"Is it true?" A young voice asked as Harry and Neville stepped into the Ravenclaw Common room. The two exchanged confused looks, then turned back to the first-year who was practically vibrating in eagerness.
"…is what true?" Neville finally asked.
"Can you really turn into animals?" The young boy asked while the other new first-years watched from a nearby sofa. Rather than give a verbal answer, Neville simply seemed to twist and warp into his orange-furred shape.
"…cooooooool!" The boy gasped as Neville knuckled up to him, then reached out one long arm and patted the boy gently on his head.
"So… If I remember correctly, you're Stewart… Ackerley? Did I get that right?" Harry asked and Stewart nodded as Neville reverted back to his human form.
"That was awesome!" Stewart gasped. "Do we get to learn how to do that?"
"Well, first of all, I would recommend learning Occlumancy." Hermione said as she stepped into the Common Room, Ginny, Luna and Parvati close behind her. "It is a great deal easier to become an Animagus if you have a well-ordered mind."
Parvati nodded. "It's true. I've been practising every day and I'll soon be ready."
"Quite a few of the teachers are Animagi." Ginny added.
"Even Professor Flitwick?" One of the girls asked and Ginny shook her head, but a new voice broke in before she could reply.
"Sadly, my heritage prevents me from attaining that particular skill." Filius replied from the doorway to his office. "The same goes for Lord Hagrid. As for the rest of us… there's a list in the library of registered animagi. You may want to check it out some time."
"Thank you, sir!" The first-years chorused, then they started giggling.
"And one of the downstairs rooms has had a greenhouse attached to it." Filius added. "Albus paid for it himself after he became an Animagi so no matter the weather, everyone who has an animal form now has a place that they can relax in it. Lord Potter, I do believe that it would also make a good place for your study group."
"It certainly sounds like it." Harry agreed.
"Well, you must be hungry, so why not show our newest Housemates how to get to the Great Hall and back?" Filius prompted and Harry laughed.
"Yes sir. Alright, you lot. Form up and let's go!"
Harry led the assembled first-years out of the Common room and turned left.
"Now, Hogwarts is a magical place which doesn't always make sense, so to get to just outside the Great Hall, we go up this set of stairs and the next one, then turn around and come down them."
"It works." Ginny added before any of the first-years could do more than open their mouths to ask. "The stairs go to one place if you go up and a completely different place if you head down. Don't worry about it, the Arithmancy is apparently very complicated."
.
Draco looked up from his plate as Potter entered the Great Hall, a large number of his followers in tow. A sneer tried to form on his face, but he fought it down.
"I've spoken to Professor Snape." Zabini said as he sat down beside Draco, ignoring Crabbe and Goyle who were chomping their way through large bowls of porridge. "Over the weekend, I'll be trying out as our new Seeker. I've shown him that I have a Comet S5 for it. Thanks for arranging that discount, if I haven't mentioned it before."
"You are welcome." Draco replied. "Owning a Broomstick store does have some advantages. I was quite surprised that you didn't go for the Firebolt."
"Too expensive, even with the discount." Blaise shook his head. "Sure, all of its capabilities are better than even the S5, but I sat down and worked out the relative costs. You actually pay more per mile-per-hour for the Firebolt than you do for any of the Comet S-series."
"…an interesting way of looking at it." Draco admitted. "Well, you'll have a full year to practise and… I wonder."
"You wonder what?" Blaise asked and Draco smirked at him.
"Blaise, do you think you could outplay Chang or Kenyon?"
"…unless they've upgraded, I think I could." Blaise mused. "Why do you ask?"
"Due to the Tri-Wizard, there is no inter-House Quidditch this year." Draco smirked, then he . "But maybe we could have a different level."
"What?" Blaise sounded confused and Draco smirked at him, then ate the last piece of sausage, chewing it before swallowing.
"If you will excuse me, I believe that I need to speak to the teachers."
His expression hinting at the confusion that he was feeling, Blaise watched Draco walk away.
.
"Headmistress McGonogall, may I make a request?"
McGonogall looked up from her cinammon-sprinkled porridge, one eyebrow quirked. "Of course, Lord-Apparent Malfoy."
"Professors Snape, Vector, Sprout and Flitwick, if you would also be kind enough to give your opinion?" Draco requested. "I know that with the Tri-Wizard tournament coming here, we will not have our usual Quidditch matches, but I have been considering the situation and I have to ask, could we host Inter-school matches? Have a multi-house team from Hogwarts compete against similar teams from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons?"
"An intriguing idea, Mr Malfoy." Snape steepled his fingers. "Aside from the need to choose said team and have them train together, I see no insurmountable problems."
"Who did you have in mind for the team?" Flitwick asked curiously.
"The Beaters would have to be the Weasley Twins." Draco said calmly."I am certain that everyone would agree that there are no better Beaters at this time in Hogwarts. For a similar reason, I would ask Lord Potter to be the Keeper. I would be happy to apply for the position of Chaser, although I would ask Mr Diggory to be the lead Chaser due to his experience and skill, he is without doubt the best Chaser currently here. The third Chaser… I remain undecided. As for Seeker, I would suggest a Seeker's Duel to decide."
"Five points to Slytherin for a well-reasoned set of suggestions." Flitwick stated and the tinkling of gems in the large hourglasses marked the first awarded points of the year. "Minnie? It has my vote."
"Five more points for seeking to include all the Houses." Minerva agreed. "I will contact the other two schools and I will have your answer by the end of the day."
Draco bowed slightly at the implied dismissal and returned to the Slytherin Table, where several of his House-mates were giving him looks of approval (or jealousy) for being the first to score points.
.
"Whatever Malfoy did, it was obviously approved of." Hermione noted as several gems fell from the upper bulb of the Slytherin Hourglass into the lower one.
Harry nodded in agreement, then helped himself to more of the hash browns and bacon from the platter in front of him.
"So, Ginny, Luna, what did you choose to study?" Hermione continued. "You never mentioned what your choices were."
"I'm doing CoMC, Arithmancy and Runes." Luna supplied. "So's Ginny."
Ginny nodded, but didn't reply since her mouth was full of food.
"Good choices." Harry nodded, putting down his teacup. "Hagrid really knows his stuff with CoMC, so make sure you listen to him. Speaking of, I'm going to visit him this afternoon. I find myself missing his rock cakes."
One of the sixth-year students close enough to overhear stared at Harry in shock.
"You… what?"
"They're tasty." Harry countered and the student shook his head in disbelief, but before he could continue, Flitwick appeared and started handing out pieces of paper.
"Your timetables for the year." He smiled and Harry looked at his own.
"Huh. First period on Monday is free and… Staff lessons?"
"Optional for year three and above." Filius noted. "You need a Staff of your own in order to participate and the teacher is Aberforth Dumbledore."
"I remember seeing him use a Staff during the battle." Harry mused. "I didn't get to see much, but he was good. I'll have to see if I can get a Staff of my own. It sounds useful."
"Staffs have both advantages and disadvantages." Flitwick agreed. "Oh, Miss Granger? I tested it out and that spell doesn't work against Staffs. They just absorb it."
"Thank you for telling me." Hermione smiled as she accepted her own timetable. "I'll see if I can come up with a version that does work on them."
"You'll have your chance." Flitwick agreed. "The first lesson is just being measured up for a Staff, but if you want to have one, you will have to pay. It generally takes a few weeks for a Staff to be made, but Ollivander's good enough that he can make five or six at once."
"Sir…" Ginny asked and Flitwick paused. "Do you use a Staff?"
"I'm a little bit too short for that." Flitwick chuckled. "Besides, I generally find that my enemies run away if I simply axe them."
Herry groaned at the bad pun, as did Hermione and Neville.
"How much to staffs cost?" Hermione asked. "I've saved up quite a bit…"
"Anywhere between ten Galleons for a basic staff to several thousand for one inlaid with runic schema, filligree and multiple jewels to enhance the magical capacity." Flitwick answered almost instantly, causing several of the students to flinch. "Unlike Wands, though, Staffs can be upgraded over time, meaning that the cost of getting a full Wizard's Staff can be spread out over several decades. Another advantage of Staffs is that if you find yourself facing something immune to magic, you have a long length of wood to hit it with until it goes away."
Flitwick trotted off, chuckling to himself as the students exchanged glances.
"I think I'll see if I have a Staff in my Family Vault." Harry finally said thoughtfully.
.
.
"Do you think that this is enough security?" Albus half-joked as he stretched his shoulders, then rubbed at the small of his back.
"You can never have too much security." Moody countered as he stepped back and looked at the circular wooden platform with the central, fixed plinth ready for the Goblet of Fire to be placed on it. "Okay, so that's an Age Ward, a Ward to prevent people from carrying a name not their own to the Goblet, an anti-throwing Ward, meaning that they'll have to actually position the paper above the cup before it'll go in, a Ward that cancels spells such as Wingardium Leviosa, an anti-Polyjuice Ward… still don't know how Flitwick managed to get that for us to put in the Plinth… an anti-Imperious Ward, an anti-Animagus Ward… Owl-repulsion array… Looking good. Between the Wards on this dais and the Wards around Hogwarts, I think that this is going to be as secure as we can make it."
"And if you say it's secure, then no-one will be able to get through the defences." Albus chuckled.
.
.
"The Goblet of Fire!" Dolores breathed as she slowly circled the relic on its plinth. "Incredible… and old. It will need to be protected."
"Oh, my, yes!" Crouch agreed instantly. But people still need to be able to get to it, so…"
"The Goblet istelf must not be changed." Dolores mused. "Perhaps a stand with protective runes on it, to hold the Goblet in place and protect it from anything thrown at it, but with the Wards open at the top to allow for the paper to be placed inside."
"An excellent idea!" Barty agreed.
"Quite right, you are a genius for coming up with it." Dolores smirked. "You know, I do believe that there is a shop in Tegg's Nose that could help with that."
"The Peacock's Ring!" Barty realised. "Oh my… but wouldn't it be expensive?"
"Advertising?" Dolores said quietly, just loud enough for Crouch to overhear.
"…but if we let them put a poster in the window saying that they were the ones to do it, they'll probably be happy to do it for cost!"
"Quite right." Dolores nodded. "Why not go ask?"
Barty nodded and bounced out of the room. Once the door closed behind him, Dolores sighed.
"Bloody moron." She grumbled, then pulled out her wand and a sheet of parchment.
"Let's see, the spell will have to place the paper in just the right place to fall into the Goblet while Confunding it enough that it'll accept it as genuine… this will be quite a challenge… but my contacts will be up for it… if they know what's good for them…"
As she muttered to herself, she sent diagnostic spell after diagnostic spell at the Goblet, the results writing themselves on the parchment.