The Thorns of Hogwarts | Cedric Diggory [2]

Chapter Fourteen: Contain It

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."