From a Cradle to a Grave

Chapter 14

Hope's Pov

Shock courses through my veins as all eyes turn towards me.

'I can't have heard that right,' I think to myself. 'This has got to be some kind of sick mistake.'

"I didn't put my name in," I murmur. "You know I didn't." I turn to Draco, to Pansy, even to Blaise. 

But they all just stare back with blank expressions on their faces.

"Hope Weasley!" Dumbledore calls again. "Hope! Up here, if you please!"

I don't move. I'm too much in shock to move.

Mutters of dissent begin to ripple throughout the crowd, and I can tell that everyone is getting impatient with me.

"Hope," Draco mutters. He stands up, and pulls me up to my feet. He pushes me forward, and after that, my feet begin to move of their own accord.

"Well... Through the door, Hope," Dumbledore says.

He's not smiling.

I go through the door and out of the Great Hall. I find myself in a smaller room, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A roaring fireplace has been positioned in the wall across from me.

Krum, Diggory, and Delacour are all standing around the fire. They turn to stare at me.

"What is it?" Delacour asks. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"

I don't answer her. Instead, I sit down on a nearby chair and wait for this nightmare to just be over.

The door bursts open, and Ludo Bagman comes waltzing inside.

"Extraordinary! Absolutely extraordinary!" he says to me. "Gentlemen... Lady," he nods to the three champions, "May I introduce- incredible though it may seem- the fourth Triwizard champion?"

"Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman," Delacour says almost immediately.

"Joke?" Bagman says. "No, no, not at all! Hope's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!"

Three seconds of silence pass by.

"But evidently zair 'as been a mistake. She cannot compete, she is too young," Delacour points to me.

"Well, it is amazing," Bagman smiles. "But, as you know, the age restriction was only imposed this year as an extra safety measure."

He babbles on about rules and obligations, which are all jumbled up words to me, that fly into one ear and flow out the other.

The door behind us opens again, and this time, a much larger group of people come rushing inside. Professor Dumbledore, Mr Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Professor Mikaelson, and Professor Vaughan.

"Madame Maxime!" Delacour shouts. "Zey are saying zat zis little girl is to compete also!"

Whatever anger that this Beauxbatons girl is feeling right now is nothing compared to the panic that is growing inside of me.

I can't compete in the Triwizard Tournament! I'm a nobody!

"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" Madame Maxime says.

"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," Professor Karkaroff snarls. "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?"

"C'est impossible. 'Ogwarts cannot 'ave two champions. It is most unjust."

"We were under the impression that your Age Line would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore. Otherwise, we would, of course, have brought along a wider selection of candidates from our own-"