Ineffable | Harry Potter - George Weasley // COMPLETED

27 | The Triwizard Tournament

Staring out the window of the Hogwarts Express, I watched as the scenery passed by quickly, barely giving me enough time to look at something before it was out of sight. It was just us four in the compartment, along with our pets, and Sonia was currently giving Harry's owl, Hedwig, some dirty looks.

Holding out my arm, I motioned for Sonia to climb up before facing her away from Hedwig and giving her a few stroked on the head. "This is horrible." Hermione groaned as she flipped through the newspaper she was holding, the top story being about what had happened at the Quidditch World Cup. "How can the Ministry not know who conjured it? Wasn't there any security or..?"

"Loads, according to Dad," Ron answered as they once again discussed something they had all seen while I was lying in the grass somewhere at the grounds. "That's what worried them so much. Happened right under their noses."

Wincing slightly, Harry tried to play it off as he scratched the area around his scar. "lt's hurting again, isn't it?" I asked him. "Your scar."

"I'm fine."

"You know Sirius will want to hear about this..." Hermione leaned in. "...what you saw at the World Cup and the dream."

Knowing Hermione was right, because she always was, Harry took a few moments to write a letter to Sirius before sending Hedwig out the train window with the message in his beak. Sonia, who was aching to stretch her wings, ended up flying out as well, but I wasn't worried. She knew where Hogwarts was.

_______________

Once we had arrived at school and everyone had settled into their common rooms, which for me was second nature by now, we all flocked to the bridge where we watched some of our special guests arrive by Pegasus drawn flying carriage, which was a sight to see.

"Clear the runway!" Hagrid warned as he himself almost got nailed in the head with a hoof.

"Well, there's something you don't see every day." Fred laughed.

After the Pegasus arrival, I didn't think things could get any more incredible, but I was proven wrong when a giant pirate ship emerged from the water, containing our second guests. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but by the excited chatter among students, it was sounding promising.

"Well, now we're all settled in and sorted, I'd like to make an announcement." Dumbledore spoke during the annual 'beginning of the year' feast. "This castle will not only be your home this year..but home to some very special guests as well. You see, Hogwarts has been chosen..."

Before Dumbledore could finish his sentence, Filch ran up and whispered something in his ear. The two said a few words back a forth before Filch ran off again, lifting his knees way higher than he needed to while doing so.

"So Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event: The Triwizard Tournament." Dumbledore continued. "For those of you who do not know...the Triwizard Tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. From each school, a single student is selected to compete. Now let me be clear. If chosen, you stand alone. And trust me when l say...these contests are not for the faint-hearted. But more of that later. For now, please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and their headmistress, Madame Maxime."

As the doors swung open, a small group of older girls dawning blue dresses and blue hats walked in, catching the eye of every guy in the room with their beauty, birds, and blue pixie dust.

"Blimey. That's one big woman." Seamus commented as the headmistress, Madame Maxime, walked in, her height somehow making Hagrid look short.

Once the women had finished their little routine, the men applauded as Hermione, Ginny and I exchanged looks and rolled our eyes.

"And now our friends from the north. Please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and their high master, lgor Karkaroff." Dumbledore announced as a group of men entered this time, doing a little routine of their own with staffs that sparked when they hit the floor.

"Oh, it's Krum!" Ron recognized the famous Quidditch player. "Blimey, it's him! Viktor Krum!"

That routine ended by one man blowing fire that formed the shape of some sort of animal before dying off. If you asked me, these were all pretty fancy and kind of time-wasting entrances. Whatever happened to just walking?

As the feast began, a large golden statue of some kind was brought into the room and placed beside the podium at the front. "Your attention, please!" Dumbledore announced. "l'd like to say a few words. Eternal glory. That is what awaits the student who wins the Triwizard Tournament. But to do this, that student must survive three tasks. Three extremely dangerous tasks."

"Wicked." I heard Fred and George mumble.

"For this reason, the Ministry has seen fit to impose a new rule. To explain all this, we have the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Mr. Bartemius Crouch."

Just then, the magic sky above the room began to crackle with thunder and lightning, scaring a few of the students before a man with a glass eye, whom I had never seen before, cast a spell and fixed the artificial weather.

"Bloody hell. lt's Mad-Eye Moody." Ron seemed to know who he was.

"Alastor Moody?" Hermione cocked an eyebrow. "The Auror?"

Dean spun around. "Auror?"

"Dark-wizard catcher," Ron explained. "Half the cells in Azkaban are filled thanks to him. He's supposed to be mad as a hatter, though, these days."

After greeting Dumbledore, Alastor Moody walked over to a corner before pulling out a flask and taking a big gulp of whatever was inside. "What's that he's drinking, do you suppose?" Seamus looked to us to see if we had the answer.

"l don't know, but l don't think it's pumpkin juice." I sighed.

"After due consideration..." Mr. Bartemius Crouch brought the topic back to the tournament, "...the Ministry has concluded that, for their own safety, no student under the age of seventeen shall be allowed to put forth their name for the Triwizard Tournament. This decision is final."

"That's rubbish!" Fred and George screamed, along with a lot of other angry students. "That's rubbish! You don't know what you're doing!"

Stepping up, Dumbledore brought order to the room right quickly. "Silence!" he yelled, using his wand to turn the gold statue into a gold goblet with blue flames rising from the top. "The Goblet of Fire. Anyone wishing to submit themselves to the tournament need only write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly. lf chosen, there's no turning back. As from this moment, the Triwizard Tournament has begun."