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"Harry?" Neville asked in a whisper, looking at his brother, his eyes alight with excitement.
"Yes, Nev?"
"You know how I said that I couldn't get why everybody was so hyped about a potentially lethal competition?" The teen continued.
"I can recall you saying something of the sort, yes." Harry teased Neville, his eyes filled with mirth.
"I get it now." They started chuckling, effectively breaking the silence that had covered the Great Hall after the appearance of the Goblet. That earned them the bewildered glances of the majority of the student body and a wide smile from Severus who coughed to cover his answering laughter at their reaction.
"I can see you take nothing seriously, Mr. Potter!" Neville mock-chastised his brother, ignoring the general scrutiny or the confused looks he was receiving for his uncharacteristic behavior.
"You are one to talk, Mr. Longbottom!" Harry bantered back. "Young people these days!" He added, his voice an almost perfect imitation of Augusta Longbottom. It was a lucky happenstance that the Headmaster had decided to start speaking once more for their second round of chuckling would have been the cause of a second round of confused glances and stares, there was no doubt about that in Harry's mind. Not that he truly cared.
"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the with the Goblet carefully on the table before him, "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."
Three tasks, Harry thought. He went through the information he had gathered from the books on the Tournament he had found in Silbreith. The last two tournaments before the event was deemed too dangerous consisted only of two tasks, in an obvious effort to give the contestants less opportunities of dying. When that had failed the tournament had been practically banned -around the same time during the nineteenth century when many a book from his father's library was supposed to have been destroyed by the Ministry's degree- only to now be reinstated.
But three tasks? That meant they had decided to bring the tournament back in full force, emulating its original form. And, he thought as he shared yet another look with his brother -Neville had pored over the same books he had been obsessing about during the summer- that meant that crazy stunts against mythical creatures weren't out of the question.
"Dragons." Neville mouthed, making Harry nod with barely concealed glee. This would be dangerous, he knew. But, if he was chosen, and did end up facing something as fierce as a dragon, coming out as the winner -a lot of ifs, but he had opted, for once, to have faith in his father's conviction that he was good enough and believe in himself too- he would finally know for certain that he was ready. That years of training had paid off. That he was good enough. That he had a chance to come out of this alive and protect the people he cared about too.
"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," said Dumbledore looking around the room at the awed faces of the students, be them from Hogwarts or the visiting schools. "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."
"Everything always happens on Halloween!" Harry murmured as Dumbledore went on. Judging from the slight grimace on his father's face, Severus was clearly thinking along the same lines.
"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into 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 a 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. Good night to you all." For a few seconds after the Headmaster's speech, nobody moved from their seats. Slowly, movement returned to the student body and the Great Hall was vacated, its occupants in various states of shock.
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