Usually, on a Saturday morning, students would sleep in a bit before breakfast, but with the new students and the excitement of the possible contenders entering their names into the Goblet of Fire, Jade and her friends woke earlier. It seemed most of the school had this idea because as they made their way into the Entrance Hall they found it surprisingly full of lively foot traffic. Students passed the wooden cup in packs of excited chatter and other groups would cease their conversations if it looked like someone got too close, they'd watch to see if a person would peel away from their friends to enter their name.
"I just want to get something to eat," Draco grumbled as he bumped into a boy passing him. "They don't need to block the doors to the Great Hall."
"Why are you so grumpy? It's Halloween!" Jade teased him and he rolled his eyes.
"Blaise wouldn't let me sleep. He wanted to stick around here and make sure he didn't miss anyone entering their name."
"He's clearly not the only one," Theo sighed as a trio of Ravenclaw boys blocked their way from getting closer to the Great Hall. Draco shoved his way through and one of the boys began to argue until he noticed it was Draco who had shoved him and he quietly swore under his breath and beckoned his friends to move. Before they could take another step, a burst of loud familiar laughter caught Jade's attention and she saw Fred and George hurrying down the marble staircase.
"Done it!" She heard Fred say to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were watching nearby. Even though the room went silent when the twins came down, they dropped their voices to a whisper and she couldn't hear what they were now saying to the others. Then, Fred pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket and showed it to them with a triumphant smile. He walked right up to the edge of the golden, shimmering, age line and stood there, bouncing slightly on his toes nervously as everyone watched.
"Can you imagine one of those idiots being selected as Hogwarts' Champion?" Draco scoffed and Jade glared at him.
"Yes, I can. But they're not seventeen yet. Don't know why they're trying to enter." Jade wondered quietly as George stood next to his brother, waiting for him to make the first move.
"How do you know they're not seventeen yet?" Draco asked in an irritated tone.
"Their birthdays are on the first of April." She told him obviously but he just stared back at her. "April Fool's Day." She said as an explanation. "Oh, come on, Draco. The school's two biggest jokesters were born on April Fool's Day, it doesn't get better than that."
"Who said they were the school's-" Jade cut him off with a shush as Fred stepped over the line. George followed only a second later with a large smile on his face.
"They-" Jade began excitedly but there was a loud pop and sizzle sound and the twins were hurled out of the golden circle. "didn't do it." She concluded, a little disappointed but not really surprised. They landed painfully a few feet away on the cold stone floor and when they turned over onto their backs, the Entrance Hall full of people could see that both of them had sprouted identical long white beards. Laughter bubbled up and rang through the Hall. Fred and George both pointed at each other and then reached for their own new beards.
"I did warn you," A deep, amused voice announced, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He looked over Fred and George with a smile. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too."
"So, that's how they did it," Blaise noted appreciatively.
"Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours." Fred and George nodded and set off for the Hospital Wing. Draco led them into the Great Hall as the crowd started moving again. The decorations in the Great Hall had changed that morning, as they always did for Halloween. A cloud of live bats fluttered around the enchanted ceiling, while hundreds of carved pumpkins leered from every corner. Draco sat down silently and started filling his plate and Jade watched him with amusement.
"Why are you so irritated? I mean, more so than normal." She joked.
"I just don't understand why everyone's so interested in possible contenders. It's the least exciting part and if people are going to continue to get in my way all day, my mood will only get worse."
"Speaking of," Blaise said after a drink of pumpkin juice. "Warrington added his name late last night."
"Warrington?" Draco scoffed. "Just because he's good at Quidditch doesn't mean he has any chance at being a Triwizard champion. He's an idiot."
"Rather it be one of us than someone from another House," Theo added.
"I guess."
"Oh! Any news on Cedric?" Pansy asked Theo and he gave the girls an annoyed look.
"All the Hufflepuffs want him to enter but he hasn't yet, that I've heard of."
"And who is this mysterious Hufflepuff that gives you this information?" Jade asked with a cocked eyebrow. Theo smiled and opened his mouth to answer but a loud cheering started in the Entrance Hall and followed a tall girl into the Great Hall. The girl was Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor.
"It'll be you for sure, Angelina!" Another girl smiled at her side, Jade knew this girl too, it was her Quidditch teammate, Katie Bell.
"Great, who knows how many Gryffindors are in there now," Blaise grumbled. "I'd enter my name if I could." He went on and they all focused on him.
"You?" Draco asked.
"What? You think I couldn't do it?" Blaise challenged and Draco shook his head.
"Didn't say that."
"I think you'd be great, Blaise," Jade told him supportively and he winked at her. Blaise was too young but he knew more than the average fourth year. He and Hermione were the smartest people Jade knew, so, if the tournament was for fourth-years she believed he could definitely win, but it wasn't. "What are we going to do today?" Jade asked as they finished breakfast.
"It's strangely nice out today," Theo mentioned.
"We should take advantage of it before it gets too cold," Pansy added as they got up from the table.
"Agreed," Jade said. They carefully maneuvered their way into the Entrance Hall again.
"Fancy a game of chess?" Blaise asked, placing a hand on the small of Jade's back.
"I haven't played in a long time," Jade warned but Blaise just smiled.
"I'll grab a chess set from the Common Room, wait here a minute." He told them and they shuffled closer to the corridor that led to the courtyard. While they waited, a boy from Ravenclaw put in his name and everyone clapped. "What'd I miss?" Blaise arrived at their side, unnoticed.
"Nothing," Draco told him and began down the corridor. They followed after him until they reached the almost vacant courtyard. All of the excitement was happening inside so no one was out except for a group of young Hufflepuffs.
"That reminds me, Theo," Jade remembered back to their talk in the Great Hall. "Your Hufflepuff friend."
"What about her?" Theo asked as they settled around a stone bench.
"It's a her?" Jade teased.
"Yes." Theo chuckled.
"What's her name?" Pansy gasped, sitting down next to him on the bench.
"Hannah." He replied shortly and Jade sat down on the other side of Theo.
"Hannah Abbott?" Jade asked.
"Yes."
"I've never seen you with her," Draco spoke, looking at Theo, annoyed by the way he was smiling like an idiot being squished between Pansy and Jade.
"Well, I'm always with you lot."
"Obviously not always." Pansy bumped his shoulder.
"She your girlfriend, Nott? Are you hiding her from us, nervous we'll scare her away?" Jade bumped into him from the other side. The girls shared a giggle.
"No, just a friend." He told Jade, watching her. "Got my eyes set on someone else." He added and the girls gasped.
"Who?" They asked in unison.
"Whoever she is, Nott probably doesn't stand a chance." Draco went on again, glaring at him.
"Draco." Jade chastened. "I'm sure he'd be a perfect gentleman." Jade laid her head on Theo's shoulder in support, and to hope Draco didn't get under his skin. Theo grinned back at Draco.
"I'm a gentleman to you, Jade, aren't I?" He asked, staring at Draco.
"Yes! Of course." Jade agreed.
"What about you, Pans?" He asked and Pansy nodded.
"Definitely. Much nicer to be around than you, Malfoy." She joked but Draco ignored her.
"You say something about chess, Blaise?" Draco asked loudly as Blaise set up the set on the stone ground.
"Yeah, come on, Maddex. Let me string you along before eventually winning." Blaise smiled and Jade rolled her eyes before joining him on the ground.
"That's not very gentlemanly of you." She huffed.
"Maybe I'll let you win."
"Don't let me win. I can beat you."
"If you say so."
"Done it before, haven't I?"
"Okay, like, a handful of times… and one of those times was because Draco helped you."
"You're right… Come on, Draco." Jade turned around and waved him over. "Be my good luck charm." Draco smiled at Theo as he proudly strutted over to them and sat next to her.
"You're strictly spectating, got it, mate?" Blaise told him. "Don't need you cheating for her."
"Well, Blaise, you should be smart enough to beat us both… unless you're scared, of course?"
"Yeah right." With stakes high, Blaise defending his reputation as the smartest of the group, and Jade not wanting to be proven wrong, they began their game.
"Okay, so, tell me more about Hannah." Pansy turned on the bench to face Theo, giving her his full attention and he smiled.
"Okay, but she's just a friend."
"Okay, fine."
It turned out to be a fun day, students came and went until Jade and the others decided to go back inside as a light shower started. There were still students floating around the Entrance Hall but it wasn't nearly as full as before.
"The crowd is annoying," Pansy muttered. "It'll be over by the time of the feast." She reminded herself.
"Go on then, Cedric!" A boy's voice grabbed their attention. Two Hufflepuff boys were following behind Cedric Diggory. The remaining students in the Entrance Hall stopped and watched as Cedric walked up to the golden circle with his friends, stepped inside, and threw in his name. Cedric smiled as the blue flames glowed red for a moment. He stepped back into the embrace of his friends and turned to go, the boy on his right slapping him on the back.
"Cedric!" Pansy yelled at Jade's side and Jade turned on her friend with wide eyes.
"What are you doing?" Jade hissed. Cedric turned around to see who had called him.
"Just saying hi." Pansy smiled as she waved over at him. Cedric only paused for a second before waving back politely. Jade waved back as a blush warmed her cheeks but she could tell by the look in his eyes he was trying to search his brain to find out how he knew them. He didn't, neither one of them had ever had a conversation with him before. His friends were pushing him to get him moving and Cedric easily complied. "He waved back at us," Pansy told her.
"I know." Jade sighed happily, watching his retreating figure. Before leaving the Entrance Hall, Cedric peered over his shoulder again at them, both of the girls froze and watched him look at them before turning down the corridor.
"He looked back."
"He did."
"Why did he look back?" Pansy asked and Theo shoved the girls into the Great Hall.
"Because you're both beautiful and he wanted to gawk at you." He sighed as they protested his pushing.
"Please, they were the ones gawking." Blaise snorted.
"Smiling hard like fools," Draco grunted as they took their seats at the Slytherin table.
"And yet another example of why we would choose Theo over you." Pansy huffed.
"What? Why?" Blaise objected.
"Theo said we're beautiful." Pansy smiled at him.
"He's a suck-up." Draco dismissed her reasoning.
"Are you saying we're not?" Jade turned on him.
"Not a suck-up?"
"Not beautiful." Jade clarified and Draco blinked, his mouth partially open.
"That's not what we're saying." Blaise came to Draco's rescue.
"Good, because it'd be a lie." Pansy narrowed her eyes at Draco.
"We're just saying you shouldn't choose Theo over us because he flatters you a few times."
"More than you two do." Jade snapped back.
"Do you need constant reassurance?" Blaise asked.
"No."
"Right, so you have to take other things into account."
"Like?"
"Like who's the most attractive," Draco smirked and the girls rolled their eyes.
"Who's the strongest," Blaise added.
"Who's the best wizard,"
"Who's the smartest," They went back and forth until eventually the girls stopped listening and Blaise rounded back to the point. "All in all, I think I would be the best option."
"In your dreams, Zabini." Draco chuckled.
"Yes, well, we'd be the ones making the decision." Jade reminded them. Students steadily trickled in for dinner until the Great Hall was full and alive with chatter. Viktor Krum came to sit down next to them again and he smiled at them.
"Put in your name, Krum?" Draco asked.
"Of course, did it last night."
"Wait, so who would you choose?" Theo asked.
"Choose who?" Krum asked.
"We were asking the girls, out of the three of us, who would they choose."
"Choose to what?"
"Just… choose over the other two." All four of the boys looked at the girls expectantly.
"Still Theo," Pansy concluded after a moment of consideration and Theo threw a victorious arm around her shoulder.
"Excellent choice, Parkinson."
"And what about you?" Draco asked Jade, bumping her lightly with his shoulder before straightening up to his full height and squaring his shoulders dramatically.
"I guess I'd have to go with you, then," Jade told Draco and he genuinely smiled.
"How?" Blaise asked, offended.
"Aye!" Draco barked.
"You're right, Blaise. I'm sorry I'll choose-"
"No, no, no! She chose me! Deal with it, Zabini." Draco cut her off and then tried to throw his arm over Jade's shoulders like Theo had done to Pansy but Jade pushed it off of her. The Halloween feast was just as luxurious as the feast they had the night before but everyone ate quickly, not as impressed this time because there was something more exciting they all knew was coming as soon as they were done. The golden plates cleared themselves and Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.
"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," Dumbledore smiled. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them to please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber where they will be receiving their first instructions." Dumbledore gestured over to a door behind the staff table. He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it. All of the candles were extinguished, the only light coming from inside the carved pumpkins and the Goblet of Fire. Everyone watched silently, waiting for the minute to be up. The flames inside the goblet turned red again on cue, sparks began to fly from it. Then, a jet of flame shot into the air and a charred piece of parchment slowly floated down. Jade watched from the edge of her seat as Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white. "The champion for Durmstrang," He read in a strong, clear voice. "will be Viktor Krum." Krum smiled and slammed his fists down on the table to a roar of applause before leaving his seat and joining Dumbledore at the front of the Great Hall.
"I think everyone knew that would happen," Draco said loudly over the crowd but even next to him, it was hard for them to hear him. Krum turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.
"Bravo, Viktor!" Karkaroff boomed. "Knew you had it in you!" Eventually, the clapping and chatting died down and everyone focused on the goblet again as it turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it and Dumbledore caught it.
"The champion for Beauxbatons," Dumbledore started again, "is Fleur Delacour!" A stunning girl with long blonde hair stood up from the Ravenclaw table and hurried over to Dumbledore. But there was something off about how effortlessly graceful she moved, and how many of the boys in the Hall were watching her every move with slacked jaws. Jade noticed the other Beauxbaton girls, none of them were supporting their champion like the Durmstrang did for Krum, they were all crying and upset that they weren't chosen as the Champion. When Fleur Delacour vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was different, the only champion left was the one from Hogwarts, and all of the older students were standing now, waiting and hoping their name would be called. The Goblet of Fire turned red once more and they all gasped as sparks showered out of it and the last piece of parchment fluttered towards Dumbledore's awaiting hand. "The Hogwarts champion," He waited more than necessary to keep them in suspense. "is Cedric Diggory!"
"You've got to be fucking-" Draco's objection was drowned out by the loud cheering and whistles. Jade and Pansy launched up from their seats and clapped loudly. Cedric rose from the Hufflepuff table and walked up to Dumbledore, shook his hand, and disappeared behind the door. Draco tugged on Jade's arm to bring her back down in her seat. "That's enough, he's gone."
"Jealous much?" Jade sighed as the cheers began to die down.
"Of Diggory? Never."
"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as the applause finally quieted enough for his voice to be heard. "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 your champion on, you will contribute in a very real-" But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was obvious why. The blue glow of the hall turned red again, as if the goblet were getting ready to shoot out another name.
"What's it doing?" Pansy whispered. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and to everyone's surprise, another piece of parchment floated down. Dumbledore reached out and caught it. He stared at the parchment for a long time until he finally looked up.
"Harry Potter."