"You're bluffin'." Merideth blew tangled strands of messy red bangs from her face, chewing a chocolate frog she had bought before the Hogwarts Express even started to move. "The Dark Mark? Naw, there's no way. Yah-Know-Who's been gone fer ages."

"Tell that to the Death Eaters," I replied. "And the pictures in the Daily Profit. And the fact that the panicked crowd snapped my old wand in half."

"Yah-Know-Who's dead. That's what me mum an' me dad says. Grandpa was at the prosecution when Karkaroff 'ad 'is trial. Prob'ly just a bunch ov drunks that had nothin' better to do than to scare the bleedin' 'ell out ov random people at the World Cup." She huffed. "Oi'm still jealous about that, yah know. Would've loved to watch Oirlan' keck Bulgaria's arse."

"The only reason they lost was because of that foul call." I sat back when I realized I had stomped my foot. "Besides, Krum found the Snitch first."

"That don't mean a thing in a friendly game ov Quidditch World Cup, See."

I rolled my eyes. "Good to see that mouth of yours hasn't changed at all."

"You can take the lassy out av Oirlan', but the Oirish in 'er is gonna stay roight where itiz. Besides, me dad don't do anythin' when those professors write 'ome about me mouth anyway."

When the treat cart came by, I bought myself a few pumpkin pasties, two of which Merideth ended up claiming for herself, and she still spoke with a mouthful. "Now let me see this new wan' of yers."

I brought it back into the light again, holding it with my fingers so she could see both ends of it. The food in her mouth almost fell out as she stared at it. "Well, I'll be... Never seen a wan' wi' a gem on it."

"I've seen one in the textbooks. I can't remember whose it was."

"You best be takin' care ov that one."

"I know," the wand was tucked away. "I don't think I'll be doing some heavy casting with it."

We both closed our mouths at the sound of a high pitched voice talking in the aisle; Merideth groaned and got up, yanking the compartment's curtains shut. "Oi swear that boy can't keep 'is mouth shut."

We both fell silent after she whispered, I was silently praying he'd walk right by and leave us alone. To my luck, Draco Malfoy's voice got louder as he passed the door, and then slowly got quieter. "... Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore — the man's such a Mudblood-lover — and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of riffraff..."

Merideth rolled her eyes at the mention of Dumbledore and Mudbloods. She had said before she wished there was a spell to permanently zip Malfoy's mouth shut; she was probably wishing for it again now. "That rat... Oh, I'd just loike to punch him at least once, roight in the kissah."

"Malfoy is full of it, Merideth," I say softly, in case Malfoy came back in our direction for some reason. "Don't listen to anything he says."

"Easy for you to say, Sienna," said Merideth coldly. "You're the exact opposite ov a Mudblud. You're Pure loike your auld pair."

"And I'm still a civilized person, unlike Malfoy," I reassured. "It's only four more terms, then you have another break from him."

She mumbled, "if ye say so," and crossed her arms, staring out the window. She was quiet for a good while before finally groaning out of boredom. "Oi'm gonna change."

All I did was nod to her, and she gathered up her uniform from her satchel and left the compartment. She came back almost fifteen minutes later in Gryffindor robes, her red bangs a bit wet. She must've thrown water on her face.

-«•»-

Getting off the train was a nightmare, especially with the downpour of rain holding strong. The First Years, with their plain black robes, and some that were scrambling to tuck in their shirts and fix their ties to look as though they hadn't forgotten about dressing in their uniforms before getting off the train, were huddled into one area, and soon in a line to go out onto the docks. The rest of us made our way to the horse-drawn carriages. Those carriages were never anything fancy like Cinderella's carriage, but they held twenty of us at a time, so I guess it was efficiency over appearance.

The second years and up were ushered into the Great Hall first. Merideth made a point of sitting across from me at the very end of the Gryffindor table, close as we could get to Headmaster Dumbledore, complaining about how impatient she was about being fed. When the First Years finally did come in, one of the boys was soaked, and his small head barely poked out from the collar of Hagrid's, the groundskeeper, massive jacket. I saw his mouth form the words, "I fell in the lake!" And he seemed so delighted about that apparent fact.

The Sorting wasn't any quicker than getting into the Hall itself. The line seems to have grown since last year. To admit, I was starting to feel the hunger pangs myself when Professor McGonagall reached the last names starting with T. 

The memory of my name being called by McGonagall was almost comforting. She had accidentally called me "See-na," but quickly corrected herself to "Tresella, See-anna," before anyone had time to really notice or remember. Well, aside from Meredith, of course. Meredith doesn't forget very much, I've learned. She still gets a bit "fired up" when someone mispronounces her last name as "Oh-Doh-Hurt-Ee" instead of "Oh-Doch-Ar-Ee," which never made much sense to me since the name is spelled as "O'Doherty." But then I'd remind myself that I was lucky enough to have a simple last name of Tresella, and left the thought to rest.

The First Year by the name "Whitby, Kevin" was gloriously deemed, "HUFFLEPUFF!" and Dumbledore took his place at his podium. "Now that we're all settled in and sorted, I'd like to make a few announcements." The room fell quiet when he began to speak. "Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle this year has been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises of four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it.

"As ever, I would like to remind you that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year, and any student who does not have the signed permission slip to go on designated days.

"The Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not be happening this year, nor will the House Cup Competition." Merideth, along with everyone else, starting hollering to the front; she only stopped when I whacked her arm, the rest of the room went quiet when Dumbledore gave a yell. "The reason being that this year's events will take up a massive amount of our teacher's time. This castle will not only be your home this year, but home to some very special guests as well. You see, Hogwarts has been chosen..."

My attention to the headmaster dropped as soon as Mr. Filch came running up in the most awkward motion I've ever seen, standing himself next to Professor Dumbledore with a huff. They whispered to one another before Mr. Filch went scampering back towards the doors he had come through.

"So, Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event: The Triwizard Tournament." 

I had to freeze to stop myself from a spit-take. Merideth, however, choked on her own breath and downed her entire goblet of juice to keep from actually choking. The Triwizard Tournament? Here?!

"For those of you who do not know," Dumbledore continued over the chatter. "The Triwizard Tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. From each school, a single student is selected to compete. Now, let me be clear. If chosen, you stand alone. And trust me when I say: these contests are not for the faint-hearted."

We were all quiet, glancing at one other. I think we all shared one thought: One of us would be in that tournament, and the rest of us would be watching them put their life on the line.

"But more of that later." Dumbledore returned his cheery-cheek smirk and kept speaking. "For now, please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and their headmistress, Madame Maxime."

The doors flew open, and all of our heads turned around fast to find older girls in pale blue skirted- uniforms and hats. Silk uniforms, no doubt from Paris. They'd stop, and give lovestruck sighs to one table, then move forward, stop, and do it again. The third time, they held out both of their hands and blue butterflies came flying in every which direction. Merideth and I both exchanged glances, only she pointed a finger to her open mouth and gagged.

The woman that followed behind them, however, made her mouth drop open completely. Madame Maxime was a massive woman, hair cut in a bob and fur coat making her head seem small. She went up to Dumbledore after smiling at us, and he took her hand and walked her over to her students.

It was then that Dumbledore rushed back up and held up his arms. We immediately held our applause. "And now, our friends from the north. Please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and their high master, Igor Karkaroff."

Our heads turned again, and the doors flew open before Mr. Filch even had a chance to get out of the way. The boys came in loudly grunting, pounding staffs on the floor and send sparks flying when they did. My eyes were glued to them; they formed a line, twirling and spinning those staffs before the three in the front took off running, the one in the front doing an immediate front flip when he was directly behind me. The other two followed suit, and they finished their tricks by pulling their wands from a holster in their boot and blowing at the tips. Fire came flying around them in a mass, finally coming together with each other and creating a massive Phoenix that made Dumbledore take a step back.

"Sienna, look. Look. Now." Merideth pointed behind me; when I whipped my head around, I got a full, closer look of Viktor Krum. The Viktor Krum. I was struggling to form the words, finally coming up with a soft "Bloody hell!"

The headmaster greeted ours, but we didn't heed them much attention. Merideth and I were both wide-eyed and trying to gain back our voices. Merideth was the first to get it back; she gave a loud shriek when the Slytherin table squeaked and moved back some on its own. We found that the Ravenclaw table had done the same. Two sets of long tables were hauled in, and the Durmstrang boys were seated at the one that had been put in front of the Slytherin's, Beauxbatons in front of the Ravenclaw's.

Dumbledore gave us all a smile. "Tuck in!" It was at that moment that our plates were filled from practically thin air, and I was first to take a bit of the pot pie, letting the flavor sit in my mouth before swallowing the meat.

The meal, as always, met expectations. It wouldn't hurt to say it had exceeded, more specifically with the soup, but I had to keep in mind that I had two more school years to have my mouth water and be completely satisfied with Hogwarts' cooking. The entire time we had to eat, Merideth kept glancing behind herself. I don't know if she realizes that her hair is redder than Weasley-ginger hair, and the fact that she didn't have it tucked away in a bun, or even a ponytail, made it even more obvious that she was looking at the Durmstrang table constantly. "Bleedin' 'ell," she whispered. "Viktor Krum is sittin' roight be'ind me."

"Say it any louder and he might actually realize you're looking at him." I retorted. "Wait, I thought you didn't like Bulgaria."

"Who cares about Bulgaria? Krum's a legend, nah mattah what team 'e's with." She gave him one final glance before shoving a massive bite of cake in her mouth. "Also, Oi'm puttin' me name in tah compete."

"You are not."

"Am too. Oi ought tah make this year interestin' fer once."

"Your attention, please." Dumbledore made us quiet again. "I'd like to say a few words." There he stood next to a golden statue of sorts, resting his hand on it as it glistened under the candlelight. "Eternal glory. That is what awaits the student who wins the Triwizard Tournament. Some may remember the mention of the one-thousand galleon prize money as well, but to win these, that student must survive three tasks. Three extremely dangerous tasks. For this reason, the Ministry has seen fit to impose a new rule. To explain all of this, we have the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Mr. Bartemius Crouch."

Everyone was silent as the moustached-man squeezed his way up to the front, but the loud roll of thunder inside and lightning made me forget he was even there as I covered my head. I was sure it was going to rain, but then the clouds were cleared. The one that had cleared the storm, I swear I won't survive the year if he gives me nightmares. He wore a magical eye like it were an eyepatch, and he hobbled about with a wooden staff for a cane. He looked completely mad, but Professor Dumbledore greeted him warmly.

"The bleedin' 'ell is Mad-Eye Moody doin' 'ere?" I didn't answer Merideth as I watched him take a massive drink from his fabric-wrapped canteen. His head jiggled and his magic eye rolled. I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight. 

Mr. Crouch cleared his throat and stood in front of the gold encasement. "After due consideration the Ministry has concluded that, for their own safety, no student under the age of 17 shall be allowed to put forth their name for the Triwizard Tournament. This decision is final."

"RUBBISH!" Merideth was screaming at the top her lungs with everyone else, the Durmstrang table yelling as well. I slouched in my seat. "That's rubbish, ya bull wankahs!"

"SILENCE!" We were quiet again at Dumbledore's command. With a single wave of his wand, the gold encasement melted away, revealing a stone goblet that immediately enlightened in blue flames. "The Goblet of Fire." He proclaimed it. "Anyone wishing to submit themselves to the tournament need only write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly. If chosen, there's no turning back. As from this moment, the Triwizard Tournament has begun."