They only came downstairs when it was time for the feast itself. They quickly moved to the tables so no reporters would have time to see or stop Harry for an interview. The school staff were no longer sitting at the staff table, as the table was now being used for high-ranking officials. There were many more officials than before- beside Mr. Crouch were his foreign counterparts; the French director of international relations, Jean-Pierre Armand; and the Bulgarian Administrator of Foreign Affairs, Boris Petrinovich. Sitting beside Headmaster Dumbledore were Madam Maxime and Headmaster Karkaroff, and to their left were the heads of states. The Minister for Magic of Britain Cornelius Fudge was flanked by the French President of Magic Jules Dupuis to his left and the Bulgarian High Governor Vladmir Georgiev to his right. Hermione was pointing out several others to Harry, but he was beginning to lose track. All he knew was that there were a lot of important people present, which explained all the aurors standing at the ready behind them. After about an hour of introductions, national anthems and other standard formalities, the actual choosing would begin.
"Ladies and gentlemen, witches and wizards, welcome to the first Triwizard Tournament in over two hundred years!" Dumbledore announced to the crowd. "Hogwarts is very honoured to be the school to host this historic event for its revival. The cup is nearly ready to choose its champions for each school. When the cup chooses a champion, please stand up and allow yourself to be escorted over to the room to my left."
The cup's flames turned from blue to yellow, and then it suddenly spat out a piece of parchment. Dumbledore caught it, and announced, "The champion from Hogwarts is... Cedric Diggory!" There was tremendous applause from all the students of Hogwarts, but especially from the Hufflepuffs. It surprised a few students, but Harry felt it was rather appropriate. Most students from other houses would be representing their own house as well as Hogwarts, but a Hufflepuff, known for their loyalty, would represent the entire school best. Cedric got up, waved to everybody, bowed to a few and made his way over to the champion's room.
The applause died down when the flames of the cup turned yellow once more. Another piece of parchment sprang into the air and into Dumbledore's hands. "The champion from Durmstrang is... Viktor Krum!" Large rounds of applause came not only from his own school, but his many Quidditch fans in the audience. He was a very predictable choice- Krum was not only famous for his professional quidditch skills, but he was known to be an aggressive dueller and spellcaster as well. He stood up with a proud expression, but didn't allow any excitement to show on his face. He made his way over to the champion's room as well.
Once again, the hall quieted down as the flames turned yellow. The third piece of parchment shot out. Dumbledore announced, "The champion from Beauxbatons is... Fleur Delacour!" The applause wasn't quite as strong, as Delcour didn't seem to be very well known outside of her school. The Beauxbatons students didn't spend much time associating with Hogwarts students over the past month, choosing to be far friendlier with the Bulgarians. It seemed that the French-English rivalries remained extremely strong in the magical world. The girl herself, although not well known, was well-noticed. She was easily the most beautiful girl in the room. When she stood up, nearly every single male present was unable to take his eyes off her. She carried herself haughtily, making a point of ignoring every person who was lusting after her as she walked to the champion's room.
"Congratulations to Cedric Diggory, Viktor Krum, and Fleur Delacour! These three champions will now be briefed..." The headmaster paused as the goblet's flame turned yellow again. It spat out one last piece of parchment. It dropped in front of Dumbledore, who was caught off guard and unsure of what to do with it. Picking it up, he read out the name. "The... fourth champion of the Triwizard Tournament... is Harry Potter."
As the entire room turned to focus on him, he whispered to Hermione, "Why am I not surprised?"
The crowd murmured as all the officials at the head table looked at each other, unsure of what to do. The twins started laughing and gave him a hearty applause, but very few people followed suit. Most of the reporters were furiously scribbling notes down.
"You know what the odd thing about this is?" asked Hermione.
"What?"
"Why have we never tried getting you out of it?"
"What do you mean?" Harry didn't quite follow what Hermione was saying.
"I mean, I'm fairly certain the last three times you went through this, you participated each time," Hermione explained. "Why go through the trouble? Did we never figure out how to get you out of it, or was there actually some advantage to being in the Tournament?"
Harry never really gave it much thought, but she was right. Why didn't he send back information on how to stop himself from getting entered? Did he have to enter? Was it already too late to stop it? Or maybe it just wasn't important enough to worry about? "I'm not sure, Hermione. Let's just go with it this time and see what I can get out of it."
"Mr. Potter, would you please enter the champion's room," came the announcement from the officials' table.
"That's a good idea, Harry. I know the tournament had a reputation for being dangerous, but it's supposed to be a lot safer this year, right? Maybe we can use it to our advantage, somehow." Neither Hermione or Harry heard the order.
"I'm not sure about the tournament itself, but I think the champions are allowed to skive off classes whenever they want, and skip the end of year exams..." Harry grinned.
"Harry! That's abusing your position!" Hermione scolded.
"Mr. Potter, please enter the champion's room now," Dumbledore repeated.
"Hey, I wasn't planning on just taking naps, you know. I'd work on the combat skills that Moody was teaching us, and maybe practice some spells in the Room of Requirement that aren't... part of the school curriculum," Harry answered defensively.
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