Stardust

Chapter 6

Stella sat right back in her seat, aware that every head in the Great Hall had turned to look at her. She was stunned. She felt numb. She was surely dreaming. She had not heard correctly.

There was no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry bees, was starting to fill the Hall; some students were standing up to get a better look at Stella as she sat, frozen, in her seat. She turned to her friends; beyond them, she saw the long Slytherin table all watching her, openmouthed.

At the top table, Professor Dumbledore had straightened up, "Stella Jones!" He called again, sounding angry. "Stella! Up here if you please!"

Stella got to her feet. It felt like an immensely long walk; the top table didn't seem to be getting any nearer at all, and she could feel hundreds and hundreds of eyes upon her, as though each were a searchlight. The buzzing grew louder and louder. After what seemed like an hour, she was right in front of Dumbledore, feeling the stares of all the teachers upon her.

"Well . . . through the door, Stella," said Dumbledore. He wasn't smiling.

Stella moved off along the teachers' table. Hagrid was seated right at the end. He did not wink at her, or wave, or give any of his usual signs of greeting. He looked completely astonished and stared at Stella as she passed like everyone else. She went through the door out of the Great Hall and found herself in a smaller room, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace opposite her.

Viktor Krum, Harry Potter, and Fleur Delacour were grouped around the fire. They looked strangely impressive, silhouetted against the flames. Krum, hunched-up, and brooding, was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Harry was standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when Stella walked in and threw back her sheet of long, silvery hair.

"What is it?" she said. "Do they want us back in the Hall?" She thought she had come to deliver a message. Stella immediately noticed she doesn't have an accent like the others, but shook her head to stop thinking about it. She didn't know how to explain what had just happened. She just stood there, looking at the three champions.

"Stella, are you okay?" Harry asked and took a step closer while she just stared at him, as confused as all three of them.

There was a sound of scurrying feet behind him, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He took Stella by the arm and led her forward.

"Extraordinary!" he muttered, squeezing Stella's arm. "Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen... lady," he added, approaching the fireside and addressing the other three. "May I introduce — incredible though it may seem — the fourth Triwizard champion?"

Viktor Krum straightened up. Harry looked nonplussed. He looked from Bagman to Stella and back again as though sure he must have misheard what Bagman had said. Fleur Delacour, however, tossed her hair, frowning.

The door behind them opened again, and a large group of people came in: Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape. Harry heard the buzzing of the hundreds of students on the other side of the wall, before Professor McGonagall closed the door.

"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" Madam Maxime said imperiously.

"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," said Professor Karkaroff. He was wearing a steely smile, and his blue eyes were like chips of ice. "Two Hogwarts champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions — or have I not read the rules carefully enough?" He gave a short and nasty laugh.

"C'est impossible," said Madame Maxime, whose enormous hand with its many superb opals was resting upon Fleur's shoulder. "Hogwarts cannot 'ave two champions. It is the most unjust."