Dark

Chapter 8

Draco
I flinched just at the sight of Eleanor when she walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts. I was sure that she had used Dark Magic in our duel last night. Whether she would admit to it or not, I knew that it had to be. What I couldn’t figure out was why she had done it, and why as frightening as it was, I was also impressed by it.
As usual, Eleanor took the seat beside me, still thoroughly ignoring Harry. Or was he ignoring her? I wasn’t quite sure. We may have been acting friendly to upset Potter, but that didn’t mean we ever actually talked about anything.
“Are you going to admit it, or not?” I asked her quietly.
“Admit to what?” She said simply.
“Using Dark Magic.” I said, getting frustrated as she turned to look at me as though she had never heard of the term before. “Last night! I know you used Dark Magic on me. Where the hell did you learn that?”
That was when I saw the old tattered book underneath her textbook. I reached out to grab it but just like last night, Eleanor’s reflexes were quicker. She swiped both of the books off of the desk and slid the old one into her bag. As I glared over at her the bell rang and Moody stumped into the room.
“Today you’ll be practicing how to fight off the Imperius Curse.” He announced.
“But – but you said it’s illegal, Professor,” Granger stammered.
“Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like,” Moody said as his magical eye fixed onto Hermione. “If you’d rather learn the hard way – when someone’s putting it on you so they can control you completely – fine by me. You’re excused. Off you go.”
I couldn’t help but scoff at the incredulous look on Grangers face as she contemplated the idea of missing a lesson. Before we knew it the desks had been pushed against the walls and we were all standing in the room waiting to be called forward by Moody. As much as I disliked it after our duel the previous night, Eleanor was still next to me.
Moody placed the curse on one of the Gryffindors and made him hop around the entirety of the classroom three times while singing. Another student was forced to imitate a squirrel, and Longbottom performed some strange gymnastics stunts while under the curse. If he had truly been under the curse and someone had wanted to keep that a secret though, it would have been obvious that something was wrong because Longbottom would never have been able to do those stunts on his own clumsy feet.
As the lesson progressed I turned to see that Eleanor was watching intently. I could practically see her mind filing away every piece of information she could gather from the demonstration. Each time a student’s eyes glossed over as Moody placed them under the curse, each small tick that was made when they tried to prevent whatever he was making them do. She seemed to be cataloging it all. Each time Moody called a new name her shoulders would slump slightly when it wasn’t hers.
How in the world could she have possibly been excited about doing this? Who would ever be excited to be placed under an Unforgivable Curse?
Her expression changed though when her brother was called to the front.
Harry moved forward and faced off against Moody, his wand clutched tightly in his hand. We had been given permission to use it if we could while fighting off the curse. So far, no one had even tried.
“Imperio!” Moody said, his wand pointed at Potter.
Moody was visibly concentrating on him, but Potter didn’t do anyting for nearly thirty full seconds. Then he suddenly made a weird jumping movement and fell to his knees.
“Now, that’s more like it!” Moody growled. “Look at that, you lot…Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! We’ll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention – watch his eyes, that’s where you see it – very good, Potter, very good indeed! They’ll have trouble controlling you!”
We all stood around watching, though no one more intently than Eleanor, as Moody placed Potter under the curse another four times. By the time he was finished, Potter had fought off the curse completely. When I looked at Eleanor again she was seething.
“What about the other Potter then? Eh?” Moody called out. “Your turn Eleanor.”
Eleanor was gripping her wand tightly as she moved to the front of the room and took the spot Potter had just previously been standing it.
“No wand for you though.” Moody said, giving Eleanor an odd glare.
A round of muttering broke out around the room at this. Why would every other student be allowed the use of their wand, except for Eleanor?
At first it looked like she was going to refuse. After a moment of hesitation though she raised her arm out to her side and let her wand fall from her hand. It clattered to the floor. She didn’t look at it, she just glared at Moody the entire time, much like the first lesson we had with him.
“That’s better.” Moody growled. “Now then…Imperio!”
I saw Eleanor’s eyes glaze over just as everyone else’s had, but in a matter of moments she was shaking her head and clenching her eyes closed before opening them again. She was out of the curse. In a matter of seconds she had managed to push the curse off of her. I expected Moody to praise her somehow as he had done with Potter but what happened next was just strange.
“Impreio!” Moody shouted again, barely giving Eleanor a break after fighting it off the first time, and without giving her any warning at all.
Her eyes glazed over again but for the second time she fought off the curse, shaking her head and closing her eyes as she came out of it.
This all seemed wrong. Moody hadn’t been nearly as forceful with anyone else. Eleanor had fought off the curse twice already but he hadn’t bothered to say anything about it as he had done with Potter. What was he playing at?
Then he did it again. As he shouted the incantation a third time it was clearly more malicious, and from Eleanor’s reaction it was clearly much stronger than before.
As her eyes glazed over she clenched her fists tightly at her sides, and she was practically trembling as she tried to fight off the curse for a third time. It took her longer to come out of the curse but when she did she fell heavily to her knees. In one swift movement, though, Eleanor had reached out for her wand, picking it up in her hand and pointing it viciously at Moody. She sent three curses at him, eventually knocking him back into a desk before she stood back up, breathing heavily.
She was glaring at Moody again but there was something more in her expression this time. It was more than just anger. She turned and started walking back through the students but pulled up short when Moody stood back up and spoke.
“Quite an unusual wand you have there, Miss Potter. There’s only three other wands in recorded history that contain a Rougarou hair core. They have a strong affinity for –“
“For Dark Magic,” Eleanor finished for Moody, “I know.”
The entire class was watching her, open mouthed as she took her place next to me again. Once they had finally turned their attention back to the next student though I leaned over towards her and whispered, “So it was Dark Magic that you used then.”

Eleanor
Once again the whispers followed me as I made my way through the corridors. The news of my wand quickly spread throughout the school. Just as people had after I was sorted into Slytherin, they looked at me with a mixture of confusion and fear.
So as I made my way onto the front steps of the castle with the rest of the students, no one objected when I made pushed through the crowd toward Malfoy. He was right about our duel, I had used Dark Magic against him. When he was first asking I thought he would be mad about the truth, but now that he knows he’s been looking at me differently. It’s safe to say it wasn’t what I had been expecting.
It wasn’t just Malfoy though. Since our duel two nights ago and the revelation that my wand contains a Rougarou hair core, most of Slytherin House had suddenly stopped avoiding me. I hadn’t been hexed in the hall and Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode were the only ones that bothered much to insult me now.
“Malfoy.” I greeted him simply as I took the space next to him.
“Potter.” He answered.
I noticed the further lack of venom that he seemed to infuse the word with. Now I could tell if he was speaking to me or Harry just by the way he said the name Potter.
“So, what’s your deal then?” I asked, wanting to know what was really go through his head, intrigued as to why he seemed to be treating me differently.
“What’s my deal?” He asked, looking down at me with that typical smirk of his.
“Yes. You know about my wand now, but you seem to be one of the few people not looking at me as though I’ve suddenly grown three heads.” I looked around toward the other houses and caught a few people glancing in my direction but quickly turning their gaze away when I spotted them. Then I saw Harry. He was standing as usual with Ron and Hermione, and he was glaring at Malfoy and me.
“You seriously don’t know?” Malfoy asked, pulling my attention back to him as he raised his eyebrows at me.
“I’m serious. I don’t understand. Everyone outside of Slytherin seems terrified of me now, but nearly everyone in Slytherin is acting as though I’m suddenly not a Potter.” I answered him. “Then there’s you. Even you seem to be treating me differently.”
“If there is one thing Slytherins are impressed by it’s Dark Magic.” He turned toward the grounds again, awaiting the arrival of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, but he kept talking. “It takes a certain amount of talent and determination to pursue the Dark Arts and we can value that. The fact that you’re a Potter and not only willing and able to use Dark Magic, but also have a wand destined to perform it…Well, it’s intriguing. It piques our interest.”
I considered that for a moment. Had I really gained some amount of respect within Slytherin?
“All right then. What about you, though?” Did what he said mean he was impressed as well? As much as I didn’t want myself to want to know the answer, I did want to know. “Are you saying that you’re impressed?”
I looked up at him, waiting for an answer. His expression was hard to read for a moment, but then his walls seemed to fall and though he wasn’t looking at me, I could see the smile on his face.
“I guess I am.” Was his simple answer.
I was about to say something else but it was at that moment that Dumbledore spoke.
“Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!”
“Where?” seemed to echo throughout the students until a sixth year pointed into the sky and called, “There!”
Something large hurtled across the deep blue sky toward the castle. A number of students tried to guess what it was before it came skidding to a halt on the castle grounds before us. It was an enormous carriage, pulled by a dozen winged horses, each the size of an elephant.
A boy in pale blue robes opened the carriage door and jumped down to the ground before unfolding a set of golden steps. When he took a step back a woman stepped out of the carriage, towering over everyone. Following her were number of students, all clearly older students, wearing pale blue robes as well. As Dumbledore clapped for the newcomers and the students slowly joined in, the Beauxbatons students shivered against the cold.
“Maybe if you go after one of those girls you can get Pansy off your back.” I whispered to Malfoy.
“Hm. Maybe.” Malfoy answered, watching the girls in the blue robes closely.
By the time they had retreated into the warmth of the castle, I was cold enough myself to regret having to stand out here. The whole of Hogwarts waited, less than patiently, for the arrival of Durmstrang. Then a loud rumbling and sucking noise could be heard from the distance. Everyone looked around in confusion, trying to see where it was coming from.
“The lake!” I heard a Gryffindor yelling. “Look at the lake!”
As everyone’s gaze shifted to the lake, something broke the surface. In a matter of seconds a ship had stretched up from the depths of the lake, settling itself at the bank closest to the castle. There was a splash as what was most likely an anchor was thrown back into the water, then a thud resounded as a plank was lowered from the boat to the ground.
People disembarked from the ship and as they approached the majority of the school seemed to take a collective inhalation of breath. I looked around wondering what everyone had seen before Malfoy spoke into my ear.
“There’s no way! That’s Viktor Krum, what is he doing here?”
“Who’s Viktor Krum?” I asked.
“Krum? He’s a world renowned Seeker. He caught the snitch at the Quidditch World Cup this summer.” Malfoy said, as though this sentence made perfect sense, but I was lost.
“What in the world is Quidditch?” I asked him, looking confused.
The Hogwarts students were beginning to follow the Durmstrang delegation into the castle now and we allowed ourselves to be shuffled toward the Great Hall. Malfoy was looking at me as though astounded by my stupidity.
“What is Quidditch?” He repeated. “Wow, Potter. You have a lot to learn still. To think had I respected you for a moment there.” Malfoy shoved my shoulder at this and though I had expected the movement to be rough it was actual gentle, playful in a way and he was laughing lightly at me.
“I see, so you’re impressed by me and you respect me now. Interesting.” I laughed as I followed him toward the Slytherin table, catching him rolling his eyes at my comments with that small smile still plastered to his face.

Harry
“For heaven’s sake, Ron, he’s only a Quidditch player,” Hermione said as we filed back into the castle and toward the Great Hall.
“Only a Quidditch player? Hermione – he’s one of the best Seekers in the world! I had no idea he was still at school!”
As we crossed the Entrance Hall, I could hear several girls talking about finding something for Krum to sign for them. Then Ron started searching his pockets for a quill.
“I’m getting his autograph if I can,” he said. “You haven’t got a quill, have you, Harry?”
“Nope, they’re upstairs in my bag,” I told him.
We reached the Gryffindor table and as I took my seat I noticed Malfoy and Eleanor sitting across from each other at the Slytherin table. Eleanor seemed to be looking toward the front of the Hall, sitting with her back to us. Malfoy, however, was looking at Eleanor. He was smiling at her, not smirking but actually smiling.
Hermione placed a hand on my arm and I suddenly realized how tense I had become. Even my hands were clenched into fists. Just seeing her talking to him in a friendly manner during classes was enough to set me off. How she could want to befriend such a git was beyond me.
“Are you all right, Harry?” Hermione asked quietly next to me as Ron was still blabbering on about Krum.
“Yeah…I’m fine.” I answered.
Hermione had mentioned to Eleanor a few days ago that I had been wondering if she was really friends with Malfoy now. I felt sick when Hermione repeated Eleanor’s answer back to me: “It is none of Harry’s business who I am friends with. Harry and I aren’t friends, and we aren’t family.” That’s what I had told her, that we weren’t family, that Dumbledore couldn’t have been right. I still couldn’t come to terms with whether or not Eleanor and I were truly related, but what I had said had been cruel. I had taken it too far and I could never take those words back.
“Eleanor is sitting with Krum! She is literally sitting with Krum right now!” Ron said loudly, pulling my and Hermione’s attention back to him.
I looked up and sure enough, Viktor Krum had taken a seat right next to Eleanor and across from Malfoy. On Krum’s other side the rest of the Durmstrang students were taking seats at the Slytherin table as well.
“Do you think she can get his autograph for me?” Ron said as he stood up to peer over the heads of the other students in the hall.
Hermione pulled him back down into his seat as Dumbledore stood to talk.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and – most particularly – guests,” he said as the Hall quieted down. “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 be officially opened at the end of the feast. I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!”
The tables filled with food as usual but as I looked around I saw a variety of dishes that I had never noticed before. According to Hermione, the house elves working in the kitchens had made traditional French and Bulgarian dishes in addition to the usual Hogwarts fare.
The Great Hall erupted in conversation again from all around the room. Ron kept staring from Krum at the Slytherin table, to the Beauxbatons girls who were seated at the Ravenclaw table. Hermione kept huffing about it in her seat next to me. During the meal I could see Eleanor engaging in a conversation with not only Malfoy, but Krum as well.
“Seriously though, Harry, do you think Eleanor can get me an autograph?” Ron asked again.
“I doubt it, Ron. She probably doesn’t even realize who he is.” I answered.
As the staff and students finished the feast and the golden plates were magically wiped clean, Dumbledore stood once again.
“The moment has come. The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket, just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year.”
The casket?
“But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation” – there was a smattering of polite applause at this – “and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.”
Bagman received a large round of applause as he stood up and waved to the whole Hall.
“Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament,” Dumbledore continued, “and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions’ efforts. Now, the casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch.”
Filch hobbled up the Hall carrying a large wooden chest encrusted with jewels. The atmosphere was filled with excitement and wonder as every person watched the chest intently.
“The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman, and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways…their magical prowess – their daring – their powers of deduction – and, of course, their ability to cope with danger.
“As you know, three champions compete in the tournament,” Dumbledore went on calmly, “one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire.”
Dumbledore reach down to the chest that Filch had brought to the front of the hall and pulled from it a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. As he held up for the Hall to see it erupted with dancing blue-white flames.
“Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet,” Dumbledore explained. “Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.
“To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation, I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the Entrance Hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line. Finally, I wish impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all.”
“An Age Line!” Fred Weasley said as we all headed back up to Gryffindor Tower. “Well, that should be fooled by an Aging Potion, shouldn’t it? And once your name’s in that goblet, you’re laughing – it can’t tell whether you’re seventeen or not!”
“But I don’t think anyone under seventeen will stand a chance,” Hermione said, “we just haven’t learned enough…”
“Speak for yourself,” said George shortly. “You’ll try and get in, won’t you Harry?”
That was all I thought of the rest of the night as I laid in my four poster bed, trying to sleep. If I could enter, would I? Did I really think I could make it through whatever tasks the judges had set for the champions? I fell asleep with thoughts of being the Hogwarts champion in my mind.