My Love ✧ George Weasley

39 - The Goblet of Fire

Adriana

"The moment has come," Professor Dumbledore announced after the feast had ended. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket, just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports." There were rounds of applause for both the men, much louder for Bagman than for Crouch. "Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament, and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

Almost every student in the Hall perked up at the mention of champions. "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch," Professor Dumbledore continued with a smile. Filch approached Professor Dumbledore while carrying a very old looking wooden chest.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," Professor Dumbledore said as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways: their magical prowess, their daring, their powers of deduction, and, of course, their ability to cope with danger.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament, one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Professor Dumbledore then took out his wand and tapped on the wooden chest three times. The lid of the chest creaked open, and he reached inside to pull out a large wooden cup. It would've been pretty boring if it wasn't filled to the brim with blue-white flames. He closed the chest and placed the cup on top of it, where everyone in the Hall would be able to easily see it.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," Professor Dumbledore said. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.

"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation, I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.

"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

"Are we still entering together, Adriana?" Cedric asked as we got up and headed out of the Great Hall.

"Yep," I replied. "Let's do it tomorrow morning, so we have all night to really decide if we want to go through with it."

"Alright," Cedric said, and was about to continue speaking when someone suddenly grabbed onto my arm while saying my name.

"Adriana." It was George.