The Purest Kind of Magic

- thirty two -

Everyone watched as the Goblet of Fire flared red. Dumbledore almost looked just as anxious as everybody else. Sparks started flying out from the goblet.

Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air and a charred piece of parchment fluttered out. Dumbledore caught it and held it at arm's length.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read loudly, "will be Viktor Krum." A storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall.

Krum rose from our table and slouched up towards Dumbledore and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.

The Hall quieted down and everyone's attention was on the goblet that was turning red again. A second piece of parchment shot out.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!" She gracefully got to her feet and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. I looked over at my former schoolmates and saw two of the unselected girls crying.

The Hall quieted down again after Delacour also vanished into the side chamber. Well, the Hall was silenced. The next champion would be Hogwarts.

The goblet turned red again and another piece of charred parchment fell out again.

"The Hogwarts champion," Dumbledore yelled, "is Cedric Diggory!"

"A Hufflepuff," Draco huffed with a frown, "That goblet is a joke."

The Slytherin table clapped and cheered less loudly compared to the other tables, especially Hufflepuff.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily after the cheering and clapping died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real—"

He suddenly stopped speaking as the fire in the goblet turned red again. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and another piece of parchment fell out.

Dumbledore seized the parchment and stared at the name on it for a long, long time. It seemed like forever before he cleared his throat.

"Harry Potter."

"What?!" I almosted shouted as I turned my head to look at Harry, who was frozen in his seat. I wasn't the only one that turned to look at him, everyone in the entire Great Hall did.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

Harry got to his feet and stumbled his whole way to Dumbledore.

"Well... through the door, Harry," said Dumbledore with a stern face. Harry did as he was told. I couldn't stop staring.

What the fuck.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around. "Your dear cousin didn't tell you that he put his name into the goblet?" Draco whispered.

"No! And I thought we were on decent terms with each other after summer!"

"Potter's getting more and more ridiculous," Draco shook his head and he gave me a quick pat on my back.

--

I didn't wake up until I felt breathing against the back of my neck. I groaned and tried to move but realized someone's arm was around my waist. My eyes shot open.

"Who the f..." I mumbled as I tried to turn around with a frown. My frown disappeared as soon as I saw Draco's blond hair. He seemed asleep so I just turned back around and waited for him to naturally wake up.