At breakfast the next morning, Mr Brocklehurst sent Mandy the Daily Prophet and a letter that mostly just said 'ha-ha' over again, along with saying that Skeeter's article was pretty pathetic and rubbish. Mandy was grim-faced when she gave the newspaper to Hailey.
Most of the front page had been given to a picture of Hailey and Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament just turned out to be a highly dramatized life-story about Hailey, which continued on pages: two, six, and seven. Meanwhile, Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour's names had been horribly misspelled and they got a small mention in the last line, while Cedric didn't even get a single mention.
Hailey got a sick, burning feeling of shame as she read the article, which included things that she didn't even remember saying.
"I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd been very proud of me if they could see me now….Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it…I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me…"
Skeeter had even interviewed other people about Hailey. Hailey had noticed one particular paragraph that made her face heat up in embarrassment.
Hailey has, at last, found love at Hogwarts. Her close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Hailey is rarely seen out of the company of one Michael Corner, a surprisingly attractive half-blood boy, who like Hailey, is one of the top students in the school.
Mandy was giggling, "since when was Colin your close friend?"
Hailey wondered how hard she would have to hit her head on the table to knock herself unconscious.
When Mandy and Hailey left the Great Hall, there were taunts and kissing noises from the Slytherins directed at Hailey. Mandy hissed at them.
Hailey looked at the article again as she stood by the marble staircase. "How long do you think it would take Michael to find out?"
"Find out what?" Michael asked. Hailey's face burned before handing him the newspaper. He took the newspaper and read over it, seeming amused at the things Skeeter claimed Hailey said, but then he got to where Skeeter claimed that he and Hailey were in a relationship.
He squinted at the newspaper and held it very close to his face, "'Surprisingly attractive?'" Hailey wasn't expecting his reaction to be that. Michael repeated, "Surprisingly? How am I surprisingly attractive? Everyone knows that I'm attractive." He looked at a passing fifth year girl who walked down the stairs to the Great Hall. "Hey, how are you doing?"
The fifth year glanced at him, before walking on.
"Yes, Michael," Hailey couldn't help but say. "You, sir, are attractive, so therefore, I'll stare at you." She widened her eyes as she stared at him.
Michael seemed amused for the first few minutes, but got a little uncomfortable and covered Hailey's eyes with his hands, "Stop. That's a little creepy."
There were a few giggles and Michael removed his hands. Hailey saw four second year girls walking by and one of them was Eva, who seemed amused by the entire thing. Mandy rolled her eyes.
Over the next two weeks, it seemed like the moment Skeeter's article came out, everywhere she went the Slytherins kept quoting the article and taunting her.
"Want a hanky, Potter, in case you start crying in Transfiguration?"
"Since when have you been one of the top students in the school, Potter?"
Michael had been dealt out a bit of unpleasantness, which mostly came from the Slytherins. Hailey had seen a few fifth-year Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and some Ravenclaws congratulate him on snagging the Girl-Who-Lived.
Pansy, after coming face-to-face with Michael after the article got out, shrieked indignantly, "Him? Attractive? Who was he competing with? A border collie?" Hailey was sure that Pansy was offended because Pansy thought Draco was attractive.
The article made things worse with her and Ron, because the article seemed to confirm Ron's belief that Hailey was enjoying the attention.
Over the next two weeks, the idea of talking to Sirius kept her going. One day, during a Care of Magical Creatures class, Hailey and Malfoy got in some sort of fight over the POTTER STINKS badges and Malfoy's complaining about Hagrid. The fight escalated to where she and Malfoy shot spells at each other. Hermione got hit in the face with a spell, which made her front teeth grow.
Hermione and Mandy banded together to try and make Ron and Hailey talk to each other. Hailey refused to talk to him until Ron admitted that she hadn't put her name in the Goblet of Fire and apologized for insinuating that she, Mandy, and Michael were liars.
Hermione sounded impatient when she said, "You miss him! And I know he misses you—"
Michael had made a weird choking noise at that and Hailey denied the notion that she missed him, even though she really did miss her best friend.
Once the shock of being a fourth champion wore off, Hailey started to fear what was going to happen to her during the first task. She didn't know what was coming, or how she was going to die during the first task, and she wasn't sure how Sirius was going to make her feel better.
Hermione, Mandy, Michael, and Hailey were in the library a lot more than usual. Hailey barely had any luck with the Summoning Charms, because she had a lot on her mind, which was blocking her from mastering it. She knew that it was because she did poorly on it, but not poorly enough to get homework on it. She just wanted to master it because it was bothering her.
Viktor Krum was in the library a lot, too. Hailey couldn't help wonder what Krum was doing. Was he looking for things to help him through the first task or was he studying?
Hermione complained a lot about Krum being there, because of the group of giggling girls that Krum accidentally brought with him.
"He's not even good-looking!" Hermione muttered angrily. "They only like him because he's famous! They wouldn't look twice at him if he couldn't do that Wonky-Faint thing—"
"Wronski Feint," Hailey corrected, feeling a pang just imagining what Ron would say or the face he would make if he heard Hermione talk about Wonky-Faints.
The days leading up to the First Task seemed to rapidly approach. On Friday, Malachi Lovelace had stopped her to wish her luck for the first task on Tuesday. Hailey still couldn't help but wonder what Malachi's motive was.
Hailey was panicking and felt a little relieved when on Saturday it was announced that third-years and above were allowed to go to Hogsmeade.
Hermione thought that it might do some good for Hailey to get out of the castle. Hailey wondered if Hermione wanted to go with Ron, but Hermione turned pink and said that she thought they could meet with Ron at the Three Broomsticks. Hailey refused that, but decided to bring her Invisibility Cloak with her.
When they went down to the entrance hall, Eva and her best friend, Ivy, was waiting at the doors, for Michael. Eva was holding a piece of folded parchment. Ivy was wearing a Support Cedric Diggory! badge and her strawberry blonde hair was in a ponytail. She had her arms crossed.
"Here's a list of sweets that we want, Mikey," Eva said. She handed him a letter pouch, which was probably filled with Galleons, and the parchment. After that, she and Ivy left through a door. Michael handed Mandy the leather pouch, before setting off to Hogsmeade.
Michael unfolded the parchment and was looking over it. He gaped at it, "What are they doing? Selling the sweets?"
"What do you mean?" Mandy asked confused.
"Who eats six boxes of Pixie Puffs?" Michael asked, pointing at the parchment.
Mandy looked at the parchment and sounded incredulous as she said, "Fifteen boxes of Glacial Snow Flakes?"
"Who eats sixty pumpkin pasties? I know I love them, but come on. That's ridiculous," Michael said. "I should buy this lot before returning to Hogwarts."
Hailey watched as the other students walked right past the four as they entered the village. Most of them did wear Support Cedric Diggory! badges, but no horrible remarks came her way and nobody quoted that stupid article.
Mandy went into Honeydukes, and returned a few minutes holding a package of Nougat Chunks, and stuffing a package of Treacle Fudge and tin of Pink Coconut Ice in her robes pocket.
They walked along and Hermione said, "Come on, please just take off your cloak for a bit. No one's going to bother you here."
"There's always Rita Skeeter," Michael said, looking behind Hailey.
Hailey turned around to see Skeeter and her photographer friend emerging from the Three Broomsticks pub. They were talking in low voices when they walked right past Mandy, Michael, Hermione, and Hailey. They didn't even look at Michael and didn't even apologize for nearly walking into Mandy.
"She's staying in the village. I bet she's coming to watch the first task," Hailey said. After saying it, she felt panicky all over again. She never brought the first task up and they never talked about what might be in the first task.
"Good, she's gone," Mandy said, relaxing a little. She was holding a Nougat Chunk to her mouth.
"Why don't we go and have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, it's a bit cold, isn't it?" Hermione asked. Hailey stayed quiet and Hermione sounded irritated as she said, "You don't have to talk to Ron!"
They walked in the pub, which was packed with Hogwarts students. It looked like there were a variety of magical people as well, like hags, who were terrible at disguising themselves.
Mandy and Hailey walked through the crowd, Hailey keeping close to Mandy, so she didn't trod on anyone, while Michael and Hermione went to get the drinks. Hailey suspected that it was because Michael fancied Madam Rosmerta, who looked old enough to be his aunt. On the way to a table, Hailey spotted Ron sitting with Fred, George, and Lee Jordan, and she had to resist the urge to poke him very hard in the head.
They reached the table and sat down.
"This is so weird," Mandy whispered. She ate a few Nougat Chunks, "Are you sitting across from me?"
"Yes," Hailey replied and Mandy flicked a Nougat Chunk across the table to her. Hailey grabbed it.
"That was so odd," Mandy whispered. Hermione and Michael returned with the drinks. Mandy whispered to them, "She's in front of me."
Hermione slipped Hailey a butterbeer from underneath Hailey's cloak. Hailey looked around as Mandy opened up the tin of Pink Coconut Ice.
"You know, maybe I should try and get some of the villagers involved with S.P.E.W.," Hermione said, sounding thoughtful.
"Go ahead," Michael said.
"Hermione, when are you going to give up on that S.P.E.W. stuff?" Hailey asked, taking a drink of butterbeer from under her cloak. She knew that Hermione's heart in the right place, but she couldn't help but think that she was doing it the wrong way.
Hermione snapped, "When house-elves have decent wages and working conditions! You know, I'm starting to think it's time for more direct action. I wonder how you get into the school kitchens?"
"I think Eva knows," Michael said.
"I think Fred and George know how, too," Hailey replied.
Hermione got quiet, Mandy and Michael were eating the Pink Coconut Ice and Treacle Fudge, with Michael occasionally handing Hailey some.
Hailey looked at the pub. Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott were trading Chocolate Frog cards at a nearby table, both wearing Support Cedric Diggory! badges. Hailey noticed Malachi Lovelace, his friend, a dark-skinned boy, and a light brown-skinned girl were sitting a table away from Cho Chang and Cho's group of friends.
Hailey wasn't sure what she would give to be one of the patrons, laughing and talking, with nothing to worry about, but homework? She wondered how she would feel if her name hadn't came out of the goblet. She knew that she wouldn't be wearing the Invisibility Cloak. Ron would be there, sitting with them, and all of them would be coming up with ideas what the champions would be facing in the tournament.
She had been looking forward to it, watching the school champions do whatever dangerous task, cheering on Cedric with everyone else, safe in a seat at the back of the stands…
"I wonder how the other champions feel," Mandy asked.
"I think Cedric is nervous and excited," Hailey replied. "When I see Fleur Delacour, she always looks the same."
"Krum just sits in the library, reading," Michael replied.
Hailey thought of Sirius and remembered that he wanted to talk to her. "Hermione, what's the password to Gryffindor Tower? Sirius wanted to talk to me at one in the morning."
"It's 'Balderdash'," Hermione whispered to Hailey. "Oh, look, it's Hagrid."
Hailey looked to see the back of Hagrid's head emerge from the crowd. Hailey noticed that Hagrid had thankfully abandoned the hair bunches. She briefly wondered how she didn't see Hagrid, but saw Professor Moody. It seemed like Hagrid had leaned down to talk to Moody. Hagrid had an enormous tankard in front of while, while Moody was drinking from his flask. Madam Rosmerta didn't seem to think much of that, even though she looking askance at Moody as she collected glasses from the surrounding tables. Maybe Madam Rosmerta was insulted over Moody not drinking her mulled mead, but Hailey knew that it was because Moody preferred having his own food and drinks, because Dark wizards could have put something in it.
Hagrid and Moody got up to leave, but Hailey waved by at them, before realizing that they couldn't see her. In a creepy way, it seemed like Moody had looked straight at her. Michael handed Hailey some Treacle Fudge, which she took.
"All right, you three?" asked Hagrid loudly.
Hailey almost choked on her fudge, while Mandy, Michael, and Hermione said hello to him.
Moody limped around the table and bent down. Hailey wondered if he was examining Mandy's Pink Coconut Ice and Treacle Fudge, and Moody said, "Nice cloak, Potter."
Hailey almost choked on her butterbeer, but she stared up at Moody, amazed. "Can your eye—I mean, can you—?"
"Yeah, it can see through Invisibility Cloaks," Moody said quietly. "And it's come in useful at times, I can tell you."
Hagrid was smiling down at Hailey too. Hailey knew that Hagrid couldn't see her, but she was sure that Moody told him that she was there. Hagrid looked down at the table, probably trying to make it look like he was examining Mandy's sweets, but Hagrid whispered so low that Hailey could hear it, "Hailey, meet me tonight at midnight at me cabin. Wear that cloak." Straightening up, Hagrid loudly said, "Nice ter see yeh, yeh three," he winked and left, with Moody following after.
"Why does Hagrid want me to meet him at midnight?" Hailey wondered.
"He wants you to meet him at midnight?" Michael asked, confused.
"I wonder what he's up to," Hermione said. "I don't know whether you should go, Hailey…" She looked around and nervously said, "It might make you late for Sirius."
Hailey had to admit, that was true. If she went down to Hagrid's at midnight, she would cut her meeting with Sirius very fine. Hermione suggested sending Hedwig done with a note saying that Hailey couldn't make it. Mandy pointed out that it must be very important if Hagrid wanted Hailey to meet up with him at night. Hailey was actually curious to know what Hagrid wanted.
Before leaving Hogsmeade, they had to return to Honeydukes to buy Eva's supply of sweets. Ambrosius Flume seemed amused when Michael handed him the parchment with Eva's order and went to gather the sweets.
It made Hailey wonder if Eva had somehow done business with Flume before and she wondered if Eva and Ivy had found the secret passage into Honeydukes. She had to remind herself that she should look at the Maurader's Map to figure it out.
At eleven, Hailey and Mandy, who pretended to go to bed early, pulled the Invisibility Cloak on and went back downstairs through the common room. They walked through the door and down the spiraling steps, then walked to the entrance hall, and out onto the very dark grounds.
They walked towards the lights that were on in Hagrid's cabin and Hailey saw that the Beauxbatons carriage lights were lit up too. She could Madame Maxime's voice come from the carriage as Mandy knocked on the door.
"You there, Hailey?" Hagrid whispered as he opened the door and looking around.
"With me," Mandy whispered, as they walked inside the cabin, before removing the Invisibility Cloak.
"What's up?" Hailey asked, trying to sound conversational although she was feeling anxious about getting to the Gryffindor common room to meet with Sirius.
"Got summat ter show yeh," said Hagrid, looking excited. He was wearing that looked like an oversize artichoke and Hailey noticed bits of broken comb teeth in Hagrid's hair, so he must have ditched the axle grease.
"What are you showing us?" Hailey asked, growing a little weary. Did he want to show them skrewt eggs or a three-headed dog?
"Come with me, keep quiet, an' keep yerselves covered with that cloak," said Hagrid, "We won' take Fang, he won' like it…"
Mandy started explaining, "We can't stay long because we need to be up at the castle—"
Hagrid opened the cabin door and strode off into the night. Hailey and Mandy glanced at each other, before throwing the cloak over themselves, and hurried off to follow after Hagrid.
Mandy whispered, "Are we going—"
"Yeah," Hailey replied as they were lead to the Beauxbaton carriage.
Mandy asked, "What are we—?"
Hagrid shushed her, before knocking three times on the carriage.
Madame Maxime opened the door, wearing a silk shawl wrapped around her shoulder. She smile when she saw Hagrid, "Ah, 'Agrid…it is time?"
"Bonsoir," said Hagrid, smiling at her andheld out a hand to help Madame Maxime down the golden steps.
Madame Maxime closed the door behind her, Hagrid offered her his arm, which she took, and they started walking. They walked around the edge of paddock that was containing Madame Maxime's giant winged horses. Mandy and Hailey both were bewildered at that turn of events and they had to run to keep up with them.
"Did he want to show me Madame Maxime?" Hailey whispered annoyed.
"I know," Mandy replied. "We can see her at any time we wanted. She's not that hard to miss."
After a while of walking, Madame Maxime playfully asked, "Whar is it you are taking me, 'Agrid?"
"Yeh'll enjoy this." responded Hagrid in a gruff manner, "worth seein', trust me. On'y—don' go tellin' anyone I showed yeh, right? Yeh're not s'pposed ter know."
"Of course not," replied Madame Maxime.
They kept walking, with Hailey getting more and more impatient as they had to jog along to keep up. Hailey kept checking her watch.
"Did he want you to be on his date with Madame Maxime?" Mandy whispered, incredulous.
"I don't know," Hailey responded impatiently.
They walked so far around the forest that the castle and lake was soon out of sight.
"This is nice," Mandy whispered. "A moonlit stroll…if you were a boy, I would think this is romantic…but you're not, so it's kind of odd."
"Shh," Hailey said. "I hear something." It sounded like men were shouting up ahead…there was a roar…Hailey winced at the sound.
Hagrid led Madame Maxime around a clump of trees and they stopped. Hailey and Mandy hurried to be alongside them…Hailey thought she saw bonfires and men running around them…
"Oh, my god," Mandy murmured. "Dragons?" her jaw dropped. "Eva was right?"
There were four fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons. The dragons were rearing onto their hind legs in an enclosure. There were fenced in with thick planks of wood. They were roaring and snorting—torrents of fire were shooting into the sky from fifty feet above the ground.
There was a silvery-blue dragon with long, pointed horns, which was snapping snarling at the wizards on the ground. There was a smooth-scaled green one, which was writhing and stamping with all its might. There was a red one, with an odd fringe of fine gold spikes around it face, which was shooting mushroom-shaped fire clouds into the air. Lastly, there was a gigantic black one, which looked more lizard-like that the others, which was near to them. If they were lying down, they would be the size of a small hill.
There were at least thirty wizards, seven or eight to each dragon, were attempting to control them. They were pulling on chains which were connected to heavy looking leather straps, which were around the dragons' necks and legs. Hailey looked up to see that high above her and saw the eyes of the black dragon. It had vertical pupils like a cat's, which were bulging with either fear or rage. It was making a horrible yowl, screeching type of scream.
"Keep back there, Hagrid!" ordered a wizard that was near the fence. He was holding a chain and it looked like he was straining. "They can shoot fire at a range of twenty feet, you know! I've seen this Horntail do forty!"
Horntail…Horntail…that sounded vaguely familiar, although Hailey couldn't remember it.
"Is'n' it beautiful?" Hagrid asked.
"It's no good!" yelled another wizard. "Stunning Spells, on the count of three!"
Hailey watched each of the dragon keeps pull out their wands.
"Stupefy!" they shouted at the same time. The Stunning Spells shot into the darkness like they were fiery rockets, bursting in showers of stars on the dragons' scaly hides—
The dragon nearest to them, teetered dangerously on its back legs. It jaws stretched wide; its nostrils were devoid of flame, though it was smoking—then slowly it fell with a thud that seemed to make the trees behind them shake.
The dragon keepers lowered their wands and walked forward to their fallen charges. They hurried forward to tighten the chains and fasten them securely to iron pegs, which they buried deep into the ground with their wands.
"Wan' a close look?" Hagrid asked Madame Maxime, sounding very excited. The two moved right up to the fence, and the two fourth year witches walked closer.
The wizard who had warned Hagrid to not get closer, turned, and Hailey saw that it was Charlie Weasley.
"All right, Hagrid?" Charlie asked, panting. He had came over to talk. "They should be okay now—we put them out with a Sleeping Draught on the way here, thought it might be better for them to wake up in the dark and the quiet—but, like you saw, they weren't happy, not happy at all—"
"What breeds you got here, Charlie?" asked Hagrid, gazing at the black dragon. He looked like he was revering in the dragon's presence.
Hailey could see a strip of yellow beneath the wrinkled black eyelid.
"This a Hungarian Horntail," explained Charlie. "There's Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one—a Swedish Short-Snot, that blue-grey—and a Chinese Fireball, that's the red."
Charlie looked around, while Madame Maxime strolled down the edge of the enclosure, gazing at the stunned dragons. Charlie frowned and looked at Hagrid, "I didn't know you were bringing her, Hagrid. The champions aren't supposed to know what's coming—she's bound to tell student, isn't she?"
"Jus' though she'd like ter see 'em," Hagrid said, shrugging, and looking at the dragon, enraptured.
"Really romantic date, Hagrid," said Charlie, shaking his head.
"Four…" Hagrid said, "So it's one fer each o' the champions, is it? What've they gotta do—fight 'em?"
"Just get past them, I think," said Charlie. "We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, Extinguishing Spells at the ready. They wanted nesting moths, I don't know why…but I tell you this, I don't even the one who gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end's as dangerous as it front, look." He pointed toward the Horntail's tail, and Hailey saw long, bronze-coloured spikes protruding along it every few inches.
Five keepers staggered up to the Horntail at that moment, carrying a clutch of huge granite-grey eggs between them in a blanket. They placed the eggs carefully at the Horntail's side and Hagrid let out a moan of longing.
"Knowing your luck, you'll probably get the Horntail," Mandy whispered to Hailey.
"I've got them counted, Hagrid," Charlie told Hagrid sternly. "How's Hailey?"
"Find," replied Hagrid, staring at the eggs.
"Just hope she's fine after she's faced this lot." Charlie replied, sounding grim, as he looked over at the dragons' enclosure. "I didn't dare tell Mum what she's got to do for the first task; she's already having kittens about her…" Charlie mimicked his mother's voice, "'How could they let her enter that tournament, she's much too young! I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit?' She was in floods after that Daily Prophet article about her. 'She still cries about her parents! Oh, bless her, I never knew!'"
"Let's go," Mandy whispered. "Hagrid won't miss us. I think this is what he wanted you to see."
Hailey agreed with that assessment and they turned to head back to the castle. She wasn't sure if she should be glad or terrified with what was coming. Maybe it was better to know, because at least she wouldn't pass out if she saw the dragons. Then again…maybe she would pass out anyway in front of the whole school, because all she had was a wand, which was going against a fifty-foot, fire-breathing dragon. She looked at her watch and almost gasped, "We need to hurry. We have fifteen minutes left."
They sped up and they nearly ran into a wizard. They stopped and Hailey squinted at the wizard, who had a familiar looking goatee. It was Karkaroff and he was heading toward the place where the dragons were.
They slowly made their way to avoid being heard and then hurried through the dark grounds to Hogwarts.
"What is he up to?" Mandy whispered.
"He probably noticed Hagrid and Madame Maxime and decided to follow them. He would know what's in store for the champions," Hailey whispered. "I read that cheating was a big part of the tournament, so it won't be a surprise if they'll tell Fleur and Krum."
"But who'll tell Cedric?" Mandy asked.
They reached into the castle, slipped in through the front doors, and climbed the marble stairs. "Hurry," Hailey ordered, because they had less than five minutes to get up to the fire.
"Balderdash!" Hailey gasped at the Fat Lady, who was sleeping in her frame in front of the portrait hole.
"If you say so," the Fat Lady muttered in a sleepy manner, without opening her eyes. The picture swung forward and the two Ravenclaws climbed in.
The common room was deserted and Mandy pulled the Invisibility Cloak off. The only light in the common room was the flames in the fireplace.
Hailey noticed that on a nearby table, the Support Cedric Diggory! badges read POTTER REALLY STINKS and she was insulted.
"I heard the Creevey brothers were jinxing them to read Support Hailey Potter," Mandy whispered to Hailey.
Hailey was actually touched at that and looked in the fireplace. Sirius's head was in the flames and she jumped at that. She smiled and they rushed forward to the hearth.
"Hi, Sirius. How are you doing?" Mandy asked, before Hailey could say anything.
Sirius looked different, because his hair was short and cleaner looking, his face looked fuller, and he looked younger, like how he was in the photograph Hailey had of him, at her parents' wedding.
"Never mind me, Mandy," Sirius replied. "How are you doing?"
He looked at Hailey, but Mandy replied, "I'm fine."
Hailey was going to say the same, but she ended up explaining what had happened to her ever since her name was expelled from the Goblet of Fire, she talked about Ron, how Ron didn't believe her, how he was jealous of her, and finishing up with how Hagrid just showed them the dragons, and saying, "I'm a goner."
Sirius looked at Hailey, looking extremely concerned. He had left Hailey talk, without interrupting her. "Dragons we can deal with, but we'll get to that in a minute—I haven't got long here…I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. There are things I need to warn you about?"
"What?" asked Hailey right as Mandy said, "Go on…"
"Karkaroff," said Sirius. "Hailey, Mandy, he was a Death Eater."
"What?" Mandy deadpanned.
"He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year—to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."
That…actually makes sense, Hailey thought.
"Why did he get released?" Mandy demanded.
"Yeah, why did they release him?" Hailey asked.
"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," Sirius answered bitterly. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names…he put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place. He's not very popular in there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well."
"Okay," Mandy said slowly.
"But…are you saying that Karkaroff put my name in the goblet?" Hailey explained, "Because if he did, he's a really good actor. He seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop me from competing."
Sirius said, "We know he's a good actor, because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he? Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet, Hailey—"
"You and the rest of the world," Hailey interrupted, bitterly.
"And reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article, last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm," Sirius said.
"But what if it wasn't?" Mandy finished.
"That's right," Sirius said, "I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely; Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had."
"Wait, what?" Mandy asked. "Are you saying that—?"
"Karkaroff's trying to kill me?" Hailey finished, "But, why?"
Sirius looked like he was hesitating. "I've been hearing some very strange things," he explained slowly, "The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the Quidditch World Cup, didn't they?"
Mandy nodded, "Someone sent up the Dark Mark…"
"Did you both hear about that Ministry of Magic witch who's gone missing?"
"Bertha Jorkins?" asked Hailey, confused.
"Why is she so important, again?" Mandy asked, confused.
"She disappeared in Albania, and that's definitely where Voldemort was rumoured to be last…and she would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she?"
Hailey was putting the pieces together, "Yeah, but…it's not very likely she'd have walked straight into Voldemort, is it?"
"I think my dad talked about her a few times," Mandy said, "He said that she was an idiot."
"She was," Sirius replied, nodding. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above me. Very noisy, but no brains, none at all. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."
"Okay, so it would've been very easy for You-Know-Who to get information out of her?" Mandy questioned.
"Is that what you mean?" Hailey asked. "You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?"
"I don't know," Sirius replied. "I just don't know…Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your name in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it look an accident."
"It seems like a good plan," Mandy said, grimly.
"They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff," Hailey said.
"Right—these dragons," said Sirius, speaking rapidly now. "There's a way, Hailey. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell—dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon—"
"We know that," Mandy said.
"But you can do it alone," Sirius continued explaining. "There is a way, and a simple spell's all you need. Just—"
"Someone's coming," Mandy whispered.
Hailey and Mandy got their feet and hid the fire behind their backs. Hailey didn't know what the Ministry would do if someone saw Sirius's face within the walls of Hogwarts. They would drag her and Mandy into questioning, and be questioned about Sirius's whereabouts. Chances were, they would have Veritaserum used on them to find out.
There was a tiny pop! In the fire behind them and Hailey relaxed knowing that Sirius was gone. All that left was, who decided to go for a one o'clock morning stroll?
It was Malachi Lovelace. Hailey was instantly annoyed.
Malachi stopped and looked at them. He blinked and tilted his head to the side. "What are you doing up?" Before Hailey could answer, Malachi continued on, "How did you two get in here?"
Hailey couldn't help but motion to the fire and say, "We can't enjoy the nice fire?"
Malachi countered, "Don't you have your own fireplace?"
"No," Mandy replied bluntly.
Malachi looked at them and shrugged, "Good enough."
"What are you doing up?" Hailey asked.
"I thought I heard voices and wondered who was up," Malachi said and shrugged. He went back to the stairs, stopped, and looked back at them. "Good luck on Tuesday," and then he went up the spiraling staircase.
Mandy and Hailey waited for him to close the door, before they grabbed the Invisibility Cloak and throwing it over themselves. They went through the portrait and heard the Fat Lady mutter a sleepy, "Who's there?" as they walked away.
Hailey whispered to Mandy, "What does he want from me?"
Mandy was confused, "He's just being nice."
Hailey figured that her friend had a point, but she wasn't sure, "I guess…"
