Epeolatry - ✔️

Five

"Being brave isn't the absence of fear. Being brave is having that fear but finding a way through it."
- Bear Grylls

There was all sorts of hustle and bustle around the castle when Rita Skeeter and her niece apparated outside of Hogwarts. Lines of people were headed in the direction of the mighty mountains surrounding parts of the school. Hogwarts' grounds were decorated with different colored banners to represent each of the schools. The students who were pushing their way to the stands were dressed in bright yellows, reds, and blues. Excitement bubbled through the crowds and it rubbed off on the group of reporters.

Athene couldn't help but wonder as to what the first task was, but she didn't have long to ponder. Rita Skeeter had decided that it would be best not to inform the champions of their arrival and give them a little surprise. But Athene couldn't seem to see where the shock would come from; her aunt was always noticeable anywhere that she went.

"Daniel," Rita motioned for her cameraman to come forward, "I think we're going to catch something exciting here." The trio stood outside of a large tent not far from the arena. It was quite lavish, though Athene was sure that didn't help calm the competitors' nerves. Rita had her head stuck between the folds of the tent and raised her hand as a signal.

With a bright flash, Daniel pushed into the tent along with Rita and snapped a picture of the tents' innards. Athene wasn't far behind, though she missed what had caused all of Rita's excitement. "Young love!"

Rita gripped Athene's coat and dragged her forward through the tent towards Harry Potter and a girl that she had never met. The two were standing side by side, and Athene couldn't miss the nasty snarl that the girl dressed in a grey trench coat sent the group of reporters.

"How," Rita contemplated her next words as though she didn't know what she was going to say, "stirring." The two children obviously weren't in love, and they certainly weren't the happiest of people now that Rita had joined the group. In fact, every competitor had a look of disdain on their faces at the sight of the woman and the green quill that followed her.

"Depending on how things go today," Rita ignored the distinct looks of anger that the two were giving her, "You two might just make the front page."

"Rita," Athene stepped between her aunt and the two children now behind her, "I don't think this is appropriate."

"You have no business here," the commanding voice of Viktor Krum rumbled around the tent, "This stand is for champions and friends." Rita Skeeter, for once in her life, was speechless. She gawked at the angry-looking champion, and Athene could almost swear that she saw a bit of fear in her eyes.

"Well," Rita shuffled her weight from foot to foot, "No matter, we've got what we wanted."

The words were sickening to Athene's stomach. She had always known that Rita was a gossip and twisted things out of proportion, but she hadn't seen the side of her aunt that was a lying, cheating beetle that couldn't bother to report the truth.

"Athene, Daniel," Rita turned her back to the champions and their friend while Daniel took another picture, "Let's go."

Athene smiled at the group and whispered an apology before trudging off after her aunt, who didn't leave the tent as Viktor had implied. Instead, the trio stood at the edge of the canvas so that they could see what was going on.

Headmaster Dumbledore and Barty Crouch filed into the tent. Athene hadn't worked much with the Ministry as she had preferred to stay in her little shop, but she had dealt with with Barty Crouch before. He was a small man who always looked nervous and that is just how he was that day. He shuffled much too often to be reasonable, and he had a grimace on his face instead of the cheesy smile that most Ministry officials had.