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Harry smiled as he turned to head over and grab the book that he had been reading earlier about battle transfiguration, thinking about how impressed he was with how much Ron's attitude had changed when he heard a cough from behind him, causing him to turn back and see Ron who wore a guilty expression on his face as he looked up at Harry.

"Hey, Harry, I might be ready for some of that food you had mentioned … if you want to lay it out … after all I probably learn better on a full stomach."

Laughing, Harry turned as he walked back to the bundle and began unpacking the food, which Ron immediately began eating as Harry was placing it on the desk.

'Okay … maybe not everything about Ron's attitude had changed.' He thought with a laugh as he finished putting the rest of the food out.

The next few days were some of Harry's best at Hogwarts and he found it impossible not to be enjoying himself. His classes were proceeding extremely well and as such he found himself constantly receiving compliments from his professors … and not just for being able to perform the fourth year spells quicker than any his classmates, to the dismay of Hermione, but mostly for his work ethic, focus to understanding the theory behind the magic, and his initiative, as almost every day Harry stayed behind in at least one of his classes asking one of his professors for additional readings to help him better understand some practical aspect of magic that he thought might end up benefiting him in some way in an upcoming fight.

Beyond the courses themselves, after the initial rush of attention that had started when his name had been drawn from the Goblet of Fire, Harry found that for the most part the attention from the other students had eventually mostly trailed off and for the most part they left him alone, which he honestly found to be a very welcome change from the first time he'd been entered into the tournament … although he was fairly confident the interest would increase as the challenges neared.

Due to the decreased attention, he found himself enjoying his time during and inbetween classes, finding that when he did have a spare moment and managed to sneak off to the Room of Requirement, he was usually accompanied by at least one of Hermione or Ron.

The second time they had all been in the room, Harry had off-handedly mentioned learning Occlumency to Hermione, which had managed to grab both of their attention. And with an ethic that impressed even him both Ron and Hermione dove into the topic, starting with having Harry tell them the books and techniques he used to learn the skill before immersing themselves in learning and practicing it using Harry's method.

Their focus to learning the skill was such that within a couple days of bringing it up, he was fairly certain that they both had a pretty thorough understanding of Occlumency shielding and while he had no idea how to perform a Legilimency probe (at least as of now) to test their attempts, he was confident that their minds would be sufficiently shielded from at least a passive probe, although they both agreed to continue to work on the exercises and improve their skill in the discipline, understanding the need, especially with knowing the secret of Voldemort's Horcruxes and not wanting the secret to come to the knowledge of bad people.

Although Harry told them that the best way to protect their minds was to prevent them from acting suspiciously and thereby eliminating the chance that someone who could perform a Legilimency probe would bother to do it on them in the first place.

Beyond that, Ron and Hermione had begun to find different areas of study within the Room of Requirement's vast amount of resources that interested them.

Unsurprisingly, after reading seeral chapters regarding new spells, several which were about defensive magic but a majority which contained knowledge about offensive magic, Ron had very quickly lost interest in reading and gravitated out of the library and found himself spending most of his time in the dueling area, trying to improve his accuracy and casting strength of the spells, especially once Harry pulled him aside and assured him that it wasn't so much having an encyclopedic knowledge of every spell that would always win a fight (especially in a short quick fight) but rather having a competency with the spells he knows.

To Harry's complete lack of surprise, Hermione had mostly remained in the room with the books, very quickly taking over a chair, all but claiming a permanent spot, her nose almost always found buried within a book relating to dark artifacts, forbidden rituals, or some other related topic.

He himself ended up splitting his time between the two areas, spending almost as much time reading books that Hermione had grabbed as potentially helpful as helping both Hermione and Ron with practicing their casting … something that reminded him about his time with Dumbledore's Army.

However, Harry had no doubt that things were going to remain as they were and in the back of his mind he tried to prepare himself for the unexpected, but no matter how much he had tried he never would have been able to predict what he was going to come across.

On his way to potions, about a week after showing Ron and Hermione the Room of Requirements, running a little late but not late enough that he was concerned Snape was going to shut him out in the hallway, having gotten caught up momentarily in one of the books and having told Hermione and Ron to head down without him.

As such, he was shocked as he was climbing down the stairs to the dungeon, only to be surprised at the sight of Hermione running around a corner, her head covered by her hands and the sounds of her heavy crying bouncing up the stairs where Harry had froze.

She did not even slow down as she passed him, perhaps not noticing him but likely not wanting to, running up the stairs without even acknowledging him.

"Hermione … what …" Harry called out futitively, as she didn't slow down … if anything she let out an even louder sob, and increased the speed she was running up the stairs.

Harry was about to run up after her when he felt a hand on his shoulder restraining him.

Spinning around he saw Lavender holding his arm, gently shaking her head.

"It's okay Harry … I'll go after her and make sure she's okay. I'm guessing she doesn't want a guy … much less you seeing her right now. I'll make sure she's okay …" she paused and looked down the stairs "… please make sure Ron doesn't do anything stupid."

Harry looked at her in surprise, wondering if the same thing that had happened before had happened again, but unsure how it would have as he hadn't been downstairs to fight with Draco and have a spell redirected.

After seeing Harry nod slowly, Lavender took off up the stairs, trying to catch up to Hermione without giving Harry to get any more information off her.

Harry stared at her retreating form, watching as it disappeared around a corner at the top of the stairs, for several seconds he stared at the spot frozen with indecision as to whether he should go after them but he was shaken from his paralysis by the sound of raised voices coming from around the corner in the dungeon.

Taking one more look up the stairs to where Hermione, and then Lavender in pursuit, had disappeared Harry shook his head and shrugged his shoulders deciding that Lavender would likely be able to look after Hermione, before turning and heading towards the raised voices.

Walking around the corner, Harry froze in shock, unsure how to respond as he wasn't entirely sure if he believed what he was seeing.

Halfway down the hallway, surrounded by both Gryffindor and Slytherin students, stood Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott, however they stood facing each other with Draco's wand drawn, pointed squarely at Nott's chest.

Harry performed a double take and nearly stumbled, looking up and down the corridor which had fallen silent, trying to get contect for what he was seeing, although no one was looking at him, Gryfindor and Slytherin students alike were staring silently at the pair in the center of the hallway, identical stunned expressions on all their faces.

Harry started walking up to join Ron, to see if his friend, who Harry noticed had half-drawn his wand before he as well had been frozen in shock of what was in the center of the corridor, could fill him in on what had happened … and what currently was happening. But before he could even open his mouth to phrase his question, the sound of Nott's laugher filled the hallway.

"What's up Draco … you basically become a no one since the start of the year and now you are raising your wand at me as if you honestly believe that stupid, annoying mudblood didn't deserve what I did to her. I still can't believe people in this school are believe stupid Potter … but honestly the fact that she was willing to defend Potter and argue with me … that mudblood deserved what was coming to her. Are you siding with them now?"

Draco shook his head, "I'm not siding with that mudbl …" he trailed off, shaking his head, " … I'm not siding with her. But you are acting like a moron. You think just because I'm acting differently, you can step into my old shoes, and try to control the house." He said with a scoff, looking at Crabbe and Goyle whoe were standing right behind Nott, staring back at Malfoy, matching slightly confused looks on their faces, before he looked back to the boy he was pointing his wand at.

"Honestly, I can't believe I was ever so … pathetic … Theo, you are an embarrassment to pure bloods … to all wizards …" he trailed off as he raised his wand, leveling it directly between Nott's eyes, in response to Nott angrily trying to draw his own wand. An action which caused Nott to freeze, staring crosseyed at the tip of Draco's wand.

"Uhh, uhh. I wouldn't do that if I were you. Things may be different but I don't need to be getting along with my father nor do I need to wait for my father to hear about something before I deal with you … and don't forget that Nott."

With that he shook his head dismissively and lowered his wand, taking a step backwards before turning towards the Potion classroom as the door creaked open.

"Why is no one in … just what is going on out here?" he asked angrily, seeing Nott's raised wand pointing at Draco's back, apparently having frozen there after hearing Snape's voice.

Nott angrily opened his mouth to reply but stopped when Snape shook his head as the Professor looked around the area, momentarily stopping on Harry, before finally settling on Draco.

"Explain … now." He demanded, glancing quickly back to Nott, "And lower your wand Mr. Nott … before you get hurt."

Turning back to Draco, who Harry was also staring at, looking forward to finding out what exactly had happened before he arrived, Snape nodded.

Draco took one look at Nott before shaking his head, dismissively. "Nott attacked Herm … an unarmed student, after he had failed to goad her into a fight. I was just trying to let him know that he was not being particularly smart or cunning.

Snape quickly scanned the crown, likely attempting to see who had been involved or who was missing, before looking back to Nott, shaking his head in disappointment. "That is … disappointing Mr. Nott. I shall not deduct House Points, however two evenings of detentions should serve for you Mr. Nott. Perhaps that'll teach you not to draw your wand on an unarmed classmate." He paused looking around the hallway. "Now get inside all of you or I'll start handing out detentions to everyone so Mr. Nott will have some company … starting with you Mr. Weasley." He said, looking down at Ron who had the misfortune of standing the closest to him.

Ron looked up in shock but refused to rise to Professor Snape's bait, instead simply joining everyone else as the all quickly entered the room.

As he was one of the last students to enter, Harry finally settled down beside Ron.

"Ok … seriously … what just happened …" he asked, trailing off as Professor Snape walked by gently smacking Harry in the head with the parchment he had been holding as he walked by, telling him to be quiet.

After he repeated the question a little quieter, he watched as Ron didn't answer right away, instead glancing over towards Malfoy, the distrusting expression clearly evident on his face, before finally looking back to Harry and replying, "Well … Hermione and Lavender were talking about you being in the tournament when Nott walked by … he made a joke about you enjoying all the attention that came with you being entered … I suppose at least he has stopped trying to tell everyone that it was you who had entered just for the attention … anyways … Hermione tried to defend you … then … after calling her … well … names, Nott pulled out his wand and hexed her without warning …" Ron paused to take a breath to calm himself, shaking his head angrily. "… that caused her to take off running down the hallway, with Lavender following. I wasn't even quick enough to draw my wand after turning back around when all of a sudden Malfoy … Malfoy of all people was standing in front of Nott with his wand pointed at him. Seriously, Harry, what's up with him this year … if I didn't know better … I'd … I'd …"

However, whatever Ron had been planning on saying was cut off by the sound of knocking coming from the door to the classroom, which preceded the entry of a very excited looking Colin Creevey who burst into the classroom, smiling and waving at Harry who embarrassedly nodded at the boy, who had almost run right up to Professor Snape's desk letting him know about the summons for Harry from Ludo Bagman.

Snape looked like he wanted to vocally object but, in the end, shook his head before looking across the classroom at Harry.

"Very well …" Snape said. "Potter … take your things … if the great and illustrious Bagman is looking for you … well I doubt you'll be back before the end of class … although make no mistake I still expect you to cover what we go through relating to antidotes and poisons … you are not excused from this material."

Harry nodded toward the potion's professor, before mouthing to Ron that he'd fill him in that evening as he stood up.

As Harry walked past Nott's desk he leaned over slightly and whispered, "You made a mistake Nott." Before straightening up and ignoring the glare from him as he made his way to the back of the class and exited.

Harry had barely exited the class, before Colin joined him in the hallway. Excitedly grabbing his arm, "Harry! You must be so excited for the tournament! I mean … I believe you when you say you didn't enter … or at least I do now that I actually know what an Unbreakable Vow is … didn't know what it was when you stood up on the bench and made it … but how awesome is it that you get to be in a tournament that only 6th and 7th year students could be in … you're so lucky Harry!"

He almost laughed at the absurdity of the comment as he looked down at the eldest Creevey brother, shaking his head before replying, "Sure Colin … that's it … awfully lucky of me … being forced to participate in a tournament against wizards and a witch who are at least two years older than me … good thing I have my luck …"

Missing the sarcasm, Colin nodded excitedly, "I can't wait until the tournament actually begins … do you have any ideas as to what you will actually be doing … I'd talked to some of the older students, but they didn't have any guesses … but maybe you heard something …" he trailed off looking at Harry expectantly.

After Harry shook his head, Colin's questions continued, enthusiasm unabated, constantly finding questions for Harry relating to the tournament for the entirety of their walk. Harry managing to fit in about one word for about every thirty or so that Colin got in.

"Good luck, Harry!" Colin excitedly said after finally guiding Harry to the correct room, although Harry absently noted that they had not taken the most direct route and wondered if Colin had purposefully chosen their route just so he would have a couple more minutes for questions.

Entering the room, Harry saw that it was already mostly full, apparently he was still among the last ones to arrive.

Seeing Ludo Bagman excitedly wave at Harry and motion for him to stay there, he chose to very quickly ignore him, immediately going to stand by Krum who nodded at him expressionlessly … which Harry assumed meant anything from he was indifferent to Harry joining him to he was actually happy to see him.

"So when will you be ready for flying? I look forward to flying against you on the pitch." Krum stated bluntly, looking at Harry intensely.

Before he had a chance to respond to Krum's comment, Fleur and Cedric turned and joined their conversation.

"You play Quidditch as well?" Fleur asked, sounding genuinely surprised before looking back to Cedric. "You never mentioned he flies as well."

Harry looked between the two of them, eyebrow raised, "You were talking about me?" He asked.

Cedric guiltily looked to the floor bedore nodding slowly, looking back at Harry. "We were." He looked to Fleur before his vision shifted back to Harry, a smile on his face. "It sure seemed Fleur had a lot og questions about me … at first I thought she was just being friendly and trying to learn about me … but then I started realizing her questions were a little too pointed and started thinking she might have just been trying to learn about me as a competitor … trying to find out strengths and weaknesses." He said with a laugh before turning to Fleur. "Isn't that true?" He asked with a smile on his face.

Rather than respond, Fleur looked away from Cedric, blushing slightly as she looked out the window, apparently taking great interest in the view of Hogwart's grounds from the third floor classroom they were in.

This response, or rather the lack of, caused Cedric to laugh again as he looked back to Harry. "After I figured that out … well … I tried to keep redirecting the conversation but the only topic that really worked was talking about you. She seemed even more interested in you then she had been in me … it honestly was a little hurtful to my ego. But I suppose I'll manage to get over it. I had actually been about to distract her by mentioning our Quidditch match last year when she mentioned she was on one of the Quidditch teams at Beauxbaton's herself." He paused and looked towards Fleur who was once again looking at them and following their conversation. "You said you were a Seeker as well … right?"

Fleur nodded proudly to Cedric before looking to Harry and opening her mouth. However her response was cut off by Ludo Bagman who chose that moment to join them, likely overhearing their conversation.

"Did I hear that correctly?" He asked. "You all play Seeker?"

He paused waiting for their responses, smiling as they all nodded simultaneously.

'Well, Merlin, isn't that fortunate …" He trailed off, smiling to himself as he mumbled aloud, under his breath, " … I wonder if we could market this angle … perhaps have a little interschool match to increase attention on the tournament before we start preparing the field for … ya that would work … increase the attention on the tournament … ya … I bet that'd sell …" he finished before shaking his head and laughing as he clapped Cedric heavily on the back.

"That's quite the coincidence that you are all Seekers … of course it's the second best position … only to Beaters. But I bet there's certainly those out there who would be interested in reading about the fact that all four champions are also Seekers … I wonder what else you all have in common. Now there's a story I'd definitely be willing to pay to read." He paused before looking behind him, "Actually on that note. That's why I came over here. Harry … if you had a second, I'd like to introduce you to someone who wants to talk to you." He smiled to the person who stepped out from behind him. "This here … is Rita Skeeter from the Daily Prophet."

Kind Regards,

FavoriteAuthor

If you like this content do not hesitate to smash that like button and subscribe. Haha but seriously if you do enjoy the story - do favorite it, other than messaging me or leaving a comment it's the only way I know if you are enjoying the stories and chapters.

Story Note 1 – There have been a couple heavy chapters in a row – setting up for the future however the next couple chapters will end up being a little lighter, going to focus back on the tournament. Next chapter Harry will get his photo taken and get to have that chat with a certain journalist …I wonder how that is going to go … hopefully it doesn't bug him too much

Story Note 2 – Concerning Snape giving Nott detention … hmmm … I wonder if this is Snape punishing him for trying to attack Hermione or if this is just Snape punishing him for attacking Draco. Certainly, don't think just cause Snape has cooled it a bit on Harry his entire philosophy on Gryffindors has changed. Certainly has a lot of issues still left to deal with

Story Note 3 – During Malfoy's condemnation of Nott. I enjoyed writing Draco here. Although I want to clarify that I don't honestly think that Malfoy was in charge of Slytherin as I don't believe that an entire house worth of students would be willing to listen to a younger Draco just based of who his dad was nor do I believe that the entire house was full of young wizards and witches who shared his view point, rather I felt it was more so that a majority of those who didn't agree with Draco's stances kept their mouths shut. Which would certainly lead Draco to believe he was the Alpha of Slytherin house and he spoke for everyone because of that.

Story Note 4 – A lot has been going on behind the scenes for Draco … his entire change was not due to the one conversation with Harry at the World Cup, although that is certainly what started it. So while there is definitely a large Harry-Draco confrontation … I mean conversation coming up haha, there is also going to be a couple non-Harry short chapters (interludes) coming up as well – starting with Draco to flesh out the world and give information that Harry had absolutely no access to. Really looking forward to the feedback on those

Thanks to those of you out to those of you who enjoy my stories, I promise to keep updating the stories as long as you enjoy them, and a special thanks to those of you who have taken the time to leave feedback or reach out to me directly.

Author Note 1 – All feedback is welcome (hopefully constructive!) Looking forward to what you think! Once again, thanks for all the reviews and feedback on this story, I'm pumped it has been well received. Obviously, I love people telling me they enjoy the chapters (keep it up if you do) but I really enjoy the constructive criticism as well. One of the earliest pieces of feedback I got was that Fred/George dialogue was rough – so as a result I changed it but really like the way it is coming across now (a sentiment that seems to be shared by the readers as well). Also please continue to share ideas or requests as to things you wish to occur in the stories. I love the suggestions. And try to incorporate what I can.

Author Note 2 – I have started posting polls, having been getting really helpful feedback from some readers and thought I would make it easier for anyone to provide feedback on the stories they are liking without having to reach out directly. Thanks in advance for anyone who follows up.

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TheLoneDoctorVII - Good review. Thanks Really trying to focus on areas like that

SamonIllumantrim - I appreciate reviews like that alot. Those are definitely areas I spend time on trying to make work.

blackhack - Thanks for the review. That is something I will work on, at some point I might stop but trying to make sure I reply to everyone who took the time to reply to me.

NightOwl T - I appreciate the review! And promise while Ginny will come into the story it won't be as primary love interest. That was one area which maybe might have worked but the way it was written and then even worse shown in the movies ... well wont be doing that

Antex The Legendary Zoroark - Thanks so much. This is primarily a Harmony story although other relationships will help Harry become the person he needs to become. Haha I 100% would not try it either!

littleemberlou - What a welcome surprise! Team work makes the dream work! And I really appreciate the review, took a while before I was happy with him but I definitely think it works as well.

RaiDaniels - Thanks!

Evergone the Great - That is totally fair and I might go back and rewrite that a bit. Thanks for the note.

stars90 - I thought they were pretty good as well!

void242 - I try to use them to indicate pauses in speech to help convey the tone. BUt I will keep that in mind

Yaw613 - Well hers the next one!

jkarr - I think so!

skotos07 - Well I'm appreciating the reviews!