A/N: I don't own the Harry Potter franchise. Just as well. Who would've read a book about Harry and his life as an Auror?

CHAPTER 11: The Arrival (Part one)

Quidditch pitch, Hogwarts

The next two days would prove to be some of the slowest of Harry's life. Despite everything on his plate, try as he might, he couldn't find anything worthwhile to do. Every one of his friends, and seemingly everyone in the castle, had busied themselves with something or another. The results, were apparent.

The entire castle looked like it had been wiped clean with Mrs Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover. The many knights and suits of armor, now spick and span, had been charmed to speak random nuggets of wisdom, as well as greet the guests, in twelve different languages. Portraits had been added or moved elsewhere, tapestries changed and there was even a magical fountain placed around the entrance of Hogwarts. All this was giving Harry a headache. He liked his castle the way he knew it. At least the duelling arena was a welcome change.

Harry's final qualification duel had taken place on Wednesday evening, in the Hall. It had been a dull affair indeed. In fact, it had been one of the quickest duels to reach a finish. A nervous Dean Thomas had started off with a stunner and trip jinx, only to have both flicked away like flies and face a quick cutting curse in return. Dean had somehow thrown himself out of the way, but right into Harry's bludgeoner. Though unlike Cedric, who had shielded, Dean was flung off of the platform after taking the hit. And that had been that.

Friday morning, and the day of the Hogwarts seeker try-outs, saw Harry trudging towards the quidditch grounds. As he made his way onto the pitch, Harry noticed there were more people in the stands than during the duelling try-outs. It made sense though. Unlike duelling, which was something of an acquired taste, Quidditch was popular in almost every household that knew about the sport. Even Hermione's parents apparently had a Beater's Bat, though the why of it eluded Harry.

The last day before the schools arrived, which was today, had been reserved to find the seeker. Something that Coach Mac (as everyone had taken to calling him) and his team seemed quite eager to do. They were already waiting at the center of the pitch for the Seeker prospects. Today, that was only ten of them.

Harry recognized Cho Chang but neither of the other two Ravenclaws. Cedric waved from where he stood, chatting with his Hufflepuff friend and Malfoy had Tracy Davis and a sixth-year Slytherin standing with him. Harry had never even seen either of them fly, but assumed they must be good to get this far. He was however, surprised to see Ginny, standing around looking lost. He went up to her and tapped her shoulder.

"Ginny? Thought you wanted to be a chaser?"

Ginny grinned sheepishly, "I did too. But then I thought… well, I'm sorta better at seeking than chasing… so, yeah. Here I am."

That was news to Harry, but he didn't let it show. He just nodded encouragingly. "That's good. They wouldn't let you try for both?"

Ginny just shook her head. "Nah, then everyone would've tried for everything and it would've become a circus. This way, at least only the serious players get to t… oh look, they're calling."

Coach Mac had indeed given a short blast on his whistle, indicating they were to assemble in front of him. Clutching their brooms, they shuffled over to him and his four aides, standing slightly behind him. Mac cut to the chase, "Alright, listen up. I don't know what you've been taught about seeking so far, but if it's anything like the tripe taught to your chasers, keepers and beaters, I'm just going to assume you're useless." Harry thought he saw Malfoy glower a little at being called useless.

"Let's start simple," Mac said. "What is the purpose of a seeker?"

Cho Chang looked around and said tentatively, "To catch the snitch?"

"Wrong. To win the match." Mac stated it with such confidence, that they just nodded. "A seeker doesn't just hover around waiting to catch sight of the snitch. If their team is attacking, the seeker is the fourth chaser. If they are defending, the seeker is the second keeper. Unless catching the snitch guarantees you victory, I don't expect any of my players to do it, especially in the name of your personal pride." Harry didn't think anyone missed his reference to the World Cup.

"A good seeker not only does all this, but also reads the flow of the match and commands his team tactically. There's a reason why most Quidditch captains are seekers." Mac looked around to make sure he had been understood.

"Right. Now, then," he continued, "We'll split you into two teams. I want all of you to act as chasers and keepers simultaneously. We do this until one team scores ten goals."

Harry thought he heard a few incoherent grumbles about how this had nothing to do with seeking while the teams were being split. To his great distaste, he found himself in the same team as Malfoy. Tracy Davis and the two older Ravenclaws completed their five.

It was embarrassing to say the least. Having never actually seriously tried scoring with the Quaffle, Harry realised how hard Chasing really was. He cursed after his fifth straight miss of the hoop and watched helplessly, as Cho caught it and passed it to Cedric, who dodged Malfoy before passing it to Ginny.

The youngest Weasley was in her element- she had scored four of their teams nine goals. With another expert pump-fake, Ginny fired the Quaffle towards the middle hoop. Tracy did her best to stop it, but it just sailed on through, unperturbed. The final score was 10 goals to 1.

Malfoy was seething as he landed, and for once in his life, Harry could somehow empathize. This was ridiculous. While he understood why scoring was important, it did nothing to ease his frustration.

Coach Mac was smiling at them as if he knew exactly what was going on, "Well, at least you all know exactly where you stand. And now, so do we. Alright, let's begin the actual thing."

As if on cue, a massive, transparent dome started rising from the ground, seemingly made from glass. It covered the pitch from end to end and was twice the height of the middle hoop. Coach Mac waved his hand nonchalantly, "A simple ward room, meant to keep the players and the balls inside. Cushioning charm at the bottom to prevent death and grievous injury from falls. The one used for the Triwizard matches will be almost twice the width and four times the height, slightly bigger than the one in the World Cup final, I believe."

He turned to face the seeker prospects and carried on, "This particular ward room is comparatively smaller on purpose. We will be releasing five bludgers in there, charmed to fly around randomly. There will also be ten snitches. You will be split into two groups of five and your objective is to catch as many snitches as you can. Short of fouling, you are allowed to use any means necessary to obtain your objective. Simplicity itself."

Harry noticed most of the others were looking as worried as he had expected. Five bludgers was no joke, especially in an area half the size they were used to playing in. Cedric had his determined face on, as did Cho. There was a disquieting smile playing on Malfoy's lips.

The bald aide from Harry's first try-out stepped forward with a parchment and called out, "First group. Cedric Diggory. Draco Malfoy. Marcus Cunningham. Tracy Davis. Harry Potter." Harry resisted the urge to shake his head. He was not feeling the luck of the draw.

Coach Mac walked up to the dome and created an entrance with his wand. It was basically just an outline of a large hole since the ward room was transparent. "Let's get on with it then."

Harry mounted his Firebolt and sped in through the entrance, followed by the others. This was the last time he would have the advantage of the fastest broom on the pitch. The matches themselves would be sponsored and therefore every player would get the same high-end sporting broom. But…that was for later. He still had a try-out to get through.

Harry did a quick lap of the pitch, memorizing the space available for free movement before coming to hover near the roof of the dome, the screaming from the stands all too audible. He had just realized something though. Smaller space. More snitches. More seekers. This was going to be chaos from the get-go.

His musings were interrupted by a sickeningly familiar, drawling voice, "Well, Potter. I'll bet you have a plan already?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, without taking his eyes off the entrance, "I was planning on selling you into slavery. Manual labour or sex trade?" Malfoy just flashed him his trademark sneer and sped off.

The golden snitches were released all at once, glinting and disappearing immediately. The other four started looking around to catch sight of any of them. Coach Mac's voice roared from the entrance and Harry turned to see those hawk-like eyes staring directly at him from distance, "The game begins when this entrance closes and ends when all snitches are caught or none of you can continue."

His mouth formed a grin, "Here comes the pain."

Five bludgers, charmed to fly just as if there were invisible beaters hitting them, flew into the dome with their threatening whistling sounds. The entrance closed as soon as the last bludger entered. The cat was amongst the canaries now.

It was as Harry predicted. Everyone took off with their own agenda, only to realize the bludgers had agendas of their own. Flying at enough speed to cause some serious damage, they were randomly changing directions in mid-air. The closest Harry had experienced to this melee was when Dobby had "saved" him by nearly killing him with a bludger. He silently thanked his house-elf friend for unknowingly training him.

Not that it seemed to matter though. It was all Harry could do to stay seated on his broom. There were simply too many things flying in the air to focus on anything other than navigation. All the seeker prospects spent the first few minutes trying to acclimatize to their new surroundings, while looking for the elusive golden balls.

Harry steadily increased his speed as he continued to circle at the top, dodging bludgers and the occasional player. He was wondering how he hadn't caught sight of a single snitch when there were supposed to be ten around. Malfoy had also started tailing him now, doing something called "catching wind". He was basically just staying in the draft created by Harry's broom while using Harry himself as a human shield.

The idea came from nowhere. Why not? Harry knew the theory behind it quite well and now he'd seen it done. He had performed terribly as a chaser and had to show his worth as a seeker. What better way than executing the Wronski Feint on Malfoy?

He didn't even pause to consider any further. Off he went into a dive, with all the focus and accuracy as if he had actually seen the snitch. Part of the move was selling the other seeker on it, after all. Malfoy, of course, needed no invitation for a tussle with Harry. He dived right behind, moving out of the draft and coming up next to Harry.

Harry sped down, urging his broom to move faster. The speed was perfect. The angle was perfect... Malfoy's face planting in the dirt would be even more perfect. The ground neared at a frighteningly quick pace. This was it. He had to speed up to bait the other seeker while using that speed to spin and slingshot away from the ground.

Carefully, he accelerated. A small burst. And then another one. One more burst and there would ne no going back. Right as Harry gave the final burst of speed, Malfoy lost his nerve and began to pull up early, unknowingly saving himself from a face-plant. Harry almost swore again. There was nothing to do now but survive, and try again.

With calculated precision, he pulled hard on his broom, flipping him around, as he pushed down, or in this case, up. It worked, almost. He didn't even know what he had done wrong. Right as he was sling-shotted away from the ground, the broom lurched, and flipped. Harry was bucked off his broom like a rider off his horse. The cushioning charm admittedly took the brunt of the impact, but Harry's speed and angle dragged him into the dirt hard and he kept rolling from the force. When he finally came to a stop, Harry was just glad all his limbs were still attached and moving.

He accessed the damage. There was some pain from all the bruises, scrapes and chafes, but not much blood from anywhere and even though his head was spinning, he was positive his head hadn't been hurt. Gingerly, he pulled himself onto his feet and looked around. The Firebolt sat neatly on top of the dirt mound where Harry had landed, a little dirty, but no worse for wear.

Silently thanking his lucky stars, Harry trudged back towards the broom. This could've been a lot worse.

There was another blast of the whistle. The massive scoreboard of the stadium showed Cedric had caught two snitches, while Malfoy had one. The fourth had just now been caught by Marcus. Harry grit his teeth, feeling more frustrated by the minute, but also a little from the pain. His little "risk-ride" had cost him. Cedric had caught the first snitch right as Malfoy and Harry had dived. Malfoy had caught the second almost immediately after pulling away from Harry.

There were only six snitches left and the desperation was evident on everybody's faces. The players were taking bigger risks trying to outdo one another. Cedric had already taken a heavy hit from the bludger catching his second snitch and some of the others had taken painful shots too.

Then, Harry saw his first glimpse of gold on this godforsaken day. He didn't bother who else noticed or what got in his way. Turning his broom around to point the nose directly at the shimmering golden ball, he shot forwards at full speed.

The first bludger flew by, barely noticed, after Harry gave it the slip with a simple corkscrew. The second chased after him, determined to hit some part of its quarry. Meanwhile, the snitch changed direction and started flying upwards at top speed. Harry gave chase, with a bludger on his tail. From the corner of his eye, he saw Tracy Davis was on an intersecting path with him.

Oh no, you don't. A burst of speed, followed by another, a massive swipe of his hand and he had grabbed his first snitch of the day and indeed, quite a while. He let the bludger streak past harmlessly. As he held the struggling little golden ball and the whistle sounded, Harry felt a small sense of accomplishment wash over him. Excellent. Five more to go.

He was just pocketing the snitch and turning, when he saw it. Malfoy and Cedric were struggling with each other to get somewhere, clearly towards another snitch. Just as Cedric had pulled ahead, Malfoy made his move. With a barely discernible touch, that could've been accidental as much as intentional, he clipped the back of Cedric's broom.

It wasn't much by itself. It just made Cedric's broom jerk a little bit and the nose end turned by a few inches. But stuck as he was between Malfoy, the Ward wall and an incoming bludger, losing control of his broom, even for a second, proved costly.

The bludger smashed into the nose of the broom, sending Cedric flying off it. They weren't that far off the ground so the fall itself may not have done anything. But wandless and falling, Cedric had no way of stopping a second bludger from burying itself into his gut with a sickening crunch.

Harry saw the pain on Cedric's face as he fell to the ground, went down in a heap and didn't move. There was slightly longer blast of the whistle as the entrance reopened and two medi-wizards came trotting with a stretcher, swiftly placed Cedric on it and carefully levitated him out through the entrance. The whole thing had been taken place within a minute.

Damn, Harry thought, Cedric is having worse luck these days than I am. He would've liked to have gone after Malfoy again, but knew better. He had some gold to find.

Harry had to fight the urge to snarl back at the people congratulating or waving at him as he left the Quidditch pitch, more bloody than muddy. Yeah, he had managed to capture three snitches, but then so had Malfoy. Having Tracy continually block him had been a pain to deal with at the later end of the match too. The final score had read: Potter-3, Malfoy-3, Diggory-2, Davis-1, Cunningham-1.

It had been tough to hear the friendly aide tell him that there were no more tests and that was it. The final team would be announced a few hours before the other schools arrived tomorrow. Harry wasn't sure he had done enough to qualify. In fact, looking back on the day, he couldn't have made worse choices on the pitch.

He hadn't even waited for the other group consisting of Cho and Ginny to finish. Mind still on the pitch, Harry made his way to the castle. One thing was obvious though. He may be a good flier, but he had a lot to learn about seeking.

Hogsmeade

It was already dark by the time Harry set out of the castle to complete his final assignment for the week. Dinner hadn't done much to cheer him up, although the sight of the newly built Durmstrang and Beauxbaton's towers, as he crossed the grounds, did make him feel strangely pleased. Less than twenty-four hours before the other schools arrived.

By the time he arrived at the imposing Hogwarts gates, he was running late and the young auror who was supposed to be his guide did not look happy. Harry couldn't blame her. No one wants to spend years training hard to achieve your dream, only to end up doing grunt work for some young kid. But, Harry mused, as grunt work goes, this wasn't so bad.

Up close, he noticed the auror was a shapely female, with violently purple hair. She had a scowl on her face when the gates opened, her arms folded.

"Auror Nymphadora Tonks, I presume?" Harry asked.

"You're late," she said tersely. Harry caught her eyes flicking briefly towards his forehead, where his scar would have been visible without the cloth. She had been told who to expect.

"A thousand apologies, Auror Tonks," Harry said amiably, "The day got away from me. Shall we?"

She seemed a little taken aback at the mature reply, but just nodded and fell into step with him. They walked in silence for a bit, taking the road towards Hogsmeade. Except for the occasional straggler, most souls seemed to have settled in for the night.

It was Tonks who broke the silence. "This is highly unusual, you know. I can understand the headmaster sending a teacher or even the Head Boy, but telling a kid stuff that's supposed to be government secret is a bit much. Even if it is Harry Potter," she added at the end, a note of scorn in her voice.

"Let's not make this out to be more than it is, Auror Tonks," Harry replied evenly. "It's common courtesy to share security plans, especially since most of the crowds that will be coming to Hogwarts will be coming through Hogsmeade. Think of me as a messenger. What does it matter if I am fourteen or seventeen?"

Tonks continued to walk in silence, but her displeasure apparent. However, she was professional enough not to protest again. First, was the transportation zone that had been set up at edge of Hogsmeade. It contained a floo point, apparition point and a portkey point. The area around Hogsmeade and Hogwarts had been warded to prevent magical transportation, with perimeter patrols throughout the day by aurors. As Tonks put it, "We have this area cordoned off tighter than a rat's asshole."

Next, they visited the area of the village that had been set aside for people who were going to be here throughout the year, like tournament officials, aurors, reporters, etc., The residences weren't much to speak about, Tonks informed. They mostly resembled one-person dorms and were there just to provide a roof over your head. "At least there's a shower and running water throughout the day," she finished brightly.

The last target of their visit led them on the road towards the Shrieking Shack. Harry tried to put his memories from last year out of his mind. Tonks however, cut right before they reached the Shack and Harry found himself in a street he had never visited before. In stark contrast to the humble town of Hogsmeade, the buildings in this area were posh, new and most importantly, quite luxurious.

"What the heck?" Harry asked as he stared past a gate into a house with a brilliant lawn and an outdoor pool. "I don't remember these buildings being here."

"They were built in the last three weeks," Tonks rolled her eyes. "Guest houses. For all the… important people."

Harry knew who that was, of course. Anyone Fudge wanted to impress or please. Dignitaries from other countries, financial backers, special guests, etc.,

Harry just shook his head. Who knew a tournament would involve so much hassle? He initiated conversation with Tonks for the first time, "I don't envy the year ahead of you guys, Auror Tonks."

Tonks just nodded ruefully, "Thanks."

On their way back, Harry wondered about the purpose of his assignment. Sure, see everything and report to Dumbledore. But there was nothing stopping him from adding his observations too. He didn't mention anything to Tonks, but this security blanket had a couple of holes in it that he had already noticed.

Firstly, patrolling Hogwarts' perimeter was impossible. It simply had too many entrances. In fact, there were three that he was sure no one except him, Fred and George knew about. Second, The Forbidden Forest was a hole. Even though there was old magic and creatures guarding the forest, they wouldn't stop a powerful wizard.

And finally, there was the way things were arranged. If he was a Death Eater trying to gain entry to Hogwarts, he would probably just follow the rules until he was inside. There was, after all, very little stopping the general public from making an appearance during a task, duel or a match.

"You know, you don't talk much," Harry heard Tonks say. He had almost forgotten about her.

"Oh dear. Was I ignoring you?" he asked, pulling his cloak around him closer.

Tonks just shook her head, "Nah. You're just nothing like I had expected."

They had reached the Hogwarts gates again and Harry turned to look at her. She had a sweet-looking face, he decided. "Do you want to know why literally everyone I meet tells me that?" Harry queried.

Tonks shook her head again and looked at him inquiringly. "Because I'm nothing like what anybody expects, of course," he winked at her as the gates closed. "Goodnight, Auror Tonks. Until we meet again."

Girls dorm, Beauxbatons

Fleur woke up from her nightmare, crying and clutching at her sheets, body drenched in sweat. For the third night in a row, she found herself running to her sister's room like the devil was behind her. She flung open the door to find Jasmin on her bed, reading, using the flickering light of a few candles. Wordlessly, Fleur ran forwards, only to be met halfway by the comforting arms of the dark-haired veela. Fleur let her sister hold her, enjoying the warmth and taking deep breaths.

"I'm sorry I keep doing this," she finally muttered into Jasmin's chest.

"Shhh...Bell. It's not your fault and I don't mind. Now stay." Jasmin continued stroking her hair, feeling the tension beginning to reduce.

The same nightmare had been plaguing Fleur for three nights. Or rather, the same memory.

It had all started with that accursed letter. Since their return from England, Jasmin had prattled on non-stop about the person who had saved them. It didn't surprise Fleur that her sister would trust someone who was a complete stranger so quickly. She had always been too kind and innocent for her own good.

But then, something had happened. He had written back. Watching Jasmin happily prance around before running away to pen a reply had stirred something deep within her. For as long as Fleur could remember, Jasmin had been her rock. But the sight of her worriedly tearing and crumpling parchments in her quest to write the perfect reply to Harry had made here realize how alone she would be without her sister.

It hadn't bothered Fleur at first. Why would it? She wanted what was best for her sister. But over time, she hadn't realized how much the idea affected her.

The incident happened the day after the duelling trials. She had been walking to meet Jasmin, who had left early for lunch, when she ran into a group of seventh-year boys. Fleur recognized their leader.

Juan was one of the best seekers in Beauxbatons and had just been selected to represent their school in the Triwizard. He was a tall, handsome fellow who always had a pleasant smile on his face. Fleur remembered that he had always been polite to her and was generally adored by the female population.

He had been nice to her, even asking two of his friends who had been staring shamelessly, to stop. Fleur found herself relaxing a little in his presence. If there was one thing her ordeal during the summer had taught her, it was that not everyone was the same.

Fleur saw his question coming a mile away, but still politely played the game. He seemed uncomfortable, which she found cute. Looking around at his classmates who were still staring at them, Juan asked if he could have a word with her in private and she followed him into a nearby classroom.

After a bit of chatting, he had tentatively reached out to take her hand. When any other time she would've pulled back instinctually, the idea of Jasmin leaving her had popped out of nowhere, and she had resisted the urge.

It hadn't been so bad. Juan had held her hand and complemented her soft skin, her face and anything else he could think of. She knew her allure, tightly reined in as it was, was still affecting him, but his mild-manner had eased her mind.

Juan had looked deeply into her eyes and asked, "Will you go out with me?"

Fleur was taken aback. While she had known him for nearly three years, this was the first meaningful conversation they had had. Any other day, she would've sadly said no and walked away. But the fear in her heart wouldn't let her. She decided to do something she had never done with a stranger. Fleur decided to see into his heart.

Highborne Veela were empathetic and were said to be capable of sensing even the deepest emotions, no matter how well hidden. It was an essential part of their veela heritage that helped in choosing mates.

Fleur had released her allure, a requirement for using her veela powers. Not a lot, but enough to serve the purpose. At first, she had been… disappointed, to say the least. She sensed his desire primarily, the overwhelming need to have her and…not much else. But then, she felt herself falling deeper. As her allure increased, his defenses were dropping and she finally caught a glimpse of who he was under his façade.

Juan had felt…sticky, like something dark and vile. Suddenly, Fleur felt his hand tighten around her wrist and his entire demeanor changed. Connected as she was to his heart, Fleur realized that this person could not care less what happened to her as long as he got what he wanted. He saw her as a conquest to brag about, a trophy to bag, never anything else.

As she struggled, demanding he let go, she read a few of his thoughts. He wanted to date her sure. But if he couldn't, he didn't mind using force to get what he wanted. He was considering raping her with the help of his friends… if he could get away with it. That had done it. Shutting off her allure, she screamed out loud. Juan, who had snapped out of his daze, tried calming her saying she was getting hysterical for no reason. He had only held her hand a little longer, he explained, and that was because of the allure.

Even before teachers and other students came, Fleur knew she had no evidence backing her up. Thought crime was not punishable, last she checked. She had run out without a word to anyone.

Rumours had followed her since, everything from her trying to seduce Juan to Fleur being secretly transvestite, although that last one didn't gain much traction with the male population. But none of it… none of it… hurt as much as the pain of betrayal she had felt from Juan. She had trusted him, perhaps the first boy she had ever really trusted romantically, and all he had wanted was…

Jasmin…Her Jasmin…was the only one who had understood. Every night since then had been a repeat of this performance. Fleur caught the hand stroking her hair and brought it her cheeks, "I'm never letting one of those things touch me again."

Jasmin sighed. Luckily, she was the only one who could always cheer Fleur up, "Bell, I'm about to give you two reason why you shouldn't be sad."

Fleur could already feel a smile tugging at her lips from the confidence in her sister's voice, "Okay?"

Jasmin immediately brought her arms around her sister again and squeezed tightly, making Fleur grunt. "No matter what happens, Bell," she chirped happily, "I'll always be there for you."

Fleur was already smiling now, "And the second?"

"It's past midnight now. The Triwizard begins today. We are going away to a magical castle full of adventures and you won't have to deal with any of this nonsense there, I promise."

It may have been an empty promise, but that did not stop Fleur Delacour from falling into a contended sleep, a smile playing on her lovely, pink lips.

Entrance Hall, Hogwarts

The morning of "the arrival" was a mixed bag for most people. On the one hand, everyone was too exhausted from the past week to even consider leaving bed before noon on a Saturday. On the other hand, there was simply too much happening today to waste even a second of it in bed.

Since the Entrance Hall was the focal point of most preparations, Prof. McGonagall had taken up her position there. She really did look like a mother trying to get her kids to behave before the guests came home for the party.

"Mr. Boot, you know full well those robes aren't for school. Go back and change."

"If I see one more Krum memorabilia on you, Miss Abbott, I will put a permanent sticking charm on it."

"I expect my students to behave with the dignity worthy of be- … Oh, for heaven's sake, Mr. Longbottom. Why are you walking around with bubotuber pus in your hands?"

"Mr. Potter, either tie your hair into a ponytail or I'll trim it myself. I will not have you walking around like a caveman."

Sighing at the fact he'll have to protect his hair and dodge from McGonagall for the rest of the day, Harry walked into the Great Hall and took a seat beside Hermione. Opposite her, Ron looked up from his plate and nodded towards McGonagall in the hallway and said indignantly, "Mental, she is. She complained I have too many freckles."

Harry suppressed a snort, while Hermione looked up from her Prophet and replied, "She just wants to make a good first impression, Ron."

"So what am I supposed to do? Borrow someone else's face?"

"Ron-"

Harry cut her off. "Anything in there?" he pointed at the Prophet in her hands."

"Nothing much. Just that schools are coming, new rules, yada yada… basically just a recap of everything we know so far. There should be more tomorrow, Harry."

"Hermione, from tomorrow, the news is going to be happening here. We'll know before they do," he left Hermione to ponder that as he cast a diagnostics charm over his food and began eating.

Harry was interrupted halfway through his breakfast. He felt a sharp poke in his butt, yelped, jumped and looked behind to find the grinning countenance of one of the Weasley twins, who turned to his counterpart, "Told you he lets down his guard when he's eating."

"That you did, Fred. Now then, what do you have to say for yourself, young Harry?" George asked, flashing him a mock glare, hands on his hips.

All too familiar with their antics, Harry cut to the chase, "What happened?"

Fred jumped into the seat next to him and pulled up a plate, "Go check the notice board. They just posted."

Harry was off and running before Fred had completed his sentence, his plate of food forgotten. There was no point asking the twins. He could get to the notice board before they got to the point. There was already a mass of people gathering around the notice board in the Entrance Hall.

People patted his back as he pushed his way to the front. Good, Harry thought, at least I made duelling. As he reached the board, he found out, indeed he had.

HOGWARTS DUELLING TEAM

Harry Potter (14)

Cedric Diggory (17)

Marcus Bletchly (17)

Daphne Greengrass (14)

Wilfried Gardner (17)

Natalie McDonald (17)

Madeline Cyr (16)

SUBSTITUTES

Patricia Stimpson (16)

Kenneth Towler (17)

Angelina Johnson (17)

Harry had so many questions. Why seven in a team? Was the order important? What was the format? Why were there substitutes? Did they expect participants to die? One thing that had not escaped his notice was that only he and Daphne were the only non-seventh-years on the list. Harry smiled and accepted people congratulating him, but moved his eyes to the other list, breath catching in his chest, heart pounding.

HOGWARTS QUIDDITCH TEAM

Roger Davies (Chaser) (17) (c)

Angelina Johnson (Chaser) (17)

Adrian Pucey (Chaser) (16)

Fred Weasley (Beater) (16)

George Weasley (Beater) (16)

Brennan Doyle (Keeper) (17)

Harry Potter (Seeker) (14)

SUBSTITUTES

Katie Bell (Chaser) (15)

Penelope Clearwater (Chaser) (17)

Marcus Bletchley (Keeper) (17)

Duncan Inglebee (Beater) (17)

Draco Malfoy (Seeker) (14)

The moment he read his name, Harry felt a huge weight come off his shoulder, his breathing normalised and his heart slowed. He hadn't even realised how much tension he had been carrying around since yesterday. As he watched Prof. McGonagall flash him a double thumbs up with an unrestrained proud smile, Harry finally allowed himself a moment of relief. Yeah, he was definitely starting to feel the hype now.

On his way back up to the dorms, Harry's plan for the day unfolded in his mind. He had earned his way into the Triwizard. Whether he became champion or not, now he would have a chance to display his skill, just like Dumbledore wanted. For his part, he couldn't wait. He hadn't been able to stop smiling all the way up.

Harry was planning on having a busy night. And for that, he needed some serious shut-eye. Asking Neville to wake him if he was still sleeping by nightfall, Harry jumped into bed, pulled the covers over his legs and began to empty his mind. Occlumency was a much higher form of meditation, after all. He need to be alert and ready for the night ahead.

Hogwarts grounds

BOOM!

Harry shot out of bed, a flick of the right wrist producing his wand. His heart was pounding blood through his body trying to wake it up and get it ready for combat. For a moment, Harry was sure Hogwarts was under attack by evil forces trying to stop the Triwizard, only to find said evil forces standing in the doorway, laughing their asses off.

"Sorry, Harry," Neville piped up from behind the twins. "They threatened to tie me to one of their rockets."

" You two are out of control," Harry said in an annoyed voice, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. "What was that anyway?"

"That, Harry, is part of our fireworks display for tonight," Fred said, grinning.

"Something you really should be getting ready for. Did you see outside?" George pointed to a window. It was dark.

"What the heck?" Harry sprinted to the window. Sure enough. It was just after sunset and there were already people thronging below.

"Half an hour to report downstairs, forty-five minutes until the other schools get here. Oh, we are to wear our dress robes by the way. McGonagall said all those who have qualified for Triwizard had to."

Harry nodded mutely, still processing. The other schools were almost here...

"Harry?" George was looking at him quizzically, "Stop spacing out. Get your game face on. Stare down Krum today if you get the chance, okay?"

Harry nodded more resolutely this time, grabbed his emerald green dress robes from the trunk and headed into the shower.

By the time he made it below, most of the students had gathered outside. Harry was shocked to see the Entrance hall filled with people of different colors, wearing all kinds of unique clothing and speaking in languages he couldn't understand.

He didn't attract more than a few curious glances, although he thought he saw a couple of appreciative ones, as he made his way outside.

A quick peep into the Great Hall on the way out showed that the Visitors' gallery on one side was already overflowing while the other was relatively empty. Flags of different countries had been placed in the background.

It was the same story outside. More flags. More people he did not recognize and more excited voices saying indiscernible things. Harry saw Fudge in an animated conversation with Crouch and a group of foreigners. There were also a few other familiar faces in the mix like Amos Diggory, Dominique Delacour, Amelia Bones and Bagman.

Harry just ignored them all, walked past the fountain, which was putting up some kind of magical water show, and found all his schoolmates waiting on the grounds, neatly assembled into rows by year, the teachers at the front. Most were in uniform, but those in dress robes stood out clearly. He rushed to join Ron, Dean, Seamus and Neville.

"Whoa, you're looking sharp there, mate," Seamus greeted him. "Congrats, by the way. You were asleep so I couldn't tell you before."

"Thanks man. I'd rather be wearing the uniform to be honest," Harry replied.

"Better you than me," Ron muttered from next to Harry, his mind probably on the frilly dress robes Mrs. Weasley had gotten him.

Harry simply threw a hand around Ron's shoulder and waited. There was a sweet scent of flowers wafting through the cold, night air. Then, without warning, two huge rockets the size of Hagrid flew into the air from the other side of the lake. And with two ear-splitting BOOMS, they showered the night sky with light. At first, it was no different from a muggle firework, though at a much larger scale. People were emerging from the Entrance Hall looking curiously.

When the sparks faded, they left behind, in the night sky, the symbol of the Triwizard, surrounded by the insignia of the three participating schools. A loud cheer went up from the watchers below, almost drowning out Dumbledore's voice, "I do believe they are here."

As loud as the cheer had been, silence immediately followed. Eyes were looking around curiously, waiting for the first sign of the arrival, the buzz apparent. As the butterflies in his stomach steadily began to multiply, Harry couldn't help but display his feelings on his face.

Ron saw the expression change on his best friend's face and just shook his head, smiling, "Excited, huh?"

"Ron."

"Yeah?"

"This is going to be a good year."

A/N: Just wanted to thank you all for your kind words of support. They are truly appreciated and make my day.