The notice that appeared in the Entrance Hall had an obvious effect on everyone living in the castle. In the days that followed, no matter where you went, all you heard were discussions about the Triwizard Tournament.
Among those discussions, the most talked-about topic was who would compete to become Hogwarts' champion. The second most popular topic was what kinds of tasks the tournament would include.
Among Hogwarts' many seventh-year students, as well as the eligible sixth-years, Hufflepuff students were particularly optimistic about their own Cedric Diggory. The other three houses each had their own favored candidates as well.
Everyone participating in the discussions campaigned enthusiastically for their chosen candidate, as if doing so could somehow guarantee their selection. Fortunately, everyone remained fairly restrained, and the debates never escalated into actual fights.
Strangely, Eda's name never appeared on any of the candidate lists the students came up with. Even the Gryffindors never mentioned her. It was as though everyone had collectively stopped considering Eda a student at all.
Everyone was passionately debating who would become Hogwarts' champion, and then you suddenly showed up holding the correct answer. What exactly were you trying to do? How annoying could one person be?
While the students were busy discussing the tournament, the faculty were busy as well, carrying out a thorough cleaning of the castle. The portraits hanging on the walls, the corners of staircases, every nook and cranny of the castle received attention.
Caretaker Argus Filch spent his days prowling around the castle, harshly scrutinizing every student he encountered. The prefects of each house also became busy, patrolling the castle and disciplining students who broke the rules.
The professors appeared especially nervous. Professor McGonagall personally visited the Gryffindor common room and spent an entire hour talking with Fred and George, hoping the two of them would behave themselves while guests were visiting.
Rumor had it that Dumbledore had even had a talk with Peeves himself...
Though no one knew how effective that had been.
Before anyone knew it, October 30 arrived. Overnight, the Great Hall had been transformed. Huge silk banners hung from the walls, each representing one of Hogwarts' houses. Behind the staff table hung the largest banner of all, bearing the Hogwarts crest.
At breakfast, the twins were once again encouraging Harry and Ron, asking whether they were interested in participating in their plan.
Some time earlier, George had gone to Professor McGonagall to ask how the champions would be selected. McGonagall hadn't told him anything. She had simply told George to be quiet and focus on transfiguring his raccoon.
Hermione had also brought out her treasured copy of Hogwarts: A History, or perhaps it should have been called A Revised History of Hogwarts.
The existence of house-elves at the school greatly displeased Hermione, yet she had no way to solve the problem, which only made her feel worse.
That day, the air was filled with an eager sense of anticipation. During class, nobody paid attention. Everyone was thinking about the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang they would meet that evening, wondering what they would be like.
The students finally endured their way through the afternoon. As soon as classes ended, they rushed out of their classrooms, hurriedly stored their belongings, and then sprinted into the Entrance Hall.
The Heads of House were ordering their students into formation, while the Head Boy, Head Girl, and house prefects assisted with the task. Eda walked up and down the lines, following orders and inspecting the students' appearance.
The students were simply too excited. Many had put a great deal of effort into their appearance. Some wore makeup, others adorned themselves with all kinds of jewelry. One after another, they had dressed themselves up extravagantly.
Eda felt as though she had never spoken so much in her life. Her throat felt like it was about to burst into flames.
At last, the four groups were organized. Under the professors' guidance, everyone filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, crisp evening. Night was falling, and a pale, translucent moon already hung above the Forbidden Forest.
As time passed, the lines gradually became restless. Quite a few students impatiently checked their watches. Hogwarts at the end of October was no ordinary kind of cold. If they waited much longer, they might freeze solid.
The sky gradually darkened, and then Dumbledore suddenly called out, "Ah! If I'm not mistaken, the Beauxbatons delegation has arrived!"
The students immediately became excited, eagerly asking one another, "Where?" and peering in every direction.
Against the deep blue night sky, an enormous object was speeding toward the castle, growing larger and larger as it approached.
As it drew nearer, Eda finally saw what it was: a powder-blue carriage pulled by twelve winged horses.
The towering Hagrid stood in an open area before the castle holding a brilliant illuminated sign, directing the massive carriage's landing like an airport ground crewman.
The winged horses clearly weren't accustomed to this sort of landing procedure, and their touchdown point was somewhat off. Although the Beauxbatons "flight" landed safely, it very nearly sent Hagrid on his final journey.
The carriage door slowly opened. A handsome young man in pale blue robes jumped down, bent over, and felt around on the carriage floor before unfolding a golden spiral staircase.
Eda's eyes instantly widened.
The young man was none other than her cousin who attended Beauxbatons, Hector Rosier.
At the beginning of October, Eda had received a letter from Hector in which he had said that he would not be coming to Hogwarts. So why had he changed his mind by the end of the month?
After Hector lowered the staircase, a woman who appeared even larger than Hagrid emerged. She was wrapped from head to toe in black satin, and numerous magnificent opals glittered around her neck and on her thick fingers.
Dumbledore led the applause, and the students clapped along somewhat blankly. They were all stunned by the enormous woman. Dumbledore stepped forward and greeted her warmly.
"My dear Madame Maxime," he said, "welcome to Hogwarts."
"Dumbledore," Madame Maxime said in a deep voice, "I hope you are well. By the way, my horses are somewhat tired. They require careful attention."
"Rest assured, our Care of Magical Creatures professor will look after them," Dumbledore replied.
At that moment, Hagrid, who had just narrowly escaped death, stepped forward. He wore a goofy grin. Hagrid rarely had such a high-profile moment, and it seemed that the equally gigantic Madame Maxime had immediately won his favor.
"My horses require single malt whisky, Monsieur Hagrid," Madame Maxime said elegantly.
Hagrid grinned foolishly and patted his chest, promising that he would take excellent care of the winged horses. Even if something happened to him, nothing would happen to them.
No wonder those horses had struggled to find their landing spot just now. They had been flying under the influence.
Don't ride a horse, or a broomstick, after drinking. Don't drink if you're going to ride a horse, or a broomstick. Wasn't that basic common sense?
Behind Madame Maxime came a dozen or so students, boys and girls alike. All of the Beauxbatons students were shivering slightly. Their blue robes were made of silk and offered no protection against the biting Scottish wind of late October.
In the Hogwarts line, Fred nudged Eda and whispered, "Why are they dressed so lightly? Is the weather at Beauxbatons really that nice?"
"At least better than here," Eda answered after a moment's thought. "I think Beauxbatons is somewhere in the French Pyrenees."
The Hogwarts students stepped aside, allowing Madame Maxime and her constantly shivering students to pass through.
After they entered the castle, the Hogwarts students immediately began talking about Durmstrang again. They had already been amazed by Beauxbatons' arrival and now had even higher expectations for the delegation that had yet to arrive.
The sky grew darker and darker. Even the Hogwarts students, accustomed to the cold, had begun to shiver. Everyone stared hopefully at the sky, waiting for Durmstrang to arrive flying through the air just like Beauxbatons.
But nothing appeared in the deep blue night sky.
Instead, a loud and peculiar sound drifted toward them from the darkness. It was coming from the direction of the Black Lake.
The dark waters were no longer calm. Massive splashes erupted across the surface, and waves crashed against the damp shoreline. Suddenly, a gigantic whirlpool appeared in the middle of the lake, as though someone had pulled the plug from a bathtub.
A dark, pole-like object slowly rose from the center of the whirlpool...
Then a magnificent sailing ship emerged before everyone's eyes, gleaming beneath the moonlight.
Good grief, what a crossover!
Standing among the crowd, Eda couldn't help thinking exactly that as she stared at the ship. Her imagination immediately ran wild, and one thought dominated all the others:
What was she supposed to do if a squid-faced man walked out of that ship in a moment?
The people aboard were disembarking one after another. Every one of them looked imposing and broad-shouldered. As they drew closer, the students realized that the Durmstrang visitors were all wearing thick fur cloaks, even heavier than Hogwarts' winter cloaks.
Leading them was a tall, gaunt man with a sinister expression. Unlike the others, his cloak was silver-white, soft and sleek. This was Durmstrang's headmaster, Igor Karkaroff.
Karkaroff greeted Albus Dumbledore enthusiastically, as though they were old friends who had not seen one another for years. But Eda knew that before becoming Durmstrang's headmaster, Karkaroff had been a notorious Death Eater.
"It's wonderful to be here, wonderful indeed... Viktor, come over here and warm yourself... You don't mind, do you, Dumbledore? Viktor has caught a bit of a cold..."
Karkaroff gestured for one of his students to come forward.
As the boy approached, cries of astonishment erupted from the Hogwarts students.
"Krum! Viktor Krum!"
The Hogwarts lines instantly descended into chaos. Quite a few starstruck girls wanted to break formation and run over for Krum's autograph. Eda even overheard several nauseating comments.
"Do you think he'd sign my hat with lipstick? Somewhere else would be fine too!"
Ugh!
But the boys were even more crazed than the girls. Some of them were so excited that they shouted Krum's name until their voices cracked.
Watching the boys and girls around her lose their minds, Eda lowered her head helplessly.
This Hogwarts...
Maybe it wasn't worth staying at after all!
...
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