The Calm Before the Arrival
The days at Hogwarts passed far more calmly than Harry and his group had expected. Aside from occasionally seeing Susan, Hermione's mother, walking through the corridors with her arms full of snacks that students gave her simply because she was so charismatic. That had even sparked the beginning of a sort of rivalry with Selene for the same reason, each trying to see which of the two was more popular among the students. Something that, in truth, only reminded everyone that, after all, they were still the mothers of Daphne and Hermione, the two most competitive girls in the school, clearly showing where that attitude came from.
Narcissa and Wanda were also quite popular. After all, there were not many beautiful and relatively young teachers among the staff. Though, according to some portraits that had been hanging in Hogwarts for centuries, Professor McGonagall in her youth had also been quite beautiful. And just as popular, even while being as serious and strict as she had always been.
But unlike Selene and Susan, Narcissa was much colder when speaking to others, which made that sense of distance very clear. And Wanda… well, many still felt a bit afraid of her. Even so, her classes were actually quite good, and she always seemed to teach with patience, so that fear slowly began to fade.
At that moment, Harry was in the castle's owlery. A place where a large number of owls rested on their perches, some eating, others simply making noise or flapping their wings, and others sleeping peacefully, as was the case with Hedwig. Harry had gone to feed her and to make sure everything was in order, because otherwise she would grow upset over the lack of attention from her owner. Hedwig could be quite jealous at times. Especially of Red, who always kept Harry busy.
"How are you, pretty girl?" Harry said as he took out a few brushes and cleaning supplies to help Hedwig tidy her feathers, something she liked quite a lot. He also moved his hand slightly, causing the place, which was covered in bird droppings, to clean itself instantly, leaving everything spotless, even though he knew very well it would not last long.
Hedwig looked at him with a slightly annoyed expression before turning her head away and shuffling sideways along the perch to put some distance between them, clearly showing her displeasure.
That made Harry smile faintly. Hedwig had probably seen him dragging Red out of the forest earlier that same day, since he had to give him a bath from time to time as well.
"What a shame… looks like she's upset," Harry said aloud, as if talking to himself. "I suppose I'll have to give the food I brought to Red. Even though he can't eat, he likes to chew…"
Before he could keep talking, Hedwig lifted her head, stared at him intently, and hopped onto his shoulder, lightly pecking his ear.
"Alright, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Harry said, amused, as he took out the food he had brought and handed it to the grumpy Hedwig, then carefully helped her clean her feathers.
For a moment, Harry lifted his gaze toward one of the windows and looked outside. There, he could see Filch rigorously cleaning the protective golems that surrounded the castle, secured by a rope and hanging in the air. He also noticed several professors fixing every corner, removing any imperfection. Even a number of punished students had been sent to cut the grass, adjust decorations, and polish the floors. From that distance, Harry managed to recognize Tommy for a brief moment, who had been assigned to sweep the castle entrance. That drew a small smile from him before he gently shook his head.
The next day, the delegates from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would arrive, so everyone was trying to leave the castle completely clean and spectacular for their arrival. Though, as a student who had spent a year at Beauxbatons, Harry knew well that that castle, always impeccable at every moment, still outshone Hogwarts by quite a bit, even if the latter had far more magic within its walls. Of Durmstrang, he did not know much, only what idiots like Carrow usually said to boast about having studied there.
For Harry, coming here with Hedwig had also been a way to escape from every conversation among the students that revolved around the Triwizard Tournament. Even though it interested him, it became somewhat tedious to hear the same thing over and over, while everyone was already placing bets on who would be chosen to represent Hogwarts. Incidentally, Harry was in first place on the list, tied with Draco and a student named Cedric Diggory. Though, obviously, that had more to do with the girls' choices, who voted while completely losing any sense of who might actually represent the school best. In fact, many of those who followed on the list were students who could be among the worst in their classes, yet were still considered quite handsome.
Incidentally, Neville was in tenth place. Something that made Harry quite happy, since before that he would not even have appeared on the list.
The girls were annoyed by that, so they made another list to decide who would be the female champion. This time, the boys did the same and voted for the prettiest girls. Though it completely lost any meaning when Wanda, Narcissa, and Selene took the top spots, which annoyed Susan a little. She knew she was not as beautiful as those three, but not to the point of having it rubbed in her face.
In the end, the entire ranking was redone and they did it "properly" again, voting on who was the most beautiful woman in the school. Wanda won, followed by Selene, then Narcissa, and then Susan. And at that point, whatever purpose it had originally held disappeared completely.
Incidentally, Sirius won the men's ranking. And, as if it were a joke, Snape came in second, though obviously they had done it just to annoy him.
Because of all that, Harry had slipped away for a moment from the constant noise of the castle. Even so, deep down, it was good that everything seemed so lively. At the very least, it meant they were having fun.
…
The following morning, they discovered that, during the night, the entire Great Hall had been adorned. Silk banners representing the Hogwarts houses hung from the walls, and behind the teachers' table rose the great banner of the school itself.
A pleasant impatience seemed to have settled over everyone, since that was the day the students from the other schools would arrive. And for those who had studied there during their second year, it would also be a chance to reunite with some of the friends they had made back then.
As the day went on, classes passed quickly. Some were even shorter than usual, as the professors assumed that, with the students so distracted, they would not be able to make much progress.
So, by the time afternoon arrived, everyone was lined up outside the entrance hall, standing in neat rows, waiting for the arrival of the students from the two schools.
"Longbottom, stand properly," McGonagall said as she observed the students, noticing that Neville was standing like a soldier at ease, legs apart and hands behind his back.
Neville put on a slightly puzzled expression, fully convinced that he was standing just fine.
"Ah… sorry, it's a habit," McGonagall said, somewhat embarrassed when she realized her mistake.
She then sighed before turning toward Parvati Patil.
"Remove that ridiculous thing from your hair," she ordered at once, without wasting a second.
Parvati frowned before pulling out a huge butterfly that flapped its wings from the end of her braid.
"Mr. Maximoff, how is it that you always end up completely covered in dirt?" she said, looking at Tommy as she cast a cleaning spell with her wand.
Meanwhile, Professor Flitwick, who was standing in front of the Ravenclaw students, watched them with a satisfied expression, arranging them himself. Harry did not take long to notice that he was placing the most attractive ones in the front row, which drew a faint smile from him.
Harry, Draco, Daphne, Hermione, Luna, Astoria, and Billy at the front, even though they were from different years, now adorned the front of the Ravenclaws.
Only Terry complained slightly, supported by his friend Anthony, saying that it was disrespectful toward the "ugly ones." That lasted until Professor Flitwick commented, quite calmly, that he had arranged them according to their best grades. So, if they wanted to be there, they would have to get better marks than them.
That made Terry and Anthony shut up immediately. Though, to Harry, it sounded more like a perfect excuse the professor had used, since he then stood proudly in front of them as the head of the house and cast a slightly competitive glance at McGonagall. As if to say that his students were more orderly than hers.
McGonagall seemed to grow more irritated as she continued correcting the posture of each Gryffindor student, though she shot an especially annoyed look toward Sirius.
The worst part was that Sirius was standing there completely bored in front of everyone, even worse than McGonagall's own students, as if he had no desire to wait around, setting a terrible example for the Gryffindors. After all, he had been part of that house himself in the past.
"How do you think they'll arrive?" Daphne asked with interest, looking around as she thought about possible means of transportation. "They should be spectacular entrances, right?" she added.
"Maybe they'll use a giant mole," Astoria suddenly said, with the same enthusiasm as her older sister.
"That doesn't sound that great," Daphne replied, shaking her head at once.
"Then a giant beaver," Luna suggested, very interested in seeing something like that.
"Why does it have to be giant?" Hermione asked.
"Because it has to be cool," Daphne, Astoria, and Luna replied at the same time.
"Ah… yes, of course," Hermione said, turning her attention away.
"There's no need to guess much. It seems they've already arrived," Wanda said as she approached them for a moment, smiling after hearing their conversation.
"Huh? Where?" Daphne asked.
Wanda then pointed toward the sky… and toward the lake.