𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒌𝒊𝒅𝒔 - pjo x hp

xxxiii. the imperius curse

𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐀 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐈𝐓, her birthday had passed — with the Weasleys interrupting her Ancient Runes class to sing to her — and then it was Halloween.

The day the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons representatives were supposed to arrive.

"Is your brother gonna be here?" Nathaniel asked Thomas. "He goes Durmstrang, doesn't he?"

"Joseph's five years older than me," Thomas told him. "He already graduated — like two years ago. He was upset, because if he was still in school, he would've done it, for sure."

The second they entered the Great Hall for breakfast, Raya's jaw dropped.

As it turns out, the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. Enormous silk banners hung from the walls, each of them representing a Hogwarts House: red with a gold lion for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. Behind the teachers' table, the largest banner of all bore the Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger, and snake united around a large letter H. 

"I love magic," Elias sighed dreamily as they made their way to their seats.

They sat down for breakfast, excited for the shortlisted candidates to arrive later on. The Triwizard Tournament seemed to be the only thing anyone could talk about.

Cho, Meredith, and Nathaniel were arguing on where the schools were located.

"Hey, Thomas, you know where Durmstrang is, right?" Cho asked him.

"What?" he froze with his spoon of cereal halfway to his mouth. 

"Well, your brother must've mentioned something," she continued. "Like where it might be? Say... south of Bulgaria."

"Uh... I—"

"Durmstrang is definitely in the north," Raya interrupted. "At least it's higher north than Hogwarts is. They've got fur coats as part of their uniform. There's no way they can be south of Bulgaria."

"Told you!" Nathaniel laughed. "I'm right."

"We don't know that," Cho argued. "And you think Beauxbatons is in Italy!"

"Who's to say it isn't?"

"The name..." Thomas said slowly. "It's literally French. Beauxbatons is located in France."

"That's not confirmed," Nathaniel said, shaking his finger. "It could be a giant ruse to throw everyone off track. Make the name French, but have the school in Italy. Isn't the whole point of the schools to make sure no one finds them?"

Everyone stared at him.

"Nate, I'm literally losing braincells being around you," Cierra said at last. "I can feel it."

"I'm honored to have such an impact on your life," he smiled.

Raya laughed to herself, rolling her eyes, when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"What's up, Harry?"

"Can we talk?" he asked, looking a little nervous around her Ravenclaw friends. "It's kind of important."

"One sec," she said to her friends, getting up and following Harry to a spot near the entrance. Thankfully, everyone was already eating breakfast, so no one paid them too much attention.

"What's up?" she asked.

"It's Sirius," he whispered. 

That got Raya's attention.