The chatter came to a close as Professor Dumbledore came to his feet. Without a word, he raised his arms, gesturing for the hall to quiet. As the last bits of conversation came to a halt, he gestured to the entrance hall, where Professor McGonagall was waiting with the new first years. They filed in slowly, herded by the strict Transfiguration professor, tentatively forming a group at the front of the hall, with the Sorting hat before them.

Having said goodbye to the others at the entrance, Luna went off to the Ravenclaw table. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville sat together at the Gryffindor table, eagerly awaiting the start of the feast. From atop its perch on the wooden stool, the Sorting hat opened its brim, and started to sing.

A couple thousand years ago

This humble hat before you

Fell in the hands of magic, and Lo!

Will sort you true!

These houses all with names,

Of grand people of old,

All with their own acclaims,

And stories to be told.

Strong Gryffindor,

Searching for hearts with valor,

Sweet Hufflepuff,

Hard work and loyalty, her stuff.

Sage Ravenclaw,

Intelligence was her draw,

Sly Slytherin,

Ambition was what he sought within.

Yet all these friends with such variance

Came together to create

Hogwarts, the glorious,

A hunt for knowledge it does sate!

Now the rumblings are clear

There is discord in the air

But students have no fear,

For together you comprise a force without compare

So do not let this sort divide you

Friends are not house restricted

Let us start this year anew

With sundry friendships created!

Applause filled the Great Hall as the Sorting hat came to a rest, the sound echoing off the tall ceiling. As the Sorting began in earnest, Ron leaned over to Harry, whispering in his ear.

"I reckon that hat sits in Dumbledore's office all year long, just thinking of a song to sing. This year wasn't all too shabby… but get along with Slytherins? Please."

Harry laughed.

"Well.. that's hard for me to imagine as well, but hey, Luna's a Ravenclaw, you seemed to get along fine so… maybe start with the other houses?"

Ron rolled his eyes, about to reply, when the Gryffindor broke out into enthusiastic applause. From the stool, a small boy, dripping wet, but with a tremendous smile on his face, dashed over to the Gryffindor table.

"Colin! Colin! I fell in the Lake! And something pushed me back on the boat!"

A boy Harry recognized as Colin Creevy, a one time almost-stalker of his, responded, with an equal amount of delight.

"Wow Dennis! That must have been the Giant Squid!"

Dennis's eyes ballooned.

"We have a giant squid? Awesome!"

As the pair of siblings began excitedly discussing the possibilities of keeping the guardian of Hogwarts lake as a pet, the Sorting finished, and Dumbledore took his feet again, to open the feast.

"I shall not keep you from your meal any longer, indeed my stomach is rather empty. Dig in!"

With his word, food sprung forth onto the gleaming gold plate, mountains of potatoes, slabs of meat, piles of vegetables, a truly magnificent feast. Harry dug in with gusto, the snacks from the train having faded to nothing more than memory.

-line break-

As the clattering of forks on plates ceased, and the students, full, content and sleepy, quieted down, Dumbledore retook the stage, walking to his podium.

"Ah, what a wonderful meal. My thanks to our endlessly hard working chefs, the Hogwarts house elves, truly the best way to start the term. Alas, I am not quite able to send you all off to your lovely four poster beds… there are a few small announcements to be made. Firstly, it is with displeasure that I must announce that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not be taking pla-"

"No Quidditch!?"

The shouts came in unison from the Gryffindor table, the Weasley twins standing together, their eyebrows furrowed in fury.

"What do you mean no Quidditch, that's ridiculous!"

As two shouted again, there were echoes of agreement across the hall. At the Gryffindor table, Harry was also nodding furiously, alongside all of his teammates. Dumbledore gave a slight cough, and the hall was quiet once again.

"Now, Mr. and Mr. Weasley, I do quite appreciate your enthusiasm for the sport, but perhaps you would allow me to finish my sentence…?"

He trailed off, looking gently over his half moon glasses at the pair. Blushing slightly, they retook their seats.

"Now as I was saying, yes, the Quidditch Cup will be cancelled. However, this is to make way for an event that…well, it's organizers believe it will outshine the Cup by several magnitudes. In addition to this, while the Quidditch Stadium may not be open to use as frequently as it is during the year, there will no doubt be times when it will be available for use. Mr. and Mr. Weasley, I would suggest you bring some of that energy you gave your interruptions to organizing a series of pickup games between the houses… and perhaps some guests. Now, before I say too much…"

With a twinkle in his eye, he gestured to the back of the hall, where hours earlier the newest Hogwarts students had entered.

"May I introduce… the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. And with him, Bartemius Crouch Sr. from the Department of International Cooperation, and Ludo Bagman, from the Department of Games and Sports."

The doors swung open, and three men walked in. Leading the way was a portly man, his hand sweeping a lime green bowler hat from his head. Dressed in pinstriped robes, he haughtily looked at the students staring at him, clapping politely, soaking in the attention. The two men following him could not be more different, Crouch, who Harry, Hermione and Ron had seen just days before, was stiff and proper to a tee, dressed in a neat set of black robes. To his side, a large, effusive man with a paunch and a jovial grin, striding down the hall, waving and smiling to the students. Although thickset his powerful frame reminded Harry of strongmen in the muggle world. As the three men made their way to Dumbledore, a small flock of journalists filed in from behind them, lining up at the back of the hall, cameras at the ready.

"Now, I shall cede the floor to the Minister… Cornelius, the floor is yours."

The Minister stepped up to the podium, smiling broadly.

"Hello Hogwarts students! And staff, of course. Today, I, the Minister of Magic, am here to announce the revitalization of a truly tremendous event! The ministry has toiled for many days and nights to be able to deliver this spectacle to you here today!"

The Minister gestured to Dumbledore, who held an object covered in cloth, and placed it on the podium before him. Whipping the covering off with a flourish, the Minister cried out.

"I present to you… The Triwizard Tournament!"

Beneath the cloth, there stood a cup, made of roughly hewn wood, and filled to the brim with dancing blue flames. The juxtaposition of the simple cup and the obvious magic that held the fire within was enchanting, as the hall was quiet in its presence. The hall seemed to darken slightly, allowing the fire to stand out even further, hungrily growing into a blaze. Suddenly, it subsided. As if a trance had been broken, cameras flashed, and audible gasps went around the room, murmurs growing louder and louder, before the Minister raised his hands for silence.

"This event, which will be held throughout the year, will be both the showcase of the brilliant minds here at Hogwarts, but also an opportunity to collaborate and interact with our friends from overseas, at Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. This ancient and venerable institution, at which I used to study, will be host to this incredible ev-"

With an enormous bang, the doors to the hall opened once again, shocking everyone inside. Spinning around, they saw the silhouette of a man, slowly making his way inside. An audible thump accompanied his every step, and soon all could see why. The man's left leg was amputated from knee down, with a battered wooden stump, ending in clawed toes replacing it. The rest of the man's body seemed to be equally worse for the wear, scar tissue everywhere, a large chunk of nose missing, and notably, where his right eye should have been, was an electric blue prosthetic. Said eye was spinning around violently, scanning the area around the man in a horrific manner. Behind Harry, Ron let out a small whisper, akin to a whimper.

"Mad-Eye Moody…"

The hall fell silent as the man slowly and jerkily marched his way up to the front of the hall. As he reached it, he ignored the Minister and Bagman entirely, giving Crouch a small nod, which was curtly returned. As he reached the staff table, he wrangled himself a empty chair, before sitting down.

"Ah yes, I seem to have forgotten myself, apologies Cornelius."

Dumbledore stood up from his chair, continuing in a bright tone.

"May I introduce our new Professor, who will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year, Alastor Moody!"

Dumbledore put his hands together in applause, but stopped rather quickly, with no one other than Hagrid joining in. The newest professor sniffed at a glass of pumpkin juice, before glaring at it darkly. He reached into his pocket, retrieving a flask, which he drank from deeply. Turning to the crowd he finally seemed to realize the sheer number of eyes staring at him. With a noncommittal nod and jerk of his head, he dismissed the attention, starting in on his food. Once again, the hall was flooded with hushed discussions and murmurs.

At the podium, looking rather forlorn, the Minister desperately tried to regain the attention of the students and the press.

"Ahem! Like I said, before I was interrupted, we shall be holding the Triwizard Tournament at this very castle over the coming year. Soon the envoys from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang shall arrive, and the competition will start in earnest!"

As the conversation continued in the hall, the Minister, looking defeated, gestured to Crouch to take his place at the podium.

"And to explain some of the major changes from prior Tournaments, Barty Crouch."

As the dour man stood up and began addressing the crowd, Harry turned back to the table.

"So that was what Malfoy was talking about!"

Ron burst out, glaring furiously at the back of the blonde's head.

"Absolute ponce… but wow! The Triwizard Tournament!"

Harry grinned at Ron's reactions, but shrugged.

"I… honestly have no idea what the Triwizard Tournament is. Is it that huge?"

Next to him, Hermione nodded furiously.

"It's a huge tournament that went on between three of the biggest magical schools in the world, Hogwarts, Durmstrang Institute, and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. It was huge for bragging rights, because of course then the school that won could claim to produce the best young wizards and witches in the world! And the winner took home a huge monetary prize, and eternal fame and glory! But… it was discontinued centuries ago because of the death toll!"

As if on cue, the Weasley twins stood up again, once more in outrage.

"What?"

From the podium, Crouch sighed, and repeated himself to the hall.

"Due to past mistakes and the inherent risk that participating in the tournament brings, it was decided through a series of discussions between the heads of each school and the heads of government of each participating nation that it would be necessary to have an age limit on the participants. As such no student under the age of 17 will be allowed to enter their name into the Goblet of Fire to be selected as a champion for their school."

Internally, Harry sighed in relief. However, it appeared that he was among the minority, with much of the student body shouting in anger at the stern man at the podium. He met Hermione's eyes, and smiled weakly.

"I'm just glad I can't be chosen for this."

Hermione nodded understandingly, shaking her head at Ron, who had also stood up and was shouting abuse at the Ministry official. Harry smiled as well, and pulled Ron back into his seat.

"Oi, come on Ron. I don't want anything to do with that, let's just enjoy watching the thing, yeah?"

Ron sighed, slumping back in his chair.

"I know, I know Harry. But all that money? And eternal glory? You wouldn't have any use for it, but a guy like me…"

He shook his head, but then perked up.

"I mean Percy's old enough maybe he cou- oh wait right, Percy. Probably not."

Hermione snorted, giving Ron a slight slap to the shoulder.

"Don't be mean, Ron. Besides, it'll be plenty of fun, and come on, I thought you were his biggest fan?"

Ron frowned in confusion, tilting his head as he looked at Hermione.

"What do you mean?"

"Krum!"

Hermione sighed.

"Viktor Krum? The international Quidditch superstar? The man you were singing to back at the world cup? He's still a student, didn't you know that?"

Ron's eyes widened.

"No way… don't tell me…"

Hermione nodded.

"That's right. He goes to Durmstrang, I think he's in his final year there. I'm sure he wouldn't miss an event like this."

Ron whooped in joy, momentarily forgetting his sadness at being unable to participate in the tournament.

"In the same castle as Viktor Krum! I can't believe it! I'll have to get an autograph… maybe even a picture! Colin still probably carries around that camera right? Oh wow, Viktor Krum!"

Hermione sighed, but clearly happy to be able to cheer Ron up, smiled to herself. Harry smirked slightly, giving her a nudge.

"Now how do you know all that, Hermione? Is this another Lockhart type-situation…?"

Hermione gasped, and blushed furiously.

"I was just doing some light reading and research about the World Cup!"

She sniffed, looking away from Harry.

"I know how maniacal you two are about Quidditch, so I thought it would be good! And this is the thanks I get."

Harry chuckled, patting her on the back.

"Alright, alright I'm sorry. Thank you, though, for going to the effort."

Hermione crossed her arms, but turned back and smiled.

"Of course."

She gestured to where Ron had scampered over to Colin, and was talking frantically to him about his camera.

"Came in useful, didn't it?"

Harry nodded. The Great Hall finally came to quiet as Mr. Crouch's speech ended, and Dumbledore stood to make some final remarks.

"I can tell from your earlier reactions that you dislike our rule change. However, please allow me to clarify. This is absolutely necessary, and it is a measure taken for your own safety. The dangers that champions will face cannot be understated. Many have died in the midst of the challenges, students like you and your friends. While the organizers have done their best to ensure such incidents will not occur this time, your safety cannot be guaranteed. If you are chosen as a Champion, you are at the mercy of the tournament."

A heavy silence hung over the hall, as some of those who called the loudest to be allowed to participate thought about what the tournament actually was. Dumbledore continued speaking, in a lighter tone.

"With that, however, we conclude our Opening Feast. There was much excitement today, but please, the term begins tomorrow. I hope you all retire to your beds swiftly, and get a good night's sleep. To bed!"

The hall filled with the scraping of chairs and footsteps as hundreds of students stood up from their chairs, and headed for their dormitories. Harry, Ron and Hermione followed Neville out of the Great Hall, fatigue visible in their stride.

"Some beginning, huh."

Ron yawned as he spoke.

"I'm ready for bed."

Behind them, in the hall, Dumbledore and the three wizards from the Ministry stood together, speaking.

"Will you stay for a little nightcap, Cornelius? Barty? Ludo?"

Bagman visibly perked up at the thought, but was quickly dissuaded with a glare from the Minister.

"Ah no, Dumbledore, I shall have to decline today. Have to go settle some things for the tournament yet, and all that nasty business from the World Cup… we at the Ministry are busy."

With that, he placed his hat atop his head, and with a short bow, walked towards the entrance hall, the two other men at his heels.

AN: Sorry for the slightly late update, like I said before, been a bit busy, might be 7 days between updates for a while now. Hopefully you enjoy!