There seemed to be only one subject that people were interested to talk about, and that was the Triwizard Tournament and their guess as to who was going to be chosen.
In the meantime, Hermione had started her SPEW campaign and I took a badge, seeing as no one else seemed to pay the slightest attention to her.
Soon, to everyone's excitement, the time for the champions' selection had finally arrived and all three schools gathered in the Great Hall.
"Any second now," Lee whispered as we watched the flames inside the goblet turn red. Next moment, a piece of parchment shot into the air.
Dumbledore caught it and gave it a look before saying, "The champion for Durmstrang is Viktor Krum!" And a storm of applause filled the room.
But the clapping and chattering died when another piece of paper was shot up from the flames. "The champion for Beauxbatons is," said Dumbledore, "Fleur Delacour!"
When the girl disappeared into the back chamber, the Goblet of Fire turned red once more and Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.
"The Hogwarts champion is," he called, "Cedric Diggory!" The uproar from the Hufflepuff table was unbelievable, as they all stood on their feet, cheering him on.
Maybe I was just being paranoid, but for a second I could swear that as Cedirc was walking his way through the chamber, he caught my eye, as if hesitate for a moment, but then kept smiling and went on.
"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily. "Now that we have our three champions, I am sure that I can count upon you all to show every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real –"
But he was bound to stop as flames of red started to reappear from the goblet. To everyone's shock, a fourth piece of parchment was shot into the air.
Dumbledore caught it and read it a few times, as if it were incomprehensible. But at last, he read out loud, "Harry Potter!"
As everyone started to glance at each other in confusion, I gasped dramatically, trying to blend in with the shock. I really wanted to shout 'that is brand new information!', remembering the iconic scene from Friends but thankfully managed to stop myself.
Harry finally stood up when he was called again, hesitantly walking towards the chamber, the rest of the teachers following him behind,
And here we go, I thought with a sigh.
When everyone started to leave, Lee, Fred and George came towards me. "We're gonna go get some food from the kitchen, you coming?" Said Lee and I nodded, exiting the Great Hall along with them.
"We need to throw a party!" said Fred. "Hufflepuffs had it coming for beating us in Quidditch last year."
"Yeah, they're gonna get their asses kicked real nice," said George with a grin.
"But how did Harry manage to put his name in without getting a beard?" said Fred, half annoyed, half impressed.
I remained quiet for the entire time as they gave theories as to how he had done it, until we finally reached the kitchen.
Lee tickled the portrait of the pear and the door opened and so we walked inside.
"Look! It's the dancing lady!" One of the house-elves pointed at me, and so they all gathered around.
"Dancing lady?" Fred raised a questioning brow at me, grinning.
"You don't wanna know." I pursed my lips together and shook my head, trying to stop myself from smiling.
"Hey, guys. Do you mind giving us some snacks? We're throwing a party," Lee said to the house-elves.
"Yes, sir. What do you want, sir?" One of them asked gladly.
"Some butterbear and pumpkin pasties would be good for starters." Fred suggested.
"Yes, King Weasley!" They nodded and off they went.
I gave Fred a look. "King weasley?"
"You don't wanna know." He winked down at me.
Getting the snacks back up to the Gryffindor tower was the real trick, specially when the twins started to try and knock each other down, but we finally managed to get there without losing a limb.
The party had already started before Harry had even come, but when he did, there was a roar of applause. Yet it went unnoticed by everyone that he was trying to do anything in his power to get away from it all.
He finally managed to make his way towards the couch and away from the crowd, taking the seat next to me.
"I know you didn't put your name in the goblet, Harry." I said out of the blue, staring into the fire.
"Thanks." Taken aback, Harry stared at me for a few seconds before saying earnestly, "Seems like you're the only who thinks so."
"Just... be careful," was all I could allow myself to say, and he nodded politely before fighting his way towards his dorm, saying that he was tired.
"Don't be such a party-pooper, Hooper!" said George, waltzing his way over where I sat.
"Hey, that rhymed!" Fred exclaimed, joining us.
As much as I wanted to join the party like my usual self, I was too distressed to do so. But Fred wasn't having that.
He suddenly took a hold on my hands and pushed me up from the couch, dancing around the common room without letting go of me for one second.
"Lee! Let's compete!" said George, and so the two of them mimicked us, jumping around to the music with their hands locked together, making us all laugh.
"C'mon, have some butterbeer!" Lee shouted over the music, handing me a glass.
"I've never had a taste of this." I took a sip, and it was by far the most delicious drink I'd ever tried.
Muggles really didn't know how to do it right, no matter how hard they tried to make up recipes and post them online.
This was something else.
"So? How is it?" Lee asked eagerly.
"I love it!" I shrieked, putting the glass down.
The music got louder to my ears the more we span around, dancing until out feet dropped, laughing all through the night.
But that night when I returned to our dorm, I found another note on my bed that managed to mess up my thoughts again.
Dear Miss Hooper,
I believe you already know that one must not meddle with time. At least not by letting people know about their own fate. There are other ways to prevent things from happening, but in order to do so, certain sacrifices must take place.
A.D