oOo
Veronica was only slightly off-put by the new DADA teacher, Professor Moody. Her and everyone else at Hogwarts found him slightly creepy, but she didn't want to judge someone based on their appearance. After all, he has dedicated his life to keeping the Wizarding World safe, so who is she to complain about him or the way he teaches.
The way she felt about their professor didn't change, even after their first lesson with him, when he decided to go completely off syllabus and teach them about Unforgivable Curses. Veronica was actually quite pleased with his more rough and tough teaching methods, as she wanted to be as prepared as possible for the outside world. Especially after what she heard happened at the Quidditch World Cup, she'd prefer to learn how to defend herself sooner rather than later.
That, of course, didn't stop most of the students from freaking out after the DADA lesson and as they were walking down the hallway she allowed herself to be dragged along by Ernie as he and Hannah had a heated discussion about their opinions on Professor Moody.
"He needs to be put in his place!" exclaimed Hannah as she stomped through the many students lingering in the corridor. "I can't believe he would carelessly perform those awful curses right in front of us!" She continued to rant, getting her anger out on Veronica and Ernie as they made it to the courtyard. Ernie nodding along, his face still pale, but slowly gaining back colour, from watching Moody control, torture then murder the spider. Veronica was barely listening as she stumbled alongside them, tripping up her own feet, she had the slightest of suspicions that Hannah wasn't just mad because of the curses but because of her feelings for a certain blonde Gryffindor.
Ernie must've seen it as well when he smiled at Hannah and said: "I bet you wish you could find Longbottom and console him huh?". Hannah quickly shut her mouth and hurried away, but Veronica could just about make out the blush forming on Hannah's face as she dipped her head to face the floor.
After watching her walk away with a smug smile on his face, Ernie turns to Veronica. "How did you feel about that DADA lesson Ronnie?" he questioned curiously. Once again, Veronica looks at him for a few seconds then shrugs her shoulders. "I honestly wasn't too bothered, it was a bit intense but for once I actually learned something"
Ernie eyes her for a moment then gave a quick nod accepting her answer "Yeah I can see where you're coming from, at least we have a proper professional teaching us this year". Veronica completely agreed.
oOo
As the weeks went by, Veronica quickly settled into Hogwarts again, establishing an everyday routine of meeting Ernie for breakfast, getting through her lessons before retreating to the library for some quiet time. And even though she seemed as busy as ever, she still felt hopelessly bored.
Before she knew it the day had finally come, the arrival of the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, and Veronica soon found herself standing outside alone, surrounded by fellow Hufflepuffs, waiting for the schools to show up. She didn't really care about this Tournament and she has previously found herself getting frustrated when teachers snapped at students more than usual about dress code and manner, as well as finding the numerous decorations unnecessary.
They'd been standing there for what seemed like forever when finally whispers turned into shouts and Veronica looked up to see what people were pointing to. A large majestic horse-drawn carriage was flying through the clouds slowly descending towards them, and even she had to admit it was pretty impressive. Veronica herself found it hard to look away.
Everyone leaned forward trying to catch a glimpse of the students occupying this carriage as the door swung open, and suddenly gasps and comments were heard as Veronica noticed the woman that stepped out. She was huge, her freakishly tall frame was covered with some of the most extravagant robes Veronica had ever seen. All eyes were on this woman as she stepped forward and greeted Dumbledore with a booming voice, clarity clouded by her thick French accent "Dumblydore thank you for your kind greeting and offering us your castle to stay for the Tournament!". Even as the Beauxbatons students exited the carriage and pooled around this woman, all treading carefully and gracefully, the majority of people continued to stare at Madame Maxine, who Dumbledore was now directing inside.
Veronica noticed in particular many of the new arrivals looking around in distaste and grumbling to themselves and she suddenly felt a wave of animosity towards these stuck up French teenagers and knew they wouldn't be getting along very well.
Once again they were left standing outside, but not for long as many of the students were enthralled by the ship emerging from the whirlpool that had appeared in the middle of the Black Lake. It continued to rise out of the water, Veronica was astounded by the size and wondered how many students were on it and if a ship that large was entirely necessary or if they're using it as an intimidation tactic.
As the small crowd of students stepped off of the ship Veronica knew they were vastly different to the previous set of arrivals from Beauxbatons, who were clearly taught to be elegant and refined. The Durmstrang lot was large and daunting as their angry eyes remained forwards focusing on the interaction between the headmasters. Veronica wasn't afraid to admit that the Headmaster of Durmstrang gave off bad vibes and she made a promise then and there to avoid that man at all costs during his stay at Hogwarts. His icy eyes seemed to stare straight through Dumbledore as they spoke, his deep, gravelly voice barely audible while he whispered quickly to the old and cheerful wizard.
oOo
They were now all seated in the Great Hall, the Beauxbatons delegates sitting with the Ravenclaw and Durmstrang with the Slytherins, both houses now sitting there smug as if they'd been chosen especially for the new guests. Veronica was curious as to why people were so interested in one of the Durmstrang boys in particular and when she leaned over to ask Ernie who he was, many of the people sitting around them stared at her in disbelief. "You don't know who Viktor Krum is!?!" exclaimed Hannah, causing Veronica to flush slightly once she heard the Bulgarian seeker's familiar name. She knew who Krum was, but she'd never seen his picture before, so she hurriedly explained that to Hannah and Ernie, and people quickly went back to what they were doing before, paying no mind to the small blushing brunette anymore.
Veronica was pulled from her thoughts by the crowded Hall gasping in shock, she glanced towards the front of the room and noticed the Goblet now protruding very prominent red flames as Dumbledore explained that any potential champions were to enter the Tournament by writing their name and their school on parchment paper before placing the paper into the fire. The Goblet would then choose a Champion for each school, which would be announced in the coming weeks.
After they were dismissed it was a mad rush out of the Great Hall, louder and bigger than usual due to the increased number of people now at Hogwarts. Veronica wasn't in as much of a hurry and stood behind the crowds, her mind elsewhere as she now tried to understand why she felt so cold and scared, almost as if she could feel the Goblet staring back at her, the image of the flames still reflecting in the back of her eyes.
YOU ARE READING
Undistinguished (H.P.)
Fanfiction[adjective] lacking distinction; unexceptional. Veronica Green is a simple and average half-blood. Hidden in plain sight and blending into the background are what she does best. Until her fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, wh...
