AN: Dedicated to the god of writer's block. May he never trouble me again.
The Triwizard Tournament
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?" The Great Hall fell silent as Charles Clover, the Headmaster, rose to his feet. He was middle-aged man with the excitement of a nine-year-old. And when he looked at you with his shinning blue eyes you felt as if he could see through you and you could hide nothing from him. "Now that you have stuffed yourselves to the point of near explosion, I have some very important news for you. Some of you may have heard of the Triwizard Tournament. For those of you who haven't, it is an international wizarding competition in which three schools participate. Now, there have been deaths in the past, however I think it is safe to say that this year it will be much safer. Also, there will be an age limit. Only those who are at least seventeen may enter. Of those who have entered one will be chosen by an impartial judge to be the champion of the school. The other schools participating are Charivni Palychky (cha-reev-nee pa-lo-chkee) and Powaqa. They will arrive on Halloween."
Teddy's heart sank a little at the mention of the age limit. He had wanted to enter. It sounded so exciting. And it would be great to represent his school. But, he knew there was probably a good reason for the age limit. After all, people had died in the past.
"Also," Professor Clover continued, "there will be no Quidditch due to the Tournament."
Teddy groaned along with many others. Quidditch was one of the things he had been looking forward to most. Professor Clover just smiled at the disappointed students, his perfect, white teeth reflecting the light of the hundreds of candles that filled the Great Hall.
"Goodnight all," he cried merrily. "Off to bed."
Teddy and Alex took one of their favorite short-cuts to Gryffindor Tower while Violet rushed to fulfill her prefect's duties. The splendor of the castle never failed to astonish Teddy, even after four years. He loved everything about Hogwarts; the many spiral stairways, the pictures that moved, the trick steps that you would fall through if you forgot to jump, doors pretending to be walls, walls pretending to be doors, even Peeves the Poltergeist who loved to cause problems and could be restrained only by the Bloody Baron. They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady whose job it was to guard the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.
"Password?" she said raising an eyebrow at them.
"Puppy biscuit," said Alex. The Fat Lady's portrait swung open to reveal the Portrait Hole.
"Puppy biscuit? Seriously?" said Teddy incredulously as they clambered through.
"I know," Alex agreed. "I was wondering if she was starting to lose her marbles."
"Let's wait for Violet."
"Sure."
The common room was almost empty. Teddy and Alex sat down in the moth-eaten arm chairs by the roaring fire. Violet soon entered the common followed by the first years and proceeded to give them a tour of the common room and the dormitories.
"I swear they get smaller every year," said Alex looking at the first years.
"I know," Teddy agreed. "Hey, Violet," he added as she came over and sat down.
"So, the Triwizard Tournament. How cool is that?" said Alex excitedly.
"Beyond cool," Teddy said. "Shame we can't enter, though."
"I doubt we've learned enough to enter," said Violet. "What do you reckon the champions will have to do?"
"Harry said there are three tasks that are really dangerous. And there are five judges who judge the each task. Three of the judges are each of the School's Heads," Teddy told them.
"What about the other two?" asked Violet.
"Don't remember."
"And who's the impartial judge?"
"What, not who. The Goblet of Fire. I don't know what that is."
Teddy stifled a yawn. It was getting pretty late. The thought of his four-poster bed upstairs was inviting. They decided to go to bed and continue their discussion of the tournament in the morning. Upon entering their dormitory, Teddy and Alex saw their two dorm-mates, Ash White and Brian Wickham. Ash and Brian were the Hogwarts trouble-makers. Their pranks were second only to Peeves's. Teddy knew that Brian had a bit of a crush on Victoria. Like that was ever going to happen! He wouldn't be surprised if the feminist trio were lesbians.
"'Sup, guys?" Ash asked as they entered. "Good summer?"
"Not bad," said Teddy answering for both of them. "You?"
"Okay."
Teddy was too tired to continue the discussion. He put on his pajamas and climbed into bed. His bed was the one nearest the window, so he could look outside whenever he liked. The moon was almost a perfect circle, a waxing gibbous. The light from Hagrid's hut by the Forbidden Forest could be seen as a little fleck of gold. Teddy closed his weary eyes and nodded off to sleep.
"Wakey time!" Alex screamed into Teddy's ear on Halloween morning. Teddy was most definitely not a morning person.
"Will you torture someone else for a change?" said Teddy.
"Nope. C'mon the other schools are coming today. Wakey, wakey, wakey!"
"You do know that's annoying, right?"
Before Alex had time to answer, Violet screamed from downstairs, "Teddy Remus Lupin get down here this instant!"
"You gotta do what the lady says," Alex told Teddy.
"Fine," said Teddy getting up.
When they entered the Great Hall, everyone was talking about the two schools. Teddy, Alex, and Violet were quick to join the discussion.
"Where are they from?" asked Diane.
"Charivni Palychky are from Ukraine and Powaqa are from California," Teddy told her.
"How do you know that?" asked Alex.
"Hermione made me memorize the names of all the wizarding schools."
"Is it true that they learn the Dark Arts at Charivni Palychky?" asked Brian.
"I think so," said Violet. "Mum said so, anyway."
For Teddy the classes seemed to be twice as long. He kept checking his watch, awaiting six o'clock for that was when the other schools were to arrive. When the last bell finally rang throughout the castle, Teddy was one of the first to jump to his feet. His excitement was mirrored in the faces of those around him. The students hurriedly made their way to the grounds; the sounds of thousands of footfalls were echoing in the halls. Teachers were trying to make order out of the sea of students, but to no avail.
"Ladies and gentlemen," roared Professor Clover. "May I have your attention? Will you please try to be a little more respectful when our guests arrive, eh?" he said chuckling.
The students had fallen silent. They were looking in all directions for signs of the arriving schools. Then, something could be seen in the lake. Several dozen people on surf boards had their wands out and were causing the boards to move closer and closer to the bank. The girls were wearing tight, revealing bikinis of the sort that would cause most definite expulsion from Hogwarts. The boys were wearing swimming trunks. A full grown woman was first to reach the shore. She was a tall woman with reddish blonde hair. There was a sort of proud and pompous air about her. Teddy was sure that she was the Headmistress.
"Ah, Charles," she said striding towards Professor Clover. "Long time no see." She had an American accent.
"Indeed," replied Clover "How are you, ChrissAnn?"
"Super! And you?"
"Not bad. I trust you remember where the bathrooms are?"
"Of course." She turned to her students that were getting out of the icy water. Many of them were shivering. "This way, everyone."
As her students followed her to the castle, Professor Clover looked back at his own students. "That was Mrs. Shane and her students from Powaqa."
Teddy wondered how Charivi Palychky would be arriving. Would they come on surf boards too? Many people seemed to think so for they were looking at the lake. But Charivi Palychky did not arrive by water.
"Look at that!" someone shouted pointing up at the evening sky above.
The Headmistress and the students of Charivni Paychky were flying up above them without need of broomstick or thestral. The boys, who wore apparel not unlike that of the Ukrainian demon that they had seen at the Quidditch World Cup, landed first and bounced several times, leaping higher than even said demon. The girls landed gracefully after the boys had finished their jumping. The girls wore shirts similar to the boys', short red skirts, and red boots. In their hair they wore a wreath of flowers with ribbons coming down the back. Then the Headmistress landed a yard or so in front of her students. She was dressed like the other girls, except without the headpiece.
"Charles, how good it is seeing you!" cried the Headmistress.
"A pleasure to see you too," Professor Clover responded. Then he turned to his students "Everyone this is Roxelana Molfar."
She was a beautiful woman, light skinned and with dark hair that clung in curls to her head. Her eyes were dark and powerful. She smiled a little at the mentioning of her name, the corners of her pretty, little mouth lifting slightly, and inclined her head in a small bow. Then her eyes turned cold again as she surveyed the students. Her eyes stopped to rest for a fraction of a second longer on Teddy. He gulped. Who was this woman? There was something frightening about her.
"To the castle, then?" said Professor Clover. The two schools walked together towards the castle. One boy from Charivni Palychky was walking just in front of Teddy, Alex, and Violet. He had horns poking out from his dark hair.
"Oh, my," gasped Violet.
"Ukrainian demon," whispered Teddy.
Teddy glanced sideways at Alex. Alex was quiet. He looked rather uncomfortable looking at the demon in front of them. He caught sight of Teddy looking at him and smiled a fake smile. Teddy returned the smile and wondered what was going on with his best friend.
When they entered the castle, they saw the people from Powaqa. The Powaqa uniforms turned out to be robes with flower designs on them. The three friends had sat down at Gryffindor table when two girls from Charivni Palychky came up to them. One girl had long, dark hair that was held together in a plait and cold dark eyes, not unlike those of her Headmistress. The other looked a little nervous, her green eyes shifting, her face hiding behind her blonde hair.
"Do you mind if ve join you, no?" asked the brunette.
"Not at all," said Violet.
"I am Margareta and dis is my friend Natasha," said the girl.
"I am Violet and this is Alex and this is Ted," said Violet.
The girl's eyes moved from Violet to Alex. "Chort," she said simply. Teddy didn't know what 'chort' meant, but Alex paled and the same uncomfortable expression that Teddy had seen before appeared upon his face. But then the Margareta's eyes fell on Teddy. Natasha whispered something to her nervously, staring pointedly at Teddy. Margareta just nodded and gave Teddy the same cold, piercing look that he had received from Professor Molfar. Then Margareta's gaze turned back to Violet. "You have very interesting friends," said she. None of them had any idea what that meant.
Professor Clover stood up smiling brightly and enthusiastically. "Hello, hello, hello," he cried merrily. "I'll save the long, boring speeches for later. Enjoy your meal!" And with that, food appeared.
They ate some rather foreign looking dishes and some familiar ones as well. Margareta and Natasha proved to be good company to the three friends. They were friendly and interesting to talk to, although they did need to pause occasionally to remember how to say a certain word of phrase in English.
After desert had disappeared the Hogwarts Headmaster stood up to speak again. "I would like to make some announcements about the Triwizard Tournament. Some of you may have known that there are usually five judges. This year that is not true. There will only be three judges, Mrs. Shane, Professor Molfar, and myself. And now, let me introduce you to our impartial Judge…the goblet of fire."
The Hogwarts caretaker Mr. Cunningham brought out a large wooden box with jewels embedded into it. He gave the box to Professor Clover who tapped the lid of the box thrice causing it to open. From the box he lifted a cup, also made of wood, with whitish blue flames coming out of the top. This was the Goblet of Fire. Professor Clover explained how one would write one's name on a piece of parchment along with the name of their school and throw it into the Goblet of Fire, so that they would be considered for the position of their schools. He also explained about the Age Line and the other enchantments around the Goblet of Fire.
"Well," said Professor Clover when he had finished explaining, " goodnight!"
AN: Hello dearies!
First and foremost, please review.
Next, this chapter was an info chapter so if you fell asleep I don't blame you, but next chapter will be shorter and much more interesting.
About the words: Charivni Palychky= Ukrainian, literally translates as Magic Sticks, so basically it means Wands Powaqa= Hopi name for Witch (Don't look up 'chort' unless you want to ruin it for yourself)
Professor Clover is not like Dumbledore. I'm basing Clover off of someone I know that just happens to have the X-ray eyes thing (yes there are people like that, it's a little creepy).
Did you all see HP7? I saw it at midnight the day it came out. So awesome!
Me no own Harry Potter! Please no sue!
Love,
vampireling23
P.S. Review, review, review!