28 Chapter 27

 Defence Against the Dark Arts was the first lesson of the fourth year. Arriving ahead of their eternal rivals, the Slytherins quickly took the best seats. A couple of minutes before the lesson started, the Gryffindors poured into the classroom. As soon as the students settled into their seats, the teacher entered the classroom. Walking up to the blackboard, Black began writing on it with chalk, addressing the students.

- Today in class we are going to talk about the most heinous of spells, namely the Unforgivable. As for defence against dark forces, I, like Headmistress Le Fey, take a practical approach. But first, can any of you tell me how many Unforgivable spells there are? - Bella looked around the audience. However, most of the students chose to remain silent.

- What doesn't anyone know? Mr Potter," the black-haired wizard said, putting the chalk aside.

- There are three spells in total. If you use any of them, you can go to Azkaban," Harry said.

- 'That's right. The Ministry thinks it's too early for you to learn these spells. But this isn't the Ministry here, and the Headmistress agrees with me. You should know what you're up against. - Black said and then shifted his gaze to the red-haired Gryffindor.

- So, what spell shall we start with? Weasley!

- Yes,' Sixth said fearfully.

- 'Name a spell, any of the three,' Bellatrix said, leaning back against the teacher's desk and crossing her arms across her chest.

- 'Well, my father told me about one. Imperius, I think... - muttered the redhead.

- Oh, yes, your father knows all about it. And not just yours, Mr Malfoy's father has a lot to say about that spell too," Bella couldn't help but comment on her attitude towards Lucius' excuses at that long ago trial.

- It's a lie, my father proved his innocence..." Draco shrieked at the same hour.

- 'Malfoy shut up and sit down,' Bella glared at her nephew and then went around the rows of desks and continued her lecture, 'This has caused the Ministry a lot of trouble. And now it's time to see this spell in practice," the teacher said, walking over to her desk and pulling a small spider out of a vial.

- Hello. Come to me, beautiful," Black addressed the animal. Then with the help of a spell, the sorceress increased the size of the spider, but not much.

- Imperio! - pointing her wand at the arthropod, the teacher said. Suddenly Black moved the spider onto the redhead's head. Which caused Weasley to instantly turn pale.

- 'Don't be afraid. It's completely harmless. It's not a poisonous spider.

At the sight of the pale Sixth, many Slytherins laughed. Bella only turned her attention to Malfoy Junior.

- Why are you laughing? - The teacher said, pulling the spider over Draco's head.

- Get it away from me! - squealed the white-haired Slytherin.

- She's talented, isn't she? What else could I ask her to do? Jump out of a window? Or drown herself? But let's not," Bella returned the spider to her desk. Having finished demonstrating to the students the practical effects of the Imperius spell, the teacher continued her speech:

- Many sorcerers and wizards swear that you were doing You-Know-Who's bidding while under the influence of the Imperius spell. But here's the problem: how can you tell which of them is lying? - Bella looked again at Malfoy, who preferred to remain silent. Many students noticed that the teacher was looking at the white-haired Slytherin. Malfoy continued to sulk.

- 'And before you get clever again, Malfoy, I'll say this: your father's excuse, as well as many other people who escaped from Azkaban, is only believed by ordinary people who don't delve into the practice of mental magic. But Imperius can be referred to in this section, because this spell subdues the will and mind of a person, - said Bella, and then stood in front of the third row.

- So, next spell. You're a Longbottom, aren't you? Professor Sprout says you've made some progress in botany," Black addressed the slightly overweight teenager.

- That's not all. The Cruciatus spell... - The fourth year struggled to say it, his face pained by the unpleasant memories.

- Exactly. A nasty spell. A painful spell. 'Mr Longbottom, I think you'd better come up for air, someone get him out of the classroom,' the black-haired wizardess said as she approached her desk. A fellow student sitting next to Neville quickly led Longbottom out into the corridor. Placing the spider on the table, the professor pointed her wand at the animal.

- Crucio! - said the woman and began torturing the spider.

Watching the spider in excruciating pain under the influence of the torture spell, many students turned pale and began to shake with fear and disgust.

The professor continued to demonstrate the effects of the Cruciatus spell to the class for a while longer. Until Hermione intervened.

- Stop it! Stop it! - Shouted the fourth-year girl from her seat. The girl, like many others, could no longer watch the demonstration of the torture spell.

- Perhaps you can name us the last unforgivable spell then, Miss Granger? No? - Black said after a short silence and, without waiting for an answer, pointed her wand at the spider.

- Avada Kedavra! - The bright green beam instantly reached the animal, killing it.

- Only one person survived, and he's sitting here now. In the next lesson, Tonks and I will be teaching you how to resist the Imperius Curse. You are forbidden to practice the other two spells unless you want to end up in Azkaban," the black-haired witch said, looking at Harry intently. That was the end of the lesson. The students left the classroom with mixed feelings. Some were unhappy with this method of teaching, while others praised the professor.

Harry, on the other hand, didn't care. While the other students were discussing the lesson, Potter decided to go out into the courtyard. Especially since Slytherin had a window between classes.

***

Taking a seat on a bench under a tree, Potter pulled a Dark Arts book out of his bag, which had a disguising spell cast on it. It was obvious to outsiders that the Slytherin was reading a textbook on ancient Runes. Deep in his reading, Harry paid no attention to what was going on around him. Soon several more groups of students appeared in the courtyard. Taking up all the available benches, the Hogwarts students began to go about their business. Some, like Harry, were reading a book, but those were the minority, mostly students were talking to each other. Trying to ignore the conversations of the other students, Potter began to read even more vigorously.

Walking with her friend, Daphne Greengrass noticed Potter sitting alone and looking at a book.

- 'Tracey, I'll catch up with you later,' the blonde Slytherin girl said to her friend. Davies followed her friend's gaze and smirked. The brunette had known since the first year that Greengrass had a 'crush' on Potter.

- Okay. Just don't take too long," Tracey smirked and moved on. Ignoring her friend's smirk, Daphne walked confidently towards Potter.

***

Reading the chapter on dark protection spells, Harry was so absorbed in the reading process that he didn't immediately notice Greengrass. Sitting down next to Potter, the blonde watched the brunette in silence for a while. Feeling someone's gaze on him, Harry pulled away from the book and immediately noticed the blonde sitting next to him.

- Hi Daphne," the brunette said as he put the book away in his bag.

- Hi Harry," the blonde said in response.

There was silence for a while.

- So, how did you like your DADA lesson? - Greengrass asked Potter.

- The lesson wasn't bad. Especially when the spider ended up on Malfoy and Weasel's heads! - Harry said with a smirk.

- Well, Granger would disagree with you.

- That's her right, and I don't care.

Talking amongst themselves, Harry and Daphne headed towards the Slytherin common room.

***

The next day, Potter and Greengrass, approaching the Great Hall, witnessed a huge pandemonium. As they got closer, Harry and Daphne saw a brightly coloured poster that read the following:

"The Three Wizards Tournament. Delegations from Beauxbaton and Durmstrang arrive at Hogwarts next Friday - 30 October at 6 pm. Lessons on that day will end half an hour early. After lessons, all students should take their textbook bags to their dormitories and gather in front of the castle to greet the overseas guests."

But Slytherins weren't the only ones interested in the announcement. Soon the Gryffindors came up and began discussing not only the guests who had arrived but also the eventual champion of Hogwarts.

- They're coming in a week! I wonder if Cedric knows yet? I'll go tell him," the Hufflepuff fourth year said loudly and rushed towards the stairs. But then Weasel spoke up.

- Is that part going to represent Hogwarts? - Sixth said loudly.

Grinning at the redhead's words, Harry and Daphne headed into the Great Hall. As soon as Potter sat down at his faculty table, a post owl flew into the hall, delivering a letter to the brunet. Untangling the message from the bird's paw, Harry released the owl and tucked the letter into his pocket to read later.

***

The announcement stirred the castle's inhabitants. Everywhere the Slytherin went, he heard it: "Three Wizard Tournament", "Three Wizard Tournament", "Three Wizard Tournament", "Three Wizard Tournament".

Everyone was freaking out: who would be allowed to compete, what types of magic would be involved, were the overseas students any different?

And, of course, there was a general cleaning of the castle. Several darkened portraits, much to their displeasure, were given a good scrubbing and scrubbing. The portraits squirmed in their frames, wrinkling their damp pink faces angrily. The knights' armour gleamed and their hands moved without creaking or grinding. And Argus Filch scolded the boys who forgot to wipe their feet and even brought two first-year girls to tears.

And then came the long-awaited day. As they entered the Great Hall in the morning, the students stood still for a moment: the flags of all the faculties had been hung on the walls the night before: Gryffindor's red with a golden lion, Ravenclaw's with a bronze eagle on a blue background, Hufflepuff's yellow with a black badger, and Slytherin's green with a silver snake. Behind the professor's desk fluttered an incredibly large cloth with the Hogwarts crest: a large letter "X" surrounded by a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake.

Ignoring these decorations, Harry calmly ate breakfast at the Slytherin table. Nothing noteworthy happened until evening. At exactly half past six in the evening, Potter, along with the other Slytherins, was already standing in front of the castle. Standing next to Harry was Daphne. Unlike Gryffindors and Puffenduys, Slytherin and Claws used warming charms, so snakes and ravens, unlike lions and badgers, were not afraid of the cold.

-The Beauxbaton delegation is quite close.... - said the headmistress suddenly, looking up at the sky.

- Where, where?" - shouted the students, turning their heads.

- Over there! - She pointed at the sky in the direction of the Forbidden Forest. Something huge, much larger than a broom, no, a hundred brooms, was flying across the blue-black sky, rapidly increasing in size.

- A dragon! - squeaked the frightened freshman.

- Are you stupid? It's a flying house! - said Dennis Creevey confidently.

His guess was close to the truth. A giant black shadow was almost touching the treetops. The light pouring from the windows of the castle illuminated the approaching marvel - a huge blue wagon that looked like a tower. It was pulled through the air by a dozen winged golden horses with white manes, each the size of an elephant. The first three rows of disciples filed backwards.

Coming in for a landing, the carriage descended at breakneck speed. Finally, with a deafening rumble, the hooves of golden horses the size of a good dish touched the ground at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The carriage landed and rolled, bouncing on its huge wheels; the horses nodded their huge heads, bulging huge fiery red eyes. A door decorated with a coat of arms: two crossed golden sticks, three red stars flying out of each; a boy in a blue robe jumped out of the carriage, bent down, fumbled for something on the floor of the carriage and unfolded the golden steps. Immediately he respectfully jumped back, and a black lacquered shoe, no smaller than a child's sledge, appeared from the carriage, followed immediately by the owner of the shoe.

Her face spread into a smile. She approached the Headmistress of Hogwarts and extended her jewelled hand.

- 'Dear Madame Maxime, welcome to Hogwarts!

- Mrs Le Fey,' said Madame Maxime in a chesty voice. - 'I trust you are in good health?

- Thank you. I am in fine form.

- My pupils," the Frenchwoman waved her huge hand nonchalantly in reply.

As Harry looked more closely at the Frenchwomen, he noticed a familiar face among them. Standing in the crowd with the other Beauxbaton representatives was Fleur Delacour. Remembering the arrogant blonde's behaviour at the Potter Manor party, Harry shuddered slightly. Although Delacourt was very pretty, Potter didn't like her arrogance.

- Look who's here," Harry said quietly to Daphne, pointing at Delacour.

Greengrass glanced unkindly in the Frenchwoman's direction. Meanwhile, Morgana continued her conversation with the Beauxbaton headmistress.

- 'Has Ka'g-ka'gov arrived yet?

- Not yet. We should expect him any minute now. - The black-haired sorceress replied, 'Will you meet him here or will you go straight to the castle?

- We'd better go to the castle. It's cold here. Except for the horses.

- Our magical creature care teacher will be happy to take care of them.

- Very well. Follow me," Madame Maxime waved her hand to her students. And the Hogwarts students parted, letting the guests to the stone steps.

Soon a sailing ship appeared in the centre of the Black Lake. After a while, it docked at the shore. Passengers boarded, and moving figures flashed through the portholes. The man who came first was wearing a different kind of fur - smooth, shiny, silvery, matching his hair.

- Director Le Fey," he said rather coldly as he walked up the slope.

- Headmaster Karkaroff," Morgana replied just as coldly, keeping her gaze on him.

- Good old Hogwarts. How good to be here again... How good... Viktor, come here. In the warmth. Do you mind, Headmaster? Viktor has a bit of a cold... - Karkarov waved his hand to one of the students and he came over.

- 'Of course not,' Morgana replied and stepped aside so that the Durmstrang students could follow their Headmaster confidently to the main entrance of Hogwarts.

As soon as the Hogwarts students saw the famous catcher, there was an unhealthy excitement in the welcoming crowd. Weasel was especially excited. The Sixth immediately started looking for some paper to try and approach Krum and get his autograph.

"What a jerk," Harry said mentally as he looked at the redheaded idiot. After greeting the foreign visitors, the Hogwarts students headed back to the castle. As soon as Harry entered the castle, the Slytherin wanted to head to his faculty lounge, but no such luck. Someone called out to Potter:

- Harry! - came a melodious voice with a French accent from behind Potter. Turning around, the Slytherin saw Fleur walking straight towards him.

"Damn, you're the only thing I need right now," Harry muttered mentally.