บท 189: Beauxbatons
"A joint business venture," said George. "With an even split: 25/25/25/25."
"Didn't we say we wanted your runic magic in our product development?" said Fred.
"We'd never have got this far without you," added George. "Since Bagman stiffed us."
"What do you mean?" asked Oleandra.
"Before the Quidditch World Finals started, we bet Bagman that Ireland would win, but that Krum would catch the Snitch," said Fred. "And Bagman paid us with Leprechaun gold!"
"But lucky for us," said George, "with your little stunt at the finals, orders for our joke products keep coming in! We're not lacking Galleons, but manpower, really."
"We really need the help," said Fred.
"To tell you the truth," said Jordan, "we're swamped."
At that moment, their brother Ron and the two others of the Gryffindor trio chose to sit next to them while they were having their very serious business deal.
"Swamped with what?" asked Ron, inserting himself into the conversation. "Homework?"
"Swamped with annoying siblings," said Fred, looking irritated at the interruption.
"What do you need help with?" Ron asked George.
"Help getting you out of our hair," said George.
"You're trying to get Oleandra to help you enter the Triwizard Tournament?" Harry asked. "Got any ideas so far on how you'd enter?"
"You know what," said Fred, "that's not a bad idea, she knows a lot about things we know nothing about. George, let's add that to the contract."
"Just so you know, I'm not signing anything," Oleandra said.
"I'll add a clause to the contract that's she's not signing anything," said Fred, before handing Oleandra a napkin. "Now, your signature here, please."
"Regarding the tournament," said George. "I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen, but she wasn't telling."
"Wonder what the tasks are going to be?" said Ron thoughtfully. "You know, I bet we could do them, Harry, we've done dangerous stuff before. We can't be that far behind her…"
"But you've never performed in front of a panel of judges, you haven't," said Fred. "McGonagall says they'll be awarding points based on how well they perform each of the three tasks."
"I have," said Harry. "I lost, though."
"Hiya, big Sis," said Astoria, as she walked past her to where Ginny was sitting. "I think they're looking for you over at the Slytherin table; Parkinson's looking awfully mad at you, and Daphne looks bored."
"Well," said Oleandra, rising from her seat, "it's been a pleasure, but I have to go. We'll speak more once we know exactly how the champion is chosen, okay?"
"We'll hold you to that!" Fred and George called to her as she walked back to her own seat next to Daphne and Tracey.
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Oleandra didn't pay much attention in class that day; thoughts kept whirling around in her head. When the bell rang half an hour early to signal the end of the class, she exited the Potions classroom and went straight back to her common room with the other Slytherins to deposit her belongings, then rushed back to the Entrance Hall.
The Heads of the four Houses were ordering their students into lines. Slytherins were usually very disciplined, or rather, Professor Snape was just very scary, so he had an easy time arranging his students. Once every student had been arranged into neat lines, they were led down the steps to the front of the castle where the visitors would be arriving. Oleandra checked her pocket watch; it was nearly six already.
"Ooh," squealed Tracey. "I can't wait! How do you think they'll be coming?"
"I daresay they'll want to make an entrance," said Daphne. "They'll make a spectacle of it, I'm sure."
"Durmstrang's from the north, judging by their uniforms," said Oleandra. "Maybe they'll arrive on an iceberg, or a snow cloud?"
"In that case, Beauxbatons might as well arrive on a giant baguette," scoffed Daphne, "seeing as they're French."
"It was just an idea," said Oleandra, irritated.
"Quiet," said Professor Snape, and the three girls wisely chose to zip it.
After a moment, Oleandra heard Dumbledore's voice call out from the back, "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"
"Where?" was the general consensus among many students.
"There!" Oleandra couldn't help but say, pointing to the sky over the Forbidden Forest as she opened her Mystic Eyes.
It was one, enormous… carriage, just like the ones that brought Hogwarts students up to the castle from Hogsmeade station at the beginning of the year. Except, of course, that it was flying, and drawn by Pegasi. Hold on, weren't these winged horses a little too big for Pegasi?
The carriage hurtled towards the ground, producing a great crash as it landed. Good thing it had a competent suspension system, or the powder-blue carriage would have flown into bits. And now that the carriage had landed, Oleandra could examine the winged horses closer; they were enormous, the size of elephants! They had golden coats, and eyes that glowed red like a dragon's throat before it breathed fire.
The doors to the carriage sprang open, and boy dressed in blue robes jumped out and fiddled with the underside of the carriage, causing a set of golden steps to fold out. Once the preparations were done, he stepped to the side to allow the biggest woman Oleandra had ever seen to pass. She was even slightly taller than Professor Hagrid, in Oleandra's opinion.
"She's freakishly tall," whispered Tracey in Oleandra's ear, her eyes wide as saucers.
"Shh!" warned Daphne. "Don't stare; it isn't polite!"
"I wonder if they've got 'how's the weather up there' jokes in France?" Oleandra whispered.
"Shh!" Daphne insisted. They were in enough trouble with Professor Snape as it was!
Oleandra watched the Beauxbatons headmistress, who stood heads and shoulders over even Professor Dumbledore, who was a very tall man, lead her own students through the crowd of Hogwarts students and up the steps to the Entrance Hall. Oleandra noticed that the students Madame Maxime had brought with her seemed quite old, relatively speaking. (For Oleandra, who was fourteen, anybody older than twenty was considered old, and anybody older than thirty was considered ancient.)
"It's quite a shame for the students who couldn't come," Oleandra observed. "Those who weren't selected are going to miss a once-in-a-lifetime event."
"You can't expect them to uproot thousands of students once a year every five years," said Daphne. "But I've heard that depending on the task in question, it can be quite boring to watch. For instance—"
But Oleandra had stopped listening; something was off with the Black Lake, she could feel it in her bones.
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