LIKE LIGHTNING | Harry Potter x Reader Fanfiction

⁕ burning parchment ⁕

It was a few days after Quidditch tryouts, and I was burning with anticipation. Every day I woke up with my stomach in knots. I had never ever felt this way when I played volleyball back in California, then again I was 11 and it didn't really affect my life in a big way. But this was Quidditch, and if I made the team, I would compete against people who had been flying on broomsticks since birth, and they were much more skilled than me. 

I made it my mission to erase the thought from my head and focused on another event happening. Tonight, the Goblet of Fire would announce who would be in the Triwizard Tournament. We would have a grand feast to celebrate the three champions, and in about a month they would compete in the first task. Which, of course, nobody knew about. I went through my day like all the others, first Charms, then Potions, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I spent my lunch break in the library. When I had left for Hogwarts, I made sure to bring as many books as I could with me. Sure, the novels here at Hogwarts were filled with magic and mystical things that one would only wish to see in real life, but nothing could beat young adult fiction. 

I sat down in a small nook of the library and opened a book about angel warriors. It was around 600 pages and the paperbound spine had a black and white drawing of warriors with glowing blades. Sometimes I wished I could jump into a book, and then I realized that most people would see my life as one too. I mean I lived in a world with wands, flying broomsticks, and a castle. The thought made me laugh and giggled out loud. 

"Oh hey." I heard someone say. I looked up and saw Makayla Cochran.

"It's the girl from-" I thought, remembering the interaction she had with Snape during class, I shoved down my aversion. I mean everyone had their thing. 

"Can I sit here?" She said nervously. 

"Of course!" I scooted over to the left and she sat down. She had her own novel, it's cover looked old. I read the title. 

"Is that Phantom of the Opera?" I asked. I loved musicals and was a frequent visitor to West End during the summer with my parents. 

"Yes. Have you read it too?" She asked her face brightening by the second. 

"No, but I've heard about the musical. I've been dying to see it." 

"I'm in love with what I've read already. I just adore Christine." She said. A twinkle in her eye. I was used to the stereotype that all Slytherins were mean and rude but Makayla was different. She had that ambition, I could tell. But she was sweet. 

"Hey, do you want to hang out with me this weekend?" I asked suddenly. 

You could tell she had never been asked that question before cause she blushed and looked down, "Um..yeah that would be nice." she responded, putting a strand of hair behind her ear. 

"Awesome," I said, smiling. We went back to silently reading.

※※※

I was walking to the Great Hall for tonight's feast when Rodger Davies came up to me. Oh crap he's gonna tell me I didn't make the team. I anxiously thought. 

"Hey Y/N, I just wanted to say that you did great at Quidditch tryouts," He said with a smile. That's what they always say. 

"And I just wanted to congratulate you on making the Team. You are one of our new beaters!" 

"Oh, it's okay-WAIT REALLY!" I slapped a hand over my mouth. He laughed and said yeah. Patting my back he walked away. I silently screamed and did a little dance where I stood. 

"Nice dance." I heard someone joke behind me. I stopped moving and turned around. Fucking Malfoy. 

"You think I care what you think? I just got on the Ravenclaw quidditch team." I said with a smirk. Crossing my arms, I walked up to him and said, "Anything else to say?" 

"No." He hissed. And then stalked off. Woah, today was going pretty good. I made a new friend, made the team, and stood up to Malfoy. My confidence was SOARING. When I got inside the Great Hall I saw the Goblet of Fire at the front of the room. Its blue flames making the room feel as if it was dedicated to Ravenclaw. 

The feast began and I ate as if I had been starved for weeks. I mean who wouldn't eat like a maniac, the food here was better than anything you could buy in the muggle world. Apart from In-In-Out, exclusively in California. I talked to Arabella about Neville and her face grew redder every time I mentioned devising a plan to get them together. It wasn't my fault I was dying to become her matchmaker. I decided that during one of our Herbology lessons with the Gryffindors, I would purposely act stupid with Arabella to make her seem more knowledgeable about plants. I mean, sure, it's a pretty stupid idea but I was horrible at coming up with plans. 

Then it was time to pick the Champions. The girls from Beauxbaton and the boys from Durmstrang stood at the front of the room. Dumbledore raised his hands and then lowered them, the candlelight dimmed down and the room buzzed with anticipation. The Goblet's fire burst out and a single piece of burning parchment floated down from the air. 

"From the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic... Fleur Delacour!" A girl with long beautiful golden hair and strikingly blue eyes walked from the group of girls to the center of the platform. The hall erupted in cheers and she gave a great big smile. The room dimmed once more and the goblet spit out another piece of parchment. 

"From Durmstrang.....we have VIKTOR KRUM!" If it was possible for us to get any louder, then we did. The boys from Durmstrang banged their staffs against the ground and Viktor gave a smirk. 

But the hall went silent as fast as it got loud, it was time to pick a champion from Hogwarts. The Goblet took seconds longer than it had for the last two students and then the piece of paper floated down. Dumbledore grabbed the piece from the air and smiled. 

"CEDRIC DIGGORY!" He yelled and the Hufflepuff table exploded. Even I stood up as Cedric made his way to the rest of the champions. I honestly thought it would be either a Slytherin or Gryffindor, but this was even better. All of a sudden, the Goblet let out a tendril of fire, some let out gasps in the crowd and we all hunched down, scared of the blue flame. Then another piece of burning parchment floated into the air. Dumbledore was quick to grab it and then reading it, his face paled. It was silent enough to hear a pin drop. 

Then he said quietly, "Harry Potter." I whipped my head to face the Gryffindor table. And so did everybody else. I saw Harry's face. He looked bewildered and then Dumbledore spoke again. 

"Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?" Harry shook his head stood up and walked towards the rest of the champions. We caught eyes and he nodded his head again. Harry couldn't be another champion, that was impossible, it was called the Tri-Wizard Tournament for a reason. I looked back at the Gryffindor table, Ron had an expression of irritation and Hermione had her hand over her mouth. Everybody in the Hall looked angry. I couldn't blame them, just when it seemed as if somebody else had a chance for glory, Harry's name got picked. But this had to be a mistake, they couldn't let him compete, he wasn't even of age. 

Dumbledore spoke quickly, "The champions and I will leave to discuss the upcoming task. As for the rest of you, do not let this interfere with the feast." Then he grabbed Harry's forearm and led him and the other champions through a side door. I turned around to Arabella. Her eyes were also wide, but I couldn't seem to form a sentence as I said, 

"I don't-what just," I said dumbfounded.

"I have no idea," she said back, looking at the Goblet. 

This was a big problem. 

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WOAH SO MANY READS! <3

Word Count: 1410