Twenty-Two:

Upon the goblet being opened for submissions, a queue (consisting mostly of Gryffindors) formed from the age line, leading all the way out of the chamber it was in and down the corridor. Cedric and Jona both took advantage of the set of bleachers erected around the Goblet, a few meters outside of the ageline and took much entertainment in watching a plethora of underage students get ejected from the agline like some sort of adolescent projectile.

Like most of his actions these days, Cedric was very deliberate about when he elected to put his name in the Goblet of Fire. It's not as though he wanted to make a spectacle about the whole thing but, he did not want to be lumped in with all the other faceless hopefuls nor did he want to seem overeager. Still, it would not do to wait too long and end up forgotten in the confusion of the other schools' arrival.

He expressed his concerns to Jona and was met with annoyance.

"Must you overthink everything, Cedric?"

Rather unhelpful.

Ultimately he decided to enter his name a few days before the expected arrival of the other schools. The Goblet of Fire was located in an antechamber between the Great Hall and the Entrance Hall which meant many people chose to spend their free periods prior to lunch or dinner loitering there. He knew that Harry had a free period before dinner on Thursday, so the choice was obvious.

"There's more people than I expected." commented Cedric under his breath as he and Jona entered the antechamber.

"Yes well, Cesaria and I did a good job spreading the word." Jona replied, waving at the girl in question, who was watching them from a set of almost packed bleachers.

Cedric scanned the many faces looking back at him, many of them whispering conspiratorially to one another. He hoped his steps didn't falter too noticeably when he caught sight of Harry who was squished between his two hanger-ons on the bottom row of the benches, caught up in a conversation with a chubby boy who was seated behind him.

A few of his Quidditch teammates cheered as he approached the ageline and he grinned winningly back at them, with a small wave.

"Who'd you learn that one from, the Queen?" hissed Jona as he shoved him forward.

Cedric stumbled a bit, and shot his supposed friend a glare over his shoulder. Feeling his cheeks heat a bit, he chanced a glance in Harry's direction, hoping he didn't embarrass himself too badly.

He felt his heart jolt when he found those green eyes staring back at him.

Holding Harry's gaze he reached into his pocket and pulled out the slip of parchment with his name and dropped it into the fire.

Cheering and clapping erupted around him and for a very brief moment, Cedric was fearful he might do something ridiculous like sob when he saw Harry happily joining in with the applause.

He did no such thing and instead smiled happily at the crowd of well wishers that surrounded him once he stepped away from the goblet. He took their friendly thumps and handshakes gracefully, but made his way towards where Harry was seated as soon as the path was clear.

"Um... congratulations."

Weasley groaned, rolling his eyes. "What're you congratulating him for? All he did was set a slip of paper on fire. He's not actually been selected yet."

Harry seemed to shrink a bit at this, and Cedric very much hoped that someday soon he would get the chance to knock Weasley out.

"Well," defended the dark haired boy, regaining his confidence. "I think he's very good at magic and very brave." He looked back at Cedric and smiled. "My bet is on you." His head was tilted downwards a bit, so that he was looking up at him through thick, dark lashes. Cedric was certain his stomach was doing backflips somehow.

"Turncoat!" yelled one of the Weasley twins from where they were probing analytically at the ageline with the tip of their wand. "You're supposed to cheer on Angelina, you traitor!"

The girl next to Harry flipped her frizzy hair and scoffed. "You only say that because you fancy her, Fred." Ignoring the red-head's affronted yell, she looked back at Cedric and smiled. "I agree with Harry. I'll be quite surprised if you aren't picked as Hogwarts' champion."

"Well, thank you both for your vote of confidence." he said in what he hoped was a modest tone. He continued. "I was actually wondering, Potter, if you were still down for that Seeker's match?"

"Oh, of course!" nodded the boy vigorously. "I'd nearly forgotten about it with all the excitement over the tournament."

"Yeah me too." Cedric lied. "So, does this time next Thursday work for you?"

"That would be great! I'll see you then."

"C- can't wait." Surely Cedric could not be blamed for stuttering in the face of such a dazzling smile. "I'll see er- see you then."

With that he did an awkward about-face and power-walked out the room, hoping he didn't make too much of a fool of himself. A crowd of sycophants followed behind him.

"Cedric!" called someone to his left, just as he reached the doorway to the Entrance Hall. He looked over and found Cho Chang making her way towards him. Her usual clique hung back, but they watched him, whispering cospirationally to one another behind their hands.

He blinked down at Chang who was looking expectantly up at him. He was a bit startled by her audacity, truthfully. Not once had the chit ever even deigned to speak to him and now they're suddenly on a first name basis?

He thought not.

"Chang." He replied back, politely. He took pleasure in watching her face fall at the use of her surname. Still, she continued to stare at him, clearly waiting for him to say something. He coughed. "Er, what's up?"

She swept her bangs behind her ear and fluttered her spidery eyelashes at him. "I just wanted to say that I'm rooting for you. If anyone deserves to be champion it's you."

"Ah." he replied only slightly dispassionately. "Thanks. Are you not entering then?" He's not sure why he asked. He didn't really care. There was no way she'd be picked. Sure, Chang had some of the top grades in their year, but that was almost entirely due to her theoretical knowledge. She always tended to struggle when it came to real life application. The folly of most Ravenclaws, really.

"I wish." she replied wistfully. "Alas, I'm just a couple months too young."

"That's too bad." he lied. "You would've been a tough contender." A lot of lying today.

She giggled and like an unsettling, gossipy chorus, her followers tittered as well.

"So..." Something about her coy tone immediately put Cedric on edge. He almost wanted to brace for some sort of impact.

"Yes?"

"I overheard you and Harry-" If it were not so improper, Cedric likely would've backhanded the girl for speaking Harry's name in such a lewd voice. "Talking about a Seeker's match."

"Did you?" he questioned pleasantly.

Again she stared expectantly up at him. When nothing was forthcoming her smile faltered a bit and she continued, twirling a lock of her greasy, ugly hair around an over-long pointer finger. "Would you mind terribly if I joined? I was devastated when Dumbledore announced that Quidditch was cancelled."

'I would. Terribly.' He thought, though of course did not voice it. "Ah, unfortunately the purpose of that match was to settle the score from that horrible Quidditch accident with the dementors last year. It's really only for Harry and me. I'm sorry."

He was not sorry. And he took great pleasure in watching the hideous little crooked grin slide off her pasty, sallow face.

"Oh." she intoned sadly, making Cedric fight down a chuckle that had bubbled up his throat. "Perhaps another time, then."

"Perhaps." Cedric agreed politely.

She smiled at him again before turning around and returning to her pack.

-0v0-

"You're more excited for this than I expected you to be." commented Cedric, sending a glance in Jona's direction. "I thought you didn't like competitions like this."

They were situated towards the front of the crowd of students that had gathered to await the other schools' arrival. Jona had been especially enthusiastic and had chattered the whole morning away, wondering what the foreign students would be like and hoping he'd get a chance to show off his French skills.

Jona sent him a rather snooty look. "The Triwizard Tournament is more than just bloodsports you know." He exclaimed in a tone that vividly reminded Cedric of Percy Weasley's many lengthy lectures about propriety and respect for authority. "It's also about celebrating other cultures! We get to spend almost an entire school year with students from totally different countries. The only thing more immersive would be to go to the country itself. You should be grateful to be granted an opportunity like this."

"I am grateful." Cedric snapped back.

"You're grateful for the publicity it could potentially grant you." Jona sighed, side-eyeing him. "Not for the chance to meet new, different people."
"Sorry I asked." Cedric grumbled.

Before Jona could continue to lecture him Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers -"Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

"Where?" said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions.

"There!" yelled Cadawaller, pointing over the forest.

Something large, much larger than a broomstick - or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks - was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time.

"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the first years, losing her head completely.

"Don't be stupid... it's a flying house!" said another younger year.

Their guess was closer as the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powderblue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant.

Cedric hoped his disdain wasn't visible on his face. It was unnecessarily gaudy. He supposed that the whole purpose of the Triwizard Tournament was for each school to show off, but he couldn't help but feel put off by the obnoxious display.

Of course, Jona was absolutely taken. His hands fisted against his chest like some middle-aged woman clutching her pearls, sighing dreamily. "Do you think it's Beuxbatons or Durmstrang?"

"Obviously Beauxbatons." intoned Cedric with a roll of his eyes. "Can you imagine Durmstrang showing up in that poncy shack?"

He ignored the smack on the arm he received for his remark and watched as a boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back, respectfully. Then the largest woman Cedric had ever seen emerged from the carriage. A few people gasped at the sight of her.

She neared the crowd, seemingly making a beeline for Dumbledore. However Cedric paid little mind to her, instead watching the second carriage that landed closely after the first. About a dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, had emerged from the carriage and moved to stand behind their headmistress. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads. From what Cedric could see of them (they were standing in their headmistress' enormous shadow), they were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces.

"They look rather... fragile." commented Cedric, contempt coloring his voice. A Slytherin a few feet away snickered and even Jona seemed to begrudgingly agree with his assessment, based on his slightly disappointed expression. However, he still had a snappy reply.

"Their physical 'fragility' has nothing to do with their magical prowess, Ced'."

Cedric could certainly agree with that as he scanned each student's face through narrow eyes. Many of them seemed ill-fitted for a competition centered around bloodsports, but he spotted a few who had a certain steely determination in their eyes that would not bode well for anyone opposing them.

The guests were eventually ushered off to settle in and they were left waiting yet again for the Durmstrang delegation.

They did not have to wait long as after a few moments Lee Jordan yelled "The lake!" pointing at the water where a muffled sort of sucking noise was emanating from it.

Slowly, a long wooden object rose from it's depths and Cedric was hit with the realization that it was in fact the mast to a ship gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.

Cedric found this display to be equally obnoxious to the Beauxbatons'. While the other school's entrance was unnecessarily grandiose, Durmstrang's was unnecessarily... spooky, he supposed. He understood that they were known for their ties to the Dark Arts, but that really didn't mean that they had to show up in a rotted, old pirate ship.

As the students began to disembark, Cedric noted that these people at least didn't look as though a strong gust of wind would carry them away. However what they had in brawn, they seemingly lost in brains, this had to be the dimmest group of people Cedric had ever seen.

Cedric was a bit surprised to see that the last person to disembark aside from the headmaster was Viktor Krum. The students of Hogwarts, of course, immediately broke out into a chorus of excited whispers at the sight of him.

"Do you think he'll actually enter?" questioned Jona as they made their way back up the steps, headed towards the Great Hall. "Surely, it would be ill-advised to put Bulgaria's first string Seeker in such a dangerous competition."

Cedric didn't respond until they'd settled into their seats at the dinner table. He noted that a few other people were watching him, seemingly interested in what he had to say on the subject.

"He must be. I can't imagine they would have brought him otherwise. They must be very confident of him as well. It would be rather embarrassing if their star-pupil wasn't selected for their tournament."

"Well, he's not necessarily their star-pupil is he?" pointed out Delaney, one of Hufflepuff's beaters. "He's just their most famous one."

"I'm not sure it makes a difference in this instance." Cedric responded with a shake of his head as he thought over the literature he'd read about the previous tournaments. "Triwizard contestants have almost always gone on to be... notorious individuals- assuming they survived anyway. Theseus Scamander for example won the tournament in 1906 and we all know he went onto be a war hero. Getricia Griffiths won in 1189 and eventually started the Holyhead Harpies about a decade later. Jean-Phillippe Bonacord, a Beauxbaton student, didn't even win the tournament of 1541, but still went on to become Supreme Mugwump decades later. It's because of this that I think that the Goblet of Fire is attracted less to magical ability and more to... potential, I suppose. Of any kind." He paused, thoughtfully. "Though then again, they did say that the parameters have changed a bit. Perhaps this time around it will focus more on magical prowess or knowledge."

He seemed to receive a few awed looks at his speech. However, before anyone could respond, Dumbldore stood from his seat in order to say a few words of welcome to their guests.

The feast after that was somewhat odd compared to Hogwarts' usual celebratory feasts. This was not only due to the larger crowd and strange, foreign dishes, but there were also some very interesting people among their guests.

"Say, do you think she's part-Veela?" commented Cesaria dreamily as she stared at one of the Beauxbatons sitting at the Ravenclaw table.

Cedric glanced at the woman in question and frowned, uncertain. She was quite pretty, but he didn't feel the undeniable draw he'd felt (admittedly, faintly) to the Veela at the World Cup.

"Must be." replied Cadawaller, not noticing the mouthful of water he'd just dribbled down his shirt. "I've never seen a girl so pretty."

Cedric wondered why it was that he was not as affected by her allure as other people. He knew that individuals who were not attracted to women were less affected by Veela's abilities, but Cedric had been attracted to a few women before.

He looked over to the Gryffindor table and was momentarily pleased to see that Harry did not seem to be paying the girl any mind. However, his spirits fell when he realized that the boy was staring at Chang instead.

Krum also seemed to be gathering his fair share of admirers, but as Cedric watched him he found that there was something rather... shy about the teen. He did not seem to take pleasure in all of the girls fawning over him, nor the people who were brave enough to beg for an autograph.

Something about the image pissed him off. Here this man was guilelessly attracting so much attention and yet he didn't even have the decency to properly respond to it. Cedric was certain that if it wasn't for Krum's Quidditch prowess, he'd be a nobody. After all, he wasn't exactly good looking, with his oversized nose and bushy unibrow. Nor did he seem all that bright. Krum ought to be grateful for every morsel of attention he received.

Cedric hoped that Krum was selected for the tournament, just so that he could beat the shit out of him.

He let out an "Oof." when he felt an elbow dig sharply into his side.

"Stop glaring." admonished Jona. "You're creeping out the younger years."

"I'm not glaring." Cedric defended. "I'm... analyzing."

Jona rolled his eyes, but still asked, "Well? Have you managed to figure out who your competitors are going to be?"

"I haven't been selected yet, you know." Cedric hoped he sounded sufficiently modest. "But, I have a few hunches yeah."

Surprisingly, Jona did not ask him to point them out and instead just said, "Think you can take 'em?"

Cedric glanced between the Veela-girl and Krum, frowning thoughtfully. "Yeah, I think so."

A/N: I want to clarify that any opinion that Cedric expresses is the musings of a crazy person and are not at all accurate depictions of these characters. Cedric is pretty much the dictionary definition of an unreliable narrator. I have nothing against any of the characters he hates.