The remainder of September was rather uneventful, as was the majority of October. Nothing too exciting happened (although, at Hogwarts, you would rarely come across a day that proved to be completely normal). As the end October grew nearer, the tedious anticpiation of the arrival of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons — the two other Wizarding Schools that would be taking part in the Triwizard Tournament — grew to a point that it was pulverising.
"Have Fred and George come up with anything, then?" Katie asked Ron, seating herself next to him in the library and taking out her books to begin her homework.
"No." Ron grumbled.
"You're not seriously thinking of entering, are you?" Hermione said distastefully, glaring at Katie over the rim of her book. Katie stared on at Hermione as though she had three heads.
"A thousand Galleons prize money, Hermione!"
Hermione chewed her lip uncertainly. "Yes, well—"
"Do you know how many Zonko's products we could buy with that?" Ron cut Hermione off, who huffed at being interrupted. Katie chuckled at Ron's comment.
***
"What have you done with him? Where is my son?"
"Your son... is gone."
"You liar! Give me my boy!"
"Katerina is next..."
"NO! Stay away from my daughter, you—!"
"Oh, Anthony, dear, both you and I know all too well that Katerina is not really your daughter."
"She's as good as! I've loved her more than that filthy—"
"Avada Kedavra!"
There was a burst of green light and a man screamed shrilly. Katie awoke with a start, sprung forward in her bed, and panted as her chest rose and fell frantically. Her face and neck had broken out in a cold sweat and her stomach was twisting into uncomfortable knots.
"Katie!" someone gasped fearfully. The end of Katie's bed shifted and suddenly there was a hand on her knee. Squinting through the dark, Katie saw the worried face of Pansy Parkinson only inches from her own, which shocked Katie, due to the fact that she and Pansy hadn't actually considered each other friends since second year.
"P-Pansy.." Katie whispered, her voice cold. It was only now that Katie realised she had hot tears streaming down her cheeks, mingling with her sweat.
"You're OK," Pansy assured her, hugging her close. "You're OK, it's just a dream, you're alright. I've got you, you're OK."
Katie buried her face into the crook of Pansy's neck as Pansy soothingly rubbed her back and cooed reassuring words.
"P-Pansy... m-my dad..." Katie choked out between sobs.
"I know." Pansy hushed her.
"I-I saw him die."
Pansy's circles on Katie's back stopped promptly and she pulled back, looking Katie straight in her glassy eyes.
"What?"
"I-in my dream — he was asking for my brother, and there was a woman, I couldn't see her face. She said that my brother was gone, and said that..." Katie paused and gulped harshly. "She said that I was next... and then... she killed him. She murdered my father for no reason."
Katie began sobbing once more and Pansy pulled her shaking frame into another embrace. Pansy had run out of comforting phrases, so she instead just continued to rub her classmate's back.
"L-Leo..." Katie stammered. "L-Leo, Pansy, do you think he's—"
Pansy cut Katie off harshly. "No. Leo is OK, Katie, I promise you."
"B-but he's out there all alone and—"
"And hundreds of trained officials are out looking for him. Besides, your mother is probably with him too, right. I am positive your brother is going to be just fine."
"You think?" Katie asked weakly, sniffling.
"I know."
Katie slowly unraveled herself from Pansy's arms, but Pansy kept a comforting hand on Katie's shoulder.
"Sorry if I woke you." Katie muttered guiltily. Pansy smiled.
"Don't worry about it. It's still only early — about eleven, I think. You went to bed quite early."
Katie shrugged. "I didn't feel like having everyone whisper about me."
Earlier that day, at breakfast, the post had arrived, and hundreds of students received the latest print of the Daily Prophet, which declared that Maria Blair and Leo Blair were officially missing persons. So all day, eyes and whispers followed Katie wherever she went, and every single eye in the common room had been fixed on her, so by nine o'clock, the stress had become too much. She packed up her things and went to bed early, hoping to sleep and forget her family for just a couple of hours.
But then she had that dream — that nightmare, and it was so real, and the teenager knew that she was seeing her father's death exactly how it had happened. The thought of it sent chills through her bones.
The following day, Katie was exceptionally quiet, and kept to herself even more so than she had been doing since the World Cup. Pansy accompanied her to each class, which Katie greatly appreciated. It didn't take Katie's friends long to notice that something was troubling her.
"Katie," Ron said cautiously that afternoon in Potions class. "Are you alright?"
Katie glanced briefly at Ron before averting her eyes back to her cauldron, which was filled with a potion that resembled thick mud. Ron looked to Hermione for help. Nodding, Hermione cleared her throat and spoke to Katie in a soft voice.
"Did something happen?"
Katie's jaw clenched and she felt an uncomfortable shiver run down her spine.
"I had a dream..." she responded, her voice empty and cold.
"A dream?" Harry quizzed. He sounded both intrigued and bemused. Katie nodded slowly. She didn't really fancy talking about her nightmare in the middle of Professor Snape's class.
"A dream?" Hermione repeated. "What happened?"
"I..." Katie trailed off almost instantly. Tears were forming in her eyes. She blinked them away aggresively and gripped the edges of the table so hard that her knuckles turned white. "I saw my dad."
Hermione blinked at her, unsure of whether or not she should continue to poke questions at Katie. Harry and Ron glanced at each other. They too didn't know what to do — scared to say the wrong thing and upset their friend.
"I saw him die." Katie told them, her voice barely rising above a whisper.
Katie saw all the blood drain from Hermione's face in a matter of seconds. The Gryffindor girl gulped harshly.
"But... it was just a dream, Katie, I—"
"No," Katie was shaking her head. "It was so real. I saw him. Just him. There was a woman, too, but I couldn't see her — only hear her voice. She killed him, Hermione. Just like that."
Hermione's face was stricken with shock and she was uncertain of what to say, or even think, for that matter. She stared at Katie, her mouth open slightly, and blinked.
"And, Hermione..."
Fear arose in Hermione's brown eyes.
"He really wasn't my dad..." Katie's voice cracked noticeably when these words slipped past her lips, and a single tear trickled down her cheek, which she hastily swiped away.
Overwhelmed with all of this horrifying news, Hermione's jaw dropped completely. When she was sure that Katie had her attention back on her sludgy potion. Hermione looked to Harry and Ron, who were both as pale as she.
Due to the fact that the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were arriving at six o'clock, Potions ended half an hour early. For the majority of the lesson, Snape had been peering over his hooked nose at Katie's cauldron of mud-like potion, which was supposed to be lime green in colour and rather thin, so Katie was relieved to be leaving the class early.
She dropped her books back in her dormitory and pulled on her cloak. The Hogwarts students were expected to wait outside the main doors of the castle to greet their guests, and Katie wasted no time in getting back up to the Entrance Hall.
When she arrived outside, she found the four head of houses ushering their students into rows. Snape, who seemed to be incredibly displeased by the fact that he had to neatly organise the children, was barking orders at the Slytherins, scaring some of the first years.
Katie slid into the fourth row and stood herself between Draco and Pansy. Pansy gave Katie a gentle smile while Draco eyed her suspiciously.
"You alright, Blair?" he asked, an eyebrow raised slightly.
Katie blinked at him. "Of course I'm alright."
"You just look a bit... peaky." Draco shrugged. He ultimately dropped the subject as he, like the rest of the school, fell into silence, anxiously anticipating the arrival of the other Wizarding Schools.
Although the air was clear, it was also cold, and as the minutes passed and the sky darkened, Katie felt the chill of the air begin to nip at her fingers and ears. She, like everyone else, scanned the dim grounds excitedly for any sign of movement, but everything was silent — everything was still.
That was, until a sixth-year Ravenclaw girl pointed to the Forest and shouted, "There!"
Something very large, so large in fact, it looked like a house, was hurtling across the deep blue sky towards the castle.
"It's a dragon!" a first year Slytherin shrieked.
"Don't be stupid... it's a flying house!" a young Gryffindor boy countered.
The enormous object skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and emerged into the light emitting from the illuminated Hogwarts windows. Katie could now clearly see that the shape was in fact a powder-blue carriage, the size of a house, as she had predicted, that was being pulled by a dozen golden horses with wings, each the size of an elephant.
The witches and wizards of Hogwarts watched in awe as the gleaming carriage soared gracefully through the air until a loud and eerie noise sounded from somewhere in the distant. The noise was a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, and was strange enough to pull the students' attention from the magnificent Beauxbatons carriage and horses.
"The lake!" Lee Jordan yelled suddenly. "Look at the lake!"
From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water — except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the centre; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks — and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor...
What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool. Slowly, magnificently, a ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it was a resurrected wreck. Hogwarts clapped and cheered wildly. Katie had trouble decided which entrance had been more breathtaking — that of Beauxbatons or Durmstrang.
Soon, the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had gathered on the lawn by the castle doors. There weren't even twenty of them altogether, and Katie assumed that only those who were of age and willing to put their name forth for the Tournament were permitted to travel to Hogwarts.
Before they went inside the castle walls to warm up and eat, Dumbledore greated the Headmaster of Durmstrang — Professor Karkaroff — and the Headmistress of Beauxbatons — Madame Maxime. Karkaroff was thin, sporting shoulder-length grey hair and a goatee that curled at the end. His voice was rough, his teeth were yellow, and his eyes were cold and shrewd.
As for Madame Maxime, she was quite magnificent indeed. She was certainly the largest woman that Katie had ever laid eyes on ("Blimey, that's one big woman!" Seamus Finnigan said). The only person to rival her height would have been Hagrid. Her hair fell to about her chin, framing her olive-toned face and beaky nose. She was dressed head-to-toe in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers.
Katie's attention was torn away from the spectacular woman when her eyes landed on a figure standing next to Professor Karkaroff. Although he was standing some feet away, Katie could easily recognise their prominant curved nose and thick black eyebrows. A lump formed in her throat and she turned to Draco, gripping his arm excitedly.
"Draco, look!" she hissed. "It's him! It's Viktor Krum!"
As they made their way back inside the warmth of Hogwarts castle, Katie and Draco ducked their heads together to quietly converse about Krum, unlike the other students, who were loudly blabbing about him and searching their robes for a quill to ask him for an autograph.
"I knew he was young, but I had no idea he was still in school." Katie was saying and Draco nodded in agreement. The pair of them took their usual seats at the Slytherin table.
"Reckon they'll sit with us?" Draco asked. His question was answered mere moments later when the students of Durmstrang slipped into seats on the Slytherin table, while the Beauxbatons students settled with the Ravenclaws. This put a smug smile on Draco's face.
Filch pulled up four extra seats at the staff table, which confused Katie, because only seats for Madame Maxime and Karkaroff were needed. Her inner questions were answered, however, when the doors of the Great Hall banged open and Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch strode in.
Bagman merrily bounced all the way to the staff table. Crouch, on the other hand, was wearing a rather pompous expression that expressed distaste as he took his time in making his was to his prepared seat.
"What are they doing here?" Katie nudged Draco, who was engaged in conversation with Viktor Krum (Katie almost gasped when she saw the Quidditch player sitting right in front of her). Draco merely shrugged in response.
When the Hall had settled and everyone quietened down, Dumbledore rose to his feet and beamed down at the sea of students.
"The moment has come," Dumbledore announced. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket—"
"The what?" Katie whispered. Like Draco had done, Pansy shrugged unknowingly.
"Let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation—"
There was a smattering if polite applause.
"—and Mr Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."
There was a much louder round of applause for Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because of his fame as a Beater, or simply because he looked so much more likeable. He acknowledged it with a jovial wave of his hand.
"Mr Bagman and Mr Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament, and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime on the panel which with judge the champions' efforts," Dumbledore continued. "The casket, then, if you please, Mr Filch."
As though instinctively, Katie felt herself rise from her seat, intrigued as to what the casket might be. She was slightly disappointed when she saw Filch carrying nothing more than an old chest, encrusted with jewels. Nevertheless, Katie was still eager to find out what lay within the chest, so she watched intensively as Filch placed the chest on the table in front of Dumbledore.
"Eternal glory," Dumbledore proclaimed, and if any of the students hadn't been listening, they certainly were now. "That is what awaits the student who wins the Triwizard Tournament, but to do this, that student must survive three tasks... Three extremely dangerous tasks."
Dumbledore took at his wand and tapped it three times on the top of the casket. Katie watched with excited eyes as the lid creaked open. Dumbledore reached inside the chest and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable, had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames.
"The Goblet of Fire," Dumbledore said as he placed the Goblet carefully on top of the casket. Katie got chills at his words. "Anyone wishing to submit themselves into the Tournament — merely write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw if in the flame before this hour tomorrow night. Do not do so lightly — if chosen, there is no turning back. Goodnight to you all!"
***
The next day was Saturday, and Katie found herself awake much earlier than she usually was on the weekends. She and Pansy left the dormitory together. Katie quite liked being friends with Pansy again; she had forgotten how well they used to get along.
When they entered the common room, Draco Malfoy emerged from the boy's dormitory. His eyes caught the two girls.
"Going up for breakfast?" he asked them.
"Yeah." Katie nodded.
Draco joined them, and the three Slytherins made their way up from the dungeons together. They stepped into the Entrance Hall to find the Goblet of Fire standing proudly in the centre of the Hall —!the blue flames still emitting from it. About thirty students were gathered around it and chattering loudly, including Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Harry saw Katie and waved her over. Smiling, she obliged, and Draco followed while letting out a very audible groan of annoyance.
"Anyone put their name in yet?" Katie asked as she eyed the Goblet.
"All of the Durmstrang lot," Ron replied. "But I haven't seen anyone from Hogwarts yet."
"Bet some of them put in last night after we'd gone to bed," Harry chimed in. "I would've done it if it had been me... wouldn't have wanted anyone watching. What if the Goblet just gobbed you right back out again?"
Katie snorted and she noticed how Draco tried very hard to stifle a small laugh of amusement. Katie stared wondrously at the Goblet of Fire.
"Oh, I wish I could enter." she whined.
"Over my dead body." someone called from behind.
Katie turned around to find the source of the voice, finding Chris making his way down the marble staircase. He was accompanied by Niall Murray and Oscar Whiterose.
Katerina rolled her eyes. "Bugger off, Chris."
Chris slung an arm around his little sister's shoulder.
"If you really think I would let you enter that Tournament, you have another thing coming, Katerina Blair." he said in a joking manner. Katie shoved her arm off of her.
"Yeah, because you could stop me." she scoffed.
"Damn right," Chris went on. "What? You're really just gonna die on me like that? Because that would be four family members in two months."
Although Chris' tone was light and joyous, Katie didn't miss the pain that was shadowed behind his eyes. Her shoulders drooped and she had to use all her strength to keep a smile plastered on her face.
Chris' eyes landed on Malfoy, who was standing at Katie's side, and they narrowed.
"Malfoy." he nodded firmly. There was a threatening glint in his eye.
"Blair." Draco also nodded. He had the same cold glare on his face. Katie sighed and rolled her eyes dramatically.
"You know, if we're going to be friends," she glanced at Draco, "then you two are going to need to learn to get along."
Chris huffed. "Yeah, whatever, Kat. See you later. We need to find Fred and George."
With that being said, Chris, Niall and Oscar took off back up the marble staircase. Katie turned to Draco, who had a smirk curling on his face.
"So, friends?" he asked smugly.
For the hundredth time that day, Katie rolled her eyes.
"If, Draco, if." she repeated her words.
The rest of the day proved to be very tedious. Although the classes seemed easier and the work was much lighter, given the fact that the teachers themselves were exited to see who the three champions would be, Katie couldn't help but feel as though the day was passing much slower than usual. She just wanted to get to the Halloween Feast to hear find out who the Goblet would choose to compete in the Tournament.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Katie and Pansy made their way to the Great Hall, which was decorated the same as it was every year — with glowing pumpkins and live bats. Draco was already sat at the Slytherin table when the girls arrived. He was talking to Viktor Krum again. Pansy slipped into the seat next to Draco and Katie seated herself across from Pansy — becoming flustered by how close she was to Krum.
Once the Hall was packed with bustling students, the glittering golden plates and goblets filled with food and drink. Finding that she wasn't really that hungry, despite how delicious the Feast looked, Katie only ate enough to sustain herself, then waited through the rest of the meal. She rapped her knuckles impatiently against the table and stared at the Goblet of Fire, which had been moved from the Entrance Hall to the top of the Great Hall.
"Katie plays Quidditch, don't you Katie?"
Katie's ears tuned into the ongoing conversation around her when her name was mentioned. She whirled around, finding that it was Pansy who had said her name, and she was talking to Viktor Krum.
Krum was looking at Katie and she felt herself shrink under his gaze. The temptation to ask him for his autograph right then and there was too great, and it took Katie a lot of self control to resist asking.
"Uhm... yeah, I-I do. I'm a Chaser." she stammered, scratching the back of her neck. Noticing how flustered the girl had become, Draco peered at Katie over the top of his goblet and smirked at her. She sneered back.
Krum's eyes trailed up and down Katie's small figure.
"You?" he said, sounding unsure. "But you are so... tiny."
Draco had been taking a sip of his orange juice when Krum made this comment and the blonde laughed, choking on the juice and causing it to splutter everywhere. Katie's face went a deep shade of scarlet.
At that moment, the plates of food cleared and Dumbledore rose to his feet, saving Katie from her embarrassment.
"Now the moment you've all been waiting for..." Dumbledore's echoing voice silenced any ongoing conversation that had been travelling among the students. "The Champion Selection!"
Dumbledore waved his hand and all the candles in the Hall blew out. The jack-o-lanterns and the blue flame of the Goblet of Fire were the only remaining sources of light in the Hall, and they cast spooky shadows across the faces of the students.
Dumbledore rounded the Goblet. Everyone watched, waiting in suspense for the champions to be announced. Katie didn't even notice that she was slightly hopping eagerly in her seat, which annoyed Krum greatly, though he didn't say anything.
The flames inside the Goblet of Fire suddenly turned red. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it — the whole room gasped.
Dumbledore snatched the piece of parchment from the air and held it out in front of him, so that he could read it in the light of the Goblet's flames.
"The champion for Durmstrang," he read in a strong, clear voice, "is Viktor Krum!"
A storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Katie watched, a grin on her face, as Krum left his seat, walked through the Hall, crossed the staff table, and then disappeared through a door in the back corner.
The clapping and chattering died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the Goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it and Dumbledore caught it just as easily as he had the first.
"The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!"
From the Ravenclaw table, a girl arose, and Katie felt her breath catch in her throat. Fleur was most certainly the most beautiful young woman that Katie had ever seen — with a long sheet of silvery hair and piercing blue eyes that could be seen clearly even from a distance. Katie thought that she must have been a Veela.
The other Beauxbatons students were beside themselves with disappointment — two girls burst into tears when they weren't chosen. As Viktor had done, Fleur stepped through the door in the back of the room.
When Fleur Delacour had vanished, silence fell again, but this time it was silence so stiff with excitement that you could almost taste it.
One last time, the blue flames of the Goblet of Fire turned red and spurted out another piece of parchment. Dumbledore caught it.
"And the Hogwarts champion is," the whole hall held its breath. "Cedric Diggory!"
The uproar from the Hufflepuff table was so great that Katie almost felt her soul leave her body with alarm. Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly. Katie allowed herself to smile.
Across the table, Draco huffed. "A bloody Hufflepuff representing our school — can you believe it?"
Katie shot him a glare. "Come on now, Draco, don't be like that. Cedric is a great wizard."
"You're only saying that because he's handsome." Draco snarled.
"Am not!" Katie crossed her arms defensively. "Don't roll your eyes at me or I'll rip them out and spin them across the floor like marbles."
Pansy laughed loudly at this.
"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily. "We now have our three champions, 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!"
Barty Crouch had placed something that had a cloth draped over it on the centre of the staff table. Dumbledore pointed towards it, and Crouch ripped off the cloth, revealing a magnificent cup that shone an excellent blue, illuminating all the space around it. The students cheered approvingly, but something else had caught Dumbledore's attention, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.
The fire in the Goblet had turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shit suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.
Katie shifted in her seat and leaned forward, deeply fascinated. The Goblet of Fire most certainly was not supposed to give four names.
There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, his mouth twitching, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat, and read out—
"Harry Potter."
Katie felt the blood rush from her head as her stomach twisted into a horrible knot. Every head in the Great Hall had turned to look at Harry, who sat, stunned, in complete silence. Some students were standing to get a better look at Harry as he just shrunk further into his seat, probably hoping that the ground would just swallow him up.
"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"
Katie's mouth had gone completely dry. She swallowed thickly and watched, heart beating violently, as Harry got to his feet and set off to the front of the Hall. All of the teachers watched him, dooming expressions etched onto their pale faces, and Harry went through the door behind the staff table.
Draco's grey eyes were glittering malevolently.
"Well, would you look at that," he said devilishly. "Potter figured out a way to cheat the system, and he didn't even tell you—"
"Shut up, Draco!" Katie snapped. She was not in the mood to humour him, too astonished and, mostly, terrified. Draco seemed very taken aback when Katie yelled at him, so he decided it was best not to pester her any further, though he still looked at her with a malicious smirk on his face.
Katie met Ron's eye across the Hall. He shook his head slowly. His jaw was clenched in anger and his eyebrows were furrowed.
"Harry..." Katie whispered under her breath, staring at the door that the champions had disappeared behind. "Are you mad?"
Although she herself had said she would've loved to enter the Tournament, Katie was smart enough to know that, at the mere age of fourteen, not only would she not stand a chance in the tasks, but she would also look like a fool next to the other, older, more experienced champions.
Clearly, however, that did not bother Harry.