A Trio of Serpents

32: Potter Stinks

Summary: Harry is out of damns to give.

It didn't take long for Harry to fill his friends in about his vision during the summer and his scar hurting. Both were predictably anxious.

"Do you think Pettigrew snuck in and added your name?" Hermione wondered.

"Anything's possible," said Harry, remembering how he had fooled everyone into thinking Sirius had been the traitor.

"Come off it!" said Ron. "With all the enchantments on Hogwarts... and Dumbledore would have added more, I'm sure."

"We can't rule it out completely, Ron," Hermione said. "Like Harry said, anything's possible."

"I know." Ron suddenly looked weary. "I'm just hoping it isn't true."

Harry murmured agreement.

At least most of Hogwarts seemed to believe he didn't want to be in it. Cedric had managed to convince the majority of Hufflepuff, who in turn spread the news to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. That didn't stop them from acting awkwardly around Harry, though. During Herbology, which the Slytherins shared with Ravenclaw, hardly anyone even looked at him. Anthony Goldstein and Michael Corner, who were generally polite to Harry, spoke only to Ron despite repotting Bouncing Bulbs in the same tray. Padma Patil was whispering to Tracey, shooting Harry uneasy glances. The Hufflepuffs that shared Transfiguration with them, especially didn't seem to know how to act around him. That was fine with Harry — after all, he was stealing some of the attention from Cedric, intentional or not.

Ironically, it was his own house who was being most horrible about it, though that was due to a select few's natural tendency to be unpleasant.

Outside of Potions, Malfoy showed Harry a badge he made.

Support Cedric Diggory —
The REAL Hogwarts Champion

And when he tapped on it, the words POTTER STINKS replaced them. He and his gang laughed.

"Har har," Tracey muttered. "'Potter stinks.' How long did it take to come up with that? Seven, eight hours?"

"Well, I think it's ingenious," said Ron, looking at the badges with an air of exaggerated awe. He propped his elbow onto Harry's shoulder and peered at the badge more closely. "You know, I think Malfoy might actually be qualified for a Ravenclaw."

"I don't know." Harry rubbed his chin. "It's quite lacking in glitter." He smiled at Malfoy's indignant face. "Do you have more? I bet the Hufflepuffs would appreciate it if I wore one myself."

A dumbfounded Malfoy pulled a second one out and Harry took it, still beaming. "Thanks, Malfoy."

Malfoy's mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. This clearly had not gone as planned.

At that moment, Snape arrived and the class entered the room. Snape moved to the front and began his lecture. He did a double take when he saw the POTTER STINKS badge on Harry's robes and paused. He seemed to be struggling with whether to say something or not.

But before he could make his decision, there was a knock on the door. Colin Creevey stepped inside, his beaming face faltering when he saw the badge as well.

Apparently, they were having a photoshoot for the champions. Snape let Harry go, his eyes still flicking quizzically to the badge.

As Harry followed Colin out, Colin glanced at him in confusion. "Uh, Harry, you do know what that badge says, right?"

"Potter stinks. Isn't it great?" Harry said cheerfully. "Now you know who the real champion is."

"But you... your name came out of the Goblet."