Chapter 3: Unexplainable things.
Nadia woke on the first day of lessons, quickly dressed into her school robes, tided her unruly hair and then proceeded down to the great hall for breakfast to meet Hermione. However, halfway their she was suddenly stopped by a good looking man with platinum blonde hair and a charming smirk. Nadia glanced up at him and smiled,
"Morning Draco." Nadia said rather flirtatiously, causing Draco's smirk to widen.
"Morning, girl who's name I do not know." Draco said cheekily and Nadia simply chuckled in response.
"I'm Nadia, Nadia Bowmen." She flashed Draco a stunning smile and he simply nodded his head in approval.
"Beautiful name, anyway I've gotta go see ya around, Nadia Bowman." He then gave Nadia a quick wink and swiftly departed leaving Nadia blushing uncontrollably in the corridor.
"What took you so long and why are you blushing? Omg! Who's the boy spill!" Hermione rambled quickly and Nadia simply threw her hands up in surrender and laughed rather loudly.
"No one! I was erm just rushing to get here that's all!" Nadia said rather quickly, hoping that Hermione would see through her lie. Thankfully, Hermione didn't, she just gave her a specious eye and then turned back to her breakfast. Nadia sighed a sigh of relief and plopped herself down on the bench beside Hermione and began to butter some toast. After herself and Hermione had finished their breakfast, they got up from their seats and walked swiftly to their first lesson.
"We've got Defence against the dark arts first. Unfortunately, it's with the slytherins. Although, don't panic theirs an empty next to me so I'll help you if you need it." Nadia felt thankful for Hermione's words and she grinned secretly to herself,
"Thanks Hermione you're such a great friend!" Hermione smiled in response and they continued their walk towards DADA, surprisingly Nadia felt rather excited and however much she denied it, it was partly because she would get to see Draco again.
"Alastor Moody. Ex-Auror. Ministry malcontent. and your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. l am here because Dumbledore asked me. End of story, goodbye, the end. Any questions?" Professor Moody finished speaking and glanced the room for any raised hands, when he realised there was none he turned back to chalk board and began to write.
"When it comes to the Dark Arts. l believes in a more practical approach. But first, which of you can tell me how many Unforgivable Curses there are?" Hermione's hand shot up like a rocket, professor Moody again turned to face the glass and he pointed towards Hermione.
"Three Sir." Hermione said knowingly and professor Moody nodded in agreement.
"And they are so named?" professor Moody said and once again Hermione's hand shot up and professor Moody, again, pointed towards Hermione.
"Because they are unforgivable. The use of any one of them will— "However Hermione never got to finish because Hermione was stopped halfway through her answer by a rather rude professor Moody.
"Will earn you a one-way ticket to Azkaban, correct. The Ministry says you're too young to see what these curses do, l say different! You need to know what you're up against! You need to be prepared. You need to find another place to put your chewing gum. besides the underside of your desk, Mr. Finnigan!" Nadia jumped as professor Moody and she glanced behind to look at the boy she assumed was Finnigan. His face was beet red and he looked at him lap in embarrassment.
"No way. The old codger can see out the back of his head." The boy beside Finnigan said and Nadia shook her head disapprovingly. How rude that boy was.
"And hear across classrooms! So which curse shall we see first? Weasley!" Professor Moody shouted causing Nadia to flinch involuntarily. She watched at professor Moody strode forcefully towards Ron and Harry's desk, he turned his gaze towards Ron and started at him menacingly. Nadia backwards in fright at professor Moody's expression and she held her breath for what came next.
"yes?" Ron responded rather timidly.
"Stand! Give us a curse!" Professor Moody shouted and again Nadia flinched, she watched in anticipation as Ron slowly stood from his chair and looked at the professor.
"Well, my dad did tell me about one. The lmperius Curse." Nadia, noticed that Ron spoke rather proudly when he said this and Nadia smiled gently to herself at the thought.
"Oh, yeah, your father would know all about that. Gave the Ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago. Perhaps this will show you why." Professor Moody then turned back towards the front of the classroom and stopped at a small table covered with different sized jars. He took of the top of one, and took out what only Nadia could assume was a spider. Nadia shivered to herself once she discovered what was in his hands and she shifted backwards in fright. Professor Moody then pointed his wand at the spider and muttered a quick spell, causing Nadia to gasp as she noticed the spider grow until it was the size of Professor Moody's hand. Then, after a short while, the professor uttered another spell and the spider took rigid still, as If waiting for a command. He then flicked his wand towards the class and the spider flew and landed atop of Padma Patils head and she screamed in response,
"Don't worry she's completely harmless!" Professor Moody shouted and then flicked his wand again and the spider flew once again and this landed atop Ron and Harry's desk. Nadia noticed Ron's face contort with fright and began to attempt to flick the spider of the table,
"If she bites though, She's lethal." At the mention of 'bites' Ron gave another squeal of fright and Nadia watched as Draco began to laugh uncontrollably from behind Ron and Harry.
"What are you laughing at!" Professor Moody again shouted and Nadia averted her eyes from a terrified Ron and noticed that Moody's words were directed at Draco. Professor Moody once again gave another flick of his wand and the spider once again flew through the air and landed on top of Draco's face. Nadia laughed silently to herself as she watched Draco fling his hands around his face to try and through of the spider. After a few minutes, professor Moody eventually moved the spider and flung it towards the window,
"What should l have her do next? Jump out the window? Drown herself?" The professor then directed the spider above a small bucket of water and Nadia watched disgusted as the professor tried to drown the spider. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity to Nadia, the professor moved the spider and placed it atop his hand.
"Scores of witches and wizards have claimed. that they only did You-Know-Who's bidding. under the influence of the lmperius Curse but here's the rub: How do we sort out the liars? Another, another. Up, up. Come on. Longbottom, is it? Up Professor Sprout tells me you have an aptitude for herbology?" Nadia watched as a tall innocent looking man walked towards the front of the class towards professor Moody. Longbottom looked frightened and his lip was slightly quivering. Nadia also noticed his hands shaking uncontrollably by his sides. Longbottom began to speak, but his words were barely audible as fear was laced through them,
"There's, there's, the…the, cruciatus curse, sir." Nadia watched as professor Moody placed the spider on the table and then nodded in agreement at Longbottom's words,
"Correct, correct. Come, come, Particularly nasty. The torture curse. Crucio!" Nadia flinched as the piercing shrieks of the spider emitted through her ears and anger began to boil within her at the sight of Longbottom. Longbottom was shaking more violently now and tears were streaming down his face as he tried bravely to watch the ordeal before him. And professor Moody didn't even care. What a horrible teacher Nadia thought, if the professor wasn't going to stop this she will.
"Stop it! Can't you see it's bothering him! Stop it!" Nadia shouted and she noticed all eyes in the class revert to her, including professor Moody's and Longbottom' s. she noticed Longbottom's face look at hers with a look of thanks and Nadia felt herself relax.
"Perhaps you'd like to give us the last unforgivable curse, Miss Bowman?" Professor Moody's eyes bored into Nadia's and she felt herself sit up defiantly. She was not going to answer the professor's question even though, surprisingly, she knew it.
"I don't know it sir." She snapped and professor Moody shook his head disapprovingly.
"Well, Miss Bowman I'd didn't take you as dumb, but I guess growing up around muggles can do that to someone." Anger boiled within Nadia as professor Moody insulted herself and Nadia, and she watched him with disgust and loathing as he casted the last unforgivable curse on the spider. The spider lay lifeless and still atop the table and Nadia quickly glanced away.
"Only one person is known to have survived it. And he's sitting in this room." All eyes glanced over towards Harry's and Nadia noticed his face was riddled with embarrassment.
The minute the class had ended Nadia knew that she just wanted some alone time, so she said a quick goodbye to Ron, Hermione and Harry and left to find a deserted classroom or corridor. Eventually, after trudging up many flights of stairs, entering many used classrooms and walking through jam-packed corridor's. Nadia eventually found a deserted corridor on the seventh floor. She began to pace back and forth along the corridor, a thing she found herself doing when she was troubled and began to think about the previous lesson. Who could Dumbledore employ a teacher like Moody? Surely things Moody taught us were not allowed? Their called unforgivable for a reason right? Suddenly her over thinking got too much for her and she began to wish she had her cello here so she could easily forget about everything. However, such luxuries were not allowed at Hogwarts's, unfortunately. Suddenly, shocking Nadia to the bone, a door to her right mysteriously appeared and she looked at it in awe. After, a while curiosity got the better of her and she tugged on the door and pulled it open. The sight before her amazed her, she was in a small music room, with one wall covered in shiny mirrors. However, the one thing that surprised her most of all was that the only instrument in the music room was a cello.
She began to walk over towards the cello, but she was stopped suddenly by the reflection in the mirror. Instead of 1 figure in the reflection, there were 3. Nadia was in the middle and to the right of was a white woman, who looked identical to Nadia. Her eyes were the colour of oak and twinkled kindly at Nadia. Her hair was a fair dark brown and hang neatly down her back. This woman, Nadia assumed was her mother. To the left of her was black man. His face was kind and gentle and again Nadia thought that this man looked strikingly like herself. His eyes were also a kind oak coloured and his hair was of a dark brown also. The only difference, to her mother's was that this man had short afro hair, like herself. This man, Nadia also assumed was her father. She gazed intently at the mirror and wondered what type of mirror this was. It was magic Nadia quickly guessed but what sort of magic was it? Did it show the future? Nadia's heart leapt at this prospect, if it showed the future then she would eventually know her parents again!
"Am I interrupting something?" Nadia, involuntarily, cast her eyes away from the mirror and looked to see who had spoken. The boy before her was Draco and Nadia softly smiled.
"No, of course not." She said softly and kindly, she was stating to like Draco. Even though Hermione and Ginny had told her on numerous occasion that 'Malfoy was a horrible human being.' Despite this though she felt like they were wrong, the Draco she had encountered was nothing but nice to her and Nadia considered him a friend.
"Where you going to play?" He pointed to the cello and Nadia wondered to herself how Draco knew this.
"How did you know?" She asked curiously, Draco simply chuckled and quickly replied,
"You're in the room of requirement you know. Anything you require will show up in this room. Pretty handy if you ask me." He smirked causing Nadia to giggle.
"Actually I didn't know, I don't really know that much about Hogwarts's, I've only been her for a day remember?" Nadia replied flirtatiously and she was met with a cheeky smirk.
"Yeah I keep forgetting to be honest, it feels like you've been her for ages in my eyes. Anyway will you play me something, I've never heard anyone played that…erm instrument before." Nadia blushed at Draco's sweet compliment and she nodded to his invitation of playing him something.
"Course I'll play you something, and It's a cello by the way, a muggle instrument." She heard Draco scoff quietly at her mention of 'muggle' but she quickly brushed it off and walked towards the stool and the cello and sat down. She struck the strings carefully to make sure they were Intune and once she accepted that they were, she began to play. The gentle sounds of the song suite no.1 in G major, echoed around the room gracefully making her shiver in delight. The vibrations of the cello shook through her fingers and the relief of playing washed over her and she began to relax. She felt her hands move up and down the bridge softly like they fairies dancing, the bow moved swiftly along the strings like a boat out sailing at sea. Eventually the song came to a close and she placed the cello gently back on the stand and stood feeling much more uplifted then before.
"That was beautiful." Draco said softly, causing Nadia to blush, in playing she completely forgot her was there. However, she was glad he was because it made her feel even closer to him, even just a little bit.
The great hall was packed with students and professors and the noise of so many people was astounding to Nadia. Nadia sat on the bench with Ron and Hermione either side her, and because of Nadia's lack of interest on who the champions of the Triwizard Tournament were, she sat with Hogwarts's a history propped open on her and was reading chapter one. Nadia was thankful to Hermione for lending her such a book because it made Nadia feel somewhat relieved that after reading this, she would have at least some knowledge on Hogwarts's.
"Sit down. Please. Now the moment you've all been waiting for: The champion selection. The Durmstrang champion is…. Viktor Krum!" Dumbledore shouted and an array of shouts and cheers distracted her from her reading, she glanced up uninterested and clapped quietly out of politeness. She then quickly glanced back to her book and resumed reading as Dumbledore spoke once again.
"The champion for Beauxbatons. . .. . .is Fleur Delacour!" The great hall once again exploded in sounds of shouts and cheers, however, Nadia continued reading.
"The Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory!" This time Nadia did clap, even though she didn't know Cedric Diggory personally she still had some respect for her own team.
"Excellent! We now have our three champions. But in the end only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions. . . . . .this vessel of victory. . . . . .the Triwizard Cup!" The students of all three schools began to cheer again, yet Nadia didn't because she was to focused on the Goblet of Fire. The once blue flame was now turning red as two pieces of parchment shot out of the Goblet and straight into Professor Dumbledore's outstretched hand. Shock ran though her as Professor Dumbledore proceeded to read the names written on the parchment.
"Harry Potter! And… and Nadia Bowmen!" At the sound of her name, Nadia jumped the book she was holding and landed with a loud 'Thud' on the ground. She didn't feel the comforting touch of Hermione's hand on her shoulder. She didn't even hear the shouts of 'He's A cheat' and 'Poor Nadia' ring through her ears. And then lastly she didn't even feel the touch of Harry's hand on her's as her pulled her up from the bench and towards the side door towards the trophy room.
Eventually, after Harry and Nadia entered the trophy room and the initial shock had worn of did Nadia begin to speak,
"Harry I didn't put my name in!" Nadia said quietly as realization and fear began to fill through her.
"Neither did I!" Instantly, Nadia believed Harry, if she didn't surely Harry didn't either.
Suddenly shouts and sounds of thundering footsteps echoed through the stairwell and then appeared before Nadia and Harry, were professor Dumbledore, Mr Crouch, Professor Moody, Madam Maxine, Igor Karkaroff and Professor McGonagall.
"Harry! Nadia! Did either of you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?" Professor Dumbledore shouted making Nadia flinch in shock.
"No sir!" Harry responded quickly, suddenly all eyes turned towards Nadia and she stepped back awkwardly.
"What about you Nadia?" Professor McGonagall asked politely and calmly, causing Nadia to feel somewhat more calm herself.
"No of course not Professor. I don't want this!" Nadia replied back, receiving sympathetic gazes from McGonagall, Dumbledore and surprisingly Madam Maxime.
"Are you two absolutely sure? Did you ask any of the other students to put your names in for you?" Dumbledore asked suspiciously. Harry quickly replied with a 'no' and Nadia shook her head.
"He obviously lying!" Madam Maxime shouted and Nadia was shocked that she didn't say she. She glanced over at Harry to find that he noticed too. Suddenly Professor Moody, stepped forward and began to speak, Nadia was surprised to find that she forgot he was even there!
"The Goblet of Fire is an exceptionally powerful magical object. Only an exceptionally powerful Confundus Charm could've hoodwinked it. Magic way beyond the talents of a fourth year and of a girl who's only been in the magical world for three days!" Professor Moody shouted, and even though Nadia hated the professor, she was thankful to know there was someone on her's and Harry's side.
"You seem to have given this a fair bit of thought, Mad-Eye!" Igor Karkaroff replied menacingly from beside the group of professor's and head's, causing Nadia to take another step back timidly.
"lt was once my job to think as dark wizards do, Karkaroff. Perhaps you remember." Professor Moody snapped back and Nadia assumed that there was a dark rivalry between these two men. However, she tried not to think too hard on that matter.
"This doesn't help, Alastor!" Professor Dumbledore shouted and Nadia saw Professor Moody give Karkaroff and evil stare and then move his gaze back towards herself and Harry.
"The rules are absolute. The Goblet of Fire constitutes a binding magical contract. Mr. Potter and Miss Bowman have no choice. They are, as of tonight. Triwizard champions."
