"Zoe!" A brue girl dressed in Ravencw's robe shouted from across the street. "Stop walking at a turtle's pace, or we'll miss the movie."

  "Calm your horses, Krissy," Zoe, earing Hufflepuff, rolled her eyes. "We already have the tickets."

  "And so do hundreds of others," said the third and final girl in the group, Riley, who was donning Gryffindor. "All the good seats will be gone if we aren't early."

  Not wanting to hear her friends' pints anymore, Zoe jogged until she was right beside the two. "Here I am, happy? I don't uand why you're so obsessed with the film. You both have read the books a huimes. I should be the one more excited to know what will happen in this part."

  "And whose fault is that for not being able to crack open a book?" Riley asked rhetorically. "You didn't eve us tell you the story."

  "I want no spoilers," Zoe said resolutely.

  "Wasn't Troy your favorite actor until st year?" Krissy asked curiously. "What happened now?" Then she gasped in mock surprise. "Don't tell me you're turning your ba Troy for Justin Timberke or heaven forbid Shia Labeouf."

  Finding the perfect opportunity to tease her friend, Riley said in a shrill voice, "Guys, I will totally marry Troy when I grow up." Then she dropped it back to normal. "Didn't you used to say that every time we saw one of his films?"

  Zoe fought back the blush that was threatening to overtake her usual color. She crossed her arms over her chest and said, "That was when I was young and gullible. Also, he's dating Emma Watson now."

  She wouldn't say it out loud to her friends, but she deeply loved Troy. Her heart had been shattered into a million pieces when the photo of him kissing Emma Watson surfaced. She had gone offline for days after that. She hadn't evehe trailer foblet of Fire]. Whe came on TV, she would ge the el because it hurt to look at Troy with anirl, and one of the early ses irailer was Troy and Emma hugging.

  Krissy chuckled. "Don't you know? They were never dating. There's this interview going viral oer where they say that they were shooting a film in which they had to kiss. It wasn't real."

  Zoe stopped iracks for a moment. She really didn't know that.

  "Hey, don't stop now," Riley pined and pulled Zoe along.

  "Even then," Zoe tried to hide her shock, "why are you so excited to see the movie? You weren't this hyped for the third one."

  Riley and Krissy shared a meaningful look before Riley asked, "You haven't seerailer, have you?"

  Zoe shrugged. "I may have missed it."

  Riley and Krissy ughed at that before Krissy said, "Oh boy. This will be good. She doesn't have any idea."

  "About what?" Zoe asked in fusion.

  "You'll see," Krissy said mysteriously, and then both girls remained quiet all the way until they were iheater and had gotten some good seats.

  "e on, guys!" Zoe pleaded. "I o know."

  "Watch the film and find out," was the reply she got.

  Zoe could only huff in irritation. Before the film started, a few ercials pyed out, whicluded trailers for some other movies as well, but there was one never-before-seen ercial that brought an instant smile to her face.

  Troy was walking on a beach wearing a Hawaiian shirt, half pants, and Crocs. Then he was in a park, wearing tees, denim shorts, and Crocs. Then he was shooting a film, and you guessed it, he wore Crocs. The se ged multiple times, from his bedroom to his living room, to pying tennis. In the final shot, he was wet head to toe, by a poolside, wearing just a pair of trunks and Crocs. Sunlight made him glow like a Greek god. His abs and pecs were to die for. If only Zoe could reach forward and touch him…

  "Crocs," Troy said. "The only footwear you'll ever need."

  And then the ercial ended. Zoe sighed in disappoi. That ercial ended way too soon. She looked down at her own Crocs that she was wearing at the moment, which she had purchased after watg Troy's first ercial, and she had to agree—they were the most fortable footwear she could have bought. It was such a shame they had taken down the first ad within a month of its release. This was a new one, and the only one (besides the first) where Troy wasn't so shy about showing off his body.

  "Don't sigh like that, Zo," Riley said. "You'll like what you'll see on s when the movie begins."

  Now Zoe was more than a little intrigued, yet she khey wouldn't sate her curiosity, so she waited. Thankfully, the movie started soon enough.

  It opened all dark and mysterious as an old man witnesses Peter Pettigrew and another man (who hadn't appeared in any of the prior movies) talk in a ghostly voice. It wasn't hard to deduce that the voice must be Voldemort, the vilin of the story. Seeing that their plot was discovered, the old man was shot with a green spell apanied by the intation, "Avada Kedavra!" It was obvious that he had died.

  In the se, Troy as Harry woke up suddenly from the nightmare, panting harshly. Hermione had e to wake him and Ron because they had to go to the Quidditch World Cup. They were joined by another boy, Cedric Diggory, and his father, Amos.

  "Cedric is so hot!" Krissy ented from beside her. "I'd totally do him."

  "As if he'd let you do him," Riley retorted.

  "Shh!" Zoe hissed, and thankfully her friends plied.

  The group used a device called a portkey to reach the Quidditch World Cup, where they got to see how diverse and vast the wizarding world was. Wizards of different nationalities ahnicities were everywhere, doing magical things. The group stayed in a tent that was much bigger on the inside. And then the World Cup began: Bulgaria vs Irend.

  It was quite a beautifully chraphed seque wasn't as detailed as the games in the first two movies, but they showed the scores and the live reas of the group. It was the first match shown in the series where the team that caught the Snitch (Bulgaria) didn't win the game.

  Everyone was in a happy mood after the game. They were teasing Ron about his man crush on Viktor Krum and being like kids in general, until suddenly there was a boom, and everyone quieted down.

  "It must be the Irish," one of the twins noted idly.

  But it wasn't. Their father rushed them out of the tent to safety, only for the camera to pan out and reveal that the camp was utack by people in long bck capes and silver masks. Chaos ensued, almost causing a stampede, leaving Harry to get knocked out. Someone cast a dark green skull mark with a snake ing out of its mouth in the sky.

  They all suspected Harry and his friends of being behind it, but he was quickly acquitted because he didn't even know what the Dark Mark was or that Voldemort's followers were called Death Eaters. Moreover, he was Harry Potter. Why would he summon the mark of Voldemort?

  As the story progressed, the three went to Hogwarts orain. Harry was shown to have developed a crush on a girl named Cho g.

  Delegations from two other European schools, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, arrived at Hogwarts to participate iriwizard Tour. Their entrances were quite a stunni, showg their magical capabilities.

  A retired Auror named Astor Moody joihe staff to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, aaught the students the three Unfivable Curses: Imperio, Crucio, and Avada Kedavra. The st one is the same curse Voldemort used on the old man at the beginning of the film to kill him.

  Later that day, everyone over 17 started entering their names in the Goblet of Fire. Fred and Gee tried entering their names as well using an aging potion (sihey were only 16) but got turned into old men. Everyone ughed out loud at that se as they started wrestling on the floor.

  Then it was time for the champions of the three schools to be chosen. For Durmstrang, it was the burly Viktor Krum, while for Beauxbatons, it was the beautiful Fleur Decour.

  Zoe had a feeling that Hogwarts' champion would somehow be Harry. She knew how these stories worked.

  "Cedric Diggory," announced Dumbledore.

  Then, in a shog twist of fate, the Goblet spewed out a fourth name—Harry Potter. Everyone, from students to teachers to Dumbledore to Harry himself, was shocked by this turn of events, but Zoe loved every moment of it.

  In the following ses, everyourns against Harry, including his best friend Ron. Zoe loved Ron so much. He was her sed favorite character in the films after Harry, but this betrayal didn't sit right. Harry was all aloormented by his fellow students and eveers.

  But Harry was still the good guy. When he found out what the first task was from Hagrid, he told Cedric to level the pying field. And what a magnifit task it was—dragons.

  Harry went st and faced the biggest dragon of the lot. Zoe's breath hitched when she saw the dragohing fire at Harry, but luckily, Troy ducked behind a rod summoned his broom before taking the battle to the air. He showed expert maneuvers and outflew the dragon. It was quite a thrilling se where Harry performed all sorts of dives and rolls on his broom before snatg the golden egg. But not before the end of his robes got burned.

  Then came a very toug se between Ron and Harry.

  "Harry," Ron began quietly, "whoever put your name in that goblet—I—I re they're trying to do you in!"

  "Finally caught on, have you?" Harry smiled tiredly. "It's okay."

  "No, it's not!" Roed hotly. "At home, I have five older brothers to pete against. I'm never good enough. Sometimes, I think you're my brother too. For that, I'm sorry."

  "Who said we aren't brothers?" Harry grinned back, g hands with Ron.

  Hermione, meanwhile, wiped away her tears. "Boys."

  As the film progressed, when Harry opehe egg ter that day, it let out a screeg sound, deafening everyone. her Harry nor anyone around him had any clue how to open the egg successfully.

  During Christmas, the three schools held a Yule Ball, where the boys, being boys, started embarrassing themselves by asking girls out on dates. Harry was rejected by Cho g, so he ended up going with Parvati Patil instead, while Ron took her twin sister, Padma.

  The dance sequences were beautiful to watch, but the star of the evening was Hermione, who stole the show in her periwinkle blue dress. She looked like she stepped straight out of a Disney fairy tale and apanied Viktor Krum to the dance.

  Ron and Hermione had a huge fight, showg Ron's jealousy once again. But if you looked closely, anyone could see that it was because Ron liked Hermione and didn't like her going out with someone else.

  Sometime ter, Cedric Diggory approached Harry and told him to take his egg to the prefects' bathroom.

  The se made Zoe's breath hitch. Harry—no, Troy—dove into a bathtub nearly naked. While the camera didn't lioo long on his body, and there were plenty of bubbles in the way, Zoe khat as soon as the DVDs were out, she would definitely buy it for this se alone and pause it in just the right pces.

  Neville gave Harry something called gillyweed, and then Zoe felt as if she might die. Harry, Cedrid Krum all stood in front of the ke, wearing only swimming trunks. Fleur looked quite fetg in a silver bathing suit as well, but the boys were the real eye dy for Zoe. Especially Troy. While he wasn't as broad or tall as the other two actors, ah eyes could see that he had the most defined muscles—especially those abs, which could double as a cheese grater.

  "Why couldn't I have goo the ball with him?" Krissy ented beside Zoe, who could only nod in agreement.

  For the en or so minutes, while Troy was uer and shirtless, Zoe's brain was not funing clearly. She just khat he saved Ron and a little girl from drowning, only to e out and receive a kiss—Harry's first kiss.

  In the following se, Harry stumbled upon the body of a Ministry official, casting doubt on a few mysterious figures, namely Severus Snape and Igor Karkaroff, both of whom had been former Death Eaters.

  Then it was time for the final part of the tourhe maze, which was holy quite a thrilling ride. From the Boggart to the Sphinx to the Aantus, everything was jaw-dropping. The VFX was doifully, making everything look hyper-real. Then came the climax when Harry and Cedric dove for the cup together after Harry saved the taller boy.

  And then, Cedric died.

  Zoe sat in her seat with her mouth wide open like a fish. She had not expected someoo die in a [Harry Potter] movie—let alone Cedric, who was turning out to be such a great character.

  Voldemort was resurrected by Peter Pettigrew after sacrifig his hand and forcibly taking Harry's blood, and what a chilling se it was. The actor who pyed Voldemort scared the living daylights out of Zoe. Wheortured Harry, Zoe looked away for a brief moment, overwhelmed by Troy's superb ag.

  Harry and Voldemort fought briefly in what was quite an epic duel, with their spells eg. But it wasn't meant to be the finale. Harry mao escape with Cedric's body. A beaten and battered Harry appeared on the field as everyone around him started celebrating—everyone except Harry, who was g his eyes out while clutg Cedric's body.

  Zoe shed a tear herself due to the iy of the se.

  Then came the biggest twist of the story. Harry was led away by Astor Moody, who turned out to be a Death Eater himself. Most of the audience gasped in shock as the revetion hit them like bricks. Non-book readers hadn't expected Moody to be an impostor.

  The school year ended, and all the fn students returo their respective schools, leaving the Golden Trio behind, all sad and gloomy because now everything would ge with Voldemort's return.

  And then the credits started rolling. It was such a good film that Zoe knew for sure she would have to watch it at least two more times.

  "Shall we go?" Riley asked, standing up as most people did the same and began leaving the theater.

  "Wait," Krissy stopped her. "The st film had a post-credit se. Maybe this one will have one as well."

  "It did?" Zoe asked, amazed. "I didn't see it."

  Krissy shrugged. "I saw it on the DVD. It was basically a trailer for this film."

  Zoe's eyes glimmered. "Then we definitely have to wait for it."

  Riley groaned i but sat back down dutifully. After what felt like forever, the post-credit se finally pyed, and it was quite a surprising one.

  In the se, Dumbledore argues with Fudge in an official-looking room about Barty Crouch Jr. and how Voldemort had returned.

  "He has not returned!" Fudge hissed. "That's final. As for Crouch, you know the punishment for breaking out of Azkaban."

  "You 't mean—"

  "Dementor," Fudge anded, and immediately one hooded bck figure desded upon Barty and kissed him, essentially killing him. Dumbledore could only stare in shock at the turn of events before Fudge said, "If I were you, I'd make sure not to spread any more lies to the public. Tell that to your boy wonder, Potter, as well."

  Then a final line came on the s:

  "Harry Potter and his friends will return to Hogwarts."

  And then the movie was finally over.

  "Holy shit!" Zoe cursed out loud. "That st se was so intense."

  "I knht!" Krissy and Riley said in unison before turning to each other and grinning.

  Zoe turo her two friends and narrowed her eyes, "What exactly was irailer that you two were sure I'd like?"

  Krissy grinned, "It showed a lot of footage of Troy uer. So anyone who had seen it would have known about it. It was good, wasn't it?"

  "He is o fel," Zoe said as a matter of fact. "Harry's school girls were all blind to not see his beauty. I'd kill someoo go on a date with him."

  Riley nodded, "True, but that's because he's Troy. He's perfe everything he does."

  Zoe could only nod as they made their way out of the ema.

  "I 't wait for the fifth film!" She annouo no one in particur.

  _____________________________________

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