As the time grew closer to the expected arrival of their guests, Eleanor continued to put her focus into her studies, knowing very well, it was going to be difficult to focus once the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrived, and the Triwizard Tournament began. Professor McGonagall had warned her along with the others to be on their best behaviour after serving their last detention, which Fred and George explained it meant, they couldn't get caught in the meantime. However, Eleanor was doing her best to avoid any sort of conflict, especially trying her best to avoid Artemis.
Once Marnie and Cedric had learned about what Artemis had said during the detention, it took the entire Hufflepuff Quidditch team, on Cedric's orders to hold Marnie back. She was hell-bent on finding Artemis in the castle and kicking her arse up and down the corridors as she had put it. And even though Eleanor had been angered by Artemis' insults towards her father, she didn't see anything good coming out of Marnie starting up a fight.
She figured it was best to leave it and Eleanor didn't dare mention it to her father in her letters either, she didn't want him to fret over such matters, especially since in his latest letter, he seemed happy.
Dear Ellie,
As much as I would like to return to teaching, I don't think now is the appropriate time to do so. Perhaps one day though. Regarding Moody, I'll admit I don't know him very well, he was rather gruff and private when I worked with him. Seems some things haven't changed. Try to learn as much as possible while he's available, I know he may not come across as the friendliest but he's definitely far more qualified than I when it comes to his knowledge and experience fighting the Dark Arts.
Your mother and I are excited to hear about the possible internship programme at the Ministry, and your grandfather said he'll put in any sort of recommendation if need be. Of course, it may come across as slightly bias coming from him, since he absolutely adores you. We've been helping your mother with some repairs around the home and she's been spoiling us with all sorts of new recipes that she's been trying out. She's been fretting over the dress robes though; she wasn't sure if you were going to like the colour red that we chose for you.
If you could reassure her that you do like them in your next letter, or if you don't like them, I suppose we could look into getting you another set of your choosing.
Hope all is going well with you and your studies, and I hope your friends are doing well too. I've sent a little something to cheer you up and if you wish, you can always share it. Can't wait for your next letter.
Love you,
Dad
And much to Eleanor's amusement sent with the letter was a large bar of chocolate. It probably would have lasted longer too but she took up her father's suggestion of sharing it, especially during long nights in the library. Whenever Madam Pince wasn't staring their table down, Eleanor would break off a piece and throw it into Fred's mouth. Although at one point, Marnie reached out her hand and snatched it from the air before eating it. Fred's cheated expression caused everyone at the table to laugh until Madam Pince rounded the corner, forcing all of them to look down at their books.
A week before the last week of October, a notice was posted, leaving plenty of students to crowd around the Entrance Hall to get a glimpse at the announcement.
TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT
The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday 30th of October. Lessons will end half an hour early – Students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the Welcoming Feast.
Whenever the tournament was discussed, Eleanor felt her stomach flop with nerves, especially since Cedric and Fred were not giving up the idea of entering. She didn't worry too much when it came to Fred, mainly because it would mean that he would have to outsmart the precautions that were taken to keep any underage wizards or witches from entering. And with Ludo Bagman cheating them out of their winnings, she knew the determining factor was not the eternal glory, but the winning of a thousand galleons.
As for Cedric, while Eleanor and Marnie tried to tell him that it probably wasn't a good idea to enter, especially with Hogwarts track record over the last couple of years, involving rather dangerous events. However, there were plenty of students, like Ernie Macmillan, a fourth-year Hufflepuff, that encouraged Cedric to enter at any given chance. And if that wasn't annoying enough, the professors seemed to be breathing down everyone's neck, drilling it into their minds that they needed to make a good impression while the other schools were there.
"I thought Professor McGonagall was going to snap my neck during class today," Marnie said, "the way she looked at me. She's always had that look to her that she could strangle you, but Merlin's beard, I felt my heart skip a beat. I mean, so I turned the pawn piece into a knight instead of a queen, was it really that big of a deal?"
The three were settled in the Hufflepuff Common Room, Marnie and Cedric pulling up chairs closer to the fireplace while Eleanor chose to sit on the floor near the fire.
"Makes me wonder if we're just behind compared to the other schools out there," Cedric said, "my father told me there's a school in Uganda, Uagadou I think it's called. Well, they're well known for their Transfiguration, apparently, a lot of the students become registered animagi by the time they're our age."
"Oh, that's great," Marnie sighed, "I struggle to turn a pawn piece into a queen but there's someone who can turn themselves in an animal at will. You know what, next class, I might just let McGonagall snap my neck and put me out of my misery."
"You're being dramatic," Cedric told her, "Ellie, tell Marnie she's being dramatic."
Eleanor didn't respond bringing the two to look over in her direction. It was obvious that she wasn't even paying attention to the conversation as she was staring into the fire. Her hands seemed frozen in her lap with her knitting as she continued to stare at the flames. No matter how many times her friends seemed to call her name, it was like she couldn't hear them. But Marnie and Cedric could only watch in horror as Eleanor started reaching out to the fire.
"ELLIE!"
Cedric and Marnie reached forward at the same time, grabbing Eleanor by the shoulders and practically yanked her back. Her knitting fell from her hands onto the floor, while her friends wore incredulous expression.
"Were you trying to burn yourself?" Marnie asked her. "Are you feeling alright?"
No, Eleanor had not been attempting to burn herself, but her curiosity had gotten the best of her as she had thought about placing one of her knitting garments in the fireplace. Initially, she had been thinking about Artemis' accusation as she had seen the girl earlier in the day in Arithmancy. She was trying to make sense of it all, theorising that her knitting provided some form of protection, at least, against Fred's and George's pranking attempts.
And if her jumper had, indeed, smacked Artemis' what else would it protect against?
The temptation of the fire in front of her was alluring enough that she was willing to throw in her latest scarf that she had been working on. But from where her friends were sitting, it looked like she was attempting to stick her hands straight into the flames. And she didn't want to say anything right away about her knitting, not so sure of the answers herself, she didn't need any outside opinions muddling her thoughts.
"Sorry," she answered after a moment, pulling her gaze away from the fireplace, "I guess I started falling asleep and ended up falling forward."
"Ellie, if you're that tired, go to bed," Marnie said with a shake of her head, the concern not leaving her eyes just yet. "Before you end up setting yourself on fire."
"But-"
"Ellie, you heard Marnie," Cedric interjected, "if you're really that tired, she's right, you should go to bed."
With a roll of her eyes, paired with a grin, Eleanor pushed herself up to her feet, and grabbed her things. But at the last second, she "accidentally" threw her unfinished scarf into the fireplace. She pretended to be upset about dropping it, while intently watching to see if anything happened. Unfortunately, much to her disappointment, the scarf only burned producing a terrible smell in the Common Room. Thinking she was really that tired, Marnie linked arms with her and started leading Eleanor towards the girls' dormitory.
The protection was effective against pranks, but not against fire.
The morning of the thirtieth of October, the Great Hall had been gone under a transformation 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'.
Eleanor entered, taking a quick glance around to see Cedric surrounded by a couple of students, probably getting his early morning gossip. Marnie was back in the dorms, struggling to find the motivation to get out of bed. But she quickly spotted Fred and George at the Gryffindor table and made her way towards them. They seemed to be in the middle of a discussion, but to be slightly annoying, Eleanor sat in between them suddenly, startling both of them.
"Good morning," she greeted as she went to grab herself a cup of tea, leaving the twins to exchange looks.
George only smiled to himself as Fred turned red and watched as Eleanor continue to make herself a plate of breakfast. After realising that neither one of them had greeted her, she looked up and grinned at Fred.
"This is the part where you say good morning," she told him. "And I ask what you two are up to? And you say oh, we were just talking about something and I say, oh, because I don't want to appear nosy, so I don't ask what you were specifically talking about. The curiosity is there though. But then you give in and tell me, and- "
Suddenly, Fred placed his hand over her mouth, trying his best not to laugh. "If you must know, we were talking about how to handle Bagman again. Lee said his father tried to approach Bagman in person and he fled to avoid any confrontation."
"It's a bummer all right," George sighed. "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."
Suddenly, Ron arrived with Harry and Hermione in his company. "Who's avoiding you?" he asked as he sat down, while Eleanor waved to the three of them.
"Wish you would," Fred huffed at him.
Ignoring Fred's rude response, Ron turned to George. "What's a bummer?"
"Having a nosy git like you for a brother."
Eleanor nudged the twins in the ribs with her elbows as Ron dropped the conversation entirely, muttering under his breath about his brothers being gits. However, Harry didn't take the hint that the twins were trying to have a conversation without interruptions.
"You two got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet? he asked. "Thought any more about trying to enter?"
"I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling," George answered. "She just told me to shut up and get on with Transfiguring my raccoon."
At the mention of the Tournament, Eleanor instinctively looked over at the Hufflepuff table, to see that Marnie had arrived finally for breakfast. Cedric was sitting with her but as Ernie approached, probably to talk about the tournament as well, Marnie pointed at him in a threatening manner before shooing him off. Turning her attention back to the conversation at the Gryffindor table, Eleanor felt she had missed out on something entirely as they were no longer discussing the tournament but rather the treatment of house-elves.
"You do realise 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?" Hermione said hotly.
Noticing Eleanor's confusion, Fred leaned in and whispered about Hermione's latest project called S.P.E.W. otherwise known as the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. Since witnessing the mistreatment of Winky the House-Elf back at the Quidditch World Cup, Hermione had taken a passionate stance on the rights that the creatures deserved for their work. Apparently, she was charging two sickles to join, and members were given a badge to show their support to the cause. However, judging by the expressions of everyone sitting around the table, they didn't seem to share in the same enthusiasm as Hermione.
"Listen, have you ever been down in the kitchens, Hermione?" George asked her from across the table.
"No, of course not. I hardly think students are supposed to –'
"Well, we have," George said, "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's argument was cut short as the post owls came flooding into the Great Hall, but during the commotion, Eleanor reached into her pocket and pulled out a couple of sickles before placing it down in front of Hermione, paired with a wink before she left the table.
Hermione looked down at the money before turning around on the bench.
"Wait, you forgot your badge!"