7
The Goblet of Fire
Regina made her way to the Great Hall early that night after her conversation with Gabrielle, hurrying her way through the winding maze of corridors and finding a seat at the empty head of the Slytherin Table. A few other students were dotted around the other tables too, with anxious looks plastered on their faces. The usually warm and inviting Great Hall felt dark and gloomy, and a sense of shadowy foreboding hung around in the air like a bad smell. Nervous students filed into the hall in small groups, each of their faces set in a look of dark anticipation of the night's events; at the end of tonight's feast, three of them would see their names cast from the Goblet of Fire, forcing them to compete in the Tournament of Champions against schools from all around the world. Just as the night before, the Great Hall was adorned with the flags of all the countries competing. The more obvious flags she'd recognised straight away; the British flag that hung over the High Table, representing Hogwarts' participation, and the Star-Spangled Banner of the USA that flew proudly above Ilvermorny and Alma Aleron. Japan's flag was also present, sitting between those of Brazil, and Greece, but she couldn't yet figure out which schools would represent each country, and there were three flags she couldn't even identify, although she knew one would be from Africa, one from Oceania, and one from the mysterious Polar Region, an icy continent rarely heard from by the rest of the Wizarding World.
As the rest of the students finally trudged their way to their tables, the Headmaster clapped his hands together, and the usual feast presented itself before them, appearing out of thin air from the kitchens below, filling the tables with a plethora of wondrous dishes that no doubt had taken hours to prepare. Regina ate hurriedly, much like the rest of her housemates, firing through a small rack of lamb, and then a treacle tart in just under half an hour. When the last of the plates had mercifully been cleared away, the Headmaster rose to his feet to address the students. Casting his arms slowly around the hall, he dimmed the torches until the room was bathed in dark shadows, with the previously blazing flames now providing only tiny pins of light against the dark stone walls. The enchanted ceiling seemed to darken too, with grey clouds rolling across the starry sky like smoke from a giant cigar, blotting out the light of the nights sky. Just as he had done the night of the first feast, the Headmaster reached out his hand as if to grab something from thin air, and the Goblet of Fire shimmered into existence, the heavy hewn wood blackened around the edges from the centuries of use. The blue flame burned brightly throughout the Great Hall, illuminating the hundreds of faces gazing up at the High Table in fear, anticipation, or excitement.
"Now," the Headmasters voice boomed across the Great Hall, a stark contrast to his slight build, "the time has come to select the three champions who will represent our school in the forthcoming tournament; a competition against the best schools from around the Wizarding World. But before we select our three champions, I feel it is about time for us to start getting to know our competition." Around the Great Hall, the flags of all the different nations competing in the tournament were suddenly bathed in a golden light that filled the hall, blotting out the enchanted ceiling, and in the background, a quiet, but powerful piece of music played, seeming to fill Regina's chest with song. Well, Regina thought, at least Professor Breckenridge likes to add a touch of drama to proceedings. The flags seemed to shimmer with the golden light, and when it eventually faded away, the flags had been replaced with giant photographs of different school buildings from across the Wizarding World. Regina could make out the shape of what looked like an ancient temple where the Greek flag had hung only moments ago, and the American flag had been replaced by a picture of a school building so vast that Regina was sure Hogwarts could have fitted inside it twice. The flag of the African school showed a small, cube-shaped building that was almost entirely white, but had lavish gold trim around each side, whilst Japan's flag had been replaced by what looked like a grand Shinto Temple, towering high above the sea atop a misty mountain. After giving the students time to marvel at each of the schools, the Headmaster spoke in a booming voice.
"First, representing our friends in the United States of America," the Headmaster bellowed, making a sweeping gesture towards the photograph of the enormous school, "the Alma Aleron University of Magical Humanities and Spellcraft in Philadelphia!" The students gave the American flag a hearty cheer, clearly keen to foster a friendly rivalry with their counterparts in Philadelphia. "From Greece, the Hecate Temple of Sorcery and Witchcraft!" The Greek school received less of a cheer, but still garnered a polite round of applause from the students and staff.
"From the Polar Region," students began murmuring excitedly as the Headmaster gestured to a photo of a large, black, angular building that was covered in a light dusting of snow. The rest of the wizarding world barely had any contact with the Polar Region, and everyone seemed at least a little excited to find out more, "The Polaris Institute of Magic and Sorcery from Svalbard, Norway!" Students continued to murmur excitedly as they were introduced to Castelobruxo Magic Academy, of Brazil, and cheered rabidly for Mahoutokoro School of Magic, famous for teaching half of Japan's Quidditch team, who'd came second in the World Cup against France. After a cheer for New Zealand's Moutohora Magic Academy, Regina was finally able to identify the flag from the African nation as that of Madrasat Alsihr, a small school in Egypt that would become the first to represent its country at the Tournament of Champions after narrowly beating the favourites, Kenya Kiara, in the All-Africa Cup. Finally, the golden light from each picture faded, and the pictures reverted back to their original flags. Professor Breckenridge spoke softly to the crowd of students.
"Without any further ado, let the selections begin." The Headmaster reached out a frail and bony hand and touched the side of the Goblet of Fire, closed his eyes, and whispered a silent command to the cup. Please let it be me, Regina thought, if only to save the younger students from getting hurt. The students around the Great Hall started to whisper excitedly amongst themselves, nudging their friends in the ribs, teasing each other about being chosen. The blue flames from the Goblet of Fire darkened to a deep cobalt, and grew higher and higher until spitting out its first piece of parchment, which fluttered towards the ground, leaving a trail of wispy smoke behind it. The Headmaster plucked it deftly out of the air and called out to the expectant crowd, "our first Champion is, Natalie Campbell!" The Ravenclaw table cheered as a tall Seventh-Year girl with dark brown hair, and a pair of square glasses that framed her blue eyes stood nervously, and made her way to the High Table to shake the Headmaster's hand. Regina recognised the girl from her Charms classes, but had never had an actual conversation with her. She felt half disappointed, and half relieved as she watched the girl make her way to the antechamber behind the High Table. Regina turned her attention back to the Goblet of Fire as the Headmaster reached out his hand once more. This time, the flame turned a deep golden colour before tossing out its second piece of parchment.
"Our second champion, is Joshua White!" This time it was the Hufflepuff table who let out an enormous cheer as a large, quite chubby boy with spiky blonde hair padded his way nervously toward the High Table from a group of Sixth-Year students. So far so good, Regina thought anxiously as Joshua White plodded his way slowly down to the antechamber, both Champions have been older students. Maybe not the greatest picks, compared to Harry and Cedric, or Fleur Delacour, and Viktor Krum, but no Second-Years.
"Our third and final Champion," the Headmaster said in a dark voice that echoed around the hall, "will not only have the privilege to represent our school in the tournament, but will also hold the honourable distinction of leading our team to glory, as Captain of Hogwarts!" The crowd gave a loud cheer, forgetting for a moment the danger that the Tournament of Champions would bring, no longer able to hold back the excitement of the day. The Headmaster made a motion for everyone to settle down, and once everyone had become silent, he reached out a bony and touched the side of the Goblet of Fire for a third and final time. The flame from the goblet sputtered and coughed, seemingly taking time to make its finals decision. Regina released the breath that she'd been holding, beginning to grow impatient, no longer able to take the stress of waiting. Come on, she whispered under her breath. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, the flames from the Goblet of Fire turned a deep, emerald green. Slytherin, Regina thought as the group of students on her table began to twitch with excitement. Please let it be me, please, please, let it be me. Regina could feel all the eyes of the Slytherin Table turn in her direction. Julie clapped a hand on her back, and Abdullah Virani winked at her from across the table. Time seemed to stop entirely as Professor Breckenridge plucked the third and final piece of parchment from the air. All of the sound seemed to have been sucked out of the room like a giant vacuum, and Regina could make out only the sounds of her own heart, thumping so loudly that it seemed as though it may beat right out of her chest.
For just a moment, amongst all the excitement and fear, Regina thought she would indeed be the final name on the piece of parchment clutched in Professor Breckenridge's frail and bony hand. She envisioned herself exhaling a sigh of relief and trepidation as her classmates broke into the loudest cheer of the night, imagined herself walking up to the High Table with a nervous grin plastered across her face, shaking hands with the terrifying Headmaster, strolling down to the antechamber, and introducing herself to the other champions. And why shouldn't I have imagined it? Regina thought in the moments after Professor Breckenridge spoke the first letters of the name on the parchment, I'm Head Girl, a Prefect, Captain of the Slytherin Team, Assistant Teacher of the Defence Association. I received top marks in my O.W.L's, and won the Quidditch Cup last year. I get picked for everything. It would seem like Regina hadn't been the only one shocked by the Goblet of Fire's pick for Hogwarts' Captain; whereas the two previous champions had received a hearty round of applause from their Houses, the Slytherin table let out a collective gasp, followed by a numb silence as Professor Breckenridge read the piece of parchment aloud.
"Our third Champion; Gabrielle Delacour!"
Author's Notes
Hi everyone,
I've been quite excited to release this chapter, as we're finally getting to meet Hogwarts' three Champions, and find out which schools will be competing in the tournament! Hopefully you guys are excited for the start of the Tournament of Champions, and even though I know everyone will be supporting Hogwarts as they try and win the tournament, I hope that you guys will like the other schools that we're going to explore. Also, if you are from the USA, Brazil, Norway, Greece, Egypt, Japan, or New Zealand, I hope to see you guys supporting your home team too!
As I usually like to do, I have a couple of questions that I would love for you guys to answer if you are generous enough to leave me some feedback. So far the feedback for the story has been pretty good, and I'm starting to spot a few regulars in the review section too. Lets keep it up guys!
1. Were you shocked to see Gabrielle get picked over Regina (or some of the other, older students)?
2. Which country are you most excited to visit during the story?
3. What types of challenges would you like to see in the Tournament of Champions?
4. What other characters would you like to see appear in the story?
Thanks again for reading everyone! I hope to hear from you guys soon!
IronManRidingaNimbus.