Chapter 3
A Change of Course

"Advanced Charms is my first class," groaned Coralia Dimple, a fellow Ravenclaw sixth year, as her eyes scanned the schedule.

Peering down at her own schedule, Sophie also had Advanced Charms printed neatly in the Monday morning time slot. "Yeah, I've got it too," she announced. "It shouldn't be too bad."

"Except that it's on Monday mornings," Sophie heard Coralia grumble.

"Sophie, when do you have Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Aaralyn asked as she chewed the corner of a slice of toast.

Looking back down the parchment, she said, "Tuesday afternoon." She glanced back up and sighed. "I really hope this new professor is up to par; I would like to do better on my Dark Arts N.E. than I did on my O.."

A few heads bobbed up and down in agreement. It was a consensus among the Ravenclaws that the past few Defense Against the Dark Arts professors had been some real duffers; none of the lasted more than a year on the job. Last year's professor was probably the best of the bunch, which had been lucky since it had been their O.W.L year. Unfortunately, Sophie hadn't done as well as she had hoped.

"Come on, Coralia. Let's not be late on the first day," Sophie said, standing from the table. The other girls followed suit and parted to their assigned classes.

Charms had always been one of Sophie's favorite classes. She enjoyed the feeling of power that was elicited by the wave of her wand. She also found it fascinating to learn and observe the various ways in which a spell could be cast incorrectly. It was a rather finicky art, but she simple loved its complexity.

As she was settling into her seat, she received a pleasant surprise; Cedric entered the room and took the empty seat beside her. Sophie furrowed her brows in slight bewilderment at his appearance. Her expression did not go unnoticed, because Cedric chuckled as he pulled out his textbook.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded quietly. "I thought we only had Transfiguration together."

"I changed my schedule a little," he whispered back. "I've decided to look into becoming an Auror. I need a N.E.W.T in this class for that to happen."

"An Auror? Since when?" she replied, the furrow in her brow deepening.

Working as an Auror for the Ministry had been something that Sophie wanted to do ever since she learned the truth about how her mother died. The absence of her mother throughout her life was something Sophie struggled with, but she couldn't deny the connection she felt when she thought about following in her mother's footsteps. Her father was torn in the matter, but did his best to understand his daughter's desires.

Cedric shrugged. "It just seems right after what I saw at the World Cup."

"And here I thought it was because you wanted to be more like me," Sophie said with a grin as Professor Flitwick appeared at the front of the room, readying to begin class.

The workload for lessons steadily increased as September passed by and the students were feeling the pressure from their advanced classes. Adding to the tension was the never-ending discussions about the Triwizard Tournament. It was already the third day of October and they still had no idea when the students from the two other competing schools would be arriving; meeting students from other wizarding schools was a very rare occurrence for most at Hogwarts.

It took another week into October before the question about the visitors from abroad was answered. Notices were hung on the oak doors to Great Hall announcing that the delegations from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons would be arriving on the thirtieth of October, and that there would be a feast that evening to celebrate.

By the time the announcement of the delegations was made, Sophie had given considerable thought to the idea of entering the tournament. She wasn't completely confident in her abilities, but at the same time she couldn't help but wonder if she had what it takes to compete. With only a week left to decide, the questions plagued her in every moment of quiet.

On the same day that the notices were pinned up, Sophie and Cedric were on their way to Transfiguration when a boy who was a few years younger than them raced up to Cedric and repeated, verbatim, the news, looking like he might explode with excitement.

"Uh, thanks Ernie," Cedric mumbled, his ears burning red as he glanced tentatively at Sophie. "I've got to get to class now. See you back in the common room."

"What was that all about?" she demanded as soon as Ernie was out of earshot.

He didn't quite meet her eye when he muttered that it was nothing. Sophie was not at all satisfied by this answer and knew him well enough to know when he was lying. In class they had to work in pairs and Sophie kept insisting that he tell her what was going on.

"I'll tell you after class," he finally whispered, giving into her nagging.

Content with his agreement to share more, Sophie was better able to concentrate on the spell they were supposed to be working on.

The two friends sat under one of the large oak trees that grew beside the lake and worked on their Transfiguration homework. After working out the answer to one of the questions, Sophie could wait no longer; she had to know the reason for Ernie's strange behavior.

"Please tell me what's going on," she asked, looking slightly concerned but all the more curious.

Taking in a deep breath, Cedric explained, letting it all out in one breath and not meeting her eye, "I'm going to enter my name in the Goblet of Fire."

"What!" Sophie said loudly, feeling a twinge of anger because he had not confided in her sooner. "No, you can't! It's too dangerous, Cedric."

"I know. I've thought about this a lot since the opening feast. I can't shake it, Sophie. It just feels like something I have got to do." He said all of this slowly, trying to make her see reason.

Sophie drew in a deep breath, rationalizing her reaction; hadn't she, just nights before, been considering the same thing. She reacted with her gut and not her head. It was silly to argue with him over something she may do herself. But his confidence in the decision made her a tiny bit jealous; she was still wrapped up in uncertainty. So after a minute of deliberating with herself, she settled on the only thing she could really argue with him about, not telling her sooner.

Sophie punched him sharply in the arm, to which he responded with a yelp.

"That was for not telling me sooner!" she said with a playful scowl. She shook her head and sighed dramatically. "I shouldn't be surprised that you're going to enter. I mean, you are Cedric Diggory after all – the doer of all things good in the world."

Cedric rolled his eyes. "I didn't tell you sooner because I knew you'd go mental."

"Me go mental? No way!" She chuckled. "Besides, don't think you're the only one who is considering the tournament."

"You're going to enter the tournament?" Cedric said with disbelief, his brow now furrowing sternly.

"That's a real vote of confidence, thanks," Sophie replied grumpily, having anticipated anger not confusion on his part.

He paused the conversation for a moment, clearly making up his mind on the matter. "Are you serious? You can't, Sophie. I won't let you; the tasks are going to be extremely dangerous and your dad will go mental if you're chosen. He'd probably blame me for not stopping you. I'm serious; it's too risky."

"Are you finished?" she asked dryly when his speech came to an end.

He nodded sheepishly under her un-amused expression.

"And you said I'd go mental? That was ridiculous, Cedric. If I'm going to be an Auror, I'll be dealing with situations just as dangerous. Are you going to tell me I can't do that next?"

"No. It's just I don't want anything to happen to you."

Sophie rolled her eyes, but inwardly appreciated his concern. "Well, anyway, I'm only considering it; I'm not nearly as certain as you. As soon as I figure it out though, you'll be the first to know!"

A/N: I would love some feedback. Let me know what you think so far. Thanks!