"Gather around," said Professor Dumbledore loudly. Everyone went quiet, eager for the choosing. "The moment you've all been waiting for: The Tri-Wizard selection!" He dramatically raised his hand and hovered it over the Goblet. A piece of parchment paper shot out. "The Beauxbatons champion is Fleur Delacour!"

The Beaubatons table squealed, cheering for a blonde-headed girl. The young lady, Fleur, proudly got up, walked over to Professor Dumbledore, shook his hand, and was then motioned to go into the room next door. Professor Dumbledore raised his hand for a second time.

"Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum!"

Cheers, applause, and chanting was heard around the Great Hall. Sera knew that they were glad that the Bulgarian Seeker, Viktor Krum, had been chosen. He, too, shook Professor Dumbledore's hand before exiting to where Fleur had gone off to. Professor Dumbledore raised his hand for the third time.

"Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!"

Screams and cheers rang from the crowd, mainly from the girls. Sera had often heard that Cedric Diggory had been called "the perfect golden boy" of Hogwarts, and she could see why. She thought he was decent-looking. Not stunning.

"That's it!" Professor Dumbledore proudly. "Those are our three chosen champions! But in the end, only one will go down into history. In the end, only one of them will be able to hoist the Tri-Wizard's cup!"

Everyone applauded. Everyone except for Annie. She slowly rose to her feet. She had just now noticed that the fire from the Goblet had went from blue to magenta once more. She wasn't the only one who noticed, however. Professor Snape had a weird look on his face.

Finally, Professor Dumbledore couldn't deny that there was something wrong. He turned to see the magenta-colored fire once more. He extended his hand out. And at once, another paper shot out of the flames. Professor Dumbledore caught the paper and unfurled it.

"Harry Potter," he muttered quietly.

Annie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Hadn't her brother already been through enough in his life? Why couldn't it be her, and not him?

"Harry Potter?" Professor Dumbledore repeated more loudly.

"Go up there, Harry," she heard Hermione whispering. "Harry, go up!"

Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as her brother carefully got to his feet and slowly made his way across the Great Hall. Professor Dumbledore gave him the meanest look before handing the piece of parchment to her brother.

A great commotion began to arise in the Great Hall. Many of the younger students were not happy that her brother had been chosen once more.

"He's a cheat!" she heard someone say.

"Yeah, he's not even seventeen, yet!" another person added. "He just wants more glory for himself."

"Oh, shut the hell up!" Annie finally had the sense to answer loudly. "Did you see how terrified my brother looked when his name got called? You'd behave the same way if that was your name! But it's not your name! Give him a break! He's not an idiot! I know my brother better than any of you do and I know for a fact that he's not stupid!"

"Annie Potter?!" Professor Dumbledore called out.

Annie turned to face the headmaster with a look of disbelief on her face. "Oh, what the bloody hell does he want, now?" she grumbled to herself.

She jumped off the makeshift bleachers and nervously joined Professor Dumbledore. The Headmaster gave her a stern look.

"Your Harry's older sister. I want you to be with him every step of the way. But for now, I want to ask him a few questions."

Without another word, he took off with the other professors, including Madame Maxime and the High Master. They barged into the Trophy Room, which was the room Fleur, Viktor, and Cedric had gone through once they had been chosen.

"It's a fraud! I repeat! It's a fraud!" Madame Maxime insisted.

"Harry!" Professor Dumbledore called out. To Annie's horror, Professor Dumbledore grabbed her brother roughly by the shoulders, slamming him into the nearest trophy case. Annie was stunned that the trophy case did not break.

"PROFESSOR!" she shrieked in horror.

"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire?!" Professor Dumbledore demanded, ignoring Annie.

"No, sir!" Harry answered frantically, his eyes wide.

"Did you ask another older student to do it for you?"

"He isn't that dumb," Sera grumbled. "He's been with me the entire time! I'd know if he did something rash like that."

"No, sir!" Harry insisted.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes, sir!"

Madame Maxime pushed the chandelier that was in her face, aside. Her eyes were narrowed.

"But of course, he is lying!"

"The hell, he is!" Moody barked back, defending Annie's brother. "The Goblet of Fire is an extremely magical object! The Age Line is impossible for a fourth-year to go through!"

"Unless it involves some dark magic," Igor Karkaroff claimed.

"I can tell if someone uses Dark Magic, Igor Karkaroff," Professor Moody growled quietly. "Perhaps you can remember?"

Igor Karkaroff's face blanched. Professor Dumbledore pushed past the two of them.

"That's enough, Alastor!" he demanded. He turned to face Barty Crouch, who still looked just as stunned as the rest of them. "We leave this up to you, Barty."

"The rules are absolute," Barty admitted. "Mr. Harry Potter is, as of today, a Tri-Wizard champion."

***

Annie could not sleep. Her thoughts were on her brother, and she felt powerless. She couldn't protect him this time. And it broke her.

Finally, she had enough. She got to her feet, put on her house robe, and quietly walked out of the dorm. As she made her way to the Gryffindor common room, she could hear quiet sniffles. She stood at the bottom of the stairs, shocked at the sight.

Dante sat on the couch, staring at the vintage locket that had his parent's pictures inside. She sighed quietly before approaching the couch.

"Dante? Are you okay?"

Dante jumped, looking startled. He quickly shut his locket and hastily wiped away his tear-stained face before looking away. Annie sat down gently next to him, staring expectantly at the boy.

Finally he sighed.

"Sorry. I was just thinking about my parents. They died before I was five, y'know?"

"Were you thinking about this afternoon?"

Dante's face blanched. His expression looked blank and he quickly looked away. She was about to say something, but he finally spoke, messing with his hands. He still avoided her gaze, looking almost panicked and nearly in tears again.

"Have you ever wondered why I behaved to you the way I did when we first met in our first year?"

Annie was surprised, but she nodded anyway.

"My parents became ex-Death Eaters when I was three. Dad had somehow found out Lord Voldemort's secret to immortality. He was horrified that he had followed him. But he wasn't the only one, though. He told my Mum, who was a part of the Black family. They were very loyal to Slytherin house and was obsessed with serving the Dark Lord. Dad and his friend, Regulus Black, both found out together and intended on destroying his powers. But they didn't get far. Unfortunately, Voldemort found out and had them both killed at the same time. Mum died two years later from heartbreak and grief."

Annie could feel the tears coming to her eyes. She knew that Dante had more to say.

"Oh, Dante," she breathed, horrified by what she had just learned.

"I was orphaned after my Mum died. The only relatives I had left were the Malfoys. I lived with them for a long time, until it came time for me to go to Hogwarts with my cousin, Draco. The Malfoys despised me for who I was, and the fact that my father had abandoned the Death Eaters and worked in secret to destroy him until he got killed. I was treated cruelly. Auntie Bellatrix, well, her favorite past time for her was torturing me until I was on the brink of insanity. Day after day, she'd use the Cruciatus Curse on me until I was weak and could no longer scream in pain. I think Auntie Narcissa had a bit more sympathy than everyone else in her family had, and finally told my aunt, around six months before I left for Hogwarts for the first time, to stop. But she didn't stop entirely. When the Malfoys went out, she still found ways to torment me. Those five years of living with my last family had destroyed me. Traumatized my soul. I react in different ways when I'm around people."

"And that's why you yelled at me on the first day on the Hogwarts Express," Annie breathed. "You were afraid that I was going to hurt you the way your aunt did."

She finally pieced the puzzle together. She was horrified at what Bellatrix Lestrange had done to her nephew, who was an innocent child whose parents were trying to do good in the world, only to leave him an orphan after everything that they had sacrificed. She understood why Draco Malfoy had asked her to wait until Dante was ready. She knew that Dante had a bad past, but she didn't think that it would be that bad.

Her face boiled. She wanted to kill Bellatrix Lestrange for making Dante, who was only an innocent child, no less, suffer for five years for no reason. Suddenly, to her surprise, Dante's lower lip quivered slightly and he suddenly burst into tears. Her heart felt heavy for him.

No one should have to suffer through that!

Hesitantly, she opened her arms out for a hug. She was relieved when he didn't hesitate to sink into them. She hugged him tightly, allowing him to let all of his emotions out. His tears soaked her sweatshirt. But she didn't care.

"It's okay," she finally managed to say. "I know you're hurting. Just let it all out."

And he did. It took him a while to let it all out. And eventually, he continued to have his face buried in the crook of her neck, though no more tears of hurt and frustration came.

"Are you okay?" Dante finally asked, his voice thick.

Annie was surprised. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "You just ranted to me about your horrifying past. And now you're asking me if I'm okay? I should be the one asking if you are okay!"

"I'm better, now. I'm asking you because your brother just got submitted to the Tri-Wizard Tournament when we know that he's not stupid enough to do something illegal."

"I'll be fine, once I know that my brother will survive all three tasks," she answered with a wet chuckle.

"We'll help him get through this, together. I promise."