chapter eleven : the Triwizard Tournamemt
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Juniper was relieved to finally arrive at Hogsmeade station. The empty feeling inside of her had made place for hunger and her mouth started watering upon thinking of the welcoming feast.
She climbed into a carriage after Angelina. It was still raining and the black haired was thankful they weren't first-years, since they had to take the boats towards the castle.
Alicia shuffled closer towards her. "It's cold," she muttered. "I hate rain."
Juniper placed her arms around Alicia's shoulder, trying to warm her friend.
The carriage was pulled towards the castle, the rain hitting the small windows, making it hard to look outside.
Juniper followed Fred, George, Lee, Angelina and Alicia out of the carriage before dashing up the steps, looking up only when she was safely inside the cavernous, torch-lit Entrance Hall, with its magnificent marble staircase.
"Blimey," Lee said, shaking his head and sending water everywhere, "if that keeps up, the lake's going to overflow. I'm soak— ARGH!"
A large, red, water-filled balloon had dropped out of the ceiling onto Lee's head, and exploded. Drenched and spluttering, Lee staggered sideways into Fred, just as a second water bomb dropped — narrowly missing Angelina and Alicia, it burst at George's feet.
People all around them shrieked and started pushing each other in their efforts to get out of the line of fire — June looked up, and saw, floating twenty feet above them, 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.
"PEEVES!" an angry voice yelled. "Peeves, come down here at ONCE!"
Professor McGonagall had come dashing out of the Great Hall; she skidded one the wet floor and grabbed Hermione, who was walking with Harry and Ron a couple of feet in front of June, around the neck to stop herself falling. "Ouch — sorry, Miss Granger —"
"That's all right, Professor!" Hermione gasped, messaging her throat.
"Peeves, get down here NOW!" Professor McGonagall barked, straightening her pointing hat and glaring upwards through her square-rimmed spectacles.
"Not doing nothing!" Peeves crackled, lobbing a water bomb at serval fifth-year girls, who screamed and dived into the Great Hall. "Already wet, aren't they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeee!" And he aimed another bomb at a group of second-years who had just arrived.
"I shall call the Headmaster!" Professor McGonagall shouted. "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, cracking insanely.
"Well, move along, then!" Professor McGonagall said sharply to the bedraggled crowd. "Into the Great Hall, come on!"
Juniper turned around when she recognized Draco's blond hair. She pulled him towards her, just as a water bomb landed on the place where he had stood seconds ago.
"What —?" he began, but he stopped until noticing the person had actually saved him from getting wet. He turned to look at her and gave her one of his rare smiles.
"Thanks, June."
Juniper smiled back. "Anytime, cousin."
The black haired followed her friends into the Great Hall, which looked it usual splendid self, decorated for the start-of-term feast. Golden plates and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds and hundreds of candles, floating over the tables in mid-air. The four long house tables were packed with chattering students; at the top of the Hall, the staff sat along one side of a fifth table, facing their pupils. It was much warmer here. The six of them walked past the Slytherins, the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs, and sat down with the rest of the Gryffindors at the far side of the Hall.
Juniper saw Liam waving at her from the Hufflepuff and waved back, while making a mental note to ask Cedric about Quidditch tryouts for him. Which reminded her that she would be in charge of the Quidditch tryouts this year.
"Where is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Angelina asked, looking up at the staff table. Juniper followed her glance. There seemed to be rather more empty seats there than usual. Hagrid, of course, was still fighting his way across the lake with the first-years; Professor McGonagall was presumably supervising the drying of the Entrance Hall floor, but there was another empty chair, too, and June couldn't think who else was missing.
They had never yet had a Defence Againsg the Dark Arts teacher who had lasted more than three terms. June's favorite by far had been Remus, who had reigned last year. She looked up and down the staff table. There was definitely no new face there.
"Maybe they couldn't get anyone!" Alicia said, looking anxious.
"I'm sure Dumbledore found someone," Juniper said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Oh, hurry up," Fred moaned, who sat across from June and next to George. "I could eat a Hippogriff."
The words were no sooner out of his mouth than the doors of the Great Hall opened, and silence fell. Professor McGonagall was leading a long line of first-years up to the top of the Hall. If June was wet, it was nothing to how these first-years looked. They had appeared to have swum across the lake rather than sailing. 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.
Professor McGonagall now placed a three-legged stood on the ground before the first-years and, on top of it, an extremely old, dirty, patched wizard's hat. The first-years stared at it. So did everyone else. For a moment, there was silence. Then a 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?
'T was 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!"
The Great Hall rang with applause as the Sorting Hat finished.
"If they could just hurry up," June said, placing her hand on her stomach. "I'm starving."
Angelina and Alicia exchanged an amused grin.
Professor McGonagall was now unrolling a large scroll of parchment.
"When I call your name, you will put on the Hat and sit on the stool," she told the first-years. "When the Hat announced your house, you will go and sit at the appropriate table."
She peered at the list.
"Ackerley, Stewart!"
A boy walked forward, visibly trembling from head to foot, picked up the Sorting Hat, put in on and sat down on the stool.
"Ravenclaw!" the Hat shouted.
Stewart Ackerley took off the Hat and hurried into a seat at the Ravenclaw table, where everyone was applauding him.
"Baddock, Malcolm!"
"Slytherin!"
The table on the other side of the Hall erupted with cheers.
"Branstone, Eleanor!"
"Hufflepuff!"
"Cauldwell, Owen!"
"Hufflepuff!"
The Sorting continued; boys and girls with varying degrees of fright on their faces moving, one by one, to the three-legged stood, the line dwindling slowly as Professor McGonagall passed the 'L's.
"Oh, hurry up," Fred moaned, messaging his stomach.
"Pritchard, Graham!"
"Slytherin!"
"Quirke, Orla!"
"Ravenclaw!"
And finally, with a "Whitby, Kevin!" (Hufflepuff!") the Sorting ended. Professor McGonagall picked up the Hat and the stool, and carried them away.
"About time," Fred said, seizing his knife and fork and looking expectantly at his golden plate.
Professor Dumbledore had got 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."
"Hear, hear!" Fred and June said loudly, as the empty dishes filled magically before their eyes.
"Aaah, 'at's be'er," Fred said, with his mouth full of mashed potato.
"Nothing better than food," June agreed.
The six of them chatted happily while enjoying the good food. The rain was still drumming heavily against the high, dark windows. Another clap of thunder shook the windows, and the stormy ceiling flashed, illuminating the golden plates as the remains of the first course vanished and were replaced, instantly, with puddings.
"Treacle tart!" Fred said, excitedly. "Spotted dick, look! Chocolate gateau!"
Juniper laughed at his enthusiasm.
When the puddings, too, had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet again. The buzz of chattering filling the Great Hall ceased almost at once, so that only the howling wind and pounding rain could be heard.
"So!" Dumbledore said, 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.
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 Forrest in the grounds is out-of-hounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year.
There will be something new this year, 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 towards the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightening that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark grey hair, then began to walk up towards the teachers' table.
June recognized the man immediately as Mad-Eye Moody from Tonks descriptions.
A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turning right and limped heavily towards Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Alicia gasped.
The lightning had thrown Mad Eye's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any June 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 were 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 his 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 his head, so that all we could see was whiteness.
Mad-Eye reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbledore shook it, muttering words June couldn't hear. He seemed to be making some enquiry of Mad-Eye, 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.
Mad-Eye sat down, shook his mane of dark grey hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages towards 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 Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," Dumbledore said brightly, into the silence. "Professor Moody."
It was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause, but none of the staff of students clapped except Dumbledore and Hagrid. 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?" Angelina muttered to Fred and George. "Mad-Eye Moody? The one your dad went to help this morning?" The twins had told them what had happened this morning on the Hogwarts Express.
"It's him," June said, not taking her eyes off the man. "Tonks told me all about him."
"What happened to him?" Alicia whispered. "What happened to his face?"
"Dunno," George whispered back, watching Moody with fascination.
Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached again into his traveling cloak, pulled out a hip-flask, and took a long fraught from it. As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches off the ground, and Juniper saw, below the table, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot.
Dumbledore cleared his throat again.
"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 which has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournamemt will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."
"You're JOKING," Fred said loudly as June's eyes widened.
The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.
"I am not joking, Mr Weasley," he said, "though, now 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 . . ." Dumbledore said. "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 school 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's it, the death toll mounted so high that the Tournament was discontinued."
"Death toll?" Alicia whispered, looking alarmed. But her anxiety did not seem to be shared by the majority of the student in the Hall, many of them were whispering excitedly with each other.
"There have been serval attempts over the centuries to reinstate the Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which have been very successful. However, our own Departments of International Magical Co-operation 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 Hallowe'en. An impartial judge will decide which students are 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!" Fred 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 themself as Hogwarts champion. At every house table, June could see people either gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or else whispering fervently to their neighbours. But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quietened once more.
"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring 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 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 underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Fred 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 towards the double doors into the Entrance Hall.
"They can't do that!" George said, who had not joined the crowd moving towards the door, but was standing up and glaring at Dumbledore. "We're seventeen in April, why can't we have a shot?"
"They're not stopping me entering," Fred said stubbornly, also scowling at the top table. "The champions'll get to do all sort of stuff you'd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons prize money!"
"I might enter," June said. "It sounds like quite a challenge."
Angelina nodded. "Me too."
"And if Beauxbatons is coming, Timothée's coming too!" Juniper squealed. "I can finally show him around Hogwarts!"
"Hey!" George said. "Keep your crush on Charlie alone please."
June's cheeks burned up. "I don't have a crush on Charlie!"
"And animals can talk," George said, giving her a wink. "Whatever makes you sleep better at night."
They made their way up to the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, which was concealed behind a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.
"Password?" she said, as we approached.
"Balderdash," June said, having received the password from Professor McGonagall.
The portrait swung forwards to reveal a hole in the wall, through which they all climbed. A crackling fire was warming the circular common room, which was full of squashy armchairs and tables.
Angelina, Alicia and June bod the boys a goodnight before making their way towards their dorm.
"So you guys are really entering?" Alicia asked, as they got changed into their pajamas.
"I think so," June said, looking at Angelina, who nodded.
"Seems fun."
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Published 27.11.2020
I hope you enjoyed it & tell me what you think of it!
I'm already missing Charlie :(