Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and
which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise
owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is
implied on the author's part. Enjoy!
~~Chapter Elven: The Delegations~~
Evelyn let out a sigh of relief as she left the Potions class to head out for the lawn. If it hadn't been cut off early, Professor Snape would have surely noticed the odd green plants that has begun to grow out of her cauldron. And although he despised taking points from Slytherin, she wondered what else he could do to punish her; she was awful at potions, and he had been giving her nasty glances all class long.
She didn't have much time to dwell on it, however, as she got in line with the other students moving out onto the large grassy lawn. Quite unlike yesterday, the sky was clear and the stars shone brightly down on the green field. Evelyn absentmindedly rotated the silver ring on her finger back and forth, scraping her skin.
As the students lined up on the lawn, Professor Snape began watching them closely, looking for any small mistake in their dress, perhaps a loose shoelace or an unpolished wand. He passed by Evelyn without comment; she had spent hours preparing and didn't have anything for him to criticize. Nevertheless she was nervous. She couldn't help but wonder which students from Durmstrang were followers of the Dark Lord. Like her.
She winced as the thought passed through her mind. She didn't have a choice! No choice.
She was snapped out of her reverie when Dumbledore called out "Aha! Unless I am very much mistakes, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"
-Where from?- Evelyn thought curiously, scanning the grounds. She couldn't make out much in the waning light, but she would certainly spot a group of Beauxbatons students, if she knew anything about how they liked to show off.
"There!" Gary called out from a row ahead of her, pointing up. Up... Evelyn gasped. Something very large and very bright was hurtling towards them at dangerously high speeds. Surely they wouldn't arrive via comet... would they?
"It's a dragon!" Someone screamed from the Hufflepuff group. Evelyn snorted and several other Slytherins called out rude comments to the first year.
But all other comments spoken were lost to Evelyn's ears as the massive shape slowed it's decent, shooting only feet above the treetops of the Forbidden Forest, and came into view. It was a huge, blue, horse-drawn carriage-- emphasis on huge, Evelyn thought to herself as it came nearer. The horses pulling it were winged-- Pegasi! Evelyn stood up on tiptoe to get a better view as the carriage came lower, and then winced as the ground shook when the horse's hooves touched the ground.
There was deafening roar as the horses slowed, and then stopped, and Evelyn wondered just how chewed up the ground would look afterwards. But then her thoughts were distracted, as someone was opening the carriage door, and out stepped...
"It's a giant!" A Slytherin beside Evelyn whispered is disgust. Evelyn herself was shocked. The woman who had emerged from the carriage was massive, nearly as big as Hagrid, the gamekeeper.
Slowly, applause broke out among the crowd, until almost every student was clapping. Almost. Evelyn noticed some of the older Slytherins were purposefully keeping their hands in their pockets, fixing dark stares of the large woman.
The woman walked over to Dumbledore, and the applause slowly faded. Dumbledore smiled at her, and said "My dear Madam Maxime. Welcome to Hogwarts."
Several students clapped when he said this, but it didn't catch on, and they quickly subsided.
"Dumbledore," The large woman replied in heavily accented English, "I hope I find you well?"
Evelyn noticed, as Dumbledore and Madam Maxime talked, that the Beauxbatons students were walking out of the carriage. There were ten, maybe more of them, more females then men, dressed in fine silk dress robes that looked like what Evelyn might wear to the fanciest ball of her life. They shivered as they walked over to behind Madam Maxime, glancing around themselves apprehensively at Hogwarts, the students, and the lake. Evelyn couldn't see one that looked in good humor.
"...very well," Madam Maxime was saying. "Will you please inform this Hagrid that the horses only drink single-malt whiskey?"
"It will be attended to," Dumbledore replied graciously. The conversation ended then, and Madam Maxime and her students hurried up the stone steps to the gates of Hogwarts, the Hogwarts students parting before them as they walked.
Then the waiting for the Durmstrang students arrived. The night grew silent; only the occasional snort from one of the horses, and the quiet chirping of the crickets all around.
Evelyn was watching the ground and sky this time-- she couldn't imagine anything more odd then the way the Beauxbatons students had chosen to arrive, but she was sure she was about to be shown something much more unusual. Not magnificent-- that wasn't Durmstrang's way-- but certainly unusual.
For a long while, the silence continued, until suddenly a Gryffindor student called out "The lake! Look at the lake!". Evelyn did so, again having to stand on tiptoe to look over the heads of other, taller second years. And something was defiantly happening-- it seemed like the giant squid was suddenly swallowing all the water it could, from down below. The surface of the lake was moving swiftly inwards in a spiral, forming a whirlpool...
And a mast emerged out of the whirlpool, a thin, ragged mast. Evelyn gasped as the full ship emerged from the swirling waters, sailing directly against the pull of the whirlpool, onto the surface of the water. It was a gleaming, almost ghostly ship, and the moonlight added to the sensation that it wasn't quite real. If not for the heads of the Houses constantly trying to keep their students silent, every young wizard on the lawn would be saying something about that magnificent ship.
As the waters finally calmed completely, a ramp was let down from the ship, and the Durmstrang students slowly disembarked. Evelyn saw that they were all wearing thick furs; quite prepared for the cold, unlike the Beauxbatons students. Their headmaster was leading them, and Evelyn saw that he was thin, white-haired man as he stepped into the light of the castle.
Evelyn didn't listen to the few words traded between Dumbledore and the Durmstrang headmaster, save learning that his name was Professor Karkaroff. She was instead watching the Durmstrang students, who, again in sharp contract of the Beauxbatons students, seemed to be very impressed by Hogwarts' tall spires and towering keeps.
Strangely, Evelyn felt as if no time at all had passed as she walked back into the entrance hall with the other students. The Durmstrang were mainly following the Slytherin group into the castle, and Evelyn heard one of them utter a quiet 'wow' as they entered the majestic entrance hall of the castle.
Halfway to the Slytherin table, Evelyn felt someone grab her arm. She turned around, surprised, to see Kevin-- Rashall-- standing there. He suddenly seemed to realize he was holding her arm and let go with an apologetic glance before talking. "Evelyn, I need to talk to you soon." His tone was determined, and he was looking her straight in the eye. Aware of what felt like thousands of eyes on her as the students passed by to go to their respective tables, Evelyn quickly replied, "Soon, fine. Later." Rashall glared at her. "Okay! Tonight!" She almost yelled. And breaking the contact of their eyes, she turned around and hurried to the Slytherin table, before a Durmstrang student took her spot.
As it was, she found her place at the table was taken. Sighing, Evelyn scanned the table with her eyes for another place to sit, but the Durmstrang student politely moved aside and gestured for her to sit.
"Thanks," She said gratefully as she sat down. The Durmstrang student was a tall, raven-haired boy with light blue eyes. He smiled and asked, "How is it here at Hogvarts? It seems vary grand."
Evelyn passed a gravy dish along to the girl on her other side and replied, "Oh, it's nice. I wouldn't know where to start, of course, especially since I've never seen your school."
"I am vary sorry. It vos an unfair question." The boy looked down at his plate despondently, crestfallen as a young child denied a promised treat, and Evelyn stared at him in mild dismay.
"No, it's fine..." She said. And then, trying to cheer him up, she held out her hand and introduced herself. "Evelyn Sellina. Nice to meet you."
The young man smiled back at her and replied, "Derst McAyle. And it is my pleasure." Like a young child, he seemed to have forgotten his former sadness, and now looked quite contented. Evelyn managed to cut the conversation short as he took a bite to eat, turning to the Durmstrang girl on her left instead. That boy was very odd.
As if reading her thoughts, the girl whispered "He's a bit mad... vary brilliant, and vary, vary crazy sometimes. He is top of his class at all subjects."
Evelyn raised an eyebrow. "Scary," She muttered. "So, what's your name?"
"Elijya Vel. And you're Evelyn, I know. It's good to be here-- a velcome break from Durmstrang!"
A/N:
Once again, this chapter did not 'flow'. I tried rewriting it, but no luck; it's simply not something I am having inspiration for. As I write this review, however, I've written the two chapters ahead, so you can be assured I'm out of writer's block.
The funny thing is, I've been reading Ed Greenwood's 'The Kingless Land' recently, and his old-fashioned Sword & Sorcery is so different from HP, it's laughable. Still, it offers some inspiration. Magic is such a fun thing to use in stories.
As always, please review!
~~Chapter Elven: The Delegations~~
Evelyn let out a sigh of relief as she left the Potions class to head out for the lawn. If it hadn't been cut off early, Professor Snape would have surely noticed the odd green plants that has begun to grow out of her cauldron. And although he despised taking points from Slytherin, she wondered what else he could do to punish her; she was awful at potions, and he had been giving her nasty glances all class long.
She didn't have much time to dwell on it, however, as she got in line with the other students moving out onto the large grassy lawn. Quite unlike yesterday, the sky was clear and the stars shone brightly down on the green field. Evelyn absentmindedly rotated the silver ring on her finger back and forth, scraping her skin.
As the students lined up on the lawn, Professor Snape began watching them closely, looking for any small mistake in their dress, perhaps a loose shoelace or an unpolished wand. He passed by Evelyn without comment; she had spent hours preparing and didn't have anything for him to criticize. Nevertheless she was nervous. She couldn't help but wonder which students from Durmstrang were followers of the Dark Lord. Like her.
She winced as the thought passed through her mind. She didn't have a choice! No choice.
She was snapped out of her reverie when Dumbledore called out "Aha! Unless I am very much mistakes, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"
-Where from?- Evelyn thought curiously, scanning the grounds. She couldn't make out much in the waning light, but she would certainly spot a group of Beauxbatons students, if she knew anything about how they liked to show off.
"There!" Gary called out from a row ahead of her, pointing up. Up... Evelyn gasped. Something very large and very bright was hurtling towards them at dangerously high speeds. Surely they wouldn't arrive via comet... would they?
"It's a dragon!" Someone screamed from the Hufflepuff group. Evelyn snorted and several other Slytherins called out rude comments to the first year.
But all other comments spoken were lost to Evelyn's ears as the massive shape slowed it's decent, shooting only feet above the treetops of the Forbidden Forest, and came into view. It was a huge, blue, horse-drawn carriage-- emphasis on huge, Evelyn thought to herself as it came nearer. The horses pulling it were winged-- Pegasi! Evelyn stood up on tiptoe to get a better view as the carriage came lower, and then winced as the ground shook when the horse's hooves touched the ground.
There was deafening roar as the horses slowed, and then stopped, and Evelyn wondered just how chewed up the ground would look afterwards. But then her thoughts were distracted, as someone was opening the carriage door, and out stepped...
"It's a giant!" A Slytherin beside Evelyn whispered is disgust. Evelyn herself was shocked. The woman who had emerged from the carriage was massive, nearly as big as Hagrid, the gamekeeper.
Slowly, applause broke out among the crowd, until almost every student was clapping. Almost. Evelyn noticed some of the older Slytherins were purposefully keeping their hands in their pockets, fixing dark stares of the large woman.
The woman walked over to Dumbledore, and the applause slowly faded. Dumbledore smiled at her, and said "My dear Madam Maxime. Welcome to Hogwarts."
Several students clapped when he said this, but it didn't catch on, and they quickly subsided.
"Dumbledore," The large woman replied in heavily accented English, "I hope I find you well?"
Evelyn noticed, as Dumbledore and Madam Maxime talked, that the Beauxbatons students were walking out of the carriage. There were ten, maybe more of them, more females then men, dressed in fine silk dress robes that looked like what Evelyn might wear to the fanciest ball of her life. They shivered as they walked over to behind Madam Maxime, glancing around themselves apprehensively at Hogwarts, the students, and the lake. Evelyn couldn't see one that looked in good humor.
"...very well," Madam Maxime was saying. "Will you please inform this Hagrid that the horses only drink single-malt whiskey?"
"It will be attended to," Dumbledore replied graciously. The conversation ended then, and Madam Maxime and her students hurried up the stone steps to the gates of Hogwarts, the Hogwarts students parting before them as they walked.
Then the waiting for the Durmstrang students arrived. The night grew silent; only the occasional snort from one of the horses, and the quiet chirping of the crickets all around.
Evelyn was watching the ground and sky this time-- she couldn't imagine anything more odd then the way the Beauxbatons students had chosen to arrive, but she was sure she was about to be shown something much more unusual. Not magnificent-- that wasn't Durmstrang's way-- but certainly unusual.
For a long while, the silence continued, until suddenly a Gryffindor student called out "The lake! Look at the lake!". Evelyn did so, again having to stand on tiptoe to look over the heads of other, taller second years. And something was defiantly happening-- it seemed like the giant squid was suddenly swallowing all the water it could, from down below. The surface of the lake was moving swiftly inwards in a spiral, forming a whirlpool...
And a mast emerged out of the whirlpool, a thin, ragged mast. Evelyn gasped as the full ship emerged from the swirling waters, sailing directly against the pull of the whirlpool, onto the surface of the water. It was a gleaming, almost ghostly ship, and the moonlight added to the sensation that it wasn't quite real. If not for the heads of the Houses constantly trying to keep their students silent, every young wizard on the lawn would be saying something about that magnificent ship.
As the waters finally calmed completely, a ramp was let down from the ship, and the Durmstrang students slowly disembarked. Evelyn saw that they were all wearing thick furs; quite prepared for the cold, unlike the Beauxbatons students. Their headmaster was leading them, and Evelyn saw that he was thin, white-haired man as he stepped into the light of the castle.
Evelyn didn't listen to the few words traded between Dumbledore and the Durmstrang headmaster, save learning that his name was Professor Karkaroff. She was instead watching the Durmstrang students, who, again in sharp contract of the Beauxbatons students, seemed to be very impressed by Hogwarts' tall spires and towering keeps.
Strangely, Evelyn felt as if no time at all had passed as she walked back into the entrance hall with the other students. The Durmstrang were mainly following the Slytherin group into the castle, and Evelyn heard one of them utter a quiet 'wow' as they entered the majestic entrance hall of the castle.
Halfway to the Slytherin table, Evelyn felt someone grab her arm. She turned around, surprised, to see Kevin-- Rashall-- standing there. He suddenly seemed to realize he was holding her arm and let go with an apologetic glance before talking. "Evelyn, I need to talk to you soon." His tone was determined, and he was looking her straight in the eye. Aware of what felt like thousands of eyes on her as the students passed by to go to their respective tables, Evelyn quickly replied, "Soon, fine. Later." Rashall glared at her. "Okay! Tonight!" She almost yelled. And breaking the contact of their eyes, she turned around and hurried to the Slytherin table, before a Durmstrang student took her spot.
As it was, she found her place at the table was taken. Sighing, Evelyn scanned the table with her eyes for another place to sit, but the Durmstrang student politely moved aside and gestured for her to sit.
"Thanks," She said gratefully as she sat down. The Durmstrang student was a tall, raven-haired boy with light blue eyes. He smiled and asked, "How is it here at Hogvarts? It seems vary grand."
Evelyn passed a gravy dish along to the girl on her other side and replied, "Oh, it's nice. I wouldn't know where to start, of course, especially since I've never seen your school."
"I am vary sorry. It vos an unfair question." The boy looked down at his plate despondently, crestfallen as a young child denied a promised treat, and Evelyn stared at him in mild dismay.
"No, it's fine..." She said. And then, trying to cheer him up, she held out her hand and introduced herself. "Evelyn Sellina. Nice to meet you."
The young man smiled back at her and replied, "Derst McAyle. And it is my pleasure." Like a young child, he seemed to have forgotten his former sadness, and now looked quite contented. Evelyn managed to cut the conversation short as he took a bite to eat, turning to the Durmstrang girl on her left instead. That boy was very odd.
As if reading her thoughts, the girl whispered "He's a bit mad... vary brilliant, and vary, vary crazy sometimes. He is top of his class at all subjects."
Evelyn raised an eyebrow. "Scary," She muttered. "So, what's your name?"
"Elijya Vel. And you're Evelyn, I know. It's good to be here-- a velcome break from Durmstrang!"
A/N:
Once again, this chapter did not 'flow'. I tried rewriting it, but no luck; it's simply not something I am having inspiration for. As I write this review, however, I've written the two chapters ahead, so you can be assured I'm out of writer's block.
The funny thing is, I've been reading Ed Greenwood's 'The Kingless Land' recently, and his old-fashioned Sword & Sorcery is so different from HP, it's laughable. Still, it offers some inspiration. Magic is such a fun thing to use in stories.
As always, please review!