All houses gathered outside by the lake to watch the arrival of the other two greatest schools of wizardry in the world. And Albus was just in the middle of the crowd, close to his brother but not close enough to bother, just keeping his excited eyes in the horizon. At any moment now the Durmstrang ship would rise from the depths of the lake and rise, proud and almighty. And then, the carriages with flying horses would bring the girls from Beauxbatons, with all their grace and wonderfulness. Albus had only heard of the magnificence of those schools, never studying about them or reading their books.
Still, it was bound to be an impressing visual.
And just as described before by some Gryffindor students, the ship rose from deep within the black waters of the Hogwarts lake, and sent water flying all around it as the water bubble that covered the deck of the ship dissipated in a harsh wind blow that almost made the Hogwarts students fall back. Even Albus had to lean against a close-by tree to keep his balance. But the sight itself was impressive. The ship, wonderful, all in dark wood with beautiful golden details showed off the wealth of the school it belonged to, and it showed its pride well, the symbol carved in gold on both sides of the ship.
And after ascending, it regained a horizontal position and began to drift slowly towards the shore.
As it did, it was the Beauxbatons' time to shine. From above the clouds, the neigh of their horses could be heard, calling attention to their arrival. All Hogwarts students' heads moved upwards towards the direction of the noises, and their watched in bewilderment as carriages after carriages came flying down the clouds, poking holes in the fluffy skies and showing their beauty with their silver ornaments in the white carts. And from inside, the girls waved their wands, making small blue petals fall over the students below.
A single petal even made its way to Albus, falling right over his nose and becoming a little twirl of glittery magic upon touch. He smiled, amazed, and looked back up just to see the ship arriving to the harbour and the carriages coming to a stop on the ground.
Slowly, the students began to come out of their respective transportation vehicles, and their headmasters came right in front, heading for a meeting with Hogwarts' headmaster. Albus just stared at them in amusement, wondering how could a woman be so tall and a man, so tiny. Side by side, the three headmasters looked more like muggle toys, so different they were. The Beauxbatons headmistress was at least two and a half meters tall. The Durmstrang headmaster, on the other hand, was smaller than Aberforth, which was saying a lot since he hadn't hit puberty yet. And he looked so grumpy too!
Albus was enjoying himself way too much with this new experience. But unlike in his second year, when he had way too little practise and knowledge of the importance of talking to other people, watching tournaments and engaging into activities, this time he was thrilled to know more about the other two schools. This encounter, he felt in his heart, would change his destiny forever.
And if he was lucky enough, he would become a champion for Hogwarts, and the champion of the tournament by the end of the year.
Perhaps he could even get new friends from across the world, and finally learn one thing or another from the places he could never visit.
After a quick greeting between the headmasters and students, they were all guided towards the great hall, where they would feast for the arrival of the two schools, and then they would make a quick show, followed by Hogwarts' choir group, and then they would all be relocated for specific rooms for this very occasion.
As he walked, Albus noticed a group of girls discussing amongst themselves about which one of the Durmstrang students were the most handsome. They pointed and giggled, watching as the boys from the northern school walked past them, their heavy coats hanging low on their arms due to the elevated temperatures of England. Each one of them also carried a wooden stick alike their headmaster's, and Albus wondered if it was part of the uniform, or if it was only used for events like this.
On his other side, a group of boys bragged about how they would invite the Beauxbatons girls for the prom, and how they would obviously say yes to their charms. He watched as they winked to a few of the girls passing by, and they responded accordingly: ignoring them completely and raising their heads up, to assert their ground, like proud birds, the tail of their blue dresses drifting over the ground. They indeed were very graceful and pretty, and sure of their high status and pride.
Albus found it very amusing that both schools were so worried about stereotypes while Hogwarts had all types of students. They even had different houses, unlike the other two schools. The only thing uniting all Hogwarts students were their uniforms, nothing like a practiced walk or a wooden stick that hit the ground precisely when commanded.
"Albus! Come along!" he heard someone say, suddenly, and turned his attention forward, to where Aberforth was waving his hand and calling him over. His friends were long gone into the crowd, but the younger Dumbledore made sure to wait for his older brother.
"You should be with your friends. You won't get a good spot for the show if you stick around waiting for your distracted brother" Albus said fondly as he approached, but walked with Abe towards the main hall. Abe simply shrugged, and pulled Albus by the robe, finding them a perfect spot for the show.
"See? With only two is easier to find a little room" Aberforth winked and Albus chuckled softly, nodding and sitting comfortably on the bench, awaiting. As soon as all Hogwarts students had settled down on their house's tables, the headmaster stood from his chair and walked forward, welcoming the other two schools and presenting their headmasters, who sat on the chairs next to his. The students, however, were nowhere to be seen.
"And now, the students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons will grace our dinner with a short presentation that I hope you all enjoy" the headmaster completed his speech, before returning to his spot and sitting down. With a wave of his wand, the main doors opened, and in the air, the sound of a sweet melody and birds chirping filled up the hall.
"They really have a show" Aberforth whispered next to Albus, who nodded as dumbfounded as him. The two Dumbledores watched in amazement as the beautiful girls made their way inside the hall, waving their wands and forming a beautiful glittering silk-like strip of fabric. As they waved their wands, the stripes moved along, and together with each one of their dance moves, it conducted a dance of its own, filling the room with a beautiful blue colour and a sweet scent of plums.
"It's the prettiest thing I've ever seen" Aberforth whispered suddenly, and Albus could only nod, eyes fixated on the magic around him. He almost missed the wink a third year girl sent to his brother, but he surely didn't miss the blush on his cheeks and the small smile curving on his face.
And as quickly as it began, it was gone. The room filled up with applause, and the girls all bowed as a thank you, waving their wands and making their stripes disappear in thin air. Then, they were relocated to their places next to the Hufflepuff table, to watch the presentation of the Dursmtrang boys.
And thus, Albus' and Aberforth's attention returned to the main hall's door.
The Durmstrang boys had a completely opposite style to the Beauxbatons girls. They walked inside to the beat of a drum, and slammed their wooden sticks on the ground to each beat, sparks flying out at every strike. They also let out groans and noises at some points to fit in with the music, before they took their sticks out of the ground and waved them around in manoeuvres that Albus would never even dream of learning.
Two by two the boys walked forward, making a few jumps and tricks during the walk to the front of the hall, and smirking to some girls every now and then that seemed interested in more than just the music and the amazing skills they had.
And then, the last two came, jumping from the door forward in an areal twist that left Aberforth with his mouth agape. They made a new twist, now leaning on the sticks, and then groaned loudly in time with the song, slamming their sticks on the ground and provoking an immense amount of sparks, that all united and flew upward like a dragon.
When that happened, they were right next to Albus and Aberforth, and as they rose their heads, Albus found his eyes stuck on the boy's in front of him.
The world seemed to go slow for a bit. It almost froze to a complete stop.
One of his eyes icy blue; the other, warm brown. The red from the sparks reflected beautifully into his irises, and Albus felt the air disappear from his lungs for a second or so, as those piercing eyes struck right into his soul.
And then the moment passed, and the boy turned his face away, walking forward to meet his friends in the front of the hall, all while Albus followed his every movement, despite of his brother constantly saying something.
It wasn't until they were relocated to the Slytherin table that Albus finally snapped out of it, looking at his brother and chuckling weakly at something he said.
But his mind was a few meters away from his body.
As the Hogwarts choir began singing, Gellert finally allowed himself to sit down, going as far as sitting closer to the edge of the table as possible, unwilling to talk to anyone that wasn't from his school before dinner.
"That was quite the presentation, Gellert. I think we are doing better and better each year" his friend and presentation partner Gunni said, poking him on the arm with his elbow, but Gellert didn't really feel like talking. He nodded and agreed with a light hum, but his friends quickly noticed he wasn't up for much.
"What's gotten into you Grindelwald? Cat's got your tongue?" another boy asked, clearly mocking him, and his friends all chuckled along, while Gellert slowly turned his face to the boy, cold eyes seeming to turn even colder.
"You should watch yours before I cut it out" he replied, to which all around him turned quiet. He looked back forward, and located the table with the red-wearing students. "The reds in Hogwarts are what again?"
"Gryffins, I believe. That's what I've heard" Sindri, another one of his friends, said over a piece of turkey he was eating. "Why do you want to know?"
"I think I found them" Gellert responded, quietly, and leaned closer to his friends, eyeing them both. "Or, at least, their family members."
"Them who?" Gunni asked, confused, and Gellert growled.
"The person in my dreams! The one with blue eyes, red hair, glasses and the amount of knowledge I need to fulfil my destiny"
Gunni and Sindri stared at him for a while before them both chuckled and shook their heads.
"You're insane Gellert. You're not a seer, and even if you were, what are the odds?" Sindri asked, chuckling to himself as he ate another bite of his turkey leg. But Gellert refused to answer, rolling his eyes and turning their attention back to the Gryffin's table.
He had seen them. Staring at him at the time of the presentation.
Two students with the purest blue eyes and longest red hairs he had ever seen. And one of them, the eldest, had looked at him straight in the eyes, like a deer in the spotlight.
He needed to find them, ask them what they knew.
He knew he had to.