The Chapter in which the Goblet reveals the names
Gajeel was usually a rather calm if not even uninterested wizard, much like his father. He excelled at potions – the subject that requires maybe more patience than any other – and so he rarely showed many emotions. (This was Juvia's field of expertise, anyway.) But right now, he felt how his emotions were acting up a little.
It was one of these typical once-in-a-lifetime-events when even the calmest felt nervous. He knew that he was not the only one because Fernandes seemed to be a nervous wreck as well and the usually rather icy Charms professor was drumming rhythms onto the table and both his parents seemed to be a little less calm and collected as usual too.
At his side, Juvia was talking with Flare 'Spitfire' Corona – something about how important this moment would be one day if they looked back and told their children and grandchildren the amazing story of how awesome and great their old stories were. He sighed. Juvia was on her best way to have a breakdown but then again, she was not the only one. Cana had skipped breakfast to finish her History essay, had not been there for lunch for some strange reason and she had not touched her food yet either. If Gajeel would be able to show empathy, he would pat her shoulder to cheer her up a little because the poor girl was pale as a ghost and her hands trembled.
Talking of ghosts. As Gajeel looked up, he saw that every ghost with the exception of the poltergeist who was banned from the Great Hall had arrived and drifted over the eating (or not-eating) students and guests. He nodded at Slytherin's house ghost the Dark Mage who drifted next to Gryffindor's bubbly and talkative Fairy Tactician with a suffering expression on his pearly face.
"Cana," Laxus said as he pushed a plate full of her favourite food into her direction. "Eat."
"I am not hung- eep!" she interrupted herself as he simply grabbed a piece of bread and threw it into her opened mouth. Coughing and cursing, she somehow managed not to choke on it and she chewed carefully before she shot him an annoyed glare. "Laxus, please," she sighed.
"Eat or I will keep feeding you," he warned with a rare smile on his face.
To Gajeel, the blond seemed a little too calm but then again, Laxus had once – on a dare - participated in a muggle dancing competition and so maybe, this had calmed him down considerably. Neither Evergreen nor Cana was equally calm, anyway. Cana who had been nicknamed queen a year or two ago when they had been to Hogwarts and gotten drunk which had led to a lot of very strange titles was maybe eating by now but she was still pale and shaking while Evergreen was biting her nails in dreadful anticipation.
"It seems to start now," Ultear pointed out as the flames of the goblet became blue. Around her, a few students of Slytherin and more of the other houses who heard her nonetheless started to cheer even though Gajeel could not understand it. No matter who would be chose, he or she was in for a trip to hell and back. To him, this was nothing to be proud of. Yes, the prize money might convince even a coward to try his luck but he had not felt tempted but nearly disgusted by those who allowed their greed to override their common sense.
The only reason why he supported Laxus' decision to try entering the Tournament was that Laxus was not doing it to strengthen his fame – and this would be difficult because it was harder to be more famous than the Boy Who Lived – but because he wanted to move out of his grandfather's house in Hogsmade and into his own apartment in London – together with Cana. (The part about Cana had never come up in a conversation but for Gajeel who had been in the same grade as Laxus since the first year, the unsaid part had been obvious anyway. Wherever Laxus went, if he had the choice to bring her along, he would bring Cana who was his oldest and closest friend.)
"You are right, Ultear," Cana said as she dropped her spoon for a moment, eyes shining with interested and hope – hope either for or against Laxus' participation in the Tournament.
Makarov rose from his chair before he clapped twice which instantly brought any conversation in the Great Hall to a sudden stop. "Very well," he said calmly. "The moment of truth … very soon, the Goblet of Fire will reveal the names of those who will fight for the fame, the glory and the honour of their schools – and a huge amount of money."
Gajeel scanned the crowd once more, noticing the white-haired Beauxbaton girl that might be part-Veela sitting next to Levy. He ignored her which was rather easy to him and nodded at the blue-haired girl who was also biting her nails because she was just as tensed as most people.
The goblet let out a sapphire flame and within the flame, a scrap of parchment drifted through the air. The headmaster easily caught it and unfolded it. One, two heartbeats passed in complete silence before the man rose his head. "The champion for Durmstrang is," he begun, "Rufus Lohr."
The cheering of the crowd was deafening – something Gajeel did not quite understand. So what if Lohr was a famous qudditch player and a brilliant seeker? He had seen him during the finale of the Championship and no matter how much everyone praised him, compared to Juvia, he was a loser – but maybe, this was a best friend's bias speaking.
"That was no surprise," Cana muttered into Laxus' direction who nodded. Gajeel frowned. He – and everyone else hated it – when Cana and Laxus had secrets, when they talked about things no one else knew about because this had rarely ended well in the past years.
"Yeah," Laxus nodded as he carefully patted Cana's wrist. "Relax."
"I would if I could," she replied but a faint smile crossed her face.
"You are too serious," he said but he was smiling as well.
"That's called maturity," she replied with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
Another flame, this time a slightly more greenish one, sent a piece of parchment twirling through the air. "The Champion of Beauxbaton is Sorano Aguria," Makarov declared and for a second, his eyes roamed over the crowd before they rested on his grandson who smiled apologetic at him.
At the Gryffindor table, the white-haired girl rose, threw her long hair over one shoulder as she danced over to the table where the teachers sat before she disappeared the same way Rufus Lohr had left before – only that the cheering was less this time because many boys had been stunned into awed silence which pleased Gajeel (and especially his ears) greatly.
By now, it became obvious that Cana had given up any attempt on eating and Laxus had stopped any attempt on making her eat as it had just become utterly pointless. Gajeel looked at his friend who had just the same face he had had five years ago when Cana had been sorted – this mixture of worry, hope and anticipation.
Finally, the last flame left the goblet and Gajeel marvelled at the slight greyish hue of it for a moment and for the first time, it was completely silent. This was easily explained. The Hogwarts-group was still the largest in the Great Hall and while their champion was declared, even the worst pranksters managed to be silent for a moment. Gajeel's gaze found Jellal's for a second and he wondered about the other Slytherin's worried expression before he made the mental note to ask later and looked to the table where the headmaster had just unfolded the scrap of paper.
For a moment, Gajeel swore that he heard Cana's heart pounding because the girl looked like she was about to faint, Evergreen's nails had reached the point where only a professional manicure would be able to save them and restore their former health and over at the Gryffindor table, Erza Scarlet was not staring at the headmaster like everyone else but at Jellal – which had to mean something or so Gajeel assumed. (This was the second thing he would ask Jellal about later on.)
"The Champion of Hogwarts is," and at his point, Makarov already gave it nearly away because he looked nearly depressed, "Laxus Dreyar."
The Slytherin table would forever deny that the next moments ever took place. They had a reputation to lose after all but it did happen. Juvia squeaked before she and Flare drew their wands and made confetti rain down on Laxus – and by extension – everyone in a radius of six metres. Jellal grabbed Juvia and twirled her around in an attempt to voice his joy that it was indeed his friend who had become champion of their school. Cana got up to shake the confetti out of her hair the same moment Laxus rose and after bumping their heads, he grinned – a rare, sincere grin – and hugged her before he once twirled her around as well.
Looking back, it was a party at the table, a party that lasted full five minutes in which a few students of other houses joined in and amidst the chaos, Laxus said something to Cana – something no one else could hear over the noise and then he walked away, head held high.
"You are never happy, Flare," Lucy Heartfilia remarked as she, too, combed the confetti out of her hair. "What makes this event so special?"
"If Laxus wins, Slytherin gains fame for something but quidditch or having dark mages," the redhead explained with a shrug. "Today might be the start of a new age later on."
"It took you trés long to get 'ere," the white-haired girl – Sorano something – remarked with a sneer. "Do not tell nous that you 'ad to say au revoir to your petite amie."
"My friends did not let me leave," Laxus replied as he pinched his nose. It was a rather common misconception that Cana was his girlfriend because of the time they spent together on regular basis but slowly, it was starting to get on his nerves because he was rather sick of having to explain that she was not his girlfriend but his oldest and best friend – especially since the term girlfriend often seemed to be used in a belittling way and Cana was a good deal more than the word girlfriend implied. She was – if Laxus would have to express it somehow – his partner … and everyone could guess for himself or herself in which way he meant this.
"I think … I think I saw you."
Laxus turned his head. "We were at the finale," he stated. "My grandfather got us VIP tickets because of his good relations to the ministry. Anyway, when is this going to start?"
"An excellent question, Mr Dreyar," a man with reddish brown hair said. "My name is Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki, men. I work at the ministry, in the Department for International Relations to be exact. This is my assistant, Ren Akatsuki. And over there, Miss Jenny Realight – the former seeker of the Holyhead Harpies. She is now in charge of the Department for Magical Games and thus helped us all to organise this amazing Tournament."
"Realight," Lohr growled as he nodded at her.
"My, you haven't changed much," she said with a flirty grin before she leaned in to kiss his cheek. "It has been too long since we have met, am I right? It will be fun to watch you again." She then looked around before her eyes rested on Laxus. "Aah, Mr Dreyar, yes, I remember. You were at the finals, too, with that pretty brunette – your girlfriend, maybe?"
"She is my partner," the blonde replied, feeling a little annoyed. He remembered the feeling of being belittled and he hated it. Cana was not his girlfriend, damn it. She was his best friend, partner-in-crime – and the only one he had a photo of which he carried in his wallet. He knew that he was no favourite in this game. He was 'just' the Boy Who Lived and no famous seeker or a model (he did remember where he had seen her before – on the cover of one of Cana's fashion magazines). But he had waited for a chance to prove that he was more than what everyone expected him to be.
"Oh? So the King of Slytherin does have a queen already?" the woman grinned as she patted his shoulder. "I can understand you completely, honey, she is very pretty … and rather calm, right?"
"I don't talk about personal things," Laxus said darkly. "And especially, not about Cana, okay?"
"With that attitude, you'll give Jason a headache," she said with a wink. He slowly started to wonder whether she had trouble with her eyes. "Anyway, Vandalay, how about you tell them-"
She interrupted herself as the headmasters appeared and sent a dazzling smile into the direction of Makarov. "Professor Dreyar, it has been too long since I saw you. How have you been doing?"
"Rather well without you crashing into my office with your broom," he replied drily. "Anyway, how about you give them the details about the first task and send them back to their friends?"
"Ah yes, the first task," Vandalay nodded. "In the first task, you will have to prove courage, speed and reflexes. That is all. I won't go into detail right now. Train hard and study harder, men."
"You heard it," Jenny said with a grin. "Have fun figuring things out. We will see you on the Sunday in three weeks. Up to this point, you can try to figure things out."
AN:
This is the first time of my using a character who speaks a language different of the language most of the cast speak and I really hope that I did not overdo the French of Sorano/Angel. I also did not put the translations right into the text because it bothers me personally when someone does this as it disturbs the flow and the words should be easy to guess from the context. Still, here are the translations from the French words:
très = very; nous = we but here: us; au revoir = goodbye, see you later; petite amie = girlfriend.
