Alexandra Weasley: Book 4

24

There was silence in the great hall. Almost instinctively, Alex looked up to Snape who seemed to be as shocked as everyone, though he hid it well behind a stony expression. He looked at her and she evaded her eyes.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore called again once the Gryffindor failed to stand. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

"But he's underage." Hannah said. "He can't possibly participate."

"He has to. Once a challenge has been issued, there's no taking it back. The moment Harry's name was put in the goblet of fire, he threw down the gauntlet, so to speak."

"Was put? You don't think it was him? You saw how he and all the Gryffindors criticised Cedric for putting his name in the cup." Charlie said.

"Harry's very lucky. Or unlucky- it varies. One thing he most definitely is not, is smart enough to pull this off. No fourteen year old could."

"You probably could."

"I'm almost sixteen." Alex said.

"You probably would have been able to if you were twelve." Megan rolled her eyes.

"The point stands, it definitely wasn't Harry. Getting past the age line is easy. Getting past the enchantments on the cup? Not so much. And I doubt he knows there are enchantments on the cup."

"Really?"

"You always defend Harry." Hannah said.

"I don't!" Alex scowled. "I just think he's too much of an idiot to pull this off."

"You defended him in second year when we all thought he was the heir."

"Well it was a dumb idea." Alex shrugged.

"It wasn't. He is a parselmouth."

"Um... parselmouth?" The word sounded strange coming from Marcel's mouth.

"Un charmeur de serpent." Alex translated.

"Ah, oui. Wait. Your Harry Potter is un charmeur de serpent? Fascinating." Amélie's eyes sparkled.

"Everyone thought it meant he was evil two years ago." Alex said.

"Wait a second." Charlie said. "Since when can you speak French? I get Japanese, but I don't- when did you learn French?"

"And how many languages do you know?"

"Learning Japanese was fun so Hermione and I continued. We learnt French and Spanish last year and now we're trying to learn Bulgarian."

"Nerd." Megan muttered.

The students were all dismissed by Flitwick and Sprout as Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape disappeared into the chamber with the champions.

Like the rest of her house, Alex waited for Cedric's arrival in the common room, cheering when he finally appeared. She made her way to the front, throwing her arms around his neck.
"I had no doubt it would be you." She said.

"Disappointed?"

"Just a tad, but I'm more proud." She said, half jokingly. "I'll help you through this. And you're going to win."

"Alright." He grinned. She let her hands fall to the sides of his face and pulled him in close for a kiss.

When they parted, Alex registered the wolf whistles and cheers and blushed stepping aside to let his friends congratulate him.

The common room was crowded all the way into the dawn. Cedric, Maxine and the other prefects made sure the first and second years were sent to bed by one am, but other than that, almost the entire house was up celebrating. They could be a rowdy bunch, Alex realized.