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"WE COULD ENTER TOGETHER."
Magnolia boarded the Hogwarts express with Luna and Hugo behind her. She still had the cut on her eyebrow, and her lip was scabbed over, but she was fine. Hugo had apologized to her a million times, even though she assured him she didn't blame him.
"Mango, would you mind if I sat with Ginny Weasley? She's been very kind to me." Luna asked her sister.
"Of course, Lu. You know who I'll be with." Magnolia smiled, and Luna hugged her, dashing to find her friend. Magnolia and Hugo joined Gwen and Bea in a compartment near the one the held the prefects. The two were immediately engulfed in hugs.
"I saw what happened. I was so worried!" Gwen said, holding onto her friend. Bea hugged Hugo, and then they switched. They sat down, knowing their friends wanted to know exactly what had happened.
"It was horrible. One minute people were cheering over Ireland's win, and then the next; chaos. Maggie's father, and Luna took off in one direction, and Maggie and I took off in another. We were pushing through hundreds of people, and I lost grip of her hand..."
"You what?" Gwen asked. She wasn't meaning to be rude, but she'd made it very clear that the Lovegood girl was to always be protected.
"It's okay, Gwenny. Cedric saved me. His hands were soft." While Gwen looked at her with wide eyes, Bea spoke up with an eyebrow raised.
"Cedric Diggory? The prefect?" Magnolia nodded.
"He sat with my while I waited for my family. He told me that he thought I was lovely. He's such a kind boy." Magnolia said, oblivious.
"Cedric fancies you?" Gwen asked, and Magnolia furrowed her eyebrows. "So you say he has soft hands, and that he called you 'lovely', but nothing is going on?" She continued. Magnolia simply nodded. It wasn't long before the compartment was full of laughter. Magnolia didn't quite understand why they were laughing, but she joined them.
"One a serious note, this means his followers have no fear of going in public anymore." Bea frowned. The four friends looked at each other, worried about the recent attack. There was a knock on the glass, and they looked up to see Cedric, and a boy that was in Gryffindor. They opened up the compartment door, and Magnolia smiled.
"Hello, Cedric."
"Hi, Maggie. I was sent here to remind Gwen that she's Head Girl this year, and they want her to sit with the prefects." Cedric said warmly.
"Merlin's beard, I forgot about that." Gwen said, grabbing her things. "Thanks, Diggory. And...who are you?" Gwen asked the Gryffindor.
"Elliot Dendron. Head Boy. I've been mates with Cedric since we were young." Elliot said. Magnolia had seen Elliot before, but had never spoken to him. He seemed to be kind, albeit a little cocky. It was true, though, he was Cedric's best friend. They were hardly ever apart — just like Magnolia and Hugo.
"I'd do him." Hugo whispered in Magnolia's ear, causing her to giggle. Cedric smiled at the sound of her laugh, thinking it sounded heavenly. Elliot looked at him with a smirk on his face.
"Right, we should be going."
***
Magnolia sat happily at the Hufflepuff table, eating pudding. Hugo, per usual sat next to her. He was going on and on about a Ravenclaw boy named Liam he thought was handsome.
"I don't know if he'd fancy me." Hugo frowned slightly. Magnolia looked at her friend.
"I think you're very handsome, and you are very kind. If he doesn't see that, he's got wrackspurts blurring his vision. You know, they make your brain go fuzzy." She told him. Hugo smiled, and hugged his friend.
"May I sit here?" Magnolia looked up to see Cedric.
"No, my imaginary friend, Azure is sitting there." Magnolia joked. Cedric went to sit down, but Zacharias Smith rolled his eyes.
"Be careful, Diggory. She's probably not joking." Cedric narrowed his eyes at the boy, and then looked towards Magnolia.
"It was a joke, you know. People can't seem to differentiate when I do that. I prefer real people. Oh, and trees!" Magnolia said as Cedric sat down.
"You know, we have a beautiful Wisteria tree in our lawn at home. You should see it, someday." Cedric told her. Magnolia smiled, her eyes lighting up.
"Oh, I'd love to!"
When Dumbledore announced there would be no Quidditch that year, people were enraged — except Bea, who was reading a book happily. However, their excitement grew when the Headmaster told them of what was taking place that year.
The Triwizard Tournament.
Dumbledore mentioned something about eternal glory. This appealed to Magnolia. Maybe if she could win a tournament like this, people wouldn't think she was weird — maybe her dad would be just as proud of her as he was of Luna. Maybe she could honor her mother.
"I'm going to enter." Cedric told her. There was a look of determination on Magnolia's face.
"Me, too."
She expected him to tell her it wasn't a good idea, that she should save herself from the embarrassment— but he encouraged it.
"We could enter together. Help each other if one of us gets picked." Cedric told her. Magnolia nodded.
"I'd like that very much."
She wasn't sure how here friends would feel. Hugo would probably be supportive, though a little nervous. Bea would most likely be scared for her, as she'd read about these tournaments before. People had died. Surely it wasn't safe for a seventeen year old. Gwen would be positively against it. When Magnolia had opened up about losing her mother when she was young, Gwen practically stepped up in Pandora's place. Like a protective older sister. Magnolia knew that she could assure the Slytherin she would be fine, and probably not get picked anyway. It wasn't like Gwen forbid Magnolia to live her life; she just worried about her. She would never admit it, but she was just as protective over Hugo and Bea, too. But she would never let other students see her soft side.
Magnolia smiled, thinking of all the possibilities this tournament could bring.
