ix. floo powder

ϟ

The first task was drawing steadily nearer, and Matilda could see that the fear what was facing Harry was starting to sink in. Matilda never seen Harry suffer nerves like these; they were much beyond anything he had shown before a Quidditch match. Matilda and the prospect of talking face to face with Sirius was all that could sustain Harry over the next fortnight, the only bright spot on a horizon that had never looked darker.

Admittedly, Matilda didn't see how Sirius was going to make Harry feel any better about having to perform an unknown piece of difficult and dangerous magic in front of hundreds of people. Harry wrote back to Sirius with Matilda the next morning, saying that he would be beside the common room fire at the time Sirius had suggested, and he, Hermione, and Matilda spent a long time going over plans for forcing any stragglers out of the common room on the night in question. If worst came to worst, they were going to have Matilda threaten to hex them, but they hoped they wouldn't have to resort to that – well, Harry and Hermione hoped it wouldn't, Matilda was happy to hex someone if need be, claiming that it's great practice.

In the meantime, life became even worse for Harry within the confines of the castle, for Rita Skeeter, who Matilda wished to hex into a different dimension, had published her piece about the Triwizard Tournament, and it had turned out to be not so much a report in the Tournament, as a highly colored life story of Harry. Much of the front page had been given over to a picture of Harry; the article, continuing all the way to page six and seven, had been all about Harry, the names of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions, misspelled, had been squashed to the last line of the article, and the worst part, Cedric Diggory hadn't been mentioned at all, and Matilda was sure she'd be hearing about that from Harper.

The article had appeared ten days ago, and Matilda still got a hot, burning feeling of anger in her stomach every time she thought about it. Rita Skeeter had reported Harry saying an awful lot of things that she didn't believe Harry would ever say in his life.

"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..."

But Rita Skeeter had gone even further than transforming his 'er's into long, sickly sentences: she had interviewed other people about him, too.

Harry has found himself stuck in the middle of a possible love triangle at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of not one, but two, very pretty girls, Matilda Winters, and Muggle-born girl, Hermione Granger, and both, like Harry, are two of the top students in the school.

"I'll hex the pants of that blabber mouth, Colin Creevey," Matilda grumbled as she read the paper beside Padma in the privacy of their dorm. "And how rude it was for Rita Skeeter to even think to compare Harry's grades with mine."

From the moment the article appeared, Matilda had to endure people who suddenly thought it was okay to talk to her, let alone quote the paper to her as she passed them, and making what they thought were funny comments.

"Never took you for the girlfriend type, Winters, perhaps I should have asked sooner."

"Tell me, do you wipe the tears from Potter's cheeks when he crying in his room?"

Along with Matilda, Hermione had come in for her fair share of unpleasantness, too, but unlike Matilda, she did threaten to make them disappear.

"Stunningly pretty? Her?" Pansy Parkinson had shrieked, the first time she had come face to face with Hermione after Rita's article had appeared. "What was she judging against – a chipmunk?"

"You want me to make her disappear?" Matilda asked turning to Hermione, her tone serious. "No one will miss her; I'll make sure of it."

"Ignore it," Hermione said in a dignified voice, holding her head in the air and stalking past the sniggering Slytherin girls as though she couldn't hear them. "Just ignore it, Matilda."

Of the three of them, Harry was the worst at ignoring the comments, having snapped on Cho for picking up his quill earlier in the week. Ron hadn't spoken to him at all since he told Harry about Snape's detentions. But since Rita released her article it seemed to have conformed Ron's belief that Harry was really enjoying all the attention.

Matilda was greatly annoyed with Ron, believing his actions to be quite childish. Unlike Hermione who played to both sides, Matilda was confident in her stance of supporting Harry, and would even admit to taking his side over Ron's. Harry was in the right, he didn't put his name in the Goblet, and all he wanted from Ron was an apology for calling him a liar, which is a lot less Matilda would ask for.

"I didn't start this," Harry said stubbornly. "It's his problem."

"I agree," Matilda shrugged. "You can't help his jealousy. Trust me I know; I have plenty of people jealous of me."

"You miss him!" Hermione said impatiently. "And I know he misses you –"

"Wait, are you suggesting that Harry should apologize to Ron?" Matilda asked, raising her eyebrows at Hermione. "And what do you think he should apologize for? Being born? Harry has done nothing wrong."

"Exactly!" Harry exclaimed, agreeing with Matilda. "And besides, I don't miss him."

Matilda was not a gullible person and so she knew that Harry was lying when he claimed he did not miss Ron. She could see it in his eyes. Sure, Tilly knew that Harry liked her a great deal, and Hermione too, but they weren't the same as Ron. There was a lot less joking around, and a lot more time hanging out in the library when two academically inclined girls, like Matilda and Hermione was your best friend. And much to Matilda's dismay, despite the amount of time they spent studying, Harry still hadn't mastered the Summoning Charms, and Hermione insisted that learning the theory would help. They consequently spent a lot of time pouring over books during their lunchtimes.

Viktor Krum was in the library an awful lot, too, and Matilda wondered what he was up to. Was he studying, or was he looking for things to help him through the first task? Hermione often complained about Krum being there – not that he ever bothered them, but because groups of giggling girls often turned up to spy on him from behind bookshelves, and Hermione found the noise distracting.

"He's not even good-looking!" she muttered angrily, glaring at Krum's sharp profile. "They only like him because he's famous! They wouldn't look twice at him if he couldn't do that Wonky Faint thing –"

"He's not even good-looking!" Hermione muttered angrily, glaring at Krum's sharp profile.

"Yes he is," said Matilda, not even looking up from her book she had been reading to look at Krum.

"You like him?" Hermione asked in an accusatory tone.

"Of course I don't, but I'm not blind or a liar," Matilda rolled her eyes. "It's okay to see that someone is attractive, Hermione, it doesn't make you any less of who you are."

"The girls here only like him because he's famous!" Hermione said firmly. "They wouldn't look twice at him if he couldn't do that Wonky Faint thing –"

"Wronski Feint," said Harry, through gritted teeth.

ϟ

On the Saturday before the first task, all students in the third year and above were permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade. Hermione and Matilda told Harry that it would do him good to get away from the castle for a bit, and Harry didn't need much persuasion.

"What about Ron, though?" he asked Hermione. "Don't you want to go with him?"

"Oh... well..." Hermione went slightly pink. "I thought we might meet up with him in the Three Broomsticks..."

"No," said Harry flatly.

"Oh, Harry, this is so stupid –"

"It's not stupid," Matilda said, defending Harry. "Ron's the one who is mad. Why should Harry have to accommodate to him?"

"They're best friends," Hermione argued. "They need to talk this out."

"Yes, and Ron can start the conversation."

"Alright, I'll come," said Harry quickly so to stop the bickering girls. "But I'm not meeting Ron, and I'm wearing my Invisibility Cloak."

"Harry you aren't wearing the Invisibility Cloak," said Matilda flatly.

So, Harry put the Invisibility Cloak back in his dorm, after only putting up a small fight with Matilda about it, went back downstairs, and together Matilda, Harry, and Hermione set off for Hogsmeade.

Matilda felt slightly guilty for forbidding Harry from brining the cloak now that they've entered the village. She watched as other students walked past them, most of them sporting SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY badges. Matilda noticed Harry's expression sadden each time a new badge appeared. But, luckily, none of them suffered the horrible remarks from those who had spent the entire week quoting that stupid article.

"People are looking at us," said Hermione grumpily, as they came out of Honeydukes Sweetshop later, eating large cream-filled chocolates. "They think we're in some kind of love triangle."

"I told you I should've worn the Invisibility Cloak," said Harry.

Matilda rolled her eyes as she threw one of her chocolate wrappers in a nearby bin, "Would the two of you stop whining so much, it gives me a headache."

"How do you do it?" Hermione asked turning to Matilda curiously. "How do you not care that everyone at the school is looking and talking about you?"

Matilda shrugged, "I do care, but instead of whining, I do something about it."

Suddenly Rita Skeeter and her photographer friend had just emerged from the Three Broomsticks pub. Talking in low voices, they passed right by Hermione and Matilda. Harry had ducked behind the girls to stop Rita Skeeter from seeing him.

When they were gone, Harry said, "She's staying in the village. I bet she's coming to watch the first task."

"She's gone," said Hermione, looking towards the end of the High Street. "Why don't we go and have a Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks. It's a bit cold, isn't it? You don't have to talk to Ron!" she added irritably, correctly interpreting his silence.

The Three Broomsticks was packed, mainly with Hogwarts students enjoying their free afternoon, but also with a variety of magical people Matilda rarely saw anywhere else. Since Hogsmeade was the only all-wizard village in Britain, Matilda thought it to be a bit of a haven for creatures like hags, who were not as adept as wizards at disguising themselves.

It was hard to move through the large crowds at the pub to find a table that wasn't already occupied. Harry and Matilda edged slowly towards a spare table I the corner while Hermione went to buy drinks. On their way through the pub, Matilda spotted Ron, who was sitting with Fred, George, and Lee Jordan. Resisting the urge to give Ron a good scolding, she finally reached the table and sat down at it.

Hermione joined them a moment later and slid Harry's Butterbeer across the old, wood table.

"It's odd not being here with Ron," Hermione muttered. "Lucky I brought something to take my mind off it."

And she pulled out a notebook in which she had been keeping a record of S.P.E.W. members. Matilda saw hers, Harry's, and Ron's names at the top of the very short list. It seemed a very long time ago that Hermione had turned up and gave them all officer positions in the club.

"You know, maybe I should try and get some of the villagers involved in S.P.E.W.," Hermione said thoughtfully, looking around the pub.

"Weren't you just complaining about people staring at you?" Matilda asked, she took a sip of her Butterbeer. "That certainly won't make it any better."

"When are you going to give up on this S.P.E.W. stuff?" Harry asked.

"When house-elves have decent wages and working conditions!" she hissed back. "You know, I'm starting to think it's time for more direct action. I wonder how you get into the school kitchens?"

"Ask Fred and George," Matilda laughed, nodding to their table, where they were laughing loudly.

Hermione lapsed into thoughtful silence, while Matilda drank her Butterbeer, watching the people in the pub. All of them looked cheerful and relaxed. Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott were swapping Chocolate Frog cards at a nearby table, both of them sporting Support CEDRIC DIGGORY badges on their cloaks. Right over by the door she saw Cho and a large group of her Ravenclaw friends. She wasn't wearing a CEDRIC badge, though... this seemed to cheered Harry up very slightly...

"Look, it's Hagrid!" said Hermione.

The back of Hagrid's enormous shaggy head – he had mercifully abandoned his bunches – emerged over the crowd. Matilda wondered why she hadn't spotted him at once, as Hagrid was so large, but standing up carefully, he saw that Hagrid had been leaning low, talking to Professor Moody. Hagrid had his usual enormous tankard in front of him, but Moody was drinking from his hip-flask. Madam Rosmerta, the pretty landlady, didn't seem to think much of this; she was looking askance at Moody as she collected glasses from tables around them. Perhaps she thought it was an insult to her mulled mead, but Matilda knew better. Moody had told them all during their last Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson that he preferred to prepare his own food and drink at all times, as it was so easy for Dark wizards to poison an unattended cup.

As Matilda watched, she saw Hagrid and Moody get up to leave. Harry waved, then remembered that he didn't want to make himself too noticeable and quickly put his hand and head down. Moody, however, paused, his magical eye on the corner where Harry was standing. He tapped Hagrid in the small of the back (being unable to reach his shoulder), muttered something to him, and then the pair of them made their way back across the pub towards Matilda, Harry, and Hermione's table.

"All right, Hermione and Matilda?" said Hagrid loudly.

Harry had sunken in his seat so that he was now under the table. Matilda glanced down at him with a confused expression. Perhaps he should have brought the cloak with him since he was acting so strange.

"Hello," said Hermione and Matilda, smiling back.

Moody limped around the table and bent down; It almost seemed as though he was reading the S.P.E.W. notebook, until he muttered, "Nice hiding spot, Potter."

Harry stared at him in amazement. The large chunk missing from Moody's nose was particularly obvious at a few inches' distance. Moody grinned.

"You noticed me?" Harry asked, sitting back up.

"Yeah, this eye here can see everything," said Moody quietly. "And it's come in useful at times, I can tell you."

Hagrid now bent down so he was level with Harry and said in a whisper so low that Matilda almost couldn't hear it, "Harry, meet me tonight at midnight at me cabin. Wear that Cloak."

Straightening up, Hagrid said loudly, "Nice ter see yeh, girls," winked, and departed. Moody followed him.

"Why does he want me to meet him at midnight?" Harry said, very surprised.

"Does he?" said Hermione, looking startled. "I wonder what he's up to? I don't know whether you should go, Harry..." She looked nervously around, and hissed, "It might make you late for Sirius."

"Rubbish," Matilda shook her head. "Of course, we're going to Hagrid's. We've gone later. Remember Aragog?"

Though it was true that going to Hagrid's at midnight would mean Harry having to cut his meeting with Sirius very fine indeed; Hermione suggested sending Hedwig down to Hagrid's to tell him he couldn't go – always assuming she would consent to take the note, of course – Harry, however, agreed with Matilda and thought it better to just be quick at whatever Hagrid wanted him for. They were both very curious to know what this might be; Hagrid had never asked Harry to visit him so late at night.

ϟ

At half past eleven that evening Hermione and Matilda left the library under the pretense that they had just finished studying. Waiting until exactly eleven thirty, Hermione whispered the password and quickly walked inside. She heard Harry whisper a "Thanks." to Hermione as she passed by him to get into the Common Room. When the portrait had shut once again, Harry held up the Invisibility Cloak so that Matilda could climb under with him, and they set off through the castle.

The grounds were very dark. Matilda and Harry walked down the lawn towards the lights shining in Hagrid's cabin. The inside of the enormous Beauxbatons carriage was also lit up; Matilda could hear Madame Maxime talking inside it as Harry knocked on Hagrid's front door.

"You there, Harry?" Hagrid whispered, opening the door and looking around.

"Yeah, Matilda's here too," said Harry, slipping inside the cabin and pulling the Cloak down off their heads. "What's up?"

Hagrid didn't seem at all upset that Matilda had shown up with Harry, in fact, he didn't seem at all phased by it, as he went on talking normally, "Got summat ter show yeh,"

There was an air of enormous excitement about Hagrid. He was wearing a flower that resembled an oversized artichoke in his buttonhole. It looked as though he had abandoned the use of axle grease, but he had certainly attempted to comb his hair – Matilda could see the comb's broken teeth tangled in it.

"What're you showing me?" Harry said warily.

"Come with me, keep quiet an' keep the two of ya's covered with that Cloak," said Hagrid. "We won' take Fang, he won' like it..."

"Listen, Hagrid, I can't stay long... I've got to be back up at the castle for one o'clock –"

But Hagrid wasn't listening; he was opening the cabin door and striding off into the night. Harry and Matilda hurried to follow and found, to his great surprise, that Hagrid was leading them to the Beauxbatons carriage.

"Hagrid, what –?"

"Shhh!" said Hagrid, and he knocked three times on the door bearing the crossed, golden wands.

Madame Maxime opened it. She was wearing a silk shawl wrapped around her massive shoulders. She smiled when she saw Hagrid. "Ah, 'Agrid... it is time?"

"Bong-sewer," said Hagrid, beaming at her, and holding out a hand to help her down the golden steps.

Madame Maxime closed the door behind her, Hagrid offered her his arm, and they set off around the edge of the paddock containing Madame Maxime's giant winged horses, with Harry and Matilda, totally bewildered, running to keep up with them.

But it seemed that Madame Maxime was in for the same treat as Harry and Matilda, because after a while she said playfully, "Wair is it you are taking me, 'Agrid?"

"Yeh'll enjoy this," said Hagrid gruffly. "Worth seein', trust me. On'y – don' go tellin' anyone I showed yeh, right? Yeh're not s'posed ter know."

"Of course not," said Madame Maxime, fluttering her long black eyelashes.

And still they walked, Matilda getting more and more irritable as she and Harry jogged along in their wake, checking their watch every now and then. Hagrid had some harebrained scheme in hand, which might make him miss Sirius. If they didn't get there soon, Matilda was going to turn around, go straight back to the castle, and leave Hagrid to enjoy his moonlit stroll with Madame Maxime.

But then – when they had walked so far around the perimeter of the Forest that the castle and the lake were out of sight – Matilda heard something. Men were shouting up ahead... then came a deafening, ear-splitting roar...

Hagrid led Madame Maxime around a clump of trees and came to a halt. Harry and Matilda hurried up alongside them – for a split second, she thought she was seeing bonfires, and men darting around them – and then her mouth fell open.

Dragons.

Four fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons were rearing on their hind legs inside an enclosure fenced with thick planks of wood, roaring and snorting – torrents of fire were shooting into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks. There was a silvery blue one with long, pointed horns, snapping and snarling at the wizards on the ground; a smooth-scaled green one, which was writhing and stamping with all its might; a red one with an odd fringe of fine gold spikes around its face, which was shooting mushroom-shaped fire clouds into the air, and a gigantic black one, more lizard-like than the others, which was nearest to them.

At least thirty wizards, seven or eight to each dragon, were attempting to control them, pulling on the chains connected to heavy leather straps around their necks and legs. Mesmerized, Matilda and Harry looked up, high above him, and saw the eyes of the black dragon, with vertical pupils like a cat's, bulging with either fear or rage, he couldn't tell which... it was making a horrible noise, a yowling, screeching scream...

"Keep back there, Hagrid!" yelled a wizard near the fence, straining on the chain he was holding. "They can shoot fire at a range of twenty feet, you know! I've seen this Horntail do forty!"

"Isn' it beautiful?" said Hagrid softly.

"It's no good!" yelled another wizard. "Stunning Spells, on the count of three!"

Harry saw each of the dragon-keepers pull out his wand.

"Stupefy!" they shouted in unison, and the Stunning Spells shot into the darkness like fiery rockets, bursting in showers of stars on the dragons' scaly hides –

Matilda and Harry watched the dragon nearest to them teeter dangerously on its back legs; its jaws stretched wide in a suddenly silent howl; its nostrils were suddenly devoid of flame, though still smoking – then, very slowly, it fell – several tons of sinewy, scaly black dragon hit the ground with a thud that Matilda could have sworn had made the trees behind them quake.

The dragon-keepers lowered their wands and walked forwards to their fallen charges, each of which was the size of a small hill. They hurried to tighten the chains and fasten them securely to iron pegs, which they forced deep into the ground with their wands.

"Wan' a closer look?" Hagrid asked Madame Maxime excitedly. The pair of them moved right up to the fence, and Harry and Matilda followed. The wizard who had warned Hagrid not to come any closer turned, and Harry told Matilda who it was – Charlie Weasley.

"All right, Hagrid?" he panted, coming over to talk. "They should be OK now – we put them out with a Sleeping Draught on the way here, thought it might be better for them to wake up in the dark and the quiet – but, like you saw, they weren't happy, not happy at all –"

"What breeds you got here, Charlie?" said Hagrid, gazing at the closest dragon – the black one – with something close to reverence. Its eyes were still just open. Matilda could see a strip of gleaming yellow beneath its wrinkled black eyelid.

"This is a Hungarian Horntail," said Charlie. "There's a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one – a Swedish Short-Snout, that blue grey – and a Chinese Fireball, that's the red."

Charlie looked around; Madame Maxime was strolling away around the edge of the enclosure, gazing at the Stunned dragons.

"I didn't know you were bringing her, Hagrid," Charlie said, frowning. "The champions aren't supposed to know what's coming – she's bound to tell her student, isn't she?"

"Jus' thought she'd like ter see 'em," shrugged Hagrid, still gazing, enraptured, at the dragons.

"Really romantic date, Hagrid," said Charlie, shaking his head.

"Four..." said Hagrid, "so it's one fer each o' the champions, is it? What've they gotta do – fight 'em?"

"Just get past them, I think," said Charlie. "We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, extinguishing spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don't know why... but I tell you this, I don't envy the one who gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end's as dangerous as its front, look."

Charlie pointed towards the Horntail's tail, and Matilda saw long, bronze-colored spikes protruding along it every few inches.

Five of Charlie's fellow keepers staggered up to the Horntail at that moment, carrying a clutch of huge granite-grey eggs between them in a blanket. They placed them carefully at the Horntail's side. Hagrid let out a moan of longing.

"I've got them counted, Hagrid," said Charlie, sternly. Then he said, "How's Harry?"

"Fine," said Hagrid. He was still gazing at the eggs.

"Just hope he's still fine after he's faced this lot," said Charlie grimly, looking out over the dragons' enclosure. "I didn't dare tell Mum what he's got to do for the first task, she's already having kittens about him..." Charlie imitated his mother's anxious voice. '"How could they let him enter that Tournament, he's much too young! I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit!" She was in floods after that Daily Prophet article about him. "He still cries about his parents! Oh, bless him, I never knew!"'

Harry and Matilda had had enough. Trusting to the fact that Hagrid wouldn't miss them, with the attractions of four dragons and Madame Maxime to occupy him, he turned silently, and began to walk away, back to the castle.

Matilda had a hard time telling if Harry was glad, he'd seen what was coming or not. Perhaps this way was better. The first shock was now over. Now Matilda could really help him, knowing what he's up against on Tuesday. She assumed that if he'd seen the dragons for the first time on Tuesday, he would have passed out cold in front of the whole school, but now, Matilda felt confident she could get Harry through it.

Harry and Matilda sped up, skirting the edge of the Forest; they had just under fifteen minutes to get back to the fireside and talk to Sirius, and Matilda couldn't remember, ever, Harry wanting to talk to someone more than he did right now – when, without warning, they ran into something very solid.

Harry and Matilda fell backwards, Harry's glasses askew, clutching the Cloak around them. A voice nearby said, "Ouch! Who's there?"

Harry hastily checked that the Cloak was covering him and Matilda both and lay very still, the two of them staring up at the dark outline of the wizard they had hit. Matilda recognized the goatee... it was Karkaroff.

"Who's there?" said Karkaroff again, very suspiciously, looking around in the darkness. Harry and Matilda remained still and silent. After a minute or so, Karkaroff seemed to decide that he had hit some sort of animal; he was looking around at waist height, as though expecting to see a dog. Then he crept back under the cover of the trees, and started to edge forwards towards the place where the dragons were.

Very slowly and very carefully, Harry and Matilda got to their feet and set off again, as fast as they could without making too much noise, hurrying through the darkness back towards Hogwarts.

Matilda had no doubt whatsoever what Karkaroff was up to. He had sneaked off his ship to try and find out what the first task was going to be. He might even have spotted Hagrid and Madame Maxime heading off around the Forest together – they were hardly difficult to spot at a distance... and now all Karkaroff had to do was follow the sound of voices, and he, like Madame Maxime, would know what was in store for the champions. By the looks of it, the only champion who would be facing the unknown on Tuesday was Cedric.

Harry and Matilda reached the castle, slipped in through the front doors and began to climb the marble stairs; they both was very out of breath, but neither didn't dare to slow down... they had less than five minutes to get up to the fire...

"Balderdash!" Harry gasped at the Fat Lady, who was snoozing in her frame in front of the portrait hole.

"If you say so," she muttered sleepily, without opening her eyes, and the picture swung forwards to admit him. Harry and Matilda climbed inside. The common room was deserted, and, judging by the fact that it smelled quite normal, Hermione had not needed to set off any Dungbombs to ensure that Harry and Sirius got privacy.

Harry pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and he and Matilda threw themselves onto the couch in front of the fire. The room was in semi-darkness; the flames were the only source of light. Nearby, on a table, badges laid out, but now they now read POTTER REALLY STINKS. Matilda looked back into the flames and jumped.

Sirius' head was sitting in the fire. If Matilda didn't already know about fire talking, using Floo Powder, she would've been impressed. Instead, his Matilda stayed on the couch, watching tiredly as Harry leaned up, his face breaking into the first smile he had worn for days, he scrambled off the couch, crouched down by the hearth and said, "Sirius – how're you doing?"

Sirius looked different from Matilda's last memory of him. When they had said goodbye, Sirius' face had been gaunt and sunken, surrounded by a quantity of long, black, matted hair – but the hair was short and clean now, Sirius' face was fuller, and he looked younger.

"Never mind me, how are you?" said Sirius seriously.

"I'm –" For a second, Harry tried to lie, and tell Sirius he was fine.

"Honestly, he's not well. Before she could stop herself, Matilda was telling Sirius everything that had happened in the last couple of weeks. About how no one but her and Hermione believed Harry hadn't entered the Tournament of his own free will, how Rita Skeeter had lied about him in the Daily Prophet, how he couldn't walk down a corridor without being sneered at – and about Ron. Ron not believing Harry, Ron's jealousy...

"And now Hagrid's just shown me what's coming in the first task, and it's dragons, Sirius, and I'm a goner," Harry added desperately.

Sirius looked at Harry, eyes full of concern, eyes which had not yet lost the look that Azkaban had given them – that deadened, haunted look. He had let Matilda talk herself and Harry into silence without interruption, but now he said, "Dragons we can deal with, Harry, but we'll get to that in a minute – I haven't got long here... I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. There are things I need to warn you about."

"What?" said Harry.

"Karkaroff," said Sirius. "Harry, he was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?"

"Yes – he – what?"

"Yes, Karkaroff was caught, he was even put into Azkaban, but he got released," Matilda recited what Dumbledore had told at their last teatime. "That's why Moody's here – to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff, put him into Azkaban the first time."

"Karkaroff got released?" Harry said slowly. "Why did they release him?"

"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," said Sirius bitterly. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names... he put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place... he's not very popular in there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So, watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well."

"OK," said Harry, slowly. "But... are you saying Karkaroff put my name in the Goblet? Because if he did, he's a really good actor. He seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop me competing."

"We know he's a good actor," said Sirius, "because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he? Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet, Harry –"

"You and the rest of the world," Matilda chuckled, but Harry didn't see the humor.

"– and, reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm," Sirius said hastily, seeing Harry about to speak, "but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely, Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had."

"So what're you saying?" Matilda asked. She hated the way Sirius talked in riddled and wouldn't give a straight answer. "Karkaroff's trying to kill Harry? But – why?"

Sirius hesitated.

"I've been hearing some very strange things," he said slowly. "The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the Quidditch World Cup, didn't they? Someone set off the Dark Mark... and then – did you hear about that Ministry of Magic witch who's gone missing?"

"Bertha Jorkins," said Matilda, remembering back to when her dad mentioned the name.

"Exactly, she disappeared in Albania, and that's definitely where Voldemort was rumored to be last, and she would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she?"

"Yeah, but, it's not very likely she'd have walked straight into Voldemort, is it?' said Harry.

"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins," said Sirius grimly. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, Harry. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."

"So – so Voldemort could have found out about the Tournament?" said Harry. "Is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?"

"I don't know," said Sirius slowly, "I just don't know – Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your name in that Goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the Tournament would be a very good way to attack you, and make it look like an accident."

"Looks like a really good plan from where I'm standing," said Harry bleakly. "They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff."

"Oh, would you stop it with the self-pity party?" Matilda rolled her eyes. "I can help you with the dragons. I'll just have to teach you spells other than your typical Stunning spells."

"Matilda's right," Sirius eye's glistened, even through the fire as he looked over at the blue-eyed girl, sitting on the couch behind Harry. "Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell – dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner."

"Yeah, I know, I just saw—"

But Matilda held up a hand to silence Harry, her heart suddenly pounding as though it would burst. She could hear footsteps coming down the spiral staircase behind him.

'Go!' Harry hissed at Sirius. "Go! There's someone coming!"

Matilda scrambled to her feet, hiding the fire – if someone saw Sirius' face within the walls of Hogwarts, they would raise an almighty uproar – the Ministry would get dragged in – he, Harry, and Matilda would be questioned about Sirius' whereabouts –

Matilda heard a tiny pop in the fire behind him, and knew Sirius had gone – she and Harry watched the bottom of the spiral staircase – who had decided to go for a stroll at one o'clock in the morning, and stopped Sirius from telling Harry how to get past a dragon?

It was Ron. Dressed in his maroon paisley pajamas, Ron stopped dead facing Harry across the room, and looked around.

"What's Matilda here so late for?" he said.

"What's that got to do with you?" Harry snarled. "What are you doing down here at this time of night?"

"I just wondered where you –" Ron broke off, shrugging. "Nothing. I'm going back to bed."

"Just thought you'd come nosing around, did you?" Harry shouted.

"Sorry about that," said Ron, his face reddening with anger. "Should've realized you didn't want to be disturbed. I'll let you get on with practicing for your next interview in peace."

Harry seized one of the POTTER REALLY STINKS badges off the table and chucked it, as hard as he could, across the room. It hit Ron on the forehead and bounced off.

"Harry!"

"There you go," Harry said. "Something for you to wear on Tuesday. You might even have a scar now, if you're lucky... that's what you want, isn't it?"

Harry strode across the room towards the stairs; Matilda half expected Ron to stop him, but Ron just stood there in his too small pajamas, now alone in the common room with Matilda.

"He's just anxious is all," said Matilda, picking up the thrown badge.

Ron scoffed, rolling his eyes, "Seems to be doing alright to me. With the interviews and all."

"Ron, please don't base your judgements on Harry off an article written by Rita Skeeter," Matilda pleaded. 

"Why not? Seems pretty reliable to me." He stated. "Harry loves the attention."

"Ron, you and I both know Harry never liked the attention that came with his name and his scar," Matilda defended Harry. "He didn't put his name in the Goblet. He wouldn't do that."

"Always defending Harry, typical."

Matilda rolled her eyes as her face reddened in anger, "I can't believe I ever liked you, Ronald Weasley!" 

ϟ

AN:// yay another chapter, sorry it's a little boring, nothing really happens until next chapter.

Also, Harry and Matilda, joined at the hip, what're we thinking?

xoxo