Okay. Lily has gotten her wand, James has discovered that the sensational stories aren't as much fun when they involve real people in real pain, and Harry has acknowledged that he knows James will put his name in for the Tournament if the age line is dropped.

This section contains the last bit that I'll lift outright from the first version (I liked the arrival at the station just fine, and Dani's news conference). Now, I'm just on my story plan.

Table of Contents and Summary So Far

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James spent the next ten days with Teddy on his island in the Orkneys, coming up with a plan for the next book. At first, he'd got annoyed at the constant interruptions for changing Mira, putting Mira down for a nap, giving Mira bottles when Victoire was away for the day, and all sorts of other business that seemed less than related to writing. By the fourth day, however, he'd got to rather like picking her up when she cried, and Victoire said that he could get her calmed down faster than anyone, even Nana Weasley. And really, she didn't interfere that much, didn't even cry if you kept her fed and warm and bouncing a bit. He and Teddy managed to get most of the book planned out. James had been keen to add his new experience by having the fake Marauders find a baby, but Teddy said it would be better to stick to adventures for a few more books. ("Besides," he added, "Frankie already nixed that idea when I brought it up at lunch. Apparently, our main readers aren't all that fond of babies.")

While Teddy worked--he'd managed to get most of the time, but he was still in his apprenticeship, and couldn't get all of it--James wandered the island, exploring its caves and its wildlife. He took Mira with him in her pram on some of these treks, and discovered that she especially liked the edge of a cliff where the sea breeze came up and tickled her. He found a few augury feathers, and entertained himself by trying to infuse them into bits of wood from Victoire's plants (Teddy had enough weird magical gadgets from the Department of Mysteries that there was no chance of the Ministry noticing a little bit of underage magic). In the evenings, James helped Victoire in her greenhouse, and practiced speaking French with her, as it had occurred to him that Celia was right, and speaking French could be an advantage. He'd learned it to talk to Aimee and Artie sometimes, and spoke it with Celia, but he didn't feel entirely confident until Victoire shrugged and told him that he spoke it as well as her sisters and brothers did. She lent him a handful of French books to keep up his practice.

When he got back to London, there was a great deal of packing to be done, cats to be played with (as he could only take his owl, Lucia, with him to school), and quick reviewing of last year's schoolwork, overseen by Aunt Hermione. Lily and Hugo were getting quite nervous, and Dad joked about locking at least one of the children in Kreacher's cupboard so they couldn't go to school often enough that James was beginning to wonder if it was a joke. Kreacher, who doted on Lily, was inconsolable at the thought of her departure, until she gave him her favorite doll, Megrez, to look after for her. Meg was given a spot of honor beside the silver-framed family pictures that Kreacher kept in his cupboard, across from the picture of Regulus that Dad had set up for him with an ever-lit candle.

On the twenty-ninth of August, the Wizengamot declared that it would not seek to re-instate the age line at the Triwizard Tournament, and would instead trust that the Goblet of Fire would choose only the champions most able to compete. "Which should," a man named Cormac MacLaggen from Sports and Games said pompously, "keep it to those who are of age at any rate, as we are making quite certain that no one has tampered with it this time."

Aunt Hermione looked less convinced, and made a speech imploring students not to put their names in the Goblet unless they were properly trained and ready for the rigors of the competition. James was fairly certain she was talking to her daughter Rose directly when she took the trouble to point out that, "Having good marks in all of your classes is not suitable preparation."

Dad just seemed a bit spooked.

The first of September was a cloudy, drizzly morning, and James woke up to the sound of rain on his window and breakfast being prepared in the kitchen. He dressed and went downstairs. His trunk was packed, and Dad would put it magically into the car (James hoped he wasn't planning to walk in this weather), so leaving his room was rather anticlimactic.

Downstairs, Dad was fussing with the pots and pans, making a very large breakfast, Muggle-style. He looked up, smiled, then sighed. "I don't suppose I could convince you to stay home this year."

"The Goblet probably won't pick me, anyway," James said.

"I actually meant home." Dad shook his head. "It's going to be very empty here, with just Mum and Kreacher and me rolling about the house."

James laughed. "Right."

Dad looked around and said, "I'm glad you're first up. I'm going to make a fuss over Lily--"

"Of course."

"--but I did have something for you." He picked up his wand, and a small box zoomed over.

Curiously, James opened it. Inside, there was a miniature model dragon. It had been sleeping, and looked up drowsily when James picked him up. "The Hungarian Horntail?" he guessed.

"We drew them out of a bag to see which one each of us got."

"You want me to do this, don't you?"

"No." He shrugged. "But I know you want to. So, on the off chance that the Goblet chooses an outstandingly brilliant wizard instead just of one who's of age, I'd rather you know I'm on your side than imagine that I'm not."

"Thanks, Dad." James put the dragon back in its box.

Lily ran in a minute later, and the rest of the morning was devoted to Mum and Dad telling her how much they'd miss her, and Al and James trying to plant fears in her head about what would happen once she arrived at Hogwarts. She'd never believe that she'd be Sorted out of Gryffindor, so they settled for trying to frighten her about strict teachers giving dangerous detentions. This backfired, as she rather liked the idea of having to go into the Forbidden Forest and bleach a Lethifold, and would talk about nothing else as they made their way to the car, and took the short ride to King's Cross.

They all went through the barrier together and gathered in an empty area on the other side. Mum checked the tight plaits Lily was wearing and said, "Write to us, Lily. I mean, actually write. We'll write to you every day."

Dad crouched down and hugged her, then stood and tried to ruffle her tightly braided hair. "That's it," he said. "Someone has to stay, I'm not ready for this."

There wasn't much to say to this, which Dad seemed to understand, as he turned and waved to Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, who'd just arrived, trailed closely by Celia and her foster mother, Vivian Waters. They joined the Potters.

"What's the commotion up front?" Rosie Weasley asked, squinting at the front of the train. "There were people with cameras coming through the barrier with us."

She pointed toward the front of the train, where James could, indeed see camera equipment being set up.

Suddenly, from a space near the barrier, an excited shriek went up.

"It's HER!"

James craned his neck to see above the sea of cameras that had suddenly appeared, and there she was: Dani. The champion.

She was smaller than she seemed in pictures. The photographers had her standing on a pyramid of artfully stacked trunks, but this had the effect of making her seem smaller still. She was wearing blue jeans and a flowered tunic, and two flags--a Mexican flag and the Union Jack--were stuck into the base of her black ponytail. She grinned and waved at the cameras.

"Dani!" a reporter yelled. "Are you going to Hogwarts this year?"

She laughed, and responded in the light, accented English that had become so familiar over the last few months, English that sounded like it was about to break into a dance. "Oh, not for school!" she said. "But there are other things to be there for today!"

"Are the rumors true, then?" a second reporter asked. "Are you involved in the Triwizard Tournament?"

She grinned again and said, "Oh, but you have spoiled the surprise!"

This was met with a veritable roar from the press. Beside James, Celia said, "What is she going on about?"

James shrugged.

Daniela stood as tall as she could (James suspected she was on tiptoes by now) and said, "I shall tell you now: This morning, I was invited to be a judge for the Triwizard Tournament! I have accepted, and tonight, I shall observe when the Goblet of Fire chooses the group who will come from Hogwarts."

The students on the platform clapped loudly for this, but the press seemed momentarily flummoxed until a wiry man with thinning hair--Dennis Creevey--said, "Miss Villanueva, which judge stepped down?"

She frowned, and a tall man whispered in her ear; James guessed he was translating the question.

"Oh, yes," she said. "The place of Monsieur Didier Laurent, who did so very much to bring the tournament before he died, would have been taken by his wife, Madame Sandrine Laurent, but yesterday, she said no. She is a teacher at Beauxbatons, and she thought it would not be fair, especially because her son is judging from the French Ministry already."

There was a great deal of scribbling about this, then the questions about the tournament itself began--had they decided about the age line, what would the challenges be, things like that. James felt a little sorry for Daniela--she looked completely lost, and obviously didn't know. Beside him, he could tell that Dad was wincing, and he looked like he meant to step in at any moment, but he didn't have to. The same tall man who had translated for Daniela put his arms up and said, "Miss Villanueva doesn't have the answers to those questions yet. She must join the other judges momentarily."

She smiled gratefully and muttered something to him in Spanish (James only caught "Gracias"), then said, "I am so happy to be here, and to be a part of this great tradition!" She blew a kiss at the gathered students. "Good luck! Buena suerte a todos!"

With that, she scrambled down from the top of the stack of trunks, and was hustled away into the crowd.

"That was quite a performance," Aunt Hermione said.

"Don't judge her too harshly," Vivian said. "She's very young, and very nervous."

"And probably trying not to fall off that pile of trunks," Celia said, rolling her eyes.

"Isn't it time to go onto the train?" Lily asked, obviously annoyed that her first day of school had been so rudely interrupted (Hugo, who was looking after Daniela with a dreamy expression on his face, didn't seem to be so bothered).

The family took the hint, and made a great fuss over both first years. Rosie deeply frightened Hugo by suggesting that he might join her in Ravenclaw rather than going to Gryffindor, given that he could remember nearly anything he read on sight, which was apparently a highly prized skill in Ravenclaw Tower. Hugo threatened to steal her Sleek-Easy Potion and pour it down a drain if she dared to share that information with anyone at school. James teased Lily that she'd end up living with her brothers again, and they would have to approve anyone she made friends with.

"Right," Al said. "There are rituals they'll have to do. They're horrible. They involve death defying stunts--"

"--and humiliation," Celia added for good measure. "And danger. You should have seen what we put Al's new friend through last year. Jane was fat when she started, but now... well, you saw her here last year. Thin as a rail."

Al nodded. "But once they're through, we'll think about letting you keep them."

"I'll put you through rituals," Mum said, exasperated. "Starting with kitchen chores over Christmas."

The train whistle blew, and there was one more round of quick goodbyes, promises to write, and last minute straightening of hair--with Hugo, this was given up as a bad job--then together, the younger generation went to the train.