Dark Pasts { A Harry Potter Story }

Chapter 11 - Jealousy

People began to scramble out of the Great Hall, but Ron, Hermione and I remained seated. We all sat in silence, staring at one another.

"How could this happen?" Hermione finally spoke after a moment. "Dumbledore said they had placed all sorts of enchantments to keep this tournament safe and open only to people over 17."

"Someone with knowledge of the Dark Arts might have known how to get past all that. . . ." I said.

"What d'you mean, 'someone'?" Ron said.

Hermione and I exchanged a look. "Well, he can't have put his name in," she said.

"Why not?"

"You saw what happened to your brothers," I said. "There's no way he could've done it."

"Besides," Hermione said as we finally stood up and made our way up the stairs. "Why would he have put his name?"

"Because you're famous if you win that tournament! And you get a thousand galleons — that's why!" Ron said, now sounding angry.

Hermione and I exchanged a look but said nothing. A party had started in the common room. Loud music blared over the sound of the fire and joyous laughter as people danced and drank butterbeer. Ron went straight to his dormitory, and Hermione left not long after. She was not the biggest party girl.

Suddenly, people began to scream and applaud. I turned around and saw Harry walking through the portrait hole, looking exhausted.

"You should've told us you'd entered!" Fred bellowed, looking half annoyed, half impressed.

"How did you do it without getting a beard? Brilliant!" George said.

"I didn't," Harry said. "I don't know how — "

Angelina and Katie Bell next pushed their way toward him. Like everyone else, they seemed oblivious to Harry's comments about being tired and wanting to go up to his dormitory. Lee Jordan draped a Gryffindor banner around Harry like a cloak and forced a butterbeer on him. Everyone wanted to know how he had done it.

Everyone except Ron, who was hiding upstairs.

Harry was finally able to get everyone to leave him alone after a while: "I'm tired!" he shouted. "No, seriously, George — I'm going to bed — "

He stopped abruptly on his way as he noticed me standing beside the stairs leading to the dorms.

"Hey," he said. "W — where are Ron and Hermione?" he asked.

"Er — upstairs," I said, not knowing how to tell him.

"Ok, I thought they would have — nevermind," he said nervously, then he looked at me intently. "I didn't put my name in."

I frowned, wondering why he felt the need to justify himself to me, but I merely said, "I know."

He seemed shocked and relieved to hear this, and I frowned as he walked up the stairs to his dorm, feeling very sorry for him.

***

"You should've seen his face," I told Hermione as we ate breakfast in the Great Hall the next morning. "He looked absolutely lost. . . ."

Hermione said nothing.

"I've been thinking about it a lot," I went on. "No student would have been able to put his name in."

"No, they wouldn't," she agreed as she finished her bowl of porridge.

"Girls," Ron sighed. "Didn't you hear him? He said yesterday morning he'd done it during the night so no one could've seen him."