four champion... quartet?
♡
LUCY'S FRIENDS WERE waiting for her when she got back, and boy, didn't she have a lot to tell them.
She walked through the dormitory entrance, greeted by yells and squeals from her best friends who enthusiastically rushed over to her, telling her how excited they were for her. Fleur wrapped her in a tight squeeze as she stepped forward, heading for her bed so she could sit down and explain everything that had happened.
"Isn't it amazing?!" Misty beamed. "Oh, I'm so happy for you, you're going to be amazing!"
"And you're going to win," Fleur said, with a smile. "Without a doubt. Our Lucy will beat those boys by a mile,"
"Of course," Lucy joked, before saying, "I have so much to tell you all!"
"What happened with the Potter boy?" Verity said. "His name came out of the Goblet! I mean, two Hogwarts champions, could they be more biased?! Is he competing?"
"I think so," Lucy said, slowly, still unsure and confused at what was going on. "Crouch made it sound that way..."
"They could have twelve champions each from Durmstrang and Hogwarts and you'd still beat them," Misty said, beaming at the girl. Lucy broke into a smile.
"You're sweet," Lucy told her. "And right, of course," she added, with a playful hair flick.
The news that the Potter boy would also be competing in the tournament spread like wildfire, and it wasn't long before Hogwarts broke into conflict, for some reason going against one of their own champions. Lucy thought this was pretty stupid of them - surely they should be more supportive, now that they, in theory, have a bigger chance of winning. She and her friends for sure did not understand the students of Hogwarts one bit. They'd even made badges that supported Cedric and insulted the Potter boy - they weren't playing any games at all.
Still, the buzz about the Tri-Wizard Tournament only made Lucy even more excited. She'd had many Beauxbatons students come up and congratulate her for being picked - some she didn't even know, which she found quite amusing.
It was a chilly morning when a Hogwarts student had arrived at the Beauxbatons carriage, nervously explaining to Lucy's teacher she was needed. The teacher had reluctantly let her go, much to the blonde's delight - she hated Transfiguration. Lucy flashed a smile at her three friends, who watched her leave, before creasing her eyebrows at the young Hogwarts student with curiosity.
"Why do they need me?" she asked. The boy flinched - he was too frightened to make conversation with someone from another school.
"I- uh," he began.
"I don't bite," she said playfully. He smiled at her sheepishly.
"I don't know e-exactly," he stammered, looking up at the tall girl as they walked across the grounds. Lucy shivered as the cold air pierced her skin. She certainly wasn't used to this chilly British weather, compared to the humid atmosphere at Beauxbatons.
"They said something about pictures..."
"Pictures," Lucy repeated. "Interesting,"
Once they'd arrived at where the champions were told to be, Lucy thanked the younger student politely, and he'd nodded, before scurrying off. The girl crossed her arms as she looked around, already noticing that two other champions were here.
They were to wait in a fairly small classroom, and the desks had been pushed away to the back of the room, leaving a large space in the middle. Three of them, however, had been placed end to end in front of the blackboard, covered with a long length of velvet.
"This seems cosy," Lucy said, walking over to Cedric and Krum who had been mid conversation. She dropped her bag on the floor next to the other two, and scanned the room once more. Five chairs had been set behind the velvet covered desks, Ludo Bagman sitting in one of them speaking to a woman Lucy had never seen before, wearing green robes.
"We meet again," Cedric greeted her with a smile.
"What are we doing here, exactly?" Lucy questioned.
"They want photos for the Daily Prophet,"
"The Daily what-what?"
"Daily Prophet," Cedric repeated, his grin growing wider at the girl's baffled expression. "It's one the newspapers we get over here,"
"Oh!"
There was a short silence. Lucy's eye caught a paunchy man holding a long black camera which was smoking slightly watching her subtly. She shifted uncomfortably, turning back to Cedric and Krum, trying to think of a conversation starter.
An echo of a student shouting 'Potter Stinks' in reference to some badges the Hogwarts students had made in support of Cedric sounded, and the boy with the yellow tie sighed. Lucy raised an eyebrow at him questionably.
"I'm just gonna tell you, because I don't want you thinking the wrong thing," he said. "I asked them to stop wearing them, I don't have anything to do with them,"
"Did you, though?" Lucy smirked.
"Really! I'm not like that-"
"Relax, Diggory, I was teasing," the blonde laughed. Cedric's tense expression softened.
"Ha, ha," he said, playfully rolling his eyes.
The doors opened yet again, and a gloomy Harry Potter strolled in. Bagman spotted him and leapt up quickly, bounding forwards.
"Ah, there he is! Champion number four! In you come, Harry,"
The four champions gathered together, waiting for the adults to explain what was going on.
"It's nothing to worry about," said Bagman. "It's just the Wand Weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment,"
"Wand Weighing?" Harry asked nervously.
"We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead,"
Lucy turned her head to the champion on her left - which was Cedric - and flashed him a friendly smile. He returned it.
"The expert's upstairs with Dumbledore. And then, there's going to be a little photo shoot. This is Rita Skeeter," he added, gesturing to the woman in the green robes. "She's going to do a small piece for the Daily Prophet-"
"-Well, not that small, Ludo," Rita said. Lucy couldn't help but notice her eyes were glued to the fourteen year old boy.
Her hair was set in fancy yet peculiarly rigid curls that disagreed oddly with her heavy-jawed face. She wore jewelled spectacles, and the thick fingers clutching her crocodile-skin handbag ended with two inch nails painted a crimson red.
"I wonder if I could have a little word with Harry before we start?" she said to Bagman, though still gazing fixedly at Harry. "The youngest champion, you know, to add a bit of colour,"
Lucy scoffed.
"Certainly!" said Bagman. "That is - if Harry has no objection?"
"Er-" Harry begun.
"Lovely," said Rita, and in a second, she gripped Harry's arm and steered him out of the room.
Lucy crossed her arms.
"To add a bit of colour," she huffed with a scowl. "Yeah, because we aren't interesting enough,"
"I expect it's just because... because he was the fourth champion to be picked. Not to mention, he's underage," said Cedric, although he was wearing a slight frown.
Lucy had decided she didn't like this Skeeter woman.
It wasn't long before Harry returned with a disappointed Rita - which caused the blonde Beauxbatons girl to smirk - as Dumbledore (not Dumbly-dorr) appeared for the weighing of the wands. The champions sat in chairs near the door, and four of the five judges were now seated at the velvet covered table. Rita Skeeter settled herself down in a corner.
"May I introduce, Mr Ollivander?" The Hogwarts Headmaster said, sitting in his place at the judges table and turning to speak to the champions. "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition for the tournament,"
Lucy looked towards an old wizard with large, pale eyes standing quietly by the window. Cedric noticed her creased eyebrows and quietly informed her that he was a famous wandmaker in Britain, and owned a shop in somewhere called 'Diagon Alley',
"Mademoiselle Lunette, could we have you forward first, please?" asked Mr Ollivander, causing Lucy's face to light up. The blonde swept over to the man confidently and handed him her wand.
"Hmm," he began, twirling the girl's wand between his long fingers like a baton, as it emitted several pink and gold sparks. He then proceeded to hold it close to his eyes, and examined it carefully. Lucy watched him patiently.
"Yes," he said. "Eight inches... inflexible... rose wood... and containing..."
"Phoenix feather," Lucy said proudly. He nodded.
"It's very rare," Ollivander said. "Very rare indeed,"
He ran his fingers along the wand, apparently checking for any scratches or bumps. He then muttered 'Orchideous!' and a bunch of flowers burst from the tip.
"Very well, very well, it's in fine working order," he said, handing it back to the blonde who took it with a smile.
"Mr Diggory, you next,"
Lucy glided back to her seat, glancing at Cedric, who smiled at her as he passed.
«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»
It was safe to say, Lucy wasn't pleased with her Daily Prophet interview.
Yes, her picture did look pretty decent and she admittedly quite liked it - but it was blatantly obvious Rita Skeeter wasn't bothered about any other champion that wasn't Harry Potter. He'd somehow gotten himself four whole pages, and Lucy a small box in the corner. She found it entirely unfair, but hey, that's reporters for you, isn't it?
Rita had probably used one of Lucy's most boring quotes, and the girl couldn't help but notice how dull her article looked. But, with a feature that small, Lucy could've said anything and it would still end up boring, because there was no information or interesting facts to back it all up.
"It's not so bad," said Misty, after hearing Lucy's complaint. "Surely it's better off having something small in it rather than something big and humiliating... did you see Potter's huge article?"
"I suppose," Lucy replied, handing the paper over to Fleur to have a read.
"They made him sound like a baby,"
In a way, Potter did have it worse. Rita hadn't hesitated in asking all the personal questions, and Harry's article might as well have been a diary entry - with more written about his parents' deaths than the actual tournament.
And to top it all off, Cedric had been left out of the issue completely.
There was one thing Lucy had managed to conclude - Rita was shit.
She'd spent the last few days in between her lessons, preparing for the first task (which she had no idea what it would be) and roaming the Hogwarts grounds with her friends.
It was late at night, when Madame Maxime had asked Lucy to come and see her, and the girl had confusedly did as she was told, looking back at her friends who were also wearing baffled expressions, before following the half giantess.
"Erm... where are we going?" she asked her Headmistress, as a knock sounded from outside the carriage door. Lucy tilted her head and frowned.
"You will see," was all Maxime replied, before opening the door.
"Bone-sewer,"
Outside stood a man - an extremely large man, Lucy assumed he was another half giant. He had shaggy dark hair and a wild, tangled beard. Lucy thought she might've seen him around the Hogwarts grounds, and sitting at the staff table.
He held out a hand to help Maxime down the golden steps. Lucy followed with a bewildered expression, closing the door behind her. What was going on?
The man nodded to Lucy, before offering Maxime his arm and they set off, the blonde struggling to keep up with them and having to do a slight run. She could've sworn she felt something barge past her, but she turned to see nothing was there, so...
"Wair is it you are taking us, 'Agrid?" Maxime asked the man - 'Agrid, or Hagrid? Lucy wasn't too sure which his name was. She supposed it was Hagrid, since Maxime had never pronounced the letter H when speaking English.
"Yeh'll enjoy this," Hagrid said gruffly. "Worth seein', trust me. On'y - don' go tellin' anyone I showed yeh both, right? Yeh're not supposed to know,"
"Of course not," said Maxime, fluttering her long eyelashes, before turning back to Lucy. "And you von't eizer, vill you Lucy?"
"Er... No?"
And they continued to walk, Lucy beginning to get more irritated - because, she had no idea where she was going, she had to jog to keep up with the half giants, and it was absolutely freezing. She wanted to go back to the carriages and chat with her friends, before falling asleep under the soft, warm covers.
As they got further and further away from the castle and the carriage, a faint noise began to tingle at Lucy's ears, and she frowned in concentration, trying to make out what they would be. Men shouting... and then a colossal, ear-splitting roar followed.
That was when Lucy saw the figures of people running around a heap of fire - and her jaw dropped.
Dragons.
A/N: I know Maxime didn't bring Fleur to see the dragons in the original book, but I decided to change it up a bit for Lucy! Still, I hope you enjoyed!
<3