𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑

the one with the five champions

"Legends say that whose
who climb the mountain
never return."

•

AFTER RETHINKING MY life more than once, I came to a conclusion, it's worth the risk. I was insane, yes. I loved being nuts, yes. I believed in everything and everyone around me, yes.

It was worth the risk.

As the next day was Saturday, most students would normally have breakfasted late. Me, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, however, were not alone in rising much earlier than we usually did on weekends. When we went down into the entrance hall, we saw about twenty people milling around it, some of them eating toast, all examining the Goblet of Fire. It had been placed in the center of the hall on the stool that normally bore the Sorting Hat. A thin golden line had been traced on the floor, forming a circle ten feet around it in every direction.

"Anyone put their name in yet?" Ron asked a third-year girl eagerly.

I wanted to say I did. The secret was heavy on my chest and it wanted out. But I couldn't tell anyone yet. By night, everyone would know it anyway. Everyone would think I'm a cheat anyway.

Someone laughed behind me. Turning, I saw Fred, George, and Lee Jordan hurrying down the staircase, all three of them looking extremely excited.

"Done it," Fred said in a triumphant whisper to me, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Just taken it."

"What?" said Ron.

"The Aging Potion, dung brains," I said with an eye roll.

"One drop each," said George, rubbing his hands together with glee. "We only need to be a few months older."

"We're going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins," said Lee, grinning broadly.

"I'm not sure this is going to work, you know," said Hermione warningly "I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of this."

Fred, George, and Lee ignored her.

"Ready?" Fred said to the other two, quivering with excitement. "C'mon, then - I'll go first -"

I watched with amusement, as Fred pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket bearing the words Fred Weasley-Hogwarts. Fred walked right up to the edge of the line and stood there, rocking on his toes like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, with the eyes of every person in the entrance hall upon him, he took a great breath and stepped over the line.

"Yeah! Go Fred! Put your name in!" I cheered, nearly bursting with laughter.

For a split second everyone thought it had worked - George certainly thought so, for he let out a yell of triumph, smacked my shoulder, thanked me for support and leapt after Fred - but next moment, there was a loud sizzling sound, and both twins were hurled out of the golden circle as if they had been thrown by an invisible shot-putter. They landed painfully, ten feet away on the cold stone floor, and to add insult to injury, there was a loud popping noise, and both of them sprouted identical long white beards.

The entrance hall rang with laughter. Even Fred and George joined in, once they had gotten to their feet and taken a good look at each other's beards. "Kudos to trying!" George shouted through his white beard.

"I did warn you," said a deep, amused voice, and we turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He surveyed Fred and George, his eyes twinkling. "l"I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours."