Chapter One - Wednesday 1st September 1994
Severus Snape thought about how long the year ahead was going to be as he made his way down to the great hall as in several minutes the older students who attended Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry would be arriving to start a new year at the school and all the teachers were expected to be in the great hall to welcome them. The year hadn't even begun and Severus was exhausted because this year Hogwarts would play host to the Twiwizard Tournament. The Tournament, which would be held for most of the school year, had taken up a lot of time to get ready by many of the schools teachers as well as the ministry of magic. Representatives from two other magic schools Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and Durmstrang Institute would be arriving the day before Halloween to take part in the Twiwizard Tournament. All the teachers had to rearrange their lessons timetable to fit in the extra classes for the foreign students. All the students that were coming for the tournament were in their seventh year. Severus would now be teaching two extra NEWT level classes of foreign students this year which meant he would lose two of his free periods. To make up for it he had spent the last four weeks preparing all his lessons for all seven years of Hogwarts students as well as preparing the foreign students classes. Each of the schools had sent the Hogwarts teachers their lesson itinerary for them to use to plan their lessons as not all of their students learning would be able to be done in their accommodation.
Arriving in the great hall Severus made his way to his seat at the teachers table, with Professor Sinatra on one side and an open seat for Professor McGonagall on the other and not long after the students started to arrive. They were all completely saturated from the rain outside and Peeves was also throwing water balloons in the entrance hall as the students made their way inside. After all the older students were seated the door of the Great Hall opened and silence fell. Professor McGonagall was leading a long line of first years that were all completely socked, and one of them had on Hagrids' large coat. McGonagall started the sorting ceremony and the sorting hat began to sing. Severus was not really interested in what the hat had to say this year, or any other year for that matter. He was more focused on which of the students he would have in his house, Slytherin and this year he couldn't wait for the sorting and the feast to be over so that he could give the prefects all the information they needed to know for the first few weeks of school and then he could finish preparing for the next day's classes. As Severus looked down over all the new first years to see if he thought any of them had the look of a Slytherin, his eyes fell up on a tiny girl with long black hair as she pushed her way to the front of the group. She was at least a couple of inches shorter than most of the other first years and she appeared to be the only dry first year in the bunch and he wondered if she had come in a different way than the others as there was not a single drop of water on her nor did she have a hair out of place. In fact her appearance was immaculate, not like the other students who were rumpled and soggy. Confused he continued looking over them. No one really stood out to him in the group so he sat and waited for the sorting ceremony to begin.
"When I call out your name, you will sit on the stool and put on the sorting hat," McGonagall told the first years. "When the hat announces your House, you will go and sit at the appropriate table." And she started to call out the names.
"Ackerley, Stewart!" was called and the boy was sorted into Ravenclaw.
The next name called out to be sorted was Baddock, Malcolm. Severus's house erupted with cheers as Baddock was sorted in to Slytherin. Severus noticed, as he politely clapped along to show support for his house, that Malfoy was one of the most enthusiastic cheers amongst the lot.
"Creevey, Dennis!"
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted, and as the small boy went running towards the Griffindor table he yelled in a shrill voice to his brother, Harry Potter's biggest fan, Severus noted, Colin Creevey
"Colin, I fell in!" he said shrilly, throwing himself into an empty seat. "It was brilliant! And something in the water grabbed me and pushed me back in the boat!"
Snape rolled his eyes. McGonagall continued calling names "Everest, Sevanna". She strutted up to the stool and the sorting hat was still a few inches from the young girls head when it called out the house in which the girl had been sorted.
"SLYTHERIN!" the hat yelled and another cheer went up from the Slytherin table. The tiny girl got up and ran to the Slytherin table with a huge grin on her face. Severus took note that she was the tiny dry girl. He had a feeling that he would have to keep an eye on this one. She had trouble written all over her little dimpled face.
With all the new first year students sorted Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and the stool and carried them away. Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet with his arms held wide welcoming the students.
"I have only two words to say to you," he told them, his deep voice echoing around the Hall. "Tuck in."
Severus selected a piece of stake, steamed vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy from the dishes that had filled themselves with food in front of everyone. He wasn't a fan of exotic, fancy, overly flavored food and proffered to stick to his meat and vegetables. As he started to eat he made himself not look at the students as he often felt sickened at the way in which many of the students gorged themselves at the start of year feast. It was as if they were all starved over the summer and needed to eat as much as they possibly could. Too many students ended up in the hospital wing on the first night at school needing something to calm their stomachs as they had over eaten. He looked over at the Slytherin table to see how all his students were doing. He noted that the dry blacked haired girl Sevanna Everest was scowling at Malfoy. Again confused about the young witch, he started up a conversation with Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall about how the process of their preparation for the foreign students was coming.
Over at the Syltherin table Sevanna was trying to keep her temper under control before she murdered Draco Malfoy in front of the entire school body. She had been ecstatic that she had been sorted in to Slytherin. Even though her maternal family came from a long line of pure-bloods they believed in teacher their children at home and not going to school. As she was the last family member in line that posed magical powers she was the first one to attend school. She did not know who her father was but she knew he too had been in Slytherin when she was a student at Hogwarts. After her mother died due to a work accident and her grandparents had died from dragon pox she was forced to live with her mother's second cousin Trisha, her last remaining relative who was a squib and detested magic. So for the last 3 years she had been banned from doing magic where anybody could see her but that never stopped her. She studied many of her dead families books and learnt all kinds of magic when her guardians where otherwise occupied with their three perfect children. When she had gotten her letter she paraded it around proudly rubbing it in Trisha's face. Trisha had tried to forbid her from attending Hogwarts but when Mrs. Longbottom had knocked on the family's front door a 3 days before school was to start, she had no other option but to let Sevanna go with her to get all her school supplies and to stay with the Longbottoms until it was time to leave for school. Her mother had known the Longbottom family when she was a young girl and Albus Dumbledore had asked Mrs. Longbottom to take Sevanna to Diagon Alley to get her school supplies as no staff were able to and he thought a women would be needed for the job.
After being taken to Diagon Alley by Mrs Longbottom, she was finally able to access her family's fortune that was stored in Gringotts. She hadn't been able to visit Diagon Alley since her mother and grandparents had passed on. After filling up a sack with as much money as she could Sevanna had bought herself all new school robes as well as wizarding clothes for weekends and holidays because she hated muggle clothing but Trisha had gotten rid of all her wizarding clothes when she had gone to live with her cousin. Mrs. Longbottom had stopped her from buying a firebolt as she was too young to have her own broom at school. Sevanna also brought herself a cat. The Everest family already has many Owls at Everest Manor. She was going to be taking one of them along with her also, so there was not pint in buying a new one. For some reason Malfoy thought he was a real comedian and was making jokes about how he had seen her with Neville. He also thought he would tease her for not eating red meat. She ignored his ignorance with a scowl on her face. If he didn't shut up soon then he would be wishing he was never born she thought as she continued to eat her meal.
After everyone had eaten their fill the plates were cleared up at the teachers table Dumbledore stood to address the students. All the teachers and students talking stopped to listen to him.
"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at everyone. "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."
The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued, "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." At that moment the hall was suddenly filled with outraged cries from the students. "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy" Amen to that thought Severus "but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -"
And at that moment with a deafening rumble of thunder the doors of the Great Hall banged open and in the door way stood Mad Eye Moody shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swiveled toward him, where he was suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, and then began to walk up toward the teachers' table. A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling and there were gasps from most that had seen his face the lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any many people had ever seen. It looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening. One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness. As he reached Dumbledore he stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbledore shook it, muttering words that only he could hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side. The stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark gray hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students.
"May I introduce our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody." It was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause, but none of the staff or students chapped except Dumbledore and Hagrid who both put their hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairly quickly. Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moody's bizarre appearance to do more than stare at him.
Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached again into his traveling cloak, pulled out a hip flask, and took a long draught from it. As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground, revealing below the table, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot. Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "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."
"You're JOKING!" said Fred Weasley loudly.
The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.
"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "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 loudly.
"Er - but maybe this is not the time.. . no. . ." said Dumbledore, "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 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."
Suddenly Dumbledore was interrupted again by a loud shriek from the Slytherin table. To those who had not been looking in the direction of the Slytherins they would have missed Malfoy flying through the air, smacking his head on the ceiling and then landing back in his seat. For those who did see what had just happened which was mostly just the students nearest to Malfoy and Sevanna Everest they would have heard Malfoy's continues teasing and then would have seen Sevanna turn to glare at him and expel him in to the air without muttering a single word or using a wand, so fast that he was back in his seat before he knew what had happened and with a very sore head. Only three teachers Mad Eye, Dumbledore and Snape had seen Malfoy flying through the air. Mad Eye snorted in amusement and Snape looked stunned at what had just happened. He had been watching the two as the tension between them was obvious from where he was sitting and wanted to keep an eye on the situation. Dumbledore turned to look at Severus and catching his eye he used occlumacy to convey the message that what had just happened needed to be dealt with immediately after the feast.
While many students in the hall tried figure out what had happened, to everyone else but Snape, Dumbledore appeared to ignore the slight interruption and continued. "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 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." There was excited chatter from all around the hall.
"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, has 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" - Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious - "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 into making them Hog-warts champion." His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Fred's and George's mutinous faces. "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 part 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!"
Dumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody. There was a great scraping and banging as all the students got to their feet and swarmed toward the double doors into the entrance hall. Severus too excused himself from the teachers so that he could go and speak to his students.
In the Slytherin common room Severus had all the Slytherin students stay so that he could address them. "As some of you may have heard" he started, "the password to enter the Slytherin common room is Cockroach Cluster. I suggest for those of you have a short term memory you write the password down on the underside of your eye lids so that you are not stuck in the hall way until someone else comes to let you in." There were a couple of sniggers around the room from people who had picked up on Snapes' sarcasm. "I would also like to ask that any of the students wishing to enter the Triwizard Tournament come and speak to me before you do so just so I know who is entering. Also if you have any problems while you are here," he said speaking to the first years "you may speak with the Slytherin prefects before you come and report them to me. I don't have time to deal with petty little problems. And lastly you may all go to bed now except for Mr. Malfoy and Miss Everest. I would like to speak with you."
All the students started towards their appointed dormitories. Malfoy and Savanna stayed behind.
Severus eyes moved between the two students. Sevanna was sitting in one of the leather arms chairs in the room with her face down staring pointedly at the floor. Malfoy was leaning on a desk looking at Snape. "This evening while the headmaster was addressing the school there was an interruption, an interruption that came from my students." Severus said speaking in a clear low voice. "I want to know why Mr. Malfoy flew out of his seat and up into the ceiling in the middle of the headmasters' speech." Severus now looked down his nose directly at Sevanna for the first time. Malfoy stood with a smirk on his face assuming that Sevanna would be the one in trouble when this discussion was over. Slowly Savanna lifted her eyes and looked directly at Snape with a neutral expression on her face "Because Professor Snape" Savanna mimicked in the same low clear voice that Snape had used pronouncing each of her words, "Mr. Malfoy is a rude, nasty slimy little git." In side Snape was shocked. Hearing the tiny child's voice for the first time was like listening to his mother voice. Looking into her face and seeing her eyes was like looking in the mirror. Her eyes were the same shape and black as his and the shape of her mouth was the same as his. He had not seen it before as he was sitting so far away from her. On the outside Snape hid his reaction. He had perfected the art of looking as cool as a snow even when on the inside he was boiling.
Keeping his voice even "And why is Mr. Malfoy a rude nasty slimy little git Miss Everest?" Severus asked quoting Sevanna.
"Because he thinks he has the right to harass and tease people just because he has the idiotic notion in his idiotic head that he is better than everybody else. He believes that because his parents are a couple of stuck up just as nasty wankers as him, that he should be able to say whatever he wants to say and get away with it. What he doesn't understand is that nobody actually gives a rat's arse about the slim that dribbles from his ridiculous mouth. In fact they think he is pathetic." Malfoys' smirk had drop from his face and there was a pink tinge to his face.
"Mr. Malfoy, were you harassing a first year at this evenings feast. I expect you to answer me honestly the first time around also." Severus said Malfoy.
With a scowl on his face Malfoy ground out a muffled "Yes."
"I would suggest then Mr. Malfoy that in future you act you age. I am completely mortified that a student from Slytherin disrupted the headmaster's speech in front of the entire student body and the teachers. I think that the smack in the head you received from the ceiling was enough to maybe knock some sense into you and was punishment enough so I believe that you have suffered your consequences and will continue to do so for the next day or so with the headache that you will have. If you need anything for the pain you can make your way to the hospital wing. You are dismissed Mr. Malfoy. Miss Everest,' Snape continued, "As it is your first night at Hogwarts I am going to give you some leniency and let you off with a warning. I don't know how you did it but if I or anyone else ever sees you fly another student in to the ceiling like that again you will suffer the consequences of your actions. Do you understand? Snape asked.
"Yes." She answered.
"Good. Now off to bed with you. I believe that you will be in my class first thing tomorrow morning so I suggest you get some much needed rest." Snape replied. "And also," as Sevanna turned to leave, "try to keep filthy words out of your pretty little mouth. Young ladies should not speak like that" Sevanna left the common room for the first year's girls dormitory in a huff. Severus left the dungeons and went to speak with Dumbledore. Preparation for lessons would have to wait for now.