Chapter 123 - Ch. 123 Goblet of Fire

Everyone was gathered into the Great Hall for the welcoming feast.

Although many were excited to be in the same place as a world renowned Quidditch player, others were busy comparing our new guests to the students of Hogwarts.

I on the other hand, simply compared how the two most likely champions felt. Not in a weird way, just their magical energy.

Fleur was more interesting because of her Veela blood. Her magic core was nearing her second maturity, but it would probably take a few more years for it to change. This should show her a great amount of talent, unfortunately it seemed like a good amount was wasted. Veela's have a natural inclination towards fire and illusions, making them dangerous magical beings, Fleur inherited this disposition, but she also maintained a more balanced magical energy. It seems like she wasn't overwhelmingly skilled in those traits, hence stopping her from becoming too specialized. But she didn't capitalize on her gifts and most likely treats them as curses. I could understand that though, having Veela blood would make any child's life horrible while growing up. So many people looking at you with l.u.s.t ever since you were young would mess with any child's psychology. Her attitude towards others is actually totally understandable when you think about this point.

Krum was kind of weird to be honest. His magic core was above average, nothing truly special. From my calculations, it would take him at least a decade for him to reach his second maturity. And that is if he continually trains his magic and body. If not, it will most likely take him over 20 years before he can become anything really descent. But he did seem thoroughly trained. His magic was neat and orderly, with almost no fluctuations in his core, proving his stability and his possible skills in combat. The problem is that i can feel that he already learned some basic Dark Arts from his soul. It isn't much, probably because of Durmstrang's education system, but it is still there. What was interesting about Krum was that his body seemed to basically be experiencing land-sickness, a phenomenon in which sailors returning from prolonged stays at sea have their equilibrium thrown off by the overly stable ground under their feet. The difference being that he is most likely to have his body's equilibrium too adapted to the sky instead of the sea, explaining his unstable/uncomfortable movements.

In summary, Fleur has much more potential than Krum, but he has honed his skills more than her.

After analyzing the best the other schools had to offer I simply smiled and began to eat the feast in front of me. The great thing about today was that they added food from other countries this time, which is something they really should do more often. In all honesty, the UK isn't really known for its culinary arts. I even tried the famous Bouillabaisse, a rich and spicy soup/stew with a variety of seafood mixed in it, and it was pretty good.

As one of the representatives of our school, along with Victoria, I was also responsible to welcome and guide our student guests during their stay. Interestingly, Beauxbatons sat with Ravenclaw and Durmstrang was with Slytherin. I had completely forgotten about this fact and found it an amusing coincidence that they would sit at the tables of the Head Boy and Girl.

This is actually an easy task for me since I've learned a few languages I deemed to be important in the magical world. By important, I mean places with famous magical schools or important practices, just in case I would ever have to visit their countries. This means I know French, Bulgarian, Japanese, Portuguese, Arabic, Swahili, Hindi, and Russian. I don't really have any information about the lesser known schools of magic, but I've done my best to prepare.

So I used my preparations to entertain our guests, which at the moment ment one Gabrielle Delacour. The eight year old sister and mini version fo Fleur, excitedly talking to me in French.

(I could write this in actual French, but that's a pain for any reader who doesn't read it. So if you want a genuine experience, google translate is your friend.)

"You're Aedan Bones?! I just love your books! They are so exciting to read! Can you sign my copy of Potions beyond Potions? How about Practical Arithmancy?" The little girl asked with stars in her eyes.

"It would be my p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. It's great to hear someone likes my books so much, I just hope it can inspire you and make them your starting point, not your goal." I say with a gentle smile.

"Yay! Sister is going to be so jealous." Gabrielle said as she hopped a little in her seat.

"I am surprised that both of you enjoyed my books. How did you even hear about them? From what I remember of the BonesWorks report, France isn't too thrilled about my business there because of my origins." I then asked the cute little girl.

"Monsieur Flamel was so thrilled when he read your works that he bragged about it to his Alchemy preparations class. He said that he felt a hundred years younger due to his excitement. I think most of the school read your books after that." She happily informed me.

"I am honored a man like Mr. Flamel would read my books." I say with a satisfied smile on my face.

"Oh! I have a question for you. Can I ask it? It might be personal." The energetic little girl asked carefully.

"I'll answer the best I can." I replied with a reassuring smile.

"Are part Veela?" She curiously asked.

That question threw me off a bit. Didn't expect it.

"No, I am not part Veela." I said with a little cough.

"But you don't look pure human. Too pretty." She murmured in response.

"Well, not really pure human. Unfortunately, that's not something I am willing to talk about. So better luck next time." I answer with a bemused smirk.

"A Can't you tell me? Pretty please?" She then asked as she subconsciously started blasting her Veela aura.

The unfortunate side effect of this was that every guy was now looking at her. They wanted to do anything to fulfill her request. The little angel was to be protected and pampered in their eyes.

I saw Fleur hurriedly returning from another table and aiming to interrupt her sisters actions before something wrong happened, but it was unnecessary.

"Gabrielle," I say as my own majestic and authoritative aura appears, completely crushing her own," When one has specific gifts, one must strive to control them. Restrain yourself please."

I could see the little girl realizing what she had just done after she looked around for a bit. She saw the guys looking at her with worry and her sister frozen in shock.

"I am sorry. I didn't do it on purpose." The little girl said as her head hung low and tears started to form in her eyes.

"There is no reason to be so down Gabrielle. What you have is a gift. One which could be very powerful if you learn how to use it properly. You just have to learn ok?" I said to the girl with a calm and gentle voice, as my majestic aura changed to a warm and protective one.

She looked at me with wide open eyes, still moist from her tears, full of hope.

"Really? You thinks I can?" She asked.

"Of course. I can even try and help if you want." I said with a warm smile, while I automatically rubbed her little head.

"Then can you?" The puppy-eyed girl asked.

"My door is always open to help others." I gently answered. "But now I believe your sister will want to talk to you."

Seeing that her sister was ok and nothing wrong happened, Fleur finally continued to rush towards her little sister.

"We will take about this latter Gabrielle. You are lucky he didn't fall for you." Fleur said as she started to chastise Gabrielle.

I let her do her thing as I turned my attention to the front, where the interesting things were happening.

It seemed that Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch had finally arrived. The two men were seated next to the Headmasters and Headmistress, as they would all be the judges of the tournament.

I had noticed that Fleur had finished berating her sister and turned towards me to say something, but she was interrupted by Dumbledore stepping forward and ending the feast.

"Next Miss Delacour." I say with a polite smile, only to receive a determined nod as she returned to her seat.

Our dear Headmaster then began his explanation of how the tournament would operate.

Like in the canon, the five men and woman would be the judges of the competition. They would mark the three chosen champions on their magical abilities, their courage, their wit and their ability to cope with danger. He then requested that the casket containing the Goblet to be brought in. The casket was a great wooden c.h.e.s.t encrusted with jewels, lookin extremely old. The next part of his speech involved the three tasks which would be held during the upcoming months.

"They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire." Dumbledore said as he dramatically reveled the artifact.

He then took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames.

He placed the cup on top of the bow closed casket, presenting it to all present. Then continued his speech.

"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. "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.

"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.

"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."

And with his words resounding in the hearts of all young men and women present, the reveal was over.

The students immediately started to excitedly talk amongst themselves after everything was revealed, whilst heading back to their dorms.

'This is certainly interesting.' I thought with a smile as I helped guide everyone to their lodgings.