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***
"You must not have any respect for others nor yourself, Nadeleine. Not only have you put shame on your school, but you have disappointed me," Headmistress Maxime scolded me. I looked down at my feet which were fidgeting awkwardly along with my fingers. "Do not avoid my eyes!" my head snapped up, and Maxime sighed.
"I am deeply sorry, Headmistress. It will not happen again," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
"It better not. Now get to the hall," she ordered, and I nodded quickly, turning around to scurry away. "Nadeleine," I froze.
Cautiously turning around, I faced back to met her eyes again. My teeth were grit together so tight I could hardly breathe. "Happy Halloween," the headmistress smiled. She walked past me and into the great hall. I let out a relieved breath I didn't even know I was holding and soon ran inside the hall after her.
Many of the students were already seated, but a few stranglers were still trying to squeeze into a seat at a table. I rushed over to Fleur and Gabrielle, who both began their interrogations about where I was and why I had arrived right after Headmistress Maxime.
"Now the moment you've all been waiting for: The champion selection," Dumbledore boomed, and the hall went silent. He raised his hand, and the lights dimmed. With much caution, the Hogwarts headmaster lifted his palms to touch the fire's goblet, which was still sprouting blue flames.
The fire faded red, and the goblet spat out a piece of trim, brown parchment. Dumbledore read it carefully before announcing, "the Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum." Every clapped while the Durmstrang students patted Viktor on the back. The famous seeker went up to Dumbledore and shook his hand forcefully before walking through a door near the staff table.
The goblet lit up again, and the next piece of parchment it rejected was creamy white with gold lacing. "The champion for Beauxbatons..." I held my breath, "is Fleur Delacour." An exhale of defeat escaped my lips, and I looked over to Fleur, who had a broad smile on her face as everyone cheered. Gabrielle was no doubt the loudest and most excited for our sister. I, on the other hand, was utterly devastated. I tried to call my elder sister's name, but she strolled over to Dumbledore before I could talk to her.
They shook hands, and she raced through the door Viktor had gone through. The clapping died down, and the flame erupted for the final time. "The Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory!" the yellow table in the hall exploded in yells of joy as they shoved a boy with neat brown hair forward. The boy did the same as the others, and Dumbledore opened his arms.
"Excellent! 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!" a drape was lifted off a sculpture. It was a blue-glowing cup with defined stone detailing on every edge.
It wasn't until a Hogwarts professor with greasy black hair stepped forward that the hall noticed something odd going on with the goblet of fire. Flames sprang in every direction and went red, signaling the selection of another champion. And soon enough, another piece of parchment came from the goblet.
Once he had ahold of it, Dumbledore muttered something no one quite caught as he stared down at the parchment in utter shock. "Harry Potter?" he asked, and everyone looked in the direction of Harry Potter sat at the red table. All were gawking and gasping. No one replied, so he announced it louder, "Harry Potter!"
The girl with bushy brunette hair who had been seated in the great hall mocking Fred and George grabbed Harry's shoulders and yanked him up, pushing him ahead. One of the ginger-haired students from the red table was glaring at the poor fourth year in fury. He looked to be Fred and George's brother but not all that friendly based on how dirty a look he gave his peer.
Harry was much slower than the rest of the champions but eventually made it over to his headmaster, who handed him his parchment piece. The entire hall was scowling at him but still were too shocked to process anything to say or do besides changing their facial expression.
One boy finally spoke up. "He's a cheat!"
"He's not even seventeen yet!"
Harry began stumbling his way through the door. Once it was shut, the hall remained silent.
"Everyone to bed!" Dumbledore shouted, and the whispering finally started. "Now!"
***
The following day, I walked to the great hall for breakfast when I bumped into two solid figures while rounding the corner. "Oh my! I am so sorry I did not see you there!" I said on instinct, not even looking first to see who it was. When I looked up, I saw Fred and George with their ginger hair swept to the side (they had found a cure for their growing beards and grizzly hair). "I am truly sorry, I was not looking where I was going," I let a casual laugh slip through my lips, now feeling at ease that it wasn't complete strangers.
"No, no, it's okay," the shorter twin rushed out. I still had a hard time picking them out, but I think he was George.
"We're sorry we didn't see where we were going either," the other brother finished.
"I am Nadeleine," my arm extended without a thought, and they both shook it. "And you are Fred?" I pointed to the taller one, who chuckled.
"He's not Fred, I am," the stocky one grinned.
"I'm George," the slimmer brother corrected.
"Oh, I am sorry again. You two just look very alike," I tried to joke, but it came out too nervous and tense.
"It's okay. Our own mother can't even tell us apart," said George.
"Just think of me as the good-looking one," Fred teased, and George hit him across the head. "Bloody hell, what was that for?"
"You gotta stop saying that, Freddie; otherwise, I'll shove you into a broom cupboard," George threatened, and Fred exchanged the gift of hitting his brother back.
"Oh yeah? Well, then I'll hit a bludger right your way at practice tomorrow."
"You don't have the guts."
"Oh hell, I do!"
I walked around them as they continued bickering. "It was really nice meeting you," I interrupted them, and they looked around with shocked expressions. Both speechless and unable to move, I took that as an opportunity to smile at them, holding my eye contact with George just a touch longer to notice a glimmer in his brown eyes before I walked around the corner.
I soon heard one of them laugh under their breath. "Looks like someone got a crush on someone."
