A Desperate Prophecy (When Magic Interferes)

There were no weights involved, but there were wands

On Sunday morning, Hadrian decided he was not going to hide from the backlash of the evening before, but he would embrace the chaos and use it as a chance to put pressure on his enemy.

Gathering his close group of friends, and with Leo and Kane on either side of him, Hadrian entered the Great Hall for breakfast in style. He was aware of the stares, and the ignorant accusations, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Was it not enough he had to compete in this death tournament, now people were thinking he did it on purpose as well? Well, let the idiots think. He was a Slytherin, he would focus on the tasks, get through them as effectively as possible and be done with it. If he won too, well... good for him. And he'd lord it over the doubters for the rest of eternity, as a Slytherin is wont to do.

The group of students from different houses behind him was a clear way of saying he had plenty of support behind him, and he would not back down from the fight to come. Especially since he was surrounded by the best and brightest of the fifth years.

All of Slytherin House were supporting him in some way, so were Kane, Ginny and Ron from Gryffindor, Elena, Neville and Leanne Diggory from Hufflepuff, and Hermione and Luna from Ravenclaw. Their presence was mostly to ensure people knew not to mess with him.

Most of the people at Hogwarts knew what the oath he made last night meant, and the sword he'd brandished right after, so he wasn't worried, he was just being precautious.

Lucky for him, people took the hint, and he got to spend a very peaceful breakfast with his brothers in arms and the rest of the day was also spent calmly and with no overly dramatic reactions. It was like the students knew he wanted to ignore everything and followed in his footsteps (or Fred and George had threatened the idiots from doing anything for fear of excessive and humiliating pranks).

---

A good thing that had come out of this whole mess was him getting closer to the other Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory. He had already been familiar with the boy (which was mostly due to the fact that the older boy's sister was dating his honorary brother), but since the announcement, the two had made a pact to get together every evening to start training in preparation for the tasks. While Hadrian had more raw power and family magicks, Cedric had a bit more spells in his repertoire, which had shocked Hadrian a bit at first.

The two exchanged ideas and mock duelled, and they sometimes even had some conversations. Hadrian slowly started trusting the boy and seeing him as an older brother figure like the Weasley twins or Cassius. He even decided to ask the boy for advice on how to woo a certain Hufflepuff he had feelings for.

"You just have to show you care. If there is anything us Hufflepuffs like, its displays of kindness and affection."

"Then why the hell are you dating Cho Chang? The girl's been bullying Luna since our second year. If it weren't for Draco, Hermione and Ginny threatening her, she wouldn't have backed off at all. She's a bit better now, but I heard she still mocks her on occasion for being... you know, Luna."

"What!?"

Hadrian hadn't meant to ruin the guy's relationship, but apparently Cedric didn't tolerate bullies, especially dating one. An epitome of Hufflepuff's ideals, he immediately cut ties with her after actually seeing the girl talk Luna down one time after his classes. Cho Chang was devastated, and the quartet of founders' heirs weren't happy about it per say, but they weren't mad about it either. They never liked her, and her attitude towards both Hermione and Luna didn't help much.

It was better for Cedric as well, as he had more time to train, hang out with his friends and his sister, and even get to know new people and think about his career. He hadn't noticed how much Cho took of his time and attention, and while he'd never begrudge his girlfriend such a thing, the woman wouldn't even allow him to hang out with friends without her, which was pretty suffocating.