Dedicated to eyabelkhodja
Hermione was glad to see that at breakfast the next day Harry looked a lot better than he had the night before. However, she wasn't as pleased with his reasoning for it
"I told Sirius that I'd imagined my scar hurting" he said "hopefully he'll stay wherever he is"
"That was a lie, Harry" said Hermione, reminding herself of her seven year old self ("telling fibs is bad, mummy!") "You didn't imagine your scar hurting and you know it"
"So what?" said Harry "He's not going back to Azkaban because of me"
"Drop it" said Ron as Hermione was about to retaliate. Hermione suddenly noticed Harry's expression and heeded Ron's words
Everyone was noticing the definite increase in the amount of work this year. To Hermione's shock, Moody had taken to performing illegal curses on them, in order to help them defend themselves against it. In their next lesson, he performed the Imperius Curse on each of them, one at a time. Harry, who was the only one who could fight it, was cursed four times, until he could throw it off entirely
Professor McGonagall was the one who finally explained why they were getting so much work, after the class groaned particularity loudly at the amount of homework set
"You are now entering a most important phase of your magical education!" she said sternly "Your Ordinary Wizarding Levels are drawing closer-"
"We don't take O.W.L.s till fifth year!" Dean complained
"Maybe not, Thomas, but believe me, you need all the preparation you can get! Miss Granger remains the only person in this class who has managed to turn a hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion. I might remind you that your pincushion, Thomas, still curls up in fright if anyone approaches it with a pin!"
Hermione went red
Hermione wouldn't've minded the extra work as, due to the amount of subjects she was doing last year, she was very good at organising her time. However, the extra homework she was getting ate into her already limited time dedicated to S.P.E.W. both Harry and Ron had paid two Sickles for the badge, but neither of them wanted to wear them, which brought her back to square one. She had decided to talk to the people in the Gryffindor common room after dinner, when it was most likely to be crowded
"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 would say. She was pleasantly surprised by how many people signed up. However, next to nobody wanted to join in with campaigning. The only person who seemed to want to be involved was Ginny, who had signed up on the first day that Hermione had preposed the idea and had agreed to help Hermione with making leaflets over the weekend. It was great having Ginny in the same dormitory as her this year. They both seemed to have the same sense of humour, and Ginny had some very entertaining stories about a Ravenclaw in her year called Luna Lovegood
After a particularly bad Care of Magical Creatures lesson, in which Hagrid had announced that they were to come down to his hut every week to check on the Skrewts, Hermione, Ron and Harry came into the Entrance Hall to find a large number of students milling around in there, not going into the Hall for lunch. There was a large notice pinned on the notice board, and Ron, who was the tallest of the three of them, stood on tiptoes to read over everyone's heads
TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT
The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o'clock on Friday the 30th of October. Lessons will end half an hour early -
"Brilliant!" said Harry brightly "It's Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won't have time to poison us all!"
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.
"Only a week away!" said Ernie Macmillan eagerly "I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go and tell him..."
"Cedric?" said Ron
"Diggory" said Harry quietly "He must be entering the tournament"
"That idiot, Hogwarts champion?" said Ron
"He's not an idiot. You just don't like him because he beat Gryffindor at Quidditch" said Hermione sternly "I've heard he's a really good student - and he's a prefect."
"
You only like him because he's handsome" said Ron, sounding grumpy for some reason
"Excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome!" she snapped
Ron gave a cough, which sounded very much like "Lockhart!"
Hermione glared at him
Over the next few weeks, wild rumours flew around about the two other competing schools, and how they differed to themselves. Of course, the bringers of said rumours were clearly biased towards Hogwarts, so Hermione realistically couldn't believe a word they said
The staff at Hogwarts seemed more tense as the thirtieth approached. They clearly wanted Durmstrang and Beauxbatons to be impressed with Hogwarts. Everything suddenly seemed cleaner and newer, and the teached seemed on edge all the time
"Longbottom, kindly do not reveal that you can't even perform a simple Switching Spell in front of anyone from Durmstrang!" said Professor McGonagall, before sending Neville to the Hospital wing to get his ear transfigured back from the bright purple cactus it had become
They entered the Great Hall on the morning of the thirtieth to find that silk banners had been hung up above the tables, each corresponding to the house below - 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. A banner with the Hogwarts coat of arms hung behind the teacher's table
Hermione, Ron and Harry sat down beside Fred and George. To Hermione's immense surprise, they had their together and were talking quietly. Normally they were the life and soul of the party, so Hermione was curious to see what had made them so sombre
"It's a bummer, all right" George was saying "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?" said Ron loudly, making them both jump
"Wish you would," said Fred grumpily
"What's a bummer?" Ron asked George
"Having a nosy git like you for a brother" said George.
"You two got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet?" said Harry "Thought any more about trying to enter?"
"I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling" said George gloomily "She just told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my raccoon"
"Wonder what the tasks are going to be?" said Ron "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" said Fred "McGonagall says the champions get awarded points according to how well they've done the tasks"
"Who are the judges?" said Harry. None of them seemed to know anything about it, which surprised Hermione
"Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel" she said "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"
They all stared at her. Hermione sighed
"It's all in Hogwarts, A History. Though, of course, that book's not entirely reliable" she added "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?" said Ron
"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 sighed and Ron rolled his eyes, but before Hermione could say anything to them, George leaned towards Hermione
"Listen, have you ever been down in the kitchens, Hermione?" "No, of course not" said Hermione "I hardly think students are supposed to-"
"Well, we have" said George, gesturing to his twin "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 started, but her words were drowned out by the arrival of the post. Hermione glanced up and fell silent when she saw Hedwig fly down to them. Harry took her letter and, checking that Fred and George were back to discussing something, read the letter aloud
Nice try, Harry.
I'm back in the country and well hidden. I want you to keep me posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. Don't use Hedwig, keep changing owls, and don't worry about me, just watch out for yourself. Don't forget what I said about your scar.
Sirius
"Why d'you have to keep changing owls?" Ron wondered
"Hedwig'll attract too much attention" said Hermione "She stands out. A snowy owl that keeps returning to wherever he's hiding... I mean, they're not native birds, are they?"
Harry rolled up the letter and put it in his robes, deep in thought. He stroked Hedwig absent mindedly until she flew off to the owlery
Everyone found it very hard to concentrate on lessons that day, and Hermione was sure that she was the only one who took in anything any of the professors said. Eventually, after a mercifully short Potions, Hermione dumped her bag in her dormitory and her and Ginny raced down towards the Entrance Hall, followed by Ron and Harry
They found the heads of houses organising the students into lines. All the professors looked very uptight, except for Dumbledore, who was humming to himself
"Weasley, straighten your hat" Professor McGonagall said to Ron "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair"
Parvati was wearing an ornamental butterfly the size of her fist on the end of her plait
"Follow me, please" said Professor McGonagall tersely "First years in front... no pushing..."
They were lead out of the castle into the grounds. Hermione, standing in the fourth row, started shivering - she wish she'd brought a coat
"Nearly six," said Ron, glancing at his watch "How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"
"I doubt it" said Hermione, remembering what Mr Weasley said about wizards wanting to show off
"How, then? Broomsticks?" Harry said
"I don't think so... not from that far away..."
"A Portkey?" said Ron "Or they could Apparate - maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"
Hermione sighed
"You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?" she said, rolling her eyes
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Dumbledore, who was standing at the back with the teachers, called over the students
"Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"
"Where?" said Harry
"There!" shouted a sixth year Hufflepuff, pointing above the Forbidden Forest
A large, dark shape was coming towards them, growing larger at an alarming rate
"It's a dragon!" squealed a first year Slytherin
"Don't be stupid... it's a flying house!" yelled Dennis Creevey. Dennis was technically closer. The shape was now close enough to tell what it was. A pastel blue carriage the size of the giant squid, pulled by albino horses twice the normal size, fell out of the sky and clattered onto the ground, forcing the first few rows backwards. The carriage looked like a blue cinderella carriage on steroids. On the door was a picture of two crossed golden wands, each emitting three stars
The door opened and a blond boy lept out of the carriage. He was wearing a blue shirt, hat and cape, as well as absurd blue tights. The whole uniform seemed to be made of silk, which wasn't exactly practical. The boy fumbled with something on the carriage floor and a flight of golden stairs fell to the ground. He took a step back and their headmistress, Madame Olympe Maxime, stepped out. Several people gasped. She was at least at large as Hagrid though, as Hermione was used to seeing Hagrid, she seemed even more sublime. Despite her incredible size, she looked rather good looking, her black hair in a bob and wearing black satin robes
The Hogwartiens burst into applause, and Dumbledore walked over and kissed Madame Maxime's hand. Madame Maxime smiled
"My dear Madame Maxime" said Dumbledore "Welcome to Hogwarts"
"Dumbly-dorr" said Madame Maxime in a thick French accent "I 'ope I find you well?"
"In excellent form, I thank you" said Dumbledore
"My pupils" said Madame Maxime, gesturing behind her. About a dozen students were standing behind her. The girls were wearing the same as the boys, but with skirts instead of tights. They all were shivering, and several of them had thick scarfs wrapped around them
"'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" asked Madame Maxime
"He should be here any moment" said Dumbledore "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" said Madame Maxime "But ze 'orses-"
"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them" said Dumbledore quickly "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other - er - charges"
"Skrewts" Ron whispered, sniggering
"My steeds require - er - forceful 'andling," said Madame Maxime slowly "Zey are very strong..."
"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," said Dumbledore
"Very well" said Madame Maxime "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"
"It will be attended to" said Dumbledore, smiling
"Come" said Madame Maxime to her students, and she entered the castle, students in tow
"How big d'you reckon Durmstrang's horses are going to be?" said Seamus
"Well, if they're any bigger than this lot, even Hagrid won't be able to handle them" said Harry "That's if he hasn't been attacked by his skrewts. Wonder what's up with them?"
"Maybe they've escaped" said Ron eagerly
"Oh don't say that," Hermione groaned "Imagine that lot loose on the grounds..."
For a few minutes, they waited, the silence broken only by the horses stamping and neighing. Then, suddenly-
"Can you hear something?" said Ron. Hermione cocked her head, an odd sucking noise was echoing over the grounds, but it was hard to tell the origin of it
"The lake!" said Lee Jordan "Look at the lake!"
The black surface of the lake, normally so calm, was rippling with large waves crashing onto the shore. Suddenly, a whirlpool appeared in the centre of the lake. A pole was raising out of it... Hermione could see where a sail would go...
"It's a mast!" said Harry
The ship majestically rose out of the water and docked by the shore. Hermione watched as people disembarked and headed towards the castle. From a distance, they all looked about the size of Crabbe and Goyle, but as they came closer it was clear that they were all wearing large fire coats. At least one of the schools had some sense
The dozen or so students reached the Entrance Hall, headed by Professor Igor Karkaroff, Headmaster of Durmstrang. He was wearing white robes that shone on the evening sunlight. He had a weirdly curled beard and cold, calculating grey eyes
"Dumbledore!" he boomed "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"
"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff" said Dumbledore, shaking Karkaroff's hand
"Dear old Hogwarts," he said, giving a smile that didn't reach his eyes. His teeth were oddly yellow, it made Hermione nauseous. She supposed growing up with two dentists could do odd things to a person
"How good it is to be here, how good..." Karkaroff was saying "Viktor, come along, into the warmth... you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold..."
Karkaroff beckoned forward a boy that, surprisingly, Hermione recognised. She heard Ron punch Harry's arm
"Harry-" he hissed "it's Krum!"