Harry was pleased to see that Pitts and his staff had pulled out all the stops in the kitchens. There was a wider variety of dishes on the table than Harry had ever seen before, including several that were definitely foreign.

"Slow down there," said Pansy, as Harry dumped all sorts of meat onto his plate. "You gotta add some vegetables too."

"And some water with all this juice," said Susan.

But Harry didn't care. He carried on grabbing whatever he could (much like Vincent and Gregory were doing further down the table), until he moved on to the desserts. But just as Harry reached to grab a rather scrumptious-looking pastry dessert, he saw a Beauxbatons student approach from behind Susan.

"Excuse me, are you wanting ze gâteau Basque? Eet looks delicious."

It was the same girl who had laughed during Dumbledore's speech, but without her muffler. A long sheet of silvery blonde hair fell to above her waist. She had large, deep blue eyes, very white, even teeth, and spoke with a heavy French accent. Daphne looked up at her in a surprisingly stern manner.

"Arrête de mendier de la nourriture partout."

The girl blinked. Then she cackled and said, in a very soothing accent, "Tu parles français comme une vache espagnole, Blondie."

Daphne's expression fell, at which Pansy glared at the eye-catching Beauxbatons student and said, "What did you tell her?"

The girl snorted. "Zis blondie eez being vairy rude by telling me I should stop begging everywhere for food. So I told 'er she speaks French like a Spanish cow. Anyway ... can I 'ave ze gâteau?"

Harry was sorely tempted to hand over the dessert in order to impress this girl. But in the end his stomach won out, and he pulled the plate closer.

"Are you not going to 'and it over, 'Arry Potter?"

"No thanks," said Harry, feeling his stomach growl. "I'm sure there's plenty more elsewhere."

The girl shook her head. "Zey are going fast because ze French food is much better zan your Engleesh cooking. Now 'and over ze cake, Potter."

Harry deliberately ate a forkful of the cake (which tasted delicious, he had to admit). The girl snorted.

"Now zat was childish."

"Look who's talking," said Susan, frowning. "Why don't you try some other dessert or something? Or maybe you'd like some fabulous French food? Here's some, er ..."

"Bouillabaisse," said Daphne, offering the bowl to the girl. But she simply shook her head.

"I already got some from where zat stupid-looking boy wiz ze long nose eez sitting. Look, 'e even left anuzzer plate so I can come back. What a loser."

Stupid-looking? Harry looked in the direction of where the girl had jerked her thumb. And sure enough, he saw many boys, including Ronald Weasley, staring in a dumbstruck manner at the Beauxbatons girl. Come to think of it, they weren't the only ones gawking in the Great Hall.

"Why are they all staring at you?" Harry asked. The girl blinked.

"Eef you are not 'anding over ze cake, zen we 'ave nuzzing more to talk about. Last chance, Potter."

Harry finished the rest of the slice in no time.

"Oh, OK." The girl nodded in a slow manner. "I will remember zat, especially when ze time comes for ze Yule Ball."

"Goodbye," said Pansy, at which the Beauxbatons girl turned around and went back to her seat near the middle of the Ravenclaw table (just a few seats away from Cho Chang).

"What an arrogant excuse of a girl," Susan said, shaking her head. Then she looked at the staff table and pointed out Ludo Bagman and Bartemius Crouch, who had just taken their seats. "They must be here to see the Tournament start, I guess."

"No sign of top-cop auntie?" Pansy asked. Susan ignored her.

When the second course arrived, Harry dug into all sorts of unfamiliar puddings as quickly as he could, so that the Beauxbatons girl would not return (well, part of him did want her to return, actually). Then, once everyone had finished and the golden plates had been wiped clean, Dumbledore stood up and introduced Mr Crouch and Mr Bagman (the latter receiving a much louder applause than the former).

"Oh, just hurry up already," Pansy muttered. She almost yawned as Dumbledore said that Mr Bagman and Mr Crouch had worked tirelessly over the last few months, and that they would be joining the Heads of the schools in judging the champions' efforts.

At the mention of the word 'champions', many students sat up straight and gave their utmost attention to Dumbledore, who smiled. Dumbledore then had Filch bring in a great wooden chest, encrusted with jewels, while providing a lengthy explanation on what the Triwizard Tournament would entail. Then he moved on to explaining about the Goblet of Fire, at which he took out his wand and tapped it three times upon the top of the casket.

The Great Hall fell silent as the casket's lid opened, and Dumbledore reached inside to pull out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It looked fairly ordinary apart from the fact that it was filled to the brim with dancing, blue-white flames. Dumbledore then sealed the casket and placed the Goblet on top of it, so that it was visible to everyone in the Hall.

"Anyone wishing to enter the Triwizard Tournament must write their name and school clearly upon a piece of parchment," Dumbledore said, "and drop it in the Goblet. Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to submit themselves. Tomorrow night, Hallowe'en, the Goblet will return the names of those it has deemed most worthy to represent their schools. I shall place the Goblet in the Entrance Hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all students of age wishing to compete ..."

And he went on to explain about his Age Line, the fact that the Tournament was not to be taken lightly, and that the Goblet of Fire constituted a binding magical contract.

"Now, I believe it is time for bed. Goodnight to you all."

Harry got up amidst the wave of noise which had revved up like a jumbo jet in the Great Hall. Hundreds of students were complaining about the Age Line, though Harry didn't care. He knew there was no point in protesting against Dumbledore or trying to bypass his enchantments, so Harry returned to the common room and went to freshen up in his dormitory. Perhaps a good night's sleep would get the image of that haughty Beauxbatons girl out of his mind.

Monday morning marked the start of classes, but nobody was really paying attention no matter how hard they tried. All throughout the day, the only topics you'd hear in the corridors were about champions, the Goblet, and the Tournament itself. And it didn't help that Harry had History of Magic first thing after breakfast. Then came a Care of Magical Creatures lesson in which Hagrid was just as distracted by the upcoming champion-selection as everyone else (much to the relief of the class).

"We're going to have to pull up our socks now," Harry said after class, as they climbed the sloping lawns back up to the castle for lunch. "No way McGonagall's putting up with slackers."

Funnily enough, however, Professor McGonagall had also caught a bit of the 'Tournament bug', herself. She seemed to be partially distracted during the Slytherins' double lesson that afternoon, which Harry reckoned was due to Professor McGonagall preferring that her own house be representing the school. In fact, it was pretty obvious that all four Heads of House were hoping for a champion from their side, as were their students.

"I wonder how Hogwarts would've been without its house system?" Susan asked that afternoon, as they watched the Beauxbatons students line up in the Entrance Hall to submit their names. "What do you think?"

Harry was beaten to the answer by Pansy, who scoffed and said, "Boring! The house system is so cool that even that dumb American school copied it."

"Ilvermorny," said Susan, rolling her eyes. "At least get the name right."

Harry, meanwhile, eyed the thin golden circle which had been traced ten feet around the Goblet of Fire. He considered trying his luck for a moment once the coast was clear, but ultimately decided against it after having heard of the Weasley twins that morning. So with nothing else to do, Harry and the rest of his group sat around and watched as various students came to submit their names for the Tournament. They only cheered when one of their own placed their name in, such as Cassius Warrington or Virginia Abberton.

"I hope it's a Slytherin who gets it," said Pansy. She crossed her fingers while sitting between Harry and Daphne on a bench. "Imagine having to cheer for a Gryffindor."

"Or a Hufflepuff," said Daphne, snorting. "I guess a Ravenclaw wouldn't be that bad, but still."

It wasn't long until the front doors opened and in came the Durmstrang delegation. And although Professor Karkaroff let each of his boys and girls submit their names, Harry had a strong feeling that Karkaroff was hoping (if not planning) for Viktor Krum to get the spot.

"Come on," said Pansy, groaning. "Why can't we just get it over with already? I hate this suspense."

Daphne giggled. "It's like that time you had to wait for your new Comet. Too bad I got mine first."

"Oh, shut up." Pansy snorted. "I still had to help you fly the damn thing."

Minutes passed as the crowd of students grew larger and larger in the Entrance Hall, until the clock struck half past five. Harry then joined the rest as they made their way into the candlelit Great Hall, which was decorated with a cloud of live bats and hundreds of glowing, carved pumpkins.

"Everyone's talking about Diggory," Harry heard one of the older Slytherins say as he passed their section of the table. "What a joke."

"It's gotta be one of us," said another older Slytherin.

"It better be one of us," said her classmate.

Meanwhile, Harry made his way to the end of the table and sat down for a delicious – if not rushed – Hallowe'en feast. And once the golden plates had returned to their original, spotless state, the Great Hall went silent as Dumbledore got to his feet. He was standing between a tense Madame Maxime and an equally anxious Professor Karkaroff, while the other two guest seats were occupied by a beaming Ludo Bagman and an impassive Mr Crouch.

"Well," said Dumbledore, "I believe the Goblet is almost ready to make its decision. Perhaps another minute or two ought to suffice ..."

He proceeded to explain that when a champion's name was called, they were to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and pass into the next chamber (behind the staff table), where they would be receiving their first instructions. Then he took out his wand and made a sweeping wave which extinguished all the candles except those in the carved pumpkins, plunging the Great Hall into a state of semi-darkness. The Goblet of Fire was now shining more brightly than anything else in the Hall; the sparkling, bluey-whiteness of its flames almost painful on the eyes.

Suddenly, the flames inside the Goblet turned red and sparks began to fly from it. Then a tongue of flame shot a piece of parchment into the air, which Dumbledore caught (while the whole room gasped).

"The champion for Durmstrang ... will be Viktor Krum!"

No surprises there. The entire Great Hall cheered for Krum until the Goblet shot another piece of parchment out, at which they all fell silent.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, in a strong, clear voice, "is Fleur Delacour!"

"It's the cake girl!" Daphne said amidst the wave of cheers and applause. And sure enough, Harry saw that same Beauxbatons girl who had tried to take his cake get up and approach the top of the Great Hall.

Pansy sniggered as the rest of the Beauxbatons students looked utterly dejected, with two girls sobbing with their heads in their arms. "Sucks to be them, huh?"

And now the Great Hall fell into a state of complete, suffocating silence. The tension was almost palpable in the air as all four houses and their Heads sat with similar expressions of suspense. And then the Goblet of Fire did its thing once more ...

"The Hogwarts champion," said Dumbledore, at which nearly the entire Hall leaned forward in their seats, "is Cedric Diggory!"

The entire Hufflepuff table exploded with cheers and celebrations. Hufflepuffs of all years were screaming and stamping with joy as Diggory got up and made his way to the front of the Hall. Meanwhile, Harry and the rest of the Slytherins (and quite a few of the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, too) only gave a polite round of applause, though the Slytherin table was the least accepting of their champion.

"Hell no," Harry heard one of the older girls say further down the table. "I hope Durmstrang wins this thing."

"Beauxbatons for me," said her roommate. "Anything but that worthless Puff."

"Excellent!" said Dumbledore, once Diggory had made his way into the chamber to join Krum and Fleur. "We now have our three champions, and I'm sure I can count upon each and every one of you to give your utmost support to them. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real way that I am sure he or she will fully appreciate ..."

"Blah, blah, blah," Pansy muttered beside Harry. "I still can't believe we have to cheer on a damn Duffer. How's this fair?"

"I think I'll take the cake girl," said Harry, who was only half-heartedly listening to Dumbledore's remaining speech at this point. "Fleur for the Cup."

Pansy snorted. "Is that your brain or 'down below' speaking?"

Harry chose to ignore that jibe. He sat with his cheek on his hand, and his elbow on the table as Dumbledore went on and on and on about the champions and the Tournament.

"The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth," Dumbledore said. "In the meantime, however, Mr Bagman and Mr Crouch have also worked tirelessly to prepare a special surprise for students who are unable to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Mr Bagman, if you'd please ..."

At which Bagman stood up and explained about the various mini-tournaments which would be held in conjunction with the main event. These included duelling, potions, chess, quizzes, Quidditch, and a variety of other competitions as well, each with their own prizes and merits.

"And believe it or not," Bagman said, as the crowd were absolutely loving it, "Old Barty over here played quite the part in organising these events. Isn't that right, Barty?"

Mr Crouch barely acknowledged the round of applause.

"So, anyway ..." Bagman gave a thumbs up to the crowd. "Make sure to enter and have fun!"

That settled it. Harry was fully committed to entering at least two of the tournaments, irrespective of being a mere fourth-year. He was determined to show everyone why he (and not Cedric Diggory) should have been in the Triwizard Tournament instead.

"Well," said Dumbledore, once the crowd had settled down, "I suppose it's time for the celebrations. Off to your common rooms and residences now. Pip pip!"

There was a deafening scraping noise as the benches were moved back and the hundreds of students filed out of the Great Hall. Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff made no effort to hide their favouritism towards their champions, while the Hogwarts crowd (and especially the Hufflepuffs) crowded around Cedric Diggory.

"Hope he loses," Harry heard Draco tell Theodore, as they watched Diggory being carried away by his peers. "Of all the Hogwarts students to be chosen, why him? What did the Goblet see in that stupid, overgrown Puff?"

"I think we should all just cheer for Krum," Theodore said. "But in the meantime, how about we try the other tournaments? Tracey and I are signing up for the Arithmancy and History of Magic ones."

Draco scoffed. "Good for you. But I'm going for the Quidditch and duelling ones, and maybe even potions."

"Same here," said Harry, which came as no surprise to his peers. "And I'm not 'trying' anything. I'm going for the win."

Pansy looked thoughtful for a moment, as they descended the narrow stone staircase into the dungeons. "I wonder what the other years are like? Guess we'll see them when they get sent over to compete."

And they returned to their common room in murmurs and disappointment. Sure, the mini-tournaments were exciting and all, but every single Slytherin had hoped for one of their own to be Hogwarts champion.