The rest of the week passed without great incident, unless you counted Susan unwrapping a Nimbus Two Thousand and One on Saturday at lunch. She frowned at the looks of bemusement around her, and was quick to remind them that just because her aunt was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, it didn't mean that Susan couldn't make a name for herself on the Quidditch team.
"So, what position are you going for?" Harry asked. He found it difficult to assume due to Susan being quite strong for her slender build, and that her above-average height meant that she could fit into pretty much any position (she was a few inches taller than Harry). "Chaser?"
"Tempting," said Susan. She rubbed her chin and stared at the sunny ceiling above. "But I'm in the mood to whack some iron instead."
Pansy's expression lit up with a smile. "Bones break your bones!"
Daphne and Tracey laughed. Susan groaned.
"You know what? Never mind. I'm going for Keeper instead."
Pansy looked half shocked, half disappointed. "How come?"
"Because of that stupid 'chant', that's why."
"Don't be like that," said Tracey beside her. "And besides, tryouts are in a few minutes, and you're going in completely unprepared."
"I'll manage," said Susan.
They rushed their meals and made their way down to the Quidditch stadium, where at least thirty other Slytherins were gathered on the field. The applicants varied from a handful of first-years who were clutching a selection of the dreadful old school-brooms, to a group of seventh-years who towered over the rest. However, none of that made Harry as nervous – and excited – as the fact that Merula Snyde was sitting among the crowd in the stands. He wasn't even sure why he felt this way.
I must be going crazy or something.
The new captain, Graham Montague, was built along the same lines as Dudley Dursley. He had his clipboard in hand and a Self-Inking Quill in his pocket while speaking. "All right, I want two laps around the pitch and then a good show on the obstacle course. Move it!"
The first test was fairly basic, though it did help to reduce the amount of applicants to twenty-eight. Then, when it came to Graham's obstacle course in the air, another three applicants failed to make it through.
"Right," said Graham at the sidelines. "There's nine Chaser-applicants on here, so this shouldn't take too long ..."
The Chaser trials took almost an hour, during which there were numerous complaints and a few attempts at foul play. At one point, Michael Vaisey and Adrian Pucey even got into a round of 'Muggle duelling' on the field, and had to be separated by the large, hulking Cassius Warrington.
"If you boys are done acting like girls," Graham said, shaking his head, "then get back in the air. Potter's already done, in case you haven't noticed."
Having outflown the competition and reached his target of fifteen goals, Harry became the first new Chaser on the team. He landed with a grin on his face and a feeling of triumph in his chest.
"I hope I make it too," Susan said. She was sitting with her hands on the grass behind her, and her legs outstretched before her on the sidelines. "You make it look so easy, you know?"
Harry shrugged. "It's in the family."
"Yeah, speaking of which ..." Susan looked in the direction of the Gryffindor stands. "You hear about Ronald and Ginevra both wanting to apply for their team? Imagine that."
Harry took his eyes off the Chaser applicants above, and turned to look at Susan instead. "Ronald, I know. But his sister too?"
"Mm-hmm." Susan nodded. "Chaser or Seeker. Not sure which one."
Sounds like me, actually.
The tryouts continued with Cassius Warrington and Adrian Pucey rejoining the team, and Vaisey making the reserves. And as for the rest of the Chaser applicants, they either stormed off the field or went to join the crowd in the stands.
"Beaters next! Come up in threes!" said Graham, at which Vincent, Gregory, and the returning Peregrine Derrick got up and mounted their brooms. This left Lucian Bole and two others sitting on the sidelines. "Begin!"
After twenty minutes of stiff competition within the first trio, Graham called up Lucian and the rest for their trial. He eventually settled upon keeping his old teammates (Peregrine and Lucian), while putting Vincent and Gregory in the reserves. They were all on the broader side of Quidditch players.
"Keepers next!"
None of the first four applicants saved more than three goals apiece. Then, to Harry's relief, Susan kept up the pace and saved four penalities out of seven, though Miles Bletchley trumped her at five. Susan groaned.
"Not bad," Graham told Susan, as she and Miles landed on the ground. "Tell you what, I'll keep Bletchley on the team and make you our reserve Keeper, Bones."
Almost immediately, the rejected applicants complained about the unfair advantage of Susan's and Miles's brooms, though Graham didn't care. In fact, he took the opportunity to inform them that life wasn't fair, and that they'd best get used to it.
"Last but not least," Graham said, once the rejected applicants had left the field. "Seekers!"
Harry felt a strong urge to kick off and compete with Draco and the rest. But then he dropped it in favour of staying in his father's position, and watched as the would-be Seekers chased after the Golden Snitch in the air. They flew for minutes on end until Draco narrowly beat fifth-year Hayden Harper on a quick dive.
"Now that was just ... mediocre," Susan said beside Harry. They watched as Graham kept Draco on the team, while adding Harper to the reserves. "I mean, you can dive way better than that, Harry."
True, diving was one of Harry's innate abilities, but he decided to let Draco have his moment – and his spot on the team. Meanwhile, Graham gathered the successful applicants around and gave them a quick pep-talk on the field. He stressed the importance of both the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup, and reminded them of the link between the two.
"For those of you who may have forgotten, the goal score is divided by four and rounded off, and the team that catches the Snitch gets an extra fifty house-points." He turned to look at Susan and said, "Bones, what would be the case in a Gryffindor-Slytherin match where they get a hundred and we get three hundred?"
Susan stared at the ground as she did her calculations. Then she looked up and said that Gryffindor would get twenty-five house points, while Slytherin would get thirty-eight for their goals plus an extra fifty for catching the Snitch. Graham was impressed.
"So you see," he said, thumping his chest with pride. "Each of us has to put in work for both Cups, although the Seeker obviously has the most pressure."
"And the biggest target on their back," said Lucian.
The pep talk carried on for a few more minutes until Graham dismissed the group. But while most of the crowd left the stadium and took a leisurely stroll up the sloping lawn, Harry and Susan decided to stay behind for some extra practise at the goalposts.
The workload continued to rise over the next five and a half weeks. Professor Binns assigned them weekly essays on the Goblin Rebellions of the eighteenth century, Merula moved on to the basics of a Shield Charm, Professor Trelawney favoured lengthy (but tragic) predictions, and Professor Snape threatened to poison the class in order to test their antidotes. Meanwhile, even Hagrid was adding more to their workload, though none of the students were keen on working with the Blast-Ended Skrewts any longer than what was necessary.
"I will not," Draco told Hagrid on Wednesday afternoon, when Hagrid proposed that they observe the Skrewts in their free time. "I see enough of these foul things during lessons, thanks. Why don't you teach us something useful, for a change?"
As much as Harry wanted to defend Hagrid, there was no denying the truth in Draco's words. Even some of the Gryffindors agreed (behind Hagrid's back, of course).
"If yeh don't like my classes, Malfoy, then feel free ter leave. No-one's forcin' yeh ter stay."
Weasley stepped forward along with Finnigan and Thomas. "Yeah. Go do Arithmancy or something, if you think you're so clever. Too bad Daddy's not on the board anymore, huh?"
There was a few seconds of silence as Draco glared at Weasley. It was no secret that Mr Malfoy had been sacked from the board of governors last year, mostly due to his (and his wife's) vehement opposition to Mrs Tonks.
"Want to hear a joke?" Draco asked, at which Vincent, Gregory, and Pansy stepped closer to him. "My father earns more money sitting at home than Weasley's dad does in his office all day."
Most of the Slytherins laughed, except for Harry and Susan. They preferred to stand aside and watch as Draco and Weasley made fools of themselves with yet another petty argument.
"Yeah, I bet your Death Eater father –"
"Whoa there, Ron," said Hagrid, whose beetle black eyes widened a bit. "That's enough o' that. Everyone, get back ter yer crates and carry on with yer observations. Ten points from Slytherin fer insulting Ron's dad, Malfoy."
Draco frowned, as did Pansy and the others. "Then take double from him for insulting my father, 'Professor'. You can't just go around calling people Death Eaters."
Hagrid said nothing, and he turned around to check on Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil at their crates.
"What an oaf," Harry heard Draco mutter to Vincent, Gregory, and Pansy behind Harry. "Can't wait to mock Weasley at the Yule Ball. I wonder who'd be dumb enough to go with him?"
"Probably Longbottom," said Pansy, sniggering. "They'd make a hideous couple, don't you think?"
Draco made a retching sound. "I would prefer to keep my appetite intact, thanks."
"Yeah, it's almost dinner," said Vincent.
About an hour later, the bell rang and the group made their way up the sloping lawns. But when Harry and the others arrived in the Entrance Hall, they found it difficult to proceed owing to the large crowd of students congregated there. They were all milling around a large sign which had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase.
TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT
The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Sunday 30th of October. 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.
"Eleven days to go," said Harry. He felt a rising thrill in his chest at the thought of the Triwizard Tournament. "Wish I could enter."
"Same here," said Draco. He gave a slight sigh as he turned to leave. "Better not be a Gryffindor or whoever. Otherwise I'll cheer for Durmstrang."
Just then, Susan came up behind Harry and asked if he'd like to get in some extra Quidditch practice, seeing as they were free for the rest of the day. Harry shook his head and explained that he'd rather use the time to get through his homework (especially as he'd been neglecting his Patronus sessions).
"Don't worry, Susan. We'll help you," said Daphne, speaking on behalf of Pansy and Tracey. "Bletchley won't stand a chance!"
Pansy nodded. "With any luck, you'll be the first girl on our team since, er ..."
"Erika Rath," said Harry, as the crowd dispersed. "That Beater we saw in the photos. You know, the one who basically looks like a bigger version of Daphne."
Daphne giggled beside Susan and Pansy as they left to pick up Tracey. Meanwhile, Harry spent the rest of the afternoon finishing his History of Magic essay, which left him free to start on his Divination assignment after dinner.
Over the next week and a half, rumours went flying from student to student regarding who was going to try for Hogwarts champion, what the Tournament would include, and how the foreign students differed from themselves. Harry also noticed that the castle seemed to be undergoing an extra-thorough cleaning, while much of the staff seemed to be on their last nerve.
"You can't blame them, really," Susan said one evening; as she, Harry, Vincent, Gregory, and Draco were walking back from Quidditch practice. "I mean, look at it from their point of view. Some of our learners are way below the bar, which would be embarrassing as a teacher."
Draco scoffed. "So? It's not like those foreigners are all perfect, are they? They can't compare us to a bunch of Triwizard delegates. That's ridiculous!"
"I said 'from their point of view'," said Susan, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Anyway, so long as we don't embarrass ourselves, I don't really care. It's people like Longbottom who need to be worried."
Draco sniggered. "Yeah, the fat lump."
"That's not what I meant," said Susan, while Vincent and Gregory guffawed.
When they went up to breakfast on the morning of the thirtieth of October, they found that the Great Hall had been decorated with enormous silk banners hanging from the walls. There was a red one with a golden lion for Gryffindor, a blue one with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, a yellow one with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and a green one with a silver serpent for Slytherin. But that wasn't all, as the largest banner stood behind the teachers' table: the Hogwarts coat of arms comprising the house animals united around a large letter 'H'.
"Think they'll fit in with our dreary old castle?" Draco asked Harry and the others, as they sat down at the end of their house table. "The foreigners, I mean."
Harry shrugged. He wasn't sure why he'd woken up early on such a fine Sunday morning, especially with the enchanted ceiling flooding them all in autumn sunlight.
"I bet you those French are super prissy," said Pansy. She started dumping vegetables onto her plate while speaking. "Two Sickles says at least one of them will complain about the cold, by the end of the feast."
"Or the food," said Daphne. She did a rather exaggerated, animated impersonation of a hypothetical Beauxbatons student. "Merde! Zis food eez absolutely terreeble! 'Ow dare you serve zis to me, you roast beefs! Vous êtes stupide et pauvre!"
Pansy and the others burst out laughing but quickly covered their mouths. Even Harry and Susan had a good chuckle, though Daphne had to translate her last bit for them ('You are stupid and poor').
"So, how was it?" Daphne asked.
"Fairly accurate," said Pansy, sniggering.
There was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air that day. Nobody was very attentive with their homework or their games, as they were much more interested in the arrival of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students. Then, when the bell rang in the evening, Harry and the others hurried down to the dungeons, got themselves dressed for the occasion, and rushed back upstairs to the Entrance Hall.
"Time to shine," said Daphne, though she kept quiet as the Heads of Houses started ordering their students into lines.
"Potter, wipe that look from your face," said Snape, as he passed Harry in the line. "Miss Greengrass, fix your hat."
Daphne frowned as Pansy fixed her hat.
"Follow me, please," said Professor McGonagall, leading the group down the front steps and onto the grass. It was a cold, clear evening, with a transparent-looking moon already shining over the Forbidden Forest.
"Come on, hurry up," Pansy muttered as she checked her watch. "Where are these losers anyway? It's almost six. Are they coming by Portkey or something?"
"Maybe by a big frog," said Daphne.
Minutes later, Dumbledore called out from the back row just as something large came hurtling over the Forest towards the castle. It grew larger and larger until it took the form of a gigantic, powder-blue carriage drawn by a dozen elephant-sized winged horses.
BANG.
The horses and carriage landed with such force that it made Longbottom jump backwards onto Vaisey's foot ("What a loser," Pansy muttered), after which its door opened and out jumped a boy in pale blue robes. He fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor and unfurled a set of golden steps. Then he sprang back in a respectful manner as the largest woman Harry (and many others) had ever seen climbed out of the carriage.
"Wow," said Pansy, as a few others gasped. "Now that's a lot of woman."
Harry shrugged. "She's pretty much Hagrid's height, though. Don't know why everyone's so shocked."
As the woman stepped into the light of the Entrance Hall, she was revealed to be quite handsome, and was dressed from head to foot in black satin. She had a very stern – if not tense – look on her face until Dumbledore and the rest of the crowd started clapping, at which the woman's features relaxed into a gracious smile.
"My dear Madame Maxime," said Dumbledore, as he bent an inch to kiss the woman's hand. "Welcome to Hogwarts."
Madame Maxime was grateful for the reception, and she waved one of her enormous hands behind her to indicate her students. Harry and the rest of the crowd then directed their attention towards the group of boys and girls who were wearing robes of powder-blue fine silk. They were shivering as they stood behind their Headmistress, and were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces.
After a brief chat regarding her enormous horses, Madame Maxime climbed up the steps and entered the castle ahead of her students.
"So," said Theodore to Blaise, "how do you think the Durmstrangs are coming?"
Blaise shrugged. "Probably by broomstick, I dunno."
But they didn't have to wait long for their answer, as the lake started forming great bubbles in its centre. Then came a large whirlpool right in the middle of the lake, followed by a magnificent, skeletal-looking ship which threw down its anchor and lowered a plank onto the bank.
"Hey," said Daphne to Pansy, as the large silhouettes of the Durmstrang students disembarked. "Imagine if we had to visit their schools. How do you think Dumbledore would get us there?"
Pansy rubbed her chin while watching the bulky, fur-cloaked students climb the sloping lawns. "Hard to say. It might be something silly or, I dunno, maybe they could modify the carriages or something?"
"Dumbledore would probably just make one big Portkey," said Harry, "which would be quick and easy for him."
Seconds later, the Durmstrang Headmaster, Igor Karkaroff, was greeted by Dumbledore and welcomed to Hogwarts. Karkaroff gave a yellow-toothed smile which didn't reach his eyes as he looked up at the castle, and asked if he could get one of his students in particular inside, as they had a head cold.
And that was when a number of students, particularly Ronald Weasley down the row, gasped at the sight of the Bulgarian Seeker, Viktor Krum. Pansy looked starstruck for a moment before nudging Harry in the side and sniggering.
"What are the odds that Weasley will suck up in the hopes of a handout?"
Harry couldn't help snorting with laughter. "Hard to say. Let's wait and see."
And so they all filed back up the steps behind the Durmstrang party, with many students whispering about Viktor Krum. But as for Harry, he wasn't nearly as jealous as some of his friends had expected, and he kept cool and calm as he followed the crowd across the Entrance Hall and into the Great Hall (there were more important things to worry about than a rival celebrity anyway).
They walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down. Harry saw Draco, Vincent, and Gregory (among others) trying their best to draw the Durmstrangs' attention further down the table, but it was too late. The Gryffindors had made their move quick and easy, courtesy of the Weasley twins welcoming Krum and showing him to their side of the Great Hall.
"Well, that sucks," said Pansy, frowning.
"Who cares?" said Susan. "We've already got our own celebrity anyway."
Harry rolled his eyes but felt a rush of pride nonetheless. Then he watched as the Beauxbatons students took their seats at the Ravenclaw table, with most of them facing their Slytherin neighbours.
"I want my Sickles," Pansy told her roommates, as they saw the Beauxbatons students looking around with glum expressions while shivering. Three of them were still clutching their scarves and shawls around their heads. "Cough up the cash."
"Technically," said Tracey, eyeing the Beauxbatons students in a shrewd manner, "they're not complaining. So we don't owe you anything."
Pansy tilted her nose in the air. "Either pay up now or I'll double the bet when they do inevitably complain. What's it gonna be, huh?"
Grumbling, Tracey and the others handed over two Sickles each. Pansy gave a smug grin as she stashed them in her pocket.
Up at the staff table, Harry saw Mr Filch setting up four extra chairs, which Harry and the others supposed were meant for the extra judges. And once all the students had entered and had taken their seats (the Gryffindors were looking particularly pleased with their guests), the staff entered and made their way up to their table.
"Take note," said Harry, as the Beauxbatons students leapt to their feet upon the arrival of their Headmistress (though some of the Hogwarts students laughed). They remained on their feet until Madame Maxime sat down on Dumbledore's left-hand side. "That's called good manners."
"Very funny," said Pansy, though she kept quiet as Dumbledore started his speech.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts, and – most particularly – guests. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."
One of the Beauxbatons girls still clutching a muffler around her head (who Harry saw had deep blue eyes, and bits of silvery blonde hair sticking out of her muffler) gave a loud, derisive laugh at Dumbledore.
"So much for 'good manners'," Pansy muttered, snorting.
"The Tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore, beaming at them all. "I now ask that you all eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"
The dishes filled with food as usual, and the Great Hall was abuzz with eating and talking as everyone dug in.