Hogwarts is My Home (A Harry Potter Fanfiction), Part 4/7

Chapter 12

It seems as though Potter is avoiding the whole school tomorrow. Draco is still furious, I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate to hex Potter if he saw him. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws as well as the rest of the Slytherins are turning their backs on him, but the Gryffindors are treating him like a hero.

On Monday morning, most of our Charms lesson is spent talking about the Triwizard Tournament.

"Gryffindor is always going for the glory, even though all the houses want to be the best," Terry tells me while we work on the Seize and Pull Charm. "Hufflepuff rarely gets any glory, and Diggory is one of the only ones who has brought it to them."

"He says he didn't enter his name, and I'm not sure if I believe him," I reply. "It would have been really hard to get past the Age Line, though."

"Now, now, class, less talking, more working!" Flitwick says from his desk.

Draco can't help but tease Potter during Care of Magical Creatures after that.

"Ah, look, guys, it's the champion," he says to me, Ash, Noah, Vincent, Gregory, Theodore, Charlie, and Alex. "Got your autograph books? Better get a signature now, because I doubt he's going to be around much longer. . . . Half the Triwizard champions have died . . . how long d'you reckon you're going to last, Potter? Ten minutes into the first task's my bet." We all laugh.

Hagrid emerges from the back of his cabin balancing a teetering tower of crates, each containing a very large Blast-Ended-Skrewt. To the class' horror, Hagrid proceeds to explain that the reason the skrewts have been killing one another is an excess of pent-up energy, and that the solution is for each student to fix a leash on a skrewt and take it for a short walk.

"Take this thing for a walk?" Draco repeats in disgust, staring into one of the boxes. "And where exactly are we supposed to fix the leash? Around the sting, the blasting end, or the sucker?"

"Roun' the middle," Hagrid says, demonstrating. "Er ― yeah might want ter put on yer dragon-hide gloves, jus' as an extra precaution, like. Harry ― you come here an' help me with this big one. . . ."

Ash and I walk one of the bigger skrewts, as the one that we have been taking care of has died. Suddenly, a bang comes from our skrewt and it shoots forward several yards. Ash and I are dragged along on our stomachs.

We spend the rest of the class trying not to get killed by one of the lethal things that Hagrid is keeping as pets. I actually like Care of Magical Creatures, but I would rather have lessons with safer animals, so that I don't have to worry about dying.

* * *

The next few days aren't very interesting, everyone is waiting for the Triwizard Tournament to begin.

"Of course, Krum is going to win, but I wouldn't underestimate Diggory," Draco tells us one day in Herbology, while we're working on the Herbivicus Charm, which makes plants grow faster.

"Well, Moody says Delacour is about as much of a fairy princess as he is," I say. "So she might be a threat."

"Potter won't stand a chance. Oh, that reminds me, wear these," Draco says. He holds out badges with red letters that say "SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY ― THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION!" When you press on it, another message appears, this time in green. "POTTER STINKS". We all pin them on.

After, we have Double Potions. When Potter comes to Snape's dungeon, we're all waiting outside for him.

"Like them, Potter?" he asks. "And this isn't all they do ― look!" He shows him the Potter stinks message. We all howl with laughter at his face.