The Other Black Book 4

Chapter 18 - The Hungarian Horntail

The prospect of talking face-to-face with Sirius was all that sustained Harry over the next fortnight, the only bright spot on a horizon that had never looked darker. He was still talking to Aurora, telling her about his fears as she helped him with homework. The shock of finding himself school champion had worn off slightly now, and the fear of what was facing him had started to sink in. The first task was drawing steadily nearer; Harry said he felt as though it were crouching ahead of him like some horrific monster, barring his path. He had never suffered nerves like these; they were way beyond anything he had experienced before a Quidditch match, not even his last one against Slytherin, which had decided who would win the Quidditch Cup. Harry was finding it hard to think about the future at all; he felt as though his whole life had been heading up to, and would finish with, the first task....

Aurora reminded him that he'd faced murderers, basilisks, and even Voldemort himself and come out alive. It was surely more dread tand anticipation than anything.

Admittedly, she didn't see how Sirius was going to make Harry feel any better about having to perform an unknown piece of difficult and dangerous magic in front of hundreds of people, but the mere sight of a friendly face would be something at the moment. Harry wrote back to Sirius saying that he (and asked about Aurora) would be beside the common room fire at the time Sirius had suggested; and he, Aurora, and Hermione spent a long time going over plans for forcing any stragglers out of the common room on the night in question. If the worst came to the worst, they were going to drop a bag of Dungbombs, but they hoped they wouldn't have to resort to that - Filch would skin them alive.

In the meantime, life became even worse for Harry within the confines of the castle, for Rita Skeeter had published her piece about the Triwizard Tournament, and it had turned out to be not so much a report on the tournament as a highly colored life story of Harry. Much of the front page had been given over to a picture of Harry; the article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven) had been all about Harry, the names of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions (misspelled) had been squashed into the last line of the article, and Cedric hadn't been mentioned at all.

The article had appeared ten days ago, and Harry still got a sick, burning feeling of shame in his stomach every time he thought about it. Rita Skeeter had reported him saying an awful lot of things that he couldn't remember ever saying in his life.

I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now....Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it....I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me...

But Rita Skeeter had gone even further than transforming his "er's" into long, sickly sentences (Harry had told Aurora that she'd asked so many questions and he didn't have a chance to say anything): She had interviewed other people about him too.

Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. Or maybe two? His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school. Aurora Malfoy, rumored to be related to Sirius Black, is hardly ever seen outside of Harry's company -- even, reports say, outside of school.

From the moment the article had appeared, Harry and Aurora had had to endure people -Slytherins, mainly - quoting it at them as he passed and making sneering comments.

"Want a hanky, Potter, in case you start crying in Transfiguration?"

"Are you going to betray your friends again, Malfoy?"

"Since when have you been one of the top students in the school, Potter? Or is this a school you and Longbottom have set up together?"

"How do you feel about Granger, Malfoy? I heard you two were best friends!"