The rest of the trip passed uneventfully, although the rain never let up. Once they reached Hogsmeade there was a rush to get to the carriages that would take them to Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, Neville and Hermione managed to get a carriage together and were soon joined by Ginny, Micheal and one of her friends, a girl named Demelza Robins. They soon found out that Demelza would be trying out for Quidditch as well. Harry wished her good luck, knowing there would be no Quidditch this year anyway.

Once the carriages reached the main entrance there was a mad rush to get inside out of the rain. Harry pulled the hood of his cloak up and advised the others to do the same.

"Why?" Ron asked. "We're inside now so why do we…" he was promptly cut off by a water balloon hitting him in the head.

"Peeves," bellowed Professor McGonagall. The Poltergeist threw several more balloons into the air and shot off, cackling maniacally.

Professor McGonagall hurried across the room, slipped and grabbed onto Hermione for support, nearly dragging her to the ground as well. Harry grabbed Hermione and steadied her while Ron shouted a curse after Peeves.

"Sorry, Miss Potter," McGonagall said after regaining her balance.

"That's quite all right, Professor," Hermione replied, massaging her throat.

"Well, move along, quickly," McGonagall commanded, sending everybody into the Great Hall. The group made their way to Gryffindor table where Ron started squeezing water out of his sopping wet hair and Harry took his trainers of and emptied them of water. All along every table students could be seen doing the same thing.

"I wonder if we would be allowed to go put some dry clothes on before the Welcoming Feast?" Harry asked out loud to nobody in particular. All those who heard him agreed with the sentiment. Harry looked along the table and saw Alicia Spinnet wearing her prefect badge. Harry excused himself and went to speak to her.

"Hi, Alicia. Do you know if we might be allowed to go put some dry clothes on before the feast?" he asked her.

"I don't know if it's ever come up before," Alicia replied. "We were just discussing the same thing." Sitting with her were Angelina Johnson, the Weasley twins and a few other students. They all added their agreement to the question.

"Can you ask someone for us?" Angelina asked Alicia.

"Allright. I'll be back shortly," Alicia said as she stood and walked toward the teacher's table. Harry returned to his seat and explained the conversation he'd just had with Alicia. They all agreed it was a good idea.

Alicia returned a few minutes later and said the staff had the situation under control, but they would have to wait until the 1st years arrived.

A few minutes later Professor McGonagall led the 1st years' in. Before the sorting hat could begin its speech, however Dumbledore stood and addressed the Hall. "May I have everyone's attention please," he began. "Because the students received a thorough drenching on their way in, I have decided to delay sorting until the staff have applied drying and warming charms to everybody present. This should only take a few minutes to take effect."

Almost immediately Harry felt a warm breeze fill the hall. Within two minutes he felt dry and at lot warmer than he had a few moments earlier. "The sorting shall now begin," Dumbledore said before sitting down. Then the hat began its' song.

Once the hat finished McGonagall began reading off the list of 1st years. One of the first names was 'Creevey, Dennis.' A tiny boy, who seemed to be wearing Hagrid's overcoat, stumbled forward and was sorted into Gryffindor. As soon as he sat down he said to his brother, [Colin; "I fell in. it was brilliant! And something in the water grabbed me and pushed me back into the boat."

"Cool," Colin replied, sounding excited. "It was probably the giant squid."]

It sounded as though Dennis had thought it an exciting adventure, falling into a fathom's deep lake of icy water and being rescued by a monster. Harry glanced at Ron who was looking just as perplexed at the conversation. Harry shook his head and returned his attention to the sorting.

Once the sorting had finished the feast began. One of the main topics of conversation was the lack of a DADA teacher. Most students had quickly realised this when they scanned the staff table and noted the empty seat. There was some speculation that maybe Dumbledore had been unable find a suitable teacher but many others, including Harry, merely thought the new teacher had been delayed by the bad weather.

The Gryffindor ghost, Nearly Headless Nick, mentioned there had been a disturbance in the kitchens earlier concerning Peeves. Peeves had felt he should have been allowed to attend the feast but the other ghosts, led by the Bloody Baron, Slytherin house's resident ghost, had voted overwhelmingly against it. Indeed only the Hufflepuff ghost, The Fat Friar, had wanted to give him a chance. Nick explained that Peeves couldn't look at a plate of food without throwing it thus making Harry glad they had stopped him.

Once the meal was finished Dumbledore stood to give the usual start of term announcements. He was interrupted almost immediately, however, by a flash of lightning and a loud crash of thunder. At the same time the doors to the Great Hall opened and a man walked in. the students watched him in total silence. With every second step he took there was the thud of wood on wood, clearly the stranger had a wooden leg as well as an artificial eye and only half a nose. When the stranger reached the staff table he had a quiet word with Dumbledore before moving to the empty seat at the staff table.

"Allow me to introduce our new DADA teacher, Professor Moody," announced Dumbledore as the stranger, Moody, sat down. Unusually the announcement was greeted with muttering. Normally when a new teacher was introduced the students and staff alike applauded. It seemed this time, however, even the staff were worried by his presence. Snape especially, Harry noticed, seemed almost afraid of Moody. Once Moody had sat down Dumbledore resumed his announcements.

"This year," he began, "I regret to inform you that Quidditch has been cancelled…"

Before he could continue a chorus of booing and complaints drowned him out. "SILENCE," he bellowed over the noise. The hall went quiet.

"This is because this year Hogwarts will be hosting an event which has not been held for over a century; The Tri-Wizard Tournament."

["You're joking," Fred Weasley called over the upswelling of conversation that greeted that announcement.

"No, Mr. Weasley, I am not joking, although I am reminded of an excellent joke I heard over the summer concerning a troll, a hag and a leprechaun who went into a bar…" Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly. "Perhaps later then," Dumbledore concluded.]

"The other participating schools are Durmstrang and Beauxbatons and their delegations will be arriving at the end of October in preparation for the Tournament."

Dumbledore went on to explain the rules for the tournament, stating that no student who was under 17 as of the 30th of October would be allowed to enter. This generated another round of loud complaints from many students, including the Weasley twins. Dumbledore said that it was unlikely any younger students would be able to cope with the rigours of the tournament which was why this rule was in place. He added the prize money would be 1000 Galleons.

As they left for their dormatories Harry heard several students, including Fred and George, were discussing how they may be able to get around the age restriction and enter anyway. Harry knew they would all fail but kept that to himself. He was more worried about himself than anything else.