Hermione Granger and the Goblet Of Fire (Completed)

Chapter 13 - The Boat and the Carriage

"Only a week away!" said Ernie Macmillan eagerly "I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go and tell him..."
"Cedric?" said Ron
"Diggory" said Harry quietly "He must be entering the tournament"
"That idiot, Hogwarts champion?" said Ron
"He's not an idiot. You just don't like him because he beat Gryffindor at Quidditch" said Hermione sternly "I've heard he's a really good student - and he's a prefect."
"

You only like him because he's handsome" said Ron, sounding grumpy for some reason
"Excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome!" she snapped
Ron gave a cough, which sounded very much like "Lockhart!"
Hermione glared at him

Over the next few weeks, wild rumours flew around about the two other competing schools, and how they differed to themselves. Of course, the bringers of said rumours were clearly biased towards Hogwarts, so Hermione realistically couldn't believe a word they said

The staff at Hogwarts seemed more tense as the thirtieth approached. They clearly wanted Durmstrang and Beauxbatons to be impressed with Hogwarts. Everything suddenly seemed cleaner and newer, and the teached seemed on edge all the time
"Longbottom, kindly do not reveal that you can't even perform a simple Switching Spell in front of anyone from Durmstrang!" said Professor McGonagall, before sending Neville to the Hospital wing to get his ear transfigured back from the bright purple cactus it had become

They entered the Great Hall on the morning of the thirtieth to find that silk banners had been hung up above the tables, each corresponding to the house below - red with a gold lion for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. A banner with the Hogwarts coat of arms hung behind the teacher's table

Hermione, Ron and Harry sat down beside Fred and George. To Hermione's immense surprise, they had their together and were talking quietly. Normally they were the life and soul of the party, so Hermione was curious to see what had made them so sombre
"It's a bummer, all right" George was saying "But if he won't talk to us in person, we'll have to send him the letter after all. Or we'll stuff it into his hand. He can't avoid us forever"
"Who's avoiding you?" said Ron loudly, making them both jump
"Wish you would," said Fred grumpily
"What's a bummer?" Ron asked George
"Having a nosy git like you for a brother" said George.
"You two got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet?" said Harry "Thought any more about trying to enter?"
"I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling" said George gloomily "She just told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my raccoon"

"Wonder what the tasks are going to be?" said Ron "You know, I bet we could do them, Harry. We've done dangerous stuff before..."
"Not in front of a panel of judges, you haven't" said Fred "McGonagall says the champions get awarded points according to how well they've done the tasks"
"Who are the judges?" said Harry. None of them seemed to know anything about it, which surprised Hermione
"Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel" she said "because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792, when a cockatrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on the rampage"

They all stared at her. Hermione sighed
"It's all in Hogwarts, A History. Though, of course, that book's not entirely reliable" she added "A Revised History of Hogwarts would be a more accurate title. Or A Highly Biased and Selective History of Hogwarts, Which Glosses Over the Nastier Aspects of the School"
"What are you on about?" said Ron
"House-elves!" said Hermione, her eyes flashing. "Not once, in over a thousand pages, does Hogwarts, A History mention that we are all colluding in the oppression of a hundred slaves!"

Harry sighed and Ron rolled his eyes, but before Hermione could say anything to them, George leaned towards Hermione
"Listen, have you ever been down in the kitchens, Hermione?" "No, of course not" said Hermione "I hardly think students are supposed to-"
"Well, we have" said George, gesturing to his twin "loads of times, to nick food. And we've met them, and they're happy. They think they've got the best job in the world-"
"That's because they're uneducated and brainwashed!" Hermione started, but her words were drowned out by the arrival of the post. Hermione glanced up and fell silent when she saw Hedwig fly down to them. Harry took her letter and, checking that Fred and George were back to discussing something, read the letter aloud