I think Harry's name came out of the Goblet of Fire when the selection of champions of the respective schools occurs. Just like in canon except it's in Durmstrang. Very excited to see how Durmstrang is portrayed by Myst.

The preliminaries were probably held just to select the delegation that would represent Hogwarts. For all we know, both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons held the preliminaries in their respective schools to determine the delegation to send to Hogwarts in canon.

 

I reread the chapter and they did leave, I missed that on first read.

On one hand thankfully we ignore the whole everyone hates Harry for entering the goblet saga, kind of hard to accuse someone on the other side of the world, yet on the other hand I am disappointed we won't be seeing Hogwarts arriving at Durmstrang.

 

Would they arrive similar to how Beauxbatons students arrived at Hogwarts? Except that instead of the Abraxan horses, they'd use Thestrals.

 

I'd like to think Hogwarts would be a bit more original than to just copy their method. Especially as it's an English school, and the other is French, those two don't tend to get along too well.

 

I kinda imagined that the Durmstrang ship and Beauxbatons carriage were those schools' versions of the Hogwarts express.

 

Hmm, but those two have a bit more variety in destination. Unless the Hogwart's Express lays the tracks as it goes through magic... That actually sounds pretty cool, I would not be opposed to that. That still leaves the problem of sleeping space, but that is easily solved through interior rearrangement done by magic.

 

A flying Hogwarts Express would be so damn awesome. And wow, that comment about Fleur got quite the reaction huh? It's just a vain hope, from a fan. While I like romance I can't say it's fundamental or is the wat to improve a story. Look at The Kingkiller Chronicle, I love it, but I hate Denna and her romance.

So yes, I would like to see some romance, specially Harry/Fleur but I wouldn't think any less of the fic if it stayed romanceless. What I want now is Durmstrang, no idea how it will be, except a feeling that it will be (or at least reminds of) a gothic castle.

 

His french avian sex object. The accent is important Oz. But it would be nice to get a badass Fleur, a la Nikita.

 

Go bother Sesc to start posting his french connection story for that one, with the update rate of this story, we will see Fleur next year...

 

God no. I tried to joke with him once. He made me cry like a little girl.

 

To be fair, you are a little girl.
Yet another high quality chapter from one of the best writers in the fandom. I wasn't a fan of the way the chapter ended, but I did like the way that the Goblet of Fire scene (if that's how it was expected to proceed) takes place off screen, as it makes it plain that Harry wasn't involved in being selected. There's also a new dynamic rarely found in fanfiction -- no Ron and Hermione, and yet they stay close friends. As for Fleur, I rather suspect she will make an appearance, but its too early to tell if she'll have any romantic part in the story. Personally, I've always enjoyed stories where she dismisses him and then has to eat her words later on. None of us are here for the romance aspect of the fic, so it really doesn't matter WHO Harry ends up with, just HOW well its handled.

 

Updated. It was an alright chapter, no really new stuff though. The next chapter is when we'll really be introduced to Durmstrang.

 

Spoiler

More importantly, if the little blurb is anything to go by, Sirius Black escapes Azkaban in the next chapter.

I liked this chapter though that may be because Hopkirk reminded me of a friend from law school and the plot has definitely started moving along. That said the discussion of magical contracts seemed a bit shallow but I suppose sufficient for the story (I'm somewhat disappointed that all magical contracts appear to be wholly unbreakable by third parties; Dumbledore doesn't even discount the possibility of doing such a thing when talking about Hermione's little ploy).

 

It was an 'Unbreakable' Vow. I figure they're called that for a reason.

 

I thought the point was that the "magical" aspects of magical contracts were bullshit, but that they (specifically the TriWizard contract) was politically important on a national scale. Edit: Forgot about the "oath to stick together at Durmstrang between Harry and Hermione. Meh though. Works within this tale."

I was a fan of the wit-sharpening potion and the fact that in this story, learning the language of the hosting school was a "hidden test," by the Goblet.

 

Made my day. I love this story.

 

Can't remember but does Ron still have Scabbers?

Spoiler

If so if Sirius escapes as alluded too then that builds a nice side story for Ron while Harry and Hermione are at the tournament. A nice touch too introduce more elements to the story than just the tournament, adds a bit of variety in plot.

 

Yeah, he was even mentioned in the new chapter, when Hermione broached the subject of her coming to Durmstrang with Harry .