While Speaker Tom Riddle was holding forth to the reporters, the drawing of lots on the stage was also underway.
As the first contestant, a pretty girl who looked quite confident, stepped up while everyone else hesitated and drew a wooden plaque bearing the number 36, Professor McGonagall waved her wand and lightly tapped the center of the Great Hall. A long, narrow dueling platform, 15 feet (about 4.6 meters) wide and 5 feet (1.5 meters) across, suddenly sprang into existence.
The platform seemed to burst open under pressure, pushing everything around it aside as it appeared in an uncanny fashion.
Everyone's eyes blurred for a moment as they stared at it in amazement, yet somehow it seemed as though the platform had always belonged there.
The Undetectable Extension Charm was a high-level spell, as well as a highly sophisticated form of Transfiguration.
One dueling platform after another appeared in the Great Hall as the Champions drew their lots, pushing the four enormous tables farther and farther apart until they eventually formed a ring around the platforms.
Three sets of burning letters floated above the platforms.
--Platform 36.
--Vanessa Baldini (17), from the Alchemy Cabin, an independent organization (registered specialties: Charms, Alchemy, Ancient Runes, History of Magic)
--Draco Malfoy (14), from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (registered specialties: Charms, Alchemy, Quidditch, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Ancient Runes)
The letters were dark green, but the three specialties they shared—Charms, Alchemy, and Ancient Runes—turned dark red.
With the tournament underway, host Lockhart could no longer keep Voldemort occupied. He hurried over.
When the other reporters saw that Lockhart was no longer there to shield them, they found themselves alone in the presence of the terrifying Dark Lord. Fear rose in their hearts, and they scattered like a swarm.
They fanned