I am so sorry, that this has taken so long...
8
The Weighing of the Wands
Gabrielle Delacour felt numb as she began to descend the stairs to the antechamber behind the Great Hall. She was sure, as Professor Breckinridge was reading out her name from the piece of parchment, that there had been a mistake. She had waited for the moment where the Headmaster broke into a grin and revealed that it had been a funny joke, and that Regina, or Julie, or someone else, anyone else, was really the person whose name was written on the parchment. But that moment had never come, and after a long, and silent minute left trapped in her own thoughts, Gabrielle had been hoisted out of her seat by Regina and pushed towards the High Table to shake the Headmasters hand. Gabrielle stared down at the piece of smouldering parchment in her hand, still trying to shake the disbelief away, but no matter how hard she tried, she could only see her own name written in neat, sloping handwriting. Finally, Gabrielle reached the foot of the stairs, and treaded slowly through the open doors ahead of her as though on autopilot to meet the other two champions.
Gabrielle shuffled quietly through the door to see the two older students standing by the fireplace, a few feet apart in a tense silence. As Gabrielle made her way over to the fireplace to join them, the pair turned, and Natalie, the older of the two, looked at Gabrielle with a pitiful expression and bent down to give her a hug. "I'm really sorry you got picked," she said tearfully, "but we'll do our best to keep you safe." Gabrielle nodded, and leaned into the girls' hug, feeling as though she might collapse under the weight of her own thoughts. Ever since she had stood up shakily from her seat at the Slytherin table, Gabrielle had been watching flashbacks of the TriWizard tournament, haunted by her own memories of dragons, and mazes, and dead bodies, and the cold, dark waters of the Black Lake. The two girls finally sprang apart as the Headmaster descended the steps behind them and entered the room, a dark grin on his wrinkled face.
"Congratulations Champions, well done on being selected to represent the school!" he beamed at them, though Gabrielle remained unconvinced about how happy he was, as those black, soulless eyes stared back into her own, "I trust we are all introduced, and excited about the upcoming tournament, yes?" The three nodded, trying hard to move the conversation along as swiftly as possible. "Good, good!" He responded, and after a few more clichéd lines about how it was a privilege to represent Hogwarts on an international stage, and that the Goblet of Fire had selected them as the best students that the school had to offer, he let them leave to return to their common rooms. The Great Hall was empty when they emerged at the top of the stairs, and Gabrielle took as long a route back to the Slytherin common room as she possibly could, hoping that it too would be empty. When she finally returned, only one chair by the fire remained occupied.
"Quite a few people wanted to throw you a party," Regina said as Gabrielle placed herself gingerly on the edge of the sofa. Will Regina be angry that I was picked, and not her? Gabrielle thought to herself, or maybe the rest of the Quidditch team will resent me because I got picked. "I thought you might want a little privacy instead, so I ordered everyone to their dorms." Regina continued, slipping an arm around Gabrielle's shoulders and pulling her in close. Regina's not angry, oh thank God, she's not annoyed. Gabrielle's thoughts quickly became more and more frantic, until, before long, she was sobbing uncontrollably into the older girls' shoulder. Thankfully, Regina never withdrew her arm, and never once questioned Gabrielle's fears, she just held her tightly, until she was finished crying, and ready to speak again.
"I'm terrified," Gabrielle whispered, her voice quivering ever so slightly, her eyes puffy and red from the tears she'd just wiped away. "I'm not ready for this. I'm not like you, or like Harry, or Fleur. I can't do magic like you can."
"I would be seriously impressed if you could, given that you've just started third year, and I'm in my seventh," Regina countered, "but I'm going to help you. We're going to practice, every night. Defensive spells, charms, jinxes, hexes, everything I know that might help you out. You won't go through this tournament on your own." Gabrielle nodded, but never opened her mouth to speak for fear of breaking into tears again. Regina rose from her seat and walked across the room to where Gabrielle had been practicing the Incendio charm earlier in the evening, and plucked the candle from the desk before returning to their sofa. "Let's get started."
The next few days of school were torturous for Gabrielle. Most of her days she spent alone, trying her very best to avoid the barrage of questions thrown at her by her classmates, most of which she couldn't seem to answer. Are you scared about the Tournament? What do you think the tasks will be? Aren't you worried about being too young to compete? This constant questioning, coupled with the whispers that Gabrielle could hear as she walked by, had led Gabrielle to spend as much of her day as possible on her own, taking the longest route she could to classes, avoiding the Slytherin Common Room until curfew, and generally trying to pick the most inconspicuous seat in every class, taking every precaution not to draw any attention to herself. This proved rather difficult at meal times though, and it got even worse during lunch that afternoon when Regina announced to the table that Slytherin's Quidditch try-outs would be taking place the next evening, and that anyone looking for a spot on the team should sign up in the Common Room. All eyes immediately turned expectantly to Gabrielle, and a babble of excited conversation sprang up across the hall. As she sat back down, Regina pulled Gabrielle in close to whisper in her ear.
"I bet half the school will turn up to see you fly, but I'll try and finish your try-out as quickly as possible." Gabrielle nodded, and hurriedly finished her lunch, eager to escape the busy hall and retreat to her dorm until the start of her next class with Professor Slughorn. Just as she was about to leave, the sound of a hundred owls fluttering through the rafters of the Great Hall caused to stop in her tracks. Looking up, she could easily spot Elisé, performing one of her signature barrel rolls before swooping down to the Slytherin Table with her beak full of letters. As Gabrielle tore open a letter from her parents, Elisé pecked gently at her ear, desperate for attention. Gabrielle stroked her bird as she read about her mother's fury at Hogwarts for allowing Gabrielle's name to be placed into the Goblet of Fire without any prior notice or consent, and her reassurance that her father would use all of the pull he had within the French Ministry to stop Gabrielle from having to compete. Gabrielle doubted that her father would be able do any more than Professor McGonagall, or the British Minister for Magic, but it was comforting to hear that her parents were trying to get her off the hook. She received a similar, though somewhat more formal letter from her boss at the Holyhead Harpies Youth Team, who was very much against any Harpies player taking part in a tournament that could see them injured and unable to play. The third letter however, was a mysterious little envelope with only her name written on the front in neat, cursive handwriting. Eager to find out who it was from, Gabrielle tore into the envelop and unfolded a short piece of parchment.
Miss Delacour,
Your presence is required for the weighing of the wands ceremony, which will take place at one o'clock this afternoon, inside the Ravenclaw changing rooms at the Quidditch Pitch. Professor Slughorn has been notified of your absence from this afternoons potions class. You are required to produce both your wand and your broomstick for inspection.
With regards,
Professor Q.M. Breckenridge.
With a leap of excitement in her chest, Gabrielle skipped off to her dorm to collect her broomstick, finally breaking into her first genuine smile since her name had been cast from the Goblet of Fire. There were very few things Gabrielle enjoyed more than an excuse to get out of potions, and even though she knew this ceremony was related to a tournament that she didn't want to take part in, she couldn't help but feel slightly elated as she clicked open the locks on the case of her Nimbus Two-Thousand-Five-Hundred and let the broom hover out of its case. After giving both her wand and her broom a quick polish, Gabrielle slung the Nimbus over her shoulder and began her trek down to the Quidditch Pitch.
The first time Gabrielle had visited Hogwarts, the Quidditch Pitch was nothing more than a giant timber frame with uncomfortable wooden seats, and large tapestries that hung from the boxes showing each house crest. But after the castle's renovation, Hogwarts had been gifted a Quidditch Stadium that even Gabrielle's favourite team, the Quiberon Quafflepunchers, would be happy to play in. The new stadium could seat thousands of people if necessary. It had a VIP box for esteemed guests, a snack bar that was stocked by Honeydukes, and even a shop where students could buy merchandise from each house. Gabrielle found the player entrance to the pitch unlocked, and quickly made her way around the giant oval until she found the door with the Ravenclaw crest hanging proudly in the centre. Gabrielle gave a polite knock, and steeled herself as Professor Breckenridge's voice boomed from the other side of the door.
"Enter," he said commandingly. Gabrielle fumbled with the door handle, nearly dropping her broomstick in the process, before finally getting a grip on herself and pushing the door open and stepping inside. The Ravenclaw locker room was very blue. Blue lockers were fastened to blue walls, which supported a blue ceiling, and the floor, although a contrasting black, bore an enormous Ravenclaw eagle, ensuring that anyone entering the room would be very sure which team it belonged to. Professor Breckenridge stood in the centre of the room, his elegant green robes a stark contrast to his surroundings. Natalie and Joshua stood nervously on the left-hand side of the room, taking an unprecedented interest in their shoes, whilst an old, wrinkly man with small tufts of white hair sat opposite them, with an attractive young woman by his side. To Gabrielle's dismay, she could recognise the final person in the room, sat on one of the benches in the back corner, trying to make a point out of being inconspicuous. But there was nothing inconspicuous about the bejewelled glasses, or the pink talons she had for nails, the bleach-blonde curls, the over-the-top make-up, or the acid green quill that hovered above a waiting notepad. Gabrielle had never actually met her in person, though she'd heard about her from Fleur, and Bill, and Viktor Krum, and she'd also heard Ginny screaming a thousand curses about her after the release of her latest book. Rita Skeeter smiled sweetly at Gabrielle as she shot her the foulest glare she could manage.
"Excellent, everyone is here, and so we may begin," Professor Breckenridge smiled, doing nothing to ease the tension in the room, "Champions, gather round. The three of you have been brought here for a pre-tournament inspection. Mr. Ollivander here," the Professor addressed the aged wizard, "is an expert wand-maker, and shall be inspecting your wands to ensure that they are fit for use. Miss Delacour, as you are the only champion to bring their own broom, you may hand it over to Miss Krennick here, who will assess its credentials."
Reluctantly, Gabrielle unshouldered her broom and handed it over to the young woman who had been seated beside Ollivander. "Don't worry, I promise I won't leave any fingerprints," the woman smiled as she reached into a small tool bag and began testing pieces of the broom with an assortment of strange instruments that Gabrielle hadn't even seen the Harpies broom engineer pull out of his toolkit. "It is a bit unnecessary to be testing a broom of this quality, but rules are rules," the woman explained, running a tape measure along the handle of the Nimbus. Seemingly satisfied with the length of her measurement, the woman took out what looked like a large, spindly claw made of thin silver wires and clamped it around the tail of Gabrielle's broom. The machine started to click and whirr, spinning around the tail, and emitting small puffs of smoke. The woman nodded as if this was exactly what she was expecting, and then let out a short sigh, eyeing Gabrielle's broom greedily. "If only you knew how badly my boss at Firebolt wants to get his hands on one of these. It's been driving him mad trying to figure out how to match the speed of the Two-Thousand-Five-Hundred." Gabrielle laughed politely, resisting the urge to snatch the broom right out of the woman's hands. Finally satisfied with whatever tests she'd been carrying out, the woman handed the Nimbus back over, and Gabrielle made her way to Mr. Ollivander, who greeted her kindly before taking her wand in his hands and rolling between his fingers and thumbs, and holding it up to his ear, as if expecting it to tell him all sorts of secrets about what kind of owner Gabrielle had been over the past five years. A strange smile appeared on the old man's face as he shot a flurry of golden sparks from the end of the wand before handing it back to its owner.
"Unicorn hair," he said thoughtfully, "Elm, eleven inches. You bought this from a proper wandmaker?"
"Yes sir," Gabrielle replied, beginning to understand the old man's smile, "from Madame Clarrie in Paris."
"I remember, a few years ago now, inspecting the wand of your older sister, Fleur. A horribly crude instrument I don't mind saying," the old man let out a dry cough, "Veela Hair does not make for a good wand core. You can be proud to wield a far more powerful wand, take good care of it." Gabrielle smiled, and thanked Mr. Ollivander, feeling quietly smug to have one-upped her older sister. Gabrielle's grandmother had always viewed her as far too rebellious and unbecoming of a Delacour lady, and had made it quite clear she would not be donating another hair for Gabrielle to use in her own wand. Gabrielle rolled her wand around in her hand, thinking back to the day she had bought it in Paris. She was snapped out of her happy memories by the Headmaster, who beckoned them through the large tunnel leading out onto the pitch. Instead of the large goal posts that Gabrielle had been expecting to see, the Quidditch pitch seemed to be littered with a jumble of cargo nets, walls, and all manner of spinning, swinging, or punching obstacle. High in the air were a series of silver rings that wove around the stadium, each one a different size or height to the one preceding it.
"Laid out before you is an obstacle course that will test you in three key areas before the start of the tournament; Magical Ability, Athleticism, and Flight." The Headmaster announced to the three students. Annoyingly, Rita Skeeter was still shadowing the team, and while she hadn't spoken a word, possibly under strict instruction from the Headmaster, Gabrielle could hear the acid green quill scratching away, which meant there was sure to be an article in the Daily Prophet for Gabrielle to look forward too. "Each team competing in the tournament will pass through a similar obstacle course, and to make sure that the judging is fair, the International Confederation of Wizards have supplied us with this contraption, which will observe your attempt at the course, and calculate your scores in each category." The Headmaster gestured to a large device placed high in the stands, which stood on a golden tripod, and seemed to peer down onto the pitch through various camera lenses.
"The three of you will start from the opposite side of the pitch, and make your way through each obstacle on the ground, using whatever magic you please, before taking flight and completing one circuit of the rings which are floating around the pitch. A Quaffle will be tossed into the air after you pass through the final ring, and you must attempt to score it in one of the three hoops at the end of the pitch. Remember, you will be judged on the skills that you display, not the speed with which you complete the course. Now, make your way to the starting area. You may begin when you see green sparks shoot into the sky, and once finished, you may return to your dormitories."
Leaving her broomstick hovering in place, Gabrielle jogged around to the opposite side of the pitch until she found the starting area the Professor had described. From the far side, the course had looked like a complete jumble of obstacles, but from this side, Gabrielle could see three distinct paths cutting across the pitch, and three flags that marked where each champion would start. "Good luck!" Natalie whispered nervously as the three of them stood by their flags.
"You too," Gabrielle replied, already focusing on her path through the course. Joshua, who had been very quiet the first time Gabrielle had met him, didn't say a word. After what seemed like an eternity, a shower of green sparks shot into the air. Gabrielle fired off the line, breaking into a quick sprint and leaving the other two far behind. She hopped over a low wall, and then scrambled quickly up a cargo net and onto a raised platform. After walking across a narrow beam, Gabrielle was faced with her first magical challenge in the form of a locked door, which she was able to easily pass through after using Alohamora. After rolling down the net at the other side, Gabrielle came face to face with a set of swinging balls that would surely knock her flying if she were hit with one. Gabrielle began counting the seconds between each swing, working out the timing, and after finally building up her nerve, began her run through the balls, pausing in the gap between each one. By the time she had made it through, she could see Natalie ahead of her, already taking on her next obstacle. Looking back on the course, Gabrielle could see that Natalie had simply frozen the balls in mid-air and had run through unhindered.
Gabrielle charged forward once more, this time towards a gap between two walls. Gabrielle had almost started to run through the gap when suddenly a nozzle on one of the walls let out a great burst of flames. Reeling back from the heat, Gabrielle took a few deep breaths to compose herself, and began to watch for another burst of flame. Sure enough, only a second later, a nozzle further up the course let out another great burst of fire, and then another appeared near the end. Gabrielle looked over to see how Natalie was dealing with the fire, and watched as the older girl turned each flame into a solid block of ice. Gabrielle shook her head, knowing that that kind of magic was well beyond her capabilities, and that even if she could manage the spell, Natalie had cast it non-verbally, so Gabrielle couldn't even take a guess at the incantation. Deciding that she would at least try to use some of her magic, Gabrielle fired an Immobulus charm at the first nozzle, but, instead of halting the spitting flames, her charm increased the speed at which the fire would shoot out. Seemingly out of options, Gabrielle began her run through, pausing before each nozzle to avoid a great burst of fire. By the time Gabrielle reached the other side she was sticky with sweat, and the back of her cloak was slightly singed after it had brushed the last burst of flame.
Looking ahead, Gabrielle could see the final obstacle on the course; an enormous brick wall, standing maybe seven and a half feet tall. Gabrielle watched as Natalie pulled herself easily to the top of the wall with a lanyard charm, another piece of magic beyond Gabrielle's capabilities. Steeling herself, Gabrielle took a great run at the wall, trying to use her speed to push her up to the top, but even as she jumped, she knew that she was just too short to ever reach the top. Sure enough, a second, and then a third jump proved just as fruitless as the first. Gabrielle attempted to replicate Natalie's lanyard charm, but it fizzled away into nothing before Gabrielle could begin pulling herself up. She succeeded in conjuring a rope from the end of her wand, but with nothing to attach it too, it simply fell to the ground, useless. By this time, Joshua had caught up, and despite carrying a little too much weight, he was quite a tall boy, and had a much shorter distance to jump before his hands clung tightly to the top of the wall and pulled him over the top.
A deep, seething rage began to take hold of Gabrielle, born from her frustration at being so comparatively unskilled at magic than her team-mates. Looking up at the rings in the sky, Gabrielle was stunned at how poorly the pair were flying, with Natalie struggling to control her broom, completely missing two rings, and having to double back, and Joshua flying so slowly on the second of the school brooms that Gabrielle thought it might take him several hours to complete the course. Gabrielle knew that she could beat them, and almost anyone else at school, in the air, but whilst they were struggling with their brooms, Gabrielle was stuck on the ground, being bested by a brick wall. Anger swelled in her chest, and she began to reflect on her past magical failures. She had failed all of her Second-Year potions and technomancy exams at Beauxbatons, and had struggled to keep up with her classmates from day one at Hogwarts. Gabrielle thought about her last Defence Against the Dark Arts class, and how she had embarrassed herself in front of the entire year by sending a flaming candle flying across the room. Gabrielle became more and more furious with herself, until she cried out a charm that would reflect her feelings onto the wall that stood in her way. "Bombarda!" she cried with all of the fury she could muster. The result was spectacular.
No sooner than the command had left the tip of her tongue, and the jolt of red light leapt from her wand, the enormous wall that stood in front of her exploded outwards, sending a cascade of rubble into the sky. Bricks and mortar rained down into the stands, breaking several chairs and even a pane of glass in the VIP box. A large crack appeared in the ground between Gabrielle's feet, and the pitch had been completely torn up when the wall had been ripped out of the ground. Still, Gabrielle's path was now clear, and she ran with renewed vigour to her waiting broomstick, which hovered two feet above the ground, ready for her to jump aboard and take to the skies. As she rocketed through the first ring, it occurred to Gabrielle that she hadn't been on her broom in over two weeks, a record by her standards. There was something freeing about being in the air, as though breaking through that wall had broken her free from some sort of prison. She rocketed past Natalie and Joshua at incredible speed, and had completed the course in less than a minute without missing a single ring. Gabrielle thundered through the final ring and lined herself up with the goalposts. Just as the Headmaster had described, a Quaffle was fired from the stands, high, high into the air. Gabrielle plucked it expertly out of the sky, and flew only a few more feet closer to the three goals before deciding on the left hoop and sending the Quaffle straight through it from a long, long way out. Gabrielle turned to look at the gold, spindly instrument with its multitude of camera lenses, and strange gears. It made no sound, no movement, no indication at all that it had even observed everything that had transpired. Unsure what to think of her performance, Gabrielle pointed her broom skyward and soared out of the stadium, flying her broom all the way to the entrance courtyard before dismounting, and making her way back to her dormitory, hoping to be out of sight before classes finished for the day. She would return to the Quidditch pitch a few days later, where try-outs for the Quidditch team would begin in earnest.
Authors Notes:
Hi everyone,
Once again I must apologise for the delay in this chapters arrival. I've been incredibly busy at college with exams, and the story has admittedly suffered. I'm sorry if this chapter is a little rough around the edges, but I've done my best, and I've also doubled my usual length. I'm coming up to my last week of college, and I hope to do a lot of work on the story over Christmas break.
I would like to extend my thanks to Last Harper, who's reviews on my latest chapters made me think more about the way champions and their parents would react to the tournament, and also to Katiek121 who's review made me realise the importance of the tournament being much better for the spectators. This in fact changed my plans for one whole leg of the tournament, so a big thanks to Katiek121!
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I do hope you guys haven't lost faith in me! If you would like to leave a review, I would love it if you could answer at least one of these questions for me!
1. What do you think Gabrielle's scores (Out of 5) will be for Magical Ability, Athleticism, and Flight?
2. What other obstacles would you have put on the Quidditch Pitch?
3. Do you think Hogwarts will stand a chance against the 7 other schools?
4. Who will you be supporting in the Tournament of Champions?
Thanks again for reading, I'll see you at the next!
IronManRidingaNimbus.