The Professors had them all line up according to house and age, which meant that Annabeth and her friends were smack in the middle of a crowd of excited teenagers.
They found Freddie in the middle of a crowd of tall seventh years, rescued her, and went to the end of the Slytherin fourth-year line so Vera could stand next to Daisy.
"Hey!" Daisy said at the edge of the hufflepuff line. She kissed Vera on the cheek and tucked a daisy behind her girlfriend's ear. Vera made a face, but she didn't say anything and took Daisy's hand. "How do you think they're getting here?"
"The carriages?" Vera said.
Annabeth hadn't realized she had snorted until everyone looked at her.
"Are you kidding?" she said. "If these people are anything like the people here, then there's no way they're going to be coming by carriage. They're going to find a way to show off what they have and make themselves look powerful."
"Like what?" said a third year in the row in front of Annabeth, turning around along with a bunch of other Slytherin youngsters to look at her.
"Like... something to flaunt their resources, to show that they have better things than we do," Annabeth said, surprised at the sudden attention.
"Like broomsticks?" asked a second year, leaning forward with wide eyes.
"No, we have broomsticks here," Annabeth said. "They'll use something we don't have, like... pegasi, or maybe a flying ship."
"Flying ships are real?" asked an excited first year.
"Sure they are," Annabeth said, "if you have the right engineer and materials."
"Have you ever seen one?" the first year asked.
"I've been on one," Annabeth replied. "I helped design one."
The younger kids all gasped and began bombarding Annabeth with questions— 'what was it like?' 'how big was it?' 'how high did it fly?' 'Do you have any pictures?' 'Did you have dangerous enchantments on it?'
"We had a nice amount of enchantments— yes, i have a few pictures—"
"Wow! Can we see them?"
Annabeth was trying to figure out how best to say no, since she appeared three years older in those pictures, when she was saved by Dumbledore's exclamation.
"Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approached!"
"Where?" a bunch of students called out, looking around all over the place.
"There!" a Gryffindor sixth year yelled, pointing at the sky.
Something huge was coming towards them from the sky, flying over the forest.
"It's a dragon!" someone shrieked.
"It's a flying ship!" a Slytherin third year gasped, grabbing Annabeth's arm. "Annabeth, you were right!"
But it didn't look like a flying ship, and as it drew nearer, Annabeth knew that it wasn't. It was too blocky, too square, and something was pulling it onward. As it got closer, Annabeth saw that it was being pulled by four huge pegasi. It was a powder blue carriage, the size of a house, sinking lower and lower in the sky.
A few of the students surged back as it touched down fifteen feet away, the huge pegasi coming to a stop and tossing their manes proudly. The carriage hadn't been still for a few seconds before the door was flung open and a boy in pale blue robes hopped down the four feet to the ground. He unfolded a set of golden steps from inside the carriage and set the bottom on the ground.
The boy stood back, and a woman stepped out, though she definitely wasn't human. She was huge. She fit perfectly in the giant door of the carriage, and she was at least ten feet tall. She was like Hagrid in size and size alone. She might have even been taller.
Though where Hagrid had a kind face and a gentle demeanor, this woman looked fierce and strict, maybe even a little taller. She had dark, hard eyes, a beakish nose, and pursed lips. She was dressed head to toe in black, and someone about her just set Annabeth on edge.
Her expression, the way she held herself, all reminded Annabeth of the giantess Periboia, except for her height.
"You ok, Annabeth?" Freddie said, nudging Annabeth in the arm.
"Hmm?" Annabeth hadn't realized she'd tensed. She forced her muscles to relax and nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine."
Hesitantly, the crowd started clapping, some standing on tiptoes to get a look at the woman.
"My dear Madam Maxime," Dumbledore said, stepping forward and kissing Madam Maxime's hand. "Welcome to Hogwarts."
"Dumbly-door," Madam Maxime said in a deep voice and heavy french accent. "I 'ope i find you well?"
"In excellent form, I thank you."
"My pupils," Madam Maxime said, waving a huge hand behind her, where a dozen or so students had gathered.
They were a mix of boys and girls, all shivering in their thin blue robes. A few of them had wrapped scarves around their necks and faces, but none were wearing cloaks. They seemed wary of the huge castle that was Hogwarts, but they followed Madam Maxime nonetheless.
"'As karkaroff arrived yet?" Madam Maxime asked.
"He should be here any moment," Dumbledore replied. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a truffle?"
"Warm up, I think," Madam Maxime said. "But ze 'horses—"
"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," Dumbledore said, "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other... charges."
Oh boy. The skrewts must have gotten loose. Annabeth hated to see what would happen if they weren't all rounded up. She would hate to wake up to one of those in her bed. Dumbledore and Madam Maxime continued to exchange words, but Annabeth stopped listening. She watched the giant pegasi as they ruffled their wings and tossed their manes, and she wondered what Percy would think of them.
"Where are they?" Vera said, putting her arm around Daisy, who had buried her head in Vera's shoulder. "It's freaking cold."
They waited in silence for a minute or two, and in that time, Annabeth noticed an odd sound rising up on the mostly quiet grounds. It was strange, like a wet sucking kind of noise, like when the last of the water in the shower is going down the drain.
"You guys hear that, right?" Freddie asked.
Annabeth nodded, and they all looked to the lake, where the water was churning like something huge was waiting just underneath the surface.
The water started bubbling, like the thing was breathing, and increasingly large waves were lapping at the banks. Then a whirlpool areaped, right in the center, and something long and black started rising out. It took Annabeth a second to recognise it as a mast. It kept rising, until there were riggings and sails and mizzenmasts and eventually a hull.
It all had a skeletal look to it, and the portholes shone with a ghostly light. There was a huge sloshing noise as the ship rose completely, bobbing and swaying on the surface of the lake.
The water sloshed as the ship glided towards shore, and then there was a splash as it dropped anchor and lowered a gangplank.
People began to stream off the ship, all wearing huge, matted fur cloaks and hats, all except for the man leading them. His cloak was sleek and silver, like he spent time brushing it out whenever he wore it. He had white, pointy beard that jutted out from his chin like a spike, and his hair was oiled back. Maybe it was his dark, sharp eyes, or the way he seemed to glide rather than walk, but something about him didn't sit right with Annabeth.
"Dumbledore!" he called, walking towards the castle. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"
"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkoroff," Dumbledore said, shaking the man's hand.
"Dear old Hogwarts," Karkoroff said, grinning and looking up at the castle. His smile didn't reach his eyes, and he seemed to be studying the castle more than admiring it. "How good to be back here, how good... Viktor, come along, into the warmth... you don't mind Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold."
Karkoroff beckoned a boy forward, put his arm around said boy, and began leading him into the castle. Annabeth didn't know why, but most of the students gasped and started whispering to each other excitedly.
"You can't be serious," Freddie said, standing on tiptoes. "Is that Viktor Krum?"
"The quidditch player?" Vera asked as everyone began filing back into the castle. "I didn't think he still went to school."
The rest of the students were a lot more excited than Annabeth and her friends. The whispering hadn't quieted, a lot of people were patting themselves down for quills, and almost all of the girls were patting their hair, curling their eyelashes, and asking each other how they looked.
"Seriously," Vera said as they entered the Great Hall, "I'm too gay for this. I'll see you later, love."
She kissed Daisy as they went their separate ways, Daisy heading to the Hufflepuff table, Vera and co. to the Slytherin table. They hadn't been sitting for a few minutes before the Durmstrang students tromped over and found seats, a few boys sitting across from Annabeth and her friends.
"You have vairy... beauty in your eyes," one of them said in a heavy accent to Vera, who gagged and actually spit up a ball of phlegm into a napkin. The boy frowned and moved to find a different seat.
After all the students had sat down, the teachers began filing in, heading for the head table in the front of the hall. When Madam Maxime entered, the Beauxbatons students, sitting at the Ravenclaw table, all got respectfully to their feet and didn't sit down again until their headmistress had taken her seat.
Dumbledore reached his chair, but he didn't sit. He turned to face the hall and spread his hands, and the entire hall fell silent.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and, most particularly, guests," he said, grinning wide. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable. The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast—" Vera hit Annabeth's arm repeatedly, staring straight at Dumbledore— " I now invite you to make yourselves at home!"
With that, he sat down, and the golden plates filled with all kinds of food, both familiar and brand new. Annabeth assumed these were foreign dishes, for the foreign students.
All anyone talked about over the feast was the Triwizard Tournament. No one could wait until the feast would end and the Tournament would start. Dinner seemed to take forever, and Annabeth was so antsy by the end of it that she had started constructing a tower out of plates, cups, and various utensils. Occasionally she would have to ward off Vera, who was intent on toppling the whole thing.
Finally, Dumbledore stood up again, and the entire hall quieted like Annabeth had suddenly gone deaf.
"The moment has come," he said, smiling, "the Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket, 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. Bartimius Crouch, head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."
Bagman got a much louder round of applause than Crouch did, and Annabeth got why. Bagman just looked a lot more friendlier than Crouch, who looked strict in every sense of the word.
"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore said, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madam Maxime on the panel that will judge the champion's efforts. The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."
Filch shuffled up the hall, holding a large wooden chest in his arms. He set it carefully on the table in front of Dumbledore, then went to skulk in a corner.
"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," Dumbledore continued, "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."
Annabeth had to actively suppress a snort, because the hall had gone dead silent and she would have been heard clearly by everyone.
"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore said, "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 took out his wand, tapping three times on the lid of the casket. Slowly, the lid opened, making a loud creaking sound. Dumbledore reached inside and pulled out... a cup. It was bigger than average, and it was made of rough wood. Besides for the flames the cup was filled to the brim with, it would have been completely boring. Dumbledore closed the lid of the casket and placed the cup on top.
"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. 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.
"Now, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, they are obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet.
"Finally, 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.
"Due to the advanced curriculum at Hecate's Academy for Magic, our transfer student's previous school, it has been agreed upon that she will be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. I invite Annabeth Chase now to enter her name, should she wish to do so."
The hall filled with murmurs as Annabeth stood and made her way to the front. When she got there, she accepted the parchment and quill Dumbledore held out to her and carefully wrote down her name and the word Hogwarts on the parchment. The heads of the two visiting schools glared at her, so she smiled back and dropped the parchment over the goblet. The parchment was immediately burned to ash by a tongue of flame, but Dumbledore nodded approvingly, so Annabeth figured that was supposed to happen.
She walked back down the aisle between the tables, ignoring the glares of the Gryfindors and Ravenclaws all the way. She returned Vera's high five as she sat down and smiled back at the other Slytherins, who apparently had let go of their resentment towards her.
"Now," Dumbledore said," I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all!"