Chapter 3

"Miss Potter, what do you think you are doing, sitting with Miss Davis?" Snape asked in a low voice. Everyone in the class turned to look at me. I could feel my face heating up in embarrassment. Not only were my fellow Syltherin's watching me be berated like a small child, but the Hufflepuffs as well. I had hoped that for one year I'd be able to sit with one of my friends for potions, however, I would be sorely disappointed. For the fourth year in a row, I was going to be forced to sit beside Malfoy.

Malfoy was the best in our class at potions and was not at all humble about it. I, on the other hand, was the worst at potions in our class. It felt like every time that I tried to make a potion it either blew up or simply did not work.

"But Professor, I've improved a lot since last year and Tracey is really good at potions -" I tried to argue but was cut off.

"Then you'll have to show me while sitting with your usual potions partner." Snape said with an air of finality that I dared not go against. "Get up and go sit with Mr. Malfoy, I will decide when you have improved."

"I'll see you after class." Tracey said with a sympathetic smile. I got up with a sigh and walked over to where Malfoy was sitting. He had left the seat open as if he knew that I was going to be forced to sit with him once again. He gave me a smug smile before Snape started off the lesson. Today we were learning how to create a potion of healing. We would be using separate cauldrons but could help our desk partner out. From what I could tell the potion was simple. It only had four ingredients; a butterfly wing, a dried blue mountain flower, the root of a maple tree, and mint leaves. How could I mess up a potion this simple?

We started off in silence, neither of us being ones to make pleasant small talk. I had my book open beside me and I was ready to ace this potion. I had done well in previous years with healing charms, so maybe I would do better with a healing potion. I was almost done when Malfoy pipped up from beside me.

"You're stirring the wrong way." Malfoy said snidley from beside me. I guess sitting in silence was too much to ask for.

"Am not." I said, pretending like nothing happened and switching the direction I was stirring. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him shake his head exasperatedly. I was going to ignore that.

"When it blows up in your face, try not to run away crying like you did in Moody's Class." He said with a sneer. I knew I shouldn't have let that comment get to me, Malfoy and I got on each other's nerves frequently. Yet this one hurt. It brought back memories I'd been trying to suppress since the incident. Memories of my mother's scream, the last sound she would ever make before she died, and the horrible green light flashing towards me and my brother. I turned quickly, my glare red hot and angry. I was going to yell at him, my temper getting the better of me. How could he not understand that that had been traumatic? He knew what happened with my parents, why would seeing the curse that killed them and almost killed me and Harry not affect me?

However, my plans to enact my revenge were faltered, by myself. I had turned too quickly and clumsily spilled the healing potion all over Malfoy's lap. He yelped and bolted from his chair, a failed healing potion spilling onto the ground. The heads of every other student in the classroom swiveled to look at the commotion I had caused for the second time in a one hour class. Shite.

Malfoy looked at me, surprise written across his face.

"Miss Potter!" I heard Snape exclaim, walking towards us from his desk at the front of the classroom. I groaned. I was in trouble now.

"What is going on here?" Snape said with an exasperated tone. He gave me a tired look like he had expected this to happen. I grinned sheepishly.

"Malfoy - I - I don't-" I stuttered, my ears burning in embarrassment.

"Potter spilled her potion all over me." Malfoy said, smirking at me. I sputtered indignantly, but couldn't think of any argument, he was unfortunately right. Snape gave him a dark look that wiped that smirk off his face. At least Malfoy's gloating had stopped momentarily.

"Detention, this Saturday, Potter. You will do this potion for me again and this time learn to control your limbs." Snape said. I glowered. It wasn't totally my fault, if Malfoy hadn't opened his big mouth I would never have gotten angry.

"Professor please -" I started but there was no arguing with Snape.

"Enough." He said, cutting me off one more time. "You are lucky I don't make you clean up this mess without magic as well." He said, flicking his wand. The potion that was covering Malfoy and the floor effortlessly flew back into my cauldron.

With that Snape walked away, leaving me to sit in my chair, beside the boy that I hated, staring at my failure of a potion. Would I ever learn?

"And you're sure you didn't put your name in the Goblet of Fire?" I asked Harry as Harry, Hermione, Ron, and I walked to the Great Hall. It was finally the end of the week. It had been a long first week back at Hogwarts. The professors were pilling on assignments and I had been incredibly anxious about the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

"Come on Jacky, how many times do I have to say no before you believe me?" Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"There's no way he could, even if he wanted to. You heard about what happened to Fred and Goerge when they tried." Hermione said

"You're always involved in the biggest troubles in this school Harry, you can't blame me for worrying about how you'll be involved in this one." I said, wringing my hands.

"Even Fred and George couldn't trick that circle." Ron offered. Some of my anxieties had been soothed when I saw that the age ring really did work. Watching Fred and George wrestle with full white beards and long white hair had been quite entertaining. There was just this feeling of dread I couldn't shake. Something always went wrong, and it always involved my brother. How could I not be worried?

"You're right," I said with a sigh. "I just have a bad feeling."

We walked into the Great Hall and sat down at a table. No one was sitting in their usual spots, students were crowded around tables, some even standing against the wall. I could see Tracey and Theo with our Slytherin year. I waved at them and Theo and Tracey waved back, Tracey, unlike Theo, was bouncing out of her seat with excitement. She had been talking non-stop about this event all week and her enthusiasm was evident on her face.

"If everyone would please take their seats," Dumbledore spoke, his voice echoing through the hall, causing all the students to quiet down. "And now the moment you've all been waiting for, the champion selection!"

It was quiet, but I could feel the tension and excitement in the air. As Dumbledore waved his hand across the room, and the lights dimmed, we were bathed in the glowing blue light from the Goblet of Fire. Dumbledore reached out towards the Goblet, placing both hands on it before backing away. As he did the Globet lit up in a bright red colour and spat out a small piece of parchment. Dumbledore deftly caught it and read out the name.

"The Durmstrang Champion is Victor Krum!"

Cheers rang out across the hall, everyone standing up and applauding for the Seeker. I cheered as well. He was a strong guy, I was curious to see how he would apply that to the tasks. He shook Dumbledore's hand and was lead away from the crowd.

Almost as soon as he was gone, the Goblet lit up a dazzling pink colour and spit out a delicate, gold-trimmed piece of parchment.

"The Champion from Beauxbatons is - is Fleur Delecour!"

The Beauxbatons girls cheered loudly for their classmate as a girl with beautiful silvery hair stood up from the crowd. She looked delicate, like a strong wind would snap her in half. I hopped for her sake that she was tougher than she looked. She smiled politely and walking to the front of the hall to follow after Krum.

The final champion was about the be announced. The one from Hogwarts. I held my breath in anticipation, thinking to myself, please don't be Harry. The goblet flames once again roared and spit out a piece of parchment. Dumbledore held the last name in his hands and read it out loud.

"The Hogwarts Champion is Cedric Diggory!"

The hall erupted in cheers as Cedric stood up, a happy smile on his lips. People patted him on the back as he walked by. All I could do was let out a sigh of relief. At least Harry would be safe from being a Champion. That should help keep him out of trouble this year.

"Told you so." Harry said, nudging me with his elbow. I batted at him.

"If you would stop getting yourself in trouble I would stop worrying about you." I said back, but couldn't help let a grin appear on my face.

Cedric was lead out of the Hall and Dumbledore spoke once more.

"Excellent! We now have our three Champions but in the end, only one will go down in History. Only one will hoist this Chalice of Champions, this Vessel of Victory, the Tri-Wizard cup!"

As Dumbledore turned around and pointed at the item under a blanket that Crouch had just brought out, the blanket flew off, revealing the cup underneath. The cup was beautiful. I could not believe that light blue light that shone from the ornately crafted cup was going to be given to a 17-year-old.

I watched as Snape walked forward, a concerned look on his face as he stared at the cup. I too turned to look at the cup as the flames started to grow again, spreading upwards and outwards, turning into a blinding red colour. The flames shot higher up and spit out another parchment. I looked at Harry, fear evident in my eyes. Please, don't be Harry's name.

Dumbledore caught the paper, holding it for a moment before reading out two words that would cause my viens to feel like they had been plunged into ice water, the words that would start the horrible events that were yet to come.

"Jacklyn Potter."

My breath caught in my throat, my vision blurring. It couldn't be. I didn't put my name in the Goblet. I barely went near it! Plus, there was already a Hogwarts Champion and I wasn't 17. I felt panicked like I never had before.

"Jacklyn Potter." Dumbledore said a little louder. The whole room was looking at me now. Why did this keep happening?

"Jacklyn Potter!" Dumbledore yelled this time.

"Jacky." My brother said, shaking me out of my stupor. "You have to go."

"I can't." I said, my voice trembling. "I didn't do it."

Harry gave me a helpless look. There wasn't anything he could do. I was going to have to brave this on my own. I stood up, avoiding eye contact with my friends and other Slytherins across the hall. I would deal with that later.

I walked up to Dumbledore slowly. I opened my mouth to speak but couldn't find any words to say. He handed me the parchment. I stared at my name neatly printed on it. It made this whole disaster feel more real. I did not enjoy that feeling. I could feel my stress, stronger than before. I looked back at my brother. It wasn't my stress getting stronger, it was his adding itself to mine.

I walked up to the front of the hall, hearing heckles from the people around me. I walked up to Snape, his usual cold features mixed with what I thought looked like a little bit of concern. I kept walking, passed all the teachers, including Hagrid who ruffled his hand through my hair in a way he must have thought, would be comforting. However, I was beyond any physical comfort at that moment.

I walked down, alone, through the dimly lit stairway towards where the three actual Champions were. I entered the large metal doors and walked towards the fireplace at the back of the room where the Champions were standing. They looked at me with confusion.

I could hear shouting and quick steps coming from behind me. I turned around to see a large group of professors walking briskly towards me, lead by a very upset looking Dumbledore. He walked up to me and grabbed my shoulders.

"Jacky, did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?" He asked, anger tinging his voice. Did he actually think that I did this? Did he not know how much I hated the fame my brother had been given, why would I want that?

"N-no Headmaster." I stuttered. "I swear!"

"Did you ask one of the older students to do it for you?" He pressed.

"No, I wouldn't even know who to ask," I answered honestly. I just had to tell the truth, I shouldn't be in trouble. This wasn't my fault!

"I highly doubt Miss. Potter would be capable of this. She isn't as reckless as her brother." Snape said, moving out from where he had been standing behind Dumbledore. Ouch, but also he was correct, I didn't have the magic to fool a spell as powerful as that. Dumbledore took his hands off my shoulders

"I'm just in fourth-year and I'm rubbish at potions so I can't have even made one break the spell like Fred and George tried," I said, desperately trying to make them see my innocence. "You know me, I never would want anything like this."

"Liar!" Madam Maxime said, batting a hanging lamp out of her way as she strode towards me. I gulped, she looked angry, she could probably smoosh me with one hard step if she wanted to.

"The hell she is!" Moody said, coming to my defense. I was surprised by this, we hadn't gotten off to a good start. Perhaps he was trying to make up for that first day in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"The Goblet of Fire is an exceptionally powerful magical object." Moody continued. "Only an exceptionally powerful confundus charm could have hoodwinked it. That's magic way beyond the talents of a fourth-year." He hissed.

"You seem to have given this a fair bit of thought, Mad-Eye." Victor Karkaroff said in an accusatory tone, striding in front of me to stand before Moody. I was glad that they were not accusing me anymore, though I wasn't sure how I felt about them accusing each other.

"It was once my job to think as dark wizards do, Karkaroff, perhaps you would remember?" Moody said in a low tone. I watched Kararoff's guarded but surprised reaction. It seems these two had some history. I had a feeling it wasn't good.

"That doesn't help, Alistar," Dumbledore growled. He walked away from me and towards Crouch who had his back turned to everyone. "I leave this to you Barty."

I waited and watched in stressful anticipation as the man deliberated.

"The rules are absolute. The Goblet of Fire constitutes a binding magical contract." Crouch turned around to face me, his stare making a pit of dread form in my stomach.

"Miss Potter, she is, as of tonight, a Tri-Wizard Champion." Crouch finished. Everyone, for the fourth time this awful week, turned around to look at me.

"I won't do it, and I'm only fourteen, it's not even allowed!" I argued.

"Nothing can be done. You have to compete." Crouch said. I could feel my ears start to burn. I was worried about my future, but more than that, I was angry.

"I'm going to die, and you are all just going to stand there and let me!" I shouted. People had died in this tournament, I was alright at magic but nothing special, there was no way I would be able to do this. I felt as though I had been betrayed and condemned. I fought back tears.

"Please, don't make me." I said, desperately looking to my head of house. His face was hard and almost unreadable, but I could see sympathy in his eyes.

"I'm afraid we cannot do anything." He said, stepping towards me. "For now, all you can do is practice your magic."

I hung my head, finally accepting that they were not going to help me get out of this. I was going to be forced to compete as the fourth Champion in the Tri-Wizard Tournament and I was doomed.

When I stepped into the common room a large bundle of brown hair and bangs ran right towards me, wrapping me in a hug.

"What happened?" Tracey asked from her spot attached to me like a leach. "We were so worried about you did you actually put your name in the Goblet and how did you do it I don't understand -" Tracey rambled before I cut her off.

"I'm okay. I think." I said, pulling her off me so that I could breathe. She had the tightest hug I'd ever felt, it could rival Mrs. Weasley.

"What happened?" Theo asked, coming to stand with us. I looked around at all the Slythetin's in the common room. Malfoy and his friends were sitting on the couches close to us, pretending not to listen. I had no doubt that they were paying attention to what I was saying. I thought it would be best if they heard it from me and not from the rumors that I'm sure were already spreading around.

"I didn't put my name in the Goblet." I started. Theo nodded.

"I didn't think you did." He said. I smiled at him.

"That makes one person," I said a little saltily, still upset over the accusations that had been thrown at me. "I was accused of it by pretty much everyone but Dumbledore no longer thinks I put my name in the Goblet… I'm pretty sure."

"So are you competing?" Tracey said anxiously. I let out a heavy sigh and gave them a sad look.

"Yeah. I tried to get out of it, but I wasn't allowed."

"But you're three years too young!" Theo exclaimed.

"That's what I said." I replied mournfully.

"Did I just hear that Side-Kick Potter would be competing as a Tri-Wizard Champion?" I heard the shrill voice of Pansy ask teasingly. I look back towards the couches where the Slytherins sitting there were no longer just pretending to listen and were all staring right at me.

"Yup," I said, walking towards them, Theo and Tracey keeping up with me. "You better watch out Pansy, maybe I'll miss a spell in one of the events and it'll horribly disfigure your face. Oh wait, it already is." Pansy stood up quickly, her fists clenched at her side.

"I'm sure you'll miss either way. I'm betting that you'll die in these events, you aren't that good at magic." Pansy hissed.

"Like you're any better." I scoffed.

"I, for one, am glad we have Slytherin representation in the tournament," Malfoy said. "Even if it is Potter."

"Thanks, Malfoy." I said sarcastically.

"Don't mention it. Try not to get yourself killed. It would reflect poorly on the rest of us." He said dryly. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, since you are all no fun to be around, I'm going to bed." I said and swiftly turned on my heels away from them. "Goodnight Theo." I said. He nodded, looking after me worriedly as I walked arm in arm with Tracey to our bedroom. Today had been crazy, and now all I needed was to sleep. I was exhausted.

"Have you seen your brother yet?" Tracey asked as we got ready for bed. I shook my head.

"I don't even know what he's going to say." I said. Tracy hummed her agreement.

As I sat down on my bed I felt Bear step onto my lap. He looked up at me through his bright, yellow eyes and purred. I wondered if he could tell how I was feeling. Even I could barely grasp the swirl of emotions that was clouding my brain. I laid down on my bed, Bear moving to cuddle my side, as I drifted off into one of the soon to be many uneasy sleeps I would get throughout my time as a Tri-Wizard Champion.

I hope you all enjoyed this portion of the story!

What do you think about Jacky being the Champion? Why do you think it's Jacky and not Harry. Let me know! I would love to get some reviews

Chapters will come out faster if you do!