— october 1994 —

IT WAS now the time that the Goblet would chose who would represent each school in the Triwizard Tournament. Everyone was in the now cramped Great Hall, everyone was muttering amongst themselves in excitement and curiosity.

Zola was sat next to Lorelei, Priscilla and Jesse. In front of her was Troy, Fred and George. Behind her, she felt someone's kneel gently pressing into her back. Ignoring it, she continued to listen to Priscilla's story. But the knee pressed a little harder on her spine. She twisted her head to see the mysterious Durmstrang boy from a few days ago. He smiled down at her and she smiled up at him.

"Hello," The boy spoke, his Bulgarian accent heavy.

"Hi," she waved.

The boy had slightly tanned skin, messy brown locks and adorable large dark brown eyes. "I'm Finn. Finn Sparrow. And you are?" He held out his large hand down to her for her to shake.

"Zola Montgomery. Nice to meet you," She smiled, about to shake his hand but he instead brought her hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles whilst peering into her dark eyes. Her breath hitched in her throat at the action.

"It's my pleasure," he grinned. "If you'll excuse me, my friends are calling me over," He lowered her hand, allowing her to retract it. "See you later, Zola," her name rolled off his tongue, his accent making it sound even more unique. He stood and walked off towards his other Durmstrang friends.

What she didn't notice was her friends watching the entire interaction. "Who?" Fred pointed to Finn.

"What?" George continued.

"Why?" Jesse asked.

"How?!" Troy exclaimed.

Zola raked her brain, trying to remember who asked what. "One; His name is Finn Sparrow. Two; It was a hand kiss. Three; I'm not sure. And four; rude!"

Lorelei and Priscilla chuckled together. "Good for you, Z," Priscilla commented, her English a lot better than it was when she arrived at Hogwarts with the help of Lorelei. "I heard he's from one of the most well-known Bulgarian Wizarding families."

Zola raised her brows at the new information. "Really?"

Before they could continue their conversation, Dumbledore began his speech.

"Sit down. Please," Dumbledore spoke loudly from his spot next to the Goblet. Everyone followed his orders as quickly as possible. "Now the moment you've all been waiting for: The champion selection!" He waved his hand around the hall, dimming the fires that lit the room. He reached his hand up to the Goblet until a piece of parchment shot up and landed in his hand. He read it quickly before announcing. "The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum!"

Everyone cheered as the seeker shook Dumbledore's hand and moved to stand at the front of the hall.

The goblet's flame grew red once more and shot out another piece of parchment. "The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!" Cheers roared through the hall once more as the blonde French girl copied Viktor's actions.

A final parchment paper shot from the goblet, falling into Dumbledore's hand. "The Hogwarts champion..." Dumbledore began, leaving everyone in suspense. So many students placed their names in the cup and only one would be picked. "Cedric Diggory!"

Applause and whistles rippled around the hall as the Golden Boy did the same as his fellow champions, yet Zola couldn't find the strength to take part in the celebration. Her face fell into deep worry as she watched Cedric shake Dumbledore's hand. Cedric sneaked a glance at Zola to see her staring at him with a furrowed brow. He shot her a questioning look, before being guided away by the headmaster.

Her heart felt heavy as she watched her new friend stand with Viktor and Fleur.

"Excellent! We now have our three champions!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "But in the end, only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions, this vessel of victory, the Triwizard Cup!" He pointed towards the teacher's table just as Crouch revealed the glowing blue cup. Everyone cheered but soon their attention was back on the goblet which was whirling once more. From the stories that Zola had heard, this was uncommon.

One more piece of parchment blew from the cup and Dumbledore caught with curiosity. He gazed at the paper, his eyes widening at the name. "Harry Potter," he mumbled. "Harry Potter?" Everyone turned to stare at the fourth-year boy. "Harry Potter!" Dumbledore roared, angrily.

Zola watched as Hermione pushed Harry from his seat. Timidly, Harry approached the angrily-confused headmaster. Dumbledore handed the burnt parchment paper to the boy silently. Harry moved down the aisle, scared. People stared after him, muttering amongst themselves. 'He's a cheat' He's not even 17 yet!'

Zola's heart wrenched as she watched Harry's scared expression. She knew that Harry wasn't bothered about the Tournament so she just knew that he wouldn't put his name in the goblet or let an older student put it in. Something was wrong.