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.
Harry and the others watched as Dumbledore greeted the giant lady, who they soon learned was named 'Madame Maxime'. After Dumbledore noticed that many of the French students were shivering slightly, he allowed them to take a seat, which they did so at the Ravenclaw table. Madame Maxime sat in a seat to the side of Dumbledore, towering above the other staff members.
Those in the hall watched as the Durmstrang Delegations made their way to the place where Dumbledore stood. As the delegations drew closer, many of those within the hall began to whisper excitedly.
"Krum!" Ron exclaimed, his voice suddenly hoarse, "That's Victor Krum, that is!"
Many others in the hall whispered in excitement. Harry even saw a few older female students fighting over a piece of lipstick, which they intended to use in order to procure an autograph.
"I hope the delegations don't act that way when they see me." Harry whispered to Tonks, motioning towards the group of girls. Upon catching Harry's line of sight, she laughed gently, before turning back to Harry.
"They won't, don't worry. Most people I know think about you the same way they do with Dumbledore." she said quietly, as Dumbledore introduced the hall to the newcomers.
"In other words?" asked Harry.
"With awe or reverence. That's how I used to, you know. Same with everyone I know."
Harry smiled widely at that, turning to look at Tonks.
"There is no need to bow, my dear mortal." Harry said jokingly in a deep voice, causing Tonks to blush slightly, as well as attempt to hide her laughter.
"You're very different from what I expected, you know." whispered Tonks, as the two of them turned back to Dumbledore, "Anyway, most of the people in the auror office know about your annual adventures, Dumbledore had to tell the Ministry by law. The only person who is supposed to know is Madam Bones, not even Fudge should, but most of the Aurors have heard parts of the conversations.
Madam Bones practically forced us to keep quiet, we're not allowed to say a word about it to anyone. But a lot of the office doesn't believe it, I don't think they like the idea of a kid being better than them - "
" - It was almost entirely luck, but go on."
"Right. Anyway, we never really heard much about whatever happened last year, Madam Bones think's Dumbledore's hiding something.
.....
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