Chapter Forty Eight: Arrival
A/N: I know it is way past the date I was supposed to post, but during my break I fell quite ill and was unable to post. Things will be back to normal now, thank you all for your patience and continued support. -QN
Emalia woke earlier than usual the next morning. The storm had blown itself out, but the sky was still a gloomy grey. Emalia got dressed and piled her books into her bag and made her way down to the Common Room. Now seemed a good a time as any to send a letter to some of her friends in Beauxbatons. She had written to them over the summer, each of them had replied but none of them had mentioned anything about the Tournament.
She whipped out some spare parchment and a quill and ink and began to write. Twenty minutes later she was on her way to the Owlery, with three letters: one for Fleur, one for Violette and one for Jack.
Most of the owls were sleeping, their heads tucked underneath their wing when she arrived in the Owlery. But as if on cue, Grif flew down and perched on her shoulder, hooting happily.
'Morning' she whispered to him, gently ruffling his feathers. 'Feel like delivering these letters to Beauxbatons?'
Grif hooted shrilly, earning angry hoots from some of the other sleeping owls. Emalia giggled quietly as she tied the three letters to his leg, before giving him another feather ruffle. She watched as he made his way off in the sky, disappearing in the pewter grey clouds.
When she arrived back in the Common Room, she found Fred, George and Lee already there.
'Morning' she called brightly as she walked up to them.
'Morning' they chorused back at her. Fred leaned down and gave her a quick peck on the lips before wrapping his arms around her. Moments later Alicia and Angelina joined them, and they all made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast.
The Triwizard Tournament dominated their topic of conversation that morning. 'So! Who is entering?' asked Fred excitedly, looking around at his friends.
'Angelina is the only one of us who are of age, Fred' said Alicia between bites of toast.
'I think I might enter. I think I'd be a good champion for Hogwarts!' said Angelina, a trace of a smug smile lighting her face.
'You would,' said George nodding solemnly.
'But I'd be better!' teased Fred, and the whole table laughed. 'Seriously though. Lee, George and I were talking about it last night and I think we could get past the impartial judge with an age potion. We'd have to start brewing it now, but I think it could work.'
Emalia laughed into her porridge as she listened. 'Do you honestly think you're going to outwit the Headmaster with something as simple as a potion?'
'No.' scowled Fred, not appreciating her laughing at him. 'I plan on out witting the impartial judge.'
'Yeah, and Albus said that he was going to take precautions to stop people from trying to influence the impartial judge. Whoever this judge is, I don't think an age potion will work. Not with the extra precautions.'
'Ha, you're underestimating me darling' he growled lowly in her ear. The danger in his voice, his amusement at her fieriness this early in the morning, caused her to flush pink.
'Anyways,' she continued, clearing her throat, 'You can try and enter, but I still don't think you'll get past whatever Professor Dumbledore does.'
'We will see' said Fred and George in unison. They spent the rest of their breakfast discussing how to approach this hurdle, until they got their timetable.
'Oh, looks like we don't have the first class together… I have double Ancient Runes' said Emalia as she scanned through her timetable.
'Hey! You have more classes than us?!' exclaimed Alicia as she peered at Emalia's timetable.
'Eh.. yeah.. I'm taking alchemy with Snape' she said with an embarrassed smile.
'Wait, so you're not taking potions?'
'Oh, I am, but I'm also taking alchemy' she said.
Alicia smiled at her, 'Well I for one am glad that I won't be in potions for the next two years. Anyone else?'
Lee and Angelina agreed with her, but both Fred and George had gotten an Outstanding O.W.L, and were therefore able to continue with Potions at N.E.W.T level.
'We better get going, don't want to be late on our first day back' said Angelina, smiling at her friends as she swung her bag on her back.
Emalia stood up to make her way to Ancient Runes, Cedric had waved at her from the Hufflepuff table. Fred scowled at him before pulling her into an overly passionate kiss.
'Get to class, Mr Weasley' scolded Professor McGonagall as she walked by them, giving him a disapproving glare. 'I do not wish to see that type of behaviour around the school.'
Fred grinned up at her, 'Right you are, Minnie!' before kissing Emalia on the cheek and making a run for it out of the Great Hall.
Emalia and the others laughed heartily at Fred, and she could have sworn she saw a smirk ghosting Professor McGonagall's face as she walked up towards the staff table.
Emalia met with Cedric at the door and the two of them walked together to Ancient Runes all the way on the sixth floor.
'So, are you thinking of entering the Tournament?' asked Cedric as they climbed the stairs.
Emalia shook her head, 'No, I'm not of age… and even if I was, I still don't think I would enter.'
'Why not? Don't like the sound of eternal glory?' he asked.
'Not really. What do I need eternal glory for? I guess it's not something that I would want for myself.' She shrugged again, she had no intention of even trying to enter. 'What about you?'
'I think I might,' said Cedric with a shy smile, 'I'm seventeen at the end of the month, no harm in putting my name forward.'
They passed a group of third year girls who all looked at Cedric before walking off, whispering and giggling.
'How does it feel being Hogwarts most eligible bachelor?' she teased gently.
Cedric laughed at her, shaking his head. 'Come on or we'll be late!' They ran up the last staircase, arriving at Ancient Runes in the nick of time.
Later that afternoon, the sixth year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws had their first lesson with Mad Eye Moody, and it was highly anticipated by all. Moody's reputation for catching dark wizards was legendary.
They all filed into the room, instantly noticing the difference in décor from last year. Where Professor Lupin had diagrams and tanks of different dark creatures, Professor Moody had different objects that alerted him to dark wizards or magic hanging from the walls or on the shelves.
The room was significantly darker as well, the windows were tinted blocking out most of the light from outside, the iron chandelier held candles that shone brightly, charmed to bring more light to the dim room.
When they entered, the room was empty, Professor Moody, unlike all the other teachers, was not waiting at the top of the room. They all sat, speaking in hushed tones as they waited for the eccentric and awe-inspiring Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Minutes passed by, and Professor Moody had still not entered the room. By now, the class had moved from hushed tones to raucous laughter and merriment. The door swung open with a sudden boom.
Everyone's heads spun to the door. In walked Professor Moody, his wooden leg making a dull thunk against the hard stone floor as he walked. The whole room fell silent in an instant, watching in awe as he walked to the top of the classroom, Moody's magical eye roaming freely over every student.
'I see that we have a lot of time for idle chat,' growled Mad Eye as he looked over every face when he reached the top of the classroom. 'I have been informed of what you have all covered so far. It is somewhat disappointing; you are very far behind for N.E.W.T level. I will be showing you, teaching you all how to fight curses.'
The whole room fell silent, hanging onto every word Professor Moody uttered, looks of pure awe awash on each and every face. Mad-Eye Moody launched into a long tale about how thwarting curses, by using counter-curses, using jinxes and sheer willpower to break free from an enchantment was a skill that was of utmost importance.
By the time he had finished his speech, the class was half over, not that anyone noticed. Everyone was hanging on to every single syllable that Mad-Eye spoke; the low growl of his voice was the only sound in the room as he talked.
It took the whole class a solid five seconds to realise that he had finished speaking. Moody had captured their rapt attention with his descriptive, but to the point, description of some of his past encounters.
He looked out at them, his magical eye roaming over each young face sitting in front of him, a small grin flit across his beaten and weathered face. The silence of the classroom however, left him feeling slightly unsettled.
'There are many dark forces out there, wishing nothing but harm on you,' he growled lowly. 'Lurking in the shadows, waiting for the precise moment you drop your guard. It is my job to ensure that you are prepared for that.'
He noticed a few students nodding absentmindedly at him, captivated by his presence. He walked across the top of the dark classroom, his wooden leg emitting a dull clunk every time it hit off the hard stone floor.
Professor Moody whipped out his wand, pointed it at the board, and with a confident flick, writing appeared on the blackboard at the top of the room.
'Inferi'
He spun around to face the class once more, his eye roving over the curious and several confused looking faces.
'Can anyone tell me what an Inferius might be?' he growled. The room fell silent, a few students sitting near the front tried to quietly leaf through their textbook to find the answer, wishing to impress Professor Moody.
He had turned his back to the class once more, his mouth open to speak, when a dulcet voice spoke.
'An Inferius, or Inferi, is a corpse of a deceased person who has been reanimated by dark magic. A dark wizard uses them as puppets to do their bidding …. Sir' said Emalia clearly.
Professor Moody slowly turned, a curious gleam in his eye, he was not expecting an answer, he had not gotten one from his other sixth year class.
'That is correct, Miss?' he questioned, both eyes fixed firmly on her face.
'Potter, Sir' she responded.
'Ah! Miss Potter. Five points for Gryffindor for the correct answer.'
The rest of the class was spent with Professor Moody describing how to identify Inferi. He went into minute detail into how dark wizards used Inferi, leaving the class equal parts amazed and horrified.
When class ended, they all filed out talking in hushed, hurried whispers as they made their way down to the Great Hall for dinner. Fred and George were walking ahead of the rest of the group, heads together whispering lowly, glancing around to ensure no one was listening in to their conversation.
'What's that about?' asked Alicia, nudging Emalia gently in the ribs. Emalia looked up from her timetable, her eyebrows knit together slightly as she frowned at her boyfriend and best friend.
'No clue,' she said shrugging, casting her eyes back down to her timetable, as she walked to the Great Hall.
Fred and George continued to put distance between themselves and the rest of the group, opting to sit away from them at dinner. Emalia frowned at them, with Fred ignoring the looks she threw his way throughout dinner. George had picked up on this and gave Emalia an apologetic look, before turning to face his brother once more.
They continued this for the rest of the evening, sequestering away in a quiet corner in the Common Room, exchanging whispers and a rather tattered looking piece of parchment. It was starting to bother Emalia; something so important that it had to be kept from the entire group, she felt as if she should know.
She was watching them from her position on the armchair, she transfiguration book balanced on her lap as she read over what they had covered in class today. Fred looked up and noticed her watching them, and instead of doing what he would normally do, which was to grin at her. Instead, he quickly averted his eyes; he cursed himself inside his head. Why did he react that way?
His reaction further irked Emalia. She snapped her book shut and strode over to the Weasley twins.
'What's going on?' she asked quietly, she had not failed to notice that they pushed the parchment off the table when she reached them.
'Well Em, I don't -' began George, who was promptly interrupted by his brother.
'Nothing, don't worry about it,' said Fred smiling up at her, but his smile did not reach his eyes.
'Nothing? You two have been acting so shifty all afternoon, everyone has noticed!' she said quietly, her irritation towards Fred quickly changing to anger. Why was he pushing her away like this.
'To be honest Em, it really doesn't concern you, so you don't need to know,' huffed Fred, crossing his arms at his chest. George stared at his brother his mouth open, he couldn't understand why Fred wasn't sharing this with Emalia. In fact, she would probably be one of the best people to help them.
Emalia blinked in disbelief and turned and walked wordlessly away from her boyfriend. She gathered up her belongings and made her way up to her dormitory, ignoring the questioning look from Alicia.
Alicia looked over to the Weasley twins for some sort of clarification, and saw George saying something to Fred which drew a scowl from him. She too gathered up her belongings and quickly followed her friend up to their dormitory.
Alicia entered the room, she found Emalia sitting on her bed, pretending to read her book. As she entered, Alicia could see the hurt and confusion on her friend's face before she hid her emotions behind a blank expression.
'Are you ok Em?' she asked, making her way to Emalia's bed, and sitting down on the primrose yellow satin sheets. Emalia smiled, a forced smile, one that did not quite reach her eyes.
'Of course, Al!' she said, before turning her attention back to her book.
'Hey – talk to me,' she said, placing a hand on Emalia's arm. Emalia's eyes rested on Alicia's hand.
'Honestly Alicia, everything is fine. I just have a headache and the noise in the Common Room is just aggravating,' she said smiling back weakly.
Alicia nodded, and dropped the subject. She could see that pushing the topic further would only cause Emalia to shut down and pull away further. She walked out of the room and back down to the Common Room.
Fred watched as Alicia descended back down the stairs. Emalia's absence made him feel uneasy, but he still couldn't bring himself to share the secret he and George had. He convinced himself that it was to protect her from any blow back; but really he didn't have a reason.
The next morning Emalia woke early. She had not slept much the night before; the soft rays of the cold autumn morning woke her as they pushed through the gaps in the thick heavy curtains of her four-poster bed.
She sat up in her bed, and watched as the light shone in, illuminating parts of her bed while keeping the rest in shadow. As she watched she felt a sort of pressure settle in her chest, pushing down on her gently.
Emalia shook her head, trying to shake the feeling off, but found that she couldn't; so instead, she got up and got dressed and made her way down to the Common Room to read before breakfast.
Fred hadn't slept, he couldn't understand why he felt like he couldn't share this secret with Emalia. He had convinced himself that it had something to do with protecting her. Merlin knows what would happen if it got out that two underage wizards were attempting to blackmail a ministry official.
He had decided that it was in Emalia's best interest if she didn't know. He wanted her to achieve her dream of teaching, and even though he shuddered at the thought of having a job that had, in his mind, absolutely no fun in it; he supported Emalia and he didn't want to have anything stain her reputation.
But he couldn't express this. To anyone. George had been harassing him about why he wasn't telling Emalia about the plan. He couldn't even tell his twin. He felt sick inside, keeping a secret from his twin and his girlfriend, but this was the path he had chosen, and he thought himself too far gone with it to turn back.
He shuffled out of bed and decided to go down to the Common Room, at least there he could sift through his thoughts without being disturbed by Lee's loud snores. The whole tower was quiet, the crackling of the fires was the only audible sound. The Common Room was dimly lit as the sunlight had yet to penetrate through the windows.
That was when he saw her, sitting in an armchair, looking into the fireplace, a sad expression on her face. Fred's heart broke, he had upset her, he was the one who caused her to be sad. He watched her for a moment, she was lost in thought.
The sunlight was beginning to protrude through the windows in soft streams, illuminating Emalia's silvery blonde hair. A small smile spread across her face as she felt the sun hit her, as if melting her worries away for a brief moment.
Fred cleared his throat, causing Emalia to jolt from her thoughts and turn around suddenly, losing her balance and falling out of her seat with a dull thud.
'Ouch,' she said quietly. Fred rushed over towards her, extended his hand to help her up. Emalia looked up at him, a conflicted look in her eyes. After a brief pause, she took his hand and Fred hoisted her up onto her feet.
She rubbed her behind gently, trying to take away some of the sting from the fall. An awkward silence settled between them. Fred looked into Emalia's eyes.
'I'm sorry' he said quietly, 'I'm sorry for pushing you away, but I promise you its to protect you.'
Emalia looked up into his eyes, searching for the truth and she could see it; she could see the hesitation, concern, and worry swirling in his eyes. She knew at once that he was telling the truth.
'Ok,' she said softly, her eyes never moving from his. 'I won't ask you what it is about.'
Fred smiled a small smile.
'But you can't push me away,' she said placing her hand on his cheek lovingly, 'It doesn't matter if you are trying to protect me, it doesn't matter what the reason is, Fred. You can't push me away; it doesn't work that way.'
Fred nodded silently, before pulling her into a tight embrace; he wanted to pull her as close to him as possible, trying to squeeze that heavy feeling out of both of their chests. And for a brief moment, it worked.
The next couple of weeks passed by in a flurry; the sixth years were bombarded with work and the anticipation for the arrival of the delegations from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons was growing with every passing day. Everyone was impatiently waiting for them to arrive, but no one was more impatient than Emalia.
She was beyond excited to see her friends from Beauxbatons. She had not seen them since she was last there, but had been in regular contact with them through letters. She could not wait to introduce her Beauxbatons friends to her friends here at Hogwarts.
Finally, the day arrived, and there was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air. Nobody was particularly attentive in lessons, they were much more interested in the arrival of the guests that evening. The bell rang half an hour early and everyone made a mad dash to their Common Rooms to dump their bags before rushing down to the Entrance Hall.
The Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines, Professor McGonagall had spent five solid minutes warning the Weasley twins to be on their best behaviour or else. She had such a stern look on her face that the twins did not want to find out what the or else was, saluted her before getting into line.
Finally, McGonagall was ready to lead her house out. 'Follow me, please,' said Professor McGonagall, 'first years in front … no pushing Mr Jones!'
They all filed down the front 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.
'How do you think they are coming?' asked Alicia in a hushed and excited whisper.
'Probably apparating!' said Lee.
Emalia shook her head, 'You can't apparate on the grounds,' she whispered. They discussed various other ways of transportation while scanning the darkening grounds excitedly. Nothing was moving, everything was still and silent.
And then 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?' asked many students excitedly, all looking in different directions.
Emalia was squinting, scanning the sky when she saw it.
'There!' she yelled, pointing over the Forest.
Something large, much larger than a broomstick, or indeed a hundred broomsticks was hurtling across the deep blue sly towards them, growing larger all the time.
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 towards them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, each the size of an elephant.
'Abraxans' said Emalia in a hushed tone.
The front three rows of students drew backwards as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at tremendous speed. With an almighty crash, that made several students jump and scream, the carriage landed with an almighty thud.
Students were standing on their tippy toes, craning their necks to see the students from Beauxbatons. Emalia, being shorter than most, had to settle for Fred narrating what was going on.
'If it wasn't for the threat McGonagall gave me earlier, I would have you on my shoulders so you could see,' he said quietly with a grin on his face. Emalia smiled and pushed him gently before squeezing his hand in appreciation.
Her attention was torn away from Fred when she heard a few students' gasp. Emalia smiled to herself as she saw Madam Maxime tower over everyone. She was happy to see her old headmistress.
Dumbledore started to clap; the students following his lead, broke into applause too. Madam Maxime's face relaxed into a gracious smile, and she walked forwards towards Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though quite tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it.
Emalia could hear Albus extend a welcome to Madam Maxime, but her attention was focused on the Beauxbatons students, who had filed out of the carriage behind their headmistress. She strained to see if any of her friends were amongst those gathered. She could see them all shivering and instantly felt sorry for them. It was a cold evening, and she knew that the fine silk of their uniforms offered little to no heat.
'Come,' said Madam Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps. As they did, Emalia caught sight of Violette and sent the biggest smile in her direction. Violette gave her a bright smile in return and a small wave as she passed by.
Once the Beauxbatons students were inside the castle, the low hum of conversation resumed as they waited on those from Durmstrang.
'The lake!' yelled Lee suddenly. '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 centre; 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 from the lake's floor.
A long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool. Slowly, a magnificent ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it was a resurrected wreck.
Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged from the water entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide towards 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.
They could see the silhouettes of people disembarking. As the drew nearer they could see that all the Durmstrang student were wearing large heavy fur cloaks. The man leading them was their headmaster, Igor Karkaroff.
Again, he and Albus exchanged pleasantries, while the students all eyed one another. It was then they noticed him. The whispering amongst the Hogwarts students was becoming more and more prominent.
'Its Viktor Krum! THE Victor Krum!'
The whispers amongst the Hogwarts students continued as they filed back up the steps behind the students from Durmstrang. Everyone was excited about the prospect of meeting Viktor Krum in person.
Emalia and her friends walked over to the Gryffindor and took their seats. She looked around expectantly and was disappointed when she saw that the Beauxbatons students had decided to sit at the Ravenclaw table. Fred squeezed her hand gently, 'Don't worry, you can introduce us all after dinner.'
She smiled up at him before kissing him on the cheek in thanks. She turned and saw Violette smirking joyfully at her, and to her left sat Jack, who had a stony look on his face as he stared at Emalia.
The Durmstrang students took their seats at the Slytherin table, much to the disappointment of every other house; and soon the three Heads of School and the teachers had taken their places at the top of the great hall.
Dumbledore stood, and silence descended over the otherwise noisy Great Hall.
'Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and – most particularly – guests,' said Albus, 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 most comfortable and enjoyable.'
One of the Beauxbatons girls still clutching a muffler around her head gave what was unmistakeably a derisive laugh. Emalia's head snapped towards the laughter and although she could not see who it was, she scowled at the rudeness of it.
'The Tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast,' said Albus. 'I now invite you all to eat, drink and make yourselves at home.
The dishes in front of them filled with food. The house-elves seemed to have pulled out all the stops; there was a greater variety of dishes in front of them than any of them had ever seen, including several foreign dishes.
'Oh!' exclaimed Emalia excitedly as she reached forwards for a bowl, 'Cassoulet!' She heaped a couple of spoonfuls of the dish onto her own plate before moving on to others. The twins, Alicia, Angelina and Lee watched on apprehensively, staring at all the new dishes.
'What is this stuff?' asked Alicia looking rather perturbed.
'It's a casserole, with meat and white beans,' said Emalia smiling. 'It was one of my favourite dishes in Beauxbatons. We used to eat this all the time.' She gestured at the French food, before spooning carrots onto her plate. Her friends all looked at one another before spooning Cassoulet onto their own plates and tucked into the feast that was lying in front of them.
Once the golden plates had been wiped clean, Dumbledore stood once again. A pleasant sort of tension seemed to fill the Hall. Fred and George were leaning forwards, staring at Dumbledore with great concentration.
'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 -'
'THE WHAT?' exclaimed Alicia in a horrified soft scream. Fred and George chuckled amongst themselves when they saw the terror on Alicia's face.
'I want to clarify the procedure which we will be following this year. But first, I want to introduce Mr Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation, and Mr Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.'
Applause filled the air after Professor Dumbledore introduced the two men. When the applause died out, Dumbledore began to speak once again.
'Mr Bagman and Mr Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament. They will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff and Madam Maxime on the panel which will judge the champions' efforts.'
Albus gestured towards Filch who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall. 'The casket then, if you please, Mr Filch.'
Filch approached Dumbledore, carrying a great wooden chest, encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. As Filch made his way up the hall, a murmur of excited interest rose from the body of students.
'The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have been thoroughly examined, and the necessary arrangements for each challenge have been made. 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.'
The Hall had fallen completely silent. Everyone was hanging on to every word that came out of Professor Dumbledore's mouth.
'As you know, the 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 champions 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 had taken 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.
'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.'
Albus's expression changed from that of a welcoming smiling face into a more solemn look, as he gazed out at the sea of students.
'To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation, I will personally 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, they are 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 champion. Now! I bid you all goodnight!'
'An Age Line!' said Fred Weasley, his eyes glistening as they made their way across the Hall. 'Well, that should be fooled by an aging potion, shouldn't it? And once your name's in that Goblet you're laughing – it can't tell whether you're seventeen or not!'
Emalia snorted with laughter, rolling her eyes at her boyfriend's statement.
'But I don't think anyone under seventeen will stand a chance,' said Hermione, 'we just haven't learnt enough …'
Emalia put her hand on Hermione's arm and shook her head, 'Don't bother, the two of them are concocting a plan.'
'Speak for yourself,' said George shortly. 'You'll try and get in, won't you Harry?'
'No, he will not' said Emalia instantly, as they all climbed the stairs to Gryffindor Tower. Harry was mulling the idea over in his head, before shaking his head in agreement with his cousin.
'Oh, come on Em,' said Fred as he swung their intertwined hands. 'Are you telling me you're not even tempted to enter? The glory? The challenge?'
'Nope' she said, putting an emphasis on the p that it sounded like a pop. 'I've read about the Tournament.'
'Of course, you have' said Fred, rolling his eyes teasingly. Emalia elbowed him gently, a smile on her face.
'It's beyond dangerous, many people have died… and well … a lot of people were not right afterwards. So, no. I am definitely not entering.'
'That's 'cause you're boring' laughed George, as he tickled her before running away.
'Oh, I'll get you back for that Georgie' she said as she watched him push through the crowd to get away from her.
The next morning everyone was awake early, which was unusual given that it was a Saturday, and most students usually ate breakfast late. But with the excitement from last night and the anticipation of the picking of champions, everyone beyond excited.
Emalia was walking down the stairs to the Entrance Hall with Alicia; Fred, George and Lee were walking behind them looking very excited.
'Done it,' Fred said in a triumphant whisper to Harry, Ron and Hermione who were standing in front of them. 'Just taken it.'
'What?' said Ron.
'The aging potion, dungbrain,' said Fred, which earned him a smack to the arm from Emalia.
'One drop each,' said George, rubbing his hands together with glee. 'We only need to be a few months older.'
'We're going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins,' said Lee, grinning broadly.
'I hope one of them is going to be able to cover the hospital bill for the three of them' giggled Alicia into Emalia's ear causing her to laugh.
'I'm not sure this is going to work, you know,' said Hermione warningly. 'I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of this.'
'I have told them this numerous times last night' sighed Emalia.
'Yeah, but you still helped us brew the potion though Em' stated Fred, winking at her.
'Had to give you a fighting chance at least,' she teased. Fred pinched her behind sharply causing her to yelp and swat his hand away.
'Ready?' Fred said to the other two, quivering with excitement. 'C'mon, then – I'll go first -'
Fred pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket, bearing the words 'Fred Weasley – Hogwarts.'
Fred walked right up to the edge of the line, and stood there, rocking on his toes like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, with the eyes of every person in the Entrance Hall upon him, he took a great breath and stepped over the line. He relished the attention, having all eyes on him.
Emalia stood amazed, for a brief moment she thought it had worked, Fred was standing inside the age line. George let out a yell of triumph and leapt in after Fred – but the next moment, there was a loud sizzling sound, and both twins were hurled out of the golden circle as though they had been pulled by an invisible string.
They landed painfully, ten feet away on the cold floor, and to add insult to injury, there was a loud popping noise, and both of them sprouted identical, long white beards.
The Entrance Hall rang with laughter, Fred and George joined in, once they had gotten to their feet, and had taken a good look at each other's beards.
Emalia ran over to the two of them, tears of laughter in her eyes.
'I did warn you,' said a deep, amused voice, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He surveyed Fred and George, before glancing at Emalia, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
'I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already treating some of your fellow classmates. Though, I must say, your beards are the finest I have seen thus far.'
Albus chuckled once more, before turning on his heel and making his way back inside the Great Hall.
'Want me to come with you?' asked Emalia, trying not to laugh at the twins.
'Of course, you have to be with me in my time of need' laughed Fred as he gestured towards his beard.
'You'll get no pity from me, Fred Weasley' she smiled, 'Not when it was self-inflicted.'
They head off towards the hospital wing, accompanied by Lee and Alicia who were both howling with laughter.
