The Story of Ginny

Chapter 4- The TriWizard Tournament

We hugged our parents and brothers goodbye. When I hugged Charlie, he pulled me close and  mysteriously said he'd see me sooner than I think. I looked at him questioningly but he simply winked and ushered me onto the squealing train. I quickly found a window and continued to question my brother on what he had meant while he just smiled and waved as the train peeled away from the station. Irked by Charlie's vague hint at what was to come this year, I set off down the train to find my friends sitting together in a compartment. They were already deep in conversation about what they thought might be waiting for us at Hogwarts. We spent much of the time debating based off the few details given by our wizarding families before turning our focus to conversations of our summer, talking about what had happened at the Quidditch World Cup and before we knew it, it was time to get dressed into our school robes.

We left the train and made our way to the familiar horseless carriages to pull us to the castle for the sorting and the welcoming feast where Dumbledore finally told us that Hogwarts would be host for two other wizarding schools and the TriWizard Tournament in which each school would have a champion competing for the glory of their school and themselves. Over the next few weeks, the Hogwarts students gossiped about what they thought the other students might be like as their arrival drew near. One evening, I was studying in the common room with Harry, Ron, and Hermione as the boys joked with Fred and George about how they were going to enter and win eternal glory and a thousand galleons.

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The day finally came for the other school representatives to arrive, our afternoon classes were canceled so we might all go and welcome our visitors as they landed on school grounds. The Beauxbaton carriage arrived first, pulled through the sky by gigantic abraxan and landed soundlessly on the ground near the Forbidden Forest. The horse-like creatures walked the rest of the way to the school, pulling their cargo in their wake. When the footman scampered from his perch at the reigns and opened the door, the student body collectively sucked in a breath as we all saw an enormous woman, who Dumbledore greeted as Madame Maxime. Madame told Hagrid how her horses should be cared for while he seemed to be spinning from the stars in his eyes as he looked at the woman who's size rivaled even his own.

Next, the Durmstrang ship rose from the bottom of the Black Lake towering high above us all in its steely magnificence. The Headmaster, Igor Karkaroff, greeted Dumbledore with a gruff nod and firm handshake as he requested to bring his students inside from the cold. As both schools passed, I felt Ron stiffen twice. First, as a lovely girl with silvery blonde hair walked by and then again as none of than Viktor Krum passed in his surly manner. Harry nudged my arm as he and I hid our laughter behind our hands. At the feast to welcome our guests, Dumbledore announced that the TriWizard Champions would be chosen at the end of this next week and would commence the competition. Anyone under 17 was not allowed to enter the tournament in recognition of new safety guidelines as the tasks were meant to be extremely challenging and dangerous.

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Halloween evening, the night the champions would be announced, was greatly anticipated by all students and they were hardly focused on learning anything in classes. The evening finally came, the feast was, I'm sure, wonderful but we were all too ready for the tournament to begin to notice our dinner, and at last, it was time. Professor Dumbledore invited Ludo Bagman to the podium to explain the rules and processes of the games, as he was the Head of Magical Games in the UK Ministry of Magic. Mr. Bagman flicked his wand at the large case in the center of the room and revealed the Goblet of Fire once again, its flames softly burning blue.

We watched with bated breath as the cup's flames erupted bright orange and threw out a charred piece of parchment. Dumbledore grabbed it out of the air and called, "The Beauxbaton champion is Fleur Delacour!" the hall applauded as Fleur rose from her spot among her classmates and walked into the chamber indicated by Mr. Crouch. Together, we turned again to the cup as Dumbledore once again caught the paper and called, "The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum!" the Durmstrang boys slowly clapped and grunted their approval of this choice as the starry eyed Hogwarts students cheered at the celebrity's appointment. As soon as Viktor disappeared, Dumbledore turned back to the cup and pulled the parchment for the Hogwarts champion out of the air. "The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!" The Hufflepuff table was nearly flipped over with the excitement of their house as the Hogwarts champion rose from the Hufflepuff table and disappeared behind the door of the secluded chamber. Mr. Bagman returned to the podium, "With the appointment of our three champions, the--" he was cut off as the Goblet spouted bright orange flames and, for the fourth time, spit out a charred bit of parchment. Dumbledore caught the paper again, read it and called out, "Harry Potter".