Contract Era

Chapter 3: Torment

Hermione's fourth year at Hogwarts brought with it the Triwizard Tournament. A tournament that was held every five years at one of the three premiere magical schools in Europe. Hermione was delighted and excited to learn about other magical schools and cultures and found herself almost bouncing on the steps of Hogwarts as they awaited the arrival of students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.

"My father wanted me to go to Durmstrang," Lord Draco boasted loudly.

"He probably should have and saved us all the trouble," Ron said loudly as Hermione rolled her eyes.

Snickering was heard throughout the rest of the fourth years, and Hermione longed to look back at Lord Draco, who stood behind her to see his face, but just then someone shouted. Everyone was craning their necks to see a large carriage being pulled by huge Pegasi, larger than the ones that pulled Hermione's carriage to school every year. There were at least a dozen Pegasi pulling the vast carriage. Hermione wondered how many champions they were bringing.

"Which school is that?" Hermione asked.

"Beauxbatons, I think," Harry responded.

They soon found out as the carriage landed and the Beauxbatons Headmistress descended from the carriage.

"Merlin, she's as large as Mr Hagrid," Ron commented.

Hermione elbowed him, "Hush."

"That's Beauxbatons," Harry confirmed as the students began exiting the carriage. "Blue uniforms."

"How do you suppose Durmstrang will arrive?" Ron asked as he began scanning the skies.

"Look!" A Hufflepuff third-year shouted, pointing toward Black Lake.

The lake was bubbling and swirling. Within moments, the tall masts of a ship broke the surface—soon followed by the ship itself, bobbing up like a cork.

"Wow," Ron said.

"That is quite impressive," Hermione replied. "How do you suppose they managed it?"

"No idea." Harry shook his head.

Dinner that evening was rather raucous as both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students presented themselves. Hermione felt a little saddened that Hogwarts didn't have a demonstration, but perhaps since they were the host school it wasn't required? Overall, Hogwarts seemed much more relaxed and informal than either Beauxbatons or Durmstrang.

"That's Viktor Krum!" Ron shouted as the tallest boy from Durmstrang passed their table.

"Who?" Hermione asked.

"Viktor Krum! He's the Seeker for the Bulgarian National Quidditch team!"

"Oh," Hermione nodded then tuned Ron and Harry out as they began discussing Quidditch. It wasn't that Hermione didn't like the sport, she just thought it was silly the way they obsessed over it. Krum was a somewhat sour looking boy—tall and thin, as Seekers usually were, with a heavy brow and brooding eyes. Hermione wasn't sure she cared for the look of him.

Overall, having the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts impacted Hermione's life very little. The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students were much older than Hermione and her friends, so they didn't share classes with them. Since Hermione didn't play Quidditch, she didn't mind that the Quidditch season had been canceled for the year in place of the tournament. The drawing of champions was mildly entertaining. But as a Gryffindor wasn't chosen, Hermione lost interest rather quickly.

The most significant impact on Hermione's life was that Viktor Krum seemed to have the same library study schedule as Hermione. That in itself wouldn't be a problem, if he didn't have a gaggle of followers everywhere he went. Younger girls or girls who hadn't been formally introduced seemed to flock around wherever he was. Even that wouldn't bother Hermione so much if Krum would ever work in a part of the library that Hermione wasn't . But he didn't, no matter where Hermione decided to work, Krum soon showed up. It was enough to drive Hermione batty.