Well the journey back to Hogwarts hadn't been the smoothest of operations what with Malfoy, the weather, Peeves and the Head of her own house nearly strangling her. The three of them slipped and skidded over to the Great Hall. It was when she entered that she felt the rush of warmth and happiness that her return always brought her, seeing the golden plates, goblets and the hundreds of candles floating in the air, it was all so endearingly familiar. They made their way to the Gryffindor table and sat down. Hermione found herself immediately seeking out her Potions Professor on the staff table. There he was, still hook-nosed, still sallow-skinned and still greasy-haired , why then, did her stomach jolt at laying eyes on him? It was surely because she was nervous as to what her reception from him would be, he really did hate her. Harry had noticed her looking.

"Where's the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?" She said quickly. They all scanned the table and there was no one new sitting there, Hermione felt a frisson of unease.

She watched the sorting with a detached sort or interest, rolling her eyes at Ron's desperation for food but with an overall fondness that she felt for both of the boys. But particularly for Ron. Or not. Feelings were tricky sometimes.

She wasn't entirely sure why the issue with the house elves bothered her quite so much but something about their complete submission, their unappreciation and their mistreatment by so many wizards really set her nerves on edge. She just couldn't cope with injustice. It was the way everyone just disregarded their rights that really did it though.

*"Slave labour." Said Hermione, breathing hard through her nose. "That's what made this dinner. Slave labour."* And she wouldn't eat another bite, not until she had a plan.

Dumbledore had just begun explaining why there would be no Quidditch this year when *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 travelling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swivelled 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. Hermione gasped.

The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, 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, nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side.

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

Hermione's first thought was that the poor man was in no fit state to teach. Her second thought was that she found him a little attractive. Her third thought was that Harry and Ron had been right all along and she truly was mental.

Then she noticed the way Professor Snape was staring at him. He still looked relatively impassive but there was obvious dislike in his expression and something else she couldn't quite identify, something that she would have thought was fear if it had been anyone else, but it made her think that Snape's dislike may have nothing to do with Moody being the new Defence teacher.

*"It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year." The Headmaster was saying.

"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* and Hermione felt a smile erupt onto her face; she had really missed this.

Dumbledore began to explain the tournament to them and she felt a frisson of trepidation again, maybe she was just getting paranoid but any event that had needed to be stopped because of a high death toll did not sound like a good idea. At least you had to be of age to compete; that ruled out Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville, even the Weasley twins and she relaxed marginally and dared to hope, if only for a second, that this year's drama may not be centred around her and her best friends.

She was glad to make her way sleepily to her dormitory, once upstairs she decided to begin forming a plan as to how to deal with the house elves; it was clear no one else was going to bother. Sitting in her four poster making notes, it was comforting to hear Lavender and Parvati's idle chatter, she wasn't particularly close to them but they were part of the scenery and familiar in a way that was both a comfort and, at times, rather annoying. Eventually she settled into her bed and allowed herself to smile and feel the tingle of excitement down her spine at the prospect of getting back to her lessons tomorrow. She really did love Hogwarts.

Hermione and the boys having a drama free year - as if! Sorry this chapters quite sort again, I'm useless at keeping their lengths consistent. The next chapter should be much longer so stay tuned. Thanks for reading!

Text in between the two ** is taken from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K Rowling. Thought I'd try this instead of italics ;)