Good morning everyone!
I just got back from Cardiff, which was lovely, and I am here with a new chapter.
Thank you for the favorites and follows, it is great for me to know that you all are out there reading!
I hope you like it! This chapter introduces a new subplot!
Enjoy x

wildest dreams
VOLUME I

CHAPTER TEN

A few days later, I woke up feeling quite excited. It was October 30th, after all – the day the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons arrived. When I sat down in the Great Hall to eat breakfast, Fred and George were working on their letter for Bagman.

"Making any progress ?" I asked them, spreading jam on my toast.

"It's done" declared Fred. "We are still debating on whether to send it or not."

"Why not ? Because of the blackmailing ?"

"I don't really feel like ending up in Azkaban for a few Galleons" said George.

"Except it's not just a 'few' Galleons, George" sighed Fred.

"And it's your money, you have every right to ask for it" I nodded.

"Still not sure" sighed George.

"Well, he's coming here for the Tournament, right ? Maybe you should try and talk to him in person" I suggested.

"I'm tired of waiting – but it's probably our best option" said George.

"What a bummer" mumbled Fred.

"It's a bummer all right" muttered George. "But if he won't talk to us in person, we'll have to send him the letter after all. Or we'll stuff it into his hand. He can't avoid us forever."

"Who's avoiding you ?" said Ron, sitting down at the table with Harry and Hermione.

The twins sighed. I smiled at them – we didn't see each other as much when we were at Hogwarts, but I really enjoyed the trio's company. Me and Hermione got along really well.

"Wish you would" said Fred.

"What's a bummer ?" insisted Ron.

"Having a nosy git like you for a brother" replied George.

I gave him a nudge.

"You two got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet ? Thought any more about trying to enter ?" asked Harry.

"I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling" said George.

"She just told him to shut up and get on with transfiguring his raccoon" I added with a chuckle.

"Wonder what the tasks are going to be ?" said Ron. "You know, I bet we could do them, Harry. We've done dangerous stuff before."

"Not in front of a panel of judges, you haven't. McGonagall says the champions get awarded points according to how well they've done the task."

"Who are the judges ?" asked Harry.

"Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel, because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792, when a cockatrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on the rampage" explained Hermione.

I raised an eyebrow. Hermione sure knew a lot of things about a lot of things – it was kind of impressive, actually. She explained how she had read it in Hogwarts, A History and then went on another rant about the House Elves working in the castle. She had founded a campaign to help them get some money for their work – the twins had not signed up, but I had, just because I felt bad for Hermione and wanted to help her out.

"Listen, have you ever been down in the kitchens, Hermione ?" asked George.

"No, of course not" she replied. "I hardly think students are supposed to –"

"Well, we have" said George, indicating me and Fred. "Loads of time, to nick food. And we've met them, and they're happy. They think they've got the best job in the world –"

"That's because they're uneducated and brainwashed !" snapped Hermione.

She was about to go on but was interrupted by the arrival of post owls. I looked up expectedly – I hadn't heard from my Uncle in a while. When I finally saw his owl, I smiled and quickly opened his letter. He and the band had finished their tour around France, but had decided to stick around for a few days to see the country. He invited me to join them – but wrote that 'he was sure I'd much rather stay at Hogwarts', which was true. The day went on quite quickly, as everyone was excited about the arrival of the other schools. Nobody payed much attention in class, and at last period, Flitwick gave up and let all of us go early. After dropping our things in the Gryffindor Tower, we all went back to the entrance hall. I joined the line of Gryffindors and noticed how some people had dressed up for the occasion – Alicia had carefully braided her hair and Angelina seemed to be wearing makeup. I hadn't even thought about doing that.

We all stood outside, waiting for the arrival. Luckily, it wasn't too cold, but I was still happy I had put on my sweater before going out. While we were waiting, we all shared theories on how we thought they would arrive – apparition ? Or a Portkey, maybe ? Then, we heard Dumbledore's voice from the back row.

"Aha ! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches !"

"Where ?" asked some students.

"There !" said another, pointing to the forest.

I looked up, and saw a big, dark thing coming down from the sky. As it got closer, I realized it was a carriage, pulled through the air by flying horses. The carriage landed on the ground a few seconds later, menacing to crash into the first few rows of students.

"Woah" muttered Alicia beside me.

The carriage was pale blue, and the huge horses shook their manes – it was beautiful. I had to stretch my neck out to see the blonde-haired boy pull out the steps from the carriage, but I certainly didn't have to do that to see the first person that came out of it – it was a very, very tall woman. I stared at her in awe, as I did everyone.

"She must be half-giant, like Hagrid !" muttered Angelina excitedly.

I nodded, admiring her shiny hair and nice clothes as she walked to meet Dumbledore. However tall she was, she was very pretty. Then, about a dozen shivering boys and girls came out of the carriage, all wearing silk robes. They all looked a bit apprehensive – but I mostly noticed that they were all very good-looking, especially the girls. I shot a look at the twins and Lee – they were staring, as did most of the boys around us.

"Durmstrang here yet ?" I whispered to Angelina, who giggled.

"I wonder how they will arrive."

"Certainly not as gracefully" said Fred.

I rolled my eyes as we all started waiting again. It was starting to get cold, when suddenly I heard Lee yell not too far from us.

"The lake ! Look at the lake !"

We all turned to see what he was poiting. The surface of the lake seemed to be boiling, and suddenly, a huge ship emerged from the water, looking magnificent in the moonlight. I stared in awe – both arrivals had been impressive, but this was probably my favorite. It didn't take long for the ship to arrive at shore, and soon, we could see the students disembarking and making their way to the castles. As they came closer, I stretched out my neck to see them better.

"Blimey" I muttered under my breath.

They were all boys, of course – and all wrapped up in big, warm cloaks, staring at the crowd with piercing eyes. I turned to Alicia and Angelina, exchanging excited grins. Let's just say they did lived up to their reputation.

"Look at all these pumpkin heads" sighed Fred.

"You're the pumpkin head" said Angelina, shooting him a look.

I smirked.

"Well, I'm convinced of thing – there's going to be loads of broken hearts at Hogwarts this year" I said.

"Scared you are going to get thrown off your podium ?" said George, referring to our conversation a few weeks back.

"Absolutely not" I replied, laughing.

We turned back to the Durmstrang students who were making their way inside – and suddenly I saw a very familiar face. I gasped, grabbing the twins' sleeves.

"Is that – is that –" muttered George.

"KRUM ?" said Fred.

"No bloody way that's him" I said.

But it was him – I could hear people whispering excitedly around us. I couldn't believe. Viktor Krum, at Hogwarts !

"'Mazing" said Lee as we made our way back to the castle.

"I knew he was young, but I didn't know he's still in school !" exclaimed Angelina.

We all sat down in the Great Hall – the Beauxbatons students sat at Ravenclaw's table and the Durmstrang students at Slytherin's. I could see Montague sitting next to Krum.

"Oh, bugger ! – why Slytherin ?" I moaned.

"Because life is unfair" replied Fred dramatically, staring at the girls from Beauxbatons.

I shot a look at Angelina – who was also staring at the girls, but while Fred was admiring them, she seemed quite annoyed with them. I chuckled to myself, even though I didn't particularly like how George was staring at them either.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and – most particularly – guests" said Dumbledore, bringing the attention to him. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."

A girl from Beauxbatons laughed mockingly at Dumbledore, and I glared at her.

"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast. I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home !"

The plates filled up with food, but I quickly noticed that it wasn't the usual food we were served – there were a lot of unknown dishes, which instantly lifted up my spirits. I loved trying out new food.

"Ooh ! What do you reckon that is ?" I pointed at a strange looking thing that looked like meat.

"I absolutely have no idea" answered George. "Let's try it."

He put some of it on both our plates, and we tasted it at the same time – it was quite good. We started doing that for each dish we didn't know. Most of it was good, but there were some nasty ones. When we were finishing up, I noticed someone knew sitting at the teacher's table. I gave Fred and George a nudge.

"Look who's here" I said.

"Hello, Mr. Bagman" said Fred with a smirk.

I laughed. I was really hoping that Fred and George's plan would work out, and that they would get their money back. It really wasn't fair, after all.

A few minutes later, the plates were cleaned up and Dumbledore stood again. The twins went completely silent, listening attentively to the director.

"The moment has come" started Dumbledore. The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket – just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

Students started applauding him cheerfully – I raised an eyebrow as Bagman waved at the crowd.

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

"Great" sighed George.

"No, it's good – that means he'll be around a lot" I smiled.

"Can't avoid us now, can you, Bagman ?" said Fred.

We quickly turned back to Dumbledore, as Filch was carrying a big wooden chest to the front.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman, and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, space throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways… their magical prowess – their daring – their powers of deduction – and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

I had never heard the Hall so quiet – but everyone was waiting to see what Dumbledore had to say. I took a quick look at the twins – they looked very focused.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament. One from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector : the Goblet of Fire."

I frowned – what could that be ? Dumbledore raised his wand at the wooden chest, and the lid opened. I stretched my neck as Dumbledore reached inside and pulled out a big cup filled with blue flames. I stared in awe as the director placed it where everyone could see it.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet. Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete. To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation –"

I felt the twins tense beside me.

"I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line."

I turned to the twins – they were grinning from ear to ear. I already knew what they had in mind.

"An Age Line !" said Fred as we walked out of the Great Hall. "Well, that should be fooled by an Aging Potion, shouldn't it ? And once your name's in that goblet, you're laughing – it can't tell whether you're seventeen or not !"

"But I don't think anyone under seventeen will stand a chance" replied Hermione. "We just haven't learned enough…"

"Speak for yourself" said George. "You'll try and get in, won't you, Harry ?"

I turned to Harry, curious to hear his answer, but Ron interrupted, looking everywhere around him – probably in search of Krum.

"Where is he ? Dumbledore didn't say where the Durmstrang people are sleeping, did he ?"

I snickered, exchanging amused looks with the twins.

"Can you imagine Krum and his friends coming to sleep in the Gryffindor Tower ?" I told Angelina.

"I certainly wouldn't be complaining" she said.

We started laughing at the idea when Harry, Ron and Hermione – who were walking in front of us, suddenly stopped. I frowned, and saw that Harry had stopped to let Karkaroff, Durmstrang's director, and his students go through the doors first.

"Thank you" he said with his low voice.

Then he turned to Harry, and froze – like all the students behind him. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. Poor Harry.

"Yeah, that's Harry Potter" said a familiar voice from behind us.

I turned to see Moody – his eye was fixed on Karkaroff.

"You !" said the latter.

"Me" said Moody. "And unless you've got anything to say to Potter, Karkaroff, you might want to move. You're blocking the doorway."

I noticed how pale Karkaroff had suddenly become – it seemed like Moody and him knew each other. I wondered how – it didn't look like they really liked each other, though. But Karkaroff still gestured to his students to start walking, and when I turned back to look at them leave the castle, I caught the eye of one of them – who was staring at me, a small smile on his lips. I tensed, and tried not to blush.

"Blimey Addy, did you see that ? He was just staring at you the whole time" chuckled Angelina as we made our way to the Gryffindor Tower.

"No, he wasn't" I said, blushing.

"Oh no, he was" nodded Fred. "Probably wondering if you're of troll descent."

"Oh, bugger off" I told him, pushing him on the arm, a small smile on my lips.