The time between the first and second task, seemed to go by faster than the time normally passed between November and February.
Granger and Weasley had finally gotten the hint and left him alone, even if it sometimes seems like either of them wanted to approach him, or talk to him, but luckily, they both backed off before that happened.
In fact, the only Gryffindors he talked to regularly were Fred and George, and Neville, the only three he knew hadn't shunned him after his name had come out of the Goblet, and the only three who had stayed civil and normal after what he pulled with the Dragon.
The clue from the egg, he resolved that same weekend he went and asked McGonagall about a bathtub he could use, from the riddle that was boing sung he most likely would have to dive into the Black Lake (in February) to retrieve something that was taken - going by the way the judges went for extra, he had to guess it was a person, instead of a thing.
Which brought him to another problem, breathing under water for an hour, also the chill of the water might pose a problem, seeing as Naga from what he had gathered were coldblooded, just like snakes, and as such couldn't regulate their own body temperature.
Something he had already been feeling, he might not have made the total change, not yet, but already he was a lot colder than he remembered himself ever feeling. So, going into a freezing lake might just pose a problem, unless he could find a high density heating spell that would also keep him warm in the water.
With that in mind, he went back to the Chamber, where he had been living mostly, he only ate in the Great Hall and slept in his dorm room, if he didn't fall asleep in the Chamber that is. Knowing the books in the library there, he figured there should be something there for keeping at least a snake warm for a longer duration of time, it might also work on him.
He might also find a means to stay underwater for an hour in the Chamber, as this was also something, he still needed to find a solution for. Even if he didn't find one, a bubblehead charm was as good a plan B as any other.
Christmas passed rather sombrely, not that he minded, with all the things he read in the books in the Chamber, he had found out that wizards and witches were Pagan originally and they only adapted the Christian Holidays to make Muggleborns feel more welcomed in the Wizarding World.
Which in Harry's eyes was absurd, they made the choice to come here, did they not. A Muggleborn was used to living without magic, so should they choose not to come to Hogwarts, or another Magic School, their magic would be bound and they would be send on their merry way with their memories of the visiting teacher removed.
You didn't expect a country you migrated to, to take over the same customs or traditions that your country held. This was of the same principle, only it was a different culture within the same country.
He'd taken to scoffing at the obvious Christmas decorations littering the hallways, finding them to be very insulting to what Yule had once stood for. Not only that, but he had seen other Purebloods, mostly Slytherins and Ravenclaws do the same thing. So, some families did celebrate the Pagan Holidays, instead of the Christian ones.
That had been another thing he had started to list, things that differentiated from before, with the books left by Salazar Slytherin and his descendants, Harry could see how much the Wizarding Worlds had changed in the last 1000 years, and while change on its own was never a bad thing, the changes the Wizarding World had went through, had not done it any good.
The reason they all wrote with quills and parchment, and dressed in robes and outdated clothing was because some 'genius' Minister dictated in the Middle Ages, when the Witch Hunts were at its peak, that Muggles were savages who didn't know any better, so could be best left alone. Installing a barrier between the two worlds, which of itself was a good thing, but lots of Magic raised still thought of Muggles as savages, who never came further than they did in the Middle Ages, which was a totally wrong concept.
