It's finally the day where our guests will arrive. I don't know much about either school, but I'm excited to see foreign students. My father is from the United States, and I have spent some time there as a small child, but I don't consider myself a foreigner by any means. I've lived in the UK for far too long to consider anything else my home.
Professor Dumbledore has asked us to stand outside of the school to greet the groups of students upon their arrival. I haven't been this excited in a while; my curiosity for the entire tournament is buzzing inside of me. I'm ready to show Hogwarts pride, especially supporting whoever the champion is from our school. I'm hoping it's a Hufflepuff so we'll finally have our moment to shine.
The first to arrive are the Beauxbatons; a large, beautiful carriage is flying towards us in the sky. Large horses with wings are steering and they're roughly the size of elephants. As they land, I have to steady myself due to the rumbling of the ground. A group of young students step out, all dressed in the same dreamy blue uniform. They stand in a line while they wait for the last person to exit. And boy, is she a woman.
A tall, thin woman steps gracefully out of the carriage. She's almost twice the height of her students and has short, black hair.
"Madam Maxime," Professor Dumbledore greets. She holds her hand out and he puts it in his, kissing the top of it. "It has been far too long."
"Yes it has," Madam Maxime purrs. "Who will be watching over my horses? They need a lot of attention."
Professor Dumbledore grins. "Our game keeper Hagrid will take care of them. Not to worry, he is the most skilled and gentle caretaker of creatures." His statement seems to please Madam Maxime, then Professor McGonagall leads them inside while we wait for the second school to approach.
Again, the ground rumbles to indicate the arrival of the other school. This time, a ship emerges from the lake and approaches us slowly. We exclaim in excitement about how cool both the arrivals of our guests were. As the students file out, we quiet. They're a lot more rigid-looking that the Beauxbatons. They're covered in heavy fur coats and hats with dark red uniforms underneath. There isn't a smile to be seen, especially on their headmaster. I didn't know Durmstrang students had no happiness in life. I would hate to compete against someone so intimidating.
"Karkaroff," Professor Dumbledore greets. The headmaster nods and grunts something in return. My eyes scan the group of students behind him and find one of the students already looking at me. He's tall, muscular, and handsome. His gaze doesn't falter when I catch him looking.
I hide my blush and face away, but Rue is already nudging me. She raises her eyebrow and nods towards the boy who was looking at me. I slap her arm playfully to stop her from making any assumptions; I could just remind him of someone at his school or he could be spacing out. Like me, he also could be looking at the new faces we'll be getting to know this year.
The Durmstrang students file inside and we follow suit, all of us finding places to sit before dinner. The Durmstrangs choose to sit at the Slytherin table - Draco looks very pleased at this - and the Beauxbatons sit with the Ravenclaws. Gosh, I hope a Hufflepuff is chosen as a champion. Even foreigners show no attention to us.
"I can't believe it! Viktor Krum is still a student," Marcus muses. "And he's spending his year with us! No doubt he'll be the champion of his school."
I hadn't noticed Viktor standing with the group of students; my mind was too focused on the boy staring at me. Speaking of, I feel eyes on me. I scan the surrounding tables and see the boy staring at me again. His gaze is intense, yet I find it hard to look away this time. When I finally gain the control to do so, I unintentionally look at Draco. He's glaring at the boy who was staring at me. Why does he care? He's made it obvious he doesn't like certain qualities I have. I have to admit, it makes me happy to see Draco jealous. Is that bad?
Professor Dumbledore begins his speech, speaking mostly about the coming tournament and what the school year will be like. He's right about us making new friends - the girls from the Beauxbatons look very sweet, and I'm hoping to befriend some of them. When the speech concludes, we begin our feast and continue our conversation.
"I've noticed a new pair of eyes on you," Marcus grins, flicking his eyes towards the boy who is now deep in conversation with some of the Slytherin students. "Will there be a new love triangle for our little Valentine?"
Rue giggles and rests her head against her boyfriend's shoulder. My heart pains to see such a happy, normal couple. I'm excited that they're both my best friends, but upset that I can't have something as simple and natural. Why does love have to be so complicated?
-
It's the last day students can enter their name into the goblet of fire. Hermione, Rue, and I are sitting on benches next to the goblet to see which students enter. We've already made a few guesses, but some students are surprising. To my relief, a few Hufflepuffs have entered. One being Cedric Diggory, who I know stands a good chance in the tournament.
Another total surprise - note the sarcasm - is the arrival of a giggling set of Weasley twins. Hermione rolls her eyes but I grin - I honestly love their shenanigans. Since she's close to their younger brother, I'm sure she's had more than enough of their tricks. "Behold, everyone, and watch as we trick the age line and enter into the Triward Tournament!" George exclaims.
"How exactly will you do that?" Rue asks, raising her head from the book she's reading. I can tell she's half amused. Even the biggest rule followers have to admit that they're curious about their newest scheme.
Fred holds up a small potion bottle. "Age potion," he replies. He winks at Rue and she rolls her eyes.
"That won't work, you know," Hermione chimes in, shooting the twins a sarcastic glance. "See this? It's an age line. You can't break a spell cast by Professor Dumbledore. He's a mastered wizard; it's fool proof."
Fred and George approach us, both smiling gleefully on either side of Hermione. "That's it; it's so stupid that it just might fool the spell," George states. Although the plan is quite stupid, we offer no further criticisms and wait for them to fail.
"Bottoms up!" They cheer in unison, intertwining arms and draining the potions in one gulp. They leap within the age line and, when nothing happens, the room erupts in applause. They throw their names into the goblet and are immediately thrown out. The parchment turns to dust and the twins sit up, both with large, white beards. They begin to argue while the rest of us giggle. We did try to warn them.
A group of Durmstrang boys enter, following Viktor Krum. Without hesitation, he slips his name into the goblet and a few join him, one of them being the boy who stares at me. As they're leaving, Viktor stares at Hermione. It's very obvious; he doesn't even blink as his head swivels to remain set on Hermione.
Hermione blushes and looks away from him, smitten from his attention. "Hermione! He was so checking you out!" Rue exclaims. The three of us erupt in giggles as we cheer about his obvious infatuation with Hermione.
YOU ARE READING
Wonder // Draco Malfoy
Fanfiction"Be my date to the Yule Ball," Lev states. It isn't a question - he's telling me to be his date. I stare at him in bewilderment; has this man learned nothing? When I don't answer, he continues. "I know your little boyfriend hasn't asked you. You sho...
