Around twenty or so students were gathered in the entrance hall the next morning, all of them surrounding the glowing Goblet of Fire. Some people were leisurely leaning against walls, watching as the others milled about with crumbled bits of paper in their hands. Eventually, an older Hogwarts student finally gained enough courage to step over the misty white Age Line and toss their name into the goblet. Its flames swelled in a bright blue glow before quickly simmering down to a simple dance once more.

Oriane and Calista were one of the many students leaning against the walls, watching the spectacle of it all. They had asked their roommates to join, but Emerald whined about wanting to get more sleep, and Charlotte claimed she would rather spend her breakfast by the lake, rather than watch students enter their names into 'some dumb tournament.'

"Wish they'd tell you what the tasks are gonna be," Calista sighed. "I bet you more people would be willing to put their names in if they knew what they were up against."

"I suppose that's what they were going for, isn't it? The element of the unknown?" Oriane offered.

"Yeah, well, at least all these idiots are of age," Calista shrugged.

At that exact moment, a certain pair of fiery headed twins entered the hall, each of them wearing a knowing smirk on their faces. Their eyes instantly landed on the Goblet of Fire, and they looked so excited it was as if they were about to throw their whole bodies in. Oriane was half expecting them to run straight in, yet they seemed to be holding some sort of restraint on themselves.

"Well, perhaps not all of them," Oriane muttered as she nodded her head in the twin's direction.

Following her gesture, Calista caught sight of her friends and laughed. "Judging by the looks on their faces, I'd say they've figured out a way to get around that line."

Calista waved her hand up in the air to catch their attention, and grinning, they both strolled over to the two girls. As they got closer, Fred shoved his hands into his pockets where he carefully pulled out a small vial. It didn't take either of the girls very long to figure out exactly what was in his hands.

"Don't tell me you stole that from Snape," Oriane pleaded, her eyes glued to the vial.

"Please, have a bit more faith in us. We brewed it ourselves," George said while they joined the girls in leaning against the wall.

"We're thinking half the vial for each of us," Fred added. "It'll age us up enough to trick that line, I reckon."

"Half the vial each?" Calista repeated. "What are you trying to do, look like Dumbledore? A drop each should be plenty. You only need to age up a few months, don't you?"

The two boys glanced at one another with a stiff look before shrugging. "We'll take your word for it," George said.

"Yeah, but if this goes wrong, we're blaming you," Fred teased.

Before anyone could attempt to talk them out of it any further, Fred and George heeded Calista's recommendation and took a small drop of the potion each. Oriane awaited the worst, expecting some terrible side effects like blisters or for their skin to change an odd color, but much to her surprise they looked just the same as they did before. Fred quickly pocketed the potion before any teacher decided to round the corner and catch them, and then the two quickly grinned at the girls once more.

"We'll give it a moment to fully take effect," he assured them.

Calista gave the two a playful salute as they sauntered off towards a small group of Gryffindor students on the other end of the hall. "Godspeed, good sirs."

"It's not going to work," Oriane whispered.

"They don't need to know that."

After a short conversation with their Gryffindor friends, Fred was the first to enter the wispy Age Line. He stood at it for a long moment with his paper in his hands before he eventually gained the courage to fully cross the line. He broke through the line and fully stood in the circle where he paused for a moment. Nothing was happening. Seemingly victorious, George also crossed over the line and joined his brother with a cheer in triumph.

Yet, just as they were about to fully approach the goblet, a loud sizzling sound interrupted their movements. Moments later, the two were violently tossed out of the ring, as if some troll had gotten a hold of them and mistook them for a quaffle. They landed nearly ten feet away from the goblet, hitting the stone floor with a painful thud. Oriane couldn't help but wince at the sight of it.

"That was a bit much," Oriane admitted.

The two boys rolled onto their backs, groaning from their harsh impact. Yet, something seemed terribly off about them. The normally well shaven boys suddenly had grown long, flowy, white beards. Calista also took sight of this, as she was one of the first students in the hall to start laughing at their blunder. Really, Oriane couldn't help but join in, and even the twins themselves laughed at one another as they finally stood to their feet.

"I did warn you," a chuckling voice said. Everyone turned to find Dumbledore, who had just exited the Great Hall. "I suggest you go and see Madam Pomfrey. She's already tending to Miss Fawcett and Mr. Summers. Though, I must say, neither of their beards are quite as fine as yours."

Calista's laughter continued long after the twins had left to get their beards removed, and at that point she was holding onto Oriane for dear life. Each one of her giggles nearly sent her hurling towards the ground, and she had begun to clutch her stomach with her hand.

"Oh, it hurts! I haven't laughed this hard since Malfoy turned into a ferret!" she cried.

Eventually the girl finally got her laughter under control. Most other students had left the hall by that point, opting instead to enter the Great Hall for breakfast. Oriane found herself rather famished, and was about to suggest that they go grab breakfast themselves until someone spoke up at the end of the hall.

"Did I just see Fred and George Weasley with beards?"

Calista spiraled into laughter yet again, her giggles ringing out almost twice as loud as they did earlier. Luckily for Oriane, Calista decided to use the wall to prop herself up that time, and she tried her best to keep herself upright as she regained control of her laughter again.

As her friend continued in her breakdown, Oriane turned her attention to Cedric, who was approaching the two girls with a small smirk. Oriane glanced at Calista one last time before looking back up at Cedric.

"Does that answer your question?" she asked, pointing to her friend.

"I take it that the Age Line was a bit more complicated than they thought?" Cedric chuckled.

"Something like that," she said, eyeing the goblet. "Have you put your name in yet?"

Cedric shook his head as he pulled a small piece of parchment out of the pocket of his jeans. "Not yet. I was actually just about to do it, but those Weasley's make for a good distraction. I nearly forgot."

Oriane's eyes flickered to the parchment in his hands where she could very clearly make out where his name and school had been written. I dawned on her then that she had never really paid attention to his handwriting before. It was more curly than she had expected, and was a mix of script and print. He wrote his name proudly, the letters all swirling together except for the capital letters of his first and last name.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Oriane asked, looking back up at him.

"Careful, he might grow a beard," Calista teased, finally regaining her composure once more.

"And if I do, I'm blaming it on you, Ori," Cedric said, walking backwards towards the goblet.

When Cedric made it over the Age Line, he paused for a moment and looked around. Even though he had been of age for a month at that point, it was as if he was still worried there was a possibility he'd be jinxed similar to how the Weasley Twins had been. But there was no change to his appearance at all, and feeling much better about it all, Cedric walked right up to the goblet.

The blue hue of the flames made him appear much paler than he actually was, but they did cast an interesting glow on his hair. But it looked odd. Not in a bad way, just in a way that made him look so much unlike himself. Oriane would often assign colors to people; colors that her subconscious felt fitted them. Like Calista, who was always a soft pink, or Esme who was a sky blue.

But in that moment, Cedric was bathing in a color that wasn't his. To Oriane, he had grown to become the color green. Green like the field outside of Hogwarts, or the stems of the wildflowers he gave her at the end of the previous year. Like the foliage that offered her cover from the sun when she went swimming in the river outside her cottage.

Green like the jacket he had given her at the Quidditch World Cup.

The flames of the goblet grew brighter for a moment as Cedric tossed in his parchment, the paper burning to ash within a second. He turned to the girls with a huge grin on his face as he gestured to the area round him. It was done; Cedric Diggory was officially entered as a candidate for the Triwizard Tournament.

Everyone had forgotten that it was Halloween until they arrived in the Great Hall that evening and were met with yet another large and well prepared feast. Glowing carved pumpkins joined the enchanted candles above their heads, and classic autumn dishes sprawled out in front of them, and yet no one seemed to care. Really, hardly anyone was eating at all, as it was hard to pay attention to anything other than the Goblet of Fire, which had been moved to the front of the Great Hall.

"Ten galleons says Viktor gets chosen for Durmstrang," Calista spoke up suddenly, her eyes glued to the Slytherin table.

Following her gaze, Charlotte leaned over to the side, looking over the several heads around them blocking her vision. "What makes you say that?"

"Have you seen the way Karkaroff acts around him? He's like some prized son to him or something. Wouldn't be surprised if he scared off all the other Durmstrang lot to ensure he gets chosen," Calista muttered. "Can't say I blame the man, though. One of the boys dribbled food all down his shirt last night. Certainly wouldn't want him chosen to represent the school if I were him."

"Got any bets for Beauxbatons?" Emerald asked, though she seemed more concerned with her pumpkin pie than anything Calista had to say.

"Ew, who cares about them?" Calista asked, defensive. "As for Hogwarts, besides Cedric of course, I heard Angelna Johnson put her name in. You know, the girl from Gryffindor? She's on the quidditch team. She'd be good, I think. Imagine Cedric got chosen though. Having a Hufflepuff represent the school? It would probably make people take us more seriously."

Charlotte chuckled. "I don't think anything would ever get anyone to take you seriously."

Eventually every plate in front of them was wiped clean and sparkling under the candlelight once more. Though, Oriane found that she couldn't really eat all that much. She hadn't even entered her name into the tournament and yet her stomach was turning as if she had. Her eyes were glued onto the blue flames of the Goblet of Fire, and the noise in the hall only grew with the anticipation.

Yet everyone suddenly fell quiet the very moment Dumbledore stood to his feet. After making his way to stand next to the goblet, everything was silent. The flickering of the flames could be clearly heard all throughout the hall. The headmaster beamed around at his students, his eyes twinkling.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," he spoke. "When the names of the champions are called, I will ask them to please make their way up to the staff table and turn off into the chamber on your right. You will receive your first instructions there."

Anxious, Oriane began to glance around the room as best as she could. Everyone was sitting as tall as they could, others were bouncing their legs or picking at their nails. Her eyes eventually landed on Cedric, where he sat not too far away from her and her roommates. Just like everyone else, his eyes were glued to the headmaster, and whatever anxiety he was feeling at that moment was perfectly masked.

Suddenly, the blue flames of the Goblet of Fire changed to a bright red. Sparks began to shoot out of the mouth of the goblet, getting a few squeaks out of many of the students. A small piece of parchment joined the sparks in the air, where it was smoking and slightly singed around the edges. The moment the parchment was ejected, the flames turned back to their regular blue color, and as it fluttered through the air, Dumbledore caught it in the palm of his hand.

"The champion for Durmstrang," Dumbledore read, adding a short pause, "will be Viktor Krum!"

Roaringly loud cheering erupted in the hall as the boy stood from the Slytherin table. Oriane had a hard time telling who was cheering louder; the Durmstrang students, or the diehard quidditch fans.

"See! What did I tell you!" Calista shouted.

After Viktor Krum exited into the side chamber, the flames of the goblet turned red once more before shooting out another piece of parchment.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," he said, "is Fleur Delacour."

The cheering for Fleur was… lackluster, to say the least. In fact, there were no cheers at all, just clapping, and the distant sound of crying. Oriane looked over at the Ravenclaw table and noticed that it was the same girl Calista had pointed out the previous night. The other Beauxbatons students looked rather upset, and looked at the girl disdainfully as she made her way to the staff table. Two girls behind her even went as far as crying tears of what Oriane could only assume was frustration.

"At least she's nice to look at," Calista coughed.

"Someone shut her up already," Charlotte muttered.

Oriane's eyes suddenly went wide. "Wait, that means that the next champion…"

For a third time the goblet turned red before pushing out the piece of paper that would announce the Hogwarts champion. Oriane could feel her breath hitch in her throat as she waited for Dumbledore's announcement.

"And the Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

Oriane didn't know when she had stood to her feet, but in an instant she found herself in a roaring wave of proud Hufflepuffs. She turned around and caught sight of Cedric, who was receiving several slaps on his back from the boys around him. The Great Hall grew loud with their excitement, even more loud than anything Oriane had experienced at the World Cup. And as Cedric made his way to join the other champions, she felt his hand squeeze her lower arm as he passed by. She looked at him, and the boy was grinning wider than she had ever seen him, almost as if he was saying I made it.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called over the dying cheering of the Hufflepuff table. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real-"

But the headmaster was interrupted before he could fully finish his closing announcement. Just like it had done three times previously, the Goblet of Fire suddenly turned red for a fourth time. Everyone fell dead silent as more sparks spewed out of the mouth of the goblet, where a fourth piece of parchment followed shortly after.

Just like he had for the other champions, Dumbledore reached out his hand and picked the parchment out of the air. He held it in his hands and stared at it for a long moment as his eyes scanned the paper over and over again. Finally, he cleared his throat, where he then announced the fourth champion:

"Harry Potter."

"This is bad," Emerald muttered.

The Hufflepuff common room was full to the brim with students, each sitting around the roaring fire or relaxing on the various sofas. Oriane couldn't remember a time she had seen it so full besides on the first and last days of semesters. Yet everyone was there, and they were all talking about one thing.

"This is really bad," Emerald repeated. "I mean, Harry Potter? How'd he get his name in? There's no way he can do those tasks!"

Oriane had been thinking the exact same thing since they left the Great Hall, yet her thoughts slightly differed from that of everyone else. She knew there was no way Harry put his name into the goblet. And that was the thought that troubled her the most.

"Fred and George couldn't even get through!"

"But I didn't see him with a beard. Did you?"

"A fourth champion?"

"He's already gotten enough attention. Why'd he have to go and sneak his way in?"

The noise of it all was beginning to give Oriane a headache, and she couldn't help but rub at her temples. She wanted nothing more than to hide away in their dorm, but she needed to stay out. Cedric hadn't returned yet, and she needed to talk to him.

"I don't think he put his name in," Charlotte suddenly spoke up.

Oriane jumped at her voice, having thought she went to bed minutes ago. Yet there she was, leaning against the back of the sofa the other girls sat on. Her short hair was framed perfectly around her face as she leaned forward, and her amber eyes flickered around at everyone, soaking in the conversations.

"I don't think so either," Oriane admitted. Anxiety was filling her to the brim even worse than it had back in the Great Hall, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't seem to steady her knocking knees. "Do you think they'll let him out? They can't possibly let him compete."

"If it's up to Dumbledore, probably not," Charlotte admitted. "I respect the man and the work he's done for the wizarding world or whatever, but when it comes to safety the man is sort of an idiot."

Emerald gasped. "Charlie!"

"What? I'm not gonna sugar coat it. And you can't tell me I'm wrong, either, because we all know I'm right."

A familiar creaking sound interrupted their conversation and it threw the entire common room into silence. Everyone's head turned towards the entrance until a figure suddenly illuminated in the small hallway. And it was just who everyone had been expecting, Hogwarts champion Cedric Diggory. The entire common room erupted in applause and cheering as everyone swarmed him.

Cedric entered the heart of the badger's burrow, grinning just as big as he had in the Great Hall. Everyone surrounding him offered him pats on the shoulders and praise. A girl or two would approach him and hang on his arm for longer than what seemed normal. He had suddenly become their only pride and joy.

"There he is! The real Hogwarts Champion!"

Eventually he was brought into the center of the room where he was adorned with random items of yellow. A Hufflepuff banner someone had probably stolen from somewhere around the school, several yellow scarves, a Hufflepuff hat. And the boy was smiling brightly as he looked around the room, laughing with those around him.

But not Oriane. She stayed sitting, her roommates joining her, and she wasn't smiling. She was happy for him, and she was proud of him, but she couldn't quite get that to reflect on her face. Not with the worry plaguing her mind. And so when Cedric finally caught sight of her in the crowd, and saw that she was frowning, his smile faltered.

He began to push his way through the crowd, but his movements were slow. A majority of his time was spent attempting to return all the items everyone had thrown on top of him. Eventually Oriane couldn't take it anymore. She pushed herself up from the sofa, and decided to cut Cedric's traveling time in half.

"What did they decide?" she asked quietly.

Having trouble hearing her with all the chatter around, Cedric leaned down. "Huh?"

"What'd they say about Harry?" she asked.

And she must have spoken louder than she intended, because everyone around them instantly began shushing one another. Cedric looked around with a soft sigh before looking back at Oriane.

"The contract is too powerful of a bind. So… he's officially the fourth champion," he answered carefully.

Muttering broke out in the crowd around them, something that sounded almost like booing. Oriane swallowed hard as she nodded her head and turned away from him for a short moment.

"Did they figure out who did it? Who put his name in?" she asked next.

And at that she earned a few scoffs. Even Cedric seemed rather confused, as if the answer was obvious.

"Well, he did, of course. How else would his name have gotten in?"

Her stomach plummeted the moment those words left his mouth. Perhaps she was a little disappointed in him for believing what everyone else thought. That Harry Potter would ever want to put his name into the tournament to such an extent he'd cheat the system.

"No. There's no way. He wouldn't have," she defended.

"Of course he would," a quidditch player by the name of Anthony Rickett spoke up. "He's always been the center of attention, hasn't he? Had to make sure it stayed that way this year, too."

And there it was again; her old friend; the rot. She could taste it in the back of her throat, threatening to spill out. There was nothing more she wanted in the world than to let it go, to let it ruin the rug underneath her. Holding it in hurt beyond words, and yet, she refused to be an inconvenience.

"I can assure you that's the last thing he wants," she whispered, eyes finally looking back up at Cedric. " What did he say? Did he say he put his name in?"

He shook his head. "No, but-"

"Then believe him."

A loud scoff sounded from behind Cedric, and a new hand appeared on the boy's shoulder. Zacharias Smith, yet another quidditch player, stood next to the champion, glaring at Oriane.

"There's no way you're defending Harry over Cedric, who is the Hufflepuff champion, mind you," he sneered. "I mean seriously, the boy robbed him of the title of Hogwarts champion."

"Smith," Cedric warned, pushing the boy's hand off of his shoulder.

"You've no idea what it's like being known only for the death of your family," Oriane said. Her voice was so faint and weak, and since she couldn't bring herself to look at Cedric when she said it, her words were mostly aimed into his chest. "Any attention at all is bad attention, just… just remember that."

This was enough to fully stun the boy. And he stared at her, eyes suddenly softening as he struggled to find the words to say to her.

"Ori, I…" he started.

But it was too late. Cedric stayed standing there as Oriane turned to walk away. Her dark hair glinted in the light of the fire next to them, and he wanted nothing more than to reach for her. He wished for nothing more in the world than for everyone else around them to disappear. To get that moment alone with her. But he was stuck there, watching her rush up the stairs to her dorm while everyone else snickered behind his back.

But she refused. She refused to let it spill.