Call it what you want {Theodore Nott}

chapter fourteen

By half past five it was growing dark, and the group decided it was time to get back up to the castle for the Halloween feast - and, more importantly, the announcement of the school champions.

When they entered the candlelit Great Hall it was almost full. The Goblet of Fire had been moved; it was now standing in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teacher's table.

"Hope it's a Slytherin" said Enzo as they all sat down

The Feast seemed to take much longer than usual. Perhaps because it was their second feast in two days, Amy didn't seem to fancy they extravagantly prepared food as much as she would normally have done. Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, the fidgeting and the standing up to see wether Dumbledore had finished eating yet, Amy simply wanted the plates to clear, and to hear who has been selected as champions.

At long last, 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 Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as everyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.

"Well, the Goblet it 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 please to 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 receive their first instructions."

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

"Any second" Theo whispered

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. Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arms length, so he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue white.

"The champion for Durmstrang" he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."

"No surprise there" said Mattheo, as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Viktor walked past the group nodding his head at Amy who was taken back from the unexpected interaction.

"What did I just witness?" Iris asked Amy who seemed even as confused

"No clue" Amy replied still watching him pass the staff table and disappear through the door into the next chamber

"Guess he remembers you from the first night" she said raising her eyebrows at her

"I'm sure he has spoken to many girls here" Amy said brushing it off

The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the Goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.

"The champion for Beauxbatons" said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

"That's the one from the other day" Enzo said, as the girl who so resembled a Veela got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff table.

"The others don't seem to happy" Theo said with a smirk as he nodded to the rest of the Beauxbaton students

"Not happy" was a bit of an understatement, Amy thought. Two girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears, and were sobbing with their heads on their arms.

When Fleur, too, had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff  with excitement you could almost taste it. The Hogwarts champion was next.....
And the Goblet turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.

Amy found herself almost at the edge of her seat along with many others.

"The Hogwarts champion" he called "is Cedric Diggory"

"Yes!"

"No!"

Iris and Blaise both yelled at the same time.

The uproar from the other side of the Hall was too great. Every single Hufflepuff has jumped onto his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off towards the chamber behind the teachers table.

Iris turned around to Amy and have an excited shriek as though her favourite boy band had just come out onto stage.  Amy returned the excitement

She liked Cedric. Their small interactions had always been nice and he was good to her and her friends and is definitely the type of person to win this Tournament.

The applause went on for so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily, as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster"

The girls turned round and faced Blaise sitting opposite them with a sour look on his face. Iris simply flipped him off with a smile.

"By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real -"

But the Headmaster suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what distracted him.

The fire in the Goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and the borne upon it was another piece of parchment.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore.

"The hell?" Iris whispered to her friends

"Thought it was only three?" Blaise replied

"Yeah it's supposed to be" Amy answered "somethings wrong"

They turned back to Dumbledore as he cleared his throat, and read out - "Harry Potter"