Creperum

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or his magical world. If I did, I'd have even more fun writing fanfiction. Granted, Ginny wouldn't have happened….but I do not own harry Potter.

Summary: The Delegations from Beauxbatons Academy and Durmstrang Institution arrive at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Chapter 24

The Delegates

Within the castle walls, students slumbered tucked in their beds, while their heads filled with dreams and visions of the awaited games. Tomorrow, or rather today, was the arrival of the two schools that would compete against their own for the Triwizard prize. Students of Hogwarts Castle passed the hours until the arrival in slumber. Well, nearly all of them as it were. For deep within the dungeon levels of the ancient castle, a lone student made her way through the maze of corridors, the flickering flame of torches causing shadows to flicker across her velvet gown of brown. With the ease of grace that spoke of a time beyond her apparent age, she followed the worn path to the snake pit of old. The hem brushing against the cold stone floor was a delicate whisper to the accompaniment of the crackling torches. After a brief pause beside an empty stretch of stoned wall, the massive slab of rock slid aside to reveal a darkened passage. Downward the young woman went, her gown swishing over the stone steps as she entered her academic home.

Within the cool common room of Slytherin, she walked catching the attention of two others of her house. Though, in all actuality, many years her junior, she would admit with ease that Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter were indeed her friends. They looked away from their chess game when she crossed the common room, brushing past furniture of leather. With a nod to them, and a subtle flick of her wrist to warm their forgotten tea mugs, she proceeded towards the spiral stairs, lowering her eyes to avoid the dirty portrait that stood guard over the girls' dormitories. In the quiet of the stairwell she slipped into her dorm, the other girls in a deep sleep if judging by their feminine snores. The brown velvet slipped from her shoulders and pooled at her feet, to be banished away to the confines of her trunk as fine, black satin was placed against her pale skin. Grabbing a stack of parchment, she withdrew to the confines of her bed. The Goblet had been delivered moments ago, and Selene's work could now begin.

Morning came upon the castle awaking the students within a short time after; it was not long before the hallowed walls were buzzing with excitement and speculative whispers. The professors tried to keep their charges contained and under control but by the time lunch arrived, more whispered speculating was being done than actual studying. As the final hour began to tick down, many professors had deemed it necessary to give their students mundane tasks as a lesson, for attentions were focused elsewhere. While Harry repotted the young plants for Professor Sprout in the greenhouses, he wondered how the Gryffindors were fairing under Professor Snape; the Potions Master was not pleased his lessons were cut due to the delegates' arrival. He and his fellow Slytherins talked amongst themselves as they worked under the professor's watchful eyes until the awaited time arrived. As the deep bell resonated across the grounds, signaling the end of lessons, the Slytherin fourth years ran as quick as they could across the grounds and to their dungeon home. After swapping bags and quills for warm cloaks and gloves, the Slytherin students returned back to the Entrance Hall, where Professor Snape stood ready for them.

The professor looked over his charges with a calculating expression. "First years up front," he commanded as he began to line up the smaller students in a straight line. "Second years, follow behind them."

Once Professor Snape was sure that his Slytherins were in a proper order, he led them through the great doors behind the students of Hufflepuff House. Out they followed, and to the left of the stone stairs of the castle, while Hufflepuffs proceeded to the right to stand behind the members of Gryffindor. When outside they lined up into seven groups, with the seventh years in back and the first years up front; Professor Snape walked amongst them, straightening robes and inspecting for proper order. As the Ravenclaws filed before them to stand on their left, he would adjust collars and ties, while making sure his students were warm enough in their cloaks during their brief stay out in the autumn chill.

"How do you think they'll arrive?" Draco asked as they stood in the rows, waiting and fidgeting.

Harry glanced at him while patting the back of his hair down, trying to get the chin length locks to lay down flat for a moment. "Who knows, really," he shrugged. "We always try to out do each other at gatherings. You saw how it was at the World Cup."

Selene smoothed out her skirt, adjusting the pleats so that they would lie to her standards. "I never did get myself involved with the businesses of these two schools," she commented, her voice quiet to their ears. "Beauxbatons was created far after my basic education had completed, otherwise things no doubt would have been different."

"Why do you believe that?" Draco asked, picking idly at his nails while watching Professor McGonagall instruct her students on how to straighten their appearance.

Selene gave him a small, wistful smile. "My mother," she told him, "she was French. After my father's death when I was small, we left his home on the English coast to her home in what is now France."

"Rebecca has mentioned your mother's home, on the rare occasion," Harry mentioned, watching the road to Hogsmeade for any sign of arrivals. Even with the wizarding habit of showing off when they had gatherings, he still didn't believe it wise to rule out the Hogwarts Express just yet. "Didn't your father want to send you to Durmstrang, Draco?"

The blonde boy nodded, dropping his hand to his side. "He doesn't believe in Dumbledore's policies, but mother refused to send me so far away from home," he answered. "So he-what is that noise?"

All around them, the speculations of excitement where switching to questions of confusement. A strange, deep sucking noise filled overwhelmed their hearing. Harry's vision shifted from the road towards the forest when he saw the ripples of the Black Lake. As he watched, his vision clear even in the growing darkness, the ripples grew into waves and appearance of bowling water, the noise growing louder by the second.

"Its the squid!" A small Hufflepuff boy called out on their right.

Harry could see that it wasn't the resident 'pet' that resided within the dark waters, as a thick black pole rose from the depths. A red flag dripped and fluttered from the top, the thick rigging ropes appearing from the water.

"Its a ship!" He said, his words carried away in the sounds of excitement and surprise from those watching high upon the grounds. From their vantage point, they watched as the magnificent ship rose from the water, glimmering in the light of the moon above. It had a strange skeletal appearance, as though resurrected from some long forgotten wreck. Harry watched as the shapes of those aboard the vessel moved about deck, the splash of an anchor fueling the excitement.

"Ahh," Selene sighed beside him, her tone one of sudden understanding. "There it is, boys," she said. "Look upon her sail."

Harry looked as she instructed, ignoring the figures walking down the lowered gangplank, upon the main sail. Upon the canvas was the image of a double-breasted eagle in a brilliant scarlet.

"The crest of Durmstrang Institute," she explained. "They sailed a long way to reach our humble lake."

She grew silent as the figures approached. When upon the ship, Harry could only see that they were strangely large and bulky; now though he could see that each other them were wearing cloaks of thick, matted fur, many of them with similar hats upon their heads. The man leading the crowd of students was different however; his cloak of fur was sleek and silver, much like the silver streaking through his black hair.

"Dumbledore!" The man called out, his voice booming across the grounds. To Harry's surprise, the man's accent was much like his own. British, rather than a thick accent of the North he had expected. "How are you, dear friend?"

Dumbledore met the man, tall and thin as well, as he topped the slope from the lake. "Blooming, Karkaroff, blooming. Thank you," he replied, the men embracing like old friends. As they parted, Karkaroff looked up at the castle his lips curling upwards in a strange impression of a smile.

"Ahh, Hogwarts," he sighed, his tone almost wistful. "How good it is to be before you once more."

"Welcome back, Highmaster Karkaroff," Dumbledore greeted. "And to the Sons and Daughters of Durmstrang, welcome to Hogwarts School!" Dumbledore began to applaud in welcome; the staff and students quickly following suit.

"My father has mentioned him before," Draco commented, his voice just above a whisper but still managed to carry above the applause to Harry's ears. "He was in Slytherin, under my father."

As Karkaroff greeted staff members, many of them no doubt former professors of his own from what Draco had shared, Harry watched the fifteen students stare up at the castle behind them. Several of them were pointing up at sights in awe.

"Has Maxime arrived yet?" Karkaroff asked as he scanned the faces of students around him.

"She should arrive at any moment," Dumbledore responded. "If you and your students would like to-"

A shrill whining that pierced through the air cut off Dumbledore. Harry knew the sound, from having played in the stables so often as a child to be that of a horse, and immediately craned his neck towards the road to Hogsmeade, hoping to spot the second school first in the darkness.

"Its a house!" Came the cry of a small Gryffindor first year, as the Hogwarts students and Durmstrang students looked about the grounds. At the boy's exclamation, Creevey he believed, they looked upwards towards the starry sky.

Harry could see how the boy believed the object soaring towards them may have been a flying house, but he and the two vampires by his side could see the massive carriage soaring above their heads.

The powder-blue carriage came down to land at a tremendous speed, the force of its landing causing the front rows of students to sway on their feet; a few of the smaller students fell back into the second years' behind them. A dozen winged-palomino horses were hitched to the carriage, each of them the size of an elephant.

"Twelve horses of the apocalypse?" Harry muttered under his breath, watching the horses snorted, tossing their heads while looking about with fiery-red eyes.

Selene slapped his arm, her strike leaving a stinging mark. "Harry Potter!" She scolded, not taking her eyes from the carriage.

As they watched, a boy hopped from the open carriage door and unfolded small golden stairs from beneath the carriage door, springing back respectfully as he finished. Harry watched as a black shoe, polished till it reflected the night skies, emerged - the shoe was the size of a child's sled - and was followed by the largest woman he had ever seen. The size of the carriage and horses now made perfect sense.

The woman stood at her full height, illuminated by the light from the open castle doors. Harry had never seen a woman so large in his life only one person could have come close to her height. Hagrid.

"The ever lovely Madame Maxime," Dumbledore greeted, walking forward to greet her. He took her large hand in both of hers, bending his head slightly to kiss it. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dor," Madame Maxime said in her deep, yet gentle, voice. Gemstones gleamed at her neck as she moved. "I 'ope to find you well?"

"Just wonderful, I thank you."

"My students," Maxime informed Dumbledore, waving her hand dismissively behind her before moving on to greet Karkaroff.

Harry looked away from the large, impressive woman finally and noticed the dozens of students shivering in thin powder blue robes. Many of them had thin, sheer scarves wrapped around their heads, in an attempt to stay warm in the late autumn cold.

Dumbledore clapped his hands together, causing the attention of everyone to focus onto him. "Everyone has arrived at last!" He called out. "Once more, I welcome each of our guests to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Now, let us proceed into the warm embrace of the castle for I am sure you are all hungry and eager to begin."

The rows of students followed their guests into the warm hall of Hogwarts, shedding their warm cloaks. Around them, classmates and peers whispered in excited gossips, their eyes on the powder-blue robes of France and the thick, heavy furs worn by those of the North. Nearby several Hufflepuff sixth years were busy squabbling over a tube of lipstick, ripping out of each other's hands.

"What is their problem?" Harry asked, eyeing them with a bored expression before leaving them behind as the Slytherins neared the Great Hall.

"They're squabbling like a bunch of rabid dogs," Draco commented, glancing over his shoulder, brushing blonde locks from his eyes.

Selene paused long enough to catch their attention, her focus on the still robed students of Durmstrang. "Bunch of rabid fans girls is more like it, boys," she told them, slipping through the throng of students towards their table. "We have a celebrity in our midst."

Looking in the direction of Durmstrang once more, Harry scanned the faces trying to find one that stuck out before he collided against Draco's back.

"Merlin's beard," the blonde boy whispered, his eyes widening in slight awe. "That's Viktor Krum."

"I didn't think he was still in school," Harry commented, jabbing Draco with a finger to move him forward again.

The students settled amongst them, touching the golden plates and goblets in awe as they shed their heavy fur cloaks, revealing beneath robes of blood red.

"This is spectacular," Viktor Krum said as he sat across from Harry, looking upwards at the enchanted ceiling. All along the table, many of his schoolmates were picking up the golden plates and flatware, examining them. "It is always like this?"

"Yeah it is," Draco informed him, ignoring Pansy on his right as she tried to elbow him back so she could get a better look at Krum. "The ceiling has been enchanted for nearly three hundred years." Krum had by now turned his attention on Draco, listening to the explanation. "I'm Draco Malfoy, by the way, welcome to Hogwarts," he introduced, shaking hands with the Quidditch star. Harry could see, from the corner of his eye, Selene smirking subtly at the blonde across from her. No doubt she was amused Draco was not fawning over the celebrity.

"Thank you," Krum said, shaking the offered hand twice before releasing it. "I am Viktor Krum."

Draco gestured towards Selene and Harry. "These are my friends, Selene Hart," Krum took Selene's hand and rather than shaking it, bowed his head over it briefly, "and Harry Potter."

As Harry shook hands with the other male, he could see Krum's brooding eyes sweep upwards towards his forehead. "It is a pleasure to meet each of you," he said after a moment.

A hush fell over the talking students as the professors filed into the room. At the Ravenclaw table, the Beauxbatons students sprang to their feet when Madame Maxime entered and sat only after she had settled in her large chair.

"Before dinner is served and you make yourselves at home," Dumbledore began, his eyes sweeping across the hall, "I wish you all a wonderful, enjoyable stay full of memories and adventure. The Tournament will officially open at the end of the feast. Now please, eat, drink, and be merry!"

Dishes began springing up upon the golden platters, prompting sounds of surprise from many Durmstrang students at their table. The house elves at work had outdone themselves, as many of the dishes were things Harry had never seen before.

"Is it always this vay here?" Krum asked as he helped himself to a dish he called Pelmeni; it looked like a type of meat dumpling, but tasted delicious once Harry tried it.

"Gold plates and glittering finery?" Selene asked, sampling a type of shellfish stew. She smiled softly when Krum nodded. "No, it usually isn't. This is done in celebration," she explained. "After Halloween, it'll go back to the normal, everyday routine," she said. "Though, I do hope they bring back this Bouillabaisse."

"Durmstrang is nothing like Hogvarts," Krum told them. "So much smaller, colder as vell. Ve only light the fires vhen ve are celebrating or visitors come."

Dinner continued smoothly, students getting to know their guests, and watching the crowds. As dessert was being served, Harry saw Ludo Bagman, wearing robes finally rather than his uniform, and Mr. Crouch join the head table. Snitching different puddings from Selene's plate soon distracted him from observing the head table.

Once the plates had been cleaned by the students, and the house elves whisked away the remaining dishes, Dumbledore stood. A pleasant stillness settled across the hall, students focusing on the old wizard with rapt excitement.

"The time has come," Dumbledore began, slowly taking in the faces of those before him. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to begin and Mr. Filch will soon bring in the casket," he explained. "But before that, I would like to introduce Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports," he paused for the loud applause, "and Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation." Both men acknowledged the applause, though one was more enthusiastic about it then the other. "Both men have worked diligently the past year on the arrangements for the Tournament and will be joining myself, Highmaster Karkaroff and Headmistress Maxime in the judging of the school champions," Dumbledore explained. "Mr. Crouch, if you would please explain the rules at this time."

The stern looking wizard, looking much different and seemed out of place when Harry remembered the suit he wore at the World Cup, stood from his seat with his hands clasped firmly behind his back.

"Each champion will participate in a series of three tasks designed to test them on their deduction, magical ability, their daring, their bravery, and, of course, the ability to cope with danger." The hall grew quiet as the students listened, hanging on Mr. Crouch's every word. "Mr. Filch," he said after a moment, the stillness of the students almost unnerving, "bring forth the casket."

Slowly, the cantankerous old caretaker wearing his moldy old overcoat carried an ancient looking trunk embedded with jewels. Some Harry noticed were larger than his fist. With great care, the old man placed it upon the ground before where Dumbledore now stood with Mr. Crouch by his side.

"Three champions will be selected, one to represent the competing schools," Mr. Crouch began once more. "They will be marked on their performances during each task and the one with the highest points will win the Tournament and the Triwizard Cup, as well as bringing their school tremendous honors. The three champions will be selected by an impartial judge..."

Harry looked at the faces of his professors, wondering which among them would be the one to select the three. Professor McGonagall with her Gryffindor honesty? Or maybe Professor Snape with his bluntness?

Dumbledore tapped his wand upon the bejeweled casket lid three times, the candles above them dimming as the lid opened with the creakiness of time. "The Goblet of Fire will be the judge of your entries," Dumbledore said. Reaching within the casket, he pulled out with great care a roughly hewn goblet of wood, unremarkable in all ways except for the blue flames that danced over the its brim. Once the lid was shut once more, Dumbledore carefully placed the goblet atop for all to see.

"Any one who wishes to enter shall write their name and their school upon a slip of parchment and drop it within the Goblet's flames," Dumbledore explained to them. "You shall have twenty-four hours to enter; once the Halloween feast is over, the Goblet will call forth the three champions. The Goblet shall be moved into the Entrance Hall during the twenty-four hours, to allow willing souls to enter their names."

"A word of caution, however," Mr. Crouch said as stepped forward once. "Entering your name is not to be done without taking heed, and is considered a binding magical contract. Be prepared to face danger and the possibility of death, all at the chance for honor and glory."

"As such, an Age Line will be set in place around the Goblet," Dumbledore continued, "to prevent students under the age of seventeen from yielding to temptation and entering their names into the Goblet. Now, I see the hour has grown late. Good night to you all."

The talking and arguing came back to a full roar once Dumbledore dismissed them to their beds. Many students were angry over the inclusion of an Age Line, blocking them from the Tournament.

"Vell, it vas a pleasure to meet you," Krum said as he began pulling on his furs. "Ve shall meet again tomorrow, no?"

"Back to the ship," Karkaroff ordered his students, though he beamed at Viktor. "Feeling better now, lad? Should I send for some mulled wine to settle your stomach after such a feast?"

"No thank you, Professor," Krum said, shaking his head, "I am quite fine."

Karkaroff glanced at Draco and then Selene. "You must be Snape's lot," he commented, eyeing the Slytherin markings on their uniforms. "I never imagined he'd become a-"

Karkaroff froze in mid sentence, staring at Harry. Or at least his forehead. Many Durmstrang students had noticed what seemed to be uncharacteristic behavior of their highmaster. A student that had been flirted at by Pansy all dinner, openly pointed towards Harry.

"You're...you're," Karkaroff stammered, taking in Harry's full appearance, his eyes jumping from the Slytherin crest to his scar and back again, "and you're a..."

"Yes, Mr. Potter is a Slytherin, Karkaroff," Snape sneered from behind the visiting Professor. Snape's lip was curled in a smirk he hadn't seen in some time. "And yes, he is one of mine."

Karkaroff stood straighter and turned to face the head of house. "Severus, it has been some time."

Snape ignored the man for a moment, looking past him towards Harry and the Slytherins around him. "It is late, to your dorms all of you," he instructed. "Good night."

"Good night professor," many of them murmured. Several good nights were wished to their guests as well.

Harry backed away from the table and left the small crowd of Durmstrang students with Draco and Selene on either side of him. Even with Snape distracting Karkaroff, he could still feel eyes following him from the room.

Chapter 24 is finally finished! I've got the next few chapters planned out and things will start picking up again soon now that school is out. So far, all I'm juggling for the summer is home, updating stories, and working in the queue. That's right, I'm a validator at another fanfiction archive.

Remember, you can always drop me a line through reviews, my MTA page on forums (my username is Selene and I'm a blue color on the forums), or through PMs. I can also be found on Twitter as selene42. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you again in Chapter 25! Don't forget to review!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011