The Champion

Jojen spent the next few days in a state of shock. He spent most of his time in the Hospital Wing, or in the company of Roza in her room away from the prying eyes of hundreds.

The atmosphere in the Hospital Wing was sombre. Chloé was there most of the time, she helped Jojen carry food from the Great Hall to the Hospital Wing, brought the sick boys fresh change of robes every morning, scolded them gently at night when they stayed up too late. When Uncle Ted and Aunt Lucile came to visit, they saw her taking care of Louvel, smiles on her face, her hands gentle with his bandages. When they had left, Jojen was sure that he had seen the tiniest of smiles on their faces.

Griff's parents came to visit too, her mother cried over an hour by his bed. Jojen sat with Chloé next to Louvel's bed and watched her cry from a distant. Griff's father was a quiet man, Jojen could see where Griff got his looks from, he must be over forty, but he had aged gracefully and was as handsome as any man could ever be. He did not shed a tear, nor consoled his wife, but rather spent most of the hour that she had spent crying throwing venomous stars at Jojen.

When Daario's mum walked through the doors of the Hospital Wing, Jojen almost thought that she just another student. She was small and frail and spoke quietly. Her long sleeves could not fully cover the marks of abuse that might have covered most of her body. She did not blame Jojen, but instead, thanked the three boys for protecting her son and bringing him back to her alive. She sat beside Daario's bed, her gentle hands stroking his hair and talking softly to his son.

There was supposed to be a celebration feast for Jojen for winning the Tournament as well as a farewell party in the Great Hall to mark the end of the school year, but neither Jojen nor Chloé attended. Davos reported that the the feast felt more like a funeral reception than a celebration. The colourful banners that usually decorated the Great Hall were now replaced by black. Every student in the school was shocked by George's death, it was more harrowing when they knew that the very people that tortured and killed him were students from Hogwarts, students that had sat beside them during classes and ate beside them during mealtimes.

None of his friends was left unscratched from the incident. All three of them had been hit with the same kind of poison that was used on Professor Hotah, thankfully, with prior experience, Aunt Rose was slightly more prepared and reacted swiftly in treating their wounds, but even she could not patch them back to how they were.

Louvel was stabbed in the stomach with the silver dagger, while the wound itself was not fatal, the poison that coated the blade had seeped into his inner organs. Several days later, Aunt Rose was still not able to fully expel all the poison in his system. Louvel was feverish most of the time, he was barely conscious most days and could hardly eat, Chloé brought porriage for breakfast and soup for supper and fed him tenderly every meal.

Half of Griff's face was scarred, it looked like a million ants had bitten chunks of his cheeks, leaving his flesh raw and scarred. His ears were cut off, leaving nothing but an empty gaping hole at the side of his head. Aunt Rose was able to close the wound easily and stop the bleeding, but nothing she tried could reverse the scarring. The wounds did not heal evenly either, patches of red, black and purple coloured the right half of his face.

Daario's calf was never found and there was no magic available that can re-grow a limb, he would live out the rest of his life as a cripple.

Jojen heard that the Aurors were having trouble identifying the potion that the Slytherins had brewed, they called upon some of the best Potion Masters across the country, even Professor Martell made his way into the Forbidden Forest to examine the remains, but he was unable to identify what it was. But the ingredients of the potion, Thestral hearts and blood sacrifice, bore marks of old magic, of necromancy and dark magic that send shivers down one's spine.

Jojen remembered faintly of his dream when his brother had lost his eyes. In his dreams, there were two tombstones, side by side, both bearing the name Weasley.

He told Dayne and Leslie about his visions, Leslie's eyes were wide open, especially when he talked about how he had seen Dayne in his dreams. "Did you see me too?" she asked enthusiastically.

"No," Jojen replied.

Dayne nodded, looking thoughtful, Leslie had the faintest look of disappointment. Jojen was not the first wizard to ever have prophetic visions, but like all other visions seen by seers and prophets throughout the ages, his vision lack context, and unless he could remember more details of his dreams, there was not much point in dwelling on it for too long.

On the third day after the incident, Chloé walked into the Hospital Wing in the morning with her trunk by her side. She walked to Louvel's bed and gently stroked his face. Louvel stirred but did not wake up.

"He's hot," Chloé observed, she retrieved a cold tower and placed it on his head.

"You could ask Professor Longbottom to let you stay for a few more days," Griff suggested, when he saw the longing etched onto her beautiful face.

"I've asked," she replied, "Both Headmaster Rodin and Longbottom think that it is unappropriated for me to stay."

"Don't worry, we will take loving care of him," Davos called from his bed, a huge pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans in one hand, throwing the beans into the air with his other, letting it arc and land into his waiting mouth. He was in a tremendously good mood for someone who had just been crippled.

"Yeah, we will feed him porridge mouth to mouth every morning after you are gone," Griff added, slightly nervously, unsure if the room was ready to take a joke.

Chloé chuckled softly, and Griff heaved a sign of relieve, "Send me owls!" he ordered the boys.

"Yes Madam," they chorused.

She turned to Jojen curiously and added: "Aren't you sending Roza?"

Roza… They had discussed her leaving, Roza was unwilling to move to Britain, and he was not ready to leave the country. It might be days, or weeks, or even years or decades, but one day, Lysander and Walder will resurface, and Jojen intend to be the first one to face them when they did.

"Go Jojen," Griff interrupted his thoughts, "Us sick and crippled aren't going anywhere, go and send her off."

Jojen nodded, to no one in particular. He got off the hospital bed which he had been sleeping in for the past few days and started walking. Outside the Hospital Wing, he saw an Auror, he sat on a stool by a suit of armour and was reading a copy of the Daily Prophet. He glanced at Jojen and gave him a curt nod as he left. There was always an Auror outside the Hospital Wing, to hold off the tide of curious students and to watch over the boys, to protect them from further harm. But what is the point of watching over them? The Slytherins could kill them if they wanted to do so, but they had let them live, each with a reminder of their failures. No one would come for them now.

When he walked past the Staff Room, he saw the broken pieces of marble where the two gargoyles preciously stood. No one has replaced them so far and given what happened to the last two guardians of the Staff Room, Jojen was not surprised that no one volunteered.

Students were milling around the Entrance Hall when Jojen arrived, Hogwarts students here to see the visitors leave, lovers to share one last kiss before saying goodbye. He spotted found Jamie Carragher and Eva Green easily, the pair of lovers were locked in an embrace in the middle of the Entrance Hall.

"Do you want to kiss like them?" a cold, yet warm, familiar, yet foreign voice asked him.

There was Roza, leaning on the wall, she was wearing her red Durmstrang robes, and her luggage besides her. Jojen walked forward, "Do you?" he asked.

Roza grinned a mysterious grin, "My aunt is looking," she said.

"I'm not scared of her," Jojen told her.

"You should be," she replied, "She could turn you into a porcupine before you can even touch my lips."

"I don't care," Jojen replied, he leaned forward, his lips found hers and he kissed her hungrily. Her hands wrapped around his back as they kissed, for what may be a minute, or an hour, by the time they pulled apart, everyone around them was staring.

"Come back to Britain, stay with me," Jojen pleaded one last time.

"I can't," she said, glancing at the Head Mistress as she said so.

"You are of age, you can do whatever you want, she can't stop you," Jojen protested.

"True…" Roza said thoughtfully, she half opened her mouth, but no words came out.

"I love you so much," Jojen said, "I need you in my life."

Roza leaned in and gave him one more tenderly kiss, "Love is too strong a word," she told him, "Use if carefully."

There was a shout by the gates and the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students started walking out.

"So, was this all just a fling to you?" Jojen asked, "Everything that we've been through together, it meant nothing?"

"It meant something," Roza replied, "But… Love is too strong a word," she repeated.

She turned to leave, but Jojen grabbed her hands, "Will I see you again?" he asked.

Roza shrugged as she left, carrying her heavy trunk in one hand and her duffle bag in the other, Jojen stayed where he was, looking at Roza as she slowly faded from view. It was only after the Beauxbatons carriage had shrunk to no more than a spot in the sky and when the Durmstrang ship had sank into the depth of the Great Lake, did Jojen finally turned away.

The Entrance Hall was empty by then, much of the students who had come to say goodbye to their friends and send their guests had already left, only a few clustered along the seats by the walls.

As he turned, Jojen found himself face to face with another witch, whom he had not seen for a year.

"That was lovely," Aunt Lily comments, a smile on her face, but her eyes looked sorrowful, "Young love, which is always the best. Treasure this Jojen."

"I've seen pictures of you in Hogwarts Aunt Lily," Jojen replied, "You would have been the crush of every Hogwarts guy that walked through these doors."

Lily Potter chuckled softly, but her smile instantly seemed to take on a hint of sorrowness.

"What were you doing in Hogwarts?" Jojen asked hastily, changing the subject.

"I have been here ever since the Final Task," she replied, "I thought that I would be drinking champagne with you, but the way the events played, there seem to be little for you to celebrate."

Her voice trailed off as she stared into the distance.

Jojen stood beside Lily Potter for a while, both looked out, at the beautiful Hogwarts grounds, the lush green grass, the blue lake glistering under the sun, the towering mountains in the distance past Hogsmeade and beyond, drinking in the sight. For Jojen this his would be one of the last times that he would see it.

"How many muggles died that night?" Lily Potter asked suddenly.

"What?" Jojen responded, surprised.

"The night of the Third Task," Lily clarified, "How many muggles did you find dead in the Forest?"

"I don't know… Five?" Jojen ventured a guess, immediately feeling his cheeks heating up with colour.

"I do not blame you Jojen," Lily said, "This is as much of a failure of this school as it is yours."

Jojen was silent, unsure of what to say.

"Do you see those mountain peaks there? Behind Hogsmeade," she pointed.

"Yes," Jojen replied, look at the mountains, patches of green trees amongst the black peak.

"When I was in Hogwarts, those peaks would have been covered in snow all year round," Lily Potter continued, "But right now it is just the start of summer, and those peaks are already barren."

"Did someone cast an enchantment on those mountains?" Jojen wondered aloud.

"No," Lily Potter said, "Muggles were behind that."

Jojen had never taken muggle studies in his life, at that moment, he could not have imagined how muggles would be responsible for the disappearance of the snow-caps in summer.

"It is odd isn't it," Lily Potter continued, "Muggles outnumber us a thousand to one, yet for most witches and wizards, they could spend their entire life without having even spoken to one, much less made friends with any of them.

"Everyone in this school is mourning the death of George, whom most knew as their friend and a student at the school and his father Fred, their obituaries have been printed on The Daily Prophet and even witches and wizards who know almost nothing about the pair just days ago could recite a brief, however inaccurate, story about the pair, yet no one spares any thoughts about the muggles that were found dead at the scene."

Slowly, the Jojen started to recall more details about that night, he had seen seven bodies, and the Aurors uncovered another eleven dead muggles on the scene, the Slytherins had taken at least twenty lives for their cause. Lily Potter was right, no one gave more than a thought to the dead muggles beside: "Oh, those poor muggles," before moving on to the next piece of news in the Prophet.

Lily Potter stepped out of the Entrance Hall, and without so much as a goodbye to Jojen, left, walking across the Hogwarts grounds and towards the gate, leaving Jojen very much confused at the conversation that he had just had.

The next day, it was time for the Hogwarts students to leave. Griff and Daario were both discharged. Aunt Rose gave Griff a mask and Daario crutches. Louvel was also feeling better and was able to stay conscious for longer periods of time, but Aunt Rose had decided to keep him in the Hospital Wing beyond the school term, he had to undergo more rounds of treatments and she was bouncing the idea of sending him to St Mungo if things did not turn for the better.

"We will see you at St Mungo then?" Daario said as he wobbled on one leg, before grabbing the clutches that he had been practising with for the past day.

As Jojen was bidding farewell to Louvel, he passed him the Silver Dagger. Jojen started at the dagger in his hands, feeling a surge of blind hatred towards it.

"I've asked Smalljon to clean the blade, now it looks as good as new," he said, passing the dagger to Jojen, "I want you to have it."

Jojen did not reach out for the dagger, instead, he turned and look at Daario. He seemed confused for a second before realising what Jojen had been thinking "Oh, it's not that dagger," he said simply.

"Take it Jojen," Louvel said, "One day, you will cross path with them again, you might need more than a wand to keep you safe."

"But this dagger had done nothing but to almost kill me, blind Aemon and hurt you," Jojen replied, "If anything, we should destroy this dagger."

"It will come in handy again," Louvel smiled, "I am sure of that. But be careful not to cut yourself, it is goblin made and now had the properties of whatever poison that they had used."

Jojen looked down at the weapon, he reached out to receive it from Louvel. "I will keep it... for now." He told him.

Griff wore a mask as he returned to the Gryffindor Common Room with Jojen, all around them were students fully packed and ready to leave. Their dormitory was empty, Jacob and Smalljon had already left. Either they or one of the House-Elves had helped them pack their trunk, they stood there, at the foot of their beds.

Jojen gave his dormitory one last look, his eyes lingered on George's bed.

Down by the Common Room, Jojen joined the fourth-years and Amanda and Brandon. They exited the Common Room together and walked down the stairs, Warren the white golden retriever bouncing happily behind them, barking as he jumped down the steps, his pink tongue hanging out of his mouth. Jojen took one last look at the Entrance Hall before stepping out of the castle doors.

There were hundreds of carriages, lined up in neat rows, by the grounds. In years past, Jojen would not be able to see what was pulling them, but now, he was able to see the Thestrals, bony and thin, harnessed to the carriages. They looked like skeletons that covered with thin black leather and seemed too weak to pull the heavy carriages behind them.

"What are you staring at Jojen?" Amanda asked him.

"Nothing," he told her, "I'm just recalling the good times that I had here."

He helped her onto one of the carriages. With no visual prompt from anyone, the two Thestrals started pulling when the last person got on.

As the carriage pulled away, Jojen turned and looked at the castle fondly.

He had so many memories here, good, bad, sad, happy… It was here where he experienced the highest high of his life and the lowest lows.

He came as an eleven-year-old, knowing nothing about the world. He left, having experienced much more than he had bargained for, and he left, as the Triwizard Champion.