6/6

Out in the courtyard, dozens of Ministry workers had set about building a pair of unassuming wooden structures no bigger than garden sheds, although more finely accoutred, that would be large enough on the inside to house each of the visiting schools. No Hogwarts students were permitted to enter but rumours ran rampant about the levels of opulence and comfort contained within each that made them the envy of many, mostly Slytherins.

Draco had been excused from lessons for the entire day, as had everybody else involved in the performing and running of the opening ceremony, which made for a very dull day, in Gaara's eyes. The agitation among the student body would have been much more entertaining with Draco's colourful and snobbish commentary.

He did, however, get to overhear a hundred fragmented conversations concerning the ceremony, the incoming visiting schools and any celebrity Quidditch players contained therein, boasts of who would be entering, predictions of Champions, and wagers of which school would come out victorious. They were the same conversations that had been taking place since the start of September but in greater concentration. One or two of his braver classmates tried to drag Gaara into one of these discussions but he begged off in favour of peace and quiet. It simply wasn't the same without Draco.

At lunch he observed the construction of extra seating for the visiting schools to sit on and spectate in the Great Hall. It had been announced early on that there would be a rota for which school could sit and eat in the hall at which times each day after they arrived and a small orange part of Gaara's mind was looking forward to the inevitable discord and chaos.

Lessons ended early that day so that everyone had ample time to clean up and change into fresh clothes.

It was pandemonium in the castle after Gaara had 'readied himself' for the night's event. He had killed ten minutes in their room with a half decent book before he decided to go on up. He did not see any reason to change his perfectly clean clothes so he had joined the stream of students already making their way back up through the castle, all vying for a spot at the front of the crowd for the best view of the arrivals.

When dozens and then hundreds of Slytherins all wanted the same thing, a little pushing and shoving was the least one could expect. At least two students had been hexed by the time the other schools were due.

Almost every student not busy preparing for the opening ceremony could be found waiting outside of the castle for the incoming Durmstrang and Beauxbatons groups. It was late October and the wind was as chilly as one might expect but it did not deter nor dampen the students' spirits. The staff, on the other hand, were less enthused and more bothered by the delay of the other schools, shivering in the cold as they had been commanded to by the Minister.

The Ministry officials appeared an hour after the rest of the crowd, looking far too smug and warm for their own good. Fudge, Bagman and Crouch all strolled out with Morbidus and a handful of other nameless Ministry lackeys close behind. A dozen Aurors had also arrived on the scene and were formed into a rough perimeter around the VIPs.

Gaara saw that among the Ministry notables, Lucius was absent, which must have been a profound embarrassment for the ambitious Ministry man. He caught the eye of Morbidus and quickly averted his gaze, not wanting to draw attention to himself at that moment. The Ministry already had an unhealthy interest in him, he did not want them renewing or deepening the disturbing attention they paid to him.

Evidently the Ministry visitors knew something the Hogwarts staff did not as their arrival only preceded the excited announcement of an incoming flying carriage by a few minutes. A few voices had piped up about something in the sky and every face turned upwards, watching in amazement or bewilderment as an enormous pink carriage was pulled through the sky and safely onto the ground by equally oversized winged-horses.

The landing had been a little bumpy but Gaara was more focussed on the unerring trend of silly magical transportation methods, each more impractical and dangerous than the last.

That train of thought was derailed when the tallest woman Gaara had ever seen, perhaps the tallest person, stepped out of the carriage and towered above even Hagrid, who had appeared to wrangle the pegasi. She was, unlike the enormous man, well groomed and seemed comparatively demure even from a distance.

Following her were the blue-robed pupils of her school, all normal-sized and well-presented. They hopped out one after another and Gaara realised the carriage, even as big as it was, must have been expanded to accommodate the dozens upon dozens of French boys and girls.

Gaara watched them all flutter about in their fashionable blue robes and compared them in his head to the groups of lower nobles in his world that he had encountered on occasion, and the similarity was uncanny. Clearly these were 'cultured' children, set apart from their more plebeian counterparts in Hogwarts.

One or two of the Beauxbatons students looked in his direction, him being relatively easy to spot in a crowd, and shared a politely covert whisper about the new celebrity from Hogwarts. Gaara might have been annoyed by this attention if he did not see Potter receiving ten times as many looks and whispers. Definitely shades of nobility to be found in these children.

The newly arrived were corralled into some semblance of order by their older students, much like the giant pegasi had been by Hagrid, while the headmistress was beckoned over to the red carpet on which Fudge, Bagman, Crouch and Dumbledore were waiting. Warm greetings were shared out of earshot and then silence as they all waited for the third school to arrive.

Hushed conversations continued within the divided crowds of teenagers after Hagrid had pulled the enormous equine conveyances towards the specially built stables. This had been difficult both due to their size and their apparent interest in the Hogwarts students in the opposite direction, although Gaara had a sinking feeling this was more to do with his presence within that group than the group as a whole. He was just about done with the spectacle, ready to head inside and enjoy the warmth and quiet, when shouts rose up again everybody looked to the Black Lake.

Yet more ridiculous means of travel: an underwater ship. It was becoming hard to think any less of magical minds when they kept confronting him with such stupidity again and again.

Five minutes after the ship had docked, the headmaster of Durmstrang marched up the stairs and into sight, standing at the head of a line of young men and women dressed in furs and standing like soldiers or barbarians. They completely lacked the refinement of the Beauxbatons contingent and the disorder of the Hogwarts pupils, which Gaara appreciated. None of them spared the other teenagers a second look, they kept their eyes straight ahead and maintained military discipline.

Gaara tried to imagine scrawny and aristocratic Draco standing alongside these hardened boys and girls as Lucius had originally intended. Narcissa was certainly in the right, as far as Gaara could see, having blocked that particular plan. They would have eaten Draco alive.

The headmasters and headmistress greeted each other again, less cordially this time, and then the Minister formally introduced himself. At that moment, Filch ran out of the castle and up to the select group of VIPs and world renowned academics, and told them that the final preparations had been completed and that they could go inside now.

Everyone doubted that the word of Argus Filch was what prompted the illustrious group to head inside, so it was amusing that he insisted on walking in front of them, as if he were playing a vital role in leading the way.

The assembled professors herded the students back into the castle, towards the Great Hall, and had them take their seats for the ceremony. Shortly thereafter, the French and Bulgarian schools followed and took their seats on the bleachers at either side of the hall. Each group's entrance into the Great Hall came with a slight flourish, some acrobatics and magic demonstrated, but it was to pale in comparison to the spectacle Hogwarts had concocted by order of their Ministry. As such, if the heads of the foreign schools had been expecting awe or much more than raised eyebrows and smiles, they were disappointed. Olympe Maxine and Igor Karkaroff took their seats at the head of the hall alongside the hosting professors and waited for the opening to officially commence.

Gaara was sat in his customary seat at the Slytherin table and had reserved Draco's ready for if he should join them after the showcase. A couple of his housemates tried to pull the chair out and one even told him to let it go, but Gaara ignored them all and held the seat in place. Not willing to make a scene, each and every challenger walked away to a place further down the hall.

Gaara did not pay much attention to the beginning of the evening's event, uninterested in the formalities and niceties observed by the upper classes and politicians. Watching Dumbledore and Fudge play out some scene of friendly acquaintanceship and agreement was tedious, as were the public greetings to the visiting head teachers. All of this was being reported upon by half a dozen trusted international newspaper journalists and a radio presenter set up in the corner, describing everything that happened to a listening public.

If Draco were not set to perform, Gaara would have left already.

Fudge stood at the podium after the headmaster had said his part, "Why, thank you, Headmaster Dumbledore. Now, it is time for me to hand over proceedings to the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, Ludovic Bagman." Fudge's words drew a polite round of applause, the fifth since the students had been seated, before he stepped back to stand at the head of the table, where Dumbledore was supposed to be, and watched Ludo approach the stand.

"It is my pleasure to announce the commencement of the three hundred and twenty-first Triwizard Tournament. We now all have the pleasure of witnessing one of Britain's original contributions to this ancient and honourable institution, a spectacular opening performance, arranged and provided by the young men and women of Hogwarts." Bagman clapped his hands grandly and took his seat to the side of the Minister.

The doors to the Great Hall had closed themselves discreetly during Fudge's overlong speech at the start so that they could dramatically slam open upon Bagman's signal. The candlelight dimmed further and the spectating crowd hushed their whispers which had punctuated the entire event thus far.

A thudding could be heard in the hall, coming closer with each bang until an enormous wooden cube rolled into sight outside of the door. Its size made some question whether it would even fit through the grand doors of the Great Hall, but no one knew quite what to think of this animated inanimate object, though it did serve to further heighten their anticipation.

It rolled right up to the opening and then continued inwards, just squeezing past the doorframe, but with each subsequent roll it left behind a surface of polished wood on the floor, covering the centre of the hall all the way up to the front where it stopped and then collapsed to cover the rest of the open space there. All watching were enraptured by this strange start and continued to watch as the wood covering the floor started to rise, thickening until it stood two feet deep and looked to be a solid stage.

Gaara didn't like to admit that he had been somewhat impressed by the literal setting of the stage but it had been a rather dramatic entrance. Despite his better mind, Gaara had gained an objective understanding of the requirements for drama thanks to Kankuro over the years. His older brother was all about the drama.

The light outside of the hall was again disturbed, drawing attention back to the entrance, as the school choir and musicians took their places at that end of the stage, beginning a fast-paced piece of music Gaara couldn't hope to recognise. Magic must have been employed to amplify or transmit the instruments as they sounded as clear as if they had been set up in the centre of the cavernous hall rather than outside of it.

With the music playing, the preparations were complete, and soon an enormous flaming dragon flew above the heads of the musicians and into the Great Hall. It circled and flew about above everyone's heads in intricate patterns until landing at the head of the hall with its back to the professors and Ministry officials. When it was settled, it roared so loudly some of the first years nearly jumped out of their seats.

Suddenly, in ran four students dressed in brightly coloured robes, one red, one blue, one yellow, and one in Green, which tipped Gaara off that they must be playing the four founders. The founders squaring off against a great dragon brought to mind the introductory chapter of Hogwarts: A History that retold the founding of the school in the tenth century.

As Gaara remembered it, the greatest dragon to ever be seen in Britain was terrorising the countryside until the four greatest witches and wizards of the time, leading an army made of the available magical community, fought the dragon all the way up to Scotland until Godric Gryffindor could strike the finishing blow with his sword, piercing the heart of 'Y Draig Goch' and vanquishing the scourge.

The four actors on stage played out their roles in a pantomimed fight as other students appeared, wearing period rags, to back them up. They all sent brightly coloured sparks at the conjured fire dragon, which had been cast and was being controlled by four sixth years behind the orchestra.

As the 'founders' ducked and weaved around each other to cast all the more impressive fake spells, Gaara recognised the movements of Salazar Slytherin to be Draco's. No wonder Draco had to go to all of those supplementary practices and always looked so tired, he was playing one of the lead roles. It was just as well since Lucius would have pitched a fit if Draco had been cast to play anybody less prestigious.

The dragon seemed to be gaining ground so the actor playing Gryffindor, who looked a bit like one of the Weasley twins, come to think of it, brandished a sword that Gaara could have sworn used to sit in Dumbledore's office. That meant it was likely the real Sword of Gryffindor, which was a nice touch of authenticity mixed with reckless disregard for health and safety. Whichever of the twins ran forward, presumably safe behind some form of fire protection charm, and plunged the legendary sword into the dragon of flames, which thrashed and then started to fade until only smoke was left to rise into the rafters. Another short round of applause followed while the miscellaneous villager witches and wizards celebrated the slaying of the dragon.

The founders also declared some impressive sounding words that Gaara ignored in favour of trying to catch a glimpse of Draco's face. He had been complaining all along that this thespian work was humiliating and below him, so Gaara was satisfied to see the blond's expression full of earnest concentration. It was rewarding to see Draco not looking as burdened, even as the crowd on stage divided into four, presumably representing the forming of the four Houses, and he was stood at the head of his own miniature army.

After the players finished announcing the four founders' core values, they all walked back to the exit in lockstep. Gaara was surprised and impressed that whoever had written this had managed to sidestep the animosity with which Salazar was said to have left the school. Knowing the universal prejudice of witches and wizards either for or against Slytherins, Gaara could only assume it had been a joint effort.

After the departure of Draco and the other founder actors, an unfamiliar boy emerged from Draco's Slytherin group and as he walked he rapidly aged until he stood at the front looking uncannily like Merlin, three-foot-long beard included.

The performance went on with the newly formed Hogwarts Houses clearing away to allow someone dressed as a medieval knight, complete with golden crown, to approach Merlin. Merlin and Arthur continued for a while before things moved on. The hour-long play exhibited some of magical Britain's proudest historical moments. Gaara, studious person that he was, recognised most of what was happening from the various books he had devoured since arriving.

Gaara spotted Draco in a few different roles through the rest of the performance, filling out the numbers in discreet ways. The action built to a climax as someone playing Dumbledore fought against someone who must have been Gellert Grindlewald. It was, by Gaara's estimation, awkward with the man himself sat at the head of the hall watching also, with a significantly less pleased expression on his face than his actor counterpart.

The play stopped after that war, avoiding the assuredly problematic topic of the wizarding war against Voldemort's forces. The performance ended with a rousing song and dance number which made Gaara wince as he imagined Draco somewhere in the costumed crowd on stage being forced to dance along. This was likely what drew the majority of Draco's ire.

After the final beat had played, when the panting teenagers all crouched in their finishing positions, Dumbledore calmly and slowly walked out onto the stage to address the assembled crowds of students, visitors, and journalists, and pulled out his own wand. The sour look on his face as much a reflection of his ongoing disapproval of this event as his disappointment that his call for the 'Hoggy Warty' school song to be performed had been overruled. They hadn't taken any of his suggestions.

"For a thousand years, the pupils of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry have learned and grown in this castle. It has seen the rise and fall of governments and empires, dark lords and ways of life. The challenges presented to any one of its children have been unique and caused more than one to stumble. Caused others to fall. However, I believe these challenges that we have all faced, all do face, and may yet face, are fitted to the times in which we live. The Triwizard Tournament is a dangerous challenge that many may wish to enter, but from those eligible, only the most capable will be selected by the Goble of Fire.

"Whether you are from Hogwarts or one of our esteemed sister schools, I wish you the best of luck in entering and through the tournament. You will need it."

A number of Ministry workers wheeled a peculiar mini obelisk up to the podium and left it with the headmaster.

"And with this, it is my duty to announce the official start of the Triwizard Tournament!" He said, tapping his wand against what turned out to be the shell of the obelisk, which melted away to reveal the Goblet of Fire in all its glory.

Dumbledore retreated to his seat after this and Ludo Bagman resumed his place on stage to reaffirm the rules of entry.

"For the next twenty-four hours, any student of the three schools who is aged over fourteen may write his or her name on a piece of parchment along with the name of their school, and cast it into the flames, if they so wish. By order of the Ministry, no one is to stop any eligible prospective Champion from entering their name for consideration. An Age Line will be drawn to prevent ineligible applicants from submitting their names, and a guard will be positioned at the Goblet to make sure things run smoothly."

Gaara looked along the adults at the head of the room and he found three sets of eyes on him. Fudge just happened to have been glancing at him at that moment and had immediately looked away when Gaara met his eyes. Morbidus had been looking around at each of the noteworthy children (there weren't many of them) and his eyes happened to ghost over one of the most interesting of the lot. He held Gaara's gaze for a few beats before casually looking away.

The last of the three did not seem to have such a casual interest. Dumbledore was staring right at him, seemingly waiting for Gaara to look in his direction. Gaara supposed the old man was worried he might not go through with their deal. Of course, Albus learned nothing from Gaara's blank face to ease his uncertainty and worse than that, looking at the child, however lacking in ostensible innocence as he might be, the same creeping doubts about the morality of his plan resurfaced. For the greater good, it might be, but he found he was relying on the sacrifices of children too much in his old age.

He sat back in his chair and tried not to think about the immorality of his plans. Gaara was a trained fighter, from a different world where children did not enjoy the same sheltered existence that his own pupils did. It was the best option available.

If Albus ever permitted a biography, as many had proposed, it would probably be titled: Albus Dumbledore: For Lack of a Better Idea.

Gaara, for his part, was eyeing the Goblet that burned with a curious blue flame and wondering how he would best submit his name. He was allowed to go out at night but that permission might not be passed on to whoever they roped into guarding the Goblet of Fire, and the last thing this endeavour needed was him getting into a fight with the guard in the middle of the night. Not to mention the suspicion it might draw if nobody knew he had entered. He seemed to attract suspicion all the time.

The players of the opening ceremony were finally allowed up from their inconspicuous finishing poses to join their Housemates around the Great Hall. Gaara looked back when Draco pulled his chair out, and gave him a small smile in recognition of his hard work. Draco seemed to think he was being mocked because he gritted his teeth and looked away embarrassed.

After all of the festivities and pompous aggrandisement, the serving of dinner was anticlimactic. The Hogwarts student had a scant thirty minutes to finish all of their dinners before they were expected to vacate their seats for the visiting schools' students. The reporters watched this with little interest and instead interviewed the Hogwarts staff and the Ministry officials they had access to. Pre-empting another attempt like that which the infamous Ms. Skeeter perpetrated at the start of the year, Dumbledore had demanded that the children be off limits to the press that evening and that only the Champions, after they were selected, would be open for interviews. That last part had been at the Minister's insistence, not intending to keep the Champions away from the limelight.

Dumbledore had also neglected to inform Gaara over the inevitable increased attention he would have to endure when he was selected. That part he was less guilt-ridden over.

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A/N: This chapter really got away from me.

Anyway, I want to mention for those who did not see the note I added to the end of the last chapter, that the ever-generous Spiral of Destiny has once again been drawing away and created another piece of fanart for this story. Please follow the link on my profile or search for Spiral-of-Destiny on Deviantart to see it.

Anyway, thank you for reading and please do take a moment to review. I will probably do a chapter of Suna Suna no Naruto next.