Chapter 5: Saving Lloyd

The hall fell silent. I looked at the second year in horror. No. No. Lloyd was too young. He couldn't have put his name in the cup. That's what the age line was for. There had to be some kind of mistake.

"Lloyd Garmadon!" Dumbledore called again louder. The other schools' students began whispering to themselves.

I looked up at the front. Wu and the other teachers stood stock still in shock. Well, all except for Garmadon.

He marched up to Dumbledore, red eyes blazing. "Let me see that," the former dark lord spat.

The headmaster offered it to him, and Garmadon practically snatched the paper out of the poor man's hands. Then, the warlord's bluster faded as he stared at the small parchment. He muttered something I couldn't make out.

There was no mistake. Lloyd was entered into the tournament. Wu came to console his brother. They argued quietly, but then Garmadon backed down. His face was fixed into a deep frown, but he stepped back into his former place off to the side. Neither professor moved to stop the proceedings.

"Lloyd Garmadon, come up here please," Dumbledore repeated.

I looked back at Lloyd, who finally gotten up from the bench.

"You don't have do this," Nya hissed as he passed.

"Don't do it, buddy!" Jay added.

Lloyd kept walking. Anything I had to say stuck in my throat. I couldn't believe that after all we went through last year, he was getting thrown into this dangerous contest. I watched as he made his way to the front of the hall.

The second year managed to stand tall, despite the whispers and gasps at his age.

I waited for someone to say that he couldn't compete, that he was too young and they would have to choose someone else, but no one did. Lloyd was whisked away with the other contestants. The school headmasters followed, and Garmadon trailed like a stormy cloud behind them, furious that his twelve-year-old son had been entered into the dangerous Tri-wizard tournament.

I understood how he felt. I promised Lloyd I would help him, and now he had to get through three deadly tasks with only one year of schooling under his belt. I wished I knew what was going on right now.

I slipped off the bench, and tried to edge discreetly past Cole and Zane to the end of the hall where the contestants had gone. My friends glanced at me as I brushed past them.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I lied quickly. I didn't think my friends would approve of my eavesdropping. Zane tilted his head, but let me go, thankfully. I darted out of the room as quickly as I dared and looked for the dark trail of Garmadon's robes.

There! I ran to the left and tried to trail the professors without being discovered. One by one, they all filed into a single room and closed the door before I could follow them. So, I pressed my ear against the door and decided to wait.

After a bit of yelling and clearing up the others confusion, Wu asked, "Lloyd, did you put your name in the goblet?"

"No." Lloyd's voice was so faint I had to strain my ears to make it out.

"Did you ask an older student to put in for you?" Wu continued.

"No."

"He is lying!" A heavily accented voice broke in. "There is no way he could have got into the tournament otherwise!"

"Leave my son alone!" Garmadon snarled. "He's just a second year. Clearly, someone put his name in to get him killed!"

"Are you making an accusation?" Dumbledore clarified.

"Yes I'm making an accusation! Honestly, this is clearly dark magic at work here."

"Of course you can tell!" The accented woman said, who I guessed was French, broke in again. "Since you have experience yourself."

"How dare you!"

"Brother," Wu interrupted sharply. The room grew quiet for a moment. Then the old professor continued, "It would take a Confundus Charm of enormous strength to confuse the goblet, more strength than a second year would possess. Lloyd is not at fault here."

The French woman didn't protest, so I guessed they grudgingly agreed on that point.

"But the question still remains," Dumbledore said, "Should he compete in the tournament?"

"Absolutely not!" Garmadon said hotly.

"He's just a child," Wu agreed. It sounded like the two of them were trying to keep Lloyd out of the tournament. Maybe everything was going to be all right after all.

"Unfortunately, once a person is chosen by the Goblet of Fire, they enter into a magical contract that cannot be broken. Whether he meant to or not, Lloyd Garmadon is officially a champion," a new voice said.

I immediately disliked him.

"Who cares about the rules?" Garmadon protested. "This is my son's life we're talking about here! Letting him compete is suicide!"

I silently cheered Garmadon on from my vantage point behind the door. These people were wizards, not killers. Surely they would listen to reason.

"I'm afraid your son doesn't have a choice. He is a champion of the Tri-wizard Tournament. There's no going back."

I really hated this guy.

"But—"

"Brother," Wu warned quietly.

"Champions, the first task will occur in two weeks. You are only allowed a wand. No other magical objects are allowed," the man said.

"You may leave now," Dumbledore said, which was my cue to scurry back to the dinning hall.

My heart raced. Only two weeks to prepare Lloyd for whatever dangerous task lay ahead of him. I racked my brain for any useful spells I could teach my friend. If Lloyd couldn't get out of the tournament, then I was going to do everything in my power to make sure he came out alive.

I sat back down and tried to eat some more food, but my appetite was gone. I just kept thinking about Lloyd as I pushed rice from one side of my plate to the other.

"That was a long bathroom break," Cole remarked. Zane gave me a pointed look. Neither of them bought my story.

"Uh," I stuttered, "Well, you see, while I was in there, um, there was this guy—"

"Whatever, I don't wanna know about your bathroom problems," Jay conveniently interrupted.

We went back to eating in silence. It seemed nobody else was hungry either, except for Cole.

After a moment, Nya asked the question we all didn't dare ask. "So what are we going to do about Lloyd?"

"I was thinking we could teach him some of the spells we know," I suggested.

"Like what?" Jay asked.

"Like…I don't know." I admitted. Nothing useful was really coming to mind.

"We can teach him how to master his powers, and I've been reading some books that might be helpful," Zane offered.

"Plus we can teach him what we learn during the year," Cole said.

I sighed. Worry filled my mind. We were only fourth years ourselves. "I just hope it'll be enough."

Nya put a hand on my shoulder. "We'll get through this," she said.

I nodded. At least we had a plan in place. "Yeah," I replied.

The next day, we all doubled our efforts in class. Zane spent all of lunch reading thick books about advanced magic. I tried to pick up some of his books too, but they were way over my head.

Every other minute was spent training Lloyd. We drilled him with charms, elemental powers, advanced techniques, and anything else we could think of. I just hoped it would be enough. Who knew what the first task would be…

AN: Tune in next week to see what the first task will be! Thanks for reading!