The Difference One Choice Makes
31st October 1994
Forty minutes later…
Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor Fourth Years found a small group of seats in the middle of the table.
As the rest of the students took their seats the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students entered the hall.
The Beauxbatons students sat down at the end of the Ravenclaw table and removed their hats and shawls, looking around the hall and at the cutlery on the table with looks of disdain on their faces as though they were expecting something far more extravagant and splendid.
The Durmstrang students removed their furs and hats which made them look considerably smaller as they sat down at the Slytherin table. Almost immediately several of the students began picking the plates and cups up looking at them with approving looks on their faces.
Madam Maxime and Karkaroff sat down in their designated seats at the teacher's table while Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch Sr took the two empty seats at the end of the table.
After a few minutes, Dumbledore stood up and walked around to his podium and extended his arms wordlessly calling for quiet.
Once the noise had died down Dumbledore placed his hands on the podium.
"Honoured guests, welcome to Hogwarts for the start of the Tri-Wizard tournament, and I would also like to welcome the Head of the Department for International Magical Co-operation Mr Bartimus Crouch and the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports Mr Ludo Bagman… I will have a few announcements for the tournament before you go to bed, but that can wait until after our illustrious feast, tuck in" said Dumbledore proudly.
The food and drink appeared on all of the tables which included not only Halloween specific food and drink but also a variety of French and Bulgarian dishes.
Harry, always eager to try new things helped himself to some of the French food.
"What is that?" said Ron looking at a bowl of what appeared to be stew.
"Bouillabaisse" said Hermione who was sat opposite him and helped herself to some of the bouillabaisse.
"Bless you" said Ron.
"No Ron, that's what it's called… bouillabaisse, it's a sort of shellfish stew, you should try some, it's really nice" said Hermione.
"I'll take your word for it" said Ron before ignoring the French and Bulgarian food on offer and just going straight for some chicken legs.
Half an hour later…
"Just a shame we're not old enough to compete isn't it?" said Ron.
"Just a bit mate… it all sounds like you need magic beyond what we already know to stand a chance of winning" said Neville.
"Excuse me… are you finished with that?" said a female voice in a heavy French accent.
Ron looked past Harry to the source of the voice and his jaw dropped as he fell into some sort of daze.
"Erm" said Ron sounding dazed.
Harry turned around to see a Beauxbatons girl who was around 17 years old with long silky blonde hair that seemed to glow of its own accord, glancing a few times between Harry and his barely eaten bowl of bouillabaisse with a questioning look on her face.
"The bouillabaisse… are you finished with it?" said the Girl.
"Yeah, take it" said Harry sliding the bowl towards her.
"Thank you" said the Girl picking the bowl up and leaving the table where she was eyed by many boys and a few girls as she walked back to the Ravenclaw table.
"They don't make them like that at Hogwarts" said Ron still with a dazed voice.
"They make them good enough at Hogwarts mate" said Harry glancing down the table to where Katie was sat laughing with Angelina and Alicia.
Janet snapped her fingers in front of Ron's eyes.
As Ron snapped out of his daze he had one last look at the girl before turning back to them.
"She's a bloody Veela" said Ron in shock.
Janet scoffed.
"Come off it Ron… she's not a Veela, just another pretty girl for guys to ogle and fantasize about" said Janet dryly.
As Harry glanced around the hall, seeing the girl receive stares from most of the students he was inclined to agree with Ron that she might have some Veela heritage, as there was an aura about her that drew people to her.
Twenty minutes later…
As what little remained of the desserts vanished from the plates Harry and the others watched as Filch and two men they did not recognise carried a large gold-bronze tower-shaped box into the Great Hall in between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables.
They watched eagerly as Dumbledore, Mr Crouch and Mr Bagman stood up once Filch and the two men put it down at the base of the platform in front of the head table.
Dumbledore called for quiet and waited for the remaining noise to die down.
"Your attention please, the Tri-Wizard tournament is about to begin" said Dumbledore.
Everyone in the hall turned to face him.
"Eternal glory, that is what awaits the student who wins the Tri-Wizard tournament… but to do so this student must survive three tasks, three extremely dangerous tasks that are designed to test your daring, your magical prowess, your powers of deduction, and your ability to cope with danger" said Dumbledore.
"Cool" said Euphemia sounding excited.
"In addition to myself, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime… Mr Ludo Bagman and Mr Bartimus Crouch will be serving as the judges for each of the three tasks in this tournament, the student for each school will be selected from each school by an impartial judge" said Dumbledore moving to stand next to the box.
He pulled his wand out and drew it down the side of the box vanishing it.
Inside the box was a large dark grey goblet that suddenly started spewing purple flames.
"The Goblet Of Fire… anyone of age who wishes to compete in the tournament, need only write their name on a piece of parchment, and throw it in the flames before this hour on Wednesday night, but know this… if you wish to enter your name, do not do so lightly, once chosen, there is no turning back… as of this moment, the Tri-Wizard tournament has begun… as of tonight I will be imposing an age line around the goblet, so I ask that you do not attempt to enter illegally because I can assure you it will not work" said Dumbledore sternly.
Everyone watched as Dumbledore used his wand to draw a wispy white age line in a circle around the Goblet, showing that he meant business when he said that no underage students would be competing.
1st November 1994
Harry, Neville, Ron, Hermione and Janet were sat around the Great Hall watching the students from all three schools enter their names into the Goblet Of Fire.
"The Durmstrang lot put their names in this morning, Beauxbatons too" said Neville.
"Anyone you know put their names in?" said Hermione who was reading from one of her books doing some research for some of her homework.
Harry nodded.
"My brother put his name in this morning as well, as well as Warrington and Murk from Slytherin" said Harry.
"Yeah well, if it's gonna be one of those snakes who get chosen, I'd rather it be your brother than Warrington or Murk Harry" said Ron with slight distaste in his voice.
Harry sighed, knowing that some things would never change with Ron who still disliked Slytherin's with a passion. But he was at least respectful enough to say that he did not have a problem with Edward Potter and would regard him as a "Good Slytherin" whenever he was talked about.
Ron also applied the same tactic to Narcissa, saying that she was one of the good Slytherin's and wholeheartedly agreed with most of the students last year that she was the best DADA teacher they ever had.
"I hope your Brother gets picked Harry" said Janet.
"Yeah me too" said Harry.
As the Sixth Year Hufflepuff Seeker Cedric Diggory walked through the age line and dropped his name into the Goblet, a small commotion of applause and cheers could be heard outside the Great Hall.
"Yes!" shouted Fred and George as they walked into the Great Hall surrounded by a few Gryffindors who were applauding and cheering them.
Harry and the others got to their feet to applaud the Twins who had been boasting in the Gryffindor Common Room that they were going to take an Ageing Potion to put their names in the Goblet Of Fire.
"Thank you, thank you… well, we've done it, finished it just this morning" said George as the applause died down.
"It's not going to work!" said Hermione teasingly.
Fred and George knelt down on either side of Hermione leaning towards her.
"Oh yeah" said George.
"And whys that Granger?" said Fred.
Hermione closed her book.
"You see this… it's an age line that Dumbledore drew himself" said Hermione nodding at the wispy age line surrounding the Goblet Of Fire.
"So?" said Fred and George at the same time.
Hermione clapped her book on her knees.
"So… a genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled, by something as pathetically dimwitted… as an Ageing Potion" said Hermione amusedly.
"Yeah but that's why it's so brilliant" said Fred.
"Because it's so pathetically dimwitted" said George leaning closer to Hermione as he spoke.
Getting to their feet, Fred and George smirked and pulled a phial out of each of their robes and shook them slightly.
"Ready Fred/George, bottoms up" said Fred and George at the same time.
The two downed their Ageing Potions and took a scrap of parchment out of their pockets.
Everyone in the Great Hall watched with interest as the two jumped through the age line.
"Yes… hahaha, yes" said Fred and George triumphantly as applause broke out from around the great hall, with the two slowly walking around the Goblet in celebration.
They stood next to each other facing the Goblet.
"Ready?" said Fred and George at the same time.
The two reached up and dropped their names into the Goblet.
A few seconds passed where nothing happened before Fred and George turned to each other.
"Yes" said Fred and George giving each other a high five.
Suddenly the Goblet spat their names out of the flames and hurled the boys through the air.
Laughter broke out in the Great Hall as the two landed on the ground ten feet away.
Multiple students rushed over to check on them before two popping sounds signalled the start of even more laughter.
The Twins had grown long scraggly white beards and long scraggly white hair.
They sat up and looked at each other touching their faces in shock.
"You said" said George in shock and anger.
"You said" said Fred in equal shock and anger before he lunged at George.
The two started brawling on the floor as cheers and chants of "Fight, fight, fight!" could be heard around the Great Hall.
This continued for nearly a minute before a loud bang from the entrance to the Great Hall caught everyone's attention.
Dumbledore walked into the Great Hall putting his wand away in the process.
He walked towards the Twins who had ceased brawling and chuckled.
"I did warn you not to enter if you were underage, Mr Stebbins and Miss Fawcett already tried and failed… though neither of their beards are as spectacular as yours, go up to the Hospital Wing boys" said Dumbledore in an amused voice.
Laughter could be heard around the Great Hall once again as the Twins stood up and left the hall followed by Lee who was still laughing.
As Dumbledore followed them out of the hall Angelina Johnson walked up to the Goblet and put her name in with a smirk.
"Good luck Angelina" said Hermione as said girl stepped back through the age line.
"Thanks Hermione" said Angelina before she walked back towards where Alicia Spinnet was standing near the Great Hall doors.
3rd November 1994
Edward, along with the rest of the Slytherin table as well as everyone in the Great Hall was watching Dumbledore who was standing next to the Goblet Of Fire with excitement coursing through their veins, eagerly awaiting the Champions Selection.
After several minutes Dumbledore straightened up.
"Now the moment you've all been waiting for… the Champions Selection" said Dumbledore.
He slowly moved his hand around the hall over the top of the students before placing it on the Goblet Of Fire.
The awe and excitement everyone was feeling increased dramatically, as the Goblet roared into life and spat a piece of parchment out of the purple flames.
Dumbledore caught it and unfolded it.
"The Champion for Beauxbatons… is Fleur Delacour!" shouted Dumbledore.
Applause broke out around the great hall as Fleur Delacour smiled before standing up.
As she stood up Edward noticed that most of the Boys in the hall were watching her with slightly glossy looks on their faces as he felt a tingling feeling in the back of his mind.
"She has Veela heritage… very interesting" thought Edward shaking the feeling from his mind.
It became clear that the rest of the Beauxbatons students were affected by the selection as some of them could be seen wiping tears from their eyes or sniffling into fancy handkerchiefs as Fleur Delacour walked over to Dumbledore confidently before shaking his hand.
He gestured for her to go through the door to the antechamber behind the great hall.
"That's her Harry, that's the girl" said Ron with glassy eyes.
"I know" said Harry, recognising the Beauxbatons Champion as the girl who had asked him for the bouillabaisse at the Halloween feast.
Once Fleur Delacour had walked through the door the Goblet spat another name out.
Dumbledore once again caught it and unfolded it.
"The Champion for Durmstrang will be… Viktor Krum!" shouted Dumbledore.
The applause for the famous Bulgarian International Seeker was nearly twice as loud as it was for Fleur Delacour.
Viktor Krum stood up and firmly shook hands with his fellow Durmstrang students before walking over to Dumbledore and shaking his hand.
Once he had left the hall the Goblet spat out another piece of parchment which Dumbledore quickly caught.
He unfolded it.
"The Hogwarts Champion" started Dumbledore.
Edward took a deep breath, hoping that his name was about to be read out as all of the Hogwarts students held their breath in the excitement of finding out who their Champion will be.
"Is Edward Potter!" shouted Dumbledore.
Applause broke out for the third time as Edward smiled and stood up from the Slytherin table.
Near enough every student in the Great Hall applauded him with most getting to their feet as they did so.
Feeling both shock and confidence coursing through his body, Edward made his way up along the table towards Dumbledore.
"Congratulations Mr Potter" said Dumbledore warmly as he gave him a firm handshake.
"Thank you Headmaster" said Edward before moving past Dumbledore towards the door at the back of the Great Hall to go and join the other Tri-Wizard Champions.
Once Edward had left the hall, Dumbledore turned back to the students walking away from the Goblet as Crouch placed a cloth-covered object on the middle of the teacher's table.
"Excellent… we now have our three Champions, but in the end, only one will be crowned in victory, only one will hoist this chalice of champions, this vessel of victory… the TRI-WIZARD CUP!" shouted Dumbledore turning around and pointing at the cloth-covered object.
The cloth flew off the object revealing a blue silver triangular glass trophy with three dragon handles and runes glowing with a faint blue light.
Applause and cheers broke out throughout the Great Hall.
It carried on for nearly two minutes before Dumbledore calmly called for quiet before telling them that the First Task would be taking place on the 22nd of November, and then dismissing them from the Great Hall.
22nd November 1994
James led Narcissa down a few of the steps in the large gazebo covering part of the seats, reserved for Teachers, Ministry Officials and family members of the Champions.
The gazebo overlooked a circular arena, which was rather large and filled with hundreds of seats along with a large white tent opposite where James and Narcissa were sat, where the Champions were preparing for the task. At the base of the seats, thirty feet below them was a rocky arena floor with several large pointy dark stone rocks and small walkways. In the centre of the arena was an empty nest surrounded by smaller rocks. Underneath the Champions tent was a large black gate leading to a pitch-black cavern.
James and Narcissa found some seats next to the Snape's with both James and Severus Snape looking less than pleased to be sat near each other, even though both of their Wives were sitting in between them.
"Potter" said Severus Snape with forced politeness.
"Snape" said James with the same forced politeness which made both Narcissa and Lily Snape roll their eyes at the fact that their husbands could not completely put their school rivalry aside.
"It's nice to see you Narcissa" said Lily Snape kindly.
"You too Lily" said Narcissa.
Lily Snape crossed her legs with her clasped hands on her thigh.
"Congratulations on your new job… my Daughter tells me that really she enjoys your lessons… more than she did with Professor Binns's lessons" said Narcissa.
"Thank you… Euphemia is an incredibly gifted young lady, incredibly smart too" said Lily Snape.
"She certainly is" said Narcissa proudly.
As the two women continued their conversation James heard someone sigh from next to him.
He turned to his side to see a very reluctant Cornelius Fudge take the seat next to him without even looking at him.
"Minister" said James with a hint of distaste in his voice.
"Potter" said Fudge with equal distaste before he decided to strike up a conversation with Barty Crouch Sr who sat down next to him.
Narcissa glanced at Fudge with hate burning in her eyes and a pissed off look on her face before she composed herself and returned to her conversation with Lily Snape.
Meanwhile…
Jennifer sat down in the stands with Melissa Karasu, Mandy Brocklehurst, Padma Patil, Lisa Turpin, Rose and Eileen Snape.
As they were talking amongst themselves, expressing their excitement at the upcoming task and speculating what it would be. Nearly everyone in the stands turned to face Dumbledore who walked out of the entrance of the Champions tent.
He placed his wand against his neck amplifying his voice.
"Your attention please… this task involves great and considerable danger, please keep your seats at all times and follow any instructions given by any member of staff or Ministry Official… the first task will begin shortly" said Dumbledore in a magically amplified voice.
The group leaned forwards in their seats as Dumbledore went back into the Champions tent.
They could not have been prepared enough for what they were about to witness next.
A small group of witches and wizards dressed in fireproof robes walked into the arena carrying several dark-coloured eggs along with a shiny gold egg.
Once they placed them in the rock nest in the centre of the arena they disapparated.
"Are those dragon eggs?" said Rose in shock.
"Those can't be dragon eggs" said Mandy in equal shock and slight dread.
"Those are dragon eggs" said the voice of the Fifth Year Eddie Carmichael who was sitting above them with some of his friends.
Everyone in the stands had their eyes locked on the gate underneath the Champions tent which swung open with a bang when it crashed into the rock wall.
"I bet this is the Mother" said Melissa.
The yellowy-green snout of a large Swedish Short Snout dragon roughly fifty feet in length, emerged from the cavern making a beeline for the nest of eggs.
Cheers and screams could be heard from the stands only to be drowned out by the deafening roar of the dragon as it sat down protectively on its eggs being careful not to squash them.
Several Dragon Handlers conjured thick chains around the dragon's neck binding it to the rock, preventing it from flying too far away.
Once their work was completed, the Dragon Handlers rushed back through the gate and shut it.
"Each Champion has been tasked to collect the golden egg from the nest of their dragon, for this egg contains a clue for the Champion to decipher which will help them prepare for the next task!" said Dumbledore in a magically enhanced voice as he reappeared outside of the Champions Tent.
A few more minutes passed before the sound of a single cannon shot caused more cheers to erupt from the stands.
A confident Edward Potter entered the arena from the steps below the Champions tent as chants of "POTTER!" and "EDWARD!" could be heard from the crowd.
He was dressed in dark-green floor-length robes with black and silver trim around the arms and chest. The Slytherin snake encased in a silver shield was on his back while a small Hogwarts crest could be seen on the front of his robes. He was clutching his wand and had a look of mild fear on his face as soon as he laid eyes on the enormous dragon.
While he had known for over a week that he would have to face a dragon in this task, thanks to Professor Snape taking him into the Forbidden Forest where the dragons were being kept, with Igor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime ensuring that their own Champions knew what they would be facing in the first task. Seeing the dragon up close was an entirely different matter.
Strangely enough, the dragon did not have a big reaction to his appearance, only looking at him for a few moments before turning away like a passive dog.
"Strange… Nesting Mother's are usually very wary of those approaching their nests" said Jennifer curiously as Edward slowly walked towards the dragon.
Spotting a large rock well away from the dragon and her nest, Edward put his plan into motion.
Pointing his wand at the rock, he concentrated as hard as he could as he started the complex piece of transfiguration to turn the rock into a large dark brown bull which took him a good five or six minutes.
His plan to distract the dragon with a potential meal worked as the dragon locked eyes on the slow-moving bull and made a beeline for it.
Edward took this as his cue and bolted towards the egg making Narcissa's heart rate spike and causing her to clutch James's hand tightly.
"He'll be alright Mrs Potter… we have the best safety measures in place to protect everyone" said Severus Snape noticing her worry, though it did little to calm Narcissa down.
The entire crowd was tense as Edward ran towards the nest and quickly got his hands on the shiny golden egg.
As he did so, he saw the dragon turn back to him out of the corner of his eye.
"Shit" muttered Edward as the dragon opened its mouth.
He quickly hurled himself behind a large rock as a jet of gold and orange flames shot towards him which singed his left arm as his sleeve caught fire as well as his left thigh.
He quickly doused the flames with water from his wand as the crowd cheered for his success.
As the Dragon Handlers rushed into the arena and subdued the dragon, Edward moved out from behind the rock holding his egg in his right hand while his left arm was pressed against his chest in severe discomfort and pain.
"AN EXCELLENT PIECE OF TRANSFIGURATION FROM MR POTTER, HE'LL GET HIGH POINTS FOR THAT… EVEN IF HE WILL LOSE SOME FOR THE INJURIES HE SUSTAINED!" shouted Ludo Bagman in a joyful, excited voice adding it to the cheers.
He raised his egg high above his head as the cheers in the ground got louder and louder before he hobbled over to the stairway leading to the medical tent.
Once inside he was ushered over to one of the stretcher-like beds by Madam Pomfrey who used her wand to remove the singed fabric from Edward's arm making him hiss and grit his teeth in discomfort as the fabric was quite literally peeled off of him like a wrapper.
Meanwhile…
Once the dragon had been subdued the Dragon Handlers guided it back through the gate below the Champions tent before bringing a large dark green Welsh Green out of the gate.
The crowd watched in anticipation as Fleur Delacour managed to put the dragon to sleep with an extremely complex charm, that took half the time as Edward's transfiguration before going for her egg.
Unfortunately, the dragon sneezed fire onto her robes as she grabbed the egg and ran away, singing the right side of her body below the neck.
Viktor Krum went next trying to get past a large red Chinese Fireball.
Taking the aggressive route, Viktor Krum went straight for the dragon hitting it in the eye with a Conjunctivitus Curse which caused the dragon to stumble backwards and thrash around roaring in pain as the Durmstrang Champion kept hitting the dragon over and over again with Conjunctivitus Curses forcing it backwards away from its nest.
Unfortunately, this caused the dragon to squash most of its eggs before Viktor Krum was able to grab his golden egg and get away from the thrashing dragon.
The cheers for Viktor Krum's success was easily the most deafening as the Bulgarian Quidditch star just skulked out of the arena carrying his egg.
Five minutes passed before Jennifer saw Professor Dumbledore make his way over to the other judges who were standing on a raised platform in front of the gazebo.
After a few more minutes of waiting the judges gave each Champion their score as they walked back into the arena as a trio with both Edward and Fleur sporting bandages on their burned skin while the unscathed Krum looked bored.
Fleur was the first to receive her score of thirty-eight out of fifty even with a top mark score from Madame Maxime.
Krum was the second to receive his score of forty-one out of fifty thanks to the top mark score he received from Igor Karkaroff.
Edward was third and received the highest score of forty-five out of forty, thanks to a low mark of four from Igor Karkaroff. Edward inwardly cheered as this score made him the winner of the first task, which caused most of the Hogwarts students to erupt in deafening cheers.
"Congratulations Champions… the next task will take place on the 24th of February, the golden egg you hold in your hands will be your clue as to what the next task will entail" said Dumbledore in a magically magnified voice.
Harry, Neville and Ron stood up and applauded Edward who shook hands with Fleur and Krum, congratulating both of them before walking out of the arena.
"If that was how good the First Task was… then the Second Task ought to be even better" said Harry excitedly.
"This year is turning into our best year yet" said Neville.
"Three years from now and we'll be old enough to be chosen" said Ron excitedly.
"Yeah, rather you than me though" said Harry amusedly as he and the others started to make their way out of the stands.