Young Warrior

Chapter 18 - The Killing Curse

When we got to Hogwarts the halls were full, every one of them. People were outside looking at the carriages and ships landing from other schools. Harry and I were the first to walk into the great hall to get seated. The first years were sorted and then Dumbledore went on to say some other announcements.

This year Hogwarts was hosting the Triwizard Tournament. I had no clue what it was but Dumbledore made it very clear it was a competition and it shouldn't be taken lightly. Barty Crouch, someone very important to the Ministry was basically hosting it. He came to Hogwarts to clear some things up.

The other schools had entered the great hall already and Ron had his eyes fixed on Victor Krum, we had only just seen him playing in the Quidditch World Cup and now he was here in Hogwarts. All the other boys had their eyes set on the girls from Beauxbatons. They batted their eyelashes and stood up with perfect posture.

Not too long after Mr. Crouch arrived the bewitched roof started to storm vigorously. An ex-Auror named Alaster Moody had stopped the storm with his wand. There were a few screams from the first and second years. "It's him, that's Madeye Moody," Ron said with his voice hushed. "Alaster Moody? The Auror?" Hermione questioned. I heard Dean Thomas say from a few seats down "Auror?" he asked Ron, "Dark wizard catcher..." Ron told him, "Half the cells in Azkaban are filled thanks to him. He's supposed to be mad as a hater though these days."

My eyes followed Moody to the front of the room, he awkwardly hugged Dumbledore, mumbling something under his breath that I didn't catch. His eyes glanced over to me, he gave me a cold stare that made me freeze. 'Why was he looking at me like that?' I thought to myself, and I pulled my eyes away from his stare. He turned to the corner and pulled out a flask with a skull head on the lid, and he chugged the mystery drink rapidly. I heard the others next to me whisper. Something was off, him being here had only made my stomach turn more.

After a few lectures, I had dozed off for only a second when I was caught off guard by Fred and George yelling at the top of their lungs in front of me, "Rubbish! That's rubbish!" I hadn't even noticed everyone booing Mr. Crouch. "You don't know what you're doing!" they hollered. I whispered to Harry, "What's going on?" he tore his eyes away from the front of the room, looking just as tired as me.

"Mr. Crouch said no one under 17 can enter the tournament—" "Silence!!" Dumbledore yelled in a deep voice and just like that, the whole hall went quiet. He revealed a goblet with blue flames at the top. "the Goblet of Fire. Anyone wishing to submit themselves in the tournament, merely write their name on a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly. If chosen there's no turning back." He said, very seriously.

Mr. Crouch said a few more things and then the feast had begun, although I wasn't nearly as hungry as I thought I would be. I stirred my soup gently with my spoon trying to get this sinking feeling out of my stomach.

Everyone was laughing and talking, some were still complaining about the circumstances of the tournament. I saw Cedric smiling with the other Hufflepuffs, it surprised me he wasn't a Gryffindor. He looked at me and smiled, I was still feeling sluggish but I smiled back at him not wanting to be rude. I went back to picking at my soup when I felt a cold gaze at the back of my neck. I slowly turned to see Draco sitting behind me at the Slytherin table. He was sitting with a few people I didn't recognize.

He looked over at me with a blank expression, I quickly turned my head hoping he wouldn't see me looking at him. His appearance wasn't the only thing that changed, just him being near me made my mouth dry and my head spin, making eye contact with him made my heart sink. By the way, a few other girls were looking at him I knew I wasn't the only one.

After dinner in the great hall, we were all sentenced to our dormitories for the night. I used the pack charm Hermione taught me last year and I unpacked all my things. "Someone's learning." Ginny snickered. I smiled, "what else is magic for?" I said sarcastically and we both laughed. Ginny technically wasn't supposed to be sharing a dorm with us since she's still a year behind me and Hermione, but we talked to Professor McGonagall and she said she was okay with it.