A couple of weeks had passed and their classes were not getting easier. Honestly, they shouldn't be getting easier, because then people would be allowed to slack off, or they felt they deserved the right to, but Jake and Hermione had no trouble with the increase in difficulty, though, they were one of the few who felt that way. One class that had been particularly more demanding and difficult was Defense Against the Dark Arts.
To their surprise, Professor Moody had announced that he would be putting each of them under the Imperius Curse, to demonstrate its power and to see whether they could resist its effects or not, "But - but you said it was illegal, Professor," Hermione voice her uncertainty as Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room. "You said - to use it against another human was-"
"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like," Moody said, his magical eye swiveling onto Hermione and fixing her with an eerie, unblinking stare, "If you'd rather learn the hard way - when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely - fine by me. You're excused. Off you go." He then pointed his gnarled finger toward the door.
Hermione felt her cheeks burning from embarrassment, "I-I didn't mean I wanted to leave..." Hermione muttered quietly.
Moody began to beckon students forward in turn and put them under the Imperius Curse. Jake watched as, one by one, his classmates did the most extraordinary things under its influence. Dean hopped three times around the room, singing the national anthem, which, to Jake, it would just never replace the American National Anthem. Lavender imitated a squirrel, which Hermione must have gotten a real kick out of when he heard her laugh almost evilly. Neville performed a series of quite astonishing gymnastics he would certainly have not been capable of in his normal state. When Hermione had been called on, Jake watched her nervously step forward. When the spell had been used, Hermione then proceeded to put on a short, one-person play of a small scene from Macbeth. It had actually been entertaining to watch, even though Jake was sure Hermione wouldn't have been able to do it without someone in her mind telling her to do so.
When Hermione was done, her face turned beet red after Jake explained what it was she did, "Your acting was superb, though."
She found herself unable to smile at that, "Potter," Moody growled, "you're next."
Jake watched Harry step forward and Moody said, " Imperio ." Harry had bent his legs, but then halted. For a second, nothing happened, but then Harry performed something Jake was sure was not what Moody had told him to do in his mind. He had jumped forward, but it looked like he tried to stop himself, and ended up going headlong into the desk. "Now that's more like it!" Moody's gruff voice was heard saying, "Look at that, you lot... Potter fought it! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! We'll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention - watch his eyes, that's where you see it - very good, Potter, very good indeed! They'll have trouble controlling you !"
Moody then had Harry go through it a few more times, each time Harry managed to not completely listen, until the last attempt, when he managed to throw it off entirely.
"Good, very good. Kidd, you're next!"
Jake stepped forward, taking in a deep breath. When he was where everyone else had stood before him, he closed his eye and waited. He heard Moody say the spell and waited. Everyone else had been affected almost immediately, but for him, he felt no different. He didn't even hear a voice in his head like the spell description said was supposed to happen, 'I think I may know what's stopping it. The Ambrosius Bloodline is the only bloodline to be gifted Occlumens. Occlumency must be helpful in protecting yourself from the Imperius Curse.' "I'm waiting," he said coolly.
" Imperio ," Moody had said for the fourth time, and the result was the same, nothing happened, "Remarkable. In all my days as an Auror, I've never seen anyone unaffected by the Imperius Curse. Then again, I've never met anyone of the Ambrosius Bloodline before this school year, either. You see that, everyone? Kidd here is not affected by it in the slightest. I never even got into his mind to give him a command. Now I don't expect any of you to be like this, so don't think I'll expect this from all of you, but mark my words, we will work on this at least through November as a side study alongside your main Defense work, until progress is made," Moody said avidly, "Kidd, since this doesn't work on you, don't worry about having to practice."
After class, a lot of them were feeling uncertain about everything, and Harry was hobbling out, "The way he talks," Jake heard him say, "you'd think we were all going to be attacked any second."
"Yeah, I know," Ron answered him, who was skipping on every alternative step as a result of what Moody had him do when under the Curse, "Talk about paranoid."
"Well, when you've lived as long as him, and are a veteran in your line of work capturing Dark Wizards, you might be a little paranoid too with how many enemies you'll have made," Jake said in Moody's defense.
The month soon changed to October and they were in Transfiguration Class with McGonagall, their Head of House, with the Ravenclaws, just like how it was last year. When the class had voiced their dissatisfaction with the increase in school work, she explained why, "You are now entering a most important phase of your magical education!" She told them, her eyes glinting dangerously behind her square spectacles. "Your Ordinary Wizarding Levels are drawing closer-"
"We don't take O.W.L.s until our Fifth Year, though, Professor," Dean said indignantly.
"Maybe not, Mr. Thomas, but believe me, you need all the preparation you can get! Miss Granger and Mr. Kidd remain the only two in this class who have 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!" McGonagall had not been pulling any punches, though she never did.
Hermione had turned pink again, and seemed to be trying to not look too pleased with herself, but when she looked at Jake, she saw that he was almost indifferent looking. In fact, with most of the classes, she recalled that Jake didn't have to put forth much effort for the current year as far as spell work was concerned, because he had basically mastered every Fourth and Fifth Year spell, so when Professor Flitwick told them to read three extra books in preparation for the Summoning Charm, books he and Hermione had already read, Jake didn't even bother opening them, giving him more time to focus on other work.
Professor Binns of History of Magic, their only Ghostly Professor, had them writing weekly essays on Goblin Rebellions. It wasn't hard work, just absolutely tedious.
Professor Snape had them all research antidotes, or more specifically, forced them to because he hinted at the possibility of poisoning them before Christmas to see if their antidotes worked. Jake didn't appreciate basically being held hostage for it, but he said nothing as Potions was one of his best subjects, even if the Professor was his least favorite.
Even Hagrid surprisingly piled on the work. The Blast-Ended Skrewts had grown at an alarming rate, despite no one having figured out what they eat. Hagrid had been delighted at the progress and as part of their 'project' he suggested that they come down to his hut on alternate evenings to observe the Skrewts and make notes on their extraordinary behavior.
"I will not," Malfoy had said flatly when Hagrid had proposed the idea, "I see enough of these foul things during lessons, thanks."
Hagrid's smile faded into a scowl, "Yeh'll do wha' yer told," he had growled, "or I'll be takin' a leaf outta Professor Moody's book... I hear yeh make a good ferret, Malfoy."
The Gryffindors and even some of the Slytherins, Pendragon included, roared with laughter. Malfoy flushed with anger, but said nothing else, the painful memory of Moody's punishment still fresh in his mind. The Quartet returned to the Castle in much higher spirits at the end of their lessons; seeing Hagrid put Malfoy in his place was more satisfying than it should have honestly been.
Their classes had just ended for the day before the Weekend started, and upon returning to the Entrance Hall, they found themselves unable to proceed owing to the large crowd of students that had congregated there, all milling around a large sign that had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase. Ron and Jake were the only two able to see over the heads in front of them, but only from standing on their tiptoes. Jake was the one who read the sign aloud for them:
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!" Harry had interrupted, "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!" Ernie Macmillan said excitedly. His eyes were gleaming, "I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go and tell him..."
"Cedric?" Ron said blankly as Ernie hurried off.
"Diggory, obviously," Jake answered him.
"He must be entering the tournament," Harry said.
"That idiot, Hogwarts Champion?" Ron said as they pushed their way through the chattering crowd toward the staircase.
"He's not an idiot, Ron," Hermione said, "You just don't like him because he beat Gryffindor at Quidditch, and that was only because of the Dementors."
"You only-" Ron was cut off.
"Ron," Jake's voice was clear, but it had an air of authority about it that caused Ron to stop talking, "How much money do you have on you?"
"I don't know... like... twelve Sickles?" Ron then pulled out his money pouch and confirmed it to be Thirteen Sickles.
"Alright, how about a bet?"
"What kind of bet?" Ron asked uneasily.
"Well, I'm going to bet that Cedric is the Champion for Hogwarts, and you're going to be betting that it's anyone else, fair?" Jake asked him.
"That's fair, I've got the Odds in my favor, but still," Ron was smiling cheekily.
"Alright, I'm going to place down Five Galleons that it will be Cedric, and you're going to place down Five Sickles that it won't be Cedric," Jake made his offer.
"Deal. Easiest Five Galleons I'll have ever made," Ron stuck his hand out and they both shook on it.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked Jake, looking at him as they got back to the Common Room.
"Making a friendly wager, why?"
"You have terrible odds on this!" Hermione practically squealed.
Jake only shrugged, "I'm not going to make a habit of gambling. I really doubt I can be as good as Fred and George, what with their prediction at the World Cup."
Hermione only huffed and muttered something that sounded like ' Honestly now ' but Jake only smiled.
*******
The appearance of the sign in the Entrance Hall had a marked effect upon the inhabitants of the Castle. During the following week, there seemed to be only one topic of conversation, no matter where Jake went, the Triwizard Tournament. Rumors were flying from student to student like highly contagious germs; who was going to try for Hogwarts Champion, what the tournament would involve, and how the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang differed from themselves.
Hermione especially noticed that the Castle seemed to be undergoing an extra-thorough 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 was behaving so ferociously to any students who forgot to wipe their shoes that he terrified a pair of First-Year girls into hysterics.
Other members of the staff seemed oddly tense too, "Longbottom, kindly do not reveal that you can't even perform a simple Switching Spell in front of anyone from Durmstrang!" Professor McGonagall had barked at the end of a lesson that most of the class had found to be difficult, during which Neville had accidentally transplanted his own ears onto a cactus.
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 Gryffindor, 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 them all bore the Hogwarts Coat of Arms, the Lion, Eagle, Badger, and Snake united around a large letter H.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Jake sat down beside Fred and George at the Gryffindor table. Once again, and most unusually, they were sitting apart from everyone else and conversing in low voices. Ron led the way over to them, "It's a bummer all right," George had said gloomily to Fred, "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?" Ron asked as he sat down next to them.
"Wish you would," Fred said, looking irritated at the interruption.
"What's a bummer?" Ron continued questioning.
"Having a nosy git like you for a brother," George said coldly.
"You two got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet? Thought any more about trying to enter?" Harry asked the both of them.
"I asked McGonagall how the Champions are chosen, but she wasn't telling," George said bitterly, "she just told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my raccoon."
"Since you both won't be able to compete anyway, probably for the better," Jake said without care.
"Says who?" Fred asked in a defiant tone.
"Says the age restriction," he answered.
"Fred and I have a way around that," George said with a smirk.
"If it helps you sleep at night," Jake said, ending the topic.
"Wonder what the tasks are going to be?" Ron asked thoughtfully. "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," Fred said, "McGonagall says the champions get awarded points according to how well they've done the tasks."
"If any of us could do well and deserved to be the Champion based on magical power, well I have to agree with Katie, Jake is probably the only one of us who deserves it at that point," Hermione said, looking at him. He was deliberately focusing on his food, "Of course, we all know that's not how the Impartial Judge chooses the Champions."
"Who are the judges, anyway?" Harry asked.
"Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel," Hermione said, and everyone but Jake looked around at her, rather surprised.
"Because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792, when a Cockatrice the Champions were supposed to be catching went on a rampage," Jake further explained.
Hermione gave him a grateful smile, since he was the only other one there who'd read Hogwarts: A History , "If any of you besides Jake and I had read Hogwarts: A History , you'd have known that."
"I've read it... just... don't remember much from the one time I did read it..." Harry said, a hint of embarrassment in his voice.
"Not that it matters," Hermione said, "That book's not entirely reliable. 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?" Ron asked her.
" House-Elves !" Hermione said, her eyes flashing with anger, "Not once, in over a thousand pages, does Hogwarts: A History mention that we are colluding in the oppression of a hundred slaves!" Hermione looked at Harry, Ron, Fred, and George, and saw that all four of them seemed entirely unenthused about it. Of course, she didn't expect much from her fellow Gryffindor. After some persuasion from Jake, she didn't corner people in the Common Room to try and coerce them into caring about their cause. In fact, so far the only students to buy a badge outside of Harry and Ron because of Jake were Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff girls from Fifth and Sixth year, and Luna had also bought one. Not all of them, but a few from each grade when they saw Jake wearing one. Hermione was glad he was unashamed to wear his badge, which he was wearing almost every minute of the day. To her surprise, Cedric had bought one, he explained that how his father treated Winky at the World Cup was unprofessional, and that he'd show his support.
Cedric getting one of the Badges had convinced his fellow Sixth Year Hufflepuffs to get badges as well if they hadn't already. Hermione had beamed happily at Cedric for openly supporting her and Jake's campaign. She had also been approached by Ivan and he bought a Badge too when he saw that both Jake and Cedric were wearing one.
"How do you know Cedric?" She had asked him.
"Both of our dads work at the Ministry on the same floor, and we play Gobstones every weekend. He's one of my best friends at School," he had said to her.
She suspected Ivan to be the only Slytherin to ever buy a badge, though. None of this would've even gotten as far as it had without Jake. She felt a little guilty that it was only because of his connection to Merlin, but he had agreed with it, so she didn't fret over it too long.
She was brought from her thoughts when the Owl Post had arrived. Hedwig swooped down to Harry and had a letter on her left leg. She had landed on Harry's shoulder and clicked her beak, "Thanks, Hedwig," Harry said and offered her his plate of breakfast, which she began to happily devour. He read the letter aloud when Fred and George were immersed in other topics,
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 do you have to keep changing owls?" Ron asked in a low voice.
"Hedwig is a noticeable Owl, Ron," Jake said with a sigh, "Being a Snowy White Owl, she stands out and will draw attention if she keeps going to the same place all the time." Hedwig soon left, probably feeling exhausted, and went to go take a long sleep in the Owlery.
There was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air that day. Nobody was very attentive in the lessons, except for the obvious few, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; even Potions was more bearable for the many who had trouble with it, as it was half an hour shorter. When the bell rang early, the four of them hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited their bags 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!" McGonagall snapped at Ron, "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair!"
Parvati had scowled at McGonagall and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait.
"Now, follow me please," McGonagall said, "First Years in front... no pushing..."
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 shining over the Forbidden Forest. Jake was standing on Hermione's left and Harry had been in between Hermione and Ron in the Fourth Row. He kind of hoped that no Fifth Year behind him was too short, even being on the step behind him.
"Nearly six," he heard Ron say, who had checked his watch, "How do you reckon they're coming? The train?"
"I doubt it," Hermione said.
"How then? Broomstick?" Harry asked her.
"You both have such boring imaginations," Jake said, which caused Ron to stare at him.
"Regardless, I doubt they'd fly on Broomsticks from that far away," Hermione gazed at the starry sky as she spoke.
"A portkey?" Ron suggested, "Or they could just Apparate-"
"For the love of all that is Divine, Ron, please tell me you did not just say that?" Jake asked him, looking over Harry and Hermione with ease as he stared at the Red-Head.
"What?" Ron asked defensively.
"You cannot Apparate or Disapparate on the Castle Grounds!" Jake said through gritted teeth. He, as well as Hermione, was tired of repeating themselves about something so trivial.
Hermione placed a hand on his upper arm and he closed his eye, sighed, and his head drooped, his chin connecting against his chest. She could tell just how exhausted he was from the sigh alone, 'He must still not be resting well...'
Suddenly, Dumbledore spoke up from the back row where he was standing with the teachers, "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"
Jake opened his eye, and one quick scan of the sky over the Forbidden Forest told him they were in what looked like a Multi-Horse Drawn Carriage. Many students had asked 'where' in the sky, but a Sixth Year girl pointed and yelled, " There !"
The gigantic black shape in the sky skimmed over the treetops of the Forest, and when the lights from the Castle illuminated the Horses, Jake could tell that the Horses were gigantic, golden, winged palominos, each the size of an Elephant, drawing a House Sized Powder-Blue Carriage.
The front three rows of students drew backwards, and a Third Year Gryffindor girl ended up backing up into Jake. She must not have realized it because she didn't apologize; the sight and size of the Beauxbatons vehicle of choice caused her to be in awe. The horses had landed first, their massive hooves made a satisfying clicking sound to Jake as they moved along the Cobblestone path. A second later the Carriage hit the ground with a thud and a bounce, soon coming to a full stop. The horses tossed their heads around and rolled large, fiery red eyes around, shaking their heads and manes out.
A Coat of Arms had been visible for a moment (two crossed, golden wands, each emitting three stars) before the door opened abruptly.
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, "How obnoxious," Jake muttered, and Hermione lightly hit his arm. The boy sprang back respectfully, and then a shining, high-heeled black shoe emerged from the inside of the carriage, and the shoe was about the size of a child's sled. Then the single tallest woman Jake had ever seen stepped out of the Carriage. At a rough guess, he figured she was the same height as Hagrid was, and Hagrid was an incredibly tall individual himself.
When she stepped into the light, 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 shining knob 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 and teachers following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman with. The impressively tall woman's face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, barely had to bend forward to kiss it.
"My dear Madame Maxime," he said warmly, "Welcome to Hogwarts!"
"Dumbly-dorr," Maxime said in a deep voice, and Jake barely stifled a laugh, "I 'ope I find you well?"
"In excellent form, I thank you," he said, smiling at Maxime.
"My pupils," she said, waving a hand carelessly behind her.
Jake refocused his attention back to the Carriage, which had a couple dozen boys and girls step off and into the cold weather. The moment they exited, they began shivering, but that was only because, Jake noticed, their clothing was made from fine silk, and they had no cloaks to be warm with. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads, though, which he thought was a little amusing. The one thing that did not escape him was the beauty that were the girls from Beauxbatons. They appeared to be in their late teens, though, so that put a damper on his mood a little bit.
Hermione didn't miss the apprehensive looks on their faces when they looked up at the Castle. She also didn't miss that some of the girls caught sight of Jake, at least, she assumed they did since he was the only student who stood out, what with the eye-patch. They began whispering and pointed and all of the girls looked over, and Hermione had no doubt it was about Jake. She turned and looked at him, craning her neck to see him, and he was staring back at them. She returned her attention to the Beauxbatons and added approximately twelve or thirteen girls to her already long list; one of them she couldn't tell if they were a boy or girl.
" 'as Karkaroff arrived yet?" Hermione heard Maxime ask.
"He should be here any moment," Dumbledore answered her, "Would you like to wait here and greet him, or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"
"Warm up, I zink," She said, then turned concernedly toward the carriage, "But ze 'orses-"
"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," Dumbledore said happily, "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other - er - charges."
"Skrewts," Hermione heard Ron whisper.
"My steeds require - er - forceful 'andling," Maxime said, looking as though she doubted any Care of Magical Creatures teacher could be up to the job, "Zey are very strong..."
"I assure you Hagrid will be well up to the task. He has handled - er - strong creatures before," Dumbledore said, and Hermione could tell he was actually fighting the smile that wanted to show on his face.
"Very well," Maxime said, bowing slightly, "will you please inform zis 'agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"
"It will be attended to, I assure you," Dumbledore said, also bowing.
"Come," Maxime said imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow them to pass up the stone steps.
Hermione saw that one of them looked back at least twice before they disappeared inside the Castle, "How big d'you reckon Durmstrang's horses are going to be?" Seamus asked, leaning around Lavender and Parvati to address Harry and Ron.
"Well, if they're any bigger than this lot, even Hagrid won't be able to handle them," Hermione heard Harry say.
"I doubt Durmstrang will be using Horses as well," Hermione said, but the only person who seemed to acknowledge that she even spoke was Jake.
"That's if he hasn't been attacked by his Skrewts. Wonder what's up with them?" Harry asked aloud.
"Maybe they've escaped," Ron said in a hopeful tone.
"With how big and dangerous they've gotten, I hope not," Jake said, "but if they have, I'm not going to hesitate in killing them."
Hermione stood there, shivering slightly now, waiting for the Durmstrang party to arrive. She glanced at Jake and he wasn't shivering or shaking at all, or if he was cold, he wasn't showing it at all. She glanced around and most of the Hogwarts students were looking up into the sky, but Jake was looking out at the Lake. Hermione stared for a moment, then remembered something she'd read, "Oh, that's right, in the past Durmstrang-"
She stopped talking when a faint noise could be heard; it was loud and oddly eerie, and was drifting toward them from out of the darkness. A muffled rumbling and sucking sound was heard, like someone with a massive Vacuum cleaner was on the bottom of the lake.
"The lake!" Lee Jordan was heard yelling, "Look at the lake!"
Moments later a long black pole seemed to be rising out of the lake, "Of course, it's a massive ship!" Hermione said, glad she had remembered.
Slowly and magnificently, the ship 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 shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship 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 into the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.
People had started disembarking the ship; they could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship's portholes. Jake noticed that the students of Durmstrang all were wearing fur cloaks, "Probably from some Scandinavian Country," Jake said quietly.
"Dumbledore!" A man called out, the man Jake assumed to be the Headmaster of Durmstrang, "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 did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.
"Dear old Hogwarts," Karkaroff said, looking up at the Castle and smiling; Jake was close enough to see that his teeth were rather yellow, and he saw that the smile Karkaroff wore did not extend to his eyes, which remained cold and shrewd. "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..."
Karkaroff beckoned one of his students forward, and Jake was mildly surprised to see that it was Viktor Krum , "Wow, what a bitch," Jake said disdainfully. "A slight fucking head cold? Get fucking real."
"Harry - it's Krum !" He heard Ron say. "I don't believe it!" Ron said in a stunned voice, as the Hogwarts students filed back up the steps behind the part from Durmstrang. "Krum, Harry! Viktor Krum !"
"For heaven's sake, Ron, will you shut up?" Hermione said, getting annoyed by their red-headed, freckle-faced friend.
"But Hermione - he's one of the best Seekers in the world! I had no idea he was still in school!" Ron said, clearly fangirling.
As they recrossed the Entrance Hall with the rest of the Hogwarts students heading for the Great Hall, Jake overheard several Sixth and Seventh Year girls complaining about not having Quills to get an autograph from Krum, "Obviously, very few people carry Quills and Ink Bottles on them without their bag," Hermione said, shaking her head.
Upon re-entering the Great Hall, Jake saw that the Beauxbatons entourage had all sat down at the Ravenclaw Table. He was mildly disappointed, and also noticed their expressions were glum looking as they looked around the Great Hall. 'Hogwarts may not be as fancy as Beauxbatons most likely is, but it's far from being the most atrocious building in Europe,' he thought to himself.
They went to sit at Gryffindor Table while the Durmstrang lot sat at the Slytherin Table and Hermione caught the looks of a few girls from Beauxbatons. They had watched Jake and realized they sat at the wrong table. She saw them converse with each other quickly, but they didn't get up from the Table, so they were staying where they were, 'For the better, I say. We don't want them at Gryffindor Table anyway.'
She remembered the look Jake had given them outside, she couldn't deny they were all considerably more attractive than she herself was. She removed her cloak and looked down at herself, even though her clothes were on, she could see the unattractive, plain body that was underneath them. She sighed, despondent due to her own thoughts.