Teen Wolf at Hogwarts

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***

Of course things were going to go wrong. That was clear even to the first-years, who, out of curiosity, had forgotten their reticence and intimidation, and crawled out of the castle, sleepy and dishevelled. Okay, it wasn't really that bad. They were provided with a huge ship that looked superb to say the least. The stunning rostra had everyone sighing in admiration. The sails with the Hogwarts logo fluttered in the wind. The wood glistened in the sun. Everything looked amazing, but there was one 'but'.

- Why the fuck did it float away? - Stiles, yawning, scratched the back of his head in bewilderment.

Yes, their ship was really not where it was supposed to be. For some unknown reason it had gone up in the air a few hours ago, and now the professors and headmasters were running around trying to find a way out. The students, on the other hand, were simply lying on the grass, chatting with happily smiling friends. It was only about half past eight now, but all the students were already hoping for a cancellation.

- Why can't they just use a spell to attract the ship? - Malia frowned.

- There's a defence on it,' Will shook his head.

- From what, Merlin Almighty? - Stiles groaned, rubbing his aching neck.

- From spells like that, I suppose? - Lydia sighed irritably.

- We have no-one to defend ourselves against, so why would we do it at all? - Stilinski grumbled, burying his nose in his suitcase.

Hogwarts was obligated to show up at Beauxbaton no later than six in the evening. They were obligated. Their task now was to at least get off the ground. And first they needed to get their departing ship back to this very ground. Things were definitely going to go wrong.

- Technically,' Tyler said, sitting nearby, giving Sonia a sad look as she passed, 'you could have transgressed in peace. No ships or anything like that.

- No one knows the exact location of Beauxbaton,' Lydia countered.

- They could have given it to us, if they knew the predicament we were in,' the sixth year frowned, sighing as his girlfriend whirled past again, muttering something about hooks and ropes.

- We find ourselves in them all the time. That doesn't mean everyone has to tell us different secrets forever. Soon there wouldn't be any left in the world,' Allison sighed.

- I'm telling you, Durmstrang is on its way,' Stiles muttered sleepily.

- Stilinski, don't sleep,' Lydia poked her friend in the shoulder, only to receive an unintelligible mumble in response. Sighing, Martin shifted her gaze to the ship, 'Is it just me, or did it sink a little?

- Hallucinations,' Will said emotionlessly, covering his eyes with his palm.

Sighing, Lydia lay down on the grass next to Allison, shifting her gaze to the sky. Another hour and a half passed, and Martin was just beginning to fall asleep when someone took to shaking her shoulder with exasperation.

- Get up, get up, get up, get up, get up,' Martin opened one eye and stared at a similarly sleepy Allison leaning over the redhead.

- Well, what is it? - Martin sighed unhappily, rising.

Sitting up, Lydia frowned. It was hard to understand what was going on, why there were so many people around, and why the hell she had fallen asleep on the grass. But a huge ship standing nearby put things into perspective. Rounding her eyes, Martin jumped to her feet, shocked to see the enormous thing.

- Who moored it? - Martin asked, not even turning to her friend.

- They say that Tyler decided to help Sonya and invented something that worked right away,' Argent said, picking up her friend's suitcase from the ground.

- He couldn't have done it before, of course,' Isaac arched his eyebrows.

- It's better than if he hadn't done it at all,' Malia waved her hand, dragging Martin behind her to the ship, her arm around her shoulders.

Up close, this something seemed even more enormous. The dark wood gleamed in the sun. The sails fluttered beautifully in the wind. At the bow, arms spread out, stood Dumbledore, looking at his charges.

- Dear friends, we can set sail! - he announced to the students, smiling broadly. - I think the fact that we were supposed to do this three hours ago should make you hurry up. Five minutes goodbye,' he added and walked towards the whispering professors.

There was silence for a moment, and then it was like everyone went crazy. There was shouting, hugging, laughing, as if afraid not to see each other again. Lydia turned to her friends and hugged them both, again whispering something about how she would try to be sure to come back for Christmas. Tyler levitated the girl's things on board, but she didn't even have time to thank him - the guy disappeared into the crowd and ran towards the excited Sonia.

- Write to me, please,' Allison whispered in Lydia's ear.

- I will, love,' Martin exhaled, taking a step away from her friend and hugging Isaac.

- Gryffindor, to the ship! - came Sonia's ringing voice.

- Slytherin, move it! - Derek shouted at once.

- Even here there's competition,' Will grinned, clapping Matt on the shoulder.

- I'd say this is a great start to a love story, but the look in Tyler's eyes scares me,' Dahler informed him in a low voice.

- Stilinski, Martin, to the ship! - Sonja's voice came again. The girl shook her head adamantly, receiving sighs in return. With a satisfied hum, the blonde rushed to help Derek.

- See you in a year? - Cora shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, standing in front of Will.

- See you in a year,' Will nodded with a smile. When the girl held out her palm to the brunet after thinking for a few seconds, the Slytherin hummed, pulling Hale to her. Dumbfounded for a few seconds, Cora responded to the boy's embrace, snuggling into his t-shirt and squinting.

- So cute it's gross,' Isaac whispered in Lydia's ear. Rolling her eyes, Martin headed towards the ship, helping Stiles with his things.

All the students invited to the Tournament hung over the edge of the side, trying to get a glimpse of their friends. Lydia thought she heard McCall mutter something to McConagall as she waved:

- Professor, we're all heartbroken! Cancel the lessons, will you?

Getting the ship up was apparently a lot easier than getting it back down, as the entire Hogwarts delegation took off two minutes after roll call. There were sixty-one of them in total, as no one had ever been able to turn down the trip, and the Headmasters seemed to be on the cusp of happiness when they found out that no one had been left forgotten down below. Dumbledore, whistling something extremely cheerful to himself, disappeared into his quarters.

- Why do we need quarters? - Will raised his eyebrows as everyone rushed downstairs to take their seats.

- I don't know, but I sure don't want to spend the night here,' Stiles said, rushing after them.

- He knows we're not staying here, doesn't he? - The Slytherin said apprehensively.

- I'm not so sure now,' Martin shook her head, looking down again.

Literally five metres away from them there was a cloud, now much more like a pile of rarefied air.

- I'd still like to touch it,' Will admitted, resting his hands on the side of the boat.

The sun had just risen, and it was shining unrealistically bright. Nevertheless, the boys did not have to squint, for it was constantly covered by clouds. The blurred silhouette of Hogwarts was still visible below, and Lydia would have sworn she didn't feel any pain in her chest at the sight of the castle, but she never liked to lie. As if reading Martin's thoughts, Will threw an arm around her shoulder, pulling her to him.

- But we're together,' the Slytherin said soothingly as he looked past Olivia, the fifth year Gryffindor Head Girl.

- But we're without her,' Martin sighed.

- Allison will write to you every day, I'm sure,' the Slytherin patted his friend on the shoulder, taking a few steps away and picking up his bags of belongings, 'Do you need any help? I don't have much,' the boy nodded at the two bags in his hands and shifted his sceptical gaze to the four standing nearby.

- You'll have to do it yourself,' Martin nodded her head. Nodding understandingly, Will headed downstairs.

With a sigh, Lydia looked into the bag hanging on her shoulder. Everything important was in there: a sketchbook, magic pencils, a collodograph, a sleeping Sophie, and a photograph. Frowning, Martin pulled it out, trying to remember when she'd taken it in the first place. The answer came by itself. The photograph showed Lydia and Allison in an embrace against the backdrop of evening London. Martin's face wasn't visible as Argent stood closer to the lens, the brunette's own lips stretched in a warm smile and her eyes squeezed shut. It was that very evening: hours before, Lydia had told her friends that her mother had found a new husband, and Allison couldn't hold back the tears. In the corner of the photograph, you can see Stiles's black trainer, and just above it, his palm reaching out to his friends. Lydia had no idea how or when Argent had planted that picture on her, but she hadn't been wrong, it did make her feel better. Smiling, the redhead ran her thumb over the photo and slipped it back into her bag, trying not to wake Sophie.

- All right, Martin? - came from nearby.

- Yes,' Lydia nodded, not even turning to look at Derek, who was already gone.

As it turned out, the cabins were for two and three. Stiles had somehow managed to get one of the better ones on the middle level. There was none of the frantic shaking that was on the lower level, or the noise of the upper level.

- I'm athletic, I couldn't outrun anyone,' Stiles snorted, still breathing heavily.

- Of course you are, sweetheart, I'm sure you are,' Will nodded, sitting up on his bed.

- I can see the sarcasm in your speech, it's not right,' Stiles stretched out, rolling onto his stomach.

- Oh, Master, show me how to do it! - the Slytherin exclaimed a little too dramatically.

- You have to say it in such a way that you don't know if it's sarcasm or truth,' Stilinski replied.

- God, are you serious? - Martin rounded her eyes.

- Yes!' the Gryffindor nodded, 'It has to come from the heart!

- I think I'll take a walk,' Martin sighed as she left the room.

- Call me when we pass La Mancha! - Stiles shouted after her, and turned to his friend with a determined look.

- What are you doing? - Will asked fearfully, pulling back a little.

- So, sarcasm... - The Gryffindor clapped his hands together loudly as he sat up in a stool.

- Merlin, who pulled my tongue in the first place? - Will whispered half-heartedly, raising his eyes in grief.

***

- Are we having double potions on Mondays again? - Scott exclaimed indignantly, reading the list McGonagall had given him a few minutes ago for the sixth time.

- I liked you better when you ate,' Malia grumbled.

- 'No, do you realise at all that they've put us double potions? On Monday! In the morning! - the poor Gryffindor kept exclaiming.

- 'Mr McCall, I am flattered by your joy, but unfortunately, due to this delay, today's first lessons are cancelled. Don't worry, we'll be sure to give you our full attention in a week's time,' Snape tossed to him as he walked past. Groaning, Scott dropped his head onto the table.

- Don't worry, third period History of Magic, you'll sleep it off,' Allison squeezed her friend's shoulder gently.

- Yeah, and then transfiguration,' McCall grumbled.

- Don't whine, please. - Isaac grimaced.

- My best mate's away, let me suffer! - Scott exclaimed indignantly.

- 'He's gone away from all of us, please be quiet,' Malia moaned, rubbing her temples.

- Are you all right? - Argent frowned worriedly.

- My head hurts, but it's fine,' Tate nodded.

- Why don't you go get some sleep? History of Magic is an hour away,' Isaac suggested.

- Then I've got two. Okay, I'll meet you at Transfiguration,' Tate patted Leihi's shoulder and walked leisurely towards the exit of the hall.

- And you're not being scolded? - came a voice from nearby. Turning around, the sophomores saw a surprised freshman.

- Us? - Isaac snorted, rolling his eyes.

- You're Hazel, aren't you? - Allison lifted the corners of her lips.

- Yes,' the girl nodded.

- We won't be scolded anymore,' Scott muttered into the table, 'We're too old for that.

- You were truant a year ago, too, McCall,' Allison rolled her eyes.

- Wow,' Liam, who was sitting nearby, exclaimed, 'You skipped? Cool!

- And you didn't get caught? - Mason, sitting next to him, marvelled.

- Well,' Scott, who had immediately pulled his beautiful forehead away from the table, fixed his fringes and cocked his head upwards, 'I was with a friend of mine who left today, so no, not once. We were too good at hiding, no one would have just been able to do it.

- Amazing! - Liam sighed admiringly.

- I wish Lydia could hear it now,' Matt said thoughtfully, his fist resting on his cheek.

- It's a good thing she can't hear it, God,' Scott said in a low voice, his eyes rounding fearfully.

- I'm afraid I have to take her place now,' Allison sighed.

- No, you can't,' McCall stretched out even more fearfully.

- Do you doubt it? - Allison raised her eyebrows.

- What? No, I don't mean that,' Scott mumbled.

- You're pretty cool,' Mason said.

- That's much better,' Allison nodded in satisfaction, 'Don't listen to Scott. You can't skip class. It's very bad, and you could start falling behind in your studies.

- Why aren't Stiles and I falling behind? - McCall raised his eyebrows.

- Thanks to Lydia and Will leaving,' Argent sighed.

- By the way, McCall, you won't have anyone to cheat from when you don't do your homework,' Isaac said, as if he'd just realised it.

- I know, and that's the worst part,' Scott sighed heavily, making puppy dog eyes at the brunette.

- Scott! - Allison exclaimed indignantly.

- I'm just kidding,' the boy mumbled.

- You jokers, let's go in the living room, I'm stuffed,' Matt patted his stomach with a sour face.

- Maybe I should go to bed for a couple of hours, too. - Isaac scratched the back of his head thoughtfully, getting up from the table.

- Leahy, McCall, I'm not doing history alone! Especially since it's adjacent to ours,' Allison exclaimed indignantly, following her friends at a leisurely pace.

- It's adjacent to Ravenclaw, come on,' Scott yawned, holding the door for his friend.

- You're not leaving me, okay? - Argent squinted, folding her arms across her chest.

- Merlin, you look unrealistically like Lydia right now,' Isaac stumbled back, glaring at his friend.

- Allison, I don't want to lose you, come back! - Scott started shaking poor Argent by the shoulders.

- Are they all right? - Liam gingerly stretched out, leaning over to Tyler.

- Trust me, they're fine,' the boy waved his hand, turning back to his conversation with Peter.

- It's Gryffindor, get used to it,' Kyle snorted as he walked past.

- Sorry? - Peter squinted his eyes. Kyle, as if reluctant, turned slowly towards him, shoving his hands in his pockets.

- You're all unrealistically weird,' the clawed man grumbled, 'I had the misfortune to spend an entire summer with one of you. Honour, libido, insanity. It's an amazing package.

- Which one of us could stand you? Who should I start feeling sorry for? - Tyler pretended to pout.

- My sister, Lydia,' Kyle smirked crookedly, 'And I've met her mates a couple of times too. Only a couple, thank Candida. Always throwing something out. Six-year-old-level logical thinking. It's creepy,' the clawed man ended his speech with an overly dramatic clutching of his heart.

- Dude, you shouldn't make a fuss about these guys, okay? - Tyler said calmly, arching an eyebrow sceptically, 'I wish I'd known sooner and given them a reward for their patience. It's within my power,' he winked, patting the headmaster's badge on his chest, 'And it's also within my power to deduct fifteen points from your faculty for insulting my fellow students. Now get lost and don't spoil my mood, I'm already suffering, my girlfriend who makes me study at least a little bit left me. Shoo,' the boy simply waved his hand, forgetting about the insolent claw in the next instant. Kyle turned around, glaring angrily, and stomped off towards the exit of the hall.

- Remember, we're all for each other here,' Peter patted Liam on the shoulder before heading off to class.

- I guess we were right to tell the Hat about Gryffindor,' Mason scratched his chin thoughtfully.

- I agree,' Liam nodded.

***

La Mancha was truly beautiful. At first Lydia didn't even realise they were flying over it, staring at the waters. But then, perking up, she pulled a collodograph out of her bag, taking pictures of everything she could. And she took fifteen collodographs for sure. Forgetting Stiles's request, Martin just stood at the stern of the ship, looking round and round.

Lydia had always been attracted to places like this. No civilisation. Or rather, almost none. She was a little annoyed by the fact that there was a tunnel just a few metres beneath her, but there was no other way, because Muggles didn't have flying ships, unfortunately. The sun reflected off the water, making the silver hair of the occasional mermaid surfacing even brighter.

- I wonder how the Muggles don't notice them? - Someone muttered. Lydia naturally expected to see Stiles, and had already thought of what she was going to say, but she couldn't get a word out when she turned around.

- Whittemore? - The girl raised her eyebrows. The Slytherin apparently didn't expect to be on the upper deck alone either, as his eyebrows rose up and his lips tightened.

- Martin? - The boy replied in her tone.

- What are you doing here? - Lydia inquired, turning away again.

- Do you have many options? - The Slytherin said wryly, approaching her from the side.

- I don't have any,' the redhead shrugged, smiling at the mermaid who waved at her.

- I did, actually,' Whittemore snorted.

- I didn't think Slytherins were romantic,' Martin looked at him with interest.

- 'Imagine that,' the boy grimaced. Lydia smirked and scolded another sea creature, which gave a loud gasp and ducked back under the water,' Jackson said, resting his palms against the side of the ship.

- It'll hold,' Lydia rolled her eyes.

- Yes?' Jackson smiled, 'What about the nobility? - The boy wiggled his eyebrows.

- These creatures kill people, can I forget about nobility for a few moments?

- I think it's possible in our case,' Whittemore shrugged indifferently.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments, and Lydia was about to leave, but the Slytherin suddenly looked at her as if he wanted to ask her something. Frowning, Martin turned to the boy:

- What?' the redhead asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

- I don't know if this is appropriate,' Martin's eyebrows crept up at those words, but with the Slytherin's next phrase, they returned to their usual state, 'But I kind of don't care. Is it true that that Ravenclaw bloke is your brother now?

- Unfortunately,' Martin sighed, 'How do you know and what do you care?

- My father is on quite a warm relationship with your mother,' the boy shrugged, looking down again, 'I was just curious. I met him a few times that year. And they weren't the most pleasant encounters of my life.

- I thought he'd be afraid of Slytherins,' the redhead snorted.

- He was,' the boy grinned, 'He didn't know I was a Slytherin at first. But then he took off with his tail between his legs. I guess I feel sorry for you,' the boy mumbled, rubbing his shoulder, 'Sort of. Or not. Probably not.

- I get it, thanks for the support,' Lydia smiled.

- You're not so mean without your entourage,' Jackson pointed out.

- They're not my entourage, they're my friends,' Martin rolled her eyes, "But I could say the same thing about you," Lydia thought for a second and shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, daring to say what was going through her head, 'Maybe we could be friends for a year...

- Friends? - Jackson raised his eyebrows in confusion.

- More like companions, then,' Martin snorted, realising that the idea had been taken in stride. Why did she even ask? Picking up her bag, Lydia walked towards the stairs leading to the cabins, but the Slytherin called out to her, folding her arms across her chest in a protective gesture. Martin hummed involuntarily - at least that was something they had in common.

- If only as companions,' Jackson squinted, holding out his palm to the girl. After thinking for a second, Martin accepted the handshake, now smiling sincerely.

- You're not such a jerk, you know,' the redhead grinned.

- Thank you so much,' Whittemore snorted.

- You're welcome,' Martin smiled and went to her quarters. Of course, she wasn't surprised when Will, as soon as she entered, rushed at her, begging her to get Stiles away from him. Stilinski just rambled on about the usefulness of hidden sarcasm in everyday phrases.

***

- I can't believe they left me,' Allison mumbled to herself as she looked around the half-empty classroom.

Kelly, the cute brunette from Ravenclaw, smiled encouragingly at Allison, but it didn't help. Scott, claiming to be too tired to do anything but get tired, had gone to bed, pulling the rest of the boys with him. Malia, on the other hand, was simply not dared to be touched by Argent. That was why the brunette was sitting alone now, scribbling curlicues on the parchment. When the scribbles formed themselves into small 'LMs,' the girl sighed, shoving the scroll away from her. Professor Beans mumbled something about the greatness of magical tales, their power and so on.

- And then the three sorceresses decided to co-operate with the knight, and the four of them headed for the spring,' the ghost muttered.

- Boring,' Allison sighed, shifting her gaze to the window.

The sun was shining brightly, and for some reason Argent felt as if it were spring outside, sitting in an exam she'd written a long time ago, waiting for Malia to finish. Lydia would praise her for her efforts, and Stiles would go on to describe how he'd almost got a question wrong on some plant question that had nothing to do with the subject they were taking. Then Will would find them and rake them into his arms with a wide grin, boasting of his top grade in Transfiguration.

Groaning softly, the brunette dropped her head onto the table. Judging by the soothing rumbling that sounded the next moment, Rikki woke up and decided to take pity on her mistress. Smiling sadly, the brunette stroked the little girl. To be honest, Argent hadn't even realised that the crypters would grow up. No, of course, it was clear that they might change slightly, but Allison hadn't counted on something of this magnitude. Now Ricky no longer fit in the palm of her hand, she took up her entire hand, tickling her fingers with her soft fur. The fur, by the way, had changed too, darkening a few shades.

- Somebody needs to eat less,' Allison playfully pecked the little one on the nose, which caused her to round her eyes in amazement and snort loudly.

Out of habit, Allison gingerly turned to her left, expecting to meet the redhead's judgemental gaze, but she was met with nothing but emptiness. Sighing heavily again, the girl turned away, picking up her quill again. Truth be told, Argent had expected to last at least a week. She hadn't lasted a day. Snorting, Allison tried to listen to the professor's mutterings.

- Turns out it wasn't magical at all,' the ghost muttered in a low voice, not paying any attention to what was going on in the classroom, 'Why do you think they did it? - He asked, 'Because the author wanted to make a point,' he answered.

Rolling her eyes, Argent looked out the window again. Hippogriffs were circling over Hagrid's hut, and Allison seriously regretted that UzMS was only taught in third year. She stood up and looked out the window, which now had a full view of the hut. Judging by the robes, there were claws and Puffenduys standing there, and Argent snorted contemptuously when she saw the top of Kyle's head.

- It's not good to be distracted from your studies,' someone suddenly piped up from very close by. Ellison turned around and sighed in relief when she met Scott's gaze, smiling sleepily.

- It's bad to skip class,' she grinned, 'You were asleep, weren't you?

- Your brainwaves got to me and I came to your rescue,' the boy yawned, making himself comfortable in his seat.

- You just got a conscience,' Argent rolled her eyes.

- As you wish, mademoiselle,' Scott laughed.

After a few moments, the boy began to tell the story of how he'd managed to get into Bins's class, who, of course, loved to enforce the law. Snorting incessantly, Allison didn't even notice how quickly the class went by. At recess they came across Isaac and Matt laughing all the way down the corridor, and Malia barely following them. The girl, yawning sweetly, missed almost everything Professor McGonagall was saying. By the end of the lesson, she was only cheered up by Erica 'accidentally' dropping something about Stiles, Lydia, and the professors' universal love for them. That was very unwise of the Slytherin girl. Tracy would probably have quite a hard time finding and rescuing her friend, trapped in one of the old unfit classrooms.

- What could she do? - Tate shrugged, not even holding back a happy smile.

***

- We're arriving in an hour, be ready,' Sonia's head appeared from behind the door, 'Gather on the upper deck in forty-five minutes. I'll kill you if you're late, I swear on Godric,' she said and disappeared down the corridor.

- From the look of her, she didn't even sit down today,' Will said thoughtfully.

- She's sort of Alice's replacement, of course,' nodded Stiles, who was on all fours on his bed.

- How's the view? - The Slytherin asked his friend.

- Beautiful! - Stilinski exclaimed and turned back to the window, for which he was in such an uncomfortable position.

- We'll be in Beauxbaton in an hour, Godric Almighty,' Lydia exhaled, climbing into the chair beside Will's bed.

- Yeah,' the Slytherin nodded absently in response.

- You'll get to meet a lot of new people. I wonder how they separate the girls in Beauxbaton into faculties,' Stiles said, not even turning round.

- We've been told about it three times already,' Lydia rolled her eyes.

- Stiles wants to hear specifically from them,' Will smirked, rolling onto his back and resting his feet against the wall.

- Back off,' Stiles leaned against the window, and Will was somehow pretty sure that he was hiding the blush that must have flooded his cheeks.

- Whatever you say,' Will shrugged, hanging his head off the bed and opening his mouth.

- You look really stupid,' Lydia said, waving the pencil she'd just been drawing him with at his friend.

- You certainly haven't drawn one like that yet,' the Slytherin smiled stupidly.

- Do you want it to appear? - Martin raised her eyebrows, holding back a smile.

- Why wouldn't I? It's not all brooding Stiles there for you,' the boy arched an eyebrow. Lydia, blushing slightly, ducked into her sketchbook, hiding her face behind her hair. Will snorted, rolling his eyes.

- Don't even ask me to throw it away later,' Lydia stretched out, poking the boy again with her pencil in a judgmental manner.

- I won't even think about it,' the brunet smiled again, 'I'm so beautiful that even a silly pose like that won't ruin me.

- I'm afraid a third of Hogwarts wouldn't realise it was a joke right now,' Stiles grinned. Will grinned broadly again and turned his gaze to Lydia, eyes widening as much as possible on purpose.

- Worst picture I've seen all year,' Lydia laughed, already drawing out the creases in her friend's dark T-shirt. Suddenly it struck her and she jumped out of bed and rushed to the suitcase.

- What are you doing? - Will immediately tensed up.

- We haven't changed our clothes, - Lydia slapped herself on the forehead, hiding in the bathroom the next moment.

- Should we? - Stiles smiled stupidly, still looking at the beauty outside the window.

- At least on the first day,' Will sighed, sliding off the couch and onto the floor. "Pick me up," the Slytherin whimpered miserably.

- I'm at your service,' Stiles jumped off the bed and sat down a few times in an attempt to stretch his numb limbs.

- Where do you get all this energy from? - Lydia asked a moment later. When he turned around, Stiles bit his tongue without saying a word. The Gryffindor girl's grey sweatshirt and dark jeans had been replaced by a black skirt and dark blue shirt. The girl was holding a jumper with an embroidered emblem on it, her straightened hair now swept down her shoulders in a wave, her sneakers replaced by black ballet flats,' Stiles! Get back on the ground, you've got ten minutes left! - Martin flicked at her friend's face until he died and rushed into the bathroom, grabbing things already scattered around the room for some reason and cursing loudly.

- I think you killed his brain with that energy question,' Will chuckled, already half-dressed.

- I'm sorry,' Martin snorted irritably, leaving the room to find Sonya.

- Or not really a question,' Will threw Will into the void, smiling dreamily, "Idiots," the boy couldn't contain his laughter after all.

***

- Gryffindor, don't take a step away from Marcia! - Sonia stood in front of the lion faculty with her arms folded across her chest, nodding her head at the aforementioned girl, who had been Head Girl of Gryffindor since seventh year. Though the blonde was held in high esteem, it was always Marcia Stafford who she placed above her.

- If anything happens, let me or Sonia know,' the brown-haired girl nodded, standing shoulder to shoulder with the sixth year.

- We go everywhere together,' Sonya spoke again, 'Of course we can't fall behind the Hogwarts delegation, but falling behind the Gryffindor delegation is life-threatening, so it's best if you just follow us.

- We'll give you everything you need when you need it, don't worry about it,' Marzia patted the leather bag that presumably contained all the scrolls Dumbledore had handed out last night.

- In the Hall, follow me and Marzia, again,' Sonja sighed. Her voice was much weaker and quieter than it was on normal days, and it was almost physically painful for all the Gryffindors to see their Head Girl so tired, but they all realised that no one else would have been given such an important job, not even Marzia. The rest of the time we will have breakfast, lunch and dinner next to the Livenus Faculty. Of course, it is not obligatory, but it is very welcome, because it is almost the same as our faculty. But that's not today, now just follow me or I'll paralyse you and leave you on the ship. Is that clear?

After a friendly 'yes' the girl visibly relaxed, smiling. Everyone realised that the strictness was contrived, and Sonya was not going to do anything to them. On the contrary, if someone falls behind or leaves, the blonde will rush to look for him, and then press the victim to herself and will comfort him for several hours, until he does not fall asleep. At the end of last year, Alice jokingly called Sonia the 'faculty mum', and then this nickname stayed with the girl.

- My friends, this is our shelter for the next ten months! - solemnly proclaimed Dumbledore, standing in front of four straight columns.

- Oh...geez,' Stiles whispered, looking down.

Of course, they had arrived well past six. It was nearly eight o'clock, and Lydia would have been nervous that they might be seen as fickle, irresponsible, careless - they were, in fact - but everything came to a head when she saw the Durmstrangs approaching. They had chosen something less subtle than Dumbledore, but they still appeared quite spectacularly. Every third student at this school shared a horse with either a member of the weaker sex or a not yet too mature fellow student.

When the redhead finally turned her gaze to the castle, she was breathless. Huge, white stone, elegant, beautiful. It was surrounded by gardens that made her heart stop. A little further away were green meadows where winged horses grazed. Next to the castle was a stunning lake, glistening in the evening sunlight. It couldn't compare to Hogwarts' lake, of course, but it wasn't bad either. Under the water, Lydia had no doubt, there was no one even close that even fleetingly resembled a giant squid, and it made Martin proud.

Dumbledore waved his wand and their ship went into a descent. Lydia's heart raced maybe ten times faster, and she found the palm of Stiles' hand more out of habit. Madame Maxime stood at the main gate with what were probably the most successful students the redhead couldn't see yet. Beauxbaton was remotely similar to Neuschwanstein Castle, in Germany. The only difference was that Beauxbaton looked much more beautiful. Elegant hedges and statues, a bunch of trees of different shapes, colours and heights, flowerbeds with the most amazing flowers in the world scattered around. Martin sighed and squeezed her palm even tighter, not even noticing Stiles's smile.

- They've even prepared a clearing for us, how lovely,' Stilinski sighed sweetly after a few moments.

A sort of harbour had been built for the Hogwarts ship, located on land. How Dumbledore was going to dock it, no one had figured out yet, but it was supposed to look pretty cool. And it did. The ship touched the ground and exactly at that second the Durmstrang Riders stopped alongside. The Hogwarts delegation immediately hooted and hustled. The Durmstrangians, on the other hand, were still calm. The Gryffindors were the first to follow Dumbledore, marching in an even column as Sonia had instructed, marching naturally ahead of her charges, shoulder to shoulder with Marzia. The Slytherins came down to the ground next, treading at a casual pace. The Claws decided to show themselves without any tricks, stepping into the clearing at a measured pace and standing on the other side of the Gryffindors. The Puffenduys looked the most dishevelled, but it was normal and even kind of cute, so so far, in Lydia's opinion, everything was going well.

A large horse stopped in front of Dumbledore, ridden by the Headmaster of Durmstrang, Mr Vane, who had dismounted a moment ago. Hugging each other tightly, the men bowed respectfully to the students of both schools, in the next moment turning towards the huge gate at which Madame Maxime and her charges were already standing. While the headmasters greeted each other and exchanged basic courtesies, Lydia, who, because of her age and height, stood at the very beginning of the column, directly in front of Sonia and Marzia, looked at the students of the other schools. The Durmstrangs, who had dismounted at the command of their headmaster, stood almost soldier-like, with the girls and the under-schoolers in front. They were dressed in blood red coloured robes with shaggy fur coats over them. All the students had wide cloth belts with tassels tied over their robes. The boys had red or blue sashes. The girls' belts were white, with much neater tassels. The redhead looked round at the Dhurmstrangs and then at the Charmbatonians. There were far fewer of them, but still enough to at least get a sense of what they were like in real life. There were a total of eight people standing near Madame Maxime - four girls, three guys, and one little girl. Each girl was wearing a blue dress, the same colour beret, a dark blue mantle cloak, white gloves and white shoes. The young men, on the other hand, wore white shirts, blue waistcoats, trousers of the same shade, and light-coloured shoes. The gloves and cloak-mantles of the Beauxbaton students were exactly the same. The girls' hair was nicely styled, the boys' was combed. The top button of all students' robes was a faculty badge (blue, red, or yellow rose). Looking back at her fellow students, Lydia smiled faintly.

The Hogwarts students didn't look like their usual selves today either. All the girls wore skirts and low-heeled shoes - only Lydia wore ballet flats because of her age. Black jumpers sat perfectly on each student, as if they were individually tailored. The top button of everyone's robes today was a badge with the Hogwarts crest on it. The ship's sails fluttering behind them made the Hogwarts delegation look even cooler. That, at least, was what Stiles, who was nervously tapping his foot with his palm, hoped. Faculty emblems embroidered on their jumpers reminded their wearers why sixty-one people were now standing not side by side, but in four different lines. The edge of each student's robe was the colour of the faculty they were studying in.

- Durmstrang! - Mr Vane exclaimed, turning to his students. His unreal accent Lydia decided to simply ignore.

All the Durmstrang students bowed synchronously, pressing a hand to their chests just above their hearts - where, incidentally, they had faculty emblems embroidered that Lydia hadn't noticed at first. Then they repeated the same thing, turning specifically to the Hogwarts students, to which they wordlessly performed the reciprocal bow they had learnt the previous evening. Judging by the smiles of the Headmasters, they were pleased with their followers beyond belief.

Beauxbaton was slightly reminiscent of Hogwarts in structure. Straight through the main gate the boys entered the hall, from which there were three exits - back to the courtyard, to the Hall and to the stairs. Judging by the voices coming from the Hall, the Beauxbaton students had been sitting there for a while now, and apparently had already decided not to burden themselves with such things as silence and manners. And Lydia didn't blame them. It was the fault of the Hogwarts and Durmstrang students, they were the ones who were late, so no one was obliged to sit there for two hours with the fish.

Inside, the castle was even more beautiful. It was clean and beautiful, with stone pots of flowers at every turn. The marble floor almost shone. The windows let in the rays of the evening sun, which illuminated the hall, making it even more magical and snow-white. The doors, oddly enough, were plain oak doors, pretty much the same as the ones at Hogwarts. With a pang in her heart, Lydia crossed the threshold of the hall and aghast. The hall was even bigger than Hogwarts', which surprised all of the redhead's fellow students. The ceiling was glass and very, very high. Lydia had a habit of looking up in the mornings during breakfast to find out what the weather was like by using the magic ceiling. Now it seemed as if she were not in a building at all, but in a marble box without a top. Shaking her head, Martin tried to push the obsession away and looked around. In essence everything was pretty much like Hogwarts. Three long tables made of light wood, where Beauxbaton students were already sitting and soon Durmstrang and Hogwarts students would be sitting. At the far end of the room was another table where the professors sat. Behind them was a full-wall stained glass window. There were also three chairs for the Headmasters, which they hurriedly took, leaving their charges to jostle awkwardly at the entrance to the Hall.

Sonia and Marcia were immediately approached by a beautiful dark-haired Beauxbaton student of about sixteen. Smiling at the girl, the blonde waved at the Gryffindors, silently urging them to follow right behind her. That's exactly what everyone did. Just as Sonia had said, the whole of Hogwarts was sitting at one table today, above which hung blue and silver banners with fish on them. The Durmstrangs were seated at a table with black and yellow pennants. No one had yet spoken a word, and silence reigned in the Hall, though none of the Headmasters had yet called for it. Dumbledore smiled encouragingly and winked at his students, to which they laughed stifledly, covering their mouths with their palms. The next moment, Madame Maxime stood up from her desk and approached the pulpit in the form of a winged horse.

- Hello,' she began her speech, smiling broadly. I am very pleased to see so many new faces in this room,' the woman looked round at the guests, 'Before discussing the Tournament itself, I would like to talk to you about things that concern all of us. Like the other two schools, Beauxbaton held a feast to celebrate the start of the school year yesterday, so today is a celebratory feast to mark the start of the Tournament. I discussed everything with my wards last night and they promised me that a cosy home-like atmosphere will be recreated for every guest of my school. One Beauxbaton student is responsible for each department of each school. We will discuss this point a little later. For now, I'll just say that I'm very pleased to see you all, and pass the floor to my colleagues. Mr Vane,' the woman nodded respectfully to the man.

- Of course, Madame Maxime,' the Headmaster of Durmstrang nodded, stepping up to the pulpit, 'I, in turn, would like to say that we are honoured to be in Beauxbaton. The last time I was here was fifteen years ago, and now I can say with certainty that this castle has lost none of its former beauty and magic, and neither has its Headmaster. I really hope that everything this year goes just fine. My students are ready to help in any way they can if you need it. I am very happy to see the Beauxbaton students I remember as children in front of me now. I am also happy to see the students of my beloved Hogwarts. I wish that this year our inter-school bond will be even stronger. Professor Dumbledore,' the man turned to the table. The Headmaster of Hogwarts, with a cheerful nod, approached the pulpit, spreading his arms out to the sides in his usual manner.

- My dear friends,' the man began with a smile. The Hogwarts students looked at each other and smiled, wondering how long their Headmaster's speech would last this time, 'As my colleagues have already said, this year should be just fine.

- Did someone say that? - Stiles whispered. With a snort, Lydia shoved him in the shoulder.

- My students are always ready to talk to you if you need to,' Lydia almost rolled her eyes, "We hope not to inconvenience you, Madame Maxime," Dumbledore smiled friendly, still holding his arms out, 'I certainly hope my student wins, but I also wish the other two schools the best of luck. At my school I would have finished the speech already, knowing full well my students' love of food,' Stiles blushed slightly when Dumbledore's gaze stopped on him specifically, 'But here, I think I should show a more formal side. The tournament was founded over seven hundred years ago, and was held every five years for a long time. Everyone thought it was the best way to build inter-school relations. But after a large number of casualties, the tournament had to be discontinued. Now it's back, which I'm very happy about.

- Oh, so the sacrifices don't scare him now? - Stiles scratched his chin.

- I think I've said enough. Colleagues, could you help me discuss matters directly related to the Tournament? - Dumbledore turned to the Headmasters standing a little further away. They nodded and approached the pulpit. Dumbledore stepped aside generously, giving Madame Maxime a seat in the middle.

- He should be the one helping the discussion, not her,' Sonia covered her eyes with the palm of her hand amidst the suppressed laughter of the Gryffindors.

- The Goblet of Fire will now be lit and all adults will be allowed to throw their name,' Madame Maxime said, 'No one under the age of majority may approach the Goblet. The consequences vary depending on the intentions of the offender.

- Tomorrow night we will name the participants in the Tournament and the first competition will take place in November,' Mr Vane added.

- All the details of the Tournament were agreed upon with each of our students last night,' Madame Maxime continued, 'Now, about who is in charge of whom. Colleagues,' the woman handed the men each a scroll and stepped back a little so as not to disturb them.

Dumbledore waited politely for Mr Vane to say which of the Charmbaton men were responsible for his students as a whole and which were responsible for a particular faculty. The man also briefed the Sharmbatonians and Hogwartsians on the general history of Durmstrang, its faculties, and so on.

Lydia heard once again that Flamma was a faculty for true warriors and knights. Its guardian was a Salamander. The colours of the faculty were black, red, gold. Selflessness, conscience, determination, unselfishness, steadfastness, ambition, courage - all these were the life values of the students of this faculty. All of them desire fame and recognition of the crowd. For herself, Lydia decided that it was something between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.

She was also reminded once again that Glacias was the faculty of the Grey Cardinals. Politicians, cunning schemers, and scientists - the smartest minds the world had ever seen. The guardian of the faculty was a spider. Black, blue and silver colours adorned the robes of the students of this faculty. This faculty was a hybrid of Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

Naturally, in addition to the faculties for boys, they also talked about the third faculty, where only girls studied. The Veneri trained not just simple housewives, but faithful wives, battle buddies, and simply beautiful ladies. The guardian of the faculty was a swan. And Lydia even understood why.

- Dear students of Hogwarts,' Dumbledore addressed his charges after Mr Vane's speech, "There's no point in stalling now, I'll just read you everything on the list and we'll get down to the feast," of course, the professor's words were met with sixty approving sighs, 'Before that, of course, the applicants will go to the Cup and throw their names there. So,' the man unfolded the scroll and glanced over it, the next moment nodding cheerfully to himself, "Eleanor Raymond will be in charge of the entire Hogwarts delegation," the dark-haired girl who had escorted the Hogwarts delegation to Scroagle's table, stood up so that all sixty people could see her,' Dumbledore smiled at her to the embarrassed laughter of his students, "Stefan Pellerin will be in charge of Slytherin," this time a tall, cheerful blond boy with blue eyes stood up. The guy spun around and winked at Will, who appeared to be the only smiling Slytherin now. A frowning snort from Derek made Stefan smile even wider. Lydia tried to imagine how a guy like that would keep tabs on the nastiest people at Hogwarts. She failed,' Gryffindor is overseen by Renaud Clement,' this time the boy sitting at Leavenworth's desk stood up. He looked to be about sixteen. His dishevelled dark hair fell back and forth over his eyes, which showed the sparkle that never left Scott and Stiles' eyes. He winked cheerfully at the Gryffindors and twirled around to the laughter of his fellow students.

- Our man,' Stiles said approvingly.

- Thank you, Mr Clement, I'm sure you'll get along with my students,' Dumbledore said good-naturedly.

- I don't doubt it, sir,' the boy smiled. He grinned and sat down, but it was obvious that he did it only out of pride for the headmaster and not out of any norms of education.

- Chantal Obe will not let my dear Claw students go to waste,' the girl who sat at the Aironum table where the Claw and Slytherin students would be sitting for the next few days stood up. At the same table sat Stephan, who was supervising the Slytherins. Chantelle nodded respectfully to Adelaide, the Ravenclaw Head Girl, and sat back down, smiling modestly, 'And finally, I hope Miss Eloise Arnaud can stand my conversation-loving Puffenduys,' a student stood up this time, sitting at the same table that the Hogwarts students were sitting at right now. The pretty girl with shoulder-length blonde hair smiled warmly at Dany, who was sitting nearby.

- You're the only one they picked the wrong person for you,' Stiles whispered in Will's ear.

- I liked that Stefan,' the boy shrugged, not even trying to hide the fact that he was really enjoying the sight of Derek's scowl.

Meanwhile, Madame Maxime called for the adults to approach the already lit Goblet of Fire. The tension in the Hall immediately rose. Marzia patted the nervously twitching Sonya on the shoulder and walked forward with her fellow students. In all, thirty-two people from Hogwarts had walked up to the Cup, and Lydia's heart ached for each of them. The blonde Gryffindor was definitely loved by the Gryffindors as much as they loved Alice, and it was lucky that her birthday was only in January and she wasn't of age yet, otherwise Martin couldn't imagine what would have happened to Gryffindor if they had chosen Sonia for the cup. There was no doubt in her mind that the girl would have been a candidate.

- The champions will be announced tomorrow evening,' Madame Maxime announced when all the adults were seated, 'Also, classes start tomorrow, and I understand that your Headmasters have given your seniors your timetables.

- Oh, I thought those mysterious scrolls were some kind of cheque for a few million, and this is a timetable,' Stiles groaned, sticking out his lower lip.

- Don't get your hopes up, Stilinski,' Marcia ruffled the boy's hair affectionately.

- Now let's begin our feast! - Dumbledore exclaimed, not letting any of his colleagues get another word in edgewise. The man walked briskly towards the table, whistling something extremely cheerful.

- Is he always like this? - Eleanor, now in charge of the entire Hogwarts delegation, leaned over to the tiredly smiling Sonja.

- Oh yes,' the blonde grinned, "Sonya," the girl held out her palm.

- Eleanor,' the brunette replied. Smiling at each other, the girls proceeded to eat. Judging by how much they ate afterwards, they were hungry a lot. Both of them.

- It's too low-calorie,' Stiles complained, poking his fork into the mashed potatoes, which were much firmer in consistency than they had been at Hogwarts.

- Goodbye, fried sausages for breakfast,' Will laughed, munching happily on a simple ice cream.

- Piss off, I'm having a tragedy,' Stiles muttered, shovelling a whole lettuce leaf into his mouth.

It turned out that the girls and boys of Beauxbaton studied separately from each other, despite the fact that they supposedly lived in the same tower. And for the sake of the Tournament, their schedules had been changed for the entire year. For the first time in fifteen years, Beauxbaton students will be studying together. As Eleanor had said, only the oldest students, those in their early twenties, had seen it the last time the Tournament had been held on Beauxbaton's grounds. Renaud Clement took his charges to the Livenus Lounge right after dinner, proudly telling them about the history of the faculty, the lounge, and where, who, and how they would be staying. Rooms had been set aside especially for the guests. The Gryffindor girls and boys would sleep separately, but in the same tower. Thus, there were only three people in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory: Lydia, Marzia, and Sonya. Unfortunately, none of the other seventh year Gryffindor girls had agreed to go, so it was up to Stafford to take care of them all. By the way, Martin was very happy to have such neighbours. Stiles had to live with Connor May from third year, Ethan Patrick from fourth, and Gary Wigginson from fifth. Also living with the boys were alumni Magnus Cameron, Evan Pearson and Allan Simmons. Sonia said she wouldn't hand out the schedule to her fellow students until tomorrow, lest Stiles make good on his promise to burn all the scrolls at night while everyone was asleep.

- Just do something,' the blonde wagged her finger at the boys as they approached their bedroom door (it just so happened that the boys' and girls' rooms were literally across the hall, two metres apart).

- I'll live with them and make sure everything is all right, don't worry,' Reno smiled.

- I sincerely wish you luck,' Sonia sighed as she went out the door.

Contrary to expectations, Lydia fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow, although she had expected a sleepless night since yesterday. She did not remember about the unsent letter to her friends and mother until the next morning. But it was forgivable in view of so many new impressions. Lydia did not even suspect that tomorrow they will be even more.

Commentary on Part 2.

Here's the chapter. I've been working on it for an unrealistically long time, and I hope it wasn't for nothing.

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A little background.

Leavenworth.

This is the faculty named after all the 'Red Riding Hoods' who are not afraid to walk through the forest alone and fool the 'Wolves' who get in their way.* Guardian: Cat* Stimvol: Mistletoe* Colours: Red and Gold* Element: Fire* Life Values: Clever and Wicked. Valued here are heroism, self-sacrifice, flightiness and honesty.

Ironum.

This is the faculty named after various Snow White girls who became famous primarily for their beauty. Many princes have laid down their heads in an attempt to win their fickle hearts.

* Guardian: Deer * Stimbol: Lute. * Colours: Yellow and black * Element: Air * Life values: Beautiful and vain. Wit, ambition, wisdom and resourcefulness are valued here.

Scraggle

This is the faculty of all Cinderellas who are the humble heroines of worldly life. While the rest of us are idle, these by hard work beautify the earth, and, for fun, turn pumpkins into carriages, and mice into horses. * Guardian: Fish * Stimbol: Cauldron * Colours: Blue and silver * Element: Water * Life values: Humble heroes. Here students are kind and nice people, whose soul just can't afford to do nasty things. They are always creating something and busy doing something.