Chapter One: Hogwarts
Rain was coming in thick drops, splatting the pavement of King's Cross cheerfully, creating a symphony of chaos and mayhem. At least that's what it sounded like to Annie Jane as she led her four siblings across the parking lot. Today was the first day of term at Hogwarts, and she was almost entirely sure they would miss the train. Annie Jane was very plain with a round face, her mother's Roman nose, a frowning mouth, sickly complexion, and an irritating array of freckles that some of them looked a lot like very light moles. The only extraordinary parts of her appearance were her enormous blue eyes and semi-long dark gold layers of hair. Otherwise she was as plain as her name.
She remembered how last year it had been raining when she had led three of her siblings across King's Cross, except then it had been storming instead of simply raining. Regardless, between her parents' car and the station, her siblings had managed to drop something thrice each, and Annie Jane was now thoroughly soaked through her jeans. When they finally managed to get to the doors of the station, Annie Jane turned and waved her parents on. She knew the rest. They honked once and then pulled out, her mother no doubt planning a relaxing semester with a clean house and fewer mouths to feed. She was a Squib, while Annie Jane's father was a Muggle, therefore Annie Jane had the knowledge of one world and the life of another—"A good, stable environment," Mr. McKree liked to say.
From the entrance it was some distance until they reached the platform. Annie Jane looked at her watch and almost gasped in shock. They had ten minutes to board the train. Bearing down and gritting her teeth, she turned and faced her four siblings. "Look, we have ten minutes until the train leaves. If we don't get there before it leaves," she took a deep breath to finish the last menacing thought, "you will never be wizards."
This seemed to be the perfect motivation for her siblings, and as Annie Jane led them twisting and turning between the various groups of people, they followed her silently and with exact precision, dropping not a single item from their carts. When finally Annie Jane led them careening through the barrier of nine and ten, they followed her without hesitation, knowing already that they would be accepted through the gate. The moment each one got on the other side, the older siblings helped the younger siblings with their luggage. Sarah Jane was the youngest, then John Michael, then Sandra Jane, then second-oldest John Henry. Annie Jane's mother came from a long line of So-and-so Jane's and John Something's. She was not one to break tradition any more than she had to, and having already been a Squib, there was no debate on how to name her children.
When they finally loaded every trunk, cage, and package onto the train, Annie Jane swung Sarah Jane onto the top stair just as the train started moving. The rest of the siblings were forced to climb on at a jog or, by the time it was Annie Jane's turn, a run. She swung herself on the train with a heave and then turned to her youngest sibling, who alone had waited for her. "Sarah Jane, go look for an compartment. I'm sure you'll find someone nice to talk to."
"Can't you introduce me to someone?" Sarah Jane asked desperately, her eyes wide at the idea of her eldest sister's abandonment.
Annie Jane sighed exhaustedly. She had been doing this once a year for four years now and she had one more year to look forward to it. From then she would pass the torch to John Henry, who would only be cursed with being the once and would then pass the duty on to the next in line, as well. Annie Jane never complained about being an oldest sibling of seven until the first day of school. "Look, everyone else has to make their own friends. I can't find you friends, because they won't respect you if I do. I made my own friends when I was a first year, and you're far more extroverted than myself. Now go." She gave the little girl a shove on the back in the general direction of the front of the train, shaking her head. She'd given her other siblings the same speech.
She began her trek to the back of the train, looking through the windows of compartments for her fellow sixth-year Hufflepuffs. In almost every compartment she saw someone looking at a newspaper. Everyone was obsessing about the terrors of the World Cup still, despite the fact that Muggles had been the targets, not wizards. Still, no one liked to think of Death Eaters on the rise. At the term "Death Eater," Annie Jane blanched. See, she thought to herself.
A pair of hands blindfolded her eyes and someone whispered in her ear, "Guess who!"
With a cry, Annie Jane turned and hugged her best friend, Cedric Diggory. They had established a platonic friendship on the train to Hogwarts in their first year, and their friendship had grown in strength ever since. Both were the elite Hufflepuff students, the ones that made Hufflepuff's name stand out where it normally would have been dull compared to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor's shiny history. They were expected by their peers to someday wake up and find themselves madly in love with each other, but no one quite understood their relationship. They didn't expect anything from each other—other than an open ear and a truthful mouth. They simply knew each other too well to be interested in romance.
"How was your summer?" Annie Jane asked, leaning back and grinning, putting her hands on her hips to look up at Cedric. Where she was of medium height and somewhat round in her hips and chest, Cedric was tall and lean, his cheekbones defined and his jaw strong. He was extremely handsome and girls from all four houses swooned when he entered a room.
"It would have been great if you'd been there to enjoy the Quidditch Cup with us," Cedric reprimanded.
"I know, I know," Annie Jane said, rolling her eyes. "It just wasn't possible, I told you."
"I heard you," Cedric said, grinning again. "A couple of us have an compartment toward the front of the train. After we check in at the front compartment we can join Orwell and the others."
"Sounds great," she said with a small smile in the face of his huge one.
At the front of the train, they were told by the Head Boy and Girl, along with the other Prefects, what was expected of them. They were then dismissed to do rounds and Cedric split from Annie Jane to go toward the back of the train where most of the Slytherins were. Annie Jane looked in on the first year students, introducing herself here and there to make the ickle firsties feel more comfortable. She stopped at Sarah Jane's compartment to introduce herself to Sarah Jane's new friends and discuss briefly how the Sorting really went, as the other three girls with Sarah Jane were terrified nearly into hysterics after an older Slytherin had come in and started talking about being fed to a werewolf if they didn't pass the super-hard test given them that included dueling a shade. Afterwards, Annie Jane asked what the student looked like and was told immediately that it was Draco Malfoy.
With a scowl, Annie Jane traipsed the hallway of the train until she finally found an compartment that had six Slytherins laughing raucously inside. Annie Jane opened the compartment door and looked in. The six stopped laughing and immediately looked up at her angrily for the interruption.
"Malfoy," Annie Jane snapped, and the blonde's eyes narrowed.
"Yes?"
"Stop scaring the first years or I'll take five points off Slytherin. Wouldn't want to lose points before you even changed into your school robes, would you?"
Malfoy gritted his teeth but shook his head quickly enough.
Annie Jane left, satisfied, having put the fourth year in his place. She finished patrolling and then headed toward the back of the train to find Cedric again. He was the one who knew where their compartment was. She found him and he finally led her back to where their friends were waiting.
Leslie and Jack Orwell were twins from Hufflepuff, both seventh year students. They were part of the group that consisted of the glorified popular Hufflepuffs—Samuel Bulstrode (sixth year), Gregori Svenski (seventh), and Funilda Teroy (sixth). Of that group, only Funilda, Sam, and Jack were in the compartment.
The group welcomed their prefects joyously, Funilda hugging Annie Jane and Jack clapping Cedric on the back. They sat back and begin to talk about their summers, only pausing to buy almost everything from the cart to share between the five of them. When they finally reached the subject of the Quidditch Cup, Annie Jane sighed irritably, prompting the other four inhabitants of the compartment to stare at her. "I've heard just about as much as I can take about the Cup. My cousins wouldn't shut up about it."
"It was a pretty big deal, though," Funilda said worriedly. "It could mean anything, couldn't it? My dad said that Mad-Eye Moody was attacked the other night, and—"
"Mad-Eye is always being attacked, though," Cedric pointed out. "I can't even begin counting how many times Dad's been woken up in the middle of the night to attend to a Moody call."
"You know, he's going to be the Dark Arts teacher this year," Jack cut in thoughtfully. "I bet it'd be interesting."
"He's going to be a teacher?" gasped the other four.
"How do you know?" Annie Jane asked, frowning.
"He's good friends with my mum," Jack said, shrugging. "She said that I should mind him—when we got on the train—or something of the sort."
"Does anybody know what's going on that all the parents were alluding to?" Funilda asked. "They kept dropping hints but they wouldn't tell me."
Annie Jane looked at her, feeling out of place now more than ever. Raised as a Muggle and living in a practically Muggle household, she was constantly feeling left out. She got the Prophet, but she wasn't privy to the amount of information all her friends were, since all of them had at least one parent working for the Ministry.
"Yeah, my dad was doing the same thing," Cedric said pensively. "It must be something pretty exciting though, because he was bursting at the seams with excitement."
"I suppose we'll find out soon enough," Annie Jane said crossly, wanting to change the subject from the unknown to the comfortable subjects in which she could participate.
Hours later, after they had almost talked themselves hoarse and imbibed more sugar than they could stomach for the rest of the week, the train began to slow down and finally shuddered to a halt. All five were comfortably dressed in their black robes and Hufflepuff colors. They exited the compartment and filed out behind the other anxious students. The thick rain of earlier had turned into a blustery downpour which was bordering on monsoon weather. On the platform, first years split from the rest of the students and went toward Rubeus Hagrid. As Sarah Jane filed nervously by, Annie Jane gave her a tiny hug, kissed her on the cheek, and wished her good luck. "You'll do fine," she said in the little girl's ear. Giving her a nervous smile, Sarah Jane followed her new friends away with Hagrid.
Cedric and Annie Jane trudged the muddy path to where the carriages awaited and found, to their dismay, that the carriage with their friends had been filled. One carriage appeared empty so they climbed into it, waiting for it to begin moving. They began talking when the door swung open once more and two girls climbed in, talking excitedly. They were Cho Chang and some other girl that Annie Jane couldn't identify. Annie Jane didn't much like Cho Chang. From what she had heard, Cho Chang was a snobby fifth year who was boy-crazy and liked to play games in order to win the affections of her desired boy.
Cedric smiled warmly and said hello to the both of them, then launched into a conversation about Quidditch. Annie Jane watched, content to note the exchange between them. Cedric was oblivious of Cho's behavior toward other young men, but she could tell that Cho's interest was definitely piqued by her fellow Seeker.
When finally the carriages stopped and the students clamored out, it was to find that the weather had worsened once more. They entered the doors of Hogwarts, looking around the warm hall and shaking the water off. Cedric did the three girls a favor and dried them off. Belatedly they noticed that Peeves was dropping water bombs on students entering the Great Hall. They only just managed to duck out of the paths of many of the bombs and hurry into the hall. The two Ravenclaw girls waved good-bye and Cedric, looking flushed and excited—no doubt because of Cho's flirtatious attention—led Annie Jane on to the Hufflepuff table. Their friends had saved seats for them, all of them dry and excited, anxious to get the Sorting over, the meal eaten, and to hear the news that Dumbledore had for them. The entire train had been buzzing with excitement over the insinuated ordeal this year had in store for them.
When finally the Sorting began, the Hufflepuffs leaned forward eagerly to watch the new Hufflepuffs come sit with them. Eleanor Branstone, Owen Cauldwell, Laura Madley, Kevin Whitby, Lisle Folds, Patrick McCraggen, Amanda Briggs, Jake Terrel, Shailee Anjani, and Peter Knowles were their new Hufflepuffs. Sarah Jane joined the rest of the McKree children in Ravenclaw, as Annie Jane had expected.
Finally the feast began and the students dipped ravenously into each dish, enjoying and savoring the meal the house-elves had provided them. During the first feast, Annie Jane always felt pangs of gratitude for the lovely meal. House-elves could cook better than anybody's business.
The students fell into discussions about what to anticipate this year, and some of the students had some pretty extreme theories. Annie Jane mildly told the most excitable students that they would soon find out. Dumbledore seemed as if he was waiting to announce something.
The feast came to a slow end, and finally all the messy plates and dirty tablecloths cleared, revealing spotless tables and clean dishes. Dumbledore stood up and began to address the room.
"So! Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices.
"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."
Annie Jane leaned over and whispered in Cedric's ear, "I suppose we'll be expected to memorize it." Cedric nodded, rolling his eyes.
"As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year.
"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."
Cedric and Annie Jane gasped, exchanging horrified looks. No Quidditch? What could possibly take the place of QuidditchAround the room, other team members were mirroring their own shock.
"This is due to an event that will be starting up in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy—but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts—"
Dumbledore did not get to finish explaining why Quidditch had been so inexcusably dismissed because the doors to the Great Hall were thrown wide open, thunder rumbled too loudly for clear thought, and lightning from the enchanted ceiling suddenly illuminated none other than Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody. Annie Jane had never before seen the famed Auror and madman before now, and was surprised at his appearance. She had expected someone…well, grandfatherly. Instead, he was a grizzled man whose features looked as if they were made from discarded clay. There were numerous chunks missing from his nose and cheeks, his skin was mottled and scarred, his hair gray and stringy, and he walked with a pronounced limp. One of his eyes did not entirely match the other—it was large and blue instead of the small black one that looked almost normal compared with the rest of his face. The eye swiveled autonomously of the other in the man's head, sometimes spinning backward and other times in extreme directions to stare back at the students that were openly gazing with ill-concealed horror and interest.
The man approached Dumbledore, greeting the Headmaster quietly and grimly. They clasped hands briefly before Moody went to sit in the empty Dark Arts chair. Annie Jane's eyes moved once more to Dumbledore's face, who now looked prepared to continue on.
"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody."
No one clapped save Dumbledore and Hagrid, and even they seemed somewhat hesitant to give more attention to the bizarre man than was absolutely necessary.
After a short, awkward pause, Dumbledore cleared his throat, smiled resolutely, and continued, "As I was saying, we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."
From Gryffindor table beside the Hufflepuffs, one of the Weasley twins said loudly, "You're JOKING!" The entire hall erupted into laughter.
"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore laughed, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar…"
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat admonishingly.
"Er—but maybe this is not the time…no…where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament…well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely.
"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 compete 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 decide the time 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 short-listed 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."
Annie Jane turned immediately to Cedric and said, "Do it, Cedric. You could win!"
He smiled at her, shrugging, but she could see the excitement that lit up his face.
Dumbledore's voice rose above the excited whisperings. "Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts, 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 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 under-age student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." Annie Jane noted that Dumbledore's eyes held those of the Weasley twin's thunderous ones for a moment. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.
"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater parts of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"
Cedric and Annie Jane stood to lead their house, and more specifically the first years, to their common room. "First years this way, please!" Annie Jane called over the throng. The youngest students came to stand nervously before her, anxious to see where they would be living for the rest of the year. "You needn't look so worrisome!" she laughed at them. This did nothing to appease them. She sighed and led them out of the Great Hall, through the door to the right, and through the halls of lower Hogwarts. Cedric had doubled back to alert the other students of the password ("Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare, likes the damp and cool dark air!").
Annie Jane led the students through several dark halls, past many portraits and statues, and finally came to a tapestry of a Muggle-born wizard princess and her wizard lover, locked into a loving embrace. Annie Jane repeated the password and then pulled the bottom of the tapestry up, allowing the students to file under it, through the new doorway which had been a wall only moments before, and down a winding staircase which climbed downwards until the students thought they could descend no more, where the stairs stopped and they turned a corner, through an archway, and into a very cavernous space.
In the center of the cavern gaped an enormous cheery hole, a fire crackling merrily in its center. A huge circular couch circled almost all the way around. In various tiny circles around the room, puffy yellow armchairs allowed for group study and discussion. The ceiling was a small imitation of the one found in the Great Hall, reflecting the outside weather. The rock walls looked as though they were very moist, although a curious first year touched a wall and found that it was actually quite dry. Stalagmites rose from the floor. During her first year, Annie Jane had thought that the wetness of the cavern would give them all pneumonia. However, when expressing her worries to Professor Sprout, the Head had assured her that the air was magically dried and therefore the students needn't worry about their health.
"This is your common room. It is here that you will study with your friends, talk, and relax when classes are not in session. Please keep it tidy and be careful of the fire." She pointed at the far wall where two arches, both leading to different hallways, were spaced about ten feet apart. "Girls' dormitory is to the right, boys' to the left. You will be in the fifth room this year, all of you."
The groups went through their archways to their rooms, no doubt excited to see what their rooms looked like. They would probably be disappointed. The dormitories were each a large room with several four-poster beds. She had been told that every dormitory in Hogwarts looked the same, no matter how the commons looked or where they were.
Annie Jane watched the last boy enter the hallway then flopped tiredly onto the sofa before the fire, allowing the waves of heat to warm her. Hogwarts was ever a cold, drafty castle. She sat for a few minutes, her thoughts on the Tournament, when she heard voices echoing in the staircase. The rest of the House was coming. She watched as student after student, gabbing with their friends, filed tirelessly down into the common room and then through their archway, discussing who was going to enter. All of them had Cedric's name on their lips, and Annie Jane smiled. Everyone knew that of any in Hufflepuff, Cedric was likeliest to get his chance at the Tournament. Annie Jane proudly anticipated his participation in the competition. She knew the opportunity was too much for Cedric to pass up.
When finally her group of friends descended, they spotted her at the couch and joined, talking excitedly.
Cedric flopped down last, watching the rest of them discuss it. "Are we all entering, then?" he asked them quietly, his eyes on every last one of them.
"We could all enter, Cedric, but we know who would get in. Besides, Funilda and I aren't old enough," Samuel said. "But Annie is," he continued. "You gonna enter, Annie?"
"No," she said. "I'll just cheer Cedric on from the sidelines."
There was a murmur of agreement from the rest of their friends.
"Well, Ced," Jack said with a grin, "it's on you, then."
Cedric grinned lopsidedly, giving his face a boyish look. "Thanks for support," he said sincerely. "I'm not sure I'm going to get it, though."
"And he's modest, too!" Funilda shrieked laughingly.
Cedric's grin broadened. "I just can't think of why a Hufflepuff would get the opportunity—"
"Yeah, but who else would the judge pick, Cedric? You're handsome, smart, charming…" Annie Jane laughed at her adjectives.
"Oooooh," Funilda simpered, "Annie's in lo-o-ove with Ced-er-ic." She extended Cedric's name to encompass three syllables, and Annie Jane rolled her eyes.
"You guys should know by know that it's not like that," she said mildly.
"Yeah, yeah," Funilda said, shrugging Annie Jane's denial off. "We'll see."
Cedric and Annie Jane exchanged looks of exasperation. Their friends would never understand what was between them.
"All right, enough," Annie Jane ordered. "Let's go to bed. We really do have a full day ahead of us. We have our N.E.W.T. level classes to prepare for."
With loud groans, the group stood, perfectly content in their consistent world of friends and school.