Harry and Ginny solemnly stood in the deathly quiet of the Great Hall. They walked hand in hand passed Dumbledore, glaring at him the whole way. Sirius slapped the tabletop loudly as he stood, making the entire Great Hall jump. He stormed up to Dumbledore, glaring. Sirius looked the old man straight in the eye.
"You had better have a good explanation for this!" Sirius growled at the Headmaster, making Dumbledore retreat a step. Sirius huffed angrily and stormed off after Harry and Ginny.
Harry and Ginny entered the chamber to find the other Champions talking quietly by the fireplace. The French girls looked annoyed, the Durmstrang boys looked surly, Cedric looked confused.
"Potter?" sneered Davies. "What's going on out there?"
"Some bloody git put our names into the ruddy Cup and it spit them out," growled Ginny. Harry could tell, she was close to hexing someone, and it would not be pretty.
"Oh, bloody hell!" Cedric cursed. "It's the World Cup all over again!"
"You got that right, Diggory!" Sirius said as he entered.
Dumbledore, the other Heads, and the judges, along with Snape, Moody, and McGonagall, entered before anyone else could comment.
"But surely there is something we can do?" asked McGonagall.
"The Cup was obviously bewitched," Moody said, as Barty Crouch came into the chamber. Amos Diggory pulled him aside to tell him what had happened. Crouch nodded, as Amos stepped away.
Amos Diggory looked at his son, then at Dumbledore. He glanced at Sirius, before heaving a great breath.
"I'm afraid I must recuse myself as a judge in the Tournament, Albus." Amos turned to his Undersecretary. "Barty, it falls to you."
"There's nothing we can do," Crouch said, his voice sounded hollow. "The Goblet of Fire constitutes a binding Magical Contract. They must compete."
Sirius eyed Crouch. Despite his dislike of the man, there was something off about how he was acting. The other Heads started voicing their negative opinions loudly. To their credit, Harry and Ginny remained quiet, but Sirius could tell they were seething. He really didn't want Ginny to go off here. Or Harry for that matter. He had seen both of them angry, and they were very close to letting these supposed adults have some very harsh words. Suddenly, it was quiet, and Dumbledore turned to Harry.
"Harry, Ginny, did you put your names in the Cup?" Dumbledore asked. Harry and Ginny both felt the pressure of his mental probe.
"No!" Harry said through gritted teeth.
"No, we did not!" Ginny spat angrily. "And I'll thank you to stay out of my mind, Headmaster!"
"Albus!" Sirius warned. Dumbledore turned away from the couple, looking innocent. Sirius knew better. He made a decision that was a long time coming since his release from Azkaban.
"Very well. I believe them," Dumbledore said.
"Zhiz eez ridicule!" Madame Maxime shouted.
"I do not believe dem!" Karkaroff spat. "Do you hoove an alibi for vhere you vere last night?"
"Why even ask them, Igor?" sneered Snape. "They will just lie for each other."
"Severus, enough," warned Dumbledore.
"It's just another attempt for him to garner attention, just like..." Snape began.
The lights started to flicker, the room started to shake, and a breeze started blowing out of nowhere. Sparks started forming and flying off Ginny. "Harry hates the attention! Maybe if you opened your eyes and actually look..." Harry laid a calming hand on her shoulder. Sirius stepped between her and Snape.
