Chapter 323: The Champions are announced
Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 323: The Champions are announced
The next day, at night
The entire school was in the Great Hall, finishing their dinners and looking towards the front, where the Goblet of Fire had been placed, with great expectations.
Tonight, the Headmaster was finally going to announce the three participants for the tournament.
Over this last week, they had the opportunity to meet the students from the other schools, and it was easy to tell who their champions were going to be.
From Beauxbatons, Fleur Delacour was the favorite candidate… and the only one. Everyone else appeared to have come here just to support her as champion.
From Durmstrang, there were a few candidates who put their names in the cup. But everyone was expecting Viktor Krum to be the one chosen. He was, after all, a very famous and popular professional Quidditch player.
From Hogwarts, it was less clear. Dozens of seniors had put their names in.
However, there was one student in the Hall who already knew what the results were going to be.
Harry stared at the Goblet of Fire with impassivity for a while before looking at Neville, who was peacefully finishing his dinner while talking with Ron and Seamus.
He felt a bit bad for what was about to happen, but this was the best way. He had no doubt about that.
If he hadn't taken charge of the situation, the danger could have come from anywhere at any time.
It was preferable to have a sword pointed at you in the open than a hundred daggers in the dark.
"Urgg… I can't believe it…" Hermione groaned.
Harry glanced at her.
Meanwhile, his housemate was worried about something completely unrelated.
"Cheer up, Herms! That happens to me all the time!" Lavender said.
"Yeah… honestly, no one will blame you. That professor is even worse than the ghost…." Parvati made a face of disgust.
"I never fell asleep in class before!" Hermione exclaimed.
Apparently, the history lessons of Professor Rookwood were even more boring than his predecessor.
Boring enough to make someone like Hermione Granger fall asleep during his class.
Harry didn't understand all the ins and outs of whatever necromancy Voldemort had used to create that soulless puppet.
But it appears that as long as the Dark Lord was not directly controlling him, Rookwood would act in sort of 'automatic mode.' And that made him extremely dull.
"Look! It's time!" Lyra pulled on his robes over and over.
His sister was extremely excited about this tournament.
"Who do you think Hogwarts' Champion is going to be?" she asked him.
"Probably Cedric Diggory." Harry told her.
"The Hufflepuff?..." Lyra could not imagine a Hufflepuff champion.
"Cedric?…" Ginny poked her head from behind Lyra.
"Mmm… he is very popular, yes…" Of course, she was very familiar with him. Not only was Cedric her rival at Quidditch, but he was also her neighbor.
"But I still think that Ethan Colten has a better chance to become the Champion."
"Who?…" Harry asked.
"The Head Boy. Wait, how are you sure that…" Lyra then realized something. The reason her brother was so sure must be because the same thing happened in his time.
With a mischievous smile on her face, Lyra turned around.
"Say, Ginny… do you wanna make a bet?"
"A bet? On who becomes the Champion?... sure, why not? But what do you want to bet? I don't have a single nut." Ginny was completely oblivious to her friend's machinations.
Lyra grinned widely. "Don't worry about it. I don't want money… what about this?… the loser has to g— ouch!" Lyra felt a hand smacking her head.
"No bets." Harry told her in a firm tone.
"But…" Lyra pouted.
"No bets." He insisted.
Ginny tilted her head in confusion. She had no idea what Lyra had in mind. She would have to ask her later.
With the dinner finished, it was finally time to make the announcement everyone had been excited about.
Dumbledore approached the Goblet of Fire and tapped it with his wand.
The blue flames on the top became much more intense.
"And now… we will know the names of the Three Triwizard Champions! I will have to ask everyone to remain in silence." He pointed at the artifact.
"The Goblet of Fire will select a name, and this one will come out from within its flames. Once that person has been chosen, there is no going back, so I hope that everyone who put their names inside thought things through."
The entirety of the audience remained silent as requested. Their eyes were glued to the goblet… waiting…
Not even a minute had passed when the flames flared up, and a piece of scorched paper flew out.
Dumbledore, who was waiting close by, was the one who caught the paper.
"Viktor Krum!"
The students cheered for the Durmstrang champion.
Viktor stood up from his chair and acknowledged the cheers with a polite gesture.
Another minute passed, and another paper flew out of the goblet.
"Fleur Delacour!" the Headmaster declared.
This surprised no one, but still, Fleur stood up, smiled at the crowd, and gave a curtsey.
"Merci."
It was finally time for the last champion…
Another minute, and the paper came out in the same way as the others.
Dumbledore extended his hand, and the paper landed on his palm. He looked at it for a moment and read its contents.
"Cedric Diggory!"
Everyone cheered, but no one as loudly as the Hufflepuff table.
"Hey, you were right, Lyra!" Ginny exclaimed.
"Yeah…" She pouted, crossed her arms, and gave her brother a glare.
"Hufflepuff!"
"Cedric!"
The entire table began to cheer.
The Hufflepuff house really needed this now. The atmosphere had been very depressing for the past weeks, and this bit of happiness was very welcome.
"Hogwarts!"
"Cedric!"
Soon enough, the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables also joined in. After all, this was their champion! And he was going to win...
or so they thought.
The Goblet of Fire became active again.
Its blue flames gained a green hue and began to rise in intensity.
"What is going on?!"
"Are there more champions?"
"I think there is something wrong with the goblet!"
Umbridge opened her eyes widely. She expected the fourth name to come out like the others, but something was off.
She was extremely worried now. If something went wrong, she was going to take the blame in front of her Lord…
"Stay calm, remain in your seats!" the Headmaster shouted.
Just when the flames appeared to be losing control… something came out of them with a loud explosion… a piece of paper.
As the paper descended, the flames on the goblet calmed down until they returned to normal.
McGonagall and a few other professors stood up from their seats and approached Dumbledore for an explanation.
They all saw the Headmaster catch the fourth piece of paper… and look at it, before closing his fist around it.
"Neville Longbottom!" he announced.
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