Cerise Diggory didn't like annoying people, which is why she tried to avoid the Weasley twins as much as possible, but that seemed nearly impossible with George being made her Divinations partner.
[ cerise aurelia diggory x george fabian weasley ]
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AS EVERYONE HEADED INTO THE GREAT HALL, Cerise was close to sneaking off. She really wanted her cake. However, Fred and George told her that they're putting desserts out for everyone in the Great Hall after some more food, so Cerise decided to go there — She'll have her birthday cake afterwards.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and — most particularly — guests," said Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."
"Can we just cut to the desserts?" Cerise muttered, frowning. "This birthday has been shit — I need my cake to cheer me up."
Loralei laid her head on Cerise's shoulder, grabbing her hand and giving it a small squeeze, as she watched Fred and George sneak back into the Great Hall. Cerise didn't notice.
"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"
The plates in front of them filled with food as usual. There was a greater variety of dishes in front of them; Some of the dishes were definitely foreign — Cerise gagged when she saw a snail.
When the second course arrived they noticed a number of unfamiliar desserts too. Cerise didn't pay attention them, though, as she noticed a huge birthday cake sat in front of her with the words HAPPY BIRTHDAY CERISE written on it.
Loralei caught the twins watching Cerise, and she just knew it was their doing. She mouthed a small 'thank you' in their direction; That birthday cake cheered Cerise up instantly, and Loralei was beyond grateful that the Weasley twins still cared about her best friend.
Cerise dug right into the cake. She cut a lot of slices; She gave a slice to Hannah, Susan, and Loralei. She floated a slice down to Cedric, purposely not giving any to Cho (who, for some reason, had sat herself with the Hufflepuff's again).
She wrapped seven slices of cake up, and placed them to the side. Loralei eyed her in confusion, but didn't say anything — She knew exactly what Cerise was doing with the slices.
Once all the plates had been wiped clean, Loralei had laughed at the chocolate that covered Cerise's face. The Hufflepuff boy in fourth year, however, was disgusted. "Are you sure you're a girl?" He asked, "They're supposed to be clean, and —"
Cerise looked over at him, "I bet you'd love to check to see if I was a girl, wouldn't you?" She retorted, "I'm not deaf — I heard your comments the other day."
Loralei was beyond confused. Comments? What comments?
The fourteen year old's face went bright red. Cerise narrowed her eyes, "Y'know, it's boys like you that put me off dating completely."
Loralei could only guess what comments the boy had made, and as much as she wished she was wrong, she had a feeling she was right.
"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."
There was a much louder round of applause for Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because of his fame as a Beater, or simply because he looked so much more likable.
Cerise didn't clap for either, she was too busy glaring at the fourteen year old boy.
"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."
At the mention of the word "champions," the attentiveness of the listening students seemed to sharpen. Perhaps Dumbledore had noticed their sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."
Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall (like usual), now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels.
It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students. Even Cerise was interested in what this was.
"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways. . . their magical prowess — their daring — their powers of deduction — and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."
Danger? Cerise thought, With Harry Potter around, she wasn't even surprised.
"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."
Dumbledore took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. Once the lid creaked open, Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames.
Cerise was mesmerised by the cup. The way the blue-white flames danced along the brim was beyond beautiful.
Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.
"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete."
Cerise saw Cedric sit himself up straighter.
"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line. Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."
Once everyone had started leaving the Great Hall, Cerise turned to Loralei. "Can you give these slices of cake to tweedle-dee, tweedle-dum, Lee, Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Harry?" Seeing Loralei's surprised look, she pursed her lips, "I know it was the twins that done this — more specifically G. . . Anyway, the taste of Cherry gave it away."
