Author's Note WOW I can't even put into words how disappointed I am with my readers right now... I only asked for THREE reviews, which I didn't think would be too hard to achieve considering I have thirteen people who receive Alerts for this story... Three out of thirteen is pretty abysmal. However, I would like to thank my one and only faithful reviewer haileydelacour101. I greatly appreciate your reviews!

Last Chapter Their carriage door was opened promptly and a boy's face appeared in the doorway. A smile graced his handsome face as he bowed and greeted them.

"Hogvarts, velcome to Durmstrang Institute."

Chapter 6

The snow crunched under their toes as McGonagall assembled them in front of her carriage.

"Professor," the boy said smoothly. McGonagall froze and turned to the boy, who smiled at her. "You haf nothing to vorry about. Ve vill take care of your carriages and beasts. Professor Ianneillo is vaiting for you in the Dining Hall vith the rest of our students to velcome you. He vill take you there." He beckoned over a second boy. A great gust of wind whipped past them, biting through their robes. Raelyn's blond hair flew about her face and goosebumps spread rapidly over her flesh. The involuntary cold shudder gave her a greater appreciation for the Durmstrang boys' heavy furs.

"Thank you," McGonagall said appreciatively and the second boy stepped closer with a smile.

"Please, follow me," he said.

The trek up to the castle was a workout. The ground was, as Raelyn had suspected, very uneven and frozen solid. A Ravenclaw girl complained about the cold wind, as if she were the only one who felt it, until Seth snapped at her. Then she sulked.

Finally, they ascended the castle steps and the Durmstrang student held open the enormous door for them. If they'd been expecting a toasty warm welcome, they were sadly disappointed. Durmstrang's interior was like lukewarm water: somewhere between warm and cool.

"Ve apologize for the cold. Ve know you are not accustomed to it. Our fires are only lit for magical purposes, unfortunately," their guide explained apologetically as they walked.

What had first started as dead silence grew steadily to noise as they were led steadily closer to the Dining Hall. They arrived outside another set of large, oak, double doors and their guide turned to them

"Please, vait here for only a moment. I must inform Professor Ianneillo of your arrival," he said and his eyes flickered to something behind them. Raelyn turned curiously as the boy continued, "and of the arrival of the beautiful Beauxbatonts ladies."

"Yes, of course," McGonagall agreed and the boy nodded and disappeared behind a tapestry, the Beauxbatons' guide following silently behind him.

They waited in silence, the students of Hogwarts stealing glances at the Beauxbatons girls, and vise versa. Raelyn felt Seth stirring restlessly at her side. He was a ladies man-he was probably undressing the girls with his eyes. Raelyn smirked and received a dirty look from one of the Beauxbatons girls, who must have mistook her amusement for smugness.

"Garce," she sniffed to her friend, eyes sizing Raelyn up. Her Headmistress must have heard her and strode over to her, speaking in rapid, angry French.

The two boys reappeared from behind the tapestry.

"Professors," the Hogwarts guide said politely. Both headmistresses turned to him. "Professor Ianneillo says he is ready for you now. He vishes for Hogvarts to enter first?" McGonagall gave a curt nod. "Vonderful, here ve go..."

And with that the two boys took the handles of the doors and heaved them open. All eyes were on them as Raelyn slipped on her emotionless facade.

"Sons of Durmstrang, please give your warmest welcome to the fine students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" A strong male voice roared from the platform at the front of the hall. McGonagall seemed to take that as her cue to act, and led them into the vast room roaring with cheers, applause, and whistles. The boys smiled, welcoming, them as they passed.

They were all standing, wearing the same blood red and black uniforms as the boys who'd accompanied them to the Dining Hall, Their furs hanging off the backs of chairs. Unlike Hogwarts, whose Great Hall was separated into four house tables, Durmstrang's Dining Hall was crowded with numerous round tables, each seating about eight people each. There didn't look to be any divisions or houses either. A man who looked to be in his late thirties had jumped off the platform and was striding towards them, down the centre aisle between the tables. He had short, brown hair, a goatee of the same colour, and a crooked nose. His blue eyes crackled merrily, though, and he was handsome for his age.

"Professor McGonagall!" he said, arms outstretched. Raelyn noticed that, not only did he have no trace of a Slavic accent, but he had a purely British accent. "How are you?" he asked as he bowed over McGonagall's hand and kissed it.

"I am well, Adonis, and you?" McGonagall replied kindly, a motherly smile on her face.

"Wonderful, now that you're here," he said, flattering her.

"Been behaving yourself?" McGonagall asked, still smiling. "Last time I remember seeing you was at your graduation setting small fires under Professor Trelawney's robes."

The man laughed hoarsely. "Professor! I'm running a school now, I can't continuously get into trouble like I could twenty years ago!"

McGonagall chuckled. Raelyn raised an eyebrow. Never in her seven years had she ever heard McGonagall chuckle. Smiles were rare, yet here she was smiling continuously and chuckling.

The man smiled brightly and placed a finger to his pursed lips. "But we'd best keep those stories to ourselves before we give my students something to talk about. Come, come, we must make way for Madame Eunomie. These are the tables for your students." He said, waving to four empty tables to their right. Raelyn watched the whole exchange with interest. McGonagall treated Ianeillo like a mother would treat her son. Did he attend Hogwarts in the past, perhaps? Possibly a favourite student? Though Raelyn had never heard of McGonagall favouring anyone...

He led them to the appointed tables. "We must stand for Beauxbatons, but once they've been welcomed, you may sit," Ianneillo explained to the Hogwarts students. "And as for your Headmistress, she'll be sitting up there with me." He nodded towards the dais on which sat the staff table, a broad half-circle. It was full, save for three throne-like chairs in the centre.

"Behave yourselves," McGonagall warned and turned away from them, allowing herself to be led away by her former student.

Raelyn and the Slytherins circled around the closest table as the other three houses followed suit.

"And now," came Ianeillo's booming voice, "Please welcome the gorgeous ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic!"

The same greeting Hogwarts had received upon their entry was also awarded to the Beauxbatons girls clad in their powder blue uniforms, though a wolf whistle or two accompanied their entrance. Ianneillo greeted their Headmistress with a handsome smile and a kiss on the hand, though Raelyn could tell he'd only met this woman since he'd become Headmaster.

"Ze 'orses – are zey alright with zoze students? Do zey know zat zey can only have single malt whiskey?" she was saying.

Ianneillo chuckled. "Yes, Madame, they'll be fine. You have no need to worry."

"Very well," Eunomie said. "Where would you prefer my students?" Raelyn glanced at the two dozen shivering girls standing behind their Headmistress, before returning her attention to their conversation.

"Oh, right over here at these four tables," Ianneillo said, waving his hand at the only empty tables left in the hall. Raelyn lost interest after that, turning her attention, instead, to the Durmstrang boys.

They were mostly dark-haired and brown-eyed, but every now and then Raelyn would spot of a shock of blond hair or catch a blue or green eye. For the most part it looked like they started out short and skinny and as they became older, they grew taller and muscled. There were few overweight boys, and those that were, Raelyn found to be in younger years. They all stood straight and proud.

"They're gorgeous!" Segan whispered at Raelyn's side.

"Not gonna fight you on that one," Raelyn agreed. Though not all of them were handsome, a good part of them were.

"Please, be seated," Ianneillo called. Everyone obeyed with a scraping of chairs and murmurs. "Thank you, and welcome to Durmstrang Institute!" he continued. "I am afraid I will have to apologize for the cold here. We only light fires for magical purposes. Now, I only have one matter to address here, so I won't starve you for much longer-" there was a smattering of appreciative laughter from the students. Ianneillo smiled wolfishly. "I'd like to introduce these two amazing women I'm lucky enough to have on either side of me. On my left, here, is Madame Eunomie, the Headmistress of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic." Eunomie rose at Ianneillo's behest. Raelyn examined her while she applauded along with everyone else.

She was older than Ianneillo, but younger than McGonagall. She had long blond hair, brown eyes, small pink lips, and fair skin. She smiled acceptingly, blushing slightly, and everything about her was serene and peaceful. But there was something about her...

"She's not right," Seth said in her ear.

"Hmm?" Raelyn answered absently.

"The Beaxbatons Headmistress," Seth elaborated, "Somethin' off about that bird."

"You read my mind," Raelyn consented, barely moving her lips.

"And this is Professor McGonagall, the Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where I went to school. In fact, she taught me Transfiguration while she was Deputy Headmistress."

Applause took up again. When it finally died down Ianneillo held his arms out wide.

"And I am Professor Ianneillo, Headmaster of the Durmstrang Institute. Welcome, and let the feast begin!" With that, food materialized on the table in front of them, both foreign and familiar. Beverages including wine and beer cluttered the table in bottles and flagons. Looking around, Raelyn realized the same thing was on every table.

Segan laughed and asked, "What do you think the drinking age here is?"

A laugh from beind them surprised them. Segan and Raelyn looked around and came face to face with a Durmstrang boy. He laughed again.

"I'm sorry, I really vasn't eavesdropping," he apologized and defended himself at the same time. He looked to be around seventeen, maybe a year older, with wavy black hair that curled over his ears and popping brown eyes. His nose was straight, his skin olive, and stubble grew on his chin and cheeks, but in a way that made him more alluring. When he smiled his teeth were white and straight. "It just happened to be your voice I heard. To answer your question, there isn't vone. Get as drunk as you vant, just don't die. That's the rule. Though, the novelty vears off quickly once you find yourself vaking up every morning vith a headache. The first years, though..." He broke off leaning over in his chair to look elsewhere. Raelyn and Segan followed his gaze to a table of first years who were gulping down beer at an appalling pace. "Vell, they hafen't quite learned yet. Most parents don't allow their children to get drunk." He gave them a pointed look and Segan giggled. Raelyn smiled.

"What's your name?" Raelyn asked him.

The boy grinned. "Rodney Dimitrov." He offered them his hand to shake. "And you?" he asked while he shook Segan's hand, then Raelyn's.

"I'm Segan Kauller," said Segan eagerly, "And this is Raelyn Malfoy." Rodney's face creased into a thoughtful frown.

"Malfoy... I haf heard that name somewhere before..." Raelyn shrugged and smiled politely. Rodney shrugged, too.

"Oh, vell, I'm sure ve vill find out eventually," he said. Raelyn found that Rodney was an easy person to get along with, talkative, funny, interesting, and relaxed. Segan liked him, too, but while Raelyn's mind was on friends, Segan's was probably already planning their wedding. She spent the majority of the feast talking to him, occasionally dragging Raelyn back into the conversation.

Finally, the feast came to a close and Ianneillo rose and waited for the hall to quiet.

"Well, now we're all fed and watered, I suppose I should explain everything.

"First of all, as many of you know, the tournament is only open to those aged seventeen and older. This was established by the Ministry of Magic so don't bother coming to complain to me about it. I can't do anything about it, and frankly, I don't care." Everyone laughed.

Ianneillo continued. "The tournament will be opened tonight and will remain open until Halloween night at midnight when we will select the three champions.

"There will be three tasks spaced out throughout the school year that will test the champions' magical abilities, prowess, and bravery. Chances are, if chosen, you'll get at least a few scratches.

"As you know, I'm sure, one champion will be selected from each school. Only one. This will not be a repeat of when I was in school. The champions will be marked according to their performance in the tasks and the champion with the highest score after the third task will be declared the winner of the Triwizard Tournament Cup and an amount of ten thousand galleons prize money. And, just so that none of you can say the champion was chosen because they're the teacher's pet, like I would have thought in school, champions will be selected by an impartial judge... The Goblet of Fire." The torches dimmed considerably.

With a wave of his hand an enormously tall, broad, and muscular man moved forward from the shadows carrying a worn casket. He set it down gently on the conjured pedestal in front of Ianneillo and backed up into the shadows where he'd formerly resided. Excited whispers were sweeping through the hall as Ianneillo extracted his wand from inside his robes. He was little more than a shadow as the hall resounded with the sound of his wand tapping three times upon the caskets cover. The creak of the lid opening was magnified ten times, echoing in the anxious silence. With great care Ianneillo reached inside the casket and withdrew a completely ordinary, unremarkable, roughly-crafted wooden cup. The gasps of awe escaping everyone's lips was due to the cup's contents: dancing blue and white flames. The unusually bright light seared Raelyn's eyes, but she couldn't look away.

The fire cast contorted shadows across Ianneillo's face as he said, "Anyone wishing to submit themselves to the tournament have only until midnight on October 30th. I am not joking when I say put serious thought into this decision. This tournament is not a game."

Author's Note COME ON, PEOPLE! REVIEW PLEASE!