The Forging of the Bonds

Chapter 6. The Champions.

The Great Hall was decorated for Halloween, perhaps more elaborately than usual. The Goblet of Fire burned brightly in front of the High Table. The feast had almost ended.

"So," Nadine Zabini asked Elizabeth, "did you do it?"

"Of course," she answered. "Why wouldn't I?"

"It's just... you're the only Slytherin who did. You'll have someone from another house as your partner."

"Am I the only one? That's crazy!"

"Surprised me too. But none of the seventh years wanted to risk their necks, you know I don't want to do this, and no one else in our year is old enough--and I doubt they'd enter if they were." She snorted. "I heard Anderson whining about not being old enough this morning," she said.

Elizabeth laughed. "Me and Anderson. Some team that would be," she said. Anderson was Goyle's best friend, and Elizabeth never got along with him. "And you're probably right. As far as Nott and Goyle are concerned, they might not even be aware there is a Tournament, the way they spend all the time eating each other's faces. Like now." She pointed a few seats away.

"Liz! You didn't have to make me watch that!"

"Sorry. Can't believe someone would like to snog Goyle."

"Can't believe someone would like to snog Nott, either."

"True. They--"

"Ahem? Back to the Tournament? I heard Weasley entered."

"And Jordan. I saw them do it. Typical Gryffindor arrogance. They think it'll select them."

"Who else?"

"A few Ravenclaws. I don't know anyone from Hufflepuff, but they like surprises, so one probably sneaked in in the middle of the night."

"Hmm..." Nadine raised her head. "Did Longbottom enter?"

"I don't think so. She might not be old enough. Why?"

Nadine was about to respond when McGonagall stood up. "Your attention," she said simply.

It had an immediate effect. The Great Hall grew quieter. McGonagall raised her hand and torches dimmed. The Goblet was now the brightest thing in the room.

"The Goblet will now select the champions, two from each school," she said. "Good luck, everyone who submitted their names."

Almost twenty seconds passed before the Goblet flared up. A piece of parchment flew out of it and fluttered in the air. McGonagall caught it.

"The first champion from Beauxbatons," she announced, "will be Fatima Dubois."

A tall, swarthy, slim girl with long black hair stood up and headed towards the teachers' table. A few cheers were heard from the other Beauxbatons students.

The Goblet flared again. "The first Champion of Durmstrang is Boris Krum!"

Elizabeth had noticed the Krum twins in the delegation, and she knew their father was a Triwizard Champion himself. Boris' twin patted his brother on the back as he got up. Truth be told, Elizabeth hardly cared, considering the matter of the Hogwarts champion.

"The first champion from Hogwarts," McGonagall said, "will be Michael Weasley!"

Elizabeth gasped, cursed, and then pounded her fist on the table.

"Liz?" Nadine nudged her.

"Weasley! Why him?"

"Liz, it's--"

"Damn that piece of pottery! Waste of good wood and magic!"

"Liz, you still might--"

"Weasley and me--the best team Hogwarts can field? Don't make me laugh."

"--Veronique Rossi!" McGonagall said. Elizabeth no longer paid attention.

The Goblet flared again. "The second Durmstrang champion will be Leonid Krum!"

The second twin got up and joined his brother. All the candidates already departed through a back door.

Elizabeth shook her head.

"It'll probably be Jordan," she said. "Two sets of best friends and a pair of twins."

"You're a lot better at magic than Jordan," Nadine insisted. "Or Weasley, for that matter."

"The final selection of the evening, the second Hogwarts champion, is..."

Get it over with, bitch, Elizabeth thought.

"Elizabeth Malfoy!" McGonagall said loudly.

"What?!" shouts came from all over the place, including Elizabeth's own mouth.

"Elizabeth Malfoy!" McGonagall repeated.

"Go on, Liz," Nadine told her, and smiled.

Elizabeth saw no choice but to do so. What was the Goblet of Fire thinking, pairing me with Weasley...

McGonagall pointed her towards the back door and gave her a smile of encouragement. But as she was leaving, Elizabeth also saw McGonagall make a gesture to Professor Potter, who immediately got up.

Elizabeth headed through a hallway and almost immediately saw Weasley.

"Hey, Da-- What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Weasley demanded.

"What do you think? I am the other champion."

"That's impossible! There must be a mistake!"

"Indeed not, Mr. Weasley." Potter seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"Professor, this--"

"Is impossible? Why? The Goblet selects those best qualified from each school."

"I can't work with him!"

"I can't work with her!"

"So you agree on something," Potter said. "That's a start." What?

"Anyway," he continued, "you're both wrong. You can, and you will."

"Can't I withdraw?" Weasley said.

"I believe," Potter said, "that I made it clear last night that you cannot. I believe the rules have been posted in both your common rooms. You met when you came to place your names in the Goblet." He looked at both of them. "You knew this could happen."

"I thought--" Weasley attempted.

"You thought this was going to be fun. You thought you'd have your friends alongside you. You thought you could show off not only your Hogwarts pride, but also your Gryffindor pride. Well, you've just learned something--that's not how things are."

"The Tournament is about using your training, intelligence, and bravery to overcome obstacles placed before you--wherever they come from."

"Your allies are not always who you think they are--and neither are your enemies. That's how it was during the war."

"The war is over, Professor."

"There'll be another."

"How--"

"Sooner or later, history will repeat. Someone will decide that the Dark Arts are the way to power, and start tempting others to follow. I am certain there will be another Voldemort."

"I agree," Weasley said, and pointed at her.

This made Elizabeth very angry. Potter, however, interrupted her impulse to pull out her wand and hex Weasley.

"Put your wand down, Mr. Weasley. I will not have any of it."

Why? She's a Malfoy. You know--"

"I know a lot more than you do, Mr. Weasley!" Elizabeth had never seen Potter angry before. "The Goblet of Fire--"

"Damn the Goblet!" Michael lost all self-control. "Damn the Tournament! Damn you,"--he jumped at Elizabeth-- "you spawn of a Death Eater! And damn you!" he yelled at Potter. Suddenly he stepped back, realizing he'd gone too far.

"Detention, Mr. Weasley," Potter said quietly. "And fifty points from Gryffindor."

He gasped. Elizabeth was also surprised--Potter was quick to take off points when people disrupted his classes, but he never took more than ten points at once.

"Now," he said, "thanks to your dispute, Hogwarts already looks bad, since you missed the briefing for the first task. I'm sure Professor McGonagall will be happy about that. So here's the deal. The first task is secret. Friday, November thirteenth. Nine in the morning. Hogwarts grounds. Wands only. Whether you are there, or not, the Tournament proceeds. Mr. Weasley, you better get back to your dormitory. Curfew takes effect in four minutes. Miss Malfoy, follow me."

As they walked, Elizabeth muttered, "This won't work," under her breath.

Potter heard her. "Why not, Miss Malfoy? To be honest, I am not very happy with you either right now, although, to your credit, you were a lot more mature than Mr. Weasley."

"I. HATE. HIM."

"Why?"

"Why do you care?"

"Part of my job."

"What?"

"Think about it. You can figure it out."

"But--"

"Think about it."

"Do you really believe what you said, back there?"

"What?"

"There will be another Vol-... Vol-... another Dark Lord?" she said, embarrassed she couldn't pronounce the name.

"Yes, I do."

That nearly shocked Elizabeth. "Then... what's the point of your job?"

Potter stopped. "Ahh... well, my job is not to stop the next Dark Lord from arising."

"Then--"

"I have to try to do that, of course. But sooner or later, I, or one of my counterparts at other magic schools, will fail, or someone will learn the Dark Arts by themselves... I can't guarantee a stop to that."

"Then--"

"My job is to make sure that, when another Voldemort arises, there will be another Albus Dumbledore, another Arthur Weasley, another Alastor Moody, another Hermione Granger, another Draco Malfoy..."

"Another Harry Potter," Elizabeth said.

Potter didn't reply. "The people who can do the right thing, rather than the easy thing. They can fight for the world--and they make it worth fighting for. A world of Peter Pettigrews and Dolores Umbridges, of Cornelius Fudges and Lavender Browns--the Dark Lord is welcome to such a world."

They were now outside the entrance to the Slytherin dorms. "Good night, Miss Malfoy," he said, and turned away.

I don't care what Potter says, Elizabeth thought as she headed inside. I can't work with Weasley.