When we went down to breakfast on the morning of the thirtieth of October, we found that the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. Enormous silk banners hung from the walls, each of them representing a Hogwarts House: red with a gold lion for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. Behind the teachers' table, the largest banner of all bore the Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger, and snake united around a large letter H. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down beside me, Fred and George at the Gryffindor table since I'd opened up to the twins I was a lot happier and they continued to shield me from any stares and they were indeed pranking anyone who mentioned me or looked my way. We were sitting apart from everyone else and conversing in low voices.
"It's a bummer, all right," George was saying gloomily to Fred and me. "But if he won't talk to us in person, we'll have to send him the letter after all. Or we'll stuff it into his hand. He can't avoid us forever."
"Who's avoiding you?" Ron said, sitting down next to Fred who was opposite me and George. whilst Harry sat next to me.
"Wish you would," Fred said, looking irritated at the interruption.
"What's a bummer?" Ron asked George.
"Having a nosy git like you for a brother," George said.
"You three got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet?" Harry asked thankfully changing the subject. "Thought any more about trying to enter?"
"I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling," George said bitterly. "She just told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my raccoon."
"Which he failed at anyway" I joke making him glare at me.
"Wonder what the tasks are going to be?" Ron said thoughtfully. "You know, I bet we could do them, Harry. We've done dangerous stuff before"
"Not in front of a panel of judges, you haven't," Fred said. "McGonagall says the champions get awarded points according to how well they've done the tasks."
"Who are the judges?" Harry asked.
"Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel," Hermione said and everyone looked around at her, rather surprised "because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792, when a cockatrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on the rampage." She noticed us all looking at her and said, with her usual air of impatience that nobody else had read all the books she had, "It's all in Hogwarts, A History. Though, of course, that book's not entirely reliable. A Revised History of Hogwarts would be a more accurate title. Or A Highly Biased and Selective History of Hogwarts, Which Glosses Over the Nastier Aspects of the School."
"What are you on about?" Ron said. though Harry looked as if he knew what was coming.
"House-elves!" said Hermione, her eyes flashing. "Not once, in over a thousand pages, does Hogwarts, A History mention that we are all colluding in the oppression of a hundred slaves!" Harry shook his head and applied himself to his scrambled eggs.
"Do you reckon if I buy one of her stupid badges she'll shut up about it" I whisper to Harry.
"Nope seems to just make her worse"
"You do realize that your sheets are changed, your fires lit, your classrooms cleaned, and your food cooked by a group of magical creatures who are unpaid and enslaved?" she kept saying fiercely. Ron rolled his eyes at the ceiling, which was flooding them all in autumn sunlight, and Fred became extremely interested in his bacon both twins had refused to buy a S.P.E.W. badge. George, however, leaned in toward Hermione.
"Listen, have you ever been down in the kitchens, Hermione?"
"No, of course not," said Hermione curtly, "I hardly think students are supposed to"
"Well, we have," George said, pointing at himself, me and Fred, "loads of times, to nick food. And we've met them, and they're happy. They think they've got the best job in the world"
"That's because they're uneducated and brainwashed!" Hermione began hotly, but her next few words were drowned out by the sudden whooshing noise from overhead, which announced the arrival of the post owls. Harry looked up at once, and saw Hedwig soaring toward him. Hermione stopped talking abruptly; she and Ron watched Hedwig anxiously as she fluttered down onto Harry's shoulder, folded her wings, and held out her leg wearily. Harry pulled off two letters and offered Hedwig his bacon rinds, which she ate gratefully before handing me the letter with my name.
"Sirius" Harry said when I gave him a questioning look. I opened the letter and started reading as Harry did the same with his.
Hey Little Wolf,
Hope schools not to boring and that you're still pranking. How are you feeling Moony told me about your chat after the Quidditch world cup. How are the nightmares? Just remember don't hide who you are from anyone and talk to your friends it'll help trust me.
I'll see you on your next Hogsmeade weekend, let me know when that is.
Love you,
Pads (Although it should be Padfoot but I'll allow it because I love you) x
Below Pad's writing is a bit from Moony.
Dear Wolf
I hope you're behaving at school and not taking Sirius's advice when it comes to it. How are your powers. If you feel like you're losing control again talk to Dumbledore and he'll get me straight away, we arranged it that way before I resigned. I'll be with Sirius on your next Hogsmeade visit so I'll see you then if you don't need me before then.
Love Moony.
Fred and George were immersed in further discussions about the Triwizard Tournament as I read the letter.
There was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air that day. Nobody was very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; even Potions was more bearable than usual, as it was half an hour shorter. When the bell rang early everyone took their school things back to their dorms before heading down to the entrance hall. The Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines.
"Weasley, straighten your hat," Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron. "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair." Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait. "Miss Potter, that jacket is not uniform remove it" I did as she said and started trying to rearrange my robes to cover my neck like my jacket was before. "Follow me, please," said Professor McGonagall. "First years in front no pushing" They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest. Fred wrapped his scarf around my neck as I looked up at him.
"Thank you" I said leaning into him slightly as he put an arm around my shoulder.
"No problem" I looked at Harry who was standing between Ron and Hermione in the fourth row from the front and also saw Dennis Creevey positively shivering with anticipation among the other first years.
"Nearly six," Ron said, checking his watch and then staring down the drive that led to the front gates. "How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"
"I doubt it," Hermione said.
"How, then? Broomsticks?" Harry suggested, looking up at the starry sky.
"I don't think so not from that far away" I said to Harry leaning forward slightly
"A Portkey?" Ron suggested. "Or they could Apparate maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"
"You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?" Hermione told him impatiently. Everyone was scanning the darkening grounds excitedly, but nothing was moving, everything was still, silent, and quite as usual. I was starting to feel cold.
"I wish they'd hurry up I'm freezing" I muttered to the twins as Fred pulled me closer to him and George moved closer so my other side was against him making me feel warmer instantly "Knew there was a reason I kept you two around" I joke. Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers
"Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"
"Where?" said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions.
"There!" yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest. Something large, much larger than a broomstick or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time.
"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the first years, losing her head completely. Thats definitely not a dragon.
"Don't be stupid it's a flying house!" Dennis Creevey said. Dennis's guess was closer. As the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, everyone saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant. The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed, then, with an almighty crash that made Neville jump backward onto a Slytherin fifth year's foot, the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes. The door of the carriage bore a coat of arms two crossed, golden wands, each emitting three stars. A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectfully. Then I saw a shining, high heeled black shoe emerging from the inside of the carriage, a shoe the size of a child's sled followed, almost immediately, by the largest woman he had ever seen in his life. The size of the carriage, and of the horses, was immediately explained. A few people gasped. She was probably as big as Hagrid I doubt there's even an inch difference in their heights. As she stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers. Dumbledore started to clap, the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman. Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it.
"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."
"Dumbly-dort," Madame Maxime said in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"
"In excellent form, I thank you,"
"My pupils," Madame Maxime said, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her. There was about a dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, who had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads. They were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces. "'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.
"He should be here any moment," Dumbledore said. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"
"Warm up, I think," Madame Maxime said. "But ze 'orses -"
"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," Dumbledore said, "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other - er - charges."
"Skrewts," I heard Ron mutter to Harry, grinning.
"My steeds require - er - forceful 'andling," Madame Maxime said, looking as though she doubted whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the job. "Zey are very strong"
"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," Dumbledore told her, smiling.
"Very well," Madame Maxime said, bowing slightly. "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"
"It will be attended to," Dumbledore said, also bowing.
"Come," Madame Maxime said imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps.
"How big d'you reckon Durmstrang's horses are going to be?" Seamus Finnigan said, leaning around Lavender and Parvati to address Harry and Ron.
"Well, if they're any bigger than this lot, even Hagrid won't be able to handle them," Harry said. "That's if he hasn't been attacked by his skrewts. Wonder what's up with them?"
"Maybe they've escaped," Ron said hopefully.
"Oh don't say that," Hermione muttered with a shudder. "Imagine that lot loose on the grounds" Everyone stood, shivering slightly now, waiting for the Durmstrang party to arrive. Most people were gazing hopefully up at the sky. For a few minutes, the silence was broken only by Madame Maxime's huge horses snorting and stamping. But then
"Can you hear something?" Ron said suddenly. A loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting toward them from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed.
"The lake!" yelled Lee from beside Fred, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake!" From our position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, we had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water - except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the centre, great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor. What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool.
"It's a mast!" Harry said to Ron and Hermione. Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, we heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank. People were disembarking; they could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship's portholes. All of them seemed to be built along the lines of Crabbe and Goyle but then, as they drew nearer, walking up the lawns into the light streaming from the entrance hall, I saw that their bulk was really due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.
"Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"
"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied. Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice, when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.
"Dear old Hogwarts," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and his smile did not extend to his eyes, which remained cold and shrewd. "How good it is to be here, how good. Viktor, come along, into the warmth you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold" Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As the boy passed, I caught a glimpse of a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows. Harry didn't need the punch on the arm Ron gave him, or the hiss in his ear, to recognize that profile.
"Harry - it's Krum!"
"Fred, George I think Ron's boyfriends arrived" Ron sends me a glare as the twins laugh.