EDITED
January 5, 2014
If you find any grammatical/spelling errors, please politely let me know. I am not a professional, nor do I claim to be an experienced author. I do make mistakes that I am trying to clean up.
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[Chapter Six: The Four Champions]
I gulped hard and stared at Dumbledore before looking to Harry, my heart dropping.
Harry? My Harry, was about to compete in a life threatening tournament?!
Disappointment flowed through me as Harry's head snapped up, almost unbelieving.
There was no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry bees, was starting to fill the Hall; some students were standing up to get a better look at Harry as he sat, frozen, in his seat.
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.
Harry turned to Ron, Hermione, and I; beyond them, he saw the long Gryffindor table all watching him, open mouthed.
"I didn't put my name in," Harry said blankly. "You know I didn't."
The three of us stared just as blankly back.
I wanted to believe Harry. I desperately wanted to think that this was all a misunderstanding.
At the top table, Professor Dumbledore had straightened up, nodding to Professor McGonagall.
"Harry Potter!" he called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"
"Go on," Hermione whispered, giving Harry a slight push.
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. He was right in front of Dumbledore, probably feeling the stares of all the teachers upon him.
"Well... through the door, Harry," said Dumbledore. He wasn't smiling.
We continued spectating as Harry walked-- or stumbled-- off to the back room with all the other champions.
I shook my head and stared down at the table.
"Alright! You are dismissed." Dumbledore said in a rushed voice, as he and the other teachers rushed to the back room.
Most everyone was standing up, dispersing, all talking angrily about Harry's sudden little scandal.
"Ash? Are you okay?" Hermione asked in worried tone, noticing my non-moving state.
I slowly looked up to Hermione, with visible nasty mix of sadness, betrayal, disappointment, and hurt, all leering in my eyes.
"He actually did it Hermione. And didn't tell us..." I was on the verge of tears.
It seemed like such a stupid thing to cry over. But I always felt a connection to Harry, and to have him do something so daring and dangerous without saying anything, made me feel absolutely pathetic. Like he didn't trust me.
"Acacia... He said he didn't do it." She attempted to make me feel better.
"What other explanation is there?!" I snapped, "Don't you think I would've ran every other possibility through my mind before coming to a conclusion? There is no other way..."
Hermione looked like she was about to make up an excuse, but quickly shut her mouth. Even she knew that it would've been nearly impossible for his name to magically end up in the goblet.
"I'm so bloody irritated..." Ron mumbled, "Wish I could've done it."
"Ron; You're not nearly as advanced as they were expecting!" Hermione growled.
Ron shrugged and muttered something vulgar.
"I'm sorry Ash..." She apologized, "Let's just go back to the common room to wait on Harry. I'm sure he'll explain."
I nodded and stood up to walk with her and Ron back to the Gryffindor tower.
When we got back, all of the Gryffindor's sat around the common room, talking about none other than Harry.
I sat down next to Seamus Finnagin, who seemed to notice how off put I was.
"Are you alright?" He asked, leaning forward to look at my face.
I nodded, "Peachy."
Time ticked by slowly before we heard 'Balderdash'.
Harry was wrenched inside the common room by about a dozen pairs of hands, and was facing the whole of Gryffindor House, all of whom were screaming, applauding, and whistling. All except me.
"You should've told us you'd entered!" bellowed Fred; he looked half annoyed, half deeply impressed.
"How did you do it without getting a beard? Brilliant!" roared George.
"I didn't," Harry said. "I don't know how--"
But Angelina had now swooped down upon him; "Oh if it couldn't be me, at least it's a Gryffindor--"
"You'll be able to pay back Diggory for that last Quidditch match, Harry!" shrieked Katie Bell.
Great. Are all of my friends on the Quidditch team?
"We've got food, Harry, come and have some--"
"I'm not hungry, I had enough at the feast--"
Lee Jordan had unearthed a Gryffindor banner from somewhere, and he insisted on draping it around Harry like a cloak. Harry couldn't seem to get away; whenever he tried to sidle over to the staircase up to the dormitories, the crowd around him closed ranks, forcing another butterbeer on him, stuffing crisps and peanuts into his hands. Everyone wanted to know how he had done it, how he had tricked Dumbledore's Age Line and managed to get his name into the goblet. I won't lie; I wanted to know too.
"I didn't," he said, over and over again, "I don't know how it happened."
But for all the notice anyone took, he might just as well not have answered at all.
"I'm tired!" he bellowed finally, after nearly half an hour. "No, seriously, George-- I'm going to bed--"
He turned around, as if scanning for someone, and stopped when his eyes landed on mine.
Quickly I stood up, my eyes still boring into his. The crowd of Gryffindor's looked in between us unsurely.
"Ash! You have to beli--" Harry stopped mid-sentence as I shook my head and walked off towards the girls dormitory.
I plopped down on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. Lavender Brown came in and sat down next to me.
"Acacia, why wouldn't you talk to Harry? It's his big day." Lavender said, staring down at me.
I sat up slightly on my elbows and peered up at her.
"Because I'm dissapointed with him. He knew how I felt about someone disrespecting Dumbledore, yet he did it anyway." I said, feeling the odd need to punch something.
Lavender shrugged, "Hey, at least it's a Gryffindor... Change of subject! You have a thing for Cedric Diggory?"
My eyes shot open and I looked at her like she was insane, "Who- W- What? I don't even know anything about him other than the fact he's a Triwizard Champion." I stuttered.
She smirked, "Just wondering. You were practically ogling at him from the second your eyes landed on him."
"Youre such a little gossip, Lavender," I blushed and then buried my face in the pillow muttering, "I'm going to sleep."
I felt as her pressure left my bed and she went to her own.