Distortion

Trials in the Tub

The next few days were an improvement.

At the very beginning of the term, Harry had made the tournament a priority. Academic pressure being less and with quidditch out of the way, he could focus on the upcoming task and do just good enough in his classes to stay afloat. This arrangement had begun to slip down the slope as the term progressed, and Harry knew it was time to get back. Good fortune was on his side since he was armed with ways to overcome the second task, giving him just enough time to catch up.

It was better to have started with school work, for his good and to stop Hermione from nagging about the P.O.S.T's six months away. Even the teachers had relaxed on the pressure once the previous term commenced.

Yet, Hermione saw no reason to stop narrating all that could go wrong if they don't start preparations now.

'Hermione, chill.' Lee persuaded her, 'Look how great it turned out for us.' He actioned to him and Daniel, who was scratching his head over Arithmacy.

'Fred and George went for summer school.' Hermione said, shaking her head.

'Well, there are a few unsurprising exceptions.' He said, looking over at them. They both turned to Lee with utter surprise on hearing this. 'Whoa, those were hard.' Fred Justified. 'Very hard.' George backed him up.

'Maybe for those who weren't prepared.' Lee said.

'We did study. Besides we only failed portions, which is highly suspicious. 'George retorted.

'What is highly suspicious is how you passed the rest of the six subjects.'

'Whoa there, Lee I never thought you thought so low of us.'

'He has a pretty good reason to.' Daniel said, without lifting his gaze from his number infested parchment.

'You too?' Fred sighed. 'And to think you were on our side.'

'I'm not very surprised you failed portions, since Snape's been on your case , well since forever.' Daniel said in a matter of fact way, finally diverting his attention from his parchment full of calculations. 

'So maybe Snape does have a reason to fail you two.' Lee said thoughtfully.

'They are writing their O.W.L's and even they haven't started vigorous preparation....seriously Hermione, chill out.' Ron reasoned.

But Hermione needed more than the reassurance from the easy going S.P.C. This is Hermione we're talking about. 

Shifting his focus for a change also gave him a break from the pressure concerning the tournament. He didn't struggle in his classes as much as he used to, and the only one displeased by this improvement was Snape, who gradually saw the opportunities to taunt Harry diminish day by day. Once word of Harry's great performance had spread, people who loathed him fell silent. Of course, there were exceptions, like Malfoy, but the lack of attention wore him thin of ideas.  With Longbottom out of his way, not only Harry but the whole school was glad. No one dared question his change of behavior either.

'This act isn't even going to last till next month.' Ron said every time they looked over at Longbottom in class or in the dorms or dinner. And Ron wasn't the only one of this opinion. The S.P.C, Angelina, Katie, well, pretty much the whole quidditch team and most of the school was of this opinion. Hermione fell silent when it was brought up since she was tied in the middle of this and unpleasant controversy, so was Harry. Nobody can change in a heart beat, can they?? 

Two weeks had gone by, with the Triwizard tournament out of his mind. He had eased on the craze but now the tournament was mere weeks away, and he still hadn't figured out his way. Hermione, and even the carefree Ron were now urging him to start, considering the time needed for deciding, practice and more research if required. This time, even Harry knew he couldn't put this off forever.