On September 1, Tatti announced that he has to leave early to drive Ari down to London for yeshiva. He said he'll pick Mommy up on the way back as there's no reason to make Mommy shlep all the way to London.

"I'm surprised yeshiva starts so close to yom tov," Bubby said. "Most yeshivas start earlier when Rosh Hashana is early."

"We're not most yeshivas," Ari told her.

Ari and Tatti went to the car and drove out of Liverpool.

"We're not really driving to London, right," Ari asked his father.

"I don't see a point," Tatti said. "I just need to stay out long enough for it to be believable that I did. I'll apparate you once I find a good place to leave the car."

Ari sat with Michael and Terry on the Hogwarts Express. The rain was annoying but didn't interfere with conversation in the compartment. They discussed classes for the next school year, wondering who the next defense teacher will be. They ate lunch with Ari offering to share his sandwiches. Terry and Michael turned him down and instead bought garbage from the trolley. As expected, Ari heard about the quidditch world cup and the death eater uprising that happened there.

"You see," Ari told them. "I was right not to go. It's too dangerous. The football match I went to was much safer."

Dean came in during the ride. Ari told him that the Liverpool- West Ham match is September 10th, and he knows which team we'll win. After spending time with Chaim's friends, Ari was able to discuss the pros and cons of each player on both teams, so he and Dean discussed football while Michael, Terry and Seamus discussed the world cup.

The rain was unbearable when they got off the Hogwarts Express and hurried to school. Ari tried to dry up while waiting for the sorting to end. Once the sorting was over, Ari unwrapped his potato knish and started eating. He had just finished his chocolate pudding when Dumbledore got up to speak. A scary looking man wandered in during Dumbledore's announcements and was introduced as the new defense teacher.

"He's like you," Terry whispered when he saw Moody drink from his own flask. "He won't eat school food!"

Dumbledore announced the Triwizard Tournament, but then started a joke about a troll, hag, and leprechaun in a bar. When he went back to discussing the tournament, Ari complained to his friends.

"Now, I'll never find out the joke," Ari whined. "What's the point in starting a joke if you're not going to finish it?"

Terry and Michael shushed him as they wanted to know more about the tournament. While walking back to the Ravenclaw tower, Terry and Michael didn't stop discussing the tournament.

"I wouldn't enter if you paid me," Ari told them. "The death toll is too high?! What's wrong with you people? Why would anyone want to risk their life for a game?"

Terry and Michael agreed with him on principle but insisted it would still be fun.

The next day, it was time to get used to class again. Herbology was a bit disgusting, but Arithmancy was as much fun as usual. Ancient Runes was okay. Potions was somewhat interesting. Ari asked Snape what temperature the fire should be if you want to melt a caldron.

"Why must you always ask foolish questions?" Snape snapped at him. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"No," Ari said honestly. "I finished my potion already and need to pass time until the end of class. I was wondering which metal would burn the fastest and what a cauldron would look like after it's melted."

"Hand in your potion," Snape ordered. "I'll give you extra work to do if you're bored."

Ari thanked his professor and got busy with the new potion he was making.

"I can't believe you asked for extra work," Kevin commented when class was over.

"I don't like to wait around," Ari said. "I have to always be doing something, and my game-boy doesn't work here."

Kevin and Ari discussed their favorite game-boy games while walking to their next class. Defense Against Dark Arts with Professor Moody was scarier than Ari expected. He was happy to be sitting with Kevin since he was the only other muggle raised Ravenclaw boy of his year. The curses were horrible, and Ari hoped to never run into a dark wizard or a spider.

Ari missed a lot of class in September because of yom tov. He was happy that he missed being put under the imperius curse by Moody. He also didn't mind missing Transfiguration, but he still had to turn a hedgehog into a pincushion, and Ari still didn't like dealing with animals. Somehow, Ari still managed to finish his weekly essays for History of Magic and he enjoyed researching antidotes in Potions. Professor Snape continued to let Ari do an extra potion if he finished early.

Ari was happy to be missing the beginning of the triwizard tournament. He considered himself lucky that the other schools were arriving Friday night and that Halloween was on Shabbos this year. He told his parents and grandmother about the tournament, and they both agreed with him that it's crazy to risk your life for a game.

Ari waited until after the Halloween feast should be over to go back to Hogwarts. He wondered what dangerous thing happened this year, considering previous year's events.

Ari was surprised to hear that Hogwarts had too champions and that Harry Potter was one of them. Most of the Ravenclaws were upset that Potter entered since he's too young. They also felt that he would do anything for attention and that's why he entered. Ari wasn't sure how he felt, but he assumed November would be an interesting month.