Chapter 8: The Goblet of Fire

Pretty much the entire of Hogwarts School was crowded outside the front gates as the afternoon lengthened, waiting for the foreign competitors for the Triwizard Cup and the honour of the tournament to arrive so that the thing could finally start properly. Little first and second years were pushed out in front, the bigger seniors stood further to the back, except for people like Malfoy and his gang who pushed the little ones aside so that they could get closer to the front and get a better view of what was going on.

Sakura was standing halfway up the outer wall of the school, scanning the crowd for Sasuke's face and not finding it anywhere. She was starting to get worried, she hardly ever saw him and even then he didn't say anything to her. It was as if he'd stopped caring about anything at all and was just going through the motions of living rather than actually living any sort of life.

"Ino! Have you seen Sasuke?"

"No," Ino said, "I don't know what the matter with him is. Every time I see him he just looks so depressed."

"Sasuke is down by the lake," Shino said in that eerily calm voice of his, "he sits there pretty much every day."

"Doing what?" Ino asked.

"He doesn't do anything, he just sits there and stares into the depths." Shino said.

Oh, Sasuke. Sakura knew that this all had to do with what had happened to Sasuke that had put him in the hospital before Lady Tsunade arrived to heal him, and she so desperately wanted to help him through whatever was wrong, but she knew that he would never accept her help even if she did offer it.


Naruto pushed his way through the crowd toward where Hinata stood in the middle of a thick press, trying to peer over the heads and shoulders of the people around her, "Hey, Hinata, can you actually see over all these people?"

"Naruto! I, uh, well it," Hinata stammered, "no."

Naruto laughed, "Well allow me. Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

There was a puff of smoke and two shadow clones appeared next to them, and one of them each lifted Hinata and the real Naruto up on their shoulders, so that they were now perched above the heads of even the tallest Hogwarts students.

"That better?" Naruto asked.

"Much better, thank you." Hinata said, before someone jostled the Naruto clone and she almost went flying.

"Woah!" Naruto shot out a hand to catch her and pull her back, "Careful there, wouldn't want to fall would you?"

"No." Hinata looked down at her small, pale hand in Naruto's, and a faint blush rose to her cheeks.

"Huh?" Naruto looked at that as well, "Oh, sorry, I'll let go now."

"No, don't." Hinata said quickly, before a sweet smile graced her lips, "Don't let go, Naruto."

Naruto chuckled, "Okay."


A little way off, in a different part of the crowd, Kiba nudged Shino lightly in the ribs, "How can that idiot not see it? It's so obvious."

"I know. She couldn't be more clear about it if she were giving off pheromones." Shino said.

Akamaru barked.

Kiba laughed, "You can say that again, buddy."

"What did he say?"

"That he can smell her nerves from here, and I can to." Kiba said, "I hope he's worth it."


Harry and the others could see Naruto and Hinata swaying gently on the shoulders of their shadow clones from the other side of the crowd as a large group of Gryffindors waited in a tight group for the expected arrival.

"I may not be able to make copies of myself," Harry said, "but I could give you a bump up if you like?"

Hermione laughed, "Its fine Harry, I can see from where I am."

"How do you think they're going to be getting here then?" Ron said, "Perhaps you can apparate younger where they come from?"

"You can't apparate into Hogwarts Ron." Hermione said.

"Oh, right." it was hard to pretend there wasn't a definite note of sourness in Ron's voice, "That's me told then isn't it?"

Harry was about to ask just what his problem was when suddenly Dennis Creevey yelled out from near the front "Look! Look, up there, it's a flying house!"

It wasn't quite a flying house, but it was a massive carriage pulled by winged horses that circles around Hogwarts once before coming into land on the grassy lawn outside the front entrance. The coach door opened and a woman of about Hagrid's size with olive oil skin got up, followed shortly by a group of boys and girls in light silken robes.

"Madame Maxine," Dumbledore kissed her hand, "how glad we are to welcome you to Hogwarts."

"Pinch me Harry," Ron murmured, as the two Heads exchanged pleasantries, "I think I've died."

"What?" Harry said.

"The girls, look at the girls they're…they're gorgeous."

The Beauxbatons girls did in fact look good, with their hair shining and their skin glowing and their eyes alight. As the Hogwarts students made way for them to get in they walked catwalk model style, one foot perfectly in front of the other, shoulders and hips swaying as they went. Ron wasn't the only one who was salivating.

"What do you reckon our chances are?" Seamus said.

"Of getting any of that you mean?" Dean said.

"Yeah."

"On a scale of one to ten, ten being well in and one being not a hope," Dean said, "I'd say we're about minus twenty five."

Then there was another wait before a tall ship rose up out of the lake, and set up a gangplank to disembark its crew of Durmstrang students and their headmaster. Now it was the girl's turn to whisper excitedly at the sight of the tall, dark young men with dark eyes and dangerous faces who made their way up toward the castle. Especially who was at their head.

"It can't be," Ron said, "Viktor Krum?"

A collective shriek of fangirlishness passed through the crowd as the Durmstrang boys passed through it.

"In to the feast, all of you!" Dumbledore said pleasantly, and led the way by his example back into the Great Hall.


The Ravenclaws presently became the envy of the school when the Beauxbatons delegation, pretty girls and prettyboys alike, chose their table to sit at. The Slytherins had the consolation of the Dumstrang group- including sporting idol- sitting at their table; but while the Durmstrang boys were attractive to a certain kind of girl the Durmstrang girls were mostly of the big boned, powerfully built variety who weren't half so easy on the eye. Though the sight of Crabbe and Goyle exchanging loving glances with two such did cause Harry to snort amusedly and get half his pumpkin juice up his nose.

"Honestly," Ron said, "Ravenclaw gets fit girls, Slytherin gets Viktor Krum, and what do we get, bloody ninjas."

"Hufflepuff haven't got anything." Neville said.

"Yeah but what do you expect," Ron said, "its Hufflepuff isn't it?"

"So how are they going to select for this tournament anyway?" Shikamaru asked, "Who makes the decision who goes in for it?"

Harry shrugged, "I don't know."

Hermione sighed, "It's all in Hogwarts: A History, the Goblet of-"

"Quiet please, all of you." Dumbledore rose from the high table to address the school and guests, "Hogwarts students, honoured guests, it gives me great pleasure to announce that the Triwizard Tournament is now officially under way." The Headmaster nonverbally levitated an old looking golden chalice into the hall and onto a stand in the middle of a circle on the floor.

"The Goblet of Fire," Dumbledore continued, "has traditionally been the method by which students from the three schools have been chosen as the Champions in the Triwizard tournament. All you need do if you wish to compete is put your name into the goblet and it will decide which student from which school is most worthy to stand as the champion for Hogwarts, Beauxbatons or Dumstrang.

Now, as the Goblet dates back to a time before an age limit was imposed, it does not recognize that only students who are of age may compete, so I have taken the liberty of drawing an age line around the goblet that only students over seventeen may pass, just to make sure that the rule is adhered to," Dumbledore smiled gently across the hall, "and now, I am sure that you are all anxious to commence the feast. So dig in!"

"An age line eh?" Fred said as the food appeared on their plates, "Think ageing potion would get around that George?"

"I reckon it ought to, yeah." George said.

"I don't think an age line drawn by Dumbledore would be fooled by anything so simple as an ageing potion." Hermione said.

"Doesn't mean it definitely won't work though." Fred said.

Ron grinned, "I've got a better idea. Hoi! Ninjas!"

"Yeah, what?" Kiba replied.

"Could you walk on the ceiling till you were above the goblet, and then drop down on it from above?"

"What, right now?"

"No, not right now." Ron hissed, "Later."

"Surely you're not actually thinking of-" Hermione began.

"Why not?" Ron said, "A thousand galleons would come in handy."

"I wouldn't bother." Harry said, "Enough trouble finds me without me going looking for it."

Ron shrugged, "Suit yourself mate, but a thousand galleons."

"Forget putting your names in," Naruto said, "I'm entering for myself."

"What do you want to enter for Naruto," Sakura said, "this isn't even a Shinobi contest."

"A contest is a contest, and a winner is a winner Sakura."

"Aaah, you're such an idiot."

And the discussion soon got bogged down in details of how exactly one would go about getting past the age line, or whether you would even want to.


And at the staff table Mad Eye Moody, aka Barty Crouch Jr, smiled to himself. Soon the plans of his master and his irascible new ally would be fulfilled, and together they would unite all the worlds under their dark grasp.

Everything was proceeding according to the master plan of the two Dark Lords, and the time was near when all their foes would be humbled and vengeance would be complete. And nothing, not the wizards of Hogwarts nor the shinobi of the Leaf, could stop them now.