A notice appeared outside the Entrance Hall, the Monday before the schools were expected to arrive.
TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT
The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday 30th of October. Lessons will end half an hour early. Students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast.
Amanda smiled to herself. She believed the rest of the year would be fantastic.
...
On the morning of the 30th of October, Amanda could see the school had been redecorated.
Amanda grinned at the decorations and felt her heart lift a little. Everything would be okay.
That lunchtime saw Amanda and Lee practising their routine over and over again.
Amanda grinned as she saw Fawkes flying about. The two had figured out what they were going to do, although no one would know that one of the Phoenixes would be her.
In the last lesson of the day, Amanda was with Fred and George in Flitwick's class.
Someone knocked on the door and Flitwick invited them in. The entire class gasped as they saw their Headmaster walk into the classroom.
"What can I do for you, Headmaster?" Flitwick asked politely.
Albus smiled with a twinkle in his eye. "I'd like to pardon Miss Potter from the rest of class, so that she may prepare for greeting the French and Bulgarian students."
Flitwick nodded and Amanda followed Albus out of the room.
"I would like you to stand with the teachers and myself, then I can introduce you straight to the Headmasters of the other schools as the person who speaks different languages and the one to go to when it comes to the friendly Quidditch tournament. Is that alright with you?" Albus asked.
Amanda bit her lip nervously and nodded.
Albus smiled. "Right then, only twenty minutes to go."
...
As the Hogwarts students lined up in their house groups, Amanda stood nervously with the teachers.
A little time went by before Albus announced, "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"
Amanda smiled as she saw the horse-drawn carriage fly through the sky and land on the ground.
The students of Beauxbatons exited the carriage and Albus started to clap, encouraging the Hogwarts students to do the same. Amanda beamed brightly as Albus lead her forward to greet Madame Maxime.
Albus greeted her first, then stepped back to allow Amanda to step forward.
She bumped cheeks with Madame Maxime, then she introduced herself.
"Hello, Madame. My name is Amanda Potter. I am a Hogwarts student in sixth-year and any students who do not know English will share classes with me if they would like for me to translate, or I can even teach them English. I will be able to translate other things, and I am the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Our team won the friendly tournament, so if your school would like, we would love to play some friendly Quidditch games on free weekends."
Madame Maxime smiled gracefully and nodded. "That sounds superb. May I ask where and when you learnt French?"
Amanda smiled as well, "I learnt French when I was eight, and I am self-taught."
"That is quite impressive." The older woman nodded.
Amanda thanked her, and with Albus, they ushered the Beauxbatons students inside the castle, as they looked positively freezing.
After a few minutes, Amanda heard a strange noise and turned to the lake, just in time to see a large ship arise from the water. It settled calmly at the edge of the lake and Amanda and Albus waited patiently for the students to walk up to the school.
When they had stopped just before them, Albus greeted Professor Karkaroff. He then again stepped back as Amanda repeated her greeting, except in Bulgarian.
As Amanda expected, Karkaroff asked, "When did you learn Bulgarian?"
Amanda smiled. "I learnt the language when I was nine, with a friend of mine. We were taught by Narcissa Malfoy." Amanda saw one of the boy's head shoot up, but she ignored him.
Amanda could see that the name registered interest with Karkaroff.
"What relation do you have to the Malfoy family?" He asked curiously.
"My carer is Lucius Malfoy's uncle." Amanda replied coolly.
The Professor nodded and Amanda saw another boy step forward. She smiled slightly as she recognized Viktor.
"Professor, this young lady was the translator for the Bulgarian team at the Quidditch World Cup this year. She is a very talented young lady." Amanda thanked him with a nod.
"I have heard great things about you then, Miss Potter." Karkaroff beamed. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
"And the same to you." Amanda replied. The situation reminded her slightly of the way she was expected to behave at the first ball she went to with all the Pureblood families.
She bowed her head and walked to the doors of the Great Hall, where she met the Gryffindor Prefects. The group high-fived as Amanda and Lee slipped off their outer coats so that they were just clad in gold clothing. The material was shining and Amanda grinned wickedly.
She bumped fists with Lee, ready for action.
...
Beauxbatons was firstly invited into the Hall. The group of students walked gracefully, sighing and stretching their hands out to the sides every few steps. Lee and Amanda grinned as they saw them conjure butterflies and turned away.
"Wait till they see the show that we are going to put on." Amanda grinned wickedly.
The Durmstrang students were next. They carried large sticks, which they bashed against the floor. At the end, one of the boys manipulated fire into the air before it fizzled out.
Amanda pouted. "Dang it, they copied us!"
Lee grinned as Albus introduced the four houses. The Slytherin Prefects marched into the Hall. They listed the names of Pureblood families, and the relatives of those families were called to stand at the Slytherin table.
"Well that was thoroughly boring." Amanda muttered, loud enough for the Gryffindor Prefects to hear, who grinned.
The Hufflepuffs were called up next, then the Ravenclaws.
Amanda had wondered what the large books they were holding were for, but then smiled at the beautiful shapes the kids made to come flying out of the book.
As the Ravenclaws reached the front, Amanda turned to Lee. "Ready?" She asked.
"Ready." Lee nodded.
Amanda lit their costumes with fake fire.
...
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Angelina, Alicia and the twins were seated at the table, bursting with excitement.
"It's Gryffindor next. We've been wondering for ages what Amanda and Lee have been practising, but now we can finally find out!" Fred almost squealed, as George looked ready to faint.
"It's them!" Angelina called, shaking George's arm. "Look - that's Lee!"
Lee strolled casually down the Hall, seemingly oblivious to the fire surrounding him. The group stared in awe as the other Prefects played with fire, twirling it into shapes and swirls that flew around them.
"One thing you must know about us lions -" Lee said, before turning around to face the doors. "- is that we like to roar."
This seemed to be a code word, as they suddenly saw Amanda appear.
"What is she going to do?" Alicia gasped excitedly.
Amanda took a running step forward and it changed into a cartwheel, before she started rapidly flipping down the Hall.
The students around them screamed with surprise, excitement and pleasure. It was amazing to see their work had paid off.
Amanda finished her flipping with a leap into the air, landing on Lee's shoulders.
Then suddenly, the two morphed into a lion, which gave a mighty roar. The lion switched back into their two friends. Amanda turned around on Lee's shoulders and flipped off of him.
They turned to the crowd to bow, before racing off to a back room.
Suddenly, just above Dumbledore, the air seemed to burst into flames, before two Phoenixes appeared.
"That one there is Fawkes." Harry pointed. "That's Dumbledore's Phoenix. I don't know about the other one."
The two birds gracefully flew through the air, leaving the Hall fascinated.
They stopped at the doors, where they pointed their wings down and suddenly flames appeared as the Phoenixes disappeared.
When the fire stopped, the Head Boy and Girl strolled though the doors, marched up the Hall and stopped at the end, where they turned and bowed for the entire group. The entire Hall burst into applause.
...
Amanda shot Minerva a thankful glance as she ran off to the side room. She had barely a minute to change.
She made sure no student was in sight before changing into a Phoenix and flying over to Fawkes, who was waiting. The two birds nodded before evaporating into flames, and arriving over Albus' head.
They flew gracefully and when they had reached the doors, they evaporated into flame once again.
When Amanda finally arrived back at her table with her friends, they immediately jumped up and thumped her back in congratulations.
Amanda turned to the teacher's table. Minerva winked and Albus raised his glass to her with a smile.
...
While eating dinner, they were interrupted by a Beauxbatons student.
"Excuse me, are you wanting ze bouillabaisse?" She asked.
Ron went purple and Amanda chuckled. She spoke in rapid French with the girl, "You may take the dish, I do not think we will be needing it any longer."
The girl smiled and thanked Amanda, before taking the dish and walking off.
Ron and Harry turned to Amanda. "As much as I think it is cool hearing you speak in a different language," Harry told her, "It is unnerving not knowing what you are saying."
Amanda grinned. "It's just part of the fun, little bro."
Once everybody had finished their meals, Albus stood. "The moment has come," he said, "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 muttered, and Amanda grinned.
"-just to clarify the procedure which we will be following this year. But firstly, let me introduce, for those who not know them, Mr Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation, and Mr Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.
"Mr Bagman and Mr Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament. They will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime on the panel which will judge the champions' efforts."
The Hall grew still at the mention of the champions. Albus smiled and continued, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr Filch."
Filch now approached Albus, carrying a large wooden chest, which he placed before the teacher's table.
"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."
The Hall filled with silence and Albus continued. "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."
Albus now took out his wand and tapped the casket three times. It slowly opened and Albus pulled out a large wooden cup, filled to the brim with dancing, blue-white flames.
Albus closed the casket and carefully placed the Goblet on top of it. He turned back to the crowd.
"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.
"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.
"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this Tournament is not to be entered lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is 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 champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play, before you drop your name into the Goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Goodnight to you all."
The group got up to leave for the dormitories.
As they reached the end of the Hall, they bumped into Professor Karkaroff and the Durmstrang students.
"Thank you," The Professor said carelessly as he passed, but then froze as he spotted Harry.
One of the students pointed at Harry's head and Amanda took a step forward. She placed her hand on his shoulder with a small frown. "Yes, this is Harry Potter. My younger brother." Amanda said.
Karkaroff nodded. "Aah, Miss Potter. You are welcome to join my students and I to the ship, if you like. I understand that you and Viktor became good friends at the Quidditch World Cup."
Amanda nodded. "That would be very nice, thank you."
She bade goodnight to her friends and followed the Durmstrang students to the ship. Once inside, the group split off into smaller groups.
Viktor came up to Amanda, with another boy trailing behind him.
Viktor smiled. "This is my best friend, Leo - Leo Turner."
Amanda suddenly beamed as she saw him. He smiled back. She recognized the name.
Later in the evening Viktor went to get a drink and Amanda turned to Leo.
"It's been a while, Leo. Or should I say Rigel?" She grinned easily. "Seven years. That must mean you have almost finished schooling?"
Leo nodded. "I missed you, Amanda. How's Draco?"
"Draco's fine, although we don't speak while others are around. You know what it is like with Slytherins and Gryffindors."
Leo nodded again. "I hope you are well. Are you entering the Tournament?"
Amanda shook her head. "I don't want any more danger. I have enough scars as it is."
"Yeah. How are your legs? Healed nicely? They haven't been giving you pain, have they?" Amanda smiled and shook her head. She lifted the bottom of her pants slightly for Leo to inspect the scars.
"They're not too bad." Amanda told him.
The two chatted about old times and when Viktor finally rejoined them, he looked confused to see them looking like old friends.
...
As Amanda slept that night, the visions came.
"So in the end, did you enter the Tournament?" George asked.
"No." Amanda scoffed.
"The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!"
Cedric completed the tasks well and efficiently. But Amanda woke when she saw Cedric lying dead on the floor.