Shiro Tsubasa is finally here with a long delayed chapter! Now, if it wasn't terribly obvious earlier, I have taken canon, lit it on fire, and thrown it out the window. This chapter demonstrates this point perfectly as I have almost completely redone the dialogue for the opening feast (I say almost because I have no idea where my book is for reference, so some things might accidentally be the same.) As for the calendar year, which I probably should have mentioned earlier, I have decided to go with the current year of 2013. While this has no real bearing on anything within the story (as of writing this of course) it will influence the days that events occur. As an example, this chapter starts on September 1st, a Sunday, so classes will start on Monday and so forth. Reviews are welcome and flames will be extinguished by the mighty torrent of my awesomeness!
Disclaimer: Shiro Tsubasa does not claim ownership to Harry Potter. He does however claim ownership to a Nargle named George, who may or may not exist.
Legend:
"Speech"
'Thought'
§Parseltongue§
*Great Hall, September 1st*
Harry suppressed a sigh, already dreading this night. As he sat at the Gryffindor table waiting on the Sorting Hat to finish its song he idly wondered if he was ever as tiny as the current first years. 'I probably was, thank Merlin for growth spurts.' When he returned to reality the last student, a frail looking boy whose name he didn't catch, was sorted into Hufflepuff. With robes as subtle as the seizures they were bound to create, Dumbledore stood, gaining the attention of everyone in the hall. "To our new students, I bid you welcome! To our returning students, welcome back! Our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher owled me earlier and shall be here near the end of dinner. I have a very important announcement to make, however I'm sure you're all quite hungry so enjoy!" With his little speech finished, Dumbledore waved his hand as the food appeared on the tables. Chatter sprung among the students as they caught up with each other and began eating.
"It's unlike Dumbledore to mention an important announcement before dinner, normally he just springs it on us. I wonder what it's about." Hermione questioned. 'You probably already know. More than likely you already have the year planned out with Dumbles too.' Harry thought with disdain. After making sure not to let his feelings show, the teen just shrugged and resumed chewing his rather bland potatoes. As he was eating, Harry felt a gaze on him and looked around for the source. As his eyes glanced over the Slytherin table he noticed it was, in fact, his Queen looking at him with a slightly longing gaze before she turned away and resumed eating. Smiling inwardly he passed the rest of dinner planning just what he was going to say to her father next weekend.
When the last of the food vanished from the tables, Dumbledore stood, commanding the attention of the room again. "Now that we have all had our fill, I shall proceed to put us to sleep with a rather long and boring series of announcements!" The, rather pathetic, joke fell flat but the aged Headmaster paid it no mind. "Mr. Filch would like me to announce that another 47 items have been added to the list of banned items. For anyone who wishes to know, the full list is posted on the door of his office. I would like to remind all students that magic is forbidden in the corridors between classes. The Forbidden Forest is, for lack of a better word, forbidden. Students would do well to remember this in the future." At these words, the doors of the Great Hall slammed open and a man limped into the door way. His appearance was enough to make some girls squeal in fright and some others wonder just why he tried to wrestle a tiger. His face was marred by scars with a chunk missing from his nose. His gray hair was thinning but not to the point of bald spots. The most noticeable features, however, were his leg and his eye, or rather his lack of. In place of his right eye was an electric blue glass orb that swiveled around, seemingly of its own will, stopping every so often to stare at one or another student. His left leg was missing at the knee, ending in a piece of roughly carved wood with what appeared to be a claw for a foot.
"Who is he?" Harry questioned, in genuine curiosity. If this was supposed to be Alastor Moody, then it would seem as if his intel was spot on. "That's Mad-Eye Moody, one of the best Aurors out there. They say half of Azkaban's cells were filled by him. He's unbelievably paranoid though. I can't say I blame him," answered Ron in a rare moment of non-Quidditch intellect. Harry let a small, almost invisible, smirk slip onto his face. 'I must give Voldemort credit for having a Death Eater impersonate a renowned Auror. It definitely has style. Add to that, the man's paranoia means any slip-ups will be attributed to that and not an imposter. Very well played.' As the man made his way to the front of the hall, Dumbledore let an even bigger smile slip onto his face than usual. "Ah, I see you made it. Good, good. Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Alastor Moody, your new Defense against the Dark Arts professor." A grunt of acknowledgement was heard from Moody as he sat down and took a drink from his hip flask.
'Probably Polyjuice to keep the form and to keep up with the paranoid act.' Harry thought. The rest of the school seemed rather put out at the new professor, but with his Auror background many were looking forward to the class. "Now, for the final announcement, there will be no Quidditch tournament this year." At this announcement much of the hall erupted into fierce complaints. In keeping with his Golden Boy act, Harry made a few token complaints before shutting up. A few seats down from him he overheard the Weasley twins planning ways to spell Dumbledore's beard rainbow for the rest of the year. With a small snicker he turned his attention back to Dumbledore who had just shot off a noise making spell. "Ahem, as I was saying, there will be no Quidditch tournament this year as Hogwarts will be playing host to the Tri-Wizard Tournament!" A few gasps and a lot of excitement filled the hall as the Wizard raised students realized what was happening.
"This Tournament is designed to promote international unity and friendship. Though dangerous in the past, every precaution has been taken to ensure a successful and safe tournament. More information will be announced upon the arrival of the delegates from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang on October 30. Now, I would like to wish you all a good night. Prefects, if you would please show your houses to the dormitories?" With that Dumbledore retook his seat as the hall filled with chatter from the leaving students discussing the upcoming tournament. 'Yes the Malfoys did well, all the information so far has been just as they said.' With these thoughts and his plans running through his head, Harry made his way to the Gryffindor dorms for a good night sleep after placing charms around his bed to keep out Weasley's snoring.