The next morning at breakfast was awkward, Jade and her friends were eating in silence. She wanted to talk to Draco, ask him why he didn't tell her about Hermione but she didn't want to do it in front of everyone. If he felt embarrassed he could deny it or say something rude and turn down the truce she was offering. She wanted to confront Pansy about why she was so adamant to get her to go to the library, it was like she knew, and if she did know, why didn't she just tell her upfront what she was trying to do? The owls came and went and they made their way to Transfiguration. Class went by slowly, the whole day went by slowly and she wasn't able to catch Draco on his own until after dinner that night. He was playing chess with Blaise, tucked in a corner on the other side of the Common Room by the glass wall.

"Hey." Jade greeted as she made her way up to them, Blaise looked up but Draco didn't bother, he thought she was still avoiding him. "Can I talk to Draco for a minute?" Jade asked. He looked up at that and exchanged a look with Blaise before he rose from his seat.

"Don't touch the board," Blaise told her as he passed and she nodded before taking his seat.

"Speaking to me again, are you?" Draco asked with a smirk.

"I talked to Hermione," Jade told him and his smirk fell slowly. "She said you apologized. Thank you."

"Well, you were right, my words were unnecessary." He shrugged. "Besides, I thought it'd get me out of the dog house." His eyes flicked up from the chessboard hopefully and Jade smiled slightly.

"It was a good start." She admitted and he grinned victoriously.

"Finally, spending all my time with Blaise was becoming mundane."

"I'm sure he'll be happy to not have you breathing over his shoulder anymore." She added.

"Please, I'm a delight."

"Oh, yeah?" Jade laughed and Draco smiled at her. Glad to see her smiling and no longer angry with him. "So, why have Pansy try to get me to the library?" She asked.

"Granger said that's where she'd be, I knew you didn't want to talk to me so I asked Parkinson to do it."

"Well, she wasn't subtle."

"She never is."

"You two done kissing and making up?" Blaise asked as he returned with a mug of tea.

"No kissing." Jade rolled her eyes as she got out of his seat, "I'll see you two tomorrow." She grinned and then quickly reached down and moved one of Blaise's knights before winking at Draco and heading for the girls' dormitories while hearing Blaise trying to argue with Draco about the validity of Jade moving one of his pieces. There, one of the things she wanted to get done today was completed. Now, there was just the less serious conversation she was determined to have.

"Parkinson." Jade greeted her friend when she entered their room and Pansy looked up from her Herbology textbook, perplexed.

"Maddex?" Pansy questioned. Jade hopped onto her bed and faced Pansy.

"Why not just tell me Draco apologized to Hermione?" Jade asked and Pansy sighed.

"Don't scare me like that, I thought you were mad at me about something." Jade waited patiently and Pansy set down her book. "I didn't know he apologized to Granger, he just asked me to tell you to go to the library. I thought he was planning some big apology for you. Why did he apologize to Granger?"

"Why would he plan some big apology for me?"

"Oh, come on, Jade. The sod was thinking about all kinds of things he could do to get you to forgive him."

"Well, that's… sweet." Jade ended in a quiet huff.

"I figured I'd help out of the goodness of my heart." Pansy grinned and Jade cast a disbelieving look at her friend.

"Or he was just getting annoying."

"That too." Pansy nodded.

Professor Moody had announced that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each of them in turn during their next lesson, to demonstrate its power and to see whether they could resist its effects. When it came time for the lesson everyone took their seats quickly and a curious excitement buzzed in the air.

"But… but you said it's illegal, Professor," Hermione spoke up a few minutes into class as Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room. "You said to use it against another human was-"

"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like," Professor Moody interrupted her, his magical eye swiveling onto Hermione. "If you'd rather learn the hard way, when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely, fine by me. You're excused. Off you go." He pointed one gnarled finger toward the door but Hermione didn't leave, she folded her arms under her chest as her face turned red. After a silent second, Moody began to beckon students forward in turn and put the Imperius Curse upon them. One by one, the students did things Jade was sure they would never willingly do in front of an audience of their own free will. Well, except maybe for Pansy, who did what looked like a complicated ballet routine, spinning and leaping around the large space with a cloudy calm look in her eyes. Blaise picked his nose and then stuck the same finger in his mouth with the same expression on his face, then went Neville, who did some astonishing gymnastics he would certainly not have been capable of doing in his normal state. Theo burst into song and Draco reenacted his moment of being a ferret for the class. After Lavender Brown, it was Jade's turn to step up. Jade cautiously took a few steps away from her friends and into the circle where she faced Professor Moody. He pointed his wand at her and muttered, "Imperio." All thoughts drifted out of her mind and she was left with a blissful emptiness as all the muscles in her body relaxed. She remembered for a quick second that she was in class but then just as the thought formed, it slipped out of her mind. Impersonate Professor Snape. Came Moody's voice, it was distant and seemed gentler than his normal voice. Your best impersonation of Professor Snape… The voice whispered again and Jade straightened her posture and a dark glare overcame her features as she walked around the room.

"Aconite…" Jade began in a low voice. "Is also known as monkshood or wolfsbane." She drawled on in an uninterested tone as her eyes swept over the other students. "It is a useful ingredient for-"

"Professor Snape?" Moody interrupted her and she turned to face him. Whispers and snickers sounded around as everyone realized who she was.

"Quiet," Jade called out in a strong voice and the whispers ceased.

"Don't you have a class waiting?" Professor Moody asked and Jade paused for a moment before nodding once and turning for the front door. Before her hand could touch the doorknob her body felt heavy and the calm emptiness in her mind disappeared and she looked around the room, confused. She didn't understand how she got to the door and her cheeks grew warm as she realized everyone was staring at her. She knew it was because of the curse, her friends were just as confused when they came out of it as she was now. She quietly made her way back to Blaise and the others and thankfully Professor Moody called up the last student. "Potter!" He growled, "You next." Not one of them seemed to be able to fight off the curse. Harry walked into the middle of the classroom. Moody raised his wand again and pointed it at Harry, and said, "Imperio!" Harry stood in the middle of the empty space for a few seconds and they all waited for him to start doing something. Slowly, he made his way over to one of the desks that had been pushed aside. He stood in front of the desk and bent his knees and then stayed in that position.

"What's he doing?" Jade whispered.

"A squat?" Pansy guessed and then Harry… somehow… tripped himself and hit/fell into the desk, knocking it over as he fell on the floor.

"Now, that's more like it!" Professor Moody boomed and Harry painfully got to his feet. "Look at that, you lot! Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! We'll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention, watch his eyes, that's where you see it. Very good, Potter, very good indeed! They'll have trouble controlling you!"

"That's what it looks like to fight it? Throwing yourself at a desk?" Draco sneered quietly.

"I wish I knew how he did it." Jade thought out loud when the class was dismissed.

"Are you really surprised that the famous Harry Potter would be the only one able to fight the curse?" Draco asked bitterly. Harry had demonstrated three times after his first try, each time getting better and better at throwing off the curse until he could do it entirely.

"Well, we better learn fast," Blaise added. "According to Professor Moody, we could be attacked at any second."

"He is a bit intense." Jade agreed. If Jade thought the work last year was a major step up, it was doubled now. Two days later, Professor McGonagall explained why.

"As I've explained to the Gryffindors, you are now entering a most important phase of your magical education!" She huffed at the end of their Transfiguration lesson. "Your Ordinary Wizarding Levels are drawing closer and you need all the preparation you can get! Only a handful of you in this class have managed to turn a hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion. I might remind you that your pincushion, Miss Parkinson, still curls up in fright if anyone approaches it with a pin!" And in Divination, Professor Trelawney, read out Harry's and Ron's predictions for the upcoming month, satisfied with their work, she then decided to assign the work to the rest of the class. Professor Binns, the ghost who taught History of Magic, had them writing weekly essays on the goblin rebellions of the eighteenth century. Professor Snape was forcing them to research antidotes. Jade put her Potions homework first, as he had hinted that he might be poisoning one of them before Christmas to see if their antidote worked. Professor Flitwick had asked them to read three extra books in preparation for their lesson on Summoning Charms. Even Hagrid was adding to their workload. The Blast-Ended Skrewts were growing at a remarkable pace given that nobody had yet discovered what they ate. Hagrid was delighted, and as part of their "project," suggested that they come down to his hut on alternate evenings to observe the skrewts and make notes on their extraordinary behavior. "I will not," said Draco flatly when Hagrid had told them this one day. "I see enough of these foul things during lessons, thanks." Hagrid's smile faded off his face.

"Yeh'll do wha' yer told," He argued back. Jade was happy that Hagrid put his foot down, she was just upset that he put his foot down about this. "or I'll be takin' a leaf outta Professor Moody's book. I hear yeh made a good ferret, Malfoy." The Gryffindors found this absolutely hilarious but Draco's face flushed with anger. Jade was surprised when he didn't quip back at Hagrid but even as they traveled back up the hill to the castle, he was still in a foul mood.

"I think you made a cute ferret." Jade joked, she knew it wouldn't do much, if any, to help his mood but she couldn't resist. He glared at her smile and when they arrived in the entrance hall, they were stuck on the outside of a large crowd.

"What now?" Draco grumbled and he began pushing his way through the crowd to see what the deal was. Jade followed behind him silently until they were standing next to Harry, Ron, and Hermione and in front of a large sign that said, "TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT: The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday the 30th of October. Lessons will end half an hour early. 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." Blaise read. Jade had forgotten about the other schools but the reminder that they would be here in a week sent an excited swarm of butterflies in her stomach.

"Brilliant!" Harry said to Ron. "It's Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won't have time to poison us all!"

"Only a week away!" A Hufflepuff said, Ernie Macmillan, emerged from the crowd, his eyes gleaming. "I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go and tell him." And with that, he was gone.

"Cedric?" Ron and Draco said at the same time and then shared a mutual disgust-filled glare. Jade pulled Draco away from the three Gryffindors by the crook of his elbow until they were out of the crowd of students.

"Cedric Diggory?" Draco asked again.

"He must be entering the tournament," Pansy noted.

"That idiot, Hogwarts champion?" Draco scoffed.

"Have you ever actually talked to him?" Jade asked and Draco paused.

"No. Heard plenty though."

"What do you know about Cedric?" Jade asked Theo, who looked uninterested in his surroundings.

"Great quidditch player, good with the ladies, friendly guy," Theo told her.

"Great at Quidditch?" Draco sneered.

"That's what I said, he's a Prefect, too."

"I think he's wonderful," Pansy noted and the boys all looked at her.

"You just think he's attractive," Blaise told her and she grinned.

"So?"

"She's got you there," Jade added.

"Not you too." Blaise sighed and Jade shrugged. She'd never talked to Cedric but she'd seen him around often enough to know he was handsome and probably charming and a gentleman, he seemed the kind of guy to get a girl a big bouquet of-

"Maddex." Draco's voice broke through her daydreaming. "You're practically drooling." He grumbled and Jade felt her face flush.

During the following week, all anyone could talk about was the Triwizard Tournament. Rumors about possible contestants and the other schools spread like the plague. The castle endured a major deep cleaning and all of the teachers were on edge. On the morning of the 30th, Jade and her friends found that the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. Enormous silk banners hung from the walls, each of them representing a Hogwarts House. Behind the teachers' table, the largest banner of all bore the Hogwarts coat of arms, a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake united around a large letter H. There was a pleasant overall feeling of excitement and anticipation in the air that day. Jade didn't pay much attention in her lessons, she was much more interested in the arrival that would take place that evening. It was all she could think about, even Professor Snape couldn't ruin her mood during Potions. When the bell rang early, Jade and Pansy hurried down to the dungeons and threw their stuff into their room before fastening their cloaks and putting on their hats, which they never used except for the end of the year.

"Slow down." Draco drawled behind them as they practically ran up the stairs to get back to the Entrance Hall. The more excited Jade got about the incoming schools, the more Draco seemed to be dreading it.

"What's your deal?" Jade asked, slowing only slightly so Draco could catch up.

"Nothing, they're just students, I don't know why everyone's so excited."

"Because!" Pansy huffed. "I want to see what they look like, what they act like, how they do things from where they're from." Pansy basically summarized how Jade was feeling as well so Jade nodded in agreement. When they stepped into the large crowd that formed in the Entrance Hall, Jade noticed the Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines.

"Parkinson, fix your hat." Snape snapped as he passed the two girls smiling widely in anticipation. Pansy tilted her hat a little to the left and then turned to Jade for help. Jade reached up and straightened Pansy's hat and pinched the top to sharpen its point. "Alright. First years in front… no pushing." Snape called ahead of them and then began to lead them outside. They marched down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a chilly, clear evening and the sun was beginning to set.

"Almost six." Draco sighed next to Jade, checking his watch and then staring down the drive that led to the front gates.

"How do you think they're coming? The train?" Pansy asked.

"Doubt it," Draco said quietly.

"How, then?" Pansy snapped. Professor Snape turned his head and glared at them and they didn't say another word. Jade was starting to feel the cold through her cloak, they'd been waiting for a while and there was still no sign on the grounds that anyone was on their way up to the castle.

"What time is it?" Jade breathed. Draco checked his watch again.

"Six fifteen."

"Aha!" Dumbledore smiled and every student at Hogwarts looked back at him. "Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!" Whispers erupted immediately and everyone looked around for an approaching group.

"There!" Someone yelled and students began looking up at the sky. Something very large was hurtling through the fading orange sky.

"It's a dragon!" Shrieked a first-year Slytherin. Jade narrowed her eyes to try and get a better look.

"Don't be stupid, it's a flying house!" A Gryffindor shouted back. The shape was beginning to get closer and sadly it was no dragon, it was a large, light blue, horse-drawn carriage. The horses were unnaturally large too, all the same breed, and all had big white wings. The carriage hurtled lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed, and then with a loud crash, the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. The horses had red blazing eyes, giving them an intimidating demeanor. A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps before backing away to make room for the next person. The next person had a shining, high-heeled black shoe, a huge shoe. Followed, almost immediately, by the largest woman Jade had ever seen in her life. The size of the carriage, and of the horses, made sense then. A few people gasped. Jade couldn't help but think of Hagrid, who previously had been the largest person she'd seen, but this woman was even bigger than him. She took a few giant steps towards the steps leading up to the castle and the sea of students parted so she could make her way into the Entrance Hall. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers. Dumbledore started to clap and after a moment, the students broke into applause too. Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand.

"My dear Madame Maxime," He smiled. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbledore." Madame Maxine purred in a thick French accent. "I 'ope I find you well?"

"In excellent form, I thank you."

"My pupils," Madame Maxine waved one of her large hands carelessly behind her and Jade looked back at the large carriage to find around a dozen boys and girls quietly filing out of it. They were shivering, their robes made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. Every one of them was beautiful, each seemed to be flawless. " 'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.

"He should be here any moment. Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"

"Warm up, I think. But ze 'orses-"

"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them. The moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other… charges."

"My steeds require forceful 'andling," Madame Maxine said, as if she were doubtful Hagrid would be able to handle them. "Zey are very strong."

"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job,"

"Very well," Madame Maxine bowed slightly. "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"

"It will be attended to," Dumbledore promised.

"Come," Madame Maxine beckoned to her students and they hurried forward, happy to get out of the cold.

"Look at them," Pansy whispered quietly as they passed.

"I know," Jade replied as the students entered the Entrance Hall with a slight tilt of their heads so their noses were up in the air. Now they were just waiting for the Durmstrang school, most people were gazing hopefully up at the sky. For a few minutes, the silence was broken only by Madame Maxime's huge horses snorting and stamping. But then there was an odd noise getting louder and louder. There was a growing rumble and then a sucking sound.

"The lake!" Lee Jordan yelled, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake!" From their position on the steps, they had a clear view of the lake further down on the grounds. Something was happening in the center, bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks. Then a whirlpool formed and something began to rise out of it.

"Is that a-" Draco started.

"It's a mast!" Theo said excitedly. Jade couldn't look away, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a dark barren look to it, more like the wreck of a ship at the bottom of the ocean than a functioning ship. It appeared entirely out of the water, bobbing peacefully on the water before making its way to the shore. They could only see silhouettes until they were making their way up the hill, a tall older man leading the group of Durmstrang students. They were dressed more appropriately for the weather, they wore bulky fur cloaks. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort, sleek and silver, like his hair.

"Dumbledore!" He called heartily as he got closer. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff!" Dumbledore replied.

"Dear old Hogwarts," Karkaroff sighed, looking up at the castle and smiling. "How good it is to be here, how good… Viktor, come along, into the warmth. You don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold." Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As the boy approached, Jade realized she recognized this boy.

"Is that Victor Krum?" Draco gasped at her side.