The day after the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students arrived was both Halloween and a Saturday, which meant that Harry got to spend some time flying. He'd found that Saturday mornings, when he'd had Quidditch Practise previous years, were one of few times in the week that he had time to spend a few hours in the sky. Draco, Theo, and occasionally the Weasley twins, had all started meeting him at the Quidditch Pitch and flying with him on Saturdays too. It was nice to fly with others and made the lack of Quidditch Cup that year easier to bear.

On this day though, Harry noticed some extra people standing with his friends near the Quidditch Hoops. As he got closer he saw that they were wearing Durmstrang uniforms and, when Harry was less twenty feet away from them, he recognised one of them as Victor Krum.

Harry could feel his heartbeat increasing in his excitement and slowed his pace so that he would have time to supress all his gleeful emotions that, if allowed free reign, would probably lead to him embarrassing himself and his Houses.

"Merry meet." Draco nodded to him, the others echoing the words a second behind him.

"Merry meet." Harry nodded in reply to Draco, before turning to Krum with a neutral expression. "Dobro utro, Krum."

Krum smiled crookedly as he bowed. "Dobro utro. May I introduce Anastas Sokoloff ot Rodyt Sokoloff, Petar Krastev, ot Rodyt Krastev, and Marin Daskalov, ot Rodyt Krastev."

Harry looked at the three Durmstrang boys that Krum had gestured towards and nodded in acknowledgement.

"Anastas, Petar, Marin," Krum continued in Bulgarian. "This is Harry Potter, Heir of the Most Ancient and Noble Houses of Black and Potter."

Harry nodded again as the boys all bowed. "Draco, I presume the rest of you have all been introduced?"

"Yes."

"I hope that you vill not mind our joining you in the air." Krum told Harry sincerely. "Ven Malfoy told us that you vould all be flying this morning, ve could not resist. It vill be good to be in the air again."

"Of course not." Harry answered as calmly as he could, his stomach swirling in excitement. "How long has it been since you've been flying?"

"Almost a veek." Krum admitted sadly. "And even then ve vere not out for long. It is very cold at Durmstrang, not like here."

They all mounted their brooms and pushed of the ground. Harry somehow managed to resist the temptation to sit and watch Krum like an awestruck fool and, instead, began his usual warmup loop around the pitch.

It was great to be able to fly again and, after a few minutes, he had almost (though not entirely) forgotten Krum's presence. He zipped through the air, forcing his broom to go as quickly as it could, and ignored the voice in his head that accusing him of showing off for Krum – after all, he always did a lap the beginning of his flying sessions.

When he turned back to where the others were, he saw that Draco, Theo, and the three Durmstrang students who weren't Krum, had started some chaser drills. Krum was practising some of incredible death defying stunts almost fifty feet above them.

Harry gripped his broom nervously as he steered towards where Krum was. Would Krum mind if Harry asked him some questions?

"You fly very fast." Krum commented, halting his tricks as Harry hovered near it. "It vas most impressive."

Harry's mouth fell open. "Thanks!"

"You said you vere a seeker, yes?" Krum asked.

"Yes." Harry agreed quickly. "Your flying during the World Cup was incredible. I learnt so much, but I haven't had the opportunity to try it out much since we don't have any Quidditch games this year."

Krum was watching him intently. "Vhat did you learn?"

"I had never seen anyone perform so many tricks before." Harry explained, trying to not sound too enthusiastic. "I didn't understand at first, but then I read up on why seekers did it."

"It is very dangerous." Krum commented neutrally. "As vell as very tiring."

"I know." Harry acknowledged.

"Vould you like to learn some of my tricks?" Krum asked and, for a moment, Harry was sure he had misheard him wrong – the older boy's accent was very strong.

Harry had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from shouting in glee. "I'd love to."

"Very vell." Krum nodded briskly. "I vill teach you the Sigurna Smŭrt."

Harry frowned in concentration as he tried to remember his Bulgarian lessons. "Doesn't that mean certain death?"

Krum laughed loudly. "Yes, but you vill do it vell I think."

16-16-16

Dinner that night was tense, not only because everyone was waiting eagerly for the names of the contestants to be announced, but also because the Durmstrang and Beauxbaton students seemed absolutely horrified by the non-traditional Halloween decorations.

While different countries celebrated Hallows Eve differently, Harry doubted any of them used pumpkins with faces carved out of them. The Beauxbaton students were quite vocal about their disgust of the decorations, but Harry was amused to note that not even that was enough to stop Anthony from staring at the veela student lustfully. The Durmstrang students were quieter about their disgust, but Harry had seen the way their lips had curled as they entered the hall and took it all in.

Harry, who had been subjected to Draco's annual rant against Dumbledore's decision to replace Hallows Eve with muggle Halloween, understood how they felt. Though, having said that, he had no idea what a traditional Hallows Eve feast would look like.

After the meal was finally over and the plates had been cleared away, Dumbledore stood to his feet and announced that the Goblet was ready to make its decision. Then, for some bizarre reason, Dumbledore extinguished all the lights except the candles inside the pumpkins which make them look even more grotesque. The only reason Harry could think of for Dumbledore having extinguished the lights was to add to the drama (it certainly made the Goblet's glow stand out more clearly) but such theatrics were hardly needed – the whole room was already tense with anticipation.

Finally, after a long, tense, silence, the Goblet glowed red and shot out sparks, along with piece of paper. Dumbledore, grabbed onto the paper and read it aloud.

"The Champion for Durmstrang," He announced importantly. "Is Victor Krum."

Harry joined the rest of the students in cheering for Victor, as the older seeker stood up from the Slytherin table and made his way out of the hall and into the antechambers. They had flown together for over three hours that morning, only stopping when it was time for lunch, and Victor had even asked if they could fly together again. Harry could hardly believe it had actually happened.

When the applause died down, and everyone's attention was focussed on the Goblet again, another piece of paper was shot out.

"The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!" Dumbledore announced.

Harry looked down the table to see the Beauxbaton student, who was probably a veela, stand up and gracefully make her way towards the antechamber where Victor was waiting. As Fleur walked past him, Harry could feel the tug of her allure pulling at his Occlumency shields – it wasn't nearly as strong as the allure that had come from the veelas at the Quidditch World Cup, but he still quickly fell into his half-meditation state the instant he felt it. There was no way he wanted to make a fool of himself as many of the other male students were.

The other Beauxbaton students looked devastated, a few of the girls were even crying. It was a rather Gryffindor like reaction in Harry's opinion, or rather a non-tradionalist's reaction. Did the girls have no decorum? Or, at the very least, no shame?

When Fleur had exited the Great Hall, everyone turned their attention back to the Goblet again. The tension in the hall was palatable. This was the name that most of them were really interested in, who would be the Hogwarts' Champion?

Finally, the final piece of paper flew out of the Goblet and Dumbledore read out the name.

"The Hogwarts' Champion is…" Dumbledore paused for dramatic effect and Harry was hard pressed not to roll his eyes. "Cedric Diggory!"

The Hufflepuff students rose to their feet and began cheering boisterously for Cedric. Harry clapped along with them, pleased by the Goblet's choice. Cedric was a good guy, not to mention a traditionalist, and it would be nice for Hufflepuff to be House of the Hogwarts' Champion. Hufflepuff was much like Ravenclaw, in that its achievements often were drowned out by the rivalry between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.

Cedric stood up with his house and then, after having accepted handshakes and hugs from many of his housemates, began to make his way to the antechamber. It reminded Harry of the reason he hadn't wanted to be sorted into Hufflepuff – at least in Ravenclaw Luna was the only one who tried to hug him.

The cheering for Cedric was louder and went on for longer than for either of the other Champions, but eventually it died down and the Hufflepuffs took their seats again.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore clapped his hands together. "We have our three champions. I am sure that you will each continue to support, and cheer for, the champions of your schools. While there are only three champions, you can certainly do all you can to encourage and assist them. The…"

Dumbledore broke off suddenly as the Goblet, which was still glowing, suddenly spat out sparks for the fourth time along with another piece of paper. The students, and adults, immediately began whispering to one another in confusion and Harry shot Luna a questioning look. After all, as a seer, Luna was probably the person in the room with the best chance of understanding what was happening. Luna looked just as confused as everyone else though, so Harry turned his attention back to Dumbledore who was staring at the piece of paper in his hand.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore announced eventually.

The hall was silent for a second, before it erupted with shouts of confusion and anger. Harry hardly heard any of it though, he was staring at Dumbledore in horror. There was no way that piece of paper could have his name on it. He hadn't even been within ten feet of the Goblet all day. He hadn't even wanted to enter the competition.

Harry looked away from Dumbledore, towards Sirius who was staring at him in shock.

Harry stood up unsurely, what was he supposed to do? Did he go through to the antechamber with the others? Or should he just pretend none of it had happened.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Mr. Potter? If you would come up here please?"

Harry's hands were sweating and his stomach was churning, as he made his way up to where Dumbledore was standing next to the Goblet. Sirius, who had stood up when Harry had, met him there a reassuring smile.

"Through the door, then, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore instructed, his expression cold.

Harry nodded in understanding as he moved passed the Headmaster and towards the antechamber door. Sirius fell into step beside him and Harry shot his godfather a grateful look. He didn't know what he would have done if Sirius hadn't been there.

The antechamber was small, about the size of the Elladora Sitting Room at Grimmauld Place and the walls were covered by numerous paintings of witches and wizards. Opposite the door there was a lit fireplace and Cedric, Victor and Fleur Delacour were standing around it.

Cedric spotted Harry first and gave him a confused look. Then, as Sirius followed Harry into the room, Cedric quickly wiped the confusion from his face and bowed low.

"Merry meet, Lord Black, Heir Black."

Victor bowed a traditional Bulgarian bow, first to Sirius and then to Harry. Fleur curtsied deeply, her nose wrinkled in obvious confusion.

"Merry meet." Sirius greeted them briskly with a nod and Harry did the same.

"What's happening, Harry?" Cedric asked after a moment of silence.

Harry shook his head. "I don't know."

Then the door opened again and Dumbledore arrived, along with the two Headmistresses, Bagman, Flitwick, Moody, McGonagall and Snape.

Harry moved out of the way, so that he was standing near one of the corners and was relieved when Sirius positioned himself slightly in front of Harry.

"How wonderful!" Ludo Bagman declared. He made to move towards Harry, but obviously thought better of the idea after Sirius gave him a look. "A fourth Triwizard Champion!"

Cedric's mouth fell open. "What?"

"I do not understand." Fleur announced, looking towards Madam Maxine in confusion.

Victor didn't say anything, but he gave Harry a considering glance.

"It is a meestake, of course." Madame Maxine decided, narrowing her eyes in Harry's direction. "Zere can only be three Champions."

Madam Brusilova was looking very severe as she moved to stand beside Victor. Harry thought the sight of them together looked rather humorous, since Victor was over a foot taller than his Headmistress. "I have never heard of such a thing happening before."

"That's because it hasn't!" Bagman told her gleefully.

Dumbledore stepped towards Harry. "How did you put your name in the Goblet, Harry?"

Sirius cleared his throat. "Mr. Potter, Headmaster Dumbledore. I do not believe that my heir has given you the right to acknowledge him so informally."

"Well, I never!" McGonagall declared. "Really, Sirius, now is not the time!"

"Also," Sirius continued, as though she had not spoken. "Since my godson is underage, I require that you address all questions to me."

Madam Maxime sniffed. "So 'e is old enough to zink heemself worthy of competing, but not old enough to speak for heemself?"

"I must agree with Madam Maxime, Sirius." Dumbledore said sadly. "If Mr. Potter is old enough to enter the tournament, then surely he is old enough to answer some questions."

"Then shall we take this opportunity to submit a proposal to the Wizengamot to emancipate him? It would be an easy case to argue, after all, the Goblet seems to have declared him worthy of it. Of course, that would mean he would be eligible to becoming Lord Potter immediately." Sirius commented blandly.

Dumbledore blanched. "It would not be fair to give him such a large responsibility so young."

"Well, then." Sirius nodded. "I suggest you direct your questions to me."

Professor Snape was standing silently by the door watching Harry expressionlessly. Harry caught his eye and tried to express his innocence through his gaze – he didn't want his favourite professor to think that he had entered the Tournament illegally.

Dumbledore sighed sadly. "Very well. Sirius, how did Mr. Potter enter his name into the Goblet?"

Sirius looked back at Harry. "Harry?"

"I didn't." Harry denied as calmly as he could, given the circumstances. "I haven't been within ten feet of the Goblet all day."

Victor bent down to whisper something into his Headmistress' ear.

"Eet ees rubbish, of course!" Madam Maxime declared angrily. "Eef 'e did not place 'ees name een the Goblet, zen 'ow could 'ees name 'ave come out?"

"I don't know." Harry admitted helplessly, before falling silent when Sirius gave him a warning look.

"I find myself somevat unconcerned as to how the boy's name ended up in the Goblet." Madam Brusilova decided, her quiet voice carrying through the room. "I am more concerned that Hogwarts now has two champions."

Harry found himself nodding in agreement. That didn't seem fair at all. Not that he expected that he had much of a chance against the three other Champions. They were all at least three years older than him.

"Yes!" Madam Maxime agreed loudly. "I insist zat my students each be allowed to re-enter zeir names eento ze Goblet. Eef 'ogwarts ees to 'ave two champions, so will Beauxbatons."

"Impossible!" Bagman declared. "The Goblet doesn't work like that! We can't just put more names in and expect it to choose between them. The fires gone out."

"Then vhy must ve use the Goblet?" Madam Brusilova asked. "Let us pull the names from a hat or, better yet, let us choose our next best student to compete also."

Dumbledore shook his head. "That won't do. It is the Triwizard Tournament. We cannot add extra champions in as we wish."

"Why not?" Sirius challenged him.

"The magical laws that govern the tournament won't allow it." Dumbledore said firmly.

"And yet they did not prevent a fourth champion from being added." Sirius argued. "Besides, are you so sure that the rules would prevent it?"

"Someone must have fooled the Goblet into somehow accepting Mr. Potter's name as though he was from a fourth school." Dumbledore explained.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like complex magic. Do you really believe that my fourteen year old godson is capable of doing that?"

Dumbledore opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

"Black makes a good point, Headmaster." Moody agreed grimly. "More likely, someone else entered Potter's name for him."

"Zen 'e 'ad an older student do eet!" Fleur declared, tossing her hair haughtily.

"No student could have fooled the Goblet, girl!" Moody snapped, causing both Madam Maxime and Fleur to straighten indignantly.

Harry noted that a few of the people in the room, including Dumbledore and McGonagall, were giving Sirius suspicious looks.

"So," Madam Brusilova started. "Madam Maxime and I vill each choose one more champion to represent our school."

Dumbledore frowned. "That will not do. If this works, why should you get your two best champions, when we clearly do not?"

Harry didn't disagree with Dumbledore, he was sure their seventh years who were a lot more qualified than he was, but it seemed rude to say it so absolutely.

"Are you suggesting that ve each choose a fourth year to compete?" Madam Brusilova asked, her upper lip curled. "I vill not put my students at such a risk."

"We should probably check to see that it's allowed first." Bagman said nervously. "I, uh, don't know the rulebook exactly, but we'll do some research and get back to you."

"Very vell." Madam Brusilova agreed. "Is that alright vith you, Madam Maxime?"

"Yes." Madam Maxime inclined her head.

"Right, good!" Bagman rubbed his hands together with excitement. "Shall we give the champions their instructions then?"

"Not yet, Ludo." Sirius answered quickly. "We are still missing two contestants."

"Ah," Bagman looked crestfallen. "Right."

"I will ensure that we have an answer to this question by breakfast tomorrow." Sirius promised them all. "For now though, Miss Delacour, Mr. Krum, Mr. Diggory, Mr. Potter, congratulations on being selected as your schools' champions."

"Thank you, Lord Black." Cedric answered with a nod, while Fleur curtsied and Krum bowed shallowly.

"Yes," Madam Brusilova agreed. "Thank you, Lord Black."

Dumbledore looked as though he had sucked on a lemon.

16-16-16