A/N:Here's another chapter. Enjoy:))
Chapter 64: Arrival
The following days my fear didn't melt away as I thought it would, but I was still slowly getting better. Ginny and Hermione helped a lot, staying awake with me at night chasing away nightmares. And falling asleep was apparently not very wise, because when I woke up every time my muscles felt sore, especially arms and legs. I didn't know why though, and none of my roommates seemed to either.
Harry and Ron were working on finding out who poisoned me, and they were obviously very excited about it. It seemed like Ron enjoyed acting as a detective, as he went to interogate the ones who saw better what happened that night and the house elves, and even learned a lie detector spell.
The twins in the meantime acted like bodyguards, checking my food and drinks. I always laughed it off, but I was actually really grateful for this. I didn't know if I could survive another poisoning.
Moody finished training us to resist the Imperius, and all of us were much better now than at the beginning, even Nevile. He seemed to take pleasure in torturing me by making me do embarassing things while under the spell, and that motivated me to be stronger, until I threw it off fully, so it didn't affect me anymore. I had to admit, I owed a lot to the old man, he managed to get me out of my little sad and fearful phase.
But life at Hogwarts was so much more than our little group. The delegations for the Tournament were to arrive in two days, and we've been announced that well have short hours on that day. Ron and Harry were happy, reasoning that Sev couldn't make us brew potions and use them as a chance to take points from Gryffindor, but Mione, ever the voice of reason, told them that only meant we will write the whole class.
The old castle was looking better than ever, every corner shining and every statue and armour were so clean, you could see your reflection in them. Everyone was waiting for the guests, rumours flying around the castel even faster than usually. And that meant something, as Hogwarts was known for the speed with which gossip spread. Some said that the Beauxbatons girls were all Veelas and at their school they learned to use their powers. Others said that at Durmstrang they learned only dark magic and that it was dangerous for us to stay close to the students coming from there. But one learns not to listen to rumours in Hogwarts, as a few years ago it was rumoured that the prince will come to Hogwarts. That never happened of course, but it was funny to see all the students going over their way to impress the prince when he would have come.
The night before the guests' arrival, I was called into Dumbledore's office. I was very sure that it was again about Voldemort's plans for this year. But one can never be always right.
"Look, I know you think that Vold-"
"This isn't about Voldemort Selene. Now it is not the time to talk about him. Unfortunately, one of the biggest problem of humans is that we never truly appreciate a good thing until it is gone. But we still have our peace, so we must appreciate every moment of it. The reason why I asked you to come here is not so serious, but if not treated right, it can end not so well. When the delegations come, you might hear or find out things that most likely you willl not like. I ask you not to belive everything you hear, because nothing ever is as bad as someone describes it."
"What are you talking about?"
"You will know when it happens. Now I think you might need some rest my dear. Tomorrow is a big day after all."
Outside of the office I met Sev, who was just arriving.
"Have a good talk with Dumbledore?"
"This man has more riddles than a labyrinth has walls. Sometimes I swear he's a Sphynx undercover."
He smiled and ushered me towards the exit. It was indeed late, but when I got to the dorm, no one was sleeping and there was one more girl there than usually.
" What are you doing here Gin?" I asked the redhead, sitting next to her on my bed.
"We were actually waiting for you. Wanted to talk about the tournament. You know, some girly girls' time." She said with a smirk that told me she just wanted to do various kind of bets.
Just as I thought, we spent the next two hours making bets on who would enter the tournament, what the tasks might be about, who might end up going to the ball or having some sort of relationship with anyone from one of the other schools. When we got to that part, Lavender and Parvati joined us. Sometime long after midnight Ginny ended up falling asleep on my bed and we didn't even bother moving her.
Next day was completly chaotic. Right after breakfast they started decorating the Great Hall for the feast planned for that night. The teachers knew they couldn't really control us with all the excitement running through our veins, so most of them gave up after five minutes. But we had potions the last two classes, so as Hermione predicted, we wrote a lot because we had no time to brew.
After escaping the dungeons, we ran for dear life to throw our bags in the dorms and change into the formal uniforms. In front of the castle, the headteachers arranged us by house, McGonagall made Parvati take out of her hair a hairpin that she spent about half an hour choosing, no wonder she looked so angry about it.
We waited awkwardly there, in silence, not knowing how they were going to arrive. Until…we sighted something in the air.
"It's a box?"
"Don't be ridiculous, it's a flying house."
He wasn't really that far away from the truth. When it landed, we saw it was actually a hugeass blue carriage, led by giant pegasuses. Girls and boys in silky looking baby blue uniforms descended from it, followed by a huge woman who could only be their headmaster.
The Durmstrang kids' entrance wasn't less impressive. They arrived in a massive boat which came out of the water. When they exited it, I saw someone who I never thought to ever see again. But this time, I remembered that person. It was far to early to forget.
A/N: Hope you liked it.
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