I walked into the Entrance Hall, taking in all of its glory. The four giant hourglasses that showed House point scores stood in a row on the same wall as the front doors. The bottom of each one was empty, the symbol of a new year at Hogwarts

.

Man I loved this place. I felt comfortable here; I actually fit in. Of course I missed my family, but that was the only downside to boarding school. And with 24/7 owl mail, I could communicate with them easily.

I was soaked. It was raining heavily outside and even the charm to repel water that I had tried had little effect. A large red water balloon landed on my head; dousing me with still more water.

"PEEVES!" I shouted. The poltergeist merely cackled and zoomed away to bother some third year Hufflepuffs.

My stomach growled. I was so hungry and I couldn't wait to get into the Great Hall and begin feasting. Of course, I would have to wait through the opening speeches. With my two friends, Katie Bell and Sarah Norduff, at my sides, we walked into the brightly lit Great Hall. Many students had arrived already, but the tables were not full yet. My friends and I were still able to get fairly decent seats in the middle of the Gryffindor table. Broad empty platters sat in front of us, seeming to tease me with their lack of food.

A couple seats down from us, Lee Jordan and the Weasley twins took their seats. They were laughing about one thing or another. Fred shook his hair like a wet dog, showering everyone in the vicinity with water droplets. I laughed. He caught my eye.

"Good summer Rachel?" He asked, grinning that Weasley grin of his. I giggled inwardly but kept my cool.

"Yeah, not bad." I replied smiling. "But it's good to be back." Fred nodded.

"Yeah, George and I have got a bunch of new material to try out." He said. I put on a mock serious face. "Now Mr. Weasley, we're going to behave ourselves this year aren't we? You wouldn't want to be put in detention would you?" He laughed, as did I. We both knew that detention didn't bother him or George in the slightest, but I was pleased that I could make him laugh. He turned back to his friends and I to mine.

My friends were smirking at me.

"What?" I asked, in an attempt to sound perplexed.

"You so like him!" Sarah accused, still smirking.

"Do not!" I protested. Yes, it was true. I did like Fred. But I had never admitted it out loud. Of course, my friends just knew, but I always tried to deny it. We all knew I wasn't fooling them. Before my friends could continue to argue with me, the hall fell silent and we all looked up to the front, in front of the high table. On a stool sat a ripped and worn old hat. A seam in its front opened like a mouth and words poured out from it. The Sorting Hat began its song.

(I won't post the song. If you really want to read it, go look in Book 4 on page 176)

After the Hat finished its song, the Hall burst into applause. It always came up with really creative songs and I loved listening to them. But the sorting itself was never very interesting. I blanked out on that. I usually did. Instead, I began daydreaming. Yep, you guessed it. About Fred.

Fred was so cool. He was really funny of course but he was also smart, even though he misbehaved. He just liked to cause trouble. Fred and I were friends, even though he was a year ahead of me. You see, I was technically in my fifth year at Hogwarts, except that when I was younger, my mother had tutored me in several subjects, so I was precocious when I got to school. I was bumped ahead in some of my classes. Some, I was still with the fifth years, but in some I joined the sixth years, which was where I got to know Fred and George.

Of course, being moved ahead in school did make me subject to various taunts of 'nerd' and 'brainiac', but I tried not to let it bother me. It was great, because this year, for OWLs, I would have another year's experience in some subjects. So I was willing to make the sacrifice.

So I had my fifth year friends, which was mostly just Sarah and Katie, but I did get along with the others. Then I had my sixth year friends, who consisted mostly of Fred, George, Lee, and Angelina Johnson. Lee and I were friendly; we always got along and had our share of laughs. Angelina was really nice and helpful when I got moved up to harder classes, so I immediately became friends with her. And then George and I were really good friends. George and Fred were just as amazing, but I had never been able to see George as anything more than a brother. Then there was Fred.

I had begun liking Fred in my third year when he tricked one of the teachers to postponing a major test that I hadn't studied for at all and I was doomed to fail. But Fred got it moved back and gave me extra time to study. Then he helped me learn all of the stuff I needed to know that night. He was always really sweet and stuff. On top of him being smart, funny, brave, and good-looking, he was perfect.

All of a sudden, the plates in front of me were filled with delicious food, everything from mashed potatoes to what looked like fried reindeer antlers. I tried everything, yes even the antlers. Hey, I wasn't picky, just hungry.

There wasn't much conversation, people were too intent on eating at first, but after a while, people started talking about various things. Most people discussed who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher would be. Nobody had a clue. A couple seats down, I could hear my some of my underclassmen friends (yes I had underclassmen friends too) Harry, Ron, and Hermione discussing what sounded like house elves.

Soon, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, got to his feet. Soon everyone fell quiet, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"So!" he said, smiling at us. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises of some 437 items, I believe and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it." I could have sworn I saw Dumbledore give us a small smile before he continued.

"As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year."

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

Cries of surprise and anger had filled the hall. Katie, who was a Chaser on the Gryffindor team let out an indignant yelp. Fred and George were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore. I heard Harry gasp "What!?" and I myself pounded the table slightly in annoyance. I had been practicing my Keeping all summer in hopes that, now that Oliver Wood had left the school, I would have a chance of making the team as Keeper. No chance now. Once the noise had settled slightly, Dumbledore continued.

"This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teacher's time and energy- but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts-.." and at that moment, the doors of the Great Hall burst open, revealing a man standing there. He was dripping wet and he was wearing an old traveling cloak. The room fell silent. He had a long mane of grey hair that was extremely grizzled. All heads faced the man. He began approaching the High table. A dull clunk was made with each step that the man made and I saw a peg leg from underneath his robes. I wondered what had happened to it and my imagination provided me with horrid answers.

His face was scarred horribly and had a menacing look on it. A large chunk was missing from his nose and while one eye was dark and beady, the other was large and electric blue. It was wildly spinning in all directions. His mouth was lopsided and this man did not look very pleasant.

The man reached Dumbledore, and they shook hands. Then he sat in an empty chair up at the High Table. I knew who this man was. My mother had told me about him. He was none other than Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Professor Moody." Dumbledore intoned brightly, breaking the silence. It was customary for new staff additions to receive applause, but only Hagrid and Dumbledore put their hands together. It seemed that everyone else was too stunned to move.

Suddenly, whispers filled the hall.

"What happened to his face?"

"Where d'ya reckon he got that peg leg?"

"He doesn't look too friendly does he?"

Dumbledore cleared his throat to catch everyone's attention and the continued his speech.

"As I was saying, we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're JOKING!" Fred said loudly. Everyone laughed, especially me. Dumbledore chuckled as well.

"I am not joking Mr. Weasley, though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar…" and the Professor McGonagall cleared her throat noisily.

"Er- but maybe this is not the time…no…" said Dumbledore. I chuckled. Dumbledore was always so amusing.

"Where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament. Well, some of you will not know what the tournament involves, so I hope this that do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely."

Dumbledore proceeded to explain the Triwizard Tournament after that.

(Authors Note: Okay guys, I don't know if you noticed, but up till now, Dumbledore's script has pretty much stayed true to the books. But I'm pretty sure that anyone who's reading this will know about the Triwizard tournament and how it works. I'm not gonna type it all out, so if you don't know how it works, I suggest you look in the books or ask someone else.)

Dumbledore explained to us that the Triwizard Tournament consisted of three schools. Each school had a single champion selected from all of its students. The other two schools, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, would arrive later in October and the champion selection would take place shortly after that, by an impartial judge. The prize for winning the tournament, which consisted of three very dangerous tasks, was 1000 galleons.

"I'm going for it!" I heard Fred whisper, and I seriously hoped he was selected. I would love to cheer him on in the tournament.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts, the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age- that is to say, 17 years or older- will be allowed to put forth their names for consideration. This" Dumbledore had raised his voice to speak over several angry outburst and furious glares from the Weasleys. "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." At this Dumbledore glanced over at the Weasley's both who still wore furious expressions on their faces. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen."

"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!" and with that Dumbledore sat down and began to converse with Mad Eye Moody. Many students got up and made their way to the entrance hall where they would make their way to their dormitories.

"They can't do that! We're seventeen in April! Why can't we have a shot?" George intoned, still shooting furious glances at the headmaster

"They're not stopping me entering! The champions'll get to do all sorts of stuff you'd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand galleons prize money!" I heard Fred say stubbornly. But soon I was ushered forward with Katie and Sarah by a group of impatient third years. I seriously hoped that Fred would find some way of entering, although I found it highly unlikely. Dumbledore was not about to be fooled by two teenage wizards.

Katie led the way upstairs and when we got to the portrait of the Fat Lady, it was Sarah who had the password.

"I got it from one of the prefects," she explained, before she turned to the picture and spoke. "Balderdash." The portrait swung open and we all climbed through the hole in the wall to find the familiar Gryffindor Common room. It was exceedingly comfortable with squashy armchairs and sofas everywhere. There were several tables for students to do work at and a blazing fire was lit in the corner. However, being tired, all three of us did not linger but walked up to our dormitory. Our trunks had already been brought up and we all changed into our dressing gowns. I pulled the hangings of my four-poster bed shut and was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

I woke up the next morning to find sunlight streaming into the room. Glancing at my clock, I saw that I was extremely late if I wanted to fill up on breakfast before classes. Why hadn't Sarah or Katie woken me?

My dorm was already empty, so I dressed and ran down to the common room, nearly tripping down the steps as I did.

The common room was nearly empty. I was there of course, and one other person was there. It was none other than Fred Weasley. He was furiously trying to tie his trainers as he hopped across to the portrait hole.

"Fred!" I called out to him. Startled, he fell over in mid hop. I giggled and rushed over to help him up. Most boys would have turned red. Fred however, was laughing. That's what I loved about him. He wasn't afraid to laugh at himself.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, cheers" he answered as I pulled him to his feet.

"I guess you're late too?" I asked.

"Yeah, George didn't wake me, git." He said bitterly. I laughed.

"Well, we better get down to the Great Hall if we want to have time for breakfast." I said. He nodded and we climbed through the portrait hole, walking down the corridor at a brisk pace. Just me and Fred. But my stomach gave an unpleasant lurch. I had no idea what I would say to him.