A Spectacular Entrance

Professor McGonagall's eyes narrowed slightly, but the only thing she said about it was simply, "Keep her quiet."

The students, staff, and Aurors of Hogwarts, along with Hedwig, all waited in anticipation. By now the students of Hogwarts had completely abandoned any ideas of organization, simply standing (or sitting) wherever they desired. For most, that meant whichever place gave the best view through the windows. The professors had tried to restore order for about five minutes, before hastily giving up. They too were excited to see the arrivals.

"How do you reckon they're going to arrive?" asked Dean to the other fourth year Gryffindors.

"Maybe they can apparate! They might be allowed to do that under the age of seventeen, wherever they come from!" Ron whispered excitedly.

"You can't apparate on the Hogwarts Grounds." said both Harry and Hermione, resulting in many chuckles from those around them. Hermione smiled happily at Harry, her buck teeth showing slightly.

"What then, reckon they might come on broomsticks?" asked Seamus, "Or maybe the train?"

"I doubt it." whispered Hermione, "If they were using the train, they would both have to get to King's Cross, which is rather inefficient. And I can't see a group of students flying thousands of miles, that would take too much effort and time."

"So then how are they going to come?" asked Pavarti, sneakily threading a butterfly ornament into her hair when Professor McGonagall's back was turned.

Parvati's question was answered by a shout from one of the younger Hufflepuff's, who was pointing at the sky in awe.

"Would you look at that?" she screamed.

"That, as Ms. Perveniet has chosen to announce," began Professor Dumbledore, pausing as the students chuckled at the blushing girl, "Is the Beauxbatons' Carriage, which contains the school's delegations." Dumbledore made his way to the front of the hall, clearly planning on being the first to greet the guests.

The students watched as the carriage flew closer to the grounds, becoming easier to see as it did so. The carriage was painted a pale blue that matched the sky, decorated with what appeared to be ornate gold designs. It was being pulled by seven incredibly large, white, winged horses, all of whom were proportional to the rather large carriage.

It looks like a large, fancy, French version of Father Christmas' sleigh.

The students of Hogwarts watched as the carriage dropped down onto the earth floor, the Abraxan pulling it skidding to a halt. The carriage had landed on the Hogwarts grounds, a few dozen metres away from them.

Harry watched as the door of the carriage shot wide open, with what appeared to be a young boy in pale blue robes springing from within. The boy fumbled with a rollout carpet for a few moments, before managing to spread it across the floor, creating a walkway. Once he had done so, the student bowed slightly, his right hand outstretched.

From within the carriage came the largest woman Harry had ever seen.

"Blimey, she's huge!" whispered Ron, attracting the attention of everyone around him.

"Who is she?" asked Dean.

"I dunno. She's got to be a head taller than Hagrid!" Seamus hissed. Many of the other students were whispering to one another, clearly fascinated by the woman's size. They all watched as a group of around two dozen student's came out from the large carriage, many wrapped in scarves that hid their faces from view. The French Delegations began making their way to the steps to the Great Hall, where Dumbledore was happily waiting for them.

"Bet you ten sickles Hagrid's going to try something by the end of the year." said Seamus, sniggering slightly.

"Shut it, or I'll put you in detention." said a voice from behind them. The speaker pulled down her hood to reveal bright magenta hair. It was Tonks.

"Wotcher, Harry, Hedwig!" she exclaimed standing behind him at the Gryffindor table. He smiled at her, Hedwig ruffling her feathers as she hooted quietly in greeting. Harry and Tonks turned back to the windows. Just as the French Delegations were metres away from Dumbledore, they all heard Lee Jordan yell loudly, his nose pressed against the glass.

"Would you look at the lake!"

The once semi-peaceful surface of the Great Lake was now creating dangerous waves, all of which seemed to originate from the same place. The waves grew larger and larger, eventually stopping once they had reached the size of thirty feet. When they did so, a large boat had appeared, which quickly anchored itself to the shore.

"How is that even possible?" asked Harry, turning to Tonks.

"It's magic, must be enchanted to move faster underwater."

"No, I mean, it's a lake! How'd the boat even get there?"

Tonks paused for a moment, clearly understanding what Harry was saying.

"It's not actually a lake." said Hermione knowingly, "It just looks like a really large one, from this angle. If you go beyond the Hogwarts grounds you'll see it keeps going on both sides."

"So it's really just an incredibly large river with practically no current?" asked Harry, watching as Hermione nodded.

Then why name it the 'Great Lake'?"

Hermione shrugged.

"Maybe because it looks like a lake from the Hogwarts grounds. If you continued walking along both sides for quite a while you'd see that the water thins out significantly, before expanding. It's like having a dam with a very small hole on both ends of the lake, which is why there's no current."

Harry and Tonks both nodded, turning back to watch Dumbledore greet the French Delegations.

"Where's Hestia?" whispered Harry, his eyes still facing forward.

"She's behind the staff table, with about half of the Aurors. I'm only here because I asked to walk through the tables. They have one Auror per table." replied Tonks. Harry turned his head towards the staff table, and sure enough, Hestia was standing there. He smiled at her, earning a discrete one from the Auror, before she motioned for him to pay attention, still smiling.

"Back to your seats, now!" yelled Professor McGonagall, causing all of the students to reluctantly return to their seats.

.....

Can't wait to read more exciting chapters then what are you waiting for Join my p*atreon right now.

2+ FREE ADVANCED CHAPTERS FOR ALL FREE MEMBERS.

60+ Premium chapters.

Link: p*atreon.com/Dream_Guardian (Remove the *)