Shadow - Sequel To Light

Chapter Eleven: Oh, Bloody Hell

Hagrid popped up by the large doors, pushing them open with a broad smiled. At first, nothing happened but, after Hagrid seemed to coax them out, two rather large giants came through the large doorway.

"Giants?" I gasped. "He's making them go against giants?" I started to get up but Harry kept me down.

"Let's see where this goes. If they need us, we'll step in. It's not like we haven't dealt with giants before." He whispered, holding my hand. I sighed, my brows furrowed in frustration. Hagrid should have warned us, this was too much.

"Yes, but that was Hagrid's brother once and the ones who fought against us were trying to kill us so it was kill or be killed." I muttered back.

"Well, if anything goes wrong, this will be kill or be killed too. Let's just trust him on this, he worked so hard."

I sighed again and held my tongue, we would handle things when we got to it. Hagrid seemed to yell something up to the giants then he hooked them to the thick chains. I hoped more than anything that those chains were strong enough to hold them. The chains had enough give that the giants would be able to move freely through the arena but not so much that they couldn't be controlled. Harry and I had already planned the next two events along with the other headmasters, which we had worked to keep under wraps and I had worked on during those months of preparation. After the challenges were selected, Harry and I as the host had been in charge of making it possible. It was a new way of doing things but it was working.

The champions needed to get to one of the three boxes in the arena that I had charmed to need randomized spells to open them. The box would give them hints as to what spell they would need but they had to be able to think of their toes. They had been warned at the dinner, during my explanation, to brush up on their spells, I hoped they listened. On top of having to work the spell to open the box for the clue, they had to get through the arena - passed the giants apparently - find a way to open the box without letting the giants catch them, then make it back to the safe area again.

The person to get their next clue and make it back to the starting point, which was the safe area, would be in first place. I loved using this competition as another lesson for the students. You must know your spells if you expect to excel. Anything to get them studying for their courses was okay with me.

The only problem I had was with them not doing their homework because of the competition. If they forgot their homework, I would have to mark them accordingly. Ever since the other schools had been with us we had separated them fairly evenly into the houses so they went to classes with our regular students according to age and random selection. It was a good process, it just ended up giving all of the teachers more students in the majority of their classes.

"What are you thinking about so hard?" Harry asked from my side.

"Homework." I answered automatically, lost in my own thoughts.

"You're not thinking of failing the champions if they don't do your homework, are you?"

"Not failing them, just giving them a lower marking." I replied.

"Love." He reprimanded, shaking his head.

"Fine. I guess I can excuse them but they must have everything else done in between." I said stubbornly. Harry laughed and kissed my cheek.

"Ever the homework advocate I see." He chuckled again. Hagrid gave the signal that everything was ready to begin so Ron stood up to go to the podium and introduce the person who would go first.

"Please welcome our first champion, from Dormstrang Institute, Borislav Hristov." He announced, his voice echoing out.

Borislav walked out, his head held high until he saw the giants. I saw him falter for a moment then he set his feet and prepared for whatever happened. Krum flicked his wand and the cannon went off, signaling to start, and Lady Lorne began the clock that would tell us how long each champion took and who was going to be the winner. At the signal, the giants began lobbing large rocks at Borislav and chasing him around the arena. I gasped, clutching Harry's hand. The last thing we needed was one of the students to die, even if he technically wasn't our own.

The arena was set up perfectly for the challenge, though. There were places that the champions could hide and move fairly undetected if they were smart enough. Also, if they were good enough, a simple spell could get them across the arena and to a box but I had some serious doubts they were that capable. Despite my worries, I didn't think anybody would die in the arena because of the giants.

Luckily when they lobbed the boulders, Borislav's apparent athleticism kicked in and he began ducking and diving out of the way. At one point one of the giants caught him unaware and he was smacked against a wall when they swatted at him. Eventually, he made it to the box and that's where the real problem came.

"I told them to brush up on their spells." I muttered to my fairly amused husband when Borislav began having problems.

He seemed to have figured it out but, just as he was using his wand, a giant grabbed him and lobbed him across the arena. Everybody went silent, hoping he was alright. A long moment passed but finally movement was seen and we knew he wasn't so injured that he couldn't move. Several failed attempts later, Borislav finally had his clue and we were preparing for the next champion...., Liam Drorom.

He walked out confidently and smirked at the giants. Once the cannon went off and the new clock was started, the giants attacked but Liam took it all in stride, moving through the area blindingly and getting to the boxes. There had been a few setbacks, getting thrown up against a wall and almost losing an arm, but he moved quick. There was a moment of hesitation at the box but, finally, he got it opened and was ducking and diving his way back to the starting point. It was gobsmacking that he had done so well and Harry and Ron both turned to me with raised brows. Who was this kid?

Inés came last, peeping out of the curtain that separated the champions from the arena while they were waiting. After a gesture for her to come out she finally moved to the starting line, taking a deep breath before the cannon went off. Despite her nervousness, Inés' performance was quite brilliant. She ended up being the only one using spells to get her across the arena and she was the only one that didn't have any problems with the spell to get to her clue. It took her longer to get back than it had to get there but she ended up being the one with the least injuries.

"I think I found my long lost sister." I smiled down at Inés who was leaning against the wall, still rather shaken by the event. Despite her being shaken, she had done quite well and she reminded me vaguely of myself with her excellent spell usage.

"Congratulations to all our champions and we'll be happy to see all of you at our alumni/student supper Wednesday night. Don't forget to volunteer for our alumni/student study groups as well, help a current student succeed in their courses. Also, a friendly reminder to all faculty, each faculty member is required to work at least once in one of the study sessions. Each of you have a goodnight and another big congratulations to our champions." I announced once Hagrid came back out to get rid of the giants. Everybody flocked out and all of the headmasters headed down to the champions area to check on our students.

The matron hustled around, patching up things here and there. Instruments were flying across the area, from student to student, doing little jobs. Borislav had seemed to have gotten the worse of everything and there was blood all around. I had never been squeamish before but suddenly my stomach turned and I upchucked. Oh bloody hell.