Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except my OC's and my plot (this counts for the whole story)
Eliza Weber hurried through the Hogwarts Express, looking for her two best friends. When she reached their usual compartment, they weren't there yet, so she sat down and watched all the students saying goodbye to their families on the platform.
She scanned the crowd, looking for redheads but didn't find them. She took out her book and started off reading where she had left. It wasn't until she could feel the train starting to move that she looked up from the pages.
They still weren't there. She decided that if they weren't with her in the next five minutes, she would go looking for them.
Two minutes later two redheaded boys rushed in the compartment. They looked bewildered, as if they had only reached the train just on time. One of them closed the door and they looked at Eliza for the first time.
"Well, if it isn't the little Miss Weber!" the boy on the right said.
"She has changed a lot over the summer, don't you think so Fred?"
"Yes, I quite agree with you, brother. She has grown rather quiet, hasn't said a word to us yet!"
"Not even complaining about our rushing in – "
"—or our loud talking –"
"—or our first prank of our sixth year!"
"Yes, she has changed a lot since we last saw her."
"Okay, okay, you can stop now!" a laughing Eliza said.
"Oh! She has found her tongue!" Fred exclaimed, mocking an incredulous expression.
Eliza playfully glared at him and said:
"I'm just going to forget everything you guys just said. Let's start again: Hi George, hi Fred! Had a nice summer?"
"Why, hello Eliza! Our summer was quite delightful indeed, wasn't it Fred?"
"Yes. Yes it was! Especially those six weeks we weren't forced to hang out with a certain black-haired girl..."
"Fred! If you're going to be that way, I will leave you two to it and find Angelina, Alicia and Grace!"
"Come on El, you know he didn't mean it."
"Fine, fine, I'll stay."
"Great! Now tell us, what did you do during the holidays?"
"Err... I saved my sister from Joe, the terrible step-father... tried to talk some sense into my mother and ran away to my dad's place when I thought I tormented Joe enough. In short, the same as always. What about you?"
"We played Quidditch, invented some new sweets for WWW and sent letters to Ludo Bagman. How bad was your stepfather this time?"
"Absolutely horrendous! He didn't even let me touch my broom! And little Belle wasn't allowed to make any noise! She is five years old! Five year old girls just make some noise while they are playing. And my mother didn't even do anything! She just nodded on occasions."
"Aw, we're very sorry!"
"Thanks, but is isn't your fault."
"You could've just stayed at our house for some more weeks, until you had to go to your dad's"
"And leave Belle alone? I wouldn't do that! And besides, Joe is the perfect victim to some of my pranks..."
"Ah, do tell us all about it Eliza!"
And with that Eliza began to tell her best friends, Fred and George Weasley, about the time she set her stepfathers alarm clock two hours early, together with the rest of the clocks in the house so he was way too early for his job and had to wait an hour outside the building.
Or the time she baked cookies with her sister and put salt instead of sugar in a few of them, and made sure that those were the ones their stepdad ate.
"It was just hilarious! Mum, Belle and I just ate the cookies and Mum told us a few times how good they tasted and he just spit his first bite out and said that those were the most awful cookies he had ever tasted. And then Belle began to cry, saying that he was only saying that to make her feel bad, because she, my mother and I did like the cookies. I think that was one of the only times I ever saw my mum getting angry at him!"
"Sounds bloody brilliant El", George smiled at her. She had lately begun to get a funny feeling whenever George smiled at her. She talked about it with Grace, her best girl friend, and she told her it was obvious that she liked George. And as more than just friends. Eliza just laughed it off then, and she still didn't believe it now. It was just some weird feeling, it didn't even mean anything.
"What are you thinking about Eliza?" asked Fred.
"O nothing... just wondering about the big secret my dad wouldn't tell me about!" Eliza saved herself.
"Yes, our parents en brothers knew something, too, and they didn't even tell us!" George exclaimed.
"It has to be something exciting, even Percy said he was looking forward to it," added Fred.
"Ah well, we probably won't figure it out till we're at school so tell me more about your summer!" Eliza said.
The boys continued to tell her about the many pranks they pulled during the vacation and about the Quidditch World Cup. When they heard some familiar voices, Eliza stood and opened the door.
"Grace! Alicia! Angelina! It's so nice to see you again! How was your summer? Grace, you have actually gotten some colour!"
"Ha-ha. That's what you get when you go to Greece for two months!"
"No fair!" pouted Alicia "I got stuck at my grandparent's house for the whole summer."
After the girls greeted Fred and George, they played a few rounds of Exploding Snap before Eliza and George decided that they wanted to play wizards chess.
"I am sooooo going to win! I even won from my brother Ron once this summer, and he is like the King of Chess!"
"That may be, but I'm the Queen of Chess and I haven't ever played him, so you don't know who's better."
"True. One of these days you are playing against Ron!"
"Fine, fine... it is my turn, isn't it?"
"Yes, stay focused, will you!"
After a while of playing, Eliza suddenly said: "Checkmate!"
"Ah man! And I thought I could win this game."
"Bad luck mate, bad luck," consoled Fred "but nobody has ever won from Eliza so don't take this too hard on yourself."
"No, you're right."
It started to get dark, so the girls shooed the twins out of their compartment and changed into their Hogwarts robes. After the boys got back, they waited for the train to come to a stop and then they stepped out on the platform. They walked to the horseless carriages and with a bit of squeezing they all fit in one.
"I can see Hogwarts already!" Angelina said, who was the closest to the window.
"Finally! We haven't seen Lee yet, and I'm starving!" Fred said.
"You guys are always starving" Eliza teased.
"That's not true! I'm pretty full for about an hour after the feast."
Luckily the carriage arrived at the castle before Eliza could think of a witty reply so they stepped outside, in the rain.
"Ugh! I hate rain!" Grace complained.
"Quit whining. Subsisto pluviae." Eliza waved her wand above Grace and herself.
"What did you do? I'm not becoming wet anymore!"
"I just used a simple rain-stopping spell. We learned it in Charms last year, remember?"
"Err... sure."
"How you've gotten an 'E' on your Charms O.W.L. I will never know." Eliza sighed.
By this time they had reached the doors, so they went inside. Eliza hadn't put the spell off, and she was glad she didn't, for Peeves the poltergeist was throwing around water balloons.
Slipping and gliding, the six went into the Great Hall.
"How come you two are completely dry?" Angelina asked wide-eyed.
"Eliza used some genius spell!" Grace answered cheerful.
"And you couldn't have used it on us? Now we're soaked!" Fred complained.
"I'm sorry! I thought you guys would've thought to use some spell yourself."
"Well, obviously we didn't. We're not the smart Ravenclaws here." George said.
Eliza blushed and murmured some incoherent things.
"Well, we're off to our table!" Grace said as she grabbed Eliza's arm and dragged her over to the Ravenclaws. Eliza and Grace talked some more about their summer, but they hushed when Professor McGonagall walked in with the new first years.
"Grace! That boy has Hagrid's coat on! What do you think has happened?"
But before Grace could answer, the Sorting Hat began its 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 fen.
They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,
They hatched a daring 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 been yet wrong,
I'll have a look inside your mind
And tell where you belong!'
Everybody in the Great Hall applauded when the Sorting Hat quit singing.
Professor McGonagall read the names of the new first years one by one so they could get Sorted into their appropriate House. Eliza and Grace clapped and cheered every time one of them went into their House. After the Sorting, Eliza hoped that the food would come soon, 'cause she was famished.
Unfortunately, the Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, stood to say some words. Eliza hoped they would be few.
"I have only two words to say to you," he said. Thank Merlin! Eliza thought as Dumbledore finished with: "Tuck in."
Suddenly there were all kinds of dishes on the table, and Grace and Eliza happily obliged Professor Dumbledore's words.
After they had had desert, they talked with the Grey Lady, the ghost of Ravenclaw. She never talked about her life or how she died, but she did know all the gossip of the castle, so Grace and one of their dorm mates, Carmen, really enjoyed talking to her. They always wanted to know all the gossip there was to know.
Suddenly Dumbledore got to his feet again, and everyone fell silent almost immediately.
"So! Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices."
Great! Eliza thought, he sounds like it's going to take ages before we can finally go to sleep.
"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."
Eliza could swear she saw Dumbledore smile a little, but she looked over at George and Fred so she couldn't be sure. She caught their eyes, and they shared a knowing look. She knew that they, along with Lee, were responsible for at least the Screaming Yo-yos. Ah, good times! But Dumbledore's speech continued.
"As ever, I would like to remind you all that the Forest in 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."
"What!" Eliza complained, "But I was so looking forward to crushing Gryffindor this year!" She looked over at the twins, to see how they were coping, but she only saw them mouthing words, apparently without being able to actually
speak them. She felt sorry for them, Quidditch was a big part of their life. They were the Beaters in the Gryffindor team, just as Eliza was Chaser for the Ravenclaw team. She loved Quidditch almost as much as the twins, so she wasn't happy with Dumbledore's announcement either. But he still wasn't done with his speech.
"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 – but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts – "
Suddenly the doors of the Great Hall opened loudly and in came a very strange looking man. He walked towards Dumbledore in between the tables and because of the lightning on the ceiling of the Hall, Eliza could see a man with only one real leg and one real eye. The other was large and a vivid blue and was continually moving – creepy. When the man reached Professor Dumbledore he shook his hand, whispered something and sat at the teachers' table.
"May I introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody," said Dumbledore. Eliza hadn't even noticed there was one teacher missing. The DADA teachers never stayed longer than a year, nobody knew why. It was as if the job was cursed.
Only Dumbledore and Hagrid applauded for Moody, so they quickly stopped.
Dumbledore cleared his throat and talked further
"As I was saying, we are to have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event which 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!" someone said loudly, and Eliza recognized him as Fred. Eliza laughed at this, just as many others and even Dumbledore chuckled.
"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley. Though, now 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 and Dumbledore immediately began explaining what the Triwizard Tournament was.
Eliza was absolutely stunned. She had heard about a Triwizard Tournament before from her dad, and he had told her it was incredibly dangerous, they had quit the Tournament after some students got killed during it. Eliza decided to listen to Dumbledore again, maybe he said something she didn't know already.
"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 Hallowe'en. 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."
This excited some students for they began whispering. Eliza didn't think so much money could compensate the death toll, but they were all caught by the spirit of the glory.
"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 of 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 Hogwarts champion. I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen."
Well, Eliza thought, at least they put on an age restriction. She still thought it was dangerous, but students who are of age were most likely to be able to survive.
"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!"
Grace, Eliza and Carmen stood up and began walking towards the door, but Eliza wanted to talk to Lee, George and Fred before going to the dormitories and Grace, as a prefect, had to take the new first years with her. So Eliza bade Grace and Carmen goodnight and made a beeline to the Gryffindor table, where only Fred, George, their brother Ron and two of his friends were left. Eliza arrived just in time to hear George say:
"They can't do that! We're seventeen in April, why can't we have a shot?"
"They're not stopping me entering", said Fred, looking determined. "The champions'll get to do all sorts of stuff you'd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons prize money!"
"I don't think you'd have a lot of use for the money if you're dead!" Eliza entered the conversation.
"Of course we wouldn't die El! You have to have some more faith in us!" George said laughingly while looking at her. Eliza looked back, and knew she had to have a serious conversation with them as soon as possible, but right now she was too tired.
"I'm going to bed, but we will talk about this tomorrow! Understood?" She glared at the twins for good measure and turned to leave the Great Hall.
She was somewhere between fifth and sixth floor when the others reached her. Fred and George then walked with her till their parting point.
"You know, we've been best friends for the past five, almost six years, and we still don't know where the Ravenclaw dormitories are!" exclaimed Fred, looking affronted.
"Well, I will show you some time. But on the condition that you won't tell anyone about it and won't pull pranks on its inhabitants. At least not without me knowing. Deal?" whispered Eliza.
"Alright!" replied George. "You already know where our dormitories are, don't you?"
"Yes I do," Eliza laughed, "and I'm surprised that you, who claim to know all of Hogwarts, admit to something you don't know!"
"As soon as you have told us, we do know everything there is to know of the castle," said Fred.
"Sure. I'm leaving you two to it now. Good night!"
"Goodnight and – "
"—sweet dreams to –"
"—you too!" they said together. Though Eliza knew they did this often, to annoy people, she still wasn't completely used to it. With a wave, she turned, ducked through a tapestry with a hidden corridor and walked to Ravenclaw Tower.
When she arrived at its entrance, she knocked with the knocker and it asked:
"What has 21 eyes but cannot see?"
"A dice," answered Eliza sleepily, wondering why it didn't ask something harder.
"Correct!" it said and swung open to the Ravenclaw Common Room. The room was very light and open during the day, but when it was dark there were suddenly hundreds of stars shining in the ceiling and walls. Eliza always loved to watch them, and seek out constellations, but right now she was too tired so she walked through the room.
She saw her favourite blue-and-bronze fauteuil and the words 'knowledge is power' written in bronze above the fireplace. She smiled and walked to the girls' stairs. The highest dormitory had belonged to her year for the past five years, so she ascended the stairs and walked in. After she had unpacked her trunk she followed the example of her dorm mates and stepped in bed.
The second her head hit the pillow, she was fast asleep.
A/N: Hello everyone! I've been writing this story for quite some time now, and I finally posted the first chapter :) I have more chapters written after this one, so I'll probably update again within a week, if I'm not too busy with school and all...
Anyway, I'd love a review! If you have any ideas how to make this better, please say them! I like constructive criticism :)
I would like to thank my 5 friends, who have proofread this and encouraged me :P So, thank you!
Have a great week!
'~M M~'