Chapter 7

The entire school was buzzing with excitement. The three Triwizard Tournament champions were to be chosen today. Everyone was on time to breakfast, talking about who would most likely be chosen. Most people were barely eating, eager to see whose name would be pulled from the Goblet. Sage ate her breakfast at the Gryffindor table. Her eyes scanned the Durmstrang boys, wondering who would be chosen from their school. Her eyes settled on Viktor Krum. Many people believed he would be the one to represent Durmstrang. Finishing her breakfast, Sage walked over to the Ravenclaw table and sat with Stacy.

Finally, Professor Dumbledore called for everyone to settle down. The Great Hall became quiet almost immediately. Dumbledore walked up to the Goblet and the first parchment with a name scrawled on it was spewed out Dumbledore called out, "Viktor Krum!" for the Durmstrang champion. Cheers erupted from almost everyone in the room. Next, the Beauxbaton champion was called: "Fleur Delacour!" More cheering.  A few of the other Beauxbaton girls started to cry. Then it was time for the Hogwarts champion to be called. Sage could feel everyone in the room hold their breath.

"...Cedric Diggory!" called out Dumbledore. The room erupted with cheers. Cedric, grinning, got up and made his way to the other room. It took Dumbledore a few moments to calm everyone down.

"Alright!" he said cheerily. "All the champions have been--" he stopped talking as he noticed the Goblet throw out another name. Clearly confused, Dumbledore took the parchment and read the name. Everyone stared at Dumbledore. Looking around, Dumbledore called out the name of the fourth champion: "Harry Potter." Whispers broke out around the Great Hall. Stage and Stacy looked at each other, astonished. They watched as Harry got up, just as bewildered as everyone else. Harry and Dumbledore shared a look, and then Harry walked into the room where the other Triwizard champions were waiting.

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Rachel was sitting at the Hufflepuff table. She was happy for her friend Cedric. She was confused when Harry Potter's name was called and wanted to know what was going on, but Dumbledore quickly dismissed everyone and rushed into the room the champions were in. Getting up from the table, she followed everyone out of the Great Hall. Unsure of what to do, she went to the Hufflepuff common room. Since it was Saturday, there were no classes. Rachel decided to study for Defense Against the Dark Arts, since that was her worst subject. However, after ten minutes of being unable to focus, Rachel felt the need to be outside.

Walking out onto the grounds of Hogwarts, Rachel headed to the Quidditch field. She loved Quidditch, and sitting in the stands made her feel happy and it cleared her head. Rachel was surprised to find the Hufflepuff Quidditch team geared up and ready to practice. She waved at the team and they waved back. Making her way into the stands, her eyes were drawn to Hufflepuff's Keeper, David Key. David was charming and handsome. Rachel and David had met in their first year at Hogwarts when they had both gotten lost on the way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Luckily, they had made it to class on time because the airhead teacher, Lockhart, was late. David had later joked that Lockhart had probably been looking in the mirror all morning.

Two years later, their friendship had grown, making them very close with each other. Rachel had a crush on David, but was very careful not to let it show. The only person who knew was Sage.

"Hey Rachel!" David said, flying up on his Nimbus 2001. Rachel smiled at him. David was tall and dark-haired. He had a very nice athletic build and was an excellent Quidditch player. Rachel glanced at the rest of the team. They were still busy with getting ready to practice. She had some time alone with David.

"So you guys are practicing?" Rachel asked.

"No, we're just here in our gear to drink butterbeer and fly around aimlessly," David said, an impish grin on his face. Rachel rolled her eyes, but ended up laughing. David could be ridiculous, sometimes.

"We're here to practice a little before Quidditch tryouts," David explained. "You should try out this year!" He smiled encouragingly. Rachel shook her head vigorously.

"I am so bad at Quidditch! I mean, not that I've ever really played it before. But no, I will not try out, thank you very much!" Rachel exclaimed. David chuckled. One of David's teammates called out to him, saying they were about to start. David turned back to Rachel.

"Sorry, I guess I've got to go. How long will you be here?" David asked. Rachel shrugged.

"Not sure. I don't really have anything better to do, so I don't know," Rachel said, her brow furrowed in thought.

"Alright! Just wait around until practice is over, and then we can hang out. We haven't even talked since classes started!" said David, shaking his head. Rachel smiled and nodded, and David flew off.