Hermione Granger and the Goblet Of Fire (Completed)

Chapter 14 - The Surprise Entrant

After just under half an hour, Hagrid sat down in his seat and waved at the trio. His hands were heavily bandaged
"Skrewts doing all right, Hagrid?" Harry called
"Thrivin'," Hagrid yelled back
"Yeah, I'll just bet they are" Ron whispered "Looks like they've finally found a food they like, doesn't it? Hagrid's fingers"

"Excuse me, are you wanting ze bouillabaisse?"
Hermione looked up. It was the girl who had laughed during Dumbledore's speech. Ron blushed furiously. The girl was, Hermione had to admit, very pretty, in a haughty sort of way. She had shoulder length white blond hair and sea blue eyes
"Yeah, have it" said Harry, talking for Ron
"You 'ave finished wiz it?" said the girl
"Yeah" said Ron, still gawking at the girl like an idiot "Yeah, it was excellent"

Ron was still staring at the girl as she went back to her seat. Harry started laughing, bringing Ron back to his senses
"She's a veela!" he said, his voice raw
"Of course she isn't!" said Hermione. Veela's hair were whiter "I don't see anyone else gaping at her like an idiot!"
That wasn't technically true, but Hermione ignored the other boys
"I'm telling you, that's not a normal girl!" said Ron "They don't make them like that at Hogwarts!"
"They make them okay at Hogwarts" said Harry, his eyes going to Cho Chang

Disgusted, Hermione turned to the teacher's table and her eyebrows raised, surprised. Barty Crouch was sitting on Madame Maxime's other side, and Ludo Bagman was sitting next to Karkaroff. Karkaroff didn't seem to pleased with this seating arrangement
"When you've both put your eyes back in" she said, pointing to the teacher's table "you'll be able to see who's just arrived"
"What are they doing here?" said Harry
"They organized the Triwizard Tournament, didn't they?" said Hermione, shrugging "I suppose they wanted to be here to see it start"

Once the feast was finished, Dumbledore stood up. Fred, George and Lee straightened up, drinking up his every word
"The moment has come" said Dumbledore "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket-"
"The what?" Harry whispered. Hermione ignored him. Telling would ruin the surprise!
"-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"- there was a polite applause -"and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports"
There was a lot louder round of applause for Ludo. Crouch didn't seem to care

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament" said Dumbledore "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts"
"The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch"

Filch came into view, carrying an old, jewel covered chest. Every students eye was on it. Several first years stood up, and many people were leaning so far back on their seats, they were almost horizontal. He put the chest on the teacher's table and Dumbledore began talking again
"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman 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"

Dumbledore raised his wand and tapped on the chest three times. The chest opened and Dumbledore took out a small stone cup. It would've been rather underwhelming, had it not been full of blue white flames
"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" said Dumbledore, putting the Goblet of Fire on the now closed chest "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"