There had been ugly rumors spreading about Harry ever since the Goblet had revealed the Champions. It was widely assumed that he'd found some way to cheat his way into the contest, with Ron being the loudest proponent.
There'd even been thoughts of having pro-Steven buttons made. It was a plan that had died before it really got started because it had originated in Slytherin and they were conflicted about his only being half-human.
Despite this, people found ways to make their displeasure known. Harry had supporters in Gryffindor, but outside his own house, only Steven seemed to support him at all. Although Steven insisted that it wasn't Harry's fault, everyone assumed that he was just too nice to say anything different.
At least the Champions had kept the arguments among the judges to themselves. It hadn't just been over Harry's participation either. The other two schools had been suspicious of Steven's appearance, given that he looked much too young to be participating in the contest.
Durmstrang had wanted him disqualified for being half-human, but Beuxbatons had protested vehemently, given that their own champion was part Veela and their headmistress being part giant. The discussion had gotten heated, with ugly accusations of racism that they'd been warned against spreading.
Viktor Krum had rushed to assure both Steven and Fleur that he wasn't prejudiced against non-humans. His assertions that some of his best friends were non-humans seemed a little dodgy, but the other champions assured him that they didn't blame him for his headmaster's positions.
Harry was only thankful that Hermione hadn't heard about the argument. She was angry enough about the house elves; learning that Steven had been mistreated would have inflamed her beyond all reasoning.
Now they were being called away from class for photographs. Snape had been reluctant to let him go, but had finally given in.
Because of the delay, Harry was the last to arrive.
Both Viktor Krum and Fleur were standing near Steven. Both of them seemed entranced by whatever it was that he was saying. Behind him stood Pearl, his "aunt."
She'd always scared Harry a little. In astronomy class she was always just a little too intense; she made Harry suspect that she'd outdo Hermione in obsessiveness and Hermione was scary enough on her own.
Now, although she stood and smiled tolerantly, there was a tension in the way she was standing that worried him.
It was a small classroom; Ludo Bagman was sitting at one of five chairs and he was talking to a witch Harry had never seen before.
He stood as Harry entered and smiled broadly. "At last, our fourth champion! Don't worry, boy, it's just the wand weighing ceremony. The other judges will be here in a moment."
"Wand weighing?" Harry asked.
"Have to make sure your wands are in tip top shape," Bagman said. "Dumbledore is up with the expert and he'll be down in a minute."
The witch next to him cleared her throat.
"Oh!" Bagman said. "This is Rita Skeeter. She's doing a small piece on the contest."
Skeeter smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "It might not be that small of a piece. I wonder if I might have a word with Harry before we start?"
Harry stared at her for a long moment, but as she put her hand on his arm and made as though to pull him away, Pearl's voice cut through the chatter.
"I don't suppose you have his guardian's permission to do an interview, do you?" Pearl asked. Somehow she'd moved from being behind Steven to standing next to Harry without his even noticing.
"I'm sure they wouldn't mind," Skeeter said. Her smile had turned into a grimace. "Harry here is a national treasure. Everyone is just dying to know what he thinks about all of this."
"Harry's a minor," Pearl said flatly. "I understand that Steven is legally an adult in the Wizarding world, but Harry doesn't have the legal right to consent to giving an interview."
"His guardians are either Muggles or on the run for mass murder," Skeeter said. "They are hardly available to give permission."
"Then you'll just have to rely on his public statements," Pearl said triumphantly.
From the look of it they'd argued earlier, presumably over Steven being interviewed. Given that Steven was legally an adult, Pearl might have lost the earlier battle, especially given her look of vindictive satisfaction now.
Steven reached them and pulled Harry away.
"Don't go anywhere with her," he said quietly. "She asks insulting questions and her pen doesn't even quote you right."
Harry glanced at the woman and shuddered. His reputation was already damaged enough without being misrespresented and misquoted.
"She wrote an article protesting Amethyst being put on as assistant groundskeeper at Hogwarts," Steven continued. "And another complaining about Pearl assisting in Astronomy classes."
"Good thing Amethyst doesn't get the paper then," Harry muttered.
Steven nodded emphatically. Although the gems didn't believe in hurting humans, Amethyst was less civilized than the others and she'd be more likely to retaliate.
Dumbledore and Ollivander arrived, and the weighing of the wands ceremony began without further problems, even if Skeeter and Pearl did glare at each other whenever they thought the other wasn't looking.
Steven's wand was the largest of all the wands even though he was the smallest contestant. Fourteen inches, hazel with a phoenix feather core, pliant and supple.
Harry's by comparison was eleven inches, holly with a phoenix feather core, also nice and supple.
Harry was vaguely relieved that Steven's wand was as grubby as his was. The other two contestants had clearly polished their wands and taken much better care of them. Both his and Steven's hand fingerprints.
Steven's wand even looked like it had an orange substance that Harry recognized as the leavings from Cheetos. Steven had somehow managed to find someone willing to import them from America. Apparently this world didn't have "Chaaaaps," which was Steven's favorite brand from his homeworld. He seemed to think Cheetos were a good substitute.
The dirty look Ollivander gave Steven over his wand's condition made Harry feel a little better about his own wand.
The scathing article Rita Skeeter wrote about Steven made Harry relieved that he hadn't given an interview. The woman barely said anything about the tournament itself, instead focusing on smearing Steven, Harry and the gems.
She'd somehow gotten quotes from students from the other two schools suggesting that Steven should have some kind of handicap for the tournament.
The fact that his magical education was two to three years behind that of the other champions never came up. Instead the woman talked about all of Steven's unfair advantages.
What surprised Harry was that she hadn't gotten anyone from Hogwarts to say similar things, not even the Slytherins.
Of course, the Slytherins wanted Hogwarts to win as much as anyone, and they probably didn't want Amethyst pranking their entire house if anyone said anything.
Rita Skeeter had even brought up the theory that Steven wasn't a child at all, that he was actually thousands of years old and should be disqualified based on being older than the entire audience combined.
How she'd gotten that information Harry didn't know, but it was worrying.
Steven's worries about being his own mother wasn't something he shared with just anyone. It was something he shared only with his closest inner circle of friends.
He thought of accusing Ron; Ron had been known to make foolish mistakes when he was bitter or jealous. However, Ron had never seemed jealous of Steven. Whether it was pity for Steven having lost his entire world, or because there was no way to compete with someone who wasn't really human in the first place Ron had never seemed to even consider competing with him.
Harry, on the other hand seemed to be the target of every bit of envy Ron had. Whether it was Harry being richer or more famous or having an invisibility cloak, Ron always seemed to want what Harry had.
He never seemed to realize that Harry was jealous of him. Harry would have traded places with him in a minute. Having a large family that loved him was something Harry could only dream about. Having the freedom that came with anonymity...Harry could barely imagine it, even though he'd only known he was famous for a few years.
Not having someone trying to kill him on a yearly basis would be worth almost all the rest of it.
Ron was being a stubborn arse and for once Harry was determined not to be the one who went to apologize. He hadn't done anything wrong, and until Ron was willing to admit that he hadn't put his name in the Goblet, he wasn't going to talk to him.
Both Hermione and Steven tried to make peace between them, but neither Harry nor Ron were willing to budge. Because Harry wasn't spending all his time with Ron, he was spending more time with Harry and Steven in the library, and with Steven listening to his band practice after hours in the music classroom.
It wasn't the same. He liked Hermione, but she was quiet and didn't have Ron's sense of humor. Steven was at least as funny as Ron, but he was pulled in so many directions that he simply didn't have as much time to spend with Harry.
Even if he had been less busy, he was in another house, which limited their friendship. There couldn't be any after curfew discussions before falling asleep, no late nights together laughing over Draco's latest indignity.
Steven was a very good friend, but he couldn't match what Ron had been to Harry.
Harry decided that since thinking about it only upset him, he would start focusing on the first task. He wasn't allowed to get help from teachers, but that didn't include other students and other champions. He and Steven had been discussing possibilities, and Hermione had been telling them about tasks that past Tri-Wizard champions had faced.
Still, it wouldn't do to allow himself to get too worked up about it.
He comforted himself with the thought that the creators of the contest weren't crazy. These had to be tasks that could be accomplished by sixth and seventh year students. It wasn't as though they were going to have to slay a dragon or anything.