Chapter 6

The walk to Dumbledore took forever; he felt every stare at him. Looking to the Slytherin table he spotted Daphne. Her usual impenetrable mask of a face shattered, as she looked on with her mouth open. He reached Dumbledore, scared to look into his eyes. Taking a peek at the blue orbs of the headmaster, he thought he'd see disappointment or anger. No, what he saw scared him more. Fear.

He took the paper from the headmasters' hand. Two words written on it, but not in ink. He'd seen this writing before. It was blood.

Harry Potter

The words still echoed in his head as he walked into the room. The parchment was crumpled up in his hand, making sure no one else could see the blood on it. He saw the three other champions there. Victor Krum looking down at his feet, looking almost bored. He was used to being lauded as a champion so this was nothing new for the Bulgarian Seeker. The haughty French witch was twirling a strand of hair with her hand, while the Hogwarts champion was pacing back and forth, his face a mixture of grinning and apprehension. None of them were talking to each other, all in their own bubble of thought.

He approached the other three. He was pretty sure one of them asked him a question, but he was in his own mind. Every second of the last twenty-four hours was replaying in his head, wondering where it went wrong. His reverie was only broken by the sound of the door slamming open, followed by the headmasters of each school, and some of the other Hogwarts faculty, Barty Crouch and Ludo Bagman, the ex-Quidditch beater who the school had been introduced to yesterday.

"He cannot be. It eez impossible!" Madame Maxine shouted as she approached the champion. If the situation wasn't so dire, Harry would have laughed at the way the tall woman walked.

"Yes, Dumbledore. This whole situation sounds suspicious. The boy has obviously made a mockery of the entire event!" Karkaroff, the Headmaster of Durmstrang added.

"You better watch that foul mouth of yours Karkaroff. We all know what happened the last time you gave your suspicions", Moody retorted, glaring at the man.

"Alastor, leave it!" Dumbledore interfered.

"I'm sorry headmistreez, but what eez happening?" Fleur asked Madame Maxine.

"This boy has somehow entered ze tournament. The goblet spilled out his name as well!" she scathed, glaring at Harry. He bit his tongue to remark at the way she said boy as if he was a toddler.

"Well zat eez preposterous. There are only three championez, he is too small…"

Dumbledore perhaps sensing that Harry would intervene at that remark, interrupted. "Everyone needs to calm down," he said gently, but his eyes were firm. "Harry can you explain any of this," he asked, his eyes piercing through Harry.

"No, sir. I have absolutely no idea how this hap-"

"Of course he'd say that. The boy is just looking for attention", Karkaroff once again remarked.

"I AM NOT!" Harry finally shouted, his temper getting the best of him. Karkaroff stepped back, in a frightened leap. Before he could snap back, Dumbledore interfered again.

"Can the other three champions, please retire for the night. I am sure your friends will be looking to celebrate with you. Your teachers will inform you about the type of task later. Remember, you are exempt from all your exams this year unless they are mandatory such as Cedric's NEWTS. Also, remember that you will be able to skip any classes you desire to prepare for the tournament", Dumbledore spoke, motioning for the other students to leave. They walked off, Fleur shooting a scathing look at Harry, which he couldn't be bothered to return. He couldn't distinguish the emotions across Cedric's face, but he couldn't care about that right now.

Harry watched them leave the room. Every adult in the room was looking at him and it was starting to freak him out. "Sir", he said looked to Dumbledore. "What is going to happen now?"

"I am sorry Harry, but I don't know the answer to that" he sighed defeated, looking every bit of his old age. "However, Mr Crouch is here, and perhaps he can", he said looking to the rigid man.

"He must take part. The goblet is the highest magically binding contract there is. He either must perform, or he will die." The lack of emotion bothered Harry; stupid man couldn't care less if I died.

"Surely Barty that's not possible. He's only a fourth year. This tournament isn't made for him!" McGonagall answered, the woman's usual sternness completely gone, as worry marred her face.

"Minerva don't worry!" Ludo Bagman spoke up. The excitement in his voice; completely opposite to the atmosphere in the room. "This could be groundbreaking. The tournament has never had four champions."

"Ludo! This is not exciting. How dare-", her tirade was ended by Dumbledore waving his hand.

"This is not the time Minerva" he sighed. He looked towards Harry once again. "Harry the parchment in your hand. Can you pass it over to me", he said gently.

Harry looked at the headmaster, not surprised at all that he knew the parchment had blood on it. Silently, he handed the crunched up writing to him.

He stayed quiet for a few moments looking at the writing. Harry took the time to look at the occupants in the room. The other headmasters were watching over Dumbledore's shoulder as he administered diagnostic spells. McGonagall and Moody were having a soft conversation between each other with Moody's magical moving every few seconds to face him. Snape was in his natural hiding place in the shadows, looking unbothered by Harry's predicament.

Dumbledore finally finished his spells, his face looking grim. "What is it, sir?" Harry asked, fear creeping up.

The headmaster stayed quiet for a few more seconds before sighing. "This is not human blood" he concluded.

"Blood!" Professor McGonagall gasped. "Albus, whatever do you mean?" The other members looked interestingly to the headmaster.

"Young Harry's parchment was different from the other champions. The writing was written with blood."

"And if it wasn't human, what type of blood was it?" Snape asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Crow blood"

At his remark, all the blood from Professor McGonagall's face drained. Harry noticed that even the Beauxbatons' headmistress looked a bit shocked at the admission.

"I don't understand professor." Harry asked confusingly. "What does that mean?"

Dumbledore shifted his gaze to him. "The crow is symbolic of death. Whoever put you in here, wants you to die."

Harry walked out of the room, heading towards the main staircase. The crow is symbolic of death. It's Voldemort. It has to be. This was the plan he was talking about. This way he doesn't even have to get his hands dirty. He reached the staircase, to see a nervous looking Cedric pacing around.

"Cedric?" Harry asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just wanted to have a small chat" he spoke nervously.

"You want to know if I put my name in" Harry replied.

"No of course not. Your reaction when you came to the trophy room was enough to discern that you were innocent."

"You… you believe me?" Harry sputtered, thinking that the Hogwarts champion would get angry at his moment being taken away from him.

"Of course… but this isn't going to go well for you" he added honestly.

"Thanks, you've given me high hopes for the tournament now", Harry replied sarcastically.

"I'm not talking about the tournament", at Harry's confused look, he continued. "I mean the reaction of the school isn't going to go well for you. I'll talk to my house, but they're really going to dislike you. Hufflepuff never really is in the spotlight, so they'll resent you. They won't even be your worst problems. You have to watch out for the Slytherins, especially that Malfoy boy you always seem to fight with"

"I know Cedric. The people of the wizarding world are sheep. They'll turn on me in a matter of seconds now. This hasn't been the first time it's happened and it won't be the last" he finished morosely.

"I'm sorry Harry. You don't deserve this. I remember when people called you the heir of Slytherin. The stories about you are fanatical, almost something out of a storybook with you apparently killing Quirrell, something about a Basilisk and werewolves."

Harry laughed nervously. "Rumours at this school get out of hand, don't believe everything you hear". However, he was shocked internally that his adventures had gotten so much attention.

"Yeah, I'm not one to find much truth in rumours. But anyway Harry, I'll see you around," he finished; walking down the staircase to where Harry guessed was the Hufflepuff common room. As he descended, he turned around. "And Harry. If you need any help, I don't mind giving you any tips. We are the Hogwarts champions after all."

"Thanks, Cedric. And no, I'm not the champion, it's just you and you fully deserve it. I'm not taking anything away from you." The Hufflepuff grinned in return and walked away.

Sighing to himself, Harry prepared for the Gryffindor Common Room.

He reached the Fat Lady in time, whispering the password to be granted entry. The portrait swung open to pandemonium.

"HARRY" Fred and George bellowed together, dragging him into the middle of the room. Everyone in the house seemed to be in the common room. There were masses of food and butterbeer on the counters, which the twins must have supplied. Loud music was blaring from someone's radio. Before Harry could say anything, the twins lifted him up and propped him on their shoulders as everyone cheered.

"How did you do it?" a third year asked, as the twins finally put him down. The common room quietened down at the question, all looking towards Harry.

"I didn't," Harry answered. "I don't know how it happened-", he tried to explain further, but no one seemed to care that he didn't do it. The entire room still laughed and joked around, believing he had somehow beaten the Goblet of Fire. As the crowd dispersed, to continue the party, Fred and George pulled him over to the couches.

"Alright Harry, not that the rest have gone. You want to tell us how you got in", George asked ecstatically.

"I told you, George. It must have been his invisibility cloak that got him through it." Fred replied before Harry could talk.

"Listen dear Fredrick, and as I told you, there's no way the cloak could have gotten past Dumbledore's age line. He's Dumbledore for a reason" George retorted back.

Before Fred could reply back with another Harry-Goblet conspiracy theory, Harry interrupted. "Listen, guys. I seriously didn't put my name in there."

"Harry you can tel-" Fred stopped as he looked into his friend's eyes. "Merlin, you're serious aren't you" he gasped. " You actually didn't do it."

"Yeah" was all he said, the full shock finally seeping in.

"So what happened in the trophy room then," George asked, his tone uncharacteristically morose.

"It's been a long night guys. I'll tell you some other time" he finished, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

The twins nodded their head simultaneously. "Also where's Ron and Hermione. I should talk to them privately as well." Harry added.

"They're there by the corner" Fred replied. "Hermione was unusually quiet during the party, and Ron seemed off as well." Harry nodded his thanks, and walked to the corner to see his two friends whispering between themselves quietly. They seemed to be arguing about something, stopping immediately as Harry came.

"So you finally came to see us then", Ron spoke quietly, his voice steely.

"I just came to the party Ron", Harry replied.

"Oh. I thought you'd be hanging out with your new champion friends. Harry Potter, killer of You-Know-Who and Victor Krum's new best friend." Ron scathed.

"What? Ron stop being ridiculous. You know I haven't put my name in the Goblet."

"Of course not Harry. These things always happen to you. It's not like you already had fame and money, but now something else to add underneath your belt" Ron retorted, standing up from his chair, and walking towards Harry.

"Ron I didn't do this" he replied softly, looking straight into Ron's eyes. "Do you believe me or not?" Harry asked.

"Maybe…" but then shaking his head at his own words, he continued, making up his mind. "No… I don't believe you. You've changed this year Harry or perhaps you've always been like this and now you're showing your true colours."

"Really Ron, me showing my true colours" he replied angrily. "Or are you the one who's finally showed himself to be a jealous prick. If I've always wanted fame, why haven't I gone around talking about my defeat of Voldemort or slaying the Basilisk? Why Ron, would I put myself into mortal danger?"

Ron didn't seem to see the reason in his remark. "We're done Harry", he concluded, shoving Harry slightly as he stomped off towards their bedroom. Harry didn't know what to feel, as he felt the friendship off his first Hogwarts friend crumble.

Sitting down, he looked to his bushy-haired friend opposite to him. "You believe me, don't you Hermione?" Harry asked; he couldn't keep the note of pleading out of it.

"Actually… I don't Harry. Ron was right. You've changed this year Harry. All those late nights you were gone off, and I was wondering what you were doing. How you seemed to be first in our classes, beating me when you were never this good. You've been training for this tournament, and somehow you put yourself in."

"What!" Harry sputtered. "You think that I've been going off to prepare for some stupid tournament. I couldn't care less about the tournament."

"Then how have you been constantly getting spells so fast, and being so talented all off a sudden. You've been up to something and I want to know!" she demanded.

Then it hit Harry. "You don't even care about me being in the tournament. This is all about your ego, and not being first. So this is what our friendship has come to. You didn't care when you were the smartest one and could lord it over me and Ron. But I take a little control of my life, put more effort, and all you can care about is this."

Hermione stood up furiously. "I don't know what you've been up to Harry, butou're different, and I won't stand for it," she spoke softly and haughtily. Taking her bag from the chair, she also left Harry to sit alone.

Harry looked up from his chair, the party still going wildly; meanwhile, his life and friendships were breaking. Not being able to take any more, he shoved himself through the crowd, and exited the common room. He couldn't stay in his bedroom tonight with Ron. Walking up to the seventh floor corridor, he entered the room of requirement, asking for a bedroom. Sitting on the provided bed, he thought of the day. He thought off the huge change that had occurred, and without warning tears fell at the loss of two friendships. It had been breaking for a long time, but he had never prepared for losing them. No. They don't deserve my tear, he thought, wiping them off his face. Sirius was right. Some friends aren't worth it, and they don't deserve my friendship if they can't accept me taking control.Settling himself into bed, he fell into an uneasy sleep.

"Harry Potter"

Daphne watched as the champions got their names called, even clapping along when Cedric was chosen as champion. The boy had a good head on his shoulders, and had a good chance of winning the tournament.
She was about to turn and ask Tracey to the library when she heard his name. Spinning around she watched. The boy hadn't even noticed his name being called out; he had been focusing on the door. She watched the Weasley twins push him up, and his shocked face. He glanced at her for a second, and she herself couldn't keep the surprise out of her face.

After the professors followed, the entire Great Hall burst into shouts of outrage, mainly coming from her table and the Hufflepuffs. She glanced to the Gryffindor table where the twins looked unbelievably excited at the prospect of their friend competing. However, the reaction from his supposed best friends seemed to be completely different. Granger had an annoyed look on her face, while the younger Weasley looked enraged.

She stood up with the rest of her house, and walked towards the dungeons, Tracey by her side.

"What the utter hell", Tracey exclaimed, knocking Daphne out of her thoughts.

"I know Tracey… I know. How is that possible?" she inquired, talking more to herself than Tracey.

"How did he get past the age line? He couldn't have beaten Dumbledore's enchantments, even with all that training he's been doing," Tracy questioned.

"No, he couldn't have", Daphne agreed. "When we trained, he easily beat me, but… he's not that good."

"So how did he get himself in the competition?"

"What?" Daphne asked confusingly.

"Are you deaf", Tracey smirked.

"No, but you can't actually believe he put himself into that competition."

"How else did he do it? Unless he asked someone older, to do it for him", Tracey pondered.

"What… No Way!" Daphne exclaimed. "Did you see his face, he was fearful and shocked. I don't believe for a second that he attempted to do it." Daphne was very good at reading emotions, sometimes a trait she believed she got from her father. She was able to discern small facial cues to usually get an idea about a person's honesty. Potter's face had showed her enough to know that he didn't do it.

"Maybe", Tracey replied unconvincingly. "But, he probably won't even be in the tournament. If the contract is only for participants who are seventeen and older, he may be exempt from doing it", she continued.

"Yeah you're probably right", Daphne replied, feeling some ease at Tracey's sentence. Whispering the password to the wall, it slid open to admit her to the Slytherin Common Room. There stood Draco Malfoy, standing on one of the tables, as the majority of the Slytherins surrounded him, looking captivated by his speech.

"… and if Potter does this tournament, he'll probably end up dead. Finally Dumbledore's golden boy will be reunited with his parents", he seemed to have finished his speech, gaining a cheer from the rest of the room, mainly the younger students who were scared of the Malfoy name.

Daphne rolled her eyes at the buffoonery on display. Moving to sit on the couches, as the crowd dispersed, she was joined by another friend.

"Blaise" she spoke in greeting. The boy replied with a nod, sitting opposite to her and Tracey. Blaise was probably the only person apart from Tracey that she could call a friend in the Slytherin common room. They never really hung out with each other, but he always helped when she had any homework problems, and never attempted to make advances towards her which she greatly appreciated. He was a master at subtlety and perceptive beyond belief, traits that proved his worth as a Slytherin. He was a quiet person, happy to be amongst his books and keep away from trouble. He had no problem integrating into different groups which meant he was never a target for Malfoy and his cronies. Apparently, there were big conspiracies about his mother killing of her husbands, but she had never been brave enough to ask him if they were true.

"Daphne… Tracey, how are you?" he replied quietly, stretching his arms across the top of the couch.

"Fine, Blaise" Tracey answered. "Are you also here to wonder how in Merlin's name that Potter was able to put his name in the Goblet" she questioned.

"Yes, and I was actually hoping that Daphne would be able to help answer it" he responded.

"Me?" Daphne asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Well," he began softly; moving closer to make sure no one else heard their conversation. "I've been able to see that over the past month, you and Potter have some kind of tentative friendship. So maybe you would know his motives for the tournament?"

Daphne wasn't surprised to know that Blaise knew about her semi-friendship with Potter. "No Blaise. If he has somehow managed to hoodwink the Goblet, he hasn't confided in me about it" she answered honestly.

"But you don't actually believe he's hoodwinked it", Blaise replied perceptively.

Wringing her hands together, Daphne thought of her next words. "From what we've spoken about, and from what I've glanced at his personality, this does not seem to be a move he'd make. You as well as I know, there's more to him that meets the eye, but a pompous fame seeker is not him", she finished.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too," he said as he stood up from the couches. "More information about it will probably come in the next few days anyway" he finished, before turning around and walking towards the boy's staircase.

"He's probably right" Tracey agreed. "We won't learn anymore tonight so I'm going off to bed" she concluded, waving goodbye to Daphne.

Daphne sat at the couches for a few more minutes thinking to herself, before going to sleep. How do these things always happen to you, Harry?

The pain was all he felt. Not physical pain, but a huge emotional weight sitting on him, as Harry woke up. The images of the last night flashed through his head. Groaning, and rubbing the headache which was forming, he got out of the bedroom. Anticipating his thoughts, the room provided an adjoining bathroom for Harry. He was thankful for it being a Saturday, knowing that he could avoid everyone for the weekend, and let the situation die down.

Coming out from the bathroom, he looked around the room, only to realise all his possessions were in his bedroom. He needed his invisibility cloak and the marauder's map to avoid detection for the next few days. Sighing at his misfortune, he sat down on his bed again, until an idea came to him.

"Dobby!"

A small crack in the room alerted him that his idea had worked. The elf looked like Christmas had come early be being called, his eyes wide open and bat-like ears flapping. "Master Harry Potter has called. Master Harry Potter is needing Dobby's help!" the elf said excitedly.

"I sure do Dobby", Harry agreed, smiling for the first time today at Dobby's excitement. "I was surprised you were able to respond to my call."

"All Hogwarts elves be having these abilities, Master Harry Potter. Any student can call a Hogwarts elf, but very few students even know about us house elves working here, so no one ever calls. Until you did Master Harry Potter!" he exclaimed, hugging Harry's leg in a vice grip.

"Oh! That's great then. So would you be able to do me a favour then?" At Dobby's excited nod, he continued, "Great! I need an invisibility cloak and this map from my bedroom. It'll be the only two things in the second compartment of my trunk, and if you get it, could you bring it to me, please. Also please try to not alert any of my roommates."

"I sure can Master Harry Potter", the elf replied, nodding his head vigorously. "And Dobby will make sure he's not seen!" Dobby disapparated, leaving Harry alone for a few minutes. The elf soon appeared with the desired items in his hand, much to Harry's relief.

"Thanks, Dobby! I'll probably see you in the kitchens a lot for the next few days." This led to another hug from the elf, who disapparated once again to get on with his job.

Slipping the cloak on, he left the room of requirement, heading towards the main staircases. He looked at the map, happy to see that most people were in the great hall which meant he wouldn't have a lot of disturbance in the corridors. He reached the main floor and was about to walk lower to the kitchens when his curiosity got the better of himself.

He walked into the Great Hall, standing in a corner to watch the reactions of the students. Cedric had been right last night. The Hufflepuffs looked unbelievably angry, and many kept glancing towards the door, hoping to see if he would make an entrance. He looked around the hall, and noticed most people seemed to be reading the newspaper; Malfoy, in particular, seemed to be laughing at the contents on the front page, as did many of the other Slytherins.

He waited for a few minutes until he saw two second years walk out, one holding a newspaper in her hand. Following under his invisibility cloak, he muttered a quick Accio charm at the newspaper, pulling it under the cloak. He almost laughed at the surprised reaction of the girl as she looked around comically for her paper. He was going to read it then, but his stomach grumbled loudly, so he carried it to the kitchens. The elves provided him with masses of food which he demolished in minutes. Setting the paper, he read:

FOUR CHAMPIONS OF THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT?

Yesterday night, Hogwarts held the long-anticipated selection of the champions from the prestigious Triwizard Tournament. Delegations of students came from the Wizarding Schools of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons to compete, however, this was not the most exciting event of the night. This reporter got the luck to be able to witness such an event, only for it to be hampered by an illegal champion.

Harry Potter, defeater of You-Know-Who, was selected as the fourth champion of the tournament in a surprise move. As my readers can suspect, the reactions of the rest of the students were outraged at Harry Potter stealing the spotlight from real Hogwarts Champion- Cedric Diggory (Son of Amos Diggory, an employee at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures)

While no student was readily available for an interview about the elusive Mr Potter, we were able to snatch a talk with Ludo Bagman, former beater of the Wimbourne Wasps and organiser of the tournament: "Well Rita, as said before, the contract is magically binding, and despite Harry's age he shall have to compete in the tournament. However, no matter how he got in, this is the first time in 600 years of the tournament, that there have been four champions. I'm very excited to see how the rest of the event goes and am sure Mr Potter will perform amiably."

Well there you have it dear readers; Mr Potter will have to compete in this highly dangerous tournament. This reporter still has many questions. Is Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts involved in the manipulation of the Goblet of Fire? Is this just a play for Mr Potter to receive more fame? Will Mr Potter be able to survive such a tournament at such a young age? These questions and many more shall be answered by yours truly. The other champions were Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons and Victor Krum from Durmstrang.

Rita Skeeter: Correspondent to the Daily Prophet

For more on Harry Potter; see page 12
For more on Ludovic Bagman; see page 16

Harry crushed the paper in his hands, throwing it on the floor. Great, this woman just added more fuel to the fire. The paper barely mentioned the other champions which meant more people were going to hate him. With his rage rising against the Skeeter woman, he pulled on his invisibility cloak, heading straight to the room of requirement. Asking the room to provide him with multiple dummies, he started blasting them with the most destructive spells he knew, throwing his anger at the room.

Most of the weekend was spent like this for Harry. He would learn new spells from the books provided in the room and only leave to the kitchens for food. The twins came to check on him on Saturday night but quickly left after they realised he was in no mood to talk.

Daphne was worried. No one had seen Harry since the selection of the tournament. Many students had waited in the Great Hall after each meal to see if he would appear, but he never came. She wondered if he had seen the news article, knowing that it had set even more people against him in school. Currently, it was dinner time, and the start of the week was tomorrow so she knew he had to appear. She was eating alone because Tracey had left early to finish homework for Transfiguration.

Looking at the Gryffindor table, she saw the Weasley twins leaving, giving her an idea. Setting her spoon down, she quickly followed them. Running up the staircase she called after them. "Weasley!"

Both twins turned to look at her. "Yes?" one of them said. "How can we help you Ms-?"

"Greengrass", she completed.

"How could we help you Miss Greengrass" the other twin spoke.

"Not here", Daphne replied, pointing to the students leaving the great hall. She didn't want any Slytherins to see her and make her life anymore troubling.

"Well lead the way", one of them said. They let her pass her. She understood that they wanted to be behind her in case she made an attempt to attack her. Maybe all Weasley's aren't as dumb as the one in my year.

Taking them to a secluded classroom, she quickly shut the door and applied locking charms and muffling charms. As she turned around, two wands were pointed at her face.

"Woah… hey, I come in peace" she said, holding her hands up in retreat.

"Well what are we supposed to think," the twin said. "A random Slytherin tells us to follow her and then puts locking charms on the door".

"Look…" she said, slowly reaching for her wand. She pulled it out and dropped it on the floor. "Seriously, I'm just here to talk."

The twins slowly put their arms down, however, they both still clutched the wands in their hands. "So what exactly do you need from us?"

"I'd like to see Ha… Potter"

"And what makes you think we know where he is, and more importantly why would you want to see him?"

"Look, guys, I know him… we're sort of friends and I just want to check up on him", she replied.

"How are we supposed to trust that? You could be lying and just trying to humiliate him in some other way. He certainly hasn't mentioned you to us"

"Obviously he hasn't. I'm a Slytherin. I'm sure he thought that you guys wouldn't trust me if we knew each other. You've seen how our school is. Gryffindors and Slytherins are never friends," she finished; a small twinge of sadness hitting her as she also came to the realisation about that fact.

"You shouldn't place too much trust in stereotypes Miss Greengrass. We don't care about what house you're in. Yes, my brother and I have pranked students, often those being in Slytherin. But we don't do it because of house names, but those who are often gits to us"

"Fine, I'm sorry for placing you in that category. But after your brother, Ron, I just thought you guys would also dislike Slytherins on principle", she added.

"No, we don't think like that. But to the matter at hand. We still can't place our trust in you, by taking you to Harry. Slytherin or not", one of the twins concluded. Is it Fred or George? How does anyone discern the two?

"Ok then," she said. She picked up her wand off the floor, and again the twins raised theirs to face her. Not saying anything, she tossed it to one of them, who swiftly caught it. "Is that proof enough to trust me", she said raising her eyebrows challengingly.

They looked down at the wand for a second, before whispering to each other for a few moments. "Fine. We'll take you to him. But if you pull anything, it's him your facing, and he could wipe the floor with you". They handed the wand back to her

"Thank you" she gratified, stowing her wand back in her robes.

Unlocking the door, they led her up the staircase, until they reached the seventh floor. "This is where he's been the last two days?" she asked, more to herself.

The twins just nodded in response before coming to the end of a corridor. "Alright, Fred will wait here with you, and I'm going to go ask Harry if he wants to see you" he said. She watched as he rounded the corridor, going somewhere else.

"Where's he going?" she asked the remaining twin.

"Just some room Harry's in" Fred replied cryptically.

She nodded her head, knowing that it must be some secret. He broke the silence once more. "You know, we went to talk to him yesterday. He really wasn't in the mood to talk to us, so if he actually knows you, don't be disheartened if he doesn't want to talk to you either" he concluded, looking sad at Harry's situation.

She just nodded in response. They waited for a few minutes before, the other twin came back. "Well, he said he'll meet you, and that we can show her the room" he replied rubbing his head, seemingly confused that he'd let her see the room.

"He said she can come to the room?" Fred replied in confusion.

"Yeah, I know", he said. Looking to her, "I guess you guys actually know each other then. Sorry for doubting you" he said.

They took her to the corridor that George had gone through and stopped at an empty wall.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Daphne replied angrily.

"Just have some patience", Fred smirked. He paced the wall three times before a door materialised before her.

"Merlin…" she said, her eyes widening at the magic on display.

"Just go in through. He's there. Also, mind the mess…" George said.

"We'll leave you two alone. I trust you know how to get back to your common room", Fred added.

They walked away, leaving Daphne alone. Pushing her nervousness down, she opened the door. She didn't immediately see him, but instead chaos. There were hundreds of dummies strewn across the floor, some with blasts through them, while others just had the head remaining. There was a bookcase to the side, and behind it, Harry was sitting, flipping through a book.

"Harry?" she said nervously.

"Hey Daphne", he said not looking up from the book.

"What the hell happened here?" she exclaimed.

"I got angry at that stupid article, and how the wizarding world has once again shown me to be an attention seeker", he spoke softly, still looking down at the book.

Asking a few more questions, he replied in the same way, sometimes just giving a one-word answer and not looking up to her once. Getting annoyed, she grabbed the book from his hands, and threw it across the floor, ignoring his shocked face. "So this is what you do? You hide away from everyone and everything, hoping that it'll die down!" her voice, showing her frustration.

"Why are you getting angry at me?" he replied, getting up to face her.

"Because I have been worried about you the entire weekend. I believed in you and thought we were friends! Doesn't the fact that I'm here show that I know you didn't do it" she replied incensed. However, she wasn't finished, "and when I do come to see you, you don't even look me in the eye and talk."

"I'm not hiding from anyone. It's just better this way. I don't want the others to focus on me when there are three better champions who are meant to be in this tournament," he retorted, his voice rising.

"I'm sorry Harry, but that is just idiotic. The longer you draw this out, the worse it'll be for yourself. You're being a coward…"

"I AM NOT A COWARD!" he shouted, cutting her off. "I'M JUST FUCKING TIRED OF THIS. EVERYONE EXPECTS SO MUCH FROM ME. ONE DAY, I'M THE DEFEATER OF VOLDERMORT, THE NEXT DAY I'M A LIAR, A CHEAT AND MADE FUN OFF. NO ONE GIVES A SHIT. MY OWN BEST FRIENDS LEFT… THEY'RE MY FRIENDS WHEN IT'S EASY, BUT LEAVE ME WHEN IT GETS HARD…"

"Harry, calm down…" she tried to speak, but he didn't hear her, almost like he was ranting to himself

"WHY SHOULD I NOT HIDE FROM MY PROBLEMS? YOU'VE NEVER BEEN SET AGAINST THE WHOLE SCHOOL, BEING MOCKED CONSTANTLY, SOME BEING FRIGHTENED BY YOUR VERY PRESENCE. SO I AM SICK OF IT. AND WHAT NOW? MY NAME SHOWING UP IN THIS TOURNAMENT BECAUSE SOMEONE WANTS ME DEAD", his voice cracking at the end and his face completely red.

"WHAT!" she shouted, her voice matching his.

His tirade finally ended at her shout. Realising what he said, he backtracked, "It's nothing… It's my problem", he stammered, dragging his hand through his hair.

"And would this be the same problem you mentioned when I caught you training." At his silence, she realised she had gotten it right. "Fine, don't tell me. We're not best friends or anything like that and you don't have to share everything with me."

"So you won't mention this to anyone? Even Tracey?"

"If you don't want me to, I will not." Continuing, she spoke again, "… and you're right. I'm sorry, you're not a coward and I don't know how it feels. But you can also look at this in another way." At his confused look, she pressed on. "What I mean, is that you can use this competition to show everyone that you're not a person to be messed with."

He looked thoughtful at that. "I guess I can see that point. But I'm way over my head here, these guys are well beyond me in skills" he sighed.

"And there lies your advantage. You're the underdog. They don't expect much from you and aren't going to see you as a risk. And someone who's underestimated but powerful can always cause trouble for others. From the destruction in this room, I can tell you've added more spells, even though they seem to all be destructive" she laughed at the end, causing him to chuckle as well.

"So you think I have a chance of getting through this?" he asked.

"I do, and I'm going to help you train because I'm your friend. And screw Granger and Weasley if they can't accept your success."

"Thanks, Daphne. I appreciate that… more than you can imagine" he responded, looking much lighter.

"No worries. I am your friend Harry, and you have many real ones. You wouldn't know how much I had to go through before the twins let me see you. They look like good people for you" she replied, giving him a smile.

He gave a smile in response before his face morphed into one of more seriousness;"But Daphne, you've got to promise me one thing" he continued. "No matter what the situation with the other kids are like. Please don't stand up for me because that will just paint a target on your back. Especially Malfoy and his buddies" he finished, looking at her worried.

She smirked at this before replying. "Harry, you should know this. Subtlety is a defining characteristic of Slytherin. I don't have to be loud and boisterous to stand up for you. There are many more ways to get people back" she added. "But now… why don't you tell me about this room and all the training we're going to do?"

Harry laughed, "Well it all started when Fred and George were hungry and showed me the kitchens…"

Well, there you go. Chapter 6 is finally complete. Sorry for such a late update, but I've been so busy with A-Levels and I finally finished all my exams.
I've read all the reviews, and I'm so grateful for all the positive comments. I'm also really thankful for all the constructive criticism, and I've updated my past chapters. Also, I fixed some spellings and sentences to make it more coherent.

Also for this chapter: I know Harry seemed very emotional, and I'm not going to always write him like this. But I feel other writers often gloss over when his friendship breaks with Ron or Hermione. He's been best friends with them for three years, and this would cause him to be hugely upset and angry which is why he goes through such a range of emotions.

Finally, please review, follow, and favourite because it means a lot to me. Reviews are unbelievably helpful for writers and you guys are great. Remember you can also PM me anything you want such as ideas or questions.