i. BOUNTY fleur delacour

04

FOUR

" it was if a surplus of something so
overflowed her being that it expressed itself beyond her will,
now in the brightness of her glance,
now in her smile. "
- leo tolstoy [anna karenina]

ALMOST TWO months had passed since mari had turned seventeen, and she often wondered if other wizards around the world had the same experiences she did during this new time, or if the tri-wizard tournament was drastically altering it. she guessed the latter.
every week, mari and the other members of the delegation attended a meeting that was practically an hour dedicated to praising durmstrang. mari got sick of these soon, but presumed once the final three had been selected the gatherings would actually serve a purpose. this presumption came to be true.
mari looked around at the eleven students seated in the room with her: viktor, ingrid, kosta, poliakoff, three sixth year students and four others in mari's own grade. everyone looked excitedly around, examining the people they would spend their year with. mari knew she should be excited, and deep down she was, but to see all these witches and wizards, and not to see olivier- who was, by far, more deserving than most of these people- made mari uneasy.
   "so, how do we feel about spending our last year at school abroad?" quipped aleksander janowski, a polish seventh year. as he said this he turned his back slightly towards the nervous sixth years at the end of the large table they were seated at, they put their heads down in response.
   "i, for one, couldn't be happier to be out of this hellhole." replied a dark skinned girl with a bitter sniff.
   "not great school spirit, helen? i would think twice before you say things like that, we are about to go represent our school, you know." replied poliakoff.
   mari rolled her eyes, "oh shut it alexei, even i can say i'm happy about leaving this place. school spirit my ass."
   "you're just bitter because olivier didn't-" ingrid began.
   "yeah, i am! and you should be too, you know full well that she should have been-"
   "oh get over it mari! if she was worthy she would have been selected!"
   "ENOUGH!" came karkaroff's rough voice, "i will not tolerate this, especially not from you mckinnon- i expect better.
"now, there are many matters to discuss- we are leaving tomorrow afternoon! all of your belongings that you have brought to school must be packed onto the ship before nine o'clock. say your goodbyes quickly, but do not cut them short of feeling, for people die in this tournament, and your life is nothing short of being currently at risk."

☇ ☇ ☇

"olivier, i am going to cry, fy faen." whispered mari into the crevice of the swiss girl's neck.
   olivier gripped mari's firm upper back, shaking with light sobs, "i just can't believe that we aren't spending our last year together... i mean we've been talking about this year for so long, and now-" her voice was cut off by a wet sniff, mari felt her friends tears spill onto her neck. the norwegian pulled away and held her friend by the shoulder.
   "we'll write, okay? we'll write and everything will be okay-"
   "i'm gonna miss your eyes," interrupted olivier, "i've never seen different coloured ones on anyone else. i remember when they were both still grey, in fifth year? merlin, it really hasn't been that long. i barely remember you before you got your job... but i do remember you accidentally shooting a spell at that old curse theory professor- on our third day, remember? so much for curse  'theory'..." the girl faded out, swallowing her tears. mari gave her one last hug, opening her mouth to say goodbye, but quickly shutting it for she was to scared she would begin to weep uncontrollably.
   olivier kissed her friend on either cheek before putting her on her way.

"when i call your name come up and collect your key, you will then be directed to your room- a room of which you will be sharing with one other person. please note that your roommate has been selected based on any pre-existing co-boarding and your nationality." recited one of durmstrang's professors.
at this news, ingrid looped her arm around mari, who along with the rest of the delegation, were crowded around the ship entrance. mari eases into this position. yes, ingrid has some undesirable traits, but she was a great friend, and mari was to spend the rest of the year abroad with her, so she knew she should embrace the friendship.
"the following students will reside on the lower deck: anichka kolisnyk and yakiv abrahamovsky," two ukrainian sixth years waddled up to the professor, as he continued, "eveliina heikkinen and helen rusiecki," another sixth year nervously walked up with helen, "alyosha orlov and benedikt hayes.
"the following students will reside on the upper deck-"
"way to call favourites." quipped ingrid.
"aleksander janowski and alexei poliakoff, kosta mikhailov and viktor krum, ingrid halvorsen and mari mckinnon."

☇ ☇ ☇

mari and ingrid's quarters on the ship were considerably better than that of theirs and olivier's at the school. whilst their usual dorm was rather nice and familiar, the two-bed, top deck room they would be spending the rest of the year in felt like a luxury muggle hotel room. themed red and grey, cold stone walls were decorated with intricate curtains and small paintings of the scandinavian snow-scape. two beds faced out the small window, heavily laid with quilts and warm wooden blankets were frame with golden and silver frames that reeked of superiority. mari's personal items had been packed into a crested trunk that rested at the end of the high bed, with a set of drawers and a small hanging closet (obviously for her uniform) that saw the girl spending well over an hour unpacking her various belongings.
   "how long until we arrive?" asked ingrid, not bothering with english.
   "we haven't even left yet." replied mari, bluntly, as she hung a heavy fur coat.
   "are you kidding me? we've been in here for over an hour!" shrieked ingrid.
   "ingrid, we've gone on muggle boats back home all the time- surely you know that they don't just go..." mumbled mari with a smile.
   "oh, i guess. i'm just impatient, i heard hogwarts has fireplaces everywhere- lit fireplaces! perhaps i won't need the blankets i brought for class time... wait, wait, how does this ship even work?"
    the girl with the straightened hair sighed, "surely you listened in the meetings, ingrid? i mean karkaroff's massive speech; 'the deluxe water vehicle will be powered by magic, through the fjords and when entering the hogwarts area, students must row to ensure precise steering...'. it was ridiculous..."
   "we have to row!? no way, i do not put this much time into my hair to go outside."

☇ ☇ ☇

three hours before the group was set to arrival in britain, mari and ingrid began to dress.
   as per instructed, both girls wore their uniform boots and socks, heavy-weight skirts, thick murky sweaters, formal red cloaks, and, as it was looking to be cold and wet, large matted fur coats. usually, with uniform, the students over the age of fourteen would wear a sector (skill division) hat, where mari would wear white and ingrid red, but for unison, all students wore a hat matching to the fur coat.
   once dressed, mari went a door down to see viktor, who had developed a rather unfortunate head cold, and was sitting in a pile of tissues on his bed. he looked up at his girlfriend with an adorable smile, his nose red and his eyes glassy. the girl laughed fondly, before sitting next to him. they spoke of how excited they were for the year until the scottish mountains came into view amongst the dark, rainy sky and all students moved above deck to row up to the school.

after a gruelling entrance through the mountains, hogwarts came into sight- and compared the the grey stone and snow look of durmstrang, this warm castle was ridiculously enticing. it wasn't long before a large pale blue house came into view (viktor later told her this was beauxbatons transportation) and alongside it, what looked to be the entire hogwarts cohort. all the students were smiling widely in the direction of the skeletal ship, with warmth and emotion none of the durmstrang students had seen in a while.
   viktor sniffed and leaned over to the south-american descended teenager, and with a soft voice whispered the words mari had been waiting to hear since early september:
   "we're here."

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