Cassia's POV

We were currently on the train, going back to Hogwarts. Harry and Ron sat across from Hermione and I; she and I were sitting facing backwards and the boys were sitting facing forwards. Cedric couldn't sit with me because he was a prefect and prefects have to sit in a special compartment. I was a little bummed, but then I got over it. I'd see him when we got off the train.

Hermione was reading a copy of the Daily Prophet. From what I could see when I glanced at the paper, the incident at the World Cup had made the front page. And they were still trying to find the guy who'd conjured the Dark Mark. Whoever he was, he covered up his tracks good.

I propped my elbow against the glass wall near the open door to our compartment, letting my head rest against my palm. My head was absolutely killing me. The nightmare about Voldemort, combined with the overwhelming feeling of approaching danger, made it almost impossible for me to have a good night's sleep for the past few weeks. Harry wasn't doing too good either. Turns out, he had the same dream as me. Weird, right? At first, we just assumed it was a twin thing, like how we sometimes talk in unison like Fred and George, but that wasn't the case. So that left both of us to wonder, why were we having the same dream?

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" the trolley lady asked, stopping my train of thought.

I shook my head. "No thank you."

Hermione didn't respond. She just went on with reading the paper. My brother and Ron, on the other hand, both stood up, but while Ron went straight to the candy trolley, Harry just stood in the entryway.

"Packet of Drooble's, and a Licorice Wand," Ron requested. But then he counted his pocket money and then shook his head. "On second thought, just the Drooble's." The lady handed him the gum, and he thanked her before sitting back down.

"Two Pumpkin Pasties, please?" a girl requested. Even from where I was sitting, I could see her face. I knew who she was, because Cedric had told me about her. She was Cho Chang; a fifth-year Ravenclaw, captain and Seeker on her house Quidditch team, who just so happens to be Cedric's ex-girlfriend. They'd broken up prior to the end of last year. When I asked Cedric about it over the summer, he said it was a mutual decision -- they'd agreed that they should see other people. Harry had this lovesick look in his eyes when he saw Cho. OMG, my big bro has his first crush!

The trolley lady handed Cho her candy, and Cho thanked her before walking away. She then turned to look at Harry. "Anything sweet for you, dear?" she asked.

Harry snapped out of his daze and then shook his head no. "Oh, no thank you. I'm not hungry." He then sat back down and the trolley lady wheeled to the next compartment.

"Someone's got a crush," I sing-songed.

"I do not, sis," Harry denied.

I rolled my eyes. "Denial..."

Harry just sighed, exasperated, knowing he wasn't going to win this one.

"This is horrible. How can the Ministry not know who conjured it? Wasn't there any security?" Hermione asked, looking up from her copy of the Prophet.

"Loads, according to Dad. That's what worries them so much. Happened right under their noses," Ron replied, around a mouthful of gum.

My scar stung a little bit, and apparently, Harry's did as well, because when I looked over at him, he had a hand over his scar, just like me.

Hermione looked at us. "They're hurting again, aren't they? Your scars?"

Harry and I didn't respond. Neither of us wanted her to see we were in pain, but she did. She put down the paper and leaned towards us. "You know Sirius will want to hear about this. What you both saw at the World Cup, and the dream."

I gave her a slight nod, signaling to her that I agreed. "Do you want to write it or should I?" I asked Harry.

"You can. My handwriting's terrible," he offered.

So I grabbed a quill, an envelope, and a piece of parchment, and got to work writing the letter. Harry let me use one of his books as a hard surface.

Dear Sirius,
Not sure if you read the latest issue of the Daily Prophet, but the Quidditch World Cup turned into utter chaos. Someone -- no one knows who, not even the Ministry -- conjured the Dark Mark.
Things with us aren't much better. As it turns out, Harry and I both had the same nightmare. Weird, right? It was about this old abandoned house, and Voldemort was in a room at the end of the hall. Wormtail was with him, along with a man we didn't recognize. They were talking about something that involved both of us. To quote Voldemort, "The boy and girl are everything! It cannot be done without them!" And worse, both of our scars hurt like you wouldn't believe. I can just tell that both these things are a bad sign.
-Cassia

Harry wrote Sirius' name on the envelope and put the letter inside it. We used Hedwig to send the message to our godfather, because Ethel was asleep. She doesn't like long train rides, so she usually just tries to sleep it off.

<><><><><>

After several long hours, we arrived at Hogwarts. Fortunately, I managed to get some sleep during the remainder of the train ride, after we'd sent Hedwig with the letter to Sirius. I thanked my lucky stars that it was a nightmare-free sleep.

Not too long after the carriages had taken us up to the castle, everyone started crowding on the bridge. Some of the students were pointing and gasping. A lot of them were way taller than me, so I had to jump to see what was going on. Sadly, due to my petite stature, I couldn't jump high enough.

Someone chuckled from behind me. I turned around to see it was my boyfriend Cedric. "Can't see?" he asked.

"Everyone else towers over me, so I have to jump up, but I guess I just can't jump that high," I replied.

"I've got an idea..." Cedric said. He bent forward. "Get on my back, love."

I went behind him and leapt onto his back, wrapping my arms around his neck. As he straightened back up, he grabbed onto my thighs to keep me steady. Now I could see what was going on. A huge carriage, pulled by winged horses, flew through the sky. When I looked down at the ground below, I could see Hagrid with two paddles in his hands, signaling the horses.

"Clear on the runway," Hagrid called. But he had to jump out of the way, because the horses made a sharp dive towards the ground.

Then this huge ship broke the surface of the Black Lake, and sailed closer to the shore before anchoring.

We were then rushed to the Great Hall. Once there, Cedric set me down and then sat with us at the Gryffindor table. Not that the teachers minded. They were okay with it, because Dumbledore encouraged inter-house friendships.

<><><><><>

The Sorting Ceremony wasn't very long. At least half of the new first-years got into Gryffindor or Slytherin. Colin Creevey (aka our personal stalker) was so excited that his brother Dennis got into Gryffindor.

Dumbledore came up to the podium after the ceremony was over. "Well, now that we're all settled in and sorted, I'd like to make an announcement. This castle will not only be your home this year, but home to some very special guests as well. You see, Hogwarts has been chosen-" he was cut off by Filch running up to him and whispering something. When Filch rushed out of the hall, he continued. "Right. Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event: The Triwizard Tournament. For those of you who don't know, the Triwizard Tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. From each school, a student is selected to compete. Now, let me be clear; if chosen, you stand alone. And trust me when I say, these contests are not for the faint-hearted. But more on that later. For now, please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, and their headmistress Madame Maxime."

The doors to the Great Hall opened, and a large group of girls wearing light blue uniforms that looked like they were made of silk walked in, followed by a woman so tall that she made Hagrid look like a dwarf.

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"Blimey, that's one big woman," Seamus muttered as she walked up to the staff table.

Everyone applauded, and the Beauxbatons girls sat with the Ravenclaws. Madame Maxime held her hand to Dumbledore and he kissed it lightly before escorting her up to the staff table. Then he returned to the podium and announced, "And now, our friends from the north, please welcome the proud sons of Durmstrang, and their Highmaster Igor Karkaroff."

A big group of boys wearing all brown came in wielding what looked like large wooden staffs. They were followed by aman dressed in a white coat adorned with brown faux fur entered, accompanied by a familiar face from the World Cup.

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Ron recognized him first. "Blimey, it's him! Victor Krum!" he whisper-exclaimed to Harry, Hermione, Cedric, and I.

Karkaroff marched up to Dumbledore and the two embraced. Shortly after this, the start-of-term feast began.

<><><><><>

After dinner was finished, Dumbledore came up for another announcement, presumably about the tournament. He stood next to a large gold case that must have been brought in during the feast. "Your attention, please," he announced, silencing the Great Hall. "I'd like to say a few words. Eternal glory. That is what awaits the student who wins the Triwizard Tournament. But to do so, that student must survive three tasks. Three extremely dangerous tasks."

"Wicked," I heard the twins mutter.

"For this reason, the Ministry has seen fit to impose a new rule. Please welcome to the stand the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Mr. Bartemius Crouch," Dumbledore added.

Storm clouds suddenly filled the ceiling above us, and I heard a loud boom. Thunder. But then, an old man carrying a walking stick pulled out his wand and aimed it at the ceiling, stopping the storm. The man put away his wand and nonchalantly walked up to the staff table. I found this a bit skeptical. He was acting like nothing had happened just now.

"Bloody hell..." Ron muttered, "That's Mad-Eye Moody."

Hermione glanced over at the man and then back at Ron. "Alastor Moody? The Auror?"

Harry seemed puzzled. "Auror?"

"Dark wizard catcher. Half the cells in Azkaban are filled thanks to him. He's supposed to be mad as a hatter these days, though," Ron explained.

I noticed Moody had an artificial eye, and for some reason, it seemed to focus itself on Harry and I. Moody quickly pulled out a hip flask and took a swig from it.

"What d'you suppose he's drinking?" Ron asked.

"I dunno, but I don't think it's pumpkin juice," Harry replied, a look of slight disgust crossing his features.

The middle-aged Ministry official I had seen at the World Cup came up to the podium. "After due consideration, the Ministry has concluded that, for their own safety, no student under the age of seventeen should be allowed to put forth their name for the Triwizard Tournament," he declared. Pretty much the entire Great Hall -- save for Hermione, Harry, and I -- started booing at this news.

"That's rubbish!" Fred and George yelled in unison.

Mr. Crouch put up his hands, as saying "I give up".

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore roared.

The hall went quiet again.

Dumbledore lifted his wand and pointed it at the gold case, which caused it to melt away, revealing a large goblet with bluebell flames coming out of it. "The Goblet of Fire. Anyone wishing to submit their name for the tournament need only write their name on a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly; if chosen, there is no turning back," Dumbledore warned us, "As of this moment, the Triwizard Tournament has begun."

Whoa. A huge tournament, with three schools, and three DANGEROUS tasks? This was definitely bigger than the Sirius Black fiasco last year!