janus ~ hermione granger

xxv

"no quidditch? what are we supposed to do now?"

"sleep."

"study?"

"i like maddy's idea more," ron chuckled, making the girl dramatically turn to hermione and wink.

"this is due to an event that will be taking place in october and continuing throughout the school year. it will be very tiring for the staff, but nonetheless i can guarantee that you will all enjoy. i am pleased to announce that this year at hogwarts-"

dumbledore was interrupted by the great hall doors opening, revealing a man with a mechanical eye walking towards him.

they shook hands and the unknown man headed to a seat that was apparently reserved for him at the staff table.

"may i introduce this year's defense of the dark arts professor-"

"why do we get a new professor each year. are we that irritable?"

"professor moody!"

applause scattered through the room, most people a tad bit scared.

"moody? mad-eye moody? the one your dad went to help this morning?"

"no, sad-eye moody."

whack.

"must be," the red-head whispered.

"what happened? what happened to his face?"

"mione, that's not very-"

whack.

"as i was saying, we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over these months ahead. an event that has not been held for over a century. it is my great pleasure to announce that the triwizard tournament will be taking place at hogwarts this year."

"you're joking!" fred's voice was heard throughout the great hall, laughter following.

"no, i am not joking, mr weasley. though, now that you mention it, i did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag and a leprechaun who all go into a bar-"

professor mcgonagall cleared her throat, which made madison pout. she noticed, and so did snape, so they both had to keep in their smiles.

"but maybe this is not the time, no. where was i? yes, the triwizard tournament. some of you will not be aware of what this tournament involves, so i hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation and allow their attention to wander freely. the triwizard tournament was established hundreds of years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest european schools of wizardry: hogwarts, beauxbatons, and durmstrang. a champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. the schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was agreed to be an excellent way of establishing connections between young wizards from these schools-until well, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."

"death toll?" hermione gasped.

"the head of beauxbatons and durmstrang will be arriving with their small list of contenders in october, and the selection of the three champions will take place on halloween. an impartial judge of will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the triwizard cup, the glory of the school, and a thousand galleons winnings for prize money."

"money? sign me up!"

whack.

"you're not going to sign up for something that'll get you killed!"

"it's cute that you care, but please, for the love of god, stop hitting me!"

the people around them chuckled at the interaction, including phoebe.

"im going for it!" fred whispered, not being the only one in that building who was thinking that, seeing as many others held similar expressions.

"eager though i know all of you will be to bring the triwizard cup to hogwarts, the heads of the participating, along with the ministry of magic, have agreed to impost an age of restrictions along with the contenders of the tournament. only students who are of the age, let's say, seventeen years or older, will be allowed to put their names forward for consideration in the tournament," dumbledore silenced all the side conversations as maddy stuck her tongue out at the twins, "this is an action that we all feel is necessary. the tournament tasks will be difficult and dangerous. whatever precautions we take, it is highly unlikely that those under their sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. i will be assuring personally that no underage student will fool our impartial judge into making them hogwarts champion. therefore, i beg you," his gaze flickered over to the weasley twins, "to not waste your time in submitting yourself if you are under the age of seventeen."

"i thought he said he was going to keep it short."

"the students and staff from beauxbatons and durmstrang will be arriving in october and will be remaining with us for a heavier part of the year. I know that all of you will be extremely courteous to our guests while they are with us and that you will give all your support to the hogwarts champion when he or she is chosen. now, it is late and i know how crucial it is for you all to be alert as you enter your first lessons of the year tomorrow morning, so chop chop!"

the four gryffindors waited for the crowd of wizards and witches to calm down, not wanting to get trampled. as they waited, ginny scooted closer, neville and phoebe doing the same.

"hi guys! this is phoebe, she's in your year but it's technically her first year here."

"homeschool," the girl nervously chuckled, fidgeting with a ring on her finger.

"well phoebe, do you have a last name?" ron raised an eyebrow.

"taylor. im not related to the taylor's though, sadly. that would be wicked."

if only she knew.

that got maddy thinking though. same last name, doesn't know. did they really go through the troubles of finding another nice family of wizards with that last name? if so, why didn't they just drop off the both of them?

more questions.

are they twins? how would their relationship be if they weren't separated?

"well, im-"

"harry potter," she quickly smiled, causing the red-head to frown. "sorry, i just think your story is so cool. same with you," she nodded to maddy, who wasn't even paying attention.

whack.

"blimey, jean."

whack.

"don't call me jean."

"then don't call me iris."

"are they always like this?" phoebe questioned, snorting in amusement. ginny smiled as she noticed her new friend starting to get more comfortable.

"she's like this with the both of them," harry answered, nodding to ron and hermione while getting up.

"i need sleep."

"we didn't ask," ron replied, which ended in the two doing their usual fighting as the six gryffindors left the great hall, heading to their dormitories.

"point proven," harry playfully rolled his eyes.

word count- 1116
date written- october 5, 2020
i am very aware that breanna and olivia don't look the much alike okay, she was just the first person i thought of for some reason

also, what job do y'all think maddy should have? like after they graduate?