Out of The Shadows (Golden Trio Era) {1}

The Champions

When the foursome entered the candlelit Great Hall, it was almost full. The Goblet of Fire had been moved; it was now standing in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teachers' table. Mikayla didn't seem to fancy the extravagantly prepared food as much as she 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, she 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," Dumbledore announced. "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 everyone 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... few people kept checking their watches... "Any second," Lee Jordan whispered, two seats away from Harry and Mikayla. 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!" Ron yelled as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Viktor Krum rose from the Slytherin table and slouched up toward Dumbledore; he turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber. "Bravo, Viktor!" Karkaroff boomed so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"  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," Dumbledore declared, "is Fleur Delacour!" Mikayla whistled loudly, whooping for Fleur with the Beauxbatons girls. "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 Gryffindor tables. "Oh look, they're all disappointed," Hermione said over the noise, nodding toward the remainder of the Beauxbatons party. Mikayla laughed softy, "Yeah, they all were really wanting to be picked." Disappointment was a bit of an understatement. 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!" Mikayla shrieked in delight and clapped loudly, ignoring Ron's groan of protest. The uproar from the next table was very, very loud. Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stomping as Cedric made his way past them, him and Mikayla shared a smile, and Mikayla sent him a small wave, whilst he was grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teacher's table. The applause for Cedric went on so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again. "Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down.

"Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real,"  But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him. The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air and borne upon it was another piece of parchment. Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out, "Harry Potter." Mikayla spun around seeing the shock in Harry's facial expression, he didn't put his name in the Goblet. "Harry Potter!" Mikayla walked Harry down to the end of the Gryffindor table, as people yelled calling him a cheat for being underaged. "Don't listen to them Harry. They're just in shock." She whispered before pushing him towards Dumbledore. Harry continued to the secret chamber, "Miss Black, come here." Dumbledore called, Mikayla walked up to her headmaster, "Follow Filch and see if you can see who put Harry's name in the goblet." Mikayla watched Filch push the goblet out of the hall, she rushed after him, whispers following her. "Be quick missy." Flick spat after they reached a cut off chamber. Mikayla's hand touched the goblet taking a sharp breath.

*Mikayla slowly watched everyone dropping names into the Goblet, trying to find out who put Harry's name in it. All the lights went out, and all Mikayla could see was the flame of the goblet. She heard a man's voice the same voice that she heard in the woods after the Quidditch World Cup. "Pateram tute seduci patiuntur. Eligite ex illis quatuor pugiles videat Harrius Potter. Pateram tute seduci patiuntur. Eligite ex illis quatuor pugiles videat Harrius Potter. Pateram tute seduci patiuntur. Eligite ex illis quatuor pugiles videat Harrius Potter." The man chants in Latin, Mikayla translates the speech before seeing only a hand and a piece of paper around the goblet. The paper burns before the flame turns red and the man's cackle filled his ears. "MISS BLACK." Mikayla heard someone yell, her view went black.*

McGonagall and Dumbledore were bringing Mikayla out of her vision, he was was rather calm. "Miss Black, you looked distressed. What did you see?" McGonagall asked, Mikayla took her hands off the Goblet. "I heard the voice of the man who conjured the dark mark at the Quidditch World Cup. I think he knew that you would ask me to use my abilities Professor because he made sure he wasn't seen." Mikayla was disappointed in herself, not being able to give Dumbledore more information. "You were murmuring something Miss Black what was it?" Dumbledore asks this time, Mikayla recalled the Latin she heard. "Pateram tute seduci patiuntur. Eligite ex illis quatuor pugiles videat Harrius Potter. He repeat it three times, it translates to, 'Goblet allow yourself to be misled. Pick four Champions and ensure Harry Potter is one of them'" McGonagall was in pure shock whilst Dumbledore looked at the blonde impressed, "You speak Latin. And fluently at 14 years old. That's very impressive, Miss Black." Mikayla blushes informing them how many languages she actually speaks fluently. "That's beside the point. A man has put Harry's name into the Goblet and made sure he would be picked. Harry's in danger." Mikayla quickly got back on the point, Dumbledore nodded whilst McGonagall looked frightened, "You need to pull Harry out of the competition." Mikayla looked at Dumbledore for help. "I can't Miss Black. There's a now a contract between Harry and the goblet that he must oblige to."