FINITE | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire [4]

𝘅𝘅𝘅𝗶 | 𝗵𝗼𝗴𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘂𝘀

For a school year that only a few months ago everyone had been buzzing about, it was not looking too fun. Gwen was so stressed about Harry having to do a horrifying, extremely advanced magical task in front of hundreds of spectators that she was unable to focus on the loads and loads of school work they had been tasked with. To top it off, Ron was no longer speaking to her; she assumed that, in his eyes, she was as guilty as Harry for staying by his side. This came evident in their detention with Snape the following day where they had been forced to pickle rats brains together, but, to make things worse, Rita Skeeter had published an article about Harry which had seemed to only solidify Ron's beliefs that Harry was basking in the glow of fame.

  When Gwen had read the article, she had been downright furious. Harry didn't often talk about his parents, and when he did, he certainly did not speak of them the way Rita Skeeter was claiming he had:

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...

And to add insult to injury, Rita Skeeter had gone even further than misinterpreting Harry's stuttering in the broom cupboard she had forced him into; Harry had been so angry about the article, he had filled Gwen in on the Weighing of the Wands ceremony, which Colin had fetched him for during the Potions class:

Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of Gwenevere Everill, a stunningly pretty, bright, Pure Blood girl who, like Harry, excels in her classes.

From the moment the article had appeared, there had been endless scrutiny from the Slytherins; even Theo was acting strangely around Gwen now. He had stopped finding her in the corridors for a conversation, simply smiling now, and passing without a word. They had met several times in the library before the article, and now he no longer sought her company. Gwen couldn't understand why, and she caught herself watching the entrance to the library doors every time she was in there. Every time she was disappointed, for every person who walked into the library was not Theo.

  She had been scrutinised enough for standing by Harry's side, but since the article had been released, she was under more fire than usual.

  'Stunningly pretty? Her?' Pansy Parkinson shrieked the first time she had come face to face with Gwen after the article. 'What was she comparing against-- a chipmunk?'

  'At least I don't look like I've been smashed in the face with a frying pan,' Gwen had countered, to which Pansy had screwed up her nose angrily, making her resemble a pug more so than before.

  Harry still refused to speak to Ron, which was frustrating both Gwen and Hermione. They ended up dragging Harry to the library on many occasions, which they both knew bored him, but he still hadn't mastered the Summoning Charm and they would spend hours trying to get him to learn it.