"He's not doing great, Fee," Luca said he returned from class with Cedric. "It's been more than a week, and the other schools are are arriving anytime now—"
"Is there no way to change his mind?" Ophelia said quietly, her eyes trained on her shoes. "I know I'm being horribly selfish, and I know he's set on entering—I don't know what to do, Luca."
Luca's eyes softened as he pulled her into a hug, his voice muffled against her hair. "It's Cedric we're talking about," he said firmly. "if there's anyone that can win the tournament, it's him."
"You really think so?"
"I do."
The comforting silence between the two didn't last long. The Head of the Houses were heard organizing their houses into lines in the entrance hall, and Professor McGonagall had just hurried over to fetch them.
"Sixth years..." she muttered, taking the two to the back. "Weasley, straighten your hat," she snapped at Ron when they passed by on the stairs. "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair."
Luca glanced at his watch impatiently, whispering the time to Ophelia every thirty seconds. "It's almost six, where are they?"
"Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!" came Dumbledore's booming voice from the back row.
"Where?"
"There!" Luca yelled, pointing over at the forbidden forest. There was something huge hurtling across the darkening sky towards the castle.
"It's a dragon!"
"Don't be stupid...it's a flying house!" a first year Gryffindor shouted excitedly. A gigantic shape brushed over the trees of the forest. As it came closer to in the light, Ophelia saw it to be a light blue color carriage pulled by gorgeous golden horses. After the carriage landed, a boy in the same color robes jumped down from the carriage and unfolded a set of golden steps.
"Jesus," Ophelia muttered to Luca. "How fucking posh?"
The largest woman she had ever seen in her life appeared, and a few people gasped. She was around as big as Hagrid, even maybe a bit larger, and she was dressed from head to toe in an expensive black satin with opals decorating her outfit.
Dumbledore began to clap, and many followed. "My dear Madame Maxime," he greeted, kissing her hand. "Welcome to Hogwarts."
"Dumbly-dorr," she replied. "I 'ope I find you well?"
"In excellent form, I thank you,"
"My pupils," she said, waving her hands behind her. Around a dozen boys and girls who looked to be around Ophelia and Luca's age came from the carriage, all standing and shivering behind Madame Maxime.
"'As Karkaroff arrived yet?"
"He should be here any moment," Dumbledore said. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"
"Warm up, I think," she said. "But ze 'orses—"
"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them."
"My steeds require forceful 'andling," Madame Maxime said with worry. "Zey are very strong..."
"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job."
"Ten galleons say Hagrid and Madame Maxime get together," Ophelia snickered to Luca, who accepted the bet.
The crowd parted so that her students and her could pass them on the steps. Since the sixth years were all standing together, she glared slightly at a girl who's gaze lingered on Cedric a little longer than needed, letting her shawl falter around her neck, and even had the audacity to lick her lips sultry at him. As if on instinct, his eyes flickered to hers a second too late, and only found her talking to Luca.
"I hope I'm not going crazy, because I sure do hear something." said Luca.
"The lake!" Lee Jordan yelled, pointing at it. "Look at the lake!"
Ophelia stood on her tiptoes a bit so that she could get a better view of the lake, and instead of the usual smooth surface, there were great bubbles and ripples that were making splashes. A long black pole began to rise out of the forming whirlpool, and a huge ship rose up, and in a few second sit was making its way down the lake.
There was a bit of commotion before a burly crowd neared them.
"Well shit," Luca licked his lips. "They're all my type."
Ophelia raised an eyebrow at him. "Nope," she decided when she saw the burly cloaks of fur. "animal rights."
The man with the sleek and silver hair lead them up the stairs and approached Dumbledore. "Dumbledore!" he called in a deep voice. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"
"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff."
"Dear old Hogwarts," he said, smiling at the castle. "How good it is to be here, how good...Viktor, come along, into the warmth...you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold..."
Ophelia squinted her eyes to find the Viktor Krum, the seeker on the Bulgarian team beckoning forward, and excited whispers came from all around the hall.
"It's Krum!" Luca said in awe. "Ophelia! Viktor Krum!"
"He was so good at the Quidditch World Cup," Ophelia said as they followed the seventh years back up to the steps. "That move he made—perfecto."
"Lucky bitch," Luca mumbled, earning a smirk from her.
They walked over to the Gryffindor table to sit down next to the twins, who were also talking about Krum being at the school. Ophelia didn't mind that the Beauxbatons students had chosen seats at the Ravenclaw table—they looked too snobby for her taste.
"Over here! Come and sit over here!" she heard Ron hiss from a few seats down, obviously trying to be discreet but failing. "Too late,"
"Hey," Ophelia nudged the twins. "Why are there four extra chairs? Who else is coming?"
"Dunno," Fred replied. "The judges, I suppose."
After the headmasters had taken their seats, Dumbledore beamed at all the foreign students, looking at the Great Hall. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts, and—most particularly—guests. I have a great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be comfortable and enjoyable."
"I'll show those Dumstrang boys what enjoyable experiences they can have with me," Luca sniggered, and Ophelia fist bumped him.
"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," Dumbledore continued. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"
Dumbledore sat down, and the plates in front of them filled with food as usual, but there seemed to be a great variety of international style dishes.
"What's that?" Ophelia squinted, pointing at a dish.
"Bouillabaisse," Hermione replied.
"Bless you," Ron said, already stuffing his face with some of it.
Ophelia tried to hold back a laugh when Hermione told him that it was a French dish, and scooped some onto her plate. Around twenty minutes into the feast, Hagrid finally appeared, his hands heavily bandaged, and Ophelia guessed it was the skrewts.
"Excuse me," a heavily accented French voice came from the Hufflepuff table—she was quite loud. "I'm Jacquelyn," she continued, and Luca glanced around nervously when he saw that she was leaning towards Cedric in a flirtatious manner. "Are you wanting ze bouillabaisse?"
"Yeah, have it," Harry heard, handing the plate over to the girl, but she didn't seem very happy about getting interrupted. Ron was still goggling at the girl, his face purple and his eyes budging out of his socket. Thankfully, Ophelia was busy talking to the twins to even notice the girl.
"She's a veela!"
"Of course she isn't!" Hermione scolded. "I don't see anyone else gaping at her like an idiot!"
"Who's a veela?" Ophelia chimed in, glancing around the Gryffindor table.
"That Beauxbatons girl," Hermione responded, jabbing a finger at the girl, who had just purposely brushed over Cedric's shoulder as she walked back to the Ravenclaw table, sending a wink at Cedric, who didn't seem to notice her at all.
Ophelia felt a bubbling in her stomach, glaring after the girl. She was about to go over to the Hufflepuff table to show the girl that he was taken—but she realized that they weren't exactly on talking terms, and sunk back dejectedly into her seat.
"Fee," Luca said with a sympathetic smile. "Maybe you should go talk to him."
"Not now," Ophelia mumbled. "After dinner, maybe."
"They don't make them like that at Hogwarts!" Ophelia's spirits were lifted as Ron argued with Hermione.
"They make them okay at Hogwarts," Harry said softly, and she raised an amused eyebrow at him when she saw him glance over at the Ravenclaw table, right at a black haired girl.
"Cho Chang?" Ophelia moved a few seats down to ask Harry incredulously. "I've seen more than one thirst comment about Cedric on both our posts. Really, her?"
"No..." Harry muttered, glancing away.
Ophelia eyed him suspiciously but let him be, and continued teasing Ron about the veela girl. She wasn't complaining either when plates of foreign desserts appeared on the golden plates, and along with everyone else, wiped the plates clean.
Dumbledore stood up from the table, and the whole hall fell quiet, anticipating what he was going t say next. "The moment has come," he said with a smile. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket—"
"A casket?" Ophelia whisper yelled to Luca with a worried look. "Like for a funeral? What in the—"
"— just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them,Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation" Dumbledore's loud voice interrupted Ophelia, and Hermione gave her a pointed look to be quiet. "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department ofMagical Games and Sports. 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 that will judge the champions' efforts."
Champions. Cedric could become a Hogwarts champion. Ophelia's heart pounded against her chest as she remembered all the research on the past tournaments, and how many of the champions passed away in highly dangerous tasks at such a young age.
"The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."
Ophelia snapped out of her thoughts to see Filch carrying a huge wooden chest with jewels, and it looked quite medieval.
"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," he said. "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways . . .their magical prowess — their daring — their powers of deduction — and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."
Ophelia scoffed at the stupidity of the tournament. It only takes one task to go wrong.
"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament,"Dumbledore said calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."
Dumbledore used his wand to tap three times on top of the casket, and the lid slowly creaked open. Dancing blue-white flames filled the brim to the top, and Dumbledore placed the goblet on top of the casket so everyone could see.
"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet. Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.
"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation, I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet ofFire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line."
"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."
"Not to be entered into lightly...binding, magical contract...danger...." Ophelia muttered to herself as they left the Great Hall.
"You're sounding loony, muttering to yourself like that. Stop scaring off the first years."
"Shut up." Ophelia grumbled, lightly shoving Luca away.
"An Age Line!" Fred exclaimed next to them. "Well, that should be fooled by an Aging Potion, shouldn't it? And once your name's in that goblet, you're laughing — it can't tell whether you're seventeen or not!"
"Or," George said with a smirk, draping his arms around Ophelia. "Ophelia here could help us enter!"
Ophelia rolled her eyes and batted his arm away, glaring at both of the twins. "I've already got Cedric to worry about, even though we aren't really on speaking terms right now—stop adding to my stress level."
The twins rolled their eyes.
"Speak for yourself," George said, then turned to look at Harry. "You'll try and get in, won't you, Harry?"
"Hell no." Ophelia said firmly, messing up Harry's overgrown hair. "You won't, would you?"
Harry looked to be in deep thought, but then shook his head slightly.
"Good." she said with a relieved smile. "And you two–I don't think Dumbledore's that stupid. But...I do think Filch is, and I've got the perfect Halloween prank tomorrow."
"That's our girl!" The twins said unanimously, pressing a slobbery kiss on both sides of her cheeks.
"Alright." Ophelia started, her worry for Cedric pushed at the back of her head. "So—"
Before Ophelia could even start, she froze when Cedric and the Beauxbatons girl from before walked by, together, her hands on his arm, her body pressed against him in a flirtatious manner. Ophelia could hear her loud giggles too, and the way she drawled out Cedric's name slowly.
"Ophelia!"
Ophelia met Luca's eyes with a sad smile. "Yeah?"
"You just zoned off." Fred said suspiciously.
"Oh, I did?"
"Yeah." Luca nodded. "Are you good?"
"Yeah," she replied. "I'm just tired."
"Let's head up then. Get some sleep, you'll need it tomorrow—with the whole...thing."
"Wait—what about the prank?" George asked.
Luca shook his head when Ophelia turned away, and the twins got the memo and waved goodbye to find ingredients to make an Aging Potion.
⟠ ⟠ ⟠
Ophelia got up earlier than she usually would have, and pulled Luca right out of bed to go to the entrance hall, hoping to catch Cedric before he could put his name in the Cup. There were a few things different about the entrance hall that morning. There were a lot more people than there normally was on a Saturday morning, and the goblet of fire was where the Sorting Hat usually was, along with a thin golden circle traced around it.
"Harry!" Ophelia spotted the fourth year, and walked over to him. "Anyone put their name in yet?"
"Apparently all the Durmstrang lot have," he replied. "No one from Hogwarts yet."
Ophelia let out a sigh of relief—she could still try to warn Cedric one last time.
"Some of them might have gotten up early to put in in though," Luca said thoughtfully. "Or last night—you know Ced is the shy type...doesn't like to have a crowd when he does things."
"Well then he shouldn't be joining the stupid tournament!"
Luca shrugged, she's got a point.
At that moment, Fred, George and Lee Jordan hurried down the staircase, and they all looked over the moon.
"Done it," Fred said excitedly.
"Just taken it."
"What?" Ron asked.
"The Aging Potion, dung brains," Ophelia's lips twitched upwards slightly at that.
"One drop each,"
"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 added.
"I'm not sure this is going to work, you know." Hermione said. "I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of this."
Instead of being worried, Ophelia knew that Hermione had a point, and the age line looked pretty promising.
"Ready?"
"C'mon, then—I'll go first—"
Fred took a slip of parchment out of his pocket and walked confidently to the edge of the line. Ophelia took out her phone to record—she would definitely want to remember this going wrong. He stepped over the line, and nothing seemed to happen, so George jumped right in after him. In a split moment, with a loud buzzing sound, they were both thrown out of the circle, but now, with identical long white beards.
Ophelia, Luca, and everyone else roared with laughter, and even the twins started laughing at each other's appearance.
"I did warn you," Professor Dumbledore entered. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Promfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, 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."
Ophelia walked over to the twins and helped them both up, stroking both their beards. "You both look like my grandfather," she joked. "C'mon, let's go the hospital wing."
SNAPCHAT
raemae7 100 ss and I'll make their beard permanent
After dropping the twins off at the infirmary, Ophelia rushed back down to the entrance hall to catch Cedric before he entered. She didn't care that she had saw the Beauxbatons girl with him earlier that day, all she cared about was his safety and that he didn't enter the stupid tournament.
She spotted a mop of hazel hair she knew so well and the yellow hood in his robes, and sped up her footsteps to him.
"Ced," she panted, brushing her curly hair out of the way to look at him. "Please, please don't enter. I've been reading about it this past week and the death rate was crazy. There's a reason they stopped the tournament and haven't been able to reopen since the 1700s." she paused to take a breath. "Ced, please."
Cedric's elated expression dropped, and his Hufflepuff friends widened their eyes and patted him on the back before slowly creeping away.
"Ced?"
Cedric ran his hand through his hair and she wanted to melt on the spot. "Ophelia," he said quietly, his brown eyes boring deeply into hers, and the apology was clear in his eyes.
"No." she shook her head frantically, taking a step away from him.
"Ophelia," he repeated, now more desperate.
"Please don't tell me you put your name in." Ophelia pleaded. "Don't."
"I can't tell you that."
Ophelia's lips formed an O as she took another step back, flipping her hair around to leave, her heart heavy and breaths coming out in short pants.
"Fee," Cedric called after her, jogging to catch up. "Fee, please, I'm sorry."
She blocked his calls out and went back up to the hospital wing to find the twins—she needed a huge Halloween prank to get him off her mind.
⟠ ⟠ ⟠
The evening had came faster than Ophelia had anticipated it to, and when she entered the Great Hall with the twins it was already almost full. She glared at the Goblet of Fire that was in front of Dumbledore's empty chair.
"Hope it's Angelina," Fred said when the Golden Trio arrived.
"So do I!" Hermione exclaimed breathlessly. "At least we'll know soon!"
Ophelia only took a few bites out of the extravagant feast—she was squirming in her seat in anticipation, dreading what was to come. Luca noticed and placed his hand over hers to stop her from fidgeting, sending a small smile of comfort that made her feel a teeny bit better.
Finally, as much as Ophelia didn't want it to, the golden plates cleared and the whole Great Hall faded to silence when Dumbledore stood up.
"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," he announced. "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, where they will be receiving their first instructions."
With a wave of his wand, the Great Hall was now semi dimmed, and the Goblet of Fire shined even brighter, the blue flame a glare.
Ophelia rested her head on Luca's shoulder—she knew that if she looked anywhere else she would find Cedric's gaze.
Suddenly, the flames in the goblet turned red, and sparks began to fly out. There was a charred piece of parchment that spew out of it, and the whole room gasped, some inching from their seats.
"The champion for Durmstrang," he said strongly "will be Viktor Krum."
"No surprises there!" Ron yelled over the storms of applause and cheers. Viktor Krum walked from the Slytherin table to Dumbledore, and disappeared through the door into the chamber on the right.
"Bravo, Viktor!" Karkaroff boomed. "Knew you had it in you!"
As the goblet turned red again, the cheering and clapping died down. A second piece of parchment flew out.
"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is FleurDelacour!"
"Oh look, they're all disappointed," Hermione nodded, and Ophelia found a smirk on her face when she saw the greatly upset look on the Beauxbaton bitch's face as she sobbed and wailed.
There was a bit less cheering since the whole of Hogwarts knew that their champion was to be chosen next, and Luca didn't seem to be that bothered by how tight Ophelia was clenching his hand, even squeezing back.
The Goblet of Fire turned red once more, and Ophelia shut her eyes. "No, no, no." she kept saying.
"Fee," Luca said softly. "You'll regret it if you don't watch."
Knowing he was right, she slowly blinked her eyes open, just in time to see Dumbledore read from the third piece of parchment.
"The Hogwarts champion," he called out, and there wasn't a slight movement in the hall. "is Cedric Diggory!"
Ophelia sucked in a breath, and felt her insides churning, like she wanted to vomit. Although the screams and cheers from the Hufflepuff table was deafening, she felt like everything was spinning, and everything was muffled.
"Ophelia!" Luca's voice snapped her out of her daze, and she plastered a blank expression to look as if she didn't care.
Cedric was walking by their table, and paused as he approached them—Ophelia could feel his burning gaze on her back.
"Fee," he pleaded softly, but only she could hear over the roaring crowd.
She turned around, and Cedric was surprised to find a genuine smile. "The reason why I didn't want you to enter was that I knew you would get it, Ced." her smile disappeared, and she looked away, much to his dismay. "it's your moment, go ahead."
He continued down to the teacher's table with a broad grin, and him too, disappeared through the chamber.
"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as the crowd finally died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure Ican count upon all of you, including the remaining students fromBeauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions everyounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on,you will contribute in a very real —"
Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and even Ophelia looked up to see what was happening. The fire in the goblet was red again, and sparks were again, flying out of fit.
There was another piece of parchment.
Dumbledore reached out and seized the parchment, holding it out. No one but him could see the name on it, and there was a long pause of him just staring at it, and everyone in the room staring at him.
"Harry Potter."
longer chapter! i miss Ced and Ophelia's interactions :(