A Change in Fate || Cedric Diggory [1]

Chapter 7: An Anxious Analeigh and Charmed Cedric

A/N: Just a friendly reminder that in this fanfic, the rules of the Triwizard Tournament have been changed. There will now be two champions per school who will act as partners, and the minimum age to enter is 15.

Analeigh Heart would by lying to herself if she said she wasn't nervous about the mere thought of putting the piece of parchment containing her name into the Goblet of Fire. It was simplest part to do in the Triwizard Tournament, yet Analeigh was very anxious. Yes, she wanted to join, but the feeling of voluntarily agreeing to take part in something dangerous was unnerving. At the same time, the tournament wasn't just dangerous; it was a great honor if you got to be chosen, and Analeigh wanted to fill up that spot so badly.

The 31st of October was the deadline for submitting names into the Goblet of Fire. Only a few days before that, Analeigh was accompanied by Hermione as she went into the Great Hall and dropped her piece of parchment into the blazing Goblet. There was only a small number students at that time, including Dean, Seamus, Angelina Johnson (who entered her name a few moments before Analeigh did), and a few more she did not know the names of, and they all gave an encouraging round of applause. Following that, Analeigh and Hermione sat down on one of the benches pushed to the side of the Great Hall and agreed that they'd watch the rest of the students entering. Analeigh breathed a sigh of relief when she was finally able to relax next to her bushy-haired friend.

"It's official, then," said Hermione, watching her friend intently. "You have a chance of becoming one of the champions for the Triwizard Tournament."

Analeigh laughed it off. "Sure, among hundreds of other students."

"I thought you were trying to believe in yourself more?"

"I am, but at the same time, I can't expect too much," she replied with a shrug.

"It's funny," Hermione then said after a pause. "There's still so many people submitting their names. I wonder how many applicants there are?"

As if on cue, Analeigh looked up and scanned the Great Hall. Sure enough, there was quite a number of people from all three schools stepping into the Age Line and putting their names into the Goblet one after another, as well as loads of students watching and waiting by the sides.

"I guess all of them want to bring honor to their school, too," Analeigh said thoughtfully.

"Or they want to get a thousand galleons and be famous like those morons," Hermione interrupted. The two girls watched, one in irritation and the other in curiosity, as a group of fifth year boys with a mix of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs laughed and pushed each other playfully before they all threw in their pieces of parchment into the blue fire.

"You never know, Hermione," Analeigh tried. "They could just be excited..." But as they were leaving, Analeigh overheard them talking about the prizes for the final champion and what they would do when they won the tournament — one of them mentioned being on the cover of not only the Daily Prophet but also on Witch Weekly. "Yeah, okay, never mind. You're right — they're dimwits."

Hermione giggled and shook her head. "I told you so."

Without other words needed to be said, the two girls drifted into silence as they killed time by reading their school books to prepare for their upcoming classes. But when Viktor Krum walked into the room, both of them immediately stopped what they were doing, and so did everyone else. Krum walked with his shoulders set back and his face as serious as ever, not missing a beat as he strode towards the Goblet, his right fist tightened around a ripped paper that no doubt had his name written on it. Finally, he made it past the Age Line and dropped slip of later inside, causing the flame to burn even brighter. The hall burst into another round of applause, breaking the previous silence when he first walked in.