Chapter 4

Lily and Anakin were standing in a corner of the Great Hall, covered by the invisibility cloak. The candlelit hall was almost full. The Goblet of Fire stood in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teacher's table. The Hallowe'en feast began. Anakin and Lily had already eaten, courtesy of Dobby, who had always liked Lily in the future, A/N: I know it's an odd choice of words. But how else am I to put it?> but no-one else in the hall seemed to want to eat. Everyone was too excited – this was the night that the Tri-Wizard Champions would be drawn!

At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; the room fell silent as Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"Well, the Goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them 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."

While he was talking, Anakin and Lily had moved to stand in front of the main door. Lily had a bit of a dramatic flare – inherited from two of her uncles, a pair of twins who own a joke shop. A/N: I'm sorry, but if you can't guess who I mean, then you've got no right to call yourself a Harry Potter fan.> She planned to make as dramatic an entrance as possible.

Dumbledore took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into semi-darkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall. Everyone watched, waiting…

Lily and Anakin took the Invisibility Cloak off. They didn't need to worry about being seen; everyone's attention was fully on the Goblet. Lily rolled it up, and then put it in a trick bag, given to her by said twin uncles. When you put an item in the bag, the item shrank to fit. Then, when taken out, the item grew to its full size again. The bag fitted neatly in any pocket. Needless to say, it was very useful.

The flames inside the Goblet turned suddenly red. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it – the whole room gasped.

Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and read the writing on it. "The Champion for Durmstrang will be Viktor Krum." A storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall.

Seconds after the applause died down, the flames turned red again. Dumbledore caught the new piece of parchment. "The champion for Beauxbatons," he said, "is Fleur Delacour!"

Beneath the applause, Anakin whispered to Lily, "Isn't that your aunt?" Lily nodded as the applause died down.

Silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it. The final Champion… the Hogwarts Champion…

The flames turned red, and Dumbledore caught the third piece of parchment. "The Hogwarts Champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

There was uproar at the Hufflepuff table. Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping. They eventually settled down, allowing Dumbledore to speak.

"Excellent!" he called happily. "Well, we now have our three champions…"

The fire in the Goblet suddenly turned red again. Another piece of parchment came out. Dumbledore reached out and seized it. He stared at the words on it. Then he read out –

"Harry Potter"


Everyone turned to look at Harry. After a time, Dumbledore called out, "Harry Potter! Harry! Up here, if you please!" Harry rose and walked up, towards the staff table. At Dumbledore's order, he walked towards the side door. He was about to enter, when the Hall gave another collective gasp. He spun around.

The flame had turned red once more. Dumbledore caught another slip of parchment. He read it silently. He blinked. He read it again. Then he looked up, and said what was on the parchment.

"Anakin and Lily Malter"

Everyone looked around. No-one had ever heard of the two people whose names Dumbledore had called out. A movement called all attention to the main door. There stood two people – presumably Anakin and Lily Malter.

The boy was the taller of the two. His hair was short, and a dark blonde, nearly brown, but not quite. His eyes were sky-blue. A/N: I don't know what colour Draco's eyes are in the book; I couldn't find the reference. If you know, please tell me, and I'll decide whether or not to change it.> The girl had shoulder-length hair. It was brown, but had a touch of red in it. She had a few freckles on her face. Her eyes were a yellow-brown colour, which, for some reason, didn't seem right. Lily was actuallywearing coloured contacts – for two reasons. One was to hide her true eye-colour, which was green, just like her father and grandmother. The other was she needed them, like her father and grandfather, who wore glasses. Many at the staff table were reminded of Lily Potter, James' wife and Harry's mother, though they didn't realise it; they just thought she looked familiar. Most estimates placed the pair's ages in the early twenties.

Anakin and Lily walked confidently down the Hall – almost regally. The room was totally silent. As they reached the staff table, they acknowledged Dumbledore with nods, then walked through the door, just behind Harry, who had been staring at them. Lily gave him a friendly smile, making Harry feel as if he should know this girl.

"What is it?" Fleur asked, catching sight of Harry. She thought he had come to deliver a message. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"

Harry didn't know what to say. Fleur was about to speak again, when she noticed Lily and Anakin behind Harry.

Behind them came the sound of scurrying feet. Ludo Bagman entered the room, muttering. "Extraordinary!" He told the three Champions that something incredible had happened – there were six Tri-Wizard Champions. Behind Bagman came Dumbledore, Crouch, Karkaroff, Maxime, McGonagall and Snape. They were arguing amongst themselves. Then Dumbledore turned to Harry.

"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?"

"No."

"Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet of Fire for you?"

"No"

Anakin spoke up in Harry's defence. "He didn't put it in; he didn't ask anyone to put it in for him. Someone put his name in, without his permission."

Everyone turned to look at the two. "Two questions: Who are you," asked Dumbledore quietly, "and how do you know that?"

"I'm Anakin Malf-" he broke of as Lily elbowed him.

"I'm Lily Malter," she said, glaring at Anakin. "This is my husband, Anakin." Despite his sore ribs, Anakin glowed when he heard Lily call him her husband. They weren't married yet, but they hoped to be soon.

"And as for knowing that Harry is innocent, we-" he broke off again as Lily hissed at him. Or, more correctly, almost everyone heard a hiss. Harry heard the words, "Shut up!"

Lily finished Anakin's sentence. "We can't say." She noticed Harry staring at her.

"Were you just speaking Parseltongue?" Without realising it, he had also spoken in that language.

"Yes. We still are." She appeared amused. He flushed.

None of the adults noticed their quiet conversation. Anakin had distracted them by refusing to answer their questions. He finally said, "Look, we're trying to help. We know all about it – everything that has happened, and everything that is going to happen. We're here to stop some of it, and make sure the other things do happen. I can't give you anymore explanation than that. I mean, what do you think, we're in league with Voldemort or something?"

There was a lot of flinching in the room, and Moody growled, "Yes."

Lily's face darkened with anger. She looked him straight in the eye. "I have a lot of things I would like to say to you right now. However, there are only two things that I will say: My family has suffered a lot because of Voldemort. (Flinching around room.) I will not let him hurt them anymore. And the other thing: I know you secret-" She mouthed three words, making sure Moody was the only one to see them. He paled.

With a little prodding, the conversation then turned to whether or not any of the three extra champions – Harry, Lily and Anakin – should compete.

Karkaroff asked the right question. "Mr Crouch… Mr Bagman, you are our – er – objective judges. Surely you will agree that this is most irregular?"

Bagman looked at Crouch, who answered, "We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the Tournament."

"'Ogwarts cannot ave four champions. It is most injust."

"Oh, no! Madame Maxime, Anakin and myself are not representing Hogwarts. We are in this for a personal reason – which we may not disclose – and therefore cannot be counted as Hogwarts Champions." Lily couldn't help but feel a little smug at the shocked expression on Maxime's face.

Anakin whispered to her, "Hermione's right – you'd make an excellent Muggle lawyer." Lily chose not to respond.

Karkaroff was throwing what could be called, in all honesty, a tantrum. He demanded having more champions for the other schools, ignoring Lily's explaination. He and Moody then began arguing.

"How this situation arose, we do not know," said Dumbledore. "It seems to me, however, that we have no choice but to accept it."

"Look," said Lily, over the protests of Madame Maxime. "If you can get five dr- er, opponents for the first task, then it'll be fine." She pre-empted the questions, and continued. "As Anakin said earlier, we know all about it. As for why only five, my name and Anakin's came out together – we put them in together – so we will compete together. Now, don't you have to give us our instructions about the first task?" Bagman looked upset that Lily had stolen his line.

Crouch seemed to come out of a deep reverie. "Yes," he said, "instructions. Yes… the first task… The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and a panel of judges…"

He finished the instructions. Madame Maxime, Fleur, Karkaroff and Krum left. Dumbledore turned to Harry, Cedric, Lily and Anakin. "I don't fully understand what has happened –" he began.

Lily shook her head. "You shouldn't. It's headache-making stuff."

Dumbledore studied her for a minute. "Very well. I wish to speak to you in the morning. I will send a guide to you. Do you have somewhere to stay?"

"We've been staying in the Room of Requirement."

Dumbledore nodded. "I suggest you go to bed." He turned to Harry and Cedric. "I am sure Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are waiting to celebrate with you."