star shopping ✰ d.m.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Professor Dumbledore dismissed the Triwizard champions five minutes before the rest of the school. Arabella and the rest of Gryffindor House cheered for Harry until he was out of sight. When they were dismissed, Arabella sat with Molly, Bill, Ron, Hermione, Seamus, and Dean in the stands.

Dumbledore magnified his voice and then faced the cheering crowd. "Earlier today, Professor Moody placed the Triwizard Cup deep within the maze. Only he knows its exact position. Now, as Mr. Diggory-"

He paused to allow the cheers.

"-and Mr. Potter-"

More cheers.

"-are tied for first position, they will be the first to enter the maze, followed by Mr. Krum-"

Cheers from Durmstrang.

"-and Miss Delacour."

Cheers from Beauxbatons.

"The first person to touch the cup will be the winner! I've instructed the staff to patrol the perimeter. Should, at any point, a contestant wish to withdraw from the task, he or she need only send up red sparks with their wands. Contestants! Gather round. Quickly!"

"So they've just got to find the cup in the maze?" Ron questioned as Dumbledore spoke in a low voice to the champions. "Well, that's easy. Harry's going to win for sure."

"I doubt it's going to be that easy," Hermione contradicted. "They've probably got powerful enchantments and creatures in there to make it more difficult for them."

"Harry's still going to win, though," Arabella said. "He's got to. It's going to be either him or Cedric."

"It's going to be Harry," Dean reiterated, not wanting to even entertain the idea of Cedric or anyone else winning the tournament.

"Viktor could win, too," Hermione pointed out.

Arabella scoffed. "Right," she said. "Him and Veela Girl have such a high chance of beating Harry and Cedric."

Hermione chose not to reply.

The champions each went to their own entrance to the maze and stood before it, waiting for instruction.

"On the count of three," Dumbledore said. "One-"

The cannons went off prematurely, not allowing Dumbledore to even reach the count of two. Harry and Cedric, with one last look into the crowd, entered the maze. The hedges grew together and blocked them from view.

"There they go!" Molly said once the hedges had closed behind Fleur.

"Now we get to sit here and wait," Bill said, leaning back in his seat.

There was a moment of quiet among them before Ron spoke. "This is going to be boring, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yes," Seamus and Dean answered in flat tones.

"I wish I had brought something to read," Arabella complained.

"Or eat," Ron added.

"That, too."

"We just ate!" Molly exclaimed.

"So?" Ron questioned.

"Your point is...?" Arabella prompted.

Molly sighed, an exasperated expression on her face.

Hermione reached into her bag and handed Arabella a book.

"Hermione, we can't eat books," Ron said as Arabella took the book and flipped through the pages.

"Well, technically, we could," Arabella said. "I don't suppose it'd be very appetizing, though."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you two," she said. "Bella, you said you wanted something to read, so I gave you something to read. A simple 'thank you' would suffice!"

"Oh. Thank you, Mione."

"You're welcome."

Over the next few hours, every time a champion was brought out of the maze, the band played their music despite how disheveled and exhausted they looked.

As the sun set over the mountains surrounding the Hogwarts grounds, neither Harry nor Cedric had returned. It was nearly nightfall when they did, and they happened to return at the same time. It appeared they had both managed to win the tournament. At first, Arabella couldn't see them over the crowd of people closing in among the two champions, so she stood up and was confused to see that the both of them were on the ground. After a few more moments, she realized with horror that Cedric was lying completely still on the ground while Harry sobbed over his body. Fleur screamed as Dumbledore rushed to Harry. The band stopped playing abruptly and the crowd went silent as they realized what was going on.

"He's back! He's back," Harry sobbed. "Voldemort's back. Cedric, he asked me to bring his body back. I couldn't leave him, not there."

Arabella's blood ran cold as she processed what exactly his words meant. She fell into some sort of shocked trance, her eyes not really seeing and her ears not hearing until she had somehow managed to get back inside the castle.

[word count: 755]
[written: 6/1/20]
[published: 6/23/20]