Chapter 37: The Goblet of Fire

I entered the cave and it was only a moment before Sirius stepped out with a frown on his face. He had a letter in his hands, about to go out to Hedwig I assumed. He saw me and smiled, but it faded soon after. "How did you get here?" he asked and I pointed to the owl outside. "She is pretty unique and belongs to the only other person that knows you are alive. I took a guess and followed." he groaned, but gave me a tight hug. "You shouldn't be here. You need to be at the school, keeping an eye on Harry." I ran my hand through my hair and sighed, "I know, but I need to speak with you…now."

I sat down on a boulder and patted beside me, but he transformed and went outside, I guessed to send Harry a reply. When he came back and turned back, he joined me on the rock. "Phoebe, why are you here? Did something happen?" I shrugged, unsure of how to bring up what I wanted to talk about. "Sirius, I've been thinking about a lot since we parted last time. I just want to clear some things up…but I need you to be calm and understanding. Is that going to be alright?" his eyes seemed worried as he took my hand and waited for me to speak.

"Okay, there's something I need to tell you." "What's happened? Harry hasn't said anything about school." I was caught off guard and huffed, "Uh…yeah. Hogwarts is hosting the TriWizard Tournament this year. The other schools are supposed to be here tomorrow night I believe. But that's not what I wanted to-" "The tournament! We can't let Harry enter! Phoebe you have to make sure he doesn't put his name in the tournament. With his luck he would be chose and the games are entirely too dangerous for him."

He jumped up and began to pace around, mumbling more about Harry and the tournament. I groaned and crossed my arms, I was worried about Harry too, but I wanted to talk to Sirius about us. "Phoebe you need to get back to the school. Protect Harry when I can't. it's our duty as his Godparents." I sighed, that was true. James and Lily chose us because they knew that we would put everything aside to keep him safe, more so after losing both of them. "Okay, I get that. But can we not talk for a little while? It's important." "Yes, I want to. But right now, Harry needs come first." I felt my anger rising. "Well guess what Sirius, my needs aren't being met and I'm tired of always coming second. Fine, I'll go. Bye."

I stormed out and didn't wait to see if he was following, I was so mad. I get it, we are both worried, but I wanted to talk to him, I needed to tell him. He's just so infuriating sometimes. I finally made it back to the school and realized that he wasn't going to come after me, it was too dangerous. I was frustrated and tired and went straight to my room and to bed. I dreamed of the graveyard again, the one from the vision when I touched Harry. I woke up feeling drained but made my way to the Great hall to eat breakfast. Classes were cut short for the schools coming that evening.

Finally it seemed to be time for them to arrive and we all lined up outside to await for them to show. I saw Harry and the others standing nearby and I stepped down slightly, to keep an eye as I watched for the students. It wasn't too long before the carriage holding the school, Beauxbatons. All the students looked impressed and amazed at the flying horses. Out came their Head Mistress, the biggest woman I had ever seen, she had to be a giant…or at least have some blood of one. Dumbledore applauded and then went to greet the woman as the entire school joined his clapping.

The students came out in very thin layers and began to shiver instantly, so Dumbledore said they could warm up inside while we waited for the final school to show up. The French accent was thick with the woman as she gave directions for her huge horses for Hagrid. Everything went quiet again as we waited, all the students looking into the sky for the next carriage. "The lake!" one called after a while and all our eyes turned to see the arrival of the Durmstrang ship.

Finally we were all here and able to go inside for dinner and to speak about the tournament. Dumbledore said the tournament wasn't beginning until after dinner and the food appeared, all kinds of French food included as well as food from Durmstrang. The great hall was even more crowded than before and more lively with all the extra students. Once everyone had finished eating, Dumbledore introduced two people but no one really cared when he was so close to talking about the Tri-wizard tournament.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman. 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." he explained as the caretaker placed a chest onto the table. "As you know, three champions compete in the tournament, 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 Tri-Wizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: The Goblet of Fire!"

When Dumbledore tapped the box three times, and then lifted the cup from the opened lid and placed it on the top. "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. Aspiring champions have 24 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."

He paused, before continuing, "To ensure that no underage students yields to temptation, 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 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."

The students began to speak among themselves as they exited the hall, the entire school buzzing about the age line and goblet and the tasks. I realized that I never even told Sirius that there was an age limit and Harry was perfectly safe from being chosen as the champion. I went to bed, hoping that tomorrow would be better. I would go back to the cave, tell Sirius that Harry is safe and we could finally have our talk and I could explain everything to him. The night was quiet and cloudy as I drifted off into a dreamless sleep for the first time in a while.