TRUST ME ── Harry Potter

( 067, beauxbatons and durmstrang )

( CHAPTER SIXTYSEVEN, "And now our friends from the north, please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and the high master Igor Karkaroff. )

THE FOLLOWING DAYS LEADING UP to their new year at Hogwarts, the Smith children had done nothing. Molly and Arthur didn't mind, they knew they were grieving. But now, Cassie was walking through the Hogwarts Express, looking for four familiar faces.

It didn't take long to spot Susan Bones' bright orange hair.

Cassie hurried in her direction, "Thank Merlin for your hair." She said to Susan, entering the compartment after her. "I would've been lost."

Susan chuckled, shaking her head. Dahlia, however, was anxiously biting her lips. "Are you okay?" She asked Cassie. "I heard what happened."

"What happened?" Megan asked Susan and Hannah quietly. Both girls replied with a shrug. The Quidditch World Cup was a disaster, but they weren't too sure what actually happened once Cassie separated from them.

Cassie shrugged her shoulders in Dahlia's direction. "I've been better." She mumbled quietly. Dahlia reached over and grabbed Cassie's hand, making the blonde give her a tight-lipped smile.

The train began to move, and Cassie shifted in her seat. She turned to look at Susan, Hannah and Megan — all three had curiosity filling their eyes.

"My mum..." Cassie trailed off, shaking her head.

Megan understood straight away, immediately moving to sit next to her and grabbing her other hand. It took Susan and Hannah a bit longer to figure out exactly what Cassie meant, but when they did, they gave Cassie sympathetic glances. 

"I could've stopped it, Y'know," Cassie whispered, shaking her head. "I knew it was going to happen, I saw it..."

THE TRAIN RIDE WAS FILLED WITH the girls trying to get Cassie to laugh. Nothing worked much, unfortunately. The Great Hall, like usual, had four long tables, and one staff table. Cassie was sitting in between Cedric and Hannah, her chin resting on the palm of her hand as she tiredly looked up at Professor Dumbledore, who was ready to start his speech.

The sorting had already happened, and Beckett was placed into Hufflepuff. He was sitting at the end of the table, talking to a few other first years.

"I'd like to make an announcement. This castle will not only be your home this year but home to some very special guests as well. You see Hogwarts has been chosen..."

Interrupting Professor Dumbledore, Filch ran up the aisle with a limp and whispered something to the Professor, before leaving the same way he entered. Hannah laughed quietly.

"So Hogwarts has been choosen to host a legendary event. The Tri-Wizard tournament. Now for those of you who do not know, the tri-wizard tournament brings together three schools for a series of contests. From each school a single contestant is selected to compete. Now let me be clear, if chosen you stand alone. And trust me when I say these contests are not for the faint hearted, but more of that later. For now please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of magic and their headmistress Madam Maxime."

Cassie watched as a group of girls, all dressed in blue, dance up the aisle and release butterflies into the air. Hannah and Susan seemed to be in awe as they watched the girls.

Cedric looked at Madam Maxime and then turned to Cassie. "How tall do you think she is?" He asked quietly. "I'd say about 8 or 9 foot."

Cassie shook her head in amusement. "No." She replied. "Ten foot definitely."

"And now our friends from the north, please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and the high master Igor Karkaroff."

Older looking boys walked up the aisle, holding onto bo staffs, twirling them around and slamming them down, creating a spark effect. Cassie watched their every move, her eyes wide. "They're fit." She muttered, though her eyes were glued to one person. She had no idea who he was, but he was standing next to Viktor Krum, and wore a proud smile. ( He definitely wasn't supposed to be smiling during the performance. )

Hannah looked at her. "Harry won't be impressed hearing that." She said.

Cassie blinked in confusion, before she pursed her lips and gave Hannah a sheepish smile. "Good thing we broke up, right?"

Hannah gasped. "What? That is such a dick move, especially after recently..."

Cassie shrugged. "It was nice and all," she said, "But we're better as friends."

As the plates slowly began to fill up with all sorts of food, Cassie hesitantly filled up her plate. Cedric frowned once he saw her, and he piled things onto the plate himself.

Cassie looked at him.

"You're eating at least half of this." Cedric said. "No if's, and no but's. I want to see half of it gone, okay? I know you're not feeling the best, but you have to eat."

Cassie sighed. "I'll try," she mumbled. "No promises though."

After food, which Cassie had tried her best to eat. She ate just under half of her food, which Cedric was very proud about, Dumbledore stood up once more.

"Your attention please! I would like to say a few words. Eternal glory, that is what awaits the student who wins the tri-wizard tournament. But to do this that student must survive three tasks. Three extremely dangerous tasks."

Cassie's face paled. She did not like the sound of that at all.

"For this reason the ministry has seen fit to impose a new rule. To explain all this we have the head of the department of international magic cooperation Mister Bartimus Crouch."

Thunder roared overhead, and rain began leaking through the roof. A strange man stood in the doorway, casting some magic upwards and seals the roof. Cassie watched his every move, feeling uneasy when his magical eye landed directly on her.

"After much deliberation the ministry has concluded that for their own safety no student under the age of seventeen shall be allowed to put forth their name for the tri-wizard tournament. This decision is final."

The hall began booing, and Cassie almost felt some type of relief after hearing that people under seventeen couldn't enter the tournament. She looked at Cedric, her mind flashing with the same nightmare she would get over and over and over. Cedric wasn't seventeen. He would be fine.

And then, she remembered. His birthday was in a couple of days. He would be seventeen. He'd be able to enter.

"Silence!" Dumbledore casts magic over a box which melds into a goblet containing a blue flame. Cassie stared at the flame in wonder. "The goblet of fire. Anyone wishing to submit themselves for the tournament merely write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly, if choosen there's no turning back. As from this moment, the tri-wizard tournament has begun."

A/N: Yay!!! It's starting. I'm excited for this act.
reminder,
dahlia morgan— camila mendes
susan bones— madelaine petsch
megan jones— erinn westbrook
hannah abbott— vanessa morgan