Chapter Five

Later in the day, most of the students found themselves outside, taking advantage of the weather while they still could, and Harry was no exception. He had found a relaxing spot in the grass near the lake. The students had been given five hours in which they could spend their time any way they wished before their guests were scheduled to arrive. Harry had considered taking his Firebolt for a fly, but decided against it when he saw Ron with Dean and Seamus heading towards the pitch. He didn't want to incite another argument or feel like he was intruding, so he settled on sitting by the lake. It was a sunny day and he wanted to be outside. He wasn't like Hermione, who could spend all her time in a library, reading, which was what she happened to be doing at that moment. Harry glanced at his wristwatch, wondering how much longer they had and sighing slightly when it appeared that time seemed to have slowed down. He supposed it always seemed like that when one was waiting for something to happen, with nothing else to do. He glanced up when he heard footsteps heading his way. He was surprised to find Ginny slowly making her way towards him with an unreadable, but neutral, expression on her face. It wasn't until she sat down beside him that he realized she had sought him out. He opened his mouth to speak, but she spoke before he had a chance to say even a syllable.

"I'm not really supposed to be talking to you, so in the off chance that anyone asks, we were discussing Quidditch tactics." Ginny paused for a moment before she continued. "It occurred to me very recently that you really may have no clue why Ron's so angry with you. I think it's something you need to figure out for yourself, so I'm not going to tell you. You obviously need help though. It sort of reminds me of when Ron and Hermione were fighting in your fourth year after the Yule Ball. She just didn't seem to understand why Ron was giving her such a hard time about Viktor. I want to believe that it was obvious he was jealous, but I guess not. I suppose it comes from living with him for sixteen years and being so close in age. I just sort of know when he's hurting... I'll see you later."

Without saying another word, Ginny stood up and walked back towards the castle. Harry stared after her, trying to understand what had just happened. He was sure that Ginny had been trying to give him a clue, but he wasn't completely sure what it was. He continued to watch her until she finally disappeared through the doors, trying to decipher what she had said and how it related to the rift in his friendship with Ron. She had mentioned that Ron was hurting, but he couldn't quite comprehend what it was he was hurting about. He knew the answer was right in front of him, but he was having a hard time grasping it. Whenever he seemed to get close, the answer slipped through his fingers.

Harry ended up spending the rest of his time outside until he looked up into the sky as it was nearing the hour of five. Harry smiled softly as he saw the large, powder blue carriage that housed the Beauxbatons students nearing. The carriage hadn't changed at all over the years. It was still pulled by the same dozen winged palomino horses the size of elephants. The large carriage landed with a loud crash as students scrambled to get back to the castle to be ready for dinner. As Harry stood, watching as Hagrid appeared from his hut to greet Madame Maxime, he heard the slightly familiar sound of muffled rumbling and sucking coming from the lake. He watched as the mast of the Durmstrang ship started to appear out of the water. Having seen this production before, Harry headed back to the castle, not particularly interested in seeing how the Salem Institute for Girls team was going to arrive. He had no doubt that it would be something as spectacular as the rest, so he really didn't care to see it at all. He knew it was just a way for the other schools to show off. He did, however, wonder how Hogwarts would travel if they were to visit other schools.

As soon as his foot hit the Entrance Hall floor, he was swooped upon by Professor McGonagall. "There you are, Potter. Hurry up. Hurry up. Your team is waiting for you in the Great Hall. Miss Weasley has your Quidditch uniform with her, so hurry and get changed." Professor McGonagall pushed Harry gently towards the Great Hall before exiting out the door, presumably to get the rest of the students indoors.

"Where the bloody hell have you been?" Ginny's eyes were narrowed as she shoved a set of golden yellow and black Quidditch robes into his arms. "Hurry up and change. We need to be ready to accept our guests in the Great Hall. GO!"

Harry didn't need to be told twice, so he hurried to the anteroom off the Great Hall to quickly change. He took a moment to look at himself in a mirror once he was dressed in the chosen Hogwarts colours. He hadn't really had a good look at them when they had been shoved into his arms, but now that he had a chance, he looked at them carefully. They weren't much different in colour from their regular school robes, with only a few exceptions. The robe-jacket was plain black with a golden clasp, golden lining, and the sleeves had two golden stripes down each arm. On the left sleeve was a Hogwarts crest just below the shoulder and on his right, he noticed with a smile, that the Gryffindor shield had been added to his uniform. On the back, 'Potter' was emblazed across the shoulder blades in a slight arch with the number seven underneath in gold. The sweater underneath was much like the Hufflepuff Quidditch sweater, with the exception that it appeared to be more golden than yellow. The trousers were black as well, with two golden stripes down each leg.

"POTTER!"

Ginny's voice made Harry realise he had been standing there longer than he intended, and Ginny had little patience with him as he had already been late in arriving. He shoved his clothes in an out of the way spot, intending to retrieve them later, and quickly moved back into the Great Hall, which was nearly full of Hogwarts students already. His team had gathered near the Gryffindor table, and he walked over to join them.

"Look, Malfoy, I am not in the mood to deal with you right now. We are sitting with Gryffindor house; Durmstrang is sitting with Slytherin; Beauxbatons is with Ravenclaw, and Salem is with Hufflepuff. Deal with it. You'll live. You can go back to sitting with your normal house tomorrow. Now, sit down and shut up about it."

Harry admired Ginny's natural leadership and authority under the situation. He wasn't sure he could be as commanding if he were in her position, having to deal with Malfoy as civilly as possible. She was a true natural, and he smiled slightly as they all sat down at the table. Harry couldn't help noticing at that moment that even when they had to sit together, Ginny and Ron sat as far away from him as possible. He couldn't help thinking it was going to be a long season if the problem didn't get resolved soon.

The Great Hall was full of talk about the visitors, the new Quidditch uniforms, Quidditch in general, and the tournament. Everyone seemed excited by the new visitors to the school as well. Some hadn't been around when the Triwizard Tournament had happened, so this would be the first time for many of the students to see students from other schools. The houses didn't quieten down until Dumbledore stood up to the podium that had been set up and raised both his hands for silence.

"I would like everyone to join me in welcoming our most esteemed visitors. Firstly, the lovely ladies and charming gentlemen of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and their headmistress, Madame Maxime."

As if on cue, the doors to the Great Hall opened as a small group of students consisting of seven boys and four girls dressed in light blue robes waltzed into the room. The girls skipped up the aisle and twirled while the boys followed behind with their heads held high. Following behind them was a very large woman. Harry smiled as he remembered Madame Olympe Maxime from previous years at the school. She didn't look as though she had changed one bit. As Dumbledore lightly kissed Madame Maxime's hand, Harry chanced a glance at Hagrid, who seemed to be beaming with delight at the appearance of the tall woman. As soon as the Beauxbatons visitors had taken their places, Dumbledore turned his attention to the room once again.

"And now our friends from the North, the proud sons of Durmstrang and their high master, Ivan Polikov."

Everyone's attention was once again drawn to the Great Hall entrance as a large group of young men, dressed in dark red robes stepped into the room. Six of the boys stood off to the side with staves, sounding a low chant as seven other boys made their way down the aisle in pairs, save for the last. He was followed by a tall, skinny man dressed in an ivory cloak lined with wool, who was also carrying a staff. Harry kept his eyes on the lone boy near the end, trying to figure out a feeling he had in his gut. There was something different and off about him, but Harry couldn't seem to place it. Once they had taken their seats after the headmaster shared a slight bow with Dumbledore, Albus motioned to the door once again.

"And finally, join me in welcoming our guests from the West, the charming daughters of The Salem Witches' Institute and their principal, Carol Mathers."

The seven girls of Salem's Quidditch team swept into the room with grace, in robes of pale violet, with their heads held high, in a sort of superiority Harry had never seen from anyone besides the Malfoys and the relatives he lived with. They barely looked at anyone who attended their host school until they turned around at the front of the room and bowed before taking their seats at the Hufflepuff table. Dumbledore smiled at everyone before he continued on.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most particularly - guests. I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable. The tournament will officially open at the end of the feast. I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

Harry couldn't help chuckling at the fact that it had been the very same speech Dumbledore had given during the Triwizard Tournament. Soon, the plates in front of them were filled with all sorts of food, half of which Harry was sure he had never tasted in his life. He recognised some of the food from his fourth year as dishes from the other countries, but he couldn't remember what they were. He glanced down at Ron, who was helping himself to black pudding as Ginny snuck a piece of some sort of pie on his plate while he wasn't looking. Harry smiled a bit to himself, not wanting to attract Ginny or Ron's attention. It was just one of those things he knew would anger one of them at the moment. He glanced down the table at Hermione, who was looking a bit out of place by herself, without him. He never really realised how isolated they had made themselves from the rest of the house. It had always been the three of them, sometimes with Ginny, but that had always been it. Since he hadn't put anything on his plate yet, Harry stood from his spot, barely being noticed by anyone, and sat down beside Hermione. When she glanced up at him, she looked almost grateful.

Following the arrival of their guests, the feast passed off uneventfully. When most were finished their dinner and starting on dessert, Harry watched as Ginny walked up to the front of the hall where three others, one from each school, had already gathered. Harry recognised the one boy as being from Durmstrang and watched him carefully as he interacted with the others. There was still something Harry couldn't place about him. It was just something Harry sensed was not right about the boy.

A smiling Dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat, gathering the attention of everyone in the hall. "Excuse the interruption, but seeing as everyone has nearly finished their meal, I believe it would be proper for the captains from each school to introduce their Quidditch teams. When the captain calls out the names of each player, they will stand for a moment to be recognised. We shall start first with Miss Cece Washington from Salem."

An attractive, tall brunette standing with the others stepped forward with a smile as she introduced her team. Each of the girls stood up when their names were announced, but it wasn't hard to distinguish the team, as Salem had only brought the seven girls. Harry thought they all looked the same, with the only discerning feature being different colours of hair. Each had a different style, and one even had her hair streaked with the colour of a toffee apple. The American girls seemed different from European girls. There was something in their air that seemed to denote a kind of superiority and arrogance.

Next, an average boy was introduced as Remy Bouchard from Beauxbatons. He stepped forward and glanced at the Ravenclaw table. He introduced each member of his team, starting with the three other males on the team, two girls Harry didn't recognise, and finally, the one girl he did: Gabrielle Delacour.

"Gabrielle? I didn't think she was old enough just yet. Wasn't she only about seven or eight during the tournament?" Hermione glanced at Harry, who was staring openly at Gabrielle as she sat down with a neutral expression.

"I guess not. We never really did learn her age. All I knew was that she was Fleur's sister. She could have easily been in first year during the tournament." Harry shrugged as he turned his attention to Hermione with a smile.

"Mister Mark Ferrars of Durmstrang." Harry immediately turned his attention back to the introductions, but mainly to the Durmstrang team captain. Ferrars didn't appear to be much taller than Harry and appeared to be of the same build, but it was hard to tell with the Durmstrang uniform. He was a handsome man, according to Lavender who was sitting two seats away from Harry, with short brunette hair. He didn't look like the rest of his classmates in regards to geographic origin, and Harry found out exactly why the moment he spoke. Harry barely heard what was being said. He was concentrating on Ferrars because he was rather surprised to hear a British accent from a student from Durmstrang. All of his encounters with students from that school had made him assume that their students were from Eastern Europe. It was then that something Malfoy had said to him before first year came to mind. Malfoy had wanted to go to Durmstrang himself. It really didn't say much for Ferrars if he was from England and was attending Durmstrang. He couldn't help thinking that perhaps Ferrars was very much like Malfoy and his father.

"Ron Weasley, Marcus Belby, Zacharias Smith, Harry Potter, Demelza Robins, and Draco Malfoy." Harry was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard his name and stood up slowly. He had been so engrossed that he hadn't heard Dumbledore introducing Ginny. Ginny snickered slightly as she walked towards the table to rejoin her team. Before she got too far, however, Ferrars stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. Harry watched as they exchanged words for a moment before Ginny nodded at him with a smile. She took her seat beside Ron and reached for a dessert on the serving dish in front of her.