Lightning flashed across the sky as their carriage came to a halt before the large oak front doors. They were beginning to dry during the long way up but now they jumped out of the carriage and ran up the stone steps and through the front doors as quickly as they could, getting soaked once again. Jade sighed in relief once they were inside, taking a loving look around the Entrance Hall as the torches on the wall flared to warm the area. It felt good to be back and she was ready for the feast, she hoped the Sorting Ceremony would go by quickly, they always seemed to-
A large, red, ball was coming down on them from above and Jade stepped out of the way of it and watched water wet the floor as it burst on the stone. Another followed shortly after and landed on Pansy's head, she screamed as the water ran down her hair and into her face. Jade looked up and found Peeves the Poltergeist floating high above them. He continued to launch water balloons at the incoming students and Jade pressed her hand on Pansy's lower back to move her out of the way as she hurled colorful insults up at the ghost.
"Peeves!" Professor McGonagall came running out of the Great Hall to see what all the trouble was. "Peeves, come down here at once!" She skidded on the wet floor and grabbed a student to stop herself from falling, Jade recognized her bushy hair and saw Harry and Ron standing on either side of Hermione. "Peeves, get down here now!" McGonagall commanded, straightening her pointed hat and glaring up.
"Not doing nothing!" Peeves cackled, lobbing a water bomb at several fifth-year girls, who screamed and dived into the Great Hall. "Already wet, aren't they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!" And he aimed another bomb at a group of second-years who had just arrived.
"Come on, let's go." Blaise urged them into the Great Hall and Jade gladly obliged, keeping a hand on Pansy. The Great Hall looked its usual splendid self, decorated for the start-of-term feast. Golden plates and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds and hundreds of floating candles. They took their seats in the middle of the Slytherin table. It was much warmer there and it seemed to help Pansy calm down. The staff table at the end of the long room was emptier than Jade had ever seen it. Hagrid was currently taking the first years across the lake, Professor McGonagall was trying to deal with Peeves and…
"Where's the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Jade asked, she was upset Professor Lupin couldn't return as their teacher, but instead of the seat being filled by a stranger, there was nobody at all.
"Wonder where he is," Draco said, taking a look around the room.
"You know who it is?" Blaise asked.
"Of course he does, he knows everything, apparently." Jade huffed and Draco smirked at her. Jade looked back up at the rest of her teachers, pausing when she met Professor Snape's eye before he continued surveying the students with distaste. She didn't understand why Snape was a teacher if he didn't like children. His eyes had only stopped skimming the students for a moment when he saw her but when he did she didn't see anything on his face change. He had been quite angry with her at the end of last year and she hoped he had gotten over it or she'd have a very tense year during Potions lessons. The room was filled with chatter and the ceiling above, which reflected the sky outside, swirled in dark clouds. It was taking longer than normal for the first years to arrive but as the present students began getting hungry and restless the doors to the Great Hall opened and everyone quieted down as Professor McGonagall led the small children inside. They all looked much worse than they had, completely drenched, their shoes leaving wet prints on the floor and their cloaks dripping water with every step. It was as if Hagrid took a mop and made a trail behind them. Professor McGonagall placed a stool on the floor atop the steps leading to the staff table and on top of it was the familiar Sorting Hat. Jade knew what was coming next, the long tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song.
"A thousand years or more ago, when I was newly sewn. There lived four wizards of renown whose names are still well known. Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor, Fair Ravenclaw, from glen, Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad, Shrewd Slytherin, from fen. They shared a wish, a hope, a dream. They hatched a daring plan to educate young sorcerers. Thus Hogwarts School began. Now each of these four founders formed their own house, for each did value different virtues in the ones they had to teach. By Gryffindor, the bravest were prized far beyond the rest. For Ravenclaw, the cleverest would always be the best. For Hufflepuff, hard workers were most worthy of admission. And power-hungry Slytherin loved those of great ambition. While still alive they did divide their favorites from the throng, yet how to pick the worthy ones when they were dead and gone? 'Twas Gryffindor who found the way. He whipped me off his head, the founders put some brains in me so I could choose instead! Now slip me snug about your ears, I've never yet been wrong, I'll have a look inside your mind and tell where you belong!" The Great Hall rang with applause as the Sorting Hat finished.
"That's not the same song from last year," Jade said over the applause.
"Sings a different one every year," Blaise told her, giving her a curious look. "How have you not noticed?" Jade stuck her tongue out at him as Professor McGonagall began unrolling a large scroll of parchment.
"When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool." She told the first years. "When the hat announces your House, you will go and sit at the appropriate table." McGonagall cleared her throat. "Ackerley, Stewart!" A boy walked forward, visibly trembling from head to toe, picked up the Sorting Hat, put it on, and sat down on the stool.
"Ravenclaw!" The hat announced. Ackerley took off the hat and hurried into a seat at the Ravenclaw table, where everyone was applauding him.
"Baddock, Malcolm!"
"Slytherin!" Jade clapped with the rest of her house as a boy slowly walked over to their table and sat at the far edge of it.
"Branstone, Eleanor!"
"Hufflepuff!"
"Cauldwell, Owen!"
"Hufflepuff!"
"Creevey, Dennis!" Creevey… that name sounded familiar but Jade couldn't remember where she heard it. The small boy staggered forward wearing what looked like Hagrid's coat, Hagrid himself moved silently around the tables until he got to his seat at the staff table.
"Gryffindor!" The hat's voice rang out in the silent room but was then followed by loud hollers and clapping. Dennis Creevey, beaming widely, took off the hat, placed it back on the stool, and hurried over to join his House. Jade watched as he immediately went to another boy and she then remembered why the name sounded familiar, she knew Colin Creevey, who must've been his older brother. Colin Creevey was annoyingly obsessed with Harry, speaking of, she looked and found her friend turning in his seat to try and hide himself from the two brothers. The Sorting continued, boys and girls all shivering as they walked up to the stool, now and then the Slytherins would get another student, and Jade and the others clapped but Jade was getting tired of watching the Sorting and her patience was dwindling quicker than the line of the rest of the waiting first years.
"Madley, Laura!"
"Hufflepuff!"
"Pritchard, Graham!"
"Slytherin!"
"Whitby, Kevin!"
"Hufflepuff!" Whitby was the last student and everyone clapped as the Sorting ended and Professor McGonagall took the hat and the stool away.
"Lots of Hufflepuffs this year," Jade noted as Professor Dumbledore got to his feet and came to the pedestal in front of the staff table. He opened his arms wide in welcome as he smiled out at the students. "I have only two words to say to you," His deep voice echoed around the Hall. "Tuck in." The empty dishes filled magically before their eyes and Jade quickly grabbed for a turkey leg, swatting away at Theo's reaching hand. Draco laughed as he scooped some potatoes onto his plate. Jade didn't partake in her friends' conversation. When she was pleasantly full, the remains of the first course vanished and then was instantly replaced with puddings. Unable to resist, Jade had some pudding and when the students had finished with that as well, the tables were cleared away and Dumbledore rose to his feet again. "So!" Dumbledore smiled. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices." Jade looked expectantly at Draco and he nodded towards Dumbledore for her to pay attention. "Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle this year has been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it." Jade doubted anyone actually cared about what Filch banned, no one ever listened to him, they mostly tried to avoid him and his mangy cat. "As always, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third-year students. It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year." Jade and her friends turned to look at Draco.
"What?" Blaise asked and Draco shushed him.
"Easy, mate, there's always next year."
"But-" Blaise began but Dumbledore had started talking again over the small rumble of disbelief coming from the tables.
"This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy, but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts-" But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open, making the students jump in their seats. A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long wooden cane, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. A fork of lightning flashed across the ceiling and illuminated his figure. He lowered his hood and shook his head full of long dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table. A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling and Jade could see his face. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred, but it was the man's eyes that made him frightening. One of them was small, dark, and beady, the other was large and a vivid electric blue. The blue eye moved around without blinking, completely independent from the other eye, and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was white. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side. The stranger sat down in the empty seat meant for the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and pulled a plate of sausages toward him. "May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Dumbledore said brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody." Dumbledore then began to clap but none of the students followed his example. Everyone was too busy watching Professor Moody, Moody…
"Is that… Mad-Eye Moody? Jade whispered over Draco's shoulder and he nodded.
"How do you know him?" He asked quietly.
"I don't. I overheard Mr. Weasley talking about him this morning. What happened to his face?"
"Who knows? Probably many things." Besides the fact that no one clapped for him, Professor Moody seemed unphased by his less than warm welcome, he reached into his traveling cloak, pulled out a flask, and took a long drink from it. As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground, and they could see several inches of a carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot. Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"As I was saying," He smiled, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."
"You're joking!" Fred Weasley said loudly and the tension in the Hall faded as students began laughing.
"What's the Triwizard Tournament? Jade asked Draco.
"It's an old-"
"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore chuckled. "Though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar-" Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly and Dumbledore nodded back at her. "But maybe this is not the time. Where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament, well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation and allow their attention to wander freely. The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities… until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued." The students were whispering excitedly to one another, but Jade was more focused on what else Dumbeldore was going to say. "There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament, none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger. The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."
"Good enough for me." Theo smiled as he clapped Blaise on the back.
"Hold that thought, Nott." Draco sneered.
"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts, the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year," Dumbledore announced. "Only students who are of age, that is to say, seventeen years or older, will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This-" Dumbledore had to raise his voice slightly because now several people were yelling in protest, and Jade could see the twins were among the loudest of the protestors, they looked furious. "This is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." Dumbledore's eyes flickered over Fred's and George's faces, already knowing that they would be the ones to try it. "I, therefore, beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen. The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year." This caught Jade's attention the most, she honestly had no interest in entering the competition but she was excited about students from other schools coming to Hogwarts. "I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!" Dumbledore went back to his seat and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody. They were quick to leave the Great Hall, a large group of Slytherins following behind them as they made their way through the dungeons to a specific spot on the wall where Draco swiped a brick with his wand, and bricks slowly opened in the shape of a door to let them into the Slytherin Common Room.
"Dumbledore said something about an impartial judge, do you know who that is?" Jade asked Draco, it was late and she wanted to sleep but she was hoping someone might know who it would be.
"Yeah, it's the same judge they always use." He said casually. Jade stopped at the top of the girls' dormitory stairs and glared at him. "What? It's not my fault you don't pay attention in History of Magic class."
"It was mentioned in History?" She asked and he chuckled.
"No, but there are books on it."
"Why can't you just tell me?" She asked and Draco looked around them for a moment before pulling her out of the way of a girl trying to pass them. "If I knew something, I would tell you." She added and Draco looked at her for a moment before sighing.
"It's a magical goblet." He told her quietly and Jade rolled her eyes.
"If you want to be annoying and not tell me because you think it's funny then fine but don't make stuff up."
"I'm not." He chuckled, "I'm serious, my father told me about it. If you still don't believe me I'm sure you could read about it. It's a magical goblet used to pick the best of the entries as a school's champion." She eyed him suspiciously.
"Why are they keeping it secret if someone who knows the history of the competition already knows what it is?"
"Why ruin the fun for the rest of the students?" He countered and Jade nodded.
"I guess." She looked around the Common Room, most of the students were heading to bed but some were lingering to catch up with their friends. The large wall at the far end of the Common Room showed the inside of the Black Lake, fish were swimming past the window quickly, they seemed to be more active during the storm. "I'm gonna turn in for the night." She told Draco and he nodded. "See you tomorrow."
"Good night." He called after her. Jade walked down the stone steps, passed the doorway that led her to the third years' floor, and went to the lower floor for the fourth years. She walked slowly, reading the golden plaque near each door until she found her name and she was pleasantly surprised to find Pansy was her roommate again this year. When she walked into her room it was identical to her room last year, Pansy sat on the bed on the left side of the room just like before and she smiled at Jade as she entered.
"Hope you don't mind being on the right again." She told her and Jade plopped onto her bed with a sigh.
"Don't mind at all." She yawned and then blew out the lantern on her bedside table. "Goodnight, Pans."
"Goodnight, J."