AUTHORS NOTES:WARNING: I guess you can say talk of a form of child abuse. I hope you've liked it so far things are about to heat up! Happy reading!
Chapter#4
It was obvious Harry had just risen. He was still groggy, and he hadn't even gone for his spectacles yet
"Viktor?" Harry said yawning, small mouth stretching as far as it could. He blinked blearily a couple of times, and then finally picked up his glasses. He stared drowsily at the older teenager in front of him for a few moments, before his memories of the night before surfaced "oh no, Viktor, please tell me I didn't steal your bed!" he exclaimed pitifully.
Viktor stared at him for a long moment, stunned that this child would still think of his own immediate comfort despite the load of dragon dung that had been hoisted on his shoulders in the last 24 hours. He did the only thing he could in such a situation: he broke out into deep, basset laughter. Harry obviously hadn't been expecting that, going by the startled look on his face, but soon joined in in quieter, more restrained laughs
"I trust you slept vell?" Viktor inquired "I am sorry you did not manage to rest for long-…"
"No!" Harry immediately burst out "I slept very well. And honestly, I got more sleep than I had expected. I hadn't thought I'd be able to sleep last night at all, honestly" he quietened briefly, before turning brilliant green eyes to the Bulgarian teenager "and you? I hope you managed to find a comfortable place to sleep. You should never have let me have the bed in the first place, the closet would have been perfectly fine I-…" his mouth snapped shut with a loud clack as he looked horrified as what he let slip.
He looked pleadingly at Viktor, willing the older boy to let it go. Of course, Viktor did nothing of the sort
"You vere made to sleep in a closet before?" Viktor asked, his voice was very quiet, but that did nothing to hide the amount of danger emanating from his round-shouldered person. Harry wouldn't meet his eye, and that was as good as an admission of guilt "ve vill deal vith dis later" he warned Harry "just know dat vatever it vas, you did not deserve it"
Harry's reply was so soft for a moment Viktor thought he'd only imagined it
"But how do you know?" Harry asked.
Viktor was silent for a long moment. How did he know? Although he'd known of the boy-who-lived all his life, he'd only met Harry Potter yesterday. Harry apparently understood his need for time and space to carefully consider this affair
"Each child is meant to be cherished and protected. Dere is nutting about you, Harry Potter, that tells me you should have been treated odervise" Viktor said truthfully. Harry looked almost as if were physically struck by his words. His head bowed in silent contemplation "but first, I need your signature on dese"
He walked over to the desk to retrieve the claims of political asylum. Harry ran a reverent hand over the vellum parchments. Then he read the words on them, and his eyes widened
"These are-…" Harry asked trailing off, Viktor nodded
"Yes. Dese are declarations of political asylum. De moment you sign dese, you, vill become vard of Bulgaria. As my father's ward, de two of us vill form an international delegation, vhich means if de English even try to do anyting dey vould be starting an international var" Viktor said.
Harry gaped at the possible repercussions of one tiny signature. Viktor caught the look of longing he sent it, and then Harry pushed it away
"No" Harry gasped, as if the words were physically hurting him "I can't sign something like this. Not when there's so much at stake"
Viktor wanted to hit something. This boy was too damn selfless for his own damn good
"Harry," Viktor intoned deeply "sign it"
"But-…" Harry protested weakly
"Sign it" Viktor said. Harry closed his eyes in pain
"I can't- not when there's so much at risk. More people can't die because of me, Viktor" Harry said.
Looking at the petite figure of the boy, Viktor had to wonder just what lay behind those emerald orbs
"Do not vorry your pretty little head about it" Viktor said. Harry whipped his head around and scowled at the Bulgarian. Viktor chuckled, having successfully derailed Harry from his moroseness "Harry, dere are some tings vorth fighting for. Some tings vorth dying for. Protecting our young- no matter vat de cost- is one of dem. Please, let me help you in dis"
Harry's gaze flickered tremulously between Viktor's dark eyes the vellum parchment. After a long, tense moment, his shoulders sagged and he relented
"Alright" Harry rasped "I'll sign it"
His eyes were still fearful when he scrawled his name at the bottom of the papers
"Harry, you must know dat no English man can demand private audience. As member of a visiting international delegation, you are allowed to haff an escort vith you at all time. For now, dat vill be me, if you do not mind" Viktor said. Harry gasped at that
"I didn't mean to chain you to me!" Harry immediately apologized. Oh, by Merlin! Was there no end to the child's selfless behavior? "I didn't mean for that at all" Harry babbled onwards, his brilliant green eyes darting fearfully at the older boy "I don't care what it says, I'll follow you about at your convenience. And if you ever need a hand with anything-…"
Viktor raised a hand to stem the tide of words pouring out of the child's mouth
"Harry. You must understand something. Ve are doing dis for you. Everyting dat ve are doing is our own free vill. You owe us nutting. It vill be nutting more dan minor inconvenience. Can you understand dat?" Viktor asked, very slowly, the child nodded, although the remnants of doubt still gathered in his eyes "good" Viktor said, gifting him with a smile "vy don't you go to de bathroom and shower. I must speak vith my schoolmates. If you vill vait for me to return before getting dressed? I need to find de Bulgarian insignia, but I vant to catch most of my schoolmates before dey leave for breakfast" Harry nodded at once. He turned towards the bathroom, and then paused
"Thank you, Viktor" Harry said softly "thank you for everything" he slipped into the bathroom and closed the door quietly behind him.
Viktor was relieved to find nearly all of his schoolmates on deck before they left for breakfast in the Hogwarts great hall. Even better yet, Karkaroff hadn't managed to arrive either. Viktor pointed to his throat and cast the sound amplifying charm
"May I have your attention please!" Viktor called out in his native language, the magically magnified voice of Viktor Krum drew all eyes to the prow, where the teenager stood "Harry Potter has filed for political asylum from Bulgaria after last night's fiasco" a din erupted at his words. Surprisingly, or maybe not, the overall feeling he got from the students was a sense of 'about bloody time' personally, Viktor had to agree. There were too many things that had gone wrong in Harry's life of late. If he hadn't yet met the boy, he'd be down there with his schoolmates wondering how the hell a fourteen-year-old managed to handle with remarkable aplomb most things a forty-year-old would never face "Harry Potter and I will form the Bulgarian International Delegation. I would appreciate it if you would make him welcome, and keep an eye out on him. He must never be left alone. My father does not trust the English, and neither do I" unlike most of the wizarding world, the students in Durmstrang actually knew just who Viktor was referring to when he said 'my father'. Unlike Lucius Malfoy, Viktor's father had more than money and a sneer to throw around, and best of all, he commanded an earned respect rather than a bought one. Another murmur went up among the gathered students "Beauxbatons has already been informed of recent events. Their champion, Fleur Delacour, stands with us. As of this moment, the opinion of Hogwarts and their champion is still undecided"
"Does that mean there are two Durmstrang champions now?" someone asked.
That question stumped Viktor. He'd never thought of it that way
"I don't know" Viktor confessed quietly "but please, keep an eye out for English treachery. Thank you" the gathered students nodded as one, in a ripple of bobbling heads. Viktor couldn't hide his smile at the sight. When he returned to his room, Harry had just left the shower, dwarfed in one of his thick charcoal bathrobes. His black hair was still sopping wet and dripping. Viktor immediate clucked his tongue at the sight and went for a smaller towel, draping it over the boy's wet head and furiously towelling it dry "vat is it vith you and trying to catch cold?" he jibed playfully. He got a tentative smile in return as Harry slowly reached up to take the towel from him and continue drying his hair in a gentler fashion. Once he was satisfied that Harry would dry himself off properly, he turned his back on the boy and began rummaging through his drawers for proper robes. He always kept official sets with him wherever he travelled, in case his father ever needed him to act as an emissary on his behalf, which had already happened several times before. He managed to produce two sets of official robes, sleek robes of charcoal and navy blue forming a brilliant contrast against rearing gold lions of the Bulgarian crest. He brushed a tender finger against national motto: 'Unity Renders Power' it couldn't be truer for a state that had been together since 7 A.D. Viktor set the robes onto the bed, and then looked across the room at Harry, trying to gauge his size. He cast a shrinking spell, and then scowled at how small the robes became "here" he said "vear dese. Dey show you as international delegation. You are protected by international vizarding law now"
"Viktor" Harry began hesitantly "thank you. For everything you've done. If there's ever anything I can do for you" Viktor smiled at him
"Do not vorry about tings like dat. First ve must get you through dis tournament, and den ve vill get you out of England" Viktor said.
There wasn't much Harry could say to that, so he shyly offered up another smile, and a quiet...
"Thank you" Harr said. Viktor nodded briskly
"I vill go shower. You can dress in de room" Viktor said,
He picked up the other set of robes and went into the bathroom. Once inside, he took a deep breath. This was going to be an uphill fight every step of the way. He gathered all his resolve, and hardened it. He hadn't been lying when he said he'd do this for any wizarding child abused to this extent. But he was even more driven on behalf of that child waiting outside for him. Together they marched across the grounds to the great hall. It made Viktor slightly disgusted to realize that no one had even realized, or if they had, cared, about where Harry had disappeared to last night. In Durmstrang, the upper levels were free to roam the castle at whatever times they wished, but the younger ones were carefully monitored. He knew it was the same way in Beauxbatons. No continental wizarding school could afford to lose any wizarding children, not now when there were so few of them left. Hogwarts had just over 300 students, spread across seven years. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had ten-year curriculums, and even then, they had maybe 1000 students each. Just sixty years ago those numbers were almost triple what they were now. The wars had deftly taken their toll on the European student population. At the front of the hall, awaiting them patiently, was Fleur Delacour, and a rather red-faced Cedric Diggory. Harry looked shocked to see them both there, and was even more stunned when Fleur actually smiled, and curtsied to him. He clumsily bowed back at her, unable to completely erase the look of astonishment across his face
"Excuse my behaviour last night, Monsieur Potter, s'il-vous-plaît. I was razzer taken aback by ze announcement and was not myself" Fleur said
"No" Harry said breathlessly "it was no problem at all" he blushed a dark pink "I'm sorry for ruining your tournament. I don't know…. how-…"
Anger and frustration flashed across the young face. Viktor gently placed his hand on Harry's shoulder in silent solidarity, and the boy took a deep breath before releasing it, shakily
"I'm sorry, too, Potter…. Harry" Cedric started, the normally eloquent Hufflepuff prefect was stumbling over his words now "I'm a disgrace to my house. No matter what, we were chosen to be Hogwarts champions, and we should've stuck together… I should've stuck together. With you. The Ravenclaws, too. They're a disgrace to their supposed intelligence" Cedric's handsome face darkened briefly as he thought back to some of the 'intelligence' the Ravenclaws had displayed earlier in the hall "I don't have any excuses for the other two houses. Fleur told me what the situation was, and I'm honoured that you trust me enough to bring me into a part of this. I-I don't know if you remember, but my dad- he works at the Ministry of Magic. It's just at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, but he knows people in the International Law division. I've owled to him already, and we'll try to clear your way out of here once this bloody thing is over with" Harry looked as if he would hyperventilate at the older boy's words. He obviously hadn't been expecting such a show of solidarity so soon. Cedric seemed to recognise this, and continued "I'm sure Viktor's already told you this, but wizarding children are important to our world. I don't know what the headmaster and Crouch are playing at, letting you compete. The rest of us are qualified and legally recognised as adults. You don't have that same compensation. I'll make sure Hufflepuff sees some sense, at least" he declared, looking quite put out at his house
"We 'ave wasted enough time outside" Fleur said "do not ever leaff one of us, at all times, Arry. I do not trust what zese English wizards will do next" she looked at Viktor "you ave ze documents?" the Bulgarian nodded
"My father has a copy as vell. The magical claim has already been approved. By international law dey cannot touch him" Viktor said
"I do not know if zat is enough to stop zem" Fleur said, looking angry. Then her pretty face softened, and she took Harry's hand in her own "'ere goes nuzzing!" she added impishly, winking at Harry and bringing a smile to his face.
Together, the four champions entered the great hall...