black and white ✰ g.w.

CHAPTER SIX

Despite the unusual start, Olivia's sixth year at Hogwarts was going well. She enjoyed the new classes she was taking and although there was already tons of homework, she was finding it manageable.

They all soon found out that Alastor Moody had come to Hogwarts to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts for the year. Everyone who knew who he was was excited to have his class. This applied to Olivia as well; having an ex-Auror teach them would surely mean they were about to get the best education possible. That meant a lot seeing as they had already had an efficient Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher the year before; even though Professor Lupin didn't have a career or a prior career in fighting the Dark Arts, they learned a lot from him, and the majority of the student body was sad to see him go.

As expected, Professor Moody seemed to take a liking to Olivia right away. After all, he and her grandfather were good friends, even though David stayed working for the Ministry after Moody retired and had even become Head of the Auror Department. He would call on her often in class, even when she didn't raise her hand. During the first lesson the Gryffindor sixth-years had with him, he had spent ten minutes telling them one of many stories of him and David catching and putting Dark wizards in Azkaban. He went on to demonstrate the three Unforgivable Curses, as so far, they had only talked about them briefly and had not ever seen them in action. Some students came out of that lesson feeling quite disturbed, but most were amazed at how much Moody knew and were looking forward to the next lesson they had with him.

Olivia, having been told about Moody too many times to count during her childhood, respected him and didn't have too much of a problem with him performing the Unforgivable Curses for them, seeing as it was for educational purposes. However, there was just something that seemed off about him, though for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what.

"Our very first lesson and you're already his favorite student," Alicia said as they left his classroom. "You didn't even do anything! You just answered his questions. I don't get it."

"What else did you expect?" Angelina asked. "He's friends with her grandfather, obviously he's going to be biased."

"Can we just hurry up and get to Herbology? I don't want to talk about it anymore," Olivia said, speeding up in order to get to the greenhouses faster.

Herbology was Olivia's favorite and best subject. This combined with the fact that her favorite color was yellow, many people close to her, and even those who weren't, often said she belonged in Hufflepuff House. However, the Sorting Hat had not hesitated in the slightest when it placed her in Gryffindor, and this was something that greatly baffled people when she informed them of this.

By the end of Herbology, Professor Moody had been pushed to the back of her mind and Olivia was back in her usual content mood. Angelina had decided days ago that she would be entering her name for the Triwizard Tournament. Everyone she told had supported her and encouraged her, especially Fred, but Olivia kept reminding her that people have died in the tournament because of how dangerous it is. However, every time she brought it up, she was shut down immediately and ignored. So, she decided to keep quiet as she and Alicia accompanied Angelina to the Great Hall so she could put her name in the Goblet of Fire. Fred, George, and Lee had insisted on coming with them so they could get an idea of what they would have to do in order to illegally enter their names into the Triwizard Tournament, but anyone with brains could figure out that that wasn't the only reason.

They entered the Great Hall to see the Goblet of Fire in the same place it had been put on the first day of term. Today, it had a bluish-white circle around it.

"What is that?" Lee asked, seeing the circle.

"It's an Age Line," Olivia answered. "And I suspect Dumbledore drew it himself."

"An Age Line?" Fred repeated. "Well, that'll be easy then."

"A simple Aging Potion should do the trick then, don't you think?" George asked Fred and Lee with a mischievous grin.

Olivia scoffed. "You're not getting past Dumbledore with an Aging Potion," she said.

"It's a good thing our dear old headmaster isn't here, then," Fred said.

"Yeah. It's just a circle," Lee said, "and an unnaturally large goblet with unnaturally colored flames."

"Shut up, you lot," Alicia said. "She's going for it."

They looked around and saw Angelina walking towards the Goblet. She passed through the Age Line with ease and stood staring at the Goblet for a moment before reaching into her pocket and taking out a slip of parchment with her name and school. They saw her take a deep breath and then drop it into the flames.

Angelina spun around on her heels, a smile growing on her face as those sitting on the benches on either side of the Great Hall cheered for her. Alicia squealed and held out her arms for a hug. Angelina jogged back to her and they hugged.

"If you don't get in, I'm starting a riot," Alicia said as Angelina pulled away.

"You will not," Olivia said, hugging Angelina.

"Oh, yeah? And what are you gonna do to stop me?" Alicia asked. Olivia raised her eyebrows at her and her eyes widened. "Okay, point taken. No riot."

They turned their attention to Fred and Angelina as they made to hug but settled for a high-five.

"Ew, that was so awkward," Alicia said. Olivia, George, and Lee sniggered.

"Shut it," Angelina growled.

They made to leave but stopped in their tracks when Ben entered the Great Hall. He had his head held high and had his eyes locked on the Goblet of Fire as he walked confidently toward it. He didn't hesitate or even slow down as he dropped the slip of parchment he had in his hand into the blue flames and then walk right back out of the room, ignoring the applause.

[word count: 1067]
[written: 5/6/20]
[published: 6/6/20]