"All right. I have the first task all planned out and Dumbledore has given his approval." Bagman informed the committee.
"Well, what is it?" Asked Professor Capone, vice principal of Ilvermorny.
"I'm afraid, my dear boy, I cannot tell you, as that could lead to possible cheating."
Capone bristled at the insinuation. "Albus, the agreement was that wet all are equally informed about the tasks so that wet so not to have any misunderstandings or situations where one Champion had an advantage over the rest."
"Like how ve agreed ve vill have no qviddich because of Viktors position." Inserted Karkaroff. (A/N: please don't comment about his accent, my dad's name is actually also igor just like Karkaroff, coincidence, but his standard eastern european accent sounds just like that. My dad's is actually a mix of a ukrainian and russian accent, since the region of ukraine he grew up in also spoke russian, and since that is the place the name igor is used the most I will assume Karkaroff is also ukrainian.)
Dumbledore sighed. "the champions will have to get a fake egg each from randomly selected nesting mother dragon's all together in the same arena."
The Salem vice principal laughed. "you do realize that task will kick your champion and Karkaroff's out of the running just with the idea?"
"And why would that be my dear girl?"
"Albus, my not at all dear boy, I am not your girl, you will note that apart from whatever delusion you live in, it is usually considered standard for people to address their equals with the same manners they expect back. As for why that would be, it's very simple." Capone shot back. "Dragons are creatures of fire and air. Beauxbatons champion is a veela, which is the case of a witch and a veela sharing a body, like animagi, except the veela is magical. Veela are beings of fire and air, basically sentient, civilized, humanoid dragons."
"Zat is true." (A/N: i just follow the internet's 2 rules to writing French accents. Th becomes z and no h.) Headmistress Maxine noted. "W'at about your champion and Salem's?"
"Mine is simple. The Calderon-Boot family has been known since before thee founding of MACUSA to all be either aurors or dragon tamers, and Chadwick's uncle is known for being one of three people too have a private dragon reserve, so I can guarantee he knows how to deal with them, even if you discount his best speaking bloodline talent from his mother's Scamander bloodline. So for my champion that would be no problem, I would not be surprised if he goes riding dragonback on the weekends."
"As for Grey, I'm not even going to hurt my brain thinking about what she can do. We're all surprised she even came, much less didn't graduate back in her third year, if not earlier."
"Is dat allowed in your country?' Karkaroff asked.
"NOt usually, but exceptions are made. The last time it was made actually wass for the last President of MACUSA to have active political discussions with Britain, Madam Picquery, during Grindelwald's war. I would think you would know this Albus, my boy? The most likely thing I can think of she might attempt is to just send an overpowered cooling charm at it, though that isn't her style. With who her family is, you can expect her to do very complicated things so it seems very difficult. She practically lives by her great-grandmother's famous saying of the bluff is more important than the cards you hold."
"And who might her grandmother be, Madam Capone?" Albus seemed to have realized how annoying being on first name terms, American style wass and decided to return to time-tested British last-name manners. (I don't know about the rest of the world, I have only been to Britain once as a tourist for two weeks, and wasn't close enough to anyone to be on anything than thank you Mr/Ms. Tour guide terms, but here in America when you aren't strangers anymore, even acquaintances, most of the time, unless it's with someone above you such as a teacher or a boss, you are on first name terms, no friendship required for that. I'm American, so you will see a lot of American manners, most specifically northern east coast, or new england, American manners and manners and actions with the characters.)
"Albus, if you of all people don't know that, we won't tell you. I would think if she hasn't contacted you after all these years, I am not going to reveal Madam Grey's birth identity. For you not to know her and for Regina to be so hostile to someone she should have by all rights known from the cradle, you would have to have messed up really massively. Anyways, what are we doing for the task?"
"Vell, I think that Viktor should be able to manage a dragon. I have no complaints about the task, Dumbledore, you are the only von at a disadvantage here. Do you vant to change it?"
"Thank you, Headmaster Karkaroff, but Mister Diggory should be fine. I think we should keep the task as it is. Anyone against?"
Nobody vetoed the task, so it was set ahead, and the heads of their respective schools dispersed.
"Gina, what are you doing for the task?"
"Don't worry, Chad, I'll be fine. Shouldn't you know better than to worry for me at this point? They basically handed the victory you and Delacour, but I do still have a few tricks up my sleeve."
Chadwick split from where he had been talking to Regina and walked into the Great Hall, sitting near the fourth years in the Gryffindor section. Salem had decided to go for the full hogwarts experience while they were visiting, so had been staying with their house of voice, the lions, and Chadwick had fast developed a friendship with Harry Potter, neville Longbottom, and the two youngest Weasley siblings, although the twins were entertaining, but in careful moderation and plenty of substance detection spells.
Regina, on the other hand, headed over to the Ravenclaw table, where Josephine Estrelle was holding court alongside fleur Delacour, whose status as Beauxbatons champion had boosted her to the position of right hand to the undisputed Queen of Beauxbatons. "Josie, how have you been, we haven't caught up in like forever!" Regina told her friend as she glided regally over to where Josephine was holding court.
"Gina, zere you are! Come here, Fleur, bouge un peu [move over a bit according to google translate, I don't' speak french]." Fleur dutifully moved over. Josephine was never more glad to be trilingual. (it's not actually that hard. I'm a trilingual going on four languages. I've been bilingual since I learned English, which I feel like is my first language even if it really isn't. I started learning Spanish four years ago in school, and even with the slow pace of public school education in another language, I am fully capable of understanding native speakers, and even if I can't speak fluently I am able to communicate what I need to the adequate understanding of a native speaker. And I'm learning Latin in duolingo for no clearly identifiable reason. Also, Josephine Estrelle is Spanish but since the only magical school for mainland western europe is beauxbatons she speaks french on top of her native spanish, and English since most of the world uses it nowadays and "because plot", as one of my friends likes to say.)
She switched over to her natice spanish, knowing Regina spoke it. (A/N Regina will speak the languages I know, since she is modelled over what I wish I were if I were in the HP universe, except realistic and not fully based on me, "Because plot") "Hola, siéntate, chica. ¿Cómo estás? Nosotras no hemos hablado recientemente. Dime todo!" [Hey, sit down girl. How are you? We haven't talked recently. Tell me everything.]
"'Fina, todo está bueno. Esta competencia es interesante, yo pienso que para mi es aburrido. Los profesores quieren que nosotros luchamos con las madres dragones para juegos dorados. Es un poco aburrido, no?" ['fina, everything's good. THis competition is interesting, but it might be boring for me. The teachers want us to fight mother dragons for golden eggs. It's a bit boring, isn't it?]
"Chica! Tu pasas demasiado tiempo con Chad. Se está frotando uno de ti. Los dragones, especialmente las madres no son aburridas, son difíciles y peligrosas! Gina, ¿Tu es cierto que tu cerebro es normal?" [Girl! You spend too much time with Chad. he's rubbing off one you. Dragon, especially mother dragons are difficult and dangerous. Gina, are you sure your head is fine?]
"Josephina? We all want to know what's so interesting and peligrosa. Not all of us are fluent in el espanol!" a beauxbatons boy from lower down the table informed her.
"Of course they're all listening in." Regina shook her head fondly.
"Just get Diablo to translate!" a girl on Josephina's left informed them. Diablo, devil, was a nickname for Josephina's cousin, who was always getting in trouble, hence the nickname. For once, Diablo filled directions, and in five minutes, the legendary Hogwarts rumor mill had it all around the school, all the schools, that the first task would be that the champions would have to get a golden egg, or multiple, depending on the source, from anywhere from one to a dozen nesting mother dragons, of any breed, again, depending on the source.
Harry was oh so very grateful he wasn't competing. All he knew about dragons was from Norberta, who was so dangerous, even Hagrid admitted, and his size made him practically unhurtable in Harry's view.
Ginny, on the other hand, focused on something else she had heard. "Chadwick, can I call you that?"
"No prob Ginny. I don't know about here, but back home, if you know each other, you use first names."
"Good." She smiled at her new friend. "We do the same with friends. Anyways, what did Grey mean when she said they practically handed the victory to you and Delacour?"
"Oh, that. Delacour had a veela form, and Veela are basically humanoid sentient, civilized, dragons. Or if you believe some myths, one is descended from the other.""
"And you?" Ron asked, curious.
"I'm a best speaker, a bloodline gift that comes from my great-grandpa. Newt Scamander, he wrote a few textbooks. He was kind of destined to either work with animals or be laughed at, with a name like Newt though."
"Named after exams, yeah. You mean the Newt Scamander?"
"Yeah, who else?"
"He wrote basically all the care of magical creatures texts in the library and Flourish and Blott's, the biggest magical bookstore."
"Wow. I didn't know you guys had that little a library. Does your school not import books from all over the world?" Chadwick asked, surprised. He had never known his Granpa Newt, the one who had helped him talk to a dragon the first time, who he regularly beat at niffler-catching contests, was famous.
"I don't know, actually." Harry admitted. Hermione flounced, angrily huffing, into the Great Hall, saw Regina, Harry, and Ron, and flounced right back out. She would go free some house elves if they gave her some food. Maybe then they would appreciate her efforts.
An exact duplicate of Regia walked into the hall, but she was wearing the distinctive crimson British auror robes. Regina stood up to greet the person who seemed to be her identical twin. Leo walked up next to Regina, who turned to her twin. "Regina, I didn't know you had a twin?"
"No dumbo, I don't. That's my god sister and your second cousin. Nym, morph back, will you?"
"Aww, Ray, come on… it was so fun!" exclaimed a young woman with pink hair who was now, even as an obvious metamorph, showed clearly distinct traits of House Black, from the regal shape of her face to the distinctive silvery gray eyes that mirrored Leo's. "Hello cuz. You're the American son of the big bad puppy dog jailbird?"
"Does everybody know about that? I only found out about padfoot yesterday!"
"No, I just know from my mum. Ray's godmother, and Sirius' favorite cousin." Unfortunately, or fortunately, for Leo, before any more teasing/blackmail material could be gathered, he got taps on his back.
"Are you two twins or do I have double vision?"
"Twins. We heard."
"You mention."
"A marvelous marauder."
"By the name of."
"Mister Padfoot." the red-headed twins added.
"Why yes, Padfoot junior, at your service, Forge and Gred. Or was it Gred and Forge? I'm confused, but lead on, gentlemen!"
"You wound us! We're not gentlemen, we're loveable rogues!" they chorused.
Leo shook his head and they led on to an empty classroom. When they entered and started discussing the topic on the table, namely pranks, every single person in Hogwarts felt a chill travel down their spine. They didn't know what it was, but something was about to unleash massive chaos. Them and an ex-marauder named Peter Pettigrew felt it, as well as the wraith or Voldmoert. Little did Dumbledore know, but the power he knew not was not, in fact, love It was something much, much more dangerous, that had more than the power for an eleven year old to kill a possessed professor. The power he knows not, courtesy of the Junior Marauders, calling themselves the Avengers, was horrifying and hilarious at the same time.