Destined| Goblet of Fire: Book 4

The Champions

Kiana

"Heads up, Cedric's coming this way," Harry warned.

I simply nodded and kept my head down. Yes, every since our argument I've been avoiding my brother. Why? Pfft. Simple, apparently Cho told him I'd be a big whiny girl about this.

"Hey Harry," Cedric greeted. "Munch - "

"Harry, do you hear something," I snapped.

Instead of waiting for a reply I grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him inside the Great Hall with me. We sat together at the Gryffindor House table.

"Christian's coming this way," Jake warned.

I rolled my eyes and rested my head on the table.

"Hey - " Christian began.

"Go away," I ordered.

Christian hesitantly nodded and joined Fred and George.

"Hope it's Angelina," Ron said.

I nodded.

"So do I," said Hermione breathlessly.

"Well, we'll soon know," I said impatiently.

I guess you can say I've been on the edge lately every since those two twits of my brothers entered the Tournament. The Halloween feast seemed to take much longer than usual. Perhaps because it was our second feast in two days, I didn't seem to fancy the extravagantly prepared food as much as I would have normally. Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, the fidgeting, and the standing up to see whether Dumbledore had finished eating yet, I simply wanted the plates to clear, and to hear who had been selected as champions. At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he indicated the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions."

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting. . . . A few people kept checking their watches. . . .

"Any second," Lee Jordan whispered, two seats away from me.

The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. 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."

"No surprises there!" yelled Ron as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall.

I saw Viktor Krum rise from the Slytherin table, hug Chase and slouch up toward Dumbledore; he turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared behind the door. I turned and sent Chase a thumbs up, asking if he was alright. Chase sent me a thumbs up and had a wide grin on his face. I then turned back to my table. 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!"

"It's her, Ron!" Harry shouted as the girl who so resembled a veela got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair, and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.

"Oh look, they're all disappointed," Hermione said over the noise, nodding toward the remainder of the Beauxbatons party. "Disappointed" was a bit of an understatement, I thought.

Two of the girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears and were sobbing with their heads on their arms. When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it. The Hogwarts champion next . . . And the 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!"

"OH MY GOSH. NO," I snapped.

"No!" said Ron loudly, but nobody heard him except me; the uproar from the next table was too great.

Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table. Indeed, the applause for Cedric went on so long that it was amazing. Well, until he reached me.

"Come on little sis, you're not even a bit proud of me," He asked.

"Proud is an understatement," I snapped. "Your people are waiting for you, Go."

Cedric plastered on a fake smile and disappeared behind the door. I couldn't be here anymore I just wanted to cry. I was about to get up but the Goblet went off shooting three more parchments out.

"Chase Krum," Dumbledore read as he caught the first one.

Chase awkwardly stood up and walked to where Karkaroff was and disappeared behind the door. Dumbledore caught the second parchment and he clearly was pissed.

"HARRY POTTER," Dumbledore yelled in fury.

My eyes shot directly at Harry. He looked shocked and afraid. Hermione nudged him to go. I was about to leave until I heard the words I dreaded to hear.

"Kiana Black."

Shit.

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