━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
It took a while for everyone to get seated in the hall, not even Professor Dumbledore could get the room to fall silent like he usually did. Everyone was still talking about what you'd just seen outside of the castle.
All sorts of theories and ideas were being spread in hushed whispers up and down the tables of all four houses as the new first-years got sorted. These guesses ranged from believable explanations to downright impossible scenarios.
You even heard someone talking about how they thought that the ship was at the bottom of the lake for decades and had only just floated to the surface. But one of that person's friends soon mentioned how much of a coincidence it was for it to appear right after a mysterious carriage did.
"Now we're all settled in and sorted, I'd like to make an announcement." Dumbledore spoke from the front of the room, and everything fell silent, "This castle will not only be your home this year, but home to some very special guests as well. You see, Hogwarts has been chosen..."
The Headmaster paused as Filch suddenly entered the room and started hobbling towards him, but before he could even get there, the caretaker suddenly reached to clutch his heart as if it would stop when he started to speed up.
Filch ended up hitting Ron in the head with his elbow in the process, which caused the twins - who were sitting on either side of you - to have to choke back their laughter, hiding their smug smiles behind their hands.
You suppress your own smile when you see Ron's ears tint red with anger as he rubs the back of his head to relieve some pain.
"What d'you think he's going to say?" you ask to the boys to your sides, "Dumbledore, I mean."
"No clue, I'm sure he planned for Filch to come running up to him just so he could add suspense though." George snorted, imagining that scenario in his head.
Fred reached behind you to flick his brother in the temple, "Fat chance of that! Look, it seems like it's something important." he says, rolling his eyes.
You quickly averted your attention back towards the front of the room where Filch and Dumbledore were exchanging hushed whispers between eachother. Though you tried, it was impossible to hear what they were talking about.
But as soon as Filch had appeared, he started to scurry off, leaving Dumbledore to carry on with his usual speech. He could finally finish the sentence that everybody was begging to hear the end of, "So, Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event. The Triwizard Tournament!"
The twins suddenly give eachother an indecipherable glance, all you knew is that you were very confused at what any of this meant.
"Now for those of you who do not know, the Triwizard Tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests." he continued, each student in the room was hanging onto his every word, "From each school, a single contestant is selected to compete. Let me be clear, if chosen, you stand alone. And trust me when I say that these contests are not for the faint-hearted. But more of that later."
Dumbledore paused for a moment. From the small smile you saw hidden under his beard, you knew he did this on purpose for dramatic effect. It worked. Various murmurs where filling the room, seemingly everyone had connected the boat and the carriage outside to this new tournament.
You hardly had time to usher a few words to the twins before your Headmaster decided to end his suspenseful silence.
His voice boomed through the room, "For now, please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, and their Headmistress Madame Maxime!"
Just as the introduction left his lips, the Great Hall's doors opened with a bang. This time, it wasn't Filch making a late entry, it was a swarm of ladies dressed in identical baby-blue uniforms.
Their natural elegance caught your attention like nothing else had done before, the sight of them alone made you feel like your brain had turned into cotton.
A tall woman, who you could only assume to be their Headmistress, followed behind them with a smile on her face.
You didn't even stop to think about the nagging voice in your head that wondered how they all fit inside of that carriage, because another part of you remembered that it was probably enchanted with the same extension charm that the tents at the Quidditch World Cup had.
Everyone else looked to be enamoured with the girls as you were. All eyes were on them as they pranced between the tables, sighing melodically as they continued their display of grace all the way through the room.
"My God... They're gorgeous." you gasp, jaw falling slightly slack at the sight of all of the girls that were now stood still at the front of the Great Hall.
"Bloody hell woman, what's gotten into you?" George exclaims, looking back and forth between you and the group of French students.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think she's actually swooning." Fred laughs, "Maybe she'll pass out if one of them looks at her."
"Hey! I'm just appreciating their natural beauty." you scoff, "And for the record, I would not pass out if one looked at me."
"I'll believe it when I see it." George retorted with a sarcastic roll of his eyes.
You sneak one more glance towards the Beauxbatons students and their rather tall Headmistress before shooting another glare at your friends.
"It's not completely unusual to be so entranced by them, I believe they've got some sort of veela genetics." Hermione suddenly states, grabbing your attention.
You turn your head to look at the girl that was sitting a few seats down, "You think they're related to veela?" you ask.
"I think it's a reasonable assumption." she shrugged, trying to come across unbothered despite the saddened glaze coating her eyes.
"Wait, what are veela again?" you backtrack sheepishly. You'd heard the term before, but you couldn't remember where from.
"They're magical humanoid creatures that have some sort of ability to charm people with their looks alone. So obviously they're absolutely beautiful." Hermione informed you with a proud nod of her head.
"So why aren't the twins going all lovey-dovey over them?" you ask, looking at the boys skeptically.
To you, it was strange that neither of them seemed as bothered by the ladies in comparison to most of the other boys in the hall. Even a few dozen girls were gawking at the Beauxbatons students.
"You really think we'd fall for some veela magic?" Fred snorts, acting offended.
"Or any love-related spells in general?" George added, giving you an identical wide-eyed look.
You can only shake your head at their antics, "So I'm really the only one here that thinks they're attractive?"
"Well, they are pretty." the twins hesitantly reply in sync, "But if they're using magic, it isn't going to work on us."
"Maybe its not affecting you because other natural," Hermione pauses, accidentally letting her gaze briefly flicker over to Ron for a fraction of a second, "Feelings have overpowered their magic. But it could mean anything, really."
You pick up on this slight difference in her instantly, whilst the twins remained oblivious to it. You raise your eyebrows at the brunette and subtly look back and forth between her and Ron.
The Weasley in question was still staring at the blue-uniformed girls with a dreamy expression gracing his features. From the look on Hermione's face, you could tell what was making her appear so downcast.
When you look back to your friend, she was sending you an intense glare that screamed, "Don't say a word."
You dismiss her with a wave of your hand paired with a knowing smirk. This little crush of Hermione's was definitely going to be brought up next time you were alone with her.
The twins were looking back and forth between you two as if you were telepathically communicating - which was ironic because of how often they spoke and acted in sync.
The thumping of wooden staffs hitting the stone floor made you flinch. Being too distracted by your conversation, you hadn't heard Dumbledore announce the entrance of the Durmstrang Institution.
You were glad that their display was so loud, because it was something that you didn't want to miss.
Sparks flew from the bottom of their staffs, then they suddenly broke into a run towards the front of the room. Some even did flips and started blowing fire. But that's when Ron spotted Durmstrang's true showstopper.
"Blimey, it's him!" he gasps, "Victor Krum!"
Once everyone recognises the world-renowned seeker, nobody wants to let him leave their sight. Krum only keeps staring straight forward, seemingly bored of all of the attention that he'd just gathered.
"I didn't think we'd be seeing him any time soon!" you exclaim, craning your neck to get a better view of the boy.
"Us neither." the twins reply, "Ron still looks like he's madly in love with him though."
"Your attention please!" Dumbledore suddenly called after greeting the Headmaster of Durmstrang, "I would like to say a few words. Eternal glory, that's what awaits the student who wins the Triwizard Tournament. But to do this, that student must survive three tasks. Three extremely dangerous tasks."
"Wicked." Fred murmured, his face was a painting of absolute awe.
You raised your eyebrows in shock. Obviously you knew of the twins' love for danger and close-calls, but this tournament sounded like it would be a whole lot more dangerous than a simple prank on Snape.
Dumbledore continued, "For this reason, the Ministry has seen fit to impose a new rule. To explain all of this, we have the Head of the Department of International Magic Co-operation; Mr Bartimus Crouch."
Everyone let out a collective confused sound, impatiently waiting for what this new rule would be. Internally you cursed how long it took Dumbledore to finish a speech, he always tended to take purposeful pauses to build tension.
He gestured for Bartimus to step forward, but before he could, the enchanted ceiling rumbled with claps of thunder and blinding spikes of lightning. Shrieks from scared students mixed with the sounds of the magical storm, but it didn't last for long.
The storm was soon forced into submission by a jet of sparks that quelled the ceiling back into it's usual state. You look to the source of the spell, only to see a dishevelled man standing hunched over by the entrance to the hall.
"What the..." you mumble lowly.
The man wore a large, heavy-looking trenchcoat that covered his scarred body. Most notably, he had what looked to be a fake, bright blue eye strapped to his face like an eyepatch.
The second that your eyes settled on him, the electric blue eye locked onto you. It moved by itself, as if it had a mind of it's own. It made you feel uneasy, and that uncomfortable feeling only increased when the eye shifted over to stare at Harry.
You tried to ignore the feeling. It was an unknown magical item, of course you were going to feel uneasy. But still, you couldn't shake the feeling.
"Bloody hell, it's Mad-Eye Moody!" Fred gasps, pulling you out of your trance-like state.
"Who?" you ask, looking around the room to see that most of the other students were sporting the same expressions of awe as the twins were.
"Alastor Moody, he's an Auror." George informed you, "Half the cells in Azkaban are full thanks to him. But he's supposed to be as mad as a hatter these days."
"Well that explains the spinning eye." you grimace, sneaking another glance at the raggedy man.
The magical eye was still spinning in the false socket, only stopping to stare at someone new every now and then. He limped along with the help of a misshapen walking stick all the way up to the Headmaster to shake his hand.
Dumbledore embraced him, and then Moody and his metal foot clunked to the other side of the hall to chug down some mysterious drink from his flask.
"Creepy." you mumble, prying your eyes from the Auror and onto Mr Crouch instead.
"After much deliberation, the Ministry has concluded that for their own safety, no student under the age of seventeen shall be allowed to put forth for their name for the Triwizard Tournament." Barty Crouch says sternly, looking around the room before adding, "This decision is final."
His words triggered outrage throughout the hall, fists were slammed against tables and students of all ages started yelling as loud as they could.
George had joined in too, "That's rubbish! You don't know what you're doing!" he hollered.
As the twins yelled their frustrations at deaf ears, you didn't know what to do.
Dumbledore soon called for silence, then brandished his wand as a large, covered object was pushed closer to him. With a flick of his wand, the item was revealed to be a giant goblet which bore a stunning blue flame.
"The Goblet of Fire." he announced, gesturing to the item with a flourish of his wrist, "Anyone wishing to submit themself for the tournament merely needs to write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly, if chosen, there's no turning back. As from this moment, the Triwizard Tournament has begun!"
The twins continued sulking, even when the food started appearing on nearby plates.
Whilst you were piling some vegetables onto your plate, they were still glaring at the Headmaster and the Ministry official.
"The tournament sounds like a death trap, I don't see why you want to compete in it so badly." you say, finally taking the first bite of the warm meal in front of you.
Both Fred and George turned to give you an incredulous look from both sides of you, making their judgement inescapable from where you were sat.
"That's easy for you to say, you'll be of age in time!" Fred exclaimed, aggressively spearing a piece of chicken with his fork. You felt bad for the poor piece of meat that was forced to take the brunt of his anger, "It's your birthday in a few days." he added.
"Yeah, you're the lucky one here, Y/n." the younger twin groans.
"But I'm not the one insane enough to want to enter it." you fire back with a frown.
"So you're not going to put your name forward?" George asks, not understanding why you'd turn down such an opportunity.
"No!"
"Why the bloody hell not?!" Fred asks, almost smacking you upside the head with his ridiculously wild arm movements.
"I don't have a death wish, that's why." you laugh, rolling your eyes at their shocked reactions, "Why would I even want to?"
"Eternal glory! Did you not hear the man?"
You exclaim, "Of course I heard him George, it's hard not to! But seriously, something's bound to go wrong with this tournament. And I'm one hundred percent sure of that."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━