The Schools Arrive

October 30th

Hermione knew she was mad to love school and Hogwarts as much as she did, especially with how dangerous it tended to be considering who her best friends were. Then, add in her ridiculous course load the past two years; most people would have been overwhelmed, to put it mildly. However, she still loved it. In a way she was terrified of graduating, because she wouldn't be able to learn all day, every day. But for now she would enjoy each day and see where life would take her. Just about any area of the castle or grounds comforted her, and right now she was lounging beside the lakeshore, reading and flicking sardines at the giant squid.

They were… well… friends she supposed, if one could be friends with the squid, ever since it had brought back a book one of the Slytherins had tossed into the lake one day back in her second year. She had always waterproofed any books that didn't strictly stay in her dorm or the library; but still, she knew she couldn't very well go swimming in after it and was very upset. But the squid simply popped up a tentacle after the boy left, holding her book and offered it to her.

She smiled now at the memory, and tossed in another fish. It wasn't for the squid, but for the other animals that she had noticed it tried to play with. Before her bribes the otters wouldn't have stayed within ten feet of a single tentacle, but now they danced around it and happily chattered at her. 'A fairly even trade for both of us,' she thought to herself.

Suddenly with no warning the otters came out of the lake and shot for their den; the squid's tentacle as well disappeared for a moment before bringing some water logged twigs and broken branches in front of the den before waiving at her and disappearing beneath the surface of the water.

'How odd,' she thought. 'The squid would never trap them, and even so, he didn't even do a good job blocking them in. It really only looks like the branches got trapped here for a while by the wind.' The wind then decided to blow sharply, alerting her to the fact the sun was going down. She hadn't realized how late it had gotten; she had intended to be back at the castle almost an hour ago. 'Guess it's time to go to dinner before the boys start wondering where I disappeared to.' She paused once her bag was repacked and looked at the den entrance. 'I'll check on the otters later, make sure there's no problems.'

Hermione knew that today the other two schools would be arriving and she had already read up on them of course. The library was decidedly Hogwarts based and had very little, so she had ordered a book on several magical schools and found it lovely even if no one was very interested in what she read.

As she headed up to the castle she found that she really was late for once. In the courtyard there was a massive carriage and… were those Abraxan flying horses?! Hermione quickly decided to take a hidden passage into the castle rather than the main entrance to avoid being seen. As she opened the small entrance she heard a massive gurgling sound coming from the lake behind her and turned, her eyes widening at seeing a mast rising from the lake. A ship followed and settled near the shore, bobbing peacefully as the sails were adjusted by figures moving around the deck. 'I guess that's why the otters and squid left,' she thought a bit dazed. 'A blooming ship traveling under water, and flying horses the size of elephants… I guess the World Cup is not the only place wizards show off.' Turning, she hurried to the Great Hall so she wouldn't be locked out of the feast.

Harry waived at her as she entered, trying not to look out of breath. "Where were you Hermione? You missed the schools arriving. Beauxbatons has a massive carriage, as big as a house, and flying horses!"

Ron cut in. "Wouldn't believe the size of 'em 'Mione. Course they'd have to be big for the Headmistress. She's as big as Hagrid."

Harry cut back in. "Durmstrang has a ship. Popped out from under the lake if you can believe it. Looks old too."

Hermione smiled, "Yes, I saw the horses after they landed, and I saw the ship coming up. I had been at the lake and was coming in a side entrance 'cause I was late."

"Wonder when they'll send up the feast?" was Ron's answer to which Hermione rolled her eyes and Harry shrugged.

At that moment the Headmaster stood and began speaking. "As I am very sure you all saw, our esteemed guests have arrived at Hogwarts. Now, if you can wait but a few moments more for them to join us, we shall enjoy making new friends that hopefully we can keep for many years to come." He paused, then waived his hands and announced as the doors to the great hall opened. "From the charming halls of Beauxbatons."

A group of older teens came practically gliding in. The more numerous females sashaying, all the while sending out blue butterflies and birds more vibrant than the pale blue silk uniforms they wore, out of smartly held wands. Halfway to the end of the hall they almost began to dance and some of the more accomplished charmers began to send more advanced creatures from their wands. Once they reached the area directly on front of the head table, the students ended their show and several unobservant students, or rather awestruck, were surprised to see the very large headmistress had been entering behind her school's chosen candidates.

Dumbledore then walked up to her and kissed her hand, which was almost level with his face. "Madame Maxime, your students are almost as charming as yourself."

The long face smiled at this obvious but kind flattery "Dumbly-door, ever the delightful host." He patted her hand, which was the size of a serving platter, and led her to her seat before returning to the front.

"From the staunch walls of Durmstrang." The doors were shoved open with force that made those sitting closest to the doors jump, and a group mostly of large young men came striding forcefully in, with tall walking staffs that sparked each time they hit the floor in perfect unison. Once this new group reached the halfway mark of the great hall they became more elaborate in their twirls and the speed of their sparking staffs. Once they reached the front they all stopped in perfect time to each other, save one student who dropped to a knee and held his wand inches from his lips, making it appear he was blowing a massive firebird from the tip. The fiery bird circled the heavily dressed students before disappearing without a scorch mark, despite the heat it had given off.

While this was impressive it didn't quite get the attention deserved due to the headmaster of Durmstrang following behind with one student at his side, a student who was scowling fiercely as his name was whispered at every house table.

"Viktor Krum." "Did you see." "I didn't know he went there." "God it's Krum." "He's still in school?!" "Who has a quill?" "Krum." "I may faint." "No quill but I have lipstick." "Really, he's just a Quidditch player." At hearing the odd comment that wasn't trying to be whispered, Victor's glare became unfocused and his head twitched to one side as he kept striding forward.

"How can you say that?!"

"He's just like everyone else, onl.."

The voice was almost familiar as it faded out of his hearing, but aside from that, what really amazed him was the statement itself. He knew he was going to dislike his last year of school. Even before he was told he was coming to the foreign school with other select students, he was hating the blatant favoritism from Karkaroff that was beginning to make him hide from the dark Headmaster. As Viktor Krum entered the Great Hall of Hogwarts, he dreaded the rest of the his final year of school. But, whoever said that comment… to even hear that was more than he could hope for. He had no clue who she was, but he was grateful. He never even slowed his stride though, even if the older dark wizard at his side liked him; he could be creatively cruel if you didn't go along with what he wanted.

Dumbledore shook hands with the other wizard once they reached him, as an old acquaintance. "Igor, how wonderfully skilled your students are."

"Sank you Dumbledore, only the best for this, of course."

"Of course. Of course," Dumbledore replied as he finished shaking Karkaroff's hand before going to greet two more guests who had simply entered the hall from the teacher's entrance.

As their elders began small talk the Durmstrang students sat down at the table where green dominated as they had been instructed before they even left she ship. No one wanted to be on the current headmaster's bad side so early in the year.

.o0o. 0.o.0 .o0o.

Viktor sat with his back to the wall so he could try and find who had said he was like everyone else; he didn't care who they were or even if it was their first year, he wanted try and be friends. He remembered the general area he heard it from; but with two very full and long tables to search…. Well, he could try to find her throughout the year. He knew the voice was female, so that helped, and at least he knew to look in the yellow or red groups for someone who didn't think he was anything special. He smiled internally at that, it was almost an oxymoron since he had begun playing professionally.

Viktor had unfortunately ended up sitting next to a blond boy who he tried to be polite to…for a minute… before he promptly acted like he couldn't understand one out of three words the boy said. He proceeded to eat the wonderful food with a single mindedness, hoping the boy's tone wouldn't sour his stomach before dessert. He had a drawl that always seemed to fall flat and was excruciatingly annoying. He praised both Viktor then himself for their flying skills, and bragged about how he almost went to Durmstrang, then mocked Hogwarts.

'God he's annoying, he gossips worse than Aunt Noel,' Viktor thought as he took a drink from his goblet so he wouldn't be seen rolling his eyes. 'Does he really think I'll remember, or care, about who is pure blood and who is 'disgraceful' to be seen talking to? Child.' Luckily the kid got the idea around dessert that he wouldn't carry on any grand conversations with the international star and began speaking to others at the table.

After dessert was finished, and the tables were once more magically pristine, Dumbledore stood up for the main event. "The moment has come," he stated with a smile. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. In a moment we will light the Goblet of Fire, our impartial judge. It will remain lit through tomorrow evening, and after our Halloween Feast it will bestow three students with the title of Champion."

Here the Hogwarts Headmaster paused, "But a word to all who chose to enter. This contest will have three challenges, designed to test you, in many different ways. It will test your magical prowess, your daring, your skills of deduction, and of course test your ability to handle danger. Be sure, and best of luck." At this he waived his wand and the jeweled chest that a bent old man had brought in dissolved, revealing a large stone cup with runes on it, about three feet tall and not quite two feet wide. He waived his wand again and the cup began to burn with a blue fire as the hall burst into applause.

Slowly students began to rise and exit the hall, the foreign schools staying to exit with their elders. As the Durmstrang group began to exit, Karkaroff paused when a deformed man began talking to him. The two men obviously knew each other, and were not friends. The stationary group, comprised mostly of males in fur had blocked the door, when Viktor heard the name Potter, but his attention was riveted on a bushy head of brown hair, the face half hidden.

'It's her! The girl from the World Cup! She does go here, I can actually find out who she is.' Viktor was in a half daze, moving and reacting automatically to others around him. As she began to get further away he focused on her sharply, noting her robes trimmed with red; he noted how she was talking with two boys, the only girl in the small group. 'Are they just friends? I wish we had sat at her table. It will be hard to see her with how far apart the two tables are.'

Viktor was jostled suddenly, disrupting his extremely focused planning session. "Viktor, what's up? You kinda froze then got more frowny than usual." It was his friend Pietro who he was sharing a cabin with. The young seeker looked around; they were already outside of the castle, but the ship was still a distance away, and there were a number of people around them.

"Later."

Pietro shrugged, used to the few words his friend used when thinking hard. "Ok," he said.

As they headed down to the lake, Viktor was remembering the girl, her hair was lighter than he had thought; of course they were in a well-lit building now, instead of a field in the middle of the night trying to not be seen. She also walked tall, despite her lack of height. Beyond that, he had not seen much of her due to her back being to him most of the time in the hall.

His thoughts took him through the ship and to his cabin. He had just removed his outer robes when Pietro reminded him there were others on earth with him.

"So, what happened? We just got here; did you see a reporter's kid or something?"

Viktor blinked, trying to understand. "What?"

"We just got here and you are in full blown scheme mode. I only see that on the ground when reporters are around, but there were no adult reporters at the school… I don't know, it was the only think I could think of," Pietro offered with a shrug.

Viktor smirked a bit at his friend. "Reporters' kids? … That I recognized? … Pietro you know I don't care enough about those insects to learn anything about the reporters back at home, let alone the ones here."

The blond haired young wizard rolled his eyes. "Yeah. It was out there. But come on, what happened? …for the third time."

There was a knock on the door as he finished asking this and the impatient teen flopped on his bed and began tugging his hair in frustration. He hated when he couldn't get an answer. Viktor got up from his bed and looked out the slightly open door before fully opening it to let in his cousin, who also happened to be Pietro's girlfriend.

The girl had been puzzled that Viktor opened the door. After all, she could have been Karkaroff, and Viktor had been avoiding him whenever possible; but began laughing when she saw Pietro whining about timing and never getting answers. "What piece of knowledge has been denied to you this time, Sweetheart?" She was promptly pulled on top of her boyfriend's lap, who then buried his face between her neck and long dark braid before muttering his displeasure from behind her back.

Viktor laughed and sat on his bed again, removed his boots and then gave in; knowing he would never get to sleep anytime soon if he dragged it out. Never mind how entertaining it would have been. "Do you both remember me telling you about the night of the World Cup? The girl who was English, and spoke French?" They both nodded, and Nat's eyes lit up with excitement as she began to guess where this was going. "She is here at Hogwarts. I saw her as we were leaving the dining hall. I didn't get to talk to her, but she is in the red house."

"Gryffindor," Nat automatically supplied, having learned about the schools before they even boarded the ship, where they all were given a brief description.

"Da, that one."

Pietro had sat up finally and was nodding his head as he thought. "Well, at least you know for sure what country to find her in, even if you still don't have a clue what her name is. And if I'm remembering the Gryffindor's correctly, they're supposed to be brave." At this he laughed a bit. "At least we know that's true, what with how she tried to stand in front of you with the French wizards that night."

The room got quiet and they found Viktor had gone quiet again, lost in thought. Pietro and Nat looked at each other, both mystified and a bit concerned about their friend. Viktor had never dated or had a real girlfriend before. True, he had a date for important functions where one was required, but it was always a female family member. They had found it odd how after the World Cup he mentioned the girl he helped a few times, and now this?

Pietro leaned close to Nat and whispered. "I really hope this girl is nice."

Fully understanding she whispered back, "Don't worry. If she isn't… well, don't worry; I won't let him get hurt."