Harry's thoughts were scattered as he climbed the Grand Staircase.

After moments of a stunned silence throughout the Records Room, he had eventually moved up the stone steps in a careful manner. Once he came out the small door that held the room, he noticed the great long tables had been pushed to the side of the room and that it was completely empty. He had made his way through the hall in a swift pace, knowing that if he took too long, he would get caught by the Prefects surely beginning their rounds in just a few moments, and he was already unsure on his reputation in the school after his name was feigned into the Triwizard Tournament.

He couldn't get over the conversation with Viktor. Now that he was by his own thoughts, it was pretty shocking that one of the most famous Quidditch players ever had taken a seemingly genuine interest in him. This fact was even more surprising, in the heat of the moment, than the fact he had to take part in a tournament that was widely known for killing its competitors.

He was praying that once he reached the Fat Lady, the portrait that guarded the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, the house would be asleep so he could have more time to trail over these thoughts rolling around in his head. His first action would be to inform Sirius of what had happened tonight; it would surely be headline news in the Daily Prophet once it got out and Harry was adamant in knowing Sirius would much prefer hearing the news come from him.

However, to his dismay, once he arrived to Gryffindor Tower, he heard screams and cheers coming from beyond the other side of the Fat Lady. After grumbling the password to the portrait, it swung open and permit him to enter. He stumbled up the steps and immediately upon arriving, he saw the Weasley twins run up and bombard him, propelling him onto their shoulders and carrying him into the middle of the common room. All around him was the chanting of "Harry! Harry! Harry!"

Needless to say, he was extremely confused.

He was lowered by the twins after a hot minute, to which he felt many of the Gryffindor's give him pats on either the back or shoulder or the odd thumbs up. Hermione soon approached him and spoke in a flighty tone, "Harry! Dumbledore told us after you entered the room, you would be the fourth champion! You're going to compete in the Triwizard Tournament! Oh my goodness Harry, what did you do?" despite her reproachfulness once the tournament had been limited to people seventeen or over, Hermione had been content. However, now that Harry was a champion it seems her dismay for a young champion had went out of the window - slightly. She followed this up with, "You're going to compete, right? You didn't drop out? You're going to have to be really careful, Harry - people have died in that tournament! It's... extremely dangerous!"

"I'm still a champion, Hermione. I'm thinking a lot of things right now. Where's Ron?"

To his surprise, Hermione had a look form on her face that was quite indicative of what she was about to say.

"Well... Ron isn't... he..." Hermione's spluttering of the words was beginning to aggravate Harry when she trembled the words on the tip of her tongue in one full swoop.

"He wasn't happy when he found out that you were a champion. He went straight to the boys dormitory when we all got back here and - how did you enter, anyway?"

"I didn't enter! I don't know what happened. I don't know why my name ended up in that Goblet."

"You... didn't enter?"

"No! I'm just as shocked as everyone else. Why do you think you had to push me for just to even move to the Records Room?"

"I... suppose that's true. Ron needs to hear this, though. He was upset because thinks you entered without him."

"Well, that's ridiculous. Why would I want to enter a tournament known for killing people?"

"Tell that to Ron, Harry. Not me. He should be up in the boys dormitories."

With one quick nod of the head, Harry waved her off and rushed to the boys dormitories where he entered the circular room with around seven beds. He looked over to a bed beside his own that had one particularly disgruntled Ron, sitting with his legs stretched out and his arms crossed.

Harry went over to the bed and Ron looked up, but didn't speak. Harry furrowed his brows before starting.

"Hermione told me you're upset?"

"I thought that best friends told each other everything. I thought that if you figured out how to put your name in, you would have told me how to do it as well, but it's whatever. I don't care."

"Ron, I didn't even put my own name in that goblet! I don't know who put me in, or why it was in!"

"Yeah, you don't have anything to explain to me. Why don't you go back on down to your fan club downstairs?"

With this statement, Ron sat up and began pulling the curtains around his bed, to block him from sight. Harry was enraged and shouted, "What's wrong with you? I wouldn't lie about that, I'm meant to be your best friend!" and in the aftermath, he heard a shrill "Piss off," escape Ron's lips. He kicked his trunk beside his bed out of furious desire and made his way back down to the common room before he began kicking off with Ron.

Hermione was still down there, but in the small amount of time Harry had been gone he had the realisation that most of the common room had fizzled out and went off to bed. Harry took her over to the corner and began whispering in an angry tone, "What an idiot. He won't believe me! He just closed the curtains to his bed and he's being a right git. I also need to talk to Snuffles about my name ending up in the Goblet of Fire-..."

Before he could proceed, Hermione shrieked and began to pounce, "No, no, no, Harry! He'll come back! Sir- I mean, Snuffles, will come back from the north if you tell him about this, Harry. Don't get him worried, just - take some time and think about how this tournament is going to go. What are we going to do if Sirius comes bursting into the school to pull you from the tournament?"

Harry couldn't deny the likelihood of this happening. Sirius was extremely protective of Harry, and the last thing he wanted was his godfather to be captured in the vicinity of Hogwarts. The only people to know of Sirius' true innocence were him, Ron, Hermione, Remus Lupin and Dumbledore. Towards the end of their third year, they had discovered the existence of Peter Pettigrew as Ron's old rat, Scabbers. He was an unregistered Animagus, someone who could transform into an animal upon command.

"I'll think about it, Hermione... but he's going to find out at some point or other. Do you think they're going to hush something like this up?" Harry spoke, inquiring Hermione's position on the matter.

"I suppose you're right... it's your choice, Harry. I just don't want anything bad to happen to him."

Harry appreciated Hermione giving him the freedom to do whatever he wanted with this situation. He pondered for a few seconds over telling her about the encounter with Krum after he entered the Records Room, but decided against it - something inside him told him that it was something he would rather keep to himself. It felt like an invite extended only to him, and no one else.

"Well, I'm going to bed. It's been a very long night. I can't imagine how it feels for you." said Hermione. Harry simply nodded in agreement, spoke absent mindedly, "Yeah, me too. Goodnight, Hermione." Harry watched her walk to the girls dormitories and saw her leave his view as she walked up the staircase. He let out a sigh under his breath, and made his way over to his own dormitory. The thought of going to sleep in the same room as Ron right now made his stomach churn, but he needed to rest.

He made his way up the staircase and cast a single glance over to where Ron would sleep, seeing the curtains drawn round, hiding his 'best friend' from view. He gritted his teeth before moving over to his own bed and aggressively throwing the curtains around his own, stripping down to his underwear and socks and laying in bed. He would just hope that this was either or a dream, or, in the event it wasn't, Ron would come to his senses and realise Harry wasn't lying to him about this.

With some soft yawns, Harry eventually drifted off into a deep sleep.

—

Harry awoke the next morning feeling particularly groggy. He had been met with difficulty trying to sleep that night. His mind had mulled over the encounter with Viktor, the reality of the situation that he was, in fact, a Triwizard champion. He also couldn't get over the resentment he was currently harbouring towards Ron for the attitude he had displayed the night previously. He had just wanted for it to hush up, but it seems reality had another idea at hand today.

Harry got up from his bed and opened up the curtains, revealing that he had quite clearly slept in as from as far as he could tell, he was completely deserted. No one, not even Ron, was there. Typically, the two best friends would wake each other up or wait for the other to wake up every morning as their timetables were exactly the same, and they had been known to be inseparable best friends.

Harry pulled on his school robes with ease and fixed his glasses properly on his face. He stretched a little, and then made his way downstairs into the common room. He was also met with an almost deserted room - the only people that could be seen right now were older students who were up to their eyes in books, doing homework or nothing at all. "Two types of people," thought Harry inwardly as he noticed the stark difference in some of the older students methods of spending free time.

He proceeded out of the portrait hole onto the Grand Staircase and made his way down, stopping to talk to no one. One thing had became apparent though as he quickly made his way down - he was extremely unpopular with the Hufflepuffs. By no volition of their own, Hufflepuff had always been the least recognisable house - that is to say, most people considered it the most boring house and Harry wasn't deluded as to why they were acting like this. They were proud to have a representative in Cedric Diggory, but now that Harry was a Triwizard champion, any and all Hufflepuffs that crossed paths with Harry were now just completely silent, with the odd dirty look thrown in.

Harry felt that this would be foreshadowing for the next while to come.

Then, he arrived at the Great Hall and stood in the doorway. He scanned the Gryffindor Table up and down in any sight of Hermione. To his relief, Hermione was relatively close to the entrance. He hunched over a little, and moved into the hall. Something else that had caught Harry's attention was that he could spot, near the complete opposite end of the hall, at the Gryffindor Table, was a collection of heads all sprouting ginger hair, leaning in closely and talking. Harry was in no disbelief that Ron was sitting as far away as possible with his older brothers, Fred and George. He gritted his teeth and put all his attention back to Hermione once more.

"You're finally awake. Do you want something to eat, Harry? You look a little off colour this morning," spoke Hermione, gesturing over to pieces of toast, eggs, bacon and an array of more food options to choose from. Harry would have initially said yes, but upon seeing Ron actively avoid him, he felt grated and it had upset his appetite.

"No thanks, Hermione. I just want to get to our first class. Ron still won't talk to me. He's being an idiot." He scoffed, shooting a dark look at the end of the table, knowing Ron was there with his brothers. He hoped the aggression would reach him from up here.

"We have Transfiguration until break, then we have Charms until Lunch and a double History of Magic to dinner." Hermione had known their timetable like the back of their hand by this point.

"Fun day ahead then, I guess." sighed Harry, getting up off the bench that seated students at the tables.

"Oh, cheer up, Harry. He'll come around soon. He's just a bit jealous, that's all."

"Don't know what he's jealous about. I'm only playing in a tournament that's known for killing a large portion of its competitors."

"I know that, Harry! Just - come on, let's get going."

Hermione packed up her things, but as they were about to leave, Harry had heard her mutter under her breath, "I wonder when the house elves will come to collect everything to clean up…?" Harry knew this was to try and free house elves from their work, under the guise of S.P.E.W, otherwise known as 'Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare'.

Truth be told, Harry knew the house elves loved their jobs and would be utterly devastated if they ever had to leave it. He could recall the sobbing, horrid mess of Winky after being criticised and given clothes by Barty Crouch. He could go his whole life without ever seeing such an abysmally pathetic scene again.

—

The only thing that could keep Harry persevering through the lessons today was the idea of going off to meet with Viktor Krum in the library after everything was over. The downside to these lessons was that it was painfully clear to Harry that Ron was still angry about Harry becoming a champion. He had tried to talk to him during lunch, but Ron was frivolous to get away from him and joined Fred and George as they had began to leave the Great Hall. All Hermione had to say on the situation was that he should 'give Ron time' to come around. In Harry's earnest opinion, he shouldn't need time to come around. Ron should have believed his best friend. During the day, he had also realised that Hufflepuffs were not the only people upset with him - even Ravenclaws had been giving him the cold shoulder, much to his annoyance. Hermione had to enlist the help of Ginny to pull him away from some tall fifth year Hufflepuff boy when he towered over Harry and called him a cheat and a fraud. A Slytherin prefect was on the scene when the encounter happened, and they were quick to dismiss ten house points from Gryffindor.

Harry was quick to scoff his dinner down that evening. He had one plate of chips with sausages, bacon and beans. In a matter of minutes, it was evaporated from the plate and he had immediately began to pack up his things. As he was about to leave, Hermione had enclosed her hand around his wrist and looked up at him, "Where are you going, Harry?"

"I've got, uh, something important to do. Triwizard tournament stuff. I'll see you in the common room later, alright?"

"Alright then," and she returned to her plate.

Harry scaled the Grand Staircase extremely quickly, making haste for the second floor as soon as he could. He peered around the corner, getting a good view of the rows in the room. To his delight, far down in a row near the back of the library, he spotted a tall man with short brown hair sporting a large fur coat. Harry instantly recognised this as Krum. The library was also deserted, with the exception on some students who were trifling with more important matters.

Harry made his way down the library, unable to contain the grin spreading across his face as he saw Krum glance up from the book and return the smile. Harry hadn't quite noticed it in the Records Room due to the general lighting, but Krum had a very distinctive patch of beard. It distinctuated his jawline and made his face look much smoother and maturer. Harry was a tiny bit jealous.

As they were no more than five footsteps away, Harry spoke up, "Hi, Viktor. You wanted me to meet with you, right?"

"Yes, I did. Come, sit. Let's talk."

Harry moved over to a chair situated opposing Krum. As he did this, he noticed the height difference between the two of them. This was to be expected, however. Krum was definitely older than him, however clearly not by too much, considering he was still in school. If Harry had to make an assumption, he would guess he was eighteen. It felt like a pretty safe area to estimate.

"So, what is it you want to talk about?" said Harry.

"Let us talk about you. You are very interesting. I have heard of your legend. The boy to live, was it not?"

"The boy who lived, but yeah."

"Ah, I see," a tinge of red tainted the other's features. Harry couldn't help but to appreciate how such a silly thing could embarrass one of the most famous people in the wizarding world today.

Viktor continued on, "Your school is very big. Durmstrang is a lot smaller compared to this place."

"No kidding. On my first year here, I got lost more times than I can count. I still get lost, even to this day. Hogwarts is full of secrets waiting to be uncovered."

"Lots of secrets, you say? Durmstrang has secrets. I don't think a Hogwarts secret getting out would be as bad as a Durmstrang one, however." Harry noted that as he said this, Viktor turned his around side to side, and had also lowered his tone.

"Well I… wouldn't know. I mean, there is a giant chamber somewhere in a girls bathroom. That's only a rumour, though." Harry knew that this wasn't true, but he thought it'd be a little too much for the other to comprehend.

"That… is odd."

"I suppose you're right. But, hey, enough about schools, let's talk about you! I've been a big fan of yours, ever since the World Cup. Where did you learn to fly so well?"

Krum had a sly grin on his features as he eased himself more into the chair he was now relaxing on, spreading out a little. "My father, Dmitri Krum, taught me a lot when I was a little boy. I spent most of my childhood on a broom. I play a lot for local teams in Bulgaria also. One day, I was scouted for an international team of Bulgaria's and that is how I came to be known today."

Harry found this intriguing - he could certainly see why he had been scouted, his prowess on a broom was something that Harry didn't know could ever be matched.

"Wow. That sounds amazing, I'm a quidditch player too. Seeker, specifically. I'm the youngest player for a Hogwarts quidditch team in a century. My dad was also a flier, so I think I just inherited my talent from him." A proud note was noticeable in Harry's voice as he spoke.

"That is sweet. It's good you enjoy flying. I am looking forward to playing in this tournament with you, Harry."

Harry was taken aback by this statement. Viktor's personal appearance was very betraying to his actual personality. On the outset, he looked mean and almost as if he'd curse you if you looked at him funny. Harry was beginning to learn there was more on the inside, however.

"Yeah, same here. I'm sure you'll do pretty great. You're good at being under pressure, right? Considering your professional matches as a quidditch player."

Viktor let out a tiny laugh. "You would think so. I'm sure you understand how it is to be out in the field searching for the snitch, when your whole team is relying on you. It is bad."

Harry could agree with this sentiment. As Viktor said this, his mind flashed back to the game of Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff in his third year, where he had his final game with his Nimbus 2000 before it was destroyed by the Whomping Willow after he had fallen due to the sudden presence of numerous dementors on the pitch. Cedric Diggory was also the seeker in this game. It was slightly ironic now that he thought about it a little more.

"Yeah… I think I get what you mean. That's what makes quidditch so amazing, though."

Viktor smiled, before a questioning look formed on his features, pondering Harry's curiosity before Viktor piped up, "You told me last night you had a Firebolt. It is true, yes? Perhaps you can go and retrieve it and I can bring you for a ride on it. I'm sure it would teach you a lot about your flying."

The idea intrigued Harry. Harry, however, felt that if people found out he had let an opposing Triwizard champion do this, they would wonder if he was mental. Some people would even call it 'fraternizing with the enemy'. Although, due to the way he had been getting treated around the school today, he had a slyly mischievous side to him today, which only urged him into taking up the other's offer.

"You know what? I'll bite. Do you want me to go get it now?"

"Yes. I would… like that. I am already dearly missing flying, as it is. I promise it will be fun."

"I'll be back in just fifteen minutes. Wait there."

And with that, Viktor watched as Harry sprang up and dashed off towards the library's exit. He stood up and watched as Harry left. Then, unbeknownst to himself for a few moments, he spoke aloud. "He is a very cute boy. He's very.. Interesting. I think I will like him a lot."

And with that, Viktor made his way towards the exit also, in hopes to catch Harry as he returned to the library.