After nearly two months since Harry returned to Hogwarts, things could not be better for the Gryffindor Golden Boy as he had officially reached the top five in every subject for fourth year students, behind only Hermione, Daphne, Su, and Susan now, as they were still better on the written portion for each class and didn't have Snape's bitterness affecting their grades. McGonagall was ecstatic that he had progressed as far as he had in such a short time and told him that his parents would be proud, which brought a tear to his eye. While the professors, minus Snape, were thrilled at his performance, the student body wasn't as receptive as almost all of the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Slytherins were convinced he was cheating somehow just to make everyone pay attention to him more and his fellow Gryffindors simply didn't really care all that much but they never said anything negative either. Only Cedric, Penny, Su, The Chaser Trio, Tonks, Susan, Tracey, and surprisingly Daphne offered congratulations on his achievements. He had held up his end and got the Goblins to send the letter to her without mentioning his name and it seemed to put her mind at ease that her sister was safe and, while she didn't become friends with him as she still barely said a word to him, she was polite and treated him as an equal which Harry took as a sign of progress. Speaking of friends, Harry had made great stride in developing a friendship with Katie, Angelina, Alicia, Susan, Su, Tracey, Neville, and especially Tonks; while he talked mostly about school and shared interests with the others, he and Tonks could regularly be seen walking around the castle talking about a whole host of topics to their time in school, to her auror training, their love of pranks, his crazy adventures which she admittedly took a lot of convincing to believe but she knew Harry was no liar. When the topic of family came up, he was always interested in hers but he was vague about his time with the Dursley's and if she noticed, she didn't comment.
Harry was indeed in a fantastic mood while sitting in the chamber's study on October 30th, getting ready for the arrival of delegations who spend the rest of the year here due to the tournament. He groaned at the mere thought of this stupid tournament as everyone in the castle, except those like him who had a brain, were convinced that they were going to be chosen as a champion. Ron, in particular, was suffering from delusions of mass grandeur which was starting to grate his nerves; speaking of Ron, if he noticed Harry's usual absence, he didn't care enough to say anything which hurt a little seeing as Harry still thought Ron to be one of his two best friends. Harry's other best friend, Hermione, was going mental trying to figure out where Harry kept disappearing to every day as she was convinced it had something to do with his newfound success, she's technically right but it still annoyed him she thought he couldn't do it on his own. Harry never wanted to think poorly of the two, they meant too much to him, but it was becoming clear to him that while they would fight with him as always, they would not fight for him like he would for them.
Harry was brought out his musings by the magic alarm he set and so he could make it back to Gryffindor Tower by the time assigned to the whole house as stated by McGonagall who told them to assemble in the common room today. Harry made the trek back with a couple minutes to spare and decided to wait with the chasers until McGonagall walked in at exactly noon on the dot.
"You all know what today is and who will be arriving, so I expect you all to be on your best behavior and any deviation will land you in detention with Professor Snape for the next month.", she said. With a threat like that, not even Fred and George had the guts to do anything foolish, but they were definitely going to make up for it some other time. With that done, McGonagall made them all rise and follow her down to the Great Hall where they saw all of their Ravenclaw counterparts making there way down as well with Flitwick leading them and Harry saw Penny in the front. She waved at him and he waved back, making Harry think about how he felt about her and him trying to bury those feelings down to avoid unnecessary heartbreak and he honestly just could not bring himself to do it as he still continued to spend time with her.
They finally entered the Great Hall to see that the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs had already been seated and waiting for the two schools to arrive. Harry took a seat next to Katie, with Angie and Alicia across from them, and were waiting for something to happen when all of a sudden a carriage being driven by flying horses blew by the castle causing almost every student to run towards the window to see who had arrived. Then, a massive ship rose from the Great Lake, completely defying physics as it pulled ashore. Dumbledore then rose and told everyone to go back to their seats and await the foreign students while he was talking to two men Harry had recognized. The first being the very eccentric Ludo Bagman, who was the Ministry's Head of the Department of Magical Games & Sports, and the other was Barty Crouch, the Ministry's Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. He also noticed Tonks and the other Aurors standing near the staff table, likely on guard for any suspicious activity.
Harry turned his head when he the doors open and saw the Beauxbatons students, who were very underdressed for English weather, enter the hall doing a synchronized dance routine that he found very odd and gaped when he saw how big their Headmistress was. Then, the Durmstrang students walked in, also doing a dance troop number and that's when Harry heard Ron shout something about Victor Krum so he turned and sure enough, Krum was here in the flesh walking with their very creepy Headmaster. After the two delegations were seated at the extra tables the old man conjured, next to the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables, he got up and decided to speak again as Filch brought in a small gold pillar that was hiding something.
"Before we begin with the rules and regulations regarding the tournament, our friends have come a long way so let us allow them to fill their bellies with food and water first." He clapped his hands together and all of a sudden food appeared before them, but it appeared to be French and Russian food which had caused Ron to hesitate for a second, but only for a second, before stuffing his face. About ten minutes later, all of the men at the table, minus Harry, stopped eating when a lone figure stood behind him for all but him to see and didn't notice her until she spoke.
"Are you done with the Bouillabaisse?" Harry turned to see one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen standing behind him. He also felt a pull on his magic that he hadn't felt since the World Cup, which meant this Beauxbatons witch was a Veela and a strong one too.
Harry just shrugged casually, picked up the bowl and said "No, it's all yours." He turned back around after he handed it to the stunned witch, Merci, he heard from her. After he went back to his food, he found everyone staring at him dumbfounded. "What?", he asked.
"What do you mean what, Harry? Don't you know that girl is a Veela, how were able to resist her and act so casually?, asked a jealous Ron. He noted the chaser trio looked intrigued at the answer and Hemione was curious and angry at the same time.
Harry sighed and said, "I'm resistant to her allure because of my high magical core according to Penny, which is why I wasn't affected at the World Cup either." Most nodded their heads at the answer but Ron looked slightly jealous before going back to eating. Harry subtlety looked over at the girl again, who was sitting next to Penny, and he could tell just by looking at her that she was going to be a Triwizard champion and since Krum is likely going to be another, that only left the Hogwarts champion undecided and he was begging every deity that would listen not to pick him.
Fleur just sighed as she tried to eat this sad attempt at French food while she was freezing her bum off in this old castle. She looked around to see her schoolmates chatting amongst themselves at how excited they were to be picked for the tournament but in the end, she knew they were in for disappointment. She didn't want to be arrogant when she said that she will be champion but it's the truth, she was Beauxbatons top student in every course and was a dueling champion and none of the others measured up. Due to her astounding success in school and being a Veela, it often led to discourse with her classmates; it wasn't all out hatred since there were a few friends who stuck with over the years and through her maturity, but the rest either acted cold but professional and the rest just hated her. She knew that when she was chosen as champion, some of the others would go into a jealous rage just like when their weak-minded boyfriends went numb at her allure.
Speaking of which, she looked over at the table that had students wearing red and a lion crest, and again saw the boy who had so easily resisted her allure and her mind simply couldn't comprehend how he managed it. He appeared to be a fourth year who looked ordinary and rather skinny, yet she did feel a strong magical aura about him. She saw him conversing with three very attractive witches who looked older than him laughing without a care in the world and she noticed they were oblivious to the jealous looks they getting from a bushy haired girl and a younger redheaded one.
Her best friend Marie must have noticed her staring as she said, "Going after English boys now Fleur since all the good French ones are either gay or taken?"
Fleur rolled her eyes and said, "No, I was just curious about him because he is somehow resistant to my allure." That statement caused Marie to wide-eyed then adopt a teasing smirk.
"Well at least you can now marry a man who won't drool on you, even if you have to rob the cradle to do it", she said then started snickering. Fleur went red with embarrassment and was tempted to hex her friend but decided against it. She then turned to the Hogwarts seventh year next to her, who was supposed to be the Head Girl if the badge on her robe is correct, and decided to ask her about him.
"Excuse me, but could you tell me about the boy over there?", she said. The pretty blonde girl followed her line of sight and her eyebrows shot up but then she looked back at Fleur and the French girl got the sense she was being studied, before the English girl had a look of realization.
Penny spoke up though and said, "You're wondering why he is resistant to your allure right? I figured even in France they would have heard about Harry Potter."
The statement caused Fleur to drop her jaw and Marie to choke on her drink as she looked at him again and could see the scar on his head now. That explains how he resisted, of course the savior of the Magical World wouldn't be affected. Especially if the rumors that papa told her and Gabi about him that he heard at work are true. She thought he would be a lot more intimidating, but to her, he looked normal but maybe that's by design. She noted that the other girl had a brief look of longing on her face before she returned to her food. Curiouser and Curiouser, Mr. Potter.
After about half an hour later, when the food was done, Harry turned his attention to Dumbledore for the announcements regarding the tournament. "Now that we have feasted with our new friends, it is time to explain the rules of the tournament. Please welcome Mr. Crouch."
There were a few polite claps, but most of the students were just impatient and wanted him to get on with it. Crouch cleared his throat and spoke, "The Triwizard Tournament will consist of five events in the following order: The Wand Weighing Ceremony, The First Task, The Yule Ball, The Second Task, and The Third Task where the prize of the tournament, The Triwizard Cup, lies in wait to be claimed by the winner. To those who wish to enter their name into the tournament, need only write there names on a piece of parchment before 6 o'clock tomorrow evening and place it into this…The Goblet of Fire!" The golden pillar suddenly dissolved and all that remained was a large goblet with a blue flame lit from the center, Harry could almost feel the magic leaking out.
Crouch took a breath and said, "Also, due to recent events and the dangerous nature of these tasks that have resulted in casualties before, the Ministry has come to the decision that no student under the age of 17, shall be allowed to enter the tournament."
As if it was quickly becoming tradition in the Great Hall, everyone fifth year and below except Harry, Hermione, Katie, Su, Tracey, Daphne, Neville, Susan, Hannah, and Pansy cried out in outrage and Harry was sure there was going to be a full-scale riot at Hogwarts. Ron and the twins looked like they were going to shank someone.
Dumbledore seemingly had enough and shouted, "SILENCE! These rules come down from the Ministry of Magic and they will be followed. Now I do believe we have all had enough excitement for one day, so let us disperse for now and gather again to respectfully witness history and wish the chosen one's good luck."
With the vague threat now looming, the students wisely shut their mouths and proceeded to make haste to their respective common rooms or the library; meanwhile Harry said goodbye to the chasers and snuck off to head towards the chamber to get some extra practice and review in. He was glad that, for once, the teachers and the Ministry pulled their heads out of their asses and made sensible rules so he wouldn't be forced into anything dangerous. However, his scar started to get irritated again, usually meaning that there was danger around the corner and he hoped his bad luck with Halloween wouldn't repeat yet again.