The Defence teacher let out a raspy laugh. "Like you'll be the only champion getting outside help," he pointed out. "You sure you don't want to talk it over? My office is always open to you."
"No, I've got it covered, thanks," Harry insisted. "Look, if you're not going to take points or anything, can I go? I'd really like to go to bed now." It was nearing midnight, and he had Potions first thing in the morning. Snape would crucify him if he dozed off in class.
"Aye, be on your way, Potter. But be careful; there's all kinds of strangers in this castle. Even with that fancy cloak of yours, you wouldn't want one to come and snap you up." Moody grinned, though it was more of a grimace, his disfigured face twisting in a way that could easily give a person nightmares.
Harry almost pointed out that Professor Moody was one of those strangers, but quite frankly he was ready for that whole interaction to be over as quickly as possible. He nodded, throwing the hood of the cloak back up to cover himself and hurrying away from the creepy professor.
When he was several corridors away, Harry paused and pulled the map out of his bag, wanting to make sure Draco got back to his common room safely. If Moody came across him too, he might end up drawing some conclusions. His eyes scanned the paper, relief hitting him when he saw the dot labelled 'Draco Malfoy' down in the dungeons, approaching the Slytherin common room. Then, Harry frowned, his brow furrowed.
According to the map, Moody was in his office, behind the desk, like he always was. How was that possible? There was no way he could have made it back that quickly! He kept looking around the map, wondering if there was some sort of mistake, but other than Barty Crouch walking down the hall away from Dumbledore's office entrance — that was an absurdly late meeting, surely the tournament arrangements couldn't be that urgent? — He didn't see anyone out of place. Harry shook his head, wiping the map away and continuing on to Gryffindor Tower. Perhaps Moody knew of a secret passageway Harry didn't. He wasn't so arrogant to assume he'd figured out all of Hogwarts' secrets, even with the help of the Marauders.
.-.-.-.-.
The night before the task found all four Triwizard champions tucked away in a small living room in the Beauxbatons carriage, Fleur insisting it was the best place for privacy as none of her schoolmates would bother them. It was certainly more comfortable than hanging out in an abandoned classroom in the castle, so Harry wasn't going to complain. "So is everyone ready for tomorrow?" Cedric asked, leaning back in his armchair with a bottle of butterbeer in his hand. The champions were all avoiding alcohol, not wanting to be hungover when they plunged into the Black Lake in the morning.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Viktor replied with a shrug. They'd all agreed not to say a word about the methods they planned to use, wanting it to be a surprise when the task began, but it was hard not to talk about what they were about to undertake.
"I am curious about what zey 'ave taken from us," Fleur mused. "I 'ave not noticed anyzing missing."
Harry hadn't either, but his three most important possessions — the cloak, the map, and Sirius' mirror — were in his bag pretty much permanently, so he couldn't see how anyone could take them. Maybe they'd take his Firebolt.
"It's whatever we'll sorely miss," Cedric said, rolling his eyes. "Maybe they've nicked my Potions notes. I've got an essay due on Friday." The other three laughed.
"Maybe they vill take a person," Viktor suggested. Harry and Fleur shared skeptical looks.
"Surely they wouldn't take that risk? If we don't make it in the hour…" Harry trailed off at the pointed look Viktor gave him. "Right, yeah, dragons." They hadn't cared too much about the safety of the spectators in the first task. Who was to say they wouldn't put an innocent person in danger to motivate the champions? "I guess we'll find out in the morning."
"D'you think we'll have to fight the merpeople, or just find them?" Cedric mused. "To get whatever it is back, I mean. Merpeople are supposed to be a warrior race. Do you think they'll just let us take it and go on our way?"
"I'd like to think the challenge is in getting to them in the first place," Harry said grimly. There were all sorts of creatures in the lake that would make it difficult enough. "But I wouldn't put it past them." "I will just charm zem," Fleur declared, tossing her hair. "Zen zey will 'ave to let me go past."
"Does that work on merpeople, then?" Harry was curious, knowing very little about veela and their charm. "What are the limits of it? Can you charm, like, cats and owls and stuff, or do they have to be humanoid? Or a certain level of intelligence?" Harry presumed if Fleur was capable of charming non-human creatures, she would have tried to charm the dragon in the first task. "Or does it only work on boys? There might be mermaids down there." The dragon was a nesting mother, so maybe that was why it didn't work.
"I 'ave not tested ze specifics," Fleur admitted, looking amused at the line of questioning. "And I am not as strong as a full veela. But a veela's charm will work on anyone 'oo is attracted to 'umanoid women. I would assume merfolk would be similar enough for eet to work."
"That explains why it didn't work on me at the World Cup," Harry murmured in comprehension, realising after a beat of pointed silence that he'd said that out loud. "I mean. Err." His face went hot as the other three stared at him wide-eyed.
"Did you just…" Cedric looked hesitant, like he didn't wait to say it out loud until Harry did.
"Accidentally come out?" Harry confirmed sheepishly. "Apparently. Please don't tell anyone." He wasn't ashamed, not really, but it was attention he didn't really need right now. People were judging him enough as it was without knowing that.
"Your secret is safe wiz us," Fleur promised, reaching over to squeeze his arm fondly. "I admit, I did suspect. I 'ave tried to charm boys wiz you around before, and you did not even seem to notice." Harry blinked, staring at her with raised eyebrows.
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