Chapter 41: Chapter 59 – Champions (2)

"Hopefully, we make it in time," Cloud took her palm in his, pulling her closer, and clasped her lips with his, and she kissed him back, barely managing to stop herself, "Eri…let's go find her."

The two of them made their way to the Great Hall; they wanted to Apparate but hadn't had their licenses. The two ran down the stairs, and in between, Cloud picked Tifa up in his arms, jumping, skipping all the steps to land on the bottom.

She grinned, patting his chest, and he put the force in his feet, blitzing forward, and the path traveled on foot in ten minutes was covered in ten seconds.

He was about to barge into the Great Hall when Tifa whispered, "Cloud, put me down."

"Yeah," Cloud placed her down, walking in the hall with her when Dumbledore was about to announce, "What did we miss?"

Dumbledore smiled, shifting his eyes between the two, resting on their hands, "Food. Mr. Strife. You missed food. If you would have a seat."

"Our apologies," Tifa hastily said, and the two ran over to where Aerith was sitting, and Lee shifted, asking others to as they sat down.

"What took you so long. I thought you wouldn't come," Aerith curled her lips but forgot that soon, whispering to Tifa, "How was it?"

Dumbledore cleared his throat, "If I may, Miss Gainsborough?"

Aerith stuck out her tongue, apologizing for her excitement, and Dumbledore cleared his throat, "The champion of Durmstrang will be—Viktor Krum."

"No surprises there!" Ron yelled as a storm of applause and cheering swept the hall.

Viktor Krum rose from the Slytherin Table and slouched towards Dumbledore; he turned right, walked along with the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.

"Bravo, Victor!" boomed Karkaroff, much louder the all the applause.

"So much for being impartial," Tifa muttered.

The clapping, the chatting, and the whispers died down, and Dumbledore took another parchment that flew out of the Goblet, "The Champion of Beauxbatons is…Fleur Delacour!"

"Oh, it's her," Aerith looked towards Tifa, grinning, "I'll beat her for sure."

Tifa gently smiled, "I am not worried about that now."

"Oh, the confidence," Aerith kept her teasing voice down, though she didn't need to, and the cheers died. This time, even Aerith could feel the knot of nervousness building up, even though she was sure of her skills.

"The Hogwarts champions is," Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, "Aerith Gainsborough!"

"Yes!!" Fred and George released small fireworks on their table, and there were cheers, but much lesser than the other two. Instead, there is out an outcry from Hufflepuff and doubts from many others. But Aerith didn't care about that; she was too busy exchanging celebratory hugs before she made their way to the room as well.

"Excellent! We now have our three champions, and I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can—"

Dumbledore stopped when the Goblet turned red again, and sparks came out of it, and a long flame shot, carrying another piece of parchment.

Dumbledore got the parchment and stared at it, and everyone watched him, and then he cleared his throat, reading out, "Harry Potter."

Harry, whose name was called, was blanking out, telling Ron and Hermione, staring at him in disbelief, "I didn't! I didn't put up my name!"

He felt desperate when one young man stood up, attracting everyone's attention. He walked parallel to the table until he reached Harry, patting his shoulder, whispering so only he and two of his friends could make out, "I told you, Harry. Voldemort will be gunning for you…and he has made his move."

Hermione covered her mouth, nearly squealing once she realized understood his words and Ron was too scared to talk. Harry's face had lost the color when Cloud continued, "That means…there is someone in this castle right now…who is working for Voldemort. Watch your back, but right now, go to the room and inform Aerith. Understand?"

"Harry Potter! Up here if you please!"

Harry breathed in, his leg was trembling, about to give out, and he blankly walked over to Dumbledore when Dumbledore narrowed his eyes, "Mr. Strife. You too."

Cloud breathed out, nodding as he walked with Harry, seeing the phantoms stand in his way.

"Ah, suspecting you. That should be the obvious call when you made such a show of attracting attention," Zack floated in the air, "I'd say Cloud. Did they finally manage to corrupt you? Did their manipulative nature rub off on you? Did you…do it on purpose?"

'I don't know," Cloud walked past him, his eyes meeting with Dumbledore before he and Harry walked into the room.

There was a fire roaring in the fireplace, and Aerith, who was in front of the fire, noticed them, asking, "What is it? Did something happen?"

Cloud slowly blinked, nodding to her, and went on to whisper in her ears, but before he could, the door burst open, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He took Harry's hand, muttering, "Extraordinary. Gentlemen…lady. May I introduce – incredible through it may seem. The Fourth Triwizard Champion?"

"What?" Aerith mouthed to Cloud, caught off guard, and he nodded, telling her that what she heard was true.

And soon, Professor Dumbledore, Madame Maxime, and Karkaroff walked in with Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape right behind them.

"Is impossible! Hogwarts can't have two champions. It's most unjust!"

"We were under the impression that your Age Line would keep out the younger contestants, Dumbledore. Otherwise, we would have brought a wider selection of candidates from our schools."

"It's no one's fault but Potter's Karkaroff," Professor Snape soft said, "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break the rules."

"Thank you, Severus," Dumbledore firmly said, and Snape became quiet.

Dumbledore turned to Harry, "Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire, Harry?"

"No," Harry heatedly said.

"Did you ask an older student to put your name in?"

"No, Sir!"

"Mr. Strife. What was so urgent that you had to go and talk to him?"

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Cloud had been silently watching everyone that came into this room, only to pull away his scrutinizing gaze when Dumbledore talked to him, "Because I have an idea who was behind it. I went to warn him."

"Hah, you know who's behind that? You say it like it wasn't this boy's trickery! His desire to be in a tournament he should never have any place for!" Karkaroff scoffed, looking at Cloud with an annoyed look.

"Who do you suspect was behind this, Mr. Strife?"

"I'd rather not say," Cloud didn't want to say that he thought Voldemort did it, and there was a spy here. That would only make the bad situation worse.

"Why?"

"I'd rather not say," Cloud repeated himself, "Can't you redo the name entering?"

"Cloud, the Goblets, a powerful magical artifact. Its binding contract can't be broken, not without paying the price," Aerith pulled his sleeves, informing him, "Whoever did this…must be in Upper Echelon of Wizards if they could fool the Goblet. Since it has signed a Contract with three schools for the fourth to be chosen, they must have made it believed there is a fourth school. It could be done using a strong confundus charm…or one of the unforgivable curses."

"You seem to know much about this, girl. Are you the one—" Karkaroff was about to accuse Aerith; when he felt a sharp, cold blade on the nape of his neck? He followed the blade, looking to the hilt and then at the boy, "You!!!"

"Headmaster!"

Viktor Krum took out his wand when he felt his throat clutched, his shoulders being pushed down, and he breathlessly fell to his knees, struggling to get off the force holding his neck.

"MR. STRIFE!!! YOU MUSTN'T RAISE YOUR WEAPON TO A HEADMASTER!!! RELEASE THEM BOTH!!!" Professor McGonagall screamed.

"Mr. Strife," Dumbledore narrowed his eyes, lightly speaking.

But Cloud didn't remove the Buster Sword or let go of Viktor Krum, "I can smell in the air, the rotten smell. He is what he is…and then the Skull during World Cup, and now this? And he gets to shout accusations when he's the—"

"Mr. Strife!!!" Dumbledore sternly repeated his name, his voice booming, and Cloud took the Buster Sword back, putting it on his back out of old habit, and it disappeared. While Viktor Krum could finally breathe, gasping for breath.

"Professor Snape, please guide him to my offices," Dumbledore cleared his throat, and Cloud silently nodded, looking towards the door at Moody, who walked in and planned to leave with Snape but not before leaving a warning, "I'll be watching you."

"Come on, boy," Snape pulled his arm, pulling him out of the door, and Cloud gave one last look to Aerith behind him, nodding.

"Charming, isn't he," Once the doors closed again, Aerith gleefully grinned with flushed cheeks.

"Could you not enjoy this, Miss Gainsborough," Professor McGonagall gave her a displeased, discouraging look.

"Sorry," Aerith grinned even more brightly, "It's just that…seeing Cloud be Cloud…picking fights…it makes me so excited. Especially when he is getting angry for me."

"Tis one has it bad," Madame Maxine shook her head but seeing her all cheery brightened the room's mood.

"Dumbledore."

"He will be punished, Karkaroff," Dumbledore reassured him, "But Miss Gainsborough wasn't wrong. It's a binding contract, and we have to follow it. We have no choice in this matter."

"Dumbledore, that boy!"

"That boy fought against tens of Dark Wizards, the ones who were rallying together after the World Cup, and forced them to run away," Moody scoffed, "You got lucky. Or he would have cut you a new one too."

Aerith tilted her head, gazing at Karkaroff, "I am sorry. Ever since that Skull appeared, he has been on the edge since he and Tifa were responsible for stopping Voldemort three years back, nearly killing him. So you can understand…more than others…what it feels like to have a target on your back, right?"

The mention of his name caused most of them to uncomfortably crease their brows, and Dumbledore nodded, "Then it's decided. As for Mr. Strife's punishment. Would you like to accompany me?"

Karkaroff helped Viktor, seeing the mark on his neck, furrowing his brows, "See the mark on my boy's face?! You better punish him!"

Madam Maxine glared at Dumbledore about Hogwarts having two champions and turned her face, "No! We have no interest!"

She took Fleur and walked out, only for Aerith to raise her hand, "Can I?"

"No, you cannot. Everyone else, back to your dorms."

A few ways ahead of them were Snape and Cloud, walking to the Headmaster's office until they walked up the stairs, and Snape couldn't hold back, "You can smell it? How did you know?"

"I know," Cloud stepped inside, looking around the items that Dumbledore has kept for his studies, "I know you were also one…and that Karkaroff didn't do it."

Snape furrowed his brows when Cloud repeated the words that Genesis said to him.

"Someone being watched will ensure they do everything perfectly. Though…if they think someone else is being watched for their tricks, no one is watching them. They'll become overconfident, and they'll make a mistake."

"That's not like you," Snape narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, not my idea either," Cloud put his hands in his pocket, "But…I get something out of this…something I have wanted."

Cloud slowly blinked, thinking, but didn't say anything and waited for Dumbledore while Snape looked uncomfortable.

"Come tell him how you feel. He needs to hear it now," Zack patted Cloud's head, grinning, "Be true."

As much as Cloud didn't want to, he did hear what Genesis had to see, so it was only fair that he heard what Zack had to say.

"You don't have to come up with an explanation, you know," Cloud said again, "We have always known…since the first year, and it changes nothing, Professor. I do still respect you. Always have. Not for what you were…but what you are now. So…keep being you."

Snape closed his eyes, his hands in front of him, his right palm gripped on his left, tightening before he let out a breath, "Shut up. Mr. Strife. You shouldn't be talking after you were so disrespectful and made so much trouble for Headmaster

Dumbledore."

Cloud lightly smiled, looking away, "Yes, Professor."

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