Oliver Wood's POV
It hit me like a Bludger to the chest.
One second, I was mid-run, pacing out the last of my evening drills under the Highland stars.
The next - the bond ignited.
Magic snapped through me in a burst of heat and panic, gold light flaring briefly under my skin, my legs folding under me like something inside had been torn.
I caught myself on the ground, gasping.
The pendant - her Portkey - scorched against my chest. The contract burned along my wrist, alive with something primal. Urgent.
It wasn't pain.
It was impact.
Something had changed.
I didn't need an owl.
I didn't need a newspaper.
I knew.
She'd been chosen.
Not for a team. Not for a House. Not even for me.
For something older.
I stood slowly, adrenaline buzzing through every nerve, and stormed back inside, brushing past startled teammates.
I didn't stop until I reached the Floo in the manager's office.
I threw in powder and shouted the name I hadn't dared say since graduation.
"Marcellus Thorne!"
The flames turned green.
His face appeared almost instantly - narrow, sharp-eyed, and already annoyed. "Wood?"
"I need to talk," I said. "About the contract."
His expression changed.
"You felt it, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"She's been named Champion."
My stomach dropped.
I hadn't known for sure. I just... felt it.
But he said it so simply.
So certainly.
"She's not even of age-"
"The Goblet doesn't care. And neither does the magic tied to her name."
"You told me it was legacy," I said. "That it responds to power-"
"I told you it recognizes potential. But now, Wood... it's recognizing something else."
"What?"
He looked directly at me.
"Catalyst."
-
Later that night, I wrote Harriet another letter.
Emerald,
I felt it the moment it happened. You're not alone in this.
If they think you don't belong, remind them the fire chose you - not because of prophecy. Not because of headlines. But because you are power wrapped in grace and fury.
If they make you walk into flame... I'll be waiting at the edge.
Always,
-O
YOU ARE READING
In Shadow and Signal (Book 2)
FanfictionShe didn't enter the Tournament. But the fire still chose her. Harriet Potter never asked for legacy magic, secret contracts, or a front-row seat to the rising storm of war. But when the Goblet of Fire spits out her name, everything changes. Now she...
