Stay - Mattheo Riddle

Chapter 129

When they arrived in the entrance hall, they found themselves unable to proceed owing to the large crowd of students congregated there, all milling around a large sign that had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase. 

Jasper, who was a lot taller than the Hufflepuff, stood on his tiptoe to see over the heads in front of them and read the sign aloud for Kirra:

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 Jasper, not even bothering to finish off the rest of the poster. "It's Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won't have time to poison us all!"

"read the rest," Kirra asked as she attempted to read it but couldn't even see the top of the notice

- 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.

"Only a week away!" said Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff, emerging from the crowd, his eyes gleaming. "I wonder if Cedric knows? You are close with Cedric now right Potter, do you think he knows? Think I'll go and tell him. . . ." he muttered to her

"Cedric?" said Jasper blankly as Ernie hurried off.

"Diggory," said Kirra with a wide smile. "He must be entering the tournament, he would have a great shot." 

"That idiot, Hogwarts champion?" said Jasper as they pushed their way through the chattering crowd toward the staircase.

"He's not an idiot. You just don't like him because your don't know him," said Kirra with a small smile. "He is super sweet and he's a really good student — and he's a prefect." She spoke as though this settled the matter.

"You only like him because he's handsome," said Jasper scathingly.

"Excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome! And besides, he isn't my type," said Kirra indignantly, "we are good friends and we are on the same team."

Jasper had to nod his head knowing it was true. From what he had seen and heard so far, her type was moody Slytherins with a superiority complex who have a soft spot for her.

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 Kirra went: the Triwizard Tournament. 

Rumors were flying fromstudent 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.

Kirra 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 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. "Longbottom, kindly do not reveal that you can't even perform a  simple Switching Spell in front of anyone from Durmstrang!" Professor McGonagall barked at the end of one particularly difficult lesson, during which Neville had accidentally transplanted his own ears onto a cactus.