Scarlet Scarves
Chapter 2— Durmstrang and Beauxbatons
The weather on the ride back to Hogwarts was bitter. Rain lashed the windows and the wind rocked the cars horribly when we went through unsheltered passes. It might have been depressing on another day but since all we had to do that day was sit in the cozy train compartment I felt almost smug that the weather was so bad. Of course everyone was either talking about, or wanted to know about the World Cup. It was surprising to me how people poured over every second of the evening until the time when Krum caught the Snitch and didn't talk almost at all about what happened afterward.
"It's just an isolated incident." Lana said when I mentioned that. "Nothing to worry about I told you."
Of my group of friends only two hadn't gone to the Cup. Anna Chaz had spent the summer at her dad's house in America (her parents were divorced as of a year ago) so she hadn't gone. And Amanda Bowhed, my other best friend, had gotten violently ill two days before and her mother had made her stay home. Fortunately, Amanda didn't care too much about anything but boys though and the only thing she was really disappointed about was that her ticket had eventually gone to the daughter of a friend of her mother's, whom she hated.
Despite this there was only one conversation I remember not being about Quidditch. When the friendly witch with the snack cart pushed by Amanda pulled me aside while the rest crowded out into the hall. "Were you okay…after the match?" She asked me.
I nodded. "Lana and I got to the woods right away." I said. "It was fine."
"Okay good." She said and then we both hurried to get our snacks before the witch moved further down the hall.
I bought two pumpkin pasties but I was properly hungry by the time the train rolled to a stop in the station and we all piled out onto the platform, stretching our legs and pulled cloaks around ourselves.
The food at the feast was even better than I'd remembered. After a whole summer of being to lazy to make anything beyond macaroni and cheese or raman for myself in mom's apartment it was almost overwhelming. In fact I was in such a stupor when Dumbledoor began his traditional speech I didn't hear anything up until he announced that there would be no inter-house Quidditch this year.
Ripples of stunned and horrified silence bounced up and down the table but Dumbledoor plowed on as if nothing were the matter, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and—but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts—"
But whatever would be such a distraction to the teachers we'd have to wait to find out for the doors of the Great Hall banged, in an almost comically dramatic way, open and framed in the door was a grizzly figure.
The figure was the oddest-looking man I'd ever seen. At first glance he looked deranged to me but, to my less than relief, this was only because one of his eyes fake—an lolling mockery of sky blue that was far too large for his face. I stifled a nervous giggle in my hand as he made his way down the open lane to the teacher's table.
"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher?" Dumbledoor's voice seemed almost to be swallowed whole in crushing silence. "Professor Moody." He and Hagrid clapped but no one else did.
"As I was saying," he continued, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."
"You're JOKING!" Said the overloud voice of Fred Weasley, spawning a wave of laughter that traveled the same way the wave of silence had following the announcement about Quidditch.
"I am not joking Mr. Weasley," Dumbledoor, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar…"
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat.
"Er—but maybe this is not the time…no…where was I?" Dumbledoor started again. "Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament…well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves so I hope those who do know will forgive me giving a short explanation and allow their attentions to wander freely.
"What the hell!" Amanda hissed to me as Dumbledoor gave a brief background of the Tournament. "Dad works that the blooming ministry and he never mentioned this! Ooh I hope the new boys are cute."
Just to be cruel I said, "they'll have accent's too." Amanda almost moaned in delight.
"The Heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang with be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October," Dumbledoor was saying, "and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decided which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."
"That is so hot. There better be at least one cute Champion." Lana said.
"Oh God yes." Amanda agreed.
"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," Dumbledoor went on, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose and age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age—that is to say, seventeen years of older—will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration." Here Dumbledoor had to pause slightly as a low buzz of anger rose. "This is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion. I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen."
I glanced down the table when he said this. Little conversations among friends had sprouted up all along it. The younger classmen seemed angry and were probably talking about ways to fool whatever Dumbledoor had in mind (Fred and George were looking mutinous). The upper classmen were undoubtedly telling each other whether or not they would be volunteering.
I took a quick look at the Ravenclaw table. Roger and Williams were talking too and they looked excited. My heart twisted painfully in my breast. I didn't know how I would feel if Roger was selected as Hogwart's champion. Excited or just terrified?
"October!" Amanda moaned as we headed for the doors. "I can't believe it."
"The wait will just heighten the anticipation, make the actual arrival better." I said encouragingly but she wasn't inclined to cheer up.
8888
First days of school are, without fail, fun. It seemed to me around every corner was some fresh face I'd loved the year before but forgotten over the summer. And then there's the fact that the teachers relax the tardy policy because they're unable to distinguish who genuinely couldn't find the room and who was chatting with old friends in the corridor. The whole mad, by-the-seat-of-your-pants feel is invigorating after the summer daze. But you have to watch out for the second day.
We spend three months nurturing, crafting and developing our slovenly habits and then we're expected to kick them in a day in a half. Teachers pile on homework to show us what they can do if we get on their bad side. We start to remember why we hated bunking with seven other girls last year. And the fun, rushed feeling of the day before turned out to be stress.
"Oh my God Professor Moody is out of his head." Amanda sighed as we sat down for lunch together. "I'm scared to sneeze in his class for fear he'll hex me so bad Madame Pomfrey can't fix it."
"At least you dropped out of Care of Magical Creatures last year." I whined, digging into my sandwich. "Hagrid has these weird, bulbous creatures he calls Skrewts. Skrewts! I ask you!"
"I'd forgotten how boring Professor Binns is."
"Transfiguration is sooooo hard!"
"I swear I didn't think it was possible but Professor Snape got more irritated about the pole up his ass over the summer."
"Ugh if Trewlawny doesn't stop buggering on about who's going to die in the tournament I'm going to chunk her out the window and her stupid crystal ball after her."
But for all the complaining we did, October waxed and waned more swiftly than I had expected. It seemed impossibly soon that we were all reading that announcement of the imminent arrival of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons.
"Oh my fuck!" Amanda hissed in my ear. "What on earth am I going to wear?"
"You've got a whole week." I told her. "You'll find something."
But that week too slid by on double time. And it seemed the next thing I knew I was standing out in the front hall of the school, shivering with my classmates and wondering how, exactly, these foreign guests would be arriving.
I had no idea the tone of the whole year was about to change for me. My mind, I remember, was with the half-finished charms homework I'd left lying on my desk (I'd resolved to leave dinner early to get it done).
"Where are Durmstrang and Beauxbatons anyway?" Lana asked to no one in particular as we waited.
"Well Beauxbatons is obviously French and Durmstrang sounds Germanic to me." I said. "My guess would be Germany of Western Europe but obviously no one except the pupils and alumni really know where it is."
"Ooh I love French accents." Amanda broke in, clapping gloved hands together.
She'd been inconsolable when she found out that, as Halloween fell on a weekday she would have to wear her school robes to the Welcome Feast, but she was cheering up nicely now that she was so close to the prospect of new boys to flirt with.
"Why doesn't anyone know where it is?" Lana asked.
I shrugged. "Because the people who founded them don't want people too I suppose. There's a long history of rivalry between the schools and I guess it has something to do with that."
Amanda scoffed. "What are we going to do? Sneak over to France and paint their quad with our colors? We are opposition Quidditch teams."
I shrugged. "I dunno."
I paused for a second and the conversation died away.
"Is…that is I mean…is your brother entering Lana?" I tried to sound as causal as I could.
She was still scouting around for any sign of the foreign students. "Yeah but if that stupid git gets to be Hogwart's champion I'll eat my hat. Surely the judge knows better than to appoint a smarmy little bastard like him."
"Surely." I echoed.
"Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!" Dumbledoor's voice seemed to carry surprisingly well across the chattering crowd.
"Ooh where is it?" Amanda squealed.
"There!" I yelled, my voice coming out much louder than I'd intended as I pointed over the crowd where a large, dark shape was hurtling toward campus at an unbelievable rate.
"It's a dragon!" A girl in the front row shrieked.
"Don't be stupid…it's a flying house!" Another boy replied.
But it was neither. It was, I could see by that time, a large flying carriage pulled by enormous, winged horses. It was the size of a mansion and a light blue with golden etchings on the sides.
From it (when it had finally landed) came a very small boy (or perhaps he only looked small compared to the carriage and the woman who exited next.) The woman was the biggest I'd ever seen, as big as Hagrid. But she was handsome, I thought, once you got past the shock of how big she was. Her was tan with long black hair pulled back in a smart bun and dark, sharp eyes.
She stopped in front of Dumbledoor and they exchanged words that were caught by the wind and blown sideways before I could catch them. But, after a brief conversation, she led her students into the hallway.
"How come they get to go inside?" Lana complained. "I'm freezing."
"They're hardly dressed for the weather." I commented as they walked by. Some of them had scarves and mufflers but they were like, silky decorations that more than likely augmented the problem instead of helping it.
I wondered if they knew how ridiculous they looked in matching periwinkle silk. But even as I thought it I realized that I recognized a face in the crowd. "Jack!" I shouted before I could stop myself.
There he was, looking just as silly and shivering just as hard. He raised a hand to me and waved but his lips were blue and he hurried inside quickly. "I didn't know he went to Beauxbatons!" I whispered to Lana.
"Who the hell is he?" Amanda asked. "And when can you introduce me?"
"We met him on the way to the Cup." Lana said. "But his English is so good I thought he went to Hogwarts. I guess that explains why he wasn't familiar looking through."
"I wonder if they all speak English." I said.
"That could be interesting." Lana giggled.
Amanda didn't like that idea though. "That's not fair." She pouted. "How am I supposed to flirt in a language I don't even speak."
I smiled. "Ah it'll probably just make the relationship last longer if you can't talk to him. Keep the mystery alive longer at any rate."
She had the goodness to giggle at that. "Hmm…he can whisper sweet nothings to me I don't even understand." She decided finally. "That would be so hot."
"Je t'adore Amanda." I said in my best French accent. "'Ome run away with me into ze 'Lps. Let us make love twice a day for ze rest of our lives."
She giggled. "Oh yes Tennessee's cheesy French cliché! Take me now!"
"The lake!" Someone yelled. "Look at the lake!"
From my vantage point I could see, coming through the top of what seemed to be whirlpool in the lake's surface was a long, slender pole. "It's a ship." Lana breathed as rigging and a sail appeared above the water. "It's a goddamn ship."
It looked so romantic on the dark, lake water in the mist—like a painting. The lights in the portholes were casting a yellow glow over the dark surface and reflecting weirdly in the midst.
I am very farsighted so I pulled my glasses up so I could see the crew disembark. "Well they're all built like fucking boulders Amanda." I said. "That should please you." But it was a lie. As the made their way up the dark, slick slopes toward us I could see that the bulk was at least partly fake, lent to them by the dense cloaks they all wore.
The man in front reached Dumbledoor and shook his hand genially. They spoke for a minute and then began to move up the stairs. They moved closer and closer until they got into the lee of the building and suddenly I could hear their voices loudly.
"…into the warmth…you don't mind, Dumbledoor? Viktor has a slight head cold…" The head of Durmstrang was saying.
"Oh my God!" Lana said as the Durmstrang kids passed us. "It's him Tennessee! He's here! Viktor Krum has come to Hogwarts! I can't believe it!" She had said he was cute at the world cup. She'd grabbed my arm when she'd thought he was in trouble but it was nothing compared to what she was doing now.
Her fingers felt like they were bruising my bones they were so deep in the flesh of my arm and Lana had a look on her face I'd never seen before.
She was starstruck.
Lana had never had a crush on someone she didn't know before. She wasn't the kind of girl who hung posters of actors over their beds to moon over but it wasn't because she didn't want that kind of man. It had always been there in her—down beneath the sarcasm and cynicism like a latent disease ready to erupt—all it had taken was proximity.
The actors just weren't real enough for her. Some girls could imagine people well enough to love them without ever seeing them. But Lana didn't have enough imagination in that way. But now Viktor Krum was immediate—close enough to touch and talk to. She could see him breathe and see that his nose, was as his Headmaster had said, inflamed with a head cold.
"Oh I don't believe it, I haven't got a single quill on me—" Lana said in a high, unfamiliar voice. She still had that glazed, lovelorn look in her eyes.
"D'you think he'd sign my hat in lipstick?" Amanda sighed. "He's so cute. You guys didn't tell me he was at the World Cup. I'd have been there in a flash—hundred degree fever in tow."
A passing fourth year girl gave us a disgusted look. "Honestly." She said huffily.
Oh great, I thought, even the fourth years have more decorum than we do.
"You guys…" I said pleadingly. I'm not sure what I was pleading with them for: not degrade themselves so publicly or just not to do it so close to me and at such a decibel. But it didn't matter anyway because they weren't listening to me.
8888
When I sat up in my bed the next morning I was greeted by a very odd sight: all the girls in my dormitory were running back and forth doing two very strange things. The first strange thing was that they weren't asleep. I'd always thought that my dormitory rising early of its own volition was one of the signs of the apocalypse but a quick check out the window showed the day to be bright and beautiful. The second strange thing was harder to point out exactly but it was palpable in the air. It was like the Pre-Stages-of-Beauty Fairy had come in the night spreading frantic primping over every bed but my own.
I realized of course what they were doing this for (or who rather). I groaned and fell back into bed, wishing I could wake up from this nightmare. I didn't want us to be 'those girls.' I didn't want my friends to be the clichéd, hormonal teenage girls who make total asses of themselves over some famous jerk who's just going to repay them by drive a big fat wedge between all of them by sleeping with a few of the prettier ones. But what I could do about it I had no idea.
Amanda came to bounce on my bed next to me. "Want to borrow my lip liner?" She asked, her head floating weirdly above me in my field of vision.
I checked my watch. "Amanda," I said seriously, "it is exactly seven forty five in the morning. Why in the name of anything would I want something like lip liner?"
"We're all going downstairs to watch Viktor but his name in the Goblet of course." Amanda said. "Oh my God I can barely control myself I'm so fucking excited!"
"You've got to be kidding." I said disbelievingly. I'd known this was about Krum in some way but I'd hoped it was something more substantial than this. I'd hoped they were going to some party with him (a party that happened to be happening at eight o'clock in the morning) or something.
But she wasn't of course. The whole sixth year had lost their collective head over night and now we were like a deranged turkey out of control. "What happened to that poster you bought at the World Cup?" Lana asked. She didn't join Amanda on my bed though. She didn't seem to want to rumple her outfit.
It took me a few seconds to realize which poster she meant. I'd intended to leave it somewhere where Roger could have it but had forgotten in the excitement of getting back to go back to Hogwarts. It was still crammed in the bottom of the backpack I'd taken to the Cup with me.
"Bottom of that bag I took." I admitted. "Why?"
"Well I was thinking we could put it up." She said hopefully.
I shifted my eyes back and forth. "Umm knock yourself out." I offered, sliding out from the covers to use the restroom.
"How are you lot even going to know when he's going to put his name in the Goblet?" I asked when I returned. Amanda smirked and led me to the window seat where Anna was looking out over the grounds. " I don't get it." I said.
Anna pointed to the ship. "We can see when the Durmstrang delegation leaves from here." She said, smiling.
"That was my idea." Amanda said proudly.
It was brilliant too, to enter leave just when the Durmstrang kids did gave them two advantages. The first was that it gave them more time to prepare and the second was that it made them look more casual, almost as if they'd just wandered in and happened to see him. How the scarf around Lana's waist fit into that part I couldn't quite work out.
"Artful." I told her, impressed.
"I try." She said.
I dressed sloppier than usual that morning. Something about me didn't like how my friends were acting around Viktor and I wanted to do all that I could to make sure he knew that not all the girls at Hogwarts thought he was all that. I wore a pair of ratty muggle blue jeans and an overlarge shirt.
"You can't be serious." Amanda said when she saw me.
"What?" I played dumb.
"If you're going to wear your muggle clothes at least wear something cute." She said.
I scowled. "I'll wear whatever I like."
She cocked her head to the side and studied me for a second. Amanda has hidden depth, I'm sure of it, but you can rarely find it unless you know where to look. But today I could see glimmering behind her expression a little flicker of understanding. She knew exactly what I was trying to do but she couldn't decide if she liked it. Finally she smiled. "Okay." She agreed.
"Oh my God they're leaving the ship!" Lana (who had rotated into window duty) shouted.
Chaos ensued.
Half of the girls were trying to get out to make sure they're didn't miss the show but the other half were trying to return to their vanities for a last minute adjustment. By the time I got out into the common room I felt like my arms would never recover from being knocked so many times.
"Come on!" Lana squealed. "Let's go."
Excitement is one of the most catching social diseases and even I felt a little exhilarated running down corridor after corridor with between my two best friends. It was fun to arrive breathless and panting at the entrance hall.
"I'll get us some toast." I told them, darting sideways into the Great Hall.
It was so early the Hall was almost deserted. There were a couple of second year Ravenclaws bent over their books and a surly looking Slytherin sixth year that used to try to copy off of me in potions in first year. I snatched a few pieces of toast and a bottle of pumpkin juice from the table and hurried back.
Amanda and Lana had caught their breath and were primping each other carefully. "I brought toast." I announced but neither of them made any sign that they'd heard me.
Well, I thought taking a big bite of my own slice, more for me I guess. But by the time I'd finished my piece a whole gaggle of girls had arrived and somehow they got both other pieces and the pumpkin juice. It wasn't just girls from my dormitory either. There were girls from all houses and grades who must have also been watching from their windows.
Lana's hand found my free one and squeezed. "This is just like the Cup only better." She whispered to me.
"Yeah." I lied. Personally I was terrified that one of my friends (her) was going to do something stupid and humiliating.
The doors seemed to open slowly and the Durmstrang kids slipped in single file. Krum was at the front and for just a moment I could see what Lana meant. There was something so appealing about how determined he looked as he strode toward the Goblet.
I knew there was going to be trouble when I felt Lana take her hand out of mine. I turned to her and missed the second when Krum put his piece of paper in the Goblet for a far more mortifying one. Lana began to clap and it spread until all the girls around me were clapping too and I was just standing there like an idiot staring at them.
I turned to face Krum. He looked surprised but not wholly gratified, in fact, he looked almost embarrassed. I saw him turn to the next person in line and say something to them with a shy grin. The other boy laughed a little bit and then went forward to put his name in too.
It must get old, I thought suddenly, being the center of attention. It must be awkward too, to be more interesting than your friends to strangers. I'd never thought about being famous in those terms. Suddenly, I had a whole new set of problems. I had worried about my friends getting their hearts broken or turning on each other. I had been nervous about them putting gratuitous displays on for his sake but now I had a niggling fear for him too—that maybe this would be as mortifying for him as it was for me.
I felt suddenly responsible for this whole bloody mess. I wasn't exactly perpetuating the problem but I certainly wasn't part of the solution. That was what I was thinking about when the second Durmstrang student stepped up to put his name in.
Lana had put her hand back into mine but I let go again and began to clap for him. The sound was awkward and lonely in the entrance hall and I was very conscious that every single person in the entrance hall had turned to stare at me.
That seemed to go on forever until finally Amanda gave a little tug on my ugly T-shirt to let me know she was still standing next to me, figuratively as well as physically, and began clapping too. Lana however looked angry with me and clenched her hands more tightly at her sides.
And then, to my surprise first Krum and the other Durmstrang kids started clapping too. The girls behind me began clapping too when Krum did and we didn't stop until the last boy had slipped his name into the flame. But even though it was a nice feeling I couldn't helping thinking about the look Lana had shot me when Krum first started clapping.
FinAN: Thank you all to those who reviewed! A couple of you mentioned that there weren't enough Krum romances but I'm hoping there will be more of a market since he was so attractive in the movie. Anyway please review this chapter (I'm hoping to get up to twenty by the time I post the next chapter). Here's a preview of the next chapter.
"This isn't about me." I tried to say calmly.
"Are you sure? I think it is. Get a clue Tennessee! No one is ever going to like you if that's all you do!" Lana's voice was a little bit louder than it needed to be—loud enough to be heard through the bathroom door. "You're just jealous that I actually have a chance with Viktor!"
"Lana I'm trying to help you." I said very quietly.
I was trying to diffuse the situation but it was already too little too late. She was so angry she didn't look like my best friend anymore. She didn't even look friendly. "Look if you want Viktor too you can't just say so!" Her tone had that strained rationality of the truly angry but she was still talking at an unreasonable level.
"I don't want Viktor!" I said, beginning to get angry myself.
"Yeah whatever." She said in a disbelieving tone.
"You're really stupid about this!" I said.
"Well you aren't being a very good friend!" She countered.
I bit my lip, trying not to cry I was so mad. "Oh yeah? Well I guess if just leaving your friend to study in the library every night counts as good friendship then no, I'm not a good friend!" I shouted.
Lana and I had had fights similar to this before but this was always the climax. When I started to tear up it was usually when the fight started to deescalate into reconciliation.
But not tonight.
P.S. What do you think about the previews of the coming chapters?