Chapter 2
It had been a month into the school year, and the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were expected to be arriving. Everyone had gathered outside, trying to spot their new classmates for the foreseeable future. Neville, Val, and Daphne stood huddled together in a group for warmth. Neville had his arm around Daphne's shoulders while Daphne leaned into his side. Val kept her arms crossed against her chest as she looked around.
"Do you guys see anything yet?" Daphne asked her friends, shivering slightly from the cool late October air. There was barely a cloud in the sky, meaning the moon and the stars were shining down giving them the ability to see in the night light.
"No, not yet," Neville said as he tightened his arm around Daphne's shoulders, pulling her in closer to his side for warmth.
Every last student at Hogwarts was gathered on the lawn outside of the front entrance, eager to see the other schools arrivals. None of them experienced an event at Hogwarts remotely close to the Triwizard Tournament, and everyone wanted to be on the ground level when the schools arrived. Not a single person wanted to miss a thing.
"There! I think I saw something!" a second year, Hufflepuff student called out as he pointed at the sky.
"I don't see anything," Daphne said as she tried to stand on her toes, her head tilting from left to right in order to spot whatever the Hufflepuff saw.
"I see it, there," Valerina pointed straight ahead, "A carriage, I believe."
Valerina was right, of course. It was a carriage, and it was being pulled through the air by the most beautifully majestic pegasi that Valerina had ever seen. Pure white with large wings on their backs. The winged horses touched down one by one, gracefully and all in sink as the carriage descended to the ground slowly. It slowed to a stop, and once it landed, everyone's eyes became trained on the door of the carriage, wanting to see just who would step out.
The Trio, amidst their classmates, watched as the doors opened and a black heeled shoe, the size of a small sled stepped out of the carriage. There, following said shoe was the largest woman any of them had ever seen. She reminded Val of their gamekeeper, Hagrid. Not large in the way of being robust, but large in the fact that she was the size of Hagrid. Maybe even larger. There were a few gasps of surprise from the students.
Dumbledore began to clap whilst he slowly approached the woman, causing the students to clap one by one as well. The large woman's stern features relaxed into a gorgeous smile upon seeing Dumbledore, and she extended her hand out to him. The old man didn't miss a step, and he quickly took her hand, placing a gentle kiss to the back of it.
"My dear, Madame Maxime," he spoke in a loud, clear voice so that his students were able to hear him, "Welcome to Hogwarts."
"Dumbledore," Madame Maxime had a French accent so thick, that when she had said Dumbledore's name, it sounded more like 'Dumbly-dorr' than Dumbledore, "I hope I find you well?"
"Oh, in excellent form, thank you, Madame," Dumbledore said as he stepped away from Maxime while the Headmistress turned to watch as her students all emerged from the carriage.
A few dozen boys and girls all emerged from the carriage, some of them were shivering from the cold. Which made perfect sense to Valerina since it was evident that they did not dress appropriately for the weather here in Scotland. Their fine blue robes appeared to be rather thin, with no protection against the harsh cold.
"Look at the lake!" Seamus Finnegan called out before anyone could get a proper look at their new peers for the year, and soon all eyes were on Black Lake as a ship rose, gleaming in the moonlight. The splash of an anchor falling, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank of the lake could be heard. Then soon, a good two handful of people were disembarking from the ship. All of them, Valerina noted, were male and built roughly the same way as Crabbe and Goyle, but as they drew closer, Valerina also noticed that they knew how to dress for the weather. Maybe too much soo. As all of them wore cloaks of shaggy, matted fur.
A man emerged from the group of people and approached Dumbledore, "Dumbledore! How are you, my dear fellow?" the man called as he extended his hand to Dumbledore, who grasped his forearm in greeting. The man had a thick Russian accent, and he spoke rather loudly.
"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore flashed a smile. Valerina watched as the man smiled in return, but she noted that though Karkaroff spoke in a friendly tone, his friendliness did not meet his eyes. No, those dark eyes were cold, shrewd, and calculating. And his smile was obviously fake.
"Merlin's Beard! It's Krum!" Neville gasped, and that got Valerina's interest. She quickly turned her head in the direction that Neville had been looking in, and indeed there was Viktor Krum, standing amongst his fellow peers. He wore the same rather frightening look of indifference, or perhaps annoyance as his peers. He seemed much larger up close and standing still, much scarier. But perhaps that was what made him Viktor Krum.
"You reckon he's entering the Tournament?" Neville whispered to his friends.
"If he is, then you surely will have your work cut out for you if you enter, Val," Daphne added in her opinion.
"Least it will be a rather interesting year," Val shrugged her shoulders.
Little did Val know that this year would be rather interesting indeed.
Valerina sat alone at the end of the Ravenclaw table as she always did at dinner that night. No one tried to speak with her, and she didn't try to speak with anyone else. She had a book open in her lap with one hand, and she ate with the other. Her eyes never leaving the page of her book.
Down the table and across, sat a rather curious French blonde, who had been watching Valerina silently since she had sat down. She wondered why the girl was alone whilst everyone else seemed to be chatting happily amongst one another. She tilted her head silently as she watched the dark haired girl smile down at the page of her book. She turned her gaze towards the Asian girl that sat on her left whose name she couldn't remember and cleared her throat, "Excusez moi," she said softly.
The girl turned her head to give her her attention, "Yes?"
"Who ees zat girl alone at the end of ze table zere?" the French witch nodded in the dark haired girl's direction.
"Oh! That is Valerina Ashford, she's a fourth year. Rather talented. She's Top 3 of the class and excellent on a broom. She's played Quidditch for Ravenclaw since her second year. Though, she doesn't tend to talk to many people. Normally just sticks to herself. Her only friends are Neville Longbottom and her cousin, Daphne Greengrass," the Ravenclaw girl explained.
The blonde hummed softly to herself and nodded her head, "Perhaps, I zall talk wiz her. It ees not right to sit all alone," the French witch said as she gracefully rose to her feet, grabbing her plate on the way. She slowly made her way down the table, aware of all eyes on her as she walked. This was something she was used to experiencing everywhere she went. Being only a Quarter-Veela, her thrall was rather hard for her to control. She was unable to keep it locked away permanently, and so eyes were more often than not on her. She tried to reign it in just enough so that the stares didn't become blatant. She noted that it seemed to have worked as most the stares had gone and those who were watching her had returned their gazes elsewhere.
She came to a stop once she reached the end of the table. For a moment, she waited for the dark-haired girl to look up and notice her, but when that didn't appear to be happening anytime soon, she cleared her throat. She watched as the younger witch's head slowly lifted, and she was taken aback by the startling, piercing violet eyes that met her own blue eyes. The girl before her had to be one of the most naturally beautiful people she had ever seen in her life. Her skin was a fair pale color, her eyes that startling, rare violet. Though still young, her cheekbones were high and her defining jawline was coming in quite strongly. When she quirked a single eyebrow in question, the French witch realized she had been staring for far too long and she cleared her throat to regain her bearings before speaking again, "Excusez moi. I was just wondering if it were alright if I were to join you. I had noticed zat you were sitting alone and zought zat just won't do."
The girl was silent for a moment, studying the French witch closely as if calculating if her request was genuine or if she had darker intentions. After a moment of silence, the girl seemed to have decided that the elder witch meant no harm, and she nodded, "You can sit."
"Merci," the French witch nodded politely as she set her plate down and took the seat across from the dark-haired girl, "I am Fleur Delacour."
"Valerina Ashford," the girl introduced herself, shutting her book silently and placing it atop the table beside her plate, "You're from the French school, right? Beauxbatons? How are you enjoying Hogwarts so far?"
"Oui. Hogwarts seems to be a nice school, if not a bit cold," Fleur answered, and this caused Valerina to laugh softly as she nodded her head.
"Probably doesn't help that your school's robes are so thin. What is that made of? Silk?"
"Oui, our school robes are made of ze finest silks money can buy. Zough, yes, you are correct in assuming zey do not protect us against ze harsh colds. I have learned a few warming charms zat hopefully may help."
"One can only hope," Valerina smiled softly, "May want to give them a try tomorrow."
"Oui, I shall."
Valerina nodded her head silently and looked back down at her half-eaten plate of food, she poked at the beef that was on it before returning her gaze to Fleur, "Am I correct in assuming that since you are here, you will be vying to participate in the Tournament?"
"Yes, I shall enter and hopefully be chosen," Fleur nodded her head, "There is a lot riding on my participation. I would like to prove to ze world zat I am more zan just a pretty face."
"I will be entering as well," Valerina stated, "Though, I don't have nearly as big of goals as you," Valerina laughed nervously as she reached a hand up to rub the back of her neck.
"Well, let us 'ope you are chosen. I believe I heard from your Housemate zat you are a rather skilled witch. It will be interesting to go against one another. I will need someone who is able to keep up wiz me," Fleur smiled softly, and Valerina's eyes widened at the sight. Because honestly, there was no doubt in her mind that Fleur was beautiful, but that smile brought her to an entirely different level.
"U-uh, y-yes," Val stammered for a moment before she cleared her throat, "Well, one can only hope," Valerina smiled politely before she turned her gaze back towards her plate.
Fleur studied Valerina silently. She had purposefully let just enough of her Thrall slip to see how Valerina would react, she was surprised to see that she had fallen into the small trap. Fleur was excited now as her Thrall usually only worked on people who were already attracted to females. Such as men or women who liked girls.
Though Fleur had hardly spoken more than a few words to the young Ravenclaw, she could feel a connection between them. A bond that had struck when they met one another's eyes. For Fleur, this meant everything. As a bond usually only struck for a Veela when they have met their potential mate. That meant for Fleur, that Valerina had the potential to become her mate. She decided to pursue this further and get to know this young witch while she had the chance.
She went to speak, but before she could the Hogwarts Headmaster cleared his throat, rather loudly might she had, to gain the attention of the students in the Hall, "Tonight is a very special night. For the first time in three hundred and forty seven years, I have the honor of introducing the Triwizard Tournament," cheers erupted around the Great Hall, most of the Hogwarts students were clapping and yipping excitedly. Dumbledore smiled as he waited for the interruption to die down before he continued, "In a few minutes time, I will be introducing you to the impartial judge, who will determine the most worthy of Champions from each of our schools. There is great honor in being a champion, even if you do not win. However, there is also great danger. I cannot stress this enough that the Tournament is not for the weak-willed or faint of heart. You must be prepared should you become a Champion.
"Now onto the Tournament itself. There will be three tasks for three Champions to compete in, spaced out evenly throughout the year. There will be other mini-events as well, beginning with Interviews, a few days after the Champions have been chosen. Others will be announced at a later date.
"Introductions next, For each task, there will be five judges grading each Champion on performance. Madame Maxime, Headmistress of Beauxbatons is one, Headmaster Karkaroff of Durmstrang is another, in addition, Bartemius Crouch of the Department of International Cooperation will be a third, and Ludo Bagman of the Department of Magical Sports and Game will be forth, and lastly, myself, Headmaster of Hogwarts. And now I do believe it is time to bring out our impartial adjudicator. Mr. Filch, if you would?"
Valerina watched as Mr. Filch moved from the corner where he had been standing, carrying what appeared to be a chest of some sort. Filch set the chest down in front of Dumbeldore, then retreated quickly.
"Inside this chest is an artifact of immense power," Dumbledore began, "It alone has the ability to determine who amongst you all are worthy enough to be your school's Champion." Dumbledore unfastened the claps that were holding the lid shut, and lifted it up. A bright green light shone throughout the room, "Behold," Dumbledore declared as he reached into the chest, "The Goblet of Fire!"
Dumbledore held the artifact up for the whole hall to see. It was made of gold and platinum, and with the most intricate design anyone has ever seen. With flames flicked from the rim, and it radiated nothing but pure magic/
"Any student wishing to put forth their name to become a Champion simply needs to submit a piece of parchment with their name and School witten on it into the rim of the Goblet. You will have 24 hours to do so. Think hard and carefully about this, for if you are named Champion, you cannot be unnamed. It is a magically binding contract."
Valerina bit her lower lip nervously as she glanced over at the table that held her cousin, who was watching her silently in concern. Val nodded once before returning her gaze to Dumbledore who was still speaking, "For those of you who dream of eternal glory, there are also a couple of minor benefits. First, Champions can use whatever time they need to prepare for a task, even if that means missing a class. Second, a Champion will not have to take their end of the year exams, being a Champion is worth far more than any OWL or NEWT grade, but of course, you are still welcome to take them. That is all. Once you have all finished, I ask that you all return to your dorms and have a good evening."
"Still zinking of entering?" Fleur questioned causing Valerina to turn her gaze back towards the beautiful witch. Valerina flashed a small smile and offered a shrug of her shoulders.
"He had me at no OWLs," Valerina joked causing Fleur to laugh softly as she shook her head.
"I zought your House, enjoyed exams," Fleur teased, and Val merely smiled.
"Guess I'm the black sheep of Ravenclaw," Valerina laughed softly, "Anyways, I have to be off. I promised my cousin and friend that I'd meet with them before bed," Val said as she slowly rose to her feet, grabbing her book and her bag, "And I still must write to my uncle. It was nice meeting you, Miss Delacour."
"You as well Mademoiselle Ashford. Until we meet again," Fleur bowed her head politely, offering another flash of her beautiful smile.
Valerina grinned before she turned to exit the Great Hall. She didn't bother to await her friends as she knew they would both meet her anyways, and so she merely headed straight for the library in order to write a letter to her Uncle.
Once at the library, Valerina had taken her seat at the back, hidden away behind some shelves. She set her book down and dug through her bag for ink, quil, and parchment. Once she had everything gathered out in front of her, she began to pen a letter to her uncle.
Uncle Florian,
All is well here at Hogwarts. I apologize for not writing to you and Aunt Adorabella sooner, but as I'm sure Daphne has already told you things have been kind of crazy. A month ago, Dumbledore had announced that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place, and I have been studying up on it to see if perhaps I would like to participate.
I know it is not very ladylike of me, according to Auntie, but I really do wish to participate. The prize for winning is 1,000 galleons, with that much money I would be able to purchase a new broom and broom kit for when I play Quidditch again next year for all the scouts.
I think that I could participate. I would like to participate, what do you think? Neville and Daphne won't enter, but they informed me that they would aid me should I choose to.
Not much else happening lately. Quidditch has been cancelled for the year due to the Tournament, but Davies informed me that next year the Seeker position was mine if I wanted it, which is nice to know. If I win this tournament, I would be able to buy the Firebolt and for sure be able to keep up with Harry Potter next year.
Oh! I met someone new today. Her name is Fleur Delacour. She is from Beauxbatons. She seems rather nice, very beautiful. She is also entering the Tournament. She seems rather intelligent, and I hope that she does well. She sat with me at dinner tonight. Without being forced to, she actually tried to make conversation with me. Did I mention she was beautiful?
Anyways, that's about it. Hope to hear from you soon. Give Auntie my love.
Love,
Val
Valerina sealed the parchment and placed it in her bag. She would give it to her owl later to have him deliver it to her uncle that night. She smiled softly as she grabbed her book, and she opened it waiting for her friends to arrive. However, as she tried to focus on the pages of her book, her mind continued to drift to the beautiful blonde witch who had chosen willingly to speak with her.
