𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐃 ; d.malfoy

22

It seemed as though the entire school was excited for the Tournament to the point where no one got any sleep. The Slytherin girl dormitories were wide awake till 2AM and the same could be said for the students who were in the common room or the male dormitories.

In the morning too, everyone woke up bright and early to see all the students who would be entering--that included me and Daph too.

The both of us woke up at 7AM, got dressed and went downstairs to the great hall where the goblet was placed. On our way, we paid a visit to the boys' dormitories but found them completely stranded, informing us that they were already in the great hall.

Our intuition was correct since when we arrived there, we saw Draco and Quinn arguing in the corner, Crabbe & Goyle behind them both and Blaise reading in a corner, away from the drama.

'Morning gentlemen and Draco,' greeted Daph as she strode towards them. Her words made us all giggle while Draco simply scoffed.

'Anyone put their name in yet?' I asked, placing myself next to Blaise.
'The entire Durmstrang lot, Warrington and Diggory,' informed Blaise.

'I personally hope it's Warrington; the Hufflepuffs won't shut up about the great Diggory--the bloke's only put his name in!' complained Draco as he slithered into our conversation.

'Hey, you lot think the ferret here should put his name in? Draco, put your name in,' said Quinn as he walked towards it.

'The age limit, did you forget? Or can your muggle-born brain not comprehend the power of an age line?' said Draco.

'Oh I get it, you're just scared,' smirked Quinn.

'We've done it!' came the shouts of the Weasley twins and Lee as the ran into the great hall with unusual vials of potion in their hands. Their entrance was followed by cheers and clapping of the Gryffindors and a scoff from Blaise and Draco.

'Where's your brother?' asked Daph.
'He's 17 already and is not interested in joining, he's a humble guy,' I replied and she nodded at my response

'Thank you, thank you,' said George.
'Cooked it up this morning,' continued Fred.
'It's not going to work,' sang Hermione.

The twins and Lee all made their way to Hermione, who explained to them that Dumbledore had put an age line around the goblet and that a genius like him couldn't be fooled by it. They didn't listen and proceeded drink the potion.

The twins were the first to cross it and somehow, they succeeded. They put their names into the goblet and were given cheers and claps from every Gryffindor in the hall.

For a moment, things seemed fine until the goblet threw their entries out and they were thrown backwards by the goblet. Suddenly, their usual red hair was turned into white and they grew such large beards. They looked horrified at what had happened.

'You said--'
'You said--'

The twins threw themselves on one another and began to wrestle each other, pulling their hair, clothes and anything they could get their hands on. Everyone--including Quinn--were shouting "fight!" at the pair which encouraged them more to beat the other. 

'I told you so,' came the voice of the headmaster as he entered the great hall. 'I suggest you go to Pomfrey now as I believe she's already done tending to other students who took an ageing potion... though, I must say, none of their beards were as fine as yours.'

The great hall erupted into laughter again as the wrestling twins, accompanied by Lee were dragged out of the hall to fix themselves up.

'Woah, that would've been you if you put your name in--why didn't you put your name in?' said Quinn, referring to Draco, who simply rolled his eyes and crossed his arms at the brunette's words.

Since it was Hallowe'en, the great hall was decorated in shades of orange and purple with a few pumpkins and scary decoration here and there. The feast was delicious yet there was a sort of anticipation in the air.

The entire hall was quiet and everyone was anxiously eating the feast. Every now and then, someone would stand up and look at Dumbledore to see if he had finished eating. The entire hall was excited to see who would be the champions for the upcoming tournament.

'I hope it's Warrington or Pucey. Even pretty-boy Diggory would be better than that Johnson,' commented Draco.

Then, Dumbledore stood up. The hall held in its breath with its eyes glued to him, waiting to see his next move. The plates had cleared and Dumbledore stood up. Everyone was fidgeting and bouncing their legs, anxiously looking at the old man.

'Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision,' said Dumbledore. 'I estimate that it requires one more minute.'

That was the longest minute of our lives.

With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore dimmed out the lights by extinguishing most candles. The goblet looked more majestic in the semi-darkness.

Any second now...

The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it--the whole room gasped.Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white. 

'The champion for Durmstrang...' he read, in a strong, clear voice, 'will be Viktor Krum.'

The entire burst into claps and cheers for the seeker, all clapping and encouraging him. The loudest was the Slytherin table where the Durmstrang students resided. Draco--the certified Krum hater--had stood on his legs with a huge smile to cheer for him. Even I was clapping.

'I knew he'd get chosen!' beamed Daph.

The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames. 'The champion for Beauxbatons...'  said Dumbledore, 'is Fleur Delacour!'

An unfamiliar, dainty figure of a blonde girl walked towards the center of the hall, everyone's eyes were glued to her--including my own and I recognised her to be the girl from the previous day.

The cheer for Beauxbatons was less than expected as most students were crying. Though, Durmstrang and Hogwarts students still cheered for her nonetheless. Especially Lavigne who was standing and cheering for her from the Ravenclaw table.

Then, the entire hall was silent again, all of our eyes were stuck on the goblet once more... any more minute now and we'd know who the Hogwarts champion is...

At last, Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment. 'The Hogwarts champion...' he called, 'is Cedric Diggory!'

The Hufflepuff table roared with cheers for their seeker. Actually, the entire hall did so. My brother, Timothee, was on the verge of tears due to happiness and as Diggory made his way towards Dumbledore, he was bombarded with hugs and "congratulations" from everyone.

'Excellent!' exclaimed Dumbledore, 'we now have our three champions--...'

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to us all what had distracted him.The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment. Everyone looked at it curiously, wondering what had happened.

Dumbledore seized the parchment and read the name written on it, 'Harry Potter?'

But, there were no cheers, no clapping, not even a single person rejoiced. There was absolutely no support for Potter. Everyone was just looking at him, bewildered--wondering what he could've possibly to have surpassed Dumbledore's strong magic.

'Bloody show-off,' said Draco.

And, I agreed with him