STUDENTS SAT AROUND IN THE HALL, watching and waiting as the ones who dared entered their names into the goblet of fire. you could describe them as brave, but paris much preferred to describe them as foolish. "putting their lives at risk for some so-called 'eternal glory?' please... it's nonsense.
entertaining— but nonsense."
a group of hufflepuff boys stumbled in, all of their hair soaked from the rain that was hammering down outside.
"go on cedric, put it in!" they urged, pushing forward the diggory boy.
he was grinning from ear to ear as he dropped his slip into the goblet, everyone applauding him.
"i see why everyone calls him pretty-boy cedric. he is quite handsome, even i must admit." paris frowned, as she watched him receive pats on the back and high-fives from his friends.
"do you reckon he's the type of boy hermione might like? hufflepuff, golden hair—" she was basically describing the opposite of herself.
"granger?" eudora frowned aswell, looking towards her friend. "why her?"
"don't know." the brunette shrugged. "just wondering—"
"personally, i've always gotten a bi-vibe from her."
"really?"
"draco says otherwise, and that 'she's just a filthy mudbl—"
"he's just jealous she gets to spend time with harry and he doesn't. and don't say that word." paris rolled her eyes. "i wouldn't take much notice to what your brother says, 'dora."
"yes! we've done it, lads! cooked it up just this morning!" fred and george ran into the entrance hall, both of them each clutching a small vial filled with liquid.
"it's not going to work." hermione mocked smugly from her place on the benches.
"oh, yeah? and why's that granger?" george asked.
"you see this?" she pointed at the blue ring surrounding the goblet of fire. "this is an age line. dumbledore drew it himself."
"so?" fred chuckled.
hermione rolled her eyes. "so, a genius like dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by a dodge as pathetically dim-witted as an ageing potion!"
paris grinned. she found the muggle-born's confidence and assertiveness undeniably attractive. well, quite deniably, actually, as she would never say it out loud.
"ah, but that's why it's so brilliant!"
"because it's so pathetically dim-witted!"
the twins stood up, shaking the vials before tipping the potion into eachother's mouths. "bottoms up!"
they jumped into the ring, immediately celebrating their success, and earning whoops and cheers from their peers.
"ready?" fred and george both dropped their slips of parchment into the goblet, which began to rumble furiously.
"yes!" they high-fixed eachother, but the smiles were soon wiped off their faces when they were catapulted backwards, towards the back of the entrance hall, like they had been thrown by an olympic shot-putter. groaning as wild, grey hair began to grow from their scalps and chin, the two boys leapt onto eachother in annoyance. "you said—"
they began to wrestle eachother on the ground, causing the on-looking crowd to laugh and chant, encouraging the scuffle. "fight, fight, fight!"
paris watched hermione with a chuckle as she scoffed, completely unbothered and uninterested— just as she was— and opening up her book to resume her reading.
suddenly, the room went quiet, and the brunette looked away from the wrestling weasley's and back to hermione, and she was pleasantly surprised to see her staring back at her aswell. she was about to wave when she realised the curly-haired girl wasn't the only person looking in her direction, and it was in fact, most of the crowd. she turned around to check if there was anyone behind her, and sure enough, there was viktor krum, marching into the hall, and towards the goblet of fire.
paris rolled her eyes as he entered his name, turning to look at hermione intensely as he did so. "for heaven's sake..." she huffed, annoyed with the constant hullabaloo over krum.
and although it was another thing that she would never admit out loud, or try not to in her head— paris lovelace had taken a small penchant towards hermione granger since the pair had been recently been spending more time together. and it bothered her.
EVERYONE SAT IN THE GREAT HALL, the bell chiming above and fire crackling from the hanging baskets. "who do you think will get picked?" eudora asked.
"no idea, really. it could be any one of the people that entered." paris shrugged.
"draco?" eudora looked to her brother, who was completely zoned out, and staring at someone in the distance.
"draco!" paris flicked the back of his head.
"hm?" the blonde quickly whipped his head around to his friends, rubbing the back of his neck. blaise and pansy watched him with a concerned look.
"what're you staring at?" paris frowned, averting her eyes so she could look in the direction the malfoy boy previously was, snickering when her eyes landed on the golden trio. "aww..." she teased. "was draco admiring his little boyfriend, harold potter?"
"quiet." he snapped, but the four slytherins were already laughing at him.
"what do you think they're laughing at?" hermione asked, looking toward the slytherin table.
"who cares?" ron scoffed. "probably just terrorised some first years."
harry didn't say anything— preoccupied by goggling at cho chang.
"quiet. please! everybody sit down!" dumbledore boomed. "it's time now for the moment you've all been waiting for— the champion selection!" he waved his hands at the fire baskets, extinguishing the orange flames so that the lighting was dim.
the goblet of fire now shone more brightly than anything in the hall, the sparkling bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. everyone watched, waiting for the first name to be chosen.
suddenly, the flames turned red, and a charred piece of parchment fluttered into the air, dumbledore swiftly catching it. "the durmstrang champion is..." he read. "viktor krum!"
everyone clapped as viktor rose from his seat proudly, shaking hands with dumbledore and retreating into the next chamber.
the cheering soon died down, and everyone's focus returned back to the goblet, which ejected another slip. "the champion for beauxbatons is... fleur delacour!"
a blonde girl stood up, smiling, before shaking hands with dumbledore as the crowd roared, and disappearing into the next chamber— just as viktor did.
"the hogwarts champion," the headmaster resumed. "is... cedric diggory!"
cedric grinned broadly with his charming smile, getting up from the hufflepuff table and following in the footsteps of the two already chosen.
"excellent! we now have our three champions!" dumbledore announced happily. "but in the end, only one will go down in history. only one will hoist this chalice of champions, this vessel of victory— the triwizard cup!" the grand trophy was revealed from under a sheet, everyone cheering in amazement as it shone.
but there was an eerie silence when the goblet turned red again, everybody stopping and staring. sparks flew out of it, and a long flame shot into the air— and borne upon it, was another piece of burnt parchment.
"i don't think this is supposed to happen..." paris murmured.
"shush." pansy hushed her, and paris stepped on her foot in retaliation.
dumbledore seized the parchment, his eyes widening as he read its contents. "harry potter?" he exclaimed in confusion. the hogwarts students all gasped, sending stares his way. "harry potter!" the headmaster repeated angrily.
hermione pushed him up as the boy sat still, almost frozen. "get up, harry— for goodness sake," she hissed, the silence making it possible to hear her from across the hall.
harry slowly walked towards dumbledore nervously, gulping as every eye in the room was on him.
"what the hell...?" draco and eudora both whispered at the same time.
"he's a cheat!" someone shouted in outrage. "he's not even seventeen yet!"
"what a sneaky tosser! looks like even hermione and ron didn't know he put his name in the goblet." paris gasped.
"wonder how he pulled it off." blaise hummed.
"surely they won't allow him to take part?" eudora frowned incredulously.
"well, the rules do say you can't back out after chosen."
"who cares? i reckon he won't even last one event." draco scoffed, rolling his eyes at his friends.
paris shook her head. "i reckon he'll last at least the first one. maybe even two."
"alright, you're on." the malfoy boy held out his hand for a bet. "fifty galleons."
"better empty out your pockets, dray."