Discovery

28.

I felt my jaw drop. How had Harry put his name in? It certainly couldn't be possible...could it?

Harry turned to Ron, Hermione, and I with a shocked look on his face.

"I didn't put my name in," he said blankly. "You know I didn't."

None of us said anything.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

"Go on," Hermione whispered, giving Harry a slight push.

Harry got to his feet and hesitated before making his way to the teacher's table and through the door.

Dumbledore stood there for a moment before addressing the rest of us.

"You are dismissed," he said. "Please go back to your common rooms."

And without another word, Dumbledore and multiple other teachers hurried off behind the door.

"How do you reckon he did it?" Ron asked as we headed up the staircase.

"He said he didn't," I replied. "Harry didn't do this on purpose."

"You don't know that," Ron said, his tone of voice suddenly unfamiliar.

***

Things did not get better the next day. Ron avoided Harry all morning, and he was in a bitter mood. So I offered to get breakfast with him, hoping to change his view of this predicament.

"Ron, why are you acting like this?" I asked him as we sat down. "Harry says he didn't put his name in the Goblet, we have to believe him!"

"How else could this have happened?" Ron snapped.

"Ron!" I exclaimed, getting more frustrated by the second. "He's your friend, you can't just turn on him! This isn't his fault!"

"Don't defend him!" Ron said fiercely. "You've been friends with me much longer than Harry! You should be on my side!"

"I'm not on any side!" I shouted. "But I definetly won't be on yours when you're acting like a selfish git!"

"Fine! Then don't talk to me!" he yelled.

I caught a glimpse of the Great Hall. Everyone was silent, staring at Ron and I. I shot him one last nasty look before storming out.

I kept walking, not sure where I was going. I eventually found myself in the Clock Tower.

I sat down and let everything out. I cried for what felt like hours. Ron had been my best friend since before Hogwarts. We never fought. Until now, of course.

After wiping away my tears, I reached into my school bag and took out the book my mother had given me for Christmas last year. It was a book of poems, and I had barely opened it since Christmas day.

It wasn't that I didn't like her present, I just didn't have an interest in poetry. It was sappy and full of meanings I could never understand. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

I flipped open to the first page. I expected the poem titled, Alone, but instead there was a new one.

The Miracle of Friendship

A Miracle called friendship
Dwells within the heart

You don't know how it happens
Or when it gets it's start

But the happiness it brings you,
Always gives a special lift

Then you realize that friendship
Is one of God's most precious gifts!