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October 31, 1994:
Dinner that night dragged on for what felt like years, and Willa had never felt so bored in her life. She kept fidgeting to keep herself occupied and received annoyed looks from her peers. She stared at Dumbledore and wondered how long it was going to take him to finish his meal. Willa wasn't the only one, Cedric was also getting annoyed slightly. He wanted to know who the Hogwarts champion was and this long silence that had been lingering in the Great Hall was agonising.
Willa sighed gratefully when finally the plates emptied and Dumbledore got to his feet. Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime seemed quite tense, she noticed, and for good reason. They had been joined again by Mr Bagman and Mr Grouch from the Ministry, one of whom looked very uninterested in what was about to happen.
"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," Dumbledore said, motioning to the door behind the staff table. "where they will be receiving their first instructions."
With a wave of his wand, Dumbledore extinguished all the candles bar the ones inside the carved pumpkins, leaving them all sitting in a semi-darkness. The Goblet of Fire shone brighter than Willa had ever seen it, as its blue-white flame sparkled in the semi-darkness.
More time passed and people started checking their watches. Surely something was going to happen soon.
And finally it did.
The flames turned red, sparks flew from the Goblet and a charred piece of parchment flew out of it - the entire room gasped as Dumbledore caught it in his hand.
He read, loud and clear, "The champion for Durmstrang, will be Viktor Krum."
A storm of applause and cheers flooded the Hall and Willa watched as Viktor followed Dumbledore's instructions and disappeared through to the next chamber. The room went silent once more as everyone waited for the Goblet to reveal the second champion. Again, it's flames turned red, and the second slip of parchment flew out into the Headmaster's hands.
"The champion for Beauxbatons," Dumbledore said, "is Fleur Delacour."
There was another round of applause for Fleur - but not as enthusiastic as it was for Krum - as she made her way past the staff table and through the chamber.
The silence returned, only this time it was that of pure excitement. The Hogwarts champion was next and Willa's palms grew sweaty and her heart was beating fast against her chest. She was both nervous and excited.
