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Chapter Ten, In Which The Champions Are Chosen.

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✵Chapter Ten, In Which The Champions Are Coosen.✵

:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧ *:･

After the strange letter that turned out to contain nothing, Selena went and put it in the bottom of her trunk with other slips of blank parchment.

The rest of the day was spent playing exploding snap with some fellow 6th years from Ravenclaw, (as well as a brother and sister duo from Durmstrang who had never played before, but thought it looked fun. They hardly spoke any English, but they all had a pleasant time).

When the sky began to get dark around half past five, the respective schools began to gather in the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, and more importantly, the announcement of champions.

Andy was sitting in conversation with Neville Longbottom when Selena entered the hall, and looking further, she could see Sandy was sitting with Anastasia and Quinn, seemingly having an animated conversation about something. If Selena had to take a guess, she'd say it was likely talking about Cedric and the other prospective Hogwarts champions.

Spotting Lee Jordan down the table, Selena made her way to sit with him and the twins- who were both now clean shaven and seemed to be taking their disappointment fairly well.
Selena  sat down next to Lee, the boy pausing to grin at her before turning back to the  conversation with the 3rd year next to him.

The Great Hall was almost full, and the sound of students excitedly chatting to each other could be heard.
The Goblet of Fire had been moved; it was now standing in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teacher's table.
As the twins' younger brother Ron and his friends sat down at the table, Fred could be heard saying that he hoped Angelina would be chosen, and Hermione Granger agreed.

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By the time the feast had finished, everyone was bursting with excitement and barely able to remain in their seats. As soon as the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet.

On either side of him, Professor Karkaoff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.

“Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision,” said Dumbledore. “I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions’ names are called, I would ask them to please come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber” he indicated the door behind the staff table- “where they will be receiving their first instructions.”

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semi darkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting... A few people kept checking their watches…

“Any second,” Lee whispered next to Selena.

The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it- the whole room gasped.