Disclaimer: I don't own "Harry Potter", it is hereby © to J.K. Rowling. I wrote this story when I was 11-12 years old and between the years 2001-2003, so the actual "Order of the Phoenix" had not been released yet. Errors in spelling and grammar have been purposely left in to preserve originality and my skill as a young writer. This story is complete. This is a repost.
Chapter Ten: The Eight Competitors
Dumbledore excused them after Harry was left speechless. Sirius was staying temporarily in Dumbledore's office. When Harry, Cho, and Akira had left Dumbledore's office, it was time for their last lesson. As they walked down the stairs, a crowd of students were whispering excitedly and surrounding a large bulletin board. Harry managed to get through the crowd and saw a large, flashy note attached to the board.
'The Eight Competitors for the Quad-Wizard Tournament will be chosen tonight at dinner.'
"They're choosing the pairs from the houses for the Tournament tonight." Harry told Akira and Cho.
"Cool!" said Akira.
"Awesome!" Cho exclaimed.
Akira went to her last class Charms, while Harry and Cho went to theirs, Defense Against the Dark Arts. They reached the classroom, turned the knob on the door and both were shocked to see who their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was.
"Good Afternoon Class. I have planned today's lesson. It should be most enjoyable." Said the Professor.
Their new professor had a silvery-blonde sheet of hair and sparkling blue eyes. It was Fleur Delacour. Harry noticed that her English improved greatly. The rest of the Gryffindors walked in. Ron came in and his jaw dropped.
"Hermione! It's…it's…F-Fleur!" Ron choked.
"What?" Hermione said abruptly.
"Hey look, Harry and Cho are back!" said Ron waving at Harry.
Ron and Hermione sat down after Harry and Cho had taken their seats. Professor Delacour was conjuring a dark, bleak, black mist. The class had settled and watched in amazement.
"This, class, is a type of demon. It is a nasty little thing when not properly handled. These demons, or Cornish Mist Demons, take the shape of something that we adore. It will try and have us follow it to a quiet, empty place. Then, it will try and kill us." Professor Delacour said.
The class gasped.
"Don't worry! I won't let it kill anyone! You see, it is a shape-shifter, like a boggart. Everyone will get a chance to have a go at it. But this demon may reveal secret crushes. So in respect of those people, we will have everyone come in one by one into another room. I shall bring the demon. Now, line up!" Professor Delacour explained.
Everyone lined up and they headed into the trophy room.
"Everyone gather round. Watch me. I'm going to show you all the proper way to do it." Professor Delacour said to the class.
Professor Delacour summoned the demon and it instantly turned into a boy that no one knew.
"Who's that?" Seamus blurted out.
"His name is Phillip. Now pay attention!" Professor Delacour said.
The Mist Demon-Phillip was motioning its hand for Professor Delacour to follow. Professor Delacour rolled her eyes at it and pointed her wand at it. It froze.
"Rayden!" Professor Delacour shouted.
A white, blinding flash and the Mist Demon turned back into its original form, dazed.
"That class, is your time to escape if you happen to cross paths with this little fellow." Professor explained to them.
The class just simply nodded.
"Tomorrow we'll all have a go at it. The lesson is almost over now. We still need to prepare for our type of defense against the demon. Everyone go to the classroom and pack up. You are dismissed." Professor Delacour said brightly.
The class rushed out of the trophy room and poured into the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom. The bell rang, signaling the end of all lessons and the start of dinner. Everyone ran out the door. Once Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Cho were out of the classroom, they saw the rest of the students rushing out of their classrooms. They all ran to the Great Hall and quickly grabbed seats at the Gryffindor table. All of the other Gryffindors were almost all there at the table. The passages that led to the Great Hall were crowded and students were shoving their way through. Gasping for breath, a small Gryffindor and a Hufflepuff emerged from the crowd. They went to their tables and waved to each other.
"Hi Akira!" Cho said to her sister.
"Hi." Akira replied.
"Who was that Hufflepuff that you were walking with?" Hermione asked.
"Oh that's my best friend, Melly." Akira said.
"Melly? What an interesting name…" Hermione trailed off.
Then all the students were finally seated at their tables and Dumbledore rose from the staff table.
"We will bring out parchment and quills. Everyone is to write his or her name on the parchment and then we will drop the parchment into the Fire of Triumph. The Fire of Triumph is the impartial judge that I told you about at the Beginning of the Year Feast. Professor McGonagall would you please pass out the parchment and quills?" Dumbledore said.
"Yes Headmaster." McGonagall replied.
She took out a long roll of parchment from her robes and conjured about fifty quills.
"If you are a fourth year student or above, please step up to the staff table and sign your name and house on the parchment." McGonagall said.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Cho, Akira, and a few handfuls of Gryffindors rose from their table and walked silently to the staff table. All the other houses were sending up their fourth years and fifth years. They were followed by the sixth and seventh years. Everyone got in a long line and each signed his or her name. It took a while, but everyone in line was able to sign their name. Then McGonagall handed Dumbledore the parchment. Dumbledore threw it into the Fire of Triumph that instantly appeared at his side in a small jewel covered chest. The parchment crackled and burned.
"The Fire's usual color of flame is orange. When the flames turn a frosty white, it means it is choosing. The Fire will toss out the names of the competitors, as did the Goblet of Fire. Ah, the fire is a frosty white!" Dumbledore explained.
The flames were indeed white, then a smoking piece of parchment went flying and landed in Professor McGonagall's pumpkin juice. She pulled it out of her goblet and handed it to Dumbledore.
"Our pair for Ravenclaw, Mandra Vu and Ryan Ferninski." Dumbledore shouted to the students.
There was a roar of applause and both stepped forward and were directed to the side of the room. The flames in the Fire turned white again. Two pieces of parchment came out.
"For Hufflepuff, Melly and Christopher Lackey. I assume that there is only one Melly at the Hufflepuff table and I'm sure she knows who she is. Please go and stand with the Ravenclaw pair." Dumbledore said.
Applause.
"And our pair for Slytherin which came out at the same time as the Hufflepuff pair, our pair for Slytherin is, Pansy Parkinson and Prefect Draco Malfoy." Dumbledore said.
More applause. The Gryffindors weren't very surprised at the selection for Slytherin.
"We have one house left. Gryffindor." Dumbledore noted.
The flames turned white and Dumbledore winked at Harry. A piece of parchment landed gracefully in Dumbledore's hand.
"And lastly, our pair for Gryffindor, Harry Potter and Cho Chang." Dumbledore proclaimed.
A great roaring cheer and hundreds of hands were ushering Harry and Cho towards the staff table. Dumbledore motioned for them to stand with the other pairs. They stood at the wall and Malfoy sneered at Harry. Pansy did the same and sneered at Cho.
"There are three trials. The first trial will begin tomorrow. Lessons are to be canceled. So teachers, if you had any plans for tomorrow, I'd advise you to amend them." Dumbledore said.
The students in the Great Hall cheered.
"Now everyone, get to bed." Said Dumbledore.
The Great Hall slowly filtered out and soon it was empty. Harry had reached Gryffindor Tower and said the password and nearly dragged himself to bed. Cho had gone to the Girls Dormitory and was already sleeping. Harry was very tired. He reached the staircase to the Boys Dormitory and reached his bed, too tired to change, his head hit his pillow; he took off his glasses and went to sleep.