Halloween for Alex and Hermione began at the typical 5am, having not spent the night with Firenze, Penny fumbling about as she raced to join them as they jogged from their quarters, their exercise clothes charmed to warm their bodies. As they went past the large boat, Hermione held up a finger, "One moment."

Jogging on the spot, the remaining two watched as the daughter of Poseidon dove into the frigid waters. Knowing she could be there for a while, they head off for their jog, and by the time she resurfaced, they'd already done 2 laps of the lake. Seeing the rage, Alex pulled her back from the boat, "What's the damage?"

"Those, those, PRICKS!" Pointing at the exiting students, catching one of their attentions.

The tree trunk of a wizard walked over and, with a thick accent, said, "What did you call me?"

"I called all of you pricks!" Hermione was only a few inches shorter than him, and got right in his face, "Do you have any idea the damage you morons caused when you arrived that way last night? You killed the Chieftain's mother! You're monsters!"

The wizard was shocked, his face falling into sorrow, "We, we had no control over how we came, I was unaware there were even creatures in the lake. Karkaroff, he ordered we arrive in that fashion, spectacle; we usually just arrive as though the ship is a Portkey. This, I am sorry."

Seeing the obvious sadness and regret in his eyes cooled Hermione's temper, "My apologies for being like that but you can understand, the merpeople did nothing at all and next thing they know, their village is destroyed."

"You can talk to them?" At the nod, the Bulgarian continued, "Put forth my wish to assist in the rebuilding of their homes."

"Thank you," blushing softly at her actions, Hermione stepped back into Alex's embrace, "I am Hermione Granger."

"Penny Hill, Greek exchange student"

"Harry Potter, Hermione's boyfriend"

"I am Viktor Krum," seeing the recognition at his name, the Seeker laughed, "It is nice to meet you all."

The Hogwarts trio relayed the same sentiments, "Our apologies, but we have exercise to see to before we get beaten up by goblins. We hope to see you later Viktor."

"And I you," the Bulgarian watched in fascination as the teenagers jogged away, before scowling, he would be having harsh words with his idiot headmaster about what his actions had caused.

After a vigorous training with Firenze, Grunhot and Thurhot, the trio returned to the castle, showering and coming down to the Great Hall for lunch. They were pulled up though by the large group surrounding the Goblet of Fire, so pushed their way forward and saw the trio of Gryffindor pranksters standing there.

"Fred, George, Lee," Alex called out.

"Oh, hi there, we were just looking," one of the twins said innocently.

Rolling his eyes, the wizard went on, "If you go forth with whatever plan you've decided on, be sure that Poppy won't be fixing you for 4 hours; you'll have to run to get to the selection tonight."

Their eyes gleaming, the trio said as one, "We'll risk it."

Stepping back again, folding his arms, the assistant professor simply said, "Then tempt fate, we will not stop you."

"Thanks mate," as one, the three wizards stepped over the age line, and as one, they were thrown back into the cushioned walls of the entrance foyer.

When they got up, everyone held their sides in laughter. They'd gone grey, wrinkled faces, and long white beards reminiscent of the deceased Dumbledore. After getting past the initial shock, even they were laughing and joking, using three conjured canes to assist their bodies to the Hospital Wing, Alex calling after them that they were warned, earning him three arthritic birds.

Entering the Great Hall, the demigods left Penny at the Gryffindor table before heading to the staff table. They'd planned out how they would inform every one of the destruction caused by Karkaroff, and his sitting there at the table with a smug look on his face made it that much more important they did it right.

When the student body was halfway through their meals, Hermione rose and walked to the podium, catching the populous' eyes, "If I can have some quiet please. As you are all aware, we at Hogwarts have been blessed to have an ecosystem that provides food and homes for many different magical races. Unfortunately last night that ecosystem was massacred thanks to the improper and highly disturbing arrival of the eyesore that is currently docked in the glorious Black Lake."

Many Durmstrang students went to argue, but were stopped by Krum glaring at them, "Last night the arrival of the Durmstrang ship churned the waters so badly that the merpeople village was decimated. That can be rebuilt but what cannot be fixed is the MURDER of the Chieftain's dear sweet mother. I was informed this morning that our Bulgarian guests could have arrived as though by Portkey, landing softly on the water's surface, except Igor Karkaroff wanted to make a larger spectacle than Madam Maxime."

Now all the students were in an uproar, Durmstrang may be known as a Dark school but they respected the creatures of their world, and to kill one like that, it was despicable. Karkaroff was black with fury, "How dare you."

The only reason the strike landed on Hermione's face was due to her attention not being on the man, but when it hit, the sound echoed through the dead silent hall. Everyone was in stunned fury that someone would hit their favourite professor, or in the case of the visiting schools, a female. Igor realised what he had done, and began to back away, but for him unfortunate luck, Alex saw through his rage and called out, "AMELIA!"

The Aurors were brought from their shock at the call, and Tonks forwent her wand, using her slight natural body to tackle the retreating man, "Igor Karkaroff, you are arrested on assault of a minor."

While two Aurors struggling with the foreign wizard, Alex handed his love a goblet of water, his wand aimed at her face to make it seem he was healing her, "Are you alright my love?"

"Bastard, hitting me for telling the truth," the witch sighed as the water flowed from her lips to her swelling face, "I allowed my attention to drift. That could have easily been a curse or a weapon."

"I'm supposed to be watching your back, I'm so sorry," despite not showing the affections whilst at the staff table or while in their role of AP, the wizard couldn't stop himself, nor did he want to. He gently kissed his love and then rest his forehead against hers, "He's an evil prick."

"Gospojitsa Granger?" A soft voice said from the ground in front of them.

Looking there, they saw that most of the Durmstrang students were standing there, followed by Beauxbatons, then Hogwarts, "Yes?"

"We'd like to help," every voice said.

A touched look came over Hermione's face, tears welled up in her eyes, "Thank you, all of you. Come on then."

Really, the only people left in the Great Hall were the Ravenclaws who had gotten into troubles the previous year, each looking downtrodden knowing they weren't wanted, and Weasley, who was still stuffing his face. While Hermione raced down to the water and dove straight in, Alex and the professors started up a relay. Some students would create building materials, the 5, 6, and 7th year Ancient Runes students, plus their professor and the students from the other schools who were good enough, would add runes to strengthen and add longevity to them. The younger ages would float the materials to the water, where 3 dozen students were already in the water, Bubblehead Charms, Warming Charms and slings waiting to take the items down. Filius, Pomona, and Wilhelmina were already down in the water with Hermione, who had put an illusionary bubble over her head to make it seem like she needed assistance to breathe underwater. Viktor, Fleur, Hermione and Alex remained underwater the entire time, doing everything from rebuilding the homes to playing with the merchildren.

By the time the sun was setting, the village was almost completely finished, and the building supplies were there for the merpeople to complete the rest themselves. They followed the 4 teenagers up as they left, and waved to everyone in thanks, Hermione embracing the Chieftain.

There was a great rush for the remaining people to put in their names and for everyone who had gotten wet to shower and change. But soon it was dinner, and time for the Goblet of Fire to make it's decision.