CHAPTER TWELVE

In a violent storm, students reach Hogwarts. Inside, Peeves pelts the crowd with water bombs until Professor McGonagall drives him off. The Great Hall fills for the feast as Harry, Ron, and Hermione sit with Gryffindor and note several empty seats at the staff table, including the missing Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

The Sorting Hat sings a new song and first years are Sorted, with Dennis Creevey excitedly joining Gryffindor after falling into the lake. Hagrid arrives late from ferrying the first years. Ron grows impatient for food, while Nearly Headless Nick discusses Peeves’s disruption in the kitchens.

Hermione is stunned to learn from Nearly Headless Nick that over a hundred house-elves work at Hogwarts. Outraged at their conditions, she refuses to eat, calling the feast slave labor, despite Ron’s attempts to tempt her with dessert.

After the feast, Dumbledore issues notices: expanded banned items, Forest and Hogsmeade rules, and the cancellation of the Inter-House Quidditch Cup. A dramatic interruption reveals the scarred, one-eyed Mad-Eye Moody, whom Dumbledore introduces as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Dumbledore then announces the Triwizard Tournament will be hosted at Hogwarts. He explains its perilous history and promises new safety measures. He sets a firm age restriction of seventeen and hints he will enforce it. Fred and George fume and plot ways around it, while students buzz with excitement about glory and the thousand-Galleon prize.

Back in Gryffindor Tower, Hermione pointedly mutters about house-elf labor before retiring. In the dormitory, Ron muses about entering if they can bypass the restriction. As the storm rages, Harry drifts to sleep imagining himself hoodwinking the judge, becoming Hogwarts champion, and winning the Tournament to Cho’s admiration.