Annabeth Chase the Triwizard Champion

Chapter Fourteen

    Sitting in one of those four was none other than Ludo Bagman, and sitting in another chair was a woman in magenta robes who kept bobbing her short blond hair. Viktor Krum stood sulking in a corner, and Fleur Delacour was standing to the side, smiling and tossing her hair around proudly.

    "Ah, here they are! The Hogwarts champions! In you come, Harry, in you come, you too, Miss Chase... nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment—"

    "Wand weighing?" Harry interrupted nervously.

    "We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead. The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a little photoshoot. This is Rita Skeeter," Bagman said, gesturing at the woman next to him. "She's doing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet—"

    "Maybe not that small, Ludo," Rita Skeeter said, staring at Harry. "I wonder if I could have a little word with Harry before we start? The youngest champion, you know... excluding Miss Chase here, of course, who would certainly be... interesting. It would add a bit of color, you see, to speak with Harry."

    "Of course! That is, if Harry has no objections?"

    "Er—"

    "Lovely!" Rite Skeeter exclaimed. Without further ado, she grabbed Harry by the arm like a predator locking on to its prey and steered him out of the room, closing the door behind her.

    "Well, then!" Bagman said, clapping his hands together. "Let's have everyone take a seat while we wait, shall we?"

    At Bagman's instruction, Annabeth, Fleur, and Viktor each sat in one of the velvet draped chairs, Annabeth on the edge with Viktor next to her and Fleur next to him.

    "Who is this wand expert?" Viktor asked, leaning his elbows on his knees.

    "Ah, I can't spoil the surprise now, can i? You'll have to wait and see!"

    Annabeth wasn't sure about Bagman. Besides for his everlasting cheery demeanor, something about him didn't sit right with her. Maybe it was his obvious favoritism for Harry, which could be explained away by Harry's fame, but Annabeth didn't think that was it.

    It was his blatant delight at Harry's name coming out of the Goblet of Fire, his completely unsurprised manner when it had happened. Could it have been Bagman who had entered Harry's name? But why? What reason would he have? As far as Annabeth could tell, Bagman had no bad feelings towards Harry, so what would be the point of trying to get him killed?

    It couldn't be Bagman. It made no sense.

    Unless he had a different reason for entering Harry.

    The door opened again, and Dumbledore entered the room, followed by Harry and Rita Skeeter. Harry scrambled into the last empty seat, and Rita Skeeter set up a piece of parchment on her knee. She set a quill on the center, where it stood in its point without support.

    "May I introduce Mr. Ollivander?" Dumbledore said, moving to sit with the other judges. "He will be checking your wands to ensure they are in good condition before the tournament."

    A man stepped forward from where he had been standing near the window, so out of the way of the rest of the room that Annabeth hadn't noticed him before.

    "Mademoiselle Delacour," he said, stepping in the middle of the room, "could we have you first, please?"

    Fleur stood up and walked over to the center of the room, where she handed her wand to Ollivander.