141 Blood in the Water

Hogwarts Grounds, November 10th

Rage was the only discernible emotion on Harry Potter's face as he stormed across the Hogwarts grounds, Calypso running behind him.

"You need to calm down. If you go in there like this, you'll just prove that she's right." Seeing that Harry was virtually ignoring her, Calypso grabbed his arm and pulled, spinning him around. "Are you listening to me? You need to calm the fuck down before you do something stupid!"

"Stupid!" Harry snapped, waiving the paper in front of Calypso's face. "I'm going to kill your cousin and his friends, and when I get a hold of this Skeeter woman, she'll–"

"Wish she'd never been born, rue the day she crossed the great Harry Potter, blah, blah, blah," Calypso said sarcastically.

Harry's expression turned thunderous. "This is not funny, Calypso!"

"You can't let her get to you, Harry." Calypso vanished the article clutched in Harry's hand. "Don't give her another story, or a way to say I told you so. And, yes, Draco needs to be reminded of his place, but leave that to me, okay? I'll make sure my cousin keeps his mouth shut."

Realizing that Calypso was right, but still wanting to be mad, Harry said, "Fine. But you tell Malfoy if he so much as says anything about me or my brother to the press again, I'm going to hang him by his feet in the forest and leave him for the Acromantulas!"

Angrily, Harry turned away from Calypso and continued his walk up the hill to Hogwarts. As he approached the castle, he could already see the effects of Rita's article on the student population. As soon as someone saw him, their eyes tracked him nervously – as if he was going to just start lashing out at them with the Dark Arts.

Begrudgingly admitting that Calypso was right, and that he couldn't just storm into the Great Hall and start cursing, Harry did his best to clear his mind. Shoving aside his anger and worry, he took several steadying breaths. Once he felt reasonably certain he could be in the same room with the people who were quoted in the article, Harry walked into the castle and made his way into the Great Hall, finding most of the students still sitting around the hall enjoying a late Saturday breakfast.

It was a particularly pathetic first year Hufflepuff that first noticed him. The boy screamed, fell out of his seat, and pointed at him. Soon after, Harry felt the gaze of almost every student shift to him. Doing his best to ignore them, he walked over to the Gryffindor table, quickly finding his brother sitting next to Hermione and Neville Longbottom.

Giving Neville a look that promised all kinds of pain if he didn't move, Harry sat down next to his brother, and did his best to appear unaffected by the school's reception to him.

Rolling his eyes, Harry said, "So, apparently, I'm trying to kill you."

Nathan smiled, though it was a little forced. "I always suspected. I remember how you stole my stuffed Phoenix when I was five."

For the first time all morning, Harry smiled in genuine amusement. "I never took that thing. I still say it was Fawkes who didn't like the competition."

"Only a dark wizard would try to pin the theft of a child's toy on one of the purest creatures on the planet," Nathan joked.

Harry's smile slipped a bit. "Yeah, well, dark wizard seems to be the consensus."

Seeing his brother's expression, Nathan said, "No one actually thinks that you're a dark wizard, Harry." When his brother gave him a disbelieving look, Nathan quickly added, "Well no one that matters. Right, Hermione?"

Hermione nodded her head vehemently. "The article was just terrible, Harry. I couldn't believe the things that woman said about you and your parents. Anyone that's been around Mr. and Mrs. Potter knows that they don't favor Nathan. And we've talked about Durmstrang's Dark Arts class several times. Rita clearly exaggerated things a bit."

"I wish mum and dad did favor me," Nathan muttered. "Maybe I could get them to get me a new broom."

Harry had to force himself to smile at Nathan's response. The truth was, Rita had been a little too close for comfort when she described some of the spells the Durmstrang students practiced in the higher level Dark Arts classes. In fact, he had been practicing many of the spells she had mentioned a few days prior on the ship. Someone in the Durmstrang delegation was talking, and that was something that needed to be corrected very quickly.

"I can't believe what Michael Corner said,'' Hermione said, sending a poisonous glare at the Ravenclaw table. The Ravenclaws seemed more on edge than anyone else in the entire Great Hall, as if Harry was going to hold them all accountable for what a few members of their house had done. "He had no right to call you antisocial. If that's what you had to put up with when you were here, no wonder you wanted to go to Durmstrang."

"And Malfoy," Nathan muttered darkly, "is going to get his. I promise."

"Don't worry about Malfoy," Harry said, his voice icy. "Calypso has agreed to 'talk' to her cousin about not involving himself with the press."

As if Draco knew he was being discussed, he looked up and smirked at Harry from the Slytherin table. The feeling of haughty self-satisfaction the boy was radiating caused Harry's blood to boil. Locking eyes with Draco, Harry longed to lash out and crush the spoiled aristocrat. While Draco's words had been some of the least inflammatory, they had been the most damaging. Draco was the one who told Rita that Harry admitted to knowing several ways past the Goblet, and that he could have easily entered Nathan's name.

Rita had used that information to speculate about how he was likely trying to kill his own brother. Being the 'forgotten' Potter was simply too much for him. So, as his parents spoiled Nathan rotten, he was cast aside, ignored, and hated. The article was complete bullshit and sensationalist. Naturally, it would probably win Rita awards for investigative journalism.

"That's too easy," Nathan said angrily. "So Calypso just tells him to not do it again? Malfoy won't listen."

Harry never broke eye contact with Draco as a very menacing smile slowly spread across his face. "Calypso has a way with words, Nathan. I assure you, Draco isn't going to be talking to the press anytime soon. He might not even have a tongue by the time Calypso is done with him."

Nathan looked momentarily surprised, but quickly grinned widely. Hermione, on the other hand, just looked a little concerned.

"I really don't want to sit here being stared at," Harry said, turning to face his brother. "Did you finish that book? Ready to practice?"

"Umm, I have a few chapters left," Nathan admitted, "but I'm ready enough."

A little annoyed that his brother was, again, failing to do as much work as he should, Harry said, "I guess we'll see about that. Let's go. Hermione, do you want to come as well?"

Glancing down the table at Ron, Hermione bit her lip, looking indecisive. "I, I suppose so."

"You still hang out with Weasley?" Harry asked, standing up and pulling his brother out of the great hall.

Scrambling from her seat and running to catch up, Hermione uncomfortably said, "He'll realize his mistake soon."

"Yes, can't wait for him to start accusing me of trying to kill my brother." Harry said sarcastically. "If he actually thought Nathan entered himself for the 'glory' then it'll only be a matter of time before he latches onto the next ridiculous theory."

"Can we not talk about Ron?" Nathan asked, more than a little uncomfortable talking about his best mate.

"I told you years ago that he was an idiot."

Hermione glared at him slightly. "Don't call Ron an idio–"

"How would you describe his actions, then?" Harry snapped as they reached an unused Charms classroom.

"He's just a little jealous," Hermione said, sounding tired and defeated. "He probably wishes it was him in Nathan's place."

"I wish he was in Nathan's place too," Harry agreed, silently adding that there was no way Ron Weasley would make it through the tournament alive. Taking a few objects out of his bag and placing them on the desk, he said, "But we don't need to talk about him. Nathan vanish the quill."

Nathan's eyes widened. "Err, McGonagall said we weren't going to learn vanishing until the start of next term."

Feeling a sudden rush of anger, Harry glared at his brother. "And every other champion has known how to vanish things for years. Now, start practicing, and vanish the fucking quill, Nathan. You did at least open the book I gave you last night, right? You only have a few chapters left, right?"

"There's no need to be so abrasive!" Hermione snapped. "It's not Nathan's fault that he's in the tournament!"

Taking a calming breath, Harry said, "You're right, Hermione, it's not Nathan's fault that he's in the tournament. However, that doesn't change the fact that Nathan is years behind the other champions. A lot of what the other champions will find simple and easy, will be difficult for Nathan. That also means what will challenge the other champions, could easily kill Nathan."

Both Nathan and Hermione grew pale as Harry continued, "Nathan, I'm not trying to be mean when I give you a book and tell you to read it by the next day. I know you have class, homework, and everything else, but you need to listen to me. This tournament is not a joke, and you could get hurt or worse competing."

Pacing around the room, Harry looked at his brother and his friend, deciding to be completely honest. "Hermione, if I come off as angry or upset, it's not because I'm mad at Nathan, it's because I'm terrified for him. I know what Viktor is working on everyday – Merlin, I'm helping him prepare as well – and I can only assume Cedric and Fleur are practicing similar higher level magic to get ready for the first task."

"Nathan, I'm teaching you a spell that the other champions could do silently and without thought. You're so far behind them it isn't even funny. Merlin, let's be honest, you're not even the top of your year." Hermione grasped Nathan's hand, her eyes starting to water as Harry confirmed many of her own fears about the tournament.

"That doesn't mean you can't make it through the tournament, but it's going to be a lot harder for you." Harry met his brother's eyes evenly. "You have to work twice as much as the other champions simply because you don't know what they do. So, when I ask you to learn something, or to practice in your spare time, I need you to do it. So, Nathan, are you ready to get to work?"

Hesitantly, Nathan nodded.

"Good," Harry beamed. "Let's get started, Nathan. Vanish the quill."