"So Dumbledore... he's really set on sending me to compete, huh?"
Once he thought it through and understood the reason, Avada could not help but smile bitterly.
"He put the Trace back onto the wand after I worked so hard to get rid of it—is he afraid something will go wrong when they inspect the wands?"
"I was originally planning to modify this wand a little and turn it into a low-grade Elder Wand... I'll wait until after the tournament. No point scaring Ollivander."
Muttering to himself as he did so, he grabbed the few bottles of potion that had somehow appeared on the table beside him and gulped them down in great mouthfuls. Immediately, he felt noticeably better. Only then did he barely manage to sit up and start unpacking everything his friends had sent over while he was unconscious...
"The Triwizard Tournament Chronicle?!"
The very first thing he saw after opening the package made Avada jump.
"Who sent this... Baron?!"
"He knows about the Triwizard Tournament too? Oh, right. His father is one of the people behind Leach University, so of course he'd know... But why send this to me? Does he also think there's a strong chance I'll be chosen as a champion?"
"Next... a box of chocolate cookies? Nice, I like these... Also from Baron?"
"Looks like sending that book was probably old Shafik's idea?"
Nodding in understanding, he continued rummaging through the parcel.
"A premium Invigoration Draught... from Cedric? Come to think of it, in the future I saw, he still seemed to be the champion... No, wait. If the premise has changed and the Goblet no longer has an age restriction... then could the person standing with the other two champions actually be me?!"
"That might explain why I seemed to disappear after the Goblet of Fire appeared—maybe I only disappeared from the audience because I went off to compete as a champion?"
"Then again, hard to say. Cedric and I aren't that different in build, and with how blurry those visions were, it was hard to tell them apart... I'll keep that possibility in mind."
"And this... Parseltongue Dictionary, First Edition?!"
"From Harry?!"
Avada twitched again.
"So Professor Kettleburn and Harry really did make this thing? Which means the basilisk breeding project has taken another big step forward? That's definitely good news. But if I remember right, Leach University also had a hand in that project behind the scenes... So the university really is everywhere in almost every high-level academic project?"
"I should probably keep an eye on that later too. Wouldn't want the university to accidentally go down the wrong road and sprint headlong toward becoming some kind of academic oligarchy..."
With all kinds of random thoughts swirling through his head, Avada kept unpacking the parcel, reading through the various gifts and notes.
To him, it felt as though he had only been separated from them a few days ago. But from their perspective, a full four months had passed. And even through the lines of the notes, he could clearly feel their worry and well-wishes for this "unlucky bastard" who had suddenly fallen unconscious for no reason, and whose chances of ever waking up again had once seemed uncertain...
"I should write back to a few of them."
He adjusted his sitting posture with effort so he could reach the stack of parchment and quills at the edge of the bed.
"I should let them know I'm okay in advance, so I don't scare them half to death at the start of term... Though come to think of it, can Harry even still receive owl post right now?"
"Uh, damn it, I don't think I can control my hand properly..."
"This handwriting is awful. Start over, start over!"
"..."
For an ordinary person, even going four months without writing would make them feel noticeably rusty when they first picked up a pen again.
As for him, he had been outright paralyzed for over four months. Even his arms were visibly thinner than before he collapsed. And he was trying to write while sitting up in bed.
The final results could only be described as disastrous.
...
"Hey, long time no see, Ced—how was your holiday?"
"Fantastic! By the way, did you go to the Quidditch World Cup this year? I don't think I saw you anywhere in the campsite..."
"Oh, my uncle took me. He's a die-hard Bulgaria supporter, so I got dragged straight into their fans' section—and we were right in the front row!"
"Front row? Lucky bastard... Wait, doesn't that mean when Ludo Bagman and Viktor Krum got into that argument, they were basically right next to you?"
"Of course! I'm telling you, my uncle was practically exploding. He almost started throwing eggs at Bagman... I've got no idea what was wrong with him! There was obviously nothing wrong with Krum's move!"
"When Krum finally caught the Snitch, Bagman's face must've gone green, huh?"
"Not that bad, since Ireland still won in the end..."
Time quickly reached August 31st. The Hogwarts Express was lying quietly on the tracks inside the platform, and even the usual thick steam had not yet begun to rise. It was still quite a while before departure, and there were not many students boarding this early.
Outside the prefects' compartment, Cedric Diggory was chatting idly with an acquaintance. Only when they caught sight of someone else apparently about to come in did they realize they were blocking the way.
"I'll get going, then. We'll talk in the common room."
"Mm, see you at school."
Cedric nodded, watching his friend head farther down into the train. Then he turned toward the figure who seemed to be walking straight for the prefects' compartment. And when he saw the face clearly, he paused.
"Baron?"
"You made prefect too?"
"Long time no see, Cedric."
After greeting him, Baron took the prefect badge he had received over the summer out of his pocket and gave it a little shake.
"To be honest, I'm not surprised."
Cedric smiled amiably, then opened the compartment door and invited Baron inside.
"Oh, right—did you get a letter from Ken?"
"Yeah, I got one a few days ago."
At the mention of that, Baron also let out a deeply relieved expression.
"Unbelievable... He was really unconscious for more than four months, and only woke up when summer vacation was almost over."
"But the good news is, he doesn't need to worry that this accident will affect his O.W.L.s."
Cedric made a small joke.
"Everyone knows that even if he skipped school for the whole year, nothing would stop him from getting all Os anyway..."
"That's true."
Baron nodded in full agreement, then showed a puzzled look.
"But the handwriting in the letter he sent me was kind of strange. It felt like he could barely hold the pen... There shouldn't still be something wrong with him, right?"
"We'll know once we get to school... Though speaking of that, did he mention in your letter whether he became a prefect? No matter how you look at it, the Hufflepuff prefect badge should've had his name on it too. But in the letter he sent me, he didn't mention prefect business at all..."
"No, not in mine either. Looks like when it came time to choose the new prefects, Professor Dumbledore wasn't sure when he'd wake up... Oh, Percy, Penelope, long time no see."[1]
"Long time no see... Did you two go watch the Quidditch World Cup in person?"
As time passed, more and more students gradually filled the station, and the Hogwarts Express once again began to billow thick white steam...
(End of Chapter)
[1] weird, they should be out already, but maybe because of dumbledore experiment's they are at hogwarts