Harry Potter: Raised By Roses

Chapter Fifty-Seven: The School Reunion

(Here is another chapter earlier than I normally would have done as a "thank you" for 700 followers on Wattpad. Thank you, all my loyal readers and followers.)

The next few weeks before the school would arrive were tense, to say the least. As calm as Luna always was, not even her aura of calmness kept the trio from feeling stressed. And by stressed, the three were basically pulling their hair out and trying desperately not to lose their minds. So stressed would definitely be one hell of an understatement.

Not only were they worried about their friends, but the tournament was about bringing the best students of each school to Hogwarts. That meant they also had to worry if Hogwarts was still going to be standing by the time that Crystal Rose left. The more powerful the mystic souls, the more destructive angering them would be. Just looking at Melody, who could literally scream and take the entire castle down, it was entirely possible.

But as the day came for the arrival of all the schools, the three were just about ready to scream and then run for the hills. They were mystic souls, not stupid.

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, Durmstrang, and Crystal Rose. Even Potions was more bearable than usual, as it was half an hour shorter. Less time with Snape was always a good thing. When the bell rang early everyone deposited their bags and books in their own houses 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 an ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait. The trio thought that McGonagall was being a lot harsher than usual. There was nothing wrong with what Parvati had in her hair. Since they were all in uniforms every day, having things like earrings, necklaces, and hair accessories made them still have bits of their own personalities even with the similar robes.

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.

As they stood there, the trio heard a lot of guesses from other students about how the three schools would get there. The funniest would be one of the more excited first-year Gryffindor boys guessing that they would arrive by flying in on a dragon.

"A Portkey," they heard Ron suggest. "Or they could Apparate — maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"

"You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you," said Hermione impatiently.

The trio rolled their eyes as the know-it-all went into another annoying lecture of what she had read in another of her books. This time it was stuff from Hogwarts: A History. Even though this was her fourth year at Hogwarts, she still has not calmed down her superiority complex.

The students scanned the darkening grounds excitedly, but nothing was moving; everything was still, silent, and quiet as usual. Everyone was starting to feel cold and wished the schools would hurry up. Maybe the foreign students were preparing a dramatic entrance. Harry remembered what Headmistress Jiwe would sometimes say when other mystic soul schools would visit Crystal Rose. "We can't resist showing off when we get together."

And then Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers.

"Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"