Preparing for the Second Task

"I was thinking about that," Harry responded, "and now that I have a way to stay underwater I want to start exploring the lake. That way I will have a better idea of where I am going for the second task. Before I do that though, I need to figure out what is living in the lake. I know there are Merpeople, grindylows, and the giant squid but what else?"

"I'll look into it, Harry" Hermione said eagerly. "Oh, and if it makes you feel any better Viktor hasn't been able to figure out how to get the clue from the egg yet."

"And how was your date with the international Quidditch star?" Daphne asked, resulting in a small blush from Hermione.

"It was… good." Hermione answered, still blushing and smiling. Daphne laughed a little seeing how uncomfortable the other girl was gossiping about her date.

"Cedric already knew." Harry said suddenly, referring to the egg, "Professor Moody told him." As he said that he got the feeling that the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor's behavior was very odd. Why would he tell Harry about the first task but not Cedric? Or tell Cedric about the second task but not Harry? If he just wanted someone from Hogwarts to win it would be better to tell them both. Moody also tried to help him plan for the first task, but he had not done anything like that this time. 'Maybe Moody is just mad, like everyone says.' Harry thought, trying to shake the confused feeling.

"That was nice of Professor Moody." Hermione said. But Daphne's face had a small frown on it, causing Harry to wonder if she was having thoughts similar to his. Before he could continue that thought Hermione was talking again, asking him a question. "Harry, is there another room somewhere in the castle we can use? This is a great location and it's private, but it's also too small."

"I can check the Marauder's Map for something else, but nothing comes to mind. Maybe I could ask Dobby." The second he said Dobby's name the small house elf popped into the room, throwing himself at Harry's feet.

"Is Master Harry Potter calling Dobby?" he asked, happy that Harry wanted him there. Harry, meanwhile, was a little uncomfortable with the affection the elf was showing him.

"Dobby, do you know of somewhere in the castle we can practice magic? We would need it to be private like this room, but bigger."

"Maybe, Harry Potter, sir." Dobby said, looking thoughtful. "Dobby will look and ask the other house elves. Dobby will not disappoint you sir!" The small house elf disappeared as quickly as he had appeared, leaving Daphne laughing at the elf's odd behavior and Hermione muttering something about 'poorly treated elves'.

"If there is a better place in this castle, Dobby will find it." Harry assured them both. "Alright, now you two should practice the Bubble Head Charm. Like Hermione said, it isn't that difficult." The rest of the evening was spent with them learning the new spell and testing what they could do with it. Neither of them was able to successfully perform the spell on their first try. Daphne finally managed to do it after ten minutes of trying, and Hermione five minutes after that. By the time they finished experimenting with the new spell if was late and they decided to call it quits. Hermione left for the Gryffindor common room while Harry escorted Daphne back to the Slytherin dorms.

On the way it was hard to miss the stares they received whenever they passed by the other students. What was most amusing to them was the variety of expressions on the faces of the people who were staring. Some were angry, others fearful, and a great many of them were simply interested or confused. Harry and Daphne either laughed it off or ignored them, not wanting to deal with people asking them to explain their relationship. Not that either of them was quite sure how to define that relationship at the moment either. Both were curious what the other thought, but neither of them had brought up the topic. For now neither of them minded that, content to just enjoy the moment. Things might get difficult in the near future and they were not eager to take on any more worries.

Unknown to them, at that very moment a fresh round of attacks from the Daily Prophet was being printed and prepared for delivery courtesy of their least favorite reporter: Rita Skeeter.

...

RISING DARK LORD PICKS HIS DARK LADY?

by Rita Skeeter

Have the fears of the wizarding world that Harry Potter has turned dark now been confirmed? This reporter has long argued that there is something very wrong with the young Triwizard Champion and his actions this year have done nothing to refute that. My faithful readers will surely remember the Boy-Who-Lived's reckless use of dark magic which turned a wild dragon into his mindless slave, an event the Ministry still refuses to investigate.

The fact that Potter has been lost to the darkness was all but confirmed at Hogwart's Yule Ball. For weeks the student population had been speculating on who Potter would take to the Yule Ball, with most sources claiming he would attend with his long time love interest Hermione Granger. In a shocking turn of events Granger spurned the affections of the young Triwizard Champion in favor of his Durmstrang rival, Viktor Krum! Perhaps it was this rejection that blackened the young man's heart and soul, we can only guess.

Freshly rejected by Hermione Granger, Harry Potter turned to the dark embrace of Daphne Greengrass from Slytherin house. The Greengrasses, as you may remember, have a long history of supporting dark wizards. In fact, Daphne Greengrass's uncle Gabriel Greengrass is a convicted Death Eater and resides in Azkaban to this very day! Dear readers, I shiver when I think of what it might mean that the defeater of You-Know-Who is embracing not just the dark arts but the followers of the former dark lord as well. Now is the time for the Ministry to step in and act, before Dark Lord Potter becomes a menace even they can not stop.

But perhaps there is hope. Our sources at Hogwarts tell me that Potter and Greengrass were not known acquaintances before the Yule Ball. Very few could recall the two ever talking to each other. There is therefore a chance that Ms Greengrass has somehow managed to gain control of Mr Potter, perhaps through use of love potions or the Imperious Curse. Her control over Potter was evidenced during an altercation during the Yule Ball in which Potter's best friend, Ronald Weasley, attempted to bring Potter to his senses and break Greengrass's influence over his friend. His brave attempt failed when Greengrass threatened Mr Weasley (with all sorts of dark magic no doubt), an action which drew no protest from Harry Potter. Action must be taken now if there is any hope of saving Harry Potter's soul! Will anyone act? Only time will tell.

...

The article in the Daily Prophet circulated quickly and within hours of its delivery almost everyone in Hogwarts had read it. Once again the fickle nature of the student body was evident in their reactions. However, there was a growing minority that had noted the inaccuracies in the Daily Prophet's reporting and was beginning to question whether or not their main source of information could be trusted. This small, but growing, group mainly consisted of fourth year students who had come to know Harry over the past four years. It was possible, they believed, to think that Harry could have gotten past the age line and put his name in the Goblet of Fire. Several people, including Fred and George Weasley, had attempted that and were not thought poorly of. Why should Harry be treated any different? But could Harry Potter be turning evil, as the Daily Prophet alleged? The claim was too ridiculous to accept for many of them. One thing was certain: opinions were starting to polarize. The amount of people who had yet to make up their minds was rapidly decreasing.

Support for Harry was strongest in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, where Cedric Diggory had been able to convince many of his housemates to ignore the slanderous articles from the Daily Prophet. The Hufflepuff's trusted Diggory, and if he approved of Potter that was enough for them to give the subject a second thought. Cho Chang was acting as Ravenclaw's voice of reason, although not as successfully as her Hufflepuff boyfriend. Most of the Slytherins were against Harry out of habit, but a few were more curious about Daphne's relationship with him.

The Daily Prophet's vicious lies about Harry were beginning to have an effect that no one had foreseen, because the more the newspaper attacked him the larger the group of people who realized they were being lied to grew. And if the Prophet was lying about Harry Potter, what else could they be lying about? Slowly, a still small number of them were beginning to ask questions and think for themselves. Though hardly noticeable to most observers, things were starting to change.

....

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