Jane stuffed her copy of An Advanced Guide to Transfiguration in to her trunk arduously. The girls that shared her dormitory were bustling about the room all around her, packing this and that for the trip ahead.
"Did you need to pack the whole library, Jane?" They giggled mockingly.
Jane sighed. Even if she hadn't been entering in the tournament, leaving Hogwarts would have been difficult. She hated staying in new places, sleeping in a completely new environment, and, frankly, she didn't know if she could survive more than a few days without the Hogwarts library. That was why she packed so many books.
Jane managed to fasten the clasps on her trunk eventually, sitting on the lid and shrinking some (most) of the books to a more acceptable size. She heaved as she dragged the bulging suitcase out of the room and down the stairs, almost breaking the handle. She stopped for a break in the common room, wiping her sweaty hands on her robes, tightening her corset and adjusting her headdress. Jane hated corsets, but everyone wore them, and they were part of the school uniform. Thankfully they didn't say how tight they had to be. Jane found it incredibly stupid that one would try to make themselves look skinnier by squeezing their waists when they could just do it with magic.
She climbed out the portrait of the Fat Lady (with extreme difficulty) and followed the crowd down to the entrance hall. Professor Gagwilde was standing in front of the open doorway to the grounds.
"Now! Everyone! Listen here please!" He shouted over the deafening babble of the crowd, failingly trying to capture their attention. "STUDENTS!" Everyone snapped to attention and went silent. "Now, that's better. I know you are all wondering how we are going to transport the entire school halfway across the continent to the Triwizard Tournament. And your answer is waiting outside! I would like you to all proceed quietly and respectfully out of the doors IN AN ORDERLY FASHION!" Everyone had already started walking and the professor stumbled backwards awkwardly out of the way of the flow of students. "I SAID QUIET!"
Jane followed everyone out of the castle, craning her neck to catch a glimpse of their mode of transport. Dragons? She thought, a million possibilities running through her head, each as unlikely as the last. A flying house? The train? A ship? Apparation?
She calmed as she spotted the Thestral-drawn carriages that they usually took from the train station. Jane herself couldn't see the beasts, but she had read about them and put two and two together.
Madame Pince and several of the other professors were instructing students to their assigned carriages.
"You in that one over there, Jane, Number 23, with Caroline Atwood," Professor Puttock shouted to her over the din.
Great, Jane sighed. Caroline was a Gryffindor in the year above her and she was beyond annoying. She was stupid and reckless and had even fewer social skills than Jane. She was filthy rich and fat, beyond what a corset could ever fix.
Jane hauled her trunk over to Carriage Number 23 and loaded up her luggage magically. She reluctantly climbed in and waited for her roommate, listening to snippets of conversation outside.
"And the beds fold down from the roof!"
"That's incredible! I wonder how they made it…"
The two first years assigned to the carriage parked next to her continued their animated conversation on the other side of the vehicle. Jane felt a thump as Caroline loaded her luggage in to the compartment in the back.
"Oof!" Caroline said as she climbed apprehensively in to the carriage. She gave Jane a cold smile.
"Good day, Haversham-Smythe," she said icily. "I hope you are well? Listen, there are a few rules we need to discuss during the flight over to Durmstrang. I'm very picky with who I share my sleeping quarters with and given the choice I would not have picked you. So we must have a friendly conversation about the requirements concerning the amount of space in here and our luggage and so on… I shall save it for the ride, but do you understand?"
Jane scowled. "I'm looking forward to it," she said sarcastically.
"Excellent! So, with these beds…" she went on, and on, and on, her emotionless voice never fading, even when they heard a sharp whistle and felt the rush of air through the windows as the carriages swooped up in to the air.
"This is going to be a long ride," Jane muttered under her breath, trying to tune out Caroline's voice and focus on the view below them, Hogwarts slowly vanishing in to the distance.