Preparations and Protocol

"No idea. Rowena theorized that they are judged by their own beliefs. They have to deem themselves worthy."

"Alright, fine." said Harry, not entirely understanding the portrait's words (he would have to ask later), "I really need to go, but one last thing. What does the stasis look like?"

"She won't move at all." Salazar informed him, "She might appear frozen. You may think she's dead, or asleep, but she is not. You can tell by peeling back her eyelids. If she is under the Phoenix Stasis, her eyes will be glowing a soft gold."

"Golden eyes, got it."

"Do not worry about it, it highly unlikely that it will occur anytime soon. Now tell me about this Champion Selection; it appears to be much more pressing."

"There are going to be a few famous witches and wizards, and some important ministry officials, I think." said Harry, "I know that the British, French, and Bulgarian Ministers of Magic are all going to be there, Professor McGonagall yelled it at us the other day when Fred and George were fooling around in the common room. They're going to be using the Recorder Glass too, to broadcast around the world."

"Do you know any of the places where people will be able to watch?" asked Salazar.

"All eleven major magical schools." said Harry, "They've set up temporary recorder glasses there, from what I know. Most major magical pubs as well. All the Ministries of Magic. I meant to ask you, how do you create a magical object that can broadcast like that, especially all around the world?"

"It isn't as hard as you think, all though it would definitely take a long time to do so." said Salazar, "You are simply imitating an action that can be performed by a witch or wizard, which is sight and hearing. Then you simply duplicate that. I expect the device has two parts, something to capture and something to display?"

"Yeah, there's this floating orb that captures everything, and it's displayed on this magical glass. We saw it at the Quidditch World Cup."

"I will teach you more about it when we work on runes." said the portrait, "But for now, you need to go. I will not have my heir looking anything less than perfect, especially when the entire world is watching."

"It won't be me they'll be watching," argued Harry, "It's going to be whichever idiots put their names into the Goblet. If the Tournament's anything like what it used to be, I'm not even sure there will be a third task."

"I suppose it would still be rather enjoyable to watch." said Salazar, "Have fun, and do not bring shame to our family."

"You mean the family that nobody knows I'm a part of?"

"Those who know about how the Parseltongue ability works will know you're a part of the family." argued Salazar.

"So, that's how many people, three? Five, if you're lucky?"

"Just get out, and don't do anything particularly Gryffindorish."

"I would never." said Harry, chuckling.

...

For the third time in the school year, Harry sat in the Gryffindor common room with the rest of his house, all of them listening to McGonagall as she spoke with a stern tone. He was thanking his lucky stars that they were told to wear their regular robes; they had been told to bring dress robes with them for the school year, and Harry had been under the impression that they would be using them today.

That did not mean, however, that they were not forced to dress nicely. They had been told to be in the common room fifteen minutes before they needed to leave, so that Professor McGonagall could make sure they were all appealing to the eye. By her side stood Professor Trelawney, who was helping Professor McGonagall look over the student. For the sake of time, each house was being looked over by their head of house, as well as another professor.

It could not have been more clear that Professor McGonagall did not approve of Professor Trelawney's fashion tastes. She had proved that by reprimanding nearly all of the students who had been given the approval of Professor Trelawney.

"Miss. Patil, if I have to tell you to remove that ghastly ornament from your hair one more time, it will be detention!" McGonagall said in a shrill voice.

"But Professor, - "

"No buts, especially not at a time such as this! Gather around now, all of you!"

The students of Gryffindor did as they were told, settling themselves down in the many armchairs, couches, and some even on the floor. Harry moved over to the back, attempting to stay out of Professor McGonagall's line of sight.

The last thing I need is for her to stare at me when she starts talking about following the rules.

He continued to stroke Hedwig's feathers from his seat on the stairs of the boy's dormitory. After confirming that Hedwig had been perfectly fine after the ritual, Harry had decided to bring her with him. It would be nice to have her with him so that she too could enjoy the event.

"I am not going to repeat the rules and guidelines for this event, as we do not have much time." said Professor McGonagall, "I am sure that all of you remember them after the two previous meetings we have had in this very room. I assure you that those rules have not changed in the slightest, and that the punishments for misbehaving are much harsher."

Professor McGonagall's eyes looked around the room. Harry was willing to bet several galleons that they were either searching for himself or the Weasley twins.

"Instead, I would like to review the plans for the evening. As many of you may have heard, we have several international guests visiting tonight. The French, Bulgarian, and British Ministers of Magic will all be joining us, as well as a few members of the ICW and British Ministry. There will also be others, such as Celestina Warbeck, the Weird Sisters, Camille Estelle, and a few others."

Many of the Gryffindor students seemed to somehow get even more excited at that. Harry, however, was not one of them. He had long learned that nobody was really who they portrayed themselves to be; the only people he would ever be excited to see would be those of personal value or sentiment to him.

"These guests will simply be here to enjoy the selection. They will not be performing tonight, or anything of the sort. If you wish to meet them, you will have to wait until after the Champion Selection, and only if they are fine with it. Do not make a fool of yourselves, or I will have you banned from any future events."

A few Gryffindor's nodded excitedly, though most simply slumped downwards in defeat.

.....

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