Back to Hogwarts
*** Hogwarts Express
The summer ended soon after Harry's victory which was very publicized in the British media as Harry was the first British competitor to win the trophy since Filius Flitwick had competed back in the 60s.
Harry credited Arcturus and Dumbledore as his trainers, saying that they cultivated his 'passion for duelling', neglecting to mention Nicolas Flamel's contribution to his studies.
It was time to go back to Hogwarts.
Harry spent most of the time on the train catching up with Hermione and introducing Cedric, who had decided to sit with them after his turn at patrolling which happened in the middle of the ride.
"This way, I get to sit with both groups of my friends." Cedric explained.
It was a generally quicker ride than usual, and both Harry and Hermione were looking forward to getting back to good ol' Hoggy.
*** Later, at Hogwarts
"It is my sad duty to inform you that Quidditch will not be taking place this year. Instead, we will be holding a far more important event, the Triwizard Tournament…"
Dumbledore waited for the gasping and murmuring to die down.
"…there is no official age limit on the entry, but if you are younger than fifth year, I would not advise you to enter." Dumbledore looked somewhat severely at Harry and Hermione, giving them a warning look.
"…Not to mention that the choice will be made by an ancient magical artefact that measures worthiness using an algorithm that takes into account magical power, skill and even balances out for age, so if you are younger, the artefact, known as the goblet of fire will be far less likely to pick you unless you are substantially more worthy than the other contestants. The tasks have been made far safer with next to no chance of death, unless something goes horribly wrong. In addition to the points earned in the first two tasks, there will also be a three-person duelling tournament, as well as a Quidditch, as well as a chess tournament, that will add 50 points each to the winner as much as a flawless score on a task. These two will be chosen by the school's chosen coach, for Hogwarts, Filius Flitwick, seven-time winner of the international duelling tournament will be coaching the duelling team and Rolanda Hooch, former England player and Wasps captain will be coaching the Quidditch team."
There was thunderous noise and whooping from the younger students who were afraid Dumbledore would prevent them from entering.
"We will be hosting the Beauxbatons Ecole de magie as well as the Durmstang Institute of magic, both schools will be arriving next week, and please do remember that the first and foremost point of this tournament is to promote friendship between our various countries. We have invited them earlier than usual, so that you may bond with them before the tournament. The trials for the duelling team and the Quidditch team will be held tomorrow and day after respectively, the trials for the chess team will be held the day after that, if you want to sign up, please talk to Professor Flitwick or Professor Hooch as would apply. The goblet of fire will be unveiled the day our visitors arrive, there will be wards around it that will prevent the entry of the name of someone's name by another person. Hopefully this will be sufficient defence, and I implore any student thinking to enter their name to reconsider."
*** Next day
Harry had signed up for the tryouts for both the duelling competition as well as the Quidditch team.
Flitwick had them lined up and called them forward one by one to judge their ability, he went easy on them for a while before suddenly going all out to see their defence, then stopping the duel once his enemy was beaten. Hermione didn't want to participate in the duelling tournament despite Harry's protests.
Cedric did the best against Flitwick, making Flitwick have to go on the defensive for almost twenty seconds before Flitwick recovered from the shock and completely owned Cedric.
Harry went up slightly nervous, from the skill already displayed, it was unlikely he would even come close to winning, but if he went really hard, he could make a good impression on his Professor.
Harry started out with spell-chains, getting faster as he went, causing Flitwick to have to respond, with defensive spells and even some counters.
Harry immediately went the elemental route to coax his opponent into attacking and as he thought, Flitwick fought back, destroying his fire-stream with a flick of his wrist which caused a jet of water, which went on towards Harry.
Harry sliced right through the stream, with a cutting curse, that Flitwick absorbed on a shield before having to pour extra power into the shield as Harry sent spell after spell, trying to overload the shield.
Flitwick sent a burst of energy, blinding Harry and incinerating his spells.
In the single second that Harry was blinded, Flitwick sprung right at Harry, closing the distance.
Anticipating the move, Harry drew the sword of Potter and swung ahead of himself pre-emptively, forcing Flitwick to sway backwards and not be able to cast a spell, while Harry sent a wave of air to blast Flitwick back.
Flitwick was flung backwards but the master dueller stopped himself in mid-air and sent a fearsome bird of fire at Harry.
Harry conjured a Basilisk of water, but it wasn't nearly big enough to fight the raven.
The fire stopped just in front of Harry and a quick stunning spell almost caught him but Harry's reflex batted the spell away.
"I concede." Harry said respectfully, knowing that if Flitwick wasn't afraid to burn his stat student, he would have lost and lost painfully.
"The three who will play for Hogwarts are Cedric Diggory, Harry Potter and Cho Chang, the reserves are Oliver Wood, Fred Weasley and George Weasley." Flitwick announced, "All of you will show up immediately after class on Mondays and Fridays."
"Can you talk to Professor Black and Headmaster Dumbledore about inserting this into my timetable." Harry questioned.
Flitwick looked like wanted to question Harry a bit but held back.
"Yes, Mr Potter, I will, but know that the Headmaster doesn't run your life." Flitwick warned.
*** End of Chapter.