BACK TO ENGLAND
The next day while Daemon and group were entring into the Entrance Hall, Orion quickly noticed a large crowd of students in congregating around a large sign that had been placed at the foot of the marble staircase. With some pushing and shoving, Orion, Neville and Hermione managed to see what all the fuss was about:
TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT
THE DELEGATIONS FROM BEAUXBATONS AND DURMSTRANG WILL BE ARRIVING AT 6 O'CLOCK ON FRIDAY THE 15TH OF NOVEMBER. LESSONS WILL END HALF AN HOUR EARLY – STUDENTS WILL RETURN THEIR BAGS AND BOOKS TO THEIR DORMITORIES AND ASSEMBLE IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE TO GREET OUT GUESTS BEFORE THE WELCOMING FEAST.
"Only a week away!" Ernie Macmillan said happily as he removed himself from the crowd. "I wonder if Cedric knows. Think I'll go and tell him…"
Over the next week, the Triwizard Tournament was all people could talk about. The younger years were all eager for the Tournament to start while the older years were having debates on what the Tournament would entail. Daemon had stopped listening early in the week when the possibilities became more and more unlikely that Draco Malfoy would ever stop making comments about him and his so called hero complex.
Filch had also been working non-stop with the cleaning of the school and was downright vicious to anyone who brought in any sort of dirt. Student's quickly found themselves casting cleaning charms whenever they came in from outside just to avoid Filch's wrath.
When the fifteenth of November arrived, everyone was eager for the arrival of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Finally, after so much speculation, the wait would be over and the Tournament would begin. The Great Hall was already decorated that morning with enormous silk banners representing a Hogwarts House hanging from the walls while the largest banner with the Hogwarts coat of arms was behind the teachers' table.
There was an excited air throughout the castle as everyone waited for classes to slowly pass. Most teachers gave up any hope of covering any new material, except for Potions where Professor Snape had them working until the bell rang. It was a rush for the fourth years to clean up their stations, rush back to Gryffindor Tower to drop off their bags and books and grab their cloaks before rushing back to the Entrance Hall into a sea of pandemonium.
The Heads of Houses were frantically ordering their students into lines and shouting out final orders. "Weasley, straighten your hat!" Professor McGonagall snapped. "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair!"
They filed down the steps, lining up in front of the castle along with Sirius and James who have arrived a day prior to that of the arrival of the forign guests. It was a bit cold out for this time of year, which was evident by the number of people shivering. The sky was clear, giving them a perfect glimpse at the transparent-looking moon over the Forbidden Forest as well as the final stages of the sunset.
"Nearly six," Ron said to daemon who was standing directly behind Hermione. "How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"
"Don't think so," Fred answered. "We'd be waiting at the Hogsmeade Station if they were. They must be coming some other way."
"A Portkey?" Ron suggested. "Or they could Apparate—maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"
"You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?" Hermione said impatiently as she glanced over her shoulder.
Daemon closed his eyes and waited for Ron to retort but only heard a loud 'Ow!' before Hermione spoke up. "What do you think, Mr. Black?" he asked. "You know more about the Tournament than anyone…"
"It won't be by Portkey," sirius said evenly. "Even though this Tournament is meant to be about international cooperation, each school will want to prove that they're the best—which includes arriving in some grand manner. From the way we're positioned, it wouldn't surprise me if one school came by air and another came by sea."
Professor Dumbledore's voice silenced everyone. "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"
"Where?" many students asked eagerly.
"There!" a sixth year Hufflepuff yelled, pointing over the forest.
Something large was hurling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time. Younger students started shouting outrageous possibilities to what the large mass could be only to be silenced once again when it passed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and revealed that is was a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant.
The front rows of students jumped back in fright as the horses' hooves hit the ground with a loud crash followed by the carriage landing. No one said a word as the carriage door opened and a boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He jumped back just in time as large shining, high-heeled black shoe emerged from inside of the carriage followed by the largest woman Daemon had ever seen.
Madam Maxime, like every headmaster or headmistress, had a reputation and now daemon knew why. With her size, it was easy to see why she was known as an intimidating figure and extremely protective of her students. James had no doubt that Madam Maxime would do everything in her power to make sure her champion won the Tournament.
Professor Dumbledore started clapping and the students quickly followed his lead. Madam Maxime's face relaxed into a gracious smile as she stepped forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand for Professor Dumbledore to kiss it. "My dear Madam Maxime," he said with a smile. "Welcome to Hogwarts."
"Dumbly-dort," Madam Maxime said in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"
"In excellent form, I thank you," Professor Dumbledore answered.
"My pupils," Madam Maxime said, waving carelessly behind her.
Everyone's attention shifted to the dozen boys and girls in robes of fine silk that had emerged from the carriage. Most of them were shivering and looking at the castle with a mixture of longing and apprehension.
But the eyes of every person was attracted by the beautiful girl walking ahead of all students as if she was their leader, Daemon agreed that he has never seen a girl as beautiful as her ever and the people around her quickly agreed with him.
Draco watched the girl walking gracefully towards her headmistress, she was the most beautiful creature he has ever seen, she even managed to steel the lime light from the veela walking just behind her.
"As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madam Maxime asked.
"He should be here any moment," Professor Dumbledore said. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"
"Warm up, I think," Madam Maxime answered. "But ze 'orses—"
"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," Professor Dumbledore said, "the moment he has returned.
"It will be attended to," Professor Dumbledore said, returning the bow.
"Come," Madam Maxime commanded her students.
The Hogwarts students quickly parted to allow her and the Beauxbatons students to pass up the stone steps. As soon as they were out of sight, everyone's attention shifted to the darkening sky for any sign of Durmstrang.
"How big d'you reckon Durmstrang's horses are going to be?" Seamus asked loudly.
"They wouldn't do the same thing, would they?" Ron asked curiously. "I mean, what's the point of showing off if we've already seen it? Hermione said that one would be by air. Maybe he'll be right again that the other will come by water—like the lake."
Their gazes shifted to the lake but saw nothing other than the smooth surface of dark water. For a few minutes, no one said anything. The only sound was the huge horses snorting and stamping until a loud and oddly eerie noise drifted toward them from out of the darkness. It was a mixture of muffled rumbling and sucking which was a really odd combination. Suddenly, in the center of the lake, great bubbles formed on the surface followed by a whirlpool appearing as if a giant plug had just been pulled out from the bottom of the lake.
A long black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool which was attached to an enormous ship. It had a strange, skeletal look about it, as though it had been rescued from the bottom of the ocean. Slowly, the ship turned and glided toward the bank. Everyone stared, wide-eyed as the anchor was thrown overboard and the plank was lowered onto the bank.
A steady line of figures disembarked, all appearing to be of the same build as Draco's constant followers, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, in the distance. As they drew nearer, it was easy to see that it was their shaggy, fur-like cloaks that made them look large.
"Dumbledore!" the man leading the group called heartily. He was dressed in silver furs that matched his short hair and goatee. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"
"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Professor Dumbledore replied.
Harry exited the horse ridden carriage followed by other people when the head mistress madam Maxime signalled them to come out, 'so this is hogwats,' she thought. And proceeded to walk towards the headmistress followed by her usual band of people. She could feel all the eyes on her, her ability as a natural leader and her enchanting good looks always made her stand out. Their ahead of her she saw the man she hated above all.
Albus Dumbledore stood there in all his glory with that damnable twinkle in his eyes that she so loathed from her childhood, she had to practically refain herself from seriously harming the old coot and breaking his already crooked nose.
Soon they were entring the great hall
She looked around and saw enormous silk banners hung from the walls, each of them representing a Hogwarts House: red with a gold lion for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. Behind the teachers' table, the largest banner of all bore the Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger, and snake united around a large letter H. But the most impressive feature was the transparent ceiling which showed the evening dusk. Some books alleged that it had been Salazar Slytherin's idea and his spells which had turned the arched ceiling into a wonder of magic, saying that he had done it so that anyone at Hogwarts could feel the immensity of our world and our due place in it. harry wondered what he had meant with that, if the account was true.
The loudest table by far was the Gryffindor's, they were boisterously commenting on the new students and it got much worse when Viktor Krum finally appeared from underneath his huge coat. harry saw a red-headed idiot, gaping open-mouthed at Krum before he regained some measure of intelligence and started waving his hand at Krum and shouting for him to seat with him over the loud voices. Many others were taking out quills and parchments, obviously waiting to pounce on Krum in order to ask for autographs. she was disgusted by this display
Her fellow students were looking upto her to see which table she will chose to sit in. At last she decided to join the crowd of the green and silver clad snakes, at her arrival the whole Slytherin house was openly gaping at her in awe and wonderment, then a silver blonde boy approached her and very arrogantly extended his hand. "Hi, I am Malfoy, Draco Malfoy" he said, Harry just raised her eyebrows at him and after sometime he lowered his hand and blushed. after sometime he finally said, "well, you are welcome to join us for the feast." Harry just sat down and after she was comfortable the other students from her school did the same.
Draco Malfoy was no fool he could easily see that this girl was much more than just a beautiful face, she commanded her fellow students like a queen, and the students follow her not out of fear, but out of respect. 'She is a useful ally, I need to remain close to her' he thought and continued with his talking with the other but was unable to shake the thought of the green eyes girl out of his head.
Harry looked around the great hall, she was not interested in making small talked with people and then she saw him, James Potter, her father (so called) standing near the staff table and talking animatedly with none other than Sirius black. Looking further she recognized the woman she was once forced to call mother, sitting on the staff table and looking directly at...her.
Harry averted her eyes and started talking to Malfoy sitting in front of her and asking small useless questions to him, after the meal and dessert was done with. Dumbledore stood up again. A pleasant sort of tension seemed to fill the Hall now. harry looked at the teacher's table and saw two people that had just arrived. she recognized them instantly, one was Crouch Sr. and the other was the wizard that had spoken at the Quidditch World Cup. she wondered what they were doing here.
"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "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" – there was a smattering of polite applause - "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."
"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, madam maxime and professor karkaroff on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."
At the mention of the word "champions," the attentiveness of the listening students seemed to sharpen. Dumbledore smiled as he said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."
A nasty man, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students.
"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced 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."
At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing.
"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "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."
Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames. Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.
"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," said Dumbledore. "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," said Dumbledore, "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 sixteen will be able to cross this line," then he added with a small smile, "with the exception of beauxbatons students which have been given a special permission to participate even if they're underage according to our laws but as the age limit in France is 15 after which a person is considered an adult, we could hardly stop them." though Harry noted that is cost the old man a great deal to not oppose this notion
Outraged yells exploded through the Great Hall "This is done for your safety. Now, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."
Lily Potter was shocked, that was Harry, her Harry, her daughter, she could feel it and that eyes those were her eyes. But Harry was not magical. She was not not given the gift that is why they have left her with lily's sister. But how was this possible.
Lily quickly ducked out of the great Hall as soon as she could, she had to find out the truth. She appeared to surry as soon as the feast was over and did not even answered James cries of calling her attention. She immediately went to her sister who she has learnt a few days ago lived in no. 12 wimbildin court now, lily has not yet visited her out of guilt and shame of what she would say to her daughter if she accused them of abandoning her, she took a deep breath and knocked. It was her sister who answered the door.
"Hello Petunia," she greeted, "I am here to meet harry, once I meet her I will be out of your hair, I promise" she further elaborated. Her sister seemed nervous like she was afraid of something. "What is it tuny" lily asked again. Again there was silence. After some time Petunia finally sighed and said "she ran away an year later you left her here" she said. Lily was shocked, "how could you do this to her" she cried. "How could I , you were the mother, if you did not care for her, how could I" snapped Petunia. "you may be the better sister lily, but I am the better mother, I would never abandon my own child like you did to the girl" she further added. Lily now had tears in her eyes. Petunia was correct, she was the worst sort of mother.
James watched his wife return from where ever she had gone and felt relief wash over him. He quickly returned to his wife's side and held her in his arms. It was then that she noticed that she was crying. His lily was crying, she was a strong woman who hardly cried, it has to be something big to extract such a reaction from her. "What happened lily flower" he asked.
"Oh, James we we a..are..are the..the wo..r..rst sort..sort of parents" she sobbed. He was confused "no lils, you the world's best mother and demi can attest that" she said to sooth her. "No..no, Harry, James Harry" it took a moment for him to realize that she was talking about their daughter. "What about her lily" he asked. "She ran away from home when she was five James, we left her at the Dursley's and never ones bothered to check on her, oh James what have we done" " we are the worst sort of parents" James was stunned 'Merlin what have we done' he thought to him self.
he was brought out of his thoughts by lily's voice again, she was much more in control now. "James, I think I know where Harry is" it took James's brain a second to catch on what se was saying "where, where is she lils" he asked. "Here at Hogwarts James, I know that beauxbatons girl is our Harry, we even have the same eyes James, I can feel it"
Lord marvolo Slytherin was walking through the halls of his beloved Hogwarts, being a orphan Hogwarts was the first place that felt like home to him, at that time he was a nieve little child who knew nothing of the new world he entered, all he has was his intelligence and ambitious to become the greatest.
He was going to the headmasters office, the old coot has tried his hardest to leave Tom out of the tournament but was not successful and here he was now with the minister's approval of him being the special judge of the competition. he had no idea why he came to Hogwarts today. It was like he was compelled to come to today, if he did not he would miss out on so much.