There was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air that day. Nobody was very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; even Potions was more bearable than usual.

When the bell rang early, Tori hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited their bags and books as they had been instructed, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the Entrance Hall. The Heads of houses were ordering their students into lines.

"Weasley, straighten your hat," Professor McGonagall snapped at George. "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair."

Parvati Patil scowled and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait. "Follow me, please," said Professor McGonagall, "First-years in front... no pushing..."

They filed down the front steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest. Tori stood between Fred and George, staring outside. Students glanced around at each other, wondering how the other schools would be arriving.

"How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?" Fred whispered, glancing down at his watch. "It's nearly six."

"I doubt it," Lee shook his head, leaning against one of the pillars.

"How, then? Broomsticks?" Tori suggested, looking up at the starry sky. "I don't think so... not from that far away..." Alicia appeared next to them with Angelina.

"A Portkey? Or they could Apparate – maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from..." Angelina suggested. "You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, though," Tori said.

They scanned the darkening grounds excitedly, but nothing was moving; everything was still, silent and quiet as usual. Maybe the foreign students were preparing a dramatic entrance...

And then Dumbledore called out from the back row, where he stood with the other teachers. "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

"Where?" Many students asked eagerly, all looking in different directions. "There!" yelled Tori's friend Hazel Doe, pointing over the Forest.

Something large, much larger than a broomstick – or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks – was hurtling across the deep blue sky towards the castle, growing larger all the time...

"It's a dragon!" Shrieked one of the first-years, losing her head completely. "Don't be stupid... it's a flying house!" said another.

Their guess was closer... as the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest, and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powder-blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring towards them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant.

The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming into land at a tremendous speed – then, with an almighty crash that made Neville Longbottom jump back onto a Slytherin fifth-year's foot – the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery-red eyes.

The ground began to rumble, causing students to gasp. A loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting towards them from out of the darkness; a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner was moving along a river-bed.

'"The lake!" yelled Lee, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake."

From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water – except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the center; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks – and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor...

What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool and then Tori saw the rigging. "It's a mast!" She yelled, pointing.

Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it was a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide towards the bank.

A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank. The crowd cheered, rushing inside to the Great Hall.

✧ ✦ ✧

Tori sat in the Great Hall, murmuring excitedly with the rest of the Hogwarts students. Dumbledore stood up, smiling at each and every one of the students. "Everyone! Please join me in welcoming the lovely students of the Beauxbatons Academy of magic and their headmistress Madame Maxime!"

Immediately the doors opened to show boys and girls all dressed in pale blue robes. They began to dance, and blue butterflies surrounded them. They all sighed simultaneously, bowing.

The hall filled with applause, and a few whistles as they continued down the path. Heads turned once again, met with gasps. Tori had only ever seen one person as large as this woman in her life, and that was Professor Hagrid; she doubted whether there was an inch difference in their heights.

Yet somehow – maybe simply because she was used to Hagrid – this woman (now at the foot of the steps, and looking around at the waiting, wide-eyed crowd) seemed even more unnaturally large. As she stepped into the light flooding from the Entrance Hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face, large, black, liquid-looking eyes, and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers.

"That's one big woman." Seamus Finigan whispered.

Dumbledore started to clap; the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman.

Her face relaxed into a gracious smile, and she walked forwards towards Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it.

"My dear Madame Maxime," He said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dorr," said Madame Maxime, in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"

"On excellent form, I thank you," Dumbledore replied.

'My pupils,' said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her. Tori, whose attention had been focused completely upon Madame Maxime, now noticed that around a dozen boys and girls – all, by the look of them, in their late teens – had emerged from their dances and were now standing behind Madame Maxime.

They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. The hall wore dainty hats and was staring up at the ceiling with apprehensive looks on their faces.

Madame Maxime had little more to say. Dumbledore as her students took a seat. "And now our friends from the north, please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and the high master Igor Karkaroff."

The doors durst opened, revealing young men slamming wooden canes to the ground. The students of Durmstrang began performing acrobatics, flipping over and over again.

The Hogwarts students stared in awe. "That's Viktor Krum!" Angelina hissed, shaking Tori several times. Many other students seemed to notice this as well. The halls filled with whispers as they watched the final fire trick.

But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort; sleek and silver, like his hair.

"Dumbledore!" He called heartily, as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you."

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied.

Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle, they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl) did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.

"Dear old Hogwarts," He said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and Tori noticed that his smile did not extend to his eyes, which remained cold and shrewd.

"Viktor Krum — Tori! Viktor Krum!"

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED!!!

thank you all so much for sticking with me and tori!