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Track Ten: Soldier, Poet, King, Oh Hellos
IN A MOMENT, all of the scattered chattering and poorly concealed giggles of excitement ceased to a halt. Snuffed out like a flame by the words uttered by Albus Dumbledore. Almost immediately, all of the heads in the great hall turned to meet the frightened look of Harry Potter. Behind his thick rimmed glasses, his eyes grew wide and his eyes twitched every which way. Circe looked towards Emrys who looked just as shocked as her. Up at the top table, Professor McGonagall had got to her feet and swept past Ludo Bagman and Professor Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Professor Dumbledore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning slightly.
Circe couldn't help but find that something sinister had entered the air the moment the word "Potter" left Dumbledore's lips. The faces at the head of the hall only confirmed Circe's thoughts. The thought of her family crept up in the back of her mind, it was like a thick black fog permanently looming over her. Not a day went by when she wasn't reminded of her traitorous blood.
That moment which seemed to be suspended in time was only broken by the booming voice of Albus Dumbledore
"Harry Potter!" he called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"
Circe watched as Harry got to his feet, trod on the hem of his robes, and stumbled slightly. He set off up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. Dumbledore guided Harry through the door just as he had done with Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor.
As soon as the doors closed behind them, the great hall became alive again. The previous hushed whispers turned into loud exclamations while rumors and gossip were already swirling through the air. The Hufflepuffs who were sat directly in front of the Gryffindoor table began shooting glares towards the students clad in red and gold. Once again, they had been overshadowed by a lion. This tournament was supposed to bring inter-house unity but it seemed to do the opposite. There was a fracture between the houses, even the Slytherins began congratulating the Hufflepuff table, in lew of their normal jeers and curses.
Theo Nott turned around and tapped Circe on the shoulder "Hope that Diggory boy of yours pulls his own during the tournament, we can't have another Gryffindor oaf steal the cup again." He smirked and shot her another look before turning back around to his friends. Nott was referencing the previous year when Gryffindor beat the Hufflepuffs at a spot for the Quidditch cup where they beat the Slytherins, which Emrys was still sour about. Circe sent him a nod and resumed her discussion with Ezra, not finding the interaction odd in the least.
Emrys shot her a quizzical look "Since when did you and Nott get onto speaking terms?"
Now it was Circe's turn to look confused, she hadn't talked to Nott much before except in passing, which was bound to happen when you sit behind each other for four years. "He was only congratulating us for Cedric, and we're obviously his friends, I'm sure the whole hall heard your yelling when he got called up."
