Chapter 15

The Goblet of Fire

KIARA

"I don't believe it!" Chrissie said in a stunned voice, as we Dragon Mort students filed back up the steps behind the party from Uagadou. "Outsider, Kiara! Kovu Ousider!"

"For heaven's sake, Chrissie, he's only a Quidditch player," said Sian.

"Only a Quidditch player?" Chris said, as he and Chrissie both looked at her as though they couldn't believe their ears. "Sian - he's one of the best Seekers in the world! We had no idea he was still at school!"

Before Chrissie could raise another point, Crighton's voice called out, "Sian, Chrissie, Beth, Kestrel and Merida, come here now, please!" She was standing by the Entrance Hall doors, waiting for her five daughters.

"Come on, Chrissie," she hissed to her twin sister, before she said to Chris and I, "We'll see you later."

"Sian, what's - ?"

"We can't tell you, but trust me, Kiara, you are going to love it!" Sian said, before she and Chrissie ran up the stairs to their mother, with Beth, Kestrel and Merida close behind. Chris and I looked at each other, shrugged, and walked into the Entrance Hall. For the past few weeks, we had tried to ask them what they were up to, but they wouldn't tell; but whenever we saw the five sisters coming back from wherever they were, practicing whatever they had been doing, they always looked exhausted, but rather pleased with themselves. So whatever it was that they were doing (and what we are about to see), it was sure to be good.

Anyhoo, as we reached the Entrance Hall with most of the Dragon Mort students, heading for the Great Hall, I saw Leah Jones jumping up and down on the balls of her feet to get a better look at the back of Outsider's head. Several sixth-year giggly girls were frantically searching their pockets as they walked - "Oh, I don't believe it, I haven't got a quill on me - " "D'you think he'd sign my hat in lipstick?"

"Pathetic, isn't it?" I asked Chris, as he rolled his eyes at the giggling girls, who were squabbling over the lipstick.

"You're not kidding it is, Kiara," Chris said. "I mean, I want his autograph, too, don't get me wrong, but even I wouldn't go that far."

We walked over to the Lion-Heart table and sat down. Chris was taking looks every so often at the door, because Outsider and his fellow Uagadou students were still gathered around it, apparently unsure about where they could sit. The students from Beauxbatons had chosen seats at the Raven-Wings table. They were looking around the Great Hall with glum expressions on their faces. Three of them were still clutching scarves and shawls around their heads.

"It's not that cold," I said irritably, watching them. "Why didn't they bring cloaks?"

"Well, Chrissie's not going to be happy about that," Chris said, looking properly at the door.

"Huh?" I said brilliantly, looking at him.

"Look," he said, nodding at the door. I turned round, and saw that the Uagadou students had settled themselves on the Snake-Eyes table, and they walked over to it. I could see that Malty, Crate and Gabber looking very smug about this. As I watched the Uagadou students sit down, I saw Malty put on a particularly flirtatious air, and bent forwards to speak to Outsider.

"Look at her, sucking up to Outsider like that," I said scathingly. "I bet Outsider sees right through her, though ... bet he gets girls sucking up to her all the time ... trying to get some of the gold he keeps, when they should realise that there are more important things than wealth in life ..."

Chris listened to what I was saying, nodding his head as he did so, before he said, "I agree with you, Kiara. And I bet you anything that Chrissie is wondering right now where they're going to sleep tonight."

"Why, d'you think Chrissie would sleep on a camp bed, or something?" I asked, and Chris laughed. Once his laughter had subsided, I said to him, "Anyway, they look a lot happier than the Beauxbatons lot."

The Uagadou students were pulling off their dark furs, they were all looking at the starry black ceiling with expressions of interest; a couple of them were picking up the silver plates and goblets and were examining them, apparently impressed.

Up at the staff table, Match, the caretaker, was adding chairs. He wore his mouldy old tail coat in honour of the occasion. I was surprised to see that he added four chairs, two on either side of Crighton's.

"But there are only two extra people," I said. "Why's Match putting out four chairs? Who else is coming?"

"I know," said Chris, now looking up at the staff table. "That is weird."

When all the students had entered (besides Sian, Chrissie, Beth, Kestrel and Merida, of course) and settled down at their house tables, the staff entered, filling up the high table and taking their seats. Last in line were Professor Kula and Monsieur Legrand. When their headmaster appeared, the pupils from Beaxbatons leapt to their feet. A few of the Dragon Mort students laughed. The Beaxbtons party appeared quite unembarrassed, and did not resume their seats until Monsieur Legrand had sat down on Crighton's left-hand side. Crighton, however, remained silent, and a silence fell over the Great Hall.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most importantly - guests," said Crighton, beaming around at all the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Dragon Mort. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and knowledgeable."

One of the Beauxbatons boys, who was still clutching a muffler around his head, gave what was unmistakably a derisive laugh.

"No one's making you stay!" Chris whispered, bristling at him.

"I will get to more about the Tournament later, but before I do," Crighton said, raising her voice as she did so, "my daughters have prepared something to show to our honoured guests and my other students. So girls, the floor - as they say - is yours." When she finished saying this, Crighton sat back down, and the Hall fell deadly quiet.

We all sat quietly, patiently, waiting for something to happen. Suddenly, the candlelight burnt a little less brightly, sending the Hall into semi-darkness. The Hall then breathed with excited anticipation, as a mystical voice spoke and filled the room, as mystical, blue smoke slowly appeared in the air in the centre of the Hall: "Many years ago, when the universe was first born ... a tiny Kingdom which resides in the Centre of Infinity was born ..." The shadow of a building was what we could see in the smoke. "Magical beings from across the stars over the centuries have joined together to form a council ... including some from our world ... who have called themselves ... the Guardians of Kandracar ..." The building changed back into smoke and shadow, until the five shadows of girls were shown, standing in a circle formation, with a different symbol next to them. "And these Guardians still exist ... to ... this ... DAY!"

As the word "day" was shouted, the smoke was cleared by a blinding flash of light, which turned into the outline of a flower, and as the petals unfurled, a girl roes up out of them. She wore a top that was long-sleeved and came to her waist, which also hung off her shoulders, which were well-rounded, strong, yet feminine. The skirt of her outfit was long and flowing, and reached just above her ankles, so that we could see her boots, which looked like they reached her knees. The top and skirt were both a light shade of green, which were supported by a belt, which was dark brown, like her boots. I noticed that she also had wings, which, interestingly enough, were made of oak leaves. As I was looking at her wings, I saw that her hair was curled inwardly, and that's when it started to dawn on me what exactly Sian, Chrissie, Beth, Kestrel and Merida had been preparing.

Everyone "ooohed" and "aaahed" as Sian extended her limbs. Then she opened her eyes and lifted her head, her expression fierce, as she then broke the flower petals apart, which had been transformed into little sycamore leaves, which she then led around her and, starting near the floor, she went round and round in circles, rising higher as she went, making a sycamore tree with the leaves of said tree. Everyone gasped in amazement, as Sian then spun around on the spot very quickly, making all the leaves disperse, and then join together in a waving, never-ceasing line of movement, as Sian then led them to a spot in mid-air in the middle of the Hall and spread them apart as though to make a table (which she did), and there she magically created different flowers in assorted colours, and after that, she took the remaining leaves, and raising a hand above her head, magically commanded them to make a symbol: a large, round circle with a small circle in the centre. That's when it came to me that this was one of the first symbols which had appeared in the smoke, which (as I would learn later) stood for Earth.

Sian was hovering just above the table now, as she turned her head to the right. All of us on the ground looked where she did, as the sound of rushing water filled our ears. As this sound got louder, a big whirlpool of water rose out of the solid concrete floor and hovered slightly below Sian in the shape of a girl, who I knew to be Chrissie. When Sian glared at her, Chrissie looked down carefully, saw herself as she did, as her body was completely formed of water, from head to toe; so she took out a water bottle, opened it, and we all watched, amazed, as the water was withdrawn back into the bottle and we saw her outfit clearly: a long, sleeveless, aqua-blue dress, which grew shades lighter as you looked down and was almost transparent when it reached her feet. She had flat shoes on, which were the same colour as her dress, and her wings were so delicate and were pale blue, and when she flapped them, it looked as though water was moving. Also, the tips of her wings looked like they were little dew drops that seemed as though they were about to drop, but didn't.

Chrissie then looked at her sister to see if she approved. Sian nodded, then gave a slight nod of her head, as if to say "Get on with it, then." So Chrissie opened her bottle and spilled into her hand a small ball of water, before she closed the bottle and put it back in a little satchel that was beside her dress. She then flew about the Hall, before she stopped, separated the ball into other balls of water, and spread them about the Hall, where they flew left, right and centre. a lot of people laughed, me and Chris included, as many a person got a chance to hit one of these balls of water. Eventually, Chrissie brought the balls back and made a big ball of water with them again, and raised it above the plant-made table where it stood, sending shafts of water on the ceiling, and not one droplet landed on the floor. Then she took out her water bottle again, took another big ball of water and, instead of separating this one and throwing it around the Hall, she threw it to her right, where the symbol of Water was formed: not a swirl exactly in the middle as it started, for it then curled out and ended in a flick.

We were all applauding enthusiastically as, with a sudden whoosh, a giant burst of flame swept in, which made some go "whoa!" and others scream. As she stopped, the flame stopped, too, and it revealed the short frame of Beth, wearing a long-sleeved top that reached to her waist, and pants that clung to her legs tightly, along with boots. These three items were all bright, fiery shades of red and her wings looked as though they were made of fire, for they burned and little wisps of smoke came off of them. Her hair was also tied back in a high ponytail.

She then took out a whip, which was actually on fire. The entire Hall was silent and tense, wondering what she was going to do with it. Beth then started to move elegantly and fiercely, flicking this whip of fire left, right and centre. She did this for about a minute(and when it came close to people, they quickly moved out of the way), before she flung her whip around in a circle, where balls of fire were created, which she then moved around with her whip, which were placed about halfway under Chrissie's ball of water, which were not directly under it, but close enough so that the shafts of light that hit the ceiling from the water ball became lighter. Beth then took her place directly below Sian, and waved her whip above her hair three times, before putting the whip away, forming the symbol of Fire: a triangle that didn't join up at its left point.

Then we heard a soft, calm breeze come through the air, and as we looked left, we saw a girl who was tall, willowy and graceful, wearing a long dress which looked as though it was made of layers of material. I wondered why this was, but when I saw her up close, I saw that the dress was a very pale yellow that covered her feet, that was short-sleeved. She had her hair down like Sian and Chrissie, and her wings were so pale that you couldn't see them, but when they flapped together, you could see wind flash through them. I then recognised the girl to be Kestrel, as she got some of the wind (not from her wings) and formed it, and controlled it, making it swoop and turn around us, making our hair go flying. Kestrel then drew some feathers out of her satchel, and mixed them in the wind, which she then used to form an owl, which flew around the Hall once, before she called it back and blew the feathers away, but they didn't fall to the floor. Instead, they just floated in mid-air, hovering above us so gently, so that we could all see each tiny detail of the feather, which Kestrel then collected with her power. Once she had done so, Kestrel then used the wind to make the ball of fire Beth had created to spin around , so that they made more light around the Hall, before she took her place on the left side of Sian and formed the symbol of Air: a triangular swirl which curled out and flicked at the end. Everyone was cheering in support of what they were doing.

Then Merida appeared in the centre of the circle out of nowhere, wearing a long, shimmering dress of purple with silver beads, which flowed to her feet. Her hair was loose and her dress flowed freely. Her wings were purple , with strange silver symbols shimmering through them every time her wings flapped. Her eyes were closed and her hands were placed in front of her, and then she slowly started to spread her arms, a smile spreading across her lips as she did so. People gasped as some invisible force hit them, and then they gasped in amazement at what was happening to them. I didn't realise what was happening, until I felt the force hit me. I gasped out loud at what I felt, for my spirit felt like it had been risen up from my depths and brought to the surface, and I felt connected with every other person's spirit in the Hall, and the power of Spirit that Merida had cast upon each and every one of us in the Hall strengthened us and filled us with this amazing, extraordinary feeling that I cannot explain. I closed my eyes as these words were sung:

"Our world is more than we see,

There's danger that lies beneath,

We fight to protect the free.

(Water, Fire, Earth and Air)

To protect the free

(Water, Fire, Earth and Air)

Guardians,

Guardians,

Guardians unite!"

I opened my eyes as the song ended, and the Spiritual power was taken away (which I, as well as many others, were rather disappointed about, for I felt a feeling of loss as soon as it was taken away), and as I looked again at the circle, I saw the symbol for Spirit: what looked like two eyebrows, one on top of the other, each facing different directions.

Sian, Chrissie, Beth, Kestrel and Merida then split from the circle and did something amazing: Sian used the sycamore leaves to create a herd of centaurs, galloping along; Chrissie used her water to form a group of merpeople; Beth used fire to form a long, thin red phoenix out of her whip of fire; Kestrel formed a Hippogriff that was flying through the air out of the wind, which you could just make out by how chalky and smoky the Hippogriff looked, and Merida gave them some Spirit, which made them come more alive slightly on how they moved and the noises they made. I believe that all of us within the Hall were united in awe at the magic that they were creating, as all that they had done then merged together and surrounded the girls; and then, in one blinding flash, it was over. As the light faded, we saw that the plants, water, fire and air had disappeared, and the five Guardians, who were now back in their normal forms, looked rather pleased with themselves, as they looked around the Hall and saw our astonished faces.

The Hall was silent for a few moments, as we all adjusted to what had just happened. Then we all started clapping and cheering wildly, which made Sian, Chrissie, Beth, Kestrel and Merida look even more pleased with themselves, and also a little smug. Then Sian stepped forward, looked at the staff table and held up her hands in silence. Once the Hall had gone quiet (which didn't take that long, seeing how all of us were deeply respectful of these girls and their powers), Sian then spoke loudly. She said:

"Honoured guests, we welcome you to our school. We hope that you will enjoy your time here and that you will respect the staff and students who dwell within these walls. You will also find in your submarine and your carriage - " she nodded her head to Kula and Monsieur Legrand in turn as she said "submarine" and "carriage" " - gifts from the Oracle, the Head of the Council of Kandracar, and we hope that you will use them well and wisely. And on that note, we hope once again that you will enjoy your stay." She then slightly bowed her head to Kula, then to Monsieur Legrand and then to her mother, before she came and sat down beside me. Her sisters followed suit, and then sat down at the Lion-Heart table to tumultuous applause from everyone in the Great Hall. Even the Snake-Eyes students seemed impressed by what they did.

"So that's why you didn't want to tell us what you were up to!" Chris said, as he and I both looked at Sian and Chrissie with impressed looks on our faces.

Chrissie and Sian giggled, then Chrissie said, "Well, we did tell you it was going to be good."

"No kidding," I said lightly, and the four of us laughed. "That was amazing. And that's why the five of you kept running off last year!" I said, cottoning on. "Because you were doing stuff for the Oracle!"

Sian smiled and said, "First of all, thank you, Kiara, I'm glad you like it. Second of all, you're right, that is what myself and my sisters were doing last year."

The Hall was still in high spirits, as everyone was still commenting on what just happened, until Crighton stood up, that is, and the chatter died rather reluctantly, she then said, "Thank you, my daughters, for your wonderful display of magical talent. Truly fantastic. But, back to the Tournament. The Tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," she continued. "But for now, I invite you all to eat, drink and make yourselves at home!"

She then looked proudly at her daughters before she sat down, and I saw Kula lean forwards at once and engage her in conversation.

The dishes in front of us were filled with food as usual. The house-elves in the kitchen seemed to have pulled out all the stops; there was a greater variety of dishes in front of us than I had ever seen, including several that were definitely foreign.

"What's that?" Chris said, pointing at a large dish of some shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding.

"Bouillabaisse," said Sian.

"Bless you," said Chrissie.

"It's French," said Sian. "I've had it on holiday when Ma took me to France a few times. It's very nice."

"I'll take your word for it," said Chris, helping himself to black pudding.

The Great Hall seemed much more crowded than usual, even though there were barely twenty additional students there; perhaps it was because their differently coloured uniforms stood out so clearly against the navy of the Dragon Mort robes. Now that they had removed their furs, and I saw that they wore skins of either a cheetah or a lion, and they all wore necklaces of animal teeth.

Mina sidled into the Hall through a door behind the staff table twenty minutes after the start of the feast. She slid into her seat at the end and waved at Chris, Sian, Chrissie and I with a very heavily bandaged hand.

"Crabs doing all right, Mina?" I called.

"Thrivin'," Mina called back happily.

"Yeah, I'll bet they are," said Chrissie quietly. "Looks like they've finally found a food they like, doesn't it? Mina's fingers."

At that moment, a voice said, "Excuse me, are you wanting ze bouillabaisse?"

It was the boy from Beauxbatons who had laughed during Crighton's speech. He had finally removed his muffler. A long sheet of black hair, which shined oddly (as if the sun was trying to shine through it) fell almost to his waist. He had large, deep brown eyes and very white, even teeth.

Chrissie went pink. She stared up at the boy, opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out except a faint gurgling noise.

"Yeah, have it," I said, pushing the dish towards the boy.

"You 'ave finished wiz it?"

"Yeah," Chrissie said breathlessly. "Yeah, it was excellent."

The boy picked up the dish and carried it carefully over to the Raven-Wings table. Chrissie was still goggling at the boy as though she had never seen one before. I, who wasn't so distracted by him, started to laugh. The sound seemed to jog Chrissie back to her senses.

"He's a Coltee!" she said hoarsely to Sian and I.

"Of course he isn't!" said Chris tartly. "I don't see anyone else gaping at him like an idiot!"

But he wasn't entirely right about that. As the boy crossed the Hall, many girls' heads turned , and some of them seemed to have become temporarily speechless, just like Chrissie.

"Chrissie's right, Rickers," Sian said. "That boy is not normal."

"Yeah," said Chrissie dreamily, looking sideways so that she could keep a clear view of him. "They don't make them like that at Dragon Mort!"

"They make them OK at Dragon Mort," I said, without thinking. Khan Chan happened to be sitting only a few places away from the boy with the black hair. If I had taken proper attention, I would've probably noticed Chris stiffen slightly, and his eyes narrow.

He took a few deep breaths and said, "When you there've put your eyes back in," he said, with a slight edge to his voice, "you'll be able to see who's just arrived."

He was pointing up at the staff table. The two remaining empty seats had just been filled. Lynn Baxter was now sitting on Professor Kula's other side, while Mrs Clutch, Perdy's boss, was next to Monsieur Legrand.

"What are they doing here?" I said in surprise.

"They organised the Triwizard Tournament, didn't they?" said Sian. "I suppose they wanted to be here to see it start."

When the second course arrived we noticed a number of unfamiliar puddings, too. Chrissie examined an odd sort of pale blancmange closely, then moved it carefully a few inches to her right, so that it would be clearly visible from the Raven-Wings table. The boy who looked like a Coltee appeared to have eaten enough, however, and did not come over to get it.

Once the silver plates had been wiped clean, Crighton stood up again. A pleasant sort of tension filled the Hall now. I felt a slight thrill of excitement, wondering what was coming. Several seats along from us, Tanya and Geri were leaning forwards, staring at their aunt with great concentration.

"The moment has come," said Crighton, smiling around at the sea that was our upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket - "

"The what?" I muttered.

Chrissie shrugged.

" - just to clarify the procedure which we will be following this year. But firstly, let me introduce, for those of you who do not know them, Mrs Beatrice Clutch, Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation - " there was a smattering of polite applause - "and Miss Lynnette Baxter, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

There was a much louder round of applause for Baxter than for Clutch, perhaps because of her fame as a Beater, or simply because she looked so much more likeable. She acknowledged it with a jovial wave of her hand. Beatrice Clutch did not smile or wave when her name was announced. I remembered how she looked in her suit at the Quidditch Friendly, and thought how strange it was to see her in witch's robes. Her hair up in a tight bun looked very odd next to Crighton's long caramel hair that was going grey in places, and was also flowing freely down her back.

"Miss Baxter and Mrs Clutch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Crighton continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Kula and Monsieur Legrand on the panel which will judge the champions' efforts."

At the mention of the word "Champions", the attentiveness of all the students - myself included - seemed to sharpen.

Perhaps Crighton had noticed our sudden stillness, for she smiled as she said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr Match."

Match, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Crighton, carrying a great wooden chest, that was encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from we watching students; Denise McCreevy actually stood on her chair to see properly, but, being so tiny, her head hardly rose above anyone else's.

"The instructions for the tasks the Champions will have to face this year have already been examined by Mrs Clutch and Miss Baxter," said Crighton, as Match placed the chest carefully on the table before her, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways ... their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger.

"As you know, three champions compete in the Tournament," Crighton went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks, and the Champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The Champions will be chosen by an impartial selector ... the Goblet of Fire."

Crighton took out her wand, and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Crighton reached inside it, and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable, had it not been full to the brim with dancing, blue-white flames.

Crighton closed the casket and placed the Goblet carefully on top of it, where it was clearly visible to all of us in the Hall.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly on a strip of parchment, and drop it into the Goblet," said Crighton. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Hallowe'en, the Goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The Goblet will be placed in the Entrance Hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.

"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Crighton, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the Entrance Hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.

"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this Tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a Champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the Tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the Goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are whole-heartedly prepared to play, before you drop your name into the Goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Goodnight to you all."

"An Age Line!" said Tanya Fang, her eyes glinting, as we all made our way across the Hall to the doors into the Entrance Hall. "Well, that should be fooled by an Ageing Potion, shouldn't it? And once your name's in that Goblet, you're laughing - it can't tell whether you're seventeen or not!"

"But I don't think anyone under seventeen will stand a chance," said Sian, "we just haven't learned enough ..."

"Speak for yourself," said Geri shortly. "You'll try and get in, won't you, Kiara."

I thought briefly of Crighton's insistence that nobody under seventeen should submit their name, but then the wonderful picture of myself winning the Triwizard Cup filled my mind again ... I wondered how angry Crighton would be if someone younger than seventeen did find a way to get over the Age Line ...

"Where is he?" said Chrissie, who wasn't listening to a word of this conversation, but looking through the crowd to see what had become of Outsider. "Ma didn't say where the Uagadou people are sleeping, did she?"

But this query was answered almost instantly; we were level with the Snake-Eyes table now, and Kula had just bustled up to her students.

"Back to the submarine, then," she was saying. "Kovu, how are you feeling? Should I send for some mulled wine from the kitchens?"

I saw Outsider shake his head as he pulled his furs back on.

"Professor, I would like some wine," said one of the Uagadou girls.

"I wasn't offering it to you, Pienaar," snapped Kula, her warmly paternal air vanishing in an instant. "I notice you have dribbled food all down the front of your robes again, disgusting girl - "

Kula turned and led her students towards the doors, reaching them at exactly the same moment as Chris, Sian, Chrissie and I did. I stopped to let her walk through first.

"Thank you," said Kula carelessly, glancing at me.

And then Kula froze. She turned her head back to me, and stared at me as though she couldn't believe her eyes. Behnind her Headmistress, the students from Uagadou came to a halt, too. Kula's eyes moved slowly up my face, and fixed upon my scar. The Uagadou students were staring curiously at me, too. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw comprehension dawn on a few of their faces. The girl with food all down her front nudged the boy next to her and pointed openly at my forehead. I was starting to feel rather embarrassed, when Sian gasped unexpectedly from behind me.

I looked at Sian, but she wasn't looking at Kula. I followed her eyes and saw that she was looking at a boy who was standing right behind Outsider. Nothing was spectacular about him, apart from the fact that he had two big pieces of cloth of a deep red colour, that were wrapped around his face and head, and were pinned together at the tops of his ears. All that could be seen were his eyes, which were sharp, small, round and of a light shade of amber - a shade that was somehow familiar to me. I thought that this was odd, but then I reasoned with myself that there was obviously a reason for this, just like Sian with her gloves. I was about to ask Sian why she had gasped, when a voice behind us growled -

"Yeah, that's Kiara Pride-Lander."

This brought me back to my senses, and I looked back at Kula, who had spun around. Crazy-Head Grumpy was standing there, leaning heavily on her staff, her four magical eyes glaring unblinkingly at the Uagadou Headmistress.

The colour drained from Kula's face as I watched. A terrible look of mingled fury and fear came over her face.

"You!" she said, staring at Grumpy as though unsure she was really seeing her.

"Me," said Grumpy grimly. "And unless you've got anything to say to Pride-Lander, Kula, you might want to move. You're blocking the doorway."

It was true; half the students in the Hall were now waiting behind us, looking over each other's shoulders to see what was closing the hold-up.

Without another word, Professor Kula swept her students away with her. Grumpy watched her out of sight, her magical eyes fixed upon her back, a look of intense dislike upon her mutilated face.

As Chris, Sian, Chrissie and I went up the stairs to Lion-Heart Tower, not long after what I reported above had occurred, I turned to Sian, who had a small, sentimental smile playing across her face, and asked her, "Why did you gasp at that boy next to Outsider, Sian?"

"Hmm?" asked Sian absent-mindedly. "Oh, no reason, Kiara. It just came as a shock to me that all of his face was covered except his eyes, that's all."

But there was something about Sian's tone - and the sentimental smile that was playing across her face again - that didn't exactly convince me that what she was saying was the full truth.

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A.N.: So, I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter. I loved writing about the Guardians and their powers. For any of you who are familiar with a cartoon and comic series W.I.T.C.H. and the House of Night series, then you will know what that means. Also, the lyrics that you see above are from the song "We Are WITCH" by Marion Raven, which is the theme song to the programme which I mentioned above. I used them because they seem fitting, not only to the Guardians, but also to the story itself. I also think it's the American version. Anyhoo, I decided to split this chapter up into two, because of it's length, because of the Guardians, and because of the love story in this book, which has started, and will be further explored next chapter, which I will hopefully be posting tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed reading this one.