A Hogwarts Legend: Chaos Begins [4] (SLOW UPDATES)

Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Four - "We're like lucky charms for bad luck."

"Excuse me?" I say loudly, aware that every head in the Great Hall has turned to look at us. I glance at Harry and he looks as stunned as I feel.

There's no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry bees, is starting to fill the Hall; some students are standing up to get a better look at Harry and I.

Up at the top table, Professor McGonagall has got to her feet and sweeps past Ludo Bagman and Professor Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Professor Dumbledore, who bends his ear towards her, frowning slightly.

I turn to my friends; behind them, I can see the long Gryffindor table all watching me, open mouthed.

"I didn't put my name in," Harry says blankly. "You know I didn't."

The four of them stare just as blankly back.

"This must be a joke, right?" I shake my head.

At the top table, Professor Dumbledore has straightened up, nodding to Professor McGonagall.

"Harry and Emily!" he calls again. "Up here, if you please!"

"Can I say no?" I scowl.

"Go on," Hermione whispers, giving us a slight push.

Harry and I get to our feet, and I glare up at the Goblet. We set off up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. It feels like an immensely long walk; the top table doesn't seem to be getting any nearer at all, and I can feel hundreds and hundreds of eyes upon us, as though each is a searchlight. The buzzing grows louder and louder. After what seems like an hour, we're right in front of Dumbledore, feeling the stares of all the teachers upon us.

"Well ... through the door," says Dumbledore. He isn't smiling.

Harry and I move along the teachers' table. Hagrid is sat at the end. He doesn't wink at us, or wave, or give any of his usual signs of greeting. He looks completely astonished, and stares at Harry and I as we pass, like everyone else. We go through the door out of the Great Hall, and find ourselves in a smaller room, lined with painting of witches and wizards. A handsome fire is roaring in the fireplace opposite us.

The faces in the portraits turn to look at us as we enter. I see a wizened witch flit out of the frame of her picture and into the one next to it, which contains a wizard with a walrus moustache. The wizened witch starts whispering in his ear.

Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory and Fleur Delacour are grouped around the fire. They look strangely impressive, silhouetted against the flames. Krum, hunched up and brooding, is leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric is standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur looks around when we walk in, and throws back her sheet of long, silvery hair.

"What is it?" she says. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"

She thinks we've come to deliver a message. Why would they send two of us? That just seems illogical.

There's a sound of scurrying feet behind us, and Ludo Bagman enters the room. He takes Harry's left arm and my right, and leads us forwards.

"Extraordinary!" he mutters, squeezing my arm. "Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen ... lady," he adds, approaching the fireside and addressing the other three. "May I introduce - incredible thought it may seem - the fourth and fifth Triwizard champion?"

Viktor Krum straightens up. His surly face darkens as he surveys Harry and I. Cedric looks nonplussed. He looks from Bagman to Harry to me and back again as though sure he must have misheard what Bagman said. Fleur, however, tosses her hair, smiling, and says, "Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman."