Chapter 2
Departure and Arrival
James opened his eyes and looked at his clock. Nine-thirty, and he had to be on the platform at ten. He rolled over and looked at Sirius, who was still snoring, and Remus, who was starting to wake up. James yawned and rolled out of bed, then went and gave Sirius a sharp poke.
"Wuzzamatter?" he said, barely opening his eyes.
"Get up Padfoot, the train leaves in half an hour!"
"What? Oh, right, train, well, I'm up," he said, and he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Remus was sitting up too, and was lazily throwing clothes into his trunk. A bolt of lightning hit James. He had to pack!
He ran over to his trunk and put on his robes, then started putting all of his things back into the trunk.
By ten o'clock, James, Sirius, and Remus were out on the platform with their trunks, and empty stomachs. Lily was there too, but they had already eaten and were chattering away.
"How do they talk that much?" said Sirius, actually confused.
"I don't know, and I know a lot," said Remus. James didn't say anything, he was just watching Lily.
In about three seconds the entire school was out on the platform to say goodbye and wish good luck, but luckily, Dumbledore stepped in and began his goodbye speech.
"Yes, yes, we are all excited, but now we must depart, because we cannot be late, so all of our competitors, please board the train!" Said Dumbledore, pointing his arm at the train.
James, Sirius, and Remus boarded first, followed by Lily, Kelsey, Hannah, and Taylor, who lead the rest of the group onto the train.
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Because there were only fifteen students, everyone had a compartment, to Lily's relief. She would not have liked to have to sit with Potter and his stupid friends. The four girls picked a compartment near the back, far away from the Marauders.
"I can't believe that you guys did that! I told you that I didn't want to go!" Lily said once they got settled.
"Well, it's just that we all wanted to go, and it wouldn't have been fun without you," explained Kelsey.
"Yeah, and this way, Potter and his friends won't get to be a champion, because anyone in their right mind would pick you over Potter, or Black, or Lupin," said Hannah.
"I thought you like Lupin," said Taylor, pulling out her crystal ball. She was great at divination; some said she had the Sight. "Now, let's see who's going to get picked."
The ball stayed foggy, but Taylor immediately started narrating. "Okay, I see the castle, ooh, it's a nice castle, okay, I hear a voice, a woman, can't tell what she's saying though, damn it!"
"It's okay, Tay, I really don't care," said Lily, leaning back onto the seat. They talked and talked for about an hour and a half, about the tournament, what the tasks would be like, all that stuff, when the train started to slow.
"Wow, the French really know how to live!" said Hannah, pressing her face to the window. And she had a point. They were stopped in front of a gorgeous white castle with a huge waterfall and rolling hills. The castle was sprinkled with snow that never melted, and in front of it there were over a hundred girls wearing ice blue dresses and hats.
"Uh, yeah, the ball's not for ages," said Kelsey sarcastically, commenting on the girls' outfits.
"Hmm, we seem to be slightly under dressed don't we," said Hannah reaching up for her trunk.
"Well, we're not changing," said Lily, grabbing her trunk as well. "So let's just get this over with."
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"Wow, have you ever seen that many girls in your life?" said Remus, pulling his trunk down.
"They don't have them that pretty at Hogwarts," said Sirius, reaching up for his trunk.
"I wouldn't say that," said James as Lily walked by.
"Come on, let's go look like idiots in front of a whole bunch of beautiful girls," said Sirius sarcastically, and the three of them hauled their trunks along the corridor, leaving them in the luggage compartment as they stepped off the train. Dumbledore was already speaking to the headmistress, who must have been twenty feet tall.
"Bonjour Madame Maxime, how are you?" said Dumbledore.
"Quite well, Dumblydorr, 'ow are you?"
"Quite well indeed, now may I introduce my students..." and one by one, Dumbledore would call out a name, and each student would step forward. When the introductions were finished, Dumbledore signaled for all of them to follow into the Great Hall.
When Dumbledore pushed the doors open, every student stopped dead. There were only two tables, one huge round table that took up almost the entire hall, and one smaller one that was for the teachers. The tables were engraved ivory, with blue velvet tablecloths all over. The floor was made of glass blocks, and the ceiling was painted to match. The chairs were ice blue armchairs, like the ones in the Gryffindor common room.
"Everybody, please take a seat. I expect that Durmstrang will be arriving soon enough," said Dumbledore. And sure enough, about two minutes later, twenty Bulgarian, tough-looking boys marched into the hall, and silently took their seats. One was particularly angry looking, and didn't speak at all.
"Wouldn't want to run into him in a dark alley," Sirius whispered, but before he could say more, the professors walked into the hall, followed by the Beauxbatons girls, who took their seats silently.
"Students, students, please calm down. Welcome all to Beauxbatons, and, as of now, the Triwizard Tournament!" Dumbledore said.