As Katrina finished her pudding, she noticed that Orla kept glancing her way, looking with a mixture of both shyness and curiosity. Well, Katrina thought, it was a good thing she was sorted into Ravenclaw. Now Orla could see her a good lot of the time! Then again, she supposed she wasn't in the Ravenclaw common room much, not since last year. She'd spent more time with the Gryffindors.

Musing worriedly, Katrina wondered if she could spend as much time in the Gryffindor common room. It wasn't her house, but it was as good as, in her opinion. Not to mention their common room had a much more homey sort of feel (Katrina's living room had a very similar theme, most likely her father's doing). Not to say she didn't like Ravenclaw Tower, because her common room was by far her favorite and always would be her favorite no matter what, but the Gryffindors as friends and students were very welcoming to her since the beginning of Fifth Year.

Shaking her head free of busy thoughts, Katrina set her golden fork onto the table and idly wiped her hands on her robes, though they weren't dirty. She wanted to think of something else. Sifting around the Great Hall, she looked to the staff table. All of the seats but one were filled, and in the back of her mind, Katrina took note that the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had not arrived yet. Either they were late or there wasn't one entirely . . . which she didn't think was possible with Dumbledore as Headmaster. So Katrina decided that the new professor must be caught up in their duties (or simply being lazy, but she hoped not) and then turned her attention onto Dumbledore, who had risen once again at his podium. The Great Hall's tittering faded away immediately as they awaited his begging of the year speech.

"So!" he said brightly. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give a few notices."

Katrina nodded to herself. There were usually notices at the beginning of the year, and reminders, and other things. Maybe Dumbledore would mention the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker," said Dumbledore, "has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs." Katrina thought she could hear the twins groaning from a ways off, but set her giggles aside to continue listening. "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."

Katrina had no doubt that the twins already knew this list by heart, and were most likely responsible for at least three quarters of it. Dumbledore might have smiled the slightest bit as he continued and said, "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 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?" Katrina gasped, immediately whipping her head around to the Hufflepuff table. Her younger brother, Alex, had his mouth open wide and his eyes looked like they could pop out of his sockets. One of his best friends, Cedric Diggory, was right beside him, though maybe a bit more thoughtful. Just a bit. Turning to the Gryffindor table, Katrina saw Fred and George were also rendered speechless (for once) and Lee was sitting stiff as a board.

"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 —" Dumbledore said through the shocked silence, "but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts —"

But, quite suddenly, Katrina felt a booming so loud it made her ribs vibrate and the floor beneath her feat groan in dislike. Thunder roared above the Great Hall from the enchanted ceiling, and Katrina looked up to see the clouds swirling faster than ever. Not a moment later, the huge doors to the hall slammed open and Katrina jumped nearly two feet into the air. Startled to her wits' end, she faced the doors, only to see a mangled sort of figure standing there.

Cocking a single eyebrow, Katrina watched as a sudden crack of lightning lit up the man, who was even more mangled than she thought. She couldn't get many details from her seat, since she was so far away from the doors, but she could tell that his hair was long and mangy along with the rest of his ugly, contorted face. The black traveling cloak he wore made his shoulders look much huger than they surely were, and as he began to walk up the aisle, a loud clunk echoed through the room every-other step.

On and on he clunked, every eye on his dark, shadowed body and, by the sound of it, every breath baited. Who could this be? It couldn't be the new professor, could it? No, surely not — but then who was he?

If Katrina knew she was staring, she would have stopped. But she didn't, so on she stared, watching along with every other student as this odd man clunked up to Dumbledore, most likely to explain his absence. Another bolt of lightning and a few gasps later, Katrina had found herself rooted to her seat, wide-eyed and stunned.

It couldn't be anyone else — his eye. . . . One was normal, beady and the like, but the other . . . it was the brightest blue she had ever seen and was whizzing about hither and thither. The scars on his face, the chunk out of his nose . . . the missing leg. There was no mistaking him.

Mad-Eye Moody.

If Katrina was staring before, then she was definitely staring now. But not at Moody, no, at the wall, or the podium, or the ceiling. Anything that wasn't Moody. What if he — what if he knew who she was? Knew that she was her father's daughter? What would he do?

But Moody sat down on Dumbledore's right side and didn't acknowledge Katrina at all. For a very, very brief moment, she felt relieved. But then an icy anxiety began to claw at her chest as she realized that he was the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.

How would her dad react? Would he be thrilled? Probably. A little wary? Probably. But mostly thrilled. She, however, felt nothing short of intimidation.

Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody was said to be the best Auror there ever was. Sure, he was retired now, but that didn't make him any less great. He was strong, clever, and extremely intelligent, if not a little paranoid . . . and incredibly vigilant, if Katrina remembered right.

You see, she knew a lot about Mad-Eye Moody. Her father, Mr. Rhinehart, was an Auror and had told her tens of thousands of stories that revolved around his training days. And who trained him? None other than Mad-Eye Moody.

Katrina didn't really know much of how or why Moody trained her father, other than it was shortly after Mr. Rhinehart had graduated school and joined the Order of the Phoenix. Then he'd trail off and not say anything else, mumbling things under his breath. She didn't ask or tempt him any further because she knew what the Order of the Phoenix was made for, but only somewhat. It was very serious, so she supposed that if her father decided not to talk about it, it was for the best.

"May I introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Dumbledore asked the Great Hall, which were still quite silent. "Professor Moody."

As Professor Moody's magical eye whirled up and down the tables, Katrina forced her hair from green to brown as subtly as she could (which wasn't very subtle at all, mind you). Orla furrowed her eyebrows from behind her, but Katrina was too busy staring at the opposing wall to notice. Hopefully Professor Moody wouldn't recognize her somehow. She'd never met him, but there was no telling what that eye of his could do. . . .

Katrina jumped as Dumbledore cleared his throat. "As I was saying," he said, "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 great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

She swiftly forgot that Moody was in the room and whipped her head around to look at Dumbledore, awed.

"You're JOKING!" Fred shouted from a ways away. Katrina slowly began to grin as everyone around her chuckled and laughed at him (something she was sure made Fred swell with pride).

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore chortled, "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."

But as the headmaster went off track, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat from his left and set him straight again.

"Er — but maybe this is not the time . . . no . . . where was I?" Dumbledore asked. Without waiting for an answer from any of the students, he continued, "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."

That's exactly what Katrina did. She knew about the Triwizard Tournament in great detail because of all the books she had read about it; it was extremely dangerous, but extremely mind-blowing. Three students from the wizarding schools in Europe — Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang — were chosen from a neutral party, each to represent their school. The students would go through three different tasks, all very dangerous in their own unique way, and fight for points to win the Triwizard Cup. However, she remembered, almost every tournament had at least one death, mostly because the chosen student had been young an inexperienced.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said as Katrina eased out of her excited thoughts, "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." As multiple shouts of outrage and anger began to spout here, there, and everywhere, Dumbledore began to raise his voice even louder. "This is a measure we feel is necessary, given 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." Dumbledore's bright eyes traveled over the tables to a certain area and, as Katrina followed his line of vision, she found Fred and George giving him such a deathly stare she wouldn't have been surprised if Dumbledore staggered in his place. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen."

Although the twins didn't agree, Katrina felt that Dumbledore had made the right choice. As great as it sounded to be Hogwarts champion, she was sure it came with a price — new fame, new glory, and new anxieties and pressures. Not something she was entering in. She wasn't fond of Fred or George getting their heads gnawed off by a Sphinx, either, so she was quite happy with the decision overall.

"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year," Dumbledore explained. "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 for you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"

Katrina immediately bounced up and was quick to jog and weave her way as far up the crowd gathering its way to the doors as possible. Fred and George were standing a little ways away, just close for her to catch snippets of their conversation.

"We're seventeen in April, why can't we have a shot?" George asked.

"They're not stopping me entering," Fred grumbled stubbornly. "The champions'll get to do all sorts of stuff you'd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons prize money!"

"The judge wouldn't pick you, anyways!" Katrina called at them from her spot. Fred and George turned to scowl at her rather than Dumbledore now. "You're acting like immature pricks like that, just suck it up and have fun watching the other students get mauled by Manticores!"

As George opened his mouth to retort, Katrina turned her back on them and raised her hand high, waving it above her head. "RAVENCLAW FIRST YEARS, FOLLOW ME! Follow me, everyone! Blue hair, blue hair!"

She had forgotten all about Moody since learning of the tournament, so her hair had flared blue again without her even noticing. Once Katrina was finally in the Entrance Hall, she waited with the other new Prefects (two boys, Johnathan English and Richard Hightower) as the Ravenclaw First Years gathered around them. Katrina hollered with John and Richard and could only hope that by the time most of the students were out of the Great Hall that the First Years had gotten the picture.

"Alright," she mumbled under her breath nervously as she rubbed her hands together and looked over the twenty-something eleven-year-olds. Turning to John and Richard, she asked, "Do either of you want to go first?"

The two Prefects shook their heads quickly. Sighing to herself, Katrina shoved a chunk of hair over her shoulder and looked back at the First Years.

"Ravenclaws!" she called out to them loudly, projecting her voice so their excited chitchat dwindled away. "Hello, nice to meet you, it's lovely to have you join us today. As I'm sure you know, Ravenclaw is the house notorious for intelligence, wit, and cleverness. My name is Katrina, and I'm a Sixth Year Prefect who'll be showing you to our common room along with my, and now your, housemates, John and Richard."

Katrina motioned to the Fifth Years behind her before put her hands on her hips and scrunching her face up in deep thought. "Any questions?" she asked.

A couple of hands raised into the hair. Feeling a small surge of confidence, Katrina pointed at the first hand she saw raise, which was a tall, blond boy that was quite skinny.

"Where is the Ravenclaw common room?" he asked.

"Good question!" Katrina said as she began to lead their group to the Grand Staircase. "The Ravenclaw common room is at the top of Ravenclaw Tower. It's a bit of a long climb, but you get used to it after a couple months here.

"This is the Grand Staircase, by the way," Katrina said as the First Years gasped, looking up at the winding marble stairs that were sliding left and right and every which-way possible. "You're going to want to familiarize yourself with them as much as possible. The far-left staircase on the fourth floor leads to a different corridor on Friday and I think there's at least thirty-two faulty steps here or there, so when I tell you to skip a step, skip it. Come on then, we're up on the seventh floor!"

Katrina began to walk up the Grand Staircase, feeling much better about all of this Prefect stuff. She seemed to be doing quite well, she though. It wasn't anywhere near as hard as she thought it'd be.

"I have a question!" A girl near the back squeaked. Katrina turned around, stepping backwards up the staircase they were on with hardly any effort.

"Yeah?" she asked, peering over the many short heads to get a good look at her dainty face.

"Where are the other common rooms?"

"Another good question!" Katrina smiled as Johnathan and Richard took up the back, whispering between themselves and nodding up at her. "The Hufflepuffs are near the kitchens somewhere, the Gryffindors are inside Gryffindor Tower hidden behind a portrait — though don't ask how I know — and the Slytherins are crawling around the dungeons somewhere."

"Why're the Gryffindors behind a portrait?" a shrewd-looking boy asked, curling his lip distastefully.

"Well, they don't want any of us in there, do they?" Katrina asked with a bit of a smirk as she turned around and jumped a step. "Skip that step, there you go — but all of the common rooms are protected somehow. Even ours! I won't tell you what it is till we get there, though, so hold your hippogriffs," she said as the shrewd boy opened his mouth again.

"Uh, miss?" a boy asked from the middle of the group immediately after jumping the step.

"Hm?" Katrina asked, directing the First Years up a staircase from the landing so she could get a better look at him.

"Why's your hair blue?"

She grinned. " 'Cause I like it. But what about you, what's your favorite color?"

The boy, puzzled, said, "Uh . . . red?"

With her smiled growing, Katrina scrunched her face up and concentrated on the brightest shade of crimson she could think of. Within moment, her scalp prickled the slightest bit and all of the Ravenclaws paused to gasp her nod appreciatively. Her hair was now red.

"H-how —?" The boy breathed, but was interrupted by none other than Stewart.

"She's a Meta-more-whatsit!" he shouted from beside Orla.

"Close, but not quite!" Katrina said, biting her lip enthusiastically as her hair faded to bright blue again. "To those of you who don't know, I'm a Metamorphmagus, which means I can change their appearance at will. In short, I can be anything I want to be."

While the majority of the First Years whispered in awe, Katrina felt her cheeks burn the slightest bit and turned to John and Richard. "Do you two want to have a go?" she asked them quietly as they approached, herding the Ravenclaws up the staircase.

"Nah, you're doing fine," John said with a flash of a grin.

"I don't think I'd be any good at answering their questions anyway," Richard said with a nervous glance at the chattering First Years. "You seem to know what you're doing though, so go right on ahead."

"Okay," Katrina nodded with a small, apologetic smile. "I just feel like I'm not letting you talk at all. . . ."

"We can live," John said, widening his grin even more. "Now go on, we haven't got all night to show them around."

"Oh, right!" A bit flustered, Katrina jumped up the stairs two steps at a time and got to the front of the Ravenclaws again. Sucking in a quick breath, she asked, "Any more questions?"

"How d'you become a Metamorphmagus?" a dazed-looking girl breathed from a few feet away. "How much training?"

With a breathy chuckle, Katrina awkwardly scratched her cheek and looked at a nearby portrait that lined the tall walls of the Grand Staircase. "Well, uh, you can't train to be one, sorry. . . . You're born with it."

"Oh," the girl said, clearly discouraged, But Katrina tried to send her a reassuring smile.

"You can always train to be an Animagus when you're older, though!" she said brightly, hoping to get the girl's spirits up. "You have to do lots of difficult stuff, mind you, and the Ministry assigns you an animal . . . since becoming and Animagus means you can turn into an animal at will, for those of you who didn't know . . . but it's pretty similar to metamorphosing!"

A few of the First Years looked at Katrina in starry-eyed wonder.

With a bashful shuffle, Katrina returned to the front of the group and began to lead them down a corridor.

"Can you learn how to become an Animagus here?" a wistful-sounding girl asked from behind Katrina somewhere.

"I dunno," she answered honestly. "I've never heard of it at Hogwarts, but you may want to ask Professor McGonagall, our Transfiguration teacher. She's an Animagus, you know. Gave us quite a scare my first year."

"Oh, wow," another girl gasped.

"What kind of animal is she?" a boy closer to Katrina asked.

"A cat," Katrina said over her shoulder, turning a corner with the First Years following close at her heels.

"What kind of cat?" the boy sniffed haughtily, as if he didn't believe a word Katrina was saying. "For all we know, she could turn into a tiger and eat us."

"You're eleven, who would want to eat kids as scrawny as you?" Katrina asked with the slightest tinge of condescension. Then, with a sudden burst of confidence, she screwed up her face and said, "Besides, she's only a common tabby. Like this —"

Katrina thought of the clearest picture she could think of Professor McGonagall's animagus form. Within seconds, she felt herself significantly shrinking and her robes fading away into thin air. Katrina was now walking silently on all fours at a sort of trot as the First Years gasped again in wonder, and the boy in the front looked at Katrina in surprise.

With a twitch of her tail, Katrina led them around another corner. Knowing that a concealed passage of sorts was coming up, she wound her cat face up again and was back to her normal, tall-and-lanky self within a moment's time, robes and all.

"But how did you — is that even —?" the boy began to splutter.

"Possible?" Katrina asked, stopping at an obviously very brick wall. "Magic's a wonderful thing, y'know. Everything those Muggles have said? Almost all of it's true to a certain extent. Yeah, they might stretch the truth sometimes — like we can't just make food out of thin air, that's one of those rules — but otherwise it's completely and utterly possible. Now, follow me."

And, without any hesitance, Katrina stepped through the obviously very brick wall as if it wasn't there at all. It rippled a bit in her wake, almost like water, but at the same time not at all. The First Years, now apparently growing used to the whimsy inside of Hogwarts, followed her without much reluctance.

It took a good few minutes, but after a few huffs and puff Katrina, John, Richard, and the new First Years were at the top of Ravenclaw Tower, huddled along the staircase and most of the younger kids peering over each others' heads to peek at the Eagle Knocker.

"But there's no handle!" a girl cried from a ways down.

"How're we supposed to get in?" Stewart asked. He and Orla had somehow made their way to Katrina's side.

"Oh, that's easy," she said casually with a shrug. "Just watch —"

As she stepped up to the door that indeed had no handle, Katrina cleared her throat. In reply, the Eagle Knocker craned its head a bit, almost like it was stretching awake from a deep sleep, and looking her in the eye with a bronze stare.

"What is the difference between ignorance and stupidity?" it asked in a soft, bell-like voice.

While the First Years cooed in amazement, Katrina turned to them and asked, "Any ideas?"

They seemed too engrossed in the magical knocker to answer, so Katrina faced the door again and decided to answer, "Ignorance is lack of knowledge. Stupidity is having knowledge, but disregarding it completely."

"Well said," the Eagle Knocker nodded, and with a loud creak, the wooden door swung open to reveal the marvelous Ravenclaw common room.

"File in, then, file in!" Katrina said, waving the First Years into the common room along with John and Richard. "Take a look around, sit in a chair, read a book, or go to find your dormitories. Boys' are on the left, Girls' on the right! They go by year, check the plaque on the door. Welcome to Hogwarts!"

END OF CHAPTER THREE

I would just like to say that any content from the book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is copyrighted to J.K. Rowling and is in no way mine. (i.e. Dumbledore's speech) This goes for the rest of the story, also!

Now that that's done, I'M SORRY THIS TOOK FOR-FUCKIN-EVER I DISCOVERED ACHIEVEMENT HUNTER AND IT'S TAKEN OVER MY LIFE.