The Champion's Call

"We will first be having our feast, as usual. After this, a Recorder Glass will be set up, and the selection of the Champions will begin." she paused slightly, before continuing on, "You will be on your best behavior, and if you do not your punishment will be much more severe than detention. The Recorder Glass, if you did not already know, allows for the Tournament to be broadcast live. The last thing you should do is make a fool of yourself in front of potentially several million witches and wizards. After the Champion Selection, the Recorder Glass will be shut off. I will let you know when it is. Any questions?"

"Professor, what should someone do if they get chosen as Champion?" asked Angelina from the front row.

"You will make your way to Professor Dumbledore and shake his hand before heading through the door behind the staff table, where you will be given your set of instructions. Do not panic once your name is called, simply smile and walk."

McGonagall motioned for everyone to stand, walking towards the portrait hole.

"Good luck to Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Lee Jordan." said Professor McGonagall in a crisp voice, "Oh, and Mr. Potter, wherever you are, please refrain from bringing your owl with us for a third time."

Harry scowled as the rest of the Gryffindors chuckled gently. The house exited the common room together, all organized neatly (or as neatly as they were capable of). As they made their way over to the Great Hall, Harry let Hedwig fly off to the Owlery.

They entered the Great Hall several minutes later. It was more or less the same, although the staff table was much bigger, now capable of seating around fifty. Nearly all of the seats were filled, although a few belonging to professors were currently empty. Harry recognized a few particularly influential people. Fudge sat near the center, with two other men (who Harry assumed to be other Ministers of Magic) seated beside him.

Harry was not sure what to think of the guests at the front table. Many seemed rather interesting, yes, and some were admittedly quite beautiful, but they all seemed to share a slight arrogance to them. That was one of the only things Harry liked about being raised by the Dursleys; it was thanks to them that he would never reach such a level of arrogance, if only to avoid being anything like Dudley.

In the back of the hall were stands that held many reporters and ministry members. A group in the back were fumbling with a giant orb and a glass pane, which Harry quickly recognized to be a Recorder Glass.

Besides the few noticeable changes, the Great Hall seemed more or less the same as usual (although it was definitely neater and cleaner). The Gryffindors, the other three houses, and the delegations all took their seats. The tables were all sparkling clean, empty plates spread across every few feet. A few metres in front of the headmaster's seat stood the Goblet of Fire, it's flames glowing blue.

"Look!" whispered Hermione excitedly to Harry and Ron. She was pointing at a middle-aged witch sitting on the far side of the staff table, "It's Camille Estelle, I've wanted to see her for years!"

"Who?" asked Ron in an annoyed voice, staring at the empty plate before him.

"Camille Estelle, she's the one who created the Recorder Glass! Didn't I tell you both at the Quidditch World Cup?" When she saw Harry nod his head, she continued, "I've always wondered how she managed to create something like that with magic! It must have been very difficult."

"It isn't as hard as you think." said Harry, repeating what Salazar had told him earlier, "You're essentially creating an object that imitates what humans can do normally, hear and see. The hard part is creating it on such a large scale, so that people all around the world can see what the orb sees. The link between the objects would have to be very strong."

"Yes, well - " Hermione began, before her eyes narrowed, "And how do you know that?"

"Studying."

"And is that what you do whenever you vanish randomly during the day?"

"Yeah, it is."

Hermione's eyes narrowed further.

"I've checked the library, common room, the unused classrooms, and even your dormitories during the times you're gone. I've never seen you in any of those places."

"Bit stalker-ish if you ask me." muttered Ron, avoiding Hermione's eyes when she glared at him.

"What's got you in a bad mood?" asked Harry curiously.

"Someone else is going to be chosen Hogwarts Champion, and they're making me attend!" moaned Ron, "It's insulting!"

"But it's still a feast, mate." said Dean, "That means good food."

"That doesn't make it much better." muttered Ron.

"Let's hope the Hogwarts Champion is a Gryffindor; they might be able to introduce us to the other champions." said Seamus.

"Why do you want to be introduced to the other champions?" asked Neville shyly.

"Because the other champions are going to be Victor Krum and the bloody Veela!" Ron moaned angrily, "That could have been us, we could have been with them, as equals!"

"I highly doubt you think of the Veela girl as an equal, Ronald." said Hermione scathingly.

"Cheer up, mate." said Dean to Ron, "I'm sure Angelina would be more than willing to introduce us, we all have a shot!"

"Trying to have a go at Veela?" asked Fred from up the table. His voice was quiet enough that nobody apart from the Gryffindors could hear him.

"She's three years older than you, and makes those Veela from the World Cup look like a load of dragon dung." said Fred, trying his hardest not to look in the direction of the Veela girl, "You've got a better chance at becoming best mates with Krum."

"Really?" asked Ron excitedly.

Hermione looked like she wanted to gorge her eyes out after that one. Before she could do such a thing however, Dumbledore stood from his seat.

"Let the feast begin!" he roared happily, waving his hands. The hundreds of empty plates filled themselves with food.

"Excellent!" roared Ron, stuffing both his plate and himself with all the food around him.

"Told you the food would make you feel better." said Dean, chortling.

The students all dug into their food, which turned out to be very good. The house elves had clearly outdone themselves, though no one chose to mention that (Hermione had tried to create a group called S.P.E.W., thought thankfully nobody had bought her badges). As Harry was helping himself to his second serving of steak, he felt Hermione tapping him on the shoulder.

.....

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