Chapter 15 – The Goblet of Fire
The next morning it seemed as if practically the entire castle as well as its guests had got up especially early to stand watch over the Goblet of Fire in the Hogwarts Entrance Hall. Harry and several of his friends had got there just after breakfast and already there were crowds of people waiting for any hopeful Triwizard Champions to make an appearance.
"I feel a bit bad for anyone who wanted to slip their names in secretly," said Harry.
"Lavinia Campbell came up really early this morning to do it," said Tracey. "So I don't think anyone saw." She paused. "Well, except me. And one of the first years was up too, but… Well, there must have been a few others to do that as well, was my point, since it must be a bit embarrassing to put your name in and then you don't get chosen, don't you think?"
"Awful," agreed Blaise. "At least if it was just teachers picking the Champions, if you don't get it it might be because they didn't like you, or something political like that—or you could say it was, anyway… but this Goblet thingy can apparently tell who's better. It just knows, magically. And that means if you put your name in, and it doesn't come back out… you weren't good enough." He shuddered. "Awful."
Harry could see Blaise's point – it would be embarrassing to make a big deal of putting your name in only for it to spit out someone like Longbottom's instead. But the Goblet was meant to be an impartial judge, so the only way of getting picked was to just be the best. Harry supposed anyone putting their name in had enough self-confidence they thought there was at least a chance they'd get picked. But even then...
"Have any of you looked at the prize lists yet?" Harry asked. "I had a look when we came in—the big Triwizard prize is a thousand Galleons but none of us can win that so it doesn't matter. But they've put the prizes up for the flying and the duelling, as well."
"No," said Blaise. "Where'd they put the lists? I didn't see."
"Up where they put the usual notices and things like that," said Harry. "But the duelling prizes are quite good, I thought. There's a bit of money as well, but the winners get seeded entry to the European Novice Circuit's summer tournament—and the top three places after that get qualification points, too, so if you don't win you'd only need to compete in one more event for a place."
"How much money?" asked Blaise.
Harry shrugged.
"I don't know, I wasn't really—I mean, I think it's about two hundred Galleons? It wasn't that much, anyway. The real prize is the seeded entry, isn't it," said Harry, "since I think if you win the summer tournament, it lets you go on to compete in the World League."
Of course, Harry had far more things to worry about than gaining entry to the World Novice Duelling Circuit competitions - there was an immortal ghost lurking about waiting to kill him – but even so, he couldn't help but think on it.
"Was the paired duelling prize the same?" asked Tracey. "Two hundred Galleons is still quite a lot of money—I know the three of you have gold coming out of your ears, but I'd be quite happy with it," she said with a glance at Harry, Blaise, and Theodore.
"I didn't mean it like that," said Harry, "I just meant… you know… the real prize isn't meant to be the money, not like with the Triwizard Champions…"
Tracey grinned.
"I know what you meant! I was only teasing." She pointed towards the Entrance Hall doors which had swung open. "Look at that—that must be the Durmstrang lot coming to put their names in the Goblet."
The entire Durmstrang delegation, including those students too young for the Gauntlet strode through the doors with Karkaroff at the front of them. The Entrance Hall quietened as the delegation made its way towards where the Goblet of Fire stood within the Age Line. One by one each of the of-age students walked up to the Goblet past Dumbledore's Age Line to drop a scrap of parchment with their name on it in. The Goblet took each bit of parchment with a little bit of fire, then dimmed once more.
Every last member of the Durmstrang delegation old enough to compete stuck their name in, which Harry thought was fair enough since they'd all come so far. Still, he knew that many of them would be competing in the flying or in the Junior-level duelling tournaments, so at least they hadn't come along for no reason even if they didn't get picked.
Once they were done, Karkaroff turned on his heel and strode of the castle in silence, followed by his students. As soon as they'd gone the Entrance Hall burst into noise.
"Who do you think will be their Champion?" asked Theodore. "Didn't you say they were all hoping for Krum, Harry?"
Harry nodded.
"Yeah, Giovanna—the girl Blaise was talking to last night—she said they were hoping for Krum to get it. But she said he really wants to do the flying as well, so…" Harry shrugged. An object such as the Goblet of Fire would surely have some strange set of rules by which it worked. Perhaps if the Goblet could tell Krum's heart wasn't completely in it, it wouldn't choose him.
"I heard one of the Durmstrang girls say last night she was hoping to be Champion, as well," said Tracey. "I think her name was Svetlana, or something like that. She didn't introduce herself to me, mind—I was just listening. There's quite a few of them that put their names in, though, isn't there?"
"I suppose there's a load back at their castle who didn't get picked to come to Hogwarts," said Theodore, "so I imagine there's more who wanted to try out but couldn't. I wonder if that means Hogwarts has the advantage, since anyone who's seventeen can put their names in."
Harry hadn't thought of it quite like that, but he supposed that did mean Hogwarts had a bit of an advantage in the selection process by sheer dint of possible candidates.
"Maybe a bit," Harry said, "but I suppose they only picked the best of the best at their schools, and there is only one Champion at the end of the day, so we should all be on evenish footing, right?"
"Unless a really unexpected name comes out of the Goblet, I suppose," said Tracey. "You never know, the old cup might see something in someone nobody else can!"
"That's a fair point, actually," said Blaise. "Maybe Longbottom slips his name in and it turns out he's the best possible choice for Champion. No one can argue with the magic cup, after all."
"I heard Montague was going to try and get his name in, even though he's too young," said Tracey. "But he was keeping it secret how he was going to get over the Age Line, which I suppose is fair enough. And I was talking to Gloria—you know, in third year? Justine's friend?—and she said that the Weasley twins had brewed an Ageing Potion to try and get around it—they've been telling everyone, apparently. But I don't think that could work, could it?" she said. "I mean, Dumbledore must have thought about Ageing Potions. Do Ageing Potions even work against an Age Line? Because if they do that seems like a really pointless spell to have used."
"To be honest, I'd never even heard of an Age Line before Dumbledore said about them," admitted Harry.
"They use them in some shops in Knockturn Alley," said Theodore. He paused. "Not ones I've ever been in, obviously."
About half an hour later the Weasley twins arrived in the Entrance Hall and made a great big show of preparing to pass beyond the Age Line. When they eventually did – after a lot of back and forth between them and the waiting Gryffindors – they were immediately bounced out of the circle and sent flying through the air. By the time they'd hit the floors, massive bushy ginger beards appeared on both of their faces and kept growing until they had beards down to their knees.
The students gathered in the Hall laughed the display, and the Weasley twins – to their credit, as Harry didn't think he'd have been quite so magnanimous after that display – proudly displayed their brand new beards to the onlookers. After a few moments Dumbledore strode into the Entrance Hall with a big smile on his face.
"I had been wondering when the first test of my Age Line would be!" he said upon seeing the Weasley twins parade their beards around. "And my, what magnificent beards you are both sporting indeed! Alas, it seems your attempts to evade my Age Line were unsuccessful. Which method did you try, may I ask?"
One of the Weasley twins considered the question before answering.
"Ageing Potion," he said eventually.
"And you are sure the potion was brewed correctly?"
"Yes, definitely," said the other twin, a bit defensively in Harry's opinion. "We only needed to be a bit older, anyway—it's not long until our birthday."
"Ah, well, a shame your gambit went unsuccessful," said Dumbledore. "Now, get yourselves to the Hospital Wing so that our dear Madam Pomfrey can restore you to your correct ages and remove those—rather marvellous—beards."
Dumbledore shooed the Weasley twins out of the Entrance Hall and then addressed the remaining students.
"Let this be a warning to you all—anyone who attempts to pass through my Age Line will be punished—or rewarded, as the case may be—with a full-bodied, lustrous beard for their troubles." Dumbledore strode out of the Entrance Hall and left the students gathered there to watch over the Goblet of Fire.
Naturally, his announcement had an effect entirely opposite to dissuading students from attempting to cross the Age Line. Instead, people Harry knew had no intention of competing in the Tournament started to cross the line just to be given ridiculously lush beards, and soon enough it seemed like half the student population had sprouted a long and traditional wizard's beard. Madam Pomfrey would have a whole evening's work ahead of her removing the beards from so many students.
Blaise had just finished goading Theodore to cross the Age Line with him when the Beauxbatons delegation burst through the outer doors to the castle to put their names into the Goblet of Fire. The two boys, now sporting huge beards, scrambled to get out of the way of the column of silk-clad wizards and witches led by their Amazonian headmistress. As with the Durmstrang lot, the entire delegation from Beauxbatons had assembled to watch the of-age students enter their names into the Goblet of Fire. The younger students trailed after the older ones, and Harry tried to remind himself it was those who would be his personal competitors in the Pariturium.
"That girl there," said Tracey to Harry, pointing at an almost impossibly beautiful witch with pale silver hair and flawless skin halfway along the column, "is meant to be part Veela! But that's not even the interesting part! She's meant to be doing the singles duelling for the Juniors—everyone says she could win it."
Harry paused. The girl certainly looked attractive enough, and with that same ethereal, razor-sharp kind of beauty, as the Veelas he'd seen at the Quidditch World Cup. She didn't look like a duellist, though. She seemed like the sort of girl who'd throw fits over a broken nail and spent hours messing about with hair care potions. But Harry supposed that was unfair of him to think – for all he knew, she was the next winner of the World Juniors and the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.
"How do you know that?"
"I was talking to Christine," said Tracey, "you know, she's going out with Horatio? And she said she heard from Lavinia—remember I said about her earlier? The one who put her name in the Goblet this morning?—who was talking to one of the Beauxbatons lot yesterday night. They were a bit secretive apparently, but Christine said they let some things slip."
"How do you know all these people?" Harry muttered. "I can barely keep up with the people in our classes and you've got mates from the year above…"
Tracey shrugged.
"It's nice to talk to people, isn't it?" she said. "And you know Christine and Horatio; I know you do because—Oh, but that's not the point! Christine said that Lavinia said that Fleur wants to be the Champion as well. Can you imagine being the Champion and doing the Junior duelling? I wonder if she flies as well." She paused. "I'd have to pick just the one thing—maybe two—and concentrate on those. I'd be too worried otherwise..."
Harry half listened as Tracey reeled off more little bits of information about some of the Beauxbatons students while he watched them all enter their names into the Goblet of Fire. Some of them seemed much more confident than others. A tall, broad-shouldered young wizard walked smoothly towards the cup and dropped his name inside before doing an exaggerated bow to everyone watching, while the next girl after him seemed entirely unconvinced it was something she wanted to do at all – she had to be pushed gently towards the Goblet and trembled as she dropped her parchment in.
When it was Fleur's turn to put her name in the Goblet, she walked forward with the grace of some sort of jungle cat, her head held high and shoulders back with her robes billowing in a gentle, enchanted personal wind, and dropped her scrap of parchment into the Goblet. She re-joined the other Beauxbatons students without so much as a glance at the students in the rest of the Entrance Hall – even though as far as Harry could tell, every eye was on her. When all of the Beauxbatons students had entered their names into the Goblet their statuesque headmistress led them back out of the castle.
"It's only Hogwarts people who can enter now," said Blaise, stroking his big, bushy beard of tight, black curls. "Forget about all the ones who come and enter now when everyone can see—it's the ones who'll come and sneak their names in later tonight I want to know about."
"Well, there's another one off the list now," said Theodore, pointing discreetly at the entrance from the dungeons.
Cedric Diggory, accompanied by a crowd of other students – mostly Hufflepuffs, but a few from other Houses, such as Cho Chang – to put his name into the Goblet of Fire. A few of his companions stuck their names in, too, but to Harry's eyes it was Cedric who commanded the most attention. He'd walked at the head of the group, after all, and even some of the older students with him seemed less confident. Grudgingly, Harry thought that if the Hogwarts Champion had to be a Hufflepuff, Cedric Diggory was a good choice. A Prefect, everyone said he was the natural choice for Head Boy the following year – winner of the Gauntlet or not.
Harry and his friends stayed in the Entrance Hall a while longer, but it seemed that most of the people who intended to enter the Tournament from Hogwarts already had by lunchtime. At the very least, far fewer people came into the Entrance Hall to place their names into the Goblet, and they decided not to go back after lunch because it had got a little boring.
Theodore and Blaise had to visit the Hospital Wing to get rid of their beards – although this was pushed on them by one of the Prefects rather than chosen themselves – so Harry and Tracey spent the rest of the afternoon practising for the duelling in the dungeons.
Harry found the wait for the Hallowe'en Feast on Monday positively tortuous. Although he only had three lessons, they were three of the more difficult lessons – Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and then Transfiguration with McGonagall – and none of the professors seemed especially inclined towards providing a more relaxed session even given the circumstances.
The one saving grace was that Astronomy that evening had been cancelled due to the Feast and the announcement of the Triwizard Champions. The entire student body was abuzz with all sorts of outrageous rumours concerning the Feast's entertainment. The consensus seemed to be that Dumbledore would put on the most magnificent Hallowe'en Feast in generations given the presence of staff and students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.
But even though everyone agreed on that, just what that would mean in practice was a matter of some contention.
Harry didn't know whether any of the rumours would be correct – some of the more ridiculous claims included a goblin orchestra and a zoo full of performing magical creatures including a nundu – but the doors to the Great Hall had been magically sealed all day, and the teachers and other members of staff appeared to be far more stressed than usual.
As Harry's last lesson of the day was Transfiguration, which finished just after three, he spent the next few hours languishing in the Slytherin Common Room with a selection of his friends.
"I wish we could wear our dress robes tonight," complained Daphne. "Our uniforms are just so boring, and I wanted to wear one of my new hairclips and it doesn't go with my uniform robes at all."
Millicent shrugged.
"The other schools will be wearing their uniforms too, so it's not like we're the only ones."
"Oh, but the Beauxbatons uniform is lovely," said Daphne. "The style is so much more fashionable, and the material is silk! Even the Durmstrang uniform is a much bolder choice. Mind you, I don't know if I'd look good in that red, but… that's not the point! Our robes are just boring black with a little splash of colour."
"What? Of course you'd look good in that red," scoffed Millicent. "You look good in everything, Daph—I don't know why you ever complain."
"Oh, Millie, that's so kind of you to say," said Daphne. "But I really would like to wear my new butterfly tonight and it doesn't go with the theme."
Harry tuned the two girls out. Daphne could go on for hours about accessories, and Harry didn't feel like listening.
"You know, I can't wait until I can grow a proper beard," said Theodore as he rubbed at his chin. "I miss the one from the Age Line." He paused. "I know beards are a bit of an old wizard's thing, but I liked it. Maybe a bit shorter, next time…"
"I sort of wish I'd tried the Age Line now," admitted Harry. "Would have been nice seeing myself with a beard."
"There are potions that you can use to grow one," said Blaise. "Apparently not that hard to brew, either. Might be worth a go."
Harry shook his head.
"Nah—I'll just wait 'til mine comes in on its own." He rubbed at his chin and jaw. Of course, he didn't know when that would be, and with no male blood relatives aside from Dudley he didn't know how he could find out, either. "What do you reckon Dumbledore's put on for the Feast?" he asked.
"Definitely not a goblin orchestra," said Theodore. "They won't play at Hogwarts because of some old blood-feud."
"Really? What over?" asked Harry.
"Er—I can't remember. Something about a sword, or something like that—it was on our History exam last year," said Theodore.
"I think he's just had some musical acts come in," said Blaise. "I just hope he hasn't got bloody Celestina Warbeck—she's awful but all the ancient fuckers love her and they're the ones who'll decide."
"Who else do you think would do it? The Hobgoblins?" Harry said. "If it is a band I hope he's got The Magic Carpets."
"It'll be The Weird Sisters," said Theodore. "If it is a band. I think maybe they'll get the WADA lot to come in and do a show—you know, showcase culture and all that."
"Oh, yeah, I hadn't even thought about that," said Blaise. "I hope they don't though—a play is a bit boring for Hallowe'en."
"Maybe they've had something French put on," suggested Harry. "You, intercultural experiences and all that stuff Dumbledore said about. Or German, or… whatever culture Durmstrang is meant to be from."
"They speak German at the school," said Theodore, "and no one is meant to know where the school is exactly, but all the books reckon it's somewhere near the North Pole. One of those islands up there, you know, it's just ice and fish and wizards. I don't know what counts as culture from up there, though. Fighting polar bears, maybe?"
"With the way some of the Durmstrang lot look, they probably do fight bears," said Blaise. "And that's just the girls."
Harry thought that was a little unfair. Many of the Durmstrang girls were very attractive indeed, although some did admittedly look sturdy enough to wrestle a bear.
"Maybe ballet for the French," said Harry, "and what do Germans like? Beer and chocolate?"
Blaise grinned.
"We could do far worse than a night of beer and chocolate," he said. "But I doubt the Ministry would like that—too much fun."
"Do you reckon the Ministry lot will be here tonight?" asked Harry. "They were last time. That Crouch fellow and that Weasley who just left."
"Definitely," said Theodore. "They won't want to miss it, will they? I imagine even the Minister will show up tonight—picking the Champions is a big deal. And they're going to announce the dates of the first events, too. All very hush-hush; my father said in his last letter almost nobody knows the exact dates. No one would tell him and he knows people at the Ministry."
Blaise shrugged.
"We'll just have to wait until later, won't we?" he said. "So everyone will know after tonight." He got out his deck of playing cards and put them down onto the table they were sat around. "Cards? We've got a while until we need to get ready, so…"
Harry, Theodore, and Blaise played cards until it was time to dash off and quickly get ready for the Hallowe'en Feast, then joined their friends – and the rest of Slytherin House – in the Great Hall.
The banners representing the Houses, Hogwarts, and the other two schools had all been restored to the Hall, with masses of Hallowe'en themed decoration added around them. Skulls singing a soft, quiet dirge had been placed around the Hall, and live bats flew in a choreographed arc over the tables. Small tombstones with little photographs – or in some cases, paintings – dotted the Hall, and several skeletons moved about the vast room, bones chattering. The ceiling, as always, reflected the weather and sky outside – tonight, a cloudless, clear sky with bright stars and a large moon, no doubt arranged by the Ministry for the occasion.
The House tables, as well as the Head Table, had all been elongated again to account for the much greater number of people in attendance. Harry thought he could see at least five Ministry officials sat at the Head Table, as well as all the teachers and other members of staff who usually didn't attend evening meals. The Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students had once again been scattered throughout the House tables in little groups and sat amongst the Hogwarts students.
"Those tombstones are a bit grisly," observed Harry.
Theodore nodded.
"Yeah, I thought so too. But I've read a few and I think they represent all the Champions who died in other Tournaments. See, that one says 'Hogwarts Champion Eldritch Jape. 1480 - 1494'. So it's still a bit grim, but I can see why they did it. You know, remind everyone it's not just fun and games…"
"That's darker than I thought, to be honest," said Harry with a little frown. It made sense, but it wasn't a particularly festive decoration. But then – maybe that kind of thing was aimed at the Beauxbatons or Durmstrang sensibilities. "And I can't see any sort of entertainment either, so maybe it's just a normal feast."
"Pansy'll be upset, then," said Blaise. "She was adamant they were putting on a Veela ballet."
"The food should be good, anyway," said Theodore.
By then, everyone who was meant to attend seemed to be inside the Hall, and a little raised platform appeared just in front of the doors to the Entrance Hall. A set of instruments popped into place on the platform and Dumbledore stood to address the Hall and begin the feast.
"I shall be brief—tonight we have arranged, with the help of our friends at the Ministry, a performance by the popular musical group, The Hobgoblins," said Dumbledore. "I confess I do not know any of their songs—I perhaps am a little too old and too musically unadventurous—but I am assured they will be a nice little treat. And with that, I declare the Hallowe'en Feast to have started."
Dumbledore sat down in his high-backed chair, and The Hobgoblins took to the stage to play a set over dinner.
Harry dug in with gusto, now confident enough to try several of the more exotic dishes and settled in to enjoy the Feast, complete with music by The Hobgoblins. Harry couldn't say they were his favourite band – he really did prefer The Magic Carpets – but they made a good change from the school choir or Wailing Neeps or even the chanting skulls scattered around the Hall.
Towards the end of the Feast several members of the Ministry staff in attendance slipped into the Entrance Hall to retrieve the Goblet of Fire and set it up just in front of the Head Table to end the selection process. Entrants had been allowed right up until the start of the Feast, Harry knew, although he couldn't say whether anyone had waited that long. He certainly wouldn't have if he'd been allowed to participate.
"Now that our bellies our full and our spirits buoyed we can allow that which we have all gathered here this evening to come to pass," said Dumbledore after the noise in the Hall had died down. He stepped down from the Head Table and positioned himself behind the Goblet of Fire. "In a few moments the Goblet of Fire shall inform us of its decisions as to who shall be our Triwizard Champions, those participants in the Gauntlet which has, in prior years, claimed its toll in blood. Once a name is pulled forth from the Goblet participation is final. Indeed, if you have already placed your name into the Goblet of Fire, there is no opportunity to rescind it. And so we shall begin!" declared Dumbledore.
The Goblet of Fire's flames turned bright blue and shot out of it and up into the air, spitting out a single piece of parchment, which Dumbledore caught deftly.
"The Triwizard Champion for Durmstrang Institute shall be Viktor Krum. Mr Krum, please join the officials in the antechamber behind the Head Table."
The pockets of Durmstrang students scattered throughout the Hall erupted into cheers and vigorous clapping as Viktor got up from his seat at the Gryffindor table and walked towards the antechamber at the back of the Hall – accompanied by a much more sedate chorus of claps from the rest of the Great Hall. He ascended the raised platform where the Head Table sat and disappeared into the little door behind the table which Harry swore was only there sometimes.
"So he's good at more than just flying, then," muttered Harry to himself as he watched Krum walk away. Of course, the Durmstrang lot had been hoping for Viktor as their Champion in the Gauntlet, so he was obviously alright at the other stuff even if everyone else only rated him for his flying. But the Goblet had thought him the best Durmstrang had to offer. Harry wondered what that would mean for his hopes in the flying competition - would the Bulgarian Seeker have to drop out, or would he still compete? And most importantly, would Harry get the chance to fly against him?
Dumbledore waited until the noise died down, then reached towards the Goblet of Fire once again.
A jet of blue flame burst from the Goblet, and Dumbledore plucked the piece of parchment caught within it from the flames. He unfurled it and read the name with a little smile.
"The Triwizard Champion for Hogwarts School is Cedric Diggory. Rise, Mr Diggory, and join your fellow Champion in the antechamber."
The Hufflepuff table burst into a cheers and loud clapping as one of its most popular members was named Triwizard Champion for Hogwarts. Many of them chanted Cedric's name over and over, and Harry saw more than one stand up to clap and shout. The rest of the Hogwarts students joined in, with a bit more enthusiasm than they had for Krum, although not as much as the Hufflepuffs had. The delegation from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were rather more polite in their appreciation, but Harry supposed that was normal. Hogwarts hadn't exactly been rapturous at Krum's announcement.
Cedric got up and walked towards the Head Table and the antechamber beyond. Harry watched him go, considering the Goblet's choice.
"I suppose it is about time for Hufflepuff to get their chance at glory," Theodore leaned over and said to Harry. "Would have been nice to see a Slytherin Champion, though."
Harry nodded at that. It would have been nice to see a Slytherin Champion, if just so that the rest of the school could see Slytherins in a different light, but Harry didn't begrudge the Hufflepuffs their day in the sun. The Goblet chose the best man for the job, apparently, and so Harry would rather that Hogwarts won the Tournament with a Hufflepuff than see a Slytherin compete but lose. Just about.
When Diggory was gone the Goblet spewed forth another lot of blue flames, and Dumbledore read from the final piece of parchment.
"The Triwizard Champion for Beauxbatons Institute shall be Fleur Delacour," said Dumbledore. "Miss Delacour, please join the other Champions in the antechamber behind the Head Table to discuss what comes next."
The Beauxbatons students celebrated the announcement of their Champion with much more refinement than either the Durmstrang or Hogwarts students had – although with no less enthusiasm. Fleur rose from her seat at the Ravenclaw House table and strode towards the antechamber with every eye in the Great Hall fixed upon her. She disappeared into the doorway, followed by Maxime and Karkaroff. Dumbledore remained stood behind the Goblet.
"The First Task of the Triwizard Tournament will be set for this coming November," said Dumbledore. "There will be more details announced closer to the time. The first round of the Pariturium shall take place in that same month—details may be expected in the coming week. News on the Aerobaticum will come later. That is all for this evening. Goodnight!"
Dumbledore climbed up the steps to the platform to join the Champions and the other headteachers. Once he'd left, the wizards from the Ministry got up from the table to join them.
"Er, so is that it, then?" wondered Harry aloud. "The Feast is over and we're to go to bed?"
"I think… probably," Theodore said. "I think The Hobgoblins are gone now, anyway—there's no one on the stage. So… I suppose we just wait until the prefects tell us to move." Theodore shrugged. "Do you think you'll be ready for the first round in November? That's quite soon. November starts tomorrow, so it could be any day now."
Harry rubbed at the back of his head in thought.
"I don't know. Maybe. Dumbledore said 'in the coming week', didn't he, so we've got until then at least… And Flitwick's still doing Duelling Club so we should have one session before the competition starts and that's without the stuff we can do on our own," said Harry eventually. "But I've got to be ready, haven't I?"
By then the prefects at all of the tables started to move their charges along, as it appeared the Hallowe'en Feast was truly over.
Tracey joined them on the way back to the dungeons.
"We've got a lot of practising left to do, Harry," she declared without preamble. "The competition starts maybe as soon as next week and I don't want to sit around doing nothing until then!"
"Er, yeah," said Harry. "I was saying something similar to Theodore—wasn't I?" Harry asked with a little nudge. Tracey could be scary when she had something stuck in her head, and Harry didn't want to start their practise off on the wrong note.
"Well, good," said Tracey. "You know, I was thinking about how the duelling will work—are we going to be fighting other Hogwarts students? Because I'd hate to get knocked out before we even get a chance to go against the other schools…
"I hadn't thought about that," said Harry with a frown. "God, I hope that's not how it works. I suppose I just assumed… well, we'll see, won't we? I think some of the flying competitions are a free-for-all, and some are school teams."
"You'll both be fine either way," said Theodore confidently. "I saw you both in the paired tournament Flitwick did and you were great in that."
When they reached the Common Room, Tracey stopped Harry before they separated to go to their own dormitories.
"Tomorrow after lessons I think we should do some practise, unless you wanted to do some flying… I know we've got a long day but we can't hang about, can we?" she said.
Harry nodded.
"I think that's a good idea. And I can wait a bit for the flying anyway—they haven't announced the first events yet so I think it would be better to focus on the Pariturium. See you tomorrow at breakfast!"
Harry joined the rest of his dormitory and got settled down for bed, his thoughts on the upcoming first round of the duelling competition.
