glow. // cedric diggory

05

CHAPTER FIVE

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The first week of school had passed by in a blur. Once the students from France and Bulgaria were settled in, things were like normal.

Thursday night, the Great Hall was filled with students who were all waiting impatiently to find out who would be chosen to compete in the glorious Triwizard Tournament. Dinner was over and Ellie was sat next to Fleur Delacour, her little sister Gabrielle, who had both found a comfortable pattern at Hogwarts, as well as Flora and Frankie.

"Who d'you think it'll be?" Ellie whispered playfully to Gabrielle.

The little girl tapped her chin, before replying, "I think it'll be your boyfriend."

"My boyfriend?" Ellie asked, confused. Last she checked, she hadn't had a boyfriend since she was thirteen and tried to date Fred Weasley--not that that relationship lasted very long. She ended up deciding she was too young and that it was just funny. The two were still great friends.

"The other Hufflepuff prefect," Gabrielle said, pointing further down the table to where Cedric was sitting with some of the other Hufflepuff first years. Ellie noticed that he was making them laugh a lot, and she'd be lying if she said that didn't warm her heart. Just a bit. "Cedric, I believe his name was?"

"Yes, that's his name," Ellie muttered, not looking away just yet. "But no, he's most definitely not my boyfriend. Hey, I thought we talked about this on the first night you guys arrived."

Gabrielle shrugged. "I just know one day I'll say it and it'll be true. Then you won't have anything to say." Ellie's cheeks flushed bright red, but when she opened her mouth to say something, she was interrupted by Dumbledore.

"Sit down, please," he said loudly. Everyone who was still standing found a place to sit, looking towards the center of the room where Dumbledore was making his announcements. "Now the moment you've all been waiting for: the champion selection."

He whipped his hand over to one corner of the room, as if he was grabbing something out of thin air. Everyone's eyes followed that hand as it circled around the room slowly. They were putting out the fires in the bowls chained to the walls, making the entire Great Hall dark. The only light was from the bright, blue flames of the Goblet of Fire.

Everyone watched with bated breath as Dumbledore approached the Goblet, arm raised. All of a sudden, the light that once glowed blue turned to bright red, but only for a second. From the cup, a tiny strip of smoking paper flew out, floating into Dumbledore's hand.

"The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum!"

Ellie looked over at the Slytherin table, where most of the Durmstrang students were sitting, and saw Krum pump his fist in triumph. Everyone cheered loudly for him as he stood up and made his way to Dumbledore, taking his paper and making his way to the front of the room.

The Goblet's flames grew and turned red once more when a pretty, circular piece of periwinkle colored paper shot out from the flames. Dumbledore turned it a little bit before reading out the name.

"The champion for Beauxbatons...is Fleur Delacour!"

Ellie looked over at Fleur quickly, who had the biggest smile plastered onto her face. "Oh Merlin, Fleur that's amazing! Congratulations!" she said over the loud cheers from the Beauxbatons students. Fleur gave Ellie a close-lipped smile and stood up, going to shake Dumbledore's hand before making her way to the room Krum had gone into.

Just like the previous ones, one more name was to be pulled. Dumbledore snatched the charred parchment out of the air.

Everyone watched and waited. This would be the person representing Hogwarts. Gabrielle looked at Ellie, who smiled back at her excitedly.

One more glance down the table and Ellie saw Cedric staring down at the table hopefully. She looked back at Dumbledore just as he said the words, "The Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory!"

Cheers erupted from the whole school and Ellie's smile fell. Once more, she looked at where Cedric was sitting. He was grinning widely as he stood up from his seat. Dumbledore shook his hand and clapped him on the back before directing him towards the room with the other champions.

Ellie couldn't believe it.

All this time, she had been saying that Cedric wouldn't become the champion. Surely not. She could barely comprehend the fact that Cedric Diggory, of all people, was chosen as Hogwarts' competitor in the Triwizard Tournament.

"Excellent! We now have our three champions!" Dumbledore announced, arms spread wide. "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!"

Mr. Crouch pulled the cover off of something sitting on the teacher's table, revealing a beautiful, glowing trophy with three handles in the shape of dragons, the letters "TRI-WIZ-ARD" engraved into the facets. It was a gorgeous prize, that was for sure.

Students whistled loudly upon seeing the cup. That's when Professor Snape began to make his way down the stairs, head tilted, eyes narrowed. Dumbledore must have noticed his confused--or rather, concerned expression. When he turned around, he saw the flames of the Goblet rising high. Blue, like normal, but much higher.

Tendrils of flames circled and twirled around the Goblet of Fire before finally burning bright red, as if to announced another champion. Into the sky, the Goblet spit out a piece of parchment.

"This isn't possible," Flora, who was sitting across from Ellie, muttered.

"It's the Triwizard Tournament for a reason," Frankie agreed. "Right?" She seemed unsure of her own statement. But it was true, there was only supposed to be three champions selected, but now a fourth was being announced.

Dumbledore mumbled something inaudible, before finally shouting it. "Harry Potter?"

The students gasped, all looking in the direction of where Harry Potter and his friends were sitting. The boy looked like he was trying to shrink away and hide from the attention.

"He's not even seventeen," Flora muttered incredulously. "He could get killed!"

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore yelled. The Great Hall fell silent as everyone waited for Harry to stand up and meet Dumbledore in the center of the room.

Dumbledore handed him his paper and the two exchanged a look that could only be understood by them. The message of it was clear to anyone, though: Harry Potter did not put his name into the Goblet of Fire.

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AUTHOR'S CORNER

I hate this chapter to be honest, but I had nothing else to write about. This was a filler that also kind of announced some important information. I just wanted to get something out there. Anyways, hopefully you enjoyed it!