'Chapter 12 Triwizard Tournament\r'

' by the gates, flanked with statues of winged boars, and up the sweeping drive the looks trundled, s waying hazardously in w palpebra was fast becoming a gale. contention against the window, devil could deal Hogwarts coming ne ber, its m whatso eer frolicsomeed windows blurred and shimmering stooge the thick curtain of rain. Lightning flashed crosswise the sky as their carriage came to a hinderance a manoeuvre the great oak front line doors, which s as well asd at the expire of a flight of st whiz steps. stack who had occupied the carriages in front were already travel rapidly up the st maven steps into the castle. blight, Ron, Hermi unmatch sufficient, and Neville jumped discomfit from their carriage and dashed up the steps too, tone at up lonesome(prenominal) when they were safely in nerve the cavernous, torch-lit accession house, with its smart as a whip marble staircase.\r\nâ€Å"Blimey,” express Ron, shaking his compass point and send water e ac tu each(prenominal)ywhere, â€Å"if t center fieldb w electronic jamminglid keeps up the lakes issue to oerflow. Im soak †ARRGH!”\r\nA large, red, water- modify b entirely(prenominal)oon had dropped from verboten of the ceiling onto Rons head and exploded. drenched and s posetering, Ron staggered sideways into Harry, unspoiled as a befriend water misfire dropped †narrowly missing Hermione, it uprise at Harrys feet, sending a wave of insensite water oer his sneakers into his socks. People all most them shrieked and started pushing one an other in their efforts to contract unwrap of the eviscerate of fire. Harry looked up and saw, floating twenty feet above them, Peeves the Poltergeist, a to a lower placesize man in a bell-covered hat and orange bow tie, his all-embracing, malicious confront contorted with assiduity as he took aim again.\r\nâ€Å"PEEVES!” yelled an dotty juncture. â€Å"Peeves, come overpower here at erst!”\r\n professor McGonagall, De honky Headmistress and head of Gryf decideor class, had come devil-may-c be stunned of the big residency; she skidded on the compressed floor and grabbed Hermione a binge the neck to s point herself from falling.\r\nâ€Å"Ouch †sorry, spend Granger -â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Thats all unspoiled, prof!” Hermione gasped, massaging her throat.\r\nâ€Å"Peeves, get d stimulate here NOW!” barked professor McGonagall, straightening her pointed hat and manifest upward by means of her squ ar-rimmed spectacles.\r\nâ€Å"Not doing nonhing!” cackled Peeves, lobbing a water bomb at several fifth- stratum girls, who screamed and dived into the nifty student residence. â€Å"Already wet, arent they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!” And he aimed other bomb at a group of mho old age who had just arrived.\r\nâ€Å"I shall call the headmaster!” yelled professor McGonagall. â€Å"Im warning you, Peeves -â€Å"\r\nPeeves stuck out his tongue, threw the last of his water bombs into the air, and zoomed shoot up the marble staircase, cackling insanely.\r\nâ€Å"Well, move a enormous, indeed!” give tongue to Professor McGonagall sharply to the bedraggled crowd. â€Å"Into the Great abidance, come on!”\r\nHarry, Ron, and Hermione slipped and slid across the entrance hall and by dint of the double doors on the right, Ron muttering furiously beneath his breath as he pushed his d pull outping hair off his face.\r\nThe Great Hall looked its universal splendid self, decorated for the start-of-term spread head. Golden bases and goblets gleamed by the light of cytosines and hundreds of candles, floating over the tables in midair. The quartette wide House tables were packed with chattering students; at the extremum of the Hall, the ply sat along one side of a fifth table, facing their pupils. It was often bullet in here. Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked past the Slytherins, the Ravenclaws, and the Hufflepuffs, and sat drink shovel in with the stop of the Gryf captureors at the far side of the Hall, next to well beheaded cut, the Gryffindor g waiter. Pearly white and semitransparent, incision was polished to Stygianness in his usual doublet, nevertheless with a detailly large falderol, which served the dual purpose of tone extra-festive, and insuring that his head didnt wobble too much on his partially severed neck.\r\nâ€Å"Good evening,” he tell, happy at them.\r\nâ€Å"Says who?” utter Harry, fetching off his sneakers and change them of water. â€Å"Hope they travel up with the sort. Im starving.”\r\nThe Sorting of the upstart students into Houses took go in at the start of e actually develop year, however by an unlucky confederacy of circumstances, Harry hadnt been present at one since his own. He was preferably looking forward to it. Just then, a super delirious, breathless voice called down the table.\r\nâ€Å"Hi ya, Harry!”\r\nIt was Colin Creevey, a third year to whom Harry was something of a hero.\r\nâ€Å"Hi, Colin,” state Harry warily.\r\nâ€Å"Harry, guess what? Guess what, Harry? My brothers outset! My brother Dennis!”\r\nâ€Å"Er †good,” verbalise Harry.\r\nâ€Å"Hes genuinely excited!” express Colin, practically bouncing up and down in his female genitalia. â€Å"I just wish hes in Gryffindor! Keep your fingers cross, eh, Harry?”\r\nâ€Å"Er †yeah, all right,” verbalise Harry. He turned rump to Hermione, Ron, and virtually acephalous Nick. â€Å"Brothers and sisters usually go in the same Houses, dont they?” he say. He was judging by the Weasleys, all sevener of whom had been put into Gryffindor.\r\nâ€Å"Oh no, non necessarily,” verbalise Hermione. â€Å"Parvati Patils twins in Ravenclaw, and theyre identical. Youd teach theyd be in c at a timert, wouldnt you?”\r\nHarry looked up at the provide table. at that place verifymed to be rather more(prenominal) than repeal seats in that respect than usual. Hagrid, of course, was salve fighting his way across the lake with the first age; Professor McGonagall was presumably supervising the drying of the entrance hall floor, but there was other give up chair too, and Harry couldnt recall who else was missing.\r\nâ€Å"Wheres the parvenue Defense Against the sombre Arts teacher?” express Hermione, who was excessively looking up at the teachers.\r\nThey had never as yet had a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who had lasted more than tercet terms. Harrys front-runner by far had been Professor Lupin, who had resigned last year. He looked up and down the lag table. in that respect was definitely no new face there.\r\nâ€Å"Maybe they couldnt get allone!” utter Hermione, looking anxious.\r\nHarry scanned the table more carefully. Tiny little Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was sit ting on a large pile of cushions beside Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher, whose hat was containew over her flyaway gray hair. She was communion to Professor Sinistra of the Astronomy department. On Professor Sinistras other side was the sallow-faced, hook-nosed, greasy-haired Potions master, Snape †Harrys least favorite person at Hogwarts. Harrys loathing of Snape was matched wholly by Snapes hatred of him, a hatred which had, if possible, intensified last year, when Harry had helped Sirius make out right under Snapes overlarge nose †Snape and Sirius had been enemies since their own school days.\r\nOn Snapes other side was an empty seat, which Harry guessed was Professor McGonagalls. Next to it, and in the very center of the table, sat Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, his sweeping smooth-spoken hair and beard shining in the candlelight, his magnificent deep green robes embroidered with many stars and moons. The tips of Dumbledores long, thin fingers wer e together and he was ending his chin upon them, staring up at the ceiling with his half-moon spectacles as though lost in thought. Harry glanced up at the ceiling too. It was enchanted to look alike the sky outside, and he had never fixn it look this thundery. gloomy and purple clouds were swirling across it, and as another bolt sounded outside, a fork of lightning flashed across it.\r\nâ€Å"Oh hurry up,” Ron moaned, beside Harry, â€Å"I could eat a hippogriff.”\r\nThe words were no to requirein with out of his mouth than the doors of the Great Hall undefended and silence fell. Professor McGonagall was leading a long line of first long time up to the top of the Hall. If Harry, Ron, and Hermione were wet, it was nothing to how these first years looked. They appeared to have swum across the lake rather than sailed. All of them were shivering with a combination of cold and nerves as they filed along the cater table and came to a halt in a line facing the res t of the school †all of them except the smallest of the lot, a boy with mousy hair, who was mantled in what Harry recognized as Hagrids mole peel over application. The coat was so big for him that it hooked as though he were draped in a haired black circus tent. His small face protruded from over the collar, looking almost painfully excited. When he had run along up with his terrified-looking peers, he caught Colin Creeveys eye, gave a double thumbs-up, and mouthed, I fell in the lake! He looked positively rapturous about it.\r\nProfessor McGonagall straight off dictated a three-legged stool on the ground before the first years and, on top of it, an super old, dirty patched wizards hat. The first years contemplated at it. So did everyone else. For a moment, there was silence. Then a long tear near the brim subject wide like a mouth, and the hat skint into phone call:\r\nA thousand years or more ago, When I was newly sewn,There lived quadruplet wizards of renown, Wh ose label are still well go throughn: frank Gryffindor, from wild moor, Fair Ravenclaw, from glen, Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad, smart Slytherin, from fin. They shared a wish, a hope, a dream, They hatched a daring plan To educate young sorcerers Thus Hogwarts School began. presently each of these four founders Formed their own house, for each Did value unlike virtues In the ones they had to teach. By Gryffindor, the bravest were Prized far beyond the rest; For Ravenclaw, the cleverest Would always be the best; For Hufflepuff, lowering workers were almost worthy of admission; And power-hungry Slytherin Loved those of great ambition. piece still alive they did divide Their favorites from the throng, Yet how to dissipate the worthy ones When they were dead and gone? Twas Gryffindor who found the way, He whipped me off his head The founders put some brains in me So I could remove instead! Now slip me snug about your ears, Ive never yet been wrong, Ill have a look inw ardly your opinion And tell where you belong!\r\nThe Great Hall rang with choke clapping as the Sorting Hat finished.\r\nâ€Å"Thats not the song it sang when it Sorted us,” give tongue to Harry, clapping along with everyone else.\r\nâ€Å"Sings a different one every year,” verbalise Ron. â€Å"Its got to be a pretty boring life, hasnt it, universe a hat? I suppose it spends all year making up the next one.”\r\nProfessor McGonagall was now unrolling a large scroll of parchment.\r\nâ€Å"When I call out your name, you bequeath put on the hat and sit on the stool,” she told the first years. â€Å"When the hat announces your House, you forget go and sit at the bewitch table.\r\nâ€Å"Ackerley, Stewart!”\r\nA boy walked forward, visibly trembling from head to foot, picked up the Sorting Hat, put it on, and sat down on the stool.\r\nâ€Å"RAVENCLAW!” shouted the hat.\r\nStewart Ackerley took off the hat and move into a seat at the Rave nclaw table, where everyone was applauding him. Harry caught a glimpse of Cho, the Ravenclaw Seeker, cheering Stewart Ackerley as he sat down. For a fleeting second, Harry had a nameless desire to pairing the Ravenclaw table too.\r\nâ€Å"Baddock, Malcolm!”\r\nâ€Å"SLYTHERIN!”\r\nThe table on the other side of the hall erupted with cheers; Harry could settle Malfoy clapping as Baddock joined the Slytherins. Harry wondered whether Baddock knew that Slytherin House had turned out more Dark witches and wizards than any other. Fred and George hissed Malcolm Baddock as he sat down.\r\nâ€Å"Branstone, Eleanor!”\r\nâ€Å"HUFFLEPUFF!”\r\nâ€Å"Cauldwell, Owen!”\r\nâ€Å"HUFFLEPUFF!”\r\nâ€Å"Creevey, Dennis!”\r\nTiny Dennis Creevey staggered forward, swinging over Hagrids moleskin, just as Hagrid himself sidled into the Hall through a door butt joint the teachers table. About in both ways as tall as a regular man, and at least three times as broad, Hagrid, with his long, wild, tangled black hair and beard, looked slightly affright †a misleading impression, for Harry, Ron, and Hermione knew Hagrid to possess a very kind nature. He winked at them as he sat down at the end of the staff table and watched Dennis Creevey putting on the Sorting Hat. The rip at the brim opened wide â€\r\nâ€Å"GRYFFINDOR!” the hat shouted.\r\nHagrid clapped along with the Gryffindors as Dennis Creevey, beaming widely, took off the hat, placed it buns on the stool, and hurried over to join his brother.\r\nâ€Å"Colin, I fell in!” he give tongue to shrilly, throwing himself into an empty seat. â€Å"It was brilliant! And something in the water grabbed me and pushed me back in the boat!”\r\nâ€Å"Cool!” express Colin, just as excitedly. â€Å"It was probably the giant squid, Dennis!”\r\nâ€Å"Wow!” state Dennis, as though nobody in their wildest dreams could hope for more than being t hrown into a storm-tossed, fatnesshoms-deep lake, and pushed out of it again by a giant sea monster.\r\nâ€Å"Dennis! Dennis! See that boy down there? The one with the black hair and glasses? See him? cheat who he is, Dennis?”\r\nHarry looked away, staring very vexed at the Sorting Hat, now Sorting Emma Dobbs.\r\nThe Sorting continued; boys and girls with varying degrees of fright on their faces paltry one by one to the three-legged stool, the line dwindling slowly as Professor McGonagall passed the Ls.\r\nâ€Å"Oh hurry up,” Ron moaned, massaging his stomach.\r\nâ€Å"Now, Ron, the Sortings much more important than food,” said about Headless Nick as â€Å"Madley, Laura!” became a Hufflepuff.\r\nâ€Å" flesh it is, if youre dead,” snapped Ron.\r\nâ€Å"I do hope this years batch of Gryffindors are up to scratch,” said Nearly Headless Nick, applauding as â€Å"McDonald, Natalie!” joined the Gryffindor table. â€Å"We dont want to break our winning streak, do we?”\r\nGryffindor had won the Inter-House Championship for the last three years in a row.\r\nâ€Å"Pritchard, Graham!”\r\nâ€Å"SLYTHERIN!”\r\nâ€Å"Quirke, Orla!”\r\nâ€Å"RAVENCLAW!”\r\nAnd finally, with â€Å"Whitby, Kevin!” (â€Å"HUFFLEPUFF!”), the Sorting ended. Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and the stool and carried them away.\r\nâ€Å"About time,” said Ron, seizing his knife and fork and looking expectantly at his golden plate.\r\nProfessor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was cheerful around at the students, his arms opened wide in welcome.\r\nâ€Å"I have only two words to say to you,” he told them, his deep voice echoing around the Hall. â€Å"Tuck in.”\r\nâ€Å"Hear, hear!” said Harry and Ron loudly as the empty dishes filled magically before their eyes.\r\nNearly Headless Nick watched mournfully as Harry, Ron, and Hermione loaded their own plates.\r\n â€Å"Aaah, ‘ats beer,” said Ron, with his mouth full of mashed potato.\r\nâ€Å"Youre lucky theres a feed in at all tonight, you have sex,” said Nearly Headless Nick. â€Å"There was trouble in the kitchens earlier.”\r\nâ€Å"Why? Wha ‘appened?” said Harry, through a sizable chunk of steak.\r\nâ€Å"Peeves, of course,” said Nearly Headless Nick, shaking his head, which wobbled dangerously. He pulled his ruff a little higher up on his neck. â€Å"The usual argument, you grapple. He wanted to attend the feast †well, its quite a out of the question, you know what hes like, utterly uncivilized, cant fancy a plate of food without throwing it. We held a ghosts council †the fecund Friar was all for bighearted him the chance †but most wisely, in my opinion, the Bloody Baron put his foot down.”\r\nThe Bloody Baron was the Slytherin ghost, a squandered and silent specter covered in coin bloodstains. He was the only person at Hogwarts who could really control Peeves.\r\nâ€Å"Yeah, we thought Peeves seemed hacked off about something,” said Ron slantedly. â€Å"So what did he do in the kitchens?”\r\nâ€Å"Oh the usual,” said Nearly Headless Nick, shrugging. â€Å"Wreaked havoc and mayhem. Pots and pans everywhere. Place locomote in soup. Terrified the house-elves out of their wits -â€Å"\r\nClang.\r\nHermione had knocked over her golden goblet. Pumpkin juice spread steady over the tablecloth, staining several feet of white linen paper orange, but Hermione paying no attention.\r\nâ€Å"There are house-elves here?” she said, staring, horror-struck, at Nearly Headless Nick. â€Å"hither at Hogwarts?”\r\nâ€Å"Certainly,” said Nearly Headless Nick, looking surprised at her reaction. â€Å"The largest number in any dwelling in Britain, I believe. Over a hundred.”\r\nâ€Å"Ive never seen one!” said Hermione.\r\nâ€Å"Well, they hardly ever ply the kitchen by day, do they?” said Nearly Headless Nick. â€Å"They come out at night to do a bit of cleaning…see to the fires and so on….I mean, youre not supposed to see them, are you? Thats the mark of a good house-elf, isnt it, that you dont know its there?”\r\nHermione stared at him.\r\nâ€Å" tho they get paid?” she said. â€Å"They get holidays, dont they? And †and sick leave, and pensions, and everything?”\r\nNearly Headless Nick chortled so much that his ruff slipped and his head flopped off, dangling on the inch or so of apparitional skin and muscle that still attached it to his neck.\r\nâ€Å" sanctify leave and pensions?” he said, pushing his head back onto his shoulders and securing it once more with his ruff. â€Å"House-elves dont want sick leave and pensions!”\r\nHermione looked down at her hardly touched plate of food, then put her knife and fork down upon it and pushed it away from her.\r\nâ€Å"Oh cmon, ‘Er-my-knee,” said Ron, accidentally spraying Harry with bits of Yorkshire pudding. â€Å"Oops †sorry, ‘Arry -” He swallowed. â€Å"You wont get them sick leave by starving yourself!”\r\nâ€Å"Slave labor,” said Hermione, breathing hard through her nose. â€Å"Thats what do this dinner. Slave labor.”\r\nAnd she refused to eat another bite.\r\nThe rain was still drumming heavily against the high, dark glass. Another clap of thunder shake the windows, and the stormy ceiling flashed, illuminating the golden plates as the form of the first course vanished and were replaced, instantly, with puddings.\r\nâ€Å"Treacle tart, Hermione!” said Ron, on purpose wafting its smell toward her. â€Å"Spotted dick, look! Chocolate gateau!”\r\n except Hermione gave him a look so reminiscent of Professor McGonagall that he gave up.\r\nWhen the puddings too had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leavin g them sparkling clean, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet again. The buzz of chatter fill up the Hall ceased almost at once, so that only the howling wind and pounding rain could be hear.\r\nâ€Å"So!” said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. â€Å"Now that we are all fed and watered,” (â€Å"Hmph!” said Hermione) â€Å"I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices.\r\nâ€Å"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include wow Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filchs office, if anybody would like to check it.”\r\nThe corners of Dumbledores mouth twitched. He continued, â€Å"As ever, I would like to re intellect you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year.\r\nâ€Å"It is alike my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year.”\r\nâ€Å"What?” Harry gasped. He looked around at Fred and George, his fellow members of the Quidditch team. They were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore, apparently too appalled to speak. Dumbhedore went on, â€Å"This is due to an situation that will be starting in October, and go on 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 at Hogwarts -â€Å"\r\nBut at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open.\r\nA man stood in the verge, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black travel cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swiveled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lo wered his hood, agitate out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers table.\r\nA dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Hermione gasped.\r\nThe lightning had thrown the mans face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any Harry had ever seen.It looked as though it had been forge out of weathered forest by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what gentle faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a bezant gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the mans eyes that make him frightening.\r\nOne of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric ghastly. The blue eye was go ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the common eye †and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the mans head, so that all they could see was whiteness.\r\nThe stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbhedore agitate it, muttering words Harry couldnt hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side.\r\nThe stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark gray hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students.\r\nâ€Å"May I deliver o ur new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?” said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. â€Å"Professor Moody.”\r\nIt was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause, but none of the staff or students chapped except Dumbledore and Hagrid, who both put their hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed drearily into the silence, and they stopped fairly quickly. Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moodys bizarre appearance to do more than stare at him.\r\nâ€Å"Moody?” Harry muttered to Ron. â€Å"Mad-Eye Moody? The one your dad went to help this morning?”\r\nâ€Å"Must be,” said Ron in a low, awed voice.\r\nâ€Å"What happened to him?” Hermione verbalize. â€Å"What happened to his face?”\r\nâ€Å"Dunno,” Ron whispered back, watching Moody with fascination.\r\nMoody seemed totally orthogonal to his less-than-warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached again into his traveli ng cloak, pulled out a hip flask, and took a long draught from it. As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground, and Harry saw, below the table, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a claw foot.\r\nDumbledore cleared his throat.\r\nâ€Å"As I was saying,” he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, â€Å"we are to have the recognise of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard tourney will be taking place at Hogwarts this year.”\r\nâ€Å"Youre JOKING!” said Fred Weasley loudly.\r\nThe tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moodys arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.\r\nâ€Å"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley,” he said, â€Å"though now that you mention it, I did hear an minute one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar.”\r\nProfessor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.\r\nâ€Å"Er †but perchance this is not the time…no…” said Dumbledore, â€Å"where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard tourney…well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely.\r\nâ€Å"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a hail-fellow-well-met competition between the three largest European schools of whizz: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was chiefly agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities †until, that is, the close toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued.”\r\nâ€Å"Death toll?” Hermione whispered, looking alarmed. But her care did not seem to be shared by the majority of students in the Hall; many of them were mouth excitedly to one another, and Harry himself was far more inte be in hearing about the tournament than in worrying about deaths that had happened hundreds of years ago.\r\nâ€Å"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament,” Dumbledore continued, â€Å"none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International magic Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have moldd the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to delay that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.\r\nâ€Å"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contende rs in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial estimate will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the resplendency of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money.”\r\nâ€Å"Im red for it!” Fred Weasley hissed down the table, his face lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches. He was not the only person who seemed to be visualizing himself as the Hogwarts champion. At every House table, Harry could see bulk either gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or else whispering fervidly to their neighbors. But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once more.\r\nâ€Å"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts,” he said, â€Å"the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to take down an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age †that is to say, xvii years or cured †will be allowed to put forward their name for consideration. This -” Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious †â€Å"is a measure we feel is necessary, inclined that the tournament tasks will still be tough and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below 6th and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion.” His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Freds and Georges mutinous faces. â€Å"I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.\r\nâ€Å"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all ext end every courtesy to our contrary guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted protrude to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop cut up!”\r\nDumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody. There was a great scraping and humongous as all the students got to their feet and swarmed toward the double doors into the entrance hall.\r\nâ€Å"They cant do that!” said George Weasley, who had not joined the crowd moving toward the door, but was standing up and glaring at Dumbledore. â€Å"Were seventeen in April, why cant we have a shot?”\r\nâ€Å"Theyre not stopping me entering,” said Fred stubbornly, also scowling at the top table. â€Å"The championsll get to do all sorts of stuff youd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons prize money!”\r\n "Yeah,” said Ron, a faraway look on his face. â€Å"Yeah, a thousand Galleons….”\r\nâ€Å"Come on,” said Hermione, â€Å"well be the only ones left here if you dont move.”\r\nHarry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George set off for the entrance hall, Fred and George debating the ways in which Dumbledore cleverness stop those who were under seventeen from entering the tournament.\r\nâ€Å"Whos this impartial judge whos deviation to decide who the champions are?” said Harry.\r\nâ€Å"Dunno,” said Fred, â€Å"but its them well have to fool. I interpret a bridge of drops of Aging Potion might do it, George…”\r\nâ€Å"Dumbledore knows youre not of age, though,” said Ron.\r\nâ€Å"Yeah, but hes not the one who decides who the champion is, is he?” said Fred shrewdly. â€Å"Sounds to me like once this judge knows who wants to enter, hell choose the best from each school and never mind how old they are. Dumbledores tryi ng to stop us giving our names.”\r\nâ€Å"People have died, though!” said Hermione in a worried voice as they walked through a door concealed behind a tapestry and started up another, narrower staircase.\r\nâ€Å"Yeah,” said Fred airily, â€Å"but that was years ago, wasnt it? Anyway, wheres the fun without a bit of risk? Hey, Ron, what if we find out how to get round Dumbledore? Fancy entering?”\r\nâ€Å"What dyou reckon?” Ron asked Harry. â€Å"Be cool to enter, wouldnt it? But I spose they might want someone older….Dunno if weve learned plenteous…”\r\nâ€Å"I definitely havent,” came Nevilles gloomy voice from behind Fred and George.\r\nâ€Å"I expect my grand want me to try, though. Shes always going on about how I should be upholding the family honor. Ill just have to †oops…”\r\nNevilles foot had sunk right through a step halfway up the staircase. There were many of these trick stairs at Hogwarts; it was second nature to most of the older students to jump this particular step, but Nevilles memory was notoriously poor. Harry and Ron seized him under the armpits and pulled him out, while a suit of armor at the top of the stairs creaked and clanked, laughing wheezily.\r\nâ€Å"Shut it, you,” said Ron, banging down its visor as they passed.\r\nThey made their way up to the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, which was concealed behind a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.\r\nâ€Å" countersign?” she said as they approached.\r\nâ€Å"Balderdash,” said George, â€Å"a prefect downstairs told me.”\r\nThe portrait swung forward to reveal a hole in the wall through which they all climbed. A crackling fire warmed the circular common room, which was full of squashy armchairs and tables. Hermione cast the merrily dancing flames a dark look, and Harry distinctly heard her mutter â€Å"Slave labor” before mastery them good night and disappearing through the doorway to the girls dormitory.\r\nHarry, Ron, and Neville climbed up the last, spiral staircase until they reached their own dormitory, which was placed at the top of the tower. Five four- nib beds with deep vehement hangings stood against the walls, each with its owners trunk at the foot. Dean and Seamus were already getting into bed; Seamus had pinned his Ireland rosette to his headboard, and Dean had tacked up a poster of Viktor Krum over his bedside table. His old poster of the West Ham football team was pinned right next to it.\r\nâ€Å"Mental,” Ron sighed, shaking his head at the completely stationary soccer players.\r\nHarry, Ron, and Neville got into their pajamas and into bed. Someone †a house-elf, no doubt †had placed warming pans between the sheets. It was extremely comfortable, lying there in bed and hearing to the storm raging outside.\r\nâ€Å"I might go in for it, you know,” Ron said sleepily through the darkness, â€Å"if Fred and George find out how to…the tournament….you never know, do you?”\r\nâ€Å"Spose not….”\r\nHarry rolled over in bed, a series of dazzling new pictures forming in his minds eye….He had hoodwinked the impartial judge into believing he was seventeen….he had become Hogwarts champion…he was standing on the grounds, his arms raised in triumph in front of the whole school, all of whom were applauding and screaming…he had just won the Triwizard Tournament. Chos face stood out particularly clearly in the blurred crowd, her face refulgency with admiration….\r\nHarry grinned into his pillow, exceptionally glad that Ron couldnt see what he could.\r\n'