Chapter 8

Ancient Runes was always a commotion. Professor Babbling never really was much of a disciplinarian so the class usually got away with talking, but they still managed to get their work done. For many students it was their hardest class because they had to constantly learn new languages, and since the class was ancient, so were the dialects. That meant that they had to translate non-Latin languages which used completely different alphabets to what they were used to. However, all the talking meant that it was usually a good class for private conversations which meant Tracey could finally find out what her best friend was up to.

"Sooo… Harry-" she asked.

"Sooo Tracey?" Harry replied, looking up confusingly from his work.

Not one to ever beat around the bush, she asked, "So what's the deal between you and Daphne?"

"Huh… Daphne?" he said spluttering.

"Is that the only part of the question you heard?" Tracey asked mischievously.

"What, no!" he said firmly. "It's just a random question while we're translating runes."

"Hmm… avoiding the question I see," Tracey replied; dramatically rubbing her chin.

"I am not."

"Are too," Tracey replied, sticking out her tongue.

"Fine" he said. "So, what is it that you need to know about Daphne and myself?" he sighed.

"Well Mr Potter" she said in a professor-like manner, "I want to know what your intentions are with my best friend"

"Uh… intentions?" he replied flustered. "I don't have any intentions," he said honestly.

"Wait… so when Daphne said that you guys train… that's all you guys actually do?" she asked.

"Pretty much," he said, getting back to his work.

"So, you guys are just boring then," she huffed. "That's really all you do?"

"Well sometimes we talk after training, but that's usually just a few minutes. Plus, we can't hang around much in public because I don't want to give Malfoy anymore reasons to annoy her" he replied genuinely.

Tracey's next question was interrupted by a knock on the door. Professor Babbling opened the door to a younger student who promptly handed her a note and walked off. "Mr Potter-" Babbling said. "You have to go to the charms classroom now. Finish the translations for homework" she finished.

Harry nodded back to the professor and started packing his work. "What's that all about" Tracey asked, as Harry stood up.

"Oh that… it's for the weighing of the wands," Harry replied.

"Eww… is that some male chauvinistic thing" Tracey asked, scrunching her face in disgust.

Harry burst out laughing at this, causing the rest of the students to stare at him. Hermione just gave him an annoyed glare, obviously still angry after he told her off. "Nothing like that" he said still chuckling. "Just something for the tournament… anyway I got to go" he finished, leaving the classroom.

He walked down to the third-floor corridor, entering the charms classroom as asked. He was the last champion to enter, with the other three already sitting down as Dumbledore talked to them. The tables had been pushed into the corner to create an empty space in the middle.

"Ahh Harry" the headmaster said jovially. "We can now get on with the proceedings"

Harry nodded at the headmaster in response. Other than the champions, the respective headmasters from each school were also there. Madame Maxine still had a haughty expression as she looked at him, something that was mirrored by her student, Fleur Delacour. Krum had a neutral expression, almost looking bored at being in the room, yet Karkaroff glared at him, obviously still believing he must have cheated in the tournament. Cedric gave him a wave as he entered.

Mr. Ollivander was also in the room, as Dumbledore had said the night before. The aged wandmaker stood in the corner, his sharp grey eyes looking over the champions. He offered Harry a small smile when they made eye contact. The next person Harry laid eyes on could give Dumbledore a run for his galleons with the way she was dressed. She wore bright magenta robes, which matched her lipstick. Her nails were painted neon green, perfectly manicured, while a notebook and pen floated next to her. Behind her stood a photographer, with a device Harry had seen muggles use in the early 1900s. She was obviously a reporter and had a predatorial look as she stalked him with her eyes.

Before Dumbledore could continue, the reporter beat him to the punch. "Mr Potter, what a delight it is to see you in person", the woman said, sticking her hand out.

Harry shook her hand, "Um thanks… and you are?"

"Rita Skeeter, the Daily Prophet's number one reporter" she said proudly.

Harry pulled his hand back as fast as possible, "You're Rita Skeeter" he said, venom in his voice.

"Oh, you've heard of me, have you?"

"You wrote that article about me becoming champion" he said, seething.

"Well obviously my dear. The viewers need to know the truth-"

"That wasn't the truth," Harry cut her off, his voice getting louder as he pressed on. "That was just slander where you ridiculed me and made me out to be a cheat."

"Oh, I see. So how did that make you feel?" she said inquisitively, her notebook starting to write. "Angry? Afraid? Perhaps this is a way for you to show your parents-"

Her questions were cut off as Harry grabbed the notebook away, about to burn it.

"Harry that's enough," Dumbledore said, ending the argument. Turning to the reporter, he continued "Miss Skeeter, perhaps it would be best if you were not here for the ceremony."

"Well headmaster, I cannot do that. The viewers need to know everything, and I am the medium that provides them with the knowledge. There is also something called freedom of press, and you cannot stop me from writing or being here."

"Very well Ms Skeeter. However, I daresay that Mr Potter here won't provide you with any interviews and it would be best if you didn't harass him. He is a champion after all," Dumbledore said, a very slight tension in his voice, but clear enough for the reporter to understand. Harry ripped up the offending pages of the notebook, before handing it back to the reporter, who sent a glare towards him.

"Now, let's get on" the headmaster said. "Garrick if you will,'' Dumbledore, said passing the attention to the wandmaker.

"Now I shall be testing your wands to make sure they are in good working condition for the tournament. I'll do this with each champion privately as I believe the secrets between a wand and its master must be kept."

The wandmaker proceeded to take each champion to the side room, often lasting ten minutes. Between that time, Harry watched as Skeeter talked to the remaining champions quietly for interviews and photos, and from the looks of things, she seemed to be asking questions about him.

He was the last to get called and walked into the side room, the wandmaker already seated. Harry took the chair opposite him. Ollivander remained quiet for a few moments, before speaking. "Mr Potter, may I see your wand please."

Harry reached into his robes and passed his wand. Ollivander took the wand, holding it as one would hold their child. He seemed to murmur something to himself, indistinguishable to Harry. The wandmaker then put the wand to his ear, his eyebrows raising slightly as he did so. Finally, he said a spell, conjuring a small glass bowl before handing it back to Harry.

"Well Mr Potter, it seems as changes have gone afoot in this wand," Ollivander spoke.

"What do you mean?" Harry said worriedly.

"Mr Potter, would you say anything is different about you this year. Anything large or small… changes inside you," Ollivander replied, his grey eyes probing Harry.

"Um… not really I suppose," at Ollivander's raised eyebrow, Harry thought hard again. "Well… I guess I have been focused more on my studies and have been training a lot more with magic for the tournament," he finally said.

"Well it would explain some of the changes in the composition of your wand," Ollivander said, more to himself than Harry.

"I don't really understand what you mean Mr Ollivander"

"That wand there Mr Potter is the same wand I gave you three years ago when you walked into my shop. The materials of holly and phoenix feather still make up the wand, but as I said to you many years ago, the wand chooses the wizard. Now, it is not unknown for a wand to usually change when it's owner changes to match their preferences. Often, owners need a new wand-"

Harry made to interrupt at this, but the wandmaker continued. "However, this has not happened for you, and in your rare case, your wand has changed to suit you. Now Ms Skeeter, abrasive as she is, may have been onto something earlier today. She asked if you were angry, and although you didn't reply, actions speak louder than words. I can only imagine the anger you've had at being thrust into a tournament without your choosing. Now this is where it becomes interesting. Holly as a wood is quite rare in wands. However, it works most happily for those who may need help overcoming anger or impetuosity".

Harry knew that was true, he was angrier this year, but he had always been impulsive, so holly seemed to match him. The wandmaker continued, seemingly excited at getting to explain wand lore to Harry.

"Now then, since there has been this change, through no fault of your own, your wand seems to match you better in fact than it did three years ago."

"So, if it matches me more, does it mean I am powerful?" Harry asked.

Ollivander chuckled at this. "No Mr Potter, it does not make you more powerful. However, when a wizard or witch is more in tune with their wands, magic subsequently becomes easier to learn and understand, perhaps a reason why you have been able to learn new spells at such a rate."

It made sense to Harry. Yes, he had been training harder than usual, but whenever he was learning a new spell by himself or with Daphne, he picked it up faster than previous years.

"But that is not all. Your core is phoenix feather, one from Dumbledore's phoenix in fact. A phoenix feather is by far the most versatile core, by which I mean it is suited to most branches of magic, which is why the Dark Lord which who you share a core with, is powerful in multiple areas of magic. But going on from that, a phoenix wand is very hard to tame. Wizards have gone their whole lives without reaching the full potential of a phoenix wand, yet here you are, fourteen and have managed to do it."

"How do you think I did it?" Harry asked.

"That question has multiple answers, each very different. But if I were to wager a guess, it would be from your greater discipline. You seem to be training harder and focusing more on your studies. This shows discipline, and it is my belief that you were able to tame your wand due to this."

The wandmaker seemed done with his monologue. Harry sat pensively, thinking about all he was told. Thanking the wandmaker for his analysis, he walked back to the charms classroom where everyone had left except Dumbledore, who was reading a first-year charms book a student must have been left behind.

"Enjoying yourself sir?" Harry asked amusedly.

"Immensely", Dumbledore replied. "Miranda Goshawk is quite a good friend of mine and I do enjoy her descriptions of spells" the headmaster said, putting down the book. "Did you have an interesting talk with Garrick?"

"Immensely," Harry said, repeating the headmaster's words back to him who laughed in response.

"I shall not pry, because as Mr Ollivander has said, the wand's secrets should remain between the wand and wizard, but could I guess that he said that something about your wand has changed?"

Harry nodded in response, "I thought as much,'' Dumbledore said.

"Sir, how does one even learn wand lore, because you seem to have a grasp of it."

"You may think that Harry, but I am also quiet clueless when it comes to the intricacies of wands. You see, books may teach you some knowledge, but the real secrets have been passed down families which is why there are very few wandmakers in the world. Garrick would have learnt the trade from his own father, and so on. However, it is still a fascinating read, once you wrap your head around the topics," Dumbledore said.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I did promise Garrick I'd take him out for lunch", the headmaster said, walking to the room where Ollivander was.

Harry left the charms classroom deep in thought. Had his personality changed? He didn't want to think so, but what Ollivander had said made sense. In fact, Hermione and Ron had been right when they said that he had changed this year, but not in the way they were thinking. This year he had finally thought of himself, and working to his best, and disciplined himself as Ollivander had said. But he knew it was for the better. He had never felt so good about himself before this and was happy with the results. Ron and Hermione believed he was doing something dark or nefarious, but he'd show them.

"Wow another hot date," Fred winked as Harry got up from the couch to go to the room of requirement.

He had been helping the twins come up with products to test. So far, they had thought of different types of sweets to give you an excuse to leave class, but the sweets to make you turn blue for a few minutes was Harry's personal favourite. Harry knew the twins' dream was to open a shop for their products, but they didn't have enough money. He wanted to help them, but they would never accept his own money.

"Ahh Harry… third time this week, give that girl a break," George said, his smirk matching his brothers'.

"You guys always seem to be harassing me about Daphne, yet I don't see either of you going for dates with any girls," Harry retorted jokingly.

"Well that's where you're wrong young Harry," Fred said. "Just last week, I explored a broom closet with Ms Chloe Alton."

"At least you had a fun time," George sighed. "Her friend was so boring… rather have gone on a date with Snape," causing Harry to laugh and grimace at the thought.

"Wait… but don't one of you like Angelina, and the other like Alicia?" Harry asked inquisitively. At the twins blush, he roared with laughter.

"So…" Harry continued, finding it hard to talk between laughs, "You guys both have crushes on two girls, and instead of going for them, you spend time with other girls who you barely like."

"Ha-ha…," George said sarcastically. "We don't have crushes on them. We were just waiting for them to make a move."

"Oh… so you don't mind me going over to them now and telling them to ask you guys out," Harry said mischievously, pointing to the girls, who were also sitting with Katie Bell in the corner.

"You do that Potter, and I'll cut off the thing that makes you a man" George said threateningly.

"Sure, you will," Harry replied cockily. Walking to the trio of girls, he whispered something, before pointing to the twins. The girls nodded in response.

Harry walked back to the twins who had both managed to turn the same shade of red. "What did you say," Fred seethed.

"Well Freddie, I told the girls that you guys needed help with your homework. So they've agreed to come over in a bit and help you."

"Harry Potter. Boy-Who-Lived and matchmaker extraordinaire," George said proudly, causing Harry to laugh.

"I'm going to go now. Tell me guys later if you chickened out", he smirked before making his way out the common room. He walked to the room of requirement and saw that Daphne had already arrived; shooting spells mercilessly at a training dummy.

They started their session the same way they always did, with a duel. Daphne had yet to beat him, but in all fairness, he was training for his life. After the duel, they would work on a spell together, or Harry would teach her something new.

"Wow, good lesson," Daphne said, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. She made her way to the door, but before she could leave, Harry tried to summon his Gryffindor courage.

"So, Tracey talked to me today," he said, getting immediately amused at her reaction towards Tracey's name.

"And?"

"Well, she wanted to know if anything was going on between us," Harry chuckled.

"Ugh… I'm going to kill her," Daphne muttered under her breath.

"I told her nothing was going on, and she said we were boring."

"Yeah, she told me the same thing last week," Daphne replied.

"Well…" Harry said, "I still think we could get to know more about each other. I mean we've been meeting up for a month, but I still don't know anything about you."

Daphne remained quiet for a few seconds, and suddenly two chairs appeared, facing each other. Sitting on one of them, she said, "Well come on then. Let's find out the myth behind Harry Potter," she smirked.

Harry smiled in response and took the chair opposite to her. They spent the next hour asking questions between themselves. They talked about everything from their favourite colours to their favourite Quidditch teams, and everything in-between. He even learnt that she knew quite a bit about muggle inventions because of Tracey's Muggle-born mother. He was glad that she didn't try to press about his past adventures, understanding that he would tell her in due time.

"Well, I know you may not want to answer this question, but why do you wear such overgrown muggle clothes. Is it some type of new muggle fashion?" she asked confusedly.

Harry felt like he just got punched in the stomach. He knew this question would lead to the Dursley's and he could not tell her about his home life. Even Hermione and Ron had barely scratched the surface of his life before Hogwarts. No one knew about the cupboard under the stairs and he was too embarrassed to ever reveal that.

"Harry are you ok?" Daphne asked worriedly, pushing him out of his reverie as he realised that he had stayed silent for a minute.

Stammering a bit before he answered, "It's not some new fashion. I only have muggle relatives left and the ones I live with aren't very wealthy, and so they give me my cousin's old clothes. He's also bigger than me so that's why they are loose on me." It was a blatant lie, but he wasn't going to say that the Dursley's had never bought him clothes.

"But that doesn't explain why you don't buy clothes for yourself. The Potters are really affluent."

"Excuse me?" Harry said.

"Harry have you ever wondered why when Draco makes fun of Weasley's wealth, he's never mentioned anything about your clothes in public?"

"Wait you're right," Harry figured, knowing that Malfoy would use any chance to make fun of him in public.

"That's because the Potters have a huge amount of wealth. Obviously, I don't know the actual figures, but all purebloods are taught about the different houses, and yours is one of the biggest. It may be around the same size as the Malfoy fortune, and they're one of the richest families in Britain. You seriously didn't know this?"

"No, I didn't," Harry replied shocked. "I mean I knew I had some money left by my parents. Hagrid took me into my vault the first time to get money for supplies."

"Harry that must have been a trust vault left by your parents. If it was your actual vault, Hagrid wouldn't have been able to enter or even get close to it. Family vaults can be only accessed by people with Potter blood or those who have been married into the family."

"So, you're saying, somewhere in Gringotts, I have a bigger vault just filled with money?"

"Money, books, weapons, jewellery... anything valuable is probably stored in that vault."

"I don't understand why I haven't heard about any of this," Harry said, disappointed that Dumbledore had never mentioned any of this to him.

"Well it doesn't really matter because you can't access any of it until you've turned 17 and are of age."

"I guess. I just wish I knew more about it. I've been in the magical world for almost four years and I still feel like I don't know anything."

The sad expression on his face, gave her a strange urge to hug him, but she ignored it. "Look Harry. Once the first task finishes next week, and you have more time to prepare for the second task, I'll help you understand everything about the Wizarding world. But you have to also promise me that you will buy some better clothes now."

"You'd do that?"

"Of course. You've helped me so much in training, I owe you this," she smiled.

"Thanks Daphne, and yeah next Hogsmeade trip, I'll pick up some stuff".

Casting a quick tempus charm, she quickly got up.

"Crap, it's an hour after curfew," Daphne said frantically. "Merlin, I'm so screwed."

"It's fine. People in Gryffindor always come after curfew and no one says anything, as long as they're not caught by a teacher."

"No, that's not how it works in Slytherin. Malfoy already thinks there's something going on with us, and if he tells the rest of the house, people will hate me. No offence, but to most Slytherins you are undesirable number one," she said solemnly.

"So, if you show up right now-"

"If I show up right now, Malfoy will definitely be awake. The stupid ferret always stays up late. He'll see me walk through, and the next thing I know, my life will be hell.

"Ok, I can help you," Harry said an idea coming to his head.

"How can you possibly help me right now?"

"Well I'm obviously going to get you to the Slytherin common room unseen and then I'll walk out," he grinned.

"I don't know whether to slap you for your stupidity or take you to Madam Pomfrey to get your head checked out" she said exasperatingly.

"Oh right, I forgot this," he said, pulling out his invisibility cloak from his robe pockets.

Daphne eyes widened as she saw the cloak. "Ok… so what's the plan?"

"So how exactly do you know where the Slytherin common room is?" Daphne inquired, as they made the descent to the dungeons.

"That's a story for another time," Harry smirked. Quickly he became quiet as a prefect passed them in a corridor, oblivious to the two teenagers.

"This cloak is seriously amazing. Where did you get it?" Daphne whispered once the prefect had gotten out of range.

"It was my Dad's" he said simply, focused on guiding them through the dark, and trying not to focus on the proximity of Daphne to him. His growth after the summer meant that the cloak was tighter. So, he was trying not to pay much attention on the feeling of Daphne's breath on his neck every time she talked.

They soon reached the dungeons and walked towards the bare wall. "Ok you remember the plan, right?" Harry asked.

Daphne nodded her head in confirmation. Whispering the password (Salazar) they quickly walked into the room. As quick as lightning, Harry shot a spell at the closest table, causing it to fall and cause a commotion. Those in the room all looked towards the fallen table and no one had paid attention to their common room door seemingly opening and no one coming through. The door closed, and no one was any wiser.

"Dumb table," a sixth year said, sending a quick 'reparo' spell towards it.

Giving Daphne a thumbs up under the cloak, they walked up towards the girls dormitory. Harry was surprised how easy it was for anyone to get up here, which must make it easy for people to have relationships. They walked up to the fourth-year girls dormitory, Daphne taking the cloak of herself once reached.

"Ok, I'll walk down there now to make my appearance," Daphne whispered. Harry followed behind her as she went back into the common room.

She pretended to search for a book in the common room. "Greengrass! Where did you come from?" Draco scolded, coming up behind her.

"Well, Draco. If you had eyes, you'd know that I came from the girl dormitories," Daphne replied sardonically. Harry fought the urge to laugh at Draco's confused look.

"That makes no sense. Pansy said you weren't in the room," he said.

"Perhaps Pansy also suffers from poor eyesight like you. Or maybe she was engrossed in herself as usual and didn't notice me. But the greater question, is why you needed to know about my whereabouts."

Malfoy's face became redder in anger, but he didn't say anything, and stomped off to the boys dormitory. Daphne smiled to herself and walked back up to her room.

Harry looked around at the last stragglers in the common room and laughed internally as he shot another spell to the same table, causing it to fall again, and slipped out the Slytherin common room.

Reaching his common room, where everyone was already fast asleep; the snores of Ron loudly penetrating the room. Moving to his bed, he heard a small bark, and turned to the window to see a small owl there with a note clutched in his beak. He didn't recognise the small tawny brown owl, but it was the most common magical owl in England.

Taking the note, he fed the owl some of Hedwig's treats before sending it off. Opening the short note, he couldn't help but smile.

Harry,

Hogsmeade, same place. 11pm tomorrow.

Padfoot

Harry realised he needed his sleep. All these nights of training, and now a late meeting with his Godfather. However, seeing Sirius was worth it, the man just knew how to make him feel better. But after this, he needed a solid day of sleep. He almost dozed off in charms today, if it weren't for Seamus Finnigan blowing up his desk. But thankfully it was the weekend tomorrow, and he deserved a good lie in.

He got to the statue of Gunhilda of Gorsemoor on the third floor, whispering 'dissendium' under his cloak before going through. The walk to Honeydukes was much harder than it had been in his third year, with him having to crouch most of the way. He entered the cellar and thanked whatever deity for the door to the main shop being open. Getting into the main area of the sweet shop, he looked through the window to make sure the street was empty.

He whispered 'alohomora' the unlocking charm, but the door didn't budge. He cringed at himself for thinking that the shop owner would make it that easy. Thinking quickly, he used another spell that he had learned weeks prior.

"Patentibus," he said, pointing his wand to the door. Thankfully the door opened, and he quickly went onto the street, locking the door behind him. He had learnt the spell from a very old charms book. It was the more complex version of the alohomora charm and worked on most locked doors except for those that were warded.

However, he realised as he walked towards the shrieking shack, why there were no tamper alarms in the shop. Then he remembered Hermione mentioning last year, that all the items in every shop had spells on them to avoid stealing, so the owners probably put an alert charm if he had tried to touch any of the sweets.

"Padfoot," Harry said happily, engulfing his godfather in a hug.

"Harry, great to see you again!" Sirius exclaimed

"You know, it is certainly weird to be here when I am not a werewolf," a figure in the shadows said.

"Professor Lupin!" Harry said excitedly. The werewolf chuckled at his excitement and pulled him into a hug.

"No need to call me that anymore. Remus is fine, or Moony if you prefer."

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

"Perhaps you could answer that question for us Harry," Sirius said. "I leave you alone for ten seconds and you somehow get yourself into one of the most dangerous Wizarding tournaments in the world" he smirked.

"As Sirius here put it so eloquently, our main purpose here is because we're worried and want to know if you're good. Padfoot and I have been doing jobs for Dumbledore, and since Sirius is a wanted man we don't go out during daylight, and we're constantly moving," Remus said wearily. "We only met Dumbledore two days ago and it was only then that we heard about your participation"

"What jobs?" Harry inquired.

"Moony and I have been tasked with gathering some people for Dumbledore's anti-Voldemort club. Unfortunately, he also gave Snape the same job and if it weren't for Moony here, I would have cursed the slimy bastard a million times by now," Sirius replied.

"And what did Dumbledore tell you guys?" Harry inquired worriedly.

"He told us everything Harry… the crow's blood and everything else."

Harry nodded in response, glad at least that he didn't have to explain it all. It still made him sick to his stomach thinking about it.

"So, it's in a few days then… are you ready?" Padfoot asked, unable to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

"Well I've been training as much I can. I still don't even know if what I'm doing is right or what I'm up against."

"Well… if it's any conciliation, the other champions don't know it either. Dumbledore himself doesn't know. He and the other heads only get informed by Crouch on the day," Remus said.

"I guess that's good, but they're seventh years. Cedric is head boy, so he's probably super talented. How can I stand a chance against them?"

"Of course, you'll stand a chance against them," Sirius said firmly. "Champions they may be, but none of them would be able to drive away hundreds of dementors at the age of thirteen with a spell that the majority of the population can't perform."
"Harry you're the strongest person I know, and I don't say this as your godfather, but someone who's grown up with some of the most powerful wizards of their time. Your problem is that you don't understand your worth, and once you do, you'll be able to reach heights that Dumbledore would struggle with," Sirius finished.

"He's right Harry," Remus added. "We both grew up with your parents, and if James was your age and you dueled him, you'd beat his massive ego into the ground. And that's saying something because James was one of the best fighters there were. He learnt from his dad, who was the head of DMLE."

"And what about my mum?" Harry said, his worries fading as he heard stories about his parents. That always relaxed him.

Sirius chuckled at this. "Well the only time I saw your mum duel your dad was in fourth year, after he had convinced the portraits to serenade her with love songs. Everywhere she went, a portrait would sing a love poem for her," Sirius said, tears in his eyes as he recalled the memory.

The rest of the night went like that, with his father's best friends telling him as many stories as they could about his parents. He learnt about their legendary fights, and how they fell in love. Sleep was completely forgotten, as the hours slipped by, and the first cracks of dawn streamed through the room.

"Merlin," Remus said looking at his watch. "It's 6am; the hours really passed by," he said.

"Yeah, Harry and we kept you up for enough time. It's time for you to go to bed," Sirius said, as he saw his godson fail to stifle a yawn. "Filch would have opened the gates by now, so you don't have to go through the passageway."

"And Harry," Sirius said as the boy walked towards the door, "You've got this."

Harry realised as Cedric walked away, that he never got good news.

There were two days before the first talk, and he had just finished dinner when Cedric had stopped him on the stairs. The head boy took him into an empty room, before talking.

"Dragons Harry. It's bloody dragons," Cedric said, pacing the room up and down.

"Wait… you mean… that the first task is fighting a dragon," Harry asked, his blood turning cold.

"I don't know…. But it has something to do with a damn dragon."

"How the hell did you find out about this. I thought none of the headmasters knew anything."

"It wasn't Dumbledore or anything. It was Moody" Cedric said.

"Moody? How the hell would he know," Harry asked.

"No idea, but I was there last week in DADA, and he said he wanted to have a chat, but that's nothing unusual. Since I became a champion, he checks on me to see how I'm doing." Harry wasn't surprised by this, since the professor did it with him too.

"But then he mentioned the dragons by mistake when asking how I felt about the task. I didn't think he even noticed he said it until he saw my face. He quickly sent me out and muttered about how Hagrid shouldn't have told him."

"But… you believe him," Harry said.

"I mean… I have no choice but to believe it. It doesn't seem like something he'd randomly mention... Anyway, I've got to go," he said quickly, before exiting the room, leaving a scared Harry behind.

Dragons… fucking dragons. From all the possible things to do, you find a way to push me into an early grave. Voldemort must be ecstatic.

Nope. Harry just never seemed to get good news.

There we go. Another chapter complete. Got some more Sirius in there and a nice big Harry/Daphne portion in there too. Not much to say here, except hope you guys enjoy.

And of course please follow, fav, review.

Especially review, I live for your feedback, and thanks to everyone for the compliments. They mean a lot.

See you next time folks.