New Romantics | Hermione Granger Book IV

|47| Chapter Forty-Seven

F O R T Y  S E V E N

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Hermione woke Saffron up the next morning, suggesting that they go down to examine the Goblet of Fire and when they reached the Gryffindor common room it appeared that Harry and Ron were thinking along similar lines as they too were making their way down to see what was going on. 

Upon reaching the entrance hall, the Goblet of Fire was on display with a shimmering translucent circle drawn around it, ten feet in each and every direction, ensuring that no one could attempt to throw their name in if that was even possible or detectable by the limits of the enchantment. Many others had thought along similar lines and Saffron wasn't surprised to see Rowan, though not Rachel, with his friend Emilia amongst twenty or so other students walking around the Goblet whilst munching on toast.

"Anyone put their name in yet?" Ron asked Rowan eagerly.

"You just missed the Durmstrangs," Rowan informed him. "They came and put it in one by one, Krum too," Ron looked disappointed to have missed that as Rowan continued. "But no one from Hogwarts has put their name in since we got here, though I suspect a lot of them already have,"

"I was thinking the same," nodded Harry in agreement. "I would've if it had been me.. wouldn't have wanted everyone watching. What if the goblet just gobbed you right back out again?"

An eruption of laughter was to be heard in the all too near distance and it crept closer to them by the second. It came as no surprise to them that Fred and George, accompanied by their friend Lee Jordan were rushing down the nearby staircase, followed by a crowd of onlookers, all looking like they were on crowd nine.

"Yes!" Fred yelled triumphantly as everyone else started to laugh and clap at what he was holding in his hand. "Thank you, thank you,"

"Cooked it up just this morning," George informed them all, who too was holding a small glass phial in his hand. "All we have to do is take one drop each, just to get a few months older and we're good,"

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

"It's not going to work," sung Hermione, matter-of-factly.

"Oh yeah?" Fred asked Hermione rhetorically.

"And why's that Granger?" challenged George for his own amusement but also for the crowd of onlookers amusement as everyone was laughing at the performance they were putting on for them.

"You see this," Hermione began to explain to the twins, pointing her hand at the age line. "This is an age line, Dumbledore drew it himself,"

"So?" 

Hermione scoffed. "So, a genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by something as pathetically dim-witted as an ageing potion,"

"That's why it's so brilliant," supplied Fred

"Because it's so pathetically dim-witted," finished George with a note of finality.

The crowd erupted in laughter again and Saffron among them, trusting not the potion Fred, George and Lee had concocted but the word of warning that Hermione had supplied them with. She didn't know what the age line would do to them but certainly, it would do something.

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

Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes."Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you,"