A/N: Hello, people!
I don't own Harry Potter.
I have no beta.
ENJOY!
CHECK ME OUT ON TUMBLR. HELLY-WATERMELONSMELLINFELLON.
-Happy Tom's B-day! Dec 31st! Fear not! Ch. 39 is being edited for
Friday and I'm writing Ch. 42 now.
~.O.~
"I'll be putting them under the Imperius Curse, my Lord."
"And you managed to gain the permission for it?" the Dark Lord asked, honestly baffled by it.
"Easily," Barty confessed. "Almost too easy actually. McGonagall had been against it at first but Albus Dumbledore had vouched for who he thought was his long time friend, and the permission had been granted if a bit reluctantly."
Dumbledore had to have a reason for wanting it to happen. There was a time back when Voldemort was a student, that Professor Merrythought wanted to show the Unforgivables to the students and he'd complained nonstop until Armando Dippet finally conceded to his demands and refused the woman's request. And now he was suddenly okay with the students being exposed to it?
Of course the old bastard had some kind of plan up his ridiculously long and sparkling sleeves.
"Make it a lesson to never forget, Barty. I want the Potter girls especially tested and you will reveal their experiences to me once the experiment if over."
Barty bowed low. "Of course, my Lord."
§He's annoying me,§ Nagini hissed as she shifted her coils around Voldemort's form in order to find a more comfortable position.
§He's merely a devoted follower, my dear.§
§An annoying one.§
She wasn't wrong.
Okay. Okay. She'd never done this on her own before because there'd never been a reason for her to. It wasn't as if Prue grew up surrounded by snakes where she could harness this ability and this learn the ins and outs of it. She was just winging it here.
The lavatory was empty because it was haunted by Moaning Myrtle. She died in the toilet at the end of the row when she was still attending Hogwarts back int he 40s. She was so attached, she never left. Well, there were reports of her leaving to harass her school bully for a time, because she was angry at the girl for putting her in the situation that got her killed to begin with. After being threatened with exorcism, she returned to Hogwarts to be miserable.
Myrtle did not come out when Prue entered the room. In fact, Prue couldn't hear her crying anywhere. Perhaps Myrtle had gone somewhere else for the time. Sir Nick was good at coaxing people out of depressed silences, Maybe he was to blame.
The sinks, Salazar had said. The bloody sinks understood Parseltongue apparently and would lead her down into the Chamber of Secrets.
She spotted the snake design quickly. It was hard to miss the metal snake curling around the faucet. So she had to concentrate on snake things. Snakes. Slithering. Hissing. Coils. Reticulated Pythons.
§Open.§
Watching as the sink sank into the floor and the others split apart to reveal a massive hole, was awesome. Seeing how unclean the hole was, was gross though. Why was a big hole necessary.
'My familiar should still be down there and she's a Basilisk.'
Okay. That would explain some things. A Basilisk-sized hole. A thousand year old Basilisk at that.
Was there a way down other than the Slide of Doom? She couldn't see anything but darkness.
"Lumos!" The spell's light extended pretty far, showing that it was indeed just a massive slide.
§Are there any stairs?§
As if summoned, some very thin and steep steps began to pop out of the stone with loud, grinding sounds. They were curved upward a bit, as if to prevent slipping backward on the way back up.
"So I'm doing this," Prue said to the empty room.
And she did.
"I was gone for a week and a half! How did all this crap just pile up in so little time? It was still only the first month of school!" Bella demanded as she looked over the very detailed list of things Hermione had taken great care to write down for her.
It was a good thing she needed to make up for those days away and would be living out 72 hours for the next week or so because how the hell else would she catch up on all of this homework? What did they expect from fourteen year olds and why did no one think it was a bit unfair?
Bella had access to an unlimited amount of time on her end, but no one else but Hermione did. How did the teachers expect them all to manage this in so little time? They were some very unrealistic expectations.
The work she had backed up:
-An essay on the properties of Hellebore and what potions it is safe to be used in, and
which ingredients it shouldn't be mixed with. A minimum of a foot and a maximum of
two feet was the length requirement.
-A foot long essay on the benefits of Runic Divination compared to Tasseomancy, plus
and in depth look into the faults of Tasseomancy Vs Runic Divination.
-Create your own set of Runecasting pieces, pouch included, for Runic Divination. Use
in class will be a necessity in the following months so make certain they are crafted in
the proper time and place for the most effective results.
-A foot long essay on the Magical Euro-War of 1810 and how it affected the rest of the
magical communities in mainland Europe. Explain why it could have easily been solved
had the French simply had a Runes Master at their disposal.
-A foot long essay on the the Magical Purge of the British Ministry in 1818 and explain
why it was an unnecessary action in the first place.
-Master the Summoning Charm.
-Master turning a hedgehog into a pincushion, turning a guinea fowl into a guinea pig,
and the Vanishing Spell.
-Describe with three examples, the ways in which Transforming Spells can be adapted
when performing Cross-Species Switches. Minimum of 1,000 words. No coloured ink is
allowed.
-Memorise the list of British magical flora in alphabetical order for a surprise quiz some
point in the future.
-Use the Chaldean Method of Arithmancy to discover your divinitory numbers. Show the
work clearly. Be prepared to demonstrate this method with a randomly selected name in
class.
-Three individual essays on the origins of the Unforgivable Curses and why they weren't
originally Unforgivable.
-Perfect your use of the Disarming Charm.
-Show some progress on the Shield Charm.
-Master the Knockback Jinx silently.
It was like a never-ending list of expectations! And suddenly the fancy Dicta-Quill she'd been gifted years ago was necessary because Bella did not feel like hunching over and writing for all those essays for hours on end!
Hermione shrugged. "It's reasons like this that you were given a Time Turner in the first place. I'll help though, so don't worry. I've done all of my work and know exactly what has to be achieved in each essay at the very least and have already been graded on some of them so I can guide you on what to do so you'll get the best grades as well."
Thank God for people like Hermione who were so committed to helping people that they would take the time out of their own busy schedule just to help someone out. Bella would be utterly screwed otherwise. She hated homework. And schoolwork. And written work that required reading. It was hard having to pay attention to doing it all!
But this was for skating! Once she got her O.W.L.s she wouldn't have to deal with this crap any longer and could just continue going about on her own. Then she be allowed to keep her wand and her magic would remain unsealed until her early seventeenth birthday where the threat couldn't be used at all.
Seventy-two hours a day for at least nine days. She could do this.
Bella took a fortifying breath and pulled out several empty parchment sheets.
The gold medal resting on her bedroom desk at home was enough of a reminder for her that this was necessary. She was doing so well and she needed to get used to the excess workload if she wanted to prosper.
Three official weeks getting back into the swing of things was stressful. For Bella it had technically been like seven and a half weeks worth of time in order to catch up to her schedule again, but she'd finally done it. After all of that time, she'd caught up and was on even ground with everyone else once again!
And just in time for Moody's mad decision to put them all under the Imperius curse because for some reason he really wanted them all to know what to expect. In a way she could understand his insistence but she didn't trust the dude and didn't want him casting anything on her. Ever. If she could help it.
Unfortunately she had a good reputation as a not-trouble maker and didn't want to ruin that by throwing a tanty when there was literally no obvious reason to. This wasn't like Lockhart where Moody was being a pedophile in the corridors without giving a damn. He was known to be an eccentric person so people just brushed it off as him being paranoid and weird after so many years as an Auror nearly getting killed by criminals.
"Sir, you told us casting any of these would send us to Azkaban," Hermione pointed out once they learned the class' objective that day. "Wouldn't you get into trouble for this?"
Both of Moody's eyes locked onto Hermione's position eerily. "Special permission from the Ministry, Granger. And furthermore, if in times of crisis, the Head Auror can grant permission to the populace to cast it but only if it's necessary in the particular situation. It was a favourite during the war on both sides. Nearly everyone was using it."
And that shut up any protest immediately. That was also a piece of information not spread around for some reason? Was a quick and painless death really so bad then if anyone was allowed to use it when things got a little hairy?
The students looked between each other in obvious discomfort, but waited quietly for him to call each one up to have their own experience.
"Nott!"
Bella winced as Theo stood calmly. Even if his face was a lot more pale than usual, he was the perfect mask of ease. She didn't like it.
"Imperio!"
The Nott boy was difficult to control, Barty had to admit. Whatever exposure he'd gotten from his mad grandfather had prepared him for this. He refused to jump onto the desk. He shook his head when told to climb the staircase to Barty's office. And he resisted the urge to sing Do the Hippogriff in a falsetto.
"That!" he growled at the students once the curse was released. Nott looked to be tired and his face was sweating profusely, but he'd done it. He'd resisted the curse amazingly and Barty would give praise where it was due. "You are aiming to do that! He struggled to fight it off, but he managed it! You want to do the same thing! Ignore that voice in your head! Brown! Up here!"
The girl from Gryffindor had no chance. She ended up crawling all over the room, acting like a squirrel and trying to steal quills from her classmates. He only released her once she was dead center in the Slytherin side of the room and on top of the Malfoy boy's desk.
Her mortification was amusing and would probably teach her to stop writing him love notes while Barty was in the middle of teaching. he was not above teaching harsh lessons and embarrassing them terribly if it got the job done.
He cycled through the students at a rapid pace.
Granger avoided the beguiling power of the curse for nine seconds, but eventually caved into squawking like a chicken. Still, the effort was admirable and he told her so.
Patil sang an aria. Badly. She did not have a voice meant for singing and now everyone else knew it.
Malfoy was ridiculously easy to manipulate. Lucius had done poorly with his offspring. The blond was made to declare his true feelings for the person he admired most, and ended up confessing his never-ending love for Belladonna Potter, who merely stared him down with an unimpressed gaze and did in no way look concerned.
The blond's red face was buried in his arms for the rest of the class period.
He then focused on Arthur Weasley's youngest boy, who too was very easy to control. When the boy came to, his hand was in the spider jar and he screamed and fainted. Barty revived him easily, but it was a good laugh.
Next came Prunella Potter, the false Girl-Who-Lived who spent her entire childhood taking credit for something she didn't even do. The one his Lord absolutely despised and wanted to suffer for her insolence.
"Imperio."
The girl's frowning face didn't twist into the relieved or calm expression some showed. Instead, her mouth twisted into an even deeper frown and his orders for her to jump on his desk bombarded her from every angle.
"No," she said forcefully, out loud.
The room stared in bafflement as she turned right around and rejoined her Weasley friend. Even Barty was astounded and maybe a little impressed because he'd been informed that she had no skills in anything at all. That she was mediocre. But she just shrugged off the Imperius, from an experienced Death Eater no less, like it was nothing!
"How?" Weasley demanded, voice still cracking from his debilitating fear of spiders.
She shrugged. "I haven't been happy lately and the sudden happiness that tried to overcome me was obviously fake."
Her Slytherin twin snorted. "Serotonin? In this economy?" Only her friend Granger and the Thomas boy from Gryffindor seemed to understand the joke as they were the only ones to laugh quietly with her.
And because he could, Barty called the real Girl-Who-Lived up next because he was so curious to see what she was capable of. Oh she whose work ethic was better than her sister's. Oh she who was more dedicated to her muggle job than her magical learning.
She stood before him expectantly, her shoulders slightly stiff with anticipation and mild distrust.
"Imperio!"
He wanted her to jump on the desk, like he'd told her twin.
The girl's head tilted greatly to the side and then her gaze trailed to the left as if she was looking at someone who wasn't there. He enforced the order again, and her gaze flickered to the right and then back to the left almost too quick to notice.
He tried one more time, and this was where it became… concerning?
Her eyes were unique. From what his Lord had told him, it was because of her shooting the Killing Curse out of them on the fateful night over a decade ago. Her eyes had been more dull in colour until that moment, and they shined unnaturally now.
But in this moment, they were not green. And it had been only for a moment, but Barty was certain he'd seen them flash red. Red with slitted pupils. Like his Lord's eyes used to be.
He'd been told the girl was necessary for the ritual but he hadn't understood why until now. There was some kind of connection between her and the Dark Lord. The flashing eyes simply made it more obvious.
In the end, she avoided the Imperius, but she was the only one who looked as if she was going through a literal internal war during the whole process. As if she was listening to two people scream at one another and she was forced between them, to watch. She clutched her chest as she returned to her seat, and Barty had much to think about and much to tell his Lord.
The voice in her head talked for the first time outside her many attempts at reading. It used to be the droning whenever Bella read something in order to interfere with her attempts at learning. But for the first time she'd heard it when it wasn't sounding like an old man who needed to bite the bullet ASAP.
It was gruff in a sense and still carried that aged quality to it. Certainly not the voice of a young man. Voldemort was like seventy-five when he attacked the Potter family that night, which put him right on the edge of middle-age for a wizard. So he wouldn't have a youthful voice obviously.
It was just so strange to consider. The Horcrux hadn't spoken to her directly. It had spoken to the other voice. The smooth and calm one that had sounded so pleasant to the ear as it told her to jump up onto the desk. And when it had appeared and things had gone a bit fuzzy up top, the Voldemort soul piece acted up and screamed with an almighty rage she'd never expected.
'GET OUT!' was what it yelled at the Imperius Curse.
As the impulse to obey the voice grew stronger while the voice grew more insistent, the Horcrux grew more furious to the point of burning the hell out of her scar and making her clutch herself in an attempt to soothe the pain of it. Thankfully the scar was in the center along the sternum so she wasn't groping herself in public, not that she really would have cared all that much in the long run.
The first thing to consider was if she should tell Tom about the situation. Apparently she was immune to the Imperius if she had a voice in her head ticked off over others trying to control her. But was that really a good thing if it had to harm her in order to get what it wanted?
That didn't sound very safe.
As usual this was all Voldemort's fault. If he'd just not been so suckish at killing children this never would have happened. Did he honestly not know any other ways to kill? Was a green light literally all he had at his disposal when he'd been equipped with a weapon since he was eleven?
Just make like Neville's crummy family and drop a kid out a window. Would have been quick and with no chance of backlash on any of them.
The Dark Twat was an embarrassment to Slytherins everywhere.
Using the Great Hall in the middle of the night when no one was supposed to be awake, was how Bella was practicing in the last days leading up to the arrival of the rival schools. Flitwick was a good chap about it all though. She remembered the first time they went about this and how she had to instruct him on how thick the ice needed to be to be considered safe enough to skate on.
He was a Master at Charms as well as Dueling. He didn't even bat a lash at her instructions and simply followed through. Bella knew it wasn't that easy to just create something. He was mixing Transfiguration and Charms in order to come out with the proper results.
After some trial and error they determined that the Great Hall's candles would not be appropriate for the tone of the performance. Instead, they would only be using the light of the torches flanking every wall around the room, and the flames would be white/blue instead of red.
The ice, which was equally white, would look ethereal in a sense. He also managed to find the proper amount of glitter and shine for it. Not enough to blind her while she was moving, but enough to literally waft off the ice to make it look… wait for it… magical.
Additionally, they had to account for where everyone would be seated while these introductions were happening. Bella ended up suggesting bleachers. Not the ones used in the Quidditch Pitch though. They looked basic as hell and boring. Ones like those at the World Cup Final, which Flitwick had apparently gone to and he understood what she was saying.
The tables would be expanded to fit the new additions to every meal. The Hall had been lengthened and widened already, which she had noted at the arriving feast. The tables would change into long rows of seats for everyone to choose from, the House Banners remaining in place of course so everyone knew where their people were. Once the greetings and stuff were over, Flitwick would enchant the long rows of seats to move back into their original places and the table tops to reappear again.
The demonstration made it look awesome and Bella was ticked she wouldn't be there when the seating changed. She'd be changing back into her normal clothes by that point.
Still, everything was set up and they were just running through some last minute check-overs. Her skates fit correctly. The blades were expertly sharpened recently and Flitwick planned to charm them black for the performance, so they'd be easy to spot against the ice. Her costume, all red flames over black lycra, was as it should be and wasn't too tight anywhere. The skirt brushed her mid-thighs easily. The ice was at the proper thickness. The orchestra Flitwick enchanted memorised the song to perfection.
Everything seemed to be in order.
And yet she was a little nervous. It was a big thing for her. Not the largest group of people she'd ever perform for of course, but this was the magical side. The side that she was still kind of reluctantly a part of. The side that was condescending toward anything related to muggles, even when some people didn't mean to be.
They didn't understand her zeal when it came to figure skating. There were still a lot of murmurings from her Housemates. While unsure of exactly how to deal with her, that didn't stop them from talking to each other about how odd she was. Rarely were there issues in the Common Room these days, but her ears worked perfectly and she knew what was said now and then. Parkinson perpetuated a lot of it to no one's surprise.
Bella wasn't threatened. Parkinson was just a git who was brainwashed by the patriarchy. In her desire to be the most whatever person in Slytherin, she viewed all other people as threats. Especially other girls. She was in a competition by herself though she didn't even realise it, and it was kinda sad if Bella really considered it.
Parkinson was the opposite of Greengrass who seemed to greatly detest her lot in life. Both from wealthy families but Parkinson wanted that whole family thing with Malfoy and having a bajillion children every year for the rest of her fertile years and being a slave to her husband's desires for anything and didn't find it to be an issue. On the other hand, Greengrass wanted to control her own future but knew she wouldn't get to and she hated it.
Bella didn't necessary like either of them. Parkinson was just a sad example with her desire to just be liked by every guy she saw and her incessant 'pick me pick me pick me!' attitude. Greengrass was just sad entirely. Bella didn't hate them though. They were pitiful in different ways.
How in the hell did Bella get into this line of thought in the first place? She'd been thinking about skating and suddenly started waxing philosophically on the ingrained attitudes of her Housemates!
This was what happened to Bella! Her mind wandered and she could not keep her attention on one thing for too long outside of physically skating! God above, she was a damn mess.
"Ms. Potter, do you think you're ready?" Professor Flitwick asked, startling her from her thoughts.
She nodded. "Yeah, it's all good. How do you feel when you watch the routine though?"
"Amazed," the old wizard confessed. "I could never do anything like that. I don't even know anyone who could accomplish anything similar. Even without the added sparkles and eerie glow it still looks magical in its own way. You make it look easy and yet I know just jumping in place is difficult. I've actually been almost brought to tears by it."
Wow. That was more than she was expecting, but it was nice to hear. If she could move people that much already, she could only hope to get even better as time went on. Aaliyah would be so proud to hear that her Interpretation was improving!
Now all she had to do was convey the same emotion in her personally choreographed performances.
"Thanks, sir."
It had been years since Tom had laid eyes upon Hogwarts in person. When the old ship Durmstrang was using as transport, breached the surface of the Black Lake, he felt like he was home. One thing Tom had always been talented at was sensing magic and he could feel the wards of Hogwarts allowing them through, and it felt like comfort.
The ship they were using was one of many from Durmstrang, yet it was the most intimidating one of all. All to put on airs in front of the other schools of course, so why not arrive in something that looked dark and ghostly and made them seem intimidating and powerful?
Essentially, the ship was massive and black, with an almost skeletal design to it. The lights on the inside, against the darkness outside, would surely make it look haunted, as the effect it was supposed to have. Sometimes Tom was astounded to remember that magical people knew how to sail still since they always whinged about it being a muggle thing and muggles being barbarians or some such rubbish.
Looking out the window, he could see the castle and it's glory. The Great Hall was visible from where the ship was anchoring itself, and the lights from within gave it a warm sort of air. It reminded him of the first time he'd ever ridden a little wooden boat across the lake in his First Year, and how magnificent the building had looked against the night sky with the moon framing it from behind.
Karkaroff cleared his throat and called for them all to form a line.
The ship was special, capable of fitting more than it appeared it could. They'd brought along every student from age sixteen and up to ensure the best possible choice for the Durmstrang Champion. They had one hundred and ninety-seven students in total on board, ready to prove the greatness of the school against Hogwarts' stunning reputation. And also to intimidate the other students as well.
Tom felt no such loyalty to the Institute, he just wanted the award money and to build a name for himself so he could exact his plans more easily. Admiration was easy to use against people.
They disembarked in an orderly fashion, with Tom and Krum right behind Karkaroff and his posturing swagger. They were the favourites in a sense.
As they moved to the shore, a gargantuan, powder-blue and gold carriage descended from the East and landed solidly in front of the castle. The massive, elephant-sized Abraxans pulling it stomped their hooves and neighed loudly for attention. Their red eyes were ominous in the growing darkness of the twilight sky.
Beauxbatons had also arrived, and from their house-sized carriage stepped their Headmistress. A Half-Giantess by the name of Olympe Maxime. Unlike Hagrid however, she exuded class and style and put effort into her appearance. She also looked to be someone to avoid getting into an argument with.
The French students exited the carriage just as orderly as the Durmstrang students. Their numbers were less, but not by much. At least one hundred and fifty students in total had come along.
Hogwarts was housing close to three hundred extra people this year. Oh how amusing this would be to see them all attempt to mingle.
A tall woman with a sharp face and black hair pulled back in a severe bun, greeted them. Her boxed spectacles glistened in the torchlight of the castle and her emerald robes almost blended into the darkness. Beside her stood a man bedecked in black only, with a sallow face and shoulder-length black hair. His hooked nose and beady black eyes made him look distrustful.
The woman stepped forward. "I'm Headmistress and Transfiguration Master Minerva McGonagall and this is my Deputy Head, Potions Master Severus Snape. We formally welcome you to our school."
"Hn," Snape echoed.
Bella had told him about them both. He probably should have realised it sooner.
Karkaroff, for once being a gentleman, allowed Maxime to greet the two first.
"'ello 'eadmistress McGoneegall," the Frenchwoman said with somewhat exaggerated slowness and poor pronunciation. "I wished to enquire about my 'orses and ze care zey will be given before we go inside."
"Not to worry, our Gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures Professor, Rubeus Hagrid, will be taking over their care. He loves animals."
Not him! Why?
Maxime raised a considering brow. "Zey only drink single-malt whiskey."
"Noted."
Karkaroff was a lot more unctuous in his greeting and Tom could tell that Snape did not approve. The glower the man leveled Karkaroff with was enough to make the Highmaster unnerved, but not enough to ruin the atmosphere. McGonagall seemed in no way fooled.
"The entrance ceremony will begin momentarily if you will follow us," said McGonagall. "You may sit anywhere of course. The castle has been expanded to fit an even larger number of guests and classrooms have been set up for your students."
They were lead in through the Entrance Hall where Tom spotted the Founders Portraits for a moment, and up to the double doors of the Great Hall, which split apart right before they came upon them, revealing a wide, open space prepared ahead of time and seating stretching up the sides of the room with empty pockets on the far ends for the visitors to sit in.
It was like the Colosseum in Rome in a way. There were banners everywhere to show where the individual Hogwarts Houses were normally seated, plus a single inclusive one at the far end above the staff table where all new faces sat. Only a single person from his school years had remained and that was Dumbledore. At least Slughorn wasn't there, that was a blessing in disguise. That man was an annoyance of a different sort compared to Dumbledore.
The groups split up once inside. The Durmstrang students took the Slytherin/Ravenclaw side of the seats on the left, and the Beauxbatons students took the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff side of the seats on the right.
McGonagall strode to the direct center of the room and raised her hands. "Tradition dictates that the schools introduce themselves in alphabetical order. I welcome the students of Beauxbatons to the TriWizard Tournament Entrance Ceremony!"
Maxime and McGonagall traded places as her students stood once more and took positions for what looked to be a waltz. The Half-Giantess' wand lifted, and music coming from nowhere in particular, sounded throughout the room.
The couples and their silken blue outfits, straightened up and began twirling around in time with the music that gave visions of Spring and flowers oddly enough. He didn't know the name of the song, but he did recognise it somewhat. Tchaikovsky he was certain. A muggle composer oddly enough. Magicals sure loved using muggle music despite how lowly they spoke of muggles.
There were choreographed spins and with each spin, white butterflies would drift off the silk and float above their heads. Spin, spin, spin, lift. Spin, spin, spin, lift. The couples were mismatched with always one half being tall and the other half being short. The short ones were always lifted though and in passing, Tom noted a short, blond wizard being spun and then lifted by a beautiful, blonde witch.
A certain grace to the movements made it an appealing performance, and the butterflies gathering overhead formed the word Beauxbatons that rotated so the entire hall may see it.
Madame Maxime conducted them and the music through the dance, until it concluded with a big finish of dozens of unified dips, all with the tallest partners bent backwards toward the floor.
The hall broke into a smattering of applause. It was a lovely performance after all. Tom had never been personally interested in dancing, but even he could see beauty in its various forms.
Once those in blue evacuated the floor, the Durmstrang students in their bulky furs and red suits took their place at Karkaroff's demand.
Their entrance was nowhere near as sweet and gentle as the French students had been.
It consisted of most of the students forming a large oval and stomping out a different beat. Most sixteen year olds stomped one beat, most seventeen year olds stomped another beat, and the same for most of the eighteen year olds with their own beat. The three then blended together with magical chanting from each of them, while the best magical practitioners of each year created a fiery dragon from the center of the building magic and manipulated it to soar around the hall.
In the end, the dragon exploded into a shower of red at the foot of the Head Table, and it was Tom's duty to make certain the result was a swarm of fire Phoenixes that followed it up by exploding into the name Durmstrang. It basically ended up looking like a fanciful Flagrate.
More applause followed them to their seats and Tom smirked to himself. He actually liked showing off. It would always be a weakness of his. So long as he wasn't obvious about it, others wouldn't be able to capitalise on it.
Hogwarts' Half-Goblin professor, Filius Flitwick, stepped down from the Head Table and raised his wand. The candles floating above their heads went out and the torches lining the walls lit up with white flames outlined in blue, which gave the room an eerie sort of glow.
At once, a wall of stone that would probably reach his waist, rose from the stone floor, blocking off the stands. The space inside, turned white like ice instantly and in the direct center showed the Hogwarts crest.
Their attention moved toward the Head Table where a lone figure stepped forward, clad in a black and red, skin-tight dress and black ice skates. And that was when he knew.
This was Bella.
The Half-Goblin summoned an orchestra's worth of instruments while Bella removed something from her skates and took to the ice. The instruments floated above the Head Table, awaiting instruction.
As for Bella, she pushed herself onward, rounding the wall and twisting from back to front quickly, stopping directly in the center with her right arm held out and her left folded toward her chest.
Flitwick's wand moved, and the magic began[1].
It was all about expression. Graceful movements of the hands and arms in order for the viewers to understand the feel of the song. This wasn't rough and harsh. This was a dark and dramatic song basically and it wasn't meant to make the audience joyful but rather a bit anxious and curious despite themselves. Maybe even sad at the end.
Pushing and building up speed with her skates was a necessity. Yuna Kim was known for speed which was how she pulled off her jumps so well. Bella needed to channel that same speed because the routine started off with a Triple-Triple jump. One of her favourites actually.
Round the edge of the rink, pushing more and more to gain that necessary speed.
Long glide, half turn, and… Triple Flip-Triple Toe. Arms close to the body and a clean landing too, which she was glad for. Aaliyah would be so proud.
Following that up was a fan spiral that Bella may have improved upon because she was more limber than Yuna Kim had been in 2007. Her left leg could rise all the way up and hold the position as she glided backward. She was then capable of bringing it down at the same speed, like the opening and closing of a hand fan.
Another chance to round the side and build up enough speed for a Arabesque to Biellmann spiral with one hand reaching back to hold up her free leg as she glided. Spirals were always so nice and gave those few seconds of time for a break.
Flying sit spin. Step sequence. Triple Lutz. Twizzles. Footwork of at least a Level 3 in order to be acceptable.
A layback spin, followed by a layback Ina Bauer, into a Spread Eagle, into a Triple Axel. Bella changed it from the Double that Yuna had originally done because she was adventurous and refused to downgrade a program if she didn't have to. Bella could do Triples, so Bella was doing them. The jump was always a risk because of how it was executed compared to other jumps.
Finally, a combination spin that ended with an I spin which was Yuna's favourite ending to a routine in recent years.
When Bella stopped, her breathing was uneven and the crowd was applauding much more loudly than any she'd ever performed for before.
With a smile, she took a bow toward the left side of the room, then turned and bowed toward the right side of the room. Finally, she bowed to the professors and smiled as Flitwick conjured a bouquet of red roses for her.
"Well done, Ms. Potter!" the man said, his beard wiggling with his excitement. And she could see just the smallest bit of glistening in his eyes and knew she'd done her job.
It felt good to finally let others see what she worked so hard for. She was proud.
Sirius and Remus wasted no time in pulling her into a hug once her guards were back on her blades.
"That was great, Bells!"
"I haven't seen something that physically impressive in years."
"Your sister does that for a living," Ron breathed in awe as Bella stepped out of the room through the back entrance. "She's mad. Did you see all that jumping she did on skates of all things! And they weren't made of ice or enchanted to be strong like ours are."
"Muggles wouldn't consider those to be safe though," Prue pointed out, still a bit preoccupied with what she'd just seen.
Ron snorted. "You mean like those rollycoaters we went on for your party at her house and how they moved faster than brooms do with only a metal bar to keep us in our seats?"
He had a point.
Bella's sport was… dangerous. It looked super dangerous. Like she was forcing herself to go through such speeds on her own. It was her own body pushing her forward, not a charmed piece of wood that could be stopped if you simply pulled up on it. She obtained that level of speed on her own and that meant she had to train physically, all the time. But she didn't have the luxury of pulling up and just stopping altogether, she actually had to let the speed die down on its own.
Prue was not the best runner and she knew who tiring it could become to run for too long. Bella ran every single day, and she had just did something like that, but even worse, on solid ice. And jumped into the air to spin several times, while moving at those speeds. It didn't look like there was a guarantee that she'd land safely every time either.
Figure skating was terrifying and Prue was glad the most magical people did was glide a little and spin a bit just for laughs. They'd get hurt if they tried to do what Bella had just done.
"Is this how she feels when we obsess over Quidditch?" Ron asked after a minute of silence while waiting for the tables to change back to normal.
"Probably."
Prue finally got it.
What were the odds that the both of them would decide to dedicate their futures to a sport of intense difficulty in different areas? Despite how they looked nothing alike nowadays, they seemed to truly be twins even down to the inspirations and love for their sports.
As the feast began like it was normally supposed to, the students began mingling. Some moved to other tables entirely, which was how Neville and Luna came to join the Slytherins where some seats had been saved for them. There was an empty space remaining between Hermione and Blaise however, so Bella would have somewhere when she returned.
The whole group was just in quiet awe. They'd all gotten to see Bella train at her rink at least once, but never in full costume, never with music, and never in such an intense setting before. All of it rolled into one made for a very special performance.
"She did it perfectly," Hermione had murmured to them when it had finished. "If this was a competition she wouldn't receive any deductions. She might even get extra points for her jumps. It was flawless."
"It was beautiful," Luna sighed almost wistfully. "I wish we had something like that in our world. Quidditch gets a bit dull after a while."
"She trains every single day to be able to pull that off for the next decade or so," said Theo, his voice breathy. "It's obvious to understand why she's a Slytherin. She has to keep her body in peak physical condition always in order to continue doing that. It's not like an instrument where you don't really forget how to play even after a dry spell. Only the truly dedicated would bother keeping up with something like that."
Hermione nodded. "And to think she isn't even the greatest skater in the world right now. There are people so much better than her and she's aiming to best them all some day."
The capability of their friend was enough to make Hermione emotional to an extent. It was just nice to see Bella doing what she loved and practically thriving at it.
"And here she comes," Neville noted, staring at the doors to the Great Hall. "How do you make the rose wreath again?"
Tom noticed immediately when Bella reentered the room. He'd been paying close attention to everyone seated at the Slytherin Table and had been patiently waiting for her to reappear so he could finally speak with her in person for the first time.
After that performance, he'd been a little speechless. He'd seen people ice skating on the lake back when he'd attended Hogwarts. They never did anything like what Bella did though. He was certain no one had even considered doing those kinds of stunts on the ice. She was like a breath of fresh air compared to the set-in-your-ways attitude most magical people lived with. Bella represented change and if things went well, it was be of the positive sort.
When she slid into the room without making a sound, and joined her friends who conjured a magical wreath for her as a congratulatory gift for her hard work, Tom took the chance to approach her finally. She'd let her hair down from the tight bun it had been in while skating, and she was wearing an unfamiliar type of blue trousers and a green jumper under her school robes.
Her dark head whipped around upon hearing him draw nearer, her plait smacking her brunette friend in the face in the process. Bella's green eyes - greener than he'd even imagined they'd be - looked him up and down slowly before the teen's thin brows raised and she nodded to herself in a way which he was not unfamiliar. "Hi," she said slowly and simply when he was close enough. As if cautious about speaking with him.
Tom settled for a low and relatively private, "Hello, dear Bella."
It took only a few seconds, but her appraising gaze turned excited as she slipped off the bench to throw her arms around him with an exclamation of, "Oh my God, Tom!" And she squeezed harder than one would expect from a girl of her size.
He should have expected an embrace considering what he knew about her, but Tom was still shocked while it was happening. He wasn't used to being hugged. In fact… he'd never been hugged because he'd never had anyone who would want to show that kind of affection to him. Tom never had anyone to begin with.
It was awkward in a sense. He felt exposed with Bella's warmth pressed against his front and his sides open to physical contact from others at present. Tom was all stiff in the shoulders, unsure of what to do.
She drew back and grinned up at him, showing emotion he'd never seen directed his way before. She was also about sixteen centimeters shorter than he was. "The fuck, dude? You're this hot and you didn't tell me?"
And somehow her crass slang made him feel at ease instantly. He was also amused because of course Bella would be like this in person too. She wasn't the kind to pretend to be something she wasn't in an attempt to appear 'cooler'. Who he'd been writing to was really who she was and that was the biggest relief of all.
"I didn't think it mattered," he confessed.
Bella's brows drew together even as one quirked upward in disbelief. Her entire head tilted down so she was looking up at him through her lashes, and the mouth was pressed in a flat line that just projected how unimpressed she was with his lie. She knew him so very well, it was astonishing. He should be scared by that fact. But he wasn't.
He smiled charmingly instead. "I didn't think it mattered in our friendship," he amended. It was true after all. Bella didn't seem like a superficial individual.
She seemed to accept that, and turned back to her little group of minions. "Guys, this is my friend Tom. I've known him since mid-way through our First year here. We've been writing to each other nonstop."
He nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. Bella talks of you very fondly."
"She never talks about you," the darkest boy of the lot stated bluntly, a heavy frown on his angular face. Already, Tom could sense his dislike, but it was geared more toward distrust of an unknown, than senseless hatred or jealousy.
"Oh yes! She was doing me a favour. We didn't want Xenophon knowing his secret got out." He then sent the rest of them a pleasant smile as they all stiffened in understanding because of course Bella would end up telling them about her involvement in his death. He'd expect no less from her.
Bella smacked his arm not so gently, her face set to an amused smirk. "Don't use scare tactics on my friends," she chided lightly. "They aren't some common minions to fuck with."
"Apologies, dearest."
~.O.~
A/N: Another is done!
[1] Go to YouTube and search for 'Yu-Na KIM 2007 World Figure Skating
Championships Short Program'. That is what Bella is recreating up above.
How was it? Let me know!
Check out my many other fics!
See ya! :D
CHECK ME OUT ON TUMBLR. HELLY-WATERMELONSMELLINFELLON.