- CHAPTER TEN -

Bad Press

"Expelliarmus!"

Hermione jumped out of the way of the Disarming Charm.

"Tarantallegra!" she yelled.

"Rictusempra!"

She ducked under the Tickling Charm and aimed her wand again.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Expelliarmus!"

This time, she didn't manage to get out of the way in time. The Disarming Charm hit her, throwing her back and ripping her wand out of her hand, just at the same time as Harry was knocked back and disarmed by her own spell.

"Wow!" Harry laughed while he picked himself up from the ground and fetched his wand. "I don't think we ever had a draw before!"

"No, we haven't," Hermione agreed as she reached for her wand and stood up, panting heavily.

"Again?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"No, thanks," she wheezed and walked over to a tree stump next to their tent, slumping down on it. "I'm done. I think I'd rather just sit and enjoy the view for a while."

"Hmhm, yes... It is a beautiful view," Harry agreed as he joined her, sitting down next to her.

They had put up their tent on a hillside overlooking the French Mediterranean coast, a good distance east of the city of Marseilles. They were several miles away from the closest village, out of reach of the magic detection alarms that covered all muggle settlements in France.

From where they sat, they had a great view over the Côte d'Azur and the sun rising over the bright blue sea in the southeast.

It was their third day here, near Marseilles. Contrary to their initial plan, they had made two stops on their journey south. They had made camp for one night close to Troyes and for two nights in the forests near Lyon.

Today was their sixth day in France overall. They hadn't been on the run for even a week yet, but Hermione felt they were already getting used to living in the tent and fending for themselves.

Magic really made everything much easier, she thought. Their tent was easily assembled and disassembled, with everything inside staying in place even when the tent was folded. And the few household charms they could perform saved them much time with cooking and cleaning and any other chores. While magical society was aggravating, magic itself was truly amazing.

They still knew nowhere near as many helpful charms as witches like Mrs Weasley, but Hermione hoped they'd maybe find some helpful books on the topic during their first visit to a magical quarter later that day.

Primarily, they wanted to make the trip to get some information on the happenings in Magical Britain. They were no longer within range of the British network on the Wizarding Wireless, and their French wasn't good enough yet to make sense of the local broadcast. They were practising almost every day, but learning the language would take a while.

"So... what time should we go to Marseilles today?" Harry asked and pointed towards the distant settlements along the coast ahead of them. The city of Marseilles was actually behind some hills out of their sight, but Hermione didn't see the need to correct him.

"In the afternoon? Right after lunch?" she asked.

"Or we could go now," Harry suggested.

"Right now, we have to freshen up," she pointed out and smirked at him. "And you're just trying to get out of your first Arithmancy tutoring session!"

"What? I'm not!" he protested with a laugh, but then he gave her a more earnest look. "Really! I liked how you explained Runes to me. I'm sure you'll do great with Arithmancy, too."

"All right, thanks, Harry," she smiled as she gazed back at him, his emerald eyes no longer obstructed by glasses. He had exchanged those for contact lenses on their last shopping trip in Lyon.

"But sweet words won't save you either!" she announced, shaking herself out of her reverie. "We have our schedule, and it states that the mornings are for our studies. Let's keep it that way, all right?"

"Fine," Harry agreed with a theatrical sigh, though she could tell by the small smirk playing on his lips that he wasn't too upset about the plan.

If she was honest with herself, she was relieved how well he had adjusted to their new study routine. Harry had never been a very enthusiastic student at Hogwarts, and she had been worried whether he would be willing to actually keep up with his studies now that they were alone. She had been afraid she'd have to badger him too much about it and that it might strain their relationship. But he had surprised her once more with his eagerness to actually learn more about all the subjects they were studying. She sometimes wondered whether she had brought about his newfound studiousness herself, whether he was trying to change his habits for her sake, or whether his potential had only surfaced now simply due to the lack of any distractions – distractions in the form of less studious friends, Quidditch, the latest gossip surrounding his person, or their regular life-threatening adventures. However, most of the time, she was simply grateful for how well they got along even during their studies no matter the reasons for it.

According to the schedule they had drawn up, they always started their lessons in the morning with one of the more theoretical subjects. On some days, Hermione would tutor Harry in Runes or Arithmancy, and on other days they'd read their textbooks for Herbology and Care, where they couldn't do any practical work. They didn't expect that they would need to handle many magical plants or creatures in the future, so they thought it would be enough to read the books and quiz each other on the contents. They did the same for History, though the textbooks in the subject were rather substandard, in Hermione's opinion. It was why they had agreed they'd try to get better and more interesting books on History and wizarding culture during their next shopping trips.

The second half of their mornings was scheduled for studying the theory and then practising Transfiguration, Charms, or Defence, and once a week, they'd brew a Potion and study its properties.

All in all, they spent less time on their studies than at Hogwarts, often only half a day, yet Hermione could already tell that they were progressing through the curriculum at a much faster pace than before. That they didn't write any essays contributed a lot to that, but they also usually moved much faster from theory to practice than at school.

So, even with them having to cook and clean up after themselves, they somehow still had more spare time than she was used to from Hogwarts. During their last shopping trip in Lyon, they had bought some books – Harry was currently reading and enjoying the first book of The Lord of the Rings trilogy – some board games, and even a battery-operated CD player and radio to keep them entertained.

Their recent duelling was another fun activity they had picked up over the last days. It had started out as a friendly spar when Harry had challenged Hermione a few days ago over whose turn it was to wash the dishes after breakfast that morning. They had both enjoyed the competition and the exercise, and by now, they were duelling as a fun morning exercise almost every day. Naturally, they didn't use many fancy spells and certainly no dangerous curses. The physical exercise was more important to them than the spell practice. And given how quickly she tended to get exhausted during the duels, Hermione knew she could use the training.

After a few minutes, Hermione had recovered her breath and felt that they should start moving again. They had a schedule to keep, after all.

"Let's go back inside," she suggested, and Harry reluctantly stood up and followed her into the tent.

They each took a quick shower to freshen up, and when Harry joined her in the living area of the tent a short while later, Hermione had already fetched the third-year Arithmancy textbook from the shelves and was waiting for him on the sofa.

"All right, so, Arithmancy..." he said as he sat down next to her. "Where do we start?"

"Yes, well, I thought I'd give you a quick overview on some of the basic principles today," she told him. "You should be familiar with a lot of it just from maths in primary school."

Harry frowned at that. "I thought Arithmancy was about predicting the future? Much like Divination?"

Hermione snorted. "Yes, that's how it was explained to me by Professor McGonagall before I chose the class."

She shook her head with bemusement over the wizarding world's odd terminologies.

"But really, it isn't," she continued. "Or, well, I guess it kinda is, but only in the same way as muggle physics is about predicting the future. I mean... like in physics, when you know the equations and what you're doing, you can predict the results, so I guess wizards might call that predicting the future, too."

"Ah... okay, that makes sense, I think," Harry said, nodding slowly. "Even when I don't know anything about physics..."

"No, me neither," Hermione said. During the previous summers, she had always tried to somewhat keep up with what she would've been taught in muggle school, but she wasn't really following the classes closely. "Not much, at any rate."

"Well, anyway," she continued. "It's still not the same, of course. Magic is much less precise than science, so Arithmancy is much fuzzier than physics, too."

"All right, I think I get it," Harry said. "I think it sounds interesting. Just... I just don't know what I would use it for."

"Oh, Arithmancy is needed to calculate properties of spells and potions in magical research," she explained quickly. "And Runes and Arithmancy are both used in Enchanting, like for the enchantments of our tent, or for any other magical devices."

"You mean... with Runes and Arithmancy I could learn to build my own racing broom?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Uhm, well, I suppose..." Hermione confirmed, frowning slightly. "You'd need to be good at Charms, too, but... yeah..."

"What are we waiting for?" he asked enthusiastically. "Let's get started!"

#

Over the next two hours, Harry proved to be a bit rusty in his maths skills, but he more than compensated for that with his enthusiasm and his rather impressive ability to grasp most of the overarching principles quickly. They progressed through the first four chapters of the third-year Arithmancy textbook within their first tutoring session, and Hermione once more wondered where Harry had hidden all this academic talent during their years at Hogwarts.

They spent the second half of the morning reading the textbook and practising spells for Defence Against the Dark Arts. At noon, they had a quick lunch before they left for their outing in the afternoon.

"Do you want to fly the broom today?" Harry asked Hermione when they stepped outside the tent.

"I... I think I'll pass," she replied with little enthusiasm.

She had flown the Firebolt for the first time two days prior, with Harry sitting behind her, giving her instructions. He had put his arms around her and had gently guided her movements, but while she had appreciated the close contact, she hadn't enjoyed flying the broom much. The Firebolt had responded jerkily to the slightest motion, accelerating and swaying around much too fast to her liking. That was exactly how a top-of-the-line racing broom was supposed to react, of course, but for her, it had been rather unnerving. She had been even more tense on the Firebolt than on the substandard brooms she had sat on before at school and at the Burrow.

"You know..." Harry mused and shot her a bright smile as she climbed on the Firebolt behind him. "Maybe we could get you a broom today!"

"Harry, that's much too expensive!" Hermione protested.

"Nothing fancy," he said and pushed off the ground. "Just a good, steady travelling broom. Maybe a Comet 260 or a Cleansweep Five or Six."

"Haarryy..." she groaned.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy flying it much more," he stated confidently, turning his head and grinning at her. "I got the impression that you didn't like the Firebolt much."

"I... No, I didn't," she admitted reluctantly. "But Harry, we can't spend that much money on things we don't really need. And you shouldn't spend that much money on me anyway!"

"It's really not that expensive," he argued. "Besides... aren't you the one who's been saying all the time that it's my money? So what if I want to give you something after all you've done for me?"

Hermione gave off an exasperated sigh, but she felt her resistance crumble. It wasn't fair for Harry to play that card right now, but he also wasn't wrong. It was his money, after all.

"And it'd be nice if we could fly together," he added, giving her a hopeful look.

"All right," she relented, giving him a soft squeeze. "Thank you..."

"Brilliant!" Harry exclaimed excitedly and leaned forward, accelerating the Firebolt further.

They flew westward, following the coastline, and they reached the city of Marseilles a quarter-hour later. Harry landed the broom in a small park close to the city centre, and Hermione and Harry made their way to the old port district of the town, where the entrance to the magical quarter was located.

"Do you know where we have to go?" Harry asked as they were walking down a wide avenue leading to the harbour.

"Yeah, I think so..." Hermione muttered, looking around, trying to remember the outlay of the city from when she had travelled here with her parents a few years ago.

"Yes, the magical quarter is near the old church at the end of the seaside promenade, and the promenade should be right ahead of us. We'll turn left at the quay, and... then..."

She trailed off when she spotted a café with bright red sunshades at a street corner ahead of them. Suddenly, she could vividly remember sitting there with her parents, eating ice cream, not worrying about anything in the world. It had been the summer before her first year at Hogwarts. She had known that she was a witch by then, but her parents had done their best to pretend that they were just an ordinary family on vacation. The way they had avoided any talk about her upcoming school year or magic in general had been a bit weird – in hindsight, it had been a harbinger of what was to come – but back then, they had still been able to talk to each other. If only...

"Hermione?" Harry asked, looking at her with concern. "Are you all right?"

"I... It's nothing," she assured him, her voice hitching slightly. "It's- it's nothing! I'm all right!"

Harry didn't look convinced and stepped closer, gently laying an arm around her shoulders.

"What is it?" he asked again.

"I just... remembered how I've been here with my parents," she told him reluctantly. "Back when I was eleven..."

"Oh..." Harry muttered, and she observed how his face fell, his expression changing from understanding to sadness to guilt in the course of a few seconds.

Internally, she chided herself for losing her countenance like that. Why did she get that upset? The rift between her and her parents was anything but a new development. She thought she had got used to it by now. And now she was causing Harry pain, as he clearly blamed himself once again for what was happening.

"Harry, please listen to me!" she implored him, enveloping him in a tight hug. "It's not that I'm sad about leaving them. I... It isn't as if I miss them now. What I miss... What I miss is how things were back then. But that... I won't get that back... not even if I had stayed in Britain."

Harry nodded slowly, and she hoped that she was getting through to him.

"It's all right, really!" she assured him once more. "I don't know what came over me. I just... I just remembered how it used to be, you know? I just wish things had been different... That they had been more accepting of me..."

"Yeah," Harry sighed and gently returned her hug. "I think I get it..."

For a minute, they remained where they stood, each taking comfort from the embrace.

"You could write to them, you know?" Harry suggested after a while. "Or maybe even call them?"

"Yes... I might do that eventually," she replied. "But not right now. We'd just be shouting at each other again. It wouldn't do any good. But I'll let them know that I'm all right eventually..."

Harry nodded in acceptance, and Hermione took a deep breath and let go of him, stepping apart from him again.

"While we're on it, maybe we could also think about how to contact Sirius," Harry pondered as they resumed walking to the waterside and turned left on the seaside promenade.

"Maybe we can rent an owl at an Owl Post office?" Hermione suggested. "Though I don't know if the owls could get tracked. Sirius might learn what country we're in that way..."

"I don't think he'd try to track an owl that delivers him a letter," Harry remarked. "And the owl would only drop off the letter and leave right away. I don't even know if owls can be tracked... But Sirius wouldn't do it, anyway, I think."

"Okay, yes, it should be safe," Hermione admitted. "And we'd be changing locations anyway. Maybe you can write to him for Christmas?"

"Hm... yeah, that would be neat," Harry agreed with a nod, and they walked in content silence for a while, holding hands and lazily strolling down the promenade along busy piers.

Half a mile before they reached the entrance to the magical quarter, they quickly stepped into a quiet side alley to take care of their disguise. As they were going to go into a magical area for the first time, they had to be more careful than during their previous shopping trips in the muggle world. Hermione and Harry both took a good dose of Ageing Potion and put on dark sunglasses. They had already charmed their hair colour into a dark blond before they had left their camp, and a cap covered Harry's scar.

They looked like a couple in their thirties after their transformation, and with the sunglasses even Harry's distinctively coloured eyes were hidden from view. All in all, Hermione deemed it entirely impossible for anyone to identify them like that.

"All right, let's go, then," she said happily and took Harry's hand. "Let's visit Magical France!"

They walked on and soon arrived at their destination. The magical quarter of Marseilles was located in the oldest part of the city in a side alley next to an old medieval church. Hermione and Harry turned into an alley that looked like a narrow, littered dead end, but the wall at the head of the street opened into a wide archway as they approached it – similar to the gateway to Diagon Alley, except that the archway opened just by magicals approaching it.

The small street behind the archway was even more cramped than Diagon Alley, and the buildings looked much older, too. Hermione recalled what she had read about it during their research for their travels and thought that she wouldn't be surprised if the ancient-looking houses built of bright stone were over two thousand years old.

"This is the oldest magical quarter in France, and one of the oldest in Europe," she shared what she remembered about it. "It was founded by the Greeks, even before the Romans settled here. Just like the muggle part of the city."

Harry nodded absent-mindedly as they entered the alley, his head swivelling left and right to take in the offerings of the various shops that displayed their wares in the narrow arcades on either side of the busy street.

"I guess we'll-" Harry began, but she cut him off.

"Look, a bookshop!" she pointed out excitedly, pacing up immediately. "Let's- What is it?"

She gave her boyfriend a questioning look when he halted, pulling her back as they were still holding hands.

"As I was saying," he said, an amused expression on his face. "I guess we'll have to exchange some money first?"

"Oh! Right..." Hermione muttered, a bit embarrassed for having forgotten such an important detail. The price tags in the showcases all around them were indeed in French Bezants instead of British Galleons.

"Yeah, let's find a place to get some money first," she agreed grudgingly, giving the bookshop a longing look as they passed it.

Luckily, they found a small banking office only a few houses further down the alley.

Hermione steeled herself before they entered the bank, but she was surprised by what they found inside. Behind the lone counter in the small office sat no rude goblin or cut-throat banker but a friendly-looking old witch, who greeted them with a warm smile.

The woman hardly spoke any English, but she treated them very pleasantly nonetheless as they exchanged their money. In the end, they got one hundred and ninety Bezants for two hundred Galleons, and Hermione was pleasantly surprised once more. Judging by the prices of the goods in the shops they had passed, Hermione estimated that the value of the coins was similar, so she thought they had gotten a good exchange rate.

"You know..." she pondered when she and Harry stepped into the alley again. "At some point, you should maybe think about exchanging more money. Maybe you could even exchange most of your Galleons into Pounds or other muggle currencies..."

She hadn't enquired about it now, but she wondered if they'd get better exchange rates for that in France, too, compared to the rates of Gringotts in Britain.

"I mean, you could afford to buy some nice place to live once you want to settle down," she continued. "Especially if you get a better exchange rate than at Gringotts. And... one day, you could maybe also open an account in the muggle world, invest some of your money, and get a good interest rate on it... You'd have to worry much less about money afterwards."

"Huh... All right," Harry said, nodding uncertainly. "I guess we can keep it in mind..."

"And... also..." he added, giving her a small smile. "It's we, Hermione. We wouldn't have to worry much about money afterwards. I'm happy to share it with you..."

"I... Thank you, Harry," Hermione said with a soft sigh, looking at him with a mixture of fondness and exasperation. It was sweet of him to say these things, and she could feel her cheeks warming at the implications of his statement, but she didn't think he really realised what he was saying. That he was almost proposing to her, when they were only fourteen and fifteen, hadn't even been together for two weeks yet, and hadn't done anything physically beyond exchanging some heated kisses even when they were sharing a bed...

Hermione felt her blush deepen, and she quickly decided to put the matter out of her mind and not press Harry any further on his statement. She was almost glad when he distracted her only moments later.

"Oh, speaking of which..." he said excitedly and pulled her hand, turning left and approaching a small shop to their side.

Hermione groaned when she spotted the brooms, broom care equipment, and Quidditch supplies in the shop window.

Resignedly, she followed Harry as he entered the store and purposefully strode to the displayed brooms. A young man greeted them inside, but like so often, they couldn't really communicate with the French-speaking clerk. It didn't matter much, though, as Harry recognised all the offered brooms and didn't need any advice. He knew exactly what broom he wanted to get for her, and despite her protests, he bought Hermione a Cleansweep Six, a comfortable travel broom that didn't go overy fast and was easy to steer.

"Thank you, Harry," she told him softly as they left the store. She had given up on telling him that the gift wasn't necessary, and she would have been lying if she said she didn't appreciate the gesture. "Just don't make a habit out of it, okay? That's all the money we'll spend on things for me for some time, all right?"

"So we won't buy any more books, you mean?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"Well, I mean, the books are for both of us," she quickly backpedalled. "And they'd technically still belong to you. And we need them to make things easier for us, and for our education. This is really about investing in our own future! We don't-"

"It's all right," Harry laughed, and Hermione blushed when she realised she had been rambling.

"You did that on purpose!" she yelled, glaring at him, but she could tell that her reaction only amused him further.

"Maybe... I'm sorry," he said between chuckles. "We can get the books now, don't worry."

She huffed and increased her pace for the short walk to the bookshop near the entrance of the alley, but as she didn't let go of his hand, she knew that Harry could tell she wasn't really angry at him.

They soon entered the small bookshop, and Hermione immediately made a beeline to the high shelves containing many interesting-looking tomes. However, her enthusiasm soon abated when she didn't spot a single English book in the entire store – a fact that really wasn't all that surprising, she chided herself. But unfortunately, her and Harry's French wasn't good enough yet to read books in the language, least of all spell books with more complicated instructions. Thus, their planned book shopping spree came to an abrupt end before it had even started.

"I don't think we'll find anything for us here," she reluctantly told Harry after a while. "They don't have books in English."

"Yeah, I haven't seen anything either," Harry remarked, turning his head away from the shelves. "Well, that's too bad... But maybe they have international newspapers at least?"

He pointed to the counter of the shop that was manned by a stocky old wizard, who had watched them curiously the entire time. Several issues of French newspapers and magazines were displayed before and behind the counter.

"Yeah, let's try that, at least," Hermione agreed with her boyfriend, and they approached the clerk.

"Excuse me, sir, do you have any newspapers in English?" she asked, speaking with a fake American accent just to further their disguise. Though she didn't know if the Frenchman would actually be able to tell the difference between British and American English.

The old man only looked at her uncomprehendingly. "Pardon?"

"English? Uhm... anglais... nouveau papier?" she asked, pointing towards the displayed newspapers.

The wizard cocked his head. "Vous cherchez des journaux en anglais?" he asked after a pause, speaking in quick French.

"Uhm... Oui?" Hermione guessed.

The man nodded and bent below the counter, rummaging around in his stores. Half a minute later, he resurfaced and laid out several copies of the Daily Prophet on the counter. The dates at the top of the front-page were all from a different day of the last week.

"Quelle édition souhaitez-vous?" the man said.

"Uh... tout?" Hermione replied, gesturing over all the copies, hoping the man had asked her what issues of the Prophet she wanted to buy.

The clerk nodded and handed her the entire stack of newspapers.

"Voilà, Mademoiselle."

"Merci," Hermione replied and put the newspapers in her handbag without really looking at them. They would do that later in the tent.

"Puis-je faire autre chose pour vous aider?" the clerk said then.

"Uhh..." Hermione exchanged a quick look with Harry, who only shrugged back at her, neither having any idea what the man had said.

"Um... merci?" Hermione replied again.

"Très bien," the clerk chuckled. "Cela fait cinq mornilles, s'il vous plaît,"

Hermione guessed the man had told her the price of the newspapers and handed him a golden Bezant, hoping it would be enough. Apparently, it was, as the man gave her a handful of silver coins in return.

She briefly wondered if she should ask the clerk whether the shop had any English books in store, but she decided that it would be futile. She had hardly managed to buy some newspapers and wouldn't be able to make herself understood to find books on topics that were of interest to her and Harry.

"Merci, and... au revoir," Hermione said as she and Harry left the shop.

"Well... I guess we'll have to look elsewhere for the books," she concluded with a heavy sigh as they stepped back into the alley.

"I'm sure we'll find something eventually," Harry tried to assure her. "Or we just keep practising our French and then read the French books..."

"Yeah, maybe," she replied. "It might already help if we could just talk to the clerks."

"Right," he said. "Well, are we all done here? Ready to fly black?"

"Yeah, let's get back," she agreed, and they stepped into a corner behind some arcades out of sight of any passers-by, where Harry pulled out his Firebolt and his Invisibility Cloak from his enchanted backpack. They took off into the sky right there in the alley and ascended over the rooftops of Marseilles. The Firebolt quickly took up speed, and Harry swerved around, steering the broom along the coastline back to their secluded camp in the hills to the east of the city.

#

They landed in front of the tent a short while later and returned inside. After they had both taken the antidote to the Ageing Potion and looked like themselves again, Hermione and Harry sat down on the sofa, eager to read what the Prophet was reporting on the happenings in Britain.

Hermione pulled the stack of newspapers out of her enchanted handbag and flipped through the issues to look for the reports on the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.

"Ah, this is from Wednesday, the day after the task," she said and pulled the paper from the stack. She folded it out on the sofa table, and she and Harry leaned forward and began reading.

DISASTROUS START TO TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT
By Andy Smudgley

Yesterday, the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament took place at Hogwarts, and it became a major disappointment for everyone hoping for a successful start to the competition. The tournament was supposed to be a friendly contest between Europe's major magical schools and an amicable event promoting international cooperation, but with yesterday's first task, it became a disgrace for Hogwarts and the British Ministry that left one Hogwarts Champion badly injured and the other missing.

The event started out with the sad announcement that the surprising second Hogwarts Champion, Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, had fled the school in the early morning prior to the first task. Young Mr Potter, who had somehow tricked the Goblet of Fire into selecting him as a fourth champion, apparently got afraid of what awaited him in the tournament and decided to run away. The consequences for Mr Potter for his breach of the binding magical contract that obliges all selected champions to compete are not yet known. The Prophet will continue reporting on the story as it develops.

After that first let-down, it was revealed that for the first task of the tournament, the champions had to obtain a golden egg from a nesting mother dragon. The Ministry had secured four dragons of different breeds, of which three were ultimately used in the event that was missing one of its champions. The representatives of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, Star Seeker Viktor Krum and Miss Fleur Delacour, were able to obtain their golden eggs without major difficulties. It was when Hogwarts Champion Cedric Diggory faced off against the last dragon, the infamous Hungarian Horntail, that the day's contest came to an inglorious end.

Mr Diggory was unable to distract the Horntail with a transfigured dog and got blasted by the dragon's flames. He got transported to Saint Mungo's Hospital immediately, where he currently remains. According to a statement made by his healers, Mr Diggory is in stable condition but will have to stay in the hospital for at least three more weeks while his extensive burns are healed. He is expected to recover to full health, albeit extensive scarring is expected to remain.

"Well, I guess it could've been worse," Hermione muttered, looking at the picture that was included on the front page.

It was a photograph of the Horntail in the arena, and she shuddered at the sight of the monstrous beast. Once more, she was just glad that Harry had escaped from competing in the tournament. The moving picture showed the dragon roaring at Cedric as the boy entered the enclosure of the arena, but thankfully, the dragon's attack was not shown in the picture. She was almost surprised that the Prophet had apparently enough sense to not show that to its readers.

"Yeah..." Harry mumbled in reply, shaking his head slightly. "It sounds as if he'll recover before the second task... Though I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing now..."

"Well, I'm just glad it wasn't you," she concluded and leaned forward again to read on and find out more about the consequences of the happenings.

In a statement made to this reporter, Cedric Diggory's father, Ministry employee Amos Diggory, accuses the participating schools and the British Ministry of having neglected the safety of the champions and calls upon all the tournament judges to resign from their posts.

In the meantime, Durmstrang Headmaster Igor Karkaroff and Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, put forward a joint statement in which they blamed their fellow tournament judge Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, for the lack of sufficient magical protections for the champions. They claim that it had been Mr Bagman's responsibility to set up protections for the competitors.

Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and Headmistress Olympe Maxime of Beauxbatons, the other judges of the tournament, were not available for comments, but their silence does not help the former Star Beater Bagman.

In response to the raised allegations, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge announced that Mr Bagman would step down in his role as Ministry Department Head effective immediately. The Minister also decreed that an independent investigation headed by Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge will look further into the event surrounding the tournament. It is yet unclear whether Mr Crouch and the three school headmasters will also be under investigation over the following months. However, pending the outcome of that investigation, all tournament judges will remain in their current function for the Triwizard Tournament.

"Huh..." Hermione muttered with a frown as she reached the end of the article. "I guess it's good that there are at least some consequences, but..."

"You reckon they've thrown Bagman under the bus?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," she agreed. "Though I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens at the end of this independent investigation..."

"I can't see the Ministry doing a fair investigation..." her boyfriend commented.

"No, me neither," Hermione snorted. "But if that's good or bad, I don't know. It might make Dumbledore's life more difficult, at least. That'd serve him right, and it'd distract him from searching for us."

"There's that," Harry agreed with a nod. "That might be true."

"I'm also surprised how little there was on you in the article," she remarked and glanced over the paper again. "Only three or four sentences."

"Yeah..." he replied and leaned forward, rummaging through the stack of newspapers. A moment later, he huffed and pulled out the lowest paper from the pile.

"But I think they're talking about me in this one," he said sardonically as he laid it out on the table.

Hermione felt her ire rise when she saw the headline.

THE COWARD WHO FLED
By Rita Skeeter

After the appalling events surrounding the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament on Tuesday, more shocking truths come to light about the mysterious disappearance of the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter. As this paper has reported before, Harry illegally cheated himself into the prestigious Triwizard Tournament, only to then put his tail between his legs and run away before the First Task.

This reporter set out to investigate what had happened and was able to question Harry's classmates at Hogwarts. Many students who only knew the Boy Who Lived in passing expressed their disappointment over Harry's cowardice as well as over his attempts to garner more attention for himself by breaking the rules of the tournament. However, some students are even now in denial about the actions of their childhood hero. "Harry would never leave. He's the bravest boy in the school," a distressed young boy who shall remain anonymous told this reporter.

But those who knew him better are much less surprised by young Harry's actions. Harry's good friend Draco Malfoy had this to say about his classmate: "Potter has always been a coward, we all knew that. Those who know him well aren't surprised in the least that he decided to run away. He just didn't have what it takes to be a Champion."

When even his friends are not able to deny this sad truth about the hero of so many of our children, this reporter fears that it is time to re-evaluate the picture we all had of the Boy Who Lived. No one will be able to deny any longer that the Boy Who Lived To Run Away has turned out to be a coward and a cheat, much to all our disappointment. Yet this reporter has discovered even more shocking truths about our former hero.

It is another sordid detail of Harry's disappearance that the boy left the school together with his classmate and long-time girlfriend Hermione Granger. Whether she left with him willingly or under duress is not known at this time. One does not want to imagine what disgusting acts the two teenagers might be engaged in at this very moment, and one can only hope that Miss Granger will be able to protect her virtue against our disgraced hero's untoward advances.

This reporter has also learnt that the Craven Champion violently assaulted several Hogwarts Professors as he ran away from school. One such altercation even took place in a Muggle village when Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall cornered the fleeing students and was subdued by Harry after a lengthy duel. The Coward Who Fled thus broke the ban of underage magic as well as the Statute of Secrecy, endangering all our lives by exposing the magical world to the Muggles.

It is yet unclear what the school or the Ministry will do to search for the two underage fugitives, though rumour has it that Headmaster Dumbledore has sent his long-time friend Alastor Moody to search for the missing students. The former Auror and current Hogwarts Defence Professor left his teaching post on the day of Harry's disappearance without any further announcements having been made by the school.

A tired Headmaster Dumbledore only gave the Prophet the following statement: "I regret that Mr Potter decided to leave the safety of Hogwarts and implore him to return to the school before he gets himself or Miss Granger hurt with his foolhardy actions."

How Harry is supposed to return to Hogwarts, however, is anyone's guess, after he has violated his binding magical contract with the Goblet of Fire and has presumably become a Squib. Mr Dumbledore was not available for further comments. In either case, with all of Magical Britain on the lookout for the wayward children, it seems certain that Harry and Miss Granger will soon be found and returned to the custody of their guardians. This reporter for one is calling upon the Ministry to ensure that Harry is accordingly punished for his violent outbursts and the pain and distress he has caused so many people with his rash actions.

"Well, I hadn't expected them to sing your praises, but this..." Hermione fumed and pushed the offending newspaper away from her. "This is... It- it's-"

"It's utter rubbish," Harry said dryly. "Yeah..."

"And they're wondering why we left!" she exclaimed, gesticulating angrily. "And I can't believe what Dumbledore said! Safety of Hogwarts! Safety my arse! Everything that has happened in the past years aside, they still wanted you to fight a bloody dragon!"

"Yeah..." Harry sighed.

"And who does this Skeeter woman think she is?" Hermione ranted on. "Calling you a coward! I'd like to see her fighting a dragon!"

"Hey," Harry said soothingly, putting his arm around her shoulders. "It doesn't matter, right? They can say whatever they want."

"I know," she muttered, exhaling deeply. "I just- No, you're right, it doesn't matter..."

"What do you think of this part about Moody?" Harry asked, changing the topic. "Do you think he's really looking for us?"

"Maybe," she replied with a shrug. "It would make sense. Dumbledore might've sent people to search for us."

"But it shouldn't matter, should it?"

"No, they wouldn't know where to even begin looking for us," Hermione said confidently. "They don't even know in what country we are..."

She grinned at Harry. "Maybe he even sent Moody to Australia..."

"Australia?" he repeated, his lips quirking upward.

"Oh, I never told you!" she realised. "In my letter to Ginny, I wrote that we were going to Australia. I'm sure Dumbledore read the letter, so he might've sent someone there to look for us."

"Oh, that's great!" Harry laughed out loud. "Australia... brilliant!"

"Yeah," she chuckled but soon became more serious again. "Still, it'll probably be best for us to keep moving, just in case someone identifies us by chance during one of our outings."

"Sure. I mean, wouldn't we want to do that anyway?" Harry remarked. "Just to see different places."

"That's right," she agreed. "So, where would you like to go next?"

"Uhm... I'm not sure," he said, giving her an uncertain shrug. "What about you?"

"Maybe we could go further south? Spain or Italy, maybe ?" she mused. "It's getting cold even here. Though... a white Christmas would also be nice..."

"Hmhm... Our tent can handle low temperatures, right?" Harry replied. "It sure handled the weather in northern France quite well."

"Yeah..." Hermione said hesitantly. "But we'd have to go northeast into the German Magical Confederation for that, or cross it at least, and we can't do magic there because of the restrictions..."

"Right..." Harry nodded. "Things would be more difficult for us there."

"The safest course of action would probably be to keep travelling in Southern Europe," she concluded. "Maybe we could just go further south along the Mediterranean coast."

"All right, that sounds good, too," her boyfriend said. "So, that means we continue travelling to either Spain or Italy?"

"Yes... How about visiting Rome for Christmas?" she suggested. "I've never been there before, and it has a large magical quarter, too. And we could make stops in Nice and in some towns in northern Italy along the way... Genoa, Florence, Pisa, maybe even Venice."

"Sounds lovely," Harry agreed with a bright smile. "So we leave here tomorrow?"

She nodded happily, excited about their new travel plans.

"Yeah, let's move on tomorrow then."