The Love Club

ii. rana veris, canis major

THE LOVE CLUB,
—scene iii: triwizard tournament
IF YOU WANT SOMETHING YOU'VE
NEVER HAD, THEN YOU MUST DO
SOMETHING YOU HAVE NEVER
DONE

  SEPTEMBER 1, 1994
THE GREAT HALL, HOGWARTS

               𝐋ike a timid cat, frisking away at the earliest indication of an offending personage, Dorothy jumped at the action of doors crashing open. Of course, so did everyone else as the sound was wholly unanticipated and was rudely disrupting Professor Dumbledore's yearly welcoming speech. It consisted of promulgations concerning the hazards of the castle, chiefly focused towards the just-sorted first-years. Vexatious knowledge that the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup was to be replaced with a different, exciting event was also incorporated.

   He had not yet relinquished the title of the said event — the corridor's entrance sprung open before those vowels and consonants could leave his lips, devising every pupil convening with jaws split with fervent words scattering on the tips of tongues. Never did one reveal their impatience, for a terrifying figure produced of scars and a whirring azure perception had made its presence known.

   The stranger wore a dull travelling cloak, which, to Dorothy, seemed far too coarse and grating to be considered comfortable. The newcomer also seized a long staff in his right hand. The powerful rumble of the crashing weather performed its symphony behind his silhouette; sometimes a lightning bolt would flash, supplying the students with a sonic glimpse of the man's face.

   Every head, though were previously viewing the grand pedestal of Professor Dumbledore, pivoted towards the tones of disturbance. Through added roll of electricity, the individual lowered his cloak's awning from round his visage, unveiling something far odder. His head was enraptured in a sheet of deep sooty hair, which he proceeded to shake out, ridding it of the moistness he must have gathered from his journey. With the room now swelled with stunned silence, to which the man blissfully ignored or basked in, he began his steady march towards the teacher's table.

   With every clunk that verbalised from his walking stick, Dorothy gave a scanty, shivering bob. From both of her sides, she could feel Martina and Josephine perform the same dance. Though Martina had incipiently been tending to the bruising covering Dorothy's hand with a few fragments of ice and a cloth napkin, she was now a wide-eyed doll, dreading the instant she would want to move and draw attention to herself.

   Dorothy's knuckles seemed to predominate as numb under the frozen chill of fear that rushed through her veins, and her blood appeared to obtain the corresponding symptoms, for it had stopped swelling her delicate skin. Obviously, the man should not have prompted such a reaction, he was clearly not there to harm anyone ( and was ostensibly expected ) as no elder witches and wizards rushed to alert him of his faults.

   Alternatively, they all just watched alongside their pupils. Nobody made a pattern of sound, except for the stranger's walking stick and the trombones, tubas, and trumpets of rumbling tempest renting the astonished stillness. The man simply waltzed to his chosen seating arrangement — the very last seat on the outer edge, immediately next to Professor Snape, who gave him disgusted side glances — and proceeded to stab at sausage with the presented fork, sniff it, and take a lewd bite out of it. Both of his eyes, of brown and mechanical blue, continued to take in the area of the Great Hall.

   "May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" announced Professor Dumbledore. "Professor Moody."

   Usually, the appearance of a freshly appointed professor would be welcomed with polite, thunderous, or angered ovation, but this situation called for something unconventional — a verse of roaring muteness. The only ones to break the recognised hush was Professor Hagrid and Professor Dumbledore, who both clapped brightly. Their applause clashed with the echo they caused when no other sound met it. Needless to say, they both were quick to cease their actions. Everybody in the hall showed to be far too distracted with the new arrival's bizarre attire and appearance to notice. Dorothy was extremely involved in this portion.