As the next day was Saturday, most students would normally have eaten breakfast late. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, however, were not alone in rising much earlier than they usually did on weekends. When they went down into the entrance hall, they saw a couple dozen people milling about. Some were eating toast, others reading that morning's Daily Prophet, but they all were paying attention to the Goblet of Fire, which had been placed in the center of the hall.
The Goblet of Fire was a large, roughly hewn wooden cup and was set on the rickety stool that normally bore the Sorting Hat. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames and the thin golden line that was traced along the floor, forming a circle that was ten feet around it in every direction.
Ginny approached the three friends with a plate piled high with bacon, French toast, sausage, and scrambled eggs. She allowed Hermione to take a slice of French toast, but slapped her brother's hands away from her pile of meat with a glare that promised a bat-bogey hex if he tried that again.
"Has anyone put their name in yet?" Ron asked once he got over being denied food.
"Most of the Durmstrang lot, and a couple of Beauxbatons boys," answered Ginny. "The only one from Hogwarts I've seen was Warrington, that bloke from Slytherin that reminds me of a misshapen sloth."
They all turned when they heard cheering. Fred, George, and Lee Jordan bounded over to the Goblet, tiny vials clutched in their hands.
"We've done it!" exclaimed Fred.
"Perfected the aging potion – it's bound to work," said George.
"Exactly what I was thinking, Gred."
"Are you ready then, Forge?"
"As ready as ever."
Hermione sighed as Fred and George entwined their arms together and downed the contents of the tiny vials. "I hope they realize it's never going to work." The twins waited a second for the potion to kick in before they hopped over the golden line separating them from the Goblet. When nothing happened immediately, those watching cheered uproariously. The two of them then skipped forward and dropped their names into the Goblet. More cheers ensued for the Weasley twins.
Suddenly, the fire within the cup turned a nasty shade of acid green and spit their names back out, the singed paper burning and turning to ashes before their eyes. Then there was a great sizzling noise, and they were thrust out of the circle as though they had been thrown by an invisible force. They landed painfully, ten feet away on the cold stone floor. To add insult to injury, there was a loud popping noise, and both of them sprouted identical long white beards.
Fred and George set off for the walk of shame to the hospital wing, accompanied by Lee, who was howling with laughter. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, also chortling, went in to eat breakfast as Ginny followed them over to a table and plopped down beside Hermione with her plate of food.
For a while, they sat and ate in silence, basking in the rare moment of peace. There were no unruly Slytherins, no one had much homework to complete over the weekend, and most importantly, no one was trying to maim Harry. The group of friends simply enjoyed their breakfast with one another.
Ginny finished off the last of the food on her plate and lazily rested her head on her hand. She wiped at her mouth with a nearby napkin, showing much more class than her brother, who Hermione noticed was mopping up the bacon grease around his mouth with the end of his sleeve.
Harry looked up from his plate of eggs and toast. "Mate, you got a little something right there." Harry pointed first at a spot of grease on Ron's chin, and then motioned around his entire face. Ron scowled. Hermione was certain that Ron would have retorted with something rude and very uneducated sounding if a group of Beauxbatons students hadn't just marched in. Instead, Ron turned purple and choked on a mouthful of food.
All of the students in the hall turned and watched each of the Beauxbatons students step within the age line and drop their name into the Goblet. Hermione was startled to see Fleur step forward. But that was why she was here. To compete in a life-threatening, magical tournament that Dumbledore assured them was safe, despite the fact that nothing at Hogwarts was ever safe. Something always managed to go horribly wrong.
Ginny watched Hermione stare at the blonde girl that was tossing her name into the Goblet of Fire. What interest would Hermione have with her? Ginny noticed the blonde girl search through the crowd before shooting a smile in Hermione's direction and giving her a small wave, which Hermione returned a bit shyly.
"Who's that?" Ginny demanded of her friend.
Hermione broke out of her reverie. "What?" She glanced in the direction of the Goblet. "Her? She's my friend from France that I met a while back," she replied, her lips curving into wide smile. "I never thought that she was a witch, I believed she was a muggle. It's wonderful to see her again."
As the two girls talked, Harry dragged a purple Ron from the table, muttering something about flying around the Quidditch pitch that neither of the girls heard. Ginny was awfully interested in learning more about Fleur, especially since she had never heard anything about her before.
"She's really quite nice, Gin," Hermione said, not quite realizing that she was essentially fawning over Fleur, "I do believe that you'll like her."
"Why don't I find out for myself?" Ginny said, twisting in her seat to search out Fleur. She spotted the blonde girl across the hall, and she seemed to be immersed in a conversation with one of her fellow Beauxbatons classmates.
"She's busy, Gin, don't bother her, I'll introduce you some other time -" But then Fleur ended the conversation, and made eye contact with Ginny from across the hall. The redhead smiled politely and waved her over. "Ginny!"
"Oh come off it, 'Mione. I just want to meet your little crush."
Hermione was taken aback. She didn't have a crush on Fleur! She was just excited to see her friend again, that's all. Surely Ginny didn't actually believe that she liked Fleur as more than a friend, right? Sure, Hermione had never had a boyfriend before, but did that mean that she actually preferred girls? Now that she was thinking about it though, no boy truly caught her attention. Hermione flushed red and shook those thoughts from her mind. She would get back to it later at a more appropriate time, not when her potential crush was approaching.
"Bonjour, 'Ermione," Fleur greeted, looking to be at least a little worried at how red Hermione's face was. "Would you mind eentroducing me to your fraind?"
"Er, sure," Hermione stammerd, "Fleur, this is Ginny Weasley. Ginny, Fleur Delacour."
Ginny reached her hand out for a handshake, but Fleur merely grabbed it and tugged Ginny to her for the customary cheek kisses. The redhead's face turned as red as her hair.
"Bonjour, Ginny. Eet ees nice to meet you," Fleur dipped her head in greeting. "'Ow old are you?"
The Halloween feast, something that most students typically looked forward to, took much longer than usual. Perhaps it was the fact that it was the second feast in two days, and the extravagantly prepared food wasn't as much of a treat as it normally was. Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, the fidgeting, and the standing up to see whether Dumbledore had finished eating yet, Hermione simply wanted the plates to clear, and to hear who had been selected as champions.
At long last, the plates returned to their normal spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone.
"Well, the Goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them to please come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber -" he indicated the door behind the staff table "- where they will be receiving their first instructions."
He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the usual floating carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the Hall, the sparkling bright, blue-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting…A few people kept checking their watches…
The flames inside the Goblet suddenly turned a blood red and grew to be twice as high. Sparks began to violently shoot from the top. Then, a tongue of flame shot into the air, sending a charred piece of parchment into the air. The whole room gasped.
Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had calmed and were back to their blue-white shade.
"The champion of Durmstrang," he read in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."
A storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Hermione watched Krum rise from the Slytherin table and slouch up toward Dumbledore. He turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.
The clapping and chatting died down. Now, everyone's attention was focused again on the Goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.
"The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!" Dumbledore announced.
Hermione felt a strange combination of dread and excitement at the fact that Fleur was champion. Clearly she was a brilliant witch, otherwise she wouldn't have been chosen, but she was going to be put in danger, and Hermione didn't much enjoy the thought of watching her friend be burned to a crisp or some other ridiculous consequence of participating in this blasted tournament.
The entire Hall watched Fleur stand, shake back her blonde sheet of hair, and basically float up the aisle between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. Madame Maxime met her at the staff table and they exchanged cheek kisses before Fleur disappeared in the same door that Krum went through.
When Fleur vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement that you could almost taste it. The Hogwarts champion was next.
And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.
"The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!"
Every single Hufflepuff jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table. Indeed, the applause for Cedric went on for so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again.
"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real –"
But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it became instantly apparent what it was that distracted him.
The flames within the Goblet of Fire turned an even angrier shade of red than it had for the other champions, and sparks violently shot out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.
Automatically it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"Harry Potter."