The next day, Becky and I woke to Trixy and Lissy vigorously shaking us awake. I took a glance at my alarm clock. It was earlier than I would normally wake up for breakfast on a Saturday morning, so I just groaned and turned over on my stomach.
"No, no, no! Come on — get up! Let's go watch students put their names into the fire!" Lissy said.
Another groan and I sat up. Trixy and Becky were standing, Becky already getting her robes out to change into.
"All right then, wait for us in the common room," I said grumpily.
Lissy and Trixy jumped around excitedly, and hurried out while we got dressed.
"So much excitement over a competition that could kill people," I grumbled softly, finishing up and standing with a sigh.
"Well, we should humor them," she said with a shrug.
I chuckled and we made our way down where Lissy and Trixy began to pull us along. In the entrance hall there were about thirty people sitting around the Goblet of Fire, many just examining it. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood there, and as we came in; Fred, George, and Lee hurried down the staircase in froggish glee.
Fred said something in a whisper to the golden trio, in which I heard Ron respond aloud, "What?"
"The Aging Potion, dung brains," Fred replied.
"One drop each," George said, rubbing his hands together jovially. "We only need to be a few months older."
"We're going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins," Lee said, grinning broadly.
"I'm not sure this is going to work, you know," Hermione said warningly. "I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of this."
Fred, George, and Lee ignored her.
"I agree with her this time," I whispered to Becky humorously, anxiously awaiting their fate for trying to trip the goblet.
Lissy and Trixy looked from us to them with interest.
"Ready?" Fred asked the other two, all quivering with excitement. "C'mon then – I'll go first –"
Fred pulled out a slip of parchment from his pocket, walked right up to the edge of the line and stood there, rocking on his toes. Then, with everyone's eyes on him, he took a great deep breath and stepped over it.
For a second it looked like it worked, George certainly thought so for he jumped right in after him with a yell of triumph... but in the next moment, there was a loud sizzling sound and both of them were hurled out of the golden circle. They landed ten feet away, and with a loud popping noise both of them sprouted identical long white beards.
The entrance hall rang with laughter – I almost think Becky laughed the hardest, because I swear it echoed – even Fred and George laughed as they stood and took a good look at each other.
"I did warn you," a deep, amused voice said. We all turned to see Professor Dumbledore walking out of the Great Hall, surveying the twins with twinkling eyes. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summer, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours."
The four of us giggled softly as Fred and George set off for the hospital wing accompanied by Lee, who was howling with laughter. No doubt glad he didn't hop in with them.
"What a pair of idiots," was whispered into my ear.
I spun around to find Marcus standing behind me. "Don't do that," I berated softly, whacking him gently on his chest. "Anyways, did you do it already?"
He rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, sorry about that. I was too excited to wait."
I shrugged wordlessly, "It's fine," meanwhile thinking to myself, it's not like you'll get in anyway. I doubt any Slytherins would be considered worthy enough for the tournament.
As we walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, I hastily decided that I would cut it short. I thought, if anything could go right this year I'd choose to be able to understand and handle my inner Sight. I need to see Professor Trelawney... no matter how much I don't really want to deal with her battiness. I scarfed down a piece of toast and drank a glass of orange juice.
"Where are you going?" Becky asked as I stood up.
"Going for a walk," I replied instantaneously.
"I'll go with you!" Lissy said, quickly standing up.
"Erm.. I'm sorry, Lissy," I said, inwardly panicking. I need to do this without anyone following, there is no way I'm explaining to my friends that I'm getting visions of someone I'm not supposed to know anything about. The only person —
Marcus stood next to me and wrapped an arm over my shoulder "— but it's just a walk for the two of us. We have some... personal things to talk about."
I raised an eyebrow questioningly at him, but all he did was grin. I guess he's my only option of doing this without Lissy or Becky being suspicious... but do I even tell him what I'm really doing?
Lissy nodded with a knowing smile on her face, "Oh! That's okay, Melody. See you later!"
Arm still wrapped around me, Marcus steered me out of the Great Hall as quickly as possible. For the most part, it was just us weaving through the crowd of people because there were still a lot of students watching others enter their names in the goblet. However, despite the constant rumble of sentences from others' conversations, the silence between me and Marcus felt thicker in comparison.
When he began walking outside, I pulled slightly to go the other way.
"I'm not going outside," I said.
"Then lead the way," he replied.
After around three thousands flights of stairs — over dramatization, I know — we were finally by Professor Trelawney's room. Marcus and I just stood and gasped for breath for a minute... well, I took a minute. Marcus took only a few deep breaths before standing tall enough that it felt like he loomed over me.
I didn't even run, why am I so exhausted by all these stairs?
"Before we go in," Marcus said, crossing his arms over his chest. It was obvious he was barely able to contain his fury. "What are you doing up here? A mission for your father?"
I leaned against the wall with a sigh, "You say it like I'm a common criminal."
"I'm serious, Melody. You promised!"
"Technically," I said with a few tsks, "the word 'promise' never came out of my mouth."'
"Melody!"
I sighed again before walking over to look him in the eyes, "You don't get to rush me or be angry with me. The reason our relationship began still bugs me. It's going to take some time — and no, the summer didn't count because you weren't around for it to get better."
Due to his face turning blood red, I knew his anger was building, "That's not my fault!"
"Which part? Why you sparked an interest in me or why you were gone all summer? I know the summer was a preconceived family trip, so that's not the problem. But —"
"I just wanted to prove I can help you!"
"You want to, or your parents want you to?"
He scraped his hands through his hair in frustration, "I thought we went over all this already. You have to trust me for this relationship to work, Melody!"
"I don't have to do anything," I snapped. "I agreed to this because you said you wanted to prove that you love me. There was no contract stating that I had to tell you anything about what I do for my dad, because I don't want to drag you into that."
Marcus put his hands on my arms, staring me right in the face. "I just want to help you."
"Eventually maybe... but don't rush me. There's nothing for us to do right now, because everything is being taken care of — and not by me."
His shoulders seemed to relax, "Can I know what's going on?"
"I might tell you," I said thoughtfully. "But I also might not."
He sighed, "Take the time to prove myself?"
I nodded.
"Can I ask what you're doing up here?"
I looked up at the ceiling in thought. This isn't exactly a trip for my dad, and I guess I'd like to talk to somebody about it. It'll get him to stop complaining that I don't trust him with anything... I can trust him with this, right?
"How about it?" he asked. "Can I know that much?"
I shrugged, "Okay," before I proceeded to tell him about the visions I had up to the end of the Quidditch World Cup. When I finished, I explained, "I'm here to talk to Professor Trelawney about it."
As if it was voice activated, the circular trapdoor on the ceiling opened instantly and the silver ladder descended to the ground at our feet. We glanced at each other before we climbed up and into the room – I still considered it the strangest room I had ever set foot in at Hogwarts. It had twenty circular tables in the claustrophobically small room. It had many teacups and its perfume smell sickened me. I wouldn't have survived going up there on a weekly basis.
Professor Trelawney walked up to us – a thin woman with large glasses that magnified her eyes and wore many things that made noise as she walked. "My dear, how wonderful to see you again," she said to me in her normal soft, misty voice. She turned to Marcus, "It's nice to meet you –"
"Professor, I need you to help me control my Inner Eye or give me some way to trigger it when I want to," I said to her, not wanting to waste any time.
She looked at me in surprise. "My dear... this is quite something. You can't handle your Inner Eye yet?"
I sighed in exasperation, "If I could, I wouldn't be here."
She looked rather confused. "You shouldn't force visions to come to –" her misty voice was gone, but I really didn't care.
"I wouldn't say force," I replied diplomatically, "so much as magically induce it when I so decide to..."
She looked like she was thinking quickly, and continued once again in her usual misty voice as she ran to a cabinet to search for something. "One way..." she pulled something out and came back over to us, "is for me to use this on you. I can open your senses further so that you have only to think of what you need to know, and it will materialize."
It was a pendulum, with red and white swirls like a lollipop. Just looking at it made me dizzy. "You're going to hypnotize me?" I asked dubiously.
She nodded seriously.
I thought of the guy standing next to me.. seeing me in such a vulnerable state where he could take advantage of Professor Trelawney's help and use my hypnotism for his personal purpose of gaining my trust. He eagerly grinned at me.... and I vigorously shook my head. "I don't trust it. Thank you for your help, Professor, but I suppose you're right. I shouldn't force the visions if they'll come naturally anyway."
Professor Trelawney nodded with a triumphant smile. It was Marcus who retaliated.
"Don't be ridiculous! We came all the way up here —"
I turned to leave, "— and I changed my mind. Let's go."
"But I thought —!"
I turned to leave, "It'll be okay. It wasn't that serious, so just forget about it."
Marcus followed me down the ladder... surprisingly not saying another word.
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The remainder of the day seemed to go by normally until the Halloween feast where the Goblet of Fire stood in front of Professor Dumbledore's chair. The feast passed by a lot slower than usual. Everyone around me was tense and anxious for the choosing of the champions. People who were too young to have entered were tense at the idea of who might be selected, but none more so than those who did like Marcus and the Durmstrang students.
When the golden plates and goblets were finally empty, everyone instantly started talking and whispering excitedly amongst each other. The sound only died down when Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet – on either side of him, Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff looked as tense and expectant as anyone else. Ludo Bagman beamed and winked at everyone. Mr. Crouch looked quite uninterested.
"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," Professor Dumbledore said. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber –" he gestured to the door behind the staff table, "– where they will be receiving their first instructions."
He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; all the candles, except those inside the carved pumpkins, extinguished instantly. We were plunged into semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire shone more brightly than anything else, the flames such a bright cobalt blue that it hurt to look at it.
The flames inside the goblet suddenly turned red, and sparks flew from it, then a tongue of flame shot into the air with a charred piece of parchment fluttering out of it. The whole room gasped.
Professor Dumbledore caught it and held it at arm's length to read it in the light of the flames that had returned to its blue-white color.
"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, "will be Viktor Krum."
A storm of applause and cheering filled the hall. It wasn't a surprise. He did seem like he would be the best champion for it than anyone else in his school. Viktor rose from our table to stride up to Professor Dumbledore, turn right, walk along the staff table, and then disappeared through the door.
"Bravo, Viktor!" Professor Karkaroff boomed loudly over the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"
The clapping and chatting soon died down, all attention on the goblet once more. The flames turned red again and a second piece of parchment shot out of it to also be caught by Professor Dumbledore. If it was a game, he'd be winning with the ease at which he snatched each parchment out of the air.
"The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!" he said.
Clapping and cheering once more.
Draco poked me. When I turned to look at him he pointed at the Ravenclaw table at the Beauxbatons students. Fleur Delacour went up – a girl with long, silvery blonde hair – while other girls looked very disappointed... actually, more than disappointed. Two of them burst into tears.
I looked at Marcus who stared at the sobbing girls with a saddened look on his face.
I nudged him, causing him to snap his attention back to the goblet without even a single glance at me.
Okay, I thought curiously.
When Fleur had disappeared from sight, there was even more tense silence. Now would be the choosing of the Hogwarts champion. It was as if every Hogwarts student in the room held their breaths at the same time.... Again, the flames burned red. A piece of parchment flew out and Professor Dumbledore caught it from the tip.
"The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!" he said.
All the Hufflepuffs jumped to their feet, screaming and stamping as a tall, physically well built guy with dark hair made his way through them while grinning broadly. When Cedric disappeared, Professor Dumbledore spoke again.
"Excellent!" he called happily. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champions on, you will contribute in a very real —"
He suddenly stopped speaking, for the fire in the goblet turned red once more, sparks flying out of it.
Oh, right, I thought, crap he actually did it. I almost want to ask how.
A long flame suddenly shot into the air and on top of it came another piece of parchment.
Professor Dumbledore automatically reached out a long hand and seized it. He held it out and stared at it. There was a very long pause as he stared at it.
He cleared his throat, and called out —
"Harry Potter."
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Author's Note: Just a small, lovely interruption adding onto what I mentioned in Prisoner of Azkaban about Melody's relationship with Marcus being more dramatic than how it used to be. Because he was a big change to work around, it made more sense seriously speaking that he be the one to follow her to Professor Trelawney's tower. I'm glad I changed it, because now it feels like there's more meaning for everyone to view.