AN: I do not own Harry Potter.
Tri-Wizard Tournament Ended
Cheers met the ears of the two champions as they landed in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch. The crowds cheering had come back to welcome them back to the school.
In front of them was the reassembled panel of judges, minus Karkaroff.
"Welcome back, you have finally completed the Tri-Wizard Tournament," said Professor Dumbledore. "This task was scored by who got to the cup in the center the fastest, which I hear that you two were together at the cup and through the rest of your adventure. Unlike the rest of the tasks, this one does not get penalized for how long it takes you once you have the cup, just that the two of you have it. So with an equal amount of points for Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter, this last task is a joint Hogwarts win!"
Cheers erupted again from the stands.
"Now, to put our champions in order of winning, we have Harry Potter in first place!"
Not a lot of cheers, as the "Potter Stinks" badges had a lot of believers still.
"Second place is Cedric Diggory!"
The whole Hogwarts section and some of Beaubattons cheered.
"Third place is Viktor Krum!"
The Durmstrang group cheered loudly.
"Fourth, but no less important in how she dealt with overcoming unforeseen difficulties, is Fleur Delacour!"
Beaubattons cheered.
"Harry Potter, please come up here."
Harry walked forwards, Cedric staying a little behind him.
Fudge stood up next to Dumbledore, looking puffed up in importance.
"Here is your thousand galleons. Here is also your legal emancipation forms, because we know that this tournament was for of age students, so you are now legally emancipated."
"Thank you very much."
"Now sign here, and here."
Harry read the papers, and read that yes, he had completed a task that emancipated him, and signed it. The second one he skimmed through was stating that what information he had provided, which he double checked, was true, and that he was still going to school in the fall. He signed that one as well. He handed the papers back to the Minister.
The Minister, copied each of the papers, and gave the copies to Harry to keep on his person.
"There you go, young man."
"Thank you."
Harry was inwardly rejoicing. It meant no more Dursleys! However, that still asked, where was he going to go now? He asked that last question aloud as he and Cedric walked towards the Diggory parents.
"I could ask my dad."
"Thanks. I don't want to cause trouble, so I could help with chores and stuff."
"I have to ask yet, but I am sure that it won't matter."
"Thank you very much."
"What was the question, young man?"
By that time they had reached the Diggorys.
Cedric spoke up, "Father, as Harry is emancipated, he needs another place to stay. Could he stay with us for the summer?"
"Did you have an idea for payment?"
"I was wondering if I could pay with some money and the rest with chores?"
Mrs. Diggory smiled.
"I would appreciate the help. Someone who helped Cedric stay alive in the interim is a good friend."
Harry grew embarrassed, and stated, "It was a team effort. Neither of us could have done it alone. I had practice facing Voldemort, and Cedric had a greater knowledge than I did, so it worked out."
"So we faced him and his Death Eaters together, Dad and Mom."
Mr. Diggory looked stern at that.
"Now the Ministry is saying that he didn't come back."
"Darling, if both the boys that were there are saying that You-Know-Who is back, do we go with the boys or Fudge?"
"Where is he now?"
Harry blushed slightly before saying, "I don't know. I caught him on fire, and then we were trying to out run the fire as it caught the place on fire as well."
"Interesting. Try to keep it under control, Potter."
"Yes, sir."
"Now, I believe it may be time for lunch?"
"Yes, Ma'am. Thank you, and see you later."
Harry dashed inside the castle to find Hermione at the Gryffindor table with Neville.
.
Cedric sat at the Hufflepuff table, eating his lunch and thinking. He was glad that his parents had agreed to house Harry for the summer. Not having a guardian to provide for Harry must be tough on the boy in the regular sense. Okay, to be honest with himself, he was still feeling protective of the boy who had fought beside him, and was wanting to help him in some way. He couldn't understand Ron's back an forth philosophy for dealing with Harry this year if this is something that he ended up doing with Harry multiple times. Jealousy wasn't about sense, but...
Okay, he was being a little hypocritical here. He himself had gone back and forth with the waves of gossip himself. When Harry was found out to be a parseltongue, and it seemed that he was the heir of Slytherin that was petrifying students and animals in the castle, and one ghost, he went with the idea that the therefore he must be evil without checking whether or not this fit with the individual that they were talking about. It was easy going with the majority, and he went with it, being loyal to the position his house was in and not thinking about the little second year the boy was then. Harry had gone and slain the monster again, barely come out on top, as the gossip went, and then he was with the school proclaiming the short boy a hero. However, he was being loyal to his immediate friends.
Yesterday, he had seen Harry set You-Know-Who on fire and take again another killing curse. That would be another thing that set Harry apart as different, and one it became gossip, Cedric shuddered, he was optimistic enough to hope that most wouldn't vilify the boy over the difference, but he was also realistic enough to realize that it was hope and not the pattern of behaviour he had noted.
A hero must be so lonely, he mused, put on a pedestal only to be taken off and vilified, within a few short days, with people hardly seeing who he really is. He understood the shouts in the halls then that he hates his fame.
Now, would he stay loyal to the pack mentality that the majority had everything right, or was he going to be loyal to one that had been given little of it, yet cherished it with all he was worth because he was given so little.
It was a no brainer.
He would be loyal to Harry.
He was a Hufflepuff, even if that meant that he might go against his friends at times now. He would dig in when things got tough and push through it.