Chapter 36 - Chosen Champions

***** SURPRISE BONUS CHAPTER ***** A/N: Im posting this from the top of a mountain. Glad it works =) But ya, figured I'd drop this early, and just make this a 3 chapter weekend. Get on with the story if you will ahahah. Sidenote - this is unedited, so if there are any obvious grammar mistakes, please point them out, and I'll fix them in the future. Anyways..... hope you all enjoy! *****

Khan entered the Great Hall, to find it already almost full.

It was evening on Oct 31st, and it was time for the Halloween feast.

Khan walked in, and took a seat beside Fleur at the Ravenclaw table. He saw that the Great Hall now had floating pumpkins, carved into various jack o'lanterns, littering its ceiling.

The Goblet of Fire had been moved, and was now standing in front of Dumbledore's chair, directly opposite where he was seated at the Teacher's table.

Very quickly, the feast started, and students began to ravenously dig into their food.

It wasn't that they were hungrier than yesterday... they were simply more excited to finish the feast, so that they can move on to the main event; The Choosing of the School Champions.

The Halloween Feast was over quite quickly as a result of the zealous students.

Khan himself, was quite impatient, and judging by the constantly craning necks of students around the hall, standing to see if the headmasters were finally finished their food yet, so was everyone else.

Finally, the golden plates cleared of all the left over food and mess, indicating the end of the feast.

Silence instantly descended upon the Great Hall, as Dumbledore got to his feet.

Khan looked to the front, and saw that on either side of him, was Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, looking quite tense. Ludo Bagman was up there was well, beaming with a childish grin, where as Mr Crouch, looked quite uninterested in the entire event.

He almost looked bored.

'Quite the contrast to how he was acting during the world cup....' Khan thought to himself, remembering the trigger happy confrontation incident between Mr Crouch/the ministry aurors and himself, during the World Cup riot that previous summer.

"Ahem!" Dumbledore cleared his throat dramatically, calling everyone's attention to himself. "The Goblet of Fire is almost ready to make its decision. Probably another minute or so."

"Now.... when the champion names are called, I would ask them to please come up to the top of the hall, walk along the staff table, and head through into the next chamber." Dumbledore pointed at a connected room, as he explained the following procedures. "Once all the Champions have been gathered, they will receive their first set of instructions."

Taking out his wand with a fancy flourish, he gave a great sweeping wave with it, extinguishing all lights in the Great Hall, save for the candles placed inside of Pumpkins.

Immediately the Great Hall was plunged into semi-darkness giving it an eerie sort of feeling, suiting the Halloween theme rather appropriately.

The Goblet of Fire in particular, now shown more brightly than anything else, the blue-white flame dancing on its brim hypnotizingly.

Suddenly the flames inside the goblet changed color and glowed a deep red, sparks flying out wildly.

The next moment, a tongue of red flame shot into the air, releasing a charred piece of parchment fluttering out of it.

The whole room gasped at the dramatics of the situation.

Floating down slowly, Dumbledore eventually caught the piece of parchment a few moments later.

Holding it at arms length, so that he could read it in the faint glow caused by the Goblet of Fire, who's flames had turned back to blue-white.

"The Champion for Durmstrang," He read aloud. "will be Viktor Krum!"

A storm of applause erupted from the crowd, who were all excited to see the international quidditch star compete.

Khan watched, fire in his eyes, as Krum rose from the Slytherin table, and slouched his way up towards Dumbledore and the rest of the staff.

Following instructions, he then turned and walked along the front of the table into the side connecting room.

"Bravo Viktor!" Boomed Karkaroff, loud enough that Khan could hear him from the Ravenclaw table, even over all the applause and noise.

The applause quickly died down, as everyone noticed the Goblet flame once again change colors, and turn a deep red.

A 2nd piece of parchment shot out of it moments later, once again propelled by a large red flame.

Catching the paper, Dumbledore read aloud the next selected champion.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," he announced. "is Fleur Delacour!"

Applause erupted once more, albeit not as loudly.

Khan couldn't help but notice the Beauxbatons student's reactions in particular, as he was cheering for his friend, as she gracefully made her way towards the staff table as well.

Disappointed would be an understatement, if Khan had to describe their reactions. 2 of the girls, who had not been selected, even burst into tears, sobbing with disappointment.

In fact, it seemed, nobody from Beauxbatons was cheering for Fleur, their representative and newly chosen champion.

'They could at least show some school unity, and cheer for her politely.....' Khan thought to himself pensively. 'Seems as though she has few friends if any at that school.'

Khan's thoughts were interrupted, as the flames on the goblet, once again turned red, indicating it was time to choose the last champion.

He, along with the rest of Hogwarts, watched eagerly, as a piece of paper shot out of the flames, with the name of the Hogwarts champion.

Dumbledore caught it, and paused dramatically, before reading the name aloud.

"I am quite pleased to announce, that our Hogwarts Champion," He announced quite happily. "is none other than Jordan Khan!"

The entire school erupted with applause and cheers!

Khan got to his feet and made his way to the front, accompanied by a standing ovation.

Every house had their personal favorites they would prefer to become champion. Gryffindor had Angelina, and Hufflepuff had Cedric Diggory for example. And not only represent their school, but solidify their house as the overall #1 that year.

But Khan wasn't so much known as a Ravenclaw student, as he was known for being a Jr. Professor for charms and Defense.

The student body's consensus around him was universally positive.

They all agreed that against a world-class athlete like Krum, and a Veela like Fleur, Khan was their best chance to win the Triwizard Tournament for Hogwarts.

As a result, the applause from all the students, last long after Khan had left the Great Hall, and it was quite some time before Dumbledore could continue his closing remarks, now that all the champions had been chosen.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called out happily. "We now have our 3 champions, and they each appear to be capable in their own rights! I am truly looking forward to their performances!"

"And I am sure that I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your chosen champions every ounce of support you can muster!" He continued jovially. "By cheering your champion on, you will be contributing in a very real w-"

Dumbledore cut himself off, as he, along with everyone else in the Great Hall, had noticed that the Goblet had once again, turned its flames red, indicating another champion had been chosen.

Sparks were flying out of it, rather violently this time, in clear contrast to the previous sparks it emitted for the other chosen champions.

If Khan were here, he would've noticed with his ancient magic vision that instead of teal, the color emitted when other champions were called, the sparks were more of a lime green color, quite similar to the deep green color found in dark magic.

A long flame shot suddenly into the air, flinging out another piece of parchment, which was automatically seized by Dumbledore.

He held it out and stared at the name written upon it, confused at how this could have possibly happened.

Unfortunately.... Dumbledore knew that since his name had been selected by the Goblet, he had no choice but to call the student up, or risk losing his magic.

After a long pause, Dumbledore cleared his throat, and read out with trepidation.

"The 4th Champion..... will be Harry Potter." He said aloud solemnly.

Silence followed his announcement, as everyone processed the information with shock.

There was no applause.

Harry himself, sat there stunned, frozen in his seat. Surely he was dreaming..... He had not even entered his name.... He was finally looking forward to a quiet year for once.....

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore interrupted his thoughts as he called out once more. "Up here, if you please!"

"Go on!" Hermione gave Harry a slight push, as he slowly trod his way to the front of the Great Hall, towards the teachers.

He felt everyone's eyes on him, making the long walk to the front of the hall feel even longer than usual. Hundreds upon hundreds of eyes bore into him; Harry felt sick to his stomach.

After what felt like an eternity, Harry finally arrived in front of the staff table.

Being scrutinized, he felt the stares of all the teachers upon him.

"Well.... through the door, with you Harry...." Dumbledore said, with a frown on his face. A clear contrast to his previous expression just moments ago.

Harry went through the door, out of the Great Hall, and found himself in a smaller room, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace opposite him, with the other 3 champions standing around it, looking imposing as ever to Harry, silhouettes flickering in the firelight.

A Veela.

An International Quidditch Star.

A Junior Professor.

Khan and Fleur looked to be deep in conversation, with Krum watching impassively from the side.

The faces in the portraits turned to look at him as he entered.

"Hello Harry!" Khan noticed Harry as he entered, and greeted him, halting his and Fleur's conversation, much to her chagrin.

"What is it?" She asked with a huff. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"

She thought he had come to deliver a message, and wanted it to be done with, so she could continue her conversation with Jordan.

Harry meanwhile, didn't know how to explain what had just happened.

He just stood there, awkwardly looking at the 3 champions.

"Absolutely extraordinary!" Bagman entered the room excitedly approaching the fireside and addressing everyone. "May I introduce, incredible though it may seem - THE FOURTH CHAMPION of the Triwizard Tournament?"

Krum scowled, as his face darkened at the news. He turned to survey Harry, who was now additional competition.

Khan meanwhile, looked intrigued at the news.

"Fourth champion?" He thought to himself amused. "Are they going to call it the Quad-wizard tournament instead?"

Fleur however, tossed her hair smiling. "Oh vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman!"

"Joke?" He replied, bewildered. "No, no.... its not a joke at all! Harry's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire just now!"

Fleur frowned at the news.

"But zair 'as beeen a meestake!" She complained. "E' cannot compete! E' is too young!"

"His name has already come out of the Goblet!" Bagman replied. "I mean..... I don't think he's even allowed to quit... after all, it's in the rules!"

They were quickly joined just then by Dumbledore, Crouch, Karkaroff, Maxime, McGonagall, and Snape.

'Why is Professor Snape here.....' Khan thought to himself curiously. 'Isn't he Head of House of Slytherin? Shouldn't Flitwick be here to represent me?'

The other occupants had every right to be here after all..... The 3 of them being headmasters, Crouch being a ministry official, and McGonagall being the deputy Headmistress, and Head of House Gryffindor, for Harry.

"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?!?" Maxime demanded as soon as they were also inside the side room.

"I'd rather like to that myself, Dumbledore." Followed up Karkaroff. "TWO Hogwarts Champions... I don't remember anyone telling me the host school was allowed 2 champions..... I might have volunteered Durmstrang if I had known...."

"C'est impossible!" Maxime continued in rage. "'Ogwarts cannot 'ave 2 champions! It is most injust!"

"We were under the impression that your age line would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore!" Karkaroff complained. "Otherwise, we would have brought along a wider selection of candidates from our own schools!"

"It's nobody's fault but Potter's!" Sneered Snape smugly. "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's Determination to break r-"

"Sorry sir, but are we even sure Potter is even responsible for doing this?" Khan interrupted Snape, unhappy with the accusations. It was clear Harry was not expecting to be called; one only had too look at how shock and surprised he still was.

'These people really like jumping to conclusions without doing any investigations.....' Khan grumbled to himself.

"Quiet boy! Who else could it be?" Snape retorted rudely. "He is just like his father, always looking for-"

"Do you have an evidence, other than a childish grudge against his DEAD father?" Khan rebuked Snape, quite angry at the disrespect Snape was showing him. "Perhaps you should find some, before firing off accusations!"

"Why are you present anyways?" Khan was on a roll, anger building as he continued to speak, eyes flashing red with anger. "Aren't you the Head of Slytherin and the school Potions Master? Why are you here, and not Professor Flitwick? Is Harry being called a result of a Slytherin scheme perhaps? Or maybe.... somehow the Goblet was given a potion, to confuse it into calling Harry as a 4th champion!"

"Who- This!" Snape was fuming with rage at the baseless accusations, so much so that he couldn't form proper sentences with his words. The irony of Khan's words, slipped right over his head as a result.

"Thank you Severus!" Dumbledore interrupted him, before things could escalate further. "Khan does make a good point..... You are excused. Please fetch Professor Flitwick on your way out."

Snape turned, quite angry at the abrupt dismissal, and walked out of the room, robes billowing out behind him.

Dumbledore then turned to Harry, who was looking up at him, trying to discern the expression behind the half-moon spectacles.

"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?" Dumbledore asked calmly.