Death Parts Us

Part 3~Champions

Sitting at the back of the room, Kevin watched the idiots trying to put their names in the fire. Wayne and Justin sat by his side, sitting next to Hermione and Draco.

“Eternal glory, be brilliant, wouldn’t it? In three years from now, we’ll be old enough to be chosen,” Draco rattled on, grinning in excitement.

“Yeah, well, rather you than me,” Kevin announced with a level of distaste. “This is stupidly dangerous. Has Dumbledore ever considered child protection laws?”

“Careful Kev, you’re starting to sound like a…” He paused, grinning mischievously. “ένα
Κοτόπουλο,” he finally supplied as Kevin frowned, calling upon every memory he had to do with the foreign language.

Widening his eyes, Kevin kicked Wayne’s back. “I do not.”

Their argument was cut short when the door burst open. George and Fred ran in, the crowd applauding them as they grinned. “Thank you, thank you, well lads we’ve done it,” George announced, jumping up next onto the stands.

“Cooked it up just this morning,” Fred continued.

“It’s not going to work,” Hermione drawled out, making the twins huff.

“Oh yeah? And what’s that Granger?” Fred jumped down as Hermione grumbled, clapping her book close.

“You see this?” Hermione pointed at the glowing circle. “This is an age line. Dumbledore drew it himself.”

“So?”

“So a genius like Dumbledore couldn’t possibly be fooled by something pathetically dimwitted such as an age potion.”

Draco nodded along with Hermione’s explanation as Fred and George rolled their eyes. “That’s why it’s so brilliant. It’s just so dimwitted,” George boasted as he jumped up. “Ready Fred?”

“Ready George?”

Linking their arms, they popped the cork off the potion. “Bottoms up!” Drinking together, they swallowed the potion.

“Five gallons on this failing,” Draco suggested, receiving a glare from the others, none wanting to take those odds.

Jumping inside the age line, they cheered. They took out a piece of paper each, approaching the goblet and throwing it inside. The crowd paused for a second before cheering. Fred and Geroge raised their hands in success when the fire inside the goblet burst out, hitting them in the chest.

Pushing themselves up, Fred and George stared at the grey hair on each of their heads. “You said,” George grumbled.

“You said,” Fred retorted, grabbing George. Rolling around, they tried to kill each other, failing miserably. A circle formed around them, cheering on the fight.

The room fell silent as Viktor Krum burst through the door. He walked swiftly to the goblet, putting his name inside. As he turned away, he smiled at Hermione who smiled back.

A mix of horror and shocked expressions turned to Hermione who didn’t say anything.

~~~

Hissing to Ama, Sly grinned, ignoring the new note he had gotten.

“Sly! There you are!” Roger sighed as he ran into the room, raising his eyebrow as he spotted Sly resting on the bed. “Did you forget?”

Sly blinked, turning to Roger and tilting his head. “Forget what?”

Chuckling softly, Roger rushed over, taking Sly’s arm and pulling him out of his bed. “Dumbledore is announcing the champions. We’re required to attend.” Sly reached out, grabbing Ama who grabbed the note.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot.” Sly smiled, hopping down the stairs.

Thud.

Freezing, Sly turned around, seeing Roger on the base of the stairs. “Roger! Are you okay?”

Roger chuckled, nodding as he struggled back onto his feet. “Sorry, I just missed a step.” He shook away Sly’s concerns, returning to the run. They quickly settled as Dumbledore stepped forward.

“Sit down, please. And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the champion selection!” Dumbledore turned around dramatically. He approached the goblet, lowering his hand and the flame with it until it glowed red. A name burst from the flames, floating down into Dumbledore’s hand. “The Durmstrang champion is… Viktor Krum!”

The Drumstrang crowd cheered as Viktor jumped up, walking past Dumbledore and into the champions' quarters.

Another name burst from the goblet. “The champion from Beauxbatons… Fleur Delacour!” The Beauxbaton girls cheered as Fleur stepped up, walking past Dumbledore to join Viktor. “The Hogwarts champion…” Sly held his breath- the other badgers doing the same. “Cedric Diggory!”

Letting out a relieved sigh, Sly grinned, smiling at Cedric as he passed. He hadn’t been chosen, that meant he was safe from this year’s mayhem.

“Excellent! We now have our three champions! But in the end, only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions, this vessel of victory, the Triwizard cup!” Dumble spun around, presenting off the glass cup that shined. The crowd cheered in excitement but not all people were looking at the cup.

The goblet glowed red once more, spitting out another name. Dumbledore stumbled over, dragging the piece of paper as he stared at it in confusion. “Harry Potter… Harry Potter?!”

Ducking down, Sly was not going up there.

“Harry Potter!” Dumbledore was beyond angry.

Roger glanced at Sly in confusion as Dumbledore charged down the Hufflepuff table, glaring at Sly. Grabbing Sly’s blazer, he forced him out of his seat. The note fell out of Sly’s pocket as Kevin jumped up, leaping over the table and getting between Sly and Dumbledore.

Ama hissed sharply only to be grabbed by Justin who held her back.

Dumbledore scowled, holding out the piece of paper for Kevin to take. “No. You’re wrong! Sly didn’t want to be a champion! He never went into the goblet room! It doesn’t even say his name!”

Dumbledore didn’t listen, pushing Sly forward. Sly glanced back in fear, watching Wayne physically restrain Kevin to stop him from following.

Picking up the note, Roger watched Sly being dragged out, glancing at the words scribbled inside.

‘I heard the champions were being chosen tonight. It sounds like it's going to be an eventful evening! Have fun and try to stay out of trouble.’

How ironic.