Sorry about the delay, but I've finally completed the next chapter! Please let me know what you think, and thank you to all of those who have followed and commented so far.

As ever, I own nothing.

The Quadwizard Tournament

The beginning of the school year passed smoothly, with lessons continuing as always. There were only two things that set this year apart from the last. The first was that the teachers were setting a lot of homework, already beginning to prepare for fifth year OWLs. This drew a lot of complaints from Ron although Hermione was secretly pleased – the knowledge that she was starting to prepare so early actually relieved some of the pressure she was beginning to put herself under. She had enough to worry about, with Harry on the edge already due to his vivid dreams and hurting scar. Receiving a long awaited letter from his godfather Sirius Black didn't help much, as Harry just transferred his stress onto the fact that Sirius was coming back and might get caught (he was, after all, a wanted fugitive).

The second difference about this year was Professor Moody.

Even Hermione had to admit, despite a dislike of his methods – Neville's face after the lesson on unforgivable curses sprung to mind – he was a very effective teacher, and one of the best they had ever had. That wasn't really saying a lot, except for Professor Lupin the previous year their Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers had been terrible. But students were now enthused about their lessons, except for Slytherin House but then she wouldn't have been surprised if half their parents hadn't been at the wrong end of the Professor's wand during his stint as an auror. And then there was the ferret incident in the first week outside the great hall. The thought of Draco Malfoy being transfigured into a white ferret and bounced around the entrance hall still brought a smile to Hermione, even though she officially disapproved, of course.

One Saturday in the beginning of October Hermione decided it was time to find the kitchens. Unlike Harry and Ron she had finished almost all of her homework, and this is what led to her standing outside a picture of a bowl of fruit in the bowels of the castle. The only problem was, she couldn't remember what you had to do to get in. She had tried talking to the painting – and she felt particularly silly talking to fruit – but hadn't got anywhere. She had tried knocking, but nothing happened. Standing in the corridor tapping her foot while she thought about it, she missed the soft footfalls walking up behind her.

"What are you doing, Granger?"

Hermione spun round, relaxing slightly when she met the confused gaze of Cedric Diggory. "Um…nothing much. What are you doing down here?"

Cedric looked at her knowingly. "So you weren't trying to get into the kitchens then?"

"What? No…I…you didn't answer my question!"

"Well that's easy," the taller boy shrugged, pointing down the corridor. "The Hufflepuff common room is just down there." He started to walk away, calling over his shoulder "I would try tickling the pear if I were you!"

Hermione watched him go, arms crossed and toe tapping against the floor. When he was out of sight she relaxed her posture, and muttering under her breath about annoying Hufflepuff prefects she reached forwards and tickled the pear, startling slightly when it giggled and swung open to show the kitchen beyond.

The kitchens were a sight to behold. Scores of elves rushed around, no doubt preparing for the dinner that would be served a couple of hours in the hall upstairs. Four large tables and a smaller one were laid out in the same arrangement as the Great Hall, with the smaller staff table perpendicular to the others. Hermione realised after a moments thought that it was likely the tables were directly underneath their Great Hall counterparts – her sense of direction wasn't that brilliant, but she thought the kitchen was in the right area. She just watched for a moment as the bustle continued around her, before she was spotted by a couple of elves that made their way over to her.

"Can we be helping miss?" One of them asked in a high pitch, squeaky voice. His (or at least Hermione thought it was a male elf, it was quite hard to tell…) large ears bobbed slightly as he talked, and he fingered the clean and crisp pillow case that he was wearing. The pillow case carried the Hogwarts emblem on one quarter and was in extremely good condition. In fact, all the house elves were dressed in the same pillow cases, all except one. The odd one out was wearing a garish collection of knitted clothing in every bright colour imaginable. He (again, Hermione was guessing a bit) even had odd but brightly coloured socks on. The colours were almost hypnotising and she had forgotten the elves question until a polite cough brought her attention back.

"Um… I'd like a cup of tea, please." The elves shot off happily, and very quickly a steaming cup of tea was brought back to Hermione. She cautiously seated herself at the end of what would be Gryffindor table and continued to watch the elves whilst cradling her mug between her hands.

The unusually dressed house elf came near to Hermione so she took the opportunity to talk to him. "Nice socks."

"Thank you Miss!" The small elf beamed at Hermione.

"Can I ask why you are dressed differently to the other elves?" Hermione asked tentatively, not wanting to offend the small creature.

"Because Miss, Dobby is a free elf!" Dobby stood a bit taller as he said this proudly. Other elves nearby were shaking their heads and looking a bit ashamed of the garish Dobby.

"A free elf?" Hermione questioned. "Do you worry about what will happen to your magic?"

At this, Dobby's ears drooped slightly.

"Better to be a free elf with no magic than an elf to…an elf to…bad people!" Dobby started banging his head against the table, causing Hermione to try to stop him in alarm. The elf stopped and smiled crookedly at Hermione. "Thank you Miss, Dobby forgets he is not to punish himself anymore."

Hermione smiled at the elf, and then remembered where she had heard the name Dobby before. "Are you the Dobby that helped Harry a couple of years ago?"

"Miss knows the great Harry Potter?" The elf's excitement was palpable.

"Um…yes, he's one of my best friends. I'll let him know you're here, I'm sure he'd like to visit."

Dobby by this point was almost trembling in his eagerness to be reacquainted with his hero, so Hermione decided to go and find Harry straight away.

The meeting between the two was as emotional as could be expected. Hermione was surprised that Dobby now wanted paying – not that she disapproved, but it didn't chime with what she had learnt about normal elvish behaviour. She was shocked to see Winky and the state she was in, but didn't know how she could possibly help the bereft house elf.

Even after they had left the kitchens and the elves behind, the sight of the pathetic creature clutching her butterbeer stayed with Hermione.

Eventually the end of October rolled around, and a notice appeared in the main hallway stating that representatives from Beaubaxtons and Durmstrang would arrive on the thirtieth of October, and that the Triwizard draw would be during the Halloween feast. Hermione felt relieved by this, every Halloween so far throughout her time at Hogwarts had been eventful and it would be nice just to have a normal evening and an opportunity to enjoy the feast.

The thirtieth saw them standing outside the main entrance of Hogwarts, waiting for the delegations from the other schools to arrive. There was a decided chill in the air, and Hermione muttered a warming charm to keep herself and those around her from feeling the worst of the cold. Neville shot her a grateful look although Harry and Ron were oblivious. They were stood out there for quite a while, when there was suddenly a great whooshing noise and a huge carriage pulled by massive winged horses came sailing through the air. It crashed to the ground with a shudder that the students gathered at the doorway of the castle could feel. The carriage was nothing though compared to the lady who emerged from it. She made Hagrid look a normal size, which was a feat in itself. Professor Dumbledore introduced her as Madame Maxime, the headmistress of Beaubaxtons cademy. The students filed out after her, in blue floating cloaks that really were not suitable for an autumnal Scottish climate.

No sooner had they had a chance to discuss the arrival of their first set of visitors, when the black lake suddenly churned and swelled. A tall ship, much like a pirate ship that Hermione had seen in movies emerged from the depths. The headmaster of Durmstrang, for it could only be them, was almost the opposite of his Beaubaxtons counterpart. Talk and thin, he sported a thin curling beard that somehow mirrored his expression as he looked around the waiting students. He beckoned one of his students, who were all dressed in fur lined cloaks and hats, up towards him. With his arm around this student he turned and led the rest into the castle Hermione managed to look at the student as they passed, and she didn't need Ron's excited gasp to realise it was none other than the Bulgarian quidditch superstar Victor Krum.

The details of the Goblet of Fire were given out by Professor Dumbledore during the dinner that evening. The age restriction was mentioned and enforced with an ageing line, which the Weasley twins were already plotting to hoodwink. Hermione doubted very much that they would succeed, however the attempt would probably be amusing.

Halloween started with most students eagerly watching to see which of their Hogwarts peers would enter. Most seventh years had chosen to forego the tournament in order to concentrate on their NEWTs, so it was only a handful of the older sixth years who were taking part. Angelina Johnson from Gryffindor put her name in, along with a couple of Slytherins and a Ravenclaw Hermione didn't know. The one she was interested to note though was Cedric Diggory, who grinned sheepishly as he entered and sat at the Hufflepuff table. The visitors all placed their names in, in one group. Hermione supposed that only those students serious about competing had been given the opportunity to study at Hogwarts for the year. She did wonder a bit what their schools were planning to do without Headmasters for the whole year but assumed a deputy had been chosen.

Predictably, Fred and George did get blasted back by the age line but sprouted tremendous beards as they did so, causing much merriment amongst the onlookers.

Eventually the Halloween feast rolled around, and the hall was silent as the Goblet was brought out. One by one it sparked red and fired pieces of paper towards the headmaster, who caught them deftly and read out the names of the champions. For Beaubaxtons, a blond girl called Fleur Delacour was selected. Victor Krum was chosen for Durmstrang, causing raucous calls beyond his fellow students. And for Hogwarts, Cedric Diggory was chosen. The roar from Hufflepuff table was deafening, although Hermione added her own to the din. Only Slytherin table sat unmoved, the two sixth years who had entered looking mutinous.

The headmaster had just started to conclude his speech and encourage the students to start dinner when the Goblet of Fire started to emit red sparks again. Hermione's stomach dropped, from the headmaster's expression she could tell that he hadn't expected any more activity and this didn't bode well. A split second later she was proved right, when Professor Dumbledore read a piece of paper that the Goblet ejected, paused for a second and then called out.

"Harry Potter."