September gave way to October, with the Quidditch plans coming along nicely. Both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang sent back a reply that they would love to be involved in a small Quidditch league. Both schools did however request that they be allowed to bring seven more students and that those seven not be restricted to the same age requirements as the champion delegations. Luckily, they had been able to convince Dumbledore to let them bring the extra fourteen students pretty easily.
Speaking of captains, Alicia was now confirmed as the Gryffindor captain, and it was like she was possessed by the ghost of Wood's captaincy. She was scheduling practice as often as she could; even when the pitch was booked she had the Gryffindor team running drills over the Black Lake. It got to the point where professor McGonagall had to step in and tell Alicia to calm down a little, as the entire Quidditch team was often late handing in their homework given they just didn't have time to do it.
For the last weekend of September, Harry got to experience his first legitimate Hogsmeade weekend. On Saturday he, Ron, and Hermione all went down together. The both of them had a lot of fun showing Harry all the sights he had missed by having to be careful when he snuck out last year, while also filling up their supply of chocolate, sweets and snacks. On Sunday, Harry and Hermione went back to the village together for a date. There were a few places that Hermione hadn't visited yet because Ron was against them, so they started off having breakfast in Madam Puddlifoot's Tea Room. If he was honest, Harry preferred breakfast at the castle. Not because of the atmosphere, the cosy booth where he and Hermione could pretend that the rest of the cafe was empty was kind of nice. No, it was the food. Harry preferred something more substantive for breakfast, but the tea room only had sweet pastries and he was still a little hungry when they left, though he had to admit the tea was good.
After that they spent most of the morning in the book shop. Hermione lost herself in the room full of books, and Harry found it so cute he couldn't bring himself to interrupt her. In the end, they both walked out with new books. There was actually a slightly more up market restaurant in the village than the Three Broomsticks, so Harry took Hermione there for lunch. Most students didn't bother going there as it was a little pricey compared to the pub. Harry wasn't worried about the cost of a one off though, he was a lot more secure in his money now he had had a few lessons in it from his grandfather. He also now knew about the trust he would be getting from Sirius, as well as the fact that he wasn't going to be kicked out on the street the second he turned eighteen. That was what the Dursleys would have done to Harry; he knew that even though they had never said anything. The restaurant food was delicious. The braised lamb shanks with mint were absolutely delicious and the meat melted in their mouths. It was also not as expensive as Harry had assumed. Because of their age they couldn't order any alcoholic drinks, and that cut the bill down to under four galleons. Harry thought he would definitely bring Hermione back here for their last Hogsmeade weekend before Christmas.
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On the evening before Halloween, the trio were lined out with all the other Hogwarts students to greet the people coming from the other schools. It was cold, but thankfully the British weather had been relatively kind and remained dry. Normally they would be wearing their cloaks if they were going to be outside this long this late in the year, but the professors wanted the school to look impressive so had forbidden them. A few of the older years were casting warming charms on the lower years. The three fourth-years had all actually learned that one from Sirius over the summer, so they were helping out their year mates. Lavender and Parvati both gave Ron wide smiles when he hit them each with the charm.
Harry wondered not for the first time if they should try to set Ron up with someone. It looked as if Lavender and Parvati weren't against the idea of dating him, but Harry didn't think they were a good match for Ron. The two gossip queens shared hardly any interests with Ron and any relationship he had with either of them would be like a firework: colourful, exciting, and ending quickly, probably with a bang. Plus, any girlfriend of Ron would instantly be having around him and Hermione, and Harry was sure he didn't want one of the school's biggest gossips around him that much. Maybe he should ask Hermione, she had casual friends in every house through studying together in the library. And while Ron probably wouldn't date a Slytherin any time soon, there was no reason he had to only date Gryffindors.
"So how do you think they are getting here? International portkey?" Hermione asked, as if either Harry or Ron would know something she didn't.
"No clue but probably not," Ron answered. "My dad says witches and wizards like to show off and look impressive." He nodded at the neatly lined up Hogwarts students to emphasise his point. "And a portkey, while practical, is hardly intimidating is it?"
"Maybe they'll come riding on the backs of dragons." Colin Creevey, who was standing close enough and had apparently been listening to their conversation, suggested.
"Not likely. Dragons are almost impossible to train and moving them from one country to another requires the Ministry to agree. Also can you imagine flying here from France. They'd be exhausted by the time they got here. And it's hard to look intimidating when you're trying not to fall asleep during your dinner," Harry joked
Ron was right about them showing off. The Beauxbatons showed up in a massive carriage that was almost as big as a house, pulled by winged horses the size of elephants. Apart from the headmistress, Beauxbatons itself didn't impress Harry at all. The students looked like pampered rich kids who hadn't done a day of work in their lives. Well, that and cold, apparently none of them had thought to dress for Scotland in late October or knew how to cast a warming charm. Harry had trouble imagining them wrestling a mandrake into a new pot or chasing down a Blast-Ended Skrewt that got out of his enclosure. Hell, some of the girls looked like they would cry if they were told they had to milk their own flobberworms.
Durmstang arrived via a boat that seemed to sail under the water and surfaced in the Black lake. From a distance, Harry first thought that they had forgotten that they were supposed to bring students and had brought a team of fully grown witches and wizards, but when they got nearer he saw that they were students wearing thick furs, which had made them look bigger than they actually were.
"Harry look, it's Viktor Krum!" Ron's voice joined the mass of other students who had recognised the internationally famous Quidditch player. Harry recognised him too, but instead of excited he felt as if any chance Gryffindor had of winning Quidditch this year went up in smoke. It would be on him to outfly Krum, and while Harry knew he was good he wasn't on that level yet. The only hope Harry had was that Krum was chosen as the Durmstrang champion, as then per the rules set by Dumbledore he wouldn't be eligible to play Quidditch for his school. Still, if Krum wasn't chosen Harry would get to go up against the seeker who was one of the best or possibly even the best in the world.
That was an opportunity. If Harry could hold his own against Viktor Krum while being watched by scouts, then he was sure to get offers from teams to play for them. He didn't think he would play Quidditch for the rest of his life, but if a team was going to offer him twenty to thirty thousand galleons a year to catch a snitch he would gladly do that for a decade or two. He would still need a job after that, as magic gave the people who had it a remarkable ability to heal, and it meant that living till he was a hundred and fifty years old was entirely possible. So he would need a good career after he was too old or to beat up to continue with the sport.
With the second of the schools now having arrived, Harry and the rest of Hogwarts followed their guests into the castle. The Beauxbatons students were already sitting at the end of the Ravenclaw table, probably feeling more at home with the blue of the Ravenclaw heraldry matching up with the lighter blue of their uniform. The Durmstrang all turned to sit at the Slytherin table so quickly that Harry guessed they had been instructed to sit there before they arrived. Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their usual spot at the Gryffindor table. The twins came rushing over as soon as they got in the hall, standing on either side of Ron so that he would have to keep changing which way he looked as they did their twin speech thing. "Harry, Ron!"
"Did you see him?"
"Viktor Krum."
"Do you think he is here for the Triwizard tournament?"
"Or is he here for the Quidditch tournament?"
Ron gave up on looking at his brother's and just looked over at Krum. "Of course he is here for Quidditch. He is the best seeker in the world."
Harry gave Ron a look. "As the seeker who would be against him, I hope he is chosen as the Durmstrang champion. If he ends up playing for the Durmstrang Quidditch team we can kiss any chance of winning goodbye."
That got Ron to pale a bit as he realised he was now on a team that would probably be competing against Krum. The twins both nodded and the one on the left said, "If Krum is playing, the rest of us are going to be competing for second place."
Harry was sure the twins wanted to say more, but they were forced to find their seats quickly as Dumbledore started to give a speech welcoming their visitors. The trio listened politely as Dumbledore talked about international cooperation and using the Triwizard Tournament as an opportunity to make friends with people from other countries, and to learn things that they would never be exposed to if they didn't broaden their horizons. Basically, Harry reflected, it was exactly the sort of speech you would expect at an event like this.
At the end of Dumbledore's speech the tables filled up with food. The Hogwarts-feast classic British dishes that had stood the test of time were there, as were other offerings available from France and Eastern Europe as well, both so that the British students could try something new and so the visitors could have something more familiar to them. As they were eating, Harry tried some of the foreign looking foods. He particularly liked a fish stew Hermione called bouillabaisse and some dumplings that another Gryffindor said were called pierogies. As they were eating, a beautiful blond girl in a set of Beauxbatons robes, who Harry had to admit looked stunning, came over and asked in a strong French accent if she could have the bouillabaisse as they had finished their own at the Ravenclaw table. All of the guys sitting around Harry were staring at the girl as though they had never seen one before, and Harry thought it was pretty pathetic. Sure the girl was hot, anyone who wasn't blind could see that, but she was just a girl.
"Sure, you can take it," Harry said politely. "And sorry about my house mates, they apparently have forgotten their manners." The French girl was surprised, Harry could see that as she looked at him, but he had no idea why. She continued to stare at Harry as she picked up the soup, and even gave him a look over her shoulder as she walked away. "That was weird," Harry said as he watched the girl walk away, still not noticing that every boy around him (and even one of the girls) had gone glass-eyed and were staring longingly at the French girl.
Hermione on the other hand had noticed. "I think she is Veela, Harry, and she is surprised that you are not turned into a vegetable by her presence. Unlike some people," she said the last part, giving Ron a look as he was still looking dazed with his fork held halfway to his mouth, the food it once held having already fallen into his lap.
"Must suck to be her," Harry said thoughtfully. Confused, Hermione asked Harry to elaborate. "Just think about it. Imagine trying to find any male friends when just being around them makes drooling the most interesting thing they say. And none of the girls can hang with her and their male friends or boyfriend at the same time, so they have to choose her or all their male friends. One vs many, I bet she loses out a lot," he explained his thought process.
Hermione thought about it for a moment and realised Harry was right, and probably more than he even knew. Hermione knew just how catty girls could be if they felt slighted, and a good looking girl who could make all of their boyfriend's heads turn would easily have a lot of the Beauxbatons girls feeling vindictive. Hermione was just glad that the Potter men seemed to have some type of immunity or emotional control that kept them from turning into complete idiots around Veela. She had seen it at the World Cup, as both Harry and uncle Charlus had been unaffected by the troupe of dancing Veela from Bulgaria. She glanced up to see that Ron was still glassy-eyed and gave him a light kick to the shins to bring him back to himself, before holding out a basket of bread rolls to him so that it looked like she was just trying to get his attention. Ron took a couple and thanked her.
Soon everyone had eaten, and the food, plates and everything else on the tables dissolved away into nothing. Dumbledore stood up again and addressed the hall. "Excellent, now that we have had an opportunity to meet our guests and to stave off the pains of hunger once more, it is time for us to officially begin the Triwizard Tournament." Dumbledore flicked his wand and the main doors to the Great Hall opened, revealing the school caretaker Filch standing there carrying an ornately carved wooden box. The man quickly strode up to Dumbledore and opened the box for the old headmaster. Dumbledore reached in and took out what looked to be an old clay goblet that was possibly hundreds of years old and held it up for everyone to see. Then he tapped it with his wand and blue flames erupted from inside the goblet, casting Dumbledore in an eerie light.
"This is the Goblet of Fire. It has been used to choose the champions for each school since the very first Triwizard Tournament. Anyone wishing to represent their school will have twenty four hours to write their names on a piece of parchment, along with the school they are representing, and place it in the goblet. This time tomorrow the goblet will make its choice. I warn you now that the Triwizard Tournament is not for the faint of heart and you should not enter unless you fully intend to go through with the tournament, because if your name comes out you are bound to compete. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall, where it will be behind wards keeping anyone under the age of seventeen from approaching the goblet. All students who are of-age are excused from the normal rules of curfew for tonight only. To all of you who submit your names, I wish you good luck." And with that Dumbledore strode out of the room carrying the Goblet of Fire, and the doors to the Great Hall closed behind him as he stepped through them.
Ron shook his head and commented. "He always has to add a flair of the dramatic," which had Harry and Hermione trying not to laugh.
-ϟϟϟ-
The next day the trio spent a lot of time hanging around the entrance hall watching people, hoping to see who put their names into the Goblet and have a laugh at the under age students who tried and failed to get their names in. There were actually quite a few under age who tried to get past what Hermione had recognised as an age line. There were about eight underage Hogwarts students, including the Weasley twins; four of the eight were from Gryffindor. There were also a pair of Durmstrang students who were obviously there for their school's Quidditch team who tried and failed to get their names in.
The results were spectacular. The twins and one other Hogwarts student had tried ageing potion and had grown large Dumbledore like white beards, the Durmstrang students had tried to throw their names into the cup from a distance and the slips of parchment had exited in purple fire and turned back and flew at the ones who had thrown them, and when they hit bathed them in purple fire like a human torch. There were a few seconds of panic from everyone around them as they looked to be doubled over in pain, but it very quickly became apparent that instead of hurting them the fire was tickling them. All the attempts were equally funny and harmless, and the trio weren't the only ones to spend a lot of time watching. Harry tried to get Ron to try to add his name just for the laugh, but unfortunately Ron refused, saying that if Harry wanted to see what would happen he was more than welcome to go try himself.
Both the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had done their submissions en masse as they came in for breakfast. Harry felt a small bubble of hope as he watched Viktor Krum enter his name into the goblet. If Krum was chosen to represent his school in the Triwizard Tournament, then Hogwarts had a chance in Quidditch. If Krum wasn't chosen and did end up playing Quidditch, Harry would have to make a point to go with all of his games so that he could see what he could learn from the international player.
They sat down for the Halloween feast (which was where Harry had only just realised the date) with pumpkin soup, fresh baked bread, potatoes fritters cut with jack o'lantern faces, beef stew with the vegetables cut to look like eyeballs, roasted meats and vegetables, and once again there were a bunch of strangers foods that Harry and Ron didn't recognise, though Hermione knew some of them. The atmosphere in the hall was one of excitement as the minutes ticked by, and the moment for the Goblet of Fire to make its decision approached. The hall was even more full than the day before, with more people at the teachers table. Harry recognised the Minister for Magic and Ludo Bagman, but there were also three others that Harry didn't recognise. Judging by the fact that one of them had an expensive looking camera around his neck, Harry guessed that he was from the Prophet.
A couple of Hogwarts students submitted their names during the feast, right before the entrees were replaced by deserts. There were pumpkin pasties, apples baked with cinnamon, candied nuts and a wide selection of Halloween-themed sweets from licorice bats to gummy lips with hard sugar fangs. There were also foreign desserts like bright orange macaroons and baklava. The teenagers all dove in excitedly and in almost no time at all it was all gone. Once the last of the feast disappeared, all the candles apart from the ones in the floating pumpkins went out, leaving the whole hall in an eerie and ominous light. The only other source of light was the blue flame of the Goblet of Fire, and Dumbledore stood over it casting himself in a flickering blue light. "Like I said, he loves to be dramatic," Ron joked.
"Well ladies and gentlemen, if my calculations are correct the Goblet should just about be ready to render its decision. In a few moments I will read out the first name, and I would like the selected students to please rise and go through that door there," he pointed to a door to his left, "The other champions, myself and the other judges will join you shortly." Dumbledore must have spent time practising the timing of his speech, because as soon as he was finished the flames in the Goblet turned red. Propelled by a tongue of flame, a singed piece of parchment came flying out. Dumbledore snatched the fragment with reflexes that hinted that he may have been a decent seeker in his youth. He held the parchment over the Goblet just as the flames faded back to blue so that he could read the written words in its light and said loud enough for everyone to clearly hear, "The champion for Durmstrang is…Viktor Krum!"
Cheering and applause erupted around the room. "Who else could the Goblet have chosen?" Ron said loud enough for Harry and Hermione to hear him over the sound of hundreds of people cheering in an enclosed space. The man with the camera around his neck quickly snapped a few photos, and the woman seated next to him with blonde hair set in elaborate curls (which gave a distinct impression that the woman was refusing to acknowledge that she was getting older) scribbled away with her quill.
"Just be glad we won't have to play him at Quidditch!" Harry shouted back.
"Good, the last thing I want to see is him using that wonky feet thing on you Harry," Hermione sounded relieved as she said it.
"Wronski Feint," Harry and Ron corrected her at the same time. Hermione just shrugged, and it was only the slightest hint of a smile on her face that told Harry that Hermione was fully aware of the real name of the move and was just teasing them.
The trio were interrupted by Dumbledore who was holding another piece of parchment as he read out. "The champion for Beauxbatons is…Fleur Delacour!"
There was another wave of cheering this time, though more subdued than it was for the internationally famous Quidditch star, as the blond girl who had asked for the fish soup the day before stood up and made her way through the hall and out the door. As she walked the photographer took more photos.
"Look at the Beauxbatons girls," Hermione pointed, and Harry saw a few of them openly crying that they weren't chosen. He wondered why not being chosen to compete in a tournament would be enough to cry over. Maybe his first impression that the Beauxbatons students were soft was right. He watched as the blue flames flashed red for the third time and the parchment that decided who would be the Hogwarts champion was spat out. Dumbledore snatched it out of the air and held it over the goblet just as he had done with the previous two. This time, however, almost the entire hall was on the edge of their seats. Students and teachers alike all wanted to know if the champion would be from their house. After a drawn out moment that felt like a full minute Dumbledore said, " the champion for Hogwarts is…Cedric Diggory!"
The whole hall burst into a cacophony of sound. They had been loud for Krum and polite for Delacour, but Diggory was one of their own. The Hufflepuffs themselves were as loud for Diggory as the whole hall was for Krum. Diggory made his way to the room and he too had his photo taken by the Prophet's photographer. Dumbledore smiled at everyone before saying. "Well, we have our three champions now so I will-" he was cut off when the Goblet turned red for a fourth time and spat out another piece of parchment. Dumbledore caught it seemingly on reflex, and even before he read out the name Harry felt a weight settle in his stomach. He didn't need the headmaster to say anything to know what was written on the parchment.
With a dour look on his face, Dumbledore read, "Harry Potter." The entire hall went silent.