Wow, this is the tenth chapter of my fourth fanfic in this series! And it's a huge chapter! And on time! I have only one thing to say, thanks for all the reviews and support, and most of all: ENJOY!
Ch. 10 Beauxbatons and Durmstrang
POV LEXIE JONES:
To our surprise, Professor Moody had announced that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each of us in turn, to demonstrate its power and to see whether we could resist its effects.
"But - but you said it's illegal, Professor," said Hermione uncertainly as Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room. "You said - to use it against another human was -"
"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like," said Moody, his magical eye swivelling onto Hermione and fixing her with an eerie, unblinking stare. "If you'd rather learn the hard way - when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely - fine by me. You're excused. Off you go."
He pointed one gnarled finger toward the door. Hermione went very pink and muttered something about not meaning that she wanted to leave. Harry and I grinned at each other. We knew Hermione would rather eat bubotuber pus than miss such an important lesson.
I was only too eager to try it. I was realistic enough to know I would probably not succeed in staying in control of myself during the first try, but the vision of an applauding classroom were not able to leave my mind.
Moody began to beckon students forward in turn and put the Imperius Curse upon them. I watched as, one by one, my classmates did the most extraordinary things under its influence.
Dean Thomas hopped three times around the room, singing the national anthem. Lavender imitated a squirrel. Longbottom performed a series of quite astonishing gymnastics he would certainly not have been capable of in his normal state. Not one of them seemed to be able to fight off the curse, and each of them recovered only when Moody had removed it.
"Potter," Moody growled, "you next."
Harry's eyes and mine met for a moment, and I knew my eyes were full of a wickedness that made Harry cringe visibly.
I grinned. Good luck, Golden Boy.
Harry moved forward into the middle of the classroom, into the space that Moody had cleared of desks. Moody raised his wand, pointed it at Harry, and said, "Imperio!"
I did not know what Moody would make Harry do at first, but then I saw Harry bent his knees, preparing for a jump. He was going to jump onto the desk.
Something inside me was grateful famous Potter was not able to resist the Imperius Curse. No matter what Gryffindors said, it was another thing to be brave than to control yourself.
And Slytherin were always in control. In control of our faces, our words, our actions. Our emotions, too, if we could help it. Now was a good time to show them, show them all.
Next I heard a terrible bang and I saw Harry clutching his knees, crying out in pain. He had both jumped and tried to prevent himself from jumping - the result was that he'd smashed headlong into the desk knocking it over, and, judging by the look of pain on his face, fractured both his kneecaps.
The feeling of triumph lessened. He hadn't been able to resist completely, but he had shown more resistance than anyone else so far.
"Now, that's more like it!" growled Moody's voice. "Look at that, you lot… Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it!"
Harry hardly noticed anything of the compliment, for he was still on the ground, looking at his knees, prodding them and wincing. I crouched down next to him and asked, "Are you okay?"
He said nothing, but nodded, his face still showing pain. I rolled my eyes.
"You know I've never met someone who was able to break a kneecap? Let alone both kneecaps."
He raised his eyebrows at me.
"You know, that would've been very, very funny if it didn't hurt so much," he grunted.
"Yes, yes, she's hilarious," drawled Draco's voice from somewhere in the classroom. "Get him to the hospital wing and let the Golden Boy have his painkillers, so we can have time to praise his famous name."
I gritted my teeth. The fact that I could have said the exact same thing did not make it an okay thing to say.
I stood up and turned to face Draco. His silver eyes were unyielding, as they always had been, though I could have sworn I saw a flicker of fear in them. He had not expected me to come to Harry's defence. He should have known better.
"I think you're jealous," I said, loud enough for the entire class to hear.
As if they weren't holding their breaths already.
"Jealous? Of Potter? Hpmfh."
That was all he had to say for now, and knowing him it didn't convince me. He'd gotten slightly pink.
"I seem to recall a time when someone said the same to you and you laughed in their face," Draco said finally. "But I was the one who answered for you. And my answer hasn't changed. I don't want a foul scar across my head, thanks. I don't think getting your head cut open- or breaking both your kneecaps, for that matter- makes you that special, myself."
"I wasn't even talking about the scar, you idiot," I said, hissing.
"Jones, that's enough, thank you," Moody said slowly, placing his hand on my shoulder.
I didn't care what he said. I wouldn't move an inch, and neither would Draco.
"Well," I heard the professor grunt, "I might as well put this to good use, if you won't listen. Imperio."
It was the most wonderful feeling. I felt a floating sensation as every thought and worry in my head was wiped gently away, leaving nothing but a vague, untraceable happiness. I stood there feeling immensely relaxed, only dimly aware of everyone watching me.
And then I heard Mad-Eye Moody's voice, echoing in some distant chamber of my empty brain: Kiss him. Let's see how you handle that. Let's see if you'll listen now.
Why not? I thought. Why the hell not?
I liked him, he liked me. Or I thought he did. Before he lied to me about Buckbeak. Nah, I thought, shrugging it off. Of course he liked me. I'll kiss him and prove it.
I slowly raised up my hand and placed it on the back of Draco's neck, staring deeply into his eyes. There was still a bit of doubt there. I dismissed it as nervousness. I closed my eyes and started to lean in, ignoring the nagging voice in my brain.
Just before our lips were supposed to touch, I could feel Draco's hot ragged, breath against my skin, he pressed his lips upon mine harshly, desperately.
The feeling of the kiss, and the sudden gasps from behind me threw me back into reality.
My eyes snapped open and I took a step back. I heard Moody started to laugh behind me, and then I, filled with rage, lifted my hand and slapped Draco right across the face.
POV BELLA MCLAGGEN:
"To be honest, I'd expected Lexie to snap out of it sooner- but when he kissed her- and she slapped him- it was just-"
"Will you shut up?" I asked Zabini.
"What, you don't like gossip?" he said, smiling a little. "What kind of girl are you?"
"What kind of boy are you?" I retorted.
To my surprise, Zabini laughed, showing off a row of white teeth. We sat underneath the tree by the lake, Zabini's favourite spot, eating our lunch and doing a bit of homework.
"Then again, you are kind of butch," Zabini continued. "I bet all the guys see you as one of them as well."
"That's not true," I say, though there may be some truth to it.
"Isn't it?"
I did not like the way Zabini was looking at me at that moment. His eyes- they were seeing right through me. It's like even my thoughts weren't private anymore.
"No it isn't," I said defiantly.
Zabini laughed, and he raised himself up from the grass, sitting on his knees so he faced me but still looked down on me.
"What?" I said, the look in my eyes unyielding.
"Nothing," he shrugged, with a wicked grin on his face. "It's just- you've got the sex appeal of a caveman."
My face was red with anger and shame. I got up on my knees as well, so we were eye to eye. Our faces were inches apart, but I could only focus on those dark brown eyes staring back at me.
"You're wrong," I said, my voice trembling.
At the time these were the only words I knew.
"C'mon- look at you-"
"You're wrong," I repeated, more pointedly this time.
"Oh, am I?" Zabini said, sounding more and more amused each passing moment. "Am I wrong? If so, how do you explain the fact you have been pining after Potter for all these years and he hasn't so much as noticed you- in this sense of the word."
I did not know whether Lexie had told him, or whether he had found out himself, but I did know I wanted nothing more than to make my fist collide with his face and knock several of his straight white teeth out. My silence seemed like a victory to him, so he just leaned back, though his smile had faded, and murmured, "Thought so."
My blood was still boiling in my face, but I let myself fall back and lay on the grass, pretending to look at the branches of the tree above us.
"Feed me another one of those grapes, slave."
"What?!"
"Don't say 'what' like the barbarian you are, at least say 'excuse me' or something," Zabini said, sounding bored. "Now, go ahead and do it."
"You just asked me to put grapes in your mouth."
"I was very well aware of that, thank you."
"In your mouth," I repeated, aghast.
"Yes, my hands are tired," he said, like I was the one that was crazy. "And I didn't ask you, I commanded you. You're my slave, so obey."
The anger I'd felt before was replaced by fear. What on earth was he playing at?
I got up and sat on my knees. I grasped a grape with two fingers and held it above Zabini's mouth, which was already open. He had his eyes closed.
Slowly, I lowered the grape into his mouth, wary not to touch him. Then, without warning, Zabini closed his lips around the grape and I recoiled in shock, still feeling the touch of his lips in my fingers.
His eyes snapped open and when he saw my face, he laughed at me again.
"Tell me, how do you ever expect the guys to see you as one of the girls when you're scared of any kind of physical contact?" Zabini said in between laughs. "God, you'll never get it on with anybody!"
"Well, I don't just care about getting it on with someone!" I snapped. "There's more important things."
There was a loud sigh.
"Don't pretend you don't secretly dream of Potter's lips on yours. You're sad and scared and angry because you'll know it'll never happen."
My fingers had itched for his throat; because I was angry and he was right.
"Maybe he doesn't see me that way," I said instead. "Maybe not yet. Maybe he's just not into girls like that yet. I can still give it time-"
"Oh please," said Zabini. "Don't lie to yourself, you're better than that. Lexie's able to make him blush every time, and don't pretend you haven't seen him gawk at that Cho Chang girl from Ravenclaw. You're not a fool. Don't act like one., it doesn't become you. Move on."
"You're a dick," I muttered.
He pretended not to hear it, but still smiled a little, closing his eyes again and lying down.
"Grape. Now."
POV JANICE DIGGORY:
All the fourth years had noticed a definite increase in the amount of work they were required to do this term. Perhaps it was a good thing with all this trouble going on after what happened in Moody's class. Professor McGonagall explained why, when the class gave a particularly loud groan at the amount of Transfiguration homework she had assigned.
"You are now entering a most important phase of your magical education!" she told them, her eyes glinting dangerously behind her square spectacles. "Your Ordinary Wizarding Levels are drawing closer —"
"We don't take O.W.L.s till fifth year!" said Dean Thomas indignantly.
"Maybe not, Thomas, but believe me, you need all the preparation you can get! Miss Granger remains the only person in this class who has managed to turn a hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion. I might remind you that your pincushion, Thomas, still curls up in fright if anyone approaches it with a pin!"
Hermione, who had turned rather pink again, seemed to be trying not to look too pleased with herself.
Meanwhile Professor Binns, the ghost who taught History of Magic, had us writing weekly essays on the goblin rebellions of the eighteenth century.
Professor Snape was forcing us to research antidotes. We took this one seriously, as he had hinted that he might be poisoning one of us before Christmas to see if the antidote worked.
Professor Flitwick had asked us to read three extra books in preparation for our lesson on Summoning Charms.
Even Hagrid was adding to our workload. The Blast-Ended Skrewts were growing at a remarkable pace given that nobody had yet discovered what they ate. Hagrid was delighted, and as part of our "project," suggested that we come down to his hut on alternate evenings to observe the skrewts and make notes on their extraordinary behaviour.
"I will not," said Draco Malfoy flatly when Hagrid had proposed this with the air of Father Christmas pulling an extra-large toy out of his sack. "I see enough of these foul things during lessons, thanks."
I was very, very pleased to see Lexie's slap had left his cheek bruised. Hagrid's smile faded off his face.
"Yeh'll do wha' yer told," he growled, "or I'll be takin' a leaf outta Professor Moody's book… I hear yeh made a good ferret, Malfoy."
"Oh, BURN!" Bella shouted over the cheers and laughter of the Gryffindors.
Malfoy flushed with anger, but apparently the memory of Moody's punishment was still sufficiently painful to stop him from retorting.
Harry, Bella, Claire, Ron, Lexie, Hermione and I returned to the castle at the end of the lesson in high spirits; seeing Hagrid put down Malfoy was particularly satisfying, especially because Malfoy had done his very best to get Hagrid sacked the previous year.
"I'd say this week has been a very good lesson for Malfoy," said Hermione. "First Lexie- then Hagrid- I hope he's really learned not to just walk over them again."
It was the first time someone had mentioned the DADA lesson in front of Lexie. I had just assumed it was one of those other things that had better be left unspoken. My affliction was another example of that. The first full moon of this school year was horribly close. All my friends were looking at Lexie.
"I hope so too," she said softly, after which we continued to walk to the entrance hall.
When we arrived in the entrance hall, we found ourselves unable to proceed owing to the large crowd of students congregated there, all milling around a large sign that had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase. Ron, the tallest of us seven, stood on tiptoe to see over the heads and read the sign aloud to the rest of us:
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 –
"Brilliant!" said Harry. "It's Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won't have time to poison us all!"
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.
"Only a week away!" said Ernie Macmillan, emerging from the crowd, his eyes gleaming. "I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go and tell him…"
"Cedric?" said Ron blankly as Ernie hurried off.
"He was thinking about competing in the Tournament," Claire said matter-of-factly.
"Him, Hogwarts champion?" said Ron.
"Why not? You just don't like him because he beat Gryffindor at Quidditch," said Hermione. "I've heard from Claire that he's a really good student - and he's a prefect."
She spoke as though this settled the matter.
"Claire may be a bit biased- and you only like him because he's handsome," said Ron scathingly.
"Excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome!" said Hermione indignantly.
Ron gave a loud false cough, which sounded oddly like "Lockhart!"
The appearance of the sign in the entrance hall had a marked effect upon the inhabitants of the castle. During the following week, there seemed to be only one topic of conversation, no matter where I went: the Triwizard Tournament.
Rumours were flying from student to student like highly contagious germs: who was going to try for Hogwarts champion (Cedric being a popular choice of subject), what the tournament would involve, how the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang differed from ourselves.
I noticed too that the castle seemed to be undergoing an extra-thorough cleaning. Several grimy portraits had been scrubbed, much to the displeasure of their subjects, who sat huddled in their frames muttering darkly and wincing as they felt their raw pink faces. The suits of armour were suddenly gleaming and moving without squeaking, and Argus Filch, the caretaker, was behaving so ferociously to any students who forgot to wipe their shoes that he terrified a pair of first-year girls into hysterics.
When I went down to breakfast on the morning of the thirtieth of October, I found that the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. Enormous silk banners hung from the walls, each of them representing a Hogwarts House: red with a gold lion for Gryffiindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. Behind the teachers' table, the largest banner of all bore the Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger, and snake united around a large letter H.
United divided, I thought, having first-hand experienced how far the inter-house rivalries went. I walked to the Hufflepuff table, and pushed a boy aside to sit next to Cedric.
"Hi Janice," said Cedric, his eyebrows raised, stealing glances at the boy I'd pushed away.
"You're thinking competing in the Triwizard Tournament."
As soon as I said this, some cheers erupted from our table; Cedric's posse.
"Yes," he said tensely.
"And you didn't think of telling me?"
"Well, it's not like I'd made the decision yet," he defended himself. "It's just something I mentioned to Claire one afternoon."
"Oh- well, sorry," I said, relieved.
I realized now his friends had heard me- I hadn't given him much of a choice. He had to compete now.
POV CLAIRE GIBBS:
There was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air that day. Nobody was very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; even Potions was more bearable than usual, as it was half an hour shorter.
When the bell rang early, I hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited my bag and books as we had been instructed, pulled on my cloak, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall.
We filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest.
While I was not able to find my friends, I did see Cedric's head above the crowd. I fought my way through the crowd in order to be able to lay my head against his chest and have him wrap his arms around me.
I could smell him deeply. I liked the way he smelled.
He let me go and held me so we could look each other in the eye. His eyes were a dark grey colour. He smiled- there were cute dimples in his cheeks whenever he smiled- and he leaned down to kiss me.
Cedric's lips touched mine, then he deepened the kiss, his arms bracingly around my waist and I stood on my toes to place my arms around his neck. I was tall, but not nearly as tall as he was.
In the end, we had to stop kissing because Cedric's friends starting jeering and yelling things like 'Get a room, you two!' but despite it all, his hand held mine the entire time.
"Nearly six," said a friend of Cedric's I remembered as Aaron, checking his watch and then staring down the drive that led to the front gates. "How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"
"I doubt it," said another Hufflepuff girl I did not know.
"How, then? Broomsticks?" Aaron suggested, looking up at the starry sky. "I don't think so… not from that far away…"
"A Portkey?" Aaron suggested. "Or they could Apparate - maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"
"You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?" said a boy I didn't know impatiently.
He wasn't as tall as the others, but that said something about how tall the others were, for he wasn't small. He had auburn hair that was slightly wavy- maybe if he let it grow a little it would be curly- freckles that were barely visible on his tanned skin and hazel eyes.
"I feel you," I said to him, trying to smile.
This 'being kind to my boyfriend's friends' thing was completely foreign to me.
"Oh, you must be Claire, right?" the boy said. "I'm Garrett. It's good to finally meet you in person. I've heard a lot about you."
"Same here," I said nervously.
"Well, I doubt that," Garrett smiled, "Cedric here couldn't stop talking about you."
Cedric and I both blushed.
When I saw Garrett I was surprised. He didn't strike me as dangerous or threatening.
And then Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers - "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"
Something large, much larger than a broomstick - or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks - was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time.
As the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, I saw a gigantic, powder-blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward us, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant.
The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed - then, with an almighty crash, it hit the ground.
When its doors opened a boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectfully.
Then I saw a shining, high-heeled black shoe emerging from the inside of the carriage - a shoe the size of a child's sled - followed, almost immediately, by the largest woman I had ever seen in my life. The size of the carriage, and of the horses, was immediately explained. A few people gasped.
As she stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers.
"Now, that's a woman," said Aaron.
The girl whose name I hadn't known, who had been holding his hand, smacked him on his arm.
"Ouch! Tori, what the-"
Dumbledore started to clap; the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman. Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it.
"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."
"Dumbly-dort," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"
"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.
"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her.
I now noticed that about a dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks.
"'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.
"He should be here any moment," said Dumbledore. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"
"Warm up, I think," said Madame Maxime. "But ze 'orses -"
"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," said Dumbledore, "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other - er - charges."
"Did something happen with the Skrewts?" I wondered aloud.
"My steeds require - er - forceful 'andling," said Madame Maxime, looking as though she doubted whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the job. "Zey are very strong…"
"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," said Dumbledore, smiling.
"Very well," said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"
"It will be attended to," said Dumbledore, also bowing.
"Come," said Madame Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps.
The instant they had disappeared, a loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting toward us from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed.
"The lake!" yelled Tori, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake!"
Slowly, magnificently, a ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes.
Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.
People were disembarking; they could see the student's silhouettes passing the lights in the ship's portholes. All of them, I noticed, seemed to be built along the lines of Crabbe and Goyle… but then, as they drew nearer, walking up the lawns into the light streaming from the entrance hall, I saw that their bulk was really due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.
"Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"
"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied.
"Dear old Hogwarts," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and I noticed that his smile did not extend to his eyes, which remained cold and shrewd. "How good it is to be here, how good… Viktor, come along, into the warmth… you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold…"
Cedric's grip became firmer on my hand, as Aaron hissed excitedly, "That's Krum!"
Tadaaa! A lot happened in one chapter, didn't it? Oh my-
1. First, my apologies if the Imperius plotline made Moody seem a bit OOC, but I think it was worth the read. There is going to be a lot more tension between Draco and Lexie, I can assure you. And don't forget she did start a fight to stand up for Harry... Thoughts?
2. I think this conversation between Blaise and Bella was an interesting one. I think it revealed a lot:
- Official proof Bella has been in love with Harry for all those years.
- Blaise, no matter what he pretends to be, does give Bella some advice in the end (thought it may sound harsh)
- Blaise likes to push Bella as far as he possibly can, secretly enjoying he strong, unyielding and rebelling nature, but is slightly disappointed when he 'breaks' her and she doesn't snap back as fiercely.
What did you think?
3. The final couple of sentences in Janice's POV are most important. That because she said out loud Cedric was thinking about competing, his friends overheard and there was no way back. Group pressure much. (also, remember what Cedric said to Claire in Lost Families? That she was way cooler than him because she didn't matter what other people thought of her?) How do you think this thing could influence Janice later on in the series? (that she forced him to compete)
4. There was loads of fluffy CedricxClaire in this chapter, for all you Claire-fans who deserve to see her happy, especially after last year. I also introduced some of Cedric's friends; Aaron, Tori and Garrett. Now, probably only Garrett will have a major plotline in the series but it would be weird if Claire never got to meet on of Cedric's friends. Thoughts?