Darkness was outside Harry's window when he was woken by a rough hand shaking him mercilessly.
"I'm up!" He yelled, blearily trying to find his glasses and get out of bed at the same time. The result was that he got tangled in his covers, fell to the cold stone floor, and lost his glasses somewhere underneath the bed.
The Durmstrang student strode out the door, slamming it behind him.
Harry picked himself off the floor and stood.
"Blimey, how rude," Harry said, rubbing his arms. He groaned and found his glasses, shoving them on. The window was cracked open. Harry walked over to it, and discovered a faint hint of dawn beginning to creep over the mountains.
"Wow, it's really early," Harry said to himself, and closed the window to stop the stream of icy cold wind that fluttered his pajamas. He shivered and dressed as quickly as he could, trying to preserve body warmth.
His teeth chattered as he tidied up the room as best as he could; throwing sleepwear back into his trunk and making the bed rather haphazardly. He put on his Hogwarts robes (not the Gryffindor ones, the ones with just the Hogwarts seal) and carefully put his wand into his pocket.
Upon opening the door, he realized that the others seemed worse for wear. Except Hermione, of course, whose Hogwarts uniform was perfectly immaculate and her hair neatly brushed.
Ron yawned uncontrollably, Neville's cloak's buttons were in the wrong buttonholes, and they both had a nasty case of bedhead. To top it off, both Harry and Ron sported mis-matched socks, while Neville's pajama bottoms could be seen sticking out from underneath his robes.
Hermione shuddered at their sorry state and said:
"Come on, then, what are you waiting for? We've got to go down to breakfast!"
The three boys followed Hermione, who seemed to remember exactly how to get to the dining hall. Their footsteps echoed down the twisting corridors. Harry marveled at the silence; when they got up in the morning at Hogwarts, the sun was already up and they'd be going down to the Great Hall along with most of the school.
Although Durmstrang's dining hall was nowhere near as loud as the Great Hall during breakfast time, there was a quiet chatter that made Harry relax a bit. Last night's silence had unnerved him a bit.
They all sat around the same table again, and the food appeared. It wasn't as rich or fancy as the Hogwarts breakfast spread, but it was filling and hearty. Harry had some kind of beef stew, Hermione and Neville oatmeal, and Ron had toast with loads of butter.
Harry couldn't help noticing that no professors were present. He couldn't even begin to fathom how they kept their students so orderly even without an authoritative figure in the room.
When they'd all eaten to their heart's content (which really wasn't very much because it was so early and none of their stomachs had truly woken up yet), a Durmstrang student detached themselves from the crowd of nearly identical students. He walked over to their table.
"Viktor!" Hermione said, standing to give him a brief hug. Harry made a mental note not to get on Ron's nerves, because he looked extremely irritated by Hermione's reaction. His face looked thunderous, and he glared at Krum.
"I am to show you around today. Ve vill visit different aspects of ah, how to say, common school life."
"Okay," Neville said, looking nervous. Ron reached over and fixed his buttons out of pity.
"Oh, thanks, Ron."
They traipsed out of the castle, through winding corridors and semi-outdoor hallways. At last they reached the front lawn. The grounds of Durmstrang were so extensive that Harry had to squint to see the foot of the mountain range.
The sky was a light pinkish orange, and dew made the grass underfoot seem magical and sparkly. Once Harry's eyes became accustomed to the abundant natural beauty around him, his body started to feel the chill.
"Is it this cold every morning?"
"Vhat? Oh, yes. That is vhy ve have fur cape. See?" Viktor patted the fur-lined half cape attached to the shoulder of his Durmstrang uniform. Harry nodded, and drew his own cloak around himself tighter.
Ron, although trying to hold a grudge against Viktor, asked reluctantly:
"Where are we going first?"
"Ah. Ve are going to visit the first training vave."
"And that is…?" Hermione asked.
"The earliest group of students that train in our arena area. Ve students all have different schedules, but they stay the same the entire month. At the end of the month, ve get a new schedule for the new month, so ve learn with a new group of students every month."
Hermione nodded, and Harry could actually see a scrap of parchment in her hand, while her wand magicked the quill to take notes. He was reminded of the Quick-Quotes Quill, which he hoped never to encounter again.
Neville was walking at the back of the group when he let out a startled yelp and clung to Harry.
"What is it, Neville?" Harry said impatiently.
The rest of the group turned around curiously. Harry looked around but couldn't see anything especially worrying. For a second, he'd thought of the worst...that Voldemort had somehow tracked him down... but they were in the middle of the grounds, grass stretching out around them.
"There was this...this thing! It was like a bug of some sort...hairy, with pincers and teeth! It was huge!" Neville said, his eyes huge and frightened.
"Oh!" Viktor laughed. "Venenum bug! Yes, a few students a vhile back tried to make a hybrid and some specimens escaped. It's been avhile since ve've seen one."
Ron looked cautiously about before he took his next step. Neville walked solidly in the middle of the group, twitching and nervous.
Because everyone was busy looking at where they were stepping, they kept bumping into each other and apologizing in whispers.
Harry imagined that they would look rather strange to passerby: the group of inexperienced Hogwarts ambassadors and one annoyed Durmstrang student moving as a very slow group that was uncoordinated and bumbling.
"Let's go a little faster." Viktor said, looking up at the sky to determine the time of day. He picked up his pace, and they all tried to catch up with him.
Neville abandoned the difficult process of looking before he stepped in favor of not getting left behind.
They walked briskly across the ground towards a large building off the main fortress. It, unlike the main castle, was built of armored metal, and loud banging noises could be heard from within.
Even Hermione looked a bit nervous as they neared the entrance.
"Ve are here," Viktor said, and opened the door. The others filed in behind him, taking in the scene. Two people in Durmstrang uniforms held long staffs, brutally trying to beat the other. They grappled, their staffs emitting sparks when they made contact, and sweat stained their robes.
The door banged shut behind Harry and the others, causing a momentary lapse in the fight until the opponents regained focus and continued combat.
Neville looked downright terrified. The sandy floor crunched beneath their shoes as they walked towards a long row of bleachers, similar to the ones used to view a Quidditch game. Krum led them around the match and up to a viewing space. The space was occupied by the burly professor Harry had noticed on their first night here. The viewing space had long stone benches and dim lighting, and a huge glass wall faced the arena. Harry felt like he was on his broomstick, high above the action.
"This is Professor Scias. He teaches physical martial arts as vell as martial magic."
"Pleasure to meet you," Hermione said, shaking his hand firmly. She immediately started peppering him with questions, and the two sat down to have a mini interview.
Viktor, Ron, Neville, and Harry watched the students below. When one pinned the other, Neville gasped, then covered his eyes. The pinned student suddenly flipped upwards and out from beneath the other student's staff. They faced off again.
They were like two snakes or lions, Harry thought. So evenly matched that it seemed unlikely that there would be an eventual winner.
Their heads were shaved in the Durmstrang fashion, and they moved fluidly, their reflexes strong and minds alert. Harry couldn't imagine being down there without his wand to protect him. Sweat was gleaming on their heads, and they were both panting, but eyeing each other with malice. Harry found that he couldn't take his eyes off their mesmerizing, deadly dance. For the first time, Harry noticed, father away, more arenas containing more fighting.
If this was how Durmstrang trained every day, Harry had severely underestimated them.
"Come on, ve must move on." Viktor said, standing up. "Goodbye, Professor."
Hermione hopped up to join the rest of them, and Professor Scias waved goodbye.