Chapter Seventeen
Hogwarts
8:45 AM
Still pretty even temperature with clouds floating by.
Their lessons were becoming more difficult and demanding than ever before, particularly Defence Against the Dark Arts.
To their surprise, Professor Moody had announced that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each of them in turn, to demonstrate its power and to see whether they could resist its effects.
'But – but you said it's illegal, Professor,' said Hermione uncertainty, as Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the
The way he talks,' Harry muttered, as he hobbled out of the Defence Against the Dark Arts class an hour later (Moody had insisted on putting Harry through his paces four times in a row, until Harry could throw the curse off entirely), 'you'd think we were all going to be attacked any second.'
'Yeah, I know,' said Ron, who was skipping on every alternate step. He had had much more difficulty with the curse than Harry, though Moody assured him the effects would have worn off by lunchtime.
'Talk about paranoia …' Ron glanced nervously over his shoulder to check that Moody was definitely out of earshot, and went on, 'No wonder they were glad to get shot of him at the Ministry, did you hear him telling Seamus what he did to that witch who shouted "boo" behind him on April Fools' Day? And when are we supposed to read up on resisting the Imperius Curse with everything else we've got to do?'
All the fourth-years had noticed a definite increase in the amount of work they were required to do this term. Professor McGonagall explained why, when the class gave a particularly loud groan at the amount of Transfiguration homework she had set.
'You are now entering a most important phase of your magical education!' she told them, her eyes glinting dangerously behind her square spectacles. 'Your Ordinary Wizarding Levels are drawing closer –'
'We don't take O.W.Ls 'til fifth year!' said Dean Thomas indignantly.
'Maybe not, Thomas, but believe me, you need all the preparation you can get! Miss Granger remains the only person in this class who has managed to turn a hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion. I might remind you that your pincushion, Thomas, still curls up in fright if anyone approaches it with a pin!'
Hermione, who had turned rather pink again, seemed to be trying not to look too pleased with herself.
Harry and Ron were deeply amused when Professor Trelawney told them that they had received top marks for their homework in their next Divination class. She read out large portions of their predictions, commending them for their unflinching acceptance of the horrors in store for them – but they were less amused when she asked them to do the same thing for the month after next; both of them were running out of ideas for catastrophes.
Meanwhile Professor Binns, the ghost who taught History of Magic, had them writing weekly essays on the Goblin Rebellions of the eighteenth century. Professor Snape was forcing them to research antidotes. They took this seriously, as he had hinted that he might be poisoning one of them before Christmas to see if their antidote worked. Professor Flitwick had asked them to read three extra books in preparation for their lesson on Summoning Charms.
Even Hagrid was adding to their workload. The Blast-Ended Skrewts were growing at a remarkable pace, given that nobody had yet discovered what they ate. Hagrid was delighted and, as part of their 'project', suggested that they come down to his hut on alternate evenings to observe the Skrewts and make notes on their extraordinary behaviour.
When they arrived in the Entrance Hall, they found themselves unable to proceed owing to the large crowd of students congregating there, all milling around a large sign which had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase. Ron, stood on tiptoe to see over the heads in front of them and read the sign aloud to the other two.
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 –
'Brilliant!' said Harry. 'It's Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won't have time to poison us all!'
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.
'Only a week away!' said Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff, emerging from the crowd, his eyes gleaming. 'I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go and tell him …'
'Cedric?' said Ron blankly, as Ernie hurried off.
'Diggory,' said Harry. 'He must be entering the Tournament.'
The appearance of the sign in the Entrance Hall had a marked effect upon the inhabitants of the castle. During the following week, there seemed to be only one topic of conversation, no matter where Harry went: the Triwizard Tournament. Rumours were flying from student to student like highly contagious germs: who was going to try for Hogwarts champion, what the Tournament would involve, how the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang differed from themselves.
Harry noticed, too, that the castle seemed to be undergoing an extra-thorough cleaning. Several grimy portraits had been scrubbed, much to the displeasure of their subjects, who sat huddled in their frames muttering darkly and wincing as they felt their raw pink faces. The suits of armour were suddenly gleaming and moving without squeaking, and Argus Filch, the caretaker, was behaving so ferociously to any student who forgot to wipe their shoes that he terrified a pair of first-year girls into hysterics.
Other members of staff seemed oddly tense, too.
'Longbottom, kindly do not reveal that you can't even perform a simple Switching Spell in front of anyone from Durmstrang!' Professor McGonagall barked at the end of one particularly difficult lesson, during which Neville had accidentally transplanted his own ears onto a cactus.
When they went down to breakfast on the morning of the thirtieth of October, they found that the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. Enormous silk banners hung from the walls, each of them representing a Hogwarts house – red with a gold lion for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. Behind the teachers' table, the largest banner of all bore the Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger and snake united around a large letter 'H'.
Harry, Ron and Hermione spotted Fred and George at the Gryffindor table. Once again, and most unusually, they were sitting apart from everyone else and conversing in low voices. Ron led the way over to them.
'You two got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet?' Harry asked. 'Thought any more about trying to enter?'
'I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling,' said George
bitterly. 'She just told me to shut up and get on with Transfiguring my raccoon.'
'Wonder what the tasks are going to be?' said Ron thoughtfully. 'You know, I bet we could do them, Harry, we've done dangerous stuff before …'
"Not in front of a panel of judges, you haven't,' said Fred. 'McGonagall says the champions get awarded points according to how well they've done the tasks.'
'Who are the judges?' Harry asked.
'Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel,' said Hermione, and everyone looked around at her, rather surprised, 'because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792, when a cockatrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on the rampage.'
She noticed them all looking at her and said, with her usual air of impatience that nobody else had read all the books she had, 'It's all in Hogwarts: A History. Though, of course, that book's not entirely reliable.
As they were talking Harry zone out as he heard mutterings from the ravenclaw table besides them it was Cho and Marietta gossiping about Luna.
"Did you hear about Luna?"
"I heard she was up all night yesterday studying non-existing beasts."
"Shut up."
"I'm serious."
"Shut up."
Harry continued to listen in on their conversation.
"What do you think about what you heard Luna did yesterday?"
"I mean she is weird and all."
"I don't know. I mean who knows with her."
Harry being irradiated by the way they talked about Luna. He sat and thought about ways to correct their behavior towards her.
The rest of the day had a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air. Nobody was very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; even Potions was more bearable than usual, as it was half an hour shorter. When the bell rang early, Harry, Ron and Hermione hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited their bags and books as they had been instructed, pulled on their cloaks and rushed back downstairs into the Entrance Hall.
The Heads of houses were ordering their students into lines.
'Weasley, straighten your hat,' Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron. 'Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair.'
Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait.
'Follow me, please,' said Professor McGonagall, 'first-years in front … no pushing …'
They filed down the front steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening as dusk was falling.