Harry Potter 04 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

very superior.
    ‘Mr Harry Potter used Gillyweed to great effect,’ Bagman continued. ‘He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own.’
    Ron and Hermione both gave Harry half-exasperated, half-commiserating looks.
    ‘Most of the judges’ – and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look – ‘feel that this shows moral fibre and merits full marks. However … Mr Potter’s score is forty-five points.’
    Harry’s stomach leapt – he was now tying for first place with Cedric. Ron and Hermione, caught by surprise, stared at Harry, then laughed and started applauding hard with the rest of the crowd.
    ‘There you go, Harry!’ Ron shouted over the noise. ‘You weren’t being thick after all – you were showing moral fibre!’
    Fleur was clapping very hard, too, but Krum didn’t look very happy at all. He attempted to engage Hermione in conversation again, but she was too busy cheering Harry to listen.
    ‘The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June,’ continued Bagman. ‘The champions will be notified of what is coming, precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions.’
    It was over, Harry thought dazedly, as Madam Pomfrey began herding the champions and hostages back to the castle to get into dry clothes … it was over, he had got through … he didn’t have to worry about anything now until June the twenty-fourth …
    Next time he was in Hogsmeade, he decided, as he walked back up the stone steps into the castle, he was going to buy Dobby a pair of socks for every day of the year.

 
     
— CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN —
     
Padfoot Returns
    One of the best things about the aftermath of the second task was that everybody was very keen to hear details of what had happened down in the lake, which meant that for once Ron was getting to share Harry’s limelight. Harry noticed that Ron’s version of events changed subtly with every retelling. At first, he gave what seemed to be the truth; it tallied with Hermione’s story, anyway – Dumbledore had put all the hostages into a bewitched sleep in Professor McGonagall’s office, first assuring them that they would be quite safe, and would awake when they were back above the water. One week later, however, Ron was telling a thrilling tale of kidnap in which he struggled single-handedly against fifty heavily armed merpeople who had to beat him into submission before tying him up.
    ‘But I had my wand hidden up my sleeve,’ he assured Padma Patil, who seemed to be a lot keener on Ron now that he was getting so much attention, and was making a point of talking to him every time they passed in the corridors. ‘I could’ve taken those mer-idiots any time I wanted.’
    ‘What were you going to do, snore at them?’ said Hermione waspishly. People had been teasing her so much about being the thing that Viktor Krum would most miss that she was in a rather tetchy mood.
    Ron’s ears went red, and he reverted thereafter to the bewitched-sleep version of events.
    As they entered March the weather became drier, but cruel winds skinned their hands and faces every time they went out into the grounds. There were delays in the post because the owls kept being blown off course. The brown owl that Harry had sent to Sirius with the dates of the Hogsmeade weekend turned up at breakfast on Friday morning with half its feathers sticking up the wrong way; Harry had no sooner torn off Sirius’ reply than it took flight, clearly afraid it was going to be sent outside again.
    Sirius’ letter was almost as short as the previous one.
     
    Be at stile at end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish & Banges) at two o’clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can.
     
    ‘He hasn’t come back to Hogsmeade?’ said Ron incredulously.
    ‘It looks like it, doesn’t it?’ said Hermione.
    ‘I can’t believe him,’ said Harry tensely. ‘If he’s caught …’
    ‘Made it so far, though, hasn’t he?’ said Ron. ‘And it’s not like the place is swarming with Dementors any more.’
    Harry folded up the letter, thinking. If he was honest with himself, he really wanted to see Sirius again. He therefore approached the final lesson of the afternoon – double Potions – feeling