Author Note Seventh Year begins now the most important one of all seven

Chapter 48

September 1st 1994

London

On the morning of their departure for their last year at Hogwarts Harry,Daphne and her family were very relieved to make it to King's Cross Station with rain coming down harder than ever.

What wonderful luck they had that there would be a rainstorm on their last Hogwarts Departure.

They got soaked carrying their trunks across the busy road and into the station after they had gotten out of the Muggle Taxi they had taken.

By now Harry was used to getting onto platform nine and three-quarters. It was a simple matter of walking straight through the apparently solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten. The only tricky part was doing this in an unobtrusive way, so as to avoid attracting Muggle attention.

They did it in groups today; Harry,Daphne and Astoria went first; they leaned casually against the barrier while chatting unconcernedly, and slid sideways through it . . . and as they did so, platform nine and three-quarters materialized in front of them.

The Hogwarts Express, a gleaming scarlet steam engine, was already there, clouds of steam billowing from it, through which the many Hogwarts students and parents on the platform appeared like dark ghosts.

No matter how many times he saw it was still majestic to Harry.

Harry, Daphne and Astoria set off to find seats, and were soon stowing their luggage

in a compartment halfway along the train. They then hopped back

down onto the platform to say good-bye to Adeline and Cyrus who gave hugs and kisses to both Harry and Daphne.

"Enjoy your last year you two"Adeline said "It's going to fly before you know it".

"We will,"Daphne said, smiling.

At that moment, the train whistle blew, and Adeline walked with them toward the train doors.

Harry, Daphne and Astoria waved and then went back to their compartment.

The thick rain splattering the windows made it very difficult to

see out of them.

The rain became heavier and heavier as the train moved farther north. The sky was so dark and the windows so steamy that the lanterns were lit by midday. The lunch trolley came rattling along the corridor, and Daphne bought a large stack of Cauldron Cakes for

them to share.

Several of their friends from the Archmagi looked in on them as the afternoon progressed,

The conversation quickly turned to the Quidditch World Cup fiasco and the seventeen muggles that had been killed in the aftermath.

Harry was sickened over the whole thing and how the Ministry afterwards seemed to just gloss over the deaths and destruction.

And the fact that they had seen several Muggles being tortured that would be killed and they had done nothing to assist.

He did not regret making sure Daphne had gotten to safety but he did deeply regret running from people that needed help.

He swore he would not run from something like that again.

The other topic discussed in the Compartment was who would be the Defense against the Dark Arts Teacher this year since Umbridge had left back to the Ministry now that the partners had been chosen under the British Family Act and like Edmund and Adalynn were starting to plan their weddings.

"Are we continuing the Archmagi this year? "Layla asked Harry "I think I've found some more people that would like to join".

"I was planning on it. ''Harry replied "And I'm fine with adding more people although we will probably have to split the group into more sections if more want to join".

Soon the Hogwarts Express slowed down and stopped in the pitch-darkness of Hogsmeade station.

As the train doors opened, there was a rumble of thunder overhead.

Harry took out an umbrella he had packed and covered Daphne with it as they left the train, heads bent and eyes narrowed against the downpour. The rain was now

coming down so thick and fast that it was as though buckets of ice-cold water were being emptied repeatedly over everyone's heads.

Daphne shivered as they inched slowly along the dark platform with the rest of the crowd. Two hundred and twenty horseless carriages stood waiting for them outside the station. Harry, Daphne, Edmund and Adalynn climbed gratefully into one of them, the door shut with a snap, and a few moments later, with a great lurch, the long procession of carriages was rumbling and splashing its way up the track toward Hogwarts Castle.

SCENE CHANGE
Through the gates, flanked with statues of winged boars, and up the sweeping drive the carriages trundled, swaying dangerously in what was fast becoming a gale. Leaning against the window, Harry could see Hogwarts coming nearer, its many lighted windows blurred and shimmering behind the thick curtain of rain.

Lightning flashed across the sky as their carriage came to a halt before the great oak front doors, which stood at the top of a flight of stone steps. People who had occupied the carriages in front were already hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. Harry, Daphne, Edmund and Adalynn jumped down from their carriage and dashed up the steps too, looking up only when they were safely inside the cavernous, torch-lit entrance hall, with its magnificent marble staircase.

They then went in.

The Great Hall looked its usual splendid self, decorated for the start-of-term feast. Golden plates and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds and hundreds of candles, floating over the tables in midair. The four long House tables were packed with chattering students; at the top of the Hall, the staff sat along one side of a fifth table, facing their pupils. It was much warmer in here than outside.

Harry and Daphne walked to the Slytherin Table and sat down with Astoria,Edmund,Layla and the other Slytherin Archmagi.

Harry looked up at the Staff Table and saw a missing seat.

"Where's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Daphne, who was also looking up at the teachers.

There was no new face at the Staff Table who could be their new Teacher.

"Maybe they couldn't get anyone!" Edmund joked.

Harry glanced up at the ceiling as well. It was enchanted to look like the sky outside, and

he had never seen it look this stormy. Black and purple clouds were

swirling across it, and as another thunderclap sounded outside, a fork of lightning flashed across it.

"The First Years had better hurry up," Edmund complained "I'm starving".

Harry could echo that sentiment.

The words were no sooner out of Edmunds mouth than the doors of the Great Hall opened and silence fell as Professor McGonagall led a long line of first years up to the top of the Hall.

All of the students that had made their way on the carriages had gotten a bit wet along the way but the rain they got was nothing to how much the first years had gotten based on how they looked. They appeared to have swum across the lake rather than sailed. All of them were shivering with a combination of cold and nerves as they filed along the staff table and came to a halt in a line facing the rest of the school

Professor McGonagall placed a three-legged stool on the ground before the first years and, on top of it the Sorting Hat. The first years stared at it. So did everyone else. For a moment, there was silence. Then a long tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song:

A thousand years or more ago,

When I was newly sewn,

There lived four wizards of renown,

Whose names are still well known:

Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,

Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,

Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,

Shrewd Slytherin, from fen.

They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,

They hatched a daring plan

To educate young sorcerers

Thus Hogwarts School began.

Now each of these four founders

Formed their own house, for each

Did value different virtues

In the ones they had to teach.

By Gryffindor, the bravest were

Prized far beyond the rest;

For Ravenclaw, the cleverest

Would always be the best;

For Hufflepuff, hard workers were

Most worthy of admission;

And power-hungry Slytherin

Loved those of great ambition.

While still alive they did divide

Their favorites from the throng,

Yet how to pick the worthy ones

When they were dead and gone?

'Twas Gryffindor who found the way,

He whipped me off his head

The founders put some brains in me

So I could choose instead!

Now slip me snug about your ears,

I've never yet been wrong,

I'll have a look inside your mind

And tell where you belong!

The Great Hall rang with applause as the Sorting Hat finished. Professor McGonagall then unrolled a large scroll of parchment.

"When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool," she told the first years. "When the hat announces your House, you will go and sit at the appropriate table.

"Ackerley, Stewart!"

A boy walked forward, visibly trembling from head to foot, picked up the Sorting Hat, put it on, and sat down on the stool.

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat.

Stewart Ackerley took off the hat and hurried into a seat at the Ravenclaw table, where everyone was applauding him.

"Baddock, Malcolm!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

Harry and the rest of the Slytherins applauded the new Slytherin.

The Sorting then continued with boys and girls with varying degrees of fright on their faces moving one by one to the three-legged stool, the line dwindling slowly as Professor McGonagall passed the L's.

This year seemed a bit larger to Harry.

Finally, with "Whitby, Kevin!" ("HUFFLEPUFF!"), the Sorting ended. Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and the stool and carried them away.

Professor Dumbledore then got to his feet smiling around at the students, his arms opened wide in welcome.

"I have only two words to say to you," he told them, his deep voice echoing around the Hall. "Tuck in."

"Hear, hear!" said Harry and Daphne loudly as the empty dishes filled magically before their eyes.

When all of the food had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet again. The buzz of chatter filling the Hall ceased almost at once, so that only the howling wind and

pounding rain could be heard.

"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered,I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few . Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirtyseven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."

The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. "It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

There were gasps all around the Great Hall.

Dumbledore went on, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy — but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts —"

But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open. A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swiveled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table.

A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling.

Daphne gasped.

The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any Harry had ever seen. It looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening.

One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye — and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness.

The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbledore shook it, muttering words Harry couldn't hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side.

The stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark gray hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody."

It was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause,but none of the staff or students clapped except Dumbledore who put his hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed dismally into the silence, and he stopped fairly quickly. Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moody's bizarre appearance to do more than stare at him.

"What happened to him?" Daphne whispered. "What happened to his face?"

"No Idea" Harry whispered back, watching Moody.

Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached again into his traveling cloak, pulled out a hip flask, and took a long draught from it. As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground, and Harry saw, below the table, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot.

Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're JOKING!" said Fred Weasley loudly.

The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar."

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

"Er — but maybe this is not the time . . . no . . ." said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament . . . well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely".

"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities — until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."

"Death toll?" Daphne whispered, looking alarmed. But her anxiety did not seem to be shared by the majority of students in the Hall; many of them were whispering excitedly to one another, and Harry himself while not liking the fact that people had died he was far more interested in hearing about the tournament than in worrying about deaths that had happened hundreds of years ago.

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.

"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."

At every House table, Harry could see people either gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or else whispering fervently to their neighbors. But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once more.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools,along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age —that is to say, seventeen years or older — will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration.

This" — Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words— "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion,I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen".

"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime!

Chop chop!"

Dumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to Moody. There was a great scraping and banging as all the students got to their feet and swarmed toward the double doors into the entrance hall.

"Well it looks like our last year is going to be interesting, "Edmund said.

"Yeah"Harry said "I would much rather prefer to get through this year with peace and quiet thank you".

He then took Daphne's hand and they started to walk back to the Slytherin Common Room.

Author Note Moody in this is a Death Eater but he will not be teaching lessons on the Dark Arts and all that other stuff.

I just happen to think that a Death Eater would not want to inform kids about how to resist the Imperious or something like that