"Right then, so should we officially change the results of Harry's Love Pool to 'September of Fourth Year with Hermione Granger' now?"
Everyone waited for Hermione to berate the twins once again, but she just decided to lean over on to Harry, and said, "You know, just go with it. I've had a fantastic birthday and I'm not going to spoil it by getting mad at you two jokers."
After everyone else left the party and began to go back to their schoolwork, Harry whispered to Hermione, "I still have one more thing to give you. Come with me." Harry led Hermione up to his dorm, where Dean and Seamus were working on their homework. Seamus saw Hermione, and grinned at Harry, saying, "Wow, you work fast don'tcha mate? Bringing her to bed already? It's not even dark out!"
Harry laughed, not bothering to reply to the tease. He brought his Firebolt out from under his bed, and told Hermione, "Hop on. I still owe you the flying lesson, remember? We haven't had a chance to fly together all summer."
Hermione gaped. "What? Here?"
"Yeah, of course. We'll just go straight out the window," he replied casually.
Still looking at him incredulously, she sputtered, "But... but we're on the seventh floor! It's so high up..."
"Well, just hold on tight," Harry said, grabbing one of Hermione's arms and wrapping it around him. She put her other arm around his waist and held on as Harry took off, flying right through the window.
They sailed over the castle, weaving around the various towers. They circled above the astronomy tower, which was well known for its romantic views, and gained an even better vantage to the landscape around them. They then looped around the Owlery a few times until Hedwig noticed them and joined in for a few minutes, giving several hoots in greeting. Turning towards the Black lake, Harry skimmed the surface and provided the same view that the first-years received on their arrival to Hogwarts. From there, it was a few loops around the Quidditch pitch, which Hermione had never seen from a player's perspective. The flight finally ended with a view of the sunset behind Hogwarts castle, which was even more beautiful than what they witnessed from the Burrow. Upon landing at the front gates, Hermione touched her forehead to Harry's, placing her arms around his neck, and whispered, "That was the best birthday I've ever had. I love you, Harry."
A simple "you're welcome" and a kiss ended their private moment as they stepped back into the castle.
A week before the other schools arrived with their delegations, the castle was cleaned from top to bottom. All the ghosts were enlisted to keep Peeves in line, while all the students scrubbed every surface and swept every room, much to Filch's enjoyment. The punishments for defacing or dirtying the castle were an instant week in detention, keeping anyone troublesome out of harm's way until after the welcoming ceremony was over. Professor McGonagall nearly dedicated all her time making sure Fred and George were kept in line, threatening to confiscate their wands for the duration of the entire year, except during classes, if they stepped out of line. Three days before the arrival, they began having "practice runs" of the greeting ceremony. Although there was little to do other than stand in a straight line with clean robes on, the professors still managed to find errors and nitpick away.
The day of arrival was sunny, but chilly. The students thanked the heavens that it wasn't raining, because it was made abundantly clear to them that they were to standing there until all the foreign students were inside, rain or shine. The Beauxbatons carriages came flying in at around three o'clock, and the Durmstrang ship rose from the Black Lake an hour later. Each school had brought along about two dozen of their top students. After the formal greetings between headmasters and staff, the students were ushered into the Great Hall for the official introduction to the Triwizard Tournament.
Inside the Great Hall, many small, round tables had replaced the four long house tables. After everyone had settled down, they were introduced to a few new faces. Madam Olympe Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons, and Igor Karkaroff, Headmaster of Durmstrang. Also present were Ludo Bagman, Director of Magical Games and Sports, and Bartemius Crouch, Director of International Cooperation. A dull, mandatory round of applause came for every one of them. Finally, they reached the subject of everyone's interest- the Triwizard Tournament. Ludo Bagman explained.
"This tournament has been a traditional competition between the three greatest magical schools in all of Europe. Competition was fierce and contestants were brave and strong, but it became more and more dangerous as each school attempted to trump the last by hosting more exotic and extreme challenges. Two hundred years ago, the tournament ended, when no participant managed to survive the final task." Many people gasped, but Bagman continued.
"Obviously, now that we have chosen to revive it, we will be enacting far greater safety precautions, and the emphasis will be on friendly competition. All the schools have agreed that the safety of the participants will be top priority. However, don't think that this will be easy! All the participants will have to demonstrate their strength, skill, intelligence, planning, resourcefulness, and grace under pressure to win this tournament." Gleeful conversations began throughout the hall, with all the students wondering who would enter.
Bagman held up a hand, and continued his speech. "Before you enter, you need to know the terms. First, as everyone must be eager to hear, are the prizes for the winner. Your eternal fame, recorded within the hall of records as the winner of the Triwizard Tournament, along with one thousand galleons prize money." Nobody could keep quiet now. One thousand galleons was a lot of money- no student had ever held that much to themselves. Even the richest purebloods, like Malfoy, never saw that much in his allowances. Ron was practically drooling at the announcement. Harry, on the other hand, didn't care. He received double that amount annually from his trust fund alone. On the other hand, he just knew he would be entered into the tournament, whether he wanted to or not.
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