Kathryn Winchester and the Goblet of Fire
by Lady Dawson
Chapter Ten: The Guests Arrive
The last weeks of summer slowly drew to a close, bringing forth autumn and as the weather began to turn cooler, the leaves too began to change, showing the change in the seasons. And as the seasons began to change, there was a feeling of heightened excitement settling down upon the castle, for everyone knew that, with the end of October slowly approaching, the students from the other schools would be arriving and the Triwizard Tournament would begin.
Kat was walking through the halls with Jo, with the latter chatting endlessly and the former mostly just listening, as they headed towards the Great Hall for breakfast one morning when they both saw a crowd forming around a sign that was at the foot of the staircase. Due to the fact that they were unable to get through because of the crowd, Kat and Jo were left with no choice but to join the crowd and see what exactly was going on.
"What's this all about?" she asked Jo, who shrugged, jumping up and down a few times to try and see over everybody's head, but while Jo was taller than Kat, she still couldn't see over the top of everybody's head.
"I think we're going to have to push our way through," she said decidedly as Faith came up behind them with Fred and George.
"What's going on?" she asked curiously, looking towards Kat, who shrugged. "Well, let's go see."
"Yeah, well, there's the problem of actually getting through—" Kat was forced to stop talking and squealed in surprise as, without warning, someone scooped her up. Her head jerked around to see who it was that was hoisting her up and she saw Cedric grinning at her mercilessly.
"What are you doing?" she asked, flustered and if the way that her face felt like it was heating up was anything to judge by, she was sure that it was turning a violent shade of red. Not to mention, the way that her sister and her best friend were smirking at once another, no doubt coming up with ideas to torture her about this.
"Trying to make it easier," he answered, still grinning at her. Kat wished that Jo and Faith would stop smirking; it was just making her face turn even redder. "What's it say?"
Giving him a scowl, Kat looked over the other students, which was all too easy now that he was holding her up. "The Triwizard Tournament," she read to the people around her. "The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday, the 30th of October. Lessons will end a half an hour early—"
"Oh, fantastic!" Jo said sarcastically, looking faintly disappointed, making a face. "We've got History of Magic last of Fridays! It's the only time that I can get a nap in."
"Well, you're supposed to be taking notes," Kat pointed out to her. "Not taking a nap."
"Kathy," Jo said seriously, "I think that you're the only person in this school that's able to stay awake during Binns' lessons."
"You forgot about Hermione Granger," Faith reminded her, shaking her head in dismay. "That girl can go through any class and not fall asleep in. Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out how she manages to do all of that homework, plus whatever wacky adventure she and her friends manage to get themselves into."
Rolling her eyes at the two of them, Kat returned to reading the board. "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," she finished. "October 30th," she repeated slowly. "That's only a week away."
"Hey, Ced, you know, she's done reading," Faith informed the older Hufflepuff. "I think that you can put her down now." Kat glared at her sister, who just grinned shamelessly, and Cedric sighed, reluctantly setting her back down on her feet with everybody else.
As she brushed her hair behind her ear, Kat looked up at him while Faith and Jo were talking behind them, doubtlessly how they were going to torture her at a later date about this.
"Still worried?" he asked.
"Of course, I worry," she answered, knowing what he was talking about. The Tournament and him entering. "This thing's dangerous and I still can't believe that they're even continuing it. And I will continue to worry if you do happen to get picked until June. Then I might be able to breathe easier."
"Yes, but like I said, there's only a very slim chance that I'm even going to get picked," Cedric reminded her as they sat down at the table.
Kat said nothing; she wasn't a seer, she didn't have visions of the future or anything like that. But her dad had often called her psychic, because she could sometimes sense the future, could tell when something odd was gonna happen. And she had been having those feelings ever since she had first heard about this tournament.
Whether something showed on her face or he had just gotten to know her well enough, Kat had no idea, but Cedric smiled, reaching over and slipping his hand into hers, lacing their fingers together. They were a perfect match, Kat noticed, looking down at them before her blue-green eyes lifted to meet his blue-grey ones.
"Thanks, though," he added with a smile.
"For what?" Kat inquired, wishing that he wouldn't let go of her hand, that they would just stay entwined until the end of time.
"Worrying about me," he answered, still smiling down at her. Kat smiled back, ducking her head to avoid the blush that was streaming across her face. "So how'd you do on that Transfiguration essay?"
"Not bad," Kat said, grateful for the change of subject. It was starting to get way too intense for her taste. "It probably would have been a lot lower if you hadn't helped me though."
Cedric shrugged. "It's no problem, you're still getting used to things around here." Both of them looked at each other and the intensity started to sky-rocket again and Kat was sure that he was going to hear her heartbeat as it hammered in her chest.
She wasn't sure what was going to happen had the intensity continued, but thankfully, Fred—or possibly George—lit off some firecrackers that sparkled in the hall and caused everyone to either duck for cover or race out of the hall. Kat couldn't help but laugh as McGonagall went off, yelling at the two of them so loudly that she went hoarse before giving them detention.
"You know what?" she asked suddenly. "I'm really glad that I came to this school." Faith snorted and Jo grinned while Cedric chuckled, linking their hands together before breakfast began, but she couldn't resist stealing several glances as Cedric as she ate, feelings starting to stir within her that had never happened to her.
And she was starting to think that what Faith had teased her mercilessly about since Kat had met Cedric was actually true. Maybe, just maybe . . . she was starting to fall for him.
--
On the night before Halloween, the atmosphere within the castle seemed to have heightened, as almost every single person was anxiously awaiting the end of classes so that they could see the arrival of their guests. Because then, once they arrived, would the Triwizard Tournament finally begin. Kat and Jo, whom she had to practically shake awake after History of Magic was let out, headed up to their dormitory before returning to the entrance hall, fastening their cloaks as they did so.
The entrance hall was completely filled and the heads of houses were currently ordering students to get into lines. Kat caught sight of Cedric as he was talking to Elaine and Andy, her face flushing slightly, but he glanced at her with a smile and waved at her. She smiled back, returning the wave as she and Jo slipped into the crowd, joining the rest of their Hufflepuff fourth-years as they headed outside, scanning the sky above anxiously.
"Where are they coming from, anyway?" Kat asked, looking at Jo curiously. "I mean, how far away are they supposed to be from?"
"I don't know," Jo mused, frowning slightly. "My cousin Vladimir went to Durmstrang and he said that it was really cold there, but he never told me where it was, because he was really scared of their headmaster." She shivered slightly. "He also said that they practice Dark Arts there, but that could have just be Vlad talking. Sometimes, he does say stuff like that just so he can scare the rest of us."
"Nah, Dad never did have a good judgment about that place," Kat said, shaking her head. "I mean, I'm sure that the students might be nice—some of them anyway—but probably a lot of what is said about that school is probably true."
"Not all rumours are true," Jo reasoned. "If they were, then we'd have to believe that you were a stuck-up, snobby Yankee."
"What?" Kat asked, looking at her quickly.
"Listen in the girls' restroom sometime," Jo advised, grinning slightly. "There was a full report on you before you even set foot on this campus. You'd be surprised what people think about you, especially after how you told off Malfoy that one time," she laughed.
"Am I never going to hear the end of that?" Kat complained. She paused, looking at her best friend. "Do people really think I'm stuck-up?" Jo nodded, grinning wildly. "Wow. That's the first time that people have ever accused me of being conceited."
"Yeah, well, welcome to my world," Jo muttered, glancing towards the sixth-years, where Elaine was still talking with Cedric. "I have to put up with being Elaine's little sister until I graduate from here. Ever since I arrived here, people expected me to make the same good grades she did and take the same classes that she did."
Kat, who had only had a twin sister and two younger brothers for a couple of months, couldn't really understand how that felt, but she did know that Jo didn't mean half of what she said. Sure, she hated being compared to Elaine, but the affection between the McKinsey sisters was mutual and genuine.
"She's only here for a couple more years and then you won't have to live under her shadow anymore," she reasoned. Jo rolled her eyes.
"Yeah and then I'll be hearing how wonderful she's doing at the Ministry and she and Andy will probably get married and have beautiful children and they'll live happily ever after," she grumbled.
"Okay, honey, you really need to stop," Kat ordered her. "If you want to get out of your sister's shadow, then you need to stop complaining about her and focus on what makes you happy. Once you do that, then it doesn't matter what you're doing, because you'll be happy."
Jo made a face at her. "That's easier said than done," she said darkly, glancing towards the sky. "Hey, what's that?"
"Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!" Dumbledore called as Kat lifted her eyes back up towards the sky, searching the heavens for any sign of what Jo had seen. And finally, she saw it, something small but growing steadily faster as it came closer and closer to the castle.
"What is it?" Jo asked incredulously.
"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the Hufflepuff first years, but a Gryffindor contradicted her.
"Don't be stupid! It's a flying house!"
Well, he wasn't far off, Kat reasoned as the shape came closer and closer, finally revealing itself to be a carriage about the size of a large house, drawn by the most enormous horses that Kat had ever seen before and all of them winged palominos. Kat had seen winged horses before; her dad's cousin owned a ranch, breeding them in Wisconsin, but she had never seen them this huge before.
The carriage loomed over them, finally landing right in front of them with a crash that made Kat wince and she saw the emblem on the door—two golden wands crossed each producing three stars—right before it opened and a Beauxbatons student climbed out, fiddling with something before he stepped back as golden steps unfolded and a woman appeared.
If the horses had seemed extraordinarily large to Kat, then they were nothing compared to this woman. She looked like she could have stepped right onto the first-years easily. Kat was not the only one who was staring, she noticed as she managed to pull her gaze away from the woman. All of them were gawking at her, staring wide-eyed at the abnormally large woman as her students climbed out of the carriage after what Kat assumed was their headmistress.
"My dear Madame Maxime," Dumbledore said politely as he bent to kiss her gloved hand that had several, glittering gems on it. He didn't even have to bend in order to do so and the headmaster was quite tall.
"Dumbledore," Madam Maxime said in her thick accent, "I hope I find you well?"
"In excellent form, thank you," Dumbledore answered as Madam Maxime waved her hand at the students that were gathering around her.
"My pupils," she introduced before looking at Dumbledore. "Has Karkaroff arrived yet?"
"He should be here any moment," Dumbledore answered. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?" Madame Maxime looked thoughtful for a moment before she eyed her students, all of whom were shivering. Kat wondered why they hadn't brought their cloaks.
"Warm up, I think," she answered before the conversation turned to the caring of the horses and after several assurances from Dumbledore that they would be well taken care of, she and her students headed inside.
"Wow," Jo whispered once they were safely inside and away from hearing distance. "That is one big woman."
"No kidding," Kat agreed, shaking her head as she looked back towards the sky. "How do you think Durmstrang is going to get here?" Jo shrugged, continuing to search the skies until their attention was drawn to something else entirely as an odd, peculiar sound started emerging from the lake and Kat's eyes flashed to it.
"What on earth . . .?" she asked to no one in particular and Jo's eyes were focused on it, looking frankly bewildered as the clear surface suddenly was bubbling as though someone had started boiling it and circled around the centre of the lake, where something was appearing from it.
Very slowly and very carefully, almost anticipating their eagerness, a ship came into view, climbing out of the water and levelling itself onto the lake as it slowly returned to normal and moved towards the shore. Once the ship was anchored and securely latched, students began climbing off and right in the very front was a tall and cold. There was something in his eyes that Kat didn't like as he reached Dumbledore and they greeted one another.
Her attention was so focused on the headmaster of Durmstrang—whom Dumbledore identified as Professor Karkaroff—that Kat didn't notice how a lot of her students were focused on something else. Or more accurately, someone else. One of the students that was mixed within his peers.
It wasn't until Jo slapped her arm and Kat looked back at her that she noticed that almost everyone was staring at the student, especially after the way that Karkaroff singled him out and she frowned; she knew him from somewhere, had seen him somewhere recently. He looked way too familiar and she usually knew—
Kat caught sight of her sister, standing in the Gryffindor line, and it only took the expression on Faith's face to know at once who this boy was and she inwardly groaned.
"Krum?" she guessed, looking at Jo, who looked at her as though she were completely crazy.
"Krum," she confirmed, shaking her head at the blonde. "I thought your dad was a Quidditch player. Shouldn't you know this kind of stuff?"
"I like Quidditch," Kat muttered as she followed Jo into the castle with the rest of Hogwarts. "I just don't pay much attention to the players, that's all."
The snort that came from her best friend was enough to tell Kat what she thought of that. Kat smiled, shaking her head as she took her seat at her table, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as the feast started to begin.