As the next day was Sat.u.r.day, most students would normally have breakfasted late. Ryan Fleur and the group however, were not alone in rising much earlier than they usually did on weekends. When they went down into the entrance hall, they saw about twenty people milling around it, some of them eating toast, all examining the Goblet of Fire. It had been placed in the center of the hall on the stool that normally bore the Sorting Hat. A thin golden line had been traced on the floor, forming a circle ten feet around it in every direction. "Anyone put their name in yet?" Tonks asked a third-year girl eagerly.
"All the Durmstrang lot," she replied. "But I haven"t seen anyone from Hogwarts yet. "
"Bet some of them put it in last night after we"d all gone to bed," said Harry. "I would"ve if it had been me. . . wouldn"t have wanted everyone watching. What if the goblet just gobbed you right back out again?"
Someone laughed behind Harry. Turning, he saw Fred, George, and Lee Jordan hurrying down the staircase, all three of them looking extremely excited.
"Done it," Fred said in a triumphant "We just took an aging potion" "One drop each," said George, rubbing his hands together with glee. "We only need to be a few months older. "
"We"re going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins," said Lee, grinning broadly.
"I"m not sure this is going to work, you know," said Hermione warningly. "I"m sure Dumbledore will have thought of this. "
Fred, George, and Lee ignored her.
"Ready?" Fred said to the other two, quivering with excitement. "C"mon, then – I"ll go first -"
Ryan watched, fascinated even though he knew it wouldn"t work, as Fred pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket bearing the words Fred Weasley – Hogwarts. Fred walked right up to the edge of the line and stood there, rocking on his toes like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, with the eyes of every person in the entrance hall upon him, he took a great breath and stepped over the line. For a split second everyone thought it had worked – George certainly thought so, for he let out a yell of triumph and leapt after Fred – but next moment, there was a loud sizzling sound, and both twins were hurled out of the golden circle as though they had been thrown by an invisible shot-putter. They landed painfully, ten feet away on the cold stone floor, and to add insult to injury, there was a loud popping noise, and both of them sprouted identical long white beards.
The entrance hall rang with laughter. Even Fred and George joined in, once they had gotten to their feet and taken a good look at each other"s beards.
"I did warn you," said a deep, amused voice, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He surveyed Fred and George, his eyes twinkling. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours. " Fred and George set off for the hospital wing, accompanied by Lee, who was howling with laughter. The decorations in the Great Hall had changed this morning. As it was Halloween, a cloud of live bats was fluttering around the enchanted ceiling, while hundreds of carved pumpkins leered from every corner.
People were cheering out in the entrance hall. They all swiveled around in their seats and saw Angelina Johnson coming into the Hall, grinning in an embarra.s.sed sort of way. A tall black girl who played Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Angelina came over to them, sat down, and said, "Well, I"ve done it! Just put my name in!"
The students from Beauxbatons were coming through the front doors from the grounds, among them, was fleur who threw him a quick wink. Those gathered around the Goblet of Fire stood back to let them pa.s.s, watching eagerly.
Madame Maxime entered the hall behind her students and organized them into a line. One by one, the Beauxbatons students stepped across the Age Line and dropped their slips of parchment into the blue-white flames. As each name entered the fire, it turned briefly red and emitted sparks. Fleur then made her way over to sit with them giving Ryan a kiss who got even more dirty looks from everyone he only kissed her back and told her to behave pinching her b.u.t.t where no one could see.
At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.
"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions" names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" – he indicated the door behind the staff table – "where they will be receiving their first instructions. "
He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting. . . . A few people kept checking their watches. . .
"Any second," Lee Jordan whispered.
The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it – the whole room gasped.
Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm"s length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.
"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum. "
"No surprises there!" yelled some kid as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Ryan saw Viktor Krum rise from the Slytherin table and slouch up toward Dumbledore; he turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone"s attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.
"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!" Fleur gave Ryan a big kiss and jumped to her feet rushing up and through the door. "Oh look, they"re all disappointed," Hermione said over the noise, nodding toward the remainder of the Beauxbatons party. "Disappointed" was a bit of an understatement, Ryan thought. Two of the girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears and were sobbing with their heads on their arms. When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it. The Hogwarts champion next. . .
And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.
"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Ryan Diggory!"
"No f.u.c.king way said a gobsmacked Fred." everyone was looking at him in shock the girls and Harry didn"t even know he had entered his name or how. Ryan let out his signature mad laugh as the hall exploded in noise and made his way past Dumbledore who gave him a curious look with a bit of worry. He made is way to the side room. Where he was jumped by an excited fleur who was asking questions and told her he was the third champion much to her surprise and worry but he laughed it off and told her he would be fine. giving her a quick kiss and then introducing himself to the amused Viktor Krum with a polite handshake and a chuckle. A few minutes later Harry walked in looking b.u.mmed out.