A/N: Some parts of this chapter - mostly Dumbledore's speech - were taken directly from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which I do not own and did not write. The rest is mine though, apart from the characters and the concept, the usual. I am not JK Rowling :)

Chapter 2

As soon as the train began to make its way out of London, thunder rumbling outside of it and rain pelting against the glass window panes Harry, Draco and Elara all adorned their silver and emerald green tied around their necks, along with their black sweaters before sitting at a table in the "communal" compartments at the front of the train, that took up whole carriages and consisted of tables with benches on either side of them facing each other lined each long side of the carriage. They were mostly only occupied by the Slytherins, as they were the most comfortable even if it did mean sharing, and they thought themselves better then the other houses and had had them claimed for generations.

Harry and Draco sat across from Elara, who opened the wicker basket and allowed a sleek black cat to stretch and jump out onto her lap. She lazily scratched it behind its ears and relaxed into the seat, leaning against the window outside of which was a grey, wet blur.

"So," she yawned "How was the World Cup?"

"Pretty amazing" Draco shrugged "We had seats in the Top-Box of course, right up next to the Minister. The players came up afterwards-"

"We actually got to shake Lynch's hand-" Harry joined the explanation and Elara watched them, happy to be heading back to school with her two boys. She herself hadn't been to see the game, having no love for the sport and her father being away for business when it had occurred and therefore there being no need to make an appearance. Draco and Harry, somewhat unfortunately in her eyes, were completely obsessed with it. Both owned state of the art racing brooms, Firebolts, and played for the Slytherin House Quidditch team, having won them the cup for the last four years and continuing Slytherin's winning streak. Together the two of them were the greatest pair of chasers Hogwarts had ever seen. Growing up, the two of them had spent hours fighting over who got to be the seeker, until Elara pointed out that they couldn't alternate as they usually wound up for the house team. So instead they changed their minds and began to work for a position that allowed them to work together rather then have them lose a friendship over who got to be the Slytherin seeker. Both had been too small to make decent beaters so they'd had to go with chasers and anyone who saw them play a school match wouldn't have known they'd settled. The two could execute flawless moves around one another, passing the ball back and forth and moving it from one end of the pitch to the other. The third chaser, Captain Marcus Flint, often joked that he was essentially unnecessary to his own team Draco and Harry could work together so perfectly. It had always been that way.

"Can you believe there's going to be no Quidditch this year?" Harry complained, more to Draco then to Elara, who had her nose buried in a book as the journey to Scotland dragged on.

"I know" Draco looked positively disgusted. "I'd get my father to complain but-"

"You don't want to be known as a pompous daddy's boy?" Elara asked sarcastically, not looking up from her book. Draco rolled his eyes. "It's worth it though, don't you think?" Elara continued, "To get to see it at Hogwarts."

Harry leant back in his seat. "Yeah I guess, should be pretty incredible. I heard at the last one they brought in a Chimera" they were speaking in lowered voices now, not wanting the other around them to hear.

"Pity they've raised the age restriction – I'd love to give it a try. Eternal glory would be pretty sweet" Draco smirked. The other two snorted.

"Hah yeah, I'd love to see you, doubt you'd last 10 minutes" Harry sniggered, earning himself a punch on the arm from the blonde boy.

"Who wants eternal glory anyway?" Elara asked, turning the page in her book and circling something, making a neat note on the edge of the page beside it.

"That's easy for you to say, you're a LeStrange" Draco dragged out the name, rolling it over on his tongue. Elara gave him a look.

"Indeed" she said, her face forming a cold, faint smile "I have no need for eternal glory, I can bask in the legacy left by the shady work of my parents."

The others laughed. "I never have clocked what sort of stuff your parents actually get up to" Harry said, raising his eyebrows "And it has never been confirmed if any of it is actually illegal"

Elara raised one of her own perfect eyebrows. "My father is the Minister's advisor. Nothing he does is illegal." But her mouth formed a proper smirk.

"Your mother is another matter entirely, of course" Draco pointed out. Elara rolled her eyes, said nothing and cast her eyes back down to her book.

The train rattled on towards Scotland, the rain keeping up the whole of the journey. Draco, Harry and Elara mostly stayed in their seats, their friends also sitting in the carriage rising from their places to say hello and catch up. The food trolly came by and the boys bought enough to keep them full until the feast that evening. They scanned once more over the books sent to them that year, speculated over the events coming to Hogwarts that year and the visitors they would be hosting, contemplating what kind of classes they would be gifted with and how much the workload would be increased in preparation for their O. . The three of them, like all Slytherins, worked diligently to get the grades that upheld the standards of their housemaster and parents. Almost everyone in Slytherin came from highly regarded families of their society, and therefore arrived in the house with reputations to live up to and most of them with great ambition to achieve things, which of course is what got them sorted there in the first place. There were no children of non-magical decent in Slytherin house, and within many of the older families there was a lingering prejudice against them, thinking they were unworthy of magic. However it was not an idea that was much tolerated in the wizarding world any more, so while the Slytherins found themselves weary of the Muggle-Borns, and rather irritated by their disinterest in adopting customs that had been held by powerful magical families for generations, they mostly treated them no different to other students in school.

Night had fallen by the time the train slowed to a stop in Hogsmeade station, the lightening brighter, thunder louder and rain heavier then it had been in London when they left. The three slid the black robes trimmed in silver with the serpent crest on the breast over their shoulders and placed their sleek black pointed hats on their heads, before securing their luggage and making their way to the exits where Prefects held the doors open. Draco went first, ducking his head from the rain, before offering his hand to Elara as she stepped down and immediately ruined her expensive shoes in a puddle. With Harry right behind them they swiftly moved to the carriages and found one occupied by only Daphne Greengrass and her younger sister.

"Astoria" They acknowledged her in greeting, not having seen her on the train. The carriage lurched forward, up the path towards the castle.

"Well I'm glad I'm not a first year" Draco said "Maybe we'll get lucky and the little sods will be drowned" Harry gave a short barking laugh, something he'd picked up from his godfather and always came back from summer with.

"You were just as irritating once" Daphne pointed out. Draco scoffed.

"I never!" He announced "I was delightful." There was some giggling from the girls at this and Harry fought to keep a straight face while Draco glared at them. "Whatever" he muttered, folding his arms like a sulking child.

"I hope the sorting doesn't take long" Harry said "I could eat a Hippogriff"

"They should really do the sorting after the feast" Daphne mused "People would be more engaged that way."

"All they'd all be half asleep" Elara pointed out with a raised eyebrow "And besides where would the first years sit?"

"It's bad enough trying to keep Potter awake through Dumbledore's speeches at the end, let alone trying to stop him snoring halfway through the sorting." Draco said.

After a few more minutes and bumping corners the horseless carriage drew to a stop outside the enormous stone steps of Hogwarts. The teenagers were mostly dry by this point, so moved quickly up the steps into the entrance hall as to avoid getting soaked again. Peeves, the castles poltergeist, was hanging upside down in midair throwing water balloons at the already drenched students below. The four Slytherins laughed as the cry of one of their peers, a Gryffindor Ron Weasley, came at them as he was hit squarely on the head. Professor McGonagall came running out of the Great Hall, shouting at Peeves and slipping on the wet floor, consequently almost strangling Hermione Granger, another one of their classmates. Peeves continued to throw the balloons but the Slytherins escaped the onslaught, mostly because not even the poltergeist was stupid enough to piss of Elara LeStrange who had inherited her mothers skill in duelling and magic, and could have you sprawled on your back on the opposite side of the room before you had time to blink should you give her a reason to. They took their seats at the Slytherin table amongst their friends, Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Hayley Roberts, Benjamin Madison, Tracey Davis, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle and the other Slytherin fourth years.

The sorting past painfully slowly for those hungry of the teenagers, but finally the last first year had taken their seat and Dumbledore said his random words, and then the feast appeared before them. They all ate in the enjoyable haze of being back together and home once more, shielded from the storm outside and safe in the warm glow of the thousands of candles suspended above them. Eventually everyone was finished and they all turned to the front of the Great Hall once more, as predicted many eyelids drooping and struggling to focus on their eccentric headmaster. He stood up at the podium before the high table and smiled at his students, eyes twinkling.

"Now that we are all suitably fed and watered I have a few notices before I send you off to bed" he said pleasantly. "Firstly is that fanged frisbees, screaming yo-yos and ever bashing boomerangs have been added to the list of forbidden items that can be viewed outside of Mr Filch's office, currently comprising of four-hundred and thirty-seven items. Secondly, a reminder to our new students, and a few of our older ones" his eyes lingered on the Weasley twins and a couple of second years, all in Gryffindor "that the Dark Forest is strictly out of bounds to all students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to students below third year, and that magic may not be used in the corridors between lessons. It is also my painful duty to inform you that the inter-house Quidditch cup will not be taking place this year."

There was an uproar at this. The Gryffindors especially, because it was always the Gryffindors, started shouting in protest, although many students seemed to be too appalled to speak. Dumbledore held up his hand for silence, and in a moment the hall had settled, although there was still a low grumbling going around.

"This is because," Dumbledore continued "Hogwarts this year will have the great honour of hosting and event that has not been held for over a century, the Triwizard Tournament!"

A stunned silence descended on the hall. Several of the Slytherins and handful of other students with parents of importance smiled knowingly. Muggle-born and raised students looked confused. Then the Weasley twins said "You're joking!"and laughter filled the hall. Even Dumbledore chuckled.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "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."

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

"Er - but maybe this is not the time...no..." said Dumbledore, "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."

"Well that's comforting" Elara muttered. Students around the hall were whispering excitedly, clearly unaffected by the deaths of competitors form centuries ago.

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has 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 personal prize money."

Students were getting more excited by the second, several of them announcing to their friends in hushed tones that they were going for it. One excited first year at the Gryffindor table seemed to have decided that this was how he was going to earn his glory in Hogwarts.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the 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!"

Elara, Harry and Draco rose from their table along with the rest of their house and students and began to stream out of the hall. The Ravenclaws and Gryffindors were ascending the grand staircase while the Hufflepuffs were ambling down a corridor straight ahead, but the Slytherins immediately turned left and descended the stairs down to the dungeons. They were all sleepy and therefore didn't say much other then goodnight when they reached their common room under the lake, Harry and Draco heading off to the room they shared and Elara stumbling to her bed with Tracy, her own best friend and roommate. With there being lots of space under the lake the Slytherins got the luxury of two people to a room. This resulted in a lot of rooms and dark corridors, but it was better then the towers were the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were crammed with 10 or more students in their dormitories. Magic allowed for plenty of space, but still it was nicer not to have to deal with so many other people.

While the first years sat in the common room listening to Professor Snape lecture them on the expectations of being in Slytherin, the older students collapsed into bed, trying to rest enough in preparation for the week ahead.

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