Chapter 7:

As soon as Mia's name was called there was silence. Mia stayed put, not moving at all and holding her breath. You're dreaming, she thought.

"Madeline," Professor Dumbledore said more clearly and covered his disbelief. "Come."

Mia slowly made her way up to where the other champions were. She felt all eyes on her and tried not to think about it.

"They must have entered themselves," someone spoke.

"How do you suppose they did that?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

"Mia, did you put your name into the Goblet?" Her father asked, looking tired and drained. Mia shook her head.

"Did you have an older student do it for you?" Dumbledore asked with his eyes on her. Mia shook her head again.

They went on to ask Harry the same questions and he gave the same answer. Mia never wanted to be in this tournament, the thought never even crossed her mind. She was under 17 and had no interest in fame or glory. She just wanted to make it through the school year.

"Well, they will have to compete I guess," Dumbledore spoke.

"No!" Her father interrupted, as did the teachers from the other schools.

"That's not fair."

"We only have one champion from our school."

"This can be dangerous for them!" Her father said concerned. "If they didn't enter it themselves I don't think they should have to compete."

Mia nodded at this and looked at Harry who also agreed.

"The rules are very clear, Severus," Dumbledore said. "They will all compete."

Severus Snape sat alone in his study wondering what possible terrors could lay ahead. His daughter and the son of the only woman he ever loved, the two people in the world that he wanted to protect the most were going into this horrible tournament. They weren't of age and they had no idea how to protect themselves like the other champions.

He didn't know who would put their names in the goblet but he believed his daughter and figured that whoever put her name in there put Harry's name in there as well.

He didn't like this helpless feeling and he really didn't like that Dumbledore didn't take his side on this. He knew that he had to help Mia and Harry no matter what.

Nobody talked to Mia much for the next few days. Everyone was positive she cheated, along with Harry to get into the tournament. She was also extremely shocked and didn't quite know how to react or what she would be in for. She was looking forward to a nice and quiet year but figured that wasn't possible anymore. She was also trying to think of ways to get out of it. She was an average witch and while she read a lot, she didn't read a lot of school-related books.

The only people she knew that believed her were her father and Harry. She hadn't seen Fred much since they kissed but she knew that they both had a lot on their minds. She felt almost like a zombie going from task to task and just going through the motions.

"How are you holding up?" Fred asked gently.

"Pretty well, how are you?" She asked, hoping that he would say that he believed her about the tournament.

"I'm doing well myself," he said. "I know you didn't put your name into the goblet, I just wonder who did."

"Me too," she said quietly.

"Are they going to let you compete for sure," he asked.

"Not just let me, they're practically making me. I'd rather sit it out," she said.

"You have a chance of being the Triwizard champion though, how cool would that be?" He asked grinning at her.

"Pretty cool I guess but there are cooler things," she said.

"Like what?" he asked curiously.

"Like stapling my hand to the wall," she said smiling.

"Huh?"

"Never mind," she said realizing that they didn't really use staples at Hogwarts so he may not even know what they are.

"So, would you like to hang out in Hogsmeade this weekend?" He asked her hopefully. "I could show you around Fred-style."

"Sure," she said trying not to sound too excited.

"Sweet, then it's a date," he smiled.

Mia was super excited to go to Hogsmeade with Fred and the morning of she kept changing outfits. This was not usually how Mia was, she normally didn't care much about what she wore but she needed to be excited about something. She finally settled on black leggings, a maroon dress and a long black coat with boots. She put on a little mascara, blush, eye shadow and a smudge of lip gloss and ran out to meet Fred.

"Hey Mia, how's it going?" He asked smiling at her.

"Pretty good, how are you?" She asked blushing slightly. He looked so handsome.

"I'm doing great," he grinned. "Shall we go?"

"Yes, we shall," she said taking his arm.

And off they went, stopping at Honeydukes to grab some sweets and Zonko's for the latest in tricks and jokes.

"This is going to run Snape right out of school," he said without thinking. Then a look of horror passed his face.

"Haha, probably," she laughed. She didn't take that very seriously; her father was definitely not the kindest teacher in the school. Of course she loved him and knew a different side to him but that was different.

His face relaxed, he grabbed her hand and they walked through the village. They toured the village, going into shops that Mia had never been in such as Dominic Maestro's which was a music shop, Spintwitches which was for sporting goods and many other shops, including a book shop that sold book for wizards and books even written by muggles. Mia had a hard time not looking like a geek in front of Fred and resisted the urge to stay in there for hours and buy several books. Eventually they made it to the Three Broomsticks and ordered a couple of hot butterbeers to warm them up. They ended up talking for what seemed like hours about so many different things like their families, books, courses, music and even food. "It's getting late, you two should probably head back," she looked up and saw Hagrid looking down at them. "I guess you're right," Mia said sighing. They walked back to the castle hand in hand and when they finally got inside, her father was there. It looked almost as if he was waiting for her.