Hermione's Mistake.
CHAPTER 1: Saturday Morning
The next day was a Saturday; most students would normally have breakfasted late. Harry and Ron however, were not alone in rising much earlier than they usually did at weekends.
When they went down into the entrance hall, they saw about twenty people milling around it, some of them eating toast, all examining the Goblet of Fire. It had been placed in the centre of the hall on the stool that normally bore the sorting hat.
'Anyone put their name in yet?' Ron asked a third year girl eagerly.
'All the Durmstrang lot', she replied.' But I haven't seen anyone from Hogwart's yet'
'Bet some of them put there name in last night after we'd all gone to bed,' said Harry. 'I would've done if it had been me… wouldn't want everyone watching. What if the goblet just gobbed you right back out again?'
And at that Harry and Ron headed into breakfast.
The decorations in the Great Hall had changed this morning.
As it was Halloween, a great cloud of live bats were fluttering around the enchanted ceiling, while hundreds of carved pumpkins leered from every corner.
Harry led the way over to the Gryffindor table upon which sat Dean and Seamus, who were discussing those Hogwarts students who might be entering.
'There's a rumour going round, Warrington got up early and put his name in.' Dean told Harry. 'That big bloke from Slytherin who looks like a sloth.'
Harry, who had played Quidditch against Warrington, shook his head in disgust. 'We can't have a Slytherin champion!'
'And all the Hufflepuffs are talking about Diggory.' Said Seamus contemptuously. 'But I wouldn't have thought he'd have wanted to risk his good looks.'
At that moment Hermione came rushing into the hall with a big grin spread across her face.
'What's got her so excited this morning?' asked Ron.
'Dunno.' Replied Harry.
Hermione sat down to eat breakfast and as quick as she arrived, she left, muttering something about Professor Flitwick's class.
'Hi Harry' said Colin 'Guess what Harry that girl you hang around with, what's her name?'
'Hermione' said Harry.
'Yer, her' said Colin 'well she just put her name in the Goblet of Fire.'
And as Colin had said this the cornflakes positioned in Ron's mouth were sprayed all over Harry.
Harry and Ron rushed to finish breakfast and ran to find Hermione.
First they visited Hagrid, but he was unable to help.
'Sorry 'arry and Ron but 'ermione 'asn't bin 'ere all day.'
'That's okay Hagrid, sorry we have to rush off but this is really important' replied Ron.
Next they visited the library but she wasn't anywhere to be seen, so Harry and Ron, raced up to the Gryffindor common room to have a look on the Marauder's map to find her , they scanned the map and to there surprise found Hermione in the kitchen's for some strange reason , and they didn't want to be caught wandering the halls looking for the entrance to the kitchen's, with the map so Harry put it back into his trunk and got his Divination book's out to start on the homework, they had been set for the weekend.
CHAPTER 2: Saturday Evening
It was 5:30 when they had finished there homework and Hermione still hadn't returned so they assumed she was at the Great Hall where the Halloween feast was about to start.
As they entered the Entrance Hall they glanced around at the sound of there names being called.
'You guys I've been looking for you all day!' Hermione said sounding very annoyed.
'Funny that coz we've been looking for YOU all day too.' Harry replied.
'How come, you didn't tell us about you putting your name in the Goblet?' Ron asked.
'Come on guys we'll miss the feast if we keep talking about silly little things like the Goblet, all day?' Hermione exclaimed.' Let's go in okay?'
When they entered, the candlelit Great Hall it was almost full.
The Goblet of Fire had been moved; it was now standing in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teachers' table.
The Halloween feast seemed to take much longer than usual. Perhaps because it was their second feast in two days, Harry didn't seem to fancy the extravagantly prepared food as much as he would normally have done. Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, the fidgeting and the standing up to see whether Dumbledore had finished yet, Harry simply wanted the plates to clear, and to hear who had been selected as champions.
At long last, the golden plates returned to there original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, this died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.
'Well the Goblet is almost ready to make its decision,' said Dumbledore. 'I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table and go through into the next chamber'- he indicated the door behind the staff table- 'where they will be, receiving their first instructions.'
He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once all the candles, except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them all into a state of semi-darkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole hall, the sparkling, bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting… a few people kept checking their watches…
'Any second now' Lee Jordan whispered two seats away from Harry.
The Flames inside the Goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of Flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it- the whole room gasped.
Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the Flames, which had turned back to blue white.
'The Champion for Durmstrang' he read in a strong, clear voice, 'will be Victor Krum.'
'No surprises there!' yelled Ron, as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall.
CHAPTER 1: Saturday Morning
The next day was a Saturday; most students would normally have breakfasted late. Harry and Ron however, were not alone in rising much earlier than they usually did at weekends.
When they went down into the entrance hall, they saw about twenty people milling around it, some of them eating toast, all examining the Goblet of Fire. It had been placed in the centre of the hall on the stool that normally bore the sorting hat.
'Anyone put their name in yet?' Ron asked a third year girl eagerly.
'All the Durmstrang lot', she replied.' But I haven't seen anyone from Hogwart's yet'
'Bet some of them put there name in last night after we'd all gone to bed,' said Harry. 'I would've done if it had been me… wouldn't want everyone watching. What if the goblet just gobbed you right back out again?'
And at that Harry and Ron headed into breakfast.
The decorations in the Great Hall had changed this morning.
As it was Halloween, a great cloud of live bats were fluttering around the enchanted ceiling, while hundreds of carved pumpkins leered from every corner.
Harry led the way over to the Gryffindor table upon which sat Dean and Seamus, who were discussing those Hogwarts students who might be entering.
'There's a rumour going round, Warrington got up early and put his name in.' Dean told Harry. 'That big bloke from Slytherin who looks like a sloth.'
Harry, who had played Quidditch against Warrington, shook his head in disgust. 'We can't have a Slytherin champion!'
'And all the Hufflepuffs are talking about Diggory.' Said Seamus contemptuously. 'But I wouldn't have thought he'd have wanted to risk his good looks.'
At that moment Hermione came rushing into the hall with a big grin spread across her face.
'What's got her so excited this morning?' asked Ron.
'Dunno.' Replied Harry.
Hermione sat down to eat breakfast and as quick as she arrived, she left, muttering something about Professor Flitwick's class.
'Hi Harry' said Colin 'Guess what Harry that girl you hang around with, what's her name?'
'Hermione' said Harry.
'Yer, her' said Colin 'well she just put her name in the Goblet of Fire.'
And as Colin had said this the cornflakes positioned in Ron's mouth were sprayed all over Harry.
Harry and Ron rushed to finish breakfast and ran to find Hermione.
First they visited Hagrid, but he was unable to help.
'Sorry 'arry and Ron but 'ermione 'asn't bin 'ere all day.'
'That's okay Hagrid, sorry we have to rush off but this is really important' replied Ron.
Next they visited the library but she wasn't anywhere to be seen, so Harry and Ron, raced up to the Gryffindor common room to have a look on the Marauder's map to find her , they scanned the map and to there surprise found Hermione in the kitchen's for some strange reason , and they didn't want to be caught wandering the halls looking for the entrance to the kitchen's, with the map so Harry put it back into his trunk and got his Divination book's out to start on the homework, they had been set for the weekend.
CHAPTER 2: Saturday Evening
It was 5:30 when they had finished there homework and Hermione still hadn't returned so they assumed she was at the Great Hall where the Halloween feast was about to start.
As they entered the Entrance Hall they glanced around at the sound of there names being called.
'You guys I've been looking for you all day!' Hermione said sounding very annoyed.
'Funny that coz we've been looking for YOU all day too.' Harry replied.
'How come, you didn't tell us about you putting your name in the Goblet?' Ron asked.
'Come on guys we'll miss the feast if we keep talking about silly little things like the Goblet, all day?' Hermione exclaimed.' Let's go in okay?'
When they entered, the candlelit Great Hall it was almost full.
The Goblet of Fire had been moved; it was now standing in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teachers' table.
The Halloween feast seemed to take much longer than usual. Perhaps because it was their second feast in two days, Harry didn't seem to fancy the extravagantly prepared food as much as he would normally have done. Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, the fidgeting and the standing up to see whether Dumbledore had finished yet, Harry simply wanted the plates to clear, and to hear who had been selected as champions.
At long last, the golden plates returned to there original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, this died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.
'Well the Goblet is almost ready to make its decision,' said Dumbledore. 'I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table and go through into the next chamber'- he indicated the door behind the staff table- 'where they will be, receiving their first instructions.'
He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once all the candles, except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them all into a state of semi-darkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole hall, the sparkling, bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting… a few people kept checking their watches…
'Any second now' Lee Jordan whispered two seats away from Harry.
The Flames inside the Goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of Flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it- the whole room gasped.
Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the Flames, which had turned back to blue white.
'The Champion for Durmstrang' he read in a strong, clear voice, 'will be Victor Krum.'
'No surprises there!' yelled Ron, as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall.