Chapter 87

"Come on, Hermione!" Harry called up from the landing at the foot of the stairs leading up to the girl's dormitory, impatience lacing his voice.

"Yeah, what's taking you so long?" Ron called up from the common room below. "We're going to be late!"

"Just a moment!" Hermione called back in annoyance. She really wanted to write to Oliver about what had happened with Professor Moody and Neville in her first DADA class, but with the way the boys were carrying on, she had barely had the time to put her books away.

Everyone was excited for tonight, so she really shouldn't fault them for their impatience. Tonight, after dinner, the announcement about the three champions for the Tri Wizard Tournament would be made. She felt like she was an outsider though, being the only onenotlooking forward to the reveal of identities of the three school champions.

Regardless of being able to study in the library before the first day of classes, Madam Pince hadn't allowed any books to be checked out of the library until the first day since she was still cleaning and cataloging the collection to make sure that all the books were accounted for. So, it hadn't been until Tuesday morning after breakfast that she had been able to check out the single copy of Triwizard Tragedies.

She had hoped to learn more details about the tournament to get an idea of what to expect, and was horrified to find just how gruesome and detailed the book edited by the Ministry of Magic Archives actually was. It focused on the gruesome details of injuries and deaths that had taken place over the seven century history of the tournament. It was no wonder they had finally discontinued the tournament in 1792 when a cockatrice the champions were trying to catch went on a rampage and all three school heads had been injured, and as the death toll climbed, it was decided that it was simplytoodangerous.

After reading about the details, Hermione, for the life of her, couldn't figure out why they had decided to bring it back. While it was true that she found the book disturbing in its detailed descriptions of a yeti the champions had to subdue tearing one limb from limb, or a feral werewolf gorging on two other champions in a different year, she felt like it was better to knowallthe possibilities of what could happen in the tournament, to prepare herself for the year ahead.

It had been decided by the heads of the schools, High Master Igor Karkaroff, Professor Dumbledore, and Madame Maxime that the few days from the announcement of the tournament leading up to the this evening right before dinner, would give those old enough to participate enough time to decide and that the last class of the day would be called an hour early so that they could submit their name in the goblet. It was for this reason Harry and Ron were impatiently waiting for her down stairs, unable to enter the girls dorms without triggering them to transform into the slide as a precaution against those with an inkling to transgress against a girl's chastity.

She dug around in her trunk and grabbed TriWizard Tragedies that she was already half way through, and took it with her. She had practically no interest in finding out who the champions would be, and hoped that the goblet would malfunction andno onewould be chosen, but figured if Harry and Ron were going tomakeher go, she might as well go with something to occupy her time.

"Hermione!" Harry called again.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" she called as she dropped a snack for Crookshanks in his bowl before book in hand, she headed out of the dorm.

They weren't the first ones to enter the Great Hall though it was clear not everyone was there yet, since it wasn'ttoocrowded. Upon entering, Hermione noticed that the long tables had been banished and the benches were set up in tiers like the stands at the Quidditch Pitch. Hermione separated from Harry and Ron since she didn't really care who the champions might be and would rather not speculate after some of the things she'd read about. She moved over to the benches, taking a seat before opening her book and trying to ignore the chattering.

"Come on, Cedric. Put it in!" An unfamiliar voice urged and she heard laughter and clapping, but didn't look up as she assumed he put his name in the goblet.

"Eternal glory," Ron's voice intruded next. "Be brilliant wouldn't it? Three years from now, when we're old enough to be chosen."

Hermione rolled her eyes. She'd already learned that the TriWizard Tournament was held everyfiveyears, not three, so even if they were older, they'd still miss it by two years.

"Yeah, rather you than me," Harry said.

The unmistakeable sound of the twins laughter filled the air.

"Yes!" they cheered as they strode into the hall. "Thank you, thank you."

"Well lads, we've done it," Fred said coming to the Gryffindors near where Hermione was sitting so she couldn't resist looking up and arching a brow, noticing the full vials they carried.

"Cooked it up just this morning," George added.

"It's not going to work," Hermione said in singsong as she realized what was in the vial and smirked, knowingly.

"Oh, yeah?" Fred asked sitting next to her.

"And why's that, Granger?" George asked crouching in front of her.

So it was true, she thought. They were still mad at her for the row they'd gotten into. It didn't surprise her, she'd not apologized to them yet, but she'd not seen them aroundtoapologize to, and since she recognized the potion, she understood why.

"You see this?" she asked, indicating the area on the floor where a blue ring shown about the goblet. "This is an Age Line. Dumbledore drew it himself," she said rolling her eyes.

"So?" George said, unimpressed.

"So," Hermione said snapping her book shut. "A genious like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by a dodge as patheticaly dimwitted as an Aging Potion."

"But that's why it's so brilliant," Fred said.

"Because it's so pathetically dimwitted," George finished.

Standing, they moved over in front of the goblet, standing on the bench and shook their vials.

"Ready, Fred?"

"Ready, George."

Hermione watched as they uncapped the vials, linked arms.

"Bottoms up," they said and knocked back the potion then jumped down -across the Age Line.

Hermine blinked. Had she been wrong? No, no she could't possibly.

"Yes!" they crowed, celebrating when nothing happened. They dug in their robe pockets and pulled out their slips of parchment at the same time. "Yes!" they cheered and clapped hands.

Suddenly the goblet reacted and swirls of smoke billowed out slamming into them with physical force and sending them flying, knocking them to the ground outside the barrier.

Hermione smirked knowing it wouldn't work.

As they sat up, gray hair began to spout and lengthen along their clean-shaven chins, making woolly beards and the hair on their heads changed color to match as Hermione saw them look at each other in horror.

"You said!"

"You said!" they shouted at each other and began wrestling around on the floor.

"Oh, right, you want a piece of me?" George asked.

"I'll tear your ears off!" Fred shouted.

"Now you're making me laugh," George said.

"Take this! Come on!" Fred cried.

Hermione looking around in disgust as the twins continued to roll around on the floor and the students from all houses began chanting, egging them on. She picked a spot on the edge of the row, rolled her eyes and opened her book to continue reading.

She looked up suddenly as the when the hall fell silent and saw Viktor enter with High Master Karkaroff and another Durmstrang student. Her eyes were glued to him as he strode over and put his parchment into the goblet and their eyes locked for a moment before he turned and headed to the opposite side of the room to join the Slytherins. Hermione swallowed over the lump that formed in her throat.

Viktor hadn't told her of his interest in competing in the tournament, but, she berated herself. Why else would he be here? According to Ron, who she'd over heard talking to Harry at the World Cup, he should have already graduated, being 18, but had skipped a year of school when he joined the Bulgarian team, so it made since that now that the Cup was over, he'd return to finish school. Still, she wondered why he'd never mentioned it. In fact, he hadn't really mentioned anything at all about himself. They had always talked about her.

"I did try to warn you," Hermione looked up to see Professor Dumbledore had entered and was smiling down at the Weasley twins who had stopped fighting and fallen silent like everyone else when the Durmstrang students entered. He surveyed them, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "I suggest that you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. Sh'e already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summer, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though, I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours. You best hurry, too, dinner will be starting soon, and then the champions reveal will be held."

Grinning, Fred and George set off for the hospital wing accompanied by Lee, who was howling with laughter.