Incendio

Samantha, like everyone, had been thrilled when Cedric's name emerged from the Goblet of Fire. She was disappointed it wasn't a Gryffindor, but she adored Cedric. In her opinion, if anyone deserved this honor, it was him. He'd pulled Samantha over before the tournament to say he doubted he'd be chosen, but he wanted her to know he wouldn't be writing for the Gazette anymore if he was. She agreed it was best and now she was bittersweet about everything.

When it happened, Samantha had looked out of the corner of her eye to the Ravenclaw table and noticed Genevieve sulking. She had been convinced she'd be chosen, so much so, that when Samantha had offered she could write the article about the Hallowe'en Feast and the Champion Selection, she'd turned it down, giving it to Ernie instead. Samantha was sure she'd be too busy with the interviews with the Champions on Tuesday, but she worried about Ernie's writing. He was known to have many grammatical errors and run on sentences.

The other champions turned out to be Victor Krum, the Bulgarian Quidditch Star, for Durmstrang and a beautiful young woman named Fleur Delacour, for Beauxbatons.

Samantha was absolutely Gobsmacked when the Goblet chose another Champion for Hogwarts. She wasn't sure if she should be excited or annoyed that it was her classmate, Harry Potter. She wondered, how'd he do it? The Weasley twins, and a few others, earlier that very day couldn't confuse Dumbledore's age line, with an aging potion. So how in the world could Harry Potter who was in her year confound such powerful magic? She decided to be excited for him considering he was a Gryffindor and it would be nice to have their house represented. She also knew Ginny would never forgive her if she wasn't excited for her literal lifelong crush. So she joined the rest of her house in the common room in throwing quite the party. She and Ginny probably yelled the loudest when Harry entered the common room.

Harry himself, seemed the least excited, literally running to his dormitory as quickly as he could.

The following Monday at Herbology, Ernie was acting incredibly distant towards her, as were all the Hufflepuffs to the Gryffindors.

"I'm sure we all know who you are rooting for." Ernie snidely commented to her as they left Herbology together. "Bet he'll be all over the Gazette's front page, Gryffindor's great triumph." She wasn't sure if he was messing with her, but she did not tolerate anyone speaking ill of her journalism.

Samantha side eyed Ernie as she turned around and responded, "Excuse me, I support Hogwarts."

Ernie eyes were wide as she continued.

"And for the record, Cedric is my friend, just as much as yours." Samantha insisted, feeling her throat clamp up. "Yes, I am a proud Gryffindor, but I choose to write with no bias, Ernie. And I'd like to know the last time I favored a specific house in the Gazette?" She asked.

Ernie stood there quietly. His eyes showed he was thinking and trying to wrack his brain.

"Have I ever?" Samantha asked.

He shook his head.

"That's better." Samantha nodded. "I'm going to be late for class, so if you don't mind." Samantha strode off to her Ancient Runes class, shaking her head at the whole exchange. She wondered if maybe she'd been too harsh. She also wondered why he'd be mad at her in the first place.

Her thoughts and trail to class became blocked by another Gazette member. Daphne nervously pulled her over.

"Sam, what do I do about this?" Daphne asked handing her a paper. "I was given this by a few students with requests to publish it, I'm not sure I feel ok with it. I'm not saying I disagree, but I think slander towards fellow students could be a bad look for the paper."

It was a picture that changed, it matched a few buttons she'd seen. It said, Potter Stinks before changing to Support Cedric, The Real Hogwarts Champion.

Samantha felt a deep pit in her stomach. "I think we will bring it to everyone, and come up with a statement saying we don't support slander towards other students."

Daphne nodded, "Agreed."

Later at the meeting, Ernie did apologize to Samantha. Everyone also agreed that they didn't publish unfounded slander.

No one asked questions as to why the next edition was being delayed by a day or two when Samantha insisted her article for the week wasn't quite finished.

Genevieve had rolled her eyes and mumbled something to Marietta along the lines of, "This would never happen if I were the Editor-In-Chief."

Marietta only slightly nodded in agreement, but also rolled her eyes when Genevieve wasn't looking.

Samantha wanted the interview with the Champions to be in the same issue with the article about the Hallowe'en feast. She also knew she shouldn't tell everyone about the interview, it was supposed to be on the down low. Colin was aware he would be needed the following day. Samantha hadn't told him much, just to be ready with his camera.

Ginny was nervous when it was revealed she would be taking over as the Sports Editor. Samantha had decided to entrust her with the job intended for Cedric, which would be to write play by plays for the actual tasks themselves. Samantha planned to take care of all behind the scenes and interviews, so it would be easier if someone else handled the actual task breakdown.

The next day, McGonagall was supposed to excuse Colin from his Transfiguration lesson and Samantha had been excused of her classes for the day.

"So what are we doing exactly?" Colin asked curiously fiddling with his camera.

"We, my friend, are interviewing the Hogwarts champions and reporting on the Weighing of the Wands." Samantha mentioned in a hushed tone. "Dumbledore gave me special permissions to have behind the scenes access to tournament related activities."

"Wicked." Colin responded with wide eyes. "And I get to come too?"

Samantha nodded, "For photography of course."

Colin stopped slightly and looked at her, "Your hair looks different today."

Samantha, knowing appearance was important had actually taken the time out to put Coshmere's Coil Oil in her hair, something her mother had begged her to do for years. Her hair was still pulled into the pig tails, but her hair fell in refined twists. It was a vast improvement to the frizzy mess her hair normally was. "I thought I should be more put together today."

Colin looked down at himself and began fumbling with the tie on his uniform. "Do I look alright?"

Samantha stopped and looked him over, he looked a bit disheveled so Samantha decided it couldn't hurt to help him.

"May I?" She asked and as he nodded Samantha fixed his tie. She also took her hands and fixed his hair.

"Better?" He asked.

"Better!" She insisted before they walked into the small classroom.

There were a few people already there. The Champions from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were both already there. There were also two people she'd never seen before, a man with rose colored cheeks and a boy who looked only slightly older than Samantha. She could tell the boy was from Beauxbatons because of his powder blue uniform.

The man came over and introduced himself.

"Hello, I'm Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports." He reached to shake Samantha and Colin's hands. "You two must be with the Hogwarts Gazette?"

The two nodded back and introduced themselves. Bagman then looked to Colin. "Would you mind fetching our Hogwarts Champions young man?"

Colin's eyes lit up and Samantha knew he was always excited for an opportunity to talk to Harry.

Colin responded. "Of course sir."

"And if you don't mind waiting here young lady, I'm sure you are in for a good treat. We are waiting for the reporters from the Daily Prophet and of course the judges, not to mention Dumbledore and the wand expert." He explained quickly.

Samantha nodded and wondered if she should go ahead and approach the two champions. She wasn't sure if it'd be appropriate to ask questions early. Her mind shifted quickly when the Beauxbatons boy approached her.

"If you don't mind my asking, what is your business here today?" The blonde boy asked, his eyes scanning her. She wasn't sure if it was a positive assessment but she also didn't mind.

"I am press." She nodded. "For the Hogwarts Gazette."

"I have never heard of this Gazette." He admitted with a shrug.

"It's exclusive to our school. We do send them home to parents though." She explained. "I'm the Editor-In-Chief."

"How fascinating." The boy remarked.

"I'm Samantha Fyre." Samantha reached out her hand to shake the blond boy's hand.

The boy took it and responded, "A pleasure to meet you Mademoiselle Fyre. I am Nicolas Allard."

"Very nice to meet you Mr. Allard." She nodded as they let go of each other's hands.

Nicolas whispered to her, his French accent was intriguing to Samantha, but she found his English to be very understandable.

"I am here to tend to Madame Maxime and our Champion of course." Nicolas explained.

"That's lovely you get to support her." Samantha replied with a nod. No one from the other schools had really made conversation with her before.

A slight smile spread across his face. "Is writing a passion of yours Mademoiselle Fyre?"

Samantha nodded, "Yes."

"I would very much like to read this Gazette." He expressed with a smile. She noticed he had a lovely smile.

"I can always get you the next issue." Samantha promised.

"I would like that very much. I'm sure the Madame would as well." He insisted.

"I'm supposed to interview the champions today." Samantha revealed, just wanting to continue the conversation.

"I'm sure our champion would love to interview with you." He nodded and she tried not to stare too much at his striking ice blue eyes.

Samantha chuckled a little, "She's a very beautiful young lady."

"Oh, but she is more than just her beauty." Nicolas insisted. "She is one of the smartest and most talented students in our school. There is often so much more to a woman than her beauty."

Fleur Delacour called for him and nodded briefly at Samantha.

"I'm sure we shall speak again Mademoiselle Fyre." Nicolas bowed his head.

"I hope so." Samantha blurted out without thinking. He walked away and she tried not to admit to herself that she found him handsome.

She noticed Fleur's expression changed slightly as Nicolas spoke to her. Fleur's eyes scanned her and Samantha wondered if she should have worked longer on her hair.

"You must be the little journalist!" A shrill voice loudly called in as a woman in bright robes and a ridiculous hat came striding into the room. She very firmly grabbed Samantha and practically picked her up in a hug. "So nice to see the young people finally embracing the noble art of journalism." Samantha reckoned her voice was how a sherbet lemon would sound if sweets could speak.

"Excuse me?" Samantha wasn't really a person who liked physical contact unless with family or friends. She preferred a good handshake with strangers.

"Oh you must not recognize me off the page." The lady waved her arms before removing her hat, revealing blonde spiral curls. "I'm Rita Skeeter."

Samantha's heart leapt, it was the real Rita Skeeter, the famous journalist. "Good to meet you Miss Skeeter. I'm Samantha Fyre."

"Oh, call me Rita darling." She waved her arms lightly, her crimson finger nails catching the light. She reached into a crocodile skin bag she brought and an acid green quill came flying out along with a journal. They landed in her hands and before putting the quill in her mouth she asked, "Now, are you excited for the tournament?"

"Of course. I can't wait to watch it." Samantha said, deciding to watch what she said.

Rita whispered to her slightly, "Anyone in particular you are rooting for?"

She shook her head, she lied and said, "I like to keep my writing bias free, so I don't pick favorites."

The quill stood up on the page and began writing on its own. Samantha had just enough experience with Quick Quotes Quills to know that it could twist a person's words. She didn't want to end up being a source or having something she said being taken out of context. That could ruin her journalistic integrity.

"If you don't mind, mam," Samantha smiled uncomfortably. "I'd prefer to keep anything I say off the record. I'm not sure my mother would approve." She knew that if you gave a journalist any kind of consent to publish something, they would, because she would do the exact same thing. She also knew adults tended not to mess with kids who mentioned their parents.

"Of course darling." Rita winked and the quill scratched off what it was writing before both the quill and the notepad jumped back into her bag. Rita raised her eyebrows before remarking in a much less sticky sweet tone, "Smart girl."

Samantha smiled a little and pulled out her own journal and pen. "I assume you don't want to be interviewed either."

Rita smirked. "Not today at least, maybe I could stop by and speak to your little Gazette sometime."

"Only if it's off the record." Samantha bartered. It'd be amazing to have her come speak to the Gazette, but she didn't want anything about it being published. "I think it would be great if they could all learn from you."

"Of course." Rita nodded. "I'd be honored. I'll speak with your Headmaster about it."

"That would be wonderful." Samantha insisted.

The doors to the small classroom opened and Colin led Cedric in. Colin waved vivaciously at Samantha before running off to gather Harry.

Cedric seemed excited that Samantha was there and waved at her slightly before going to speak with Fleur.

Colin arrived with Harry. Rita and Bagman both ran to greet him. Samantha watched as Rita essentially dragged Harry out of the room behind her for an interview. A few minutes later, Dumbledore entered with someone Samantha knew decently well.

"Mr. Ollivander!" Samantha called out as the old wand maker entered. Her mother owned a high end art and clothing shop in Diagon Alley and Ollivander's shop was the direct neighbor.

"Oh Miss Fyre!" Mr. Ollivander called coming closer to her. "How is your ten inch, hazel with unicorn heartstring holding up?"

"Just as well as it was over the Summer." Samantha insisted. He had asked about her wand every time she passed his shop.

"I just like to keep an eye on it, unicorn heartstrings can give out you know?" He reminded before patting her on the back.

"Where is Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked.

"He's interviewing with Skeeter." Bagman revealed making Dumbledore's face drop. He went to find them both.

The Durmstrang Headmaster and The Beauxbatons Headmistress entered. As soon as Dumbledore returned with Harry and Rita, everything got started. Samantha sat in the corner as they weighed the wands and wrote down everything she could.

After the weighing of the wands, the photographers began doing individual photographs while Samantha and Rita began speaking to each of the Champions.

Cedric was of course his normal humble self, awkwardly laughing at every question.

Krum seemed nervous, something that surprised Samantha, seeing as he was after all a Quidditch star.

Fleur seemed genuinely kind to Samantha, even commenting that she liked the ribbons in Samantha's hair.

Harry was the last Champion Samantha was to speak with.

"Hiya Harry. I mean, Mr. Potter." Samantha smiled as she greeted him. She realized she'd never had a full conversation with Harry himself. He'd always been around, and she'd reported about him, but never truly had a conversation in her four years at Hogwarts. Samantha was very surprised when she realized Harry knew her name.

"Hello Samantha." He said looking slightly shaken up. He looked her over slightly with a true relief floating over his face. "So is this why you weren't in potions?"

"Yes, honestly happy for a break from it. I'm dreadful." She revealed.

"You definitely didn't miss out." Harry chuckled. "I think Snape was getting ready to poison me."

Samantha nodded and laughed, "Seems on brand. I think he hates all the Gryffindors, but you the worst."

Harry nodded and laughed a little.

"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions? We don't even have to do it in a broom closet, technically I could grab you sometime in the dormitory if it's more comfortable." Samantha asked.

He nodded uncomfortably with his shoulders up by his ears. "You don't use one of those quills like her do you?"

She shook her head and held up her pen.

"You are using a muggle pen?" He asked with relief playing across his face.

"Yes, they're easier than quills for fast writing. Dad sends them to me." She admitted with a smile. "I can't use them for class but I use them everywhere else."

"You can ask me those questions now if you want." He smiled a little and his eyes softened.

Samantha smiled and began her interview with her classmate. After everything had finished he walked with Samantha and Colin back to the Great Hall. The three were all exhausted in their own way so there wasn't much talking on the way. Samantha's mind was racing on how to frame her article and she barely touched her dinner as she started her writing.