Chapter 30

The storm had blown itself out by the following morning, though the ceiling in the Great Hall was still gloomy; heavy clouds of pewter gray swirled overhead as they examined their new course schedules at breakfast.

Daphne leaned over at Calypso's schedule. "Do you still have the time-turner?"

Calypso shook her head, "No, I'm dropping Divination and Muggle Studies. They're ridiculous."
"Yay! Then look- we have mostly the same classes now. I'm switching from Divination to Ancient Runes."

After a long boring class of transfiguration, the Slytherins all walked down the sloping lawns to the half-breed's hut.

When they arrived, they were greeted by 'Blast-Ended Skrewts'

"On'y jus' hatched," said Hagrid proudly, "so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves! Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!"

"And why would we want to raise them?" said Draco coldly.

Hagrid looked stumped at the question.

"I mean, what do they do?" asked Calypso. "What is the point of them?"

Hagrid opened his mouth, apparently thinking hard; there were a few seconds' pauses, then he said roughly, "Tha's next lesson, Lestrange. Yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things — I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer — I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass snake — just try 'em out with a bit of each."

"SERIOUSLY?!" Calypso demanded. "I wonder if they eat half-breeds?"
Daphne giggled, then mimed throwing up as they saw the frog-livers in crates. "We're supposed to touch those?!"

"Ouch!" yelled Dean Thomas after about ten minutes. "It got me!"

Hagrid hurried over to him, looking anxious. "Its end exploded!" said Dean angrily, showing Hagrid a burn on his hand.

"Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off," said Hagrid, nodding.

"Eurgh!" said Lavender Brown. "Eurgh, Hagrid, what's that pointy thing on it?"

"Ah, some of 'em have got stings," said Hagrid enthusiastically (Lavender quickly withdrew her hand from the box). "I reckon they're the males. . . . The females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies. . . . I think they might be ter suck blood."

Calypso sighed, "Great, just wonderful. Even the 'professor' doesn't know what's going on" she made a point of dramatically making air quotes around the word professor.

"Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," said Draco, nodding. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?"

"Just because they're not very pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful," Granger snapped. "Dragon blood's amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet, would you?"

Calypso sneered at the mudblood, "Oh yeah, I suppose you would have all the experience for that wouldn't you…"

Potter, Granger, and Weasley all turned pink while the half-breed loudly cleared his throat, "Er- so- uh, Skrewts!"

As they made their way back up the castle for lunch, Draco promptly began complaining to Theo about the blast-ended skrewts. "Wait until Father hears about this- a creature attacking a student, I can't see why they don't fire him already and-"
Calypso wondered if Theo had amazing self-restraint or something since he didn't even snap at Draco. Instead, he just rolled his eyes and continued listening to Draco's rant.

When the bell rang to signal the start of their afternoon classes, Calypso waved goodbye to Daphne and followed Celestia to Ancient Runes.

Throughout the class, Professor Vector taught them about complicated circular charts and pi and all that. Calypso was regretting her decision to take this class when Vector assigned them a load of homework.

"A detailed analysis of the way the planetary movements in the coming month will affect you, regarding your chart," Professor Vector explained, "I want it ready to hand in next Monday, and no excuses!"

They reached the entrance hall, which was packed with people queuing for dinner. They had just joined the end of the line when a loud voice rang out behind them. "Lestrange!"

It was Draco, and he had acquired the newspaper somehow and was waving it in her face. "Weasley's in the paper! Listen to this!" he shoved the paper in Calypso's hand.

FURTHER MISTAKES AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles is not yet at an end, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Recently under fire for its poor crowd control at the Quidditch World Cup, and still unable to account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office.

Calypso looked up as Draco said, "Imagine them not even getting his name right. It's almost as though he's a complete nonentity, isn't it?" he crowed.

She straightened the paper and went on.

Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession of a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved in a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers ("policemen") over several highly aggressive dustbins. Mr. Weasley appears to have rushed to the aid of "Mad-Eye" Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and attempted murder. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr. Moody's heavily guarded house, that Mr. Moody had once again raised a false alarm. Mr. Weasley was forced to modify several memories before he could escape from the policemen but refused to answer Daily Prophet's questions about why he had involved the Ministry in such an undignified and potentially embarrassing scene.

Draco looked expectantly at Calypso before taking the newspaper back and going to taunt Weasley about it.

"WEASLEY- HEY WEASLEY!"

Sighing, Calypso sat down and looked at the dinner that was being served today, sprouts and gravy.

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed across the Great Hall.

BANG!

Several people screamed — looked like Draco had attempted to curse Potter, then there was a second loud bang that was emitted from Mad-Eye as he limped down the marble staircase.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"

His was was out and pointed at a pure white ferret where Draco had been standing.

"Oh god" muttered Calypso before discreetly drawing her wand and turning back to her dinner.

Daphne tapped her on the shoulder, "Are you going to help him?"
Calypso shrugged, "why would I? He makes great entertainment while I eat."
"He's ruining the Slytherin reputation!"
"All that'll be fixed if Warrington gets chosen as the champion. Besides, I'm sure some teacher will stop him."

Sure enough, a moment later, Professor McGonagall appeared on the stairs, her arms laden with heavy books.

"Professor Moody!"

"Hello, Professor McGonagall," said Moody calmly, bouncing the ferret still higher.

"What — what are you doing?" said Professor McGonagall, her eyes following the bouncing ferret's progress through the air.

"Teaching," said Moody. "Teach — Moody, is that a student?" shrieked Professor McGonagall, the books spilling out of her arms.

"Yep," said Moody.

"No!" cried Professor McGonagall, running down the stairs and pulling out her wand; a moment later, with a loud snapping noise, Draco Malfoy had reappeared, lying in a heap on the floor with his sleek blond hair all over his now brilliantly pink face. He got to his feet, wincing.

"Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a punishment!" said Professor McGonagall weakly. "Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"

"He might've mentioned it, yeah," said Moody, scratching his chin unconcernedly, "but I thought a good sharp shock —"

"We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of House!"

"I'll do that, then," said Moody, staring at Draco with great dislike. Presumably, because Lucius was well-respected in the Ministry while Moody was, well- crazy.

Draco, whose pale eyes were still watering with pain and humiliation, looked malevolently up at Moody and muttered something in which the words "my father" were distinguishable.

"Oh yeah?" said Moody quietly, limping forward a few steps, the dull clunk of his wooden leg echoing around the hall. "Well, I know your father of the old, boy. . . . You tell him Moody's keeping a close eye on his son . . . you tell him that from me. . . . Now, your Head of House'll be Snape, will it?"

"Yes," said Draco resentfully. "Another old friend," growled Moody. "I've been looking forward to a chat with old Snape. . . . Come on, you. . . ." And he seized Malfoy's upper arm and marched him off toward the dungeons.

Professor McGonagall stared anxiously after them for a few moments, then waved her wand at her fallen books, causing them to soar up into the air and back into her arms.

Calypso turned back and flipped open a book to read as she finished dinner.

Classes were boring now, even Snape's insults to Gryffindors didn't cheer her up much as they got more and more homework from various teachers.

But nothing was worse than those lessons with Moody. He seemed to have taken on a personal challenge to make Calypso, Altaira, Leta, Draco, and Theo's lives miserable. Perhaps that was because he was the one that had caught their parents and wanted revenge for them getting out free? And now he wanted everyone to read up on the imperious curse because everyone knew better than to let him control them, (Which resulted in quite the argument).

Meanwhile, Professor Binns, the ghost who taught History of Magic, had them writing weekly essays on the goblin rebellions of the eighteenth century. Professor Snape was forcing them to research antidotes, and Professor Flitwick had asked them to read three extra books in preparation for their lesson on Summoning Charms. Even the half-breed was assigning homework even though Calypso did none of it.

But one exciting afternoon, someone had put up a sign that announced the delegates from Beauxbatons and Durmstrange coming over.

TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT

The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday the 30th of October. Lessons will end half an hour early. Students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast.

"Great" Daphne muttered, "We have Herbology last thing on Friday, I'm sick of squeezing pus"

The appearance of the sign in the entrance hall had a marked effect upon the inhabitants of the castle. During the following week, there seemed to be only one topic of conversation, no matter where Harry went: the Triwizard Tournament.

Rumors were flying from student to student like highly contagious germs: who was going to try for Hogwarts champion, what the tournament would involve, how the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang differed from themselves.

Calypso noticed too that the castle seemed to be undergoing an extra-thorough cleaning but at least nobody was replacing the furniture with bright neon colors and shades of black.

The suits of armor were suddenly gleaming and moving without squeaking, and Argus Filch, the caretaker, was behaving so ferociously to any students who forgot to wipe their shoes that he terrified a pair of first-year girls into hysterics. Other members of the staff seemed oddly tense too.

When they went down to breakfast on the morning of the thirtieth of October, they found that the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. Enormous silk banners hung from the walls, each of them representing a Hogwarts House: red with a gold lion for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. Behind the teachers' table, the largest banner of all bore the Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger, and snake united around a large letter H.

"Oh that's beautiful," Calypso said, pointing to the gleaming snake that was slithering up and down its green banner.

"Just like you love" Adrian had come up from behind and wrapped his arms around her.

Calypso laughed, "Thank you", and led him down the row to where everyone else was eating breakfast.

As she slid into the seat, Daphne stabbed the bacon ferociously and Calypso jumped up. "What has that thing ever done to you?"

Cassius laughed, "It hasn't done anything to her, she's just upset because Nott is sitting with the Ravenclaw girl again"
Daphne huffed, "That is NOT the reason I'm upset!"

Calypso rolled her eyes, "Sure...does anyone know how the champions are chosen?"
Warrington shrugged, "I asked Snape but he just told me-" he mimicked in a very Snape-ish voice, " ...it...would... be... a... much... better... use... of... your... time... to… finish… your… potion"
Calypso laughed and finished her breakfast before heading to the second floor with Daphne for Ancient Runes.

When the bell finally rang that day, everyone dropped off their bags and cloaks in the common room as they had been instructed and gathered up in a line at the entrance.

"Lestrange- stop talking" Snape snapped before waving everyone outside.

They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest.

After almost ten minutes of waving in the cold, Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers — "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

"Where?" said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions.

"There!" yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest.

Something large, much larger than a broomstick — or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks — was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time.

"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the first years, losing her head completely.

"Don't be stupid . . . it's a flying house!" said a Gryffindor.

Calypso scoffed, the Gryffindors had no right telling anyone that they were stupid.

As the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant.

The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed — then, with an almighty crash that made Longbottom jump backward onto Warrington's foot, the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground.

A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery-red eyes.

Calypso just glanced at the coat of arms (two crossed, golden wands, each emitting three stars) before the carriage door opened.

A woman first stepped out of it, and as she stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck.

She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers.

Dumbledore started to clap; the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman. Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it.

"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dorr," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"

"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.

"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her.

Calypso saw Celestia excitedly wave to one of them, as they all stepped out shivering which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads.

" 'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked. She had the same accent as Celestia when she spoke so presumably, the lot of them were all french.

"He should be here any moment," said Dumbledore. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"

"Warm-up, I think," said Madame Maxime. "But ze 'orses —"

"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," said Dumbledore, "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other — er — charges."
"My steeds require — er — forceful 'andling," said Madame Maxime, looking as though she doubted whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the job. "Zey are very strong. . . ."

"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," said Dumbledore, smiling.

"Very well," said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"

"It will be attended to," said Dumbledore, also bowing.

"Come," said Madame Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps.

For a few minutes, the silence was broken only by Madame Maxime's huge horses snorting and stamping. But then — a loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting toward them from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed. . . .

"The lake!" yelled Lee Jordan, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake!"

From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water — except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the center; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks — and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor. . . .

What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool . . .

Finally, with a great sloshing noise, a ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.

"Ooh! I wonder how we would travel?" whispered Daphne excitedly before she was shushed by Professor Snape.

As they recrossed the entrance hall with the rest of the Hogwarts students heading for the Great Hall, many students were squabbling over quills- "Oh I don't believe it, I haven't got a single quill on me —" "D'you think he'd sign my hat in lipstick?"

They walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down.

Draco waved frantically at Krum and the Durmstrang students to sit at their table since the students from Beauxbatons had chosen seats at the Ravenclaw table. They were looking around the Great Hall with glum expressions on their faces. Three of them were still clutching scarves and shawls around their heads.

As everyone from Durmstrange sat down, Adrian wrapped his arm around Calypso, glaring at everyone else. The Durmstrang students were pulling off their heavy furs and looking up at the starry black ceiling with expressions of interest; a couple of them were picking up the golden plates and goblets and examining them, apparently impressed. Up at the staff table, Filch, the caretaker, was adding chairs. He was wearing his moldy old tailcoat in honor of the occasion.

Calypso ignored Adrian and smiled at the newcomers, "Did you have a good journey"

"It vos fine. 'Ow are of you?"

Soon after, the heads of houses walked through the aisle and up to the staff table.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and — most particularly — guests," said Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable. The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

Calypso glanced over at the Ravenclaw table and she had never seen Celestia so happy before. She was talking in french with two other girls and pointing out different dishes to them.

Speaking of which, the house-elves in the kitchen seemed to have pulled out all the stops; there was a greater variety of dishes in front of them, including several that were foreign.

"Bouillabaisse" Daphne explained as she noticed Calypso glance at a large dish of some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding. "My mum made some once, it's nice"
Calypso looked apprehensively at Daphne before trying some. It was quite delicious.

The Great Hall seemed somehow much more crowded than usual, even though there were barely twenty additional students there; perhaps it was because their differently colored uniforms stood out so clearly against the black of the Hogwarts' robes. Now that they had removed their furs, the Durmstrang students were revealed to be wearing robes of a deep bloodred.

Once the golden plates had been wiped clean, Dumbledore stood up again. A pleasant sort of tension seemed to fill the Hall now.

"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket. But I would just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. First, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation"

— there was a smattering of polite applause —

"and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

There was a much louder round of applause for Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because of his fame as a Beater, or simply because he looked so much more likable. He acknowledged it with a jovial wave of his hand. Bartemius Crouch did not smile or wave when his name was announced.

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

At the mention of the word "champions," the attentiveness of the listening students seemed to sharpen. Perhaps Dumbledore had noticed their sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."

Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old.

A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students; "The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways . . . their magical prowess — their daring — their powers of deduction — and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open.

Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames. Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be visible to everyone in the Hall. "Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete."

Calypso looked at all of the Durmstrang boys, "Are all of you going to enter?"

Adrian scowled, "That's what they're here for aren't they?"

"I'm just trying to be nice!" Calypso turned to Warrington. "Are you entering then?"
He shrugged, "I suppose."

"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line. Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

Calypso stood up with the rest of the Slytherin table. "Where are you guys planning to sleep tonight?"

Krum grunted out to the boat. "Vack to our voat"

"Thank Salazar" Calypso heard Adrian whisper but she chose to ignore him as she walked down the steps to the Slytherin common room.

The next morning, Saturday, Calypso got up early as usual but this time, she was not alone. Everyone else was also bustling around the Great Hall when she arrived there were about 20 people gathered around the Goblet of Fire.

The students all through their names in, one by one. First the chaser from Gryffindor, then a few others. She had come to see Warrington though, ad after he threw his name in, she walked back into the Hall for breakfast.

The decorations in the Great Hall had changed this morning. As it was Halloween, a cloud of live bats was fluttering around the enchanted ceiling, while hundreds of carved pumpkins leered from every corner.

Daphne came in about ten minutes later, gasping with laughter. "The Weasley twins had spectacular beards" she explained as they ate. After eating, Calypso looked at the time. "Do you want to visit the Beauxbatons carriage?"
Daphne shrugged, "Where's Theo?"

Calypso looked around the Great Hall, "Don't know, maybe he's with Celestia?"
However, he was not with her as they met her in the entrance out on the lawns.

"Z'ou 'you want to come wi'zz me? Z'e carriage eez beautiful!"

"Sure"

Up close, Calypso could see how detailed the coat of armor and paint job was- each inch of it was light blue with a slight tint of gold to make it look like it was glowing, even in the daylight.

"Knock, knock, knock" Celestia had gently wrapped the door three times with her wand.

A minute later, a girl with long silvery hair and blue eyes opened the door. "Qu'est ce- oh! 'Ello Celestia. 'Ho is zey?"

"Calypso Lestrange and she's Daphne Greengrass"
The girl nodded, "'ello zen Calypso and Daphne. 'Ou can call me Fleur. Do 'ou want to come in?"
Calypso nodded as Fleur opened the door to let them in. It was breathtakingly beautiful inside with the soft blue and gold color scheme. And sorry mum, but whoever decorated it had a MUCH better taste in color palettes.

They hung around and chatted over tea for while before heading back to the castle for the champions to be selected.

The Halloween feast seemed to take much longer than usual.

Perhaps because it was their second feast in two days, but Calypso didn't seem to fancy the extravagantly prepared food as much as she would have normally.

Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, the fidgeting, and then standing up to see whether Dumbledore had finished eating yet, Calypso simply wanted the plates to clear, and to hear who had been selected as champions.

At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which 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.

"Please be a Slytherin" she heard Daphne whisper from next to her and Calypso squeezed her hand, half to reassure daphne, half so her hands would stop fidgeting.

"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 to 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 into a state of semidarkness.

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. . . .

And then suddenly, the flames turned red again.

The 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 Viktor Krum."

Calypso clapped politely with the rest of the hall before everyone fell silent again as the goblet's flames had turned red once more.

The second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames. "The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

Calypso leaped to her feet, clapping, along with the Ravenclaw table and Calypso.

When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it.

The Hogwarts champion next . . . And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip, Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment. "The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cassius Warrington!"

Calypso jumped to her feet once more, hugging Cassius before he headed off to the side chamber.

"Look at them, they're all disappointed" sneered Daphne disgustedly.
'Disappointed' was a bit of an understatement as the Gryffindors were booing, the Hufflepuffs jeering, and Ravenclaws- well they were silent.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down.

"Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real —"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him. The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment.

He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore.

And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out — "Harry Potter. "

"NO!" shouted a Slytherin and as the Gryffindors slowly began clapping, we were happy to take on the role of booing.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

Potter slowly got up and walked to the side chamber.

Draco hit his fist on the table, "How come POTTER gets to compete? It's not fair- he's just trying to steal all the glory for himself like he does every year!"

Once Potter had disappeared, Dumbledore waved his hand. "Well...off to bed everyone" before sweeping down the side chamber with everyone else.

Daphne stamped her foot angrily, "I can't believe it! They're going to let him compete?" she asked incredulously.

Calypso opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted when Astoria tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yes?"
"Does this usually happen?" Astoria asked frowning. "Why does Potter always get the attention?"
Calypso took Astoria's hand as she almost tripped, going down the stairs, "Wow- and yeah, Potter's a giant attention seeker and prat. What's the password?"
"Antidote" replied Astoria helpfully as the brick wall dissolved into the Slytherin common room.