i. BOUNTY fleur delacour

02

TWO

" something was a little wrong
and had better be. "
- e.m. forster [maurice]

"WE WELCOME all of you to the new school year," began karkaroff, insincerely, "we welcome those in the second through sixth years with gratitude, may you continue your learning and further yourselves in the name of magic.
"we welcome those who join us this year for the first time: welcome to the institute." he said, his voice loud but bland. karkaroff gestured to a group of small students, the first years, sitting at a table the same size as the one mari and her friends were seated at. mari looked at their terrified faces, there were only five of them, a number slightly smaller than last year.
"karkaroff's reputation is obviously getting better." remarked mari to her boyfriend, earning a stifled chuckle.
karkaroff then proceeded to turn and face the general direction of the girl and her friends, immediately they straightened up, "and, of course, we welcome those who are in their final year. with respect we acknowledge you and your presence in the castle..." his scripted words bore into the ears of all the seventh years, but the man's eyes seemed only focused on viktor and mari. both smirked proudly at him, and then each other.
"our first years have already been briefed- so we will spare the basic introductions. but, the following points must be stressed to all:
   "this institute is for learning and developing, we aim to produce powerful wizards, and will not tolerate anyone less than capable at attempting to become so;
   "uniform is to be worn with pride, and it is expected, that for formal occasions such as this morning and holiday events, you represent the school as required," he turned and pointed to mari and viktor and gestured for them to stand, "both of these students have come this morning wearing their appropriate sector hat- of course, for those under the age of fourteen, a plain uniform hat is to be worn- correct items of clothing, and uniform appearance," he gestured once more, and mari and viktor sat down, "red cloaks, our most symbolic and traditional item of clothing, will only be worn at the direction of your superiors- if anyone is seen wearing such cloaks without direction, or failing to wear them at all will face consequence."
karkaroff stepped down from where he was standing and proceeded to move towards a small table that held a single item. mari grinned.
"i now have the honour of presenting an age symbol to one of durmstrang's most poised and prized students, mari mckinnon."
immediately mari stood and strode confidently up to her professor who grinned down at her, "may you take this symbol as a representation of your maturity, may you wear it with pride and pursue your magic through its symbolism." karkaroff said quietly to her, as he clipped it to her skirt, his hands remaining unnecessarily long at her hip. mari shook his hand before making her way back to her friends, where they all congratulated her quietly.
   karkaroff then moved back to his position in front of the school cohort. he cleared his throat, and continued his accented ramble, "to now move on to the matter in which i should expect all of you are most curious about... of course, many rumours and anticipation have been present amongst the european wizarding community- and rightfully so- as this year we shall see the revival of a most historical and exciting event.
   "to speak more about this comes a representative of the british ministry of magic, sir bartemius crouch senior, head of international magical cooperation."
   unsurprisingly, whispers broke out amongst all tables in the hall (aside from mari's, as they knew better) earning a strict reminder from karkaroff about the school's pride and rules. but all whispers were anyhow interrupted by the entrance of the ministry representative. it was a single, rather frail ageing man. it was an odd scene, given ministry workers of any department would hardly visit foreign land without flanks of aurors- but mari concluded that perhaps karkaroff wished not to have any wizards trained better than his students in his school. an odd man he was.
once the man had reached karkaroff, and an awkward handshake had occurred, crouch took the stage, "uh, very well..." he began without introduction, rather intimated, "this year, in attempt to revive history, it has been decided- uh, by the ministry of magic-" his eyes passed over mari, who was looking above his head intently, her hands fidgeting with something under the table, "-uh, that the most renowned tri-wizard tournament shall take place this year."
mari's table remained as they were, but whispers once more broke out amongst the students, "silence!" yelled karkaroff. silence ensued.
"the tournament- given it's directors- will take place in britain," crouch's eyes once again passed over mari. he could now see what she was fidgeting with. in her dark hands, were three metal circles, circles crouch knew much of. with widened eyes, he continued, "come late october, twelve durmstrang institute students, and another twelve beauxbatons academy students shall travel to hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, and remain there for the remainder of the tournament.
"this event, which i presume you know well about, is an opportunity to make yourself known as a powerful wizard-" mari's eyes glistened, and she gripped viktors hand, "-and to bring honour to your school.
"unfortunately, my small amount of time at durmstrang will cut me short," mari thought crouch didn't see this as an unfortunate thing, "but i will see twelve of you later in the year, so now i must hand over to your head." and crouch exited. he durmstrang students gave him many weird looks on his way out, given his odd behaviour.
"between karkaroff and you, that man was shitting himself." ingrid whispered in mari's ear.
   with a modest nod, mari replied, "perhaps so... no doubt he's heard of me- i've heard of him. quite a bit..."
   "really? why so? how much is he worth?" ingrid asked with curiosity.
"a fair amount... his son was a death eater- crouch put him in azkaban himself."
"azkaban!" interrupted olivier, and the two norwegians broke their conversation to find that the others on their table had been staring at them for the duration of it.
"have you all been listening to our conversation?"
"well, you were talking pretty loud... but we don't speak norwegian, so no, you'll have to fill us in." retorted one of viktor's friends, kosta.
"that crouch man has a lot of enemies. basical." summarised mari.
"basically. not basical. that's not even a word." mari glared at olivier.
"anyway," continued ingrid, "what is he worth exactly-"
"attention! silence!" karkaroff yelled, as he once more took the floor, "to continue from him, i must now tell you of how indeed you may earn a spot representing our glorious school.
"unfortunately, given the history of the tournament, all those who have wishes to compete must be seventeen by the thirty-first of october. this means, obviously, that the pool we should choose our delegation from does not include those below sixth year.
   "six students have already been chosen," karkaroff's eyes flicked proudly to viktor and mari, "these students will receive a letter by tomorrow morning notifying them of their selection.
   "three more students will be selected over the course of the next two weeks, and announced by the end of that time period. these students will be assessed on their general capabilities during their classes.
   "the final three students to be selected to join our delegation will be announced in a months time, based off two assessment exams. all those who turn seventeen by the end of october are required to complete both the theoretical and practical examinations. the top three achievers will earn a spot.
   "whilst it may seem like great magical capability is the main requirement for this tournament, it is character that is in fact the most important. the tournament will be gruelling, and will require logic, patience, persistence and ambition.
   "more information on the tournament will be provided to you through the year, so i will not continue any longer, as classes begin very soon. with great optimism in your skills, i look forward to bringing rightful glory to this marvellous school of ours. and with that, i see you off into this years journey. do us well, you are dismissed."

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