Eli half-hugged his chumliest chum. "Big doin's." he whispered. "The slytherin prefect's got a curse on him and he's dyin', but he's still going out for quidditch even though it's gonna kill him to do. Me and this girl are going to go tell on his to Professor Vindictus, though. You should come, too. We --" he noticed motion out of the corner of his eye and stopped short, his jaw dropping.

The Malone girl put her name in? Incredible! "Ari, wow! You're so brave!" Eli called out to the girl, though deep down he feared the goblet wouldn't pick a blind champion, he really hoped it would. That way if - no, when - they won, Hogwarts students would be able to say that they could beat other schools with their eyes closed. Eli felt the surge of pride in his chest already.