The Potter Twins and the Goblet of Fire

Chapter 6: Beauxbatons, Durmstrang and the Goblet of Fire

A large variety of things happened the very next day.

Harry tried writing a letter to Sirius, telling him he and Michael's scars felt fine, so he wouldn't come back to Hogwarts and put himself in danger. Hermione and even Michael thought that was a bad idea.

Moody had made the students learn about the Imperius curse in much closer detail, actually casting it on each of them so they would know how to deal with it, claiming that it was Dumbledore's idea.

Harry and Michael had somehow managed to fight off the curse, even as Moody forced them to do so four times in a row!

Meanwhile, all of the other teachers were giving as much work as he was.

Professor Binns, the ghost who taught History of Magic, had them writing weekly essays on the goblin rebellions of the eighteenth century.

Professor Snape was forcing them to research antidotes. They took this one seriously, as he had hinted that he might be poisoning one of them before Christmas to see if their antidote worked. Michael got the feeling it would be Harry or Neville.

Professor Flitwick had asked them to read three extra books in preparation for their lesson on Summoning Charms.

Even Hagrid was adding to their workload. The Blast-Ended Skrewts were growing at a remarkable pace given that nobody had yet discovered what they ate.

Hagrid was delighted, and as part of their "project", suggested that they come down to his hut on alternate evenings to observe the skrewts and make notes on their extraordinary behavior.

Later, when they arrived in the entrance hall, they found themselves unable to proceed, due to the large crowd of students congregating there, all milling around a large sign that had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase. Ron, the tallest of the three, stood on tiptoe to see over the heads in front of them and read the sign aloud to the other three:

TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT!

The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday the 30th of October. Lessons will end half an hour early….

Harry, "brilliant! It's Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won't have time to poison us all!"

Michael, "or at least one of us…."

They continued to read the sign.

"Students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast. "

Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff said, "only a week away! I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go and tell him…."

Ron, "Cedric?"

Harry, "Diggory. He must be entering the tournament."

Michael felt a little bitter when hearing that name. It stemmed from seeing him and Cho spending so much time together, causing him to get jealous.

Ron, "that idiot, Hogwarts champion?"

Hermione, "he's not an idiot. You just don't like him because he beat Gryffindor at Quidditch. I've heard he's a really good student. And he's a prefect."

Ron, "you only like him because he's handsome."

Hermione, "excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome!"

Ron gave a loud false cough, which sounded oddly like, "Lockhart!"

Michael did the same, coughing out the words, "dumb git."

The appearance of the sign in the entrance hall had a marked effect upon the inhabitants of the castle. During the following week, there seemed to be only one topic of conversation, no matter where the quartet went: the Triwizard Tournament. Rumors were flying from student to student like highly contagious germs: who was going to try for Hogwarts champion, what the tournament would involve, how the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang differed from themselves, etc.

The school went through a very thorough cleaning, all of the staff were very tense, and Ron's older brothers were still trying to figure out how to enter the tournament.

Hermione was still pursuing her whole S.P.E.W movement.

Harry, Michael and Ron's lack of enthusiasm had done nothing whatsoever to curb Hermione's determination to pursue justice for house-elves.

Fred and George had even tried telling her about how the elves were happy working at Hogwarts.

Hermione didn't listen.

Harry had gotten a letter back from Sirius. He didn't believe what he said about the scars. Harry was a little angry, but still appreciative of Hedwig.

….

There was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air that day. Nobody was very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbatons and

Durmstrang; even Potions was more bearable than usual, as it was half an hour shorter. When the bell rang early, Michael, Harry, Ron, and Hermione hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited their things as they had been instructed, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall.

The Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines.

McGonagall, "Weasley, straighten your hat. Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair."

Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait.

McGonagall, "follow me, please. First years in front…. No pushing…."

They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest.

Michael and Harry, standing between Ron and Hermione in the fourth row from the front, saw Dennis Creevey positively shivering with anticipation among the other first years.

Ron, "nearly six. How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"

Hermione, "I doubt it."

Harry, "how, then? Broomsticks?"

Michael, "maybe Floo Powder?"

Hermione, "I don't think so…. Not from that far away…. And there's no fireplace here."

Ron, "a Portkey? Or they could Apparate? Maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"

Hermione, "you can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?"

Dumbledore, "aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

Many students said, "where?"

"There", yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest. Something large, much larger than a broomstick, or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks, was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time.

One student yelled, "it's a dragon!"

Dennis Creavey, "don't be stupid…. It's a flying house!"

Dennis's guess was closer…. As the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw 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 three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed, then, with an almighty crash that made Neville jump backward onto a Slytherin fifth year's foot, the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads back.

Michael and Harry just had time to see that the door of the carriage bore a coat of arms, (two crossed, golden wands, each emitting three stars), before it opened.

A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectfully. Then the twins saw a shining, high-heeled black shoe emerging from the inside of the carriage. A shoe the size of a child's sled, followed, almost immediately, by the largest woman they had ever seen in their life. The size of the carriage, and of the horses, was immediately explained. A few people gasped.

Harry and Michael had only ever seen one person as large as this woman in their life, and that was Hagrid; they doubted whether there was an inch difference in their heights. Yet somehow, maybe simply because they were used to Hagrid, this woman seemed even more unnaturally large. As she stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have an olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers.

Dumbledore started to clap; the students, following his lead, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman.

Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely bent to kiss it.

Dumbledore, "my dear Madame Maxime. Welcome to Hogwarts."

Madame Maxime said in a deep voice, "Dumbly-dorr. I 'ope I find you well?"

Dumbledore, "in excellent form, I thank you."

Madame Maxime said, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her, "my pupils."

The twins, whose attention had been focused completely upon Madame Maxime, now noticed that about a dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, had emerged from the carriage.

Upon Madame Maxine's gesture, they performed some sort of routine.

They ran along the path, making overdramatic waves to students, and butterflies flying from their sleeves as they posed for everyone before running up to stand behind their headmaster.

Ron glanced at the beautiful girls among them and muttered, "bloody Hell."

Michael found himself ogling the shapely rears of the male and female students, and muttered, "makes me wish I had been born in that country."

Michael's whisper was heard by his brother, but he shrugged it off.

The students then stood behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads.

From what Harry and Michael could see of them, (they were standing in Madame Maxime's enormous shadow), they were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces.

Madame Maxime, "'as Karkaroff arrived yet?"

Dumbledore, "he should be here any moment. Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"

Madame Maxime, "warm up, I think. But ze 'orses-"

Dumbledore, "our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them. The moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other, er, charges."

Ron, "Skrewts."

Madame Maxime, "my steeds require, er, forceful 'andling. Zey are very strong…."

Dumbledore, "I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job."

Madame Maxime said, bowing slightly, "very well. Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"

Dumbledore, "it will be attended to."

Madame Maxime said, "come", imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps.

Seamus, "how big d'you reckon Durmstrang's horses are going to be?"

Harry, "well, if they're any bigger than this lot, even Hagrid won't be able to handle them."

Michael, "that's if he hasn't been attacked by his Skrewts. Wonder what's up with them?"

Ron, "maybe they've escaped."

Hermione, "oh don't say that. Imagine that lot loose on the grounds…."

They stood, shivering slightly now, waiting for the Durmstrang party to arrive. Most people were gazing hopefully up at the sky.

For a few minutes, the silence was broken only by Madame Maxime's huge horses snorting and stamping. But then….

Ron, "can you hear something?"

Michael and Harry listened; a loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting toward

them from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed….

Lee Jordan, "the lake! Look at the lake!"

From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water, except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the center; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks, and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor….

What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool…. And then the twins saw the rigging….

Harry, "it's a mast!"

Michael, "and that means; a ship!"

Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.

Like the last arrival, several students, male and female, all of them built like Crabbe and Goyle, performed their own routine, slamming their brooms on the ground as they walked, creating sparks!

As they got closer, it was shown their bulk was really due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.

He called heartily as he walked up the slope, "Dumbledore, how are you, my dear fellow?"

Dumbledore, "blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff."

Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.

Karkaroff, "dear old Hogwarts. How good it is to be here, how good…. Viktor, come along, into the warmth…. You don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold…."

Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As the boy passed, Harry and Michael caught a glimpse of a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows. They didn't need the punch on the arm Ron gave them, or the hiss in their ears, to recognize that profile.

"Harry! Michael! It's Krum! I don't believe it! Krum, guys! Viktor Krum!"

The Hogwarts students filed back up the steps behind the party from Durmstrang.

Hermione, "for heaven's sake, Ron, he's only a Quidditch player."

Ron, "only a Quidditch player? Hermione, he's one of the best Seekers in the world! I had no idea he was still at school!"

As they recrossed the entrance hall with the rest of the Hogwarts students heading for the Great Hall, Harry saw Lee Jordan jumping up and down on the soles of his feet to get a better look at the back of Krum's head. Michael could see that Luna was one of the few girls who weren't frantically searching their pockets as they walked.

Ron was hoping to get an autograph.

Soon, the guests from the two visiting schools sat at the tables, with their headmaster's sitting on either side of Dumbledore.

Dumbledore, "good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and, most particularly, guests. I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable. The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast. I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

Harry and the others were able to see Hagrid sitting at the table.

Harry, "Skrewts doing all right, Hagrid?"

Hagrid, "thrivin'."

Ron, "yeah, I'll just bet they are. Looks like they've finally found a food they like, doesn't it? Hagrid's fingers."

Michael, "at least he's got the guts to deal with those Skrewts."

At that moment, a voice said, "excuse me, are you wanting ze bouillabaisse?"

It was the girl from Beauxbatons. She had a long sheet of silvery-blonde hair that fell almost to her waist. She had large, deep blue eyes, and very white, even teeth.

Ron went purple and stared up at her, opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out.

Michael was wide-eyed as well.

Harry, "yeah, have it."

"You 'ave finished wiz it?"

Ron, "yeah. Yeah, it was excellent."

The girl picked up the dish and carried it carefully off to the Ravenclaw table. Ron was still goggling at the girl as though he had never seen one before. Harry started to laugh as Michael was shaken out of his own trance. The sound seemed to jog Ron back to his senses.

Ron, "she's a Veela."

Hermione, "of course she isn't. I don't see anyone else gaping at her like an idiot!"

But she wasn't entirely right about that. As the girl crossed the Hall, many boys' heads turned, and some of them seemed to have become temporarily speechless, just like Ron.

Ron, "I'm telling you, that's not a normal girl! They don't make them like that at Hogwarts!"

Michael, "they make them okay at Hogwarts."

Cho happened to be sitting only a few places away from the girl with silvery hair.

Hermione, "when you've both put your eyes back in. You'll be able to see who's just arrived."

She was pointing up at the staff table. The two remaining empty seats had just been filled. Ludo Bagman was now sitting on Professor Karkaroff's other side, while Mr. Crouch was next to Madame Maxime.

Harry, "what are they doing here?"

Hermione, "they organized the Triwizard Tournament, didn't they? I suppose they wanted to be here to see it start."

Once the meal was over, Dumbledore said, "the moment has come. The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket."

Harry, "the what?"

Ron shrugged.

Michael, "I'm sure they'll explain it."

Dumbledore, "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."

The applause was much larger for Bagman.

Dumbledore, "Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament. And they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime 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. Perhaps Dumbledore had noticed their sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, "the casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."

Filch, 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.

Dumbledore said as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "the instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman. 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.

Dumblebore, "as you know, three champions compete in the tournament. 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.

Dumbledore, "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. 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. 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 seventeen will be able to cross this line. Finally, 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."

As Harry and Michael left with the others, including Fred and George as they tried to think of ways to get into the competition, they noticed Karkaroff staring at them, as if he had seen a ghost, and Mad Eye was trying to block the twins from his sight.

Moody watched him until he was out of sight with his students following him, his magical eye fixed upon his back, a look of intense dislike upon his mutilated face…..

….

Reviews:

Canadude2029: yeah, no kidding. This book got intense.

denni19molly: great idea. Also, who would you prefer Ron to be with? Yori or Tara?

Bailey Radcliff: thank you very much. I'm glad you're liking this story. And good idea for that Kim Possible story.

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