Butterfly Effect ; H. Potter

33. to hell and back.

"OK, I'll write to him," said Harry, throwing his last piece of toast into the lake. They both stood and watched it floating there for a moment, before a large tentacle rose out of the water and scooped it beneath the surface.

"Look, Harry," said Antheia. "I know this is really pressuring for you. How about this - we can do a prank on Malfoy."

"What?" said Harry, snapping over to look at her.

"I came up with a couple of ideas this summer. Maybe we can make the Skrewts chase him around, or enchant some Nifflers to fly around and annoy him!"

"That's brilliant!" exclaimed Harry in awe. "How are we going to pull it off, though?"

"So, we can obviously cast Wingardium Leviosa on the Nifflers - and make them follow him everywhere. He's terrified of everything - that coward."

They walked back to the castle, high-spirited. The plan was to beg Hagrid to lend them a couple of Nifflers and enchant them in a broom closet. When Malfoy passed by, they would open the door and enchant the Nifflers immediately. It wasn't Antheia's most creative prank, but it seemed to please Harry.

"Whose owl am I going to use?" Harry said, as they climbed the stairs to the Owlery. "He told me not to use Hedwig again."

"Use mine!" said Antheia, walking over to a sleeping Aura and waking her up with a small treat.

Antheia took out a spare piece of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink. Harry sat down against a wall and wrote his letter.

Dear Sirius,

You told me to keep you posted on what's happening at Hogwarts, so here goes - I don't know if you've heard, but the Triwizard Tournament's happening this year and on Saturday night I got picked as a fourth champion. I don't know who put my name in the Goblet of Fire, because I didn't. The other Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory, from Hufflepuff.

He paused at this point, thinking. He had an urge to say something about the large weight of anxiety that seemed to have settled inside his chest since last night, but he couldn't think how to translate this into words, so he simply dipped his quill back into the ink bottle and wrote:

Hope you're OK, and Buckbeak - Harry.

"Finished," he told Antheia, getting to his feet and brushing straw off his robes. At this, Hedwig came fluttering down onto his shoulder, and held out her leg.

"I can't use you," Harry told her, striding over to Antheia's owl.

Hedwig gave a very loud hoot, and took off so suddenly that her talons cut into his shoulder. She kept her back to Harry all the time he was tying his letter to Aura's leg.

"Stay safe, OK?" Antheia said, as she stroked Aura down her back. The owl pecked her finger affectionately.

When she had flown off, Harry reached to stroke Hedwig, but she clicked her beak furiously and soared up into the rafters out of reach.

"First Ron, then you," said Harry angrily. "This isn't my fault."

─ ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─

If Harry had thought that matters would improve once everyone got used to the idea of him being champion, the following day showed him how mistaken he was. He could no longer avoid the rest of the school once he was back at lessons - and it was clear that the rest of the school just like the Gryffindors, thought Harry had entered himself for the Tournament. Unlike the Gryffindors, however, they did not seem impressed.