Chapter 47: Year Four: I'm What! She's What!
The 30th came around in a blaze of gossip. The students were all wondering what the other students would be like, what the differences between Hogwarts and the other top schools were, who would be picked as champion, who had put their name forward, who they thought should put their name forward, how are the champions' names chosen and so many more questions with lots of speculations. Aileen kept her head down when talk about the tournament started, and if anyone asked, she would only say that she was looking forward to the duelling and Quidditch tournament but was otherwise not taking part – she wanted a quite year.
With the day of the arrival being a Sunday, an announcement went through the school at three to remind the students that they needed to be in Hogwart's uniform on the front-lawn by four-thirty, looking as smart as possible. Aileen understood why they wanted the students in uniform, instead of being out of uniform as was typical for a weekend, since they were representing the school but the rest of the stress that the professors were putting on themselves and the students went over Aileen's head.
The teachers wanted to brag and show off how good they were, to show that they were the better school. Aileen figured that the other schools would be attempting to make a statement in their arrival and so Hogwarts had to also maintain their pride. The fact that the house elves had been working overtime to ensure the school was shining and the teachers had been cracking down on even the slightest misbehaviour or inattention in class, were all hints at the teacher's desire to show Hogwarts as the superior school.
By four thirty the entire student body was assembling in front of the school, just to the left of the stairs leading to the entrance hall. The first years were at the front, then each year was behind them in one straight line. They were lined up in house groups, Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and then Slytherins from right to left. Stood behind the seventh years were the heads of houses, while the headmaster stood on the stairs leading to the school with the other teachers around him.
"I don't know why we had to be here so early," Ron muttered shifting impatiently after they had been waiting for about thirty minutes.
Many of the students were talking among themselves, having grown annoyed with the wait but they daren't move out of line for fear of the telling off they would receive from their head of house who were keeping a close eye on them.
"It's possible the headmaster wasn't given an exact time of arrival." Aileen theorised. "If the other schools are not using portkeys, then it's entirely possible that the time of arrival is variable."
"If they aren't using portkey's, how are they getting here? They can't Apparate such a distance, especially not across the country lines." Hermione asked with a frown. "And it's too far to realistic fly via broom or carpet."
"No idea. But I imagine that it's going to involve an impressive use of magic. This entire thing is about showing off, after all." Aileen said cynically.
Just as Aileen had thought, the Beauxbaton and Durmstrang had foregone practicality in favour of showing off. Beauxbaton's arrived first in a large, enchanted carriage which was clearly bigger on the inside. The doors of the carriage had their school symbol proudly emblazed on it. The carriage had been towed by six large Abraxans. Aileen wondered how they had managed to hide their presence from the muggles; the repellent charm wouldn't be enough, and something like the disillushment charm wouldn't hold on the Abraxans because they are magically resistant.
The first one from the Beauxbaton carriage was the headmistress, a truly giant of a woman wrapped in elegant furs. She was followed by a precession of students, around eight seventh years, seven sixth years and five students from years five down to three. There didn't appear to be any second or first years. Since the students' uniforms were suited for the south of France, they were all shivering in the frigid air of Scotland, so the headmaster had professor Sinister escort them into the school so they could warm up while they waited for Durmstrang.
Durmstrang came via a ship which rose from the lake. Aileen frowned at them. They most have used something like a portkey to get to the lake and then an anchored bubble charm on the ship in order to allow the students and staff on board to breath. But sailing through the lake would have disturbed the residence there, Aileen prayed that the ship hadn't gotten close to the mer-people. She'll visit them that night and make sure that everything was okay in the lake, and they hadn't been disturbed by the Bulgarian ship.
Like Beauxbatons, there was a collection of students across the years from seven through to five. There didn't appear to be any students from year four or lower. All of the students seemed to be strong and burly. It seems Durmstrang was going for strong and intimidating – which made sense when you consider the fact that their headmaster was a Death Eater who had only got off because he turned in other Death Eaters.
With the Durmstrang student's arrival they were allowed to go into the great hall instead of remaining outside in the quickly chilling night air.
Aileen frowned when she heard giggling girls – that was a tone of voice she only associated with fan girls. She was clued into what they were giggling about when Ron's eyes suddenly went all starry eyed.
"Hermione, do you have any parchment and a quill?" Ron asked in an urgent whisper.
"No." Hermione frowned at Ron. They had been ordered to leave all their bags in their rooms. "Why?" she asked urgently.
"It's Krum. Victor Krum. I didn't realise he still went to school." Ron sighed dreamily as he stared at the boy who was trying to shrink back into the Durmstrang students in order to get away from the hording students.
Aileen sighed.
With a quick glance around the loitering students Aileen caught Neville's, Fred and George's, Seamus's and Ginny's eyes to summon them to her presence. Seamus grabbed Dean and dragged him over at the same time.
"What's up Raven?" George asked cheerfully.
"Can you all section of the bottom of the Gryffindor table, leaving room for around twenty students?" Aileen's eyes drifted to the Durmstrang students to get her point across.
"Sure," Fred agreed.
"Won't be too much trouble." George smiled mischievously.
"Hermione, could you go sit Ron down, preferable further away from the empty seats?" Aileen addressed her friend without Ron noticing since his was too busy staring at Krum.
"Sure, I might be able to knock some sense into him." Hermione grabbed Ron's arms and the group of Gryffindors walked into the Great Hall.
"I'll help," Ginny smirked wickedly.
"Our little Ginnykins," Fred exclaimed proudly.
"All grown up." George finished, whipping fake tears from his eyes.
The twins followed their sister into the Great Hall, Neville rolled his eyes and went in, planning with Seamus and Dean.
With her friends doing as she asked, Aileen weaved her way to Krum and the Durmstrang students.
"Excuse me, would you like some distance from the amassing horde?" Aileen asked politely in Hungarian.
"Why do you want to help?" A thin boy who was stood next to Victor asked with narrowed eyes.
"Because I know what it's like to be the celebrity in a school." Aileen answered, shifting her hair slightly to reveal her scar. "I have asked my friends to section off the bottom of our house table so that you can all fit."
"We shall join you." Victor cut in before his friend could.
"Follow me," Aileen waved for the foreign students to follow her to the great hall.
Just as she had asked, her friends had sectioned off part of the table, leaving a good portion open. Hermione had pulled Ron so he was the first one of their friends away from the gap, with Fred, George and Neville being the closest. From the glare Ron was giving Ginny she had done something to snap him out of his hero worshipping.
Aileen sat down, with Victor sitting next to her. His friend, the one who had been suspicious of her offer, sat opposite Krum. The rest of the Durmstrang students sat down and proceeded to ignore their existence.
"So, I'm Aileen Potter. These are my friends Fred and George Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger, Ginny and Ronald Weasley." Aileen introduced her friends. Dean and Seamus had decided to not to sit with them and was instead sitting with the fifth years. Although Aileen got on with Dean and Seamus, they still didn't spend a lot of time with her outside the common room.
"I'm Victor Krum," Victor introduced himself with a sarcastic smile and heavy accent.
"Alexander." Victor Krum's friend introduced himself.
"How did you clear the table?" Aileen asked Fed and George curiously.
"Oh, you know. A look here…"
"A conniving giggle there…"
Aileen laughed. "Oh, right. You threatened to prank them, without threatening them."
"We're imaginative like that." Fred smirked.
"Pranksters?" Alexander asked, his eyes shining curiously.
"Oh dear," Aileen sighed before turning to Victor. "Sorry, if I'd realised, I probably wouldn't have introduced them."
"It is fine, perhaps they will be too busy planning to take on the school." Krum sighed forlornly.
"The perils of having a prankster for a friend. At least you only had one" Aileen commiserated.
"Until now." Krum joked.
"Students, guests, friends." The Headmaster drew attention to himself where he was stood between Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff. "I welcome you all to Hogwarts. I hope that you'll enjoy your stay. Now, I have quite a lot to say before the official opening of the tournament. However, that can wait until you've all eaten."
Dumbledore clapped his hands, causing the food to appear on the table. "Enjoy."
Aileen hummed in approval as she looked over the selection of food available. The house elves had made traditional English dishes: cottage pie, meat pies, toad in the whole, roasted meat and bangers and mash. But they had also included traditional French and Bulgarian dishes: cog au vin, cassoulet, beef bourguignon, bouillabaisse, banitsa (with a variety of fillings), Kebapcheta, musaka and shkembe chorba. There was also a variety of different salads spread across the table.
"What is this?" Ron asked, staring suspiciously at the serving bowl of bouillabaisse.
"Bouillabaisse." Hermione identified, putting a generous helping into her bowl.
"Bless you," Ron snarked.
"It's French," Hermione rolled her eyes. "I had it on holiday, summer before last. It's very nice."
"I'll take your word for it," Ron muttered, helping himself to some pork chops, sausages, mash and gravy.
Aileen put a scoop of shkembe chorba into her bowl, with some freshly baked bread. And she also served herself some of the Cassoulet which was a slow cooked cassole with three meats (pork, goose and duck) and white beans.
"The chorba is a brave choice." Krum commented, serving a much larger portion of the spicy soup into his own bowl.
"You sure a little one like you can handle it?" Alexander asked.
"Of course." Aileen responded, dipping some of her bread into the soup and taking a bite, before humming slightly. It was good, the house elves hadn't made it so the spices were overwhelming making it impossible to make out a flavour.
Fred reached across the table and dipped his spoon into Aileen's bowl curiously. He tried some before pulling a face and coughing. "Jeezzzeee." He wheezed.
Curiously, George also dipped his spoon into the soup. He also pulled a face when he tried it, but he didn't react as bad as his brother.
"You actually like that? It's so spicy?" George cleansed his pallet with a drink of water.
"I like spicy food." Aileen shrugged. "I also like hot things, like curry."
"I like curry, but that's just…" Fred shuddered.
"I'll make you dinner one night." Aileen promised, "Your mum's food is very nice. But it's British and traditional, she doesn't experiment with the flavours that other countries do."
"What you're saying, is that our food is better than yours?" Alexander asked, sounding incredible smug about it.
"I'll have you know that British is better…" Fred began.
"Very homely…" George continued the argument.
Aileen listened to them with half an ear as Victor caught her attention.
"I wished to thank you, for healing me." Victor said quietly.
"It's okay." Aileen shrugged. "Consider it a thank you for flying so well. Your match was the first professional match I saw in person."
"Are you planning on being a healer?" Victor asked.
"I'm not sure. If I do go into healing, I'll probably set up my own practise." Aileen admitted. "What do you plan on doing? Are you going to stay on the Quidditch field when you graduate, or is there something else you want to do?"
"I wish to be a teacher." Victor admitted.
"Then why Quidditch?" Aileen asked curiously.
"The pay is good, and my family needed the support. Plus, I am very good flier." Victor shrugged.
Aileen laughed at that last part. "Considering your body type, you truly are very skilled in the air."
"Do you fly?" Victor asked curiously.
"Yeah, I'm on my house team as seeker. But I couldn't do it for a living. I get enough fame as it is." Aileen grimaced at the very idea.
"You any good?" Victor's eyes sparkled in a challenge.
"You kidding. She's fantastic." Fred tuned back into their conversation.
"Flys like she was born in the air." George agreed.
"Never missed a single snitch." Fred bragged.
"She even saw the snitch before you did at the World cup." George joined the bragging, causing Aileen to blush.
"Stop it."
"Perhaps you two should have a game." Alexander suggested.
"There's going to be an interschool Quidditch tournament. The champions will be on their school teams, and which ever Hogwarts house team wins makes the final team. If you aren't selected as champion, we can arrange a seeker vs seeker match." Aileen suggested.
"You believe I will be selected?" Victor asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I can hope for you." Aileen shrugged.
"That would be an epic match. Little Raven against professional player." Fred sighed.
"Hogwarts youngest seeker vs professional youngest seeker. You could probably sell tickets." George agreed.
"Send the money made to charities." Aileen said thoughtfully. It was a good idea.
"I like this idea." Victor agreed.
"Do you really think people would pay to see that?" Alexander asked, his tone taking on what Aileen considered to be 'businessman mode'. Sirius had a similar tone of voice when he talked business or politics.
"Of course, they will." Fred snorted.
"We can start planning and approach the teachers once we know who the champions are." George cut in. "No point getting ahead of ourselves."
They were interrupted by one of the Beauxbaton students who had approached their table. She had beautiful, silver-blond hair which fell like a curtain around her waist. She also had deep blue eyes, and very white teeth. Overall, she was a very beautiful young woman. "Excuse me, are you wanting ze Bouillabaisse?"
"Oh, you don't have to ask another table for more. If you tap the pot on your table and request more, the house elves will refill it." Aileen turned slightly so she was looking directly at the student as she spoke.
"Oh?" the girl blinked, surprised.
"The food will be fresher if you do it this way. They'll be thrilled that you're enjoying the food since this isn't something they make very often."
"Thank you." The girl headed back to the table she'd come from.
Aileen turned back to her friends to find Hermione glaring at a drooling Ron, while Ginny was giggling at him.
"What did I miss?" Aileen asked curiously. Dean and Seamus also had glazed eyes and were blushing.
"She's part Veela." Fred explained.
"She was admitting an aura which is causing attraction from the interested party." George tagged on.
"Oh," Aileen breathed. "That explains why so many people have been staring at the French students."
"You two were immune?" Alexander asked.
"Of course." George nodded solemnly.
"Our heart has been captured,"
"And was guarded most righteously,"
"By a beauty far superior to that blond,"
"Our eyes only see our Raven." They finished together.
Aileen blushed lightly. The twins had been making comments since she had met them over the summer. She hadn't known how to respond; she still didn't know how to respond. At first, she just thought it was the twins joking around, being themselves, but since they had gotten to Hogwarts, they had started becoming more serious and obvious in their interest.
She had been interested in the twins for a while now, but she hadn't known how to approach them about it. She was going to have to speak with them soon, she couldn't keep giving them little to no reaction. Hopefully, Sirius would be able to give her some advice on what to do.
"I thought it was my eyes?" Aileen pulled on her courage in order to respond to the twins, "Enchanting I believe you called them?"
"Well, there are many things." Fred exchanged a slight look with George before they sighed dreamily.
Aileen shook her head with a laugh. "You two are ridiculously."
"Thank you." They chorused.
With the food gone, Dumbledore stood up to address the hall. There was a thrill of excitement through the hall, those who were interested in entering leaning forward on their seats.
"Now, before I officially announce the start of the Triwizard Tournament, there is several things to be aware of. Visiting students, you have been given the rules and regulations of Hogwarts, if you do not follow these rules while on the school grounds then you will be reported to your monitoring staff. Your teachers have also been given copies of your respective years' timetable and you have permission to audit any of these lessons."
"The tri-wizard tournament is not the only competition that will be taking place. Details of the duelling, chess and Quidditch tournament will be given at the end of the week. If you want to participate you simple must put your name down on the list that will be posted in your common rooms, or respecting school quarters. The duelling competition is open to third years and up, while the Quidditch and chess tournaments are open for everyone."
"Moving onto the main reason our three great schools have come together. Before the casket is brought in, I will cover some ground rules and procedures." Dumbledore smiled. "The tournament will be judged by the three heads of schools and ministry representative Bartemius Crouch, the head of the department of international cooperation."
Barty rose slightly from his chair and nodded to the students who were clapping politely.
"Mr Ludo Bagman, head of the department of magical games and sports, has agreed to commentate, not just the tasks, but all tournaments."
The round of applause was a lot louder for Bagman compared to Barty.
"A fifth judge will be joining the panels in order to ensure partiality. However, they have yet to confirm their attendance, so their identity will remain a mystery."
This announcement caused whispers to spread around the hall. Clearly curious about who the completely impartial judge was going to be. Barty wasn't considered completely impartial because he was Hogwarts alumni and therefore had a potential bias.
"The tournament consists of three tasks which have already been reviewed and confirmed by the judges. These tasks will be spaced throughout the year, and since they aren't all on Saturdays, the days of the tasks will be a school wide holiday.
The tournament has been designed to test the champions magical powers, their bravery and daring, their power of deduction, their knowledge and their ability to think while under severe danger." With the description of traits expected from the champions, silence fell onto the Great Hall. "Considering this, think carefully before entering your name as champion. Once entered, there is no turning back."
Dumbledore took his wand and flicked it to his left, causing the air to shimmer and a casket to appear. "The three champions, one from each of the participating schools, will be chosen by an impartial selector: the goblet of fire." Three taps of his wand on the casket caused it to melt away, revealing an ornately decorated goblet, stood on a pedestal with blue flames.
"If you are seventeen years old, and wish to put your name forward as champion, place your name and school on a piece of paper and then place it inside the goblet. You have until tomorrow night, six o'clock, to submit your names at which point the goblet will select the three names it considers worthy of representing their schools." Excited chatter spread through the hall. Everyone had thought that the impartial judge was a person, not a magical object.
"To prevent underage entrance, I will be taking several precautions in the protection of the goblet, including an age line. I would advise you to not test me on this." Dumbledore smiled, looking to the disappointed faces of many of the students. "I give you a final warning, do not enter this competition lightly. Despite the restrictions in place, it is still extremely dangerous and aimed to push the best of the seventh-year students. Now, I shall leave you all to think carefully on what I have said. Good night to you all."
"Have you been given accommodations in the school, or are you staying on your boat?" Aileen asked as the Gryffindor students stood to leave.
"Your headmaster offered, but Karkaroff declined." Alexander admitted. "We have rooms on the boat."
Once the students had all gone to bed that night, Aileen headed to the lake. With the Bulgarian ship docked on the edge of the lake she had to be very careful about not being seen. She kept her disillusionment charm on until she was in the water and hidden completely from anyone topside.
She was barely ten yards from shore when she came cross a mer-squadron. They were fully armed and clearly furious.
"Piece my friends," Aileen raised her hands, so they were at shoulder height. "I came to see if the village was okay."
"The wizards ship caused a distortion of water when it appeared." The squadron leader came forward, holding his weapon at ease.
"No," Aileen closed her eyes in pain. "How close were they to the village?"
The distortion would have had the same effect as a bomb going off in the water. Which could easily destroy the mer-village, and the pressure alone might have been enough to kill the mer-people depending on how close they were to the ship when it appeared.
"Close enough that the west side of the village has collapsed, and we have many injured." The squadron leader explained. "We were sent to search out the ones responsible."
"Escort me to the village. I can help the injured. And depending on the damage, I might be able to fix some of the damage caused to the village. I'll deal with the Durmstrang wizards. You have my word." Aileen finished solemnly. "You have a voice above the water in me, allow me to speak for you."
"Hai." The squadron leader moved his triton over his heart in a warrior's salute.
"Let's move. The sooner I get to the villager, the sooner I can start offering healing." Aileen led the way, with the squadron leader at her side, to the village.
"My god," Aileen breathed in horror. The village had been made out of corral and pearl structures; the natural building materials found in the lake. These structures were strong enough to withstand a minor earthquake or extremely rough waters, but the pressure of displaced water was too much for them. What looked like the entire west side of the village was destroyed, and from previous visits Aileen knew that the west district was residential. "Where are you taking the wounded?"
"The village hall. It was the only place large enough." The squadron leader answered.
"Right, you go help the rescue workers." Aileen ordered; she could make out the workers shifting rubble. "You might be able to find other survivors."
With those final orders, Aileen used her ability to manipulate water to get her to the village hall in under a second. She didn't like moving at such a speed because of the disorientation, but the mer-people needed her help hours ago. Entering the village hall, Aileen quickly assessed the situation. There had been a triaged stations set up, those with the worst injuries were placed in the back of the hall – these were the ones with little chance of survival. Then there was those in the middle, they had bad injuries, but they were likely to survive with treatment. Then there was those closest to the door, minor broken bones, cuts and bruises. The things that could wait a little while before being treated or could be treated by those with very little medical experience.
Despite having not finished her medical training, Aileen headed straight for those in the back of the hall. The mer-people, despite being magical creatures didn't have access to magic like the wizarding did. Because they were mostly a warrior race (even if they hadn't gone to a war in a while) they were very good healers considering the equipment they did have. They would be able to do the most good with the second group, instead of dedicating people and resources to try and stabilise those they doubted they could save.
Assessing those in the worst state, Aileen made the emotional decision to start with the children. Young children typically stood a greater chance of surviving, even if they obtained the same injuries as an adult, because they had a greater will to survive. And in magical healing, wanting to survive was half the battle.
The first child she approached had been impaled by a sharp piece of coral through the stomach, and also had obtained an injury to the back of their head. A quick scan determined that her tail had also been crushed – likely under some rubble. The most pressing injury was the wound to the back of the head, since it had caused brain swelling. She needed to relieve the pressure to the brain in order to stabilise her before moving onto removing the penetrating object and healing her.
"What are you doing?" one of the mer-people asked with a face mask. Based on the surgical gloves and apron, this was one of the medics.
"I'm saving her life." Aileen answered grabbing a needle from the medical trolley and transfiguring it into a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. She then transfigured another needle into a tube which she attached to the drainage end of the shunt.
Aileen used a pillow to support the child's neck and lift it from the coat. Using one of the medical spells Madam Pomfrey had taught her in order to make a small incision in the back of the child's skull. She then carefully inserted the VP shunt. Aileen nodded when she saw the blood start trickling down the tube, into a medical bag that she quickly attached to the end.
Lighting the tip of her wand, Aileen held one of the child's eyelids open and shinned her light in her eyes, getting a reaction from the pupils. That meant the drain was stopping the swelling, reducing the pressure on the brain.
With that dealt with for now (she would have to remove the VP Shunt once the pressure was completely gone), Aileen turned her attention to the next pressing issue: the trans-abdominal impalement, which was a severe type of penetrating trauma. In non-magicals, this typically led to death due to the damage to internal organs and complication either during surgery or post-surgery, but with magical healing Aileen stood a chance at saving her life.
Aileen performed a detailed medical scan which created an image above the body which was similar to a CT scan. This image allowed Aileen to see that the object had entered the child's body on the right of her abdomen, and traversed through the whole abdomen until the end could be seen subcutaneously in the left lumber region. Fortunately, despite touching the edge of the pancreas and left kidney, it had not penetrated either organ. There was also no damage to the spleen, which meant there was a higher chance of recovery.
This meant that she needed to remove the penetrating object, then ensuring that there was no residue left in the wound track before healing her. Once she was finished with this, the child was going to need a blood replenisher – unfortunately she couldn't give her the potion during surgery since that would just increase the bleeding. The advantage of using magic meant that she was able to remove the object by simple banishing it instead of trying to pull it from the wound and potentially causing further injury.
With the major object removed, Aileen focused on the wound, staring at the back left and worked her way forward through the wound ensuring that the wound was sealed together and there were no foreign particles remaining. She couldn't heal it completely, just enough to prevent internal bleeding, but it was good enough for now. The child's body will be able to heal the rest of the damage in time.
The damage to the child's tail wasn't life threatening, so she simple placed the tail in a splint and shifted the bone back into place. Mer-people had a series of vertebra which travelled from their spine down to the bottom three quarters of the tail. It was then surrounded by a series of muscles which allowed for their flexible movement. The muscle had been damaged but she had other patients to tend to, at least the child had been stabilised. Just encase the child back-slid while she was tending one of the others, Aileen put a monitoring spell on the child so she would be alerted if any of her vitals dropped.
Quickly updating the medical sheet at the bottom of the bed, Aileen moved onto the next child.
There were eight more children in triage red. The majority of them presenting with some kind of penetrating or crushing injury, three of them with head wounds similar to the first child she treated. The three doctors trying to stabilise these wounded had done the bare minimum by preventing bleeding and securing any broken bones with braces. But they couldn't leave one doctor on each patient, nor could they use too many resources on them while trying to save the life of the patients in triage orange. Aileen managed to stabilise all of the children, putting a monitoring spell on them all.
She was about to move onto trying to help some of the adults when one of the mer-doctors approached her.
"Princesses." The doctor greeted with a light bow.
"Doctor Almaz," Aileen returned the greeting politely. The doctor was a member of the council and so one of those she had met and been introduced to during her first visit to the village.
"How are the children?" Doctor Almaz asked, her eyes drifting to where the nine cots lay.
"Stabilised. I've treated the worst of their injuries, but they're going to need future care. I've included the information in their notes. What injuries have you got in the rest of this section?" Aileen asked, her eyes drifting to the rest of their people on the beds. Men and women, all of them seriously injured. There were twenty-three cots with patients at various closeness's to deaths door.
"Well, we've got two patients with internal bleeding, compound fractures in two patients, brain bleeding in four patients, two penetrating injuries and one who was crushed under tonnes of rubble." Doctor Almaz pointed to each of the patients when she spoke of an injury.
"Are those with brain bleeds next to each other?" Aileen asked with a frown.
"No, but we can move them." Doctor Almaz said.
"Good, get a Doctor with each of the patients. I'll tell them what to do while treating one of them myself. Then I'll address those with intracranial pressure and get them stabilised." Aileen mentally prioritised the list of injuries she had been given. "Starting with the ones you've got on breathing apparatus."
The four patients with the intracranial pressure were moved next to each other and Aileen transfigured four VP shunts, and talked the doctors through inserting them. Two of the patients showed immediate signs of improvement once the tube started draining the excess fluid.
Aileen did a quick scan on all of the patients that Doctor Almaz had identified as being the most at risk.
"Shit." Aileen swore violently moving to the side of a twenty-year-old women.
"What's wrong?" Doctor Marcan asked, joining Aileen at the patient's bedside.
"She's pregnant. Seven weeks. But not for long unless I can stabilise her." Aileen answered, wishing she had thought to scan the patients before she went to work on the other patients. At seven weeks there was a very good chance that the women knew she was pregnant, and if Aileen managed to stabilise her the women might not be thankful for saving her if she lost the baby.
"Can you save the child?" Doctor Marcan asked.
"Can you get me a blood bag? I can't give her a blood replenisher the ingredients would kill the child. But if I remove the corral that's in her tail, she's going to start bleeding in the time it takes me to seal the artery and then seal the wound. Something also travelled through her body, damaging her kidney which means she's losing blood from there." Aileen rattled off quickly.
"I'll get you that blood." Doctor Marcan promised, heading off to wherever they were storing the blood.
Once Aileen had dealt with the women's injuries, she ended up having to channel filtered magic into her body in order to stabilise the baby. This was a last resort technique used when no other option was available, Aileen's magic shaped only by her intent, working to correct the internal damage in the patient. Aileen was fortunate enough that it worked, and the baby's vitals stabilised. The women would always have a high risk of miscarriage during the pregnancy, but the baby had a chance of being carried to term if the women was very careful.
Once the woman was dealt with, Aileen moved onto the next patient. While she had been working the doctors had manged to stabilise some of the others and move them into the orange zone. Fortunately, the mer-people were made of hardier things then humans.
For five hours Aileen continued working to save as many lives as she could. Unfortunately, she lost two patients: one's heart gave out while she was trying to heal the internal damage done while the other past because of shock. She didn't have time to mourn them because other patients needed her help.
Eventually, all the patients were stabilised.
"Doctor Almaz?" Aileen caught the women's attention. She was sat in one of the chairs by a child's bed, looking exhausted. "When did you last get some sleep?"
"I was about to finish my twelve-hour shift when the boat turned up, which was…" Doctor Almaz trailed off clearly unsure of the time.
"Ten hours ago." Aileen finished for the Doctor. Aileen had made it to the village five hours after the ship arrived. It was now four o'clock in the morning.
"Did you need something?" Doctor Almaz asked.
"Can you take me to whoever is heading the search and rescue, and the village leader?" Aileen asked. "And then you need to get some sleep."
"Yeah, sure. Command is across the road." Doctor Almaz shot a last look at the child in the cot before leaving the hall.
"Do you know the child?" Aileen asked the doctor softly.
"No," Doctor Almaz answered shortly. "But I had given up on the child when she was brought in. But you saved her… if you hadn't turned up…"
"But I did turn up and you had other patients who needed your help." Aileen comforted the doctor.
"Princesses." The council and village leader greeted Aileen simultaneously with a bow when she swam into the room.
"Thank you for escorting me Doctor Almaz," Aileen gripped the Doctor's shoulder. "Now, go and get some rest."
"Thank you for all your help, Princesses." Doctor Almaz said gratefully before leaving the room.
"I need numbers and information." Aileen informed the room, joining them at the table which was full of reports. The mer-people used a special seaweed as their paper and a pearl-based ink.
"We've got nineteen residences reduced to rubble, another eighteen deemed structurally unsound. Twenty-one residences were damaged but are still safe to live in." One of the council chiefs informed her with a frown on his face.
"Twenty-one dead, fifty-eight reporting serious injuries, another eighty-six with minor injuries." Another council man took up the report. "The doctors inform us that the number of dead is lower because of you princesses."
"Right," Aileen closed her eyes thoughtfully. "Was your crop field damaged in anyway?"
"Only the fields we'd just ploughed or freshly planted. Which means we won't have any food shortages." Another council man was swift to assure.
"And the rest of the lake? Were they impacted by the appearance of the ship?"
"I sent out some warriors to check on the lake's inhabitants. Beyond being upset, no one else was hurt." The squadron leader who had accompanied Aileen to the lake explained.
"Right, okay." Aileen breathed. "I'll return tonight to work on repairing the buildings and check on the injured. Now, if I'm going to be your voice above the water, I need to know what you want in reparation."
"Preferable the head of the fool who decided to portkey a boat into the lake." The warrior snarled.
"Yeah, I can't get you that." Aileen sighed. "The boat was owned by the Durmstrang Institute. I'm not sure if that places the responsibility on the school or the Bulgarian/Hungarian ministry. I'll meet with the headmaster once the sun is up, ordering a meeting with Karkaroff and their ministry representative." Aileen informed them.
Fortunately, she had managed to complete her potion. She wasn't going to tell them she was the child of a god and so born with the ability to breathe under water. So, she was going to have to reveal the existence of her potion, tell the headmaster that she was testing it when she discovered the damage to the mer-village.
"We need material to rebuild. We can't harvest anymore coral from the lake for another fifty years without damaging our eco-system." The village leader said. "Also, inform your headmaster that we will not allow the second task of their tournament to be hosted in our lake. They have done enough damage to my people."
"I can get you that material. You also have my medical assistance for as long as you need it." Aileen promised them. "Is there anything else you need? Or want from the wizards?"
"They took a valuable sculpture from us." A soft voice said. The elder who had been silent until this point moved forward.
"The Opal." Aileen looked to the elder. The loss of this sculpture had led to the last rebellion from the mer-people. They had agreed to a treaty only because their numbers had started running low and they didn't want to make any more orphans out of their children.
"I can't promise you the Opal, but I can promise that I will have the goblins search for its location. If they can't find it, then that means we don't have it. But I will also have them search for anything else made by your people." Aileen assured.
"We can accept that." the village leader agreed.
"Right," Aileen sighed tiredly, running a hand down her face. "I need to get back to the school. I'll be back tonight to update you on what happened during my meeting."
"We'll have a complete damage and casualty report by then." The village leader assured her. "And we'll have a written list of our demands for reparation."
"Okay." Aileen nodded. "I'll see you there." Aileen used her water manipulation ability to get out of the village and to the edge of the lake as quickly as she could.
Having used so much magic healing the mer-people, Aileen went to bed and got two hours of sleep. She wasn't going to be playing politics while too drained to be on her a-game.
Eventually, seven o'clock rolled around and Aileen got up to face the day. It was a Monday, and she did have lessons, but Aileen viewed the situation with the mer-people as far more important. A quick shower later, and Aileen was ready to face the day.
Aileen pulled a box out of her trunk which contained her experimental potion. She had tested it on herself, so she knew that it didn't have a negative reaction when ingested and it gave the individual gills on their necks. She was going to have to test it on others at some point, but for now she knew it was safe to use on herself.
Placing the potion in her backpack, Aileen headed straight for the headmaster's office. She made an effort to avoid the entrance way which was starting to build up with students who either wanted to put their name in the goblet or see others put their name in the goblet for betting purposes.
By seven thirty-five Aileen had made it to the headmaster's office.
"Aileen, I was just about to head down for breakfast, if you'd care to join me?" the headmaster asked happily, he was stood by the window with Fawkes.
"Sorry headmaster. But I need your help to prevent a war." Aileen informed him grimly.
"Oh dear. Shall I get us some tea?" The Headmaster asked, taking a seat in front of his fireplace instead of behind his desk.
Aileen joined him and the house elves sent them up a serving tray with a pot of tea. They'd also included some toast and fruit. Clearly, they knew that this discussion was going to lead to them missing breakfast and they were informing them that they should eat something.
"Start at the beginning." The headmaster suggested, pouring them each a cup of tea.
"Well, this tail has several beginnings, so I'll start with my beginning and work the others in as we go?" Aileen picked up her tea and looked at the headmaster with a twinkle in her eye causing the old man to chuckle as had been her intent. She felt bad for introducing such a serious situation first thing in the morning.
"Whatever you think is bet." The headmaster agreed, picking up his own cup of tea.
"I've been experimenting with a potion that lets an individual breath under water. I manged to complete the potion at the start of the year and tested it on myself. To that endeavour I've been visiting the lake. The mer-people have a fascinating culture." Aileen explaining, attempting to just skip over the experimental potion portion of her explanation.
"Hmmm, they are. That's why I learnt how to speak their tongue above water." the headmaster agreed, allowing Aileen to slip the experimental potion past him for the moment.
"I was concerned with the way the Durmstrang ship appeared in the lake. That body of water isn't connected to the sea, which means the only way the ship could have gotten into the lake was via portkey. An object that size appearing under the water could cause a massive displacement of water and air, damaging the eco-structure in the lake and possible injuring and killing the residences. So, I took my potion and went to check on them."
"I was met by a squadron of mer-warriors, prepared to take compensation and vengeance by force. I headed them off and they escorted me back to the village. The entire west side had been destroyed, leading to deaths and injuries. I managed to reduce the number of deaths by providing some healing." Aileen informed the headmaster simple.
"Oh dear. I can see why you said you needed my help preventing a war." The headmaster took his glasses off and began cleaning them as he stared thoughtfully into the fire.
"The Mer-people are demanding compensation, and the only reason they haven't launched an attack on the Durmstrang ship and taken Karkaroff's head is because of me. In accordance with the Hogwarts treaty of 967, Hogwarts is sovereign soil. This school, and the land around it is own by Hogwarts and her heirs. Without an acknowledge heir, the responsibility of maintaining the rules and treaties of the land falls to the headmaster. In 972, the founders signed a treaty with the centaurs and the mer-people, granting them land. The mer-people would never attack Hogwarts, and in the event of a siege they would lend as much support as possible. In return, Hogwarts would protect them and if necessary, represent them if they have a legitimate grievance. And headmaster, they do have a legitimate grievance." Aileen leaned forward urgently.
"That they do." The headmaster agreed. "I'm going to have to contact the Bulgarian ambassador, the head of law enforcement, the head of international relationships and we're going to have to meet. As the mer-representative you're going to have to be there." as he was talking the headmaster summoned some paper to himself to start writing letters.
"You're also going to need a representative of Durmstrang. I advise against that representative being Karkaroff since the mer people want his head and if he's involved in the negotiations my report to them isn't going to go over well." Aileen advice.
"The Deputy headmaster Ivan is a level-headed man." The headmaster commented. "I'm going to ask for the meeting for tomorrow, 10:00? I'll write a note excusing you from potions tomorrow morning."
"Have you considered a replacement for your ministry positions headmaster?" Aileen asked worriedly. "Someone you can trust to take over? I'm adding a lot of stress and work to an already stressful and work intensive job in just your role as headmaster. And that's not considering the fact that the Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump roles are practically full-time roles on their own. That is a lot of weight – and paperwork – for one person to carry."
"This old man is grateful for your concern, my dear." The headmaster smiled gentle. "And it would be nice to be just a headmaster again."
"Maybe you should start looking into replacements? People you can trust who won't push Voldemort's agenda? People like Madame Longbottom and Madame Marchbanks. Both of them would make very good chief warlocks. They lean to neutral-light politics. And they are also both very strong women who aren't corruptible." Aileen suggested gentle. She had looked into everyone on the Wizagnmont, and she knew what all their political positions where, who they were allied with, what they had and had not voted for over the years and more about them.
"Griselda would make a formidable Chief Warlock," Dumbledore agreed, his lip twitching at the thought. "Perhaps it's time I focused my attention where it's most needed, here at Hogwarts."
"I think it's time the younger generation took politics by storm. After all, Sirius is taking up his family seat."
"I'd best warn the others before I step down," Dumbledore agreed, his eyes twinkling brightly. "If I remember correctly, Sirius was a force to be reckoned with when he wanted something."
Aileen locked eyes with the headmaster, there was silence for a moment before their laughter filled the office, for the moment allowing their serious discussion to be put on hold.
At 12:37 Aileen and the headmaster headed to the Great Hall. They were prevented from reaching their destination by the crowd of students who had formed in the entrance hall. With the goblet of fire being placed in the centre of the hall, a large group of students were milling around watching the brave few stepping over the golden line which surrounded the goblet and entering their name.
"Oh dear," Aileen sighed when she saw the twins stood at the edge of the age line. It seemed they had ignored her words of caution and wanted to try putting their name into the goblet. They knew that the title of champion would help them promote their business, meaning they could get it all set up and running sooner. The money would also help them in their experiments without asking for a further or larger input from Aileen.
"Bottoms up!" the twins cheered before downing their potion. Since they only needed to be a few months older there was no discernible differences in their appearances. Together they jumped over the line.
When nothing happened, they shared triumphant smirks, and pulled pieces of parchment out of their pockets. Before they could place their names into the goblet Dumbledore's defences triggered. There was a blinding flash of light from the goblet and the boys were both thrown back.
When the light cleared there was a cackle of laughter from around the room, for the twin's hair had been transfigured into an exact replica of Dumbledore's.
"I did warn you," Dumbledore said in a deeply amused voice, parting the students as he walked forward.
Aileen walked at his side, critically eyeing the boys. "Somethings missing about this picture?" Aileen said thoughtfully, tapping her chin with her wand for a moment. "Ah yes," Aileen flicked her wand at each of the twins. The school robes they had been wearing changed into peacock blue with a kaleidoscope of stars shooting across them in a manner reminiscent of some of Dumbledore's finer outfit choices.
"Yes, it really does complete the look doesn't it," Dumbledore nodded sagely. "Messers' Weasley I recommend that you go and visit Madam Pomfrey, I dare say she'll be kinder on you than Miss Potter here. She did warn you about entering your name after all." And with those words Dumbledore glided across the entrance hall.
Aileen didn't move, simple crossing her arms and staring at the twins with a raised eyebrow. "You can explain what you were thinking while you walk to the hospital wing." Aileen pointed up the staircase and the boys exchanged a look before they bowed their heads and started humming the gallows tune while they started walking.
They left the laughing students behind to continue watching people put their name in the goblet. Instead of taking them to the hospital wing, Aileen took them to a spare classroom so they could talk.
That night, the students started turning up for their Halloween feast early. The decorations where just as spectacular as previous years, but this was hardly noticed by the students who were more interested in the goblet which had been moved to the right of the headmaster's pedestal.
Not even the food seemed to hold the student's attention. Perhaps it was the fact that this was the second extravagant feast they'd had in two days, or perhaps it was the nervous excitement and anticipation that ran through the hall. It was an almost invisible shimmer around the students.
Aileen was sure that the headmaster was purposefully taking his time to finish his dinner. Enjoying teasing the students in such a manor. Making the anticipation and excitement build and build until the headmaster finally decided he had tortured them enough. The tables cleared of all the food and drinks, leaving the golden plates spotless.
As the headmaster got to his feet, Aileen saw the heads of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons visible tense. Clearly, they were just as eager to see who was selected as the students were. In fact, Aileen glanced around, Dumbledore was the only head who look like the results weren't extremely important.
"The goblet will soon reveal the names of the champions," Dumbledore announced, bringing instant silence to the whispers. "Champions when I call out your name, can you please come forward and wait by the door to the next chamber." Dumbledore motioned to the door in question which was to the right of the head table. "Once all the champions have been selected, we will go to the next chamber, where the champions will be receiving their first instructions."
Dumbledore drew his wand and taped the goblet once. The hall was plunged into semi-darkness, with only the pumpkin's providing light and the blue flame of the goblet turning red. Clearly the headmaster had cast two spells – one to distinguish the lights, and one to activate the goblet's selection processes.
The hall collectively held their breath as a tongue of red flame shot from the goblet. Dumbledore reached up and caught the parchment. The goblet returned to its blue flame. Clearly it only turned red when it was going to shoot out a name.
"Our first champion is… Victor Krum of Durmstrang." Dumbledore announced, triggering a storm of applause and cheering.
"No surprise there!" yelled Ron.
"Congratulation's Victor." Aileen smiled at the Quidditch star.
"Yes." Fed and George exchanged high fives with Alexander.
Victor nodded his thanks to Aileen and her friends before slouching up to the front of the room.
The clapping didn't die down until the flame changed colour. Silence gripped the hall as they watched Dumbledore catch the piece of parchment.
"The champion for Beauxbatons, is Fleur Delacour!" Dumbledore announced.
Aileen clapped politely for the French witch who had asked her for the fish soup the night before. Oddly, the Hogwarts and Durmstrang students were the only ones applauding Fleur's placement as champion. The other French students seemed to be devastated that the women had been chosen.
Finally, the goblet spat out the name of the Hogwarts champion. Dumbledore smiled around at the students who were all trying to will him to speak quicker.
"The Hogwarts champion, is Cedric Diggory."
It seemed that the Hufflepuff table exploded with their cheers, surging to their feet and stomping in time with their clapping. The Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables clapped politely showing school spirit, while the Gryffindors clapped in a very disgruntled way. They had been hoping for one of their own.
"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily, motioning for the cheering to quieten down. "With our three champions selected, I can officially announce the start of the Tri-wizard tournament. I am sure that I can count on you all, from Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions all the support you…" Dumbledore stopped talking as the goblet turned red again.
A long flame spat out the parchment which Dumbledore automatically caught. He read the name to himself, while the students stared at him. After a long moment, he cleared his throat and red the name on the parchment.
"Aileen Potter."
There was silence across the hall before angry whispering started from the students, but Aileen cut them off.
"No!"
Edited: 12/01/2024