By breakfast Ron's and Hermione's bad moods had burnt out, you could hear them screaming at each other last night, scared JJ half to death.
When the post owls arrived, Hermione looked up eagerly; she seemed to be expecting something.
"Percy won't've had time to answer yet," said Ron. "We only sent Hedwig yesterday."
"Percy? Is that the brother I met at Christmas?" I asked.
"Yeah." Ron answered with his mouth full of food.
"No, it's not that," said Hermione. "I've taken out a subscription to the Daily Prophet. I'm getting sick of finding everything out from the Slytherins."
"Good thinking!" said Harry, also looking up at the owls. "Hey, Hermione, I think you're in luck -"
A gray owl was soaring down toward Hermione.
"It hasn't got a newspaper, though," she said, looking disappointed. "It's -"
But to her bewilderment, the gray owl landed in front of her plate, closely followed by four barn owls, a brown owl, and a tawny.
"How many subscriptions did you take out?" said JJ, seizing Hermione's goblet before it was knocked over by the cluster of owls, all of whom were jostling close to her, trying to deliver their own letter first.
"What on earth - ?" Hermione said, taking the letter from the gray owl, opening it, and starting to read. "Oh really!" she sputtered, going rather red.
"What's up?" I asked.
"It's - oh how ridiculous -"
She thrust the letter at me, who saw that it was not handwritten, but composed from pasted letters that seemed to have been cut out of the Daily Prophet.
YOU ARE A WICKED GIRL. HARRY POTTER DESERVES BETTER. GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM MUGGLE.
"They're all like it!" said Hermione desperately, opening one letter after another.
"'Harry Potter can do much better than the likes of you. . . .' 'You deserve to be boiled in frog spawn. . . .' Ouch!"
She had opened the last envelope, and yellowish-green liquid smelling strongly of petrol gushed over her hands, which began to erupt in large yellow boils.
"Undiluted bubotuber pus!" said Ron, picking up the envelope gingerly and sniffing it.
"Ow!" said Hermione, tears starting in her eyes as she tried to rub the pus off her hands with a napkin, but her fingers were now so thickly covered in painful sores that it looked as though she were wearing a pair of thick, knobbly gloves.
"You'd better get up to the hospital wing," said Harry as the owls around Hermione took flight. "We'll tell Professor Sprout where you've gone. . . ."
"I warned her!" said Ron as Hermione hurried out of the Great Hall, cradling her hands.
"I warned her not to annoy Rita Skeeter! Look at this one ..." He read out one of the letters Hermione had left behind: "I read In Witch Weekly about how you are playing Harry Potter false and that boy has had enough hardship and I will be sending you a curse by next post as soon as I can find a big enough envelope.' Blimey, she'd better watch out for herself."
I stood up and tripped over my shoelace before hitting my arm inside the pus. I screamed in pain as Pansy and Blaise ran over and started to hurry me off to the hospital wing while they carried my bag.
"What happened?" Pansy asked.
"Hermione got sent some pus thing and I fell into it. This hurts!" I said. I sat on a hospital bed listening to Hermione's cries of pain, I stopped screaming as some random nurse came and washed my arm.
"Mel!" Fred said bursting into the hospital. He saw me and ran over. "I came as soon as I heard, Snape isn't happy but I don't care. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Just getting bandaged up then I can leave, I feel sorry for Hermione, her hands are covered in the stuff." Fred sat on the bed with me and kissed the top of my head.
"Well Miss David, you may leave at the start of your second lesson." The random nurse said bandaging up my arm.
"Thank you." I say standing up and grabbing Fred's hand as we started to walk along. "What do you have next?"
"Moody. I think he's only nice to me when you're around. You still go training with him every Wednesday?"
"Yeah, good news, I can set fire to things I want and send a massive floating fireball to a target. Catch you later, I have Magical Creatures." I kissed Fred and ran off down to my lesson.
Turns out I got there just in time to watch it start.
Hagrid, who had told us last lesson that they had finished with unicorns, was waiting for them outside his cabin with a fresh supply of open crates at his feet. My heart sank at the sight of the crates - surely not another skrewt hatching? - but when I got near enough to see inside, I found myself looking at a number of flurry black creatures with long snouts. Their front paws were curiously flat, like spades, and they were blinking up at the class, looking politely puzzled at all the attention.
"These're nifflers," said Hagrid, when the class had gathered around. "Yeh find 'em down mines mostly. They like sparkly stuff. . . . There yeh go, look."
One of the nifflers had suddenly leapt up and attempted to bite Pansy's watch off her wrist. She shrieked and jumped backward.
"Useful little treasure detectors," said Hagrid happily. "Thought we'd have some fun with 'em today. See over there?" He pointed at the large patch of freshly turned earth. "I've buried some gold coins. I've got a prize fer whoever picks the niffler that digs up most. Jus' take off all yer valuables, an' choose a niffler, an get ready ter set 'em loose."
I walked over to a crate and chose the smallest niffler because he looked so cute. I was able to pick him up, but I didn't as my blouse was new. He was really cuddly.
"Hang on," said Hagrid, looking down into the crate, "there's a spare niffler here . . . who's missin? Where's Hermione?"
"She had to go to the hospital wing," said Ron.
"We'll explain later," Harry muttered.
It was easily the most fun I had ever had in Care of Magical Creatures. The nifflers dived in and out of the patch of earth as though it were water, each scurrying back to the student who had released it and spitting gold into their hands. Ron's was particularly efficient; it had soon filled his lap with coins.
"Can you buy these as pets, Hagrid?" he asked excitedly as his niffler dived back into the soil, splattering his robes. My tiny one was not actually giving me money but I do now have a pretty sapphire ring now.
"Yer mum wouldn' be happy, Ron," said Hagrid, grinning. "They wreck houses, nifflers. I reckon they've nearly got the lot, now," he added, pacing around the patch of earth while the nifflers continued to dive. "I on'y buried a hundred coins. Oh there y'are, Hermione!"
Hermione was walking towards us across the lawn. Her hands were very heavily bandaged and she looked miserable. Pansy was watching her beadily.
"Well, let's check how yeh've done!" said Hagrid. "Count yer coins! An' there's no point tryin' ter steal any, Goyle," he added, his beetle-black eyes narrowed. "It's leprechaun gold. Vanishes after a few hours."
Goyle emptied his pockets, looking extremely sulky. It turned out that Ron's niffler had been most successful, so Hagrid gave him an enormous slab of Honeydukes chocolate for a prize. The bell rang across the grounds for lunch; the rest of the class set off back to the castle, but myself, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stayed behind to help Hagrid put the nifflers back in their boxes. I noticed Madame Maxime watching us out other carriage window.
"What yeh done ter your hands, Hermione?" said Hagrid, looking concerned.
Hermione told him about the hate mail she had received that morning, and the envelope full of bubotuber pus.
"Aaah, don worry," said Hagrid gendy, looking down at her. "I got some o' those letters an all, after Rita Skeeter wrote abou me mum. 'Yeh're a monster an yeh should be put down.' 'Yer mother killed innocent people an if you had any decency you d jump in a lake.'"
"No!" said Hermione, looking shocked.
"Yeah," said Hagrid, heaving the niffler crates over by his cabin wall. "They're jus' nutters, Hermione. Don' open 'em if yeh get any more. Chuck 'em straigh' in the fire."
"You missed a really good lesson," Harry told Hermione as they headed back toward the castle. "They're good, nifflers, aren't they, Ron?"
Ron, however, was frowning at the chocolate Hagrid had given him. He looked thoroughly put out about something.
"What's the matter?" said Harry. "Wrong flavor?"
"No," said Ron shortly. "Why didn't you tell me about the gold?"
"What gold?" said Harry.
"The gold I gave you at the Quidditch World Cup," said Ron. "The leprechaun gold I gave you for my Omnioculars. In the Top Box. Why didn't you tell me it disappeared?"
"Oh . . ." he said, the memory coming back to him at last. "I dunno ... I never noticed it had gone. I was more worried about my wand, wasn't I?"
We climbed the steps into the entrance hall and went into the Great Hall for lunch.
"Must be nice," Ron said abruptly, when we had sat down and started serving themselves roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. "To have so much money you don't notice if a pocketful of Galleons goes missing."
"Listen, I had other stuff on my mind that night!" said Harry impatiently. "We all did, remember?"
"I didn't know leprechaun gold vanishes," Ron muttered. "I thought I was paying you back. You shouldn't've given me that Chudley Cannon hat for Christmas."
"Forget it, all right?" said Harry.
Ron speared a roast potato on the end of his fork, glaring at it. Then he said, "I hate being poor."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Neither of them really knew what to say. Then they turned to me and I turned to JJ.
"Try being disowned." She says shrugging.
"It's rubbish," said Ron, still glaring down at his potato. "I don't blame Fred and George for trying to make some extra money. Wish I could. Wish I had a niffler."
"Well, we know what to get you next Christmas," said Hermione brightly. Then, when Ron continued to look gloomy, she said, "Come on, Ron, it could be worse. At least your fingers aren't full of pus." Hermione was having a lot of difficulty managing her knife and fork, her fingers were so stiff and swollen. "I hate that Skeeter woman!" she burst out savagely. "I'll get her back for this if it's the last thing I do!"
"Just be careful Hermione, last time I spoke to Skeeter I got attacked, drugged and almost raped." I point out eating a breadstick.
"Yep, but not everyone has been in jail multiples of times." JJ says.
"Oh shut up." I mutter smirking. Then I decide to push my luck. "Who's Snuffles? You talk about him a lot."
"Just a family friend." Harry says at once to shake me off.
"Harry, sorry to point this out, you're an orphan." I say.
"Er... my parents friend before they died." He stutters. "Stays in contact."
"Huh, it sounds like its a code name for Sirius Black. Oh well. See you guys later." I said cheerfully walking off to Moody's room to do some more training.
Hate mail continued to arrive for Hermione over the following week, and although she followed Hagrid's advice and stopped opening it, several of her ill-wishers sent Howlers, which exploded at the Gryffindor table and shrieked insults at her for the whole Hall to hear. Even those people who didn't read Witch Weekly knew all about the supposed Harry-Krum-Hermione triangle now. Harry was getting sick of telling people that Hermione wasn't his girlfriend.
"It'll die down, though," he told Hermione, "if we just ignore it. ... People got bored with that stuff she wrote about me last time."
"I want to know how she's listening into private conversations when she's supposed to be banned from the grounds!" said Hermione angrily.
Hermione hung back in our next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson to ask Professor Moody something. The rest of the class was very eager to leave; Moody had given us such a rigorous test of hex-deflection that many of them were nursing small injuries. I was perfectly okay as I managed to shake everything off, the spells didn't even touch my skin.
"Well, Rita's definitely not using an Invisibility Cloak!" Hermione panted five minutes later. "Moody says he didn't see her anywhere near the judges' table at the second task, or anywhere near the lake!"
"Hermione, is there any point in telling you to drop this?" said Ron.
"No!" said Hermione stubbornly. "I want to know how she heard me talking to Viktor! And how she found out about Hagrids mum!"
"Maybe she had you bugged," said Harry.
"Bugged?" said Ron blankly. "What. . . put fleas on her or something?"
I started explaining about hidden microphones and recording equipment and how Charlie uses them in his job. Ron was fascinated, but Hermione interrupted us.
"Aren't you two ever going to read Hogwarts, A History, at least Melissa has an excuse."
"What's the point?" said Ron. "You know it by heart, we can just ask you."
"All those substitutes for magic Muggles use - electricity, computers, and radar, and all those things - they all go haywire around Hogwarts, there's too much magic in the air. Apart from if you have a very strong shield charm on them. No, Rita's using magic to eavesdrop, she must be... If I could just find out what it is... ooh, if it's illegal, I'll have her..."
"Haven't we got enough to worry about?" Ron asked her. "Do we have to start a vendetta against Rita Skeeter as well?"
"I'm not asking you to help!" Hermione snapped. "I'll do it on my own!"
She marched back up the marble staircase without a backward glance. I was quite sure she was going to the library.
"What's the betting she comes back with a box of 'Hate Rita Skeeter badges'?" said Ron.
"She won't ask me for help right?" I ask looking at both of them.
Hermione, however, did not ask Harry and Ron to help her pursue vengeance against Rita Skeeter and, like suspected, didn't ask me at all. I was frankly marveled at the fact that Hermione could research magical methods of eavesdropping as well as everything else we had to do. I was working flat-out just to get through all the homework.
Harry's owl, Hedwig, didn't return until the end of the Easter holidays. Percy's letter was enclosed in a package of Easter eggs that Mrs. Weasley had sent. Mine was a mediam sized egg with contain heart candy in the middle (obvious since she had never met me) and I made a mental note to write a letter of thanks to her. Both Harrys and Ron's were the size of dragon eggs and full of homemade toffee. Hermiones, however, was smaller than a chicken egg. Her face fell when she saw it.
"Your mum doesn't read Witch Weekly, by any chance, does she, Ron?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah," said Ron, whose mouth was full of toffee. "Gets it for the recipes."
Hermione looked sadly at her tiny egg.
"Don't you want to see what Percy's written?" Harry asked her hastily. "I suppose you can see it Minnie."
As I am constantly telling the Daily Prophet, Mr. Crouch is taking a well-deserved break.
He is sending in regular owls with instructions. No, I haven't actually seen him, but I think I can be trusted to know my own superior's handwriting. I have quite enough to do at the moment without trying to quash these ridiculous rumors. Please don't bother me again unless it's something important. Happy Easter.
"He seems uptight." I point out as Rosabelle flew in carrying Easter Eggs for me from Charlie and June. I sent them some Honeydukes eggs which had loads of different sweets inside.
"He is." Ron muttered eating loads of chocolate. "Minnie, your eyes have changed colour."
"They have?" I questioned looking in the mirror and seeing emerald green eyes. "Huh... wonder why that happened."
In the last week of May, Professor McGonagall held us back in Transfiguration.
"You are to go down to the Quidditch field tonight at nine o'clock. Potter and Melissa," she told us. "Mr. Bagman will be there to tell the champions about the third task."
So at half past eight that night. We left Ron, JJ and Hermione in Gryffindor Tower and went downstairs. As we crossed the entrance hall, Cedric came up from the Hufflepuff common room.
"What d'you reckon it's going to be?" he asked us as we went together down the stone steps, out into the cloudy night. "Fleur keeps going on about underground tunnels; she reckons we've got to find treasure."
"That wouldn't be too bad," I said, thinking that I would simply ask Hagrid for a niffler to do the job for me.
We walked down the dark lawn to the Quidditch stadium, turned through a gap in the stands, and walked out onto the field.
"What've they done to it?" Cedric said indignantly, stopping dead.
The Quidditch field was no longer smooth and flat. It looked as though somebody had been building long, low walls all over it that twisted and crisscrossed in every direction.
"They're hedges!" said Harry, bending to examine the nearest one.
"Wow!" I said wide eyed.
"Hello there!" called a cheery voice.
Ludo Bagman was standing in the middle of the field with Viktor and Fleur. Harry, Cedric and I made our way toward them, climbing over the hedges. Fleur beamed at Harry as he came nearer, her attitude toward him had changed completely since he had saved her sister from the lake, and gave me a hug.
"Well, what d'you think?" said Bagman happily as we climbed over the last hedge (Cedric helped me over). "Growing nicely, aren't they? Give them a month and Hagrid'll have them twenty feet high. Don't worry," he added, grinning, spotting the less-than-happy expressions on Harrys and Cedric's faces, "you'll have your Quidditch field back to normal once the task is over! Now, I imagine you can guess what we're making here?"
No one spoke for a moment. Then - "Maze," grunted Viktor.
"That's right!" said Bagman. "A maze. The third task's really very straight forward. The Triwizard Cup will be placed in the center of the maze. The first champion to touch it will receive full marks."
"We seemply 'ave to get through the maze?" said Fleur.
"There will be obstacles," said Bagman happily, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"Oh that would've been to horrible, just sending us through a dark maze, have to put things in their as well." I said sarcastically.
"Hagrid is providing a number of creatures... then there will be spells that must be broken... all that sort of thing, you know. Now, the champion who is leading on points will get a head start into the maze, Miss David. Then the two Hogwarts boys in second place." Bagman grinned at Harry and Cedric. "Then Mr. Krum will enter... then Miss Delacour. But you'll all be in with a fighting chance, depending how well you get past the obstacles. Should be fun, eh?"
I, who knew only too well the kind of creatures that Hagrid was likely to provide for an event like this, thought it was unlikely to be any fun at all. However, I nodded politely like the other champions.
"Very well... if you haven't got any questions, we'll go back up to the castle, shall we, it's a bit chilly..."
Bagman hurried alongside Harry as we began to wend their way out of the growing maze. I hung back with Fleur and turned to her.
"What do you think?" I asked.
"What creatures does this 'Agrid 'ave?" Fleur asked.
"You really don't wanna know." I said shaking my head.
I saw Harry and Viktor walk into the forest so I decided to check it out, I started to walk over and Harry ran out looking panicked.
"Mr. Crouch. He's in the forest. Go to him please!" He begged before running up to the castle. I ran into the forest and saw Crouch on the floor. He took one look at me and gasped before grabbing my ankle making me fall to the floor. Viktor was standing there looking very scared.
"You have such Dark magic inside you... your the weapon the Dark Lord needs... your in grave danger... I'm so sorry we didn't find you... I'm sorry Miss Potter..." Thats what I heard before being thrown back and just seeing black.
I woke up with Dumbledore standing over me. I sat up and rubbed my head. "Wh... what happened?"
"You got stunned." Harry said holding his hand out to help me up, but remembering what Crouch had called me I didn't take it. I just sat on the floor and watched on. "Should I go and get someone for them?" said Harry. "Madam Pomfrey?"
"No," said Dumbledore swiftly. "Stay here." He raised his wand into the air and pointed it in the direction of Hagrid's cabin. Harry saw something silvery dart out of it and streak away through the trees like a ghostly bird. Then Dumbledore bent over Viktor again, pointed his wand at him, and muttered, "Ennervate."
Viktor opened his eyes. He looked dazed. When he saw Dumbledore, he tried to sit up, but Dumbledore put a hand on his shoulder and made him lie still.
"He attacked Melissa then me!" Viktor muttered, putting a hand up to his head. "The old madman attacked us! I vos looking around to see vare Potter had gone and he attacked from behind!"
"Lie still for a moment," Dumbledore said.
The sound of thunderous footfalls reached us, and Hagrid came panting into sight with Fang at his heels. He was carrying his crossbow.
"Professor Dumbledore!" he said, his eyes widening. "Harry - Mel - what the - ?"
"Hagrid, I need you to fetch Professor Karkaroff," said Dumbledore. "His student has been attacked. When you've done that, kindly alert Professor Moody..."
"No need, Dumbledore," said a wheezy growl. "I'm here."
Moody was limping toward us, leaning on his staff, his wand lit.
"Damn leg," he said furiously. "Would've been here quicker... what's happened? Snape said something about Crouch -"
"Crouch?" said Hagrid blankly.
"Karkaroff, please, Hagrid!" said Dumbledore sharply as Moody came over and helped me up.
"Oh yeah... right y'are, Professor..." said Hagrid, and he turned and disappeared into the dark trees, Fang trotting after him.
"I don't know where Barty Crouch is," Dumbledore told Moody, "but it is essential that we find him."
"I'm onto it," growled Moody, and he pulled out his wand and limped off into the forest.
Neither Dumbledore nor Harry and I spoke again until they heard the unmistakable sounds of Hagrid and Fang returning. Karkaroff was hurrying along behind them. He was wearing his sleek silver furs, and he looked pale and agitated.
"What is this?" he cried when he saw Viktor on the ground and Dumbledore and Harry beside him. "What's going on?"
"I vos attacked!" said Krum, sitting up now and rubbing his head. "Mr. Crouch or votever his name..."
"Crouch attacked you? Crouch attacked you? The Triwizard judge?"
"Igor," Dumbledore began, but Karkaroff had drawn himself up, clutching his furs around him, looking livid.
"Treachery!" he bellowed, pointing at Dumbledore. "It is a plot! You and your Ministry of Magic have lured me here under false pretenses, Dumbledore! This is not an equal competition! First you sneak Potter and the whinny girl into the tournament, though they are underage! Now one of your Ministry friends attempts to put my champion out of action! I smell double-dealing and corruption in this whole affair, and you, Dumbledore, you, with your talk of closer international wizarding links, of rebuilding old ties, of forgetting old differences - here's what I think of you!"
Karkaroff spat onto the ground at Dumbledore's feet. In one swift movement, Hagrid seized the front of Karkaroff's furs, lifted him into the air, and slammed him against a nearby tree, I screamed at this sudden event and Harry grabbed me and pulled me behind him.
"Apologise!" Hagrid snarled as Karkaroff gasped for breath, Hagrid's massive fist at his throat, his feet dangling in midair.
"Hagrid, no!" Dumbledore shouted, his eyes flashing.
Hagrid removed the hand pinning Karkaroff to the tree, and Karkaroff slid all the way down the trunk and slumped in a huddle at its roots; a few twigs and leaves showered down upon his head.
"Kindly escort Harry back up to the castle, Hagrid," said Dumbledore sharply.
Breathing heavily, Hagrid gave Karkaroff a glowering look.
"Maybe I'd better stay here. Headmaster..."
"You will take Harry back to school, Hagrid," Dumbledore repeated firmly. "Take him right up to Gryffindor Tower. And Harry - I want you to stay there. Anything you might want to do - any owls you might want to send - they can wait until morning, do you understand me?"
"Er - yes," said Harry, staring at him.
"I'll leave Fang with yeh. Headmaster," Hagrid said, staring menacingly at Karkaroff, who was still sprawled at the foot of the tree, tangled in furs and tree roots. "Stay, Fang. C'mon, Harry. And Mel 'ere."
"I need to speak to her. Walk Harry to the edge of the forest and wait for her there." I watched Hagrid and Harry walk off. "Miss David, what happened?"
"I was walking with Fleur when I saw Harry and Viktor walking to here, I decided to wait for Harry. But then he came running out and told me that Mr. Crouch was there. I came over and he told me something's before I was hit by a spell." I looked down.
"What did he say that's distressing you?" Dumbledore said as Viktor started to walk off with Karkaroff.
"He said... he said about how I have dark magic... and I'm a weapon... then he called me Miss Potter." I say not looking up.
"I suggest we tell nobody about this. I can't confirm any of this. Maybe soon. You may go now." I turned around and ran towards Harry and Hagrid.
We marched in silence past the Beauxbatons carriage and up toward the castle.
"How dare he," Hagrid growled as they strode past the lake. "How dare he accuse Dumbledore. Like Dumbledore'd do anythin' like that. Like Dumbledore wanted you two in the tournament in the firs' place. Worried! I dunno when I seen Dumbledore more worried than he's bin lately. An' you!" Hagrid suddenly said angrily to Harry, who looked up at him, taken aback. "What were yeh doin', wanderin' off with ruddy Krum? He's from Durmstrang, Harry! Coulda jinxed yeh right there, couldn he? Hasn' Moody taught yeh nothin'? 'Magine lettin him lure yeh off on yer own -"
"Krum's all right!" said Harry as they climbed the steps into the entrance hall. "He wasn't trying to jinx me, he just wanted to talk about Hermione -"
"I'll be havin' a few words with her, an' all," said Hagrid grimly, stomping up the stairs. "The less you lot 'ave ter do with these foreigners, the happier yeh'll be. Yeh can trust any of 'em."
"You were getting on all right with Madame Maxime," Harry said, annoyed.
"Don' you talk ter me abou' her!" said Hagrid, and he looked quite frightening for a moment. "I've got her number now! Tryin' ter get back in me good books, tryin' ter get me ter tell her what's comin in the third task. Ha! You can' trust any of'em!"
Hagrid was in such a bad mood, we were quite glad to say good-bye to him in front of the Fat Lady. We clambered through the portrait hole into the common room and hurried straight for the corner where Ron, JJ and Hermione were sitting, to tell them what had happened.
I looked at Harry to try and see a connection but found none. Natural brown hair and eyes. We're nothing alike.