In a tent propped up outside the Quidditch Field, the deafening roar announced the return of the enormous crowd of students.
The Hogwarts champions of the 1st Group craned their neck as their bodies shook a little.
Even though none wanted it, a touch of nervousness surfaced on their faces.
In their defense, Darcie seed nervous as well.
For the first stage of the Triwizard Tournant, the Hogwarts students were dressed in black t-shirts with yellow stripes over black pants and shoes.
It was already close to lunch now.
In the early morning, the Durmstrang students had already gone through their battles, with all managing to secure at least one cylindrical object that was supposed to be relevant for the second stage.
Then, between lunch and the Durmstrang, Beauxbatons students had battled their dragons, securing a similar result to their morning counterparts.
Among the two groups of students, only Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour’s teams managed to get four cylindrical objects.
Now, it was Hogwarts’ turn... a battle against Hungarian Horntail!
Rembering the dragon they would be fighting, all students simultaneously looked at Black who had defyingly gone to randomly select one from Crouch Sr’s pouch.
Sensing their gazes, Black looked up and—smiled.
Suddenly, before the students could go up to Black and smack the back of his head, Gilderoy walked into the tent pompously.
"You are not allowed..." McGonagall began, frowning.
"... outside. They ask what’s the best ti to take my autograph," Lockhart smiled, flapping his cloak. He looked at the girls among the ten students, his smile broadening. "Well, it is—Now!"
Under the stunned gazes of Professor McGonagall, who had been encouraging the students, Gilderoy took out several of his frad photos, all winking or posturing themselves in one way or another.
With remarkable agility and urgency, he distributed them to the girls. "I will be quite busy after all this is over. So, here’s a token of my... love."
The last one he handed over to McGonagall who, begrudgingly blushing, took the photo.
"Sir!" Black said as Lockhart began walking out. "I also want a token of your love!"
"..."
Angelina Johnson slamd the back of a frad photo on Black’s head when Lockhart had gone after showing a twisted smile.
Then, Rita Skeeter buzzed in on her toes.
"Oh, no, you don’t!" McGonagall fud. "No interview! Darcie will not..."
"Humph!" Rita snorted. "I am looking for her interview... unless she... alright, alright. Not her. I want to talk to the Celebrity Crusher."
They all looked at Black. "Are you also here to give a token of your love..." he began.
Smack!
After hitting once more, Angelina went to stand next to George Weasley, who was laughing his ass off.
Suddenly, before anyone could answer Rita, the roar arrived.
"GEORGE WEASLEY!!! ANGELINA JOHNSON!!!"
...
Standing next to each other, both fourth-year students smiled.
"You can depend on ," George quipped as they walked toward the exit. "Between and Fred, my Wand is longer..."
"You make one more joke like that, and I will break the photo on your head!" Angelina snapped.
Then, as the rest of the students wished them luck, the two went out.
In the tent, sitting next to Black, Harry, and Draco, Ron sighed. "Phew! They are matching the fourth years first... For a mont, I thought what would happen if..."
"... if they paired us with her..." Harry finished.
With Daphne and Hermione next to her, Darcie lifted her face, making the four boys look away simultaneously.
McGonagall then began pushing Rita out of the tent.
Black suddenly shot to his feet. "Professor," he said, catching eyes and ears. "I don’t mind..."
As McGonagall’s brows rose, Rita smiled knowingly, approaching Black. She took him to one side, glancing at Harry and marking him as the next target.
"We will go along well, I assu," Rita smiled at the young one.
"Just give my Milestone..." Black yawned.
"Eh?"
...
After half an hour,
...
[
Congratulations Contestant Kai D. Stormborn
You have achieved a Milestone
...
Milestone: Get interviewed by Rita Skeeter
Rewards:
— Correspondence 1
— Attribute Points 2
]
...
The sound of brilliant cheers reached the students’ ears.
Ron sighed in relief, knowing that his brother and Angelina must have passed the first stage.
On the other side, both Cedric Diggory and Darcie stood up, McGonagall approaching them to give last-second tricks.
Then the nas roared their way into the tent.
"CEDRIC DIGGORY!!! ..."
Cedric nodded at Darcie.
"... HARRY POTTER!!!"
Silence.
It took more than a few monts for them to process the second na.
Even Professor McGonagall had no idea how they were dividing the students into two groups. So, she had also made an educated guess regarding it.
It seed, including Darcie, they couldn’t have been more wrong about this.
"Harry! Harry!" Professor McGonagall shook a stunned Harry. "Get up! You need to go..."
Harry followed a surprised Cedric out of the tent, no one wishing him luck. As he looked over his shoulder, he found the reason.
Dread.
From the pressed brows of Black to Hermione’s twisting thumbs, from Ron’s pale, gaping mouth to Draco’s wide eyes... all he saw was dread.
One of them... would be paired with Darcie.
Suddenly, Harry smiled with joy.
"What?" Cedric asked. "Getting Darcie as a partner should be..."
Harry didn’t know Cedric much, but they had already interacted a bit in the last week. It was especially so when Cedric was also a Seeker for his House.
"... wonderful?!" Harry roared over the crowd’s cheers. "Haha! You don’t know Darcie!"
...
Inside the tent, the boys didn’t know when the ti slipped away.
When the deafening roar intensified, bringing them out of the horrifying thoughts bubbling in their minds, they realized that Cedric and Harry must have already cleared the first stage.
They had already made extensive plans regarding it.
Regardless of with whom Harry paired, he would use his Brave Heart Spell to assist the partner by seeing the Dragon’s movents before it moved. It would also let Harry act as a decoy as the partner gathered the objects.
Constraining the dragon was out of the question for anyone.
So, all they needed to do to stand out was to make sure they collected all the five objects relevant to the second stage.
From the roar outside, it felt like Harry had managed to do exactly what they had planned.
"Lucky him..." Ron mumbled out, looking like a sick ghoul. Then, under the stunned gaze of McGonagall, he began praying as if his life depended on it.
The third set of nas arrived sooner than they had anticipated.
"RON WEASLEY!!! ..."
Ron’s eyes snapped open, his teeth chattering.
"... HERMIONE GRANGER!!!"
"YES!" Ron shot to his feet, lifting both his hands in victory. His new Wand let out sparks of joy as well. Then he noticed everyone looking at him, and he went red. He dared not look at Darcie.
Smiling ear to ear, Ron walked toward the exit. "Thank you for saving ..." he told Hermione.
Hermione ignored Ron and glanced over her shoulder at Black, but his face was busy going white along with Draco’s.
Then they stepped out.
...
Professor McGonagall couldn’t handle the tension inside the tent anymore, going out for a drink after so ti.
Inside, Black and Draco looked wide-eyed at Daphne and Darcie.
One could say that among everyone, only Daphne didn’t mind getting paired with Darcie.
Suddenly, Darcie smiled at them.
"Can I still give up?" Black asked, whispering in Draco’s ear. "Go get McGonagall..."
"What are you worried about?" Draco said, shaking. "You defeated her twice..."
"I didn’t defeat her even once!" Black threw back. "She will get burned by the dragon... I will sue the Malfoys..."
"Well, better you than , I guess..."
When did the cheering noises die? When did they awaken? They didn’t know.
They did hear the roar calling out the nas anyway.
"DARCIE MALFOY!!! ..."
Darcie stood up, cracking her knuckles.
"... DRACO MALFOY!!!"
*****************
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