"These bananas have gone brown... why would you hide these under the bed?"

"You said hide everything!" Lee protested, slicing one of the bad bananas into the cauldron. Tori rolled her eyes, muttering on how she was working with idiots.

She finished slicing and about five minutes after stirring the liquid it began to turn the bright green Tori had read about. She gasped, jumping back. "I did it! We did it!"

The twins, who were both seated on their beds, cheered loudly, jumping around. Fred felt so happy he could have kissed her. But he didn't. Instead, both the twins and Lee (with the help of Tori) filled three small viles carefully.

"You sure you don't want to join us? We've got a fourth vile!" George asked her, shaking the unused vile. Tori shook her head. "You guys be the champions. I just want to have a relaxed year."

"Suit yourself. Let's go."

There was a crowd of students staring up by the goblet when they arrived. Fred, George, and Lee began cheering loudly, causing the others to join in.

"YEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

George bowed modestly, "Thank you, thank you, well lads we've done it!"

Fred nodded. "Cooked it up just this morning. Thanks to our good friend, Tori!" Tori shook her head, covering her face with her hands.

"It's not going to work." Hermione glanced up from her book in a song songy voice.

Lee chuckled, taking a seat next to the girl. "Oh yeah? And why's that Granger?"

"You see this? This is an age line. Dumbledore
drew it himself."

"So?" Fred asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "So a genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by something pathetically dimwitted such as an age potion."

George chuckled. "That's why it's so brilliant."

"Because it's so pathetically dimwitted." The twins stood up, shaking the vitals.

"Ready Fred?"

"Ready George."

They drank the potion and jump inside the age line. A silence fell over the crowd. Lee didn't seem to want to jump in until he knew it was safe, and Tori didn't blame him.

"Yeah!!" They shouted, slowly putting their names in. They gave each other a high five. Suddenly, the blue flames fired around them, flinging them across the room.

Tori ran towards them only to see when they got up they had full heads of grey hair and beards.

George pointed as his brother. "You said..."

"You said!"

They suddenly tore at each other, rolling around on the floor, wrestling. The room exploded with laughter. Tori and Lee burst into laughter, holding onto each other so neither would fall to the ground. Tori was laughing so hard, tears were forming in her eyes.

"I did warn you," said a deep, amused voice, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He surveyed Fred and George, his eyes twinkling.

"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."

Still howling with laughter, Tori and Lee helped them up and led them out of the Great Hall. "Your faces! Your faces!" Lee cried, clutching his stomach.

"Tori thinks we look good, don't you?" Fred turned to her, his white eyebrows raised. "Whatever you say, Grandpa. Angelina!"

Angelina turned the corner just then, glanced at the twins once before laughing herself. Tori rolled her eyes, a smile still on her face. "Are you putting your name in now?" She asked.

Angelina nodded, holding out her slip. "I'd watch, but..." Tori gestured to the twins, who were stroking their new beards fondly.

"Yeah, you get to take care of that. I'm good."

"I hope you get it. Good luck!"

Angelina wasn't one Tori was worried about. She was smart and knew what she was doing. The twins on the other hand, well Tori was sort of glad they didn't get to put their names in.

✧ ✦ ✧

The Hallowe'en feast seemed to take much longer than usual. Perhaps because it was their second feast in two days, Tori didn't seem to fancy the extravagantly prepared food as much as she would normally have done. Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, the fidgeting, and then standing up to see whether Dumbledore had finished eating yet, Tori simply wanted the plates to clear, and to hear who had been selected as champions.

At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. Tori squeezed Angelina's hand, giving her a smile.

On either side of Dumbledore, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.

"Well, the Goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them to please come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" – He indicated the door behind the staff table – "where they will be receiving their first instructions."

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them all into a state of semi-darkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting. A few people kept checking their watches ...

"Any second," Fred whispered, bouncing up and down in his seat.

The flames inside the Goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. The next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it — the whole room gasped.

Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "Will be Viktor Krum."

"I knew it!" George cheered as the hall filled with applause. "Bravo, Viktor!" boomed Karkaroff, so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"

The clapping and chanting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the Goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," Dumbledore, announces. "Is Fleur Delacour!"

The girl who so resembled a Veela got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables

"Oh, look, they're all disappointed," Alicia said over the noise, nodding towards the remainder of the Beauxbatons party. 'Disappointed' was a bit of an understatement, Tori thought. Two of the girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears, and were sobbing with their heads on their arms.

When Fleur Delacour, too, had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it. The Hogwarts champion next...

Tori get her inside turn all-around from excitement and the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip, Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.

"The Hogwarts champion!" He called, "Is Cedric Diggory!"

Tori cheered loudly. She would have stood up, but she didn't want to upset Angelina. The girl looked disappointed, but was smiling and clapping as well.

Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off towards the chamber behind the teachers' table. Indeed, the applause for Cedric went on so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily, as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real –"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.

The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat, and readout –

"Harry Potter."

hARRY dId yA pUt yA nAME IN DA GObLEt oF FIYAAAA???
dumbledore asked calmly.