TREASURE {Cedric Diggory | Harry Potter}

One

'Welcome Feast'

"Please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and their headmistress, Madame Maxime!"

As large, ornate doors swung inwards, the girls confidently strode in, heads tilted up proudly, their powder blue hats sitting a jaunty angle. All eyes in the hall snapped to them, many jaws (mostly from the male students of Hogwarts) hanging open in awe.

Stars twinkled in the vaulting ceiling above, seeming to reach all the way up to the glittering heavens. Darkened clouds hovered above the sea of floating candles, their gentle flickering bathing the hall in warm light.

Two tables sat at either side of the aisle, stretching along most of the length of the hall, ties of crimson and gold bordering the walkway to one side, yellow and black to the other. To the far tables of green and blue, both uniforms clipped with stripes of silver, two smaller tables had been added, presumably for the visiting delegations.

Fleur and Imogen shared a quick smile as they stepped forward, holding their arms behind their backs.

Heeled shoes clicked rhythmically over the cobbled floor, before the girls all sighed, stretching their arms out elegantly to the right side, where the students wore cloaks embroidered with a crest of yellow and black surrounding a badger, then straightening and continuing towards the top table.

They did the same again a few seconds later, this time towards the left and the uniforms trimmed with red and gold.

Halfway up, the girls started dancing forward, pale butterflies seemed to exude out of them, chirping happily as they flew up into the enchanted eaves. Most of the girls filed to the side, but Gabrielle Delacour began to spring forward, flipping majestically in the air as Fleur and Imogen span gracefully, their blue skirts whirling slightly around them.

Cheers erupted as the three girls linked hands and bowed, numerous whistles ringing in their ears as they rose, seeming to float to the sides of the hall.

"What is it English people say?" Fleur whispered as she and Imogen stood at the top of the green table, Gabrielle smiling widely in front of them. "We nailed it?"

Imogen grinned, tucking a strand of her blonde hair back under her hat. "Yeah. We nailed it."

The hall lapsed into silence as Dumbledore climbed beside his lectern, his voice booming over them all. "And now our friends from the north. Please greet the proud sons and daughters of Durmstrang and their high master, Igor Karkaroff!"

The large doors swung inward once more, tall boys in brown wool and furs marching in, clashing their wooden staffs against the ground. Sparks flew with each hit, the staff whirled in the air amidst grunts from the boys.

Then, in a great flurry of brown blurs, the staffs were hurled to the ground and the boys sprung forward, racing up between the red and yellow tables, one of them flipping as he went, his body contorting in unnatural ways. Karkaroff sauntered up the hall, flanked by Ivan and Krum, though the Freya and the other girl walked in front of them both, their heads held high.