Hailey woke up the next morning, briefly wondering why she felt miserable and worried, then she remembered why. She groaned as she remembered what happened the night before and sat up. She really needed to talk to Ron and Hermione. She needed to know if they would believe her when she told them that she didn't put her name in the Goblet of Fire. She pulled back the blue curtains to see that Mandy wasn't there and couldn't help but worry if Mandy didn't believe her and was just lying to her, but that didn't sound like Mandy at all. She got dressed and headed down to the Great Hall, but Hermione, Mandy, and Michael were coming up the marble staircase.
Hermione held up a stack of toast, which was on a napkin. "Want to go for a walk?"
"I wanted to see Ron," Hailey said.
"We saw him," Michael stated, a little too harshly.
Hailey stared at him, not because she thought he was good-looking, well, he was, in her opinion, but because of the harsh way he said it.
"He didn't believe us when we told him that you didn't put your name in the goblet." Mandy said, sounding a little irritated at that. "He said that you probably used the Invisibility Cloak to get over the Age Line. We told him that it probably wouldn't have worked, but he told us that the Fat Lady's friend told the Gryffindors that Dumbledore's letting you compete…a thousand Galleons in prize and no end-of-the-term tests."
"But I didn't," Hailey repeated, growing agitated all over again.
"We told him that, but he told us that we don't have lie to him," Mandy said.
Hailey looked at the Great Hall, "Is he in there?"
Mandy shrugged, "maybe, let's just go for a walk." She wrapped her arm around Hailey's and they walked down the staircase to the entrance of the Great Hall.
They walked across the lawn towards the lake, where the Durmstrang ship was moored. The ship reflected blackly in the water. It was chilly and they ate the toast, as Hailey explained to Hermione and Michael what happened after she had left the Ravenclaw table the night before. Hailey felt relieved when Hermione and Michael accepted her story.
Hermione said, "The question is; who did put it in? Moody's right, Hailey…I don't think any student could have done it…they'd never be able to fool the goblet, or get over Dumbledore's—"
"Then why does Ron think I entered myself?" Hailey muttered to herself and noticed how Michael rolled his eyes as he pulled the crust off of his toast, before he threw it into the lake. She couldn't help but wonder if Michael hated the crust on bread.
"Well…no, I don't think so…not really," replied Hermione awkwardly.
Hailey was confused at that, "What's that supposed to mean, 'not really'?"
"Oh, Hailey, isn't it obvious?" Hermione replied, sounding as if Hailey was clueless. "He's jealous!"
"Of what?" Hailey said, incredulous. "Not being able to make a prat of himself in front of hundreds of people?"
"You get all the attention," Mandy said, starting off, "Even if it's not your fault."
Hermione continued to explain, "I know you don't ask for it…but—well—you know, Ron's got all those brothers and a sister to compete against at home, and you're his best friend, and you're really famous—he's always shunted to one side whenever people see you, and he puts up with it, and he never mentions it, but I suppose this is just one time too many…"
Hailey supposed she knew how Ron felt, by not getting any attention. Well, at least Ron had a loving family; she had the Dursleys.
"That's just great, really great," Hailey replied bitterly. "Tell him from me I'll swap any time he wants. Tell him from me that he's welcome to it…People gawping at my forehead everywhere I go and when they hear my name…"
"I'm not telling him anything," Hermione said shortly. "Tell him yourself. It's the only way to sort this out."
"I'm not chasing after him, trying to make him grow up!" Hailey said, loudly, making several owls in a nearby tree take flight. She noticed how Mandy and Michael jumped, startled by the owls. "Maybe he'll believe that I'm not having fun when I've broken my neck or—"
"That's not funny," Michael and Hermione said, while Mandy looked sharply at Hailey. Hailey barely heard Hermione, because she said it quietly.
"That's not funny at all," Hermione said, looking extremely anxious. "Hailey, I've been thinking—you know what we've got to do, don't you? Straight away, the moment we get back to the castle?"
"Yeah," Michael said. "Tell Ron to grow the—"
"Write to Sirius," Hermione interrupted, looking at Michael in a disapproving way. She looked back at Hailey, "You've got to tell him what's happened. He asked you to keep him posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts…It's almost as if he expected something like this to happen." She started looking through the pockets on her robes, "I brought some parchment and a quill out with me—"
"Come off it," said Hailey, looking around to see if there weren't any eavesdroppers, however the grounds were deserted. "He came back to the country just because my scar twinged. He'll probably come bursting right into the castle if I tell him someone's entered me in the Triwizard Tournament—"
"He'll find out eventually, even if you don't write to him," Michael interrupted.
Hailey looked at him, "How?"
"You know that they're not going to keep this quiet," Mandy pointed out. "The tournament's famous. Bill said that he might take a day off to watch some of the competition."
"I bet there's going to be reporters there, since it hasn't happened in who-knows-how-long," Michael said.
"Sirius would rather hear it from you. I know he would," Hermione added.
"He would rather you write to him than see it from the Daily Prophet and wondering why you didn't tell him," Mandy said.
"Okay, okay, I'll write to him," said Hailey, throwing the last piece of toast into the lake. They watched it float, before a large tentacle rose out of the water and scooped it beneath the surface. Hailey wondered if the Giant Squid was a magical creature because squid can't survive in fresh water and that sticks would've broken the skin.
They started to head back to the castle.
"Mandy, I need to borrow Glinda," Hailey told her.
"Sorry, she's on a run right now," Mandy said and Hailey sighed.
Hermione said, "Ask Ron if you can borrow—"
"I'm not asking Ron for anything," Hailey replied flatly. She knew what Hermione was doing. Hermione wanted her and Ron to talk things out, but she wasn't going to fall into the trap. If Ron had a problem that involved her, he can say it to her face. She looked at Michael, who looked around the Owlery.
He pointed at his family's Tawny owl, "There."
Hermione gave Hailey a piece of parchment, the quill, and a bottle of ink, before walking around the line of perches. Michael and Mandy were trying to coax the Tawny owl down while Hailey made sure that there wasn't any fresh owl droppings before sitting against the wall to write her letter.
Dear Sirius,
You told me to keep you posted on what's happening at Hogwarts, so here goes—I don't know if you heard, but the Triwizard Tournament's happening this year and on Saturday night I got picked as a fourth champion. I don't know who put my name in the Goblet of Fire, because I didn't. The other Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory, from Hufflepuff.
Writing didn't help loosen the anxiety that Hailey was still feeling, from the night before. She added:
Hope you're okay, and Buckbeak
– Hailey
She looked at her friends, "Finished." She got to her feet and brushed straw off of her robes. Hedwig must have heard because she flew down onto Hailey's shoulder and held out her leg. Hailey glanced at Hedwig, "I can't use you. I'm using Michael's…"
Hedwig gave a loud hoot as if she was offended and took off so quickly, that her talons cut into Hailey's shoulder. Hailey started tying her letter to Michael's owl's leg, telling the owl to deliver the letter to her and not to Michael. She occasionally glanced at Hedwig, who had her back turned to the witch. Michael's owl gently nipped Hailey's finger before taking off. Hailey tried to stroke Hedwig, but the owl clicked her beak furiously and soared up into the rafters.
"First Ron and now you?" Hailey snapped angrily. "This isn't my fault."
The next day, when Michael, Mandy, and Hailey walked down for breakfast, while Hailey was dreading what the school would say to her.
"Maybe they would get used to the idea of you being a champion," Mandy said.
Mandy was proven wrong when lessons started.
A little more than half of the Ravenclaws seemed to have turned their backs on Hailey, for not being a real champion. The rest, Luna, and Colton seemed to accept Hailey as their champion in the tournament.
The only thing was that Gryffindors, minus Ron, seemed impressed with Hailey. She was sure that it was because she usually got on well with Fred, George, Hermione, and Ron.
The Hufflepuffs, minus Eva, had turned really cold towards the Ravenclaws. Hailey was sure that it was because the Hufflepuffs felt that she had stolen Cedric's glory; which she knew was because Hufflepuff House rarely got any glory. Hailey was sure that she got well with Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley, but the two Hufflepuffs laughed when she almost had ink dumped on her by Peeves, when they were going to History of Magic.
Ron wasn't talking to Hailey, Mandy, and Michael, even though Hermione tried making them have forced conversation when she sat between them for Herbology. Hailey was sure that Professor Sprout even seemed distant with her, but then again, it was because Sprout was Head of Hufflepuff.
Hailey was dreading Care of Magical Creatures, even though she would have loved seeing Hagrid under any other circumstances, but that meant she had to deal with Slytherins and Hufflepuffs, as well.
She was growing nervous when she saw Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle approaching.
Malfoy was sneering, which was nothing new. "Ah, look, boys, it's the champion. Got your autograph books? Better get a signature now, because I doubt she's going to be around much longer…Half the Triwizard champions have died…how long d'you reckon you're going to last, Potter? Ten minutes into the first task's my bet."
Crabbe and Goyle laughed, as if the thought of her dying was hilarious. Well, they probably thought it was.
Before Mandy could even say anything, Hagrid emerged from the back of his cabin, holding on a teetering tower of crates. Hailey was sure that there was one skrewt in each crate.
After setting the crates down, Hagrid proceeded to explain that the skrewts had been killing one another because of pent-up energy. He said that a solution would be if they took the skrewts for a short walk, to everyone's horror.
"Take this thing for a walk?" Malfoy repeated sounding disgusted as he stared into one of the crates. "And where exactly are we supposed to fix the leash? Around the sting, the blasting end, or the sucker?"
"Roun' the middle," said Hagrid, demonstrating. "Er—yeh might want ter put on yer dragon-hide gloves, jus' as an extra precaution, like. Hailey—you come here an' help me with this big one…"
Hailey almost groaned at being signaled out, yet again, but complied with what Hagrid wanted.
The skrewts were now three feet long. They weren't shell-less or colourless, because they now had a thick, grayish, shiny looking armour. They looked like a cross between giant scorpions and elongated crabs.
After everyone got situated and out of earshot, Hagrid said, seriously, "So—yer competin', Hailey. In the tournament. School Champion."
"One of champions," Hailey corrected him.
Hagrid looked anxious, "No idea who put yeh in fer it, Hailey?"
Hailey felt her shoulders relax at that, "You believe I didn't do it, then?"
"'Course I do," Hagrid answered, grinning. "Yeh say it wasn' you, an' I believe yeh—an' Dumblefore believes yer, an' all."
"Wish I knew who did do it," Hailey replied, bitterly.
They looked out over the lawn, to see that the class had scattered. A few times there was a bang and shoot forward several yards, dragging a student on their stomach as they tried to get to their feet. One of the students happened to be Mandy.
"Look like they're havin' fun, don't they?" Hagrid asked happily.
Hailey wanted to point out that her classmates weren't because they looked disgruntled.
"Ah, I don't know, Hailey," Hagrid said and sighed heavily. He was looking at Hailey, looking extremely worried. "School champion…everythin' seems ter happen ter you, doesn' it?"
Hailey knew that, so she didn't say anything. They walked along the lake, Hailey thinking of Hagrid's words. That was pretty much what Hermione and Mandy said; which was the reason why Ron wasn't even talking to her.
After the lesson, Mandy, Michael, and Hailey walked up towards the castle.
"I've been thinking," Mandy said, looking down at the grass stains on the front of her robes, "That Malfoy got dear ole dad to pay an older Slytherin to put your name in the goblet. He knew about the Triwizard Tournament ahead of time, probably knew how to counter the spells that Dumbledore put into place, paid someone to put your name in, overnight, and there, you're in. Malfoy always bangs on about how his dad has all this pull on everyone. No surprise if he bribed everyone to get information."
"That's…brilliant," Michael said. "Why else would he taunt you on entering the tournament in the first place?"
Hailey couldn't help but agree that it did sound brilliant.
Over the next days, Hailey couldn't help but feel like it was some of her worst days at Hogwarts. It reminded her of her second year, back when people thought she was the Heir of Slytherin because she could speak parseltongue and she was attacking her fellow students. The only difference was that Ron was on her side at the time. She wasn't going to make Ron talk to her if he didn't want too.
She could understand the Hufflepuff's standing. They had Cedric to support and Eva seemed torn on either supporting Hailey because she was Michael's friend and Cedric because he was a Hufflepuff.
Hailey wasn't surprised by the Slytherins' reactions, because she was highly unpopular there. She suspected that it was because she kept beating them at Quidditch and the Inter-House Championship Cup. The only two Slytherins that didn't seem to care was Hestia and Flora Carrow, Stephen Cornfoot's two friends.
The Gryffindors, minus Ron, seemed to be set on supporting Hailey, which she found odd, but was comforting. Fred and George took time out of their way to congratulate her on being Champion. Malachi Lovelace smiled at her and wished her good luck. Hailey still wasn't sure what he wanted from her. The rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team congratulated her or wished good luck for being champion.
It seemed comforting knowing that the Gryffindors supported her. Sure there was more than half of the Ravenclaws who didn't, but the rest of them did.
Hailey was sure that maybe it had something to do with Cedric looking the part of a champion. He was handsome, with a straight nose, dark hair, and grey eyes. Maybe Fleur looked the part of a champion too, because she was tall with long, silvery-blonde hair and blue eyes.
There wasn't any reply from Sirius, Hedwig wasn't coming near her, preferring to either go to Michael or Mandy, Professor Trelawney was predicting Hailey's death with more certainty than usual, and she did so poorly with the Summoning Charms, she nearly got extra homework to make up for it.
"It's not that difficult," Mandy said, as they left Flitwick's class. "I know you weren't concentrating properly—"
"Gee, I wonder why," Hailey replied darkly, as she watch Cedric Diggory walk past them, surrounded by a large group of girls, who looked at Hailey with disgust.
"We still have Double Potions this afternoon," Michael said.
Hailey was sure that she was going to go through hell at the idea of being stuck in Potions with Slytherins for an hour and a half.
After lunch, they arrived at Snape's dungeon to see that the Slytherins were already waiting outside. They, minus Flora and Hesita, were wearing large badges and for a few seconds, Hailey wondered how Hermione got them to wear S.P.E.W. badges and saw that they all had the same luminescent red message:
SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY—
THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION!
"Like them, Potter?" asked Malfoy loudly as Hailey approached the dungeons. "And this isn't all they do—look!" He pressed his badge and another message appeared, a one glowing green message appeared:
POTTER STINKS
The Slytherins laughed and pressed the badges to make the POTTER STINKS message turn on.
"Oh, how impressive that you all have Christmas tree badges," Mandy replied.
"Want one, Brocklehurst?" asked Malfoy, holding out a badge to her. "I've got loads."
Mandy took the badge and threw it back in Malfoy's face. It was probably akin to slapping another man with a white glove.
Snape strolled up; stopping whatever was going to happen next.
"Sir, Brocklehurst threw something at me," Malfoy said.
Snape turned and looked at Mandy, "Detention, Brocklehurst." He eyed her and added, "Twenty points from Ravenclaw."
The Slytherins, minus Flora and Hestia, howled with laughter at that, before they walked into the dungeon.
"Twenty points?" Mandy repeated to her friends as they sat at a table.
On the other side of the dungeon Malfoy turned his back on Snape and pressed his badge so POTTER STINKS flashed at her again.
Hailey tried to ignore that as Snape said, "Antidotes!" He looked around the class. "You should all have prepared your recipes now. I want you to brew them carefully, and then, we will be selecting someone on whom to test one…"
Hailey looked Snape in the eye and she knew that Snape was going to poison her.
There was a knock on the dungeon door and she turned to see Colin Creevey walk in the room. He smiled at Hailey and walked up to Snape's desk at the front of room.
"Yes?" asked Snape curtly.
"Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Hailey Potter upstairs," Colin explained.
Snape stared down at Colin, who stopped smiling at once.
"Potter has another hour of Potions to complete," Snape said coldly. "She will come upstairs when this class is finished."
Colin's face turned pink, "Sir—sir, Mr Bagman wants her." He sounded nervous, "All the champions have got to go, I think they want to take photographs…"
Hailey briefly wondered how hard she would have to hit her head on the table to knock herself out, so she didn't have to do that.
"Very well, very well," Snape snapped. "Potter, leave your things here, I want you back down here later to test your antidote."
"Please, sir—she's got to take her things with her," Colin squeaked, sounding terrified. "All the champions—"
"Very well!" said Snape, "Potter—take your bag and get out of my sight!"
Hailey grabbed her bag and rushed out of the class, trying to ignore the POTTER STINKS messages that flashed at her as she passed by the Slytherins.
After leaving the dungeon, Colin started to speak, "It's amazing, isn't it, Hailey? Isn't it though? You being champion?"
"Yeah, really amazing," said Hailey sighing as they set off toward the steps to the entrance hall. "What do they want photos for, Colin?" She wondered why they chose Colin to deliver the message to her, and then remembered that Colin was a fan of hers, so he must have volunteered to be the message deliverer.
"The Daily Prophet, I think!" Colin answered.
"Great," said Hailey in monotone, "Exactly what I need; more publicity."
"Good luck!" said Colin, when they reached the room where it was supposed to take place. Hailey knocked on the door and entered the room.
She was actually in a small classroom. Most of the desks had been pushed away to the back of the room, leaving a large space in the middle. Three of the desks have been placed end-to-end in front of the blackboard and the desks were covered with velvet. Five chairs were behind the velvet-covered desks, and Bagman was sitting in one of them. Bagman was talking to a magenta-robe wearing witch, who Hailey never saw before.
Viktor Krum was standing in a corner, looking moody, and he wasn't speaking to anyone. Cedric and Fleur were having a conversation. Fleur seemed happier because she kept throwing back her head so her hair can catch the light.
A paunchy man was holding a black, smoking camera, and was watching Fleur out of the corner of his eye.
Bagman spotted Hailey, got up quickly, and bounded forward. "Ah, here she is! Champion number four1 In you come, Hailey, in you come…nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment—"
Hailey felt nervous all of a sudden and wondered what wand weighing was, "Wand weighing?"
"We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead," said Bagman. "The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a little photo shoot," He seemed to remember the witch in magenta robes. "This is Rita Skeeter," he gestured to her, "She's doing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet…"
"Maybe not that small, Ludo," replied Rita Skeeter, her eyes on Hailey.
Skeeter's hair was done up in elaborate and rigid curls, which contrasted oddly with her heavy-jawed face. She wore jeweled spectacles that made Hailey's eye twitch. Skeeter clutched a crocodile-skin handbag and Hailey noticed that Skeeter's fingers were thick. Hailey also noticed that Skeeter's fingernails were two inches long and were painted with crimson nailpolish.
"I wonder if I could have a little word with Hailey before we start," Skeeter said to Bagman, but Skeeter was looking at Hailey. "The youngest champion, you know…to add a bit of colour?"
"Certainly!" cried Bagman. "That is—if Hailey has no objection?"
Hailey said, "Er—"
"Lovely," said Skeeter, before Hailey could say no, Skeeter had Hailey's arm in a vise-like grip and dragging her out of the room again. Skeeter opened a nearby door and said, "We don't want to be in there with all that noise. Let's see…ah, yes, this nice and cozy."
It was a broom cupboard and Hailey looked at Skeeter, thinking, are you kidding me?
"Come along, dear—that's right—lovely." Skeeter said as she sat precariously on an upturned bucket, and pushing Hailey down onto a cardboard box, and closing the door. They were now torn in darkness. "Let's see now…" Skeeter opened her crocodile-skin handbag and pulled out a handful of candles. She lit the candles with a wave of her wand and used magic to make them float in midair. "You won't mind, Hailey, if I use a Quick-Quotes Quill? It leaves me free to talk to you normally…"
"A what?" asked Hailey, feeling highly confused over what is going on.
Skeeter smiled and Hailey counted three gold teeth. Skeeter reached into the bag again and drew out a long acid-green coloured quill and a spiral bound pad of parchment, which she placed onto a crate. She put the tip of the quill in her mouth and sucked it for a moment, then placed it upright on the pad of parchment. It stood balanced on the point, quivering slightly.
"Testing…my name is Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter."
Hailey looked down to see that the green quill started scribbling on the parchment:
Attractive blonde Rita Skeeter, forty-three, whose savage quill has punctured many inflated reputations—
"Lovely," said Skeeter, and ripped the parchment page off, crumbled it up, and stuffed it in her bag. She leaned towards Hailey, who pulled back a little. Skeeter started, "So, Hailey…what made you decide to enter the Triwizard Tournament?"
"Er—" Hailey started, but stopped because the quill was distracting her. Although she wasn't speaking, it was dashing across the pad of parchment. Hailey could make out a fresh sentence:
An ugly scar, souvenir of a tragic past, disfigures the lovely face of Hailey Potter, whose eyes—
"Ignore the quill, Hailey," Skeeter stated firmly.
Hailey looked away from the quill, slowly growing agitated with the quill. Her scar didn't disfigure her face.
"Now—why did you decide to enter the tournament, Hailey?" Skeeter repeated.
"I didn't," said Hailey. "I don't know how my name got into the Goblet of Fire. I didn't put it in there."
Skeeter raised one eyebrow. "Come now, Hailey, there's no need to be scared of getting into trouble. We all know you shouldn't really have entered at all. But don't worry about that. Our readers love a rebel, especially for young witches. It's someone to look up to."
Hailey wondered if there was some sort of invisible wall that blocked off whatever Hailey was saying. "But I didn't enter. I don't know who—"
"How do you feel about the tasks ahead?" Skeeter plowed on. "Excited? Nervous?"
Hailey was feeling vaguely uncomfortable with what Skeeter was saying. She replied, "I haven't really thought…yeah, nervous, I suppose."
"Champions have died in the past, haven't they?" asked Skeeter briskly. "Have you thought about that at all?"
Hailey looked at the quill, which was whipping back and forth, as if it was skating. "Well…they say it's going to be a lot safer this year."
"Of course, you've looked death in the face before, haven't you?" asked Skeeter, watching Hailey closely. "How would you say that's affected you?"
Hailey started, "Er—" but trailed off because she didn't know to answer that.
"Do you think that the trauma in your past might have made you keen to prove yourself? To live up to your name? Do you think that perhaps you were tempted to enter the Triwizard Tournament because—"
"I didn't enter," snapped Hailey, growing more and more irritated with Skeeter ignoring her.
"Can you remember your parents at all?" Skeeter bull-dozed on, talking over Hailey.
"No," Hailey replied flatly.
Skeeter asked on, "How do you think they'd feel if they knew you were competing in the Triwizard Tournament? Proud? Worried? Angry?"
Hailey considered getting up and storming out of the interview, but noticed what the quill was writing.
Tears fill those pretty hazel eyes as our conversation turns to the parents she can barely remember.
"I don't have tears in my eyes!" Hailey yelled.
The door opened and Hailey looked around, blinking rapidly in the sudden bright light. Albus Dumbledore was standing there, looking down at the two of them that was squashed in the cupboard.
"Dumbledore!" cried Skeeter, with delight. Hailey noticed that the quill and the parchment vanished from the crate, because Skeeter was hastily snapping the clasp of her crocodile handbag shut. "How are you?" She stood up and held out her hands. "I hope you saw my piece over the summer about the International Confederation of Wizards' Conference?"
"Enchantingly nasty," replied Dumbledore. "I particularly enjoyed your description of me as an obsolete dingbat."
Skeeter didn't even bother to look ashamed. "I was just making the point that some of your ideas are a little old-fashioned, Dumbledore, and that many wizards in the street—"
"I will be delighted to hear the reasoning behind the rudeness, Rita," Dumbledore interrupted. He did a courteous bow and smiled, "but I'm afraid we will have to discuss the matter later. The Weighing of the Wands is about to starts, and it cannot take place if one of our champions is hidden in a broom cupboard."
Hailey hurried back into the classroom, glad to get away from Rita Skeeter. The other three champions were sitting in chairs near the door, and she sat down next to Cedric. She looked at the velvet-covered table, where four of the five judges were now sitting. There was: Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Mr Crouch, and Ludo Bagman. Skeeter sat in a chair in the corner of the room. Hailey saw her take out her pad of parchment and Quick-Quotes Quill again, open it, sucked on the quill and placed it on the parchment.
"May I introduce Mr Ollivander?" asked Dumbledore to the champions, taking his spot at the judges' table. "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."
Hailey looked around and jumped a little in surprise to see an old wizard with large, pale eyes, standing by the window. Hailey had met Mr Ollivander before because he was the wand-maker. She had bought her own wand over three years ago in Diagon Alley.
Ollivander stepped into the middle of the room, "Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first, please?" Fleur walked over to Ollivander and handed him her wand. Ollivander took it and hummed. He twirled the wand between his longer fingers as if it was a baton instead of a wand. The wand emitted a lot of pink and gold spark. He held it close to his eyes and examined it carefully, "Yes. Nine and a half inches…inflexible…rosewood…and containing…dear me…"
"An 'air from ze 'ead of a veela," Fleur explained, "One of my grandmuzzer's."
Hailey told herself to let Ron know that Fleur was part veela and then felt saddened at the thought because Ron wasn't speaking to her.
"Yes," replied Ollivander, "yes, I've never used veela hair myself, of course. I find it makes for rather temperamental wands…however, to each his own, and if this suits you…" He ran his fingers along the wand, probably checking for scratches or bumps. He then muttered, "Orchideous!" a bunch of flowers burst from the wand tip. "Very well, very well, it's in fine working order." He scooped up the flowers and handed them to Fleur along with her wand. "Mr Diggory, you next."
Hailey briefly wondered if Michael would be surprised and happy if she used that spell to give him flowers like that. Would he love it or be embarrassed at her giving him flowers? She wondered what type of flowers Michael liked.
Cedric handed Ollivander the wand, who sounded enthusiastic, "Ah, now, this is one of mine, isn't it?" He examined the wand, "Yes, I remember it well. Containing a single hair from the tail of a particular fine male unicorn…must have been seventeen hands; nearly gored me with his horn after I plucked his tail. Twelve and a quarter inches…ash…pleasantly springy. It's in fine condition…you treat it regularly?"
Cedric was grinning as he said, "Polished it last night."
Ollivander sent a stream of silver smoke rings across the room from the tip of Cedric's wand, declared himself sastified and then called for Viktor Krum.
Krum got up and slouched, round-shouldered and duck-footed towards Ollivander. He thrust the wand to Ollivander and scowled with his hands in his robes pockets.
Ollivander examined the wand, humming to himself. "This is a Gregorvitch creation, unless I'm much mistaken? A fine wand-maker, though the styling is never quite what I…however…" He lifted the wand and examined it again, by turning it over and over before his eyes. "Yes…hornbeam and dragon heartstring?" Krum nodded, "Rather thicker than one usually sees…quite rigid…ten and a quarter inches…Avis!"
There was a blast like a gun had been shot off and a number of small, twittering birds flew out of the end and through the open window into the watery sunlight.
"Good," said Ollivander, handing Krum back his wand, "Which leaves…Miss Potter."
Hailey got up and walked past Krum to Ollivander, handing over her wand.
"Ah, yes," said Ollivander, his eye gleaming. "Yes, yes, yes. How well I remember."
Hailey remembered too, because Ollivander had taken her measurements and started handing her wands to try. Hailey felt like she had waved what felt like every wand that was in the shop, until she found one that suited her…The wand was made of holly, it was eleven inches long, and contained a single feather from the tail of a phoenix. Ollivander was surprised that she had been compatible with the wand, and explained that the phoenix feather in Hailey's wand came from the same bird that supplied the cord of Voldemort's.
Hailey didn't share that piece of information with anybody. She was fond of her wand, and she knew that it couldn't help being the sister wand to Voldemort's, as Hailey couldn't help be related to Aunt Petunia. Hailey hoped that Ollivander wasn't going to tell the room that bit of information, because she was sure that Skeeter's Quick-Quotes Quill will burst into a ball of fire out of excitement.
Hailey was sure that Ollivander spent a longer time examining the wand than he did to the others, but eventually he made a fountain of wine shoot out of it. Ollivander handed the wand back to Hailey announcing that it was still in perfect condition, which surprised Hailey a little.
"Thank you all," said Dumbledore, standing up at the judges' table. "You may go back to your lessons now—or perhaps it would be quicker just to go down to dinner, as they are about to end—"
Hailey felt like something had finally gone right, but the man with the black camera jumped up and cleared his throat.
"Photos, Dumbledore, photos!" cried Bagman, sounding excited. "All the judges and champions, what do you think, Rita?"
"Er—yes, let's do those first," said Skeeter, looking right at Hailey, again, "And then perhaps some individual shots."
The photos took a long time because Madame Maxime cast everyone into shadow wherever she stood, and the photographer couldn't stand far enough back to get her into the frame; eventually she had to sit while everyone else stood around her. Karkaroff kept twirling his goatee around his finger to give it an extra curl; Krum, who Hailey expected to be used to photo shoots, kept skulking, half-hidden, at the back of the group. Hailey wondered if Krum hated fame. The photographer seemed very keen to put Fleur at the front, but Skeeter kept hurrying forward, dragging Hailey into greater prominence. After that, Skeeter insisted on the champions to have separate shots and after that was over, they were finally free to go.
Hailey sat with Mandy and Michael at the table.
"You look angry," Michael said, "What happened?"
Hailey explained what Rita Skeeter had been doing. Mandy groaned, "That can't be good."
"What?" Hailey asked, growing worried.
"I heard that ole Skeeter's articles could be…what's the word?" Mandy started, "Oh, right…rubbish and too sensationalized."
Hailey felt dread at that, "Oh."
"Yeah," Mandy said. "Skeeter had done an article on the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. She called my dad a 'bumbling blond prat with questionable origins.' So, I would advise you two on not believing any word she writes whenever her rubbish article comes out."
After dinner and going up to the Ravenclaw tower, to the girl's dormitory, Hailey found Michael's owl on her pillow. She reached over and untied the letter. Mandy went to send the owl outside while Hailey read the letter.
Hailey—
I can't say everything I would like to in a letter, it's too risky in case the owl is intercepted—we need to talk face-to-face. Can you ensure that you are alone by the fire in Gryffindor Tower at one o'clock in the morning on the 22nd of November? Hermione or Ron can give you the password.
I know better than anyone that you can look after yourself, and while you're around Dumbledore and Moody, I don't think anyone will be able to hurt you. However, someone seems to be having a good try. Entering you in that tournament would have been very risky, especially right under Dumbledore's nose.
Be on the watch, Hailey. I still want to hear about anything unusual. Let me know about the 22nd of November as quickly as you can.
Sirius
"So," Mandy said, startling Hailey. "What did he say?"
"He wants to talk face-to-face on the twenty-second of November," Hailey said, "In the Gryffindor common room at one in the morning."
"Oh," Mandy said. "I'm sure that Hermione will give you the password when the day nears." She paused, "Can I come with you?"
Hailey looked at her, "It says to be alone, but I'm sure that you can, since you know him."
Mandy smiled widely.
