Chapter 1

Diagon Alley

Gabrielle Delacour was being crushed. In hindsight, it was a mistake to walk into Quality Quidditch Supplies when Diagon Alley was so busy. She was shopping with her sister, Fleur, for her new school things, when she'd happened upon the Quidditch shop, and, unable to resist a peak at the Firebolt Hurricane which was hovering in the shop window, she'd decided that she just had to run inside for some broom polish, which had been conveniently located next to all of the new brooms that were on sale. Unfortunately, upon entering the shop, the clerk behind the counter had cried out; "Oh look here! It's the young World Champion!" Having played for the French Under-16's Team that had won the Quidditch World Cup over the summer, Gabrielle was used to occasionally being stopped in the street and asked for a picture, or even an autograph. This however, was nothing like that, as her sister was now shielding her from a mob of Quidditch fans trying to shove anything towards her for an autograph. It had started off quite calmly; there had been a few cheers, and Gabrielle had posed for a photo with the shop owner in front of a rack of Nimbus Two-Thousand-and-One's. Then, a Second Year boy had asked her to sign a Cleansweep Eleven that his mother had just bought him, and before long, more and more people were pouring into the shop, including a couple of reporters who flashed obnoxiously with their cameras and screamed questions at her regardless of whether or not she wanted to answer. How does it feel to be the first Hogwarts Student ever to win a World Cup? Is it true you're going to be on the cover of Witch Weekly Gabrielle? Will you be playing Quidditch for Slytherin this year? Gabrielle had almost begun to reach for her wand to try and protect herself from the crowd, when a large voice boomed throughout the shop, rattling the windows, and shaking Quaffle's from the display shelves.

"Clear out, the lot o' you!" Most of the crowd dissipated rather quickly as a giant of a man stepped heavily into the shop. At first, Gabrielle had failed to recognise him in all the confusion, but as she was finally given the space to breath, she looked up to see the looming figure of Professor Hagrid, who gave her a cheery wave.

"Merci 'Agrid," Fleur sighed, stepping onto her tiptoes to give the half-giant a gentle hug. Gabrielle smiled and gave a polite wave up at the man; there was no way she could even reach up to give him a hug. Despite just recently turning fourteen, she still hadn't managed to reach five feet tall yet, and standing next to Hagrid made her feel especially small; she was barely the height of his waist.

"Well, ye can't blame them for being excited," Hagrid bellowed happily down at them, his voice rattling the shop windows, "it's not every day your young woman wins a world cup now, is it? Watch out for them Daily Prophet hacks though, you don't want to give them anything." Gabrielle nodded, and after Fleur exchanged some small talk with the giant Professor, the pair of them made their way out of the store, with Gabrielle now shouldering a large bag of free merchandise the shop owner had thrust her way. The pair walked on, with Fleur muttering curses under her breath about Quidditch, whilst Gabrielle looked over her Third Year shopping list.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

Third-year Students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black) with their House Crest emblazoned

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black with silver fastenings)

5. One protective cloak (dragon hide or similar)

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

· Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

· The Standard Book of Spells Grade 3 by Miranda Goshawk

· Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts by Arsenius Jigger

· One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

· A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

· Intermediate Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

· Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

Students electing to take Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy must also have copies of the following:

· Numerology and Grammatica by General Theodore Jackson

· The Monster Book of Monsters by Edwardus Lima

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 Cauldron (pewter or brass, standard size 2)

1 set of glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl, OR a cat, OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT STUDENTS MAY BRING THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS, BUT THE SCHOOL RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CONFISCATE THEM AT ANY TIME.

Yours sincerely,

Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus

Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions

Finally managing to fend off the last of the autograph hunters, Gabrielle made her way over to Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, where Fleur took great delight in Gabrielle's embarrassment whilst she was having her new robes fitted, teasing her younger sister as Madame Malkin had to fit her into a set of First-year robes. After her school robes and cloaks had been properly fitted, Gabrielle also had a blue dress made to fit her tiny frame. The pair eventually left the dress shop with a new set of bags to carry, and another part of Gabrielle's list ticked off. Thankfully none of the crowd from the Quidditch shop had followed her around Diagon Alley, and she was able to work through her list fairly quickly, without being disturbed. She stopped in at Scribbulus Writing Implements to buy new quills and ink, and bought Elisé a huge bag of treats at Eeylops Owl Emporium, drawing some comments from Fleur about her Eagle Owl being too 'spoiled and impolite'. Gabrielle decided not to bother getting herself a new cauldron, reasoning with Fleur that it would only end up burned and full of sludge anyway, so she may as well save money and keep the scabby cauldron that was currently gathering dust somewhere beneath her bed. She had been putting it off for as long as possible, but eventually she had to make the trip to Flourish and Blotts to buy her new books.

The bookshop was busy, with a large crowd inside, fighting over a table which contained copies of one particular book; The Life and Lies of Harry Potter. Rita Skeeter had released her latest book a mere month and a half after Harry had disappeared, and it was selling faster than Butterbeer at a Broom Race. Gabrielle hadn't read it, but what she'd overheard from Fleur and Bill had led her to believe that the book was almost entirely fictional. She'd spent a weekend at the Burrow before the World Cup, as family and friends gathered for Harry's memorial service. Ginny had been in pieces; Gabrielle had had to share her room, and whilst she tried to give the older girl as much space as she could, Gabrielle often heard Ginny crying herself to sleep. Seeing so many people fight over copies of a book that had been written to drag Harry's name through the mud made Gabrielle angry, and she gathered her books as quickly as possible, even fighting with the aptly named Monster Book of Monsters, which was determined not to be put into the bag, much to the relief of the weary shopkeeper.

"It's a disgrace!" Gabrielle spat as she left the shop, groaning under the weight of her books.

"It's Rita Skeeter," Fleur replied bitterly, "she was never going to wait long. He disappeared a little over a month ago; so she needed to jump on the story to sell more copies."

"Do you really think he is gone?" Gabrielle asked.

"I hope not," Fleur put an arm around Gabrielle's shoulders, "we could definitely do with his help right now. Bill had to break a horrific curse yesterday that the WULF cast on someone whilst they were returning from withdrawing money from their vault. They've been doing that a lot lately, stealing from people just as they leave the bank, gaining any small bit of funding they can. The Ministry have put Aurors outside every entrance now." Gabrielle thought back to her first encounter with the Wizard's United Liberation Front, during the last match at Hogwarts the term before, the group had set the Slytherin stands on fire, causing them to collapse completely. In the months since, the once small group of wizards with radical ideologies known mostly to themselves had grown in numbers, with more and more small scale attacks. So far, no-one had been killed, that was, at least, until the group had claimed they were responsible for attacking Harry, who still hadn't been found, dead or otherwise. Why the WULF had attacked Harry, or why they were doing any of the things they were doing, was a mystery to Gabrielle, but one she hoped would no longer be her problem once she reached Hogwarts.

Trying to put the WULF out of her mind, Gabrielle turned back to the end of the street, towards the bright orange doors of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, with it's enormous wizard standing over the entrance, occasionally doffing its hat to passers by, revealing a white rabbit underneath. The shop, which used to be packed from wall to wall, seemed solemnly quiet for the week before a Hogwarts term. "Go on," Fleur said, nudging Gabrielle towards the store, "I'm going to pay a visit to Bill before we head home. You'll be safe with George." Gabrielle nodded and began making her way to the shop. "I'll get you outside when I'm finished," Fleur called out before turning and heading towards Gringotts.

Gabrielle pushed open the brightly coloured doors and stepped into what seemed like a different world entirely. She had only been in George's shop once before, but it seemed like it had changed completely since her first visit a few weeks ago. Purple and orange fireworks popped over the rafters in the ceiling, and Extendable Ears bounced up and down on strings, just as they had done before, but George seemed to have been trying to cash in on the buzz surrounded by the Quidditch World Cup – much like shops all across Europe – and had redecorated accordingly. Flags of all the competing nations waved, high up on all of the banisters, and Gabrielle could make out miniature models of the French and Japanese teams who had competed in the World Cup final. Squinting, Gabrielle could make out the tiny versions of her friend, Juliette DuPont, and her favourite player in the world, Elisé De Laserre. The two teams were locked in a fierce game, using a set of Fanged Frisbee's as goals, and occasionally shouting insults at each other. Gabrielle looked around in wonder at the brightly coloured shop, contemplating whether she would even dare to use any of George's products at Hogwarts. Before she had time to dwell on these thoughts though, a loud crack from behind her caused her to jump about a foot in the air, dropping all of her shopping in the process, and setting the Monster Book of Monsters loose from her bag of textbooks.

"Hi!" George said, squeezing her shoulders, "back for another visit?" The tall wizard flicked his wand and the book of monsters fell silent. Gabrielle grabbed it and stuffed it hastily back into her bag. "So, let me give you the tour I promised last time!" George beamed, and ushered her forward, deeper into the shop. First, they passed by a large, shocking pink display filled with little bottles and tubes of cream that read things like Crush Blush, Heartbreak Teardrops, and Ten-Second Pimple Vanisher; excellent on everything from boils to blackheads. "That's our WonderWitch line, George said, noting Gabrielle's interest, "can't sell you anything from there until you're sixteen." George continued wheeling her towards a far corner of the shop adorned with Quidditch posters and flags, which had a small rack of brooms, and some protective gear.

"New fleet of our racing brooms, just came in yesterday," George explained, "I heard about you and Ginny testing out our Broom Broom Kits before the holidays…" George's voice trailed off for a minute, and Gabrielle could sense that he was thinking about Harry's disappearance, and the effect it had likely had on Ginny. "Still," he threw his hands wide, returning to his usual, bubbly self, "they're all working and all above board now, not that I expect you'd be needing a kit yourself, with a broom like that." He was referring, of course, to Gabrielle's most prized possession, her Nimbus Two-Thousand-Five-Hundred, the fastest racing broom in the world.

"No," she conceded jokingly, "but at least ze others will have enough speed to keep me in sight when I'm not at full speed."

"Heard you picked up a few more awards at the World Cup?" George asked conversationally as they continued through the shop, passing a rack of the newest Fanged Frisbees and Boxing Telescopes (Now with branded gloves!).

"Golden Quaffle, and the Player of Tournament Award." Gabrielle smiled back, reminiscing about her week inside the base of Mont Blanc, where she had not only won the Youth tournament, but watched France win the World Cup on home soil. Quidditch was suddenly the furthest thing from her mind as they approached a dark curtain with a large label above that read PYROTECHNICS ROOM: ENTER WITH CAUTION! George pulled back the curtain and ushered Gabrielle into the dark room that lay beyond. When the curtain closed, the pair were plunged into darkness, and Gabrielle thought that something maybe hadn't worked. She was proved wrong only seconds later as a large firework exploded off to her left, lighting up the walls of the room. Before it was fully dark again, two more rockets exploded above their heads, and then a flurry of smaller bangers that let out bursts of red and green, and orange and purple. A large Catherine wheel spun into life on Gabrielle's right, and then six or seven flying saucers zoomed overhead, criss-crossing the ceiling and fizzing out on the floor.

"Ready for the big finale?" George called out over the noise of the fireworks. Seconds later, a huge blast lit up the entire room, with the firework touching each corner of the ceiling, before fizzling out into large streamers of all different colours that strung themselves out across the floor. "and that's our smallest fireworks," George smiled as they backed out of the room, "couldn't ever let the big ones off indoors, it would be a huge disaster." Gabrielle laughed, and then began to wander aimlessly, browsing more of the Weasley products, until she came to a section of the shop that seemed different from the rest, each shelf draped in a dark blue fabric. Her eyes laid upon a small black stone, that glittered in the lights of the shop. It was surrounded by hats and cloaks, and tiny objects that looked like little air horns with legs. Curiously, Gabrielle picked up the stone and examined it, surprised by its somewhat gritty texture.

"What are zees?" She turned and called to George.

"Whoa! Careful with that one missy!" He said, rushing over and plucking the stone delicately out of Gabrielle's fingers. "That's Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. Used to be a real money-spinner back when You-Know-Who and his cronies were about. You throw it hard at the ground, or crush it in your hand, and it will throw out an enormous cloud of black smoke, nothing penetrates through it; not even our biggest fireworks can be seen inside it. It's dead handy if you need to make a quick getaway." George carefully placed the stone back inside her tiny hands. "You can keep that one, just don't go setting it off in Shell Cottage, Bill will know where it came from, and it's a pain to get off any carpets or curtains." Giving George a hug, and her thanks, Gabrielle pocketed the Instant Darkness Powder, and made off around the shop picking up some of George's tamer products. By the time she arrived at the counter, she had an armful of Nosebleed Nougat, Spell-Checking Quills, a pair of Extendable Ears, and a small jar of Bruise Removal Paste which she thought might come in handy on the off-chance she got hit by a Bludger at any point during the term.

She had just packed her purchases into her bag and turned to leave the shop, when her sister Fleur came bursting into the shop, clearly in a panic. Her platinum hair was flying out behind her as she came running towards both of them, her wand drawn, her jacket unbuttoned. "Gabrielle we need to go! The WULF are here!" Gabrielle was frozen to the spot.

"Well, if you just let me lock up, and then I'll come with…" George began, but as he looked outside the window, his face contorted in fear, and he grabbed Gabrielle's shoulders, forcing her to the ground. "Everyone down!" He cried across the shop floor. Seconds passed, and then Gabrielle heard the horrible sound of glass shattering as curses flew into the the storefront. She crawled along on her stomach, looking for her sister. She was kneeling down behind a rack of Nose Biting Teacups, firing counter curses back at who ever was attacking the shop. Fleur held out her hand and cried for Gabrielle to take it. Gabrielle dived forward to reach her sister, leaving her cover behind the counter, and for a split second, leaving herself completely exposed through the shops front doors. As she risked a peak, she could see two figures outside the shop, wearing long black cloaks, with their hoods drawn over their heads, and their faces covered by golden masks that resembled skulls with pink eyes. Then, as she took her sisters hand, she suddenly felt a sharp pull on her arm, and then felt as though her body was being squeezed tightly into a tube, and spun around in the air. Moments later, she found herself being dumped onto a sandy beach in front of her sisters' house as a large crack reverberated through the air. Gabrielle tried to get her bearings, but the second she tried to pull herself onto her feet, she threw up violently into the sand.

"Je suis désolé* Gabrielle," Fleur said, bending over to hold back her younger sisters' hair, "I didn't have time to warn you." Gabrielle rolled over onto her back as another sharp crack cut through the breeze.

"Oh, beautiful," Bill laughed as approached the two girls, "you know, Charlie was sick the first time he apparated too."

*Je suis désolé – I am sorry.

Authors Notes

Hello again,

Thank you for reading the first proper chapter of the Tournament of Champions, I hope you enjoyed it! I know that at least a few of you will be a little disappointed not to see Harry appear, but good things come to those who wait.

Nevertheless, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, and if you would be so kind as to leave a review, I would be very appreciative. I'm going to keep this note short and sweet, and will leave by letting you know that I plan to give you 5 chapters by the end of August.

Thanks again,

IronManRidingaNimbus.