Hi

this is Jan, and I am a fan of Harry Potter. I read the emperor vin's story on the fourth task, and with all the modifications to Grindy's past, I became a fan of it. When vin stopped writing it, I decided I could try my hand on it.

My updates may be short, and I hope vin comes back, cuz I was waiting for the first task to start.

Cheers,

Jan (yeah, I know. Three letter names are all the craze now!)

The crowd cheered on, continuously, like a great rainfall was impending. Actually, it was. Some crowds on the Far East had gotten a few bets on George's hands, saying that the tournament would stop before it started.

"Hermione!" Cried Dean. "Here's your seat. Ron told me to hold it for you."

"Thanks, Dean."

"That's Ludo Bagman," said Ron, to an apprehensive Neville. "I know him, he is an old friend of my uncle Algie."

Bagman muttered something to himself, before he cried out.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Judges! I hereby welcome you all, to the grand opening to the Triwizard tournament! We have our four champions, and our sweet Judges, and here I take the pleasure of introducing them all. Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster to Hogwarts, Madame Olympe Maxime, from the Institute of Beauxbatons, and Professor Igor Karkaroff, from Durmstrang. Also with us, we have with us the head of the department of You-know-what, Barty Crouch Senior, and you then have me! Ludo I had Bagman, your commentator, announcer, and spare judge!"

He paused, for a mild applause, and beamed at the stands. It seemed as if he had expected a better applause, but still he kept his cool. "Thanks for all that, people! Now, let's begin. Our champions here, are already under the ground, where their ears don't hear whatever we say. They climb up, and they enter the chain of events, we have set up with the Minister of Magic from Greece, Sir Agros Pellad, who has generously donated for the event, and is our main sponsor for the night!"

The applause to this was far more. Bagman kept his beam, and looked around. The Greek man had a sunken face, and his high cheekbones accentuated his otherwise anorexic features.

"So. Our champions have chosen tokens, which place their arrival into the stadium in this order. Rather, would you want me to maintain the suspense a little long? Yeah? Let's hear for this! Now, or as they come?"

The response, as expected, was a cheer from the crowd, all the voices mixing into mere noise, that somehow entered into Bagman's ear, answering him in the affirmative.

"Yes, that's more like it. Now then, the first champion to grace us, will be... MISS FLEUR DELACOUR!"

"The gauntlet chooses the tasks for the champion. Our champion won't be able to hear or see any of us. We, on the other hand, will do more than just see this-"

Dumbledore grabbed the microphone. "Whatever Ludo might say, gambling on Hogwarts grounds is prohibited and any student indulging, will be punished accordingly."

George handed over the sickle to Lee. "You win."

"Now, Miss Delacour has climbed up the stairs. See the gauntlet morph into- oh my god, I didn't know they did that!"

The oblong chamber had spiralled upwards, its chambers spaced one per level, on a total four. Fleur was confused, but she managed without passing out.

Lee passed the sickle back to George. "She didn't faint, damnit."

Fleur suddenly grabbed the wall. The ground beneath her gave way to the pool, out of which came three kappas.

"Aaand, folks, that's why you shouldn't wade into a swimming pool by night without a wand in hand."

Fleur shrieked, and shuffled to an corner of the room. She shouted something at them in French, and shot three brown rays of light. Two fell, but the third ran towards her on its stubby little toes and grabbed her hair from the back.

There was a gut wrenching scream, and everybody's gaze shifted to the far east, where there was a stirring in the lake.

how's the intro? i thought of the original autor's references to "something" beneath the lake, and from previous slips, you are going to get what i believe the author hinted at! stay tuned!

-Jan