A/N: I'm pretty excited to see how it goes and I hope you guys review because, you know, writer's motivation and all. I think this plot hasn't been done before, so here you go.

Station Nine and three quarters was bustling as usual on its busiest day of the year. Wizards and witches rushed around the station, in hurry as usual. Mrs Weasley was smothering Ron and Harry in a flurry of hugs and kisses, deaf to their protests. The train gave another loud hoot as the pair of them jumped onto the train with Hermione close behind them.

'C'mon, lets find an empty compartment.' Said Harry as he walked along the train, heavily conscious of the whispers that followed him as he did his best to ignore it.

The trio soon found an compartment occupied by only Neville and Luna. Neville was wearing a shirt which was quite large for him and he smiled as soon as Harry entered. He shifted over so that Hermione could sit.

'Hello, Harry.' Luna greeted him serenely as he sat down alongside her with Ron. She was wearing a striking yellow attire and looking at him with spiral glasses which rather gave her the impression of an owl.

'Hi, Luna.' Harry replied cheerily.

Ron just gave a brief nod in her direction, not doing much to conceal his impression of the girl. He turned back only to find Hermione looking at him reproachfully.

'What!?' Ron exclaimed.

Hermione did not deign to reply. Instead, she turned to Luna who was busy taking off the wrapper off several chocolate bars and neatly piling them up beside.

'Luna!' Hermione said, 'How are you? And what are you doing with these…' Her voice trailed off as the wrappers came into focus.

'I'm fine.' Luna replied happily, 'I'm collecting these wrappers as a safeguard against Dingy Wombats. They can be really disconcerting if they get into your eye.'

Hermione didn't know what to say but carried on, 'And these… chocolate wrappers keep them away?'

'Yes.' Said Luna.

Ron let out a snort which he quickly converted into a very obnoxious sneeze.

'Sorry.' He said, though he sounded far from it, 'I think one of those Wingy Dombats got into my nose.'

'Dingy Wombats.' Luna corrected him absentmindedly, once again focused on the task at hand.

There was silence in the compartment till Neville nervously spoke up,

'Do you know what's going on at school this year?'

Hermione instantly responded,

'What's going on?'

'I don't know.' Neville said embarrassedly, 'I thought you or Ron might.'

Ron looked at him curiously,

'You know what? I think Bill actually hinted something exciting's going to happen this year.'

A spurt of laughter came from the door, which was followed by more and more chuckles until they finally stopped.

'Are you done, Malfoy?' Harry said coldly. Draco Malfoy, along with his two goons, was standing at the doorway, with the usual sneer on his face.

'I can't believe you don't know what's going to happen.' Malfoy said, continuing as if he hadn't heard what Harry said. 'My father told me all about it.'

'I couldn't care less about what your father said.' Shot back Ron, 'Now get out of my face.'

Draco turned to Ron. 'Gladly.' He said,' Its not like you have much of one.'

He went out of with a sneer and a bang of the door.

'Now that we're done with that,' Started Hermione and the rest of the journey passed as it usually does. The great, imperious sight of Hogwarts caught even the seventh years by awe and before they knew it, the golden trio were one again seated in the Great Hall. Green, yellow, blue and gold flags hung from the ceiling as thousands of candles floated in front of them. The teachers looked much the same seated at their table along with a usual vacancy of one particular seat. The vast hall gave off a homely feeling which was like by everyone.

'Welcome!' Intoned Dumbledore once the sorting was done and everybody was waiting for the meal, his voice reverberating through the hall. 'This promises to be another great year of education for some, and not such a great year for others. Indeed, in some ways this year will be unique in an aspect which… forgive me, I will explain in detail afterwards. I have always found that a well-fed audience is far more responsive and satisfied than a hungry one.'

With a clap of his hands the food appeared on the table and the students began to tuck in voraciously, the sound of chattering spreading throughout the Hall. The headmaster presided with a wise, slightly smiling face which quickly vanished.

He had just remembered that he had forgotten to stock up on his Sherbet Lemons for this school year.

'Reckon its something exciting?' Ron asked between two mouthfuls of food.

Harry gave an eloquent shrug.

After they were done Dumbledore clapped his hands once more as the food vanished.

'Very good, very good.' He muttered, smiling benevolently at the expectant audience.

'Straight to business then. It is my pleasure to announce that our school has been invited to participate in the Triwizard Tournament this year hosted by the most prestigious school in France - Beauxbatons'.

This announcement was received by several forms and degrees of disbelief.

'Hogwarts was supposed to host it!' Shouted out Malfoy from the Slytherin table in fury. Several students also seemed to be asking about if anybody knew anything about Beauxbatons or the Tournament.

Dumbledore seemed to catch the general gist of the confusion.

'Ah, I will clear any doubts you have if you would just allow me.'

Instantly the hall fell silent.

'First of all, the Triwizard tournament is a competition in magic between 3 students of the 3 most most prestigious schools of magic in Europe - Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Each school will have its own school champion. As Mr Malfoy so astutely pointed out, the competition was supposed to have been hosted by our school. However, since some disturbing evidences of attempts at sabotage have been found since, the Tournament organisers shifted the venue to Beauxbatons. Hogwarts will be taking along an entourage of twenty of its brightest students to France, mainly from the sixth and seventh years. Interested students may give their names to their respective Heads of Houses.'

The announcement was received by so much excitement that the students almost missed the dramatic entrance of their new Defence again Dark Arts teacher - Retired Auror Alastor Moody.

Soon the crowd dispersed to go along to back to their respective dormitories. The Gryffindor Trio slowly made their way back to the tower.

'What d'you think about entering, Harry?' Ron said excitedly.

'I don't know, Ron.' Harry answered tiredly,' I think I'll like a bit of rest this year. You know, away from the excitement.'

'But this is HUGE, mate! Think of the glory if we win this!'

'I don't want it. And we aren't even going to get selected to go to France anyways.'

Ron opened his mouth but Hermione beat him to it,

'I think Harry's right. I remember reading about this in a book. Each school has only one champion nominated by it. And I remember Dumbledore saying they were only going to take sixth and seventh years for trying.'

Ron deflated a bit,

'But still,' he said,' I'm going to give my name to McGonagall.'

Th days passed swiftly passed as Harry discovered he was doing significantly better in classes. All Ron could talk about was the tournament and Harry started to find it a bit annoying over time. He took to spending less time with him and instead devoted more time to his studies as magic continued to fascinate him and never threatened to bore him. He started to understand what Hermione, as a muggleborn, saw in it.

Expectant students submitted their names for the delegation and bets were placed on the favourites. Of them, the main focus was on a few Ravenclaws and Cedric Digorry from Hufflepuff. Angelina Johnson was the favourite from Gryffindor to be the champion.

Almost a month passed before Harry found himself in the Transfiguration classroom, struggling with a particularly complex variation of stone to marble transfiguration. Hermione kept giving him unhelpful hints until he hit upon the correct approach. He had to focus more on the composition than the colour. Later, he realised that was what exactly what had been shouted at him him minutes before. He finally succeeded in the transformation and looked up see that he was only the second one to achieve it after Hermione.

Suddenly, a Ravenclaw, Cho Chang, entered the room and gave a note to McGonagall.

'Mr Weasley, Mr Potter, Miss Granger, you are excused from the remainder of this class. I think Miss Chang will guide you.'

The three got up confusedly and followed Cho out of the room.

'What happened?' Asked Harry.

'Dumbledore wants you in his office. He said he likes Fizzing Toffees.' Cho said, growing slightly pink. She quickly hid her face and exited quickly around the corner of the corridor.

'Dumbledore.' Said Hermione,' I wonder why he wants us.'

'Your guess is as good as mine.' Harry answered. Ron merely walked on with a determined air that he would not have to wait long to find out.

'Fizzing Toffees.' He said to the stone gargoyle in front of the headmaster's office.

They parted to show the way inside. The office was as eccentric as usual to the current headmaster's tastes. An assortment of whirring, spinning instruments were scattered on the table and throughout the office. Fawkes, the flaming red phoenix, trilled a little from his perch. Dumbledore received them with a slightly troubled look on his face.

'Anything the matter, sir?' Harry asked politely.

Dumbledore shook his head,' Nothing you need worry about. There is just one problem which I keep forgetting to rectify. You only reminded me of it.'

The three took the three seats that had been conjured for them as Dumbledore motioned them to sit down.

'As I was saying, there is only one pressing concern. I am, as you know, in the habit of offering one my sweets to anyone who comes to my office. However, I am afraid, I forgot to top up my supply this year and have woefully been left with 2 Sherbet Lemons when there are three of you. It is most troubling to my conscience.'

'It's alright, professor. We don't want any.' Ron spoke up hurriedly.

'It is not the act of wanting, but rather the act of offering that counts, Mr Weasley.' Dumbledore eyes twinkled through his half-moon glasses.

'But no matter. We shall come back to it at some other time. Now you must tell me Harry,' the white bearded wizard said,' if you would like to come with me to France.'

Harry was taken aback.

He said, 'But sir, I don't want to participate in the tournament. Am I not a bit too young?'

Dumbledore beamed at him, 'That you are, Harry. But my intentions for taking you are quite different. I have been warned of a danger inside Hogwarts as Voldemort grows stronger. It is the reason the tournament was shifted to Beauxbatons.'

'Is he after me? Voldemort, I mean.'

The old wizard nodded gravely, 'In a way, yes. The other students will not be harmed. Just as a precaution, I would like to have under my eye; if you consent, of course.'

'I…' Harry looked around him, 'I'm not sure I want to go when my…'

'I anticipated the request.' Dumbledore interjected,' Which is why I have taken the liberty of calling your friends along with you to my office. Anything else, Harry?'

Harry shook his head mutely.

'Very well then. Are we agreed, Mr Weasey and Miss Granger?'

Hermione looked like Christmas had come early while Ron's mind drew imaginary pictures of him winning the cup. He nodded furiously.

'Yes, professor.' Said Hermione.

'Alright, I would prefer it if you kept this to yourselves. Necessary excuses shall be provided to your classmates at a later time. I will then expect to meet the three of you beside the Great Lake at 7 o' clock sharp tomorrow morning.'

'Tomorrow, sir?' Harry repeated.

'That is correct.'

With a wave of his hand they were dismissed.

Ron's joy knew no bounds as he almost skipped the entire way to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Harry seemed in a pensive mood while Hermione tried to cheer him up.

'What happened Harry?'

'Nothing.'

'You don't look very happy. We'll be going to France! I've only been there once with my parents. It's very pretty. You should be excited!'

'I don't know, actually. Of course I'm excited, but it doesn't feel fair somehow.'

Hermione sighed. Trust Harry to think of fairness when they had practically been given a trip to Beauxbatons with no strings attached. Well, three students would probably miss out because of them. But, oh well, it was no fault of theirs.

The common room's fire burned brightly as usual while a few students lounged about on the sofas.

'G'night Harry.' She said just before she went up to the girls' dormitories.

'Night 'Mione.' He said after her.

A/N: Nothing very exciting in it, I know. I think you'll find that from the next chapter. Also, even though I've decided to go with HP/FD, I'm open to any other ideas or other suggestions in general.