Harry Potter: Star Attention Seeker?
By Rita Skeeter
With the Weighing of the Wands ceremony on Friday, the champions were officially sworn into the Triwizard Tournament. Still, many of us are left wondering why there are four contestants instead of three. Harry Potter was chosen as an additional champion after champions for the three schools had already been selected.
"Yeah, I saw him when his name came out of the Goblet. He didn't even look surprised. He knew it was going to happen," said Ernie Macmillan, one of Mr. Potter's classmates in Hufflepuff.
It was well known among school gossip that Harry Potter, along with two others, made an attempted to place their names in the cup. Our not-so-noble Harry, it seems, abandoned his fellow rascals when the going got tough. The two of them were caught at the cup while Harry slipped away. Surprisingly, very little investigation has been performed or punishment exacted on the young Gryffindor. Harry Potter, it seems, has a penchant for breaking school rules.
"That boy is as arrogant as his father. He has no respect for the rules or the staff members. He gets away with whatever he wants thanks to his fame. He regularly gets into fights with students in my house and it is always up to me to see that he receives punishment, as others are often unwilling to be strict with our local celebrity," the Potions professor, Severus Snape, explained.
But getting himself into the tournament isn't even half the story, folks. You would think that some people would be glad to see two Hogwarts champions, unfair as though it may seem. However, Harry Potter decided to declare himself an independent- which means that, should he win, his own school would not get the recognition for his achievement. He would keep everything to himself.
"Yeah, he's already famous, but that's not enough. I mean, he got a lot of attention at school for being the best seeker ever, and the youngest one too, but Quidditch was cancelled this year, you know? I guess he figured if he wasn't able to show off this year so he entered himself in the tourney," explained Harry's close confidant, Ronald Weasley...
A civil war practically erupted at the Gryffindor table when they saw the article. Some wanted to berate Harry for "betraying" Hogwarts. Some wanted to smack Ron for betraying a fellow housemate. Hermione was undoubtedly in the latter group as Harry restrained her. Harry definitely couldn't forgive Ron now, but seeing the twins' extremely disapproving looks they were giving their brother, he knew Ron would get what was coming to him. He quickly pulled Hermione from the table, muttering, "Come on, Hermione, I don't think we'll be able to have a decent breakfast for a while. Let's go for a fly."
Being back in the air was the only thing that could get Harry and Hermione away from the ruckus. Nearly everyone who read the article was now against Harry, save a few close friends who actually knew him. As they both needed to relieve themselves of their anger, they flew on separate brooms. Harry let his temper go by performing many hard dives and flying around at full speed, while Hermione preferred to fly lazily, watching Harry, to calm herself. Eventually, they both settled down enough to fly side-by-side and talk to each other.
"It's amazing how much that woman can write about you without ever having met you," Hermione observed.
"She also seems to have a knack for finding all the wrong people. Although I bet she knew exactly who to ask to get the worst opinions of me."
"Given how she managed to find Snape and Ron, I'm surprised she didn't quote Malfoy in that article today."
"Ugh, don't make it worse. Ron himself is bad enough. At least now we know why we didn't bring him back with us."
They flew silently for a while, simply following the winds and drafts as they flew around the castle's towers. Ever since they discovered their animagus forms, they were already beginning to feel the benefits before they mastered the transformation itself. Spending more time in the air was almost a natural feeling for both of them now. Although Harry had always enjoyed it, now he felt much more control and dominance when he was in the air now. Hermione, however, didn't have the same bird-of-prey instincts that Harry did, but she had gotten much more comfortable with flying very quickly. She still didn't enjoy flying alone, though Hedwig was becoming a regular flying partner for both of them. While watching her fly, they both began to notice many of the fine details of her flight, like the little adjustments she'd make to her wingtips or how she recovered from sudden gusts of wind.
After rounding the southern tower of Hogwarts for the seventh or eighth time, Hermione noticed they were being followed. Ducking behind the tower, they quickly flipped around and rose high into the air. Around the bend came... the Weasley twins, looking around to see where they had gone. Harry and Hermione looked at each other, and Harry winked at her with a mischievous smile. He pulled off one of his signature dives, right in between the twins, nearly throwing them off their brooms in surprise. Hermione giggled at the sight.
"Blimey, Harry. We try to sneak up on you..."
"And you nearly take our heads off instead!"
"Perhaps we shouldn't have come to offer our services."
"He does seem rather ungrateful. Perhaps we shouldn't warn him what awaits inside, either."
"What? What's going on inside?" Harry asked as he flew upwards, level with the twins.
"Does it have something to do with Ron?" asked Hermione with a load of contempt.
"Interestingly enough..."
"It doesn't. Ron's tantrum with you is only outmatched by his hatred of the prince ponce of Slytherin."
"What? What's Draco planning?" Harry knew that Draco was rarely ever a real threat himself, but he did have a tendency to walk around with a little posse.
"Oh, nothing that bad, just a few badges that declare Cedric to be the real champion of Hogwarts." Fred answered nonchalantly.
"What? He is the Hogwarts champion. I'm an independent," Harry said, somewhat confused.
"Yeah, but the little ponce probably thinks it'll provoke you. We wanted to see what you'd do in response," said George.
"Oh, I think I'll come up with something," said Hermione.
"You'll have plenty of time for that while we deal with Harry here..." said both of the twins simultaneously as they grinned and looked at Harry.
"Uh... what's this for? I haven't done anything to you two..." Harry said nervously, ready to bolt at any second.
"While technically true, there is the fact that about a month ago you helped us with the Goblet..."
"And we haven't repaid you for it."
"Oh, thanks guys... you don't have to..." said Harry.
"And technically, there is also the fact that about a month ago, you left us at the Goblet without sufficient warning..."
"And we haven't repaid you for it."
"Uh... you... don't have to?" Harry knew the twins had something up their sleeves.
"So, we realized we had a way to both thank you and punish you at the same time."
"We're offering our services as the Gryffindor Quidditch Beaters to help train you for the Triwizard."
"Surely, you need to learn how to dodge better on the broom, since the task won't be about seeking a snitch."
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