The next few weeks passed by in a buzz of new classes and gossip about the summer. The Quidditch World Cup was an especially hot topic. I swore I would never forgive Mum for not getting us tickets. As far as classes were concerned, they were starting out pretty easy. Mad Eye Moody turned out to be the DADA teacher, and he certainly was... interesting. I mean, how many teachers show off Unforgivable Curses on their first day? Since all the Gryffindor fourth years had classes together, I saw Harry quite a bit, which was just fine with me. We were still all getting along in the dormitories, even with Lavender and Hermione stuck in the same room. I think having them on opposite ends of the place helped a bit. Basically, life at Hogwarts was pretty good.
"Mail's here!" Amber announced, waving her piece of toast towards the ceiling. I looked up to see a huge flock of owls soaring down towards the crowd of students. Packages and envelopes rained down from the ceiling into the waiting arms of students. I scanned the air quickly, saw there was nothing for me, and turned back to my sausage.
"Bloody Hell Kelly! Duck!" I heard Amber scream. Against her advice, I looked up to see a long, thin, package flying at my head. And I knew exactly what it was. I grabbed it out of he air, and ripped frantically at the paper to reveal the top half of... yes, my broomstick. The golden letters on the strong wooden handle glinted up at me. Nimbus 2000. It was brand new, as of last summer. I tore off the rest of the packaging and hugged it to me like an old friend.
"Your broom came," Amber noticed, once again stating the obvious.
"Yes!" I hugged it again, breathing in the sweet smell of magical wood.
"Awesome!" Angelina exclaimed, joining the conversation once more.
"Yeah..." Katie agreed. "Too bad you won't actually be able to use it"My heart jolted as she spoke the jarring truth I had been trying to ignore.
"Well... you know... I mean... there's always flying class." I objected lamely.
"Which you don't have until last semester," Amber pointed out, having the same schedule as me.
"Well then I'll just fly it around the common room," I made a pathetic attempt at a joke.
"Oh Kelly..." Amber sighed and gave me a quick one-armed hug.
"Hey you guys." I looked up to see Tibby beaming down at us all with pink cheeks and a giddy air of happiness around her.
"God, why are you so happy," Alicia, who had been silent all morning, frowned up at her.
"Oh, its nothing." Tibby worked a frown on to her face, but somehow it was still bright with excitement. I strongly suspected it had something to do with Dean. "Hey, did you guys see the announcment in the common room?" She changed the subject hastily. The Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students are getting here October 30th! That's next Thursday."
"Really? I can't believe we've been here over a month," I said. "Time flies by so fast here."
"I know what you mean," Katie agreed. "The beginning of the year is always crazy."
Various murmurs of agreement echoed down the table.
"Excuse me?" A smooth, deep voice asked.
I jumped as I felt a rough hand brush against mine.
"Sorry," the voice said again. I turned to see Harry sitting beside me. How could I not have noticed that? "Uh- could you pass the marmalade?" he gestured to the jar of sweet orange jelly on the other side of me.
"Yeah," I smiled at him, then quickly stopped, not wanting to be dorky. Quickly, I grabbed the marmalade and shoved it at him.
"Thanks..." he paused, looking at me. "You have a nice smile," he said quietly.
"Oh!" I said, not expecting it at all. "I mean, thanks." To my horror, I found myself turning crimson. He was still looking at me. My palms were sweating. "So... you like marmalade?" I asked. You like marmalade? Augh.
"What? Oh-yeah," he seemed to notice the jar in his hand for the first time.
"Oh. That's cool." I paused. "I like grape jelly." As if he wanted to know that! God, what was wrong with me?
"Okay," he grinned.
"Well, see you in Potions," I offered, as people were starting to get up and move towards the hallways.
"Yeah- hey, you know- I mean,we have it together... we might as well go together."
"Okay!" I agreed happily, breaking into another smile that was dorky for sure. But I didn't stop. He liked my smile.
"Come ON Kelly! We can't be late! The other-school people are coming before dinner!"Amber tugged on my arm as we raced up the hill from Care of Magical Creatures, our last class. I panted with the effort of running upwards. "Aughhh," I moaned. "Can you BELIEVE Sprout made us stay behind to clean up all that Mandrake poop? It's not like we were the only ones throwing it"
"I knoooowwww," Amber moaned back, clutching her side and breathing heavily. Seriously, this hill was steep. Finally we reached the top and started sprinting down the path towards the back entrance to Hogwarts.
"Amber!" I gasped, my eyes fixed on a large shape in the sky. "What... what is that..." I trailed off, squinting at the sky. A huge black... thing... was steadily getting closer and closer.
"It's... it's..." Amber stared. "It's getting bigger."
"What are those things pulling it? Do you reckon they're hippogriffs?" I stared at the large winged creatures pulling the unknown object. It looked to be an oversized horse carriage. I cocked my head and stared some more.
"Kelly..." Amber said quietly.
"What?"
"Um... I think it's heading this way."
"No duh."
"No... I mean, exactly this way. As in right here. On top of us." She said, starting to edge away. I stared some more. The thing was getting closer, and as it got closer it was picking up a lot of speed.
"Bloody hell!" I screeched, racing towards Amber. As the carriage, or whatever it was, neared the ground, I could see it was about ten times the size of a normal carriage. And if I wasn't completely insane, the things pulling it were horses! I chose not to stay to ponder this thought, and concentrated on not getting squashed by a giant winged horse. I sprinted furiously towards the Hogwarts doors and didn't stop until I was standing on the steps that led up to them.n Amber and I watched in awe as the giant carriage landed with a great boom about two feet from where we stood. "What do you think?" Amber whispered.
"Huh?"
"Do we stay and greet our new friends or do we get our butts over to the feast?" she asked. I was about to choose the second choice, when the door of the carriage swung open and a huge boot stomped on to the ground.
"Yikes," I muttered. The other foot followed its partner, which was followed by a pair of burly legs, which were followed by... a large blue dress and the frowning face of a very large woman. I turned to Amber and saw that she was trying to decide whether to laugh or look scared.
"Gabriellah? Gabriellah si vous plait?" the lady called with a heavy French accent.
"I'm 'ere Madam," a small, blonde girl clad in a dress similar to the woman's leapt out of the carriage.
"And where izz your sister?" the large woman inquired.
"Fleur! Fleur!" the small girl hollered into the carriage.
"I am here, do not worry Gabby," another girl hopped daintily on to the ground and tossed her long, blonde hair out of her face. Her dress matched her sister's perfectly.
"Veery good. Okay now you two girls vill be leading zee procession- this you know, ah?"
"Oui Madam," the girls curtsied with small, polite smiles.
"Veery good. Now-
The lady turned around for the first time, and her eyes landed on Amber and I.
"Ah! Are you girls zee fine students that will be escorting us to the feast?" she smiled expectantly at us. "I hear zey have prepared some French dishes for us, no?' she asked, her eyes lighting up at the thought of food.
"Well- I..." I trailed off, staring at the sea of girls in blue that was pouring out of the carriage.
"Madam, is it?" Amber asked politely.
"Oui, my name is Madam," the woman agreed. "And these are the eldest students of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic.
"Madam." Amber repeated. "Welcome, Beauxbatons Academy to Hogwarts. And Happy Halloween..."
"What is zat!" a girl cried out suddenly.
"Oh my!" another gasped. Similar cries echoed through the crowd as they pointed and stared at the great lake below us.
"Hope it's not the giant squid," I nudged Amber with a grin.
"No! No, it must be the other school! Durmstrang!" Amber stood on her tippy toes to try and see over the Beauxbatons girls. I peered over the sea of blonde hair to get a view of the lake. A giant ship was rising from underneath the water! I studied the girls' reactions. A few shrank back in fear, while some stepped forward to try to get a better view. Most of them flipped their long, shiny hair over their shoulders and turned away, as if a ship rising from under the water was nothing new. Snooty brats.
Amber and I watched curiously as the large ship rose fully out of the water and glided easily across the lake to come to rest at the shore. A huge wooden door swung open and a storm of boys in brown rushed out of the ship, and started to trudge up the long grassy hill. The Beauxbatons girls quickly rushed away from the edge of the hill leaving a path for the boys. As they reached the top of the hill, I saw that they were led by a small, dark-haired man with beady black eyes.
"Silence!" he yelled out across the sea of boys. The dull murmur of the crowd stopped immediately. "Formation! Please!" The boys arranged themselves into three straight lines, and one particularly large boy was placed at the head of the middle line. "Perrfect," the man twisted his mouth into a rather grim smile. I stared at the large boy, wondering if he was who I thought he was.
"Amber," I nudged her. "Is that-
"Krum? I dunno. That's what I thought."
"Ladies! Into your lines si vous plait!" The Beauxbaton's girls quickly formed two straight lines next to the Durmstrang boys, adjusting their hair and dresses quickly. Both groups stood quietly with their headmasters, looking at us expectantly. I looked sideways at Amber.
"Right- uh. Okay. Welcome to Hogwarts." Amber cleared her throat nervously. "Uh- I guess we'll, um, take you to the feast."
"Yes- right this way please!" I said, opening the large wooden door. I held it open as Amber led the way inside, watching the blue and brown students march past me. When everyone had made it inside, I closed the door gently and rushed ahead with Amber. As we reached the end of the hallway, Amber pushed open the doors to the Great Hall, and we held them open, giving the newcomers a grand view of Hogwarts.
The Durmstrang students looked around, seeming rather impressed. They pointed and stared at the floating candles and pumpkins, and raised their eyebrows at the fancy golden dishes and goblets. The Beauxbaton girls, however, turned up their noses as they quickly surveyed the room. They shrugged the shoulders as if to say it would have to do. I felt a fury building inside me. How dare they shrug off Hogwarts like it was just another school. As if their fancy French school was any better! There was nowhere better than Hogwarts on the face of the planet, this I was sure of. It was so warm and welcoming, so safe and comfortable. And Dumbledore was better than all the headmasters in the world combined. Hogwarts was home.
Amber and I quickly took our seats as Dumbledore stood up from his chair. He stretched his hands out to the new students, welcoming them soundlessly to our school, then sat back down. The Beauxbatons girls looked at eachother, then, still in their lines, started their walk down the row of tables. They were doing some sort of hop-skip-dance routine on their tippy toes, fluttering their long eyelashes at a cute boy every so often. As they reached the teacher's table, the girl they called Gabriella had a little solo dance, and curtsied with her sister Fluer. Dumbledore and the other teachers applauded politely, along with a thunderous roar from most of the boys. Amber and I looked at eachother.
"How much do you wanna bet that Fluer girl is part veela," she whispered to me. I snicked appreciatively in return.
Then it was Durmstrang's turn. In their long fur coats, they marched quickly down the middle of the hall. They pounded long sticks on the ground as they walked, making grunting noises to the beat of the sticks. Excited squeals broke out from many of the girls as they spotted Krum. Up close, I was sure it was him now. I felt like squealing myself, but I was sure Amber would laugh at me, so I just stared at him for as long as I could, my heart pounding. Yes, I still had a crush on Harry, but Krum was only the best Quidditch player alive!
When both schools had taken their seats at the tables Dumbledore conjured up for them, he stood up to make a quick speech. I didn't pay much attention, but I got the general idea.Welcome Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, you may enter your name into the goblet as soon as the feast is over, you must be 18 or older, good luck to all... blah... blah...blah... It wasn't like I was going to be entering in the tournament! I could better spend my time dividing my glances up between Krum and Harry.
I perked up as soon as the food appeared and dug in. I grabbed some chicken wings, turkey slices, a couple hot dogs, and some weird green thing that was probably French.
"So Angelina, you're entering, right?" I asked her, squirting mustard along my hot dog.
"Yup," she said, somewhat nervously.
"Don't let those little Beauxbaton wimps scare you. You are so much better than them," Amber advised her.
"Yeah- thanks Amber," Angelina smiled, reaching for a bowl of grapes.
"Seriously- I hope you win." I told her, meaning it with all my heart.
"Thanks," she smiled at me.
As the feast came to an end, pieces of pumpkin pie appeared on everyone's empty plates, complete with squirts of whipped cream. I scraped mine off with my spoon and ate it plain. I scanned the table and looked at Harry again. My heart gave a little leap as I saw him doing the same thing. He looked up at me, and our eyes met. I showed him my pie, and he laughed, giving me the thumbs up. I grinned, blushing just a little, and happily turned back to my pie.