someday, somehow → d.malfoy [discontinued]

010

the first years filtered into the great hall like sheep, eyes wide as saucers and round mouths agape in wonder of the atmosphere.

standing tall as a summit among them was artemis—she stepped through the curving arch of the doors, and draco dreaded the examining looks she would receive from the rest of the student body. though, instead of following the group forward, through the gap in between the centre tables, he saw her eyes scan each house before she slunk off to the edge of the hall. 

"artemis!" her head searched for the sound of theodore's voice and found his waving arm. she made her way, seemingly gliding closer and closer to where the fourth-year slytherins were grouped. a few gazes wandered to them at theodore's outburst in midst of the unusually-quiet hall, but they soon returned to the anxious clutter of trembling first years. as her figure drew nearer, draco observed that her tie—previously coal-black—now seemed to glow the emerald and silver of slytherin house. her black robes billowed in a non-existent wind, and swayed with inertia as she finally reached the fourth years' unofficially-designated spot along the table. pansy, who had been sitting with her thigh pressed against draco's own, slid without hesitation towards a startled blaise, who appeared uncommonly agitated as he was made to grasp the table in an effort not to tumble backwards off his seat. artemis gave a breathy thanks as she slid into the space between draco and pansy. "welcome to the greatest house of hogwarts," theodore said from his seat, almost directly across from artemis. he was wearing a pleased, cunning sort of grin across his lips—entirely too full of himself, draco thought.

without so much as a warning, the great hall flashed a brilliant white, and the air cracked as the ceiling—which was, before, a beautiful twinkling artwork of stars—darkened with a massive expanse of raincloud. the great window behind the teachers begun to take an assault of thick rain, as the view artemis had only half-managed to take in was obscured. "thank merlin that rain didn't start when we were out there," pansy grimaced.

the sorting took far too long—and then draco allowed himself to enjoy the feast that seemed to appear in the time it took for him to close his eyelids, and then reveal the world to his eyes once more. more than once, he caught himself gauging artemis' reaction to the food—she sniffed a few dishes, but seemed generally pleased with what she piled onto her plate and ate with the etiquette of a pure-blooded witch; something he'd observed on his mother and her friends for years now. as usual, crabbe and goyle—sitting across the table, next to theodore—were shovelling numerous assortments of dishes into their open mouths like starved wizards; theodore ate in a way that draco could only place as normal; blaise picked at his food, ate a bite or two, and spent the remainder of the time pursing his lips in distaste at crabbe and goyle; and pansy was simultaneously looking as if she was enjoying the feast, and complaining to whoever would listen about its quality. all too soon, even dessert timed out, and the great platters of food and their silver plates twinkled mischievously, disappearing into some corner of the students' memories.

"so," dumbledore started, standing from his throne-like seat so his white beard barely brushed his goblet. draco sighed. "now that we are all fed and watered, i must once more ask for your attention while i give out a few notices: mr filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of forbidden objects inside this castle"—draco saw artemis make a disbelieving, amused face—"has been extended to include screaming yo-yos, fanged frisbees, and ever-bashing boomerangs. the full list compromises of some four hundred"—a shocked expression, this time—"and thirty-seven items, i believe, and can be viewed in mr filch's office, if anybody would like to check it." that was a dumb suggestion to add, draco thought. there was no way a student would willingly check which objects were forbidden. they would just continue using them, and hope not to get caught. still, the headmaster continued with that strange twinkle in his eyes: "as ever, i would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students"—as if draco needed a reminder. he suppressed a horrified shudder—"as is the village of hogsmeade to all below third year. it is also my painful duty to inform you that the inter-house quidditch cup will not take place this year."

the great hall was then momentarily filled by the horrified outbursts of many students; especially those who were passionate about the sport, participated in it, or both. draco did not know whether he was pleased about this—he knew, of course, why there would be no quidditch cup, now that dumbledore had announced its absence, but it had not occurred to him that it would be a consequence of this... tournament beforehand. as the headmaster worked to settle the numerous quidditch-enthusiasts, draco brought his elbow to rest on the table, and propped his chin inside the nest of his palm. 

the headmaster continued: "this... is due to an event that will be starting in october, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy—but i am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. i have great pleasure in announcing that this year at hogwarts—" almost comically, he was interrupted by another piercing crack as lightning forked across the dark expanse of the sky, and the great doors of the hall, which had been shut immediately after the filtering-in of the first years, professor mcgonagall and artemis, burst open to present a lone figure under its arch. a large cloak, dripping wet puddles onto the flat stone floor, draped over his hunched frame, and a bedraggled curtain of hair obscured the majority of his face. draco could just make out his nose (or, what of it remained intact) and the uneven gash of his mouth. he looked, draco thought with a horrified quiver, like he had crawled straight out of a nightmare. blaise caught his eye, and the two boys held a conversation between their eye contact, before turning back to the unknown man, now hobbling unevenly towards the unsurprised headmaster. as he travelled past draco, he shook his shaggy mane out of his mismatched eyes—and he could have sworn that the electric blue eye strapped to his head rotated to directly point at draco. the moment passed, and the man's gnarled face imprinted itself into draco's mind like an unpleasant aftertaste; fading, yet ever-present.

as he spoke with dumbledore, the sky flashing and booming like the music of storm, draco's stomach clenched with an unnerving suspicion he could not place—only that he felt this wizard, with his heavily scarred and incomplete features, was not someone he could trust. whatever this suspicion was, made him assume that the wizard was some enemy of his father's type of people. the suspicion was only confirmed as the headmaster introduced him to the student body—clearly shaken, on-edge.

"may i introduce our new defense against the dark arts teacher?" the great hall was pressed in silence. "professor moody." there it was, then—his name, moody. in a sudden rush of familiarity, draco realised he knew him; not personally, but he'd overheard his parents and their friends talking about him—a dangerous auror. most deemed him "mad-eye moody" for the way his sense of the world had become unhinged after the war. draco decided, for certain, that he would have to do his very best to stay clear of this moody character. "as i was saying," dumbledore said, "we are to have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century." ("then why try and do it again? there must be a reason they stopped," said pansy, with her lips pulled into a strange sort of pout.) "it is my greatest pleasure to inform you that the triwizard tournament will be taking place at hogwarts this year."

"you're joking!"