Paid In Blood - Revised

Chapter 3

Harry Potter entered the champions' tent and saw that the other three competitors were already there waiting. He greeted the others with a simple "good afternoon," before taking a seat in the nearest chair and closing his eyes.

Viktor Krum was leaning against one of the tentpoles with his arms crossed. Like Harry, Krum had his eyes closed with a calm expression on his face, as if he were meditating. His headmaster hadn't accompanied him to the tent, and the young Quidditch star hadn't shown much interest in speaking with anyone else. Fleur Delacour was in one corner of the tent speaking with Madame Maxime, possibly going over some last-minute strategy. She looked slightly paler than usual, but otherwise didn't show any outward signs of nervousness.

Cedric Diggory, on the other hand, was completely on edge. His face was ghostly pale, and he was pacing back and forth around the tent, muttering to himself.

"How can you be so calm, Potter?" asked Cedric, turning his attention to the youngest champion.

Harry opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow.

"I took a calming draught before coming here?" Harry said, his expression unchanged. Cedric seemed to believe the story and resumed his march around the tent, now murmuring something about calming draughts. Harry simply shook his head and closed his eyes again to resume his calming exercises and focus his magic.

Harry was sure that both Fleur and Krum knew what the task was, just like they had in his original timeline. Their demeanours were calm, and any anxiety they may have felt about the impending task was well hidden. Each of them had clearly had time to research the best ways to neutralise a dragon, and with the help of their headmasters, they would've had no trouble developing multiple strategies ahead of time.

Diggory clearly had no clue what was about to happen. In his original timeline it had been Harry who warned Cedric about the dragons, but this time he felt no such obligation, and it seemed that no one else had either. The older Hufflepuff's distressed appearance and relentless pacing really was quite pathetic.

"Oi, Diggory, do you even know what the task is?" asked Harry, just loud enough so that only the champions heard.

Cedric glared at him, a little anger slipping into his expression.

"Why, Potter, do you think I'd actually help you?" mocked Diggory. Harry shrugged in response.

"No thank you, I've known about it since the night they arrived," Harry replied casually, noticing the almost-smirking look Krum gave him. Fleur simply raised an eyebrow and went back to observing her competition.

She almost felt sorry for Harry – almost. He may be young, but if he wanted to play with the grown-ups, then he'd have to deal with the consequences. Maybe the tournament officials would be merciful and disqualify him, after what was sure to be a lousy performance. She had to give him some credit though; the boy was in over his head, and yet he seemed calm and collected, unlike the Hogwarts champion, who was a nervous wreck.

"And what exactly are they, Potter?" asked Cedric, in a not-so-subtle attempt to gain information.

"If you really wanted to know, maybe you should've put all those housemates of yours to some use. They could've spent their free time helping you instead of making my life a living hell," Harry bit back, leaving the older boy seething.

Krum smirked again, while Fleur tilted her chin up and looked down her nose at them, as if they all were undeserving of her company.

"Ah, the four champions are here!" a female voice called from the tent's entrance. Rita Skeeter, Wizarding Britain's most prominent mudslinging reporter, had appeared at the entrance of the champions' tent, photographer in tow.