Taking Chances and Making Changes – Chapter 10
Authors Note - This story is an AU. It follows canon events up until the end of Prisoner.
Disclaimer - I own nothing except my OC's. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling. Basically, if you recognise it from the books/films then it is not mine. Many characters will be OOC. Once again thank you to RavenclawPotter666 and ninjahamsterassassin.
Hayley (POV)
I expected that the reaction to my name coming out of the goblet would be quite negative due to the initial reactions from the students in the Great Hall, but I hadn't thought that it would this bad. The students in Gryffindor were quite pleased that I was a champion and didn't seem to care that I hadn't entered my name. Ron still hated me for it and ignored my constant explanations that I hadn't entered and that I didn't even want to participate. The only other person in Gryffindor that was actively hating me was Seamus and that was mostly because he was believing everything Ron was telling him. Dean and Hermione both hadn't said anything to me, so I was unsure as to where they stood but Neville, Ginny, Fred and George all believed me and agreed with me that Ron was acting this way due to jealousy.
The majority of Hufflepuff hated me because in their eyes, Hufflepuff had a chance at glory at recognition and I was taking that away. Cedric believed me and had told me that he had tried to talk to his housemates and get them to back off, but they ignored him. The Ravenclaws were taking a neutral standpoint with most of the students being uninterested BUT Cyrus and Luna were firmly on my side. The Slytherins were almost as bad as the Hufflepuffs with their taunting and bullying. Only three days after being labelled a champion one of the Slytherins made badges that would switch between "GO CEDRIC!" and "POTTER STINKS!". The day after people started wearing the badges Declan pulled me aside on my way to the library and apologised for how the Slytherins had been acting towards me.
I was sat upstairs in the astronomy tower alone after my final class on Friday wanting to spend some time alone. My final class had been absolute torture due to having double potions with the Slytherins. Between starting in September and becoming a champion I had enjoyed Potions quite a lot and my grades were improving. In the 5 days since becoming a champion, I have had Potions 4 times and two of those classes were double classes. I had double Potions on the Monday and Friday and single Potions on Tuesday and Thursday. All 4 times were completely awful. The Slytherins had started bullying me with standard verbal insults but once they realised that I wasn't going to retaliate they started making things physical by messing up my potions when no one was looking.
Luckily the pendant protected me from most of it and it just made a mess. Because of this, I had started to sit at the back of the class in a corner away from many of the others. Because there was an odd number of students in the class whenever we were doing work in pairs there would be one person left on their own. As we had done partner work twice in the past 5 days I made sure that I would be the odd one out to ensure that my partner wouldn't be hurt if the Slytherins messed up my potion.
I was stood leaning on the railing looking out at the Black Lake and the Forbidden Forest when Dora walked over to stand by me. Since becoming a champion I had not yet found time to talk to Dora yet as we had both been extremely busy. I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts that it took me a moment to realise that she was even there.
"Hey," I said to her still not looking over at her just yet.
"How are you doing? "Dora asks me
Shrugging I turn to face her. "I'm okay"
She frowns as she looks at me." Are you sure? Neville told me about those badges that students have been wearing and what they say when a teacher isn't looking "She asks concerned. "He also told me that you refuse to report it the professors "She adds looking me in the eye
Sighing I look at her. "There's no point in reporting it. I'm not exactly bothered by it. They're just being silly and immature. "I say shrugging
Although she still doesn't look happy about it she nods and agrees to let it go for now. "He also told me that the Slytherins have been messing with you in class by throwing things in your potions. That's dangerous Hayley and you need to tell the professors. You can't allow it to carry on. "She says suddenly very stern.
"I know, and I'll tell Professor McGonagall after dinner this weekend. I'm fine though, my pendant protects me from most potions and spells so the worst it has ever really done is make a mess "I explain
"Good. Although I'm not happy about you being in the tournament I am glad that I'm here to keep an eye on you and give you as much help as I can. I know you're not supposed to ask for help but technically you didn't ask, and I can guarantee that Krum and Delacour are getting help from their teachers. "She says grinning
I let out a small laugh and nod. "That's fine"
"Also, I better give you a warning. As part of the tournament, there's a Yule Ball where the champions all must have a date and they open the ball with the first dance. You probably won't get told until sometime early in December, but I thought that if I told you now then you have some time to think about who you want to go with. I'll go with you nearer the time to find a dress "Dora explains
I nod groaning internally at the thought of having to go to a stupid ball and having to dance in front of everyone. "I take it that there's no way to get out of it"
Dora smiles and shakes her head. "Unfortunately not, "She says
The next day Cyrus, Neville and I were out by the black lake skipping rocks while watching the Twins using magic to mess with the Giant Squid when I saw Dora's owl Nova land next to me with a small note attached to its leg. As I untied the note I watched as it flew off back towards the tower and I unfolded the note reading in surprise that it wasn't from Dora but from Hagrid.
"Hayley, I have something to show you, but it is important that you come alone. Come to my hut tonight straight after dinner. I will explain more tonight.
Hagrid"
Frowning I folded the letter up and placed it in my jacket pocket for now before continuing to skip rocks. About an hour or so later and multiple drying charms due to the twins continuously getting soaked in water courtesy of the giant squid we headed back up towards the castle to warm up and relax before dinner. As we had a few hours to spare I decided to go and tell Professor McGonagall about what had been happening with the Slytherins in my Potions classes. I took a breath gathering up my courage as I knocked on her office door. She opens the door and I can see that she is momentarily surprised, and I am able to see the pile of assignments that she is in the middle of marking and I feel bad interrupting her when she is clearly busy.
"Miss Potter please come in, what can I do for you?" She asks opening the door further and stepping aside to allow me in.
"I'm having a problem with some students that I could do with some help in dealing with, but I can see your busy, so I can come back later of you prefer? "I say awkwardly
She shakes her head gesturing for me to seat opposite her. "Nonsense it's not a problem at all, "She says taking her own seat and looking at me "So what is the problem? "She adds
"I've been having problems with students messing with me during class, "I say suddenly feeling very unsure of myself.
"What exactly do you mean by `messing with you in class'? "She asks frowning slightly
"Students have been throwing things into my cauldron's in Potions while I'm brewing usually making it explode "I elaborate looking down at the floor.
After a few moments of complete silence, I hesitantly look up at Professor McGonagall and recoil slightly at the thunderous and borderline murderous look on her face.
"Is it any students in particular? "She asks me her face
"It's about 2/3rds of the 4th year Slytherins, "I say
Nodding she takes out some parchment and writes down the names of the students that I give her before putting her quill down.
"When exactly did this start? "Professor McGonagall asks
"It started last week, just after my name came out of the goblet of fire. "I explain
Sighing she looks at me." Okay, have you been physically harmed as a result of any of the potions exploding? "She asks me carefully
"No, I haven't, "I say as go on to explain about my pendant
"Okay well, what I will do is I will speak to Professor Snape about this and we will discuss a punishment and potential solutions to get them to stop "She explains "Is there anything else that you would like to talk about while you're here? "She adds
I shake my head "No not really "
"Okay then I will talk to you in a few days after Professor Snape and I have come up with a solution and an appropriate punishment, "She says
I thank her before leaving and heading back towards Gryffindor Tower to relax before dinner noticing that I felt a lot better after telling her what was going on and that something would be done about the situation.
That evening I left dinner slightly earlier in order to get myself a jacket because the chances were that it was going to be quite cold on the walk to Hagrid's. After grabbing a jacket before putting my robes on over the top. By the time I was leaving the common room, a few people had started to return from dinner.
As I headed back towards the castle after meeting Hagrid I was still in a state of shock. After meeting at his place he had taken me into the forest and had told me that the first task of the tournament was that we had to face a dragon. I couldn't believe that they were having us face dragons. It still was so surreal to me that up until this tournament there was no rule restricting students competing due to their age meaning that students the same age as me and maybe even younger would have been facing tournaments similar in difficulty and danger levels to this.
It was the next day as I entered the library to do some research about possible spells to use against the dragon when I noticed Cedric sitting at a table with a few of his friends all of whom had been bullying me and I had seen all three of them wearing the Potter Stinks badges at some point. I sat a table behind one of the large book shelves and started to look through the large tomes of books. At one-point, Cedric walked over to a shelf across from me and I made my mind up about whether to warn him about the dragons. I knew that Fleur knew about the dragons as I had seen Madame Maxine in the forest the day before and I was confident that Viktor probably knew about the dragons too. Turning around I crossed the short distance towards him and tapped him on the back." Hey" I said
Turning around he looks at me momentarily surprised." Hey" He says with a smile
"Don't ask how I know this, but the first task is dragons "I say quietly so only he could hear me
"What really? "He asks me with a look of shock and apprehension on his face
I nod" Yeah they have one for each of us. There's a Chinese Fireball, a Welsh Green, a Swedish Short-Snout and a Hungarian Horntail "I sigh slightly
Nodding he looks around again before looking back at me." Do Viktor and Fleur know too?" he asks concerned
"I know Fleur does as I saw Madame Maxine at the same place as I found out and I'm not 100% certain about Viktor but chances are that he knows "I explain
He nods and smiles kindly at me, "Thank you for telling me, Hayley. You could have left me in the dark and made me be completely unprepared"
"It's no problem, Cedric. I wouldn't leave you to be unprepared in something as dangerous as this "I say
He nods. "Well, I better go back to my friends. I'm sorry about the badges and their behaviour. I tried to get them to stop but they won't listen "He adds apologetically
"Don't worry about it. I'm not too phased by it". I say shrugging giving him a small smile
He goes back round to his friends and I sit back down to continue reading through the books that I thought would be good for spells to use against dragons.
Authors Note – Hey Guys I apologise for the late update. I ran into some problems while on holiday that meant I had to stay an extra night causing me to be unable to post. From now on I will be posting on either a Saturday or Sunday and will be posting every two weeks rather than every week. Next chapter will be the First tournament and the run up towards the Yule Ball. Please either PM me or review with who you would like to see as Hayley's date. The options are Hayley/Declan, Hayley/Fred, Hayley/George, Hayley/Cyrus or Hayley/Cedric.