Chapter 11
Harry was walking down one of the castle's many corridors muddling over everything Professor McGonagall had told him and Hermione about the animagus transformation. There was a lot to take in; first was just how much who he was would affect his form. Apparently the form you took as an animagus was a reflection of who you are at your core. Finding that form was done by using a potion containing the leaf of a mandrake that you had to keep in your mouth for a lunar month before you could brew the potion. Once you had brewed the potion, you had to perform a ritual twice a day as the sun crossed the horizon while holding the potion, until there was a lightning storm during which you had to drink the potion while standing completely naked in the eye of the storm. And if you messed up even one step you had to start all over again.
All that was just to find your form and to make your body mutable. Once you knew what your form was, you had to work out what your form said about yourself and you needed to accept it before you could complete the transformation. The problems were numerous; one was timing. Electrical storms didn't exactly happen every day in the UK, and when they did happen it was not normally over Hogwarts. Timing would be everything. If they made the potion early you could end up stuck performing the ritual twice a day for months. It would also be easy to miss one of the rituals. A night in the hospital wing, a late astronomy class, or even just getting caught up in your studies and missing sundown. It wasn't just going to a class room a few times a week to practice.
The second problem was Hermione. Her potion mishap from the second year was raising its head again. Professor McGonagall thought that the Kneazle magic, tangled with her own, would guid Hermione's form. That meant that the truths and aspects of herself that needed to be acknowledged to achieve her animal form may not be tied to her current form but the form she would have had without the polyjuice. Or, if they were tied to her new form, they may be qualities that Hermione herself did not have. Kneazles were intelligent, yes, but they also tended to be aloof, and while Daphne could fit that description Hermione couldn't.
Harry smiled to himself as a thought stuck him. If it was a desire to cuddle in front of a warm fire that represented a Kneazle, then Hermione wouldn't have to dig deep at all. Thinking of Hermione reminded him that her birthday was fast approaching and he needed to get things ready. Harry had decided that he needed to up his game for Hermione's birthday. He didn't think he had done badly last year, though compared to what she had done for him for his birthday it seemed lacking.
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Hermione woke on Saturday the 17th and smiled. She was curled around Harry, who was idly stoking one for her ears as they laid in their bed in the Room of Requirement. Last night had been their regular Friday night date; one thing she had missed at home with everything else that was going on was their one night a week to just be together. Yes, they spent more time having fun together over the summer, but the structure of having one night set aside had made that time special in her mind. They had become incredibly bold and decided that they were going to keep spending their date nights together and to take advantage of the double bed the Room could provide them.
"Morning Beautiful." Harry's voice came from behind her head somewhere, then she felt Harry press a kiss just behind her ear, which was probably all he could reach without moving them both. She smiled and snuggled into him more. "Are you looking forward to today?"
She nodded an enthusiastic yes. Harry had informed her yesterday that they would be celebrating her birthday today. Her birthday was actually on the 19th but that was also a Monday this year. So, rather than trying to fit a celebration in around their 1st day of the week, they were going to take advantage of Saturday and celebrate then. Harry had been cagey about what he had planned, but he had done so well last year that she was sure she would enjoy it.
"So would the birthday girl like to get up for breakfast." Harry asked her. Hermione shook her head. "Would you like to stay here while I go get you breakfast?" Harry asked giving her another option.
Hermione thought about it a second, before shaking her head again. "Let's just stay here for another hour." She decided as she snuggled into her Harry pillow. A few seconds later she felt his arms wrap around her.
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Breakfast turned out to be mostly a repeat of the year before: French pastries, orange juice, and fruit. Harry had updated the selection to include hot chocolate after he had found it on the breakfast menu when they were in France, and the two of them enjoyed their little breakfast together. Afterwards the two of them relaxed by reading a book together in front of the fire. Hermione loved it. As much as she enjoyed the more physical aspects that their relaxing had grown to include, she still loved the times it was just her and Harry, talking or reading a book together.
At around midday, there was a knock at the door. Hermione had no idea who it was, as they had never been visited while in the room before. She climbed out of Harry's lap and went to open the door. Daphne, Tracy, and Neville were there; all three were each holding a wrapped package and simultaneously all wished her "Happy Birthday Hermione!"
Hermione invited their three friends in but gave a start of surprise as she turned back into the Room. It hadn't changed, but it was now decorated completely differently. The table that had held their breakfast was once again full, only this time with finger foods like sandwiches and sausage rolls. There was also a plate of prawn cocktail Vol Au Vent and another of smoked salmon and cream cheese canapés. In the center of the table was a cake that, if her parents saw it, was sure to earn a lecture on the dangers sugar poses to your teeth. The Room was also decorated with blue, purple, and pink streamers along with a matching banner that read 'Happy Birthday Hermione!' Harry was standing next to the table also holding a wrapped present and smiling at her. "Surprise!"
Hermione couldn't hold herself back, she jumped at Harry and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him as close as she could. Her nose was filled with a scent that was Harry: something peppery from the body wash he used, a hint of the wood polish he used on his broom, and the ever present musky scent that drove her feline side crazy.
Hermione was indeed surprised, but now she thought about it was obvious that Harry would do this for her. The problem was that she had just become accustomed to not celebrating her birthday with people her own age. There had been a few birthdays when she was little, back when it was parents who decided who went to the party, but when it came time for Hermione to invite her friends there hadn't been any. Hermione 'the bookworm', 'the know it all', and 'the teachers pet' just wasn't good at making friends.
Then she came to Hogwarts. First year was a total wash; she hadn't become friends with Harry and Ron until the end of October. Second year, both Harry and Ron had wished her a happy birthday and had given her a card. It hadn't been much, but it had been enough. Last year Ron had been acting like a prick over Crookshanks, so Harry had arranged for just the two of them to spend the day together. Hermione had just gotten used to having only family caring about her birthday. Well, family and Harry, but Harry was almost family.
But if she had thought about it, it was obvious that Harry would go to the same trouble for her birthday that she had for his birthday. It wasn't in his nature to let something like that slide, she wasn't sure if it was knowing how bad it felt to have your birthday ignored or if it had more to with holding on tight to any sort of love Harry received. Now she was thinking about it, it was probably both.
"Thanks Harry. Thanks everyone. I didn't expect all this." Hermione's smile threatened to split her face, it was so wide.
"Well that is sort of the point. Else it wouldn't be a surprise." Daphne answered, the amused sarcasm clear in her voice and the friendly smirk she wore before she and Tracy sandwiched Hermione in a hug. "Happy 15th Hermione." The two of them said together
"Thanks guys. But you know my birthday is not till Monday right?" Hermione, always a hugger, held tight to her two friends.
"Close enough, and we are holding your celebration today, so to us you're fifteen. Even if it's not quite true." Neville, who had moved to stand next to Harry, said.
"Anyway, today is your party so today is your birthday, so that means birthday presents." Tracy held out a thin square present wrapped in flower blue paper. The enthusiasm the girls had was infectious and Hermione couldn't help but smile.
Hermione ripped the paper from the present revealing a wizarding record, 'The Weird Sisters' #1 hits'. Hermione thanked Tracy. "I thought after the summer you'd like to try some wix music." Tracy told her.
Daphne handed Hermione a package wrapped in the same flower blue paper that her girlfriend had used. Hermione could tell it was a book even before she opened it and excitedly tore off the paper, revealing the title: A Witch's Guide to Wizarding Manners and Etiquette by Elaine Greengrass.
"My great great aunt. She had a health scare in her 20s and was worried she wouldn't see her daughter grow up. In the end she was fine and lived to see her 148th birthday. She published the book later in life, but it never sold well. It's hard to find a copy now outside of our family library, and we have like 30 copies just sitting around. I thought you would like one. Not only because you were raised in a different culture, but because I know you love rare books and that one is signed by my aunt...Plus, you're probably going to be the next Lady Potter. You need to know the rules just so you can intentionally snub the blood snobs," the last two sentences were whispered only to Hermione.
Hermione pulled the girl into a hug. "I love it, thank you." Daphne looked a little surprised to be pulled into a hug again, but from the look on her face it was a good surprise.
Neville went next and handed Hermione a present that was obviously another book, this one wrapped in red and gold paper. Hermione tore off the paper again and looked at the cover. A Comprehensive Guide to British Relations with Our Native Creatures, by Evard Selwyn. "Thanks Neville." Hermione clutched both the books to herself with the record sandwiched between them.
Hermione didn't want to put her books down, but she had to in order to open Harry's gift. Harry had wrapped his in blue paper as well, only his was the exact shade of periwinkle that she loved and didn't have a flower pattern. Whereas with the last two presents Hermione knew they were books as soon as she held them, the only thing she knew for sure was that Harry's wasn't a book. It was flexible, yet it wasn't flexible enough to be clothing.
She pulled the wrapping from her gift and looked at what she had. It took a moment of moving the leather straps and turning it over for her to work out what it was. It was a book bag, made from dark brown leather and easily big enough to accept the huge tomes that the wizard world favoured. The flap on the front had a pouch that was perfect for keeping her ink and quills in it, and the lower right corner had her initials H.J.G. stamped in gold.
Before Hermione could say anything Harry started talking. "The bag has an expanded space in the main pouch as well as feather light charms built in, so you can carry all the books you want without worrying about doing your back in. The front pocket also has cushioning charms on it so that you won't need to worry about your quills getting bent or your ink bottles breaking -" Hermione interrupted Harry by jumping him and giving his lips another job to focus on as she kissed him.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Hermione thought Harry had found her the perfect gift for her, now she could carry all the books she was reading! She was usually reading at least one for each class and one or two books for light background reading. It wasn't possible until now to carry at least nine books with her wherever she went. This would save her so much time spent fetching books that she could put into actually reading them.
After the gifts, the four teens settled down to hang out. The Room provided a magical gramophone for them so Hermione didn't have to go back to her room and get hers to play her new Weird Sisters album. They danced and ate lunch, and once they had their fill, Harry lit the fifteen candles that were on the cake and her friends embarrassed her for a few minutes singing "Happy Birthday" before Harry presented her with her cake. Hermione thought for a few seconds and made a wish as she blew out the candles, her friends and Harry clapping and cheering.
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The week after Hermione's birthday saw Hagrid bring out a number of crates in Care of Magical Creatures that it turned out were filled with pink fleshy slug-like creatures that he dubbed Blast-Ended Skrewts. The skrewts were apparently not in any books, and their project for the year was to understand the creatures. What did they eat, what were their defences, and what uses do they have?
"Now, you need to understand that these skrewts don't have a classification yet. Not even I know all the ways they could hurt ya. As such, we will be taking every precaution we can for your safety. Understand that Malfoy? Until we can determine what precautions we need to use for these guys specifically, we use them all."
Harry looked over at Hermione and she looked about as happy (or unhappy) as he felt with this new turn in the class. It was one thing to learn about how to handle hippogryphs, as plenty of wizards kept them as pets and to harvest their feathers and the occasional shed claw. It was likely you would run into them. Dragons too made some sense as there were wild dragons in the UK, the Welsh Green and Red as well as the Hebridean Black. Understanding the creatures helped understand the potions ingredients that were harvested from them. However, studying an unclassified creature that no one knew much of anything about seemed like a job for a qualified wizard or at the very least N.E.W.T students. Just how had Hagrid gotten his hands on these creatures?
"So dragonhide gloves on everyone and let's see if we can work out what they eat. Everyone collect a skrewt and choose something to see if ya can tempt them."
The class that followed was an orderly chaos. The skrewts, it turned out, were capable of shining and sucking blood, and about half way through the lesson they discovered why Hagrid christened them 'blast-ended' when one got free from Ron and exploded its rear end to propel itself away from the redhead. Ron was fine, though his eyebrows were a little singed.
After the class was lunch so Harry and Hermione stuck around to speak to Hagrid. The large professor hummed to himself as he packed the skrewts back in their individual crates.
"Uh Hagrid." Harry approached the question he wanted to ask carefully. "Hermione and I just wanted to know, umm...where did you get the skrewts? I mean, you didn't win them in a card game or something like that, did you?" Harry winced as he sounded too accusatory in his opinion.
"Wha? Win em in a card game? You'd never find these babies in a card game. They were sent by the Ministry. Oh! Shouldn't have said that. Ah it's not like it matters if you know. The Ministry sent 'em to me for the tournament. Give the champions something they can't have read about. A test of the unknown I think they called it." Their friend looked a little annoyed with himself that he had once again told the teens something he shouldn't have. Harry and Hermione relaxed. If the Ministry had sent the little monsters then at least Hagrid wasn't going to be in trouble. At least as long as one of the damn skrewts didn't blow a student's hand off when it blasted off.
The two stood around chatting with their friend-turned-professor for a little bit just catching up, but eventually made their excuses and departed when Hagrid invited them in for some lunch. As much as the two liked the man, it wasn't enough for them to subject themselves to his attempts at making food.
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September drew to a close and the last weekend of the month was, as always, a Hogsmeade weekend. After losing out on visiting the village for almost the entire previous year, Harry and Hermione were excited to visit the village again. In fact, the only students more excited than Harry, Hermione, and of course Neville to see the village were the third years who hadn't been before. They joined the throng of students queuing to get into the school carriages to be taken down to the village, where Harry and Hermione once again saw the strange horse-like creatures pulling them.
"I can't believe I forgot to go to the library and look up those horse things." Hermione was talking to herself. "That's not like me at all."
"I wonder what they are?" Harry replied. "If I was the only one who could see them I would wonder if I was going nuts, but we can both see them."
"That we can both see them, but others still can't, tells me that they were always there. They aren't new, something about us has changed." Hermione reasoned things out.
"They are thestrals," interrupted a voice from behind them. Harry and Hermione turned to see who was talking. It was an older ravenclaw guy that was standing behind them in line. "What are thestrals?" Harry asked.
"The horse-like creatures pulling the carriages. They are carnivorous winged hairless horse-like creatures with bat-like wings" Hermione looked over at the carriages before nodding. "Yes, thestrals are normally invisible unless you have seen a person die." The Ravenclaw explained.
"Auror Moonshine." Harry whispered, and Hermione looked upset to be reminded of the man who had given his life trying to catch LeStrange and save them. While Harry was still unconscious in the hospital wing at the end of last year, Hermione had tried to write to Auror Moonshine's family to offer her and Harry's condolences, and to thank them for the man who had saved them from LeStrange. However, when she had written to Madam Bones for their contact information, she had learned that Auror Moonshine was a war orphan, not unlike Harry. There was no family to write to.
"Thanks for telling us about the thestrals." Harry thanked the N.E.W.T. student, chatting for a minute while they waited in line before climbing into one of the thestral drawn carriages. The village of Hogsmeade was as good as the two teens remembered. The picturesque scene that looked as if it had come right out of a fairy tale was a welcome change to the castle. After a month of nothing but the same walls it was nice to have a break, even from such an amazing place.
Hermione cuddled into Harry's side as much to hide from the slight chill as to be close to Harry as they walked from shop to shop. Much to what Harry suspected would be Dan and Emma's disapproval, Harry dragged Hermione into Honeydukes and bought enough sweets and chocolate for the two of them to last at least until the next Hogsmeade weekend. They wandered the shops, mostly browsing but they did pick up a few things. Some owl treats for Hedwig, and Hermione needed to replace a hairbrush after hers was savaged by Crookshanks. Hermione spent some time looking at a pair of dragon leather boots before she decided against it and put them back. Then, it was to the only shop in Hogsmeade that made Harry feel inadequate, 'Tomes and Scrolls.'
Hermione was like a kid in a sweetshop as she almost danced down the isles of books, Checking one title after another, looking for something to keep her interest, or perhaps one that she just hadn't found and read in the Hogwarts library yet. After about ten minutes Hermione had a stack of books that was probably over a meter high and Harry had to step in
"Can you actually afford all these, Mione?" Hermione looked at the stack and Harry could see her doing the mental mathematics, and her wince was all he needed to understand the answer to his question.
"Damn it." Hermione started to put a few of the books back. Harry made a mental note of the books that Hermione returned to the shelves, if he ever wanted to surprise her it was worth having a list of books she wanted to fall back on.
After another ten minutes Hermione had whittled the steak of books down to seven and was now holding two in her hands trying to decide which of the two to keep and which to return to its shelf. Knowing what Hermione could be like when having to choose between books like this, Harry swept in and took the decision out of her hands. If he did nothing, they would be there for half an hour while she added up the pros and cons of each book and tortured herself with the decision. So, Harry did the only sensible thing and took both of the books from her hands.
"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" Hermione growled out his full name. But Harry just smiled and retreated to the checkout counter where the old wizard who owned the shop was watching the two of them with a half amused, half worried smile over what they would do to his book.
Harry put the two books on the counter along with 5 Galleons he had fished out from his pocket. "I'll take these two please."
"Harry, what have I told you about spending your money on me. You can't afford it." Hermione had switched from angry at Harry for taking the books to exasperation at him for spending money on her again.
"I have more than enough to buy a few books. Your mum dragged me around Paris and bought me enough clothes that I didn't need to buy any this summer, so the money is nothing." Harry explained then switched to a singsong voice. "And who said I was buying the books for you?" Hermione stopped and looked at him in surprise. "I'm buying the books for me." Harry finished in a matter-of-fact tone.
"But one of the books is on Arithmancy, a subject you don't take, and the other is written in Latin, a language you can't read." Hermione was back to exasperation.
Harry grinned. "It's my ridiculous story and I'm sticking with it. Of course, as I'm such a good boyfriend I don't mind sharing my new books with you."
"You know Harry sometimes I don't know if I want to kiss you or punch that grin off your face," Hermione said as she put the other five books on the counter and put 14 gallons, a major chunk of the 30 gallons her parents had given her to last until Christmas break, on the counter with the books.
"Well, I know which I prefer." Harry grinned at her while the old man rang up the books in silence.
"But which do you deserve?" Hermione was trying not to smile at this point.
"Probably both."
"Probably?" Hermione couldn't keep the smile off her face as she asked.
The old man handed them their change, a few Knuts for Harry and a handful of mixed silver and bronze for Hermione, along with receipts. Hermione started adding the books to her bag. Ever since her birthday, Harry had almost never seen Hermione without the bookbag he had gotten her. She carried it everywhere from breakfast until she turned in for the night. Even on their date night the bag came along, even if it did sit forgotten next to the sofa for most of the night.
Harry helped her add the books to the bag and was just about to add the two he had bought when Hermione stopped him. "Those are your books Harry." She grinned at him as she spoke. "You should carry them." The two of them playfully bickered as they left the shop, as despite the argument Hermione was carrying the two books, holding them to her chest. Harry knew that Hermione didn't actually want him to give in and carry the books.
They found their way to the last stop for the day, The Three Broomsticks. They had to sit at the bar as the other tables were all full, and Hermione ordered them both drinks and a meal, then paid for them before Harry could try to pay. It wasn't as much as the books, but Harry knew it was Hermione's attempt to keep things equal between them.
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The first Hogsmeade weekend seemed to act almost as a signal to the staff of Hogwarts. They were very aware that the school would have visitors for the next Hogsmeade weekend in October, as they were suddenly hyper aware of every little thing that was out of place and were very vocal about getting it fixed. Filch had reduced one group of first years to tears when he berated them for tracking mud into the entrance hall after the path to their Herbology class had flooded a little due to rain. The most common detentions that all the teachers handed out were switched from lines to polishing armor or the wooden banisters on the grand staircase, as Ron found out when he forgot to do a piece of homework that Professor Sprout had set them. It hadn't helped when the Weasley twins had pranked Filch by letting off a dozen dung bombs in the man's office with him locked inside, in revenge for the group of first year Hufflepuffs he had made cry.
Throughout the month of October the Castle gradually took on a cleaner, more refined look. In some ways, it lost some of its charm in Harry's opinion, but it also looked good. The polished wood and metalwork shone like mirrors, making the halls seem brighter; the colours in carpets, rugs, and wall tapestries were more vibrant than Harry had ever seen. Even the dungeons were brightened with new sconces for the torches, replacing the rusted rings with black cast iron.
Now it was the last Friday of the month, and next week would be half term. It was looking to be a fun weekend for the school, as the weekend was a Hogsmeade weekend and Monday was Halloween. However, Harry groaned as he thought about Halloween and the argument he had had with Professor McGonagall at the end of their last animagus tutoring session. The drawing for the champions would be held at the Halloween feast, and although the Halloween feast was technically mandatory, Harry had never actually attended. It was accepted by most of the professors that forcing Harry to attend a celebration on the anniversary of his parents death, a celebration that had become about celebrating the wider ramifications of what happened to the Potters that night, was more than a little crass.
However, Professor McGonagall had informed him that the headmaster had decided that Harry had to attend the feast this year because of all the foreign guests. Harry hadn't taken that well and had argued that it wasn't right, that he didn't care what Dumbledore said, he wouldn't go and had even at one point started shouting expletives at the professor. Hermione had really laid into him for swearing at Professor McGonagall, but the professor had just stood there and taken it, and then had docked him a single house point. She gave him a short lecture about controlling his temper, informed him that he would be required to attend, and then dismissed them.
It took Harry a few hours of calming down before he could read between the lines of what Professor McGonagall had said and done, and for him to realise that she agreed with him. She also thought that it was inappropriate to make him attend the Halloween feast, but that her hands were tied by her boss. That was why she had only deducted a single house point, and why she hadn't stopped him from shouting at her. She was giving him a chance to get it out of his system. Harry had a few issues with how Professor McGonagall had done things since he started attending the school, but it was times like these that reminded Harry why the Head of Gryffindor was his favourite professor.
Harry and Hermione were now lined up with the whole school waiting for the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The evening was chilly and Hermione had opted to wair her hair band as it would also keep her ears warm. There was some speculation about how the two schools would arrive, with some ridiculous ideas such as the Durmstrang students arriving riding dragons or Beauxbatons apparating their whole school to the grounds of Hogwarts. It didn't even seem to matter to the people saying such things that those ideas were impossible. Hermione guessed that they would arrive by portkeys, as she had read that in Hogwarts, A History that the Headmaster was able to create portkeys that could bypass the school's wards.
After about twenty minutes of waiting, there were a few shouts about a ship's mast from the students near the lake. Harry looked and, sure enough, in the centre of the lake there was a ship's mast growing out of the lake. The mast had a dark green, almost black sail hung from it, and Harry could see the same symbol of a double headed eagle that Hermione had shown him in a book she had found on the Triwizard Tournament: the Durmstrang coat of arms embroidered in golden thread on the sail.
The ship continued to grow from the lake, and soon an old sailing ship made of dark wood sat in the middle of the lake, the late October sunset causing the golden gilding that framed the top of the deck to glint like fire. The ship started to move across the lake until it was as close as it could get to the castle without running aground. Suddenly, a dock started to grow from the shore until it ran directly alongside the ship. A number of people, big strong men from what Harry could see from this distance, jumped from the ship with ropes and tied off the ship. Then, with the help of some of the people still on the boat, they secured a set of stairs to the side of the ship that lead down to the docks.
People started to climb down the stairs and line up on the dock. Harry wondered where the students were, as these people were far too big to be teenagers; however, once they were all lined up and started walking to were the Hogwarts students were waiting, Harry got a clearer view of the group and realised that it wasn't that the people were big (though a few of them were definitely built), it was that each of them was wering a heavy fur-lined cloak that added to their frames.
As they got close Harry heard Ron telling Seamus that one of the students was Viktor Krum, the star seeker of the Bulgarian national Quidditch team. Harry had no clue what Krum looked like, but given how Ron had spent the first few weeks bragging that he had been in the top box for the final of the Quidditch world cup and had gotten to shake hands with all of the Quidditch players, Harry assumed the redhead knew what he was talking about.
The man leading the fifty or so Durmstrang students, who also wore a fur cloak but of a much higher quality, walked up to Dumbledore. "Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you? Tell me, has Madame Maxime arrived yet? I wanted to be here first but we hit a patch of rough weather in the North Sea." The man's voice boomed and his accent was thick, Eastern European or possibly Russian.
"Blooming, thank you, Headmaster Karkaroff. We are still waiting on Madame Maxime, though I don't think she will be long. Do you want to wait inside? I take it you recall the way to the Great Hall." Dumbledore smiled at the man, but the smile seemed to lack some of the warmth the headmaster usually exuded.
"Ah the old castle, how I have missed her. It feels like just yesterday that I was running around worrying about my exams here. But no, I think we will wait for Madame Maxime here. The night is warm enough, and is it not polite for a gentleman to wait for a lady?" Karkaroff's accent was thick but his English had a well practised quality to it.
Dumbledore agreed with the Durmstrang headmaster, who quickly organised his students to stand with the Hogwarts students but separated from them at the same time. Harry could hear Run grumbling that Krum was so close yet too far away from the boy to ask him for his autograph. Personally, Harry thought this was a good thing. He doubted that after such a long trip that Krum would be happy to have a bunch of people swarming him begging him to sign bits of parchment.
They all continued to wait for the Beauxbatons students to arrive, but they didn't need to wait too long as soon the quiet atmosphere was broken. "There!" yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest.
It was too far away for Harry to guess what it was but it was obviously big; a few students did have some wild guesses. As the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant.
The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed - then, with an almighty crash that made Neville jump backward onto a Slytherin fifth year's foot, the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes. Harry just had time to see that the door of the carriage bore a coat of arms (two crossed, golden wands, each emitting three stars) before it opened.
A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He then sprang back respectfully. Harry saw a shining, high-heeled black shoe emerging from the inside of the carriage - a shoe the size of a child's sled - followed almost immediately by the largest woman he had ever seen in his life. Harry had often wondered if Hagrid was the only person of his size around, having never seen another like him, but now here in front of him was the evidence that he was not.
"My dear Madame Maxime," Dumbledore said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."
"Dumbly-dor," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"
"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.
"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands behind her.
At her gesture, students in light blue robes began to descend from the carriage, a number of them shivering in the mid-autumn chill. Harty was just about to turn back to listening in on Madame Maxime and Professor Dumbledore when Hermione grabbed his hand. "Harry look! It's Ali! It's Ali!"
Harry looked where Hermione was pointing, and sure enough it was Alison, the same Alison that they had spent the first part of their summer visiting. She was waiting there, wearing the pale blue robes of a Beauxbatons student.
A/N
For all of you who predicted that Ali was a witch, you can give yourself a cookie. Well, I suppose you can always give yourself a cookie, I can't stop you, but it would be an empty cookie rather than a well-deserved reward cookie.