*•*
AND SO FOURTH YEAR BEGINS
*•*
When the first of September finally rolled around, Amelia couldn't have been any happier to go back to Hogwarts.
She was sick and tired of the Potter family, from Harry's attitude towards her to the lack of social life she received.
None of them truly understood the girl, maybe apart from Charlotte. She was nearly fifteen and should be allowed to make her own choices, especially who she was friends with.
On top of that none of them had to experience the harsh reality of what it was like growing up as a Pureblood.
Sure, James was a Pureblood but he never had the pressure of keeping his family line Pureblood. Amelia had and still did.
Even if her mother was dead and her grandmother was locked away (a theory that had been confirmed) there was still eyes on her, they never left.
She was hoping Hogwarts would be the escape from reality she needed. A break. Summer was meant to be her break and yet it never ended up being.
"Amelia." Charlotte knocked on the door before walking in. Her brunette hair was tied up and she had her case in her hands, "Dads asked if your ready to go."
Amelia nodded in excitement, excited to get back to Hogwarts. "I'll be down in a moment."
Charlotte was by far the better sibling, she never judged the girl in her presence. Not as bad as her brother did anyway. He was a real dick.
In fact since the Qudditch World Cup and their trip to Diagon Alley, Charlotte began spending more time with Amelia and they got to know one another fairly well.
Just like she promised, Amelia was down the stairs in moments, fully dressed and equipped for the train ride.
Her hair was down - it was very rarely she tied it up - and she wore a pair of white joggers and a hoodie.
Once the group arrived at the station they were instantly met by Sirius and Remus. The Hogwarts Students had already gone off to the station yet Amelia was unable to find her friends, therefore she stayed with them.
They still had five minutes until the train would set off. Her eyes were roaming the station, attempting to pin point anyone she knew.
None of the adults spoke to her as she did, pleasing Amelia. At last, Daphne spotted her.
"Amelia." She greeted, hugging her. Amelia hugged back with no hesitation. "You look gorgeous!"
Amelia laughed at the compliment. She hadn't got the chance to see Daphne over the summer and their plans at the World Cup were cancelled for obvious reasons. "As do you! You have got to tell me what your skin care routine is."
"Makeup." Winked Daphne, pulling out the hug. Amelia rolled her eyes before turning to face the adults.
"I'm going now." She spoke to James, who seemed bored. Lily and Remus were talking to one another and Sirius had walked off else where.
He nodded with a small smile, "Great. I'll see you soon." He opened his arms out and for a moment Amelia thought he was about to hug her but before she was able to react he stepped back, giving her a last nod.
"Well." Daphne said, her arms crossed, "That was a delightful conversation."
Amelia sighed. "We've been fighting all summer."
The train whistle blew, indicating they had only a few minutes to get on the train.
"Tell me about it on the train." Daphne dragged the girl onto the train and into a compartment.
Amelia looked around. "Where are the others?" She asked concerned.
"I'm sure they'll show up. They weren't anywhere else. And this is our usual compartment."
Like she said, they did eventually turn up one after another.
"Hey girls!" Theo shouted, making his presence known.
"Theo." Amelia acknowledged, watching in slight amusement as he struggled slightly to place his luggage in the compartment.
Following him in, Blake sat down though she was too busy laughing at Theo.
"Alright." Daphne said, her attention back on Amelia, "Tell me about your father and daughter dynamic."
"Oo!" Pansy shrieked, entering the compartment. "I want to know, the boys are being too annoying today. Thought I'd join you."
This caused the lot of them to stop speaking and look at Amelia.
"Tell me!"
"And me!"
"Come on!"
"Shut up." Amelia snapped, needing to think for a minute. "I'll tell you if you'll be quiet."
Theo eagerly nodded, pulling out a few packets of sweets from his pocket and shoving them into various peoples hands.
No one questioned his peculiar behaviour.
"It's not that bad really. We've just been fighting about everything. How he wouldn't let me see any of you or stay at the Malfoy's and the fact he was a shit father." She began to explain, shoving sweets into her mouth, "And Harry's been a cunt all summer."
"He didn't let you stay over at the Manor?"
"Draco's mother was furious when he refused when i was around for a few days." Daphne hummed. "If his father wasn't at home she would've gone to the house herself."
Amelia smiled, she loved Narcissa Malfoy with her whole heart. She was always there for her and she liked to believe that she would always be.
"Enough about me. What about you guys, any boyfriends or girlfriends yet?" She looked at Daphne, expecting the announcement.
Daphne clearly knew the look well, "Ew, we aren't dating Amelia. Me and Rowan are never going to happen. Not in a million years."
"Yet." She smirked, leaning against the window.
*•*
When Amelia could see Hogwarts coming up she instantly grew ten times more excited. It's many lighted windows blurred and shimmering behind the thick curtain of rain.
They quickly got off the train, instantly soaking them. The rain was coming down so fast and heavy it was as thought multiple buckets of freezing cold water were being dunked on them.
"I'd hate to travel in the boats in this weather." Pansy shivered, wasting no time to head to the carriages.
Being on the carriage didn't stop the fact it was absolutely freezing and so the moment they stopped many students rushed up the stone steps, leading to the doors.
Blake, Daphne, Pansy and Amelia were no exception and they left Theo.
The scene they walked into was absolutely hilarious, that they just had to watch it unfold even further.
Ron Weasley, was stood soaked, and with peeves right before him, he looked humiliated.
Peeves the Poltergeist, a little man in a bell-covered hat and orange bow tie, his wide, malicious face contorted with concentration as he took aim again.
Amelia smirked, she thought Peeves was great.
He never bothered the fourteen year old girl and never once did he prank her. Instead he helped a lot and gave her inspiration for upcoming pranks and different ways to sneak around the castle.
"PEEVES!" yelled an angry voice. "Peeves, come down here at ONCE!"
Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and head of Gryffindor House, had come dashing out of the Great Hall; she skidded on the wet floor and grabbed Hermione around the neck to stop herself from falling.
Pansy had to sustain a laugh from escaping her lips. Daphne covered her mouth, also finding the scene incredibly funny.
Blake, however, let out her laughter as she held onto Amelia.
"Ouch - sorry, Miss Granger -"
"That's all right, Professor!" Hermione gasped, massaging her throat.
"Peeves, get down here NOW!" barked Professor McGonagall, straightening her pointed hat and glaring upward through her square-rimmed spectacles.
"Not doing nothing!" cackled Peeves, lobbing a water bomb at several fifth-year girls, who screamed and dived into the Great Hall. "Already wet, aren't they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!" And he aimed another bomb at a group of second years who had just arrived.
"I shall call the headmaster!" shouted Professor McGonagall. "I'm warning you, Peeves -"
Peeves stuck out his tongue, threw the last of his water bombs into the air, and zoomed off up the marble staircase, cackling insanely.
"Well, move along, then!" said Professor McGonagall sharply to the bedraggled crowd. "Into the Great Hall, come on!"
Amelia sighed, knowing the fun was officially over, she made her way into the Great Hall. It was already packed and full of students something that didn't surprise Amelia.
The Great Hall itself looked like it always did - splendid. Although it was now decorated and easy for the start-of-term feast.
Golden plates and goblets gleamed beneath the hundreds of candles that floated metres above the ground.
Quickly, the four girls rushed past the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor table, dropping Blake off, and the trio sat down along with the rest of their house.
The house table was packed with chattering student from first years to seventh years. Amelia, Pansy and Daphne were no exception.
"I hope this year was better then last year." Daphne said, beaming.
Pansy nodded, "Same. It was a rather boring year, except of course for the family drama."
Amelia looked up at the staff table, unfortunately for her all the teachers that were apart of her family were still there.
"Your welcome for that." Amelia said, adjusting her skirt, rolling it up now that they had gotten past the professors. "I hope they hurry up with the sorting ceremony, I am absolutely famished."
Daphne rolled her eyes, "You know full well they'll take forever with the event."
The words were no sooner out of her mouth than the doors of the Great Hall opened and silence fell.
Amelia almost laughed at the coincidence.
Professor McGonagall was leading a long line of first years up to the top of the Hall. If Ron and Hermione were wet, it was nothing to how these first years looked.
They appeared to have swum across the lake rather than sailed. All of them were shivering with a combination of cold and nerves as they filed along the staff table and came to a halt in a line facing the rest of the school.
"They're going to get hypothermia," Amelia commented to her two friends, "and die."
"You are so pessimistic." Pansy said, looking in the direction of the first years.
Daphne ignored them both, she had already had enough of them for one day.
For a moment, there was silence. Then a long tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song:
A thousand years or more ago, When I was newly sewn,
There lived four wizards of renown, Whose names are still well known: Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor, Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,
Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,
Shrewd Slytherin, from fen.
They shared a wish, a hope, a dream, They hatched a daring plan
To educate young sorcerers
Thus Hogwarts School began.
Now each of these four founders Formed their own house, for each Did value different virtues
In the ones they had to teach.
By Gryffindor, the bravest were Prized far beyond the rest;
For Ravenclaw, the cleverest
Would always be the best;
For Hufflepuff, hard workers were Most worthy of admission;
And power-hungry Slytherin
Loved those of great ambition.
While still alive they did divide
Their favorites from the throng,
Yet how to pick the worthy ones When they were dead and gone? 'Twas Gryffindor who found the way, He whipped me off his head
The founders put some brains in me So I could choose instead!
Now slip me snug about your ears, I've never yet been wrong,
I'll have a look inside your mind
And tell where you belong!
Once everyone was certain it had stopped singing they let out a round of applause.
It was only then did Amelia realise something,
"Where are the boys?" She asked, glancing down the table, the other two also began looking,
"They are all the way down there, near the front." Pansy shrugged, "Apparently we are bad company now."
"Suit themselves, I guess." Daphne said, seemingly not bothered. They didn't have time to discuss more as the sorting ceremony began.
It was tedious and extremely boring; Mcgonnagal spoke a name, the first year would walk up and the sorting hat would say a house along with a round of applause. This process was then repeated a bunch of times.
"About time," said Amelia, seizing her knife and fork and looking expectantly at his golden plate.
Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was smiling around at the students, his arms opened wide in welcome.
"I have only two words to say to you," he told them, his deep voice echoing around the Hall. "Tuck in."
"Finally!" Pansy said loudly, as the plates magically filled up with food right before their eyes.
The Great Hall become some what peaceful whilst people filled up on the food they had at their disposal. It became fully silent when Dumbledore rose again.
"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices."
He paused.
"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty- seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."
The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogs- meade to all below third year."
Amelia was then reminded that she was unable to go to Hogsmeade due to the end of year prank she had pulled.
She was also positive Mcgonnagal or Snape would see her soon about the detention she had been issued.
"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."
"What?" Amelia gasped, "That's absurd! Ridiculous!" She began to shout.
This caught the attention of both Dumbledore and James, both of whom gave her a sympathetic look.
Amelia looked around the room. Harry looked soundlessly at Dumbledore, apparently too appalled to speak.
Dumbledore went on, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -"
But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open.
A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swiveled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling.
He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then be- gan to walk up toward the teachers' table.
A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore.
Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Pansy gasped.
The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any Amelia had ever seen.
It looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel.
Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening.
One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye - and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness.
The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbledore shook it, muttering words Amelia couldn't hear.
He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone.
Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side.
The stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark gray hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed it.
He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat.
His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students.
"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher assistant. He'll be working alongside professor Lupin." said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody."
It was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause, but none of the staff or students clapped except Dumbledore and Hagrid, who both put their hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairly quickly.
Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moody's bizarre appearance to do more than stare at him
"Moody?"Amelia muttered to Pansy. "Mad-Eye Moody? The one your dad used to work with at the Ministry?"
Pansy looked at her, uncertain. "I think so?"
"What happened to his face do you reckon?" Daphne whispered, still looking at him.
"Not sure." Amelia responded back.
"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tour- nament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."
"You're JOKING!" said Fred Weasley loudly.
The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively, including Amelia.
She always found the twins somewhat funny, even if she did get blamed for their pranks.
"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "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 loudly.
"Er - but maybe this is not the time... no..." said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament... well, some of you will not know 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 first established some seven hundred 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 generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."
"Death toll?" Pansy whispered, looking alarmed.
But her anxiety did not seem to be shared by the majority of students in the Hall; many of them were whispering excitedly to one another, and Amelia herself was far more interested in hearing about the tournament than in worrying about deaths that had happened hundreds of years ago.
"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger."
"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."
"I'm going for it!" One of the sixth years hissed down the table, his face lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches.
He was not the only person who seemed to be visualizing himself as the Hogwarts champion.
At every House table, the Slytherin girl could see people either gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or else whispering fervently to their neighbors.
But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once more.
"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This" - Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and even from a distance Amelia could tell that the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious -
"is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no under- age student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Fred's and George's mutinous faces. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen."
"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"
Dumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody. There was a great scraping and banging as all the students got to their feet and swarmed toward the double doors into the en- trance hall.
"Let's go girls, I'm exhausted."