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Chapter Thirty-Five

The morning of the task dawned bright, clear and cold. Yusuke dragged himself out of bed, grumbling. He was wide awake, as usual, but he was freezing. He decided to wear a heavy ski suit to the task so he dug it out and handed it to a waka, telling him, "Here, keep this handy, and these boots." He handed over heavy hiking boots. He could have put it all in mallet space, but he didn't want to have to dig for it. Besides, it was impressive to have a manservant nearby.

Breakfast was a circus; Mr Bagman and Mr Crouch were both in attendance. The champions were seated at the champions' table, along with their advisors. There was a new reporter, accompanied by Bozo, who seemed to be in awe of everything. He was sent to the guests' table on the other side of Slytherin.

This table was set up to handle all the hangers-on who seemed to think that they were important enough to merit a seat at the high table, which was now crowded with the Governors, a few Aurors, and Minister Fudge. Dumbledore was seated in the throne-like chair at the foot of the table, much to his disgust. But Hogwarts herself had stymied his attempt to take the head of the table.

Hagrid came in, stumped up to the head table, and whispered something in Dumbledore's ear. Dumbledore stood up, threw his napkin onto the floor, and hurried out after the retreating giant. He muttered, "Nothing but trouble, I swear. The wards should be in better hands than this." He felt a strange pulling sensation, but ignored it in favor of getting Hagrid's charges through the wards.

Headmistress McGonagall noticed the strange push and closed her eyes. "Idiot. That's torn it." She had realized that Hogwarts was slowly taking the wards from Dumbledore and giving them to her. Hogwarts, not the Governors, chose the Head. And she seemed done with Dumbledore. No one was sure exactly how the castle chose, but they all knew that she did. The muggles would have had all sorts of theories about AI and ambient magic creating a pseudo-personality. All the magical population knew was that Hogwarts chose, and you'd better not argue with her.

Headmistress McGonagall asked the castle to open the wards to the animals for the task. She didn't hear any complaining from anyone, so she assumed that the wards had accepted the beasts. She did wonder what they might be, but she figured she'd find out soon enough.

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Yusuke looked up from his perch on the central fountain. He'd been sitting there, smoking and waiting. The front courtyard was full of visitors and so the champions had gathered in the inner courtyard. With its grassy quadrants and center fountain, it was the most peaceful place they could find.

They ignored Ludo Bagman as he babbled about what a wonderful opportunity for publicity this was. He was acting a bit off, even for him. Yusuke glanced at Remus. "Find out what the hell he's really up to, will you?"

"Sure thing. He's got a bit of a rep as a gambler. Might be something in that." Remus eyed the man for a moment then motioned to a waka. He gave orders that, if Bagman was in over his head, or even if he wasn't, the waka was to buy up any and all bets.

Minister Fudge called them to attention. "Everybody! Yes, well. The task will begin shortly. We'll all process to the stadium now. Come along."

He led the way, self-important and pleased. He didn't see what a picture he actually made. To say he was portly was polite, "fat" was more factual. His lime green suit didn't go well with his complexion, and he found that he had to scurry to stay in the lead.

He was followed by the three champions. Odette Renaud was slim, shapely, and quite beautiful. Her long, honey-blonde hair was in a braid that nearly reached her slim waist. Her robes were heavy wool, but fitted her nicely. Ivan was taller than Odette by about four inches. He had broad shoulders, made even broader by his heavy fur coat. His black hair was hidden by a rabbit-fur ushanka with the earflaps tied on top. He'd opted for Russian traditional clothing of the Cossack sort, so his loose wool trousers were tucked into tall, black leather boots.