AN: Hope everyone's for the next chapter. Really starting Fourth Year now.
Arctic Wolf Fury - Ha, glad to know I successfully kept people confused and annoyed for another chapter.
Quill will 1981 - Hey, no problems. I always appreciate your reviews, but I certainly don't expect them, so no apologies necessary. Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the last two chapters. I guess you'll find out.
Jet22345 - So ends the wait for this chapter and begins the wait for the next one.
scrappy8 - Thank! No, not fun at all.
Mewpagano - Thanks!
Nessinha Cullen - Yeah, things are going to get wild soon. I have no intentions of putting a huge focus on S.P.E.W. and she will have some information foisted on her in the future which will help clear the issue up.
David Saville - Sorry you don't like Ginny. My plan is to do Harry/Katie/Ginny. I am a fan of Harry/Tonks, but won't be doing it for this story. I'm sticking to the sibling bond for them. I don't want Ginny with him simply for a redhead. I just like her though admittedly at this point in time I know that many of my perceptions on HP characters have been shaped by good fanfiction. To each their own.
Chapter 27
Wotcher Dora,
You win, you bloody menace of a big sister. Mad-Eye showing up as our professor shocked the hell out of me, and I also now know about the Triwizard Tournament, though why you couldn't have just mentioned that one ahead of time, I don't bloody well know! Here I thought you were a rebel, but I guess you're just prim and proper like Percy, keeping things close to the chest, following Ministry rules.
Dora stared at that line, just as offended as she knew Harry intended her to be. Her . . . prim and proper like prefect Percy! Oh, he could expect retribution for that. The gall of such an insult! She was so proud.
Things are going well. Hermione found out that Hogwarts has House Elves and is now on a crusade. Last night she was determined to go on a hunger strike, but this morning, she decided she had a different approach, though I'm almost scared to know what it is. She's rather gone off the rails on this one, considering she's only met one elf herself, and only heard me talk about one other . . . and granted nobody should be treated like Dobby was, but that was also the Malfoy's so I'm not really sure that he's a great standard to measure how elves are treated by.
Anyways, first day of classes was fairly good. Learned about bobotubers in Herbology. Disgusting but oddly satisfying task squeezing out the pus. Unfortunately Care of Magical Creatures (with the Slytherins sadly) wasn't quite as good. Nothing bad, but Hagrid has us doing a project of raising and caring for some type of abominations known as Blast Ended Skrewts. They look like deformed, shell-less lobsters, horribly pale and slimy-looking, with legs sticking out in very odd places and no visible heads. They smell like rotting fish, and the male ones have stingers on them, the females can suck blood, and all of them can shoot fire out of their arses. I don't know where the hell he found them, but they need to go. Part of me wonders if this is for the tournament, and if it is, I'd hate to see what these things will grow into and pity the person that runs into them.
Also had Magical Theory, which is still dry, but we're at least starting to talk about more advanced theory, which should help me in classes. Last for me was Arithmancy, which is still one of my favorites. I'm really looking forward to that class this year, since we'll be learning about how to use arithmancy to alter spells and enchantments.
Another nice thing was no homework from any of my classes today. Ron got loaded by Trelawney, so it sucks to be him. Hermione and I are both feeling a bit smug about the no homework thing, if you can't tell. I decided to enjoy my homework free evening by taking Angelina, Alicia, and Katie out to fly, so that Angelina could finally vent about not having Quidditch for the year. It being her second to last year, she's pretty upset about losing a major opportunity for scouts to see her.
Mad-Eye's already had his first incident, but I got to say, this one was worth it, and I think you'll agree. So, not sure if you saw that article by that Skeeter woman mentioning Mr. Weasley going to help Mad-Eye and Sirius. Anyway, Malfoy obviously, git that he is, decided to try and make fun of Ron, and he started having a go at Mrs. Weasley too, the jerk. Anyway, I got involved and insulted him and his mother and told him to shut his mouth when he didn't like that, and well I turned away and the slimy git tried to curse me in the back!
Dora scowled at that, but then thought about how this paragraph started and started to grin, and eagerly looked back to finish reading.
He missed, thankfully, and unfortunately, he chose a bad time to try and curse me. I hadn't seen him, but Mad-Eye had been there, and you know Mad-Eye. He does not like someone who will curse someone in the back.
"Cowardly thing to do," Dora muttered with a grin.
Dora, it was brilliant. He turned Malfoy into a ferret! A white ferret! Then he bounced him around the entrance hall in front of everybody! It was the funniest thing I think I have ever seen! Oh, it was perfect until McGonagall came along, and was horrified so she transfigured Malfoy back and then told Mad-Eye off and said detentions were the way to go, so then Mad-Eye left to talk to Snape. I couldn't believe it. Malfoy turned into a ferret and he'll probably still get detention! Sweet, sweet justice. I don't have his class till Thursday, but I'm really looking forward to it. Mad-Eye's already impressed the sixth years, since Fred, George, and Lee were raving about him.
Not much other news to share. Astra's still Astra, and enjoying tormenting people, which obviously includes the new First Years, though I'm sure by the end of the week they'll all think she's the greatest thing to ever exist. She did finally let me know that she'd start teaching me to shadow travel now that I've got the illusions down, so I guess that's my only other big news.
Oh, I guess I have noticed some hostility from the people from this summer, like you mentioned I might. I guess Garrett Goyle was Greg Goyle's dad, Malfoy's mate. Sylvester Bulstrode was Millicent Bulstrode's dad, Todd Higgs was Terrence Higgs's cousin, and I guess Callan Harper and Norman Bletchley were uncles to the Harper and Bletchely here at Hogwarts, so yeah, I've noticed all of them are much more hostile towards me, but they haven't done anything. I'm watching my back and so is Astra, so no need to worry on that front. Besides, not like they got charged with much. A couple months in Azkaban and a small fine. All of them will be out by Christmas. Considering what they were doing, the penalty was far too lenient. At least I think so, Bletchley being the exception. If anything, I think Slytherins are more angry at me for the Dueling Tournament victory, at least those not of the Death Eater families.
This Triwizard should be interesting, but I am rather disappointed that only a few get to compete and there won't be any Quidditch. Might have to talk the girls, the twins, and anyone else I can into playing some pickup games for fun or something. No Quidditch for a year sounds awful.
Anyways, how's work? How are Kingsley, Savage, and Lexie? How's it still being a higher rank than Sirius for the next few months while he goes through his probationary period? Please tell me you're still holding that over him. Any interesting cases? Have you heard back from the Mastery committee about when you can schedule your Transfiguration Mastery Exam?
Hoping everything is well, and I already miss you and can't wait to see you at Christmas . . . or maybe you can come watch the Triwizard with me and my friends, since there's no Quidditch this year. Any chance of that? Shit, I have to go. Astra's stealing my cloak again. I'll write again soon.
Love,
Harry
"Minus Malfoy being a git, Harry seems to be having a good start of the year," Dora remarked to her two companions. "Though, he seems annoyed with us not telling him about the Triwizard Tournament. He actually compared me to Percy Weasley. On one hand I'm proud that he would use such a vicious and undeserving description towards me to make a point, but on the other hand, how dare he!"
"Yeah, the little shit said I'm not much of a Marauder since I seemed to approve of the lame prank by the Ministry of keeping everything quiet," Sirius said, looking a bit put out. "He said he's just disappointed. Shouldn't we be the ones using that against him? I feel bad now, and I know what he's doing, but gods, did he do it well! Remus?"
"He's got the viciousness of Lily, the mischievousness of Dora, perhaps some of the brutality of Mad-Eye, and the subtlety of James," Remus remarked, looking at his letter with a smile.
"James wasn't subtle at all," Sirius pointed out.
"I know," Remus replied dryly.
"Oh," Sirius said, realizing what Remus was implying and he winced. "He went straight for the jugular, didn't he?"
"Oh yes," Remus said with a nod. "Said that he never thought he'd see the day when he saw me the exact same way as you, Sirius. Said we are exactly the same person in his eyes now. It didn't help that he said while admitting that he had "been wrong in thinking that I was the smart and sophisticated Marauder," and basically wondered how I could side with the Ministry over my favorite pseudo-nephew. I have to admit, his words did their job. I feel bad and feel the urge to write my cub a letter apologizing for my egregious oversight and also feel outraged to be compared to you! I can't believe we're being played by a fourteen year old."
"I know!" Sirius said, grinning brightly. "James and Lily would be so proud."
"So would my mum," Dora muttered, also grinning. "Even she never got me feeling this bad or offended. This is art."
"Well, at least we know Mad-Eye's punishing him this year," Sirius said with a grin. "Poor pup had to get on Mad-Eye Moody's good side."
**HP**
Wotcher Harry,
I'm not surprised to hear that Snape's being even more of a git, though I guess I am surprised that he's more of a git to Neville right now. Poor boy, especially true if he reacted badly to seeing the Unforgivable Curses performed. Honestly, that's a bit intense for Fourth Years, I think, but Mad-Eye is Mad-Eye. You know what he's like. Gods knows he may not have shown them to you, but he'd already talked to you about them and you were only a third year.
Good call on not joining Hermione's House Elf crusade until she'd at least talked with some house elves. Gods knows that the house elves at Hogwarts are certainly not abused in any manner and have quite nice lives, all things considering. I'm certainly a proponent for making sure that they are treated well by the families they belong to, but trying to force them to take pay and pension is just going to make them sad, at least at this point in time. Especially since with their magic, they really don't need our gold. Stand firm. Point out her hypocrisy for demanding better rights for them, but not even talking to them to see what they might want. Good luck. She's your mad friend.
How are you enjoying the extra assignments from Mad-Eye? He used to make me do spell lists to improve my repertoire and force me to learn new spells too. I know he has plans to start a new subject with you this year, now that you officially passed that whole Best Laid Plans Course, and if he does what I think he does, you're going to really like it. Admittedly I'll even be jealous! I hear he's still supervising your morning workouts or more likely he's enforcing you doing the morning workouts and dueling practice. I'll be interested to see how good you've gotten by the end of the year. I think we'll be soon approaching where your lack of magical knowledge is your biggest hindrance in a duel with someone like Mad-Eye, me, or Sirius. That's something to be proud of, little brother.
You'll have to tell me what it is like when the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons delegates arrive. Should be really interesting. Like Mr. Weasley said this summer, witches and wizards love to show off when they gather. Still hoping I'll be able to come for the First Task. Let me know if they release any details on what the task will be like! It's still so cool to me that they brought the Triwizard back. Should be incredible to watch.
Lexie and Kelly send their love. It's been great doing this joint assignment with Stacey and Nicole, dealing with these smugglers. It's been fun working with and getting to see the minor difference between the aurors and the hitwitches and hitwizards. No real major breakthroughs yet, just the minor arrests of the low level distributors.
Kingsley and Savage both said they want you to come into HQ over this next summer break and spend a day at the Auror office. They want to spar with you in the training room and show you around the office and let you see what it's like. Think of it like a career day or bring your kid to work day. As you can see, they already are laying their claws into recruiting you down the line, though I think Nicole and Stacey are going to try and steal you over to their side of the department for a bit if you come in with me, so you have that to look forward to. They would have been game for Christmas break, but I suspect you'll be at Hogwarts this year for Christmas. Nope, still not going to tell you why. Much too fun torturing you!
It's nerve wracking, having this exam approach. I feel so confident in my abilities, and Kingsley says the paper is good to go, but it's just . . . it's a Mastery. It's not something to be taken lightly. I mean, I'll technically have the exact same qualification as McGonagall and Dumbledore after this . . . and yet I doubt I'm at their level. Still, it will be really nice to have it done! Granted, I'll still have plenty to work on, especially since Kingsley won't let me rest even with me being an Auror in full, but it'll still be something!
Well, that's all I've really got for now, so ta ta for now,
Your darling sister,
Dora
**HP**
Hey Kiddo,
Don't worry about Snape. Keep your head down and ignore the greasy git. Worse case scenario, you drop Potions after fifth year, and if you really care, we'll get you a private tutor and you can study independently and get your qualifications without the slimy bastard.
I do miss you being around though. I can't claim it's boring being here with Moony and Little Nymphie, but admittedly you were somewhat interesting to have around, even if it was just so I could watch Dora and Mad-Eye pound on you in the yard. Besides, I keep wondering how long it will be before those two are making goo goo eyes at each other and creeping me out.
Speaking of, how's the training going? I know I've told you this, but Mad-Eye used to put your dad and I through the ringer when we were training under him too. Brutal, though if he's going to teach you what I think he's going to teach you, pay attention. The bastard never taught us that! Sounds like he never taught Dora either. Not sure what makes a specky little git like you so special.
Just kidding of course. Can't have my own precious little godson thinking I don't think the world of him. Plus, if you keep this up, you'll be kicking Nymphie's ass in a duel in no time, and I would just love to see the oh so perfect big sister go down. It would be perfect! You might even be able to place a wager on the duel, where when you win, you get to call her by her first name!
Before you ask, yes I did end up going on the date with Alexis, so can you and Dora please get off my back? Merlin it's rough knowing your own godson is siding with your baby cousin to make your life miserable. I must say though, I had a blast, and she seemed to enjoy the date too. I really hope so. Wish your mum and dad were here. I mean, sure, me going on a serious date would have probably killed them anyways and thus nullified the desire for them to be around, but still they would have been much better people for advice on this sort of thing. I know how to date, but not so much like this. Don't worry, I won't scare her off. I better watch my step though. Alexis is like Kingsley's older sister in all but name, like you and Dora. If I piss her off too much, she's likely to kill me herself, but whatever she doesn't do, Kingsley will, but don't worry, I'll try not to piss either of them off. I know you enjoy writing and speaking with Kingsley, and I know you enjoyed meeting her this summer. Seriously wish your mum and dad were here.
Well, keep up the good work in classes. You'll love a lot of the charms you learn this year especially. Don't know what it is, but I feel like fourth year has some of the most applicable real life charms. Let me know if you need anything. Make sure Astra keeps annoying Mad-Eye.
Your favorite guardian and only Godfather,
Sirius
**HP**
Hi Cub,
While I know you read all of our letters religiously, if you could start writing to Sirius, implying that you haven't been getting his letters and that you are really starting to question who your favorite uncle is, that would be wonderful. My reasoning is not important at this time, though I'm sure you can already guess that Sirius deserves it.
I'm glad you enjoyed those pictures. Dora looking like a clown and Sirius like a court jester was fun. Having it timed to expire rather than easily countered, having the Floo suck then in and sending them to The Leaky, and taking their wands was really just insult to injury. The Black family laid low by a poor broken werewolf. Their ancestors are probably rolling in their graves.
I think I finally earned Dora's wariness of my abilities from that one though. I might be more respectable than Sirius, but as you know, I'm still a Marauder. Of course, I won't reveal the timed spell and pictures were your idea.
Work is going well. I am very grateful to wolfsbane and to Sirius being around to help with my transformations. So far, I've been pretty good at getting the night of a full moon off, and with the rest during the day, I haven't had any problems working shifts. I'll have to bring you here next time you're home. The fantasy and science fiction section is one of the better selling sections so it's well stocked and I think we can find some more stories for the two of us to enjoy together. The history section is very good as well, and being muggle, there is nothing on goblin wars. It was a lot of fun reading muggle history with you and filling in the gaps where we know magic was involved and getting a better idea of what exactly happened and how it was perceived.
You'll be interested to know that I have already come up with a plan for that camping trip this next summer. Being who and what I am, I've explored many out of the way places, and I think I finally have a solid plan for a week long trip. Assuming Sirius and Dora can get off, we'll be able to have a right proper holiday. I think even Alastor will come, since there's good fishing nearby. Maybe some of your friends can join us? Sirius is still adamant about going to Greece, which I know you and Dora would love as well, so we're going to see if we can squeeze that in as well.
I'm glad you're enjoying most of your classes, and I'm glad Penny's books and letters have been helping you with Potions. It's a shame I can't help you more there, but Potions wasn't my specialty either. Your mother was fantastic, and your father was good, though considering who your grandfather was, he should have been much better. Sirius is decent, so don't be afraid to ask him about more than pranking.
Fourth year was definitely one of my favorites when it came to Arithmancy, and I'm glad that Runes seems to be starting to stick better in your mind. I told you that you only needed some more practice and a bit of time.
Well, it's been quiet for too long, so I really need to go make sure that Dora and Sirius haven't killed each other or started destroying the house. Might be time to instigate some mischief between them. Shouldn't be too hard. I'll just make Dora think Sirius did something. Well, I'm off to show them why I'm the superior Marauder. I'll write again soon!
Love,
Remus
**HP**
As the weeks flew by, Harry found himself in a pleasant routine. His early mornings were spent with Mad-Eye going through his morning workout and two or three times a week some sort of light dueling practice. Katie, Angelina, Alicia, and Ginny even joined, the four girls all wanting to improve their abilities and wanting help with staying in shape since they had no quidditch. Ginny had admitted to being interested in competing in the Under 16 bracket of the Dueling Circuit this upcoming summer. Harry had hoped Ron and Hermione would join, but Ron didn't want to wake up that early, and Hermione was too busy studying and working on her crusade about the house elves to add something else. She also did still have more classwork than he did, not including her own self-study, so he really didn't blame her. Besides, defense and dueling weren't exactly in her interests.
Afterwards, he'd go about his day, dealing with classes and increasing amounts of homework since apparently OWLs were right around the corner, despite not being until the end of next year.
Most lessons were fairly normal, but Mad-Eye naturally had to be the one to do things differently. The big one being that he spent a day putting all of Harry's classmates under the imperius curse so that they could feel it and perhaps learn to fight it, though he did bring in Madam Pomfrey for the class so that she could watch and be ready in case anything went wrong. That had been an interesting class, though Harry had been the only member of his class to be able to fight off the curse completely after his fourth attempt, having partially fought it off the previous three attempts.
Mad-Eye was also the other biggest deviation for Harry because after they got through the Unforgivable Curse and started moving on to the stuff Harry was familiar with, Mad-Eye often used him for demonstrations if nobody else was capable or willing, and each time, Harry was assigned a similar style of homework to his fellow yearmates, but different material in that it applied to spells he didn't know, either from the fifth year, or starting this week, likely from the sixth year spell list, though Mad-Eye might take pity on him and instead of moving on to NEWT spells, move to more obscure fourth and fifth year jinxes, hexes, and curses.
Harry didn't have high hopes of Mad-Eye having pity.
In addition to all that, Mad-Eye had, true to Dora's and Sirius's letter, started Harry on another branch of magic which was apparently something he hadn't even gotten around to teaching Dora, Sirius, or Harry's father, which was wandless magic. Mad-Eye was fairly proficient, and while wandless magic had drawbacks, a reason why the wand was invented, it was still a useful skill to have, especially should Harry ever find himself disarmed. Still, the training was frustrating at first, him trying to tap into his core, like he did with Sensing, but then pushing the magic out and attempting to manipulate his magic to do first year charms . . . something that wasn't happening at all. Even with Mad-Eye warning him that people spent years trying to learn wandless magic, it was still disheartening. It was time he could be doing other things . . . like shadow travel which also wasn't going super well.
Harry had never really considered it, but he'd certainly heard (cough, Hermione) that Hogwarts had wards that stopped people from apparating or portkeying into the castle. Well, they also apparently had wards that stopped elemental travel into and out of the castle. Astra and Fawkes were capable because they were magical creatures and were literally born from their sources, but Harry was trying to manipulate the element to travel, so he could not, which meant that three times a week, he and Astra were sneaking to the shrieking shack so she could try and teach him how to move in shadow. It was slow going work, and after a month and a half, he'd just now finally managed to succeed in traveling the previous night, but he'd only managed a few short jumps around the house and been exhausted afterwards, so he knew he still had a long way to go, but he'd crossed the threshold, and he had high hopes that he'd figure it out quickly. He certainly hoped so because while traveling by shadow would be brilliant, he figured it was going to take some serious practice to be able to move through shadow as effortlessly as his familiar did, and that was the standard he wanted to match.
Harry suspected it was going to be a long year for him. As much as he would learn from Mad-Eye, maybe he didn't want Mad-Eye as the DADA instructor. Too much personal interest in his abilities.
Still a pleasant distraction came after a pleasant Care of Magical Creatures class where they had enjoyed watching Hagrid put Malfoy in his place. As they walked up to the Entrance Hall, planning to go to dinner, they found a large congregation of students all looking at a large sign that had been erected.
TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT
THE DELEGATIONS FROM BEAUXBATONS AND DURMSTRANG WILL BE ARRIVING AT 6 O'CLOCK ON FRIDAY THE 30TH OF OCTOBER. LESSONS WILL END HALF AN HOUR EARLY-
"Brilliant!" said Harry. "It's Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won't have time to poison us all!"
STUDENTS WILL RETURN THEIR BAGS AND BOOKS TO THEIR DORMITORIES AND ASSEMBLE IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE TO GREET OUR GUESTS BEFORE THE WELCOMING FEAST.
The appearance of the sign in the entrance hall had a marked effect upon the inhabitants of the castle. During the following week, there seemed to be only one topic of conversation, no matter where Harry went: the Triwizard Tournament. Rumors were flying from student to student like highly contagious germs: who was going to try for Hogwarts champion, what the tournament would involve, how the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang differed from themselves.
Harry noticed too that the castle seemed to be undergoing an extra-thorough cleaning. Several grimy portraits had been scrubbed, much to the displeasure of their subjects, who sat huddled in their frames muttering darkly and wincing as they felt their raw pink faces. The suits of armor were suddenly gleaming and moving without squeaking, and Argus Filch, the caretaker, was behaving so ferociously to any students who forgot to wipe their shoes that he terrified a pair of first-year girls into hysterics.
Other members of the staff seemed oddly tense too. McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout were much more critical of their student's efforts, especially if they fell below their expectations. Snape seemed surlier, and was certainly annoyed and angry to even hear mention of the tournament.
There was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air that day. Nobody was very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; even Potions was more bearable than usual, as it was half an hour shorter. When the bell rang early, Harry, Ron, and Hermione hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited their bags and books as they had been instructed, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall.
The Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines.
"Weasley, straighten your hat," Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron. "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair. "
Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait.
"Follow me, please," said Professor McGonagall. "First years in front . . . no pushing . . ."
They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest. Harry, standing between Ron and Hermione in the fourth row from the front, saw Dennis Creevey positively shivering with anticipation among the other first years.
Discussion among the students shifted about how everyone might be coming, ranging from the train to broomsticks to portkeys and apparition. It wasn't until Dumbledore from the back row called out "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!" that they got their answer.
Something large, much larger than a broomstick - or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks - was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time. From the treetops of the Forbidden Forest, they saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, pulled by a dozen winged horses, Abraxan, Harry realized, each the size of an elephant.
The students all drew back as the horses landed with an almighty crash, followed by the carriage, bouncing upon its wheels.
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 sprang back respectfully. Then 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. The size of the carriage, and of the horses, was immediately explained. A few people gasped.
Harry had only ever seen one person as large as this woman in his life, and that was Hagrid; he doubted whether there was an inch difference in their heights. Yet somehow - maybe simply because he was used to Hagrid - this woman (now at the foot of the steps, and looking around at the waiting, wide-eyed crowd) seemed even more unnaturally large. As she stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers.
Dumbledore started to clap; the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman.
Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it.
"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts. "
"Dumbly-dort," 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 carelessly behind her.
Harry, whose attention had been focused completely upon Madame Maxime, now noticed that about a dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads. From what Harry could see of them (they were standing in Madame Maxime's enormous shadow), they were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces.
"As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.
"He should be here any moment," said Dumbledore. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"
"Warm up, I think," said Madame Maxime. "But ze 'orses -"
"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," said Dumbledore, "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other - er - charges. "
"Skrewts," Ron muttered to Harry, grinning, but his grin faded as several of the Beauxbatons students screamed and he groaned as his mischievous, wonderful, and completely infuriating familiar appeared out of Madam Maxime's shadow.
"Potter!" McGonagal said with a hiss, and Harry winced moving forward, but he stopped as one of the foreign students, a woman based on her tone, cooed and moved forward away from her fellow students and knelt down and started petting Astra whose tongue fell out of her mouth as she leaned into the girl's hand. He was a bit surprised. Not many were that open with Astra on first sight. The exceptions being Ginny, Dora, Hermione, Katie, Alicia, Angelina, Fred, George, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and Mad-Eye.
Dumbledore chuckled. "Well, if you are so inclined, this young grim, can escort you inside? Will that work, Astra?"
Harry's dog yipped in agreement, but Madam Maxime frowned.
"She is 'afe?" she asked. "Zhere are not many grims in ze world."
"Yes, she is the familiar of one of our students," Dumbledore said, with an assured nod, "and she has proven to be not only safe, but very protective of those at this school."
"Very well, and ze horses?" Maxime said.
"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," said Dumbledore, smiling.
"Very well," said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"
"It will be attended to," said Dumbledore, also bowing.
"Come," said Madame Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps, led by Astra who walked slow enough for the students to follow her, an easy grace to her movements.
"You're in trouble mate," Ron said with a snort, as Harry saw McGonagall glaring at him, and he winced.
"Bloody dog loves attention too much," Harry muttered, though he really couldn't get too mad at her. She got him yelled at occasionally, but she was also an incredible companion and friend, and she had saved his life more than a few times. Some yellings on her behalf were hardly all that difficult to suffer.
They stood, shivering slightly now, waiting for the Durmstrang party to arrive. Most people were gazing hopefully up at the sky.
For a few minutes, the silence was broken only by Madame Maxime's huge horses snorting and stamping. But then -
"Can you hear something?" said Ron suddenly.
Harry listened; a loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting toward them from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed. . . .
"The lake!" yelled Lee Jordan, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake!"
From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water - except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the center; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks -and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor. . . .
What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool. . . and then Harry saw the rigging. . . .
"It's a mast!" he said to Ron and Hermione.
Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.
People were disembarking; they could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship's portholes. All of them, Harry noticed, seemed to be built along the lines of Crabbe and Goyle. . . but then, as they drew nearer, walking up the lawns into the light streaming from the entrance hall, he saw that their bulk was really due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.
"Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"
"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied. Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl) did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.
"Dear old Hogwarts," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and Harry noticed that his smile did not extend to his eyes, which remained cold and shrewd. "How good it is to be here, how good. . . . Viktor, come along, into the warmth. . . you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold. . . "
Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As the boy passed, Harry caught a glimpse of a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He didn't need the punch on the arm Ron gave him, or the hiss in his ear, to recognize that profile.
"Harry - it's Krum! I don't believe it!" Ron said, in a stunned voice, as the Hogwarts students filed back up the steps behind the party from Durmstrang. "Krum, Harry! Viktor Krum!"
"For heaven's sake, Ron, he's only a Quidditch player," said Hermione.
"Only a Quidditch player?" Ron said, looking at her as though he couldn't believe his ears. "Hermione - he's one of the best Seekers in the world! I had no idea he was still at school!"
Harry smiled fondly as his two best friends started predictably bickering as a group they started following the Durmstrang students into the Great Hall, while everyone started searching their pockets for anything that they could use to get a signature.
They entered the Great Hall, and Harry was a bit surprised to see that the Beauxbatons students had apparently followed Astra all the way over to the Gryffindor table and sat themselves there. Harry moved over to where his familiar was, still next to the girl that had shown her attention, and he sat himself there, while Ron sat on the other side, facing the doorway where he could see Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students move to the Slytherin table, much to Ron's sadness.
"Zis is your Grim?" the girl asked as Harry sat next to her, and Astra moved a bit closer and leaned into his leg.
Harry nodded, smiling fondly down at his familiar, rubbing her side.
"Yes, this beautiful little brat is my friend and familiar, Astra," Harry said.
The girl laughed lightly, her voice ringing with a musical quality while Harry glanced at the rest of the Beauxbatons students and then at the Durmstrang students. The Beauxbatons students were mostly looking around with glum expressions, several of whom, including the girl next to him, still had scarves and shawls around their heads. The Durmstrang lot were pulling off their heavy floors and looking up at the starry black ceiling with expressions of interest, and looking impressed at the golden plates and goblets.
The girl next to him gasped, and Harry looked at her, and realized where her eyes were looking that she'd seen his scar.
"You are 'arry Potter," the girl said in surprise, and Harry nodded. "Zat explains ze familiar," she said matter of factly. "Ze two of you 'ave been mentioned in ze papers."
Harry grimaced. "Unfortunately."
The girl tilted her head and looked at him curiously.
"You care not for ze fame?" the girl asked, and Harry shook his head.
"Not particularly, no," Harry admitted.
"Yet you participated in ze Dueling Circuit zis past summer?" she asked.
"I like a challenge," Harry admitted. "I also enjoy competition and sport."
The girl nodded thoughtfully.
"I am Fleur Delacour," she introduced herself, and Harry smiled and, deciding to take a page out of Sirius' book, took her hand and kissed it lightly.
"C'est un plaisir de vous rencontrer," Harry said (It is a pleasure to meet you), and she smiled, while Ron, Hermione, and most of the rest of the Gryffindors around them stared in shock. He thought he saw Katie smirk at Alicia and Angelina.
"Ze accent is a bit off, but you speak very well," the girl complimented, her eyes brightening, and Harry nodded at her appreciatively.
"I haven't had much experience actually speaking it," Harry said, and the girl nodded at him, her previous haughty expression seeming to have completely melted away.
Soon the staff were filing into the Great Hall, and the Beauxbatons lot jumped to their feet, much to the amusement of some of the Hogwarts students, as Madam Maxime walked into the room. Still, they stood unembarrassed until Maxime and all of the staff, save Dumbledore, had taken a seat.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most particularly - guests," said Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."
Fleur gave a derisive snort, and Harry frowned and Astra gave a short growl that had the girl turning to her and almost slumping sheepishly.
"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"
He sat down, and Harry saw Karkaroff lean forward at once and engage him in conversation.
The plates in front of them filled with food as usual. The house-elves in the kitchen seemed to have pulled out all the stops; there was a greater variety of dishes in front of them than Harry had ever seen, including several that were definitely foreign.
Fleur finally removed her muffler, revealing a long sheet of silvery-blonde hair that fell almost to her waist. She had large, deep blue eyes, and very white, even teeth. It wasn't a stretch calling her breathtakingly beautiful.
Harry noticed Ron across from them going purple. He stared at her, mouth open in shock. Hermione was shooting him a look of deep loathing.
"I am sorry for being rude," the girl said, glancing at Astra. "I just know zis is a competition and we all want to win. Enjoyment 'as little purpose."
Harry shrugged. "Maybe that's how your schools are, and while I agree the students here at Hogwarts are much the same, I can assure you Dumbledore doesn't care all that much. It's just not his way. Besides, only three people get to compete. Everyone else, hopefully will be trying to enjoy their time, yes?"
The girl looked at him curiously.
"Per'aps," she conceded. "You are much different zen I would 'ave expected."
Harry shrugged again. That seemed to be the story of his life.
"Maybe you can 'elp me open my mind about 'Ogwarts," the girl said, "and I can tell you about my school? Et only seems fair zat I teach you how much better Beauxbatons is."
Harry snorted, smiled, and nodded, and that drove the light conversation as they started eating, with Ron staying unusually quiet, but throwing not at all subtle glances at Fleur.
Through conversation, Harry could tell that Fleur was a nice girl, though perhaps due to how beautiful she was, tended to push off a haughty and unfriendly persona, which he observed whenever someone from another table, or even someone from further down the table came over to talk to her, and he was a bit grateful that Astra had seemingly knocked that away from her in regards to him because it was pleasant getting to know the older girl, who seemed to love her family and be quite obsessed with charms, alchemy, and magical creatures, hence her appreciation for Astra.
Soon, attention was drawn back to the staff table as Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch appeared and took the two remaining chairs next to Karkaroff and Maxime.
Once the golden plates had been wiped clean, Dumbledore stood up again. A pleasant sort of tension seemed to fill the Hall now. Harry felt a slight thrill of excitement, wondering what was coming. Several seats down from them, Fred and George were leaning forward, staring at Dumbledore with great concentration. Fleur too, was now completely focused on Dumbledore, her previous pleasant smile now fading as her face took on a competitive look.
"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Master Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation" - there was a smattering of polite applause - "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. "
There was a much louder round of applause for Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because of his fame as a Beater, or simply because he looked so much more likable. He acknowledged it with a jovial wave of his hand. Bartemius Crouch did not smile or wave when his name was announced. Remembering him in his neat suit at the Quidditch World Cup, Harry thought he looked strange in wizard's robes. His toothbrush mustache and severe parting looked very odd next to Dumbledore's long white hair and beard.
"Mr. Bagman and Master Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts. "
At the mention of the word "champions," the attentiveness of the listening students seemed to sharpen. Perhaps Dumbledore had noticed their sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch. "
Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students; Dennis Creevey actually stood on his chair to see it properly, but, being so tiny, his head hardly rose above anyone else's.
"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Master Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways . . . their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."
At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing.
"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."
Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames.
Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.
"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete."
"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line."
"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."
