Daughter of Mine | Harry Potter

X.

Hermione woke Lalia from her sleep early on Saturday morning. They met Ron and Harry in the common room and left for breakfast. It appeared many had woken up early as the Entrance Hall was quite filled considering the time. 

The Goblet of Fire had been placed in the center of the room and a thin golden line traced a circle on the floor ten feet around it in every direction. 

"Anyone put their name in yet?" Ron asked a third-year eagerly. 

"All the Durmstrang lost," she replied. "But I haven't seen anyone from Hogwarts yet." 

"Bet some of them put it in last night after we'd all gone to bed," said Harry. "I would've if it had been me... wouldn't have wanted everyone watching. What if the goblet just gobbed you right back out again?" 

A laugh sounded behind Harry. Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were hurrying down the stairs, looking extremely excited. 

"Done it," said Fred in a triumphant whisper to the group. "Just taken it." 

"What?" said Ron. 

"The Aging Potion, dung brains," said Fred. 

"One drop each," said George, rubbing his hands together with glee. "We only need to be a few months older." 

'We're going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins," said Lee, grinning broadly. 

"I'm not sure this is going to work, you know," said Hermione warningly. "I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of this." 

The boys ignored her. 

"Ready?" Fred said to the other two, quivering with excitement. "C'mon, then - I'll go first -"

Fred slipped parchment into his hands and stood on the edge of the line, rocking on his toes. Then, he took a breath and stepped over the line. 

George, thinking it worked, let out a yell of triumph and leapt after Fred. Immediately following this, there was a sizzling sound, and both twins were hurled out of the golden circle as though they had been thrown by an invisible force. They landed painfully, ten feet away on the cold stone floor, and both of them sprouted identical long white beards. 

The hall erupted into laughter, including the twins, once they had gotten to their feet and taken a good look at each other's beards. 

"I did warn you," said a deep, amused voice, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though, I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours." 

Lalia rolled her eyes and entered the decorated Great Hall. As it was Halloween, a cloud of live bats was fluttering around the enchanted ceiling, while hundreds of carved pumpkins leered from every corner. 

Harry led the way over to Dean and Seamus where the group sat. 

"There's a rumor going around that Warrington got up early and put his name in," Dean told Harry. "That big bloke from Slytherin who looks like a sloth." 

Harry, who played against Warringtong in Quidditch, shook his head in disgust. 

"We can't have a Slytherin champion!" 

"And all the Hufflepufffs are talking about Diggory," said Seamus contemptuously. "But I wouldn't have thought he'd have wanted to risk his good looks." 

Lalia scoffed. "Ridiculous, Cedric is a smart and caring person. If you all could get your heads out of... If you would just think, you'd remember that he wanted the rematch against Gryffindor. Stop pouting. You won the Cup anyways."