I'm so sorry for this late update! This is the time of year in middle schools (NY middle school's at least) that the entire 8th grade receives exit projects for several subjects. Not my favorite thing to do... I'm so sorry!
And to the people who were worried that I would abandon this fic like the COUNTLESS other writers that have, I PROMISE that I will never abandon a single story. My updates will be late for another month or two until the school work kinda slooooows down but I won't abandon it! Or if I'm forced to, I will pass it on to someone else. But I will never abandon a story cause that just pisses me and everyone off. So don't worry! *determined face*
Anyway as a sort of apology I made this chapter extra long. Like as in 2 times longer than usual I think... Hmmmm *thinking face*
Anyhoo the plot is finally beginning to move! Or crawl. Or maybe just a little budge. But it's doing something! So Enjoy~~~!
!REMEMBER! ITALICS!
~~~~~X-X~~~~~
"Wakey wakey! Allen~~~"
His eyes fluttered open. Huh? Where was he? This wasn't Hogwarts... He was sitting in a chair though... hadn't he fallen asleep in the Hogwarts dormitory? Allen raised his head and took in his surroundings. This place was familiar... With a shock he realized where he was. It was a bit different from last time but those floating candles, the dolls piled up everywhere. ROAD! He gritted his teeth and attempted to get up. When he found himself still stationary, he looked down to see his wrists chained to the arms of the chair and also encircling his chest and torso. He was sure they hadn't been there before. Note the sarcasm. Allen tested his legs to find out they were in the same predicament. There was a burst of giggling and a lump began to grow from the ground in front of him. It oozed into the form of a little girl with spiky hair and a frilly dress. Road Camelot. Her features faded into sight and the Noah giggled again, the sound ringing around the eerie silence. She clasped her hands together and tipped back onto her heels.
"Hey Allen~~~ It's been so long! Did you miss me? I prepared this place just for you. Millenie said I wasn't allowed to see you but I guess I'll be punished later. I just wanted to see you so much~~~" she lunged forward and hugged him. Allen scowled and looked into the girls face when she pulled back. She had an innocent smile on her face that would have been normal on any other little girl but was ruined by her gray skin and stigmata etched into her forehead.
Suddenly a pink blur shot out of the dark nothingness and rammed into the Noah.
"Road-tama! You can't associate yourself with an exorcist, lero! You'll be punished by Earl-tama, lero!" The pumpkin-headed umbrella golem frantically tried to push the little girl back.
"Don't worry, Lero! Now go away! I want to spend time with my Allen!" And with that the pink umbrella was flung away squealing into the darkness of the never-ending room. Allen sweat-dropped and looked down at the girl hugging him.
"What do you want from me Road? Why'd you bring me here?" he asked. The girl pouted and leaned back further.
"I just came to give you a quick warning, but now you made me sad. Almost as if you didn't want to see me." she tilted her head to the side pretending to look disappointed though her eyes betrayed a dark mirth. Allen pressed against the smooth cold back of his seat trying to distance himself from the creepy little girl.
"What warning?" he didn't want to ask but if she had gone against orders to come here it had to be important. Road smiled and hugged him again.
"Awww, you're so cute even when you're angry at me! I can't stay mad at you~!" she finally let go of him and plopped down on the ground in front of the chair by his feet.
"I have to make this short before Lero tells on me." she crossed her legs.
"The darkness is rising Allen. An evil powerful enough that maybe even you won't be able to do anything about. I don't know when it'll get to you, but just be sure to stay safe okay? If you die I won't have any more interesting dollies to play with. And... though I wish I could tell you more-" she huffed, crossing her arms and looked to the side. "Tyki will get mad at me and probably not help me with my homework anymore, although he's not much of a help anyway." Allen opened his mouth to ask her what this darkness was but she waved him off.
"Don't ask, you'll know what I'm talking about when it awakens. But don't worry," she giggled, her smile widening into a much more evil and dark one while in contrast her eyes narrowed into white slits.
"All you have to worry about is whether, you or it will be the first to kill your friends." Allen's eyes widened and he lunged forward trying to break free of his restraints. He jostled his arms trying to loosen the chains and in frustration yelled out.
"What darkness? Road tell me what it is!" Road just shook her head and leapt to her feet sticking out her tongue.
"Uh-uh! It's more fun this way! And remember not to die. Bye-bye!" she leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek. The last thing Allen saw was the Noah's leering face and everything went black.
*GASP*
Allen jolted up breathing hard and clutching his chest. He looked around frantically and cursed under his breath when he found himself back in the dormitories. The sheets were twisted around his legs and his skin was clammy with sweat. He looked out the window and he could just barely glimpse the first rays of daybreak on the horizon. Everyone was still asleep but would be up in a few hours. He finally caught his breath and leaned forward grasping his head in his hands. His mind was in a whirl. What darkness was she speaking of? The fourteenth? But he already knew about him and he didn't need a warning. And what kind of darkness would be strong enough to threaten the lives of his friends? Immediately the smiling face of Lenalee flashed in his mind. He covered his face with one hand and felt it heating up. No. He wouldn't let a single one of them get hurt. He loosened his grip and rested his left arm on his propped up knee. He would have to make sure that whatever darkness there was he would destroy it before it went near his comrades.
Even if that darkness was himself.
Allen clenched his teeth and made up his mind. Sitting here, brooding wouldn't do any good. He decided that he had enough time to exercise a bit before the entire school woke up and looked around the room for a chair. Seeing there was none he grabbed a button down-shirt from his suitcase to wear after he exercised so he was only wearing his sleeveless training shirt, sweatpants, and his glove on his left hand. He didn't want to scare anyone with it after all. He slowly opened the door silently begging it wouldn't creak and closed it behind him once he was on the landing. He walked down the stairs quietly, his bare feet silent on the cold stone floor and crept into the common room, looking around. No one seemed to be up yet but the fire was still crackling from the night before. He tossed the shirt over the back of an over-stuffed couch and looked around for a wooden chair. He found one and quickly picked it up and brought it over to the middle of the room. He balanced it on two of it's legs before flipping up so he was perpendicular to the floor. He breathed in and out the chair creaking. The he bent his arm raising the other (the innocence one) behind his back.
"One... Two... Three..."
Harry's POV
Harry woke up in the morning and lay there for a minute before reaching for his glasses. He sat up in bed and slipped them on. For a moment he forgot why he was up so early on a weekend before it hit him. Ah, the champion choosing. He checked the wall clock. 6:47. He had gotten up a bit too early. Oh, well. He stood up quickly and got dressed waking up Ron who also blearily rolled out of bed and they both went downstairs. When they neared the common room they heard the soft murmur of people's voices. Who else would be up at 7 in the morning on a Saturday? He and Ron walked down into the room and saw two people. One he recognized as Lenalee though she was wearing a casual yarn-knit sweater and jeans now. Muggle clothes. The other was Allen. He only knew it was him for his white hair because he was facing away from him. Upside down. Balancing on a chair. Harry blinked and wondered if he was seeing right and glanced at Ron for confirmation. Ron was also staring with his mouth open. Lenalee looked up and noticed them. She waved them over with a broad smile.
"Good Morning guys." her black-green hair was down, reaching a little past her shoulders. Harry and Ron said the same back and took a seat next to her.
"279...280...281..." Allen muttered as he bent up and down with one arm. The chair creaked and trembled. Harry finally cleared his throat and spoke up.
"Soooo what are you doing Allen?"
"I... woke up early... and couldn't sleep... so I... decided... to get... some exercise... done... 298... 299... 300!" with that Allen flipped back down and slowly eased the chair to the ground. He looked up to the two boys and grinned wiping his forehead.
"Good Morning. Harry. Ron." They said the same and then Ron asked.
"Ummm so d'you do that every day?" Allen shook his head grabbing a shirt from the back of a couch and slipping it on.
"I try to but I usually don't have the time. Why?" He looked at them seeming genuinely confused as he buttoned up the shirt. Lenalee giggled.
"Allen, not everybody can do 300 pushups, upside down on a chair as a morning exercise. You're too strong for your own good." Allen turned a beet red at this, fumbling with the last few buttons. Ron whistled.
"Wow you're bloody strong. It'd be cool if you had an arm-wrestling match with my older brother Bill." The albino smiled.
"Well... Um thank you I suppose. I'll go check up on the others now. See you later Lenalee." he bowed before hurriedly leaving the room his face still a bit red. Lenalee waved after him.
"Awww he's such a gentleman." she giggled. "I'll wake up Hermione. Do you want to go down together?" her round eyes blinked at him. Harry blushed. She reminded him a bit of Cho Chang. Just a bit though.
"Sure. And if you would do that, that'd be nice." Lenalee nodded and went upstairs. As soon as she was out of sight Ron spoke in a loud whisper.
"How'd he DO that? Shouldn't that be impossible?" Harry shrugged at a loss for words.
"Maybe it's part of their curriculum? You can't become that strong on your own."
Ron nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah I s'pose you could be right. But hey," he leaned forward. "Did you see his face? It was so red I thought he was going to blow smoke out of his ears!" Ron snickered. Harry laughed along with him.
Once the whole group had been woken (except Kanda because he grumpily threatened Allen's life and manhood at being woken up) and had come down they walked downstairs joining the large crowd of students that had woken up early for the special day. People stared at them gawking and pointing at Allen's white hair and Lavi's eye patch. Though Allen ignored them whenever they stared, Lavi made a point to look back at the onlookers and wave with a cheery smile. They chattered idly between themselves while they navigated the busy corridors. Harry realized that Allen was very easy to get along with. He was constantly smiling, very easy-going and always polite. Harry found himself laughing and chattering with the older boy as they entered the entrance hall. Several people were milling around eating toast and examining the Goblet of Fire from a distance. It had been placed on a stool in the center of the hall. A thin golden line had been traced on the floor about ten feet from the Goblet in every direction.
"Anyone put their name in yet?" Ron asked a third-year girl eagerly.
"All the Durmstrang lot," she replied "But I haven't seen anyone from Hogwarts yet."
"Well I suppose we should put ours in too. I said I would put in Yuu-chan's so let's go!" Lavi chirped. Allen nodded to Lavi and made to go but Hermione frantically pulled him back.
"I know you were allowed an exception but how do you know you won't be rejected by the Age Line?" Allen smiled over his shoulder.
"Professor Dumbledore set a temporary underage enchantment so Lenalee and I could pass. Once it recognizes us and let's us through it'll collapse. Or at least that's what it's supposed to do…" he scratched the back of his head. "But I trust Professor Dumbledore so it should be fine." Hermione sighed in relief.
"Oh. Well that's good then." Lavi smirked.
"Why are you so nervous Hermione? You have a thing for our little beansprout here?" Allen and Hermione both turned pink. They stammered and spluttered, frantically waving their hands in the air denying everything and anything. Lenalee's eyebrow subtly twitched and she angrily grabbed Allen by the sleeve dragging him away. Harry suppressed a smile and watched as the two teens stepped across the line and dropped their names in under the scrutiny of the entire room. Lavi and Eddie quickly followed dropping their slips of parchment. As they walked back towards them Harry heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw the Weasley twins and their friend Lee Jordan.
"Done it," Fred said in a triumphant whisper to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Just taken it."
"What?" said Ron.
"The Aging Potion, dung brain." said George.
"One drop each," said Fred, rubbing his hands together with glee. "We only need to be a few months older."
"We're going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins," said Lee, grinning broadly.
"I'm not sure if-"
"An Aging potion?" The twins and Lee looked up in fear but relaxed when they saw it was Lavi.
"Yeah. We're using it to make ourselves all a bit older to be seventeen." Lavi frowned.
"Y'know unless you have a particularly effective one it'll be near impossible to fool an Age Line. Especially one drawn by a wizard with as much power as Dumbledore." The twins began to protest but Lavi cut them off.
"Which is why I think that's a brilliant idea! Go for it!" Lavi grinned mischievously and patted them on the back. They solemnly saluted before also breaking into smiles.
"Don't worry mate, it'll work. Ready?" Fred said to the other two, quivering with excitement, "C'mon then-I'll go first-"
Harry's watched fascinated, as Fred pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket bearing the words FRED WEASLEY-HOGWARTS. Fred walked right up to the edge of the line and stood there, rocking on his toes like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, with the eyes of every person in the entrance hall upon him, he took a great breath and stepped over the line.
For a split second Harry thought it had worked- George certainly thought so, for he let out a yell of triumph and leapt after Fred- but next moment, there was a loud sizzling sound, and both twins were hurled out of the golden circle as though they had been thrown by an invisible shot-putter. They flew across the hall and into the sturdy arms of Eddie and Allen. They lay there slumped in their grip for a moment groaning until with a sudden pop both of then sprouted identical white beards rivaling Allen's hair in brightness.
The entrance hall rang with laughter including from the two boys that had caught the twins as they propped them back on their feet. Even Fred and George joined in, once they taken a good look at each other's faces. Lavi, Eddie and Allen were collapsed on the floor, laughing so hard that they were crying.
"I...TOLD...you so! Nice beards! You shou-should have seen...your FACES!" Lavi wheezed out between laughs. Allen grabbed his stomach and rolled on to his side laughing.
"I did warn you," said a deep, amused voice, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He surveyed Fred and George, his eyes twinkling. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Promfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say neither of their beards is anything as fine as yours."
The twins set off for the hospital wing, accompanied by Lee, who was howling with laughter. Dumbledore then turned toward Allen and the other Rosa Crux students.
"I trust that you submitted your names to the Goblet of Fire?" Allen nodded.
"Yes sir." The old man smiled and gestured toward the Great Hall.
"Well onward to our meal. The house elves have prepared yet another scrumptious breakfast!" Harry, Ron, Hermione and the Rosa Crux students went in to breakfast.
The Great Hall was decorated for Halloween with live bats and hundreds of carved pumpkins leering from every corner. They joined Dean and Seamus at a table. They were discussing who had put their name's in the Goblet. They talked and after breakfast they decided to go to Hagrid's.
"Okay," said Ron, "just as long as he doesn't ask us to donate a few fingers to the skrewts."
"Skrewts?" Allen swallowed his mouthful of ham and took a swig of pumpkin juice. Ron nodded.
"Yeah, they're these mutant lobster creatures. We're supposed to take care of them in our class, but all the idiots do is try to eat us." Harry and Ron shuddered. Eddie's eyes sparkled.
"They sound awesome! Do you think Eliaya would be mad if I got one as a pet?" Lenalee shook her head.
"She'll definitely be mad. And you are NOT allowed to bring a mutant lobster back home." Eddie visibly deflated. Harry mentally raised an eyebrow at the word home.
"Who's Eliaya?" Ron asked the depressed boy. Eddie perked up almost immediately with a grin.
"She's my older sister, though not by blood." Harry nodded in understanding. Hermione gasped and clapped her hands together.
"I've just realized-I haven't asked Hagrid to join S.P.E.W. yet!" she said brightly. "Wait for me, will you, while I nip upstairs and get the badges?"
"What is it with her?" said Ron exasperated, as Hermione ran away up the marble staircase and at the same time Kanda came down them. He was dressed in a black T-shirt and a pair of baggy gray jeans. A couple of fourth year Ravenclaw girls giggled as he passed. His hair was tied up and Harry noticed he had a dark sword sheath strapped to his side. Harry raised an eyebrow at Lavi.
"He's into that kind of stuff. So don't get onto his bad side or he'll give you a haircut." Allen snorted.
"Are you kidding me? Everyone's on his bad side. BaKanda is the most anti-social person on the planet! He won't even let anyone call him by his first name." The rest of the Rosa Cruz party nodded in agreement except Lavi.
"That may be true but I'M an exception! Cuz me and Yuu-chan are best friends! Hey Yuu-chan~~~!" he skipped over to the long-haired swordsman. Kanda's head shot up and he reached for his sword. Lavi grinned and attempted to hug him oblivious(or just ignoring) to the threat to his life.
"What kind of swear is 'Barkandy'?" Ron asked.
"BAKanda means idiot Kanda. Because Kanda IS, an idiot!" Allen purposely raised his voice at the last few words. Kanda glared their way in the middle of holding Lavi up by the collar as a target for his sword. Harry gulped and nervously inched back in his seat. He had a feeling that Kanda was one person he definitely wouldn't want to mess with in his life. Then he noticed something in the corner of his eyes.
"Hey, Ron," said Harry. "It's your friend..."
The students from Beauxbatons were coming through the front doors from the grounds, among them, the veela girl. Those gathered around the Goblet of Fire stood back to let them pass.
Madame Maxime entered the hall behind her students and organized then into a line. One by one, the Beauxbatons students stepped across the Age Line and dropped their slips of parchment into the blue-white flames. As each name entered the fire, it briefly turned red and emitted sparks.
"What d'you reckon'll happen to the ones who aren't chosen?" Ron muttered to Harry as the veela-girl dropped her parchment into the Goblet of Fire. "Reckon they'll go back to school, or hang around to watch the tournament?"
"Well we're staying so I suppose they would too." Lenalee answered in Harry's place. When all the Beauxbatons students had submitted their names, Madame Maxime led them back out of the hall and out onto the grounds again. As a large group of the girls passed Lavi wolf-whistled at them, having just barely escaped from Kanda with his life. They burst into giggles at his antics, delicately covering their faces with their scarves to hide their blushes. They immediately quieted when Madame Maxime sent them a stern glare.
"Where are THEY sleeping then?" said Ron, moving towards the front doors with Lavi and staring after them.
A loud rattling noise behind them announced Hermione's reappearance with the box of S.P.E.W. badges.
"Oh good, hurry up," said Ron, and he jumped down the stone steps, keeping his eyes on the back of the veela-girl, who was now halfway across the lawn with Madame Maxime. Hermione exasperatedly rolled her eyes then turned to the Rosa Crux students.
"Do you want to come along? You can meet Hagrid, our groundskeeper." They exchanged looks, silently communicating between themselves. They seemed to have come to an agreement and Allen turned around to Kanda who was getting up to leave.
"Oi! Bakanda! Why don't you keep yourself busy while I'm gone, by looking for the kitchen with Lavi? Seeing as you're going to starve without your soba, you might as well!" Kanda looked up with a murderous glare, and met Allen's eyes. Cobalt met pale blue, a slight look of understanding flashed across his face and he merely che'd before turning to leave with a swish of his hair.
"I should probably go too. See you later everyone!" Lenalee hurried after him quickly excusing herself and Lavi also jogged after the two, lazily waving his hand behind him as a goodbye. Allen turned toward the silently observing Harry and Hermione with a shrug.
"I guess I'm the only one left. And maybe once BaKanda finds the kitchen I can ask the chefs to make me some extra food!" A dreamy look entered his eyes and he seemed to be off in his own little world. Hermione laughed uneasily and quickly gestured for them to follow Ron, who was dazedly following the distant group of Beauxbatons students. Harry furrowed his eyebrows as he walked through the wide double doors and out onto the grass, where Eddie proceeded to hop and jump about chattering on about nothing.
Either he was over thinking things, or that small exchange between the foreign students had been more than what it had seemed. The Rosa Crux students were becoming odder by the second.
Hagrid's Hut* Allen's POV
Harry knocked on Hagrid's door, and booming barks answered instantly. Allen and co. glanced at each other apprehensively.
"'Bout time!" said Hagrid, when he'd flung open the door. "Thought you lot'd forgotten where I live! And who's this- Ah." Recognition flashed in the man's dark eyes but Allen was too busy inwardly gaping at his height to really notice. He was nearly two times his height and looked tough enough to take on a Komurin all on his own. But then his eyes were drawn to the man's hairy brown suit and bushy hair tied into two pigtails. He kept his face neutral because he didn't want to seem rude but Eddie didn't hesitate.
"Woah...you-OOF!" he doubled over clutching his stomach where Allen had elbowed him. Allen bowed with his best smile frozen on his face.
"Hello we're from Rosa Crux. I'm Allen Walker, and this idiot is Edmund Jackson." Hagrid nodded. All the staff knew about the exorcist's true purpose, having decided that would make investigation simpler but they had to keep up appearances in front of Harry and the other students. Hermione goggled up at him for a moment before clearing her throat.
"Erm- where are the skrewts?"
"Out by the pumpkin patch," said Hagrid happily. "They're getting massive, mus' be nearly three foot long now. On'y trouble is they've started killing each other."
"Oh no, really?" said Hermione, shooting a repressive look at Ron, who, staring at Hagrid's odd hairstyle, had just opened his mouth to say something about it.
"Yeah," said Hagrid sadly, "'S' okay, I've got 'em in separate boxes now. Still got about twenty." Eddie bounced up and down excitedly.
"Can I go see them? They sound so awesome!"
Hagrid nodded and the boy bolted off across the yard. Allen shook his head despairingly before going inside. All he could take in was a giant wooden table with chairs to match and then a wall of fur attacked him. He yelped and crashed to the ground where the wall of fur then proceeded to lick his face with a slobbery tongue that felt like a giant piece of sandpaper. A heavy dish-sized paw pressed into his shoulder and made the fabric stretch. He whimpered feeling his skin being pulled up and down and the rancid smell of dog breath hit him full on in the face.
"No! Down boy!" Hagrid yanked the dog back by his collar and Allen managed to sit up. He felt drool dripping down his face and he moaned. Hagrid apologetically handed him a rough dish towel, that had definitely seen better days. Ron and Harry snickered from behind him while Hermione admonished them. He scrubbed at his face making sure all the sticky slobber was gone before he sat down at the table. While Hagrid started to make tea, Allen looked around and now saw the entire room. Next to the table was a wide fireplace and many cured meats hung from the ceiling overhead and over in the corner there was an enormous bed with several patchwork quilts covering it. Over all it felt very cozy and warm. Hagrid set the tea down and they were soon immersed in yet more discussion of the Triwizard Tournament. Hagrid seemed quite as excited about it as they were.
"You wait," he said grinning. "You ju's wait. Yer going ter see some stuff yeh've never see before. Firs' task... Ah, but I'm not supposed ter say."
"Go on, Hagrid!" Harry, Ron and Hermione urged him, but he just shook his head, grinning.
"I don't want ter spoil it for yeh," said Hagrid. "But it's going to be spectacular, I'll tell yeh that. Them champions're going ter have their work cut out. Never thought I'd live to ter see the Triwizard Tournament played again!"
They ended up having lunch with Hagrid, and Eddie came midway through it covered in scratches, asterisk shaped burn marks on his clothes and one sleeve nearly torn off. He then spent the next 10 minutes excitedly explaining in detail how they had nearly bitten his arm off. Though they didn't eat much- Hagrid had made what he said was a beef casserole, but after Hermione unearthed a large talon in her's, she, Harry, Ron, Eddie and even Allen had lost their appetites- they enjoyed themselves trying to make Hagrid tell them what the tasks in the tournament were going to be, speculating which of the entrants were likely to be selected as champions, and wondering whether Fred and George were beardless yet. Allen stayed out of the conversation because he was not particularly interested in it. He doubted that he would be chosen for it though it might be possible, what with his bad luck. When night began to fall they decided to go back to the castle (his stomach agreed with them all) and Hagrid left to wash off the liberal amounts of cologne he had applied. But once he was outside he was immediately distracted by, and left with the passing Madame Maxime. After a moment of gossiping over Hagrid's love life they too left Hagrid's cabin to have their dinner.
*3rd person POV*
They entered the candle-lit Great Hall and met up with the now clean-shaven twins and the rest of the Rosa Crux students at the Gryffindor table. They began their meals eagerly, particularly Allen after a day of only Hagrid's odd concoctions. But Harry, Ron, Hermione along with the rest of the school seemed more focused on what would take place after the meal. The only group, of calmly eating students was the Rosa Crux students, and they stood out from the crowd of craning necks and people standing to look towards Dumbledore.
At long last the plates were cleared and there was a sharp upswing of the noise level in the Great Hall, which died away when Dumbledore stood up. He gave a short speech outlining what would happen and indicating where the chosen champions should go. He then 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 a state of semi-darkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole shall, the sparkling bright, bluish-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. The exorcists gazed raptly at the goblet, even Kanda was staring at it with a mild look of interest. Everyone watched, waiting... A few people kept checking their watches...
"Any second," Lee Jordan whispered, two seats away from Harry. Allen stared with greater concentration at the goblet, pale eyebrows furrowed in frustration.
Suddenly the flames inside the goblet turned red. Sparks began to fly from it, and a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it, and the whole room gasped.
Dumbledore deftly caught the piece of parchment and carefully read off the name. "The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."
The Hall burst into a storm of applause and cheering. The group around him also clapped enthusiastically. He grinned and turned to the person next to him-Lavi, and met a piercing gaze. Lavi's usually bright emerald eyes were dark and narrowed in concentration, almost as if he was trying to absorb and process every single detail in the room. It was slightly intimidating, and while the redhead was clapping loudly and smiling, his eyes were in complete contrast from his face, and Harry unconsciously flinched. Lavi gave him a weird look so he hurriedly fished out a quick smile before turning back around, and didn't look at the redhead again. The clapping finally died down and another piece of parchment paper was shot out of the goblet in the silence.
"The champion for Beauxbaton," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"
The veela girl gracefully got up from her seat and swept down between the two tables, and through the side room, leaving behind several of her sobbing classmates.
The room fell into a hush, once again and now it was one of the Rosa Crux students turn to be selected for the supposed "honor" of participating in the TriWizard Tournament. The tension finally seemed to be getting to them, their gazes directed toward the stage and backs ramrod stiff with their eyes gleaming.
The awaited paper finally shot out of the goblet and was caught. Dumbledore carefully turned it over, and took a deep breath.
"The champion for Rosa Crux is..." The breathing around him seemed to stop.
Allen's POV
"The champion for Rosa Crux is..."
He gulped. Please not me, please not me, please ANYONE but me! Choose Kanda! He's too much of an idiot to die in this stupid tournament! Please please please! He twisted his hands together and he leaned forward. Dumbledore seemed to be purposefully drawing out the wait.
"... is Allen Walker."
Crap. He moaned and slammed his head against the table. Allen kept his head pressed against the wood and glared at the worn and pitted surface. Now not only did he have to watch over an entire magical school, and bodyguard a 14-year old boy he knew practically nothing about, he was also expected to compete in a tournament against magical creatures or whatever else the mad wizards could think of.
Damn his life... Was it because he was a general? If his idiot drunkard of a master hadn't died he wouldn't be a general anyway! Did the stupid magical goblet somehow sense that? He didn't notice the demonic aura surrounding him and a few first years tumbled out of their seats with a squeak. The cheering finally registered in his ears, his entire rant having only taken a few seconds. With a resigned sigh he dragged himself off the bench and strode down the aisle, thinking of several possible ways that could be used to kill a magical goblet.
~~~~~X-X~~~~~
Again so sorry for the late update! But you know school comes first! (sadly) I PROMISE that the next chapter will be up ASAP. I have so many plot bunnies bouncing around my head right now. (oh look one's nibbling on a carrot!) and I have like 4 other stories planned including one for fiction press. And I might be receiving the rights for the Fairy Tail/D. Gray - man fic (because there's only one...) and I just LOVE writing, that I can't resist writing any of these! Sorry... T^T
Anyway as usual REVIEW! Or an army of Komurins will go after you~~~ hehehehehe...