Infinite Magic (Male Reader x Harry Potter)

The Triwizard Tournament

Fred: You're JOKING!

The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke.  Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.

Dumbledore: I am not joking, Mr Weasley.  Though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar-

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

Dumbledore: Ah, but maybe this is not the time.  Where was I?  Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament... well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely.  The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry.  Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang.  A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks.  The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities.  Until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued...

Hermione: Death toll?

Her anxiety did not seem to be shared by the majority of students in the Hall.  Many of them were whispering excitedly to one another, and I was far more interested in hearing about the tournament than in worrying about deaths that had happened hundreds of years ago.

Dumbledore: There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament, none of which has been very successful.  However, our own Departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt.  We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.  The Heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their shortlisted contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween.  An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money.

Fred turned and whispered to us.

Fred: I'm going for it!

His face was lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches.  He was not the only person who seemed to be visualizing himself as the Hogwarts champion.  At every House table, I could see people either gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or whispering fervently to their neighbors.  But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once more.

Dumbledore: Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts, the Heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year.  Only students who are of age, that is to say, seventeen years or older, will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration.

Several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious.

Dumbledore: This is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them.  I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion.

His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Fred's and George's mutinous faces.

Dumbledore: I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.  The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year.  I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected.  And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning.  Bedtime!  Chop chop!

Dumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody.  There was a great scraping and banging as all the students got to their feet and swarmed toward the double doors into the entrance hall.  Before I could leave, however, my godmother caught my eye and waved me over.  I hurried over to her, and she led me to her office.

McGonagall: Please, have a seat YN.

I sat down and smiled at her.

YN: How was your summer, Minerva?

McGonagall: Oh, it was splendid.  A real breath of fresh air, not having to deal with dementors anymore.  Now, I called you here because there is a new student transferring from Durmstrang to Hogwarts, in your year.   Your mother tells me you've met Suguru Geto?

My eyes widened and I grinned.  Suguru Geto was one of my closest friends growing up, along with Ava.  He was also able to use Cursed Energy, and had his own extremely rare technique to boot.  I'd unfortunately lost contact with him a year before I started at Hogwarts, since he moved away to Sweden with his family.

YN: Yes, he's a good friend.

McGonagall: I'm entrusting you with familiarizing him with the school, both where things are and the rules of Hogwarts.  Is that alright?

YN: Absolutely!  When will he be here?

McGonagall: He'll be arriving tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock.  He's already used the Sorting Hat when he visited a month ago, so he wouldn't have to participate in the Sorting as a fourth year, we thought he'd be a bit embarrassed.  He's been sorted into Gryffindor.

YN: Should I meet him at the entrance to the castle?

McGonagall: If you'd please.  Now, you'd best be off to bed.

YN: Alright.  Thank you, Minerva.

She smiled at me as I left, a huge grin on my face.  I hurried up to the Gryffindor common room, where Ava was waiting at the door.  Which is good, cause I didn't know the password.

Ava: The password's "Balderdash".  No idea what that means.

YN: Me neither.  Guess who's coming to Hogwarts, Aves?

Ava: Who?

YN: Suguru.

Ava looked stunned.

Ava: You're kidding!  I thought he moved to Sweden?

YN: Yeah, he was at Durmstrang.  He's transferring here, he'll be in Gryffindor with us.

Ava grinned.  I leaned down and kissed her.  She kissed back, and we stayed there for about thirty seconds before she broke away.

Ava: Let's get some sleep.

I kissed her again and said goodnight, before heading up to the dorms.  Seven beds with deep crimson hangings stood against the walls, each with its owner's trunk at the foot, except for one empty one.  The other beds all had occupants sitting in them.  Seamus had pinned his Ireland rosette to his headboard, and Dean had tacked up a poster of Viktor Krum over his bedside table.  His old poster of the West Ham football team was pinned right next to it.

Seamus: You see this, YN?  We've got an extra bed.

YN: Yep, we're getting a new roommate tomorrow.  He's transferring from Durmstrang.

Harry: From Durmstrang?

YN: Yeah.  He's a friend of mine, Suguru Geto.

Ron: What kinda name is that?

YN: A Japanese one, Ron.

Dean: What's he like?

YN: Well, it's been a while since I've seen him.  So I'm almost as in the dark as you all are.  But he's a good guy.

I laid down in my bed, still grinning.  Someone, a house-elf, no doubt, had placed warming pans between the sheets.  It was extremely comfortable, lying there in bed and listening to the storm raging outside.

Ron: I might go in for it, you know, if Fred and George find out how to... the tournament... you never know, do you?

Harry: S'pose not...

YN: I dunno guys, haven't we been through enough crap in the past few years?

Ron snorted.

Ron: You've got a point there.