stardust ⋮ george weasley

twenty-six :

T W E N T Y - S I X

⋮✰⋮

September flew by in a flash, and before Adeline knew it, she was helping make the castle look near perfect in preparation for the arrival of the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students. Because she was a prefect, she ended up being stuck with the unfortunate task of cleaning up all the messes Peeves had made, which only seemed to be increasing the closer they got to October 30th. Fred, George, and Lee had made the mistake of trying to set off dungbombs in the corridor where Roger and Adeline were cleaning, but Professor McGonagall happened to walk by and sent them back to the Gryffindor tower in a fury, giving them an earful about how she'd be absolutely furious if they embarrassed the school like that in front of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang schools.

Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had these grand arrivals at the schools. Between the flying carriage and a ship that traveled underwater, they had certainly made an impression on all the students. The Hogwarts boys – and some of the girls – seemed especially entranced by the Beauxbatons girls, whose thin blue robes seemed to do little to protect them from the Hogwarts cold. The Durmstrang students, however, were so covered in wools and furs that Adeline was barely even able to make out the faces of half the students.

But now the Hogwarts students were all in the Great Hall, waiting excitedly to see where the international students would sit. Professor Flitwick had offered the Ravenclaw table as a place for the Beauxbatons students to sit and had just given the group a tour around the castle before binging them to the Great Hall. As the Beauxbatons students made their way to the Ravenclaw table, the dinner dishes appeared on the table, the English dishes that were normally served were being mixed in with what Adeline was assumed were French and Bulgarian dishes.

Across the table from Adeline, Estelle let out a little squeal before running over to one of the Beauxbatons girls, who seemed to recognize Estelle as well. The two planted a kiss on each other's cheek before the French girl pulled Estelle into a tight hug. Estelle then eagerly pulled her towards the Ravenclaw table. Close behind her the brown-haired girl was a boy in similar blue robes and blonde curls, who walked over with her and sat in the empty spot next to Adeline.

"This is my cousin Celeste," Estelle introduced, and Adeline smiled softly at pretty brown-haired girl. "And this is my best friend Adeline!"

The golden-haired boy said something in French that made both Estelle and Celeste giggle. Adeline had picked up a few phrases here and there between Estelle's family and when she was young and had learnt some of the basics of the language, but she had no idea as to what he said. The only thing she could catch was her own name and a few random words that she happened to recognize.

"This is my friend Anthony," Celeste explained as she gestured to the boy beside Adeline. "He just said that if all the girls here were as pretty as Adeline, he might want to stay here much longer than year."

Behind Adeline, George aggressively stabbed his lamb chop with his fork.

Adeline felt her cheeks burn, and she smiled embarrassedly at Anthony, who couldn't seem to keep eyes off of Adeline and even winked. She wasn't entirely sure how to respond, not used to the bold flirting, and was thankful for the distraction of the dinner in front of her.

But before Adeline knew it, the dinner dishes were gone and Professor Dumbledore now stood in front of the Great Hall, had introduced Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman, and was now beginning to talk about the Triwizard Tournament. The Great Hall had gone completely still and every student seemed to be sitting on the edge of their seats, hanging onto every one of Professor Dumbledore's words.

The idea of her entering the Triwizard Tournament hadn't left Adeline's mind since the night of the Welcoming Feast. Her best friends, while a little hesitant at first, seemed all for the idea of Adeline at least trying to enter. Professor Flitwick had even hinted to her after Charms class one day that he would love to see a Ravenclaw champion, making it clear that he thought Adeline was perfectly capable of being chosen for the Tournament.

It was risky. It was bold. It was dangerous. Those three words were the complete antithesis of the careful and quiet Adeline Reyes. The Triwizard Tournament, at surface glance, seemed like the type of thing Adeline would steer clear of.

But Adeline couldn't stop thinking about the "glory." Well, Adeline didn't necessarily want eternal glory. That seemed a little much for her, and it also seemed like something that would become tiring incredibly fast.

Instead, for just a brief moment, Adeline wanted to make Hogwarts proud of her. She wanted to make the school that so quickly became her home proud. Adeline wanted the chance to show everyone in her life that her being a witch wasn't some sort of fluke or mistake. 

Plus, it was like Estelle said in the tent the night of the Quidditch World Cup. Adeline needed to take a risk in her sixth year, and Merlin the Triwizard Tournament was certainly a risk.

Estelle kicked Adeline under the table, as she hadn't seen or heard her best friend breathing for almost a minute. Adeline hissed in pain, but Estelle had a more pressing question on her mind.

"So?" Estelle whispered from across the table. "Are you entering?"

Adeline glanced at the Goblet of Fire with its dancing blue flames then turned back to Estelle with a nervous smile, saying three words she would come to bitterly regret.

"I'm doing it."

⋮✰⋮