Preparing in Earnest

"What happened? What did he say?"

Harry let out a huge yawn. Eli could still see the dark circles under his eyes.

They walked down the corridor, then ducked into a quieter spot near a corner.

Harry glanced around and whispered, "He told us to watch out for Karkaroff..."

"Karkaroff? Why?"

Harry looked around again, visibly nervous. "He used to be a Death Eater... and he might still be one! Sirius Black wants us to watch out for him. He could be up to no good."

Eli nodded. Karkaroff had indeed been a Death Eater, and a particularly spineless one at that.

Harry never mentioned Krum. Sirius Black had brought up Karkaroff's student, Krum, in the early hours of the morning.

But Harry idolized Krum, so he had naturally overlooked that part.

"Anything else? Is he coming?"

"Of course. He said he'd definitely be there." For the first time in days, excitement appeared on Harry's face.

Eli patted Harry on the shoulder. "See? That's even less reason to worry. Even if no one else comes to help, Sirius Black will charge in, won't he?"

"He might give that stupid dragon a good punch." Harry grinned. The shadow of the tournament still hung over him, but at least he had something to be happy about.

"He said there's a simple spell that can deal with a dragon."

"What spell?"

Harry's face fell. "He hadn't told me yet when someone showed up."

Sirius Black's name had been cleared, but there were still people in the Ministry of Magic who refused to leave him alone.

Sirius Black had already noticed that someone was watching him.

He couldn't be sure whether Voldemort was involved, so he had been careful. He had even told Harry and Eli to stop sending letters with Hedwig and Chevrolet.