Harry never thought too highly of people he did not know well. Even when he had first arrived at Hogwarts, he had maintained a certain suspicion of Dumbledore.
As for Madame Maxime and Karkaroff, Harry assumed that they would certainly tell the students from their own schools what they had seen of the Fire Dragons.
That meant at least three of the seven schools already knew about the task in advance. Although that seemed rather unfair to the remaining three schools, the world had never been fair to begin with, had it?
Early the next morning, Harry and Ron got up earlier than ever before and ran to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office before breakfast. They were going to see Professor Lupin.
Professor Lupin always seemed to know how to deal with all sorts of Dark creatures, or at least that was how he came across in class. After confirming that the First Task involved Fire Dragons, Harry and Ron had decided the previous night to consult him first thing in the morning.
Professor Lupin had arrived at the office early and appeared to be preparing his lessons. He was always like that.
To Harry and Ron's surprise, Professor Moody was there too.
"Aha, look who's here." Moody burst out laughing when he saw Harry and Ron peering around the doorway. His smile was not at all attractive. "If it isn't Hogwarts' two Champions! Well, is there something about the task you need our help with? Go ahead and ask. Don't be shy."
Professor Lupin also watched them with a smile. Although he said nothing, he clearly shared Professor Moody's thoughts. This month's full moon was still a long way off, and Professor Lupin looked very well.
In fact, even during the days around last month's full moon,