Chapter 7:The Opening Feast

"Were we ever that small?" Neville joked as Remus Lupin led the crowd of first-years into the Great Hall. Hermione motioned for him to shut up as Remus pulled out a three-legged stool and placed it in front of the Teacher's Table, then accepted the Sorting Hat and placed it on the stool. For a long moment, the Hall was silent, then the Hat twitched and started to sing as oddly familiar music sounded.

"This is the real life,

This ain't no fantasy

At Hogwarts your first year

Will be the start of your new journey

"Raise your wands high

To your Houses fly

When I sort thee!

You are new here, you don't know what to think

But don't worry, you'll soon know

Where you are, bound to go

On your head I'll soon go, and your places find for you-oooo

for you-ooo.

"Gryffindor, house of the brave.

Against the dark holds fast,

Will defend until the last.

Hufflepuff, with friends all around,

Will never let you feel lost or aloo-oone

Ravenclaw, scrolls and tomes!

Knowledge they do seek

And Slytherin is where you plan and observe

What others do, from the sides, as you guide unseen.

"This school, ancient and proud,

The founders four did make,

By the deep and chilly lake

So come, everybody, and learn how to

Cast the spells, draw runes and stir the potion…

Hogwarts! Welcomes you!

Stand tall and strong!

For here in this magic place, you belong!

I'm never wrong… never wrong…

Time for sorting comes…

"…the Sorting Hat is a Queen fan?!" Hermione gaped.

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The last of the first-years scurried to the Hufflepuff benches, where he was welcomed by one of the Prefects and the echoes of the applause died away as Headmistress McGonagall rose from her seat.

"To those who have just been Sorted, welcome to Hogwarts and to everyone else, welcome back." She began, a hint of a smile on her otherwise stern face. "Before we get to the serving of the food, which most of you are eagerly waiting for, I have a few announcements to make.

"Deputy Headmaster Lupin has taken over as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for this year, although he will be departing at the end of the year as he has other jobs outside Hogwarts that he needs to attend to.

"Our former headmaster Albus Dumbledore is now officially Professor Dumbledore and will be teaching Transfiguration. In addition, those who have passed their OWLs will have the option of studying the art of Alchemy under his direction.

"I am pleased to introduce our new Wizarding Studies teacher, Professor Horace Slughorn, former Potions Teacher and one-time Head of Slytherin, now returning to us after deciding that he wanted to do more than mere retirement. As well as helping Muggleborns acclimatise to the Magical World, Professor Slughorn is restarting his Slug Club, a social club that he ran when he last taught here. Those of you lucky enough to be invited will find that the Club meets on Saturday afternoons.

"This year, primarily at the behest of the Ministry of Magic, we will see the resurrection of an ancient tradition, the Tri-Wizard Tournament, which is going to be held here at Hogwarts this year. For the safety of the competitors, only those who are of age, that is 17 or over, will be eligible to enter and can put their names forward for selection by the Goblet of Fire."

"Question, Headmistress!" Harry called as he stood up. "Well, two questions…make that three. First, do you mean 17 as of today, as of putting the name into the Goblet or as of the first task?"

Minerva glanced at Dumbledore.

"Ummm, the second one, putting the name into the Goblet." Dumbledore responded, causing several of the older students to look disappointed.

"Secondly, will there be protections so that people can only enter their own name?" Harry continued. "I mean, if I were to pay… say… Mr Towler to place… say, Lord-Apparent Malfoy's name in the Goblet…"

Dumbledore blinked. "That is a good point and I will ensure that extra charms will be added to prevent such an occurrence."

"Thank you." Harry said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I didn't want to end up competing because someone thought I could replicate what I was supposed to have done in those pieces of so-called literature that claim to show the young adventures that I never actually had."

"And your third question, Lord Potter?" Dumbledore prompted.

"Does this mean Quidditch is cancelled this year?"

"Sadly, yes." Dumbledore replied and instantly almost half the students were on their feet, shouting protests. Suddenly the doors to the hall slammed open and everyone turned to gape at the scarred man limping in, every other step creating a wooden thunk.

"Ah, Alastor, welcome." Dumbledore smiled. "May I introduce the man who will be in charge of security during the Tournament, Alastor Moody, Retired Auror."

"Dumbledore. McGonagall." Alastor grunted as he made his way to the vacant chair at the end of the table. "I caught the questions, lad's got a good head on his shoulders. I'll be telling Crouch that we need extra help if we're to make sure his idea works."

Minerva waited for the scarred man to sirt down before turning back to the silent, wide-eyed hall.

"Now, let us celebrate the start of the new school year. Let the feast commence!"

As the students turned their attention to the food in front of them, Minerva leaned towards Albus.

"Lord Potter made some very good points."

"He did indeed." Albus agreed. "Alastor, I believe that you and I shall be spending most of the evening going over the planned protections and re-working them."

Moody looked up from the food he was suspiciously poking with his fork and gave a sharp nod.

At the other end of the table, Horace finished pouring wine into his goblet, then looked across to where Andromeda and Severus was sitting.

"Severus…?"

Snape turned slightly to look at Horace. "Yes?"

"As a former potions teacher, should you need anyone to watch over your students on their projects while you deal wih issues of your House, I would be happy to offer my services. The same goes for you and your students too, Professor Tonks."

"Thank you, Professor Slughorn." Andromeda replied with a slight smile.

"Please call me Horace, my dear. As a fully accredited Potions Mistress yourself, you have more than earned the right."

"We have received a request from St Mungos for a resupply on several potions." Severus noted. "May I ask for you to oversee their brewing while I am teaching?"

"Of course, my boy." Horace smiled. "I have heard that you have found ways to increase the strength of several potions as well as make brewing others easier. I look forwards to learning from you."

.

"My father was part of Slughorn's Slug Club." Neville said as he piled vegetables onto his plate. "My mother wasn't."

"He seemed very keen to talk to me at the Ball."Harry noted. "I think that he's going to try and invite me. If I remember correctly, my mother was part of his club too."

"We may have to hold our study club in the morning instead of after lunch in order to avoid overlapping. Maybe we should expand it to weekday evenings too." Hermione mused as she speared a second potato with her fork. "Former Potions Master… I wonder if we'll see him in Professor Tonks' class?"

"Daddy says that Professor Slughorn likes to collect those he thinks will become important." Luna noted between spoonfuls of soup. "He's also very good at keeping track of favors."

Harry glanced at Horace, who was laughing at something that Professor Tonks had said, then turned his attention back to his food.

.

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"About the Tri-Wizard Tournament, are you going to try to enter? I mean, you are emancipated." Hermione asked as they made their way to Ravenclaw Tower and Harry shook his head.

"No. The prize money is almost useless to me as I'm already incredibly wealthy and I have no need to try and prove myself. Besides, I'm already on the Wizengamot, so why should I put myself in danger before then when by simply continuing to do what I'm doing, I can do far more good."

Hermione nodded and Harry hid a smirk as he heard all those close enough to overhear mutter in approval as to his logic.

"What about the fame?" One of the older students asked curiously.

"Can you name the last winner of the Tri-Wizard?" Harry shot back and the boy shook his head.

"Constantine Halliday, Beauxbatons."

Everyone stopped walking and turned to stare at the girl who had supplied the answer, causing her to blush.

"What? He was the last Champion who survived the competition and was one of my ancestors…"

"…makes sense." Harry shrugged, causing most of the attention the girl was receiving to transfer to him. "Someone wins something big like that, they're going to be remembered by their children and children's children for bragging rights, if nothing else."

A muttering of agreement sounded and the paused procession resumed its journey towards the Ravenclaw tower. Soon, they had all filed through the door to find Filius waiting for them on his dais.

"Good evening, everyone!" He called, attracting their attention. "Welcome back to Hogwarts, and a special welcome for the new members of our House.

"As Ravenclaws, you are expected to seek out knowledge, both old and new. However, it is only too easy to fall into the trap of relying entirely on books as the fount of all knowledge.

"Don't! Remember that books are written by people and people have opinions. Some wish to aggrandize themselves while others wish to destroy reputations. When you read something, try to verify it. Research, question and double-check. Just because something has not been seen before, doesn't mean that it cannot exist. Why, Lord Potter gave us quite a demonstration of that two years ago when he used family magics to win his duel against the fraud Gilderoy Lockhart, magics which had never before been seen or even suspected to exist, yet exist they do. Remember that.

"Now, you may have questions and I will be happy to answer them… tomorrow. For tonight, though, you should head up to your rooms and ensure that everything is unpacked in a fashion that will allow you to know where everything is, then you should get some sleep.

"After all, tomorrow will be a brand new day. Goodnight, and pleasant dreams!"

.

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"Mr Crouch?"

"Ah, Madam Umbridge!" Barty jolted in his seat and tried to surreptitiously return the bottle he had been drinking from back into the drawer it had been stored in. "Working late too, I see?"

"Indeed I am… Mr Crouch." Umbridge strode into the room. "I heard that there might be some issues regarding your little contests, so I decided to see if I could… smooth the path, so to speak."

Barty froze, his face rapidly paling and Umbridge nodded.

"Excellent. Now, let us discuss exactly what you have been doing with the Tri-Wizard so far, shall we?"

Barty twitched in what may have been a nod. "Wea… Wea… grrk… Weasley!"

The young man that Dolores had walked past bustled in from the outer office. "How may I help, Director Crouch?"

"Director Crouch and I were about to go over the arrangements for the Tri-Wizard, Mr Weasley." Dolores said smoothly and Crouch jerkily nodded. "If you could bring us the file, that would be wonderful."

Weasley nodded and walked over to the row of cabinets adorning one wall, pulling open a drawer without hesitating and extracting a large file.

"That will be all, Mr Weasley." Dolores took the file from his hand. "I do believe that we can take it from here. Why not go home and relax? After all, I'm sure you'll be in bright and early tomorrow, right?"

"Oh, yes!" Crouch agreed instantly. "I wouldn't want you to over-work yourself…"

"Thank you sir. Then I bid you a good evening, Under-Secretary Umbridge." Weasley bowed slightly. "Goodnight, Director."

Crouch managed to smile and wave, although the former resembled a rictus more than anything and Umpridge used her wand to levitate a chair closer before opening the file and leafing through it.

"My, my, my. You know, Barty… may I call you Barty? After all, we're all friends here in the Ministry. It looks like your handwriting has really improved… and such attention to detail!"

Crouch's fixed grin took on an edge of panic.