Chapter 13: The Goblet

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Nico strolled up to breakfast, blearily reading a passage from his textbook he hadd neglected to read the previous night.

The Sopophorous plant is a rare plant that sprouts in gloomy marshlands, especially if fertilised by.

The Sopophorous plant has a spindly stem and large leaves with developed vascular tissue, which has a reddish tint. By the leaves grow beanpods, containing a single pearly-white that resembles an overgrown . have powerful magical properties, and are used in-

"Nico! Over here!" A voice called, startling Nico from the exhausted half-reading he was doing. His head whipped up from the text, trying to see who it was. He spotted Hermione waving at him from near the Goblet. Nico shut the book. He hadn't been very invested in it, anyways.

"You'll never guess what just happened to Fred and George." Ron grinned as Nico reached them, still trying to not pass out where he stood.

"Mhm. Did they do something dumb and get horribly injured?"

"Even better. They tried to use an age potion to fool Dumbledore's age line and sprouted the most magnificent beards."

"Right. And this is the age line?" Nico crouched down to examine the thin gold circle traced wide around the Goblet. "Not very impressive to look at."

"No, but it is such a detailed, intricate bit of magic-" Hermione started. 

"Look out! Champions approaching!" Whoops filled the hall, causing a ruckus in the steadily growing amount of students gathered around. Nico doesn't have time to find a way to manuever away from the circle or even stand up as the solid wall of seventh-year students burst in. As he desperately tried to get out of the way, Nico was knocked off balance, straight into the age ring. His book slides a few feet away, closer to the Goblet. He could hear the frantic calls of his worried friends calling to him, but he truly didn't feel like having his book get trampled by the larger students and using an old one for the rest of the year.  

He crawled, dodging the tramping feet of jovial seventeen-year-olds as he went. He snatched his book, scurrying back almost in a crab crawl. Hands grabbed him from behind, pulling him away from the mad throng and back to his friends. 

"Nico! Oh! You should go to Madame Pomfrey-"

"Nico mate, you okay-?"

"Bloody hell-!"

They all spoke at once, chcking him over like worried geese.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Nico brushed them off as well as he could, trying to get up. 

"Why aren't you sprouting facial hair and wrinkles?" Harry asked, perplexed.

Nico could feel his stomach sink. Oh no. The age line detected people younger than seventeen. Technically speaking, he was much, much older than that.

"I don't know," He lied, feeling somewhat ill. "Maybe cause I didn't use an aging potion. Can we just- just eat breakfast now?"

He could feel the three silently conversing behind his back, but luckily they don't question him further. He would let them keep their suspicions to themselves and just hope that this didn't spread any further from the other students that witnessed it.

They ate breakfast in conversation with Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan, which Nico wasn't privy to. Not that he normally took part in these conversations, so it wasn't odd to the others that he didn't this time. Nico felt too nauseous to eat much, the feeling of guilt that came with keeping a secret, no matter how harmless the secret may be. 

So when the other three decided to visit Hagrid, it was a welcome distraction. Hermione, ever persistent in trying to "free" the house elves, went up to herm dormitory to get her S. P. E. W. items to sell to Hagrid, leaving the three boys waiting in the Hall.

"Hey Ron," Harry nudged the ginger, nodding towards the doors. "It's your friend..."

Nico looked, seeing the Beauxbatons students entering the castle from the grounds. Not sure whom Harry was referring to, Nico was confused. "Who...?"

"The pretty blonde girl. Ron fancies her," Harry grinned in a way that could only be teasing.

"I do not! She has to be a Veela!" Ron protests.

Nico spotted the girl he's speaking of, slipping her paper into the Goblet. "Then why don't you talk to her? Can't be that hard." 

"Talk to her? Are you mental?" Ron spluttered, face red as a tomato. 

"Really, Ron, just do it. It is not that difficult." 

"You do it then! You ask her on a date if you're so brave."

Nico shrugged, fighting to keep down a small, amused smile at Ron's struggle. "Not my type, really."

Hermione returned just in time to save the three from their horribly awkward conversation, rattling her box of badges. As they headed down towards Hagrid's hut, Ron kept his eyes glued to the back of the Veela- Nico would have to read what those were later- girl's head, where she and the rest of her peers were travelling back to the giant blue carriage.



This is both shorter and later than I wanted it to be, but I'm exhausted and not feeling well, so here you go. Happy new years and happy holidays, Matchsticks. I love you all <3

Love,
Sammy

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