The room seems rather small, to be honest. Ludo Bagman sits on a table, talking to a witch in a purple cloak, which, to my dislike, I recognise as the worst writer from The Prophet; Rita Skeeter. When I say the worst, I'm not saying she's a bad writer, definitely not. She, somehow, captivates the attention of people, but in a bad way; with lies and exaggerations that she makes up.
Krum stands in a corner, looking as gloomy as always, with his arms crossed and eyes boringly fixed on the floor.
Fleur stands in another corner, never losing her perfect posture or her angelic look. Until she looks in our direction; her face suddenly lights up as her eyes land on Cedric. She makes her way to him and starts a conversation, which I don't pay attention to, since I'm too distracted.
There's another man in the room. He holds a camera in his hands, so I'm assuming he's the one who will be taking pictures of us.
"Oh, you've arrived!" Bagman exclaims, noticing our presence. "We'll just have to wait for the other judges so the Wand Weighing Ceremony can begin. We have to make sure your wands are working well, since they will be your most important weapon in the Tournament" he adds, seeing our confused faces. "This is Rita Skeeter, by the way. She will be writing an article about the Tournament"
She waves at us, a noticeably fake smile forming on her lips. Curly light blonde locks adorn her heavy face and jewel-decorated glasses rest on her nose. Her hands, with five-centimetre-long red nails, grasp a crocodile-skin purse.
"Perhaps I could talk to Jupiter for a second?" she asks, and I nod reluctantly before she leads me to the quietest of corners in the room, where a broom closet is located.
"Go on, get inside" she tells me, and we enter the dark closet, sitting on top of boxes or upside-down-buckets or whatever; I can't see anything, so I have no idea what kind of objects lay scattered around the closet.
"I hope you don't mind me using a Quick-Quotes Quill?" she asks, lighting some candles that she took out of her purse, "It's just as if we are having a normal conversation, only the Quill will be registering everything"
I nod, not really sure of what a 'Quick-Quotes Quill' is.
Then she takes the said quill out of her purse, a long, acid-green quill, and a roll of parchment. The quill seems to come to life as Rita says, "Test? I'm Rita Skeeter of The Daily Prophet". It starts scribbling in the parchment: 'The attractive blonde Rita Skeeter, forty-three years old, whose mighty quill has achieved many prizes...'
"Fantastic" Rita whispers, "So, Jupiter... what made you want to take young Harry's place in the Tournament? Was it a simple act of bravery and sacrifice or were you hoping to draw the attention of people?"
"I just thought Harry couldn't make it by himself, so, since I'm not very fond of letting people get killed, I went in for him" I answer, looking around to avoid her intimidating eyes.
"After all, your past seems too painful; are you trying to draw the love and adoration of the public that you didn't receive at home?" she insists, her quill violently writing something down.
"I already said that I'm not doing it for fame" I reply, already starting to get annoyed at her.
'Jupiter Black, daughter of the ex-murderer Sirius Black, takes Harry Potter's place in the Triwizard Tournament; for kindness? Or for fame?'
"What's your proble-" I begin.
"Just ignore the quill, dear" she interrupts. "How do you feel about the tasks awaiting you? Nervous? Worried? Or does the... wave of braveness that made you switch places with Potter still numbs you of all types of fear?"
YOU ARE READING
A World Fading To Black - BOOK 2
FanficNow that her father is free and her family is reunited, most of her problems seem to be solved. Key word: 'most'. When problems disappear, new ones take their place. She'll start a new year at Hogwarts, with new mysteries, new dangers, new problems...
