Chapter 4: Goblet of Fire

*****Sunnydale, CA******

Angel knew that Spike and Drusilla would cause chaos and end lives while in Sunnydale. He wished that Buffy or even Giles were around to discuss the best way to handle them. He could handle them one-on-one, but he wasn't confident of his ability to handle them both at the same time. Also, he wasn't sure he had it in him to end Drusilla's life as the guilt he felt for her condition was too strong. When he tried to approach Kendra when she was with her Watcher, he was dismissed. All he managed to do was at least warn her about the new threat.

"I will handle the vampires," Kendra said. "I do not need a member of the Scourge of Europe helping me end the existence of the rest of the Scourge."

Frustrated, Angel left them, trying to figure out what to do. He didn't know Spike's plan until he was terrorizing the students during a dance. There was some type of mummy there killing, which distracted Kendra from other threats. By the time he got there, Kendra was dead, and Spike was gleeful.

"Dru bagged herself a slayer!" he bragged.

Feeling sick and guilty, he looked at Kendra's body on the hall of the high school.

The new slayer hadn't last five months on the hellmouth.

How was he going to tell Buffy this?

*****Hogwarts*****

They all stood around looking at the Goblet of Fire in awe. Giggling commenced when the twins tried to use a potion to age themselves and put their name in.

"There's some type of barrier!" Willow said excitedly.

Xander had already put his name in, and the twins had been determined to do the same after they couldn't convince Cordelia to do so. There was much mocking of their white beards.

"I told you that potion wasn't going to work," Xander told the twins, who were getting a disapproving look from Dumbledore.

"Now you look like the headmaster's little brothers," Cordelia said in amusement.

The twins tried to hide when their head of house came around the corner, zeroing in on them.

"That's our signal to leave," Xander said to Cordelia and Willow.

They ran into Buffy on the way out. "I wouldn't go that way if I were you," Xander said. "The twins are getting in trouble."

"Let me guess: they tried to put their name in the cup?" she asked knowingly.

"Of course," Xander said with a grin. "I did, and they were super jealous."

"What are you going to do if you get chosen to represent Hogwarts?" Buffy asked.

"As if there's a chance of that!" Cordelia said with a dismissive sniff.

"Seriously," Xander said. "I'm barely a wizard. Why would the cup choose me?"

"Maybe 'cause you've got all that hellmouth experience?" Willow suggested.

Xander's eyes got wide as that occurred to him. "No way! That can't possibly happen!" he exclaimed. He looked at Buffy. "Can it?"

Buffy shrugged. "I don't know, Xan. I guess it's possible," she said. "If you didn't realize that, you really shouldn't have put your name in the cup."

Panic started to grow in Xander as he considered what she was saying. "If figured it'd be like 1 in a million chances," he said.

"There's not a million 17 or 18-year olds that go here, Xander," Willow said. "There's probably more like 20 that put their names in."

"Seriously?" Xander said.

"I wouldn't worry," Buffy said. "The magic is supposed to pick the one best suited to represent the school. If it's you, you'll rise to the occasion. If it's not you, you won't be picked."

"Easy for you to say, not only is your name not in there, but you got the slayer advantage," Xander said sourly. Then he went off muttering to himself.

"You guys don't think he'll really get picked, do you?" Buffy asked her cousin and Willow.

"Please!" Cordelia said dismissively. "There's not a chance in hell."

Both Buffy and Willow winced. "I'm glad we're not in Sunnydale anymore 'cause you'd have totally jinxed him!" Willow said.

"Yea," Buffy agreed.

Draco approached them and glanced at Willow. "Willow, would you mind if I talked to my cousin and Buffy alone?" he asked.

"Sure," Willow said. "I'll catch you guys later."

Buffy said goodbye and gave Draco her attention. "So what's up, my godcousin?" she asked.

"I overheard you talking, and I know that you're a vampire slayer," Draco said, a bit nervous. "I also know what that means."

"Well, so much for secret-identity girl," Cordelia said with a smirk.

Buffy frowned. "Draco, you can't tell anyone, especially your parents," she said. Although she'd grown fond of Draco, she didn't trust his father at all.

"I won't," Draco said. "I just can't believe it's true and that vampire slayers are real!"

Buffy looked around and saw no one around. "I'm very real, and I can fill you in if you come to Father's room later," she said.

Draco smiled, excited.

"You need to make one of those magical vows," Cordelia said. "You will cause too many problems if you go blabbing to any Dark Eaters or their associates." She gave him a pointed look.

"You want me to swear on my magic?" Draco asked, frowning. He'd never done that before, and the thought was a bit terrifying. It wasn't exactly legal for him to do so until he was seventeen.

"That's a good idea," Buffy said. "I want to trust you, Draco, but I know the pressure parents can put on a person. Your dad has evil guy vibe going for him. I can literally sense evil. Do you get that?"

Draco blinked at her, not sure what to say. "Really? You can tell if a person is bad? Do I seem evil?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"Of course not!" Cordelia said.

Draco looked at Buffy for confirmation, and she smiled. "No, Draco, you are not evil," Buffy said.

"You really know?" he asked.

"I can be fooled," Buffy said. "But if a person has a real dark mark on their soul or something, I can tell. Your dad is a bad guy. The so-called Dark Lord is a bad guy. If you align yourself with them, I will one day be your enemy."

Draco was shaken at her words. He knew what that meant, and he was scared for her. At the same time, he was scared for his family because he believed that she meant it.

"Drake, you're my family. Your mother is my family," Cordelia said to him. "Your father isn't."

"I'm sorry to put you in this position, Draco," Buffy said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "But my father is my main concern. I won't risk his life by having him have to defend me to your father, or your father pressuring him to use me as a weapon for the Dark Lord."

Draco realized that was a very real possibility. "I'm not supposed to swear on my magic—it's against the law," he told them. "But I want you to trust me." He got out his wand and made the magical vow.

The Sunnydale girls watched the wand glow. "There," Draco said. "It's done."

Cordelia hugged him. "I'm glad," she said.

"Now you can be a Scooby," she said, giving him a smile of approval.

"What's a Scooby?" Draco asked.

"A group of dorks," Cordelia said with a snort.

"Don't listen to her," Buffy said, giving Cordelia a look of annoyance. "Being a Scooby means you'll be a member of our group."

Draco felt very excited. He had never looked forward to his future as a Death Eater, but he hadn't really known what other future he could possibly have.

A Scooby sounded much better than a Death Eater.

*****The Next Day*****

They were all assembled at the feast while the other two schools made their grand appearance.

Buffy and Cordelia had been checking out the hotties from the Durmstrang school, which annoyed Draco immensely. He'd gotten to hear more of Buffy's history from her and his godfather the night before and was more in awe than ever of Buffy. Maybe she would be strong enough to withstand the pressures of her father's nefarious connections. Most importantly, though, she made him feel strong enough. That didn't mean, however, that he wanted to hear her admiring other guys as he was developing a serious crush on her.

When Viktor Krum, the Seeker from the World Cup's name was read from the cup, they cheered along with many others. The calling of Fleur Delacour, though, created a much different reaction. "That girl looks so haughty," Cordelia said.

"I didn't know it was possible to be that pretty," Buffy said in awe.

The boys had been mostly spellbound by many of the girls in the Beauxbaton's delegation.

Now, it was time for the Hogwarts' name to be called. Everyone cheered with a boy from Hufflepuff, Cedric Diggory's name was called.

"How have we never seen that hottie?" Buffy asked in surprise as he walked to the front.

"We totally need to meet more of the other students," Cordelia agreed.

"Totally," Buffy agreed.

Everyone began murmuring, though, when another parchment came out of the cup.

"What? Why? What's going on?" could be heard all over the place.

The adults were clearly confused, but Dumbledore read the name on it.

"Buffy Summers-Snape."

"What?" Buffy exclaimed. "I didn't put my name in it!" She looked at her mother, who was on her feet.

"There's no way in hell my daughter is participating in this insane competition!" Joyce announced.

"Joyce, calm down," Severus said, reaching for her hand.

"She is not old enough," Giles said.

The three heads conferred with Bagman and Crouch for a moment.

Dumbledore looked more unsettled than normal but announced: "The Cup has spoken. Buffy will be the fourth contestant."

The Slytherin table was ecstatic to have their House represented. A few of the students from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor also clapped.

Buffy resigned herself to the competition even as her mother looked both terrified and angry.

After the feast, she was speaking to her father, mother, and Giles.

"I'm not that worried, Mom. I survived a hellmouth, so I know I can survive this competition," Buffy said.

"How did your name get in there?" Joyce asked.

"I swear that it was not me!" Buffy insisted.

"Might another student have thrown her name in as a joke?" Giles wondered.

Severus shook his head. "No. The magic would've thrown it out," he said.

After everyone dispersed, Professor Wyndam-Pryce approached Giles. "Rupert, may I speak to you in private?" he asked.

"Of course," Giles said. They two men walked to Giles' office, which was closer.

"I have a confession to make," Wesley said. He had wrestled with his decision, feeling his actions might be construed as a betrayal of some kind. Rupert was a fellow Watcher and was doing his upmost to train and safeguard his charge, so he felt obligated to reveal his actions to Rupert.

"What is it?" Giles said, frowning. The Watcher's Council would not be above using their new DADA professor as he was the son of one of the more prominent Councilmen.

"It is I who put Miss Summers' name in the cup," he confessed.

"What? Why would you do such a thing?" Giles asked even though he could guess.

"The Council ordered me to," he admitted. "They want her tested, and it seemed the most obvious way to do so."

"She is going to be very angry as will her parents when they discover what you did," Giles said.

"I was hoping that you would keep it between the two of us," Wesley said.

Before Giles could answer, Buffy burst into the room. "Giles! I just got a message from Angel. Kendra is dead! A vampire named Drusilla killed her!"

"Oh dear," Giles said, standing to his feet.

"The Council must be told as a new slayer was inevitably called," Wesley said.

"Yes," Giles agreed. He looked at Buffy. "Do you know the details?"

"Angel said Spike and Drusilla, old friends of Angelus, came to town. He tried warning Kendra and tried to get her to work with him to bring them down, but she insisted that she didn't need his help since he used to run with them," Buffy shared. "Her arrogance and bigotry has gotten her killed. I tried to tell her that she needed to get help, but she went all solo. Now she's dead."

"It's the way slayers have always been trained," Wesley said.

"It doesn't work well in Sunnydale," Buffy said flatly. "I'd still be dead if not for Xander. I told her that."

"I will contact her Watcher," Giles said.

"I will contact the Council," Wesley said. "We will have to go outside the wards to use my cell phone. The new slayer must be sent to the hellmouth."

"The sooner the better," Giles agreed.

"Should I go back to Sunnydale?" Buffy asked. "Without a slayer there, the town will soon be overrun."

"There is six weeks left in the semester," Giles said. "Your first task in the tournament is Nov 24th. You have to figure out what the task is and then be ready to triumph over it."

"The Council will have to send a team to Sunnydale," Wesley said.

"A team that might kill Angel on sight?" Buffy objected. "I don't think so! I will have my father go with me. We'll return on the twenty-third."

"Your father is a professor. He has responsibilities," Giles reminded her.

"It's a good thing that he can teleport," Buffy countered. "I don't have to miss class. I can spend Friday through Sunday in town, so that the vamps know it's not unguarded."

"That is not a bad plan," Wesley said.

"I will speak to Severus as soon as Wesley and I go make a phone call outside the wards," Giles said.

"Okay. I'll be talking to my parents," Buffy said warily. She left them and went to get her mom.

"We need to go speak to Father as I've got some bad news," she told her mom.

"Worse than you having to compete in that awful tournament?" Joyce asked.

"Yes, Kendra's dead," Buffy said.

"Oh no!" Joyce said. She knew getting Buffy away from the hellmouth was the right decision. Kendra hadn't even made it six months.

When they made to Severus' room, Buffy didn't waste time on greeting as she shared her bad news.

"That is most unfortunate," Severus said, feeling sad for the young girl, who'd been so full of life when he'd last seen her sparring with Buffy.

"I have to go back to Sunnydale. It can't go without a slayer," she said.

"Over my dead body," Joyce declared.

At the same time, Severus said, "Absolutely not."

Buffy looked between both parents, surprised.

*****To Be Continued*****

Okay, so I have two major things at least happen in this chapter even though it wasn't terribly long. I almost had Xander called instead of Cedric, but I liked his character and thought I'd leave him in the running. I know that Draco isn't supposed to do magical vows, so please forgive the creative license.