Word traveled fast throughout the castle when it came to learning about who Pierce's parents were. While many were not surprised by learning that his father was Sherlock Holmes, they were certainly disturbed to learn who his mother was. Rita Skeeter had her fan base, that was certain, but there were many people who knew that the majority of the articles she had written contained falsified information that Rita threw together in order to create a more intriguing story. People avoided him like the plague, looking at him as if he were scum, mostly the boys of the school with some of the girls. Other girls seemed to be interest in the fact that he was Sherlock's son, however, if they mentioned it to him, he would simply walk away from them without another word.

Julius, of course, was his biggest support. Even to learn about his friend's parents, especially his mother, it came as a shock, but he wasn't about to abandon Pierce's side. Pierce already had enough going on without needing anymore drama. Hogwarts was becoming divided and brutal. Many supported Cedric as their main champion because he was selected first and of age. Harry had the majority of Gryffindor as his support, with the exception of few that believed his was an attention-seeker. Students had even gone so far to create badges that contained "Potter Stinks!" However, Pierce didn't find himself facing the same scrutiny, and he believed it was due to the fact that people were probably scared to do anything nasty to him, in fear of how his parents would retaliate.

"If only people knew they wouldn't." Pierce muttered to himself, one evening in the dorms. He rested against the wall near his bed as Julius sat in a chair before him.

Rita's article was enough to make Pierce sick to his stomach. The way Rita had put Harry under fire, claiming he was just a frightened boy who cried himself to sleep over the loss of his parents, and also had a romantic relationship with Hermione Granger.

That was enough to get Pierce's blood to boil.

But what sent him over the edge completely was the article of Rita claiming how proud she was of Pierce and how happy Pierce's family was that he was in the tournament.

"Stop looking at the article, Pierce." Julius sighed standing up and snatching the paper from Pierce. "You're only going to drive yourself mental. Right now, we need to figure out what the first task is, so you can be somewhat prepared. You only have a few days left."

"Don't remind me." Pierce said banging the back of his head against the wall.

"Pierce-"

"I'm thinking."

Julius frowned and allowed Pierce to continue banging his head against the wall as he lost himself in thought.

He definitely understood now why Pierce hated his parents so much. He didn't need to meet Rita to know that the woman was horrible. But when he met Sherlock, Julius was surprised to see how much Pierce was actually like his father. The way the two carried a conversation among each other, Julius needed to pull out a dictionary half the time.  However, Julius found Sherlock's lack of sympathy for his son rather disturbing. In fact, Sherlock seemed to lack a lot of emotion when it came to discussing matters. He only seemed to grow irritated if someone interrupted him while he was talking or thinking and he only became excited if he thought of something.

But even Sherlock seemed to be in a foul mood most days with his brother, Mycroft, added into the mix thanks to Pierce's letter to his uncle.

Mycroft wasn't much better than Sherlock, while he seemed almost as smart if not smarter than the man, he also came across as really creepy.

The only person Julius liked out of the adults was John. He seemed to be the only normal one who would offer words of support and encouragement to Pierce and Pierce really only seemed comfortable talking to the man.

Julius was glad that at least John was there to help because everyone else appeared to be making matters worse.

After the release of the slanderous article about Harry which included Hermione, Pierce didn't hear or see much from Hermione. She seemed to keep her distance from him, even during classes they shared together. She wouldn't sit by him and if she did, she would keep her focus elsewhere. He couldn't blame her though, what his mother had written was obviously untrue but there were still idiots that believed it.

He felt terrible but there wasn't much he could do. He knew he could apologize, but it wasn't actually him who wrote the article, so his apology wouldn't mean anything to her. And he certainly couldn't get Rita to apologize for anything.

He was hoping he could cheer her up in some way, he didn't like the way a frown looked on her. He thought her smile was much prettier and suited her best.

Nearing the end of Arithmancy, Professor Vector gave them some busy work to complete and once they were finished they would be able to leave the classroom. Pierce finished quickly knowing that he had to find John and speak with him to see if he and his father had gathered any information pertaining to the first task.

He presented his work but before leaving the classroom, he stopped in front of where Hermione sat. She looked up at him in confusion before he set a bag down before her.

"I'm sure I've already lost my membership to S.P.E.W." he said. "But here's my membership fee and any late fees."

He offered her a small smile before it faded and he left the classroom without another word.

Once he made it outside the castle, Pierce found John waiting for him in the courtyard and judging by the man's expression, he was sure the news wasn't good.

"Well,how bad is it?" Pierce asked tucking his hands into his pockets as the chilly November air chilled his body through his robes.

John scratched the back of his head.

 "You might want to sit down for this one." John said offering a spot next to him on the wall.

Pierce walked over and sat down.

"Your father discovered it, this morning. How? I'm not going to even try to understand, I stopped doing that a long time ago. But anyways..your first task is..."

Pierce frowned as John rubbed his face, trying to clear away his stress.

"It's what, John?"

"Dragons."