The Wolf's Lion ~ Harry Potter (Editing)

Chapter Ten | The Krum Brothers

"Brilliant isn't he! Completely demented of course. Terrifying to be in the same room with, he's really been there you know."

Ariana raised her eyebrows at Ron as they descended the ornate Hogwarts stairs. "Yes, and it's clearly taken its toll."

"There's a reason those curses are unforgivable, and to perform them in a classroom. I mean did you see Neville's face," Hermione asked incredulously, appalled by Mad-Eye's actions.

Harry nudged Ariana with his elbow, directing her attention to a boy standing on a staircase, staring out of the window in front of him.

"Neville?" Hermione asked, eyeing the figure.

The quartet watched as Neville was approached by the man who was responsible for how disturbed he was, patting him on the shoulder.

"Son. You alright?" Mad-Eye questioned, earning a feeble nod from Neville. Come on, we'll have a cup of tea. I want to show you something."

As they walked off, Ariana's eyes followed them until they went out of sight. She was suspicious of her new teacher but trusted Dumbledore's judgement. She made sure to keep an eye on him though, no matter how good at judging a character her headmaster was.

"What about you," Ron said, poking his finger into Ariana's arm a couple of times. "The Dungeon bat's star student."

Ariana rolled her eyes. "Professor Moody probably misinterpreted a groan or sarcastic comment. Either that, or he looked at my previous exam results."

"If you say so..." Ron smirked. "I didn't think anyone could get in his good side. I didn't think he had a good side."

"Ronald Weasley, I will slap your head off of your shoulders," growled Ariana. She sighed. "Sorry, I get a bit irritable with the... Well, you know."

The others nodded sympathetically. Hermione was the only one who reassured her verbally, "It's okay, we know."

Ariana smiled and looped her arms around her three friends' shoulders, squeezing a little before letting them go. "Thank you. Anyway, we have a free period. Would you like to visit the Goblet of Fire?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ron agreed enthusiastically.

"Yes," Harry replied, also eager to visit the brilliant artefact.

They made it down to the Great Hall. Apparently they were not the only ones with the idea of dropping by, since the hall was dotted with groups of students, most of whom were from Hogwarts.

The goblet stood on a stone plinth, blue flames crackling inside the cup. A ghostly white circle stood around the goblet, which Ariana recognised as an Age Line, meaning it wouldn't allow anyone under the set age of 17 to pass it.

Ariana and her friends applauded as older students placed small pieces of parchment with their names written on them, eager to represent their schools in the Wizarding equivalent of the Olympic Games.

Ariana and Hermione settled down on the benches with their noses in books, not caring much for the commotion going on around them.

The white-haired witch read a book on the fine art of potion making, which was a lot like a magical version of Muggle Chemistry.

A gathering of students entered the hall, each one supporting Cedric as he put his name in the goblet. Once he did, his friends cheered and patted his back in congratulations.

Before Ariana could return to her reading, the Weasley twins jogged into the room, cheering loudly.

"Thank you thank you, well lads we've done it," George announced, he and his brother hopping onto the benches where the girls sat, basking in the applause they received.

"Cooked it up just this morning," Fred added smugly, holding up a vial of what Ariana recognised as an Ageing potion.

Hermione and Ariana shared a look, than sang mockingly in unison: "It's not going to work."

The two brothers sat on either side if the girls, their faces close to Ariana and Hermione's.

"Oh yeah?"

"And why's that, Granger, O'Connor," Fred questioned, feeling extremely confident in his potion.

Hermione sighed as if the answer was obvious. "You see this?" she printed at the line around the goblet. "This is an age line. Dumbledore drew it himself."

"So?" Fred asked, seeking an explanation.

"So, in what reality Di you think something as ridiculous as an Ageing Potion could fool the age line Dumbledore himself drew?" Ariana enquired, eyeing George, who leaned close to he side.

"That's why it's so brilliant," Fred began.

"Because it's so ridiculous and dimwitted," George concluded.

Completely ignoring the warnings, the two brothers jumped to their feet and pulled the corks out of the vials in their hands, prepared to drink them.

Ariana watched the scene play out with pursed lips, knowing that their 'genius' plan would backfire.

"Ready Fred?"

"Ready George."

"Bottoms up," said the boys in unison, linking arms as they downed the potion in one gulp.

Immediately they jumped straight into the age line, cheering as they were not expelled from inside its area. The twins dropped their names into the cup and high-fived, shouting in victory as they thought they had pulled the wool over the spell's eyes.

Ariana smiled smugly as the two pieces of parchment were spat from the goblet in a flurry of blue fire, knocking Fred and George from the circle as it did.

They landed on their backs across the room, staring at each other in disbelief as white beards sprouted from their faces, their red heads of hair turning white.

They began fighting each other, rolling around in the ground like puppies playing with one and other. A crowd gathered around them, chanting 'fight, fight, fight'.

Ariana remained on the bench, once again returning to the book. She only got the opportunity to read three sentences before the room fell silent, prompting her to look up to locate the cause.

Her eyes landed upon Viktor, Ivan and Igor, all striding into the room with an air of seriousness. The two brothers entered the circle and placed their names in the cup.

As they did, Igor linked gazes with Ariana until he turned away. She returned his look with a small smile, her eyes following him until he left the room.

She also noticed how Viktor done the same with Hermione. Apparently they found the girls interesting.

Ariana assumed Ivan had seen the Gryffindor team photograph, therefore recognising her as a Chaser. He might of also read that she and Harry were the youngest students appointed to the team in a century, and that she had made many records during her years there.

Unfortunately the tournament for the House Quidditch Cup had been cancelled due to the Tri-Wizard Tournament, but Gryffindor won last year, so the large silver cup remained in Professor McGonagall's office.

Ariana hoped that was why he was looking at her. Although, she knew that it probably wasn't. If he tried anything, what would she tell Remus?