Paid In Blood - Revised

Chapter 2

Daphne Greengrass, referred to by most students (and even some teachers) of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as the Ice Queen of Slytherin, sat silently as her housemates laughed at Draco Malfoy's latest pathetic joke about the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter.

Once again, Potter found himself in a heap of trouble, this time because his name came out of the Goblet of Fire as the fourth champion of the Triwizard Tournament. It all started on Halloween, the night of the champions' selection. Viktor Krum had been selected as the Durmstrang champion, Fleur Delacour for Beauxbatons, and Cedric Diggory as the Hogwarts champion. Daphne snorted when she heard Diggory's name called, as she really had no faith in the Hufflepuff. Still, she clapped along with everyone else - school spirit, or something like that. But then the cup lit itself a fourth time and Harry Bloody Potter's name came out of it.

The entire hall was shocked, and Daphne was no exception. How on earth did he manage to even put his name in the cup? She saw what happened to the Weasley twins after trying to cheat the age line; their enormous white beards were hilarious. After that, all hell broke loose. Potter instantly became a pariah, shunned by everyone in the school, including his best friends Weasley and Granger. Somehow, those two had even initiated a movement that saw Potter expelled from Gryffindor tower that very night.

While Daphne didn't outright hate Potter like most of her housemates, neither did she have any particular reason to support him. Even so, what the hell? His own friends betrayed him? She had always thought the Gryffindors were such a tight-knit bunch, and she couldn't believe the entire house would just abandon him like that. Even the Slytherins showed loyalty to their own house, if no one else, and it would take something far more serious than cheating their way into a tournament for one of them to be completely excommunicated, like Potter had been.

Potter practically disappeared from the school that same night, showing up for classes and nothing more. He never came to the Great Hall for meals and never spoke to anyone. There were rumours that McGonagall and the staff had tried to coerce Potter into returning to Gryffindor Tower, ignoring the fact that he had been banished by the entire house.

The same rumours said that Potter simply told them that he had found his own quarters. He also pointed out that according to the Hogwarts charter, in order to return to the house, a banished student would have to willingly comply with the reinstatement stipulations put forth by the house at the time of banishment. Since the Gryffindors never bothered to define the conditions for reinstatement, the banishment was effectively permanent. Honestly, if the staff were so concerned, they should just re-sort him into a different house, but so far, they had stubbornly refused to do so.

It was now November the twenty-fourth, the day of the first task. More than three weeks had passed since Potter's exile from Gryffindor, and now he would have no choice but to show up and perform in front of the entire school, their guests, and assorted spectators.

As usual, Malfoy was trying to whip everyone into an anti-Potter frenzy, and in just a couple of hours they would be outside watching the champions face their task. There were rumours that dragons would be involved, and Malfoy was practically salivating at the prospect of Potter being burned to a crisp.

Daphne finished her meal and quietly left the Great Hall, ignoring the commotion and excitement that had seemingly taken hold of the entire student body. She exited the castle and casually strolled towards the lake, where she intended to sit by the shore for a bit and relax before the task.

She arrived at the lake, and to her disappointment, she noticed that her usual spot was already occupied by a boy, who was sitting near the water and eating a sandwich. Daphne snorted and cursed her own luck, because even at a distance she could tell that the boy in question was none other than Harry Potter himself.