My Multiverse Trip 85 85. Other Schools

They noticed too that the castle seemed to be undergoing an extrthorough cleaning. Several grimy portraits had been scrubbed, much to the displeasure of their subjects, who sat huddled in their frames muttering darkly and wincing as they felt their raw pink faces. The suits of armor were suddenly gleaming and moving without squeaking, and Argus Filch, the caretaker, was behaving so ferociously to any students who forgot to wipe their shoes that he terrified a pair of first-year girls into hysterics. When they went down to breakfast on the morning of the thirtieth of October, they found that the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. Enormous silk banners hung from the walls, each of them representing a Hogwarts House: red with a gold lion for Gryffiindor, 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. "You two got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet?" Harry asked Fred and George. "Thought any more about trying to enter?"

"I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling," said George bitterly. "She just told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my racc.o.o.n. "

"Wonder what the tasks are going to be?" said Tonks thoughtfully. "McGonagall says the champions get awarded points according to how well they've done the tasks. "

"Who are the judges?" Harry asked.

"Well, the Heads of the partic.i.p.ating schools are always on the panel," said Hermione, and everyone looked around at her, rather surprised, "because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792, when a c.o.c.katrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on the rampage. "

She noticed them all looking at her and said, with her usual air of impatience that n.o.body else had read all the books she had, "It's all in Hogwarts, A History.

There was a pleasant feeling of antic.i.p.ation in the air that day. n.o.body was very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; even Potions was more bearable than usual, as it was half an hour shorter. When the bell rang early, Everyone hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited their bags and books as they had been instructed, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall.

The Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines.

"Weasley, straighten your hat," Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron. "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair. "

Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental b.u.t.terfly from the end of her plait.

"Follow me, please," said Professor McGonagall. "First years in front. . . no pus.h.i.+ng. . . . "

They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already s.h.i.+ning over the Forbidden Forest. Ryan standing between Daphne and Luna in the fourth row from the front, could feel fluer getting closer and closer through the link her side was just singing in antic.i.p.ation she had never seen him only heard his voice through mental link. And then Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers –

"Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

"Where?" said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions.

"There!" yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest.

Something large, much larger than a broomstick – or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks – was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time.

"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the first years, losing her head completely.

"Don't be stupid. . . it's a flying house!" said Dennis Creevey.

Dennis's guess was closer. . . . As the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights s.h.i.+ning from the castle windows. .h.i.t it, they saw a gigantic, powderblue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant.

The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed – then, with an almighty crash that made Neville jump backward onto a Slytherin fifth year's foot, the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes. A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectfully. Then Ryan saw a s.h.i.+ning, high-heeled black shoe emerging from the inside of the carriage – a shoe the size of a child's sled – followed, almost immediately, by the largest woman he had ever seen in his life. The size of the carriage, and of the horses, was immediately explained. A few people gasped. This woman (now at the foot of the steps, and looking around at the waiting, wide-eyed crowd) seemed even more unnaturally large than Hagrid. As she stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a s.h.i.+ning k.n.o.b at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers.

Dumbledore started to clap; the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman. But Ryan noticed a pair of deep blue eyes lock onto him he looked and saw it was Fleur. She seemed to be trying to hold herself back from just rus.h.i.+ng him with a tackle the mental link was going haywire with emotions of joy love affection excitement it was like a colorful emotional bomb in his mind.

"My dear Madame Maxime," Dumbledore said. "Welcome to Hogwarts. "

"Dumbly-dort," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"

"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.

"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her about a dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were s.h.i.+vering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads. Ryan loudly asked "Why aren't they using warming charms?" the teens looked gobsmacked at this statement and whipped out their wands to quickly do so with an embarra.s.sed face even Fleur. He let out a mental chuckle at her to which she pouted cutely earning a gaze from quite a few boys too bad she was taken. "As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.

"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, "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other – er – charges. "

"Skrewts," Ryan muttered to Harry, grinning.

"My steeds require – er – forceful 'andling," said Madame Maxime, looking as though she doubted whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the job. "Zey are very strong. . . . "

"I a.s.sure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," said Dumbledore, smiling. They then headed inside. "The lake!" yelled Lee Jordan, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake!"

From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water – except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the center; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now was.h.i.+ng over the muddy banks -and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor. . . .Slowly, magnificently, the s.h.i.+p rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights s.h.i.+mmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great slos.h.i.+ng noise, the s.h.i.+p emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.

People were disembarking; they could see their silhouettes pa.s.sing the lights in the s.h.i.+p's portholes. All of them, seemed to be built along the lines of Crabbe and Goyle. . . but then, as they drew nearer, walking up the lawns into the light streaming from the entrance hall, he saw that their bulk was really due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of s.h.a.ggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.

"Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied. Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finis.h.i.+ng in a small curl) did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.

"Dear old Hogwarts," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, "How good it is to be here, how good. . . . Viktor, come along, into the warmth. . . you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold. . . "The quidditch fans got super excited about this and Ron was in full fangirl mode it was rather embarra.s.sing.