Chapter 26

Schools and Cup Surprises

The night before Halloween came quickly, with a feast planned to greet the students from both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Classes ended early on that day so everyone could go and greet their visitors. Dumbledore had called for everyone to treat their visitors with the utmost respect, and some of the teachers were stressed about the upcoming pupils. Snape was more unforgiving than ever to the other Gryffindors and even Minerva was chiding students – such as Neville, telling him to not reveal that he couldn't do a simple switching spell – and Lily knew she was stressed. Thankfully, Transfiguration was the last lesson of the day before the foreign students arrived, so Lily stayed behind while Minerva fussed about her robes.

"Aunt Minnie, deep breaths," Lily said. "Things will go fine, for sure."

Minerva sighed. "No doubt about it. There is a healthy dose of competition between the European magical schools, however, and seeing as this is the first Tournament in hundreds of years…"

"I get that. May I just point out something, though?"

"What is it?"

"I think you were really unfair to Neville. He tries really hard, you know, and he's mentioned a few times about not being smart enough to be here. You making that comment wasn't a nice thing to do, especially in front of everyone."

Minerva paused and then sighed heavily again. "You're right. Of course you're right. I'll find Mr. Longbottom and apologise to him."

"Thank you." Lily followed her surrogate aunt out of the classroom. "Aunt Minnie?"

"Yes?"

"When I was in muggle school, sometimes certain students would struggle with the lessons for whatever reason. When that happened, a teachers' aid would sit with that student and offer additional help. Why don't we do that here?"

"That's a very good question," Minerva smiled down at Lily. "If it were to happen, many things would have to be considered beforehand, I'd imagine. I'll run the idea by Dumbledore. Perhaps, in the meantime, Longbottom would benefit from tutorage by older students."

"Maybe," Lily agreed. "You feeling more prepared for the other two schools, now?"

"Yes. Thank you for grounding me, Lily."

She smiled. "Love you. See you later!" She ran on ahead out of the double doors and onto the Hogwarts grounds where it looked like the entire school was impatiently waiting for their guests. It was easy to find her friends and she came up to them, trying to peer over the sea of heads.

"Everything okay?" Ginny asked when she spotted Lily had joined them.

Lily nodded. "Yeah, just wanted to ask Aunt Minnie about something," Lily replied. "Any sign yet?"

"Nothing yet mate, some people are taking bets on how they'll be coming," Ron answered, with Lily knowing that 'some people' referred to Fred and George. Her mind briefly imagined some of the theories they would no doubt be coming up with and she chuckled to herself.

"What's the prevailing theory so far?"

"Dragons," Lavender replied, smirking.

"Hagrid would be happy if it was," Lily commented, prompting a round of laughter from the group.

"What do you think, Lily?" Hermione asked.

"Well, since we're by the lake, I'd guess by ship?"

"Makes sense," Parvati agreed, with a smile. "Anyone else?"

"Magic carpet?" Ron suggested, eyes turning to the sky.

"No, they're illegal. Remember your dad speaking to Mr. Crouch about it at the world cup?" Hermione reminded him. Ron's gaze returned to looking out at the lake with a groan of disappointment.

"Good point," he agreed. "But maybe the laws are different in their count-"

"LOOK UP!" someone shouted, and like a ripple the students did as instructed.

Rapidly approaching from the horizon, Lily saw that there was what appeared to be a large carriage flying through the sky. Pulling the carriage was horses, or what looked like horses.

"What are they?" Lavender asked, eyes wide with amazement. "They're gorgeous!"

"Abraxans, they're a breed of winged horse," Hermione replied, almost automatically.

"Okay, so Hermione is literally a dictionary of what's what in the wizarding world," Lily commented, with a small smile. Hermione simply blushed.

"Blimey, I'd love to have your memory, Hermione," Ron told her, making Hermione's blush deepen in colour.

The large, intricate carriage was occupied by the students of Beauxbatons academy, and their headmistress, Olympe Maxime. As the massive woman was greeted by Dumbledore, Ron whispered the suggestion that she had to be part giant. Before Lily could get into a discussion, however, another shout of "Look to the lake!" rang out. From the dark, frigid waters, a mast of a large ship broke through the surface of the lake, quickly followed by the body. When the ship settled and the 7th year students began to stride out in thick winter coats, Lily suppressed a shiver at the sight of the Durmstrang headmaster, Igor Karkaroff. Sirius had warned her about the man being a former Death Eater. She vowed not to go near him.

As the visitors started to walk towards Hogwarts past the resident students, Lily felt Ron grab her arm, hissing at her. "Lily, it's him! It's Krum!"

Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian seeker from the Quidditch World Cup, was wrapped up in winter furs. He didn't acknowledge the rising excitement from the Hogwarts students, and Lily suspected he would be the one who represented Durmstrang in the Triwizard Tournament. She wondered if she would have the chance to ask him for a quick, friendly Quidditch match.

With the Beauxbatons students walking past, Lily got the same sense she got when she was at the World Cup when the Veela had come onto the field. She saw several of the girls, one of which seemed to be attracting a lot of attention.

"She's a Veela," Ron hissed.

"Why do you think that?" Lavender asked, looking unimpressed.

"Look at her, she…" his voice trailed off, seeing the glare from Lavender. Ron rubbed the back of his neck, flushing. "She has the… the hair…?"

"Veela or not, I think some girls here are prettier," Lily said, briefly catching Ginny's gaze at her. She thought for a moment. "You could be right about her being at least part Veela, though, so be careful around her. We all saw what happened when they got mad during the World Cup."

The evening then led to a feast, which contained dishes from all over Europe, a lot of which Ron had never seen or heard of. One sounded like someone sneezing (Bouillabaisse), which soon led to another encounter with the girl who Ron thought was a Veela, when she came and asked for it.

As the feast ended, a large, metal box was brought in by Mr. Filch, who seemed to struggle but refused help from the staff members with him. Lily understood why; he might not be able to do magic, but Filch was a proud man, and wanted to prove he belonged there. An excited hush came across all the students and teachers and as the lid was removed, a large goblet with blue flames inside, was revealed. Dumbledore explained it was the Goblet of Fire, and for anyone of age to enter the tournament, they would simply need to put their name in it. From the selection of names, the Goblet would select three; one champion from each School.

Lily caught Fred and George's eyes; they nodded softly, confirming they'd stick to their word and not even try.

After the feast ended, Lily wanted to get to the common room to relax, but there was a hold up as she ran into Viktor Krum by accident. Whilst she had apologised – and Krum had accepted it with a simple nod – Karkaroff had rudely asked if she was 'just another silly girl looking for an autograph' which annoyed Lily.

However, when Karkaroff noticed her scar, he addressed her by her deadname, Harry Potter. Before Lily could respond Moody clunked to the scene. "Alright there, Miss Potter?" He growled; his magical eye pinpointed on Karkaroff. She opened her mouth to answer her frustration at being misgendered but before she could say anything, the former Death Eater scurried away with his students.

"He better watch his step while he's here," Moody commented, somehow looking more ferocious than usual as he glared after the man. "Escaped his punishment once, but I won't let it happen again." He turned his normal eye onto Lily. "Watch yourself, too. Can't have the saviour of the wizarding world be led astray."

A sleepless night claimed Lily, not the first in the last few weeks, and she eventually relocated to the empty common room. She sat, curled up under a blanket on the sofa, watching and listening to the flames from the log fire as thoughts consumed her mind.

Having a known (ex or not) Death Eater in the school filled her with worry. How many more followers did Voldemort have in other countries? How many remained in the UK, having claimed the use of the Imperious Curse to escape prison? Lily had little doubt that Lucius Malfoy must have been one of the offenders at the World Cup. When Voldemort returned – and it was definitely a when, not an if – who would rush to join his reign of terror?

Lily shivered at the thoughts of one of her close friends secretly supporting Voldemort. Her parents and godparents never expected Pettigrew to be working with the enemy, whatever the reasons. Would some of the less accepting students of Hogwarts go to Voldemort's side just because they didn't understand Lily being herself?

"Can't sleep?"

Lily jumped, turning to face the source of the voice. Ginny stood a few meters away, huddled in a frayed dressing gown.

"Can't sleep," she confirmed, patting the seat next to her. Ginny sat down, and Lily noticed the slight tremors in her frame. "Are you okay?"

"Nightmare," Ginny shrugged. "How about you?"

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ginny shook her head and Lily didn't press further. "I just can't sleep. Thinking a lot, feeling even more…"

"Do you want to talk about any of that?" Ginny asked, and Lily chuckled at the reversal.

"The attack at the World Cup happened weeks after Pettigrew rejoined Voldemort. The news of his strength returning had to have reached the escaped Death Eaters somehow… and if they're ready to torture muggles so readily, what's going to happen when a few more weeks pass? Or months? What if Voldemort has more followers this time round? What if more people join him simply because they don't understand or accept transgender people, and they use me as a symbol for being all that's wrong? And Karkaroff was a death eater, who lives in another country. Does that mean Voldemort has followers from the rest of Europe?"

"Woah, Lily," Ginny said, eyes wide. "That's a lot of things to unravel, there…"

Lily began to hug her knees. "I know. I'm sorry."

"No, don't apologise. It's understandable you would be fearful of all of this," Ginny hummed as she sat back in the sofa, clearly thinking. "I guess all I can really say is that while you can't control the actions of others, what you can control is how you react to things. Focus on what you can do here and now to show others a different way of thinking."

"What do you mean?"

"Well… look at us. I grew up listening to how you defeated Voldemort when you were just a baby, and I idolised you," A slight flush crossed Ginny's cheeks. "I thought you were some larger-than-life figure with indescribable magical powers. A knight in shining armour, almost… but as I got to know you, first through Ron and then by myself, I realised that you're not any of that. I mean, you're a powerful witch, and your light is larger than life itself but you… you're Lily. Does that make sense?"

Lily nodded, a soft smile crossing her face and a warmth blossoming in her chest. "You see me as who I am," she summarised. "And I'm blessed to have people in my life that see me as just Lily. Growing up, I was a regular kid, with no knowledge of magic or expectations of being a great and powerful Wizard. Then all of a sudden, I'm here and people expect me to be that saviour but I'm… I'm still just me. I don't know how I defeated Voldemort as a baby. And I don't know why he has such an unhealthy fixation on me. I don't feel that special or important but…"

"Hey, you are special and important, especially to those who love you," Ginny corrected her gently. "As for You-Know-Who's obsession… Merlin knows. I'd love a Mind Healer's analysis on that. There's a muggle equivalent, isn't there?"

"A psychiatrist?"

"Muggles have such strange words," Ginny giggled. "What do you think about his fascination with you?"

"I think he's an old-fashioned megalomaniac who is a sore loser. If I were him, I'd focus on anything else than being butthurt by a baby. I know Sirius shared some muggle comics with your dad, the Batman ones. Do you know much about them?"

"I started to read them when I couldn't sleep one night, yeah," Ginny revealed. "I really like Poison Ivy. It seemed like she just wanted to save the planet but went about it the wrong way. Why do you ask?"

"As much as the idea of Voldemort building up an army in other areas of the world fills me with dread, if I were a villain I would do exactly that. I'd travel, and recruit, and do it away from the main base of the hero."

"Voldemort being the villain and you the hero? I thought you were trying to break away from the notion of you being a saviour?" Ginny teased, lightly nudging Lily with her shoulder. Lily stifled a laugh, pushing her back.

"What I mean to say is that if I were Voldemort, or some other bad guy like in the Batman comics, I'd stop hovering around the place where the hero lives, like how Batman lives in Gotham City, and do my evil business far away."

"Evil business, eh?" Ginny gave Lily a sideways glance, mirth dancing in her eyes. "It seems like you've thought about this. You planning on taking over the world as a villain, Lily?"

But Lily paused, only noticing that she had started to bite her lower lip when it began to hurt. "Hey, Ginny…?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't answer if it makes you uncomfortable but… but after what happened to you in the Chamber, after being possessed… do you sometimes feel like he's still a part of you in some way?"

Ginny shrunk into herself a bit. "Sometimes. There are moments where I get really angry and it's like this monster wants to rip from my chest and hurt others… and that anger doesn't truly feel like mine."

"I'm sorry to ask, I just…" Lily shrugged helplessly. "You're not crazy."

"I know," she whispered. She shook herself and turned to Lily again. "Why do you ask? Do you… ever feel like that too?"

"I…" Lily sighed. "Only Uncle Sirius knows this, but after the events in the Chamber, Dumbledore told me why I could speak Parseltongue. It's because a piece of Voldemort is in me, left over from the night he tried to kill me when I was a baby. And it possibly explains why I have the visions too. Him and I are connected… and I'm scared that maybe there's more of him in me than anyone realises."

Ginny blinked at Lily before rapidly pulling her into a bone crushing hug. "You are nothing like You-Know-Who. You aren't a villain. You aren't a bad person."

"And neither are you," Lily replied, returning the hug just as intensely. "We went through something traumatic, in ways others won't truly understand. I just… worry, sometimes. That anger, I feel it too."

Ginny pulled away a bit, but close enough the two could share body heat. "I speak to Madam Pomfrey sometimes, about how I feel after the Chamber. And that's when I was told about the whole focus on what I can control thing. We can't control what happened to us, but we can focus on how we react to our current situations. It's natural for us to feel those feelings of rage and anger but it's what we do with it."

"Dumbledore said something similar to me, too. It's our choices that determine who we are."

"Well, there we go. There's got to be some truth to it if we've both been told that," Ginny nodded, as though reaffirming the lesson to herself. "We can't stop others from supporting You-Know-Who, but we can at least show them there's a different path. He won't win again. And you will never be alone in this fight. I'm with you."

The warmth filled Lily's chest again. "Thank you, Ginny."

"After all you've done for all of us, it's the least I can do." At that, she yawned. "I'm going to try and sleep again. Will you be alright?"

"Yeah. I'm going to try and sleep too. And Ginny? If you ever want to talk…"

The red head smiled. "Same with you. Goodnight, Lily."

Excitement filled the air when the day arrived for the Champion's Names to be chosen. The Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students were dotted amongst the Hogwarts students, and the feast was one of the best yet.

As the meal died down, Dumbledore stood. He waved his wand and the Goblet of Fire floated into view. Like a switch, all noise stopped, and attention turned to the Headmaster. He smiled at all of them.

"In a few moments, the champions for each school for the Tri-Wizard Tournament will be chosen. I ask that during the tournament, you support your champions, and cheer for them as loudly as you can. When I call out each champion, please come up and enter the door by the top table. In that room, you will meet with the judges, including Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," he said, indicating the two guests at the top table, "where you will be given instructions on the first task."

Lily took a sip of her drink as she heard Fred, George and Ron discussing who the champions could be.

"I'll bet anything Krum gets picked," Fred stated.

"Safe bet. I'd be surprised if Karkaroff let anyone else even put their name in, and just had everyone put his name in," George commented dryly as the blue Goblet fire turned orange. A piece of paper shot up into the air and Dumbledore swiftly caught it.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he called out," is Viktor Krum!"

"Told you," Fred said, as everyone else cheered. Krum stood up, holding his arms up in a celebration, before heading to the back room. As the door closed, the fire turned orange again, and another piece of paper shot out.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," Dumbledore's voice rang out, "is Fleur Delacour."

The young woman whom Lily, and Ron, had thought was a Veela, stood up and smiled as she gracefully walked to the back of the great hall. She waved before going through the door as everyone continued to cheer.

As the third name was spat out, everyone seemed to be on tenterhooks as Dumbledore looked at the name.

"The champion for Hogwarts," he read out, as if deliberately keeping everyone on suspense, "is… Cedric Diggory!"

Hogwarts exploded into applause and cheered loudly as Cedric got up and made his way to the back of the hall. He smiled bashfully and pridefully just before the door closed.

"Now we have our chosen champions, the tournament will be able to begin," Dumbledore continued, looking around the hall with a wide smile on his face. "Our champions will have a great deal of pressure on them, no doubt, so they will be looking to their friends to support them, and it is my hope…"

Dumbledore's voice trailed off, and the entire hall grew silent, as the flames turned orange once more. Another, unexpected piece of paper burst from the flames and Dumbledore caught it with ease. He stared at it, and then looked around the hall. His face was unreadable.

"What the hell?" Ron whispered, just as the buzzing of confusion began to make its way through the staff and students. "There are only three schools, why is it…?"

Dumbledore looked towards Lily, and she felt her heart drop at the intense gaze, feeling that something was incredibly wrong.

"Harry Potter."