Death is but the Next Great Adventure

"Surprise?"

 In the last chapter: Harry starts the second task, using the Gillyweed Barty had given him. He saved Fleur from the Grindylows, but Cedric ended up their victim instead and was disqualified. Harry reached the merfolk village first, but when Fleur's sister starts to drown due to the spell wearing off, he had to save both Anthony and her. Which invokes the mighty wrath of the merpeople and they drowned Harry in revenge. Harry returns to his body just as the other champions show up, but had yet to fully heal with water still in his lungs, so when he reaches the platforms, his heart stops and he has to be revived. Harry and Viktor tied for first again, Fleur is still in second, and Cedric is last.

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Harry set down his cup of milk and honey tea just as the seat across from him was claimed by Ginny, who was holding a letter in her hand one hand and a croissant in the other, with a slight frown between her brows.

"Is something the matter, Ginny?" Harry asked politely, the redhead shook her head distractedly, but the shallow crease in her brow deepened for a moment before disappearing as she finally looked at Harry.

"No, it's just Percy. He almost never writes to us, but ever since his boss started staying out sick, he's been writing to everyone in the family just to brag about moving up in the ministry. As if he'd actually taken the man's job already!" Ginny grumbled, crumpling up the letter in her hand with a sour expression on her face.

"Boss? Doesn't Percy work under Bartemius Crouch?" Harry asked, feeling suspicion prickle in his gut. Barty Crouch Snr was one of the judges for the tournament and from what he'd been told, the man had been avidly against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Crouch even went as far as to advocate for the unforgivables being used against Death Eaters during the first war. Discovering his son was a Death Eater had done nothing to change his views, as he'd gone so far as to imperio his own son for years and keep him locked up in his home.

Unless Barty Jr had something to do with the man being away—though, he hadn't been reported missing, just out sick so there must still be some sort of correspondence to dispel suspicion. But with the up-tightness of the man, Harry highly doubted he would really take any length of time to be out of work.

"Yeah, he does. The bloody knob won't let any of us forget it, either. I mean, he barely talks to any of us, and when he does come home all he can do is stare down his big stupid nose at us and make not-so-subtle jabs about us dragging down his career. What a wanker." Ginny growled and began to viciously tear into her croissant.

Harry went back to his tea to let the young Gryffindor seethe silently. It had been a little over a week since the second task and despite Harry been good-as-new after only a good night's rest, he'd been kept in the infirmary for several days afterwards for observation. He was only released a few days ago and had been spending most of his time in the library either catching up on missed coursework or avoiding those who wanted to hear more about what had happened to him during the task—as the staff and other champions had been blocking people's view and were keeping it under wraps. Harry suspected that the biggest motivation was the backlash the tournament and those who orchestrated it would have if the public found out that one of the champions—and specifically Harry, the beloved Boy-Who-Lived—had nearly died in one of the tasks.

Harry didn't care why they were keeping it quiet, he just knew that it was much better than having people know and hounding him for answers or trying to pick a fight for him where there was nothing to really fight about.

Unfortunately, that didn't keep Harry out of the papers, as it seemed that Rita Skeeter had been cooking up a scandal of her own for a while. It was only days after Harry had left the infirmary that he found his face plastered all over Witch Weekly as Skeeter apparently 'unveiled the truth' about the private and mysterious Harry Potter. Harry had stolen a copy out of a giggling third-years claws at breakfast one morning and was dangerously silent as he sat down and began to flip through and read, his friends cautiously dropping down around him as they sought out copies of their own—Ginny being the only one among them actually subscribed to the drivel.