What If? - Drarry

Chapter Five

The opposing schools began to arrive at Hogwarts in the beginning of October. The first was Beaubatons, who arrived in a huge flying chariot pulled by five beautiful white Pegasi. The entire student congregation had stood in the grounds to watch them land, gaped in awe at the formidable Madame Maxime, and then in wonder at the students. A gorgeous blonde girl, who must have been several years older than them, had instantly caught Ron's eye, as well as several other boys'. He had watched her as if in a daze, mouth slightly ajar, until Hermione had eventually had enough, and told him sternly to sort himself out. Next, Durmstrang arrived in a majestic old battleship, which rose from the lake headed by its headmaster: Igor Karkaroff, and, to the student's excitement, Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Sneaker. When the students had realised it really was him they had become almost frantic, and Harry had even heard a girl ask her friends "do you think he'll sign my hat in lipstick?" after which the group had briefly tussled, fighting over the makeup.

Once the foreign students had settled in, all the schools gathered in the Great Hall, which had been furiously cleaned and decorated in welcome. The floor was several shades lighter than it was usually, having had the dirt that had been stamped into it by generations of students rigorously removes, and the tables gleamed with a shine to match the counter tops in Aunt Petunia's kitchen. As they walked into the Hall, Harry noticed that a great, golden - Harry didn't quite know how to describe it – box of some sort had been placed in the centre of the front of the hall. It must have been almost seven feet tall, and as they neared it, Harry could make out precious stones adorning the sides of it. Dumbledore stood at his chair at the teacher's table and waited patiently for all the students to be seated before beginning to speak.

"Welcome, welcome," said Dumbledore, arms outstretched in greeting, "Welcome to all our guests. I trust you have settled in well, and I hope that you will find Hogwarts to be a comfortable and friendly home over the next year and that you may all enjoy our company. Now, you must be hungry after your travelling. Please, eat up!"

The feast appeared, as always, on the plates in front of the students, eliciting sharp intakes of breath from several of the Beaubatons girls. The house elves had truly outdone themselves in the presence of guests, and the feast was the grandest Harry had yet seen. However, despite the overwhelming scent of good food, Harry's mind, and many of the other student's, was still on the golden case at the front of the hall.

"Hey, Ron, Hermione? What do you reckon that is?" Harry gestured towards the case. Ron seemed not to hear Harry. He was staring at the Ravenclaw table, where the Beaubatons were eating. Hermione rolled her eyes at him and spoke to Harry.

"Well, it's probably something to do with the Triwizard Tournament, looking at the timing and all."

"So, what? Something to do with the tasks?"

"I don't know everything, Harry. I expect we'll find out soon, though."

Sure enough, when the feast was over and everyone was sufficiently stuffed, Dumbledore stood once again and walked towards the golden case.

"I'm sure many of you will have been wondering what this contraption is, and I feel it is now time that I put you all out of your misery. I am certain you have all also pondered the method we shall use to select the champion from each school." Whispers from the students seemed to indicate yes. "Well, I proudly introduce you to our perfect, unbiased judge, the selector of the Triwizard Champions: the Goblet of Fire!"

Dumbledore raised his wand and lightly tapped the case on its summit, then stood back with his usual knowing smile. The students watched in amazement as the gold seemed to melt and fall away, revealing a large stone cup, the Goblet of Fire, standing on a stone base. Dumbledore waited until the gold had completely disintegrated before once again tapping the goblet. His face was suddenly illuminated blue by a glowing fire, magically springing from the depths of the chalice. Several students gasped.