ᵖʳᵒᵘᵈ ᵖᵃʳᵉⁿᵗˢ ; ʰᵃʳᵐⁱᵒⁿᵉ

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter 24 - Best days of our lives?

Albus was livid before he arrived in the Great Hall for the sorting feast. Lupin had promised him Potter would be on the Hogwarts Express today. After staking out platform nine and three quarters until the express left for Hogwarts, he could say with a degree of certainty that Potter wasn't on the train. Not only that, the platform appeared a lot less crowded than Albus had expected.

He then had to suffer the ignominy of being given the runaround by that blasted goblin inside Gringotts, the creature had the gall to confirm Lupin was inside the bank - but too busy to see him. A raging Albus had headed back to Hogwarts, with the added intention of checking on just what their actual student numbers were this year.

Discovering Dolores didn't know those figures, didn't even know it was part of her job to tally the numbers, only exacerbated his anger. Hearing her admitting to not visiting any potential new muggleborn students almost saw Albus explode. Only spotting the magical register sitting in the corner of Minerva's old office offered some comfort, knowing it would still automatically generate and send the letters to students applicable to join as a Hogwarts first year. Any sense of comfort soon vanished however when he asked Dolores for the new timetables.

"Any time we've had a meeting, the only subject you ever discussed was Potter. You never told me what else I was supposed to know and do as your Deputy. At least Cornelius always explained exactly what he wanted to happen, and then it was up to me to make sure it did."

He was left wondering whether it was Dolores's total ineptitude at any task or grating 'constipated donkey' droning tones that saw that same Cornelius offload his Senior Undersecretary into Albus's fiefdom.

Thus explaining the various reasons behind why Albus Dumbledore was in such a snit. A quick glance around the Great Hall did nothing to alleviate his temper. Between those who had fled Britain and were attending Potter's school, it would seem at first glance Hogwarts was running with about half the students it would normally hold. Albus couldn't see any fourth years sitting at the Gryffindor house table, that had never happened before. Things certainly didn't improve when the new first years were led in to be sorted, all eleven of them. With eight of those being sorted into Ravenclaw, two Slytherins and a lone Hufflepuff - that left Gryffindor with no first or fourth years.

Hagrid sitting down and telling everyone within earshot, which was the entire Great Hall, that he would be spending Christmas with Harry Potter in Italy left Albus fit to be tied. Hagrid's retelling of talking with Potter and Granger while putting the first years on the boats had the headmaster seething at how close Potter had been - almost within his grasp. Only the largest number of announcements Albus could remember after an opening feast kept him sitting on his throne, though his food remained untouched.

While he was desperate to rant and rave about how unjustly Albus Dumbledore was being treated - by absolutely everyone - he was the headmaster and stepped forward to inform the students of the decimation of the school's staff. After getting that mammoth task out of the way, Albus moved on to the announcement he'd actually been looking forward to.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

There were a few derisive shouts at that announcement, which Albus ignored and simply continued on to the meat of what he had to say.

"This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy — but I am sure we will all enjoy it immensely. It gives me great pleasure to announce that this year Hogwarts will have the honour of hosting a very exciting event. Over the coming months, an event that has not been held for two centuries will be held here. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts."