As the lesson began, Ginny sat down at her usual desk at the back of the Defence classroom.
Defence Against the Dark Arts had rapidly become her favourite lesson, which was amazing considering how mediocre the lessons had been last year and even worse the year before. Ginny was pretty sure that her opinion was shared by the majority of others in their year. She knew that Adam's favourite class was definitely now Defence Against the Dark Arts too.
Ginny wished that the rest of her classes were as good as Professor Lupin's. Charms and Transfiguration were always fun, but always hard work. Unfortunately, Care of Magical Creatures was still fairly boring with Hagrid still reluctant to show them any exciting creatures. Arithmancy was interesting, but Ginny still hadn't quite wrapped her head around it yet. She was sure it was only a matter of time, though, before it all made sense.
The class had now been sitting at their desks for several minutes and Professor Lupin still had not arrived. Ginny glanced over at Adam, who was looking equally bemused. As the rest of the class began to realise that Professor Lupin was late, the volume in the classroom began to increase as everyone took advantage of this unexpected break.
"Silence. Take your seats, let's get this lesson started."
Ginny turned to see Professor Snape at the back of the classroom. He swept to the front of the room, his black robes billowing behind him.
"Professor Lupin is ill, so I will be taking this class. However, he did not leave any plans for today's lesson, so we will cover..." Professor Snape paused, "...a relevant topic."
The classroom broke out in whispers. The rest of the class seemed equally disappointed that Snape was teaching it. Ginny saw Adam staring at Professor Snape with a look of disappointment on his face because they both disliked Snape and, by extension, his potion lessons. Now he was here, teaching their favourite subject! It just wasn't fair.
"Silence!" Snape snarled. "All of you, turn to page three-hundred and ninety-four of your books. Today we will be covering werewolves."
The classroom was filled with the rustling of paper as everyone rushed to find the correct page in their books.
"Now, who can tell me the difference between a werewolf and a true wolf?" he asked.
The classroom was silent; Ginny guessed that, like her, the rest of the class had no idea of the answer. Professor Lupin hasn't even covered werewolves yet! she thought in exasperation.
"Anyone?" asked Snape. "Are you telling me that no-one knows the difference? Professor Lupin must be slipping if he cannot even impress upon you the basic difference between the two."
The class sat in silence.
"I shall have to inform Professor Dumbledore, a third-year class that would not know a werewolf if they saw one. It shows a distinct lack in teaching that you are all so far behind."
Ginny had now had enough of Snape. "Sir!" she exclaimed. "We haven't even covered werewolves yet!"
"Silence!" snapped Snape. "I did not ask for your input, Weasley."
"It's the truth, Professor!" Adam spoke up in her defence.
"Winters, ten points from Gryffindor. I did not ask for input from anyone in the class!"
Ginny gripped the desk, trying to keep her temper in check before she lost more points. Adam slumped in his seat, looking angry and upset.
"It looks like it will fall to me to rectify this; the entire class will make notes from your books on werewolves," Snape announced.
While the class worked, Professor Snape continued to be a git. He prowled the classroom criticising their work and Professor Lupin's teaching. To Ginny's relief, he didn't pay much attention to her and Adam, who were sitting near the back of the class. She was still angry that he had taken points off Adam and if he had come to rub her nose in it, she would probably have ended up losing more points or even getting a detention.
Finally the bell rang for the end of the class and Ginny rapidly packed up her things. She wanted to be out of the classroom as soon as possible.
"Wait," Snape announced to the class. "By next lesson you will all write an essay on ways to recognise and kill werewolves. I want two rolls of parchment. This class obviously needs some remedial attention."
Ginny didn't think she had ever been so relieved to get out of that classroom. At least in the first year Lockhart had just been incompetent, not rude, mean, and a bully.
October 30th 1994
Ginny and Adam followed Professor McGonagall as she led the Gryffindors through the castle towards the main entrance. Arriving at the entrance, she arranged the students into year order.
"Attention all," Professor McGonagall announced to the Gryffindors once they had reached the entrance hall. "Today we greet the Headmasters and students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. I expect you all to be on your best behaviour. You are not only representing your house and school but all of Wizarding Britain."
Professor McGonagall and the other Heads of Houses arranged their houses into lines. Ginny scanned the grounds looking for any sign of the visiting schools. There was nothing yet.
"There!" a shout went up from one of the students just behind her.
Ginny scanned the area until she spotted a speck that seemed to be hovering over the forest.
"It's a dragon!" cried one of the first years.
"Don't be stupid! It's a flying house," shouted Colin Creevey's brother, Dennis.
As the speck grew closer, Ginny could begin to make out what it was. Dennis' guess was actually very close. The approaching object was a giant, powder blue carriage the size of a large house. It was pulled through the air by twelve giant flying horses.
The carriage swooped low as it soared towards the assembled crowd of Hogwarts staff and students. Some of the first years in the front jumped back as the giant carriage came to a jarring halt in front of them.
Once the carriage had come to a complete stop, a young man dressed all in blue emerged and lowered a set of gold steps. The main door of the carriage opened and the largest woman Ginny had ever seen emerged. The only person who compared to her size was Hagrid. She walked with a regal dignity towards the assembled Hogwarts students.
"My dear Madame Maxime," said Professor Dumbledore. "Welcome to Hogwarts!"
"Dumbly-dorr," replied Madame Maxine in a deep voice. She gestured towards the carriage. "My pupils."
From the carriage emerged a line of boys and girls, Ginny thought there were about a dozen of them. They were all wearing blue robes which seemed to shimmer slightly in the early evening sunlight.
"The robes look nice," Adam commented. "But they can't be very warm, they're all shivering!"
Ginny looked back towards the entrance of the grounds while the Beauxbatons headmistress chatted with Professor Dumbledore. Suddenly, an eerie silence fell across the gathered Hogwarts students; in the distance, they could hear a faint rumbling and sucking sound.
"The lake!" yelled someone from the crowd. "Look at the lake!"
Ginny turned and looked towards the lake. The surface was no longer smooth as she was normally used to seeing it. There were now large bubbles on the surface. Then suddenly the bubbles became a whirlpool and from the centre of the whirlpool there emerged a mast. Durmstrang School had arrived on a giant ship! Ginny had never seen anything quite like it. The ship came to a stop, a gangplank was thrown down from the side of it and people began disembarking.
When the Durmstrang students neared the school, Ginny saw they were all wearing identical fur coats. The lead figure, however, was wearing a different coat.
"Dumbledore!" he called as he approached the school.
"Greetings, Professor Karkaroff," Professor Dumbledore replied as the man approached him and they shook hands.
Ginny watched with interest as the Durmstrang students passed her on their way into the school. One of them caught Ginny's and the other Hogwarts students' attention and a low murmur of recognition began rumbling through the gathered students.
"It's Victor Krum!" she exclaimed loudly.
"The Quidditch star?" Adam asked. "He's still at school?"
"Yes!" Ginny exclaimed excitedly, bouncing up and down.
Ginny's eyes followed Victor Krum until he entered the building.
"Gryffindors!" Professor McGonagall called, once all the visitors had entered the castle. "Make your way inside to the Great Hall."
"Do you know what happens now?" Adam asked as they began to make their way inside.
She shrugged. "No idea, I guess they choose the champions," she responded. "I bet Krum will get chosen!"
Adam laughed and Ginny turned to look at him.
"I think someone likes Krum!" he teased.
How dare he!
Ginny snorted and gave Adam a playful push as revenge. She lengthened her strides and strode off ahead of him, grinning to herself as she heard Adam jogging to catch up.
Adam October 31st 1994
Adam tucked into his meal; the Halloween feast this year was as delicious as it was every year. However, it seemed to Adam that all the occupants of the Great Hall were tense, waiting in anticipation for the Goblet of Fire to choose the three champions. To Adam, the Goblet of Fire was yet another example showing that nothing in the Wizarding world was ever done the simple way; the headmasters of the three schools couldn't simply pick their best students. No, they needed a giant magical cup to pick for them.
To prevent anyone under seventeen from entering the tournament, Professor Dumbledore had drawn an age line around the Goblet. Adam suspected that the Weasley twins had attempted to get past it, but he hadn't seen them try anything. Part of him hoped that they didn't succeed because he could imagine Mrs Weasley's fury if they actually ended up in the tournament! Although, if one of them did become champion, it was sure to be a laugh.
"The Goblet is now ready to make its decision," Professor Dumbledore announced once all the plates in the Great Hall were finally empty.
With a wave of the Headmaster's wand, the lights in the hall immediately dimmed, causing several gasps from around the room. The only light now came from the little candles in the floating pumpkins that were hung over the tables.
Suddenly the room was bathed in a red glow as the colour of the Goblet changed and sparks began to fly from it. Then a flame roared into the air and with it a small piece of parchment flew out of the Goblet. The room gasped and all the professors and visitors on the staff table looked on intently.
"The first Champion," called Professor Dumbledore, as he deftly caught the fluttering piece of parchment. "Viktor Krum!"
The Great Hall erupted in applause and Adam found himself clapping. Viktor Krum stood and made his way to the small door that led into the next chamber. The rousing applause for Viktor Krum was cut short as the Goblet once again erupted in red flame and another piece of parchment emerged.
"Fleur Delacour!"
Once again applause swept the chamber. Although, this time, Adam noticed that some of the girls from Beauxbatons who had not been selected had burst into tears. He felt his eyes drawn to Fleur as she made her way between the house tables to the staff table. The Goblet didn't waste any time and, before Fleur had even left the hall, the final parchment emerged.
"The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!"
The Hufflepuff table went crazy as Cedric's housemates began jumping around and screaming with joy. The rest of Hogwarts was applauding politely, though Adam guessed each house was disappointed, like he was, that someone from their house hadn't been made champion. Adam knew that Angelina Johnson had entered from Gryffindor, but he wasn't sure who else had.
The light in the hall dropped as the fire in the Goblet slowly died away.
"We now have our three champions! They will each compete in three dangerous tasks. These tasks will test their courage, magical skill and physical fitness. The students from each school will be present at the tasks to support their chosen champion. The first task will be held on November 24th and will be unlike anything you have seen before," Professor Dumbledore concluded and, with a wave of his wand, the lights in the room returned to their normal level.
November 19th 1994
The first Hogsmeade weekend brought a buzz of excitement to the school. Adam couldn't wait; he had heard the twins, Ron, Hermione and Neville talk about the village, but now he and Ginny were old enough to go!
"I want to try to visit all the shops today, but I definitely want to check out Zonko's, Honeydukes and then maybe we can pop into the Three Broomsticks!" Ginny chattered excitedly as they ate their breakfasts.
Once they had both finished, Adam and Ginny eagerly made their way out of the castle. Even though it was a bright sunny day, it was still cold, so Adam had decided to wear his prized Weasley jumper.
"You wear that jumper so often, it's going to get worn out," commented Ginny as they made their way towards the main gate.
"It's my favourite," Adam said, moving his hands over the jumper's thick wool.
Once they reached the main gate, they saw a line in front of the school caretaker Argus Filch. He was checking all the students who were leaving for Hogsmeade against a list.
"He must be making sure no one who isn't allowed gets out," Adam commented.
Adam and Ginny joined the queue and excitedly waited for their turn. Filch seemed to be incredibly slow at checking each student out of the gates, but eventually Adam and Ginny were only a few people from the front.
"Mr. Winters!" a voice called from behind them.
Adam spun around and saw Professor McGonagall walking rapidly towards him from the direction of the school.
"Adam!" she called. "Step out of the line, please."
"I'll catch up with you," Adam said to Ginny, as he stepped aside to talk to Professor McGonagall.
"Adam, I am very sorry to tell you that you will not be able to go to Hogsmeade today," said Professor McGonagall.
"What?" Adam replied disbelievingly. It must be some mistake.
"There was a problem with your consent form. Apparently, Mr. Weasley isn't allowed to sign it for you."
"B-b-but you said it would be alright!" Adam accused, his face crumpling in disappointment.
"I know, I am sorry, but Professor Dumbledore told me only this morning that it isn't. Apparently it must be signed by a parent or guardian."
"I don't have either of those!" Adam snapped.
"I know. I wish Professor Dumbledore had told me earlier, then we could have sorted something out. He is adamant that you need to stay inside the school grounds."
Adam couldn't believe that this was happening! He had been looking forward to going to Hogsmeade all year, and now he couldn't go, all because of Professor Dumbledore!
"It's not fair!" said Adam angrily and he kicked a nearby stone in frustration.
"I am sorry, Adam, I did try for you," Professor McGonagall said sadly.
"It's not your fault, Professor, I'm just really disappointed."
Adam felt Professor McGonagall pat his shoulder as she turned and began walking back towards the school. Adam looked around, trying to spot where Ginny had got to; she was standing just outside the gates waiting for him. Adam's expression fell as he saw her wave excitedly. Tiredly waving back, he sprinted up to the fence and beckoned Ginny over to him.
"I'm not allowed to go!"
"What?" Ginny responded.
"Professor Dumbledore said I can't go because your dad signed my form and it needs to be a parent or guardian."
"But you..." Ginny trailed off and her face fell in disappointment as the news sank in.
"I know," replied Adam.
"It's not fair!" Ginny cried angrily.
"It bloody sucks!" Adam snapped.
"I'll come back inside then," said Ginny, sighing.
Adam was torn. He didn't want Ginny to miss out on this just because of him, but he really enjoyed spending time with Ginny and wanted to spend the day with her. However, he would feel guilty all day if he stopped her going.
"No! Don't spoil your day because of me!" said Adam, coming to a decision.
"Adam..." Ginny said weakly. "I don't mind staying with you."
"Ginny, you've been excited about this for weeks. Go! Please."
Adam and Ginny stared at each other for a few seconds. Ginny seemed torn between staying and going. Adam didn't wait to see what she would do; instead, he turned around and stormed back up to the school, angry and disappointed that he hadn't been allowed to go.
Ginny November 19th 1994
Ginny watched as Adam stormed back towards the school. She stood still for a few seconds, debating whether she should go to Hogsmeade or go back with Adam. She couldn't believe that Professor Dumbledore wouldn't let Adam go and that he hadn't told him until today.
Eventually, Ginny turned and began walking towards Hogsmeade village. As she walked down the path towards the village, she suddenly felt a chill beginning to come over her. Dementors! The Dementors must be nearby, watching the gate to the school. She quickened her pace until she was nearly running. Eventually, as she put distance between herself and the school gates, the feeling faded.
Hogsmeade village was a cluster of houses and cottages, some had old-fashioned thatched roofs and some were more modern looking. There was only a single major street running through the centre of the village, with several minor streets branching off at intervals to the right and left. Entering the village, she felt strangely lonely as she walked down the high street.
As she walked, Ginny looked around and saw the shops that her brothers had told her about. Crowds of Hogwarts students moved from shop to shop or stood about in groups chattering noisily.
Ginny decided her first visit should be Honeydukes. She wanted to try their sweets and had been saving her pocket money to buy some. She excitedly browsed the shelves, selecting some Sugar Quills, Ice Mice, Chocolate Frogs, Liquorice Wands and portioning them out into two bags.
After leaving Honeydukes, Ginny wandered along the high street, taking in the sights. Hogsmeade really was a magical village.
On her way down the street she spotted Ron, Hermione and Neville walking towards her.
"Hi, Ginny!" Hermione said, waving when she saw her.
"Hi," responded Ginny.
"Where's Adam?" Ron asked.
"Professor Dumbledore wouldn't let him come, there was a problem with his consent form."
"He never gets any luck, does he?" Ron commented.
"Nope," replied Ginny glumly.
"Do you want to come and join us in the Three Broomsticks?" Neville asked suddenly.
"No, thanks. I'm just going to look around the rest of the shops and then head back," she replied. Somehow, without Adam, the thought of spending the entire day in the village was less appealing to her.
Ginny visited the rest of the shops in Hogsmeade. She spent a while in Zonko's but didn't buy anything. By lunchtime, Ginny had finished her shopping, so she left Hogsmeade and walked back up to the school.
When she arrived back in the Gryffindor common room, it was largely empty because nearly all the third-years and above were at Hogsmeade and the younger students were out enjoying the sunshine. As soon as she stepped into the common room, she spotted Adam sitting, facing away from her, on a sofa near the window. Being extra careful to keep quiet, Ginny moved to behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.
Adam leapt up in surprise and Ginny couldn't help but laugh at her friend.
"Got you!" she giggled.
"Hey, you're back already," Adam beamed at her. "I was really bored here."
Adam shifted to one side of the sofa and Ginny sat down next to him.
"So, what was it like?" he questioned.
"The shops were awesome!"
"Did you go in the Three Broomsticks?" Adam asked.
"No, I didn't particularly fancy going in there on my own," Ginny lied. She didn't feel comfortable revealing that she had turned down an invitation from Ron, Hermione and Neville to come back see him.
"Ah," Adam said, nodding.
Suddenly remembering her purchases from the afternoon, Ginny reached into her pocket and pulled out her two bags of sweets.
"I got us some sweets from Honeydukes," she said brightly.
"Oh, Ginny, you didn't have to!" Adam exclaimed.
"Hush and eat," Ginny ordered with a smile as she began to tuck into her sweets.
Adam snorted. "Yes, boss."
Adam November 24th 1994
The entirety of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry had assembled in the rapidly constructed stadium that would hold the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Even though Professor Dumbledore had claimed at the Welcoming Feast that the tournament would take up lots of school time, it hadn't seemed that way to Adam, at least not so far. Apart from the obvious visitors from the other schools, the tournament hadn't seemed to affect the lives of the third years since Halloween. Adam had heard from the twins that there had apparently been a ceremony to do with the champions' wands, but only the champions and judges had been allowed to attend that. The tournament didn't seem worth cancelling Quidditch for, at least not yet.
The stadium that had been erected for the first task was very similar to the Hogwarts Quidditch stadium, except that it overlooked a much smaller area. The site of the task was a small rocky field between the stands, forming a sort of arena. There were two gates into this rocky area at either end of the stadium, presumably for the champions to enter and exit. Professor Dumbledore had told all the Hogwarts students that, to ensure the task was a surprise for the champions, no one other than the judges would know what it was before it began. So Adam was desperately trying to figure out what they could do with a rocky area and boulders that would be challenging for the champions.
"Welcome to the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament!" an announcer called and the crowd erupted into cheers. "I am Ludo Bagman, the representative from the Department of Magical Sports and Games! In their First Task, our champions are going to have to challenge dragons!"
As he finished talking, the gates at one end of the arena swung open and a group of handlers brought in a dragon with bright scarlet scales. Adam had never seen anything like it before; the dragon was huge. Adam was suddenly very glad that he wasn't a champion in this tournament.
"It's Charlie!" Ginny cried out suddenly, pointing towards a red-headed man who was currently attempting to calm the dragon.
"Did you know he was here?" Adam asked.
"No! I can't believe he didn't tell me!"
"I guess it may have given away that there were dragons, if he had told anyone he was here," Adam mused.
The handlers had at last got the dragon into position and one of them signalled to Mr Bagman.
"A golden egg has been placed in the dragon's nest. Our champions must retrieve the egg and they will be scored on how well they do," he announced to the crowd.
Adam noticed for the first time a glint of gold coming from a pile of sticks behind the dragon.
"Please welcome our first champion, Victor Krum!"
When Victor Krum emerged, he charged straight towards the dragon, firing off a spell that Adam didn't recognise. The dragon immediately began thrashing around madly, as if trying to swat an annoying fly that it couldn't see. Krum ran towards the dragon, deftly avoiding its wild thrashing, sneaked past it and retrieved the egg.
The Durmstrang students burst out in applause.
"He blinded the dragon!" Ginny exclaimed.
Before Adam could figure out exactly what Viktor Krum had done, Mr Bagman called over the noise of the stadium. "Viktor Krum receives forty-five points from the judges!"
The dragon handlers were back in the arena, wrestling the one dragon out of the way, while a second group brought in a second dragon. This one was green instead of red. Adam hadn't realised that dragons came in different colours and he watched eagerly as Charlie and the other dragon handlers escorted the red dragon out of the arena.
"And now, our next champion, Fleur Delacour!" announced Mr Bagman and once again the arena filled with applause.
Fleur took a completely different tactic; she cast a spell and the dragon seemed to become drowsy and eventually fell asleep. Once the dragon was sleeping soundly, Fleur attempted to sneak past. However, as she passed the dragon it let out a mighty snore that echoed around the stadium. With the snore came a burst of flame, setting Fleur's skirt alight.
"Ouch!" Adam exclaimed as he watched Fleur attempt to extinguish her flaming skirt.
Adam was pleased to see that Fleur soon managed to extinguish her fiery skirt and retrieve the egg.
"Well done, Miss Delacour!" called Bagman. "But are the judges going to penalise her for that slight mishap...." Mr Bagman paused while the judge's scores were totalled. "Yes, they are! It's thirty-five points to Fleur Delacour!"
The Beauxbatons students applauded wildly and Adam joined in enthusiastically with their applause.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome our final champion, Cedric Diggory!" announced Mr Bagman.
A third dragon was brought into the arena. This one was a light blue colour.
Adam applauded excitedly along with the rest of Hogwarts. Cedric may not be in his house, but he was the champion for the whole school. Cedric had yet another unique tactic to use against the dragon. He transfigured a rock into a dog, which ran around the arena and managed to distract the dragon. Once the dragon was distracted, Cedric agilely ran past and before Adam could see exactly what was happening, he appeared on the other side of the dragon with an egg in his hand.
The crowd erupted into joyful celebration; Cedric had done it!
"The judges have awarded Cedric Diggory forty-five points! Diggory and Krum are in joint first place!" shouted Mr Bagman over the applause of the assembled crowd of Hogwarts students.
The cheering of the Hogwarts students intensified and the parts of the stadium that the Hufflepuffs occupied seemed to be leaping about wildly in celebration.
The cheering began to die off as the sky became suddenly dark. The wind grew cold and Adam shivered. The cold continued to intensify and Adam despaired; he looked over the stadium and saw a host of black shapes approaching. He began to shiver violently, his legs felt like jelly and he was finding it incredibly difficult to stay on his feet. As darkness began to cloud his vision, he leant to one side, attempting to find Ginny to support him. He couldn't find her, and with a grunt of pain, he felt his legs give way as the darkness finally closed around him.
He was looking up a woman with red hair, and a man in a dark black cloak and hood.
"This is my last warning," the man said as he towered over him.
"Not my son! No! Please, no, take me, kill me instead," the woman cried as she moved to stand between the man and him.
"Stand aside, girl!" the man said.
"Avada Kedavra!"
The room was filled with a green light and the woman dropped to the floor.
Authors Note:
Thanks to all the reviews and my beta, Arnel.
This is the chapter where the direction I'm going to take with the Triwizard Tournament becomes apparent.