Over the four weeks between being told that the final task would be an obstacle maze, and the day of the task itself, Harry and Hermione spent all their free time practicing spells Harry might need to get through the maze.

When they had first been thinking about a place to practice at breakfast the morning after Bagman informed them of the maze, Harry had suggested they find the unused classroom he'd stumbled across the Mirror of Erised in three and half years before. Hermione readily agreed, and when they walked into it later that afternoon after their final class of the day was over, they found it looking almost exactly as Harry had discovered it first year — the only thing missing was the mirror. The desks and chairs were still piled against the walls, the wastepaper basket by the teacher's desk was still upturned, and it still had the layer of dust covering everything that it had had before, if not just a little bit thicker after another three and a half years of unuse.

So every spare moment they had long enough to practice, they headed there, a private, secluded location where no one would walk in on them.

Due to all the time they spent practicing, and the fact final exams were coming up the week leading up to the third task, as the first day of exams approached Harry began feeling more and more guilty about all the studying time of Hermione's he was taking up. So he tried to tell her repeatedly that he could practice on his own some, that she had exams to study for that he didn't, but she wasn't having any of it.

"Harry! Honestly! I could probably pass my OWLs in every important subject right now if they'd let me — I'm not worried about passing fourth years!" she finally burst out after the dozenth time he told her he could practice alone if she wanted to go study, glaring at him and almost seeming actually angry with him.

Harry wisely refrained from mentioning it again.

So by the time the day of the final task arrived, Harry felt as confident as he felt he ever could going into a still mostly unknown task. He felt like he'd learned half the library, and just hoped he could still remember it all when he got into the maze, and didn't panic and forget everything Hermione had taught him over the past month.

~HP~

At breakfast the morning of the final task, Harry was debating piling a second round of sausages onto his plate to eat, when Hermione opened her daily copy of the Daily Prophet and almost immediately choked on the swig of pumpkin juice she'd just taken.

"You okay?" asked Harry concernedly, patting his girlfriend on the back.

"Rita again," choked out Hermione once she'd mostly caught her breath, spreading the front page of the newspaper out in front of them so he could read the witch's latest story with her.

She had barely even made it to the end of the first paragraph, when she had to grouse, "Funny for her to talk about suitability of you competing when A, it's a supposedly unbiased magical artifact that chooses the champions, not any person or persons, and B, your suitability is technically zero, given the fact you're underaged and shouldn't have been in the goblet to begin with."

"Given how many rules we've broken in the four years we've been here, it's also definitely arguable that neither of us are suitable for attending Hogwarts period, regardless of what evidence she has," smirked back Harry.

Hermione rolled her eyes, replying, "But we're a witch and wizard, which makes us completely suitable for attending a school of witchcraft and wizardry, which is what concerns her and any journalistic integrity she might pretend she still has.

"And...then she immediately throws integrity out the window with two bold-faced lies," continued Hermione reading the next sentence. "Because unless I'm forgetting something or you failed to tell me something, a month ago in Divination was the first time you've ever collapsed because of your scar. And you never complain to anyone about it hurting."

"Dementors, last year," answered Harry glumly. "Wasn't because of my scar, but I did collapse on the train, and in one Quidditch match."

"Oh…yeah — forgot about that, but Draco certainly wouldn't have," replied Hermione with a sigh. "Not really sure three incidents counts as 'regularly', though."

"Oh, I highly doubt Draco said three — having told her the word 'regularly' sounds a lot more like him," said Harry, before adding, "And speak of the devil — right on time."

For at that moment, none other than Draco himself had shouted out across the hall, "Hey, Potter! Potter! How's your head? You feeling all right? Sure you're not going to go berserk on us?"

"Nope — just on you. Everyone else is safe," shouted Harry right back, before looking back down at the newspaper to continue reading, catching the grin on Hermione's face out of the corner of his eye.

He grinned back only for a second though, as Hermione soon asked, "But how could he have told her about you collapsing in Divination, as he wasn't anywhere near there? Also, either she's lying again or this was meant to come out some two weeks ago, as it's been three and a half weeks since that class, since it was the Monday after we were told about the maze, which is certainly not 'Monday last' as she wrote."

"Maybe someone in class told someone else what happened, and he overheard them," answered Harry dully. "It's not like anyone's afraid to share rumors about me around here. And I never claimed my 'scar was hurting too badly to continue studying', I simply said I needed to go to the hospital wing because of a bad headache — though I guess after clutching my scar as I woke, it wouldn't be hard to make the leap to it being my scar that was causing the headache, and I did leave class so technically I guess my headache was 'hurting too badly to continue studying', so I guess she's actually journalistically okay on that one."

"Except you clearly weren't studying, you were dozing off. So if anything, she should have said your 'scar was hurting too badly to go back to sleep for the rest of class'," smirked Hermione. "But fair point about Draco hearing it from someone else telling someone else telling someone else."

They continued reading on, occasionally muttering to themselves about something else ludicrous Rita wrote, until a few paragraphs later they ran upon the section about Harry being a parseltongue.

"Well, duh! he concealed from the public that you're a parseltongue!" burst out Hermione. "Because this is how you react when you do find out! No child deserves the bigotry and abuse the entire wizarding community would rain down on them because of something they were born with and had no control over having! It's the exact same as Hagrid, and Dumbledore never sharing that Hagrid is half-giant — we all saw how that turned out for him!"

"I really am kind of surprised that no one outside of the castle ever heard about me being a parseltongue, though," commented Harry thoughtfully. "Did none of the students write letters to their mums, who then gossiped about it to their neighbors, and so on and so forth until the entire wizarding world knew? I guess Dumbledore really did hush it all up somehow if this is as big of news as Rita clearly thinks it is."

"I don't know," replied Hermione with a shake of her head. "But it does almost seem like absolutely nothing gets out of the impenetrable walls of this castle sometimes. I hate to be conspiratorial, especially about the side we consider to be the better side, but does Dumbledore have someone checking owls to make sure nothing he doesn't want to get out about what occurs inside the castle does? I'd hate to think that that could be true, and we aren't in the wizarding world at large to actually know what is and isn't known, but there does seem to be a lot that occurs within these walls that should be common knowledge and even investigated by the Aurors, that never is.

"The one thing I do know, though," Hermione continued on with the article, "is the fact that Draco highly stylized his recounting of the dueling club incident. But as for making friends with werewolves and giants, Hagrid's only a half-giant, she's the one who let that cat out of the bag, and from everything I heard, three-quarters of the school loved Lupin — everyone except the Slytherins, basically. And similarly, Hagrid is well-known and liked by a lot of adults who've come through Hogwarts over the past half-century, and students here now — so neither of those friendships are in the least uncommon.

"And then of course there's the fact that actually investigating any wizard capable of parseltongue purely because of that is a basic human rights violation — just replace 'parseltongue' with 'black skin color', and watch the fireworks fly. When in reality, they're the same exact thing — traits you are born with that you had no control over and can't do anything about. So while an investigation into you would probably be a great thing, as they'd discover your abusive relatives and maybe actually do something about it, which could help you, if they did investigate you because you can speak parseltongue there is no logical reason they couldn't go on to investigate someone simply because they have a certain skin color, or hair color, or are a certain sex. All of which would be human rights violations."

" 'Serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic' — aren't wands, cauldrons, and robes, as well?" asked Harry rhetorically, reading on. "I'd guess everything is used in some kind of dark magic or another, and lots of things used in 'good' magic are also frequently used in dark magic. It's all magic — it's got to use most of the same stuff, there's only so much magical stuff in existence to be used."

"And most so-called 'dark magic' has completely good uses as well if you wanted to use them for that," added Hermione. "Dark versus light or good magic, is all about semantics and trying to make the magic you use sound acceptable while the magic your enemy uses sound bad and evil, when in reality it's all in how you use it. Dark magic can be used for good just as 'light' magic can be used to murder. Almost all magic we learn here at Hogwarts, if applied in specific ways, could murder or torture people — but Wingardium Leviosa and forgetfulness potion are still taught to first years at a school known as a 'good' school."

"Good point," agreed Harry, before literally laughing out loud as he continued to read on. " 'Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a boy such as this should be allowed to compete in the TriWizard Tournament' — isn't that exactly what he did when my name came out? Or — at least the other two headmasters and Snape certainly did. And it was Mr Crouch who said I had to compete because my name had come out and it was a binding magical contract, not Dumbledore. Doesn't seem like all the considering in the world could change the fact I had to compete. There's certainly lots of times I'd have willing given up and stopped competing if I could — hell, I would right now if that was actually an option. Not have to try to make it through a dangerous maze and just get to watch the three champions do it? — Sign me up."

Hermione laughed with him, before chuckling, "Just don't resort to using all those dark arts your muggle relatives and Hogwarts have taught you in an attempt to win since you still do have to compete. I mean, we all know you'd do anything for a bit of power — or so Draco says, despite the fact it kind of seems like you're the most powerless wizard here, between having to live with your abusive relatives in the summer, Mrs Weasley trying to stick you with her daughter without your consent, and just the general amount that absolutely everything bad that occurs in this castle seems to happen to you."

Shaking their heads at Rita's latest propaganda, Hermione folded up the newspaper and stuffed it into her bag, knowing nothing else in there could be all that bad after that cover article, as Harry decided he really did want that second round of sausages now, and piled them onto his plate and began eating them.

~HP~

As the end of breakfast neared, and with it the time for Harry and Hermione to head up to Binn's classroom for the final day of exams to begin (for Hermione, at least — Harry had been spending all his time exempt from exams sitting in the back of class reviewing spells for the tournament), Professor McGonagall walked up to them.

"Potter, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," she told him curtly.

"Uh…why?" asked Harry, confused. "The task isn't until tonight, and we already know what it is — what more instructions could Bagman or Crouch have to give us?"

"The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them," answered their Head of House sternly, immediately walking away before Harry could ask any more questions, like the obvious, 'And you think the Dursleys came?'

But since he couldn't ask that as she was no longer there to ask, Harry turned to Hermione and asked instead, "Did you know that? Because I certainly didn't."

"Nope," answered Hermione, shaking her head. "I never read anything about the champions' families coming to watch the final task, and I never heard anything said, either — and I've been with you every time the judges told you anything about the tournament since right before the first task, so unless they told you before that, I'd have heard it there, too, if anyone actually told you."

"Well, girlfriend, want to come with me to see who McGonagall thinks qualifies as my family, since we both know the muggle Dursleys were neither invited, nor would they have come had they been, yet McGonagall obviously thinks there's someone in there for me?" asked Harry. "It can't be your parents, could it? We are dating after all, surely that news has reached the ears of the professors by now…."

"Of course I'll come with, boyfriend," replied Hermione, taking his hand in hers. "And I'm almost positive it's not my parents, or they would have told me. Plus, like you said with the Dursleys, they're muggles — no way they got an invite."

They got up and leisurely walked over to the door leading into the side chamber. But as they approached the door, a thought suddenly entered Hermione's mind, and she held Harry back. Peeking her head around the corner into the room, she quickly pulled it back.

"As it just dawned on me — it's Mrs Weasley and Bill," said Hermione quietly.

Harry looked at her in surprise. "But why?" he asked. "They're not my family like Professor McGonagall said, and we're not even friends with Ron anymore."

"I hate to be conspiratorial, but maybe Mrs Weasley's plans for pairing off her youngest two runs deeper than just in her family," answered Hermione with a shrug. "But that's just a possible theory, certainly not supported by anything we actually know."

"So what do we do now?" asked Harry.

"Well…that's entirely up to you, of course — whether you want to go in there and talk to her and Bill, or not," answered Hermione slowly. She knew what she'd prefer he do, what she'd certainly do if it were her, but this was his decision not hers, and she wasn't going to try to sway him one direction or the other.

"Not particularly," answered Harry. "And especially not if everything Ron said at Christmas about her trying to put me with Ginny and you with Ron are true. And I haven't forgotten about the tiny Easter egg she sent you, either."

"Well, technically we're still only guessing about that one, but I understand what you mean," said Hermione. "Now as for what you do, if you're serious about not meeting her — or at least not now, as I'm sure she'll track us down at lunch or dinner which we can't avoid — then I suggest continuing with the original plan of sitting in the back of class studying for tonight, while I regurgitate magical history that has nothing to do with Voldemort or any of the other problems currently facing the wizarding community, which we could actually learn from in order not to repeat the mistakes of our forefathers."

So Harry and Hermione turned from the chamber door and headed back out through the Great Hall, and up to the History of Magic classroom.