Triwizard Mechanics

Chapter 5

The rest of dinner, the hall was filled with people talking animatedly about the tournament. The twins that had protested so loudly were thinking up a way to get around the age restriction.

"You two do realize that Dumbledore will be able to see through any disguise, right?" Hermione asked the two.

"Nah, not if we make it real convincing," said one.

"I'm sure an aging potion would do it, don't you think Fred?" said the other. Fred nodded and looked toward Leo and Calypso.

"So, we've been dying to know . . . is it true that you two crashed here on a mechanical dragon?"

"Uh . . . I . . . uh . . ." Leo stuttered. Ron came to his rescue.

"Oh, come off it, you two. Don't you have some jokes or something to work on?" Fred and his brother rolled their eyes, but got up and left.

"Sorry about those two," Ron said. "They can be pretty annoying sometimes, especially over the summer when I'm stuck with them."

"They're your brothers?" Calypso asked. Ron nodded. Calypso laughed. "You look a lot like them, you know."

The five finished their dinner and went back to the common room to do homework and relax. While Harry, Ron, and Hermione worked on their homework, Leo and Calypso talked about Festus.

"So, when are you planning to tell Dumbledore what we need?" Calypso said as she updated the list of parts they needed.

"Once we take him all the way apart, I'll set the broken parts aside and tell Dumbledore."

They kept discussing Festus, and soon, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had finished their homework. They had already told the three about Festus, and the they were trying to help in any way they could, which wasn't much. After a while, the conversation switched over to the Triwizard Tournament.

"Are you guys going to try to enter?" Leo asked, excitedly.

"No, we're not. Right?" Hermione said as she glared at Ron and Harry, who quickly shook their heads.

"I reckon no one in their right mind would try to go against Dumbledore," Ron said, "except for maybe them two." He inclined his head toward his twin brothers. "Fred and George will try anything if they think there's a way to do it.

"You know, my brother Charlie told me he was coming to Hogwarts sometime this year. He works with dragons," Ron added, looked at Leo and Calypso, "what if one of the things the champions have to do is fight a dragon?"

"That'd be wicked!" Harry said. "I want to see that!" The group kept talking about the tournament until the wee hours of the morning, and finally went to bed.

The next morning, there was a buzz everywhere as rumors about who had put their name in the goblet spread. Some had said that Lee Jordan had successfully put his name in, but when Ron asked him, he had just laughed.

"Bloody hell, Ron, how do you suppose I did that? Must've slept walked or something!"

Some others had said that Viktor Krum, the seeker, had put his name in the goblet right after dinner. This must have been true, because he seemed much happier than usual. He was talking animatedly with another one of the Durmstrang students.

The biggest rumor was that Cedric Diggory was about to put his name in the goblet after breakfast. This was true because a couple minutes after Cedric left the hall, there was a loud round of applause. When they went out into the entrance hall toward the goblet and the sound, they found Cedric dancing out of a blue, floating ring.