Chapter Five
Plans
"How are we going to prevent him from placing Harry's name in the goblet?"
"Well, remember what Dumbledore said? The students who want to compete have twenty-four hours to put their names in the goblet. Moody must have put Harry's name at night so no one would notice. Somehow, we'll have to manage a distraction for him."
"How about the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder the twins have?"
"That may work. But it also has to be something else that keeps Moody's full attention the night before Halloween."
In that moment, they saw the twins seating on a stone bench in the hallway.
"Hello boys."
Fred and George raised their heads from the parchment they were writing on and saw Lorena and Abril walking towards them.
They smiled and Fred made a space between him and his twin for the girls to sit down.
"Hello. And to what do we owe the honour of the visit from such charming ladies?" Fred said.
"I believe you are looking for this" Abril said giving herself importance as she took out the dark green flask from her bag.
"Well, well, never thought you would do it so quickly" Fred said, extending his hand towards the flask, but Abril took it out of his reach.
"For what I've been informed, a flask as big as this is not too cheap, and I was wondering if you could give a tiny bunch of Peruvian Powder for it."
Fred and George exchanged look.
"Along with the two chocolate boxes?"
"It's fair I guess."
Fred frowned thoughtfully and then slowly nodded, "Yes, for a flask as big as that, it is fair enough. How much Powder do you need?"
"Enough to make a whole staircase disappear."
"Deal. You'll have the powder tomorrow night."
As the girls walked away, George turned to look at his brother raising his eyebrows.
"That was a bit too Slytherin, if you ask me."
Fred nodded thoughtfully and then looked down again at the parchment.
"You know, I think Lorcan still fancies you," Violet said leaning across the table. Lorena raised his head from her plate and stared at Violet in confusion. Mistaking her expression, Violet rolled her eyes.
"Please, Lorena, he couldn't be more obvious. He stares at you at every meal."
Still puzzled, Lorena hesitated and asked:
"Um, Lorcan?"
Emma playfully bumped her shoulder at Lorena.
"Yeah, you know, tall, black hair, pretty eyes. Actually, one of the few good-looking Slytherins."
At the mention of this, Lorena almost choked with her pumpkin juice and abruptly turned around to look at the Slytherin table. Then, the boy she had worked with in Herbology turned his gaze from the Ravenclaw table and down to his plate, suddenly very interested on his food. Lorena flushed and turned around again, Emma and Violet trying to hold their giggles.
"How subtle, Lorena" Emma said mockingly.
"Well, he hasn't talked to me since we started school" Lorena said, looking at her plate.
"Of course he hasn't, you dumped him, remember?"
"Yeah, you can't expect him to just become your best friend" Violet added.
Lorena paled and for the rest of the lunch, she just picked on her food with her fork.
When the bell rang, she had to go down to the dungeons for Potions class, but was so distracted that she almost used fluxweed flowers instead of monkshood, and to her horror, Snape gave her detention. When the bell rang for their last class of the day, she spotted Abril through the mass of students and together they went outside.
"What am I going to do?" Lorena asked worried after she had told Abril what happened.
"About Lorcan? I think he's cute," Abril said as they strolled around the lake after their last class.
"It's not that. It's so awkward to have him as herbology partner knowing that we used to date. At first I even thought he was one of the typical hate-every-other-house Slytherin. But no! And he still likes me!" Lorena exclaimed, "And I don't even know his last name."
They sat under a tree, just in front of the Durmstrang ship, and watched the lake.
"Well, if you don't want anything with him..."
"That would be wrong."
"...Then maybe you have to stay as indifferent as you have been so far. Keep it simple."
Lorena sighed and relaxed against the tree.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. We have enough things to worry about already."
Too bad it's easier said than done.
The halls of Hogwarts were deserted. The dark covered every inch of the castle, and the weak light of the moon formed grotesque shadows on the windows and walls. The hoot of an owl was heard on the distance, and silence struck again. Everyone was sound asleep, safe under the covers of their beds. The wind blew for a moment and the blue light coming out from the goblet of fire flickered for a moment, vaguely illuminating the walls of the Great Hall.
Nothing moved inside the castle. There were no ghosts to be found, and even Peeves was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, a thump followed by a footstep echoed through the walls. The sound moved rhythmically across the floor, breaking the silence. It started to grow louder with every step, and then a shadow appeared on one of the corridors. The shadow moved heavily across the corridor, making a loud thump followed by a footstep. When it reached the end of the corridor, it turned right towards a staircase and a ray of moonlight illuminated a deformed hand leaning on a crooked walking stick.
Just before the figure could go down the staircase, heavy black smoke exploded around him, making him close his good eye and cough. He felt how his walking stick disappeared and he tumbled down the stone staircase for almost twenty steps. He hit his head with the handrail and when he tried to put his hands in front of him to stop his fall, his wooden leg got stuck in a false step. The man screamed in agony when the bones of what was left of his leg cracked, but before he could do anything he hit the floor heavily and stayed still.
The smoke slowly faded in the air, leaving an immobile Mad-Eye Moody lying on the floor. For what it felt like an eternity, he stirred and tried to sit straight. With a growl, he leaned heavily in the wall on the bottom of the staircase and immediately, his magical eye started moving furiously around him, looking for the fool that had dared to play him a prank.
He saw a ghost moving on the other side of the corridor, the bats flying in the dark sky, and even a moth that was calmly resting on the wall above him. But nothing that gave away any hints of a student out of bed, nor sounds or movements or shadows.
Moody frowned and tried to get up, but an agonic pain from his leg made him growl again and forced him to stay still on the cold floor.
Professor Moody was taken to the hospital wing after a ghost discovered the man early in the morning, and although Madame Pomfrey was quick fixing his leg, she wouldn't let him go that easily with the concussion he had received in his head against the handrail.
"I heard Madame Pomfrey had to immobilize him because he wanted to sneak out in the middle of a check," Violet said on their way to breakfast.
"Why are you smiling?" Emma asked Lorena suspiciously.
Lorena looked away and tried to hide her smile, but her eyes suddenly locked with a certain Slytherin's, and she quickly looked away.
"I was just imagining it. When Madame Pomfrey has a patient, even if it's Moody, there is no way to stop her from caring for him."
When they arrived at the Great Hall, expectation floated in the air. Everyone was excited about who would be the schools' champions. Lorena caught Abril's eye and she nodded.
"You think it's going to be enough to stop him?" Abril asked when they joined at the gates of the Great Hall.
"It has to be" Lorena said, "I don't know how he would manage to do it in plain daylight."
"And with Pomfrey all over him. Good" Abril said with a sigh of relief, "Maybe with a little luck, this will be Harry's most normal year."
"You mean the only normal year. And even then, I don't know if it can be even considered normal."
Abril nodded and then looked worryingly behind her.
"I have to go now. Potions class."
"Sure, see you later."
At midday, Abril and Lorena were chatting on their way to lunch about Lorena's detention with Snape.
"It must be awful. What if he makes you chop worms or rat tails? Or if he gives you beetles for you to pop their eyes out? And what if..."
"Honestly Abril, you're not helping" Lorena interrupted her as she started to turn green. She already disliked chopping ingredients for Potions class, and just imagining popping out beetle eyes with her fingernails made her stomach hurt.
"Well, anyway good luck with it. When do you have it?"
"Tomorrow night."
"And he will be there with you?" Abril said widening her eyes.
Lorena frowned in confusion at Abril's expression, but then her own eyes opened wide and she shuddered.
"Ewww! Abril! That's disgusting" Lorena said, wrinkling her nose.
"Well you're the one who likes fanfics about him and Hermione."
"But that's different. One thing is me liking him and Hermione together and another completely different is me wanting to shag him."
"Oh God, mental image" Abril said disgusted, and both girls laughed.
Suddenly, a Durmstrang student stormed out of the Great Hall and pushed them out of his way, not even looking back.
"How rude" Abril said, annoyed.
"Did you see his eyes?" Lorena said frowning.
"No. What about them?" she asked as they entered the Great Hall.
"I don't know, they looked...strange" she said, looking behind her where the Durmstrang student had disappeared.
Abril shrugged, suddenly very interested in the group of students who had just come in. The Hufflepuffs, including Abril, cheered as Cedric Diggory dropped the note with his name written on into the goblet of fire and then turned around relieved.
"Good luck, Cedric" Abril said without thinking, and then blushed, but to her delight Cedric turned and smiled at her.
"Good luck, Cedric" Lorena imitated mockingly.
Abril just bumped her shoulder against Lorena's and then smiled before the two girls parted towards their respective House tables.
The day was passing incredibly slowly for both Lorena and Abril, and night wasn't coming soon enough. When the Sun started to set behind the mountains, the excitement finally erupted from the students and staff. Throughout the day, older students had been going in and out the Great Hall to place their name into the goblet, and now, every corner of the Great Hall was covered with excited students from the three schools.
Abril went to sit down with her friends just in front of the goblet to have a better view, but a group of seventh year Slytherins pushed their way in front of them. Abril, frowning, went to sit down far away from them, but when she stood up, her robe got stuck with a loose nail from them bench and she lost her balance, falling on top of the Slytherins. Most of them cursed and laughed at her. She stood up, her hair thankfully covering her beet red face, and then she felt a hand surround her forearm.
"All right, that's enough; move along," a male voice said above her head.
The Slytherins sneered at them but left, and Abril looked up to see her saviour, almost falling down again when she saw the handsome face of Cedric Diggory standing next to her.
"Are you all right?" he asked with a kind smile.
"Y...yeah, thanks" Abril said dazzled.
"Don't let them bother you," he said, frowning at the Slytherins, who had shooed some first year Gryffindors to take their place, "They like causing trouble, those."
"Don't all Slytherins?" Abril said smiling.
Cedric chuckled and the sound made Abril shiver.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
In that moment, Professor Dumbledore appeared out of nowhere, causing some students to jump, but everyone quickly went to their seats and silence fell in the Great Hall. Cedric sat down and made room for Abril.
"I hope I get chosen" Cedric whispered nervously.
"I'm sure you will," Abril said with a knowing smile.
Dumbledore stayed silent for a few moments, looking at all the students gathered in the Great Hall. Next to him, professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as the students Ludo Bagman smiled and winked at some students. Mr Crouch, on the other hand, didn't look interested in the slightest.
"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make a decision" Dumbledore announced, "When I call a champion, I want him or her to come to this part of the Great Hall, pass the teachers' table and go through the back door, where he or she will receive their firsts instructions."
He took out his wand, and with a single movement, he made the lights of the candles fade, making the Goblet of Fire the brightest light in the Great Hall. Everyone looked expectantly at the goblet; some even checked their watches. Suddenly, the blue flames turned red and sparks appeared. Then, a long tongue of fire threw a charred piece of parchment. The whole room gasped. Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and uses the now blue flames of the goblet to read it.
"The Durmstrang champion," he read loud and clear, "is Viktor Krum."
A storm of cheers exploded in the Great Hall while Krum stood up from the Slytherin table and walked toward the door behind the teachers' table. Silence fell again and a few moments later, the goblet's flames turned red once again. The goblet spit another piece of parchment, which Dumbledore caught in mid-air.
"The Beauxbatons champion," Dumbledore said, "is Fleur Delacour."
The girl who looked like a veela stood up elegantly, brushed a lock of silver hair away from her face and walked through the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. When Fleur disappeared through the door, a tense silence and full of expectance fell in the Great Hall. Next would be Hogwarts' champion. The tongue of fire rose again and red sparkles appeared. A piece of parchment flew in the air and Dumbledore caught it.
"The Hogwarts' champion is Cedric Diggory."
Lorena had to cover her ears when the storm of cheers and screams coming from the Hufflepuff table exploded, and she smiled when she saw Abril clapping enthusiastically with the others. Every student in Hufflepuff was on their feet cheering as Cedric, who, with a huge smile on his face, walked through the tables and through the back door. After a while, when the cheering died, Dumbledore spoke again.
"Excellent!" he said joyfully, "We have now our three champions. I'm expecting every student of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to support your champion as much as you can. This will help them significantly in completing their tasks, and consequently, will lead them to fame, glory and the prize of one thousand galleons."
The Great Hall cheered again and Abril sighed in relief. She turned to look at Lorena and she smiled at her. They had prevented Harry to compete, and now, finally, the Golden Trio would have a normal year.
"The first task will take place the twenty fourth of November," Dumbledore continued, "and our champions will have to prove their courage and cunning to be able to move to the second task. For now, the night has been very exciting and I'm sure you're all exhausted, so come on and leave to your dormitories. Chop chop!"
The students stood up and started exiting the Great Hall talking excitedly. Abril pushed through the crowd and found Lorena.
"I can't believe we did it" she said happily.
"I know. I'm super excited about this year. It was about time they didn't have to worry about something threatening the school."
"Now their biggest concern will be final exams. I wonder how are going to pass them though. Thank god it's not N.E.W.T year," Abril said to her friend, but frowned when she looked at her. Lorena had an incredulous expression on her face, and she was staring at something behind Abril. Abril turned around and her eyes widened in horror. The Goblet of Fire had turned red again.
"No" she whispered.
They were not the only ones that had noticed, and several students started to whisper in confusion. The ones who had already left the Hall returned when they heard what was happening, and several teachers, including Dumbledore, who had gone to meet the champions, returned from the room behind the teachers' table. Everyone stared as the goblet's red flames grew and twisted like they were in pain. Suddenly, a huge tongue of fire threw a piece of parchment to the air, and the little paper fell slowly until Dumbledore caught it with a trembling hand and read it. He stared at it for a long time, and then, clearing his throat, he said:
"Harry Potter"