"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices."
"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."
"How many of those things are in your trunks right now?" August asked the twins, but they only replied with cheeky grins.
The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued,
"As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the rounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third years. It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."
"What?" Harry gasped.
"It's not the end of the world Harry." August laughed, and then looked up at Fred and George, the fellow members of the Quidditch team. They were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore, apparently too appalled to speak.
"Cat got your tongue?" August pinched George's cheek.
"Shut up, August." George bit his smile.
Dumbledore went on, "This is due to an event that will start in October, and continue throughout the school year, taking up much of the teacher's time and energy — but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts —"
But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open.
A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swiveled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table.
"Is that Mad-Eye?" August gasped
"Must be," said Ron in a low, awed voice.
"What happened to him?" Hermione whispered. "What happened to his face?"
"Dunno," Ron whispered back, watching Moody with fascination.
George felt August tense next to him.
"I think his scar is cool," George whispered to her. She gave him a tight lip smile, knocking her shoulder into his.
Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached again into his traveling cloak, pulled out a hip flask, and took a long draught from it.
Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. I am pleased to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."
"You're JOKING!" said Fred Weasley loudly.
The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.
"Shut up!?" August laughed, shaking George, "When Ced said a tournament, I didn't know he meant the Triwizard one!"
George giggled like a maniac at her excitement, "Your mum is going to be mad at you, isn't she?"
"We're sixteen, George!" August shook his arm, "She's not going to be mad, she's going to kill me!"
George just smiled at her excitement.
"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar . . ."
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.
"Er — but maybe this is not the time . . . no . . ." said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament . . . well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely."
August turned to the twins, all three of them smiling as Dumbledore explained the tournament to the Great Hall.
"I don't think we should all put out name in it." Lee pointed out, the three of them, and Angelina shot a look at him in horror at his decision.
"Why not?" Fred asked
"I think we should pick one of us to put their name in." Lee said, "I think, as much as we would deny it, some hostility if one of us did get picked."
"I wouldn't!" August said.
"You get jealous easily." Angelina pointed out
"No, I don't..."
Angelina snorted, turning to Lee, "And how would we decide which person puts their name in? Huh?"
"Our own tournament." Lee smiled.
The twins and August all shared the same look.
"Carry on," George told Lee.
"We have 3 tasks, like the real tournament. And the one with the most points wins. They get to put their name in."
"Who is going to judge us?"
"I am" Lee laughed, "I'm not bloody entering. I want to live."
August laughed, "Okay, then when is the first task?"
"When I figure that one out." Lee smiled, "But Dumbledore said the end of October, so we have a month. I'll try and come up with all the tasks by next week."
The four of them all looked at each other.
"Are we really doing this?" Angelina asked.
"I think it would be fun." August smiled
"We're in." The twins said in unison.
"So am I," Angelina said.
They all looked at August.
"I just said it would be fun! Of course, I'm in!"
"I want to join in!" Ron interrupted the group.
"-the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are sixteen years or older — will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration." Dumbledore said.
"Sorry, Ronniekins," George laughed. "You're too young."
"I'll find a way!"
"Good luck with that one, ickle." Fred laughed, pushing Ron away from them all.
"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your wholehearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"
"Who's this impartial judge who's going to decide who the champions are?" said Harry.
"Dunno," said Fred, "Any ideas George?"
"No clue."
"Maybe it's that cup mom kept going on about this morning." August chimed in behind the boys.
"A cup?" George laughed, "Like, they'll put our names in a hat and pull 'em out?"
"It could work!" August shrugged.
"Are you really going to put your names in?" Hermione gasped. "People have died, though!" said Hermione in a worried voice as they walked through a door concealed behind a tapestry and started up another, narrower staircase.
"Yeah," said Fred airily, "but that was years ago, wasn't it? Anyway, where's the fun without a bit of risk?"
"You're not allowed to be reckless..." Harry clicked his tongue, shaking his head at August.
"If I remember correctly. Two out of the three of them told me to do it!"
"Jade is terrifying when she's mad though," Harry said, "You really want to deal with that?"
"I can handle a few howlers." August smiled, "Hey, how more dangerous is this tournament than a full moon? Ey?"
"It's not the same." Harry sighed
"Are you worried about me Harry?" August teased.
"Of course I am." He huffed
They made their way up to the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, which was concealed behind a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.
"Password?" she said as they approached.
The group turned to August.
"Oh right..." August smiled, "Balderdash."
The portrait swung forward to reveal a hole in the wall through which they all climbed. A crackling fire warmed the circular common room, which was full of squashy armchairs and tables.
The storm had blown itself out by the following morning, though the ceiling in the Great Hall was still gloomy; heavy clouds of pewter gray swirled overhead as the twins and August went over their new course schedules at breakfast.
"Oh! We'll have more classes with Cassius this year," August said looking at her schedule. "Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and Care of Magical Creatures Slytherins."
"Dark Arts with them too this afternoon." Fred pointed out.
"Wonder what Moody's like." George yawned, pouring himself another cup of tea
A booming bell echoed from the castle across the wet grounds, signaling the start of the lessons for the day. August snagged the last bit of toast off the plate in front of her before it disappeared and George grabbed her books. Fred had a hand full of sausages and his books shoved under his arm as the three ran out towards Hagrid's hut. Cassius came up behind them.
"Didn't eat enough?" He laughed at Fred and August shoving the last bits of their food in their mouths.
They both smiled at him with food in their mouths. The Gryffindors and Slytherins walked down the sloping lawn toward Hagrid's small wooden cabin, which stood on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Hagrid was standing outside his hut, one hand on the collar of his enormous black boarhound, Fang. Several open wooden crates were on the ground at his feet, and Fang was whimpering and straining at his collar, apparently keen to investigate the contents more closely. As they drew nearer, an odd rattling noise reached their ears, punctuated by what sounded like minor explosions.
"Mornin'!" Hagrid said, grinning at the class, " Blast Ended Skrewts!"
"Come again?" said Lee.
Hagrid pointed down into the crates.
"Eurgh!" squealed Angelina, jumping backward.
"Oh, gross!" August said with much more excitement, stepping toward the crates with a huge smile.
They looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters, horribly pale and slimy-looking, with legs sticking out in very odd places and no visible heads. There were about a hundred of them in each crate, each about six inches long, crawling over one another, bumping blindly into the sides of the boxes. They were giving off a very powerful smell of rotting fish. Every now and then, sparks would fly out of the end of a skrewt, and with a small phut, it would be propelled forward several inches.
George joked by pushing August toward them when they did that, causing her to hit him. But that just resulted in him laughing more.
"Are you two dating yet?" Cassius jokes, causing both of their cheeks to grow red, "I'll take that as a no."
Fred and Lee burst into laughter at the pair as they slowly stepped away from each other.
"On'y jus' hatched," said Hagrid proudly, "so you'll be able to raise 'em yourselves! Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!"
"Raise 'em?" August asked, "Like a child?"
"Exactly!"
"And why would we want to raise them?" Cassius asked, a disgusted plastered to his face looking at the creatures. Hagrid looked stumped at the question.
"I mean, what do they do?" asked Fred. "What is the point of them?"
Hagrid opened his mouth, apparently thinking hard; there was a few seconds pause, then he said roughly, "Tha's next lesson, Weasley. Yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, you'll wan' to try 'em on a few different things — I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go for — I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass snake — just try 'em out with a bit of each."
Cassius looked over at August and burst into laughter. "Guessing you wished you skipped that second breakfast, eh Moon??"
She had a disgusted look on her face as Hagrid handed her the frog livers.
"Ouch!" yelled Lee after about ten minutes. "It got me!
Hagrid hurried over to him, looking anxious.
"Its end exploded!" said Lee angrily, showing Hagrid a burn on his hand.
"Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off," said Hagrid, nodding.
"This is terrible." August with a handful of frog livers, lowering them to the crate, "AH!"
"Stop fussing, Moon!" Fred laughed
"It burned me!" August yelled, "Hey Hagrid?" She looked up at him, "How big do these buggers get?"