I do not own Harry Potter or Superman, Marvel and DC do.

.

Arrivals

.

"I can't believe that we're missing potions for this." Hermione grumbled as she pulled her cloak tighter around her in an attempt to stay warm. Harry glanced over at where the assembled teachers and officials were waiting, a familiar red-head standing just behind Mr Crouch.

"Your brother's here, Ginny." Harry motioned towards the group and Ginny followed his gaze.

"Mum said he probably would be." She replied once she'd spotted him. "You know he wants to become the Minister of Magic some day?"

"Doesn't surprise me." Luna interjected.

"He always was a stickler for rules." Ginny sighed. "You know that he moved out of the Burrow after getting his NEWTs? He's got an apartment in the Tegg's Nose Cavern."

"Means you'll be able to visit him on Hogsmeade weekends if you want to." Harry pointed out and Ginny nodded slowly.

"I might, although I'll have to let him know I'm coming. I wouldn't want to catch him bouncing beds with his girlfriend."

Behind them, Neville coughed in attempt to hide his sudden chuckle while Luna simply laughed.

"How long do you think before the other schools arrive?" Hermione asked, trying to change the subject.

"I'd say a few more minutes." Harry supplied, looking up at the darkening skies. "They're coming in from over there, they've just dropped below the cloud layer and are coming in for a landing."

"Are you certain that it's them?" Neville asked after a moment and Harry nodded.

"Yep, huge carriage being pulled by winged horses."

"Ooh, I wanna see!" Luna shed her cloak as she ran past them, then leapt up into the air, transforming as she did so. Her wings beat powerfully as she soared into the air and a second avian shape joined her as Fawkes took position just off her wing.

"Dammit, Luna." Hermione sighed as she picked up Luna's cloak, folding it so that she could fit it into one of her pockets.

"Where's she going?" One of the other students asked, then he answered himself before anyone else could. "Over there! It's a flying carriage!"

The assembled crowd shifted as everyone tried to get a good view without going onto the part of the lawn that had been marked off, those who couldn't instantly see the new arrivals using Luna as a signpost as to where they should be looking.

The airborne carriage soon swelled into view and swooped down, Luna and Fawkes holding position to either side until it was just about to touch down, then the peeled off as it landed on the lawn, the horses cupping their wings as they fought to slow the carriage, a task aided by the well-wrapped man on the drivers seat pulling the brake lever to bring it to a stop exactly in front of the waiting adults. As Hagrid moved to the pegasi, the driver clambered down and moved to the door, reaching underneath to swing out a set of steps that locked into position. Stepping to one side, he knocked on the door, which swung open to allow the occupants of the carriage to step out. In the lead was a huge woman who stood at about the same height as Hagrid. Looking round, she strode forwards to Minerva and the two of them bowed to each other.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, Headmistress Maxine." Minerva pitched her voice to carry to everyone watching. "We are honored that you have accepted our hospitality."

"We are honored to be here, Headmistress McGonagall." Maxine replied with a smile as she looked down at her counterpart. "And as I have already told you, you may call me Olympe."

Minerva stepped sideways and waved for the Beauxbatons students to enter. "It is rather chilly today, we have hot drinks waiting for you in the Great Hall."

"Given the weather, we shall accept." Olympe agreed as she turned to face her students, many of whom were looking rather pale. "Move along, it is time to warm up."

The mainly-female students moved elegantly-yet-quickly into Hogwarts, followed by quite a few Hogwarts students, although Olympe remained outside, her hands tucked into a large furry muff.

"Boys." Hermione huffed as she noted that almost all of the Hogwarts students heading in were male, but Harry was staring at the lake.

"Anyone else seeing disturbances in the water? It looks like ripples are trying to form a circle."

Paying only a small amount of attention to the quiet conversation between McGonogall and the towering Headmistress of Beauxbatons, a conversation that Crouch was trying and failing to include himself in, Harry's friends turned their attention to the lake.

"Now that you mention it… yes." Hermione finally allowed.

A few more moments passed as the waves got bigger, then the waters of the lake suddenly erupted into storm-tossed waves forming a large whirlpool out of which a wooden ship rose, the golden figurehead catching the rays of the setting sun and the gilding flashing as the boat settled. The waters returned to their calm state as the ship sailed towards the pier without any form of visible propulsion, coming to a stop as figures started to appear on the deck. Ropes lashed out, securing the ship, then a gangplank floated into place, allowing the cloaked shapes to descend.

"Did they just use the lake as a portal?" Harry asked curiously.

"Must have done." Hermione mused. "I wonder if the spells are similar to those used in the Floo system…"

Hermione continued muttering as she and the others watched the Durmstrang contingent descend the gangplank, an adult waiting at the top with wand in hand. The reason for his positioning became apparent as one of the students tripped and the man used his wand to levitate the clumsy student to the shore, preventing him from falling into the Black Lake. Once all the students were down, the man followed, then moved to the front and led them up to where the two Headmistresses were waiting.

"A very impressive entrance, Headmaster Scamander." Minerva stated as he came to a stop in front of her.

"Oooh, I wonder if he's related to Newt Scamander!" Luna exclaimed from behind them, causing Hermione to twitch as she hadn't seen the younger girl return. "Um, anyone seen my cloak?"

Wordlessly, Hermione handed it over to Luna, who proceeded to don it and then give Hermione a brief hug.

"Isn't that Victor Krum?" Hermione asked as one of the older students looked round.

"Ron's going to go all fanboy." Ginny sighed. "He was gushing about Krum during the game… I think he'd seriously consider taking a gender-change potion just to get closer."

"…I hope you're joking." Harry finally managed as the last of the Durmstrang students vanished into the castle.

"…a bit." Ginny admitted. "Come on, let's head in. It's getting rather cold out here."

Harry nodded in agreement, although he didn't feel at all chilly.

.

"The Great Hall's bigger." Hermione noted as they entered.

"They've added two more tables." Neville added. "Looks like Durmstrang is between Gryffindor and us while Beauxbatons is between Slytherin and Hufflepuff."

"They've added the banners at the end too." Harry continued. "But there are still only four Hourglasses, so I guess we won't be sharing many lessons."

"How come none of you have commented about the fiery goblet on that pillar?" Ginny enquired as they sat down. "It was the first thing that I noticed."

"It's the Goblet of Fire." Harry shrugged. "We all knew that it was going to be brought in here."

Ginny gave him a brief glare, then turned towards the Teachers Table as McGonogall tapped a goblet with her spoon to get their attention.

"Soon, we will commence the welcome feast and in one week's time, we will have the decision of the Goblet of Fire as to whom the champions of the three schools will be. Let me remind you that to be chosen, you must be seventeen or over and personally place your name into the Goblet, as well as the school for which you are competing. The Goblet will be watched by Aurors to ensure that there is no foul play and will check the parchment of each person before allowing them to step onto the dias to place their name into the Goblet.

Harry glanced over at the table in the corner where the indicated Aurors were and blinked at the sight of a very familiar hair color.

"Isn't that…?" Neville asked quietly, having also looked at the table in question.

"It is." Harry whispered back. "And that's Shacklebolt next to her."

"…huh."

.

When the meal ended and both visiting schools made their way out of the hall, Harry, Neville and Hermione headed for the Auror table where the pink-haired Auror looked up at a hissed comment from Moody and waved.

"Wotcha, guys!"

"Hi, Tonks." Hermione smiled. "You part of the Goblet's guards then?"

"Goblet's Guards…" Tonks mused. "I like that. Yep."

"Tonks, you and Shack are on first shift." Moody growled as he got up from his seat. "Try not to get too distracted."

"Understood, sir." Tonks replied without a trace of her normal levity and Moody snorted in satisfaction before lumbering off, most of the Aurors following him.

"They're heading for the barracks." Tonks explained quietly as Harry watched them go. "Headmistress McGonogall had several rooms reconfigured with beds, bathrooms and everything. Even a couple of cells in case we need to arrest anyone."

"Hello, Nymphadora!"

Tonks closed her eyes for a moment, then turned to give the speaker a glare.

"Mother! You know I hate that name!"

"Don't be silly, dear." Andromeda replied calmly. "It's a lovely name."

"It's sappy and everyone makes fun of it!" Tonks shot back.

"I won't." Harry promised.

"Me neither." Neville added.

"Thanks guys." Tonks grinned. "So, any of you tempted to try?"

"Merlin, no!" Harry exclaimed instantly. "Even if I was old enough, I wouldn't want to."

"Given how rich you are, it would be a lot of risk for a minimal reward." The other Auror noted, barely glancing at Harry. Harry opened his mouth to reply, then paused as he finally noticed the rectangular display set into the table, a display which had a number of glowing dots in one corner.

"A map of the Great Hall?" He asked with a smile.

"Straight from Evans Enterprises." The dark-skinned Auror confirmed. "We've tested it, it even shows those using the best stealth spells and invisibility cloaks we know of."

"Makes our job a lot easier." Tonks added, then she looked up as someone stepped into the Great Hall. Everyone went silent as Victor Krum strode towards the goblet and the dark-skinned Auror rose from his chair and moved to intercept the Seeker. After several moments of quiet discussion and a few wand-waves by the older man, Krum stepped up onto the low platform and dropped a folded piece of parchment into the cup.

"Is done." He announced, then he turned and left.

"Man of few words, hey Shack?" Tonks called and Shacklebolt nodded with a slight smile.

"Yep. Be interesting to see if he is picked."

"Given his performance at the World Cup, I'd be shocked if he wasn't." Tonks replied with a smile.

"I'm actually surprised that he waited until almost no-one was around." Hermione mused. "I mean, he's a really popular sports star, so why not do it when everyone else is here to get even more publicity?"

"He's probably rather tired of it." Harry reflected. "Merlin knows that I dislike my fame."

"Especially considering it was probably something your mother did." Neville agreed and Harry's lips twitched slightly as he noted that Neville hadn't stated which mother he was referring to.

"Well, since we don't have Ancient Runes, I think we might want to head to the consorvatory." Hermione stretched in an almost feline way. "I need to get some serious lounging done."

"One of the perils of being a feline Animagus." McGonogall agreed, causing everyone to jolt in shock as they hadn't heard her approach. "Shacklebolt, Tonks. It is good to see you again. Shacklebolt, I do trust that the incident with the piano and the jelly won't be repeated?"

Shacklebolt somehow managed to blush and pale at the same time. "No, ma'am!"

"The what?" Tonks asked curiously and Shacklebolt shook his head.

"Don't. Ask."

"At least it wasn't as bad as the Custard Incident." Minerva added and Tonks shuddered.

"…everywhere…"