a/n: i'm taking this little burst of inspiration and running with it for as long as it'll let me. i'm hoping to keep these updates coming regularly on fridays (for me, at least. i believe it's still thursday for most people) but today is jk rowling's birthday (as well as harry potter's) and i've decided to post an extra chapter. enjoy & please review! they keep me motivated :)
On Wednesday, Des, Gemma, Anya, and Thomas walked into their first day of Defense Against the Dark Arts. They didn't quite know what to expect and had heard different stories from every house and every school level. He had spooked a majority of the fourth years by showing them the Unforgiveables in class. Of course, Des knew that if she were to join the legion of their patron it would entail using quite a few of these but she knew that it would get her in trouble, should she choose to use them in school. Des wanted to learn, she truly did, but she was not stupid. There would be no joining the cause if she got expelled.
Attempting to rid herself of any expectations she had for the class, she walked in with her friends and found seats towards the middle of the class. She knew that sitting either at the very front or the very back meant that she would be more conspicuous to the professor and that's not what she wanted. If Moody was going to do something odd today, she didn't want to have to be called up as an example.
Moody hobbled in, his magical eye swiveling around in his head as if it were taking in each one of their faces. The eye lingered on her for a split second and she felt her stomach tense, almost making her ill. That big glassy eye made her uneasy.
The class was uneventful, much to Desdemona's surprise. Professor Moody had asked what they had learned to that point and had fashioned some sort of a review for them, with a promise that at the end of the class, he would get started on the next topic, which would be harmful spells and Unforgiveables, which were already seventh year material. Meaning that he had been covering advanced material with the underclassmen. It wasn't long before Moody abandoned the review, however, and began talking about past experiences that ended up capturing the attention of everyone in class. They had spent the whole class listening to Moody's auror stories and soon the bell had rung for the end of the period before they had even gotten to the new material.
Desdemona left the class with Anya and Gemma almost disappointed. All the underclassmen had hyped up the idea of having Moody as a professor, talking about how he demonstrated all sorts of advanced magic, even demonstrating some forms of dark magic, and her class didn't once get to see anything like that.
"You bummed about today, Dolohov?" Thomas asked, catching up with them and falling into her stride. She had almost forgotten that it wasn't her true surname.
"Not necessarily," Des said, shrugging, "I expected more, that's for sure."
"His old auror stories weren't enough for you?" Gemma said, "I've heard other students talk about dark magic demonstrations and I think I'd rather just listen to the stories."
"Yeah, Farley, but you don't seem to be interested in that sort of thing anyway," Thomas said, causing Des to snicker. Gemma huffed and turned away from the two of them.
"You don't suppose your reaction to the class had to do with what your plans are for after school, do you?" Thomas asked, his tone changing from his usual mocking jeer to something more serious. Des knew that Thomas planned to take the same path she did, though they've never really spoken about it before. Des looked over at Anya and Gemma, carrying on a conversation of their own, before turning back to Thomas and dropping the volume of her voice.
"Possibly," she admitted, realizing that may have been it. She already knew that schooling would be biased. Obviously, nobody else had wanted a return of the Dark Lord and Des tried her hardest to hide her political leanings in school, save for small moments like these with people like Thomas. "I don't know… I thought that it would offer some sort of insight that my father wouldn't provide. I should have known that it would have ended up biased."
"Perhaps you're the biased one, eh Dolohov?" There was the usual tone, back again. Des smiled, jabbing Thomas with her elbow.
"Your opinion is the same as mine, genius," she said, "that makes you biased, too."
Des laughed as Thomas was left without a final argument, the four of them heading to Charms class, where they would be perfecting their anti-unlocking charms until the end of the class, the rest of their lives proceeding as usual at school until the week before October 30th. Anya, Gemma, and Des approached the entrance hall after their classes had concluded, the sound of the large crowd that had accumulated in the hall echoing on the stone walls as Des could see a large sign that was put up.
"What does that say," Anya asked, tiptoeing at the very back of the crowd to try and get a look. Gemma forged forward, pushing people out of her way as she tried to make a path for Anya and Des to read what was on the large sign near the grand staircase.
TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT
The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will
be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday the 30th of October.
Lessons will end half an hour early. Students will return
their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front
of the castle to greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast.
"The visiting schools are arriving already?" Gemma asked a student next to her, who nodded in confirmation. Gemma turned back to Anya and Des in excitement. "Next week, you two!"
The three of them broke away from the crowd and began making their way to the dungeons, their original destination before the crowd in the entrance hall stopped them.
"What do you think the visiting schools will be like?" Gemma asked, "I heard Viktor Krum will be among the visiting students from Durmstrang!"
"The world-famous Seeker, Viktor Krum?" Anya asked, almost swooning.
"Do you think the boys from Beauxbatons will live up to the expectations that Durmstrang is setting?" Des asked, looking over at her two friends, already trying to plan a way to be noticed by the visiting boys.
"I heard they're as beautiful as the girls are," Anya said, "I can appreciate a good French boy."
"I don't know..." Gemma said, Des could tell she was already comparing the two in her head, "There's something about a hardened Scandinavian man."
Des stopped dead in her tracks, looking over at Anya before bursting out into laughter that almost reduced them to tears. Gemma turned around and frowned at the two of them.
"What?"
"Hardened Scandinavian man? Can you hear yourself, Gemma?" Des said through giggles, "They're just boys!"
"That's where you're wrong, though, Des," Anya said, "These could possibly be future husbands. You never know!"
"I still think you both are taking this too seriously. They're here for a tournament, not a bride," Des said, collecting herself before they continued down to the dungeons. Anya said the password and the trio entered the Slytherin common room, Thomas sitting and reading in the corner near a fireplace catching Des's eye. She told Gemma and Anya that she was going to talk to him really quickly, prompting two very knowing looks from her friends before she shooed them away and made her way across the common room.
"You look a little lonely, Avery," Des said, falling onto the plush couch next to him, "All your friends up at the entrance hall?"
"I don't need friends, as a matter of fact. And I was enjoying the peace until a little nuisance decided to show up," Thomas teased, closing his book, "What's in the entrance hall?"
"You haven't heard?" Des said, genuinely surprised, "The visiting schools are arriving next week."
"Are they? That would explain the sudden discussion on Beauxbatons girls in the boy's dormitories."
"Yep. Classes end half an hour earlier and we're to greet them in front of the castle as they arrive," Des said.
"The one good thing to come out of this whole tournament," Thomas said, "classes ending half an hour early."
"I suppose. Gemma's about ready to look for a husband from Durmstrang, though, so I assume she would beg to differ."
"Gemma's a bit of an acquired taste, isn't she?"
"You could say that," Des admitted, "she does come on a bit strong but it doesn't take long to get used to her."
"Tell that to the Durmstrang boys," Thomas said. Des chuckled at his joke, knowing that he wasn't serious. Gemma truly did take a bit of getting used to but she wasn't all bad. She had been Des's friend for the past seven years and that's not something that Des would just forget because she wasn't boy obsessed like Gemma or Anya.
"I've got to go get a jump start on some Ancient Runes homework but I'll see you at dinner," Des said, getting up and leaving Thomas at his fireplace.
"I'll save you a seat," Thomas said, winking up at her before opening his book once more. Her stomach tightened, almost nervously and she was grateful he looked down to read as she felt her face heat up with blush at her reaction. She adjusted her bag over her shoulder and made her way up to the girl's dormitories to start on her homework, hoping she wouldn't be too preoccupied with Thomas Avery.
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