A New Snake

Chapter 8

         

Harry walked next to Lily, the both of them surrounded by Slytherins, to the Great Hall for dinner and to welcome the other two schools. Harry looked over to the Gryffindor table and was surprised to find that every Gryffindor except Weasley was there. Madam Pomfrey must have healed them up pretty quickly. It must have been easy. A Slytherin near him saw his gaze and said, "I heard that they had to send Weasley to St. Mungo's. The others were okay, but he got hit the hardest because he was the closest." Harry looked away from the Gryffindor table, though none of them seemed to look at him with any hostility. They all just seemed guilty. They wouldn't look at him. Especially the ones from the group the first day. He paid them no mind and took his usual seat at Slytherin.

It wasn't long before Dumbledore announced that the first school had arrived. A lot of the students ran to the doors to watch as the Beauxbatons carriage soared through the air, but Harry didn't feel like being shoved around, so he stayed where he was. The Beauxbatons students decided to sit at the Ravenclaw table with a few stragglers choosing to sit at other house tables. It wasn't long before someone spotted the Durmstrang ship rising from the lake and the tough-looking Bulgarians came in and sat, for the most part, at the Slytherin table. Viktor Krum was one in particular who chose to sit at the Ravenclaw table next to one Hermione Granger in particular. Harry smirked, but wasn't surprised. Hermione was pretty and smart. If she hadn't been one of his best friends, he might have liked her too.

When the Beauxbatons students came in, a handsome young man came and sat on Lily's other side. Harry didn't know why, but he felt his blood boil when he started talking to her. He stopped himself, shaking off the feeling and wondering what was wrong with him. Maybe he was sick? He turned his attention back to the Headmaster who was welcoming the foreign students and explaining the Tri-wizard Tournament to everyone. When he announced the age limit of 17, a majority of Hogwarts students, other than pretty much all of the Slytherins, shouted in indignation. This was mainly from the Gryffindor table, but there were several Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs who shared their sentiments. Some of the loudest of these shouts came from the Weasley twins, being only months from turning 17. Their sister seemed to have more sense and simply watched her brothers with half-amusement half-exasperation.

Dumbledore stayed silent, and eventually, the Hall was quiet once more. Filch uncovered a sheet from a pedestal that had been in the Hall all evening and everyone had been wondering about. Underneath the sheet sat a large stone goblet spitting bright blue flames. "This," Dumbledore gestured to the goblet, "is the Goblet of Fire. Put your name and the name of your school on a piece of parchment and toss it in. You will be considered for one of the three Tri-wizard Champions. But keep in mind, there will be an age ward around the goblet which will not allow anyone below seventeen to enter their names in the goblet. Anyone who gets an older student to put their name in for them, or uses any other method to add their name to the roster will be severely punished." He looked pointedly at the Weasley twins, clearly knowing they would try. "This may be a game, but it is very serious and very dangerous. Anyone not taking the tournament seriously will either not be chosen, or will sincerely regret being chosen." No one dared speak as he covered everyone with a daring glare, not a twinkle of amusement in his eyes, "Now!" He began again; the twinkle was back, "With all the seriousness out of the way, it's time to eat. We have asked the house elves to prepare food from all three countries and cultures." He clapped his hands, saying, "Bon appetite!" and the food appeared on the tables.

Harry spent the evening talking with Lily and the other Slytherins and pointedly ignored the French student. Not that he noticed, the boy was too preoccupied with watching Lily. Harry would wonder that night why he thought of that with such scorn.

~ ~ ~ ~

Life at Hogwarts was strange with more students aimlessly roaming the halls. The foreign students were taught in their schools' living arrangements—the Beauxbatons' carriages, and Durmstrang's ship. They still wandered the halls of Hogwarts and ate meals in the Great Hall. Harry was almost ashamed when he felt a sense of relief at the Beauxbatons boy—whose name he has since learned is Edgar—when he introduced his boyfriend to the table. As oblivious as ever, Harry still hadn't a clue why he felt this way, but payed it no mind. So the days passed like that. Ron was out of the St. Mungo's—those healers could do wonders—but hadn't so much as made eye contact with Harry. His face was slightly scarred from burns, but not dramatically, just a little bit.

When he came into the Great Hall for breakfast the day he was back, Lily scoffed in indignation, "How could they let him back here? He could have killed everyone in that room. He almost killed himself. All to get at you. Why in bloody hell would they let him back here?" Harry only shrugged and asked her to let it go. If Weasley wasn't going to bother him, he wouldn't bother Weasley.

At last, the day of the choosing came. It was evening after dinner and dessert and the tables were cleared, but Dumbledore had asked them to stay behind for a while. The Goblet had stayed in the middle of the Great Hall since the schools had come. Harry was suddenly reminded of when Fred and George had tried to by-pass the age wards. The image of the two with long, grey beards still made Harry laugh.

The Hall was silent in anticipation as Dumbledore stood from his seat and moved to stand beside the Goblet. He began a speech and had only been talking a few moments when the blue flames rose high and spit out a small slip of parchment. Dumbledore stopped talking, grabbing the parchment from the air and announcing the champion, "Our Champion from Durmstrang is... Viktor Krum!" Hogwarts cheered and Krum's friends and schoolmates clapped him cheerfully on the back. He walked confidently to Dumbledore who pointed him to the room the Champions would wait in until all three Champions had been chosen. Once he left, the Goblet spit out another piece. "Our next Champion, from Beauxbatons is... Fleur Delacour!" The young French men and women both clapped and cried, but all remarks were congratulatory. She followed Viktor into the designated room. There was only one remaining Champion. Breaths were bated as the Goblet spit one last piece of parchment. It seemed to take minutes to float within reaching-distance of Dumbledore's hand. Everyone was wondering. What house would their Champion be in? Who did the Goblet deem worthy to be the final Tri-Wizard Champion?

Finally, Dumbledore caught the piece. "The final Tri-Wizard Champion, Hogwarts very own: Cedric Diggory!" The Hufflepuff looked up in delighted surprise. Everyone cheered for their surprise of a Champion. Nearly everyone thought it would certainly be a Gryffindor. But if Cedric won, it would give a name for Hufflepuff house as more than just a bunch of happy-go-lucky ninnies. Cedric entered the same room as the other two and Dumbledore began his final statement; everyone was pretty much ready to go to bed. They were full of food and their excitement and adrenaline from the choosing had worn off after the final announcement.

A gasp rose amoung the students. The Goblet burst into tall, bright flames again and spit out a fourth piece of parchment. Harry felt dread rise from his stomach and choke his throat. Who else could that be for? There isn't supposed to be a fourth Champion in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He'd hoped that this year at least, he wouldn't have to put up with any drama or the like. But perhaps those chances were shot when he was re-sorted into Slytherin. He watched fearfully as the parchment floated down... down... down... down. Into Dumbledore's outstretched hand. A name Harry had been dreading fell from the Headmaster's lips in a whisper and he felt all the flood rush from his face, "... Harry... Potter?"

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