Chapter Text
The Triwizard Tournament, a tradition almost as old as the four noble families of London’s wizarding society. Three students, each from one of the three greatest schools of magic in Europe pitted against each other in lethal trials for the sake of glory and prestige; the monetary reward for victory a mere afterthought for all. The champions would be chosen by the impartial crystal ball of the third headmaster.
All Hinata had to do was show it a simple spell— any spell and she would be taken into consideration as a champion for Hogwarts. She didn’t need to lift her gaze from the crystal ball to know that a small crowd was gathering around her. Would the disgraced heir dare attempt to redeem herself through the tournament?
She inwardly scoffed and a small smile reached her lips as she turned away from the crystal ball. Hinata’s cloak billowed behind her as she strode to the Slytherin table, settling beside Shino who passed her an empty plate. No one raised an eyebrow at the oddity of her blue uniform in a sea of green.
With a lazy flick of her hand breakfast floated to her plate and she began to munch on a pastry when Shino turned to her with a pensive semblance. “Are you happy, Hinata?”
She only shrugged and she continued to nibble on her pastry in the slowest manner possible. “The tournament is not for me,” she finally said. “I don’t see myself boding well with the pressure, besides being a spectator is going to be much more enjoyable.”
Shino hummed and nodded. “I’m glad that this decision is based only on what you want.”
Hinata smiled as she turned around to see a new crowd forming around the crystal ball. A mop of blond hair caught her attention. “There are people who truly shine when they’re up against opponents,” she murmured wistfully. “But I don’t fancy getting myself killed for the sake of pleasing my family.”
Naruto’s distinctive laughter echoed throughout the hall and he offered a silly bow to the crowd forming around him. “Thanks for the support, I promise I’ll be the number one champion of all time and—”
Naruto’s voice was drowned out by high pitched cheers and his form was jostled away from the crystal ball by a group of girls. They quickly parted to reveal one Sasuke Uchiha sauntering to the Slytherin table. Before taking a seat he turned to Naruto’s direction. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
The blond’s face twisted into a smirk and Hinata raised a hand to cover the smile growing on her own face. Such a look on Naruto could only imply an amusing morning. “And why do you say that?”
“You do realize that the odds of you being chosen are well below one out of seventy five, don’t you?”
“The crystal ball choses the most worthy, this isn’t like the lottery!”
Sasuke still remained unimpressed. He lazily raised his wand in the direction of the artifact and those in the line of fire shuffled out of the way. “And now your odds are zero,” he announced. “ Confringo!”
“Bombarda!”
Smoke arose from the area of the crystal ball and more than one student inched closer to observe the damage. “Did they break it?” they murmured before Shino calmly aimed his wand at the smoke.
“ Ventus. ”
The murmurs grew loud and excited when Shino’s wind charm revealed the artifact to be perfectly intact. Hinata alternated between looking at Sasuke and looking at Naruto before she tugged Shino’s sleeve. “Did both of them enter the competition pool?”
“It seems so…”
Naruto opened his mouth to cast a new spell. Kiba immediately jumped to his feet and stopped him. “No! If you enter yourself more than once you’ll definitely not get chosen, Naruto.”
The blond only grumbled at Sasuke's smirk. “Yeah, yeah, I know. But this isn’t over, Uchiha.”
Sasuke’s retort was drowned out by the rising shouting match amongst the rest of the student body. While Hinata was all for school spirit, she had to admit that she has cringed more than once at the excessively competitive and even antagonistic nature between the Houses. Sasuke and Naruto’s feud began before they were even sorted, but everyone else, she was convinced they chose sides based solely on the colors that they wore.
Shino stood up from his seat with a sigh. “I don’t fancy getting caught up in a brawl either.”
As she ducked under a pair of seventh years a dull thud caught her attention and she could only watch in dismay as the book that was carefully tucked into her robes that morning was trampled over and disappeared from her view. Before she could reach out she was promptly shoved away.
Instead of hitting the floor she was grabbed by the arm and forcefully pulled to her feet. Hinata quickly murmured a thank you and hurried away without glancing up.
“Ungrateful,” Sasuke scoffed as he strode away. When his feet touched an anomaly on the ground he raised an eyebrow at the fallen book before picking it up. He hummed contemplative and drummed his fingers against the spine of the book before cracking it open.
It didn’t take long for Suigestu to show up and dissimulate his curiosity. He casually walked next to Sasuke and leaned in. “Did you steal someone’s diary, Uchiha?” Suigetsu inched closer to Sasuke who only snapped the book shut and settled against a wall before cracking it open again. “Come on, let me see it. Is it from one of your fangirls?”
“It’s Hyūga’s journal,” he finally said. “Unless you’ve developed a sudden interest in potions and herbology I doubt you’d find this entertaining.”
Suigetsu scoffed. “Since when are you interested in that stuff?”