Vestiges of Normalcy

Chapter 5

True to Dobby's words, Harry's trunk was sitting idly outside of the common room, with a strong notice-me-not charm on it keyed to anyone except for Harry and Viktor, who spotted it easily in the torch-lit corridor.

"Harry, you're coming vith me back to the Durmstrang ship," said Viktor firmly, "It is not safe to be vandering the halls of Hogvarts given the current state of affairs."

"Mm, okay," Harry nodded, shrinking his trunk and putting it into his pocket.

The two seekers silently retraced their steps back towards the Entrance Hall. They went on their way uninterrupted, which was just as well for any heckler, for Viktor was in such a foul mood that if anyone had intercepted them with the intention of harassing Harry, the perpetrator would have been hexed until an emergency visit to St. Mungo's would have been immediately warranted.

Thankfully, the use of bone-breaking hexes or other spells were no longer needed, as the pair left the castle behind them and made their way through the grounds towards the ship.

Climbing up the gangplank, descending the stairs and cutting across the corridor, Harry and Viktor arrived back at the latter's room.

Stepping inside, Harry took out his shrunken trunk, enlarged it back to its original size, and placed it next to Viktor's trunk.

"You should use the bathroom first, Viktor," said Harry as he went through his trunk, "I think a cool-down is what you need right now."

Still fuming from the early debacles, Viktor grunted in appreciation. Using his wand to pull out his sleepwear from his trunk, Viktor disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Harry to sort out his belongings.

Dobby had done an impeccable job in ensuring that everything was safe, from his father's invisibility cloak, his family photo album from Hagrid, the Marauder's Map, Hedwig's cage, to all of his clothes, quills and textbooks.

Nodding to himself, Harry pulled out a pair of pajamas and clean underwear, closed his trunk, and moved over to the loveseat to wait for Viktor to finish.

Above the loveseat, was a porthole with a view of the Great Lake. It was just as beautiful as one would see it either on the top deck, or along the shoreline. There was no breeze at this hour, leaving the surface of the lake as still and smooth like the pane of a mirror, reflecting the perfect image of the moon, stars and the trees of the Forbidden Forest.

Such stillness was an antithesis to how Harry's soul was still recovering from the turmoil of the past hour. He had been selected, against his will, as a champion of the tournament, and was kicked out of Gryffindor house by the very people whom he thought were his friends. The uncertainty of how badly the school will come to see him tomorrow was also another can of worms he had to deal with.

Harry sat down on the loveseat, pajamas on his lap. He stared out towards the lake. Quietly, he reflected on everything that happened, on how everything had changed this year, and how the rest of the year would play out. He was definitely still nervous about his survival in this tournament, but the one thing grounding him to a sane mindset, was Viktor.

Viktor, unlike his former friends, had stayed by his side, swearing to do so in the antechamber. Even the seeker's friends believed him and gave him their support.

If people he had met only the day before (and in Viktor's case, a couple of months) could show they had the brain capacity to think logically and rationally, rather than the people he had known for years just getting up and abandoning him over obvious falsehoods, it just goes to show the situation in Hogwarts, and in microcosm, the whole of wizarding Britain, was undeniably broken.