When the day officially began, they had Herbology as their first lecture. In all honesty, it was an uncomfortable lesson, as they were dealing with Bubotubers and they had to extract the pus from the plant. It was a very squeamish couple of hours, but everyone endured.

Unfortunately, Care of Magical Creatures was not any better. Hagrid proudly displayed some creatures who looked like absolute abominations of nature. They were deformed, shell-less lobsters, horribly pale and slimy-looking, with legs sticking out in very odd places and no visible heads. There were about a hundred of them in each crate, each about six inches long, crawling over one another, bumping blindly into the sides of the boxes. The creatures gave off a very powerful smell of rotting fish. Every now and then, sparks would fly out of the end of one of the creatures, and with a small phut, it would be propelled forward several inches.

Hagrid proudly grinned, "Blast-Ended Skrewts! Only just hatched, so you'll be able to raise them yourselves! Thought that this would make an excellent long-term project."

The cold voice of Malfoy sounded, "And why would we want to raise them? I mean, what do they do? What is the point of them?"

Hagrid was a little cowed and replied, "That's next lesson, Malfoy. You're just feeding them today. Now, you'll want to try them on a few different things — I've never had them before, not sure what they'll go for — I got ant eggs and frog livers and a bit of grass snake — just try them out with a bit of each."

In the end, Harry and the gang were forced to grin and bear it. At the same time, they were forced to listen to Malfoy's petulant whining. On the bright side, Harry's natural affinity for animals meant that his Skrewt gave him an easier time. The next lesson was Divination, and Harry really was not looking forward to it.

As he sat on his chair, Trelawney ambled up to him. She spoke, "You are preoccupied, my dear. My inner eye sees past your brave facade to the troubled soul within. And I regret to say that your worries are not baseless. I see difficult times ahead for you, alas... most difficult... I fear the thing you dread will indeed come to pass... and perhaps sooner than you think... You have been most brave to survive such an ordeal, and your altered appearance is proof of your strength."

She stepped back and continued her lecture, "My dears, it is time for us to consider the stars. The movements of the planets and the mysterious portents they reveal only to those who understand the steps of the celestial dance. Human destiny may be deciphered by the planetary rays, which intermingle with each other. Saturn is slowly getting in a position of power in the heavens."

The gears in his head spun, and then it clicked for him, Saturn is the Roman equivalent to Kronos. He scribbled furiously on his parchment and then his mind began to wander as his ADHD kicked in. A small nudge from Ron jerked him back to his senses, noticing that the class was over and he had accidentally doodled battle plans. He hurriedly crumpled it up before anyone could notice.

That evening in the Common Room, the Gryffindor prefects gathered everyone and announced, "Okay, so this is what we're going to do. Each of you discuss with your Year mates and choose one person to represent you. In essence, one person from Seventh Year, one from Sixth, one from Fifth and one from Fourth."

Harry and the other Fourth Year Gryffindors clustered together. Lavender was the first to speak, "I think it should be Hermione. She is the smartest of us all."

Hermione scoffed, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I mostly excel from a theoretical basis. I still struggle with practical magic. Also, if I had to face off against Seventh-Years, I would be completely out of my depth."

Then Ron jumped in, "I think Harry should do it. Look, he can match Hermione in the theory and you all know what he's like in DADA. I think we should have Harry represent the Fourth-Years."

After much debate, the rest of the Fourth-Years were in agreement, Harry sighed, "Fine, I'll do it. I'll submit my name in the pool."

A few minutes later, the prefect consulted his list, "Okay, so we've got Blenkinsop from the Seventh-Years. Johnson from Sixth, Hackett from Fifth and Potter from Fourth. Alright, now that that's done, good night everyone."

The next couple of days passed by without much incident. McGonagall got them started on the Beetle to Button transfiguration. Then it was time for the first Defence Against the Dark Arts lecture. For the first time ever, all four Houses would be attending the same lecture. Harry and his friends followed the other Gryffindors to the DADA classroom and saw the other students gathers outside. Peeping in the open door, they didn't see Moody anywhere, so they all reluctantly walked in with Harry bringing up the rear. Just then, the hairs on the back of Harry's neck pricked up and his wand shot into his left hand. He quickly transferred it to his right hand. Then he spun around, tapping his holster. His shield instinctively unfurled itself, and just in time too.

Ron and Hermione instantly took cover behind the shield as a Stinging Hex impacted against it and was redirected skywards. More Hexes rained down on the students, coming from behind the open door. Finally, Mad Eye Moody hobbled out from his hiding place. He roared, "DEAD! ALL OF YOU ARE DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! You there!? Potter, right? Good call with the shield! Excellent transfiguration! 10 points to Gryffindor! You two, 10 points each for taking cover. Those kind of reflexes would have saved your arses!"

Malfoy protested, "Wouldn't a Protego spell have worked better?"

Moody replied, "Aye, that's true. But then again, multiple spells will eventually break down a Protego spell. A real shield is a solid object. Now, put your books away. You won't need them because this is a practical demonstration."

He took the roll and once he was done, growled, "Right then. I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures — you've covered boggarts, Red Caps, Hinkypunks, Grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?"

Everyone murmured in assent. He continued, "But you're behind — very behind — on dealing with curses," said Moody. "So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark Arts. Yeah, I'm staying just the one year. Special favour to Dumbledore. . . . One year, and then back to my quiet retirement."

He clapped his hands once, "So — straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you counter-curses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking."

Lavender yelped and hurriedly tucked away her completed horoscope under the desk. Moody ignored the chuckles from the students and continued his lecture, "So . . . do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by Wizarding law?"

Several hands rose tentatively into the air, including Harry's, Ron's and Hermione's. Moody pointed at Ron.

"Er," said Ron tentatively, "my dad told me about one. . . . Is it called the Imperius Curse, or something?"

"Ah, yes," said Moody appreciatively. "Your father would know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse."

The man got up and opened a desk drawer. Reaching a gnarled hand in, he withdrew a large glass jar. Ron recoiled, and Harry couldn't blame him at all. That was because three large black spiders were scuttling around inside it. Moody deftly caught one and held it for everyone to see. Pointing his wand, he intoned, "Imperio!"

The spider leapt from Moody's hand on a fine thread of silk and began to swing backward and forward as though on a trapeze. It stretched out its legs rigidly, then did a back flip, breaking the thread and landing on the desk, where it began to cartwheel in circles. Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two of its hind legs and began to tap dance.

There were several chuckles, except for Harry and Ron. Moody growled, "Think it's funny, do you? You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"

The laughter died away almost instantly.

"Total control," said Moody quietly as the spider balled itself up and began to roll over and over. "I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats . . ."

Moody quietly and sinisterly said, "Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse. Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will. Fortunately, the Imperius Curse can be fought. I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Chucking the spider back in the jar, he asked, "Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?"

Hermione and Neville's hands flew up and Moody picked Neville. The boy gulped and said, "There's the C-Cruciatus Curse."

Moody's good eye focused Neville, "Longbottom eh? Yeah, I know about that. Good to see that they're up and about."

Moody cleared his throat and removed the next spider. He pointed his wand at it and spoke up, "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea, Engorgio!"

Now, it was a little bigger than a tarantula, and Ron froze up. Moody raised his wand and muttered, "Crucio!"

At once, the spider's legs bent in upon its body; it rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came from it, but it was writhing in agony. Hermione's green face yelled, "Stop it! I think you've made your point!"

Moody stopped, to everyone's relief. Harry did notice that Neville was trembling and pat his arm discreetly. Moody softly said, "Pain. You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse. . . . That one was very popular once too."

Harry thought to himself, 'Yeah? Try holding up the sky for several days on the trot. Even with the help of a goddess.'

Moody straightened up, "Any others?"

Harry's hand went up and Moody's eyes zeroed in on him. Harry hollowly spoke, "The Killing Curse… Avada Kedavra."

Moody nodded grimly, "Ah… The last and the worst."

He withdrew the last spider, which freaked out a little. Moody raised his wand and roared, "Avada Kedavra!"

In a flash of blinding green light, the spell struck the spider. It instantaneously rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but unmistakably dead.

Moody ominously said, "Not nice. Not pleasant. And there's no counter-curse. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me. Avada Kedavra is a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it — you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed. But that doesn't matter. I'm not here to teach you how to do it. Now, if there's no counter-curse, why am I showing you? Because you've got to know. You've got to appreciate what the worst is. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Everyone jumped again, "Now . . . those three curses — Avada Kedavra, Imperius, and Cruciatus — are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practice constant, never-ceasing vigilance."

Harry raised a hand and Moody called on him, "Professor. This is a hypothetical situation. Suppose you see someone who is about to take their own life, say by jumping off a bridge. And you use the Imperius Curse to save them, then what happens?"

Moody paused and everyone stared at Harry in amazement. The man mused, "Huh… Never thought about it that way. Must bring it up with Amelia and Sirius, one of these days."

The rest of the lesson continued without interruption. Finally, the bell rang, and everyone cleared out. As they walked, Harry, Hermione and Ron closed ranks around Neville, who was still shaking.

Afterwards, they made their way back to the Common Room where Harry saw Hedwig waiting for him with a letter. He took it and read, "Hey Harry. The search is getting along alright. We found a locket belonging to Salazar Slytherin. Well… Nico found it at Grimmauld Place and managed to negotiate with my house elf, Kreacher. Kid took a wicked looking black sword, touched the locket with it and sucked out the Horcrux. I'll be in touch soon. Think we've got a lead on another one, which is supposedly a ring. Sirius"

Over the next two weeks, school went about as normal, though the lessons got tougher. Then one day, Moody surprised everyone when he announced that he got permission to demonstrate the Imperius Curse. This invited a storm of protest, until he roared back, "If you'd rather learn the hard way — when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely — fine by me. You're excused. Off you go."

That shut everyone up, and the demonstrations began. Dean Thomas hopped three times around the room, singing the national anthem. Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel. Neville performed a series of quite astonishing gymnastics. Not one of them seemed to be able to fight off the curse, and each of them recovered only when Moody had removed it.

Then Moody called Harry up and he reluctantly shuffled up. Moody pointed his wand at Harry and intoned, "Imperio"

Immediately, a floating sensation overtook Harry. It was as if every thought and worry in his head was wiped gently away, leaving nothing but a vague, untraceable happiness. Then he shook his head and strengthened his Occlumency shields. This blocked out Moody's voice ordering him to jump on the desk. The order came back stronger, but Harry firmly held up his mental shields.

Moody lowered his wand and smiled approvingly, He spoke, "Now, that's more like it! Look at that, you lot . . . Potter fought! He fought it, and he beat it! We'll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention — watch his eyes, that's where you see it — very good, Potter, very good indeed! Anyone will have trouble controlling you! I heard about what happened at the World Cup. I suppose your ordeal has toughened you up."

A few days later, there was a large notice at the foot of the marble staircase. It read, '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. 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.'

When the day arrived the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. 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. It seemed that the professors were going all out to impress their guests. That day's lessons went by in a bit of a blur and 6 o'clock was rapidly approaching. The Heads of the respective houses arranged all the students in different rows. The First-Years with in front, followed by the Second-Years behind them, then the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Years.

They waited for a long time and Harry was growing fidgety. His ADHD was driving him crazy. Luckily, Katie solved that by standing behind him and giving his shoulders a massage. No one batted an eye, because the two were still pretending as though they were dating. Bianca was also looking uncomfortable with her own ADHD issues until Mackenzie reached out and squeezed her hand. Ron muttered next to Harry, "How do you reckon they're coming? The Express?"

Katie shrugged, "Not sure. Maybe they have their own methods of transportation."

Then a random Sixth-Year pointed excitedly above the Forbidden Forest. Sure enough, a gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest. Soon, 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 Abraxan.

The horses did a few loops and then landed. The hooves hit the ground with a crash, and the carriage soon followed. 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 Harry 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 tallest mortal woman he had ever seen in his life. The size of the carriage, and of the horses, was immediately explained. A few people gasped.

Dumbledore clapped, prompting the Hogwarts students to clap as well. He stepped forward to the tall woman and said, "My dear Madame Maxime,. Welcome to Hogwarts."

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

"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.

Behind here, about a dozen shivering boys and girls were standing behind her.

"Has Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.

"He should be here any moment," said Dumbledore lightly. "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," said Madame Maxime. "But ze horses —"

Dumbledore raised his hands placatingly, "Not to worry. I can have one of my students take care of them. Unfortunately, our Care of Magical Creatures professor is a touch busy with some of his other charges."

Madame Maxime primly said, "My steeds require — er — forceful handling. Zey are very strong..."

Dumbledore motioned to Harry, who dutifully stepped out, "Like I said, there is no need to worry. Young Harry here, is said to be a prodigy in Care of Magical Creatures. He even helped rescue one of the last wild Golden Snidgets from smugglers. Dare I say, the little fellow is rather devoted to him."

Maxime's beady eyes bore down on Harry, and she was a little impressed. She smiled thinly, "Very well. Just remember zat ze horses only drink single malt whiskey."

Harry bowed and slowly approached the horses. The horses were a little unruly, until they spotted him approaching and stilled. Hermione could have sworn that he had a silvery aura around him in the darkness. Harry softly neighed, "Alright! Calm down. I know you've had a long journey. Don't worry, I can help you."

He pet one of the Abraxan and it instantly leaned down at his touch. It nuzzled him and neighed, "Son of the moon goddess. Thank you for your hospitality. Please take us to some shelter."

Everyone except for Ron, Hermione and Neville watched in awe as Harry led the docile Abraxan to some makeshift stables. He deftly filled one trough with oats. Then he whistled, prompting a House Elf to pop next to him. He asked the little Elf to fetch some single malt whiskey and she popped away. A minute later, she was back with a large pitcher and popped away. He poured the whiskey into another trough, and the Abraxan nearly galloped towards the troughs.

One Beauxbatons girl screamed, thinking that he was in danger, but Harry emitted a sharp whistle. That was enough to stop the horses in their tracks. He neighed sharply, "Hey! Slowly! Don't rush it, there is plenty for everyone! Now come in a nice, orderly fashion!"

With the horses situated, he stepped back in line and waited for the Durmstrang contingent. Then, Lee Jordan exclaimed, "The lake! Look at the lake!"

Sure enough, in the center of the black, murky waters, great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks. Then, a whirlpool appeared in the middle of the lake, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor.

Then a ship's mast emerged from the heart of the whirlpool. Slowly, magnificently, a 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.

Harry joked, "Where did they get that one? From Davy Jones' Locker?"

There were small snickers from a few Muggleborns in earshot. However, everyone was distracted by several students disembarking. All of the students were fairly bulkily built at first glance. However, as they drew closer, they noticed that the students were bundled up in thick shaggy cloaks. The man leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.

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

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied."

Karkaroff gave a smile that did not quite reach his eyes. He spoke, "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..."

Ron's eyes bugged out and he hissed in Harry's ear, "Bloody hell! It's Viktor Krum!"

Harry grinned, "Yep, I noticed."

The Hogwarts students shuffled behind the Durmstrang contingent, whispering excitedly. Many were bemoaning that they did not have stationery on hand. While the visitors gathered outside the Great Hall, the home students took their seats. Then they walked in, with Durmstrang sitting at the Slytherin table, prompting Ron to sulk. Meanwhile, the Beauxbatons students were situated at the Ravenclaw table.

Karkaroff and Maxime took their places at the head table, and there were two empty chairs as well. Dumbledore stood up and called for silence. He said, "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!"

On cue, the plates in front of them filled with food as usual. The house-elves in the kitchen seemed to have pulled out all the stops; there was a greater variety of dishes in front of them than Harry had ever seen, including several that were definitely foreign.

Harry and Ron helped themselves to the food. As they ate, Ludo Bagman and Bartemius Crouch Sr had joined the head table, taking the two empty seats. Suddenly, a hush fell over the Gryffindor table. Harry looked up from his black pudding to see everyone staring at him in awe. He tilted his head curiously and groaned, "Are you all still staring at my hair? It's been a month! Haven't had enough!"

Suddenly, a dainty pair of hands covered his eyes and he felt a familiar aura. A melodious voice sing-songed, "Gueeess whooo!?"

A grin formed on his face, "Frenchie! I was wondering where you were!"

One hand withdrew from one eye and smacked the back of his head and he yelped. The unknown assailant snapped, "Connard! How many times have I told you? Don't call me Frenchie!"

He spun around in his seat to come face to face with a stunningly beautiful older girl. She had a flawless face with zero blemishes. A long sheet of silvery-blonde hair fell almost to her waist. She had large, deep blue eyes, and very white, even teeth. The teeth disappeared as the girl pouted. He grinned at her pouting face, "Aww come on, don't be like that. You're still my third favourite big sister. Well… second favourite now."

She turned up her nose, "And don't you forget it!"

He looked around at the Gryffindor table, and the boys were close to being reduced to drooling messes. The girls had visibly relaxed, and then it hit him. He turned back to the girl, "Umm… Fleur… You're projecting…"

Her deep blue eyes blinked in surprise, "Oh! Pardon! Force of habit. Also, I was craving some bouillabaisse."

Harry smirked and passed the dish to her, as she concentrated. Finally, the boys' expressions changed back to normal. He said, "Here you go, just don't hog the thing like you usually do."

She stuck her tongue out at him and walked back to the Ravenclaw table after serving herself. Ron snapped out of it, "Bloody hell! She's a veela."

Harry shrugged, "Yeah, I know."

Hermione tilted her head curiously, "I read about Veela. No one is sure about their origins, but they can sort of hypnotise men. We saw that at the World Cup, but why weren't you affected, Harry?"

He replied, "That's Fleur Delacour. Met her at Summer Camp. She normally stays at Cabin 10."

Ron and Hermione's eyes lit up in understanding. Harry continued, "I went to camp when I was five, and she used to babysit me. Later on, she explained about her 'Allure'. Initially, I wasn't affected because I was too young. She said that it usually starts affecting boys who are 11 or older. Then as I grew older, you could say I developed a bit of an immunity to her 'Allure', especially since I've been around her for so long."

Everyone listening in, was satisfied with the explanation and continued eating. Once the plates were wiped clean, Dumbledore stood up again. He announced, "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. 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 and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

There was polite applause for Crouch, and a more enthusiastic one for Bagman. Dumbledore continued, "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."

He motioned to Argus Filch, who was standing in a far corner of the hall. Filch disappeared behind a door and them emerged with a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. Dumbledore announced, "The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman. 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. 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 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. He cleared his throat, "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. 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."

With this, the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students got up. As Viktor Krum passed him, Harry felt something flutter onto his lap. Next to him, Ron didn't notice, as he was too busy gazing admiringly at Krum. Harry peeked down at the parchment, which had a simple message, "Meet tonight at 11PM where the owls roost and bring anyone in the know."

Harry crushed the note and made his way up to the dorms. Inside the Common Room, he motioned to Ron, Hermione and Neville. Harry even managed to get Katie, Bianca and Mackenzie's attention. He whispered, "We have a meeting tonight at 11. Let's wait for everyone to fall asleep."

After an agonising couple of hours, they snuck out of the Portrait. Harry and Katie were once again leading, while the other five were following them under the Invisibility Cloak. They steadily made their way to the Owlery, where they found Fleur waiting for them. However, she was not alone, as Viktor Krum was also there.

Harry snickered and used a finger to close Ron's dropped jaw. He said, "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Fleur Delacour, Daughter of Aphrodite, Greek Goddess of Love and Beauty. And this is Viktor Krum, Son of Nike, Greek Goddess of Victory. Fleur, Viktor, these are my friends, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom. This is my cousin Mackenzie Dursley. This is Katie Bell, Hunter of Artemis, and finally, Bianca di Angelo, Daughter of Hades."

The two's eyes widened and Fleur gasped, "Harry? Is she?..."

He shook his head, "She and her brother Nico were born before the pact, but were hidden away at the Land of the Lotus Eaters."

Krum nodded in understanding and said in a thick Bulgarian accent, "Da, I remember Perseus mentioning that you were in for a few minutes, but when you came out, five days passed."

Ron, Hermione and Neville could only wordlessly wave at them. Then Harry grew serious, "Fleur, Viktor? What news from camp?"

Krum shook his head and spoke up, "We're holding up, for now. We had three demigods defect to the enemy. All of them are children of minor gods. Now, Potter, I vant to make it Very Clear. I may be the son of minor goddess as well, but I have no intention of betraying the camp. Fleur and I plan to enter this tournament to get stronger. I am assuming you are entering to do the same?"

Harry nodded. Then Fleur spoke up in an icy voice, "Oh and Harry? When were you going to tell us zat you were kidnapped after ze Quidditch World Cup?"

He chuckled nervously, "Sorry Fleur…"

She interrupted, "You silly boy! You had all of us worried! Silena was extremely close to breaking out of camp and finding you, herself!"

Finally, she hugged him, "I'm just happy zat you are safe, mon petit frere."

Krum coughed deliberately to break up the coddling. He spoke, "So we are decided then? I suspect your Headmaster Dumbledore deliberately lowered the age limit so that you could also enter. I have no complaints about that if you are chosen. Good night. We speak tomorrow."