Chapter 4: To the Rescue!
I raced down the stairs, two at a time, the parchment crumpled and wet in my hand. Cole's letter said to meet him at the wooden entrance doors as fast as possible. I knew my friend couldn't stall for long. I didn't pause for breath as I sprinted down corridor after corridor. At last, I made it.
I heard Cole's voice and someone else, his dad, I think. I burst outside. "Cole!" I shouted, ready to rescue my friend at a moment's notice.
He turned to look at me, his horror breaking through his fake expression of calm. Cole's father glanced down sharply. He was a slightly older gentleman, dressed in a brown suit and a red bowtie.
"Who's this?" he asked.
"Dad, this is Kai, my friend. He's, uh, a part of my quartet." Cole made up quickly. His father was still staring at me. Cole gestured for me to pick up where he left off.
Is Cole serious right now? What was I supposed to say?
"That's right," I said. "We preform together." My friend nodded encouragingly, so I went on. "In fact, we're rehearsing for a special event in October."
"Really? Can I come?" Cole's father asked.
Cole shook his head with a silent furry.
"Um. No. Sorry," I said flatly. I tried to think of a good excuse.
Fortunately, Zane and Jay arrived on the scene, sparing me from replying.
"Ah," Cole's father said. "You must be the rest of my son's quartet."
Jay gaped and looked at Cole and I for confirmation. I nodded, and he looked at me like I was insane. I glanced at Cole's father to make sure he hadn't caught on to the holes in our story.
"Yes. We were just about to rehearse when we learned of your arrival," Zane replied.
Cole's father nodded. "Of course. Would you mind if I watched you? I might be able to give input for your event in October."
"It's fine, Dad. We're going to practice by ourselves," Cole emphasized. "So you can just go home and leave us alone."
His father ignored the bitterness in Cole's tone. "I'm just concerned about you. We can't have history repeating itself."
Cole glowered at his father. "I was seven years old, Dad! What did you expect?"
The older man took a step back at the venom in his son's words. I looked over at the others, and they seemed just as uncomfortable as I was. I wished Cole would have this conversation in private.
"Son, I just thought—"
"You thought wrong!" Cole snapped.
I backed toward the entrance. This sounded like an old argument that wasn't about to end any time soon. "We should probably go…" I suggested.
"Yeah," Jay said. "We really need that rehearsal time."
Cole's father frowned. "At least let me hear the sweet sound of harmony before you go. I would love to hear my son sing."
I looked at the others, then back at Cole's dad. He had his hand cupped to his ear, a small smile spreading across his face. I hesitated, then started singing, "Harmony—"
"Harmony—" Jay joined in, a few notes higher.
"Harmony—"
"Harmony."
Our voices grated in my ears, and I'm sure it was even worse for Cole's father. I backed off toward the door. "We really should be rehearsing now. See you, Mr…" I trailed off.
"Call me Lou," Cole's father suggested.
"See you, Lou," I finished awkwardly. And with that, we backed down the hallway until it was safe enough to run far, far away from that embarrassment.
"That was close," Jay panted. "Do you think he bought it?"
I don't think anyone would have bought our terrible performance, but I tried to be optimistic. "I think so."
Cole sighed. "As long as he doesn't come back, we'll be fine."
"We just have to wait until October," Zane reminded us.
It turned out, that Lou did come back, every day. We had several close calls where he nearly got in the building, but most of the time we managed to keep him away. It got so bad; we had to take turns dealing with him. Nya wanted to tell Master Wu. A muggle shouldn't be so close to a wizarding school, after all.
But we had Cole's father under control. So it couldn't be too terrible, right? September couldn't go fast enough for me. Every day was a battle not to be discovered or let something slip, and it was getting harder to give Lou excuses not to come into school, or hear us sing. At last, it was October. We were getting out of here.
We told Lou that we were going over seas for some singing/talent show or another, and that pacified him a bit. The day we were supposed to leave, I walked out the doors to meet Cole's father for the last time. I told him today was the big day, and unfortunately Cole was so busy that he couldn't come down to say goodbye himself. We chatted meaninglessly for a bit, and then I told him I had to go. Lou frowned, but nodded in understanding. I took a deep breath, forced a smile and politely closed the giant wooden doors behind me.
"See you when you get back," Cole's father called.
"Yeah," I replied. When the doors were firmly closed and I was sure he was gone, I whispered. "Not."
This double life was too hard to live. We still had homework to do, on top of all of our Tri-wizard Tournament preparations, because we had to "be on our best behavior in front of the other schools" as the teachers put it. When we got back, Cole, Zane, Jay and I agreed we would end this charade once and for all.
I walked in the dining hall for lunch. All the students were supposed report to their houses. We would be dismissed in groups, so as not to flood the ship, Destiny's Bounty. It was also a great way to make sure no one got left behind. All the teachers were coming, so students had no choice but to come. That didn't stop people from trying though. It was going to be a two-day flight, but fortunately, there was no shortage of things to do. There was training equipment, a giant control room, and massive bunk-bed quarters. This place seemed to have everything. In one room, I even spotted video games, which Jay was quick to take advantage of.
At last, we landed in a giant lake, near the large castle of a school. The other school arrived in a carriage pulled by flying horses. They went first, and then our school came in afterwards. We piled in behind the older students, who put on a fantastic show displaying their elemental powers. Once the show finished, we were allowed to sit at any of the four tables with the Hogwarts students. I didn't care where I sat, as long as it was with the rest of my friends, and far away from Chen.
The Hogwarts headmaster gave a speech welcoming us to the school, and then another man, Barty Crouch, told us the rewards—a trophy/cup thing, and some amount of galleons, plus school pride— and the rules of the Tri-wizard Tournament, including the age restriction of seventeen. Master Wu had told us all of this, but I guess the Hogwarts kids hadn't, because several of them complained loudly. Some even stood up, booing and yelling that the rules weren't fair.
Once the headmaster, Dumbledore, quieted everyone down, he unveiled the Tri-wizard Cup, which was nice enough, I guess. It glimmered in the candlelight of the Great Hall, with decorative handles. Then Dumbledore used his wand to remove the layers covering the Goblet of Fire.
Tongues of blue flame danced on the rim of the stone goblet. Dumbledore looked out at the students.
"Anyone wishing to submit themselves to the tournament need only write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night."
That was tomorrow. Things were moving a lot quicker than I thought. Everyone had just got here.
Dumbledore continued, "Do not do so lightly! If chosen, there's no turning back. As from this moment, The Tri-wizard Tournament has begun."
Once he finished, the headmaster drew an age line with his wand. Then, food appeared on plates, just like they did at home. I was surprised; the dishes were mostly the same too. The glasses filled with a strange liquid I had never seen before. One of the Hogwarts students told me it was pumpkin juice. I wrinkled my nose and stuck to my fish and miso soup.
As people finished their dinner, students made their way to the front, encouraged by friends, and put their name into the goblet. The crowd roared as more and more people crossed the line and dropped parchment into the fire.
I covered my ears. Was Hogwarts always this loud? I was used to the quiet of the library and the gentle murmuring of breakfast. This was insane.
Jay poked me, and opened his hands to reveal several pairs of earplugs. I took two gratefully. I looked at Nya to see if she needed some, but I shouldn't have bothered. Jay had already taken care of her. She was probably the first one to receive his special attention. I sighed.
Once everyone finished, I walked back to the Destiny's Bounty with my friends. I collapsed on my stiff bunk mattress and went right to sleep. The next day, I snuck into the Great Hall for breakfast. It was noisy and full of older students putting their name in the Goblet of Fire. I tried to take my food out to the library like normal, but one teacher gave me a look. A real nasty look. That was the end of that.
There wasn't much to do until the names from all the schools were called. I spent my time wandering up and down staircases, trying not to get lost. I walked down stone corridors with suits of armor. I swear one of them moved, but maybe I was just having horrible flashbacks of the stone warriors. Finally, it was time for the Halloween Feast, and the names of the contestants would be revealed.
Dumbledore stood by the goblet, and Master Wu, and the Beauxbaton Headmaster stood next to him. The lights dimmed, leaving only the flames of the goblet.
Suddenly, the blue fire turned red, and a piece of parchment was spat out of the goblet. Dumbledore caught the piece of paper, and the flames died back down to normal.
"The champion for Beauxbaton is Fluer Delacour," he announced.
All the Beauxbaton's students cheered as a blond, confident young woman marched up to the front, where she was congratulated and led away someplace else.
Then the goblet turned red again, and out came another parchment. "The Hogwarts's champion is Cedric Diggory!" Dumbledore called.
Claps and cheers rang across the hall as the champion made his way up to the front. He too, was led off. Now there was one school left. Ours.
"Who do you think it'll be?" Jay asked.
"I don't know," Cole answered, his mouth full of the local Halloween food.
I had no idea either. I didn't know much about the older students at our school, but hopefully they would do well.
Once again, Dumbledore caught the parchment as it fluttered down. "The champion from Master Wu's school is Lloyd Garmadon!"
AN: Oh no! Lloyd's been chosen! Why and how? Read more to find out! Thanks for your support!