Silvanna Snape {Marauders}

Chapter Thirty-Three

Imagine if you were a teacher and some kid found your diary, along with the nickname you gave yourself, and you know they have it because you've seen them with it, and they know stuff from it that's only in your diary. Can you imagine that, how embarrassing, no wonder Snape cracked and killed Dumby.

:)

Exams were...well, exams. History of Magic and Astronomy were a breeze, and Silvanna spent most of the former chuckling away at her brother, who seemed very stressed out by the whole ordeal. Unfortunately she couldn't make him sneeze repeatedly, because they weren't allowed their wands, but that would have been fun.

In Potions they brewed a girding potion, which was really easy and only had four ingredients. Transfiguration had them turn birds into water goblets. Silvanna really excelled in this one, and produced a shining crystal goblet, with carvings in it imitating wheat stalks.

In Charms they performed a tickling charm, and Silvanna thought hers was quite good, as it did make Remus drop his wand when he laughed. But he sought revenge, and Silvanna had tears trickling down her face by the time he was done.

Herbology went as abysmally as the year before, and the leaping toadstool Silvanna was supposed to be harvesting kept jumping along the table. She did manage it eventually, using an adhering charm. Finally, in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Silvanna did far better than the year before, managing to both disarm her opponent and block their attack.

On the second to last Saturday of June, Silvanna was up bright and early, careful not to wake any of her dorm mates as she jumped into the shower. To her surprise, Lily and Mary were up, and Marlene was curled up in bed but very much awake. They all wished her good luck, before she headed down for an immensely early breakfast, still yawning and half asleep.

Hannah was already there with her friend, along with a handful of other students dotted about, and Silvanna sat near them but spent her time reading her book instead of engaging in conversation. At half past seven, they all went in the Entrance Hall to see Professor McGonagall stood waiting in a thin travelling cloak.

They were ushered down the steps and into one of their familiar carriages, which took them to Hogsmeade station where the Hogwarts Express was waiting for them. "We're taking the train to Brazil?" Henry asked sceptically.

"You'll see," said Professor McGonagall. They chose a collection of compartments, with Professor McGonagall sitting in one that Silvanna had selected (much to her dismay) and Hannah, Henry, and Brandon sitting next door. Silvanna pulled her book out right away, not wanting to strike up conversation.

The first hour passed much like any other journey on the Hogwarts Express, with towns and villages and hills blurring past the window. Silvanna didn't pay much attention until she heard Henry let out a yelp. "The sea! We're going into the sea!"

Silvanna peered out the window. Sure enough they were hurtling towards the coast, unnoticed by any muggles they passed. "Um, Professor?" she said quickly. "Are we supposed to do that?"

Professor McGonagall looked calmly out the window. "Are we at the coast already?" she asked, checking her watch. "Goodness me. Yes we are," she added, spying Silvanna's panicking face.

The nose of the train dived into the sea with a great splash, and the next moment Silvanna found their carriage had been plunged in too. But she didn't think they were in the sea. It looked much more like they'd gone through a tunnel.

No more than five seconds could have passed before they came hurtling out the other side, and back on land. Silvanna suddenly felt quite hot, and was glad her school shirt was so thin and she had the sleeves rolled up. She wondered if Hannah had something she could tie her hair back with.

They clearly weren't in Scotland any more, though, or anywhere in the UK for that matter. Instead of rolling hills there were dusty mountains and rivers, and high trees that curled around one another. The sun was still low in the sky, wherever they were, and Silvanna must have spent at least half an hour just staring out the window as the compartment got hotter and hotter. When the air was stifling, McGonagall flicked her wand and the compartment became suddenly cool.

There was also the appearance of two jugs of pumpkin juice, and five glasses. "Take some of that through to the others will you?" asked McGonagall, pointing to the second jug. Silvanna nodded and took it through along with a stack of glasses.

"Oh, Silvanna, you're an angel!" exclaimed Hannah, quickly pouring herself some and gulping it down. Their compartment too had become cooler. "Isn't this cool? Henry swears he saw a curupira, but we're going far too fast..." They continued their chat for a short while longer, before she reluctantly went to sit back in her compartment. She had the faint idea that McGonagall was supervising her.

After what must have been at least five hours, the train began to slow and came to a stop. Silvanna looked out the window, and saw that they were in a place that looked like it must be a jungle. She hoped they weren't any snakes. She had enough of those back at Hogwarts.

McGonagall folded away Transfiguration Today and handed Silvanna a tie. "Swap your Gryffindor tie for this one please, I'd like you all to look the same. And put your robes on." Silvanna nodded and swapped the ties. This one was black with the Hogwarts crest at the bottom, just like on the night of the Sorting.

When they stepped off, the very first thing that struck Silvanna was the stifling heat, and a part of her wished she'd just stayed on the train or at least could take her robes off. But she was distracted by the second thing that struck her. A towering structure made of golden stone in a huge clearing of the jungle. She batted the fly away as she stared up at it - it looked a bit like a temple.

Up ahead of them, there was another small group of students in thin robes of periwinkle blue. McGonagall led the way, following them. She had a firm hand on Silvanna's shoulder, as if scared she was going to wander off.

They entered through a large set of doors at the front. Inside was a lot cooler, and had the scent of something spicy being cooked. Silvanna's stomach gave a loud grumble. "Sorry," she said quietly, making Hannah giggle behind her.

There was a group of students in robes of bright green, yellow, and blue stood in the entryway. One of them, a girl with a long plait down her back, stepped forward, beaming. "Hogwarts?" she said.

"Yes," said McGonagall, with the stiffest smile Silvanna had ever seen. The girl nodded and handed over five pamphlets to McGonagall, before leading the way through the corridors (some more students ogled at them) to a large classroom. Sixteen desks had been set out in a grid, each with a game of gobstones already set up.

Hovering around the edges were groups of students, either talking among themselves or eyeing other groups nervously. Each group was wearing a different uniform, and accompanied by one or sometimes two professors. There were bright blues and greens and reds, and Silvanna suddenly felt very drab in her white shirt and black skirt.

McGonagall handed out the pamphlets to each of them, and indicated a nearby table with a quill and ink. "You need to sign your names on them to see your first match," she explained. Silvanna flicked through hers while she waited for the quill. There was a tournament table, half filled with names, and various adverts for gobstones sets and something called the TransFloo network.

When she signed her name on the front, she saw it appear on the table, near the bottom right. Just above it was someone called Karlsson. "Burke, it looks like you're up against Ilvernmorny and Sallow your against Castelobruxo. Girls, you aren't playing until round two."

Before Silvanna could ask what the different schools were, or how the tournament worked, or any of the other questions that jumped to mind, another group of students entered the room. The volume of chatter went down a notch as the black-robed group treaded to the side of the room. Hannah let out a breath of a whisper. "Koldovstoretz."