The Sun, Moon & Stars

80. Breaking Point

CW: Language

The following day the newest edition of the Daily Prophet was delivered to the mail boxes of just about every witch or wizard in all of England.

It had a very distinctive front page that had made sales go up immensely: a photograph of Harry Potter, the chaos of a fourth champion, and details about the dangerous tournament that hadn't been held in over a century.

"Harry Potter, the fourth champion of the infamous Triwizard Tournament." Remus read aloud in the sitting room, sunlight pouring in through the windows as him, Ginger and Sirius drank their morning coffee.

"Well, it was only a matter of time before the Prophet got their claws on him." Sirius sighed, "So, what have they said?"

Remus cleared his throat, "'After over a century of silence, the Triwizard Tournament is making a comeback. Being held at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year, the champions from the competiting schools — Durmstrang, Beauxbatons Academy and Hogwarts — were chosen this past Halloween. However, in a twisted and unforeseen turn in events, a fourth champion was chosen: the boy our world knows as Harry Potter, the boy who lived. For a more in-depth look at our champions, and for the insider scoop, go to page twelve'."

"Go to page twelve!" Ginger squeaked.

"Okay, okay, one second." Remus chuckled, flipping to the correct page and clearing his throat to read once more.

"'This years Triwizard Tournament has a promising and bright group of champions. Fleur Delacour, from Beauxbatons Academy in France; Viktor Krum, the infamous Bulgarian Seeker from Durmstrang and a charming and devilishly handsome student named Cedric Diggory—"

"Was this written by Rita Skeeter?" Sirius cut him off.

"The one and only." Remus confirmed.

"Only she would hit on a seventeen year old boy. Disgusting, horrible woman..." Sirius practically spat, and Remus continued.

"'—the son of one of the Ministry's very best officials: Amos Diggory. However, there is a fourth. In an unforeseen turn of events, the Goblet of Fire selected a fourth champion to participate in the gruelling tournament this past Halloween. Harry James Potter, the only known person to survive the killing curse, landed with this fate despite being underage.'"

"It doesn't seem that bad so far." Ginger shrugged.

"Yeah, well, just wait a minute." Remus sighed, having scanned ahead.

"'I had the extreme pleasure to speak one-on-one with our fourth champion, and was delighted to have gotten an inside scoop for my beloved readers. Accompanied by his girlfriend—'"

"His what?" Sirius gaped.

Remus held up a hand to silence him, but his eyes widened as repeated and continued the sentence, "'—accompanied by his long-standing girlfriend of over three years — Ophelia Lupin, twelve — I got an inside look at the dynamic of their relationship.'"

"His girlfriend?" Sirius repeated.

"She isn't twelve!" Ginger pointed out.

"Three years?" Sirius added.

"I wouldn't count on this as a reliable source." Remus reminded Sirius, "They got her age wrong, Skeeter wrote this, and her and Harry are just friends."

"So she says." Sirius pointed out.

"My kid doesn't lie to me, okay?" Remus snapped.

"Our." Sirius mumbled, "Our kid."