Over the next couple of days, they managed to get their things together and went to Hogwarts Express. Once they were on there and settled in, Hermione was reading the newspaper to see if there was anything new happening, while Harry and Ron were getting their money for the treat trolley
"Anything from the trolley? Anything from the trolley, dears?" the woman asked.
She was just about to leave when Ron said, "Packet of Drooble's and a Licorice Wand. On second thought, just the Drooble's."
"It's all right, I'll get it. Don't worry," Harry said, willing to pay for Ron's treats.
"Just the Drooble's. Thanks," he said and left.
"Two Pumpkin Pasties, please," Cho said smiled at Harry when they both looked at each other. The lady gave her the treats, "Thank you."
The woman asked, "Anything sweet for you, dear?"
"Oh, no, I'm not hungry. Thank you," he said and she left asking if anyone wanted anything from the trolley.
Hermione was frustrated because there was nothing new and said, "This is horrible! How can the ministry not know who conjured it? Wasn't there any security or…?"
"Loads, according to Dad. That's what worried them so much. Happened right under their noses," Ron told her.
Hermione noticed that Harry was touching his scar and asked, "It's hurting again, isn't it? Your scar."
Harry just looked at her and simply dismissed it by saying, "I'm fine."
Hermione wasn't going to accept that and said, "You know Sirius will want to hear about this… what you saw at the World Cup and the dream." Harry then decided to write a letter to Sirius and had Hedwig take the letter to Sirius.
Once they had settled in at school, they had seen that they had people were coming but they weren't sure as to why they had come. When they were in the Great Hall, Dumbledore started talking, "Well now that we're all settled in and sorted, I'd like to make an announcement. This castle will not only be your home this year but home to some very special guests as well. You see, Hogwarts has been chosen…" Filch started to whisper something, "Yes, what is it? What is it?" Filch managed to tell him what was going on, "Tell them to wait. Tell them to wait. Wait." Filch ran back from where he entered. "So Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event: The Triwizard Tournament. For those of you who don't know, the Tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. From each school, a single student is selected to compete. Now let me be clear: If chosen, you stand alone and trust me when I say, these contest are not for the faint-hearted but more of that later. For now, please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and their headmistress, Madame Maxime," and the students came in and showed their beauty to Hogwarts students. All of the Hogwarts students were starting to look and make comments about how tall the headmistress was when she came into the room. Once they were settled, Dumbledore continued, "And our friends from the north… Please greet the proud Sons of Durmstrang and their Highmaster Igor Karkaroff." The boys had come in and did their song and dance before Viktor Krum had come in, followed by Karkaroff. The Gryffindor boys were in shock to see that Krum had showed up at their school. Once the introductions were done, they had started the feast.
"Professor Dumbly-dorr, my horses have traveled a long way. They will need attending to," Madame Maxime informed him.
"Don't worry, Madame Maxime. Our gamekeeper, Hagrid, is more than capable of seeing to them," he informed her.
"But you know, Monsieur Hagrid, they only drink single-malt whiskey," she told him. Once everything was settled after the feast, Dumbledore stood up.
"Your attention please! I'd like to say a few words. Eternal Glory. This is what awaits the student who wins the Triwizard Tournament. But to do this, that student must survive three tasks; three extremely dangerous tasks. For this reason, the Ministry has seen fit to impose a new rule. To explain all this, we have the head of the Department of International Cooperation, Mr. Bartemious Crouch." Dumbledore said.
Right when Crouch was coming up, another figure had come in and Ron whispered to those around him, "Bloody hell. It's Mad-Eye Moody."
"Alastor Moody? The Auror?" Hermione asked.
"Auror?" Dean asked.
Ron went on to explain, "Dark wizard catcher. Half of the cells in Azkaban are filled, thanks to him. He's supposed to be mad as a hatter, though these days."
Dumbledore went up to Moody, "Thank you old friend. Thanks for coming."
Then the ceiling rumbled rather loudly, scaring the students and the staff for a moment, Moody pulled out his wand, pointed it at the ceiling and a stream of white lighting had stopped the noise, "Stupid ceiling."
"Thank you," Dumbledore said.
Moody pulled out a hip flask and drank from it, Seamus asked, "What's that's he drinking, do you suppose?"
"I don't know, but I don't think its pumpkin juice," Harry said.
Crouch came up and said, "After due consideration, the Ministry has concluded that for their own safety, no student under the age of 17 shall be allowed to put forth their name for the Triwizard Tournament," everyone was speaking out and saying how unfair it was, "This decision is final." Everyone was still talking out loud.
Dumbledore stepped up and in his commanding voice, said, "Silence!" Everyone settled down. He waved his hand in front of a small tower looking statue and it melted to show a cup, "The Goblet of Fire. Anyone wishing to submit themselves to the tournament need only write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly. If chosen, there's no turning back. As from this moment, The Triwizard Tournament has begun."
After the first day of classes, Harry went to where Ella was living and knocked on her door, "Harry, what are you doing here?" Edward asked.
"I was wondering if I could speak with Miss Cullen. It's about what I learned in class today and wanted to see if she knows anything more about them," he asked.
"Of course, come on in," Edward said as he opened the door wider and let him through. "Ella, Harry's here to see you. Want anything to eat or drink?"
"Pumpkin juice if you have any. If not, then water is fine," he said.
"Go ahead and sit," Edward said as he went to the refrigerator and got pumpkin juice for Harry. Ella had walked in as soon as Edward has given Harry his drink.
"Hello, Harry," she said. He immediately stood up, which made her smile. "It's okay, Harry. You didn't have to stand up when I come in the room, especially in our house." Harry sat back down and looked at her. He never really looked at her in a different environment. From the way she looked, she looked tired. "What's the matter, Harry?" she asked as she sat across from him.
"Do you know anything about Professor Moody?" he asked.
"Not much, really," she replied. "What did he tell you in class today?"
"He said that he was an ex-Auror. I mean from what Hermione and Ron said that he was one but I didn't know that he left. Do you know why he left?"
Ella shook her head, "I don't know a lot about what's happening with Hogwarts or with the Ministry of Magic, to be honest with you, especially about the time before you were born, Harry," she said.
"Another thing, Professor Moody taught us about the Unforgivable curses in class today and I was wondering if you know anything about them," he said.
"Well, sadly, I do but why don't we start with what he told you in class. What did he say exactly?"
"He used a spider as an example of how each curse was used. The first one was the Imperious Curse. He said 'Scores of wizards and witches claimed that they only did You-Know-Who's bidding under the effects of the Imperius Curse. But here's the rub... how do we sort out the liars?' So that curse makes people do other biddings, obviously because the spider was doing what Professor Moody wanted him to do. Then he showed us the Cruciatus Curse, the torture curse. This curse that he showed us made Neville flinch and it made me think that something happened to Neville's family," he said.
"Harry, it's not my place to tell you what happened with Neville's family with this particular curse, but I am aware of what had happened to him and his family. This is something that he needs to tell you," Ella answered his unasked question.. Harry nodded. "Tell me what you thought of the last curse."
"He asked Hermione what the third curse was but she refused to say it and I'm thinking that it had to do with me. It was the killing curse," he responded. Ella closed her eyes for a moment. "He said something after he used that curse to kill the spider."
She opened her eyes and asked, "What did he say?"
"He said, 'Only one wizard is known to have survived it. And he's sitting in this room.' What did he mean by that?"
"Voldemort killed your parents by using that curse. And since your mother died protecting you, and because of that, he couldn't kill you. That's why you survived. Because at that time, love was the only thing that could protect another witch or wizard from Voldemort… well not just Voldemort but any kind of embodiment of evil. Voldemort was the representation of evil at that time when he conjured the curse. And it made him give up at that time."
"Is that why he's coming back for me?" he asked.
"Yes, he wants to kill the one that stopped him. Dumbledore had asked me to gather my strength and resources so that I can protect you. We're not sure if love and sacrificial lambs are enough this time but we highly doubt it," she told him.
"Then why is he after you?"
"Because he must have found out in some way that I attempted to protect you and your mother at the time he killed her," she explained. "We both lived, so his target… or rather targets is us."
"Is it true that by using any of the three curses can earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban?"
"Yes, Harry. No one from the Ministry of Magic could arrest Voldemort because he supposedly disappeared into thin air. But the Ministry of Magic thought that Sirius was the Voldemort's follower but you and I both know that he wasn't."
The next few days went by with Harry setting a time out of his schedule to visit Ella at her house. He made sure to ask her for help with his assignments. Before he knew it, it was finally time to meet up for the Champion Selection. When everyone gathered in the Great Hall, Dumbledore asked them to settle down. Once everyone did, he said, "Now the moment you've all been waiting for: The Champion Selection. He put his hands on the Goblet and left it there for a moment before stepping back. The fire burst out a piece of paper which floated down to Dumbledore. He grabbed it and looked at it, "The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum," The Durmstrang school was thrilled to have him represent them. He went to Dumbledore and shook his hands before leaving towards the back door that led to the professors' conference room. Everyone else waited for the second champion to be selected. Another piece had come out of the fire, "The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour." She stood up and smiled at her fellow schoolmates, then shook hands with Dumbledore before following Krum. Another piece of parchment had come out of the fire, "The Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory!" All of the students cheered for him as he went towards Dumbledore, shook his hand and left the room. Dumbledore continued to speak, "We now have our three champions. But in the end, only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of Champions, this vessel of victory, the Triwizard Cup!" he said as he pointed to the Cup that was behind him. Snape stepped forward a few steps, looking at the Goblet of Fire. Dumbledore looked at him and then turned around and saw that the fire had gotten bigger. He stepped forward and covered his eyes as the blue fire became red and bigger before giving out yet a fourth piece of parchment. Dumbledore grabbed it when it was close, read the paper and was in shock, "Harry Potter." Ella heard the name and was shocked. She couldn't believe it. "Harry Potter?" Everyone was looking at him. "Harry Potter!" He finally stepped forward because Hermione was pushing him forward and took the piece of parchment that Dumbledore gave him and he walked towards the teachers to go to the office. The students were calling him cheat and how the fact that he wasn't even 17 yet. Harry didn't know what was happening but he knew that he didn't put his name in the goblet of fire. He kept wondering who put his name there and he couldn't think of anyone who wanted to. He was absolutely sure that he didn't ask anyone but he did envision participating it eventually but not now. He wondered if someone overheard him say that to Ron and put his name in it for him.
Once he got into the room, the teachers were coming in and making a commotion. "It's wrong, I tell you!" Maxime was saying.
Karkaroff shouted back, "You French tart! Everything is a conspiracy theory with you!"
Dumbledore responded, "Quiet! I can't think!"
Karkaroff told her off by saying, "Everything is a conspiracy theory!"
Maxime replied, "I protest!"
Dumbledore walked up to Harry, "Harry!"
Maxime ranted on, "I protest!"
Dumbledore grabbed him, "Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?"
"No, sir," he said.
Dumbledore asked yet again, "Did you ask one of the older students to do it for you?"
"No, sir," he answered.
"You're absolutely sure?"
"Yes. Yes, sir."
Maxime didn't believe him, "But of course he is lying!"
"He isn't lying," Edward said. "I read his mind, he's telling the truth."
Moody agreed, "The Goblet of Fire is an exceptionally powerful magical object. Only an exceptionally powerful Confundus Charm could have hoodwinked it. Magic way beyond the talents of a fourth-year!"
Karkaroff went up to Moody and said, "You seem to have given this a fair bit of thought, Mad-Eye!"
"It was once my job to think as dark wizards do, Karkaroff, perhaps you remember," he said.
Dumbledore interrupted, "This doesn't help, Alastor! Leave this to you, Barty."
"The rules are absolute. The Goblet of Fire constitutes a binding magical contract. Mr. Potter has no choice. He is, as of tonight...a Triwizard champion." All of the teachers looked at him with mixed emotions. Ella stood next to him, refusing to let him stand alone at that moment. Once most everyone had left, there was only Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Moody, Ella and Edward in the room.
McGonagall spoke up, "This can't go on Albus. First the dark mark, now this?"
"What do you suggest Minerva?" he didn't know what else to do.
"Put an end to it! Don't let Potter compete!" she replied.
"You heard Barty. The rules are clear," he said.
"Well, the devil with Barty and his rules! And since when did you accommodate the Ministry?" she said.
Snape stepped forward and said, "Headmaster, I, too, find it difficult to believe this mere coincidence, however, if we are to truly discover the meaning of these events, perhaps we should, for the time being, let them unfold."
Ella spoke up, "What? Do nothing? Offer him up as bait? He is a boy! Not a piece of meat!"
"I agree with Severus. Alastor, keep an eye on Harry will you?"
Moody said, "I can do that."
"Don't let him know though, he must be anxious enough as it is, knowing what lies ahead. Then again, we all are."
"Professor what would you have Edward and I do? I mean I promised Lily that I'd protect her son," Ella said.
"There is something else that I need you to do. I assure you that what I am asking of you, it will help Harry," Dumbledore told her. She stayed with him as well as Edward while the others had left. "I didn't want to say this in front of everyone else, especially Alastor, but I need you to keep an eye on him. There's something off about him. Every time I get close to an answer, it slips away. Edward, have you gotten anything off from him?"
"No, for some reason he kept his mind closed off from me. It's like somehow he knew that I could read people's minds," he answered.
"I need both of you to keep an extra eye on him. I don't think that he is portraying Alastor," he said.
"Professor, what set you off?" Ella asked.
"He arrived to Hogwarts later than when I asked him to. Plus I've noticed that he's drinking from a hip flask at least once an hour, if not more. The Alastor I know doesn't drink anything that often," he explained. "Also, I need both of you to keep eyes out for any signs that Voldemort may manipulate the Tournament. I believe that he's involved somehow. When Edward said that Harry was telling the truth, my intuition was telling me that something bigger is at play here. I don't believe that it is a coincidence that Harry's name had sprouted from the Goblet of Fire. If something bad is going to happen to Harry, then something bad is going to happen to you. I need you to be at your best this year especially with what's happening with the Tournament," Dumbledore said.
In a way, Ella was somewhat relieved by what she heard but at the same time, frightened that something big was going to happened. She has never heard or seen Dumbledore so unsure about anything. "Should we request the rest of our family be involved with this?"
"No, for now, I want it to be between the three of us. If anything worsens, then they may join you," Dumbledore responded. Ella and Edward both looked at each other and nodded. They had gone home for the night to gather their things for their hunting trip. The weekend had come and went with Edward and Ella at home putting things away when they both heard an owl hooting right outside the kitchen window. Ella went to open it and allow the owl to come in. "Thank you for delivering the letter. I'm sure you're hungry," she said and the owl hooted in response. She started to open the letter as Edward got the treats and a bowl of water for the owl and put it on the dining room table and the owl began to eat and drink happily. Edward put a few Knuts in the owl's money patch.
"You may leave whenever you're ready," Edward said after helping the owl. He turned to Ella and asked, "Who's the letter for?"
"For Harry. Could you get him, please? I think his classes are already done for the day," she asked. Edward nodded and left to get Harry. By the time Harry and Edward had come back, the owl had already left and she was cleaning up the supplies.
"Miss Cullen, what is going on?" Harry asked as soon as he stepped into the room. She gave him the letter that was addressed to him. He opened the letter and began reading it out loud, "'Harry, I couldn't risk sending Hedwig. Since the World Cup, the Ministry's been intercepting more and more owls and she's too easily recognized. That's why I've sent the letter to the Cullens. We need to talk, Harry, face-to-face. Meet me in the Gryffindor common room, 1:00 this Saturday night. And make sure you're alone. Sirius.' I don't understand."
"Harry, did you write to Sirius before coming to Hogwarts?" Ella asked.
"Yes, then talk to him on Saturday. I'll be there as well as Edward to talk to him, okay?" Ella asked. Harry nodded.