▬▬▬▬
POTIONS WAS ONE OF ALBANY'S LEAST favourite subjects by a long shot. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the "exact science" and "refined art" of potion-brewing; it was more so to do with the fact that their professor was, as Merlin liked to describe people, a dollophead.
Snape might have been more biased towards her house, but that didn't mean he wasn't the most depressing person to sit in front of and listen to droning on. He was a greasy git in every meaning of the word; stern, harsh and cruel beyond what any other professor could manage, and to be quite frank, Albany wasn't sure why he was in a teaching career considering his intense dislike for children. Not to mention the fact that he'd only allowed those who received an O grade in their O.W.L.s to continue taking the class for their N.E.W.T.s. That alone had caused her more stress in fifth year than the class was worth, and if it weren't for her career aspirations, she would have dropped it in a heartbeat. She was grateful that the arrival of the delegates from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were due to arrive that evening, which meant that classes were ending earlier and her double Potions was cut in half.
Roger Davies was Albany's usual partner for the class, but he had failed to show up that afternoon. Instead, a third chair was dragged over to her table, and she found herself with a Weasley twin on either side of her, grinning like sharks. She could feel Snape's eyes burning into her skull as she pulled out her books, trying not to look suspicious.
"What are you doing?" she hissed under her breath to the pair, as soon as their slimeball of a professor had turned his back on them to write on the chalkboard.
"Obviously, we are sitting beside you, dear Albany," whispered George, a broad smile creasing his cheeks.
"I'm afraid Mr Davies has found himself in the Hospital Wing," Fred added quietly, though didn't look sympathetic in the slightest. On the contrary, his grin was rather like that of the Chesire cat. "He may have picked up and ate a custard cream-"
"-that may have actually been a Canary Cream-"
"-and for some bizarre reason-"
"-well, the product is still technically in the testing stage-"
"-he is taking an awful long time to turn back," Fred finished, looking remarkably pleased considering he'd just been an accomplice in trapping his classmate in the body of a large bird.
"Merlin's pants," Albany breathed, and buried her face in her hands for a moment, before sitting up to acknowledge each twin with a look of exasperation. "You turned Roger into a canary."
"He was always a bit of a quackhead anyway," Fred said, and had difficulty stifling his own laughter as Albany groaned.
"Pomfrey will sort him out," George assured her. "She has a tweetment for everything."
Albany let her head hit off the desk, quietly enough that Snape wasn't alerted. "You two are absolutely horrible. Nearly six o'clock in the evening and I think I need a coffee to deal with you both."
"Don't you mean a cawfee?" Fred teased.
"If you're looking for a slap, Ferdinand, you can just ask."
"Do not start that again-"
"Try me," Albany said, sticking out her tongue at the boy.
"On a real note," George interrupted their arguing, "it would be a pity if he missed the other schools arriving today. I hope it doesn't take her too long."
Albany fixed him with a dead stare. "That's the least of your worries," she said. "You're looking to get yourselves expelled."
"Oi, we're not that thick," Fred argued, and lowered his voice as she shot him a warning glare. "We ensured that it couldn't be traced back to us."
"But everyone knows it was you," Albany sighed. "It's always you two."
"But teachers can't do squat without solid proof," George said, grinning. "And there's never any of that."
"Well, sometimes-"
"-yeah, maybe there's been a few occasions-"
"-or a lot."
Albany blinked. They never failed to leave her utterly bemused - or amused. Often both. "You two are a piece of work," she said, shaking her head.
"Handsome work, though, right?" Fred asked, smirking.
"Just George," she retorted with a smirk, choosing to ignore the heat rising in her cheeks.
George grinned so wide she thought it must have hurt, and when she turned to glance at him almost reluctantly, he winked. She bit her cheek and turned away quickly, though was sure her face was flushed scarlet.
"We look the exact same!" Fred whined. "That's favouritism at its finest."
"Maybe he's just less annoying," Albany argued.
Their conversation came to a hasty close after that, as the Potions master had noticed their incessant whispers and hushed laughter. A cold glare so harsh she could physically feel its anger was directed their way, followed by heavy footsteps and sweeping robes as He-Who-Avoids-Shampoo approached the table.
"Misters Weasley, Miss Bronwen," came the low drawl of a voice, and the three froze in their seats. Albany stopped pretending she was taking notes, looking a little sheepish. "Is there a reason why you feel the need to chatter perpetually in my class?"
"Well, sir, since you asked, we were having quite an enjoyable conversation on whether myself or Georgie here is more good-looking," Fred explained with a cheeky smile, and Albany felt her throat tighten.
"Ten points from Gryffindor, Weasley." Snape looked positively murderous as he strode back to the top of the classroom, and Albany was sure that Fred had gotten away lightly.
"Greasy prat," Fred spat under his breath. "Take a joke for once."
Thankfully, the remaining time in class passed quickly enough, and without any detentions being given out. The students practically sprung up from their seats as a bell echoed throughout the castle, and not one of Snape's furious instructions could keep them in the room a minute longer - "The bell does not dismiss you, I do!"
There was a mad rush for the entrance to the castle, and the crowd thickened with each step closer Albany took. Students were jumping and whooping and cheering, all their pent-up excitement from the past month finally being released. Despite all her concerns, even Albany felt a small rush of adrenaline as the reality of the tournament began to set in. She kept pace with Fred and George as the two bounced their way through the corridors, though her eyes were scanning the crowd for Faith. She knew her friend would be over the moon to see the arrival of the foreign schools; she'd been talking about it all week while imprisoned in her bed with the cold. Albany didn't want to miss her reaction.
However, she didn't locate her friend until the thick crowd had pushed her right outside, to the front of the castle. Dusk was falling already; the moon was pale and ghostly over the Forbidden Forest, while the lake was still and grey, the last light of day hidden by cloud cover. Her face fell slightly to see that Faith had already found joyous company with their three roommates; Viola, Zoe and Phylis were chattering to her and each other with animated expressions a little ways to the left. She froze in her tracks, watching them with a sense of abandonment.
"Allie, over here!"
She turned on her heels to see Fred beckoning her in the opposite direction, a broad smile on his freckled face. She glanced wistfully back at Faith, before turning her back on the Slytherin girls and hurrying over to the twins and their friends.
"Sorry, I thought you were right behind us in the crowd," Fred said as she caught up with him. He was grinning, though seemed almost apologetic.
"Don't worry about it," Albany assured him with a smile. "That was my bad. Crowd swept me away."
Fred waved away her excuse and led her over to where George was sitting atop Lee Jordan's shoulders, attempting to see over the other students. A tall, dark-skinned girl with long braids was watching the two wobble around with her arms folded, though seemed amused by their antics, as she let out a loud laugh when George met his inevitable fall.
"Hey Albany," he said from where he lay on his back in the grass, looking a little dazed as he grinned stupidly up at her. "Come to hang out with the cool kids?"
"If I wanted to do that, I'd be hanging out with literally anyone else," Albany retorted drily, though smiled and helped the redhead to his feet.
"Allie, meet Lee and Angelina," Fred said, gesturing from his two friends to the girl. "Lee and Angie, this is Albany."
Angelina's dark eyes widened slightly. "Oh, you're the one who sent the dungbombs in the post."
Albany bit her cheek almost nervously. Angelina had a broad and athletic build that towered over her own short and round frame, and it was slightly intimidating as she attempted to read the girl's expression. "Uh... yes?"
A hand was held out, the nails painted a scarlet red. She glanced up, and the tall girl was grinning at her. She shook her hand tentatively, and was pulled into a strong hug which she was too shocked by to return, blue eyes wide and mouth open in a silent "oh".
"How'd you do it?" Angelina asked her eagerly as she was finally released from the tight embrace. Her warm brown eyes were shining, and Albany wondered if all of the twins' friends shared that same mischievous twinkle. "D'you know how long I've been trying to get back at these three gits?"
"Just got that Slytherin ambition, I guess," Albany said with a stiff shrug. She wasn't used to strangers being so open and friendly, and wasn't sure how to feel about it. Usually, she was uncomfortable and cold with new people, but she didn't want to brush off the twins' close friends so quickly.
Angelina grinned. "I might need to borrow some of that sometime."
The interactions were cut short by a loud cry of excitement from a first year at the front of the crowd. Albany felt her heart jump with a flare of anticipation, and she wasn't the only one now eagerly staring out at the horizon, studying the darkening landscape for any sign of movement.
"In the sky!" someone screeched.
"It's a flying house!" squealed another first-year.
Albany's gaze jumped upwards, searching the clouds frantically, but there was a tall Hufflepuff standing directly in front of her, and he blocked her view as she stretched to see around him. George nudged her, nearly knocking her off her tippy-toes.
"Here, get on my shoulders," he offered, smiling in amusement at her struggle.
She gaped, immediately thinking back to his fall from Lee. "I-"
"Come on, you'll miss it!"
Albany felt her face flush with embarrassment, though her nosiness to see what was going on and the haste with which George was encouraging her pushed her to awkwardly clamber on top of his shoulders as he crouched down for her. It was suddenly difficult to focus on the sky, as his warm hands wrapped around her lower legs, and the muscles in his back flexed beneath her as he straightened up with ease. For a lanky figure, he was surprisingly strong, she mused, feeling a little giddy as she struggled to find her balance atop his shoulders. Eventually, she surrendered to gently placing her hands on his head. His long red hair was soft to the touch.
"D'you see it?" George asked her, and she could hear the smile in his voice.
"Er, yeah," she breathed, and redirected her attention to where a huge carriage was descending from the clouds. It was certainly big enough to be a flying house, drawn by a herd of winged horses. Abraxus? she wondered, trying to recall what she knew from Care of Magical Creatures. They were gorgeous and graceful animals regardless, and pulled the carriage safely to the ground, though nearly ploughed over Hagrid in the process. The half-giant had been guiding them to the grass, though Albany had a feeling his efforts were in vain; the palomino horses seemed to know exactly what they were doing. They were much larger than she had originally thought at first, and their eyes were a fiery red.
"Aw, I'd love to fly on one of those," Angelina said from below, and Albany felt a small sense of satisfaction in that she was now taller than her. She thought she'd been referring to the carriage that the Beauxbatons students had been carried over in, until she glanced down, and saw the girl's gaze staring in awe at the winged animals. "Bet they're way different from broomsticks."
"Bet I'm still a better flyer than you on either one," Fred teased her with a grin.
She smacked his arm playfully. "You wish, Weasley."
Their attention was drawn back to the carriage almost immediately, however, as emerging from the inside was the tallest woman Albany had ever seen in her life. She was dressed in all black, though this only made the numerous huge opals she donned stand out even more. Albany had to hand it to her; she held herself with an air of grace and respect, and had the confidence to wear huge black heels that only added to her height.
"She and Hagrid would make quite the pair, wouldn't they?" Lee remarked with a snort.
"Dumbly-dorr," she was greeting their headmaster, as the bearded man approached her warmly. Albany had never seen him look so small.
There was a couple dozen students descending the steps from the carriage in her wake, all of them dressed in pale blue robes made of silk. They stared up into the light of the entrance hall apprehensively, huddling closer together against the chill of the British weather.
"They look cold, poor things," Angelina said, watching the French students sympathetically as they drew their shawls and scarves up over their shoulders.
"Where did they think they were going, the Bahamas?" George laughed, and Albany clung on a little tighter as his shoulders shook. "They didn't even bring cloaks."
The crowd parted to allow the students and headmistress of Beauxbatons up to the Great Hall; they seemed eager to enter the castle's warmth, if a little shy as they passed through the curious stares of the Hogwarts students, far outnumbered. Albany giggled as George stepped back to make room for them, wobbling atop his shoulders. A short, curly-haired French girl glanced up at her with a small smile, and Albany felt her face warm with embarrassment.
"Where's Durmstrang?" Fred was asking, and many people were still staring hopefully at the sky.
It was Lee who spotted the first sightings of the second school's arrival. "The lake!" he yelled suddenly, pointing down at it, and the crowd immediately began to buzz again as students leaned to get a good look.
"What's going on?" George asked her, and Albany felt a little bad that he himself couldn't see.
The smooth surface of the lake wasn't quite so still anymore; bubbles were rising from its depths, and gentle waves were growing more aggressive as they lapped at the muddy banks.
"There's a whirlpool," she reported to George, balancing herself against his head as she strained to see better in the lessening daylight. "It - oh! - it's a ship!"
A mast was rising from the spinning water, and it was soon followed by the rest of a huge ship. It looked nearly skeletal in the poor lighting, like a pirate shipwreck that had been made livable. It sailed smoothly across the surface of the lack, warm light shining from the small, round windows. The students that emerged onto the deck of the ship were far different from those of Beauxbatons; they donned heavy, fur-lined cloaks and seemed a little more in awe of the castle as they anchored at the shore.
Their headmaster led them up the trail towards the Hogwarts students, and greeted Dumbledore as Madame Maxime had. He seemed colder, but not in the physical sense; his yellowed smile didn't quite reach his eyes.
George and Fred had started jumping, then, and Albany shrieked as she held on a little tighter.
"Merlin's beard!" Fred had exclaimed. "Ron's gonna faint when he sees this."
"What the hell is the jumping for?" Albany snapped, hoping her grip on George's head didn't hurt too much.
She heard a familiar squeal from her left, then, and glanced over to see that Faith, too, was bouncing on the spot; in fact, most of the crowd was beside themselves with sudden excitement. She glanced back to the Durmstrang students, and then noticed what the buzz was about.
"It's Viktor Krum!" George explained, and she could hear the broad grin in his tone.
"Amazing," she remarked sarcastically, though couldn't help but smile at his excitement. "A teenage Quidditch player, truly one of a kind."
▬▬▬▬
❃ a/n:
i feel like nothing happened in this chapter, but it's the longest one to date :/ let me know what you think!
hope you are all having a wonderful day and staying safe! thank you all so much for reading, i hope you're enjoying it <3
- A x