Jokester - BEING REWRITTEN

9. The Four Champions

a/n: Been a while...oops...

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The next morning came all too soon.

For the rest of the night, I laid on the couch in front of the fireplace, fighting for sleep. Even after I had gone back to my dormitory and climbed back into my bed, sleep refused to come. I didn't feel tired, but I could feel that I still needed the sleep.

It wouldn't have mattered if I had actually managed to fall asleep in class that day anyway. No one could focus on the lessons during the day — not when the names were to be chosen by the Goblet of Fire that evening. Everyone was abuzz about the excitement tonight held. Those that had put their names in had mixed reactions. Some felt regret having put their name in, wishing they hadn't done so. Others seemed hopeful and almost too giddy at the thought of competing. The anticipation made the day seem to drag, but maybe that was just my lack of sleep finally starting to kick in.

By the time dinner had rolled around, I still felt no desire to eat. My dream from the night before still had my mind reeling, but when I was asked what was the matter, I only blamed it on my nerves. Somehow, that excuse seemed to work. But it seems that I only got lucky. Of course, there was chatter at the Gryffindor table that took the weight off of me. Speculation about who the three chosen would be. Fred hoped Angelina would be one of them, but I couldn't have disagreed more.

Dessert came and went, and suddenly, the Great Hall went quiet as Dumbledore stood at the front of the room, ready to speak. He turned to look at the Goblet for a moment, then said, "I imagine that the Goblet will be ready to make its decision any minute. Now, when the champions are named, I ask that they please come to the front, walk across the Great Hall, then follow the way into the next chamber. Once there, the three will receive their next instructions."

"Any second now," Lee whispered excitedly as Leilah smiled at him and squeezed his hand.

Suddenly, the flames turned a bright red, almost pinkish color. Out of the flame came a small piece of parchment, bits of flame burning off the ends. It flew away, Dumbledore catching it in his hand.

"The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum!" he announced.

The room let out a roar of applause, coming from a lot of Hogwarts students as well as some Beauxbatons and all of the Durmstrang students. Viktor stood from his seat, walking to the front of the Great Hall then heading for the trophy room. Moments later, another paper came flying out of the pink flames and landing into Dumbledore's palm.

"The Beauxbatons champion is Fleur Delacour!" he announced again.

As Fleur stood from her seat, most of her classmates looked less than pleased to know that she had been chosen. I exchanged some confused looks with Leilah and George, joining in with the clapping coming from the other tables; mostly the boys could be heard cheering for the blonde beauty.

"Wonder what's up with them," Leilah muttered.

"Can't be jealous, can they?" I muttered back. "'Yay for you! You might die!'"

Leilah chuckled, as well as Lee.

The flames turned bright red again and the third piece of paper came fluttering out, landing into Dumbledore's outstretched hand. "And the Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!" he announced.

Most of the tables started to cheer, but it was nothing compared to the rest of the Hufflepuffs. Leilah and I cheered; meanwhile, the boys all stared longingly at the cup, frowning at the fact that none of them were chosen. Cedric rose, his lips outstretched in a large smile that spread to his cheeks. His fellow Hufflepuffs clapped him on the back, letting out whoops and hollers for him as he walked to the front. As he walked past my spot at the Gryffindor table, he flashed me a smirk, and I let out a shout for him, so did Leilah. Cedric walked to the front, taking the paper from Dumbledore as he shook his hand. Cedric walked to the next room, and Dumbledore faced the rest of the Great Hall.