Fred Weasley x Reader

Chapter 22

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Readers Pov

"Is that Bagman and Crouch?" Lee suddenly asked.

We turned to look up at the staff table and found that Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch had indeed taken seats. 

"Bagman..." George growled quietly.

Suddenly the golden platters cleared and were replaced with the desserts. No one spoke as we ate. 

The plates cleared once more and Dumbledore stood. The three boys leaned forward, looks of deep concentration on their faces.

"The moment has come. The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket-"

"The what? They want to get rid of us that fast?" Lee whispered.

"-just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

There was a small amount of applause for Crouch, who did not acknowledge it, when his name was called. Many more cheered for Bagman, possibly because he used to be a beater. 

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament, And they will be joining myself, professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

Many people perked up at the mention of "Champions".

"The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch.

Flich, who had been lurking in the far corner of the hall approached Dumbledore carrying a wooden chest adorned with jewels. It looked very old. Whispers of excited interest rose from the students.

"The instructions for the tasks the champion will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways... their magical prowess- their daring- their powers of deduction- and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

The hall seemed to still, excitement coursing through every vein. 

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament, one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The Champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: The Goblet of Fire."

Dumbledore took out his wand and tapped the chest thrice. The lid creaked open and he reached inside. He pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been rather plain if it had not been filled with dancing blue-white flames. He closed the casket and placed the up on top, so everyone had full view of it. 

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet. Aspiring Champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete."

Dumbledore looked around once again, "To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation, I will be drawing an age line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line. Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly preparing to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

The students rose and began to leave.

"An age line! Well, that should be fooled by an Aging Potion, shouldn't it? And once your name's in that goblet, you're laughing- it can't tell whether you're seventeen or not!" Fred said, eyes glinting. 

"But I don't think anyone under seventeen will stand a chance. We just haven't learned enough..." Hermione said worriedly.

"I agree, 'Mione." I added.

"Speak for yourselves," George said shortly. "You'll try and get in, won't you, Harry?"

Harry didn't answer. 

"Where is he? Dumbledore didn't say where the Durmstrang people are sleeping, did he?" Ron hadn't been listening and was now looking around for Krum. 

"Back to the ship, then. Viktor, how are you feeling? Did you eat enough? Should I send for some mulled wine from the Kitchens?" Karkaroff asked as we came level with the Slytherin table. 

Krum shook his head and began to pull on his fur coat. 

"Professor, I vood like some vine," another Durmstrang said. 

"I wasn't offering it to you, Poliakoff. I notice you have dribbled food all down the front of your robes again, disgusting boy-" Karkaroff had turned and led his students to the doors, reaching them at the same moment as our group. We stopped to let them walk through first. 

"Thank you," Karkaroff said as he glance at Harry. 

It took him two steps before he froze and turned back to him, his eyes instantly fixed upon his scar. Behind him, the Durmstrangs stopped too. I noticed a few of the boys look uninterested and glance to Hermione or I. Krum seemed as if he couldn't decided to look at Harry's scar or Hermione's eyes. I rolled my eyes at their obvious stares. 

"Yeah, that's Harry Potter." A voice growled from behind us. 

"You!" Karkaroff said as his face drained of color. 

"Me. And if you've got anything to say to Potter, Karkaroff, you might want to move. You're blocking the doorway." Moody said grimly. 

Many students were now trying to exit behind the Durmstrang.  Without another word, Karkaroff left with his students trailing behind him. 

We walked out of the entrance hall and to the common room. Harry, Ron and Hermione dispersed leaving the twins, Lee and I sitting at a small table in the corner of the room. 

"It'll only take a few drops. We're nearly seventeen as it is." Fred mumbled as he tapped a quill against his chin. 

"What d'ya reckon? Brew it tonight and put our names in tomorrow morning?" George asked.

Fred nodded and scribbled a few words down on the parchment.

"It's an extremely advance potion. And even if you managed to somehow get the ingredients, you couldn't possibly stay up all night to stir it. You'd be up till dawn!" I exclaimed. 

"Oh, so you know how to brew it?" Fred asked mockingly.

I huffed, "Yes, actually. I do."

"Great. So we'll go get the supplies and meet you in our dorm. We'll take turns stirring it while the others sleep. You can use Michael's bed since he moved to a different dorm last year." Fred said while gathering his supplies. 

"Wait, what?" 

"Excellent chat. We'll see you upstairs in twenty minutes." Lee said as the scrambled out of the portrait hole. 

"What if I don't go?" I shouted behind them. 

Fred's head peaked back inside and winked at me before disappearing again, "We both know you will." 

A/N: I'm still updating! I promise! It's only the third day of school and I'm done. I hate updating so late! I feel like such a disappointment. But it's only going to get harder from here so I better suck it up. Message me if there are any mistakes in this please. It was a tad rushed. Coming home from school and seeing all these like and comments literally makes my day. I love you guys. See you next Wednesday, Lovelies.