Unspoken Chapter 29: Daily Prophet versus Quibbler, a harry potter fanfic

Unspoken
by Teddylonglong

Please refer to chapter 1 for my disclaimer and warnings. Thank you.

As soon as the Howler, which had shouted at the headmaster in a voice unknown to all students but Harry and very few of the professors, who were Unspeakables, stopped, Dumbledore rose from his seat.

"While I do not condone your actions in this matter, I promise you now that you're going to have your usual Quidditch tournament. The heads of the houses will decide on the respective captains tomorrow."

The applause was tremendous, and Dumbledore waited for a moment, before he explained everything about the so-called Triwizard tournament.

Harry had already heard everything about the upcoming tournament from his Unspeakable colleagues, and he was not pleased at all. 'I just only want a quiet, peaceful school year,' he thought in annoyance. 'Oh well, at least I won't have anything to do with it, as it only concerns the seventh-years. I'll only have to go and watch the three tasks, which might be fun. As long as we can still have our Quidditch tournament, I don't really care.'

Less than two months later, however, he should realise that he very well cared, when the Goblet of Fire spat out his name as a fourth champion.

"Harry Potter." Dumbledore looked up from the parchment staring at him in obvious displeasure.

Harry rose from where he was sitting at the Slytherin table and turned to view the headmaster, as he raised his wand. "I swear on my magic that I neither put my name into the goblet nor asked anyone to do so on my behalf."

"Nevertheless, you'll have to participate in the tournament," one of the ministry employees, who were organising the tournament, informed him, "because a magical contract has been made between you and the goblet."

Harry stared at the man in bewilderment. "Excuse me, sir, but which part of I did not put my name in did you not understand?"

'Harry,' Artemis caught his attention. 'We Unspeakables will try to find out what happened, but nevertheless, it might be safer for you to participate. If there is a magical contract and you don't fulfil it, you might lose your magic or even worse.'

Nodding in understanding, Harry slowly made his way to the antechamber, where the other champions were waiting.

He absentmindedly listened to the discussion between the adults, while he led an intense conversation with his wife. The headmistress of Beauxbatons and the headmaster of Durmstrang were understandably upset by the fact that Hogwarts had now two champions. Harry felt upset as well, however, on the other hand, Connie told him matter-of-factly that he would not have to worry about anything considering his experience in all possible kinds of magic. 'You have more experience than any of them. I'm at your home right now and told everyone about it. Rebecca said that you don't have to worry. You're going to win the tournament.'

Harry frowned. 'I don't want to win. I merely wish to get over with it unscanned.'

'You will,' Connie promised, sounding as pleasant as always. 'I want you to take the elixir though, just in case.'

'The elixir? But that would be cheating.'

'Cheating death? Who cares?'

Harry remained pensive for a moment before deciding, 'In that case, I shall make a dose for each of us, which means that I'll have to brew twelve doses.'

'I'll assist.' Connie sounded as pleasant as usual.

Harry inwardly grinned upon hearing that he was exempt from classes for the whole school year. 'Oh, that's cool,' he thought happily. 'More time for research besides assisting Severus.'

'Harry, will you still study together with your friends and me?'

'Of course,' Harry agreed, not wanting to miss a minute that he could spend with her.

Once again, however, she managed to shock him to the core with her next comment. 'That's good, because I need to take my OWLs next summer. Will you join me?'

'You what?' Harry thought back in bewilderment, which had to have shown on his face, as Dumbledore addressed him in his soft, grandfatherly voice.

"Mr. Potter, do you have any further questions?"

"No sir. Oh well, I mean, yes sir. Who in the world put my name into the goblet? As the headmaster, you seem to know everything that occurs in your school; so, will you please enlighten me?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "That my dear boy I do not know."

'Sorry, Connie, Dumbledore distracted me. What was that about the OWLs?'

'I'll tell you tomorrow. I'm going to bed now. Good night, Harry, and don't worry about the stupid tournament. It won't be a problem for you.'

'How will she be able to take her OWLs without magic? While that worked in Potions, I won't be able to do her work in the other practical exams,' he wondered. Shaking his head in annoyance at the headmaster, who did not only have no solution to the goblet's choices but had also interrupted his conversation with his wife, Harry left the antechamber after everyone else and was immediately cornered by Cedric.

"Shall we head to the kitchens and have a drink, just us, the four champions?"

Seeing Fleur and Viktor nod their consent, Harry agreed as well. 'Viktor was my opponent in the final of the Quidditch world cup,' he thought in amusement. 'Too bad that I can't speak with him about it. On the other hand, maybe it's good, because he might resent me for it.'

Harry had always liked Cedric, although he was the Hufflepuff Seeker and as such his direct opponent once a year; however, he noticed soon that he could get along with Fleur and Viktor equally well. Viktor seemed to be very proud, while Fleur appeared slightly uncertain, as she apologised that her English was not good.

"There's nothing wrong with your English." Harry smiled, reassuringly.

"Ah, 'Arry, you are so sweet."

The four champions agreed that while they were supposed to be rivals in the tournament, they were going to work together and support each other as much as possible, and when Harry finally returned to his dormitory, he felt very much reassured that the other three champions were not blaming him for suddenly being in the tournament as another champion for Hogwarts.

Once he was in bed, a sudden thought crossed his mind, and he popped into his suitcase. He penned an article about the Goblet of Fire and its choices, deeply regretting that neither Connie nor Hermione were there to help him. It took him a long time to compose the article, and when he was finally contented with it, he slid back in time a few hours. Pulling his Unspeakable robes over his pyjamas, he popped right in front of the Lovegoods' house.

Luna's father motioned him inside and quietly read through the article, before he cast him a sharp look.

"The goblet has chosen you as a fourth champion, although you're not even of age yet?" His voice was laced with apparent disbelief.

Considering the oath that Lovegood had sworn him, Harry smirked. "No one at Hogwarts but very few friends know this, but due to my connection to Connie, magic considers me as an adult. Please do not mention this to anyone."

Lovegood shook his head. "Of course not. I will print your article as it is if you don't mind." He glanced at his wrist watch. "If I begin working on it right now, I'll manage to send out a morning edition tomorrow. Thank you so very much."

"You're welcome, sir. I am glad that you are willing to post nothing but the truth. I appreciate it very much."

Much to Harry's amusement, the Daily Prophet had not been able to catch up with the events of the previous night yet, and the news was only on the front page of the Quibbler.

Dumbledore frowned upon looking at the newspaper in Minerva's hand. "How did the Quibbler get the information so quickly?"

Minerva returned a glance of feigned surprise. "How would I know that, Albus?"

The edges of her mouth pulled barely noticeably upwards, when her gaze met Harry's a moment later.

Harry grinned, resolving to fight the headmaster where it concerned the press.

The opportunity should arise soon. One day at breakfast, Salazar as his head of house informed him that the ceremony of the weighing of the wands was going to take place at ten o'clock in the morning. "All champions are required to attend."

Harry nodded in understanding. "Thanks for the information, Professor. I shall be there."

'Mr. Lovegood, this is Harry Potter speaking. The weighing of the wands ceremony will take place at Hogwarts at ten o'clock this morning. I hope that you can manage to participate.'

While the older wizard was not able to reply, he was already present when Harry arrived one minute before ten o'clock. 'Hello Mr. Lovegood, sorry, but I must keep up appearances in front of the headmaster,' he addressed the older wizard, before he stepped in front of him.

"Mr. Lovegood?"

"Yes, I am Xenophilius Lovegood, the editor of the Quibbler. Thank you, Mr. Potter, for inviting me here."

"Harry, what does this mean?" Dumbledore cast him a glare of pure irritation. "We solely give our information to the Daily Prophet."

"I am sorry, sir, but upon Unspeakable Paws' request, I only give information to the Quibbler."

Dumbledore shook his head in annoyance, muttering something under his breath about all mighty Unspeakables, before he motioned Mr. Ollivander to begin with the ceremony.

Harry knew that the man was the wandmaker, from where he had bought his official wand, which he had, however, not used but a few times to keep up appearances at school. Therefore, he handed over that specific wand instead of the wand, which he had made himself and used in general.

The wand maker seemed happy to recognise one of his own products. He inspected the wand from all angles, measured it and finally returned it to Harry. "Very well kept, Mr. Potter. Your wand is in an excellent condition, almost as good as new."

"Thank you, sir."

"Mr. Potter, may I ask for an exclusive interview?" A witch in a green one-piece addressed him, causing Harry to stare at her in surprise.

"No, Madam. I will give my interview to Mr. Lovegood."

Harry noticed soon that he seemed to have made himself an enemy. The Quibbler's front page the following morning showed a photograph of all four champions talking animatedly with each other as well as an article approved by Harry.

The Daily Prophet however, showed a photograph taken from an angle that made Harry look much smaller than the others, and the article was about a small boy, who had the urge to prove himself in a deadly tournament to make up for his loneliness due to his parents' early deaths.

"What a bitch," Harry uttered, feeling completely taken aback by the article in the Daily Prophet. It was signed by Rita Skeeter.

Suddenly, Salazar rose from his chair. "Headmaster, as the owner of Hogwarts, I forbid any reporters from the Daily Prophet to access the Hogwarts grounds. Only the editor of the Quibbler will be allowed to enter our grounds and report about any events taking place at Hogwarts.

Dumbledore stood as well. "Professor Slytherin, you might not know this…"

"Albus!" Minerva spoke up in a strict voice. "You have heard what Salazar decided, and frankly speaking, I fully agree with him. After the slander about Mr. Potter, Ms. Skeeter does not deserve better."

When everyone else headed to their morning classes, Harry went to the office of the Daily Prophet.

"I am Unspeakable Paws, and I wish to speak with the editor of the newspaper," he told the lady at the reception.

The young woman skimmed a muggle calendar. "Do you have an appointment?"

"I don't believe that I need an appointment. I am here in my position as the regent of the ancient and noble House of Potter. I case you are not aware of it, House Potter owns thirty percent of the shares of the Daily Prophet."

"One moment please," the woman all but squeaked and slightly opened the door behind her desk.

An instant later, she beckoned him to the office. "Mr. Edwards wishes to speak with you."

Harry swiftly entered the office and politely greeted the editor and introduced himself.

He took the offered seat letting out a deep sigh, before he began to speak in a no-nonsense voice.

"As the regent of House Potter, I demand an official apology from Miss Skeeter towards Harry Potter, the heir of the ancient and noble House of Potter because of her article that was laced with slander about the boy."

"Excuse me, sir, but what article are you talking about?"

"The article about the wand weighing ceremony at Hogwarts." He handed the editor a copy of the front pages of that morning's Daily Prophet as well as the Quibbler. "Everything that is written in the Quibbler is the truth by the way. I expect Miss Skeeter's apology on the front page of tomorrow morning's edition."

The editor nodded in apparent understanding. Apparently, he was acquainted with the influence of House Potter, and Unspeakable Paws was well known all over the magical world as well. "I shall see what I can do."

"Thank you, sir," Harry replied, before he took his leave.

At breakfast the following morning, everyone skimmed the front page of the Daily Prophet in obvious amusement. Half of the front page was occupied by an apology from the newspaper to Harry Potter. It was written in bold letters and appeared absolutely sincere.

"I wonder who complained to them," Neville whispered, causing Draco to quirk an eyebrow at Harry.

"Unspeakable Paws?" he mouthed, causing Harry to cast him an amused smirk.

During the following weeks, Harry spent much of his class time at the Unspeakables' office, where he had extensive training with Devil, knowing that the Unspeakables' trainer was the best to teach him how to defend himself or even attack all possible kinds of beasts and evils.

While Dumbledore did not speak with him as much as once, Severus occasionally discussed the tournament with him, Minerva asked several times how he felt as a champion in the tournament in spite of being younger than everyone else and even Alastor Moody, who was the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor for the year, wished to know if he needed help.

The most efficient assistance he received, however, came from Artemis. As Mr. Filch, he had not failed to notice that four dragons had been brought onto the Hogwarts grounds and informed Harry about it.

'So, we're going to have to fight dragons, considering that there is one for each of us?'

'That's what it looks like,' his mentor agreed.

'All right. Thank you so very much for informing me about this.'

'You're very welcome, little one. Just be very careful. I know that you can do it.'

'I will.' Harry felt confident, considering that he still had three days to contemplate what to do and to possibly discuss the matter with Devil.

Not wanting the other champions to know that he was capable of telepathy, he cornered them during breakfast the following morning and asked them to meet him on the grounds right after the meal.

To his relief, everyone followed his invitation, and he quickly cast a series of strong charms around them, so that no one would hear, see or even somehow notice them.

"Apparently, our obstacle for the first task will be dragons," he swiftly informed the other champions.

"Vhy do you know that?" Viktor cast him a sharp look.

"Someone saw them on the grounds and was nice enough to tell me." Harry smiled.

"'Arry, are you sure? Ze dragons are very dangerous." Fleur looked at him in apparent irritation.

Harry nodded. "The friend who told me is absolutely trustworthy. At least, we have three days to figure out how to fight them. In the worst case, we could always summon a broom and outfly them."

He pulled four small phials out of his robe pocket holding them out to his new friends.

"What is zis?" Fleur cast him a questioning look, while Viktor looked suspicious and Cedric rather curious.

"This is something to keep us safe." He let out a deep sigh. "Sorry, but are you willing to swear me a wizard's oath to keep my secrets?"

Cedric nodded and was the first to swear his oath. Fleur followed swiftly, before she turned to Viktor.

"Come on, Viktor. Swear ze oaz to 'Arry, so zat 'e can tell us all."

Viktor reluctantly agreed, and Harry sighed in relief.

"Thank you very much. In fact, I am an Unspeakable and have been since the age of five. This here is an enhanced version of the Elixir of Live. I don't know if you've heard about the Philosopher's stone made by Nicholas Flamel. He is one of my mentors."

"Nicholas Flamel?" Fleur stared at him in obvious excitement. "I know 'im. 'E was in Beauxbatons."

"Yes, he and his wife Perenelle studied in Beauxbatons. Anyway, the usual elixir only prevents someone from dying a natural death. This enhanced elixir prevents one from being killed. Therefore, I suggest that we all take it to at least survive this tournament."

"Thank you, Harry. Thank you so very much. It means a lot me knowing that I won't perish in the tournament."

"I agree. Zank you very much, 'Arry."

Viktor seemed not convinced. "Are you sure that it vorks that vay?"

"Absolutely. I have saved peoples' life before," Harry admitted.

Together, they gulped down the orange liquid, before everyone handed their phials back to Harry, who swiftly pocketed them.

"'Arry, 'ow long will zis elixir last? For ze 'ole tournament?"

Harry shook his head. "No, it will only last for about a month. We should take another dose before each of the tasks."

They decided to keep the matter with the elixir to themselves and not discuss any further options of how to fight the dragons in the group, as each of them should come up with their own way to deal with the dragon. They merely profusely thanked Harry for informing them, for sharing his secret with them and making them take the elixir, before everyone went their way.

Cedric followed Harry into the castle. "Harry?" he whispered just before reaching the entrance doors. "Will you tell me your Unspeakable name? Might I have heard it before?"

Harry smirked, as he turned around to face the older boy. "You probably have. I am Unspeakable Paws."

Cedric's eyes widened in apparent shock. "That is you? Oh well, no wonder that Hufflepuff isn't able to win against Ravenclaw or Slytherin with a member of the Irish national team as their Seeker."

Harry grinned. "Remember to not speak about it with anyone."

"I know, Harry. Respect. Thanks for working together with us on the tournament. You wouldn't need our help. I suppose that you could simply win it just by yourself."

Harry shook his head. "Remember that I'm only fourteen."

Cedric nodded. "Do you intend to outfly the dragon as you suggested earlier?"

"No, I am going to use a different approach. That was merely a suggestion."

"So you don't mind if I use it?"

Harry grinned. "Of course not. You're a brilliant flyer, and it might work for you. Good luck anyway."

"Thanks Harry. Good luck to you, too."

Exactly one week after the first Quidditch match of the season, which Slytherin won against Gryffindor, the first task of the Triwizard tournament took place.

It was a bright, albeit cold day on this 24th of November, when Harry headed out onto the grounds together with Cedric. He noticed in surprise that his whole extended family including Connie was present occupying the first row of the spectator seats.

Unfortunately, he did not have time to greet his family, as Ludo Bagman ushered them into a small tent, where the headmistress and headmasters were waiting for them. Harry smiled upon realising that Salazar was present as well, apparently for his sake, as he immediately joined him, when the others stepped over to stand beside their students. 'Of course, Dumbledore has to stand by Cedric,' he thought. 'He's Hogwarts' real champion.'

Bagman, the overexcited ministry employee, greeted them and made them pull small dragon figurines out of a bag.

Harry inwardly rolled his eyes upon realising that he had drawn the Hungarian horntail, the most vicious of all four dragons.

Cedric was the first to head out to meet his dragon, and Harry once again wished him good luck, regretting that he was not allowed to watch and encourage the older boy.

After a while, which seemed very long to him, it was Harry's turn, and he slowly headed out to eye his dragon.

As soon as he came into the dragon's view, the dragon breathed a large flame of fire in his direction, and he quickly had to jump aside to not be hit by the flame. He immediately engaged his time slide ability and transitioned two seconds into the past. Before the dragon had even noticed him, he cast an enhanced Auguamenti spell drenching the dragon in water and stifling the flame, before he ever cast it. He repeated the process numerous times, enabling him to run and get the golden egg, before the dragon could even think about burning him.

Twenty minutes after leaving the tent, he finished his task completely unscathed and showed the golden egg to the jury.

'Well done, Harry. That was absolutely amazing,' Connie cheered, when Pomfrey ushered him into the medical tent.

"Please let me go. I'm fine." Harry glared at the healer, who merely rolled her eyes and ushered him into the bed next to those, in which the other champions were recovering from their ordeal.

"That will be my decision," she informed him and cast a series of spells at him, before she deemed him completely healthy and allowed Draco and Hermione to take him with them.

"Thank Merlin," Harry breathed, once they stepped outside to where Connie and several other members of his family were waiting for him.

A few minutes later, the other champions were released as well, and the jury announced the results of the first task.

Each of the three others had been at least slightly injured, so that neither of them received more than 80 points out of the 100 that were the maximum for the task.

Harry, however, received full marks from nine of the ten members of the jury. Only Karkaroff merely gave him 3 points for his performance stating that he had cheated by making himself invisible every now and then.

"That was skill, not a cheat," Sirius growled, before Severus reminded him that Harry had still received 93 points, which was fifteen more points than Cedric had received, who came into the second place.

Harry looked up in annoyance, when Bagman once more began to speak. "Well done, champions. It was important that you managed to get the golden egg, as it holds all the information that you will need for the second task."