Chapter 86
"Oh I don't believe it, I haven't got a single quill on me -"
"D'you think he'd sign my hat in lipstick?"
"Really," Hermione said loftily as they pa.s.sed the girls, now squabbling over the lipstick.
Viktor Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students had settled themselves at the Slytherin table. "They look a lot happier than the Beauxbatons lot," said Harry. The Durmstrang students were pulling off their heavy furs and looking up at the starry black ceiling with expressions of interest; a couple of them were picking up the golden plates and goblets and examining them, apparently impressed.
Up at the staff table, Filch, the caretaker, was adding chairs. He was wearing his moldy old tailcoat in honor of the occasion. When all the students had entered the Hall and settled down at their House tables, the staff entered, filing up to the top table and taking their seats. Last in line were Professor Dumbledore, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime. When their headmistress appeared, the pupils from Beauxbatons leapt to their feet. A few of the Hogwarts students laughed. The Beauxbatons party appeared quite unembarra.s.sed, however, and did not resume their seats until Madame Maxime had sat down on Dumbledore's left-hand side. Dumbledore remained standing, and a silence fell over the Great Hall.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and – most particularly – guests," said Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable. "
One of the Beauxbatons girls still clutching a m.u.f.fler around her head gave what was unmistakably a derisive laugh.
"No one's making you stay!" Hermione whispered, bristling at her. "The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"
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 Ryan had ever seen, including several that were definitely foreign.
"What's that?" said Harry, pointing at a large dish of some sort of sh.e.l.lfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding.
"Bouillabaisse," said Hermione.
"Bless you," said Harry.
"It's French and seafood gross," said Ryan he had a hatred for all things seafood shrimp crabs lobster fish he didn't touch any of it mostly because he didn't like seafood he was a steak and chicken kinda guy.
The Great Hall seemed somehow much more crowded than usual, even though there were barely twenty additional students there; perhaps it was because their differently colored uniforms stood out so clearly against the black of the Hogwarts' robes. Now that they had removed their furs, the Durmstrang students were revealed to be wearing robes of a deep bloodred.
Hagrid sidled into the Hall through a door behind the staff table twenty minutes after the start of the feast. He slid into his seat at the end and waved at them with a very heavily bandaged hand.
"Skrewts doing all right, Hagrid?" Ryan called.
"Thrivin'," Hagrid called back happily.
"They better be those are my
At that moment, a pair of hands wrapped around his shoulders from the back and he felt a pair of lips against his neck and he s.h.i.+vered. A soft sensual voice whispered in his ear "ello mi amor I've been ever so eager to see you." he caught some beautiful silvery blonde hair out of the corner of his eyes and turned his face to see fleur resting her head on his shoulder pressing kisses against his neck every so often. " I aven't properly thanked you for saving me yet ave i?" that accent was too s.e.xy to be legal. The rest of the gryffindor table and many others looked on in shock as the beautiful girl flirted with one of their known trouble makers/jokers all in all he was very handsome but a bit of an oddball his fan club was fuming though. he looked around and noticed quite a few questioning gazes from among the crowd and staff and said. "Did I forget to mention I may or may not technically be married via magic?" a Veela bond counts as magical marriage in most places he accepted this as it counts also as wizard imanc.i.p.ation he could do whatever he wanted. There was a collective gasp in the great hall and a lot of jealous glares from Beauxbatons and Ron even Malfoy was envious.
He then placed a kiss on fleurs lips as she practically melted and moaned into his mouth with a flushed look. he then pa.s.sed her a note and her new necklace trunk and the fish whatever dish it was in front of him to her gave her another quick peck and told her they would talk later she dazedly walked back to the ravenclaws table. professor McGonagall walked over and asked what was going on Ryan kindly explained veela bonds and magical marriage which she had no other choice than to accept and explained it to the others at the staff who were all happy except Snape who was never happy and Moody who didn't seem to care.Once the golden plates had been wiped clean, Dumbledore stood up again. A pleasant sort of tension seemed to fill the Hall now. Ryan felt a slight thrill of excitement. Several seats down from them, Fred and George were leaning forward, staring at Dumbledore with great concentration.
"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket -"
"The what?" Tonks muttered.
"- just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation" – there was a smattering of polite applause – "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. "
There was a much louder round of applause for Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because of his fame as a Beater, or simply because he looked so much more likable. He acknowledged it with a jovial wave of his hand. Bartemius Crouch did not smile or wave when his name was announced.
"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts. "
At the mention of the word "champions," the attentiveness of the listening students seemed to sharpen. Perhaps Dumbledore had noticed their sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch. "
Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students; Dennis Creevey actually stood on his chair to see it properly, but, being so tiny, his head hardly rose above anyone else's.
"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, s.p.a.ced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways.. their magical prowess – their daring – their powers of deduction – and, of course, their ability to cope with danger. "
At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that n.o.body seemed to be breathing.
"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the partic.i.p.ating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire. "
Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames.
Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.
"Anybody wis.h.i.+ng to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "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 wis.h.i.+ng to compete.
"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. n.o.body under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.
"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wis.h.i.+ng 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 const.i.tutes 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. "
"An Age Line!" Fred Weasley said, his eyes glinting.