devils snare [phan]

Chapter 7

The great hall was a buzz that night, whispers of who entered and who was going to be chosen. Dan was the only silent person in the entire room.

He had opted out from sitting with his house to sit with Peej, Chris, and I. while we were conversing, Dan was lost in his own world, glancing from me to his house.

Soon, silence fell over the room and all heads turned to Dumbledore who was stood next to the Goblet of Fire.

"Now, the time has come for the champions to be chosen."

The blue flames suddenly burned red and a wooly piece of parchment flew up from the flames and floated into Dumbledore's grasp.

"From Durmstrang..." he paused to read the name. "Miss Emma Blackery!"

Loud cheers erupted from the Durmstrangs and a red head boy started yelling and dancing in celebration causing the girl who I assumed was Emma to blush bright red and run up to meet with Dumbledore. They shook hands and she was lead away.

Soon afterwards, another piece of parchment floated from the flames and into Dumbledore's hands.

"From Beauxbaton, PJ Ligouri!"

All the Beauxbatons and a few other students erupted into loud cheers, but Chris and I were by far the loudest. PJ was dying of laughter as Chris did a spastic celebration dance in his honor, before PJ ran to Dumbledore and away from the commotion.

For the final time, the blue flames went red and a strip of parchment drifted down lazily. Chris was sat at the edge of his seat, a deep smile set on his face. I rolled my eyes and turned to Dan.

"So Dan I—" I stopped speaking immediately to see tears staining and streaming down his cheeks. "Dan what's wrong?"

He looked at me, ghost white cheeks with bright red eyes. He let out a quiet sob before whispering a meek, "I'm sorry."

"What? Why are you—"

"And finally from Hogwarts, Phil Lester!"

Chris turned to stare at me while my fellow classmates jumped and cheered. I turned to look at Dan who had his head in his hands. I looked back up and swallowed the lump in my throat before strolling towards my headmaster.

He took my clammy hand in his and whispered in my ear, "Stairway down the right." I nodded meekly, before numbly walking to where I had been directed.

My stomach churned and flipped like a fire cracker inside a hamster ball. I gulped and stuck my finger in the collar of my shirt to relieve the suffocating sensation in my throat. I rubbed my face as I walked down the steps, each one making me more and more quaky. I could already hear Emma and PJ laughing together, sounding extremely excited for the challenges to come.

They looked up and PJ turned white when he saw me.

"Congrats on being picked." Emma smiled, turning to me. Her grin suddenly fell. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I never put my name in the Goblet of Fire." I whimpered.

"What?" Emma exclaimed. "That's impossible."

"What's impossible?" McGonagall asked, walking in with the other teachers.

"I— I can't do the tournament professor McGonagall." I stuttered, looking at my feet.

"Why not? You did enter didn't you?" she inquired.

"No, I didn't."

The room went silent, a thick tension like frozen butter, and my stomach grew even heavier.