Chapter 19: The Goblet of Fire

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

A/N: Hope you guys like the chapter

When I woke up the next morning I was happy to realize it was Saturday. That meant I could sleep for a couple more hours. I turned over and burrowed myself deeper into my blankets, only to be violently shaken by Will.

"Wake up!" I heard him yell.

"Why?" I said with a whine in my voice.

"Because, I'm hungry," he said, "and I don't want to go down by myself."

"Why not?" I asked, still annoyed that he wasn't letting me sleep.

"Because I want to be with my little boyfriend."

"I'm not little," I said with what I was sure was a blush tinting my cheeks, of course Will didn't need to know about that.

"Of course you are," he said with a laugh. "You're tiny!"

"Shut up and let me sleep, will you?"

He groaned and then fell on top of me.

I let out an embarrassing yelp of surprise. "Wha— get off me, you giant."

"Not until you say you're coming to breakfast with me."

"Fine," I groaned in defeat.

"Yay!"

Ten minutes later we were walking down to ingest some sustenance.

We only saw a couple of strange things on our way, for example, we saw what I assume was Fred and George with grey hair and long grey beards with a Lee basically dying of laughter walking behind them.

When we got to the Great Hall I noticed it had been redecorated because it was Halloween. There was a cloud of live bats flying around the enchanted ceiling and there were pumpkins basically in every corner. You know, normal stuff.

I could hear everyone talking about the people who had entered their names into the goblet.

Will and I ate and then decided to walk around the grounds while it was still warm out. Well, not warm, but at least it wasn't freezing.

We spent the whole day together, and when it started getting dark we decided to go back inside for the Halloween Feast and the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament champions.

When we got to the Great Hall it was almost full, and the Goblet of Fire had been moved in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teacher's table.

Everyone seemed to be waiting for the feast to end so that the champions would be chosen, and I have to admit even I was feeling impatient. Will, of course, was still eating, but he was also stealing glances at the goblet every now and then.

I remembered the chat we had with the professors yesterday. I turned to Will and whispered, "Do you think there'll actually be dragons? Because I honestly don't think that's very safe."

"I don't know," he said, "I mean it could be worse, right?"

"Yeah," I said with a laugh, "they could make them climb a lava wall."

Will chuckled at that. "Yeah, that wouldn't be very smart for these mortals," he said. "I mean, they are wizards, but I think it's hard to climb while holding a wand."

I had a mouthful of food so I simply nodded.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the plates returned to their original clean state. As soon as Dumbledore got to his feet all of the chatter in the hall suddenly died down. Even all the teachers looked eager to see who would be chosen.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dum- bledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them to please 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 made a sweeping motion with it; all the candles in the hall, except for the ones in the pumpkins, suddenly extinguished, which plunged us into semidarkness.

The goblet was now the brightest thing in the hall, and the bright blue and white flames were almost burning my eyes.

Everyone sat there, waiting.

I heard someone somewhere down the table whisper, "Any second now."

Suddenly the flames in the goblet turned red and sparks began to fly from inside it. And the next minute a thing of flame shout out carrying a burnt piece of parchment. The whole room gasped.

Dumbledore caught the paper and held it in the light of the goblet's fire, which had turned back to blue, and read aloud, "The champion for Durmstrang will be Victor Krum."

A storm of applause erupted all over the hall, and I heard Ron yell out, "No surprise there!" Krum then got up from the Slytherin table and walked over to Dumbledore, turned right at the staff table, and disappeared through another door.

We all heard Karkaroff yell, "Bravo, Victor!" with his booming voice. "Knew you had it in you!"

The clapping and chatter died down, and everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red again. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames. "The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, " is Fleur Delacour!"

I heard Harry shout, "Its her, Ron!" Maybe they knew her. Said girl stood up gracefully, shook back her sheet of silvery blond hair, and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.

I looked back at the others from that school and saw that they all looked disappointed. Two girls had even dissolved into tears.

When Fleur Delacour has vanished into the side chamber as well, silence fell. This time, however, it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it. The Hogwarts champion was next…

The goblet of fire turned red once more and sparks showered out of it. The flames shot high into the air, and from the tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.

"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

The uproar from the next table was so great I thought I might go deaf. Every single Hufflepuff has jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, behind the teachers' table. The applause was so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again.

Excellent!" Dumbledore cried happily, as at last the applause 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 you champion on, you will contribute in a very real—"

But Dumbledore had suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everyone what had made him stop.

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 with it came another piece of parchment.

Dumbledore automatically reached out a hand and took the paper. 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 hand and everyone stared at dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out—

"Harry Potter."

I'm sorry, what?

We all turned to look at Harry. No way. No frickin' way. The minimum age was supposed to be seventeen. Harry was barely fourteen. No frickin' way.

If this tournament is dangerous for seventeen year olds then no way is a fourteen year old going to even survive.

There was no applause. Harry sat there in shock, frozen. A buzzing started to fill the hall. Students were whispering to one another. Will's hushed voice came in my ear, "What the hell happened?" he whispered. "Why is Harry a champion?"

I shook my head, too stunned to respond.

Up at the top table, Professor McGonagall got up to her feet and swept past the teachers to go whisper urgently to Dumbledore, who bent his ear towards her, frowning slightly.

Harry turned to Ron and Hermione and said, "I didn't put my name in. You know I didn't."

They stared back at him blankly.

At the top table Professor Dumbledore straightened and nodded at McGonagall. "Harry Potter!" he called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

Hermione gave Harry a slight push to get him out of his seat. He stumbled slightly while walking, he looked as though in a trance. He must've felt all of our eyes on him, some students in particular, didn't look very happy.

"Well… through the door, Harry," said Dumbledore. He wasn't smiling.

Harry passed the teachers table, and disappeared into the side room.

Ludo Bagman, left a bit after Harry to go into the room as well. Dumbledore dismissed us, suggesting we all go back to our house common rooms. The he, Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape all disappeared into the room too.

We all got up and started heading our separate ways. Will and I walked with the Gryffindors to the tower. When we walked through, we automatically walked to our room and sat on our separate beds, facing each other.

I felt Bianca jump into my lap, and I subconsciously started petting her soft fur. The only noise in the room was the sound of her purring and nuzzling into my hand. Will chose to speak first. "So, what exactly do you think happened for Harry to somehow get his name in the goblet?"

I looked up at him, "I don't think he put it in himself," I said, "he looked too stunned when he was called to have been acting."

"Yeah, but who could have put it in?"

I shrugged in response, still trying to process it all.

"I guess Chiron was right about Harry getting into trouble," I said.

Will let out a half hearted laugh. "Yeah."

"So, what are we going to do?" I asked.

"No clue."

A/N: Yay! Our children will now begin the tournament of death. Hehe, stay tuned for the next chapter.

Hope you enjoyed.