Okay everyone! In this chapter, there will be mention of a secondary character having a slash relationship. Go away if that offends your sensibilities.

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Aftermath of First Task

The morning following the First Task, the front page of the Daily Prophet included the largest possible format of a wizarding photo. The photo began with the moment the basilisk appeared in the arena. The thirty second loop was long enough to see the Hungarian Horntail cringe and fold into herself, fearing for the life of her eggs. The headlines screamed, 'Harry Potter Summons King of Snakes!'

"Where's a photo of Cedric?" demanded Cho at the Ravenclaw table. She rose from her seat and hurried to her boyfriend's side where he was flicking through the paper.

"Page 6! There's no picture of me before page 6?" Cedric complained loudly. Later in the morning, Harry glanced through Hermione's copy of the Daily Prophet. He counted his appearances in the photos and found that his face or complete figure appeared in fourteen pictures from the front page to page 4.

Fleur appeared on page 2, page 4 and 5. She was a lovely witch.

Victor Krum – already famous as a seeker – dominated page 3 and he shared pages 4, 5 and 6 with Delacour, Potter or Diggory.

Glancing around the Great Hall, Harry realized that Victor Krum was missing at the table used by the students from Durmstrang. He wondered, 'Did they take him to Saint Mungo's for treatment?'

In the article that appeared below the fold on the front page, the Daily Prophet warned that Harry Potter may very well be the next Dark Lord to attempt to destroy Magical Britain and violate the Statue of Secrecy.

Harry referred to the book that Hermione provided him earlier that month – "Rules to the Triwizard Tournament 1994-1995 Held at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." For two hours he read the rules, pondered the ideas his three family magics suggested, and then writing notes to organize his 'letter to the editor.'

A message was sent to Vault-manager Ironstream via Dobby Potter Elf, and the reply gave Harry a modicum of satisfaction. He continued making his notes and wrote a draft of the letter that he asked Neville to proof for proper use of language to capture the attention of the purebloods. After Neville made a few edits, Harry asked Hermione to correct his syntax and verb tenses.

"Are you sending that letter tonight?" asked Neville while they waited for Granger to make her edits.

"No. Tomorrow's Daily Prophet will be just as interesting as this morning's edition."

Longbottom snorted and asked, "Will Diggory be as bad-tempered tomorrow?"

Harry shrugged, a muggle affectation he refused to stop using, and said, "Dumbledore's pout tomorrow will make Diggory's temper tantrum look like a hiccup."

Hidden in the shape of Alastor Moody, Barty Crouch, Jr walked from the DADA professor's quarters toward the Great Hall with his wand in his hand.

'I'm as paranoid at Moody,' he told himself. 'How am I going to deliver Potter to my master? The boy – the wizard – summoned a basilisk to frighten a dragon. No, he summoned a basilisk to show all the idiot children in the school what true power looks like. They'll wet themselves for the rest of the year anytime Potter looks at them.'

In a rebellious part of his mind, Barty wondered why Lord Voldemort had never accomplished anything like the display yesterday. 'The Dark Lord sent Death Eaters to kill mudbloods and blood traitors at night. There was never a straight up fight.'

Disturbed by his thoughts, Barty growled at a group of Claws and sent them running ahead. He clumped along, and wondered if his knee would ever be the same when he was able to escape this duty and remain in his normal body.

Tom Riddle's Reaction

In a ramshackle muggle manor house in northern England, a rat-faced wizard cared for an infant unlike any other in history – a still birth in Albania provided the form possessed by the spirit of Tom Riddle and a botched ritual with the blood of a virgin (Pettigrew) gave the homunculus the semblance of life. A concoction of snake venom and various types of milk were fed to the infant three times a day and nappies were changed at least twelve times a day.

Using a ritual to bring some semblance of life to a death form to support a disembodied spirit for a time, Tom Riddle incorrectly translated 'virgin' in the 1940's and never corrected his mistake. Rather than the blood of someone who had never had sex, the ritual required the blood of an innocent – a small child under the age of two years was best. Using the rat-man's blood – Peter was guilty of many crimes – denied the homunculus any magical power beyond holding together for twelve months – in June it would fall apart.

"What does the Daily Prophet report about the tasks at Hogwarts?" the squeaky voice demanded as soon as Pettigrew changed the nappy and fed the thing its first bottle of the day. This morning he had only found cow's milk in the local shop to steal, and the giant snake was sluggish giving up the day's supply of venom.

"Potter…my lord, the newspaper reports that Potter summoned a basilisk to scare the dragon," Peter reported. He held the baby up to show him the front-page photo and then the interior pictures on the inside pages.

"He pets the beast as if it were tame!" roared the baby in its infantile voice. "Kill him! How can he be this powerful at 14? Is that Slytherin's basilisk?"

Peter didn't offer comfort the infant form – when Lord Voldemort had a temper tantrum, nothing provided him with comfort.

'At least he can't throw the Cruciatus curse,' Peter remembered thankfully. 'When he is tired of crying, I'll ask about sending a letter to Barty. If Crouch is his favourite, let him provide some more information about Potter and his bloody basilisk.'

Second Morning

No one expected a second morning of screaming headlines on the Daily Prophet but when the owls flew through the windows in the Great Hall everyone noticed the newspapers were larger than normal.

"Potter's Basilisk Parts for Sale!" was the headline spread across the top of the front page. Today's photo was below the fold, and it didn't move – the photo depicted Harry Potter standing before the carcass of the basilisk. The Boy-Who-Lived had his arm lifted with an ancient blade that appeared to be covered with blood. The wizard was dressed in the same robes he'd worn during the First Task. On the interior pages, there were reprints of the photos from the task with the basilisk appearing in the stadium and then bowing before Harry Potter and disappearing. The articles inside the newspapers were lists of all the potion ingredients harvested from the basilisk that would be for sale at the new year.

Gringotts released news that they would publish results of extensive tests to be conducted under the watchful eye of Potion Masters from the ICW before the end of December to allow them time to set appropriate prices.

'We estimate the carcass to be worth several million Galleons with appropriate sales taxes to be paid to the Ministry for Magic. And we remind Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, that Wizengamot law forbids the sudden change of the tax rates to generate a windfall.'

Albus Dumbledore was late entering the Great Hall for breakfast that morning. He remained distracted by the results of floo calls he'd made and received the previous evening. Many leaders in the Wizengamot were petrified that another Dark Lord was being trained at Hogwarts. They hinted broadly that Dumbledore's tenure would not survive the rise of another alumni of the school fomenting an insurrection when the wounds from the Death Eater rebellion were still raw.

When he sat on his throne and sipped his first cup of tea, he reached for the paper and read the headlines. Albus glanced at the photo below the fold and then buried his head inside the paper. Professor Flitwick was kind enough to cast a warming charm on the headmaster's teacup and breakfast plate.

In an interview with 'Mr Potter' that afternoon before supper – with Professor Flitwick and Deputy Headmistress McGonagall present – Potter refused to even consider sharing the proceeds of the sale of basilisk carcass with the school. Albus felt the boy's reasoning was purely selfishness, but Flitwick assured the headmaster that the law was clear – the hunter owned the carcass without question – not the property owner.

"In fact, the DMLE could arrest you and fine the school thousands of galleons for harbouring such a creature – XXXXXX is forbidden by your own rules in the ICW," Flitwick reminded Dumbledore. "What are the other Mugwump going to say to you this summer about a thousand-year-old basilisk hiding in the basement of 'your' school?"

Looking at Minerva, Albus asked her opinion, but the witch simply shuddered as she remembered how she felt when the monster appeared in the arena, spewed venom across the sands, and then bowed before the young wizard. Her only suggestion was that the headmaster 'leave Mr Potter alone.'

Harry's letter

The third morning after the task dealing with dragons, the Daily Prophet printed Harry Potter's letter protesting the label of Dark Lord some of the articles warned about on the first morning.

'I am not a dark lord in training! Dark magic doesn't mean evil! It is just different magic from light magic! In my opinion, a wizard who claims to be light and never admits to using any dark magic is just as likely to qualify for the title of 'Dark Lord' as some idiot running amok in Britain at night with funny white masks hiding identities.'

Victor Krum's New Hand.

The next day, Harry sought the company of Victor Krum at breakfast. The Durmstrang students generally sat with the Slytherin students at each meal and with his robes bearing the three crests, he ventured into the portion of the Great Hall where the snakes gathered to eat.

Only Draco made any comment about 'Scarhead' not being welcomed. A few of the seventh-year students looked angry but they remained silent after Harry hissed at them.

"Harry Potter! Good morning!" Victor greeted the younger champion. With the same fellow who'd been in the infirmary tent with Victor present to butter the seeker's toast, Victor appeared to be managing his new disability well.

"What was the hissing?"

Blushing, Harry admitted the hissing was Parseltongue. "I can speak with snakes and use Parseltongue magic. I just suggested they be quiet so I could talk with you."

"They would be unwise to aggravate a speaker," Victor agreed. "We do not have many magic users who speak with snakes in Bulgaria, but I understand they are numerous in Egypt and India."

Boris spoke up for the first time and said, "Australia."

Grinning at his friend, Victor replied in Bulgarian and then explained to Harry, "Australia on the other side of the world has many, many snakes. The local shamans were never able to speak with the creatures until wizards from India and Europe arrived. Speakers are always welcomed in the land down under."

"I wanted to see how you were faring after a couple days," Harry said returning to his original purpose.

Victor grimaced and explained, "I am slow with buttons and stirring potions. Boris helps me and keeps me from falling down the stairs."

The other young man nodded his head but said nothing. Victor added, "His English is not so good. The spell to teach languages doesn't work well with his magic. We are practicing some phrases but won't stay in Britain long…only until third task be finished."

In a quiet voice so his question didn't carry far, Harry asked, "Can't magic regrow your arm? There's got to be a spell that will do that."

"There is a potion, but it costs many thousands of galleons," Victor explained. "Your basilisk and its venom are the key ingredients but brewing the potion requires many expensive ingredients."

Boris made some comment and Victor nodded before he continued, "My Quidditch team won't provide the money and they will drop me from their roster in the new year before any games begin."

"I hate that I shall never be able to fly again."

"What? No!"

"It is unfortunate but a wizard must have two good hands to control a broom," Victor said. He looked at Harry closely and said, "You know this. How could I manage the Wronski Feint with only one hand?"

Nodding his head in agreement, Harry thanked Victor for his time before walking back to the Gryffindor table. Theo Nott and Blaise Zabini cast jinxes on Draco Malfoy to keep the boy from casting any spells at the Heir of Slytherin as the young wizard walked by, apparently deep in thought.

"Why did you do that?" complained Draco, rubbing his hand where a stinging hex had disarmed him.

Theo asked, "What did you want to happen? Trip the Heir of Slytherin at breakfast and then spend the rest of the day running from the next basilisk he summoned? Your bald head makes you easy to see, Malfoy."

Ironstream read a letter from his Vault-holder later that morning. He sat for several minutes considering the request – use galleons from his share of the profits to pay for the potion to regrow the lower left arm and hand for Victor Krum.

The request offered the opportunity to make profits for the bank. But the bank could not offer any potion or other items made from the carcass until after all testing and approvals were provided by the Potion Masters. The preliminary reports were that the venom and blood were of exceptional quality and would produce effective potions, salves for burns and scars. But it would be in January before they would be made available.

Struck by a new idea, Ironstream thought, 'Unless…'

The goblin smiled, composed a note to his favourite vault-holder and then went to talk with the Gringotts potion master about a test.

Harry Potter appeared at the Slytherin table again at supper that night. He smiled at everyone (scaring several Slytherin students) but only spoke to Victor Krum. The Bulgarian seeker shouted and rose to his feet. Potter handed over some item that Boris carried as he and Victor hurried from the Great Hall.

Headmaster Karkaroff was unable to catch the two young men before they disappeared and he demanded, "Potter, what did you give Boris? Where did they go?"

"Headmaster, I have Boris a smooth stone. I can't say where they went."

"Can't say? Or won't say?"

"They left the Great Hall. They might be loitering in the entry hall or gone seeking the Chamber of Secrets hopeful of finding another basilisk."

Karkaroff hissed and Potter replied, "When you make that sound, it is a dragon fart."

There were several smiles and faint laughter among the Slytherin and Durmstrang students. Karkaroff retreated to the head table to berate Dumbledore while Harry Potter returned to eat supper with his friends Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger.

There were more headlines in the Daily Prophet just eight days later – just before the Yule Ball at Hogwarts. Gringotts Bank announced the successful testing of the basilisk venom in the difficult and expensive potion to regrow missing limbs. There on the front page were two pictures of Victor Krum holding up the previous day's copy of the newspaper to establish the date of the photos. In the picture on the left, the stump where the dragon bit off his left arm is visible. On the right, the photo showed the lower arm and hand restored. Photos inside showed a progression of the new arm and hand growing in a short amount of time – only four hours while sitting in the potion's laboratory in Gringotts Bank.

The bank had free publicity of the power and strength of the basilisk parts to be offered for sale, and the famous seeker's Quidditch career had been saved.

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