บท 97: Quibbler

"Want to go to the hospital wing and check on Hermione?" Chris asked as they left the classroom.

"Sure let's go." Harry replied and they set of towards the hospital wing.

"You ok Harry?" Chris asked.

"Yeah... kind of." Harry said. "She had to bring my parents, hadn't she?"

"After reading her old articles I hoped that much." Chris replied.

"You know Chris, I was thinking what if I wasn't selected? I would've been cheering for Cedric like others, thinking excitedly what's daring task would be the first one?" Harry sighed. "Ron would've talking with me, we would've laughing with Hermione about this photoshoot and Daily Prophet's article."

"Ron will come around, don't worry." Chris replied smiling.

As they reached the Hospital Wing, Chris wasn't surprised seeing Ginny, Luna and Colin still there with Hermione.

"Madam Pomfrey said, it'll take the night to get back to normal." Ginny said as they saw Chris and Harry.

Chris saw a scarf tied around Hermione's mouth and her eyes looked like she just stopped crying. She wasn't able to talk.

After few minutes, Madam Pomfrey hurried them out of the Hospital wing and all of them went for dinner.

"I need to finish this fast." Harry said eating a little fast. "I've lots of extra work on Summoning Charms."

"You're still stuck there?" Ginny said surprised. "C'mon Harry, even Neville finished it yesterday."

"Yeah not flawlessly but did." Chris said.

"Great just great." Harry sighed. "I've to ask Hermione for help."

"Relax, will you?" Luna said. "You're worrying too much Harry and that's why you can't concentrate. Ask Chris, she can do summoning charms, even without her wand. You just need concentration for that."

"Really?" Harry asked surprised. "You can do it without wand?"

Chris sighed, "yeah but it's nothing special. You just have to imagine things, feel the magic around you and it'll happen automatically."

"Teach me." Harry said finishing his desert.

___________________________________

Next morning, Chris didn't know how but Ginny and Hermione came to an agreement about sticking together for Harry.

Chris wrote the article in two days and send it to Mr Lovegood.

Dennis and Colin came up with a plan to change the Badges made by Malfoy.

So one afternoon, Chris, Harry, Colin, Ginny and Hermione were sitting between the pile of books, Hermione gathered few books about creating and changing Badges; Colin and Ginny were bending over those books, and Hermione was showing Harry the theories about summon charms as he wasn't able to concentrate properly. Chris was just going through a advanced charms book.

"Oh no, he's back again, why can't he read on his stupid ship?" said Hermione irritably as Viktor Krum slouched in, cast a surly look over at them, and settled himself in a distant corner with a pile of books. "His fan club'll be here in a moment, twittering away. …"

"Is he here a lot?" Ginny asked.

"More than you can imagine." Harry replied.

"Guess, someone is just like our Hermione...." Chris said chuckling. "...thinks books are life."

"Hmph." Hermione stuffed her nose again into the book.

"Chris!" Luna and Shawn came towards them.

Chris saw, Luna and Shawn both holding two piles of same books.

"Father just sent those." Luna said putting them down.

It was the month's Quibbler. Ginny and Colin hurriedly grabbed two from the pile and opened the article written by Chris.

"I just read that, Chris." Shawn said smiling. "I'll buy one for Victor. I'll also tell everyone of Durmstrangs to buy them. Our Headmaster will be overjoyed after seeing this article."

"Thanks." Chris smiled.

"Give it to him, he's just here." Hermione said without looking away from her book.

"Who?" Shawn asked surprised then looked around and spotted Victor. "Victor and so many books? That's a little surprising."

Shawn took one Quibbler and headed towards Krum. Harry took one too and Hermione peaked into it.

Chris's article was very different from Rita Skeeter's article, which appeared 10 days ago. In Rita Skeeter's article, much of the front page had been given over to a picture of Harry; the article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven) had been all about Harry, the names of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions (misspelled) had been squashed into the last line of the article, and Cedric hadn't been mentioned at all.

I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now. … Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it. … I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me. …

Rita had also mentioned Chris.

Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. Christina Norton, a pretty Muggle-born girl, who is one year younger than Harry, denied to leave Harry alone during even his interview, saying she was also taking interviews of the Triwizard Tournament as well. Though she is inexperienced in this reporting world, we can appreciate her dedication of writing to get more publicity for her already very popular boyfriend Harry Potter.

And the article went on more and more about Chris and Harry. Chris didn't mind her sarcasm on the article as she already knew that Rita Skeeter was very much pissed on her from the first day. The bad part was students were more taunting Harry and Chris all the time. Unlike Chris, Harry took it very personally when people asked him that if he was still crying about his parents.

On the other hand, Chris's article was only two pages, she gave each champion a paragraph. She started it with the picture of the Goblet of Fire (which Colin took on the Halloween's day.) and ended with a group picture of the four champions. She wrote it starting with Victor Krum, the Durmstrang champion, then Fleur Delacour, Beauxbatons champion, then two Hogwarts Champions, Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter.

Chris wrote more about Cedric than Harry. In fact she just wrote that Harry being the fourth champion was an accident as he was under-age and didn't try to enter.

"You wrote like, Victor Krum is some kind of hero." Hermione said reading the article.

"Isn't he Hermione? I mean people like to think he's a hero and also he's a international Quidditch player. It was important to give him that much credit." Chris replied.

"What about Fleur?" Ginny asked. "Do you really think she's the most beautiful Beauxbatons girl?"

"I didn't say she is the most beautiful one, I just said I hope her skills matches her beauty." Chris said chuckling. Don't know why but of all the champions Ginny never liked Fleur from the first day.

"You wrote nice about Cedric." Harry said grinning. "Thank you for giving me the shortest paragraph."

"Your welcome." Chris said.

"And that's also cleared that you're not writing for only Harry's publicity." Ginny said.

"True. Now we need to sell those. Colin let's go." Luna said dragging Colin.

"But the Badges?" Colin said worriedly.

"Chris and I will fix it don't worry go." Ginny said.

And Luna took Shawn and Colin to sell her Quibbler.

By the evening, Luna's every copy of Quibbler was brought and; Chris and Ginny found the way to change the Badges pretty quickly.

As Ginny, Chris, Colin, Harry and Hermione made their way back to Gryffindor tower after dinner, they found the room buzzing excitedly.

"What happened?" Colin asked one of his roommate Alex.

"First Hogsmeade weekend," said Alex, grinning as he pointed at a notice that had appeared on the battered old noticeboard. "This Saturday."

"Cool." Colin replied as he made his way towards the notice board.

"I'm really excited. I mean, I've only heard about the shops in Hogsmeade. This is going to be so fun." Ginny said excitedly. "This is the first time we'll be visiting them, except you count the tour to Shrieki...."

"Yeah right. This is our first time visiting Hogsmeade." Chris said loudly, stopping Ginny.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other confused. Harry, Ron and Hermione still don't know about, last year when Chris, Ginny and Colin sneaked into Hogsmeade and attacked Harry and Ron.

"So are you coming?" Chris asked Harry.

"Of course we'll go. He really needs unwinding a bit." Hermione replied.

"What about Ron, though?" Harry asked Hermione. "Don't you want to go with him?"

"I thought we might meet up with him in the Three Broomsticks. …" Hermione answered.

"No," said Harry flatly.

"Oh Harry, this is so stupid —"

"I'll come, but I'm not meeting Ron, and I'm wearing my Invisibility Cloak." Harry said angrily.

"Then go alone." Ginny snapped. "You're not invited with us."

"Ginny?" Harry looked really surprised. Ginny usually talk with him normally but she never snapped at him.

"I'm serious Harry, we're working so hard to fix your reputation in school. Telling people the truth that you're not competing willingly..." Ginny said angrily. "But... no, that's not enough right? You still have go and hide from people in your invisibility cloak."

"You know she kind of have a point." Colin said coming behind them. "It's alright Harry. You can come with us without hiding."

Harry looked at Ginny, Colin, Hermione and Chris then sighed as he realized no one wants him under the cloak.

"Fine. I'll go without the cloak but no one will force me to meet Ron there." He said looking at Hermione.

Before Saturday, Chris and Ginny made all the Badges right. They changed it from SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY and POTTER STINKS to SUPPORT HOGWARTS CHAMPIONS: CEDRIC AND HARRY. Chris found a easy trick for this, they needed to change very few Badges and the others changed it on their own, with just one wave of Chris and Ginny's wand. People were really confused and didn't realize tge change first, after noticing Malfoy was furious and tried to change them back but unfortunately he didn't understand how anyone did that so the Badges were stuck like that.

Next morning was Saturday, the day to officially enter Hogsmeade. All the third years were excited. Chris, Ginny and Colin went to Great Hall for breakfast. Harry, Hermione and Luna were already there. They quickly finished their eating and all of them went to the Entrance Hall, where Filch, the caretaker, was standing inside the front doors, checking off names against a long list, peering suspiciously into every face, and making sure that no one was sneaking out who shouldn't be going.

"First to Huneydukes, right?" Colin asked excitedly.

"Yes. Let's go." Hermione replied, looking happier.

As they enter Honeydukes, Chris realized how many students go to Hogwarts. The shop was packed with Hogwarts students. And that wasn't not the fun part, it was the shop itself. There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, fat, honey-coloured toffees; hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows; there was a large barrel of Every Flavour Beans, and another of Fizzing Whizzbees, the levitating sherbet balls that Fred and George had mentioned; along yet another wall were 'Special Effects' sweets: Drooble's Best Blowing Gum (which filled a room with bluebell-coloured bubbles that refused to pop for days), the strange, splintery Toothflossing Stringmints, tiny black Pepper Imps ('breathe fire for your friends!'), Ice Mice ('hear your teeth chatter and squeak!'), peppermint creams shaped like toads ('hop realistically in the stomach!'), fragile sugar-spun quills and exploding bonbons.

Soon all of them were buying, eating and laughing in the shop.

After buying lots of sweets they all left Honeydukes.

"I think we should go the post office next. You haven't seen it yet." Hermione said to Ginny.

"Yeah. that would be.... Harry?" Ginny said as Harry suddenly ducks behind them. "What're you doing?"

"Look behind." Harry hissed.

Chris looked around and saw Rita Skeeter and her photographer friend had just emerged from the Three Broomsticks pub. Talking in low voices, they were about to pass them when she noticed Chris. Harry was still hiding behind Colin, Ginny and Hermione in a corner near Honeydukes shop's wall. Rita looked around Chris and her friends, obvious looking for Harry.

"He's in there." Chris said pointing at the Honeydukes shop door. "Go and find hin if you want."

Rita smirked and peaked into Honeydukes, the shop was still crowded. Finding someone there was almost impossible.

"Don't worry dear. I've plenty of time to catch him." Rita Skeeter replied still smirking and passed them with her Photographer. When they were gone, Harry said, "She's staying in the village. I bet she's coming to watch the first task."

"Obviously." Chris said. "She's Rita Skeeter, Harry. I've even read some of her articles about some places where she wasn't even present. God knows how she do these things."

"Why don't we go and have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, it's a bit cold, isn't it?" Hermione said. "It'll be safe for Harry. I don't think she'll come back there."

"Alright. We can see the other things later." Luna replied smiling.

The Three Broomsticks was also packed, mainly with Hogwarts students enjoying their free afternoon, but also with a variety of magical people Chris rarely saw anywhere else. Chris supposed that as Hogsmeade was the only all-wizard village in Britain, it was a bit of a haven for creatures like hags, who were not as adept as wizards at disguising themselves.

They all sat on a corner table and Chris went to buy drinks. Chris saw many familiar faces on the way, Irena and Melvin were talking to few other Hufflepuffs about the Badges which were changed overnight; Ron was sitting with Fred and George; Jason was sitting with Theodore in a corner drinking a butterbeer while reading a book. After ordering six butterbeers, Chris just turned around to walk back when she heard Hagrid's hushed voice from the near by table. He was sitting with Mad-Eye, Chris hurried away, as she wasn't going to eavesdrop and get caught by Moody again; but then she heard something which stopped her from moving.

"Four Dragons!"