John sat with the two boys inside the Three Broomsticks, glancing back and forth between the two. Pierce was all too excited with the plan he had developed while Julius looked confused yet braved a smile on his face in support of his friend.

"Well, what do you think, John? Yes or no?" Pierce looked at him.

John lowered his hands that were resting at his mouth. "The crazy thing about all of this is, your idea doesn't sound so crazy. It sounds more than reasonable and I think you're right that it could work out in your favor no matter what the task involves. The question is Pierce, are you capable of performing such magic?"

Pierce bit his lower lip, as he had completely neglected the amount of magical experience he would probably need in order to pull off the stunt.

"Of course he's capable of doing it!" Julius said defensively. "It's Pierce we're talking about, if anyone can pull this off, it's him!"

Pierce turned his friend. "Thank you."

"No problem."

John grinned at the two boys before nodding his head. "Very well, how about this...I'm going to run this idea by your father, and see if there is anything he can offer to help. It'll save you from having any interaction with him, since that doesn't seem to be going well for anyone. It's just our luck that Mycroft is here taunting your father along with Rita."

"Sorry John." Pierce looked down at the table.

"Don't be." John told him. "This isn't your fault, Pierce. Something odd is definitely afoot around this castle. We just need to figure out what."

"Have you come upon any leads of any sort?" Pierce asked with a hopeful look.

"No, I'm afraid not. Even your father has acknowledged that whoever did this definitely thought this through. We still don't know what the person wanted to accomplish by bringing you into the matter. We could understand someone wanting to bring harm to Harry Potter, but to you...your mother and father have their enemies, but I'm not sure if they would venture this far. To play this closely to a Ministry hosted event."

"Has this Moriarty fellow been ruled out?" Julius questioned.

"No." John shook his head. "He's normally never ruled out as a suspect. I'm not sure whether to believe that it's suspicious that he isn't here or I should be thankful."

"Both." Pierce answered.

Walking back to the castle from the village, Pierce kept his hands deep in his pockets as he kicked a stone up the path in full concentration. Julius walked beside him silently until they were approached by a shrill squeal of excitement. Pierce cringed before looking up with a look of disdain as Lindsey appeared before them.

"There he is, the Ravenclaw champion!" she said with a bright smile. "Are you nervous for the First Task? Have you figured it out yet? Any sort of plan?"

Pierce pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to drown out her nasally voice that seemed to pound at his ear drums.

"No, Lindsey, I'm afraid I haven't developed a plan yet, nor have I have figured out the first task." Pierce answered with a small smile trying to be nice to the girl that irritated him so. "I'll just be winging it, I suppose."

Julius snorted at the pun before Lindsey looked at him in confusion before turning her attention back to Pierce.

"Well, even though everyone in my house is rooting for Cedric, I'll be sure to cheer extra loud for you in the stands."

"Thank you, Lindsey but that won't be necessary-"

"I even have a sign with your name on it!"

"Oh dear."

"I even have a sign with your name on it!" Julius teased imitating Lindsey's voice as they retreated to the castle quickly after losing the girl.

"Shut up." Pierce chuckled.

"Got yourself a fan base." Julius pointed out. Pierce turned his head to see a few girls wave in their direction.

Pierce shuddered before walking on ignoring their waves.

"So where are we heading now?" Julius asked as he realized they weren't heading in the direction of the Ravenclaw Tower.

"Somewhere where I can get some much needed spell practice. If I'm going to perform this during the task, it's going to have be executed perfectly or I'm going to be even crispier than the bacon you ingest in the mornings."

"Oh we can't have." Julius said. "If you were the equivalent of bacon, I would have to resist the urge to eat you."

The two stopped walking in the corridor and looked at each other.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Julius yelled out throwing a finger in Pierce's face.

"Julius finds me yummy enough to eat!" Pierce laughed loudly.

"I did not say that!"

"You pretty much did!"

"No, I didn't! I'm going to kill you!"

Pierce ran off with Julius chasing after him with an angry expression. After awhile, Julius' cardio state got the best of him causing the boy to stop halfway down the cardio, placing his hands on his knees for support.

"Okay.." he breathed. "You win."

Pierce walked back towards him with a grin.

"Oh these little legs don't you get far." Julius said plopping down into a window seat. "Curse these short sticks that get me nowhere fast."

"There, there." Pierce patted his shoulder gently. "I think you have lovely legs."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Aww thank you."

The two shared in a laugh before Pierce stood up and nodded his head down the corridor. "Come on, we'll walk this time."

"Bless you." Julius pushed himself up and walked beside the boy.

"I think we can pull this off." Pierce said.

"We?"

"Well of course, any success I experience in this competition I owe at least half of it to you, Julius."

"Really?" Julius' face lit up.

"Of course."

Sherlock sat before John in the pub with his hands pressed together as he thought over his son's plan.

"It's not a bad one." he admitted after sometime. "It has it's flaws-"

"Pierce is not interested in the flaws you find, he's interested in how you can help."

"Is it Pierce or you, that's interested?" Sherlock countered. "Pierce hasn't seemed overly fond of my presence since our arrival."

"Can you blame the boy? He's facing possible death and has found little to no support from his own parents."

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"Your presence doesn't make up for what Pierce has been looking for, for years."

Sherlock took a sip of his drink casually before swirling the liquid in his cup.

"You seem to have grown an attachment to the boy." Sherlock stated.

"Well someone has to. The boy doesn't crave a lot of attention,but where he seeks it he is least to find it. So it would be nice if you could show him an ounce of care during our time here."

"I never claimed not to care for him."

"Then show it!"

"Fine. As you wish."