We're finally back. There wasn't an update last week so there will be two today.

Note from Ermory: Guys Ermroy here, I am so sorry , this time we are late because of me. I accidentaly translated the chapter after this one lol. Sorry guys, but hey! You at least know hat the next chapter will be on time.

Well as usual I'm also a factor for the tardiness. I ended up not editing till yesterday? School's started for me, and the schedules are already hectic. The updates might be a bit random from now on, sigh. We'll try our best though.

Also, the usual, we don't own any of this, JK Rowling owns characters and plot, while the story was originally written in Italian by EmPotter, it's on EFPfanfic, called 'Sono Ginny Weasley, e questa è la mia storia'

Enjoy the chapter!

The Triwizard Tournament

Having arrived at Hogwarts in the magical carriages, Ginny and her friends hurried into the castle, before Peeves could come up with another plan to drop on them even more water balloons, which had already victimized Ron as well as some girls in fifth and second year. Christopher was shoving around the hardest to get inside and out of the target area, not wanting to get soaked any more than already.

"Can't everyone hurry up and move along? I'm starving!" groaned Ginny, staring daggers at the empty gold plates, after she and her friends have all settled down at the Gryffindor table.

After a few more moments of waiting, the Sorting Hat finally broke into song, at the applause of all the students in the hall. Colin, however, seemed to be appreciating the moment not as much as seeing his little brother; both of them were hopping here and there excitedly.

"Creevey, Dennis!" McGonagall suddenly shouted.

"Here we go!" Colin exulted as Dennis stumbled to the stool, wrapped in Hagrid's big moleskin coat. "Brothers and sisters would be sorted into the same house, right?" he added, remembering only then that Dennis could be sorted into a house other than his own.

"No, not necessarily" was Demelza's answer.

Colin's inner turmoil lasted only a little while, for no sooner had the Hat touched Dennis, the latter was declared to be among the Gryffindors. He all but ran to his elder brother, who was equally joyous to have him in the same house. It seemed in no time at all, the sorting had ended and all the golden dishes were filled with all the delicious dishes, Ginny couldn't wait to start her planned attack on the food—especially the roast chicken and chocolate desserts… as Colin and Dennis were still wrapped in a frenzied conversation about Harry Potter, who was sitting not far from them.

"This is delicious!" the redhead commented with a full mouth, and Demelza nodded vigorously.

"Aren't we lucky!" Vicky added, sipping her pumpkin juice. "I heard from Nick that Peeves got into trouble in the kitchen and scared the house elves, and we almost couldn't had our dinner! He just can't ever stay put."

After all the students had been stuffing themselves, Dumbledore stood up, spread his arms cheerfully and began his usual start-of-term announcements cheerfully. He talked about objects banned by Mr. Filch, the old caretaker who clearly enjoyed seeing students suffer; he talked about the list of those forbidden items, which were extended to include some deliveries sold by Fred and George before the school had ended in June. Then he continued-

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year ..."

Needless to say, pandemonium broke out.

"What do you mean?!" Ginny exclaimed, opening her mouth wide, protesting among the hall of students. Right when she finally was confident to try for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, something like this had to happen?

"But that's not right!" Vicky snapped, looking at the old Headmaster grimly.

"What nonsense?" Ritchie protested.

Dumbledore resumed: "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy – but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year, Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament."

"YEAH RIGHT"

"KEEP JOKING!" Fred and George exclaimed loudly into a bubble of laughter around them.

Ginny could not believe her ears: the Triwizard Tournament here at Hogwarts! It was like a dream, a dream that came true. Her parents had talked so much about the famous tournament, and they had always spoken about it with great joy, even though it had been discontinued due to the high death toll. But of course, as Dumbledore seemed confident to assure, there would be more experienced teachers to handle the situation this year; the excitement in the Great Hall grew, as the headmaster explained the tournament affair to those who had never heard of it.

"It sounds fantastic!" exclaimed Colin, when the Headmaster finished his brief explanation. He was as excited as the other students, perhaps even more so because he was a Muggle's son. "We have to try and get into this competition, all of us could become champions of Hogwarts, do not we? Oh, I can't wait to know more about this Triwizard Tournament, so we could all join together and ... "

"What are you talking about?" Demelza interrupted Colin's great monologue worriedly. "Didn't you hear Dumbledore? The Triwizard Tournament was discontinued due to the high death toll, and anyone would think properly about that before trying to enroll in this death trap!"

But Demelza's anxiety was only shared by a few people there in the Great Hall, which happened to include Ritchie and Vicky.

"Yes, all very fascinating ... but the age limit is seventeen and it seems to me you're all only thirteen"

"Oh!" Colin said, only now remembering those specific words of Dumbledore.

"The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang delegations will arrive in October and stay with us for the greater part of the year," the Headmaster continued. "I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are here with us, and will give your whole hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, so bedtime! Chop chop!"

Ginny and her friends got up from their table and crossed the Great Hall, heading for their common room and imagining how the Triwizard Tournament will play out, telling each other their own theories of the tasks and tests to be passed by the champions.

"Ahh, how I would love to participate!" Ginny sighed, her head in the clouds.

"High death toll, high death toll..." Demilza mutter-chanted, trotting alongside her friend.

"I'd like to participate too, show everyone what you're made of, a good opportunity, right?" William said, brushing back a black curl from over his eye and puffing a little.

"I don't see myself overcoming difficult physical trials..." Vicky said, thoughtfully enough.

"Yes, exactly," agreed Demelza, who was still thinking about the high death toll.

"Um, it's hell itself that's making you talk!" he accused and Christopher and Ritchie laughed. "Eh, Dem?"

"HEY!" she protested, immediately infuriated.

"Ginny, one thing came to my mind ..." Vicky murmured, flirty toned, and Ginny shivered feeling a strange air, perhaps an air of gossip.

While Demelza and Christopher continued their friendly fight, in front of a bewildered Ritchie trying every way to end the bantering quarrel, Vicky leaned towards Ginny with a mischievous look.

"Look at how the boys stare at you ... you're making a lot of progress to what I see, you know?"

William joined them in that conversation, turning to look at Vicky with wide eyes. "What did you say?"

"Nothing but the truth... A friend of my boyfriend has already been having his eyes on you, in addition to the fact that other guys, I heard around, they find you very pretty, and ... look over there, quick!" Ginny turned, curious and skeptical, to where her friend pointed, about ten yards from where they were walking. "See, Dean Thomas seems fascinated looking at you, don't you think?"

"No!" it was William who answered, rather irritated, "it does not sound right!"

"He's right, and anyway, who is this phantom friend of your boyfriend who supposedly have turned his eyes on me?"

"Oh I can't tell you everything! I'm sorry, I really cannot."

"Okay so... you're lying," the redhead simply concluded, giggling.

"I swear I'm not!" her friend exclaimed, putting her hand on her heart.

Ginny stared at her with a mixture of perplexity and amusement, while William had his arms crossed and looked away, slipping a hand through those wonderful curly hair: a sure sign that he was nervous.

"Anyway," Vicky went to the portrait of the Fat Lady, "Don't you think you should forget Harry Potter for a while and try watching other guys? Anthony's friend is not really bad and Dean Thomas is very nice, even though he isn't really with a Ravenclaw's type: yes, he's dating but still looks at you like that… I can't understand… poor Lisa Turpin!"

Having heard everything, Christopher intertwined his hands, forming cattle horns. Ritchie and Demelza burst out laughing, and William woke up from his deep nervousness and began to tear up with laughter, as he always did when he chuckled.

"Wait ... do you still like Harry Potter?" Ritchie asked, causing Ginny to jump.

"What's got into your brain to say it here?" she said hotly, glaring at Ritchie. "Listen, Harry is a thing ... that is ... it's complicated to explain, I don't really expect you to understand," she added, cutting short on that subject.

"Password?" asked the Fat Lady, in the silence that followed Ginny's words.

"Balderdash," Vicky replied.

Ginny entered the crowded Gryffindor common room, embittered and with the thought of the four-poster bed that awaited her at the girls' dormitory. Moreover, her mind was not only at the canopy, but also elsewhere: why was it so hard and complicated to forget about Harry Potter?

-o-o-o-o-o-

The next day, Ginny woke up in a strangely good mood, and when she and her friends got ready, they went down to the Great Hall with a smile on their faces. The boys were waiting for breakfast and chatting about this and that, once again leaving Colin and his little brother in their own unfathomable conversations. As soon as William saw them he smiled so radiantly that many Hufflepuffs at the next table sighed loudly, beating their lashes languidly and whispering excitedly among themselves.

"Good morning everyone!" he greeted the redhead energetically, sitting down next to Ritchie.

"Wonderful morning, right?" William asked, still with that smile.

Ginny nodded happily and grabbed her time table handed over gently by the boy. While she sipped her pumpkin juice, occasionally eating some chocolate biscuits, she consulted her schedules, noting that on Monday morning she was in Divination, Care of Magical Creatures with Ravenclaws, Muggle Studies and Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"The Divination Room is up at the North Tower, better have a head start," Demelza suggested Demelza, hesitantly.

When they finished breakfast and arrived at the North Tower, they promptly took seats in the strange and steamy Divination classroom, which looked more like a cross between an old-fashioned tea room and an attic, and which housed about twenty round tables that were surrounded by colored poufs. They were all out of breath and collapsed on those soft poufs, which were really rather relaxing. Alice and Rose had already been there a long time and smiled friendly, waving to them. The two of them now preferred to befriend the rest of the Gryffindors rather than Ginny and the others, but despite this they were quite mature now compared to previous years; the boys spoke very willingly with them: they had a normal relationship, as merely classmates.

"Where's the teacher?" Christopher asked the two girls.

Alice pointed to an unspecified point above the boy's shoulder, who turned around.

"Welcome, my dear students."

Behind her, Professor Trelawney suddenly appeared, who at first seemed to be a mixture of a colored fly and a dragonfly: she had large eyes and thick black glasses, the numerous shawls rich in frills tinkling annoyingly. Poor Christopher jumped and William thrust his knuckles into his mouth to try and stifle the chuckles.

The strange professor advanced into the semi-darkness, and declared in a veiled voice: "I am Professor Trelawney and this year you will learn the noble art of Divination. You may have already seen me ... but I doubt it. Confusion of the world around you blurs your Inner Eye, do you know?" she nodded, colored shawls still tinkling.

Nobody dared to comment on that statement; everyone looked perplexedly at each other.

"In this hall you will all discover if you own ... the Sight!" she exclaimed and, not seeing the table next to the her, she slammed into it noisily. The boys had a crazy desire to laugh. "The first term will be dedicated to reading the tea leaves, but in the next we will go on to the reading of palms and finally the crystal ball and... ohh, dear!" she added to Ritchie, who jumped.

"…yes?"

"Beware a red-haired woman." The professor whispered knowingly.

Ritchie turned to stare at Ginny, along with everyone else, who were obviously amused and intrigued, and then he pulled the chair away from her slightly. Colin began to mumble in the boy's ear, while Christopher was really having trouble remaining serious.

"Really!" Ginny snapped softly, showing all her disappointment.

"Now going back to today's lesson, each take a cup from the shelf, come to me and I will fill it ..." the professor softly ordered and the students obeyed, getting up from the colored poufs and heading for a cup from the shelf. "You have to drink until only the dregs are left, swill these around the cup three times with your left hand, then turn the cup upside down on the saucer. Interpret the patterns in your partner's cup by consulting pages five and six of Unfogging the Future while I will move between you to give you a hand."

"What's in my cup?" Demelza asked anxiously, after following the teacher's instruction. The others had done what Trelawney had ordered them, and they were all excited to talk, with their heads bowed over their mugs and books.

"So ..." Ginny began, consulting page five of her book, "there's a little circle here ... no, wait ... it's an acorn, and it means: unexpected luck. Up here there's a star, which means: pleasant meeting. Oh, really nice and comfortable!"

Demelza sighed with relief, and you could see a mile away that she much quieter than before.

"And in my cup?"

"Ah, wait a minute," Demelza said and began to slide her finger across the book while Ginny's eyes were almost stuck on her, straining her neck to know quickly if she was just as lucky as her friend. "Look, I had the star and you have the moon, in fact, the crescent ... which means: moment of confusion, you will tend to have illusions," Ginny stared at her friend, who became in a single stroke very irritated, uncertain whether to continue or not. "And then you have ... wait a moment ..."

While Demelza held the book tensely, Ginny looked away, wanting to sink into the pouf and never re-emerge: even the cups sent her messages. Moment of confusion, you will tend to have illusions, and what did it mean? Well, it was the truth and the girl knew it well. Lavender Brown was in Divination class, and what was predicted of her came true. Trying to think of Harry as little as possible, Ginny looked again at Demelza.

"Then here's a bird, maybe an owl, but there are no owls in the book here!"

"The truth lies buried like a phrase in the depths of a book waiting to be read," said Professor Trelawney, sailing through the various tables and Ginny stared at her with eyes narrowed into two lines. If she said one more word about the truth, she would surely try to choke her with one of her shawls. "Expand your mind, you must look beyond the concrete!" she added, spreading a hand like touching an invisible horizon.

"I cannot ..." grumbled Demelza, super concentrated, leafing through the book.

"A hand, oh dear, let me have a look, um!" the professor said softly, taking the cup from Demelza's trembling hands, but as soon as she looked in there she gave a strangled little cry and threw it on the table, with a clearly frightened expression. Demelza jumped, dropping the pink flowered decorative saucer on the ground that crashed at her feet. Now, the whole class was looking fixedly at them.

"W-What is it?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, my dear ..." Cooman whispered, looking intently at the girl, "you have ... you have the crow!"

"The Crow? And what does that mean?" Colin asked, scratching his head in bewilderment.

"The crow!" Ritchie and Christopher shouted in unison.

"Ah, crow, beautiful animal, eh?"

"Honor of death, mortal danger!" the professor continued, as if nothing had interrupted her. Her gaze was glassy, as if she could really see beyond the concrete. "I remember that my grandmother used to say: if on your way the Crow you meet, so much trouble in the future you will pass. Oh, well ... she was right! "

Ginny visibly blanched, eyes widening. She ripped the cup from the teacher's hands, and looked inside, trying to find a way out of that situation but it was useless: the animal was really a crow. That cup certainly was not as benign as Demelza's! First the messages alluding to Harry Potter, now not only was she having illusions but also had to be careful what was happening all the time because she could die at any moment because of the crow!

"B-but ..."

"And you also have red hair, my darling! This brings more harm than anything else!"

The other students got up from their poufs and approached that table.

"That's nonsense!" William hissed irritably, taking the cup to look at it and placing it gently on the table.

"But William ..." objected Ritchie, pointing to the crow in the cup, and keeping at a distance.

"I do not think it's really a crow, I mean ... I thought it was a goose!" replied Rose, giving very light pats on Ginny's shoulder, trying in vain to convey tranquility and indifference. Despite her being so tense, she noticed that Rose did not seem excited to be a few centimeters from William: the crush that lasted the entirety of first and second year seemed to have passed, as well as her enormous stupidity.

"Rose, you could see a mile away that it is a crow..." Alice whispered.

"What if it's all a mistake?" Demelza asked hopefully. "An error?" repeated Vicky, who was very intimidated by that cup and by Ginny, as if she expected to see her fall dead on the floor at any moment, quite in the same way as everyone else in the room. The girl was starting to be annoyed at the way her classmates stared at her, and tried not to meet the gaze of any of them.

The teacher seemed in a state of deep inner meditation, her eyes rolled up to heaven.

"But what will happen to her now, Professor?" asked Colin quickly, pointing to her friend. "Does she have to be careful, or do we have to run away from her so as to not be infected by this ugly curse, or do we have to be near her to offer her protection, a… uh, positive aura?"

Christopher and William burst out laughing; Vicky and Alice protested loudly.

"I think we have to be close to her, don't we?" Colin said, smiling.

"Of course we must!"

"Could something really happen to her?"

"Something deadly maybe?"

Ginny stared at them all furiously, stumbling along that insignificant lesson and blurted out: "Oh Divine Mother ... are you done!?"

"Oh yes, I would say that the lesson ends here ..." concluded Professor Trelawney, moving away from them and reaching the chair. "pack away your things…"

Ginny grabbed her stuff in an angrily, and stormed out of the classroom, falling down the trapdoor ladder. There were strangled shrieks and muffled shouts, then the girl tiredly raised a hand to show that she was not dead yet. Rising quickly from the cold floor, convinced she had fractured her wrist, she slipped away with Demelza on her heels, who suggested an immediate visit to Madame Pomfrey.

-o-o-o-o-o-

The rest of the day's lessons were much more enjoyable than Divination, and Ginny's spirits definitely went up.

At the Care of Magical Creatures lesson, Hagrid made them work on creatures that were called Flobberworms that were like worms and were very funny as well as disgusting, but after all it was fun to feed them with Hagrid, who always put them to them comfortable with the Ravenclaws. Another nice lesson was Muggle Studies, in which Professor Charity Burbage gave them notes on the major objects such as stacks and thorns, after first making a speech about the relationship between wizards and Muggles, promising them in the next lesson she would bring an object that was battery operated. Ginny and Vicky had a pleasant lesson before meeting everyone else in the common room: Demelza had been at Ancient Runes and the others, who had not chosen a third subject, had a one-hour free period and had been playing all the while.

But the most beautiful and interesting lesson was that of Defense against the Dark Arts, because Professor Moody went directly to teaching them some spells that proved very dangerous (Moody said: "That's why I wanted you to learn them! Off you go, and constant vigilance!" that was his motto) and then they were made to take notes on the exercises from that day. Demelza, however, was very upset by that lesson, but the boys were still all excited.

"It's scary ..." Vicky mumbled along the seventh-floor corridor, "I don't think that eye should be allowed. Have you seen what he did? He looked behind his head and saw me talking to Ritchie! "

The boy in question shuddered.

"Forget the eye," replied Demelza hurriedly, "I don't think those lessons should be allowed! Magic of that kind are what's meant to be shown in the seventh year to prepare for their exams! What game is he playing?"

"It's enough already if he didn't ask us to duel each other," murmured Vicky melodramatically.

"Let's just go!" Christopher and William burst in unison; the girl shrugged and kept walking.

"Dumbledore is not stupid, is he? He will have everything under control ..." Ritchie murmured, trying to convince himself.

"Of course!" William confirmed.

"Yeah, Ritchie is right ... with times like now, Dumbledore just wants us to be experienced," Ginny said and nodded. "That Sirius Black sparked panic, it is obvious that Dumbledore wants us to train as much as possible!"

"Exactly!" William immediately agreed.

"Yeah, well ... it does make sense," Christopher said.

"Do you seriously believe that the Death Eaters are posted outside the school?" Demelza said skeptically. "No, there must be something underneath ... working from the inside…" she added worriedly and, stopping at the portrait of the Fat Lady, said the password in a silent whisper.

-o-o-o-o-o-

September passed with surprising speed between lessons, various entertainments and excitement for the upcoming Triwizard Tournament. All the students could not wait to take part in this new adventure; by the thirtieth of October, nobody was sitting steadily in their skin.

That day the lessons had ended earlier to give everyone time to prepare properly, and the Hogwarts students were summoned outside, where they stayed for more than a quarter of an hour waiting for the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Everyone was happy to welcome them, especially for the tournament motto of International Magic Cooperation, that the wizards and witches of different schools could cooperate, making friends with each other.

After what seemed like hours, little Dennis Canon shouted.

"LOOK!"

Everyone raised their heads and noticed a large carriage drawn by white horses, which landed in the schoolyard. In less than no time, the students of Beauxbatons slipped out of their great carriage and sneaked into Hogwarts to warm themselves, following their headmistress, Madame Maxime, who was twice as tall as a normal man. Probably she was a half-giant too, because the only one they'd seen of that size was the half-giant Hagrid.

"How come they're dressed so lightly?" Christopher asked, staring at the back of the students trickling inside.

"In France it is not so cold in October, it's in a region with temperate climate…" Demelza informed them, "I don't think they expected it, might have just escaped everyone's mind… I do hope those from Durmstrang will hurry up because I am freezing to death!"

"And hungry ..." Ginny said with a small smile, scanning the sky for some other flying carriage.

After five minutes, Demelza's wish came true and from Great Lake came out what looked like a big charmed underwater ship. Soon even the Durmstrang students, wrapped in heavy furs (unlike those of Beauxbatons), reached them in the courtyard and entered the castle, followed closely by the students of Hogwarts. While the students from the various houses walked to their tables, Ginny almost fainted.

"Viktor Krum!" someone shouted.

It was indeed Krum himself, the Bulgarian Quidditch player who had so much moved the world: Viktor Krum stepped forward and sat down at the Slytherin table, along with all his Durmstrung classmates as they had been instructed. The Beaubaxtons students settled at the Ravenclaws, still trembling from the cold, but no one paid them any attention as Krum curiously scanned the hall.

Demelza gripped Ginny's arm, unable to utter a word.

"Have you seen him, Dem? Our dreams came true! I can't wait to get an autograph!"

"I did not think he was still going to school ..."

"Me neither."

"I do ... well, it's obvious: my mother is a sports journalist!" replied Vicky all perky, kneeling on the bench to see Krum. Ritchie imitated her immediately, in the grip of emotion too strong; Meanwhile, William stared at Ginny and the girls, snorting loudly and mumbling his disappointment, announcing that he was only an internationally renowned Quidditch player. Therefore, nothing.

Once everyone was settled, Dumbledore announced for the start of the feast, and international magical cooperation or not, the Hogwarts students were not giving away their food.

When a girl from Beaubaxtons, who looked like a Veela, came to get a typical French specialty from the Gryffindor table, Christopher and William gasped (along with many students on the table): it was the girls' turn to be irritated. Ginny wanted to make Evanesce the beautiful girl just to not show her to Harry, who seemed rather struck by her visible beauty.

Once all the gold plates were empty, Dumbledore stood up.

"The moment has come ... the Triwizard Tournament is about to start!" he said and the excitement was palpable. The students bounced on the chairs, and stretched their necks to better see their Headmaster. "Three champions will compete in the tournament, they will receive scores based on their demonstrated skills in each of the tasks, and one of them will come out on top to win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Every watched as the Headmaster opened the casket, revealing the Goblet of Fire, filled to the brim with blue and white dancing flames.

"Anyone wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," Dumbledore continued, "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 worthiest to represent their schools. 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. Now, I think it is time for bed. Goodnight to you all." he added, spreading his arms.

Ginny felt the euphoria penetrate her skin as she made her way through the students to reach the Gryffindor Tower, but not that she wanted to deceive the Goblet of Fire ... because she was sure that a third year did not have a shred of chance. She was only curious to see the champions clash and face the various tasks. Who knows what would happen... who would have be chosen as the Hogwarts champion? All to be found out the next day!

There we go, hang around for the next chapter? It'll be up in a couple of hours.

Review?

~Helena H. (editor; Ermory owns this account and she translates)

Next: One school, two champions