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ALBANY SPENT THE REST OF THE day strategically avoiding Fred, George and Lee. It wasn't too difficult a task, as in their celebratory mood, they were quite loud; but walking the quiet corridors farthest from the Great Hall, she couldn't beat off the paranoia that they would find her. She couldn't bring herself to face them.

The conflict in her own mind that she'd been struggling with ever before putting her name in had as good as doubled afterwards. "It's not like I'll get chosen anyway," she had remarked to Merlin and Arthur, because the goblet picked who it thought was most worthy of each school, regardless of how many times you entered. It was a hollow comfort, because her anxious thoughts were swarming around the off chance that she did get chosen, which meant certain death. She couldn't even perform a simple summoning charm to retrieve the textbook when she'd been helping the twins brew their potion - she didn't stand a chance in a tournament designed to test your bravery and magical skills. She was literally going to die.

Only if I get chosen, she reminded herself fiercely. And I won't.

That aside, she still felt weighted under the guilt of tricking Fred, George and Lee; she had, essentially, lied to them, and even though they would never find out, the fact made her uncomfortable. She wasn't exactly someone with a strict moral code, but being dishonest to her friends wasn't something she wanted to make a habit out of.

"It's in the past now, can't change it," Merlin pointed out as she collapsed into a windowsill, exhaustion tripled from earlier.

"Doesn't mean I can just stop worrying about it," Albany argued weakly, and buried her face into her hands to let out a long groan. "I haven't even faced the consequences yet."

"You might not," Arthur said with a shrug.

"I should have just walked away," she lamented. "Merlin's saggy left-"

The wizard raised an eyebrow at her, and she silenced herself. "I never got why people chose my name to throw around the place," he remarked drily.

"It's because you're a clotpole," Arthur informed him.

"That's my word."

Albany sighed miserably, ignoring the ghosts' bickering. "I'm so stupid."

The ghosts vanished with a soft pop as footsteps echoed in the corridor; they'd been a little on edge about hanging around Albany while other people were present after the Moody incident. Albany glanced up a little reluctantly, unsure if the approaching person was someone she wanted to make eye contact with or not, but relaxed a little as she recognised Carly Dubois and her bouncing curls.

"Hi," she greeted the French girl quietly.

"I don't think you are stupid," Carly replied casually, hands behind her back. A sheepish smile crossed her soft features. "Sorry. You were talking really loud."

Albany blinked. "My bad," she apologised after a moment, though Carly didn't seem too concerned with the lack of other people present to talk to. Instead, the Beauxbatons student glanced pointedly to the windowsill, and Albany nodded, allowing her to sit down opposite her.

"I know I have seen you only once or twice," Carly continued, smiling, "but you don't look stupid to me."

"Um, thanks, I guess."

The girl let out a breathy laugh, pushing her square-framed glasses up her nose. "Sorry. I understand that it's none of my business."

"It's alright," Albany assured the girl, however awkward. Her gaze fell upon the blocky object she had been holding behind her back; it now lay in her lap, and the girl's tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth as she toyed with it. Curiosity got the best of her. "What's that?"

"Oh, this?" Carly held it up to her, looking slightly embarrassed as a red blush took to her tanned cheeks. It had a small dark screen and numerous buttons; Albany knew enough about Muggle technology to recognise that that was what it was, but didn't have a clue beyond that. Carly elaborated. "It's a Game Boy. I hoped I could work it here, but... I guess not." She smiled, returning it to her lap.

Albany stared at her blankly, though her interest was piqued. "A what?"

For a moment, Carly stared back, baffled, before shaking her head with a smile, bringing her curly hair to bounce around her heart-shaped face. "Sorry, I forget that not everyone knows Muggle tech. I'm Muggle-born, you see." She began tinkering with the Game Boy again, pulling a short tool from her bag to twist at the screws. "It's a game console," she explained, and glanced up to meet Albany's confused expression. "For playing games. You know... Super Mario? Kirby?"

Albany's eyebrows had risen halfway up her forehead. Carly seemed to understand that the pure-blooded girl was only growing more bewildered, and laughed.

"It's really fun!" she said with a grin, and her French accent came out much stronger when she spoke excitedly. "I would like to show you, if I can work it here. You play little characters, and you have to finish the story." She paused thoughtfully. "Well, you don't have to, but I think it's better when you do."

Albany smiled, feeling a little lighter in the discussion of the Game Boy. It was a surprisingly welcome distraction. "Did it work at Beauxbatons?" she asked curiously, aware that most technology failed at Hogwarts due to the magical atmosphere.

"Oh, non," Carly assured her with a laugh. She pushed up her glasses again, beaming. "I brought it with me as a project... in case I got bored." She laughed again. "I should be able to combine magic with the technology, but I don't want it to break. C'est difficile."

Albany smiled. "Best of luck with it."

"Thank you," Carly replied, grinning. "If I become the Beauxbatons champion tonight, I won't have time for it. But there is a lot of us. I guess my chances are pretty low."

Albany felt her stomach turn ever before the inevitable question was asked.

"You have entered, yes?"

She swallowed hard - what was she supposed to say? She wished she hadn't, which meant saying yes was incredibly awkward, but on that sliver of a chance that she did get chosen, to say no was a blatant lie. "Um... it's complicated," she said after a long moment, biting her cheek.

Carly blinked in confusion, but didn't push it further, which Albany was grateful for. She was decent company, for a foreign stranger; when they conversed, she happily did most of the talking, and when there was silence, it wasn't uncomfortable. Albany wondered vaguely if she had many friends who had come with her, as most of the Beauxbatons students had stuck to themselves in tightly knit groups.

Carly kept her company the rest of the day, but Albany couldn't avoid the boys forever. When it came time for the evening feast, she had to smile weakly in response to the thumbs-up she received from the Gryffindor table, a pit of dread settling in her stomach, consuming any hopes of optimism as she took her seat across the hall next to Faith. The dark-haired girl acknowledged her arrival with a quiet "Hi," before eagerly returning to her conversation with their dormmates, which didn't help Albany's unease in the slightest.

Carly sat down opposite her and offered a reassuring smile, and though her presence was appreciated, the comfort felt hollow. Albany returned it reluctantly, redirecting her nervous energy into bouncing her leg under the table so as not to bite her cheek again.

The Goblet of Fire stood at the top of the hall, atop the stool that usually bore the Sorting Hat. She felt sick to her stomach just looking at it, so didn't. She didn't eat, either; or talk, as doing pretty much anything that wasn't nothing was incredibly nauseating.

The chatter throughout dinner was nonstop and loud. How anyone actually got anything eaten was beyond her, as their mouths were moving faster than Snape moved away from shampoo; constant gossip on who had put their names in, what the tasks would be like, which school would win.... It felt neverending. Albany found herself wishing that the Halloween feast or decorations could become a topic of interest instead, as Faith and Phylis began to whisper back and forth about a hot and romantic guy from Beauxbatons they'd been flirting with earlier.

Carly leaned across the table to her upon noticing her distaste, a smug smile creeping up on her features. "They're talking about Julien," she informed her under her breath, grinning like a shark. "He's gay."

Albany managed a light laugh, though it didn't last long. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Zoe leaned over to the two girls to ask them what they thought about the Weasley twins' beards from earlier.

"I missed it!" Phylis replied with a loud laugh. "Would've loved to see them, I bet that was priceless-"

"I bet it was dumb," Faith snapped, voice uncharacteristically sharp. "They're not exactly clever, are they?"

Albany clenched her jaw, fiery gaze just shy of burning a hole through the table. Carly reached over to lay a hand over her fist in comfort, though a bigger distraction saved the girl from making a nasty retort. The golden plates of food had returned to their spotless state, indicating the end of the feast; a crowd of hundreds of teenagers had never fallen quiet so quickly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked more tense than most of their students, who were craning their necks to get a better look at the flaming cup.

"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," Dumbledore announced. His voice seemed to echo in the quiet of the hall. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them to please come up to the top of the hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber, where they will be receiving their first instructions."

The tables broke out into excited whispers as he gave a great sweeping wave of his wand and extinguished the candles in the room. The only remaining glow was from the carved pumpkins overheard, which now looked eerier than ever, and the Goblet of Fire, shining brighter than ever before. Carly was bouncing in her seat across the table, as Faith turned to the girls and began whispering animatedly. Albany felt her stomach turn, and laid a hand on it as if it would settle at the touch.

The flames in the goblet roared red, and the whispers stopped immediately. It sparked aggressively, before launching a charred piece of parchment from its depths, bringing the whole room to gasp. Albany gagged, and heard the soft popping sound that indicated Merlin and Arthur's arrival behind her.

Dumbledore caught the parchment with ease, as the flames settled back to their original bluey colour. "The champion for Durmstrang," he read aloud, "will be Viktor Krum."

A storm of thundering applause swept over the hall, and Albany wasn't sure if she was relieved or dreading even further the announcement of the next names. Faith positively screamed from beside her, as the Quidditch player's classmates rose to give him a standing ovation; Krum's expression was stony as he walked past, though a hint of a smirk was playing on his lips.

"He'll be a tough competitor," mused Carly, though Albany barely heard her over the blood rushing in her ears.

The clapping died down as the flames rose again, the scarlet fire propelling forward a second slip of parchment. It wasn't exactly parchment, though, Albany noticed, but a paper doily. She exhaled shakily through her lips, barely noticing the sudden buzzing excitement in Carly, who looked about ready to jump straight up to the ceiling.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

Carly launched herself out of her seat, before realisation sank in; she remained standing and beaming nevertheless, cheering louder than anyone at the Slytherin table for her classmate. Fleur rose from where the rest of Beauxbatons was seated at the Ravenclaw table, unable to hide her pleased smile. She was a stunning young woman, incredibly so, Albany noted, and her mind felt a little foggy as she stared at the girl striding up the hall, as deafening applause shook the room.

She nearly wished the fog would last longer as the flames turned red one final time, but Fleur had left into the champions' room to the side of the staff table, and a horribly sickening feeling was sinking in as Albany acknowledged the goblet once more. Hogwarts was next.

"Breathe, Albany," Arthur reminded her from over her shoulder, and for once she did her best to comply without a word of sass. "You probably won't even get picked, like you said."

"Yeah," Albany agreed quietly, focused hard on not throwing up. Merlin's beard, she was a wreck. She wondered vaguely if sleep would have helped in the slightest, or if she was just naturally a huge coward. "What are the chances?"

She made a point to stare down at her hands, as she noticed vigorous waving from the Gryffindor table in her peripherals. She thought she might vomit if she gave them her attention. Carly glanced at her, joy ebbing away from her face as concern filled her expression.

"Are you feeling well?" the French girl questioned softly, though her voice seemed loud as all of Hogwarts had fallen silent with baited breath.

"No," Albany groaned, and was seriously contemplating leaving the hall early again, pushing herself back from the table. "I think I might-"

"The Hogwarts Champion," called Dumbledore, and her breath hitched in her throat. "-is Albany Bronwen!"

Shit.

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❃ a/n:

thank you all so much for 500 reads! ♡ can you believe i've been trying to write on wattpad since like 2015 and this is my first book to get 1. past chapter two and 2. more than like 150 reads lmaooo

i'm like beyond excited to share the rest of the story with y'all because there is big stuff coming!! sometimes i just wanna summarise the whole thing in one chapter just to get it out there but where's the fun in that lol

thank you everyone for your support, i hope you continue to enjoy the book! love y'all for real no cap

- A x