After Limbo
Chapter Seven
Harry was walking along when Mad-Eye A.K.A. Barty Crouch Jr. asked to have a word with him. Harry frowned and shook his head.
"I have to meet with the other students" He said.
"It will only take a moment" Mad-Eye said. Harry sighed, but followed him to his office, knowing he wasn't going to do anything until after the tournament.
In his office, Mad-Eye took off his prosthetic leg and sat at the desk.
"What did you want to talk about?" Harry asked curtly.
"Listen to me Potter. Your pal Diggory, by your age he could take a whistle into a watch and have it sing you the time. Miss Delacour, she's as much a fairy princess as I am. As for Krum, his head may be filled with sawdust but Karkaroff's is NOT" Harry frowned at this. Viktor was much smarter than people gave him credit for. "They'll have a strategy, and you can bet that it'll play to Krum's strengths. Hmm? Come on Potter. What are your strengths?"
"I'm an excellent flier sir" Harry said, deciding not to mention his other abilities. "I am also good at the summoning charm. I have the first task sorted. Can I go now?" Mad Eye frowned.
"This is not merely a game boy, its dangerous" He warned.
"I'm well aware of the dangers" Harry replied. "I've read up on the tournament, but I am sure I can handle myself just fine. If that will be all, I will be on my way then"
Viktor Krum had decided to follow Harry's advice and went to the library. He spotted Luna right away. She was sitting by herself, reading a book. She looked very lonely and he saw the Ravenclaw girls sitting a table away, giggling and pointing at her. Viktor walked over to the table and cleared his throat. Luna looked up, surprise in her blue eyes.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" He asked. Luna was at a loss for words.
"No" She said after awhile. Viktor smiled and sat down next to her.
"Vat are you reading?" He asked. Luna placed the book on the table.
"It's my daddy's newspaper" She said. "I'm afraid he might go out of business. Nobody reads his publications. They mock them and ridicule him" Tears seemed to threaten to fall from her eyes.
"Are things really that bad?" Viktor asked. Luna nodded, quickly wiping her eyes. She didn't know why she was telling him all of this, but he was the first one to be nice to her since she had come to Hogwarts three years ago. "I have an idea. What if the champions of the tournament signed an exclusive contract that only allowed the quibbler to publish articles or pictures of us?" He asked. "We all hate that Skeeter woman" Luna smiled slightly.
"We'd never be able to afford it" Luna said truthfully.
"Let me talk to the champions, I am sure we can figure something out" Viktor said. Luna smiled again.
"Thank you" She said. "I'm Luna Lovegood" She introduced herself.
"Viktor Krum" He said. Luna laughed musically.
"I think everyone knows who you are" She said. Viktor laughed too.
"Probably" He agreed. "Would you like to go for a walk with me. Perhaps show me more of the school. I haven't gotten to see much of it yet"
"Sure" Luna said. They got up and walked out of the library to the envious stares of the girls at the other table.
That evening, Luna returned to Ravenclaw to find five older girls waiting for her.
"Can I help you?" She asked, trying to get past them but they blocked her way.
"You can stay away from Viktor Krum" One of the girls snapped. "He doesn't need to associate with the likes of you"
"If you'll recall, he sat at my table, not the other way around" Luna snapped. "If he wants to talk to me, than what's the problem"
"You're just a young whelp!" Another girl said. "Leave him alone or else"
"What's going on here!" A new voice exclaimed. It was Cho Chang, who was also a prefect.
"We were just informing Loony what will happen if she continues to hang out with Viktor" Cho's friend Marrietta said. Normally Cho would have gone along with the girls, but Cho had spent a good evening with the champions and new what Harry had asked of Viktor.
"Who Viktor spends time with is none of your concern" Cho snapped. "And stop calling her Loony. Her name is Luna. I will take house points if anyone else insults or torments Luna again. Is that clear?" The girls mumbled Yes and moved away. Luna smiled.
"Thank you Cho" She said.
"No problem, Luna. If there's any more trouble, just let me know" Cho replied. Luna nodded and for once felt okay going to her dorm, knowing that she had people looking out for her now. Maybe Hogwarts wasn't such a bad experience after all.