8

Tests and interview…

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It was only a week later that both Harry and Daphne could find time to meet up in the room of requirement. In that time Harry had tested out Salazar's theory on parseltongue by using it on lizards in the forbidden forest and to his shock it had worked. It was a bit difficult for him to understand them but they understood him fine. It didn't go without saying that those tiny crawlers were also surprised to talk to a human.

For Harry it was quite an experience. Not only did he talk to them but he also asked them whether this ability of his would work on dragons and the lizards assured him positively on that. It was a weird feeling getting motivated by lizards instead of actual humans. Maybe anyone was better than Ron and Hermione or in general, the entire Gryffindor house, he had thought.

"You sounded pretty excited in the letter," Daphne said meeting Harry on the seventh floor. The two had resorted to using letters in order to decide their meeting time and places – whether it be the room of requirement or the chamber of secrets. It was much safer and more private than having to meet in the middle of the day, away from other people's eyes, to set a time or date for their next meeting.

Also, ever since visiting the secret chamber, Daphne had been telling him to have their meeting there because she needed to read those books left by Salazar. Harry, of course didn't have any problem with it. It was just very time consuming. Instead, he preferred meeting in the room of requirement. However, with those books in her possession Daphne's mood had lightened up a lot which was definitely a plus point for Harry as she didn't sound as grumpy and annoyed as before.

He showed her the line in the book of dragons that was written by Salazar. She read it as her eyes widened in surprise. She looked at him and Harry was smiling ear-to-ear. "I'm guessing that you smiling means it worked," she said.

He nodded. "I tried it on a few lizards in the forbidden forest and had quite a conversation with them," he said. "They were really excited to have a whisperer to talk to."

"Whisperer?" she asked sounding confused.

"Oh, that's what they call whoever can speak parseltongue," Harry said. "The weirdest thing was that they told me that my ability to speak their tongue made them my allies. I met one of the lounges and was told by them that I could even request for them to be my eyes and ears in the forest. Can you believe that?"

"After seeing the secret chamber and the dead basilisk…I would believe anything that comes out of your mouth," Daphne said deadpanned. She said it in all honesty. Ever since she had started meeting with Harry she had discovered the room of requirement, the chamber of secrets, Salazar's pet monster – which was now dead – and his personal collection of books, most of which he had written himself. The adventure just kept coming and now he was telling her that he had apparently befriended a couple of lizards at the forbidden forest who had offered to be his spies.

What were the odds of that happening?

It was ridiculous and while Harry seemed surprised by this as well, he wasn't shocked. He definitely didn't have a normal life like other people. Trouble and adventure just happened to find him and it wasn't the other way around.

"Daphne?" Harry waved his hand in front of her face as she came out of her train of thoughts and looked at him. "You blanked out there for a moment," he said.

"Uh…sorry, what were you saying?" she asked.

"I said what if I could use my parseltongue ability and talk to the dragon?" Harry said. "If we can communicate with each other I'm sure that it will hand me the fake egg without any hassle. We know that dragons are very protective of their eggs and if the fake egg looks like the real one than one of the ways to find it is to let the dragon do it."

"That plan of yours has more risks than a muggleborn walking down a street full of death eaters, thinking they would not kill him," Daphne said.

"That's quite a comparison," Harry said wondering why she had such dark thoughts. "So then, what do you recommend we do?"

"Not we, you," she said. "Salazar categorized all crawlers as one family but they are all still very different from each other. Lizards have limbs, snakes don't and neither of them have wings like dragons. I think you should test your parseltongue on other crawlers as well…just to widen your base."

Harry thought about it. She was right. He couldn't rely on his parseltongue ability just because it worked with lizards and snakes. There were other reptiles like crocodiles and even shelled animals like turtles and tortoises. He bet he could find a turtle near the banks of the black lake. He'd seen a few before, basking in the sun on a clear day which was very rare for a place like Hogwarts where it kept raining for five out of seven days a week.

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"We are here, Potter," Moody grunted as the two stopped outside an empty classroom. Harry saw Fleur, Cedric and Krum inside before he realized that the gathering must have something to do with the tournament.

"What is going on, professor?" he asked Moody.

"Hell, if I know," the ex-auror turned defense professor said. "I was told by Dumbledore to bring you here. Judging by the other champions' presence I'd say it has something to do with the tournament. Well, I'll leave you to it then."

He patted Harry rather hard on the shoulder as the latter tried not to lose his balance before Moody left him outside the class. Harry looked from the man to the door before walking inside. Immediately all eyes were on him but he ignored it as he walked up to Cedric and stood beside him.

"What is going on?" he asked the Hufflepuff.

"We are going to be interviewed by Rita Skeeter," Cedric said. Harry rolled his eyes. Even though he hadn't seen her he knew quite well who she was. She had written countless articles on him which was mostly made-up stories where he was always depicted as an attention-seeking brat who was spoiled, coming from a rich family. It angered him thinking about how someone could write nothing but nonsense about him, when they didn't even know about his lifestyle. "I personally hate her, as does my father," Cedric whispered causing Harry to break a smile when the door to the classroom opened and in walked Ludo Bagman, the head coordinator of the tournament. Behind him was Rita. Harry recognized her from the pictures that she had under her articles in the Prophet.

She had curly blond hair and a heavily-jawed face. However, what got Harry's attention were her jeweled spectacles which were studded with various kinds of jewel stones, although he only recognized the diamonds on them. He also didn't miss her obnoxiously long nails which made him wonder how the hell she wrote her articles when he noticed a dicta-quill floating beside her, already scribbling in a notepad as the reporter looked around with a bored expression on her face before she stopped and looked at the champions. She smiled when she looked at Harry who took it as a sign that he was probably going to regret talking to her.

"Champions, I suppose you all know her," Ludo said excitedly. Harry noticed no one else in the room shared the man's enthusiasm. Even Viktor and Fleur looked like they didn't like this woman. It seemed he wasn't the only one she had pissed off by writing an article on in her column. When Ludo got no response from the four champions he awkwardly coughed. "Ms Skeeter has offered to interview each one of you because the people are excited to know how the champions are preparing for the tri wizard tournament. Make sure to answer her questions but don't reveal all of your secrets." He said that last part as if he wanted them to not reveal everything that they had planned for the tournament, as if it was worth anything to keep up the suspense. Rita was going to print her own thoughts in her article anyways, Harry thought. "Well, I'll leave you five then," Ludo said before leaving the classroom as Rita looked at the four champions uninterestingly. It was as if this was too much work for her. How she could act uninterested for an interview that she had organized, Harry thought.

"Let's start with the skinny one," she said as she pointed her finger towards Harry. He was surprised as he had thought that she would keep him for the last, savoring every moment as she planned out how she could humiliate him in her article. It seemed like she had come prepared, not that Harry cared. She had been writing nonsense about him for years and it had become second nature for him to ignore her and her articles on him.

"Follow me," she said with a sickly smile as she grinned, baring her teeth which were unnaturally white. Harry exchanged glances with Cedric who simply shrugged before mouthing 'good luck' as Harry saw Rita stop by the closed door of the storage room that was inside the classroom.

'Is she really thinking of interviewing me in there?' Harry thought as he wondered why she couldn't just use a privacy charm. However, he shoved those thoughts aside as he wanted to get it all over with as soon as possible and so he followed her into the tiny space on the other side of the door. The ceiling was very low so they both had to duck down a little. Despite the place being empty it was still quite camped as it was clearly not designed for people.

Rita was uncomfortably close to him because of the tiny space and Harry was looking directly at her chest area. A little closer and he would definitely be pressing his face in those bosoms, he thought before he felt disgusted by it and looked away.

"I finally got my hands on you," she said in a husky voice which made Harry even more uncomfortable. "So, would you like to offer some light on why you put your name in the goblet of fire?"

"I didn't," Harry said, sighing in annoyance.

"Hmm," she hummed as her dicta-quill vigorously wrote something in the notepad. Harry looked at it wondering what in Merlin's name that blasted thing was jotting down when he was distracted by Rita clearing her throat. "So, you say you didn't put your name in the goblet." Harry nodded. "Then who did?"

"I'm sure that if they found out the culprit I would know about it from your paper," he said flatly. "I think everyone is too busy with the tournament so they aren't paying enough attention to catch the person who put my name in the goblet."

"Hmm, even after getting everyone's attention by putting your name in the goblet you are still hungry for more," she said sounding dramatically disappointed. "You want everyone to stop worrying about this esteemed event and instead look for the person who 'put your name' in the goblet without you 'knowing' about it? I wonder what the people would think about it. You would love that, wouldn't you – getting more attention from the public?"

Harry wanted to punch her in the face. He really could, seeing how close they were standing to each other. Also, she was taller than him so it would be easy for him to land an uppercut on her face just like those boxers Dudley used to watch back at home. However, he didn't want to create any more problems for himself. The moment he knew that she was going to take his interview he had realized that she would come after him with ridiculous accusations, like she did all the time. And so he decided to not answer her questions at all. She realized it after he didn't respond to her last question.

"Not talking only confirms what you are being asked about, Mr Potter," Rita said with a smirk. "The people would like to know how a thirteen year old boy is going to compete with three almost of-age students, one of who is an international Quidditch player while the other is the daughter of a high ranking minister of the Magical Republic of France?"

"I won't be competing against anyone," he said, suppressing his anger towards her. "All I have to do is not get myself killed in any of the tasks."

"Ooh, brave words coming from someone as young as you," said Rita. "But it's expected seeing who you are. Well, it seems only time will tell how prepared you are for the tournament. I wonder whether your secret meetings with Daphne Greengrass would be of any help."

Harry felt the chill as he stood there completely shocked. He was too stunned to see the arrogant smirk on Rita's face. How she could have known something like that, he thought. No one in Hogwarts knew about it so how could she – being an outsider – know about his meetings with Daphne?

"Your silence tells me that I am right about it," she said grinning.

"How…How did you know?" Harry asked. His voice, just like his whole body was shaking.

"Oh, I am a reporter through and through, Mr Potter," she said, once again talking in a husky tone as she closed the gap between the two and leaned in towards him. Harry's face was only inches away from hers and he could feel her breath on his face. She then brought her mouth close to his ears. "You know, even though I was a Ravenclaw I know of the rules that exist within the Slytherin house. Now, I wonder whether they know of Ms Greengrass' secret escapades with you. Is it because the two of you like each other? I wouldn't be surprised. She is a beautiful girl and deserving of her title as a princess. However, I wonder what she saw in an attention seeker like you. If the two of you really are mingling…"

Thud.

Cedric, Fleur and Viktor, all looked towards the source of sound. It came from inside the storage room where Harry and Rita were.

"What is going on?" Fleur asked. "What was that sound."

"Are they…?"

"Whoa! What are you even thinking?" Cedric interrupted Viktor before the seeker could even finish speaking his thoughts. Even Fleur looked embarrassed realizing what Viktor was going to say.

"What?" the seeker said in his thick Bulgarian accent. "That Skeeter woman is someone to look at and Potter, well…I know he is popular, too."

Cedric sighed, shaking his head when the door to the storage room opened and Harry walked out, his face fuming with anger while he rubbed his right palm which was balled into a fist. Curiosity took over the sixth year when he and everyone else heard a faint groan coming from the storage room. The three remaining champions walked over to the door and saw Rita on the floor with a bleeding nose. Viktor turned around and looked at Harry before grinning as he gave him a thumbs-up. Harry didn't know how to respond to that so he smiled slightly before leaving the classroom. Inside, he was dreading not because of the trouble that he was going to get for punching a very renowned reporter of Magical Britain but because she knew about him and Daphne and she would definitely be writing about it – along with her own theories and assumptions – in the next day's paper. Everyone would then know and Daphne will be targeted by her own house members for helping a Gryffindor.

Once again, someone else would be targeted because of him, Harry thought. He didn't know what to do so he decided to tell Daphne everything. She was definitely a lot smarter and composed than him so maybe she would be able to come up with a plan.

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A/N: Lounges is what you call a group of lizards. Yeah…I had to look it up.

Thanks for reading…