonetheless at Tina's revenge, still looked furious.
"She'll be after you two next," said Ron in a low and worried voice as they walked quickly back up the street.
"Let her try!" said Hermione defiantly; she was shaking with rage. "I'll show her! Silly little girl, am I? Meddlesome miscreants, are we? Oh, I'll get her back for this. First Harry, then Hagrid…"
"I swear," muttered Tina. "If she tries anything else...I'll dump more than butterbeer on her, that's for sure."
"You don't' want to go upsetting Rita Skeeter," said Ron nervously. "I'm serious, she'll dig up something on you —"
"Make up, more like," said Tina scornfully.
"My parents don't read the Daily Prophet. She can't scare me into hiding!" said Hermione, now striding along so fast with Tina that it was all Harry and Ron could do to keep up with her. The last time Harry had seen Hermione in a rage like this, she had hit Draco Malfoy around the face. So had Tina, come to think of it. The girls were more alike than they thought. "And Hagrid isn't hiding anymore!" continued Hermione. "He should never have let that excuse for a human being upset him! Come on!"
Breaking into a run, she led them all the way back up through the grounds to Hagrid's cabin.
Well, there's another chapter. I hope in these past two it doesn't seem like Tina just does whatever Hermione does, because that's just not true. They're best friends; they're a team, and they react similarly to certain situations. Well, they do in cases of people like Draco and Rita, for example, because those two are the same type of evil human beings. But in other cases, like when Harry and Ron were arguing, they choose different approaches.
Tekvah Ariel- Haha, that's interesting. I don't really hurt people in real life, but I've come pretty close. That's why I figured that people like Draco and Rita would piss me off so bad that I'd have to take action. 'Paki' is actually a really derogatory term for people from India or Pakistan. You probably haven't heard of it because it was used in the U.K. a long time ago and never came to America. Yeah, I know, I have trouble ending chapters sometimes. I just…don't know where to stop the story!
Venus725- Hehe! So glad I made your day! Are you kidding? How could you possibly NOT review well? All of your reviews to me have been nothing except for simply dripping with compliments! I can't thank you enough for that, believe me. Sirius and Umbridge are coming, don't worry. Oooh, the maze, that's a new idea. I like it. I don't know if I'll use it, but I don't think I've turned down a request to this day, so I'll have to give it a shot! It'll be really hard to capture the emotions, the panic, the mood…okay, that's it, I'll have to do it. Looking forward to the next chapter of your fic! I've gotten two of my friends into fanfiction since I started reading it in June, and one of them really likes stories about Draco and she's been following yours. Of course, she doesn't review anything, but I'm working on that…
Padfoot, Prongs and Moony- Thanks! I feel so special how in every review of yours to my other fic you requested that I update this one. No, I'm serious! It meant a lot, and here, I dedicate this chapter to you for your patience and eagerness to read my fic!
SmileGirlVMV- Hiya! Shh…I got the idea from Hermione's punch, but as you can see from my author notes, it was my own rendition very much so as well. I'm going to try to bring stuff for our project (J-Snizzle sent me a threatening E-mail) tomorrow, but don't' hurt me if I don't! By the way, are you going on the trip to Virginia? I can't wait till next Wednesday!
Flagstonejester- Haha, thanks for the compliment about my weird sense of humor. It is quite strange, but I love it!
Anandini77- You just love comparing me to Hermione, don't you? Not that I mind, but I never noticed the comparisons that you point out before you point them out to me. When are you going to post your fic???? I'll give you free advertising, and I'm going to have to read all the fics on your favorites lists and whatnot when you get to them!