I certainly have no rights to Harry Potter, but this won't stop me writing this story. However, you probably already know this. As it is my specialty, and as in my other big stories, this shows how things go if something went different right at the beginning. Please note that I'm not a fan of bashing and also don't expect the two main pairings to differ from canon. However, the path to them certainly will be quite different. I also want to try and subvert certain plots and things that became common in the fandom over the years.
For now, the story will update every second Saturday, until I say otherwise.
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Chapter 40: The Announcement
Getting home was a bit more complicated than expected the next morning. The Ministry had erected tons of anti-apparation wards and forced everyone to leave through assigned portkeys, creating a horrible bottleneck. Thus it took for them up until about ten in the morning before they could finally get home.
For each of the six friends, coming home was an emotional experience, their parents and guardians already knowing of what had happened. That's how they were greeted when returning to their respective homes.
Harry for his part, as soon as he had walked into his home, suddenly got pulled into a hug by Thomas and Veronica. "Thank all goodness, nothing happened to you!" Veronica gasped while holding Harry close.
"Huh...? How are you...?" Harry could only wondered, being overwhelmed by the reaction.
"We got the magical newspaper this morning, only to be greeted with the picture of a skull with a snake in the sky and news of a terrible riot at the World Cup," Thomas added, then looked to where Sirius and Diane were greeting their children. "Thanks for keeping him safe."
"I would lay down my life for Harry." Sirius then looked to his own family and how Steve was hugging his leg. "Though of course I very much would prefer staying alive while protecting him."
"Good save," Diane said while picking up Kathleen to hold her close, noticing that she slowly was becoming too big to be picked up casually.
"It was so hard, waiting for news if you got hurt... And then you walked in and..." Veronica clearly was fighting to find words for how relieved she had been at that moment.
"Mum was a complete wreck," Mark said from where he stood, having witnessed his parents worrying themselves sick over Harry's well-being. "Dad had to constantly remind her that since wizards hold you on such a big pedestal, they would have reported if something had happened to you."
"Yes, even though I hate they think I'm some kind of savior, I guess that's true," Harry admitted, still held by his guardians. "It was insane. One moment it just was the biggest party imaginable, and then suddenly it turned into a nightmare. I guess now you are glad you weren't there?"
"No way I would want to be in the middle of such insanity," Mark said quickly, feeling he had dodged a bullet there. "Considering the stuff you experienced at school I hope it will be more peaceful for me."
Harry remembered that Mark would enter the preschool once school was in session again. "To be honest, I don't want it to be exciting, considering how much stress it's causing Aunt Verni and Uncle Tom," Harry admitted. "I hope this year will be quiet, but I already know some kind of event takes place at Hogwarts, probably turning it into a circus."
"Too bad for you," Mark said, being glad he wouldn't enter Hogwarts for two more years.
"Don't go overboard with the compassion," Harry said sarcastically. Harry then sighed. "Ehm, maybe both of you can now let go of me? I like how much you care for me, but I kind of need to move..."
Thomas chuckled, feeling a little embarrassed at their reaction now. "Maybe we went a bit overboard?"
At the same time in the Granger house, Hermione was hugged by her father.
"You know how scary it is to read in the news the World Cup you went to got attacked? Gods, thank goodness your mother and brother are only released from the hospital this afternoon, or she would have been worried sick," Ian Granger said, making no secret of how he felt.
Hermione had already expected her father being emotional, since after all it must have been shocking to read about the riot. However, she had honestly forgotten in all the excitement that her mother would come home with her brother today and Jean honestly would not react well to the news how her daughter had been in danger. Her having been in danger in the previous years only made it worse.
"Dad, please let both of us explain this to Mum. Hopefully seeing that I'm in good health won't make her worry too much," Hermione suggested.
"Sometimes you act like you don't know your mother well," Ian remarked while letting go of Hermione. "Especially now that her body is flooded with motherhood hormones. You will always be her little girl and thus she worries."
"Oh no..." Hermione as a teenage girl now tended to get embarrassed when her mother became overly parental with her.
"However, maybe her also being busy with little Jonathan can take the edge off it," Ian added, feeling that his daughter deserved a break after what happened, not her mother fussing over her.
In the Longbottom home a slightly different scene was taking place.
"To even sink how deep Magical Britain has sunk that something like this has happened," Augusta Longbottom grumbled, looking over to where Frank and Alice were making sure that Neville was all right. "You better believe I'll make my opinion about this collective incompetence known!"
"You made that already clear, Mum," Frank said while Alice was being busy with checking Neville for any injuries. His mother's different priorities again showed the generational difference.
Neville for his part was used to his parents being protective of him - after all he was their only child - but right now it was a bit much even for their standards. He had been in more dangerous situations before, so their behavior right now was a bit puzzling to him. Maybe it was due to the fact that the World Cup was supposed to be safe?
"Mum, Dad, I'm really not injured," Neville tried to protest.
"Son, please let me have this. It helps me to assure myself you are in good health," Alice told Neville, understanding why Neville did feel a bit embarrassed by them.
Thank all goodness my friends are not here to see this. I love my parents, but right now this is a bit too much, Neville thought.
Over at the Lovegood house, an 'ambush' had taken place.
"Both of you! Why can't you stop making me worry?!" Pandora Lovegood cried while pulling her husband and daughter close to herself.
"Pandora... I... I watched over our pumpkin after what happened..." Xenophilius tried to say.
It was true that he had been walking through the festivities, making notes for his article, when all hell had broken lose. Thankfully, he had gotten out of it without injury and after finding Luna, he had insisted on not letting her out of his sight until they were back home. However, Pandora clearly didn't care about that.
"I can't help it!" Pandora said, holding them even closer. "I know Luna never did it on purpose, but after three years of her being in danger at school, her now also being in danger outside of school as well..."
Luna was unable to find the words to express her current emotions, so she simply hugged her mother closer to convey that she had been scared as well and that she truly didn't want to worry her. Her parents did understand this non-verbal communication, knowing that she still was not fully capable of expressing her emotions to the outside world, especially such complicated ones.
A few kilometers from the Lovegood house, Molly Weasley in turn was half a wreck when her family returned.
"...when the hands on the clock for four of you to to 'mortal peril' I became sick with worry! ... And then to see a picture of that horrible... thing in the newspaper... It brought up very painful memories from the war..."
It was clear that Molly Weasley had suffered severely. Thanks to none of them having been able to leave right after the attack, she had worried herself sick after watching the family clock, even though the hands for Arthur, Bill, Charlie and Percy had moved back to their normal position after a while. Then the first things greeting her on the front page of the Daily Prophet was the Dark Mark and her reaction was understandable.
Arthur hand his hands full telling her that they were all all right and the worst that happened to them was that they got scratched up, and that got healed by now.
Watching this, George looked to Fred. "All of a sudden I can't be that mad at her anymore."
Fred nodded. "Yes... Still, better use the chance to get all the remaining stuff out of the house. No need to risk her getting stressed again."
Ginny and Ron watched the whole thing from the sidelines, before quickly retreating into the garden.
"I hate seeing Mum like this. She didn't deserve such worries," Ron told his sister.
"I remember when it slipped out of Mum how the war really had taken a toll on her due to the personal losses she'd suffered. I guess this happening got painful memories back to the surface," Ginny speculated.
Both of them felt out of their depth with their mother's emotional pain and hoped their father could help her to get better.
o
"I told you something like this was bound to happen, Albus," Alastor Moody told Dumbledore while he and McGonagall were in his office, looking at the newspaper on the Headmaster's desk. "The rats have come out of their holes, no longer feeling afraid."
"You don't have to repeat yourself, Alastor. You said so two times already," McGonagall said, then looked to Dumbledore. "Surely some of the old guard had been there when it happened?"
"Yes, and they contacted me as soon as they managed to get home. Not Sirius, the Longbottoms or the Weasleys, but I understand they need time due to the danger their children had been in." Dumbledore looked at the picture of the Dark Mark. "This was done to discredit the Ministry and make Cornelius desperate. This plays right into Lucius Malfoy's plans, since a desperate Cornelius will now agree with pretty much anything he suggests."
"Yes, but what about the Dark Mark? They fled as soon as it had gone up, so it couldn't have been them conjuring it. That does not make any sense, unless..." McGonagall said.
"Unless they got scared out of their minds since that mark was sent as a warning," Moody completed the thought. "Let's not beat around the bush. All of us know that Voldemort is not as dead as he should be. What happened last night is proof that we have to prepare for the worst, as long as we still have the time for it."
Dumbledore remembered Trelawney's second prophecy. Due to the clash of the three cannes having happened, this was the year in which Voldemort would re-connect with his followers. He had already started things up when learning that, but recent events made things much more urgent, since the events at the World Cup hinted that perhaps Voldemort already had been found.
"Yes, it is time to reactivate our old network; start to prepare for the worst." Dumbledore clearly wished that this wouldn't be necessary, but he knew the realities. "Once things run smoothly, we can think about recruitment."
"You mean like the lass who managed to pass my standards? Tonks would make a gret addition to the Order." Moody then grumbled "Too bad I'm for now stuck with this teaching job."
"Alastor, this is a very important job. If the worst happens, then these children need to know how to defend themselves and what to expect," McGonagall reminded Moody.
"I know that teaching students is different from teaching recruits, but still don't expect me to touch them with kids gloves," Moody made clear.
After going through the details, McGonagall and Moody both left, returning to being busy with preparation work for the new school year.
Some minutes after they had left, someone entered the office.
"Ah, Severus, you said it's important and that you want complete confidence?" Dumbledore asked when seeing Snape enter.
"Yes, it has something to do with that disaster last night. Ever since then..." Snape pushed up his left sleeve to expose his Dark Mark. While it had faded to next to nothing after Voldemort's defeat, it now seemed to be a tiny bit darker.
"It has become more defined..." Dumbledore said while inspecting it. "And that happened after last night?"
"Yes, I noticed when there was a very slight itch for some moments." Snape looked a bit resigned. "I have to prepare for when he calls upon me, correct? I remember the oath I gave to you all these years ago."
Dumbledore remembered that day all too well. "Then use the time you have available, Severus, to prepare. Do not think I wish that burden upon you, but sadly fate has different plans..."
o
"Your observations of Mr. Black and those he surrounds himself with are good. However, this here is highly disturbing," John Major said when looking at the front page of the Daily Prophet, which included a very big picture of the Dark Mark in the sky. "You were there to witness the riot, so anything you can add?"
The charismatic wizard, who had watched Sirius during the match, nodded. Normally, he would have reported to MI-X to relay his findings, but after the Death Eater riot and its aftermath, the Prime Minister wanted to hear his report personally first. The whole thing had caught them on the wrong foot, not having expected something like that to happen yet.
"Yes, I was planning to leave in the morning, but then that happened and I got a prime seat to watch it unfold. You already know most of the facts about the riot, but I might add that Sirius Black and Arthur Weasley, as well as the latter's oldest sons, did not hesitate to counter-attack, risking their lives to save others," he reported to the Prime Minister.
"That very much speaks for them, but this incident itself is very concerning," Major said while looking at the article that came with the picture, which while worthless was good for reading between the lines. "If they couldn't even ensure security at such an important event, humiliating themselves in front of the entire world, then the Ministry is indeed falling apart faster than we anticipated."
"As the investigations said. It might look fine on the outside, but the rot has eaten away the inside. I fear it's too late to save what's left and the best option would be to replace it with new structures," the wizard shared his own observation.
"Meaning soon enough instead of holding up law and order, the Ministry is ripe to be used by whoever is capable of pulling the correct strings to erect a dictatorship." Major leaned back, cursing that he would be pulled into that slow-moving disaster. "What about the attackers? I heard nothing about that."
"None of them were caught, but we all know who it was. Another sign of governmental failure that these people got away with their crimes with such a flimsy excuse." The wizard then sighed. "Most of the magical folk are good and just people, but their government and bureaucracy have failed them and have become utterly corrupt."
"Like with that disaster last year..." Driving all the werewolves in Britain to desperation and basically forcing them into crime by revoking their rights had really shown far the Ministry had already sunk. MI-X had managed to recruit a number of them as specialists, but most of them had went underground, their anger over such an unjust treatment by the Ministry festering in their hearts.
The Prime Minister took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, cursing internally that he got this massive problem on top of all the other things that were making his term as Prime Minister a difficult one. Sometimes he really wished that Thatcher had never told him about these things, but wishful thinking wouldn't get him anywhere.
"I agree with the Chairman that time is running out and we need to intensify our efforts, prepare for the worst case. I'll have to make sure the needed funds are funneled into MI-X from the regular budget." The Prime Minister then looked up. "You are still set to observe Hogwarts during that tournament?
The wizard nodded. "Yes. With everything that happened at the school in recent years, it is only smart that I do so."
...August 6th, Diagon Alley...
Since this is already the fourth time, it has lost it's novelty factor by now," Harry told the family while they walked down the street from where they had parked the car to the Leaky Cauldron.
This year neither Sirius nor Diane could help out, since the twins had gotten sick and taking care of two five-year old children with magic who were miserable due to sickness was a full-time job for Diane, while Sirius was back on the job and quite busy. Thus Harry's immediate family - as far as he was concerned - were escorting him on his shopping trip to Diagon Alley.
"Well, I don't mind," Mark added, looking excited to see more magical wares. "Magical preschool is only starting in some weeks, so I use every opportunity to see some magic."
"Don't you worry, young man. Mr. Lupin will take good care of you and the others. He is an excellent teacher, after all," Veronica told her son.
Harry felt that Remus deserved every word of praise, since he was a truly excellent teacher, as he had proven the previous school year. To be honest, Harry felt it was a bit of a shame that he only stayed one year at Hogwarts, since replacing him with an equally competent teacher would be difficult - he still remembered the nightmare of Lockhart.
"You won't get bored, trust me on that. Even the very easy stuff is lots of fun," Harry told Mark, remembering his preschool experiences. "Even a rainbow out of your training wand will be quite the experience."
"Way better than magical accidents..." Mark said, remembering some of his accidental magic incidents.
"Yes, we'll be glad once those are over, though they are harmless compared to what Harry sometimes did," Thomas added. He then enjoyed Harry's look of slight embarrassment, feeling this was repayment for the gray hairs Harry had caused them with his magical outbursts.
They'll never let me forget those, Harry thought in dismay.
Reaching the Leaky Cauldron, they saw the Grangers waiting outside - only Hermione and her father, but not her mother. However, that didn't come as a surprise to them, since taking care of a baby was a full-time job and thus Jean pretty much had no way to make the trip to London.
"The others are waiting inside, got here a bit too early," Hermione explained.
"We all got a bit of a scare a few days ago, so please excuse if some of us are not as carefree as normal," Ian added, reminding everyone of the incident at the World Cup.
"Not that I can blame them..." Harry mumbled, remembering what happened too well.
Walking inside, they quickly met with the others. Only Molly was leading the Weasleys, Arthur being at work due to the still ongoing aftermath of the World Cup fiasco. The Longbottoms and Lovegoods on the other hand were both present, clearly wanting to stay close to their children.
To be honest, there was nothing unusual on the shopping list for school supplies that year, except for the final point, but they had told their parents to leave that for very last. Otherwise, the items and books they bought were exactly what they did expect for a new school year. However, when they walked by a news stand, Hermione stopped and looked at something.
"Hermione, something wrong...?" Ron asked, then saw what she was looking at. "Yuck, it's these women magazines. I read a few of them out of morbid curiosity when I found them at home."
"And what's your verdict?" Hermione asked.
"They all have the same contents and what's written in them is stirred crap," Ron said bluntly.
Hermione by now was used to Ron not bothering with euphemisms. "Very blunt, but thankfully I don't like these, either. And after reading who is writing for them..."
Harry, who had joined them in the meantime, looked at the covers and noticed the name under the main stories. "Gods, that Skeeter woman. I wish I could forget her, but the way how she right after Lockhart has the most tacky clothes makes that difficult." Harry then remembered what Ron had said. "Please tell me Ginny doesn't read that stuff."
"Are you mad? She would rather cut her own eyes out than read that drivel." Ron then looked a bit awkward. "It's Mum who reads them... Well, not these but the non-magical ones. She switched to those about three years ago."
Said Ginny right then noticed them talking. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
Harry, not wanting to enter that minefield, quickly deflected. "Nope, just taking a look at the literature."
If Ginny didn't believe them, she didn't show. Instead, she quickly scanned the magazine rack. "Ah, the broom magazine. Almost missed it," she said, pulling a few Sickles out of her pocket. In a way it was reassuring where her interests actually laid.
Rather sooner than later however, the last part of shopping had come: getting new school uniforms, since their old ones were getting a bit tight due to all of them being growing teenagers. The girls also were a bit concerned that their skirts were getting a bit too short due to them gaining height.
"I honestly hope we won't run into Malfoy. After three times in a row it's starting to get old," Harry said, hoping this year things would be different.
"Better be careful, Harry, or you could jinx it," Hermione warned Harry, though she herself also could live without meeting the Malfoys yet again in Diagon Alley.
Entering Madam Malkin's, they saw that indeed no Malfoys were present. To their bad luck however, Pansy Parkinson and her mother were, Pansy right at the moment modeling expensive-looking dress robes in front of a big mirror.
Despite looking expensive however, the robes also reinforced to the six friends why they had decided to never wear something like that themselves. To the boys, the damn thing looked way too much like a dress and their masculine pride rebelled against it. The girls on the other hand felt the dress robes looked like a potato bag on Parkinson and all of them - including Luna - knew right then they never wanted to wear robes ever.
It has to be a curse. There is no other explanation we always meet one of them, Harry thought.
The Parkinsons most certainly noticed them. Mother and daughter alike made a face as if they had seen dog shit on the sidewalk. Clearly, with Sirius not being present they felt braver than they otherwise would have been and showed their bigoted self more openly. It seemed they saw the Longbottoms as less important than Sirius, ignoring the presence of Neville's parents.
"Pansy, get changed, unwanted company is being present," Mrs. Parkinson told her daughter, who quickly vanished behind a privacy screen, then looked to Madam Malkin. "My house-elf will come to pick it up. Bill my account as usual."
"Now, that's just plain rude," Frank said, knowing exactly were that reaction came from.
If anything, Mrs. Parkinson only became even more uppity. "I see no reason to show courtesy to two sell-outs who have given up on our society to instead surround themselves with the bottom of the barrel."
Pansy, who seemed to have changed quickly back into her clothes, moved out from behind the screen to add her two cents. "Mother, we should not talk to them. After all, surrounding themselves with people so far below their station makes them not worth it."
The especially dirty look she was giving Hermione made it clear she had not forgotten what had happened between them during the riot.
Surprisingly, it was Luna who spoke up. "Truly? This is very interesting, since the Parkison family thanks to Perseus Parkinson in certain circles is still seen as below their station. Is that why your family is almost literally bending over to regain their favor?"
"You little...!" Pansy looked angry, but her mother stopped her.
"All of you will see the error of your ways and learn your place sooner than you think," Mrs. Parkinson said, before mother and daughter left the shop.
"Call me ignorant, but what is that about Perseus Parkinson? It's the second time Luna mentions him and there has to be some kind of story," Harry asked, wondering about it.
Neville actually answered. "I know that one thanks to my background. To make a story short, Perseus Parkinson was Minister from 1726 to 1733 and tried to get through a law that would have made it illegal to marry a person with no magic."
"Sounds incredibly dumb. That would have ensured that our society would have incested itself to oblivion," Ron snorted.
"I know, just look at America and the disaster that was Rappaport's Law. He miscalculated however, failed spectacularly and was thrown out of office. His shame was so great the Parkinsons suffered a severe social decline and basically became impoverished. They only recovered from it in the 40s and are still playing the suck-up game to regain their 'proper' position," Neville explained.
"And they are still hung up about it? They would have been better off doing something new instead of debasing themselves in the hope to regain the favor of these stuck-up families," Harry snorted, finding the whole thing really stupid.
Buying new uniforms then was done rather quickly.
"Now, the only thing remaining are dress robes..." Molly Weasley said, causing Madam Malkin to already rub her hands.
"Sorry Mum, but none of us will be getting those," Ginny said, making no secret she would not be moved from her decision.
"But you need to..." Molly started, but this time Harry decided to step in.
"Mrs. Weasley... no offense, but the letter only spoke of evening wear, not strictly of dress robes. And honestly, after seeing what Parkinson was wearing I can speak for all six of us that we won't ever wear such a thing," Harry explained.
"I already asked my parents and they agree that I should buy a nice evening gown in London," Hermione added, looking to her father, who nodded in agreement.
"I remember how miserable Neville looked when he had to wear dress robes. Maybe it IS time for a change," Alice added when seeing how determined her son looked on that issue.
Molly finally admitted defeat on it, then looked to Fred and George. "You want to be in on this as well?"
The twins looked at each other for a moment. "You see, Mum, if that helps us to get dates for whatever it is..." George started.
"...then who are we to say no?" Fred finished.
"Good, but before we go, first let's unload some weight. Lanka!" Frank called.
Out of nowhere a female house-elf appeared. "Master Frank has called?" she asked.
"Yes, please take our purchases back home. We still have to get something special," Frank told her.
"As Master Frank wishes," Lanka confirmed, then vanished together with all of Neville's school supplies.
"The last house-elf I've seen was Dobby. The ones at Hogwarts always go out of their way to do their work in secret. Don't they want the recognition?" Hermione wondered.
"Trust me, they are very proud of what they are accomplishing with their work," Xenophilius reassured Hermione. "The elves at Hogwarts feel that discretion is the best virtue in that line of work. Ah, house-elves are such strange people. It's a shame that despite positive examples like Hogwarts or the Longbottoms, society as a whole doesn't value their services justly... Not to speak of families that see it as their right to misuse the bond between master and servant."
Hermione had to think of Dobby, or the barbaric traditions of the Blacks which Sirius had told her about.
"Still, we have to get our things into the cars before we can go about finding the correct shops in London for your evening wear." Ian then gave the teenagers a quick lookover. "Black tie for the boys - since I doubt it will be formal enough for white tie - and evening gowns for the girls. Veronica, I trust you can take care of the girls?"
Veronica as the only adult woman in the group with knowledge in non-magical evening wear, nodded. "Good thinking. No way we want to cause this to end in disaster for the girls."
"The sacrifices I make..." Ginny whispered.
She had never been a girl liking wearing nice dresses - after all, it had taken her almost a year after entering primary school to get used to wearing a skirt - and thus she still was a bit uncomfortable with the idea. She was not rejecting wearing an evening gown, she did have feminine pride after all, but the occasion for it better be worth it.
"Too bad that Uncle Sirius is not here, he would get some kicks out of us breaking old-fashioned traditions," Harry remarked while all of them were on the way back to the Leaky Cauldron. "But as he said, some traditions are simply completely out of touch and should be broken with prejudice."
Mark on the other hand snorted. "Good thing I will be at Hogwarts after whatever it is has long blown over. No way you can ever get me wear a monkey suit."
Thomas had to laugh at his son's declaration. "Never say never, son. You won't know what the future will bring."
To Mark that sounded a bit like a threat.
...September 1st...
The weather over London was not the best while the families walked into King's Cross in order to get their children to the Hogwarts Express. In the past days the weather had changed, becoming overcast and wet, together with dropping temperatures. King's Cross itself was as busy as always, no one paying attention to a group of children being escorted by their parents.
Also, several people were not being present.
Mark of course was right at this moment at school, since the school year had started again. Sirius and Diane were busy with bringing Steve and Kathleen to school for their first day of school and thus were missing as well. Jean in turn was being very busy with baby Jonathan and thus couldn't come - mainly because she didn't want to have the baby around so many adults who think negatively about their family.
At least Remus was on his post to direct the first-years and their parents to the correct entrance to the platform.
"Hello, Uncle Remus. Is everything calm and quiet?" Harry asked when they approached the man.
"No problems at all. It really pays off that we tell them in advance what to expect," Remus said, then saw another family approach. "Sorry, but it looks like they need some help."
"He seems to be busier than normal," Harry observed while they walked to the entrance to platform 9¾.
"No wonder. Remus told us that the number of children from non-magical families has risen yet again. He says if this goes on they'll in some years be the majority of students at Hogwarts," Thomas explained, repeating what he had learned from Remus.
"Also don't forget that the war killed potential parents on the magical side and depressed the number of children being born in magical society - something they still haven't recovered from; the Weasleys are a huge exception to the norm. Honestly, the demographic change in Magical Britain can be explained quite rationally," Hermione added.
"Kind of weird if you think about it. The only thing the Death Eaters accomplished was to damage the society they claimed they want to preserve and instead accelerate the change," Harry thought aloud.
Thankfully, nothing went wrong when they entered the platform itself, meeting with the waiting Longbottoms. After what happened due to Dobby's sabotage at the start of Harry's second year, that most certainly was not a given.
"All of you are growing up so fast..." Pandora sighed when remembering that all of the children now already were at least in their fourth year.
She then gave her husband a look. Ever since the Grangers had their second child, Pandora seems to feel she is missing out on something, Xenophilius realized, knowing what his wife wanted.
Thing was, as much as he loved Luna, Xenophilus had been a bit hesitant about having another child with Pandora, but it looked like his wife's patience was now at its end. Granted, them becoming parents again was not a bad thought, just something he had tried to put off for a while. However, if it made Pandora happy, he would perhaps even help out nature a little in the process.
Arthur meanwhile gave the twins a warning look. "Now, Fred, George, we will keep an eye on you this year. Please don't do anything to stress out your mother."
Despite their ongoing problems with their mother due to their future plans, no way they wanted to trigger her after had bad reaction to what happened at the World Cup. "We'll try to keep it down," George promised, though that just meant nothing that would result in a letter to their mother.
Getting on the train then went by without problem and they waved from the window when the train started its journey.
"The goodbyes are always the most difficult part of this," Harry said while watching the city scape of Northern London move by the window. The cloud-covered sky and rainfall made the city look downright gray and lifeless.
"I was more annoyed how often they played at something that will happen at Hogwarts, but refused to tell us," Ron said while throwing something that looked like a blanket over Pigwidgeon's cage to make sure he wouldn't make a racket.
"Ron, what is that?" Neville asked in morbid curiosity when seeing lace on the supposed blanket.
"The dress robes my Mum set aside for me before we forced a change of plans. They sat in my room and I threw them over Pig's cage a few days ago and then noticed he keeps quiet when I do that. That's why I keep them; at least they are useful that way," Ron explained.
Hedwig watched the whole thing with what seemed to be relief, clearly the snowy owl had no wish to see Pigwidgeon again embarrass all of owl-kind.
"That thing must have been worn by your grandparents," Harry said after looking at how old-fashioned these robes looked. "Still, can't wait to hear what the big secret is supposed to be. I mean, after what happened in the past years, they would have to pull a really big surprise."
"Let's just hope it won't involve us," Neville said, just wanting this to be a quiet school year.
"Knowing our luck?" Harry then looked to the door. "Shoot, I didn't close it properly..."
Harry went to the door to close it properly, but then stopped when hearing voices and put a finger to his lips to show his friends to stay silent. Then then listened.
"...and Mother honestly considered sending me to Durmstrang. Despite wanting me close, she worries too much and after the past three years feels that Hogwarts isn't safe. Father managed to change her mind, which is a bit of a pity, since Durmstrang is a proper school." That was Draco Malfoy.
"I'm glad you didn't change schools, Draco. By now I wouldn't know how to get through school without you at my side." That was Pansy Parkinson, by now Draco's constant companion.
"I know, but certain circumstances have arisen that will make school better for us..." Their voices faded as they had walked by.
Harry closed the door properly and sat down. "Too bad his mother was convinced to let him stay. Eh, Hermione, you know anything about that Durmstrang school?"
Hermione had long ago made peace with the fact that her friends would ask her about trivia which she was likely to know - and in the rare case she didn't, Luna often had the answer. While petting Crookshanks to calm him down from his usual bad mood after spending time in his carrier, she told her friends what she knew about the school.
"Durmstrang is a school in Norway, however, they have next to no connection to the country itself, which has historical and ideological reasons. You see, Durmstrang prides itself as an elite school that gets its students from all over Europe and they are very picky with the students they accept," Hermione started to explain.
"No, let me guess. Muggleborn students are not welcome?" Ginny guessed.
"That's one of the biggest factors," Hermione said with a grimace, remembering the bigotry against people like herself. "Additionally, Durmstrang puts an emphasis on the Dark Arts... not how to defend yourself against them. That Grindelwald had been a student there is not helping their case either."
"Grindelwald had been a student at Durmstrang? Yikes, that school can't be good," Ron said, knowing of the man due to Remus having seen this as important history to convey in the preschool.
"All that said, is it any wonder that when the Norwegian Ministry was created they right away got into conflict with the school? In Magical Norway practically all locals go to a rival school close to Bergen and their Ministry would love nothing more than to get rid of Durmstrang. Alas, the school is magically hidden somewhere between the northern fjords," Hermione finished her explanation.
Leaning back, Harry shook his head. "What a really messed-up school."
"It is very telling that something like a school can become powerful enough to practically secede from the government of the territory they are located in. Too much power corrupts," Luna thought aloud while pushing her glasses up her nose. "The magical world is not very good at creating modern structures."
That was a bit sobering, if something like a magical school could create its own little kingdom with no checks and balances.
The Hogwarts Express moved on.
Some hours by now had passed and if anything, the weather outside had only gotten worse. To their surprise they had not be 'graced' with a visit from Malfoy or Parkinson. Perhaps these two were finally learning that they were gaining nothing by antagonizing them? One way or another, they were happy that they would be spared this tiresome ritual this year. It was getting old after all.
The food trolley lady had just passed their compartment and they had bought some things from the witch - but not too much, since their packed lunches in general had improved a lot since their first journey on the train. Though, they did no longer buy chocolate frogs - not after an incident with Crookshanks during the journey back to Hogwarts after winter break, where he'd almost eaten one, which would have been bad for his health.
At the moment they were busy with eating their lunch.
"Percy no longer attending school has one advantage: Mum no longer gives me corned beef," Ron remarked before digging into his roast beef sandwich.
Only Ron... Hermione thought while attending to her own lunch. "By the way, did Percy or Penelope actually reveal what their new job is, before they left?"
"No idea," Ginny said while making sure her long hair would stay out of the way while she was eating. "No one wanted to tell us what this is about. I really wonder what all the secrecy is supposed to accomplish."
"Really weird..." Harry shrugged, before returning his attention to his lunch.
Meanwhile in a different compartment Dudley, Millicent and Daphne were talking while eating their own lunch - a big shared one as a form of bonding, as Millicent had called it. They had met Astoria shortly before boarding the train, but not ever since. It was most likely the girl was being busy with the friends she had made in Hufflepuff - Daphne after all said that had been her favorite topic at home during the summer.
"And I tell you, something very weird is going on," Daphne told her friends over their shared lunch. "I heard that Malfoy and Parkinson are both acting somewhat out of character."
To Dudley that was quite vague. "You mean, they don't act like everyone who is not fitting their criteria is beneath them? That's kind of difficult to imagine."
"No, they of course still act like complete jerks, but they are no longer acting on it. Other girls in the train told me that these two have been surprisingly passive instead of trying to assert their authority like they normally do," Daphne explained what she had heard.
"If you mean with that they normally try to bully the new first-years, then yes, they haven't done that at all. That IS weird for them," Millicent agreed, also having made that observation.
"You think we should tell Harry and the others?" Dudley asked, feeling this could save them some problems later on.
"Would be better... But enough of them. I haven't asked yet, but did all of you get evening wear?" Millicent asked, referring to what was written in their letters.
Dudley now couldn't help but chuckle. "That's the one thing I could buy together with my mother, who otherwise doesn't come with me on the yearly shopping trips, since she doesn't want to enter Diagon Alley. We actually visited a special shop to get me a nice dinner suit - black tie."
Truth to be told, he was glad his mother was going out of her way to show him so much support. Vernon seemed to have written him off and clearly had mostly retreated from his life. It had been a gradual process which had accelerated significantly after the episode where he had barely escaped spending Christmas with Aunt Marge. The estrangement between father and son now had reached painful levels.
"No dress robes? ... Of course not. After seeing pictures I convinced my mother to buy me a good evening gown," Millicent admitted. "Guess you're not as lucky, Daphne?"
Daphne grimaced. "I'm stuck with dress robes; my parents already bought them for me and there was little I could do about it. After all, they are part of the higher society and know the social expectations that come with it."
"Bad luck..." Millicent said with a grimace, hoping Daphne wouldn't look too bad in the robes.
A few minutes later Dudley got up. "I have to make a visit to the loo. I'll be back shortly." Dudley then left the two girls
As soon as Dudley was gone, Daphne sighed. "Honestly, Millie. Both of you know you like each other, so why do both of you insist on this little masochist dance of not acting on it?"
"I can't speak for Dudley, but I still feel unsure if I'm truly ready for this," Millicent admitted.
Rolling her eyes Daphne had to admit that fourteen was not exactly the optimal age to give dating a chance, but considering all the weird stuff that had already happened in their lives she felt one should take the chance if offered. As for herself, she would very much give dating a chance, but sadly at school fitting candidates were a rarity.
In a different compartment meanwhile, discussion revolved around a different matter.
"I don't understand, Draco. Why did you tell us to stay away from the little pipsqueaks?" Goyle asked Malfoy, confused at his leader's actions.
"Yes, the new firsties are are more annoying than last year's," Crabble agreed, not seeing the point in leaving the new first year students alone.
Draco for his part rolled his eyes, since he felt he had dealt with the duo's stupidity too often over the years. At least he got support from his parents for the plan, though recently his father was strangely preoccupied and was not home often. He most likely was working hard on improving his influence on the Ministry.
"Do I really need to spell it out?... Stupid question, of course I have to when it comes to you two. After the failures in the past three years, you should have seen the direct approach doesn't work. No, we instead have to fight dirty," Draco tried again.
"You want us to throw dirt at them?" Crabble wondered.
Draco felt like he was explaining things to a brick wall, while Pansy sighed. "Draco, why are you still keeping them around? I get they are the muscle, but even for that task they show a concerning lack of smarts."
"They do have their uses and father insists," Draco told Pansy, then saw the compartment door open. "Ah, good, looks like our invitation was accepted."
Several students walked into their compartment. All of them had in common that they were pure-blooded and held the correct political and social views - meaning their families were blood-supremacists. That was the crowd Draco and Pansy were part of and in which they felt comfortable. At the front of the group was Ciella, the acne-girl.
"I see you were successful, Ciella," Pansy told the girl.
"They are with me and interested what Draco is planning," Ciella said after they all had walked in and closed the door.
Draco couldn't help but feel satisfaction that his influence in the group was growing. "Good. I've used the time to plan out how we can hurt them without dirtying our hands. Though, all of you still need some patience before we can start..."
...hours later, Hogsmeade station...
When the Hogwarts Express finally arrived in Hogsmeade, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. A massive thunderstorm was above Hogwarts, lighting arcing through the dark clouds while a torrent of ice-cold rain blasted down to the ground, looking like a wall of water. The higher year students almost ran to get into the carriages while feeling the first-year students had drawn the worst lot possible.
"Crap, only seconds in this and our cloaks look like we bathed with them," Ginny gasped, being glad that at least the cloak's hood had also protected her long red hair from becoming a wet mess.
"I feel sorry for the firsties," Harry said after he had cleaned his glasses, looking out of the window to the lake - or at least the general direction since the rain caused everything after a few meters to vanish behind a water wall. "They have to be in the boats and travel across the lake in this weather."
"I have a feeling Madam Pomfrey will be on standby to ensure they won't get sick on their first day of school," Neville added, guessing there would be lots of Pepper-up potion being used.
The Thestrals didn't seem to mind the weather and did their duty as always, thus despite the muddy road the carriages did manage to reach the castle in a timely manner. All students again made sure to make a run into the castle. Thankfully, the faculty seemed to have anticipated this and the doors of the great hall also acted like a big hairdryer, helping students to get dry with a constant stream of warm air. Of course that did have some side effects and many girls whined that their long hair looked like a mess.
They should not complain, Hermione thought, feeling a bit vindictive. After years of being made fun of due to her bushy hair, she felt no sympathy for those girls.
Harry for his part, now that things were no longer hectical, noticed something when Ginny took off her cloak. The start of puberty clearly was beneficial to Ginny and she had changed in certain ways. The school uniform somehow looked better on her and she was filling it out more nicely, Harry noticing things he had not noticed when Ginny did wear her leisure clothes. Harry even caught himself looking at her skirt-covered butt for a moment.
What am I doing? Harry then wondered. He wanted to scold himself that he was disrespecting Ginny, but was is disrespect if he admired how more mature Ginny now looked?
"Hey, guys!" Colin Creevey greeted them while they sat down at the Gryffindor table. "I'm really excited, my brother Dennis does start Hogwarts this year!"
"Is he as excitable as you are?" Ron asked Colin, knowing how lively the boy could be.
"Well, it runs in the family! Boy, I can't wait! Maybe he is in the same house as me?" Colin said, clearly feeling the wait was a bit of a torture.
"I wouldn't bet money on it. Look at Padma and Parvati, they are twins and yet in two different houses. Or remember Daphne and Astoria, who are sisters and yet in two very different houses as well. Cases like the Weasleys are more the exception than the norm," Hermione explained.
"Well, I can still hope!" That said, Colin left to talk to his friends in his year.
"He is more excitable than normal..." Harry remarked, then looked around.
The great hall was set up as usual for the sorting and following feast, the hovering candles bathing everything in a warm light, which was a stark contrast to the thunderstorm that was projected onto the ceiling. Everyone was excited for the new school year, as if trying to forget the horrors of the previous one.
"You can see the gaps of those who didn't return," Neville noticed.
Indeed, there were several seats at the house tables not in the section for the new first-years. The three students that got bitten and thus had to leave the country, as well as those who had been pulled out of Hogwarts by their parents after Greyback's attack on the castle. It was clear everyone had noticed, judging by the dampened mood of many.
Harry then looked to the faculty table and stopped when seeing the changes that had taken place there. "Guys, what are Percy and Penelope doing at the faculty table?" Harry wondered, pointing.
Looking to the faculty table, they scanned it. Of course all the teachers with exception of Hagrid and McGonagall were present. Also present were the various other people working at Hogwarts, like Dumbledore's secretary Ms. Spencer, the librarian Madam Pince and the school disciplinarian Mr. Filch. Now however the table had become longer than it used to be and five new people sat at the extension, two of which were Percy and Penelope.
"If they are professors, I'm gonna eat a broom," Ron said, quickly counting the number of teachers.
"They are clearly not," Ginny said, pointing to one teacher in particular. "There is our Defense teacher for this year. I remember seeing him around here the previous year, it's that scary Auror with the magical eye."
"If you had read the news, you would know that Alastor Moody got retired, that's why he got enough time to do this job," Hermione sighed. "Still, seeing him there gives me hope that Defense this year again will be good."
"So no idea what this is about with Percy and Penelope?" Harry said. "All right, so that must be why they were so tight-lipped about their new jobs. They are working for Hogwarts; I wonder what this will be about."
It was that moment that Hagrid and McGonagall entered the hall and went to their seats, signaling that it wouldn't be long now before Myrtle would lead in the new students. Taking one look at how soaked Hagrid was, and the amount of time he needed to get dry, and Madam Pomfrey went to a small cart loaded with bottles full of Pepper-up potion. She clearly had expected this and planned ahead.
A few minutes later Myrtle did escort the new students inside, all of them looking quite miserable - at least until they got air-dried. Colin for his part pointed out his brother, who looked like he literally had taken a bath in the lake considering how soaked he was. Myrtle floated to the faculty table, but didn't look a bit concerned.
"Headmaster, while our new students are here, please let them have something against the cold first. I would be really sad to have them get sick on their first day," Myrtle said with concern.
Thankfully, Madam Pomfrey was already at hand and even before being sorted, each of the new students got a spoonfull of potion to prevent them from getting a cold - with the exception of Colin's brother, who indeed had fallen into the lake and got two spoonfulls. Most of them actually found it more exciting than anything and didn't mind the resulting steam.
Then finally the Sorting Hat was out and started his newest song.
"Really interesting song," Harry commented after the hat was done with singing. "It talked about how the path to greatness is not always the one with fame and that by working together we can achieve great things."
"That was very specific of the hat," Luna observed, having listened carefully. "Clearly it must have heard several things in the Headmaster's office and decided to give us hints at what to expect for this year."
Thankfully, the sorting itself then went off without any unforeseen problems, well, perhaps with exception of when Colin's brother actually was sorted into Gryffindor.
"See, he actually did get in," Colin said excitedly, before leaving to introduce his brother to his friends.
"There seems to be lots of sour grapes at the Slytherin table," Ginny then noticed.
"Is that any wonder? This year they got the same share of muggleborn students as the other houses. There is no way the upper-year pure-blood students will take such a shift in power well," Luna explained calmly.
Any thought about that left them when the feast started.
During the feast, Nearly-Headless Nick again watched with a bit of envy. "What would I give to actually be able to participate in this."
Harry arched an eyebrow at this. "Even if you actually could, wouldn't your nearly-headless condition mean it would create a disgusting mess since it would come right back out after you swallow it?"
"Well, I could try to keep my head on properly, but that indeed would be a problem," Nick mused, clearly not yet having thought how eating would be impossible with a nearly completely separated neck.
"Ah yes, regarding that... Eh, Myrtle, can you come over for a moment?" Hermione asked, clearly having some questions only said ghost could answer.
"Can I help you with something?" the girl ghost asked while hovering over from where she had talked with some first-year students.
"Yes. When Nick said he feels sad he couldn't eat, it got me thinking. I heard that you were dressed in robes before you changed into your current outfit. I've also seen other ghosts, Nick included, in different outfits. I've seen Nick holding a letter and the Grey Lady read books. Do you know what's going on here?" Hermione asked, unable to hold back her curiosity.
Myrtle giggled after hearing this waterfall of questions. "Quite easy, it's all an extension of us. The uniform you see me wearing and the glasses on my nose? It's an extension of myself, they are made of the same matter as I am. So if you see us carry something, we created it from ourselves and thus can interact with it."
"As I might add, the letter from the Headless Hunt was given to me orally. I created the letter due to me being upset. I know the Grey Lady has memorized many books, but finds it more comfortable to give them physical form to read them," Nick added.
Myrtle then saw Neville blush and she giggled again. "Don't worry, big boy, I only get naked when I visit the girls in the showers or when they bathe. Don't want to stand out, after all."
Hermione, Ginny and Luna all remembered the one visit from Myrtle in the showers the previous year. While she had been very polite, it was a bit unnerving to have a translucent, naked ghost girl shower together with you, while said ghost eagerly chatted about all kind of things. They had never said a word about that incident to the boys.
In time the feast did come to an end and Dumbledore stood up to make the announcements.
"Ahem. Now that we are all well-fed and watered, I have to ask for your attention as there are some announcements to be made," Dumbledore started, causing everyone to go silent.
"First the changes in the staff. As you probably noticed, we do have a new professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Please welcome Alastor Moody, he was the leader of the Aurors who worked so hard to protect the school the previous year and in his newfound retirement decided to use his vast knowledge to teach the next generation."
There was applause, since the students after all knew how hard the Aurors had fought and that there had been multiple fatalities. Dumbledore then looker to his right. "There also is a new addition to Hogwarts in form of an administrative office, which from now on will take over the bureaucratic work. For you students it is important to know that all requests and other paperwork are now to be brought to the new offices, which are to be found near the great hall. We are especially proud of our recent alumni Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater, who will lead the administration."
"So that is what the big secret was! Percy and his girlfriend are now working for Hogwarts!" Harry said, all of it now making sense.
"Considering that thanks to these scars the Ministry would never hire Percy, he managed to still get a good job." Ron then groaned. "That also means he now can officially write to Mum should we mess up something."
Dumbledore meanwhile continued. "The forest outside the castle is full of dangerous creatures and thus forbidden. An age line prevents students from entering, so don't even try and punishment for trying anyway will be severe. Additionally, I'm proud to announce that this year Hogwarts will operate under the banner of cooperation between the houses. Details will be announced later on."
Dudley looked to his friends when hearing this. "Officially working together with Harry and his friends would be awesome."
"It would certainly be a kick against the shins of some people," Millicent added with amusement, looking to where the children from the radical families looked quite sour at the news.
"Now, most of you have already heard of an event that will take place in Hogwarts this year. Sadly, due to certain constraints, the annual Quidditch cup can not take place." Dumbledore then was bombarded with screams of dismay at these news, but he patiently waited until silence had returned. "While this is sad, training and tryouts are still possible, thus there is no reason to slack off. However, most certainly all of you will be elated to hear that instead Hogwarts has been selected to host the first Triwizard Tournament in over two centuries."
"The Tri-what?" Harry wondered, then looked to Hermione together with the others.
Hermione noticed the looks. "Don't look at me, I also have no idea what that is." Considering the wide-spread kind of knowledge Hermione had learned about the magical world, that said something.
Dumbledore meanwhile continued. "The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven-hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."
The excited chatter fell silent at the mention of a death toll, some students openly wondering who was insane enough to hold a tournament with a death toll.
"A competition between schools with a death toll? All right, count me out," Neville decided right then and there.
Even Luna, who also had never before heard of that tournament, looked disturbed at that revelation. "If the schools accepted a death toll as long as it was low enough, then there is a good reason this tournament got abandoned."
"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament, none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger. The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in late October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."
Now there was excited chatter, since a thousand Galleons was a huge sum. Fred and George looked especially eager, since with that kind of money, they could jump-start their business instead of creating the base capital the old-fashioned way.
"Regardless what they say, no money in the world is worth risking my ass like that!" Dudley decided. It certainly helped that he got a considerable sum on the bank and thus didn't feel the need to get rich.
Millicent for her part couldn't help but to be impressed by his resolve to stay out of that stupidity.
"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts, the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion."
The students finally understood that Dumbledore was not joking; he was very serious. Others however felt relief that with the age restriction in place, the social pressure to participate was off their shoulders due to their age.
"I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen. The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be remaining with us for the rest of the school year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your wholehearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. However, before that, the school song of Hogwarts!"
Now there were groans, many having hoped that Dumbledore would have forgotten about the school song in all the excitement.
o
"That's unfair!" George complained while they were on the way to Gryffindor tower. "Both of us turn seventeen in April; we are most certainly old enough. Why can't they let us compete?!"
"No way they can stop me from entering!" Fred declared. "A thousand Galleons... A little danger is worth such a big prize money."
"I thought you promised not to give Mum even more stress?" Ron asked sarcastically, having hear the exchange. "Percy now has an official reason to keep a close eye on both of you. Try to enter and he'll write to Mum in a heartbeat."
"What about you, brother dear?" George deflected the question. "Aren't you eager? Think about it: money and fame."
"Both of which I already have. My vault is well-fed and I already got fame for winning chess tournaments. No way I risk my life for something I already have," Ron waved it off. In the past he might have taken the bait, but his life situation had changed and he no longer was desperate for fame or money.
"This a very mature standpoint, Ron," Hermione remarked, looking honestly impressed. Ron for his part tried not to react, but recently Hermione caused certain... reactions in him.
"I wonder what kind of impartial judge they could have to decide on the champions. I mean, no one can be truly impartial in such a situation, right?" Harry thought aloud.
"Who knows? It's Dumbledore after all," Ginny reminded them with a shrug.
"There won't be any judge we can't fool," Fred and George declared, causing Hermione to frown since she felt this kind of behavior could only end badly.
However, she wouldn't say anything and let them walk to their doom. "You two must do what you feel is right, of course," Hermione only said. After all, some people did only learn from falling onto their face.
"People have died in that tournament and yet everyone only seems to think of money and fame. It's like they are ignoring the danger," Harry said, wondering why someone would want to endanger themselves, having never understood the motivations of people who did stupid, dangerous things only because they hoped for fame.
"The lure of fame is very great. Many follow it in the hope to give some meaning and color to their, what they at least think, insignificant existence," Luna mused.
Fame, that again sounds like Lockhart. I got famous due to what happened with Voldemort and it turned me off from ever seeking it again, Harry thought.
That moment the Gryffindor students stopped when reaching the portrait of the Fat Lady. No trace was left of the damage done by Greyback and the Fat Lady herself also seemed to have calmed done compared to the hysterics she had been in directly after the attack. Surprisingly, she didn't ask for a password, instead she looked over the group.
"Just for your information, from now on no passwords are needed. The castle tells me who is a Gryffindor student and I let them in. This also goes for the just sorted new students," the Fat Lady explained. She then added. "Though of course I would appreciate you asking me politely for entrance." The the portrait door then opened.
"Thank all goodness! No more convoluted passwords!" Neville sighed in relief. Him being infamous for his inability to remember the passwords had been common knowledge for years and the reason why he generally returned with someone else just in case.
The common room looked inviting, also showing no sign there ever had been a battle, but the six friends were a little too tired, many questions about recent developments in their heads could wait until tomorrow.
In the fourth-year boys' dorms everyone noticed that there now was one bed less than last year. It reminded them painfully of how Stefan Schuster had been forced to leave Hogwarts - though he also would have left on his own. It was a lasting reminder of how hard the previous year had been and the losses it had caused.
"Regardless how long we've known, this is painful confirmation, just like with the empty seats in the hall," Seamus said while pinning a picture of the victorious Irish team to his headboard.
"Yes, like we only now see that he won't return," Dean said while working on his own headboard to pin a West Ham poster of the current squad to it. Despite liking Quidditch, Dean would be a life-long football fan.
"All the excitement, but seeing this brings me down again," Ron said while changing for bed.
"I wonder where he is now? We only know Germany granted him and the other bite victims together with their families asylum," Neville wondered, having thought about it several times.
"Regardless where they are, they most certainly will be treated way better than they would have been by the Ministry," Harry concluded, though it was a bit depressing to think like this of their own government.
On the girls' side meanwhile, there also was activity.
Like with the boys, they noticed that Fay Dunbar's bed now was gone and it was a harsh reminder that the girl would not return to Hogwarts, having been forced to leave the country together with her family. Especially Lavender and Parvati took that reminder hard, since they had been quite close to the girl, being uncharacteristically silent while they started to change for bed.
"Regardless how much they annoyed me as a trio, seeing them now is a bit depressing," Kellah said, watching both silent girls.
"Yes. Makes me realize we perhaps had been a bit too hard on them at times for some of the things they did," Elizabeth agreed, also being unnerved by the silence of these two girls.
"It's like Lavender and Parvati didn't want understand that Fay would never return and now reality hits them into the face," Ginny thought aloud.
Hermione could only shake her head at this while making sure that Crookshanks had not shed any hair under the bed covers. "Remember how much they had been in denial about this before summer."
"Denial can be a very strong power... and a very hurtful one in the end," Luna added while taking off her glasses for bed.
Thus in both fourth-year Gryffindor dorms the day ended on a more sober note.
...at the same time...
While the students were heading for bed, the teachers of Hogwarts were still wide awake, feeling the need to talk more about what would happen in the school over the year. Some teacher made no secret of their opinion about the Triwizard Tournament and the impact it would have on the school.
"I've said it a few times, and I will do so again. This is a colossal waste of everyone's time; sending students into danger for the amusement of others and a trophy to be put into a showcase," Snape snorted loudly, making no secret of his opposition to the whole thing.
"You've already told us multiple times, Severus," McGonagall agreed tiredly. "Not that you opinion doesn't have merit. It's still disappointing that your opposition against this circus fell upon deaf ears, Albus."
Dumbledore for his part leaned back in his seat, looking a bit tired. "Sadly, once politics become involved my wiggle room is reduced greatly. Once Cornelius made it a matter of national interest, what was left to me was to give my protest to protocol."
"Well, you sold it really well to the students, even looked excited about it," Flitwick remarked, having observed the Headmaster during his speech.
"I didn't want to taint the whole thing right from the start, that would not have been fair to our students. Since we can't stop this tournament from taking place, I feel we should at least have the students get something from it," Dumbledore explained his reasoning.
"You always have to be noble Albus, don't you?" Snape asked, then looked around. "Where is our new Defense professor? I thought he would love to be present for this."
"Alastor said he has better things to do than watching us moan over the inevitable," McGonagall revealed, though she had no idea what Moody was doing right now. Most likely patrolling the castle to ease his paranoia.
"The problem remains that this contest, apart from the dangers involved, will be terribly disruptive to the functioning of the school," Professor Rogers reminded everyone. "We have to host the representatives of the two schools for most of the year, the tasks themselves will be disruptive and there is of course despite the excitement still grumbling that there will be no Quidditch."
Professor Sinistra could only agree. "And all of this just to satisfy the ego of politicians. I bet Minister Fudge hopes that it will net him a re-election - which would be ironic since all of this has the name of the late Barty Crouch all over it."
"Madame Maxime from Beauxbatons is also annoyed how it interrupts the working of her own school, especially since she will be here for most of the year," Dumbledore added, then looked a bit thoughtful. "Igor Karkaroff on the other hand seems quite eager to be here."
Everyone grimaced at the mention of Karkaroff. The man was a proven Death Eater who only had gotten free by cutting a deal with a Ministry to rat out other Death Eaters. Snape in particular disliked the man, since not only was he a coward but also had tried to send him into the knife as well. Thankfully for Snape, Dumbledore by that point had already pulled strings for him.
Everyone still wondered how Karkaroff had become Headmaster of Durmstrang, since he was not an alumnus of that school. The rumors that did get out of the school however painted a picture that the man was not particularly popular and multiple students had been withdrawn over his - even for Durmstrang - unpleasant course he had taken with the school.
No, hosting that man would not be something any of them were looking forward to.
to be continued...
Next Episode:
"Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang"
Notes:
Here the notes.
As you see, the events at the World Cup do have significant effects on everyone, even those who had not been there. Dumbledore of course can read the signs and unlike in canon their side won't be caught with the pants down and do prepare properly. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister sees what this riot will lead to. We also get a word on the aftermath of Greyback's deeds.
We again get an idea of Skeeter's "quality journalism" and finally also get an insight on how the Parkinson family had lost it's influence (and money) for a long time. Of course the Parkinsons don't want to be reminded of that. Finally, most of you already guessed how it would go with the evening wear.
I'm by now comfortable using the scenes in the Hogwarts Express for exposition, though you probably were surprised that Draco didn't seek a confrontation. He has other plans...
I bet you didn't expect the job Percy and Penelope got. For this year however they will mostly be in the background and only next year it will become truly important. I also felt that dying as a teenager, Myrtle could be a bit of a perv, thus her actions as written here.
Of course the tournament is announced, though as we see, the teachers are not enthusiastic about it, since it's disruptive to the working of the school. Be prepared for surprises coming with the tournament.