MORALITY ⟶ Angelina Johnson [1]

Chapter Sixteen

[Chapter Sixteen]

Saros didn't move and for a minute or so, he didn't dare breathe as he hoped that he was simply stuck in a nightmare. He didn't need to breathe in a dream to survive, however, as he felt his chest ache and became slightly dizzy from the lack of air, Saros had to come to terms that he was stuck in a very painful reality. Unfortunately, all his hopes and prayers had been for nothing because while he hoped that his name wouldn't be called and while he prayed that he wasn't worthy enough for the goblet, it turned out he was wrong.

He was worthy enough to stand trial within the Triwizard Tournament and his name had been called. And while Saros thought the world around him was silent simply because he was in a state of shock, it turned out that everything around him was in fact actually silent. Since his name had been called, the Great Hall didn't erupt in applause as it had done for the other two champions that had been called from the other schools. Instead, everyone seemed to be in their state of shock as a Slytherin had been selected and not just any Slytherin, Saros Malfoy.

A student who was known well enough due to his surname but never one to make an impression on the mass of students during his time at school. He was a boy that kept to himself, people knew his little brother far better than they knew him. How could he have been chosen to represent Hogwarts when no one really knew who he was? Fingers had been crossed on Cedric Diggory, a golden boy that was popular among his peers and if not him, the bets had been placed on Roger Davies, another token spirit of popularity.

Gryffindor had been praying that Angelina would be selected and she had been deemed an unstoppable force and while Draco and his friends had been rooting for Saros, he was willing to bet that the other Slytherin students were counting on Cassius being chosen. The shot at eternal glory wasn't looking that good because Saros didn't even feel the support of his own school behind him.

Perhaps Draco would have been clapping until his hands were purple if he wasn't stuck with the task of trying to get Saros to stand up. After all, the instructions were that once a name was called that the selected champion was supposed to head to the chamber where they would await further instruction.

"Come on, Saros," Draco whispered under his breath to him, " you have to get up and join the others."

Was he even welcome to get up and join the others? Saros was waiting for the other students to demand another name be called in place of him. But he did eventually come to stand up, slightly wobbly as his prosthetic seemed to be the only thing holding him up at the time. He walked down the aisle parallel to the Slytherin table, feeling the burning glare of everyone watching him as he approached Dumbledore.

And just when he felt the need to curl up in a ball of awkwardness and die, he heard the sound of someone clapping their hands. Jerking his head to the side almost immediately, Saros looked in the direction of the Slytherin table, only to see that everyone was practically still, which led him to look in the other direction.