Loki Laufeyson and the Goblet of Fire

Chapter 11; Free Press

(Told from Loki's point of view)

I found myself the next day in my normal form again, but still wearing my white furs and scaly dress from yesterday. It was a Sunday, and I had no intention of going to see anyone. I figured it was time for some alone time.

I took a walk around the Hogwarts grounds, disguised as a first year Ravenclaw. This was useful because the Slytherins all knew me as the third Hogwarts champion, and nobody reacted to me in a negative way when they saw me.

Lucky for me, I saw Harry talking to Hermione on my stroll around the grounds.

"Ron doesn't believe me." Harry was saying, Hermione sitting down next to him.

"Well, he's just jealous." Hermione tries to explain.

Harry looks at the ground. "You know, there's a fifth champion."

I rotate to face her from a where she can't notice me. Her face looks shocked. "What? Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

Harry looks down. "I... didn't know how you would feel."

Hermione looks confused. "What do you mean?"

"Maybe he should tell you." Harry says, practically looking down his shirt.

I walk toward her, and when Hermione notices me, she looks up. "Hi, do you need anything?" She says sweetly.

I smile guiltily. "It's me." Slowly, the little girl who I was impersonating disappears, and my own body reappears. Hermione looks slightly surprised, but not quite enough. "I'm the fifth champion."

She sighs. "Of course you are." She looks up at me, and stands up. "What did you do."

I give her a confused look. "Well, it's been weird."

She looks at me, her face very stern. "Cut the fluff. Just tell me— you entered it knowingly, didn't you?"

"One could say that." I mutter, avoiding her eye contact. "I've already got more popularity than Harry."

Harry, who had been sitting on the ground, stood up abruptly. "Like that dream I had last night?"

I tried to hide the surprise that dawned my face. "You remember that?"

"Flashes of it." He mutters. "Something about Slytherin's champion... and you turning into a woman. And... some sort of jealousy..."

He seemed to be concentrating intensely. I felt unnerved. I was almost sure I had erased the entirety of the dream from his memory, so it was unsettling that he remembered parts of it.

"Loki." Hermione said, pulling me out of my stupor. "Why'd you do it?"

"Because I wanted to." I say, turning on my heel toward her. "Harry gets all the glory all the time, I figured if someone's going to teach him that he's not the center of the universe, it's going to be me."

Harry looked livid. "Look, do you think I want all this attention? Because I DON'T! And I don't ask for it either! I didn't put my name in—"

"I KNOW YOU DIDN'T!" I shriek unexpectedly. "But it's very strange how you always get all the glory, even though you claim to not want it. It's ridiculous. You know what? I've made up my mind. Ron has a damn good point about you. And hell— so does Draco."

Both Hermione and Harry fell silent. I didn't immediately regret saying that, but doubt started to settle in. "Draco?" They both said in unison.

"Yeah, his name's Draco." I spat. "Ever notice that his name isn't just 'Malfoy'?"