So, yes, deleted one fic, and reworked it into this one, which I think will be much better.
As always, I enjoy hearing your thoughts/feedback/requests! You guys keep me writing, and I love y'all for that! Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy! :D
Here we go again.
Those four words rang through Amelia Honeycutt's head as she approached Platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross Station. She was now a fifth year, and a Hufflepuff Prefect who'd been secured a spot on the Quidditch Team by Captain Cedric Diggory, though she really had no interest in the sport. He'd only offered because she was friends with Cho Chang, who he'd been extremely interested in lately, though he was oblivious to the fact that Cho Chang was obviously just as interested in him. There was also the fact that Cho wanted her to play Quidditch for Hufflepuff because Cho was very sure that the Ravenclaw Keeper, Grant Page, fancied Amelia greatly, though they'd only talked one night when Cho dragged her along to the Three Broomsticks.
But she had all year to laugh at social politics and try to stay out of the way of her much sought after friend(s). Right now, she had to worry about getting on the train.
Unlike many of the other Hogwarts students, Amelia didn't have parents or guardians or any family members at all to usher her off on the train. She had to do it all by herself, but she didn't mind, she always had to do things for herself for as long as she could remember, seeing as she was an "orphan" and all. Though she was technically an "orphan," she hated the term. Whenever she heard that word she thought of muddy, sad, miserable children struggling to survive, which she certainly wasn't. She knew she was perfectly well off, shuffled through foster homes and orphanages, but perfectly well off, especially with Hogwarts, none the less.
She'd woken before the sun rose that morning, packing her trunk and saying her goodbyes to Mrs. Fairfax, the kindly older lady who ran the "orphanage" Amelia was in and out of her whole life, and was off to the train station in her town of Eastleigh to catch the train to London. She did her best to stay calm, and try to make it seem normal for her to have a cat - technically, half a cat, half a kneazle - poking its lazy head out of her large over-the-shoulder satchel/purse.
Now, though, she didn't have to worry about it. She was at Platform 9 ¾, among fellow witches and wizards, and boarding the train to her favorite place in the whole entire world - Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And, after loading her trunk into one of the compartments, she was off to the Prefects' compartment for the first time, which made her stomach feel as it would erupt with butterflies.
The train had already been lurching along for some time, before the ever-lost Amelia finally found her way to the Prefects' carriage.
"Oh, er, Amelia Honeycutt, correct?" inquired the Head Boy, Eric Chadwick, a seventh-year Ravenclaw.
"Er...yes," she nodded, pushing her honey-brown hair out of her face, as she shuffled inside. "Sorry I'm late, never been good with directions…"
"It's alright," Eric nodded. "Have a seat, we've only just begun."
"Oh, er...thanks…," Amelia muttered with a small smile, as she made her way through the crowded compartment to stand crammed by the window, the only available space.
Seeing Amelia's apparent clumsiness, Karla Farley, one of the Slytherin Prefects in Amelia's year seized the opportunity and oh-so-discreetly stuck her foot out, causing Amelia to trip and stumble. In the whole fiasco, Amelia's black and white splotched furball of a half-cat, Maggie Mae, was propelled out of her napping spot in her owner's bag.
Though half of the kids sniggered at her, she didn't seem to mind as she simply picked up the couple of books and quills that spilled out, and marched over to her spot by the window, apologizing fervently.
"I think you missed this," Cedric Diggory grinned, as he scooted closer to her. Maggie Mae was in his arms, looking thoroughly unimpressed by the fact that one of the handsomest boys at Hogwarts was holding her.
"Oh, thanks, Ced," Amelia mumbled, a half-smile on her face. To her, he was handsome, sure, but no more than a friend. She was not exactly a relationship-type person, nor did she ever expect to be in one. "How was your holiday?"
As Eric Chadwick and Gryffindor Head Girl Louisa Gifford continued their speech, Cedric leaned closer to Amelia and replied, "Great, except for the scare at the World Cup…I reckon even you heard about that, eh?"
"Uh, no, actually…," Amelia muttered, looking up curiously at Cedric as Maggie Mae helped herself back to the bag. "I didn't…"
His expression greatly changed, as he told her lowly, "Oh, then I'll have to tell you later," he paused, smiled again, and then asked, "Did you have a good holiday yourself?"
Amelia shrugged. "Alright. Rather boring, no magic and all Muggles. What's this business about the World Cup, though?"
"I said I'd tell you later," Cedric said hurriedly, as he leaned away slightly. Clearing his throat, he added, "We'd better listen up, anyway."
After her first Prefect meeting aboard the Hogwarts Express, Amelia patrolled the length of the train, with Cedric. In all honesty, she would've preferred to do so alone, so she could have some quiet time to herself and get to see all the new faces entering the school. But, Cedric was so nice, and he had the information about the World Cup, which was eating away at her since she didn't know.
However, after he told her of the events, she almost wished she hadn't asked.
"So they're…He's…," she stuttered, in a way that would've been unusual for anyone but her. "…back?"
Cedric chewed his bottom lip, and looked ahead, instead of at her, as he vaguely answered, "Don't know. Really don't know yet."
They took a few strides in silence, both trying to process the thoughts and fears that ran in their minds.
Then, changing the subject, Cedric asked, "I reckon you haven't heard about the Triwizard Tournament, eh?"
"The Triwizard Tournament?" Amelia echoed. She smiled at him, because he'd figured out that she had not the slightest idea of what she was talking about.
"Yeah, the Triwizard Tournament," Cedric grinned. "You see, the two other wizarding schools, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, will come to Hogwarts, an each school will have a champion who competes in all kinds of really difficult challenges that require a good deal of magic to figure out. The winner gets a big bit of prize money, though, so I figure its worth it."
Now with a grin of her own, Amelia inquired, "Cedric Diggory! Are you thinking of becoming the Hogwarts champion?"
Chuckling, he shushed her, and added, "Shhh, shh, not everyone knows yet. Chadwick only just informed the prefects before you walked in. But, yes, I am thinking of putting my name in, thank you."
Amelia chuckled with him for a moment, before she caught her Ravenclaw friend, Cho Chang, hanging out of a compartment, an eager grin on her face as she waved.
"Oh, hello, Cho!" Amelia smiled, waving back. Knowing the situation, Amelia turned back to Cedric, and mumbled, "Oh, well, I've got to go track down the lady with the cart, I'm awfully thirsty…see you at the feast, Ced."
"Oh, er, Amelia, I - …" Cedric stumbled as she made her way away from him. "Er, alright, see you then!"
That evening, as she sat in the Great Hall, sandwiched between Phoebe Hibbert, a girl who always had rats hiding in her pockets, and Jonah Merrick, a boy who had a horrible habit of chewing with his mouth open while talking, Amelia enjoyed the Sorting and other typical beginning of the year activities. She was happy to welcome new first years into the Hufflepuff house, and looked forward to getting to know them - that was one thing about Amelia, she always tried to get to know everyone she came in contact with, almost to a fault.
"You know, you could have one - or a couple - if you wanted to," Phoebe told Amelia, sipping her pumpkin juice. She was talking about her rats, which she 'bred' in her free time. "I've got a litter of babies, up in the dorm."
"That's very nice, but I don't know if Maggie Mae could live with a rat," Amelia replied politely.
"But we've been roommates for ages, and Maggie's never gotten any of 'em in the past," Phoebe responded, mixing the whipped cream in with her chocolate pudding, as a pure-white rat climbed down the back of her neck. She didn't even seem to notice. "She's a good cat, I doubt she'd give 'em any trouble. You know, if you want, I can give you one of the special ones," she paused, and leaned in closer to Amelia with a smirk, adding, "I bred some of 'em with murtlaps. I have a load that are half-breeds, they're awfully fascinating, if you're interested."
"You know, er, I'd love to, but…I couldn't really take one home, the foster home wouldn't like rats…or murtlaps," Amelia said politely, managing a meager smile.
"Oh," Phoebe sighed. "That's alright. I understand."
Amelia nodded, and looked back down to her plate, which was cleared, magically.
"So!" called Dumbledore, smiling out to the students in the hall. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for you attention, while I give out a few notices."
"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle this year has been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Banishing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check."
Amelia noticed that the corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched, before he continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year."
"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."
Immediately, the crowd broke out in roars of protests, however, Dumbledore broke in by adding, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure that you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts - …"
Again, Dumbledore was interrupted, but not by students this time, instead by the tremendous sound of the doors to the Great Hall bursting open. All of the heads in the hall whipped around, to see a rather frightening man standing in the doorway.
His face was marred and scarred, and part of his nose seemed to be missing. His gray hair was thin but wild, and his clothes were tattered and ragged and worn. His mouth looked more like a poorly carved mouth on a jack-o-lantern, rather than an actual human mouth. But, none of these features were what made him truly terrifying - it was the eyes on him.
One eye was a regular eye, small, dark and beady. The other eye was most obviously artificial, electric blue and strapped in the eye socket, as it was in constant motion, unblinking, and fluttering in all directions. It even went completely into the back of his head, remaining pure white for a moment, before going back to leaping about.
The stranger reached over to Dumbledore, who embraced each other and seemed to be having a small conversation. Dumbledore seemed to ask the strange man something, to which he replied, and then Dumbledore nodded, and then pulled the man to his side.
"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody."
Though at this point, it would've been typical for the hall to erupt in applause, it didn't happen. Only Dumbledore and Hagrid and Amelia clapped. Everyone else just stared at the man called Moody.
"What's wrong with this Moody fellow?" Amelia inquired in a hushed tone.
"He's a madman," Herbert Fleet, a friend of Cedric's, and also the Hufflepuff Keeper, piped up. "Used to be one of the best Aurors out there, but now he's a complete loon."
As always, Cedric noticed that Amelia had no idea what an Auror was, and told her, "An Auror is a dark wizard catcher. They work for the Ministry."
"Ah," Amelia nodding, grinning at Cedric.
Just to think, if she hadn't fallen down the stairs on her second day of Hogwarts, she would've never secured him as a friend. He just happened to be there, and being the good second year he was, helped her up and helped her find her way. Somehow, Cedric, Mr. Popular, and Amelia, Miss Rather-Popular-But-Still-Slightly-Peculiar ended up being the best of pals. Somehow.
"As I was saying," Dumbledore began again. He was smiling at the students, who only continued to stare at Moody. "We are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."
"You're JOKING!" Fred Weasley hollered from the Gryffindor table.
Now everyone had stopped staring at Moody, so that they could begin laughing. Even Dumbledore chuckled.
"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore assured him. "Though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag and a leprechaun who all go into a bar…"
Amelia would've loved to hear the rest of the joke, but McGonagall interrupted by clearing her throat.
"Er - but maybe this is not the time…no…," Dumbledore mused. "Where was I? Ah, yes, the Triwizard Tournament…well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely."
"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."
At the mention of 'death toll,' everyone glanced back and forth at one another. However, Dumbledore simply continued.
"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," he continued. "None of which have been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger."
"The Heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons in personal prize money."
Again, the hall seemed to burst with excitement and whispers of hope, the awesome idea of winning the glory, and of course, the prize money. This seemed to go on for a good few minutes, until Dumbledore decided to continue his speech once again.
"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he stated. "The heads of participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This," Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious, "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Fred's and George's mutinous faces. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.
"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"
Needless to say, many students didn't go without a fight..