Harry's letter to Sirius
Dear Sirius,
Thanks for your last letter. That bird was enormous; it could hardly get through my window.
Things are the same as usual here. Dudley's diet
isn't going too well. My aunt found him smuggling doughnuts into his room yesterday.
They told him they'd have to cut his pocket money if he keeps doing it, so he got really angry and chucked his PlayStation out of the window. That's a sort of computer thing you can play games on. Bit stupid really, now he hasn't even got Mega Mutilation Part Three to take his mind off things.
I'm okay, mainly be cause the Dursleys are terrified you might turn up and turn them all into bats if I ask you to.
A weird thing happened this morning, though. My scar hurt again.
Last time that happened it was be cause Voldemort was at Hogwarts. But I don't reckon he can be any where near me now, can he? Do you know if curse scars sometimes hurt years afterward?
I'll send this with Hedwig when she gets back; she's off hunting at he moment. Say hello to Buckbeak for me.
Harry
Harry's plea for non-diet food is answered
~ A large box stuffed full of sugar-free snacks from Hermione's house.
~ A sack full of Hagrid's own homemade rock cakes
~ An enormous fruit cake and assorted meat pies from Mrs Weasley.
~ Four superb birthday cakes, one each from Ron, Hermione, Hagrid and Sirius.
The Invitation sent via Muggle post
Dear Mr and Mrs Dursley,
We have never been introduced, but I am sure you have heard a great deal from Harry about my son Ron.
As Harry might have told you, the final of the Quidditch World Cup takes place this Monday night, and my husband, Arthur, has just managed to get prime tickets through his connections at the Department of Magical Games and Sports.
I do hope you will allow us to take Harry to the match, as this really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; Britain hasn't hosted the cup for thirty
years, and tickets are extremely hard to come by.
We would of course be glad to have Harry stay for the remainder of the summer holidays, and to see him safely onto the train back to school.
It would be best for Harry to send us your answer as quickly as possible in the normal way, because the Muggle postman has never delivered to our house, and I am not sure he even knows where it is.
Hoping to see Harry soon.
Yours sincerely,
Molly Weasley
P.S. I do hope we've put enough stamps on.
Owl Post
Harry - DAD GOT THE TICKETS - Ireland versus Bulgaria, Monday night.
Mum's writing to the Muggles to ask you to stay. They might already have the letter, I don't know how fast Muggle post is. Thought I'd send this
with Pig anyway.
We're coming for you whether the Muggles like it or not, you can't miss the World Cup, only Mum and Dad reckon it's better if we pretend to ask their permission first. If they say yes, send Pig back with your answer pronto, and we'll come and get you at five o'clock on Sunday. If they say
no, send Pig back pronto and we'll come and get you at five o'clock on Sunday any way.
Hermione's arriving this afternoon. Percy's started work - the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Don't mention anything
about Abroad while you're here unless you want the pants bored off you.
See you soon -
Ron
===
Ron, it's all okay, the Muggles say I can come. See you five o'clock tomorrow. Can't wait.
Harry
===
(Postscript to Sirius)
If you want to contact me, I'll be at my friend Ron Weasley's for the rest of the summer. His dad's got us tickets for the Quidditch World Cup!
===
Harry's Most Prized Possessions
~ The Invisibility Cloak he had inherited from his father.
~ The broom stick he had gotten from Sirius.
~ The enchanted map of Hogwarts he had been given by Fred and George Weasley last year.
Advertisements at the Quidditch World Cup
~ The Bluebottle: A Broom for All the Family - safe, reliable, and with Built-in Anti-Burgler Buzzer.
~ Mrs Shower's All Purpose Magical Mess Remover: No Pain, No Stain!
~ Gladrags Wizardwear - London, Paris, Hogsmeade.
Harry's items for a new school year
~ The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, by Miranda
Goshawk.
~ A handful of new quills
~ A dozen rolls of parchment
~ Refills for potion-making kit: spine of lionfish and essence of belladonna.
~ Dress robes for formal occasions.
New Sorting Hat Song
A thousand years or more ago,
When I was newly sewn,
There lived four wizards of renown,
Whose names are still well known:
Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,
Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,
Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,
Shrewd Slytherin, from fin.
They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,
They hatched a darung plan
To educate young sorcerers
Thus Hogwarts School began.
Now each of these four founders
Formed their own house, for each
Did value different virtues
In the ones they had to teach.
By Gryffindor, the bravest were
Prized far beyond the rest;
For Ravenclaw, the cleverest
Would always be the best;
For Hufflepuff, hard workers were
Most worthy of admission;
And power-hungry Slytherin
Loved those of great ambition.
While still alive they did divide
Their favourites from the throng,
Yet how to pick the worthy ones
When they were dead and gone?
Twas Gryffindor who found the way,
He whipped me off his head
The founders put some brains in me
So I could choose instead!
Now slip me snug about your ears,
I've never yet been wrong,
I'll have a look inside your mind
And tell where you belong!
Mr Filch's list of objects forbidden inside the castle
The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty- seven items including: Screaming Yo-Yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs.
Triwizard Tournament
The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang.
A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued.
There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament, none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt.
We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.
The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their shortlisted contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween.
An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money.
Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hog warts, 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, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration.
This 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 in to making them Hogwarts
champion.
I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.
Password to Gryffindor Tower
Balderdash
Curses most heavily punished by wizarding law
~ Imperius Curse
~ Cruciatus Curse
~ Avada Kedavra / the Killing Curse
The Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban.
You need to practice constant never ceasing vigilance.
More Owl Post
Harry
I'm flying north immediately. This news about your scar is the latest in a series of strange rumours that have reached me here. If it hurts again, go straight to Dumbledore - they're saying he's got Mad-Eye out of retirement, which means he's reading the signs, even if no one else is.
I'll be in touch soon. My best to Ron and Hermione. Keep your eyes open, Harry.
Sirius
===
Dear Sirius,
I reckon I just imagined my scar hurting, I was half asleep when I wrote to you last time. There's no point coming back, everything's fine here.
Don't worry about me, my head feels completely normal.
Harry
===
Nice try, Harry.
I'm back in the country and well hidden. I want you to keep me posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. Don't use Hedwig, keep
changing owls, and don't worry about me, just watch out for your self . Don't forget what I said about your scar.
Sirius
===
The Weighing of the Wands
Fleur Delacour: nine and a half inches. Inflexible. Rosewood and containing a single hair from a veela (Fleur's grandmother).
Cedric Diggory: containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn. Twelve and a quarter inches. Ash. Pleasantly springy.
It's in fine condition.
Viktor Plum: a Gregorovitch creation. Hornbeam and dragon heartstring. Rather thick and quite rigid. Ten and a quarter inches.
Harry Potter: Holly. Eleven inches long, and
contained a single feather from the tail of a phoenix.
The First Task (24 November)
Retrieve a golden egg from your allocated fire-breathing dragon.
The Yule Ball is approaching
A traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for Hogwarts to socialize with the other schools.
The ball will be open only to fourth years and above - although you may invite a younger student if you wish.
Dress robes will be worn.
The ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall.
The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to let our hair down, but that does NOT mean that
we will be relaxing the standards of behaviour we expect from Hogwarts students.
The castle at its best this Christmas
Everlasting icicles had been attached to the banisters of the marble staircase.
The usual twelve Christmastrees in the Great Hall were be decked with everything from luminous holly berries to real hooting golden owls.
The suits of armour had all been bewitched to sing carols whenever anyone passed them.
Harry's Christmas Presents
~ Hand knitted socks from Dobby: the left sock was bright red and had a pattern of broomsticks upon
it and the right sock was green with a pattern of Snitches.
~ A single tissue from the Dursleys.
~ A book called Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireand from Hermione
~ A bulging bag of Dungbombs from Ron
~ A handy penknife with attachments to unlock any lock and undo any knot from Sirius
~ A vast box of sweets from Hagrid. These include all Harry's favourites: Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, and Fizzing Whizbees.
~ A new jumper (green, with a picture of a dragon on it) and a large quantity of homemade mince pies from Mrs Weasley.
Prefect's Bathroom
Password: pine fresh.
It was softly lit by a splendid candle-filled chandelier.
Everything was made of white marble, including
what looked like an empty, rectangular swimming pool sunk into the middle of the floor.
About a hundred golden taps stood all around the pools edges, each with a differently coloured Jewel set into its handle. There was also a diving board.
Long white linen curtains hung at the windows.
A large pile of fluffy white towels sat in a corner.
There was a single golden-framed painting on the wall. It featured a blonde mermaid who was fast asleep on a rock, her long hair over her face. It fluttered everytime she snored.
The Second Task (24 February)
Champions have precisely one hour to recover what has been taken from them.
Come seek us where our voices sound,
We can not sing above the ground,
And while you researching, ponder this:
Wove taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour-- the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.
The Third Task (24 June)
Get through the obstacles in the maze and touch the Triwizard Cup located in the centre. Obstacles may come in the form of creatures and spells that need breaking.
Plot Twists!
Barty Crouch Junior (a loyal Death Eater) disguised himself as Mad Eye Moody by drinking Polyjuice potion. It was under this disguise that he entered Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire.
Rita Skeeter was an unregistered Animagus and spied around Hogwarts as a beetle.
GLOSSARY
Omnioculars
You can replay action; slow everything down; and they flash up a play-by-play breakdown if you need it.
Death Eaters
Supporters of Voldemort.
Portkey
An inanimate everyday object that is enchanted to transport anyone who grasped it to a pre-arranged destination. Particularly useful for those who cannot apparate at will; those who wish to travel in daylight (which means broomsticks etc would be inappropriate) or whose destination had no fireplace.
Bubotuber pus
An excellent remedy for the more stubborn forms of acne. Wear dragon-hide gloves when handling the undiluted form.
Rita Skeeter
Special Correspondent for the Daily Prophet.
S.P.E.W.
The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare.
Manifesto: Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status.
Veela
Semi-human, magical creatures most alluring in their human form. When angry, their appearance transforms into harpy-like creatures.
Gillyweed
Eating this helps you breathe in water.
===
Information derived from the fourth Harry Potter book: The Goblet of Fire
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