someday, somehow → d.malfoy [discontinued]

011

the great hall was magnificent in its beauty.

though the ceiling (theodore told her it had been bewitched to appear identical to the sky outside) was bruised an array of deep violets and blues, and rained droplets that dissolved into thin air before they reached the countless floating wax candles, artemis thought it was one of the most breathtaking things she had ever laid her eyes upon. the entirety of the hall glowed in a drowning amber; the walls, with their curved, coarse columns, shot upwards and then begun to lean into the curve of the ceiling—which artemis could not make out, due to the presence of the sky. it was art, she thought.

there were four tables, reasonably wide and immensely long; reaching almost entirely across the lengthy expanse of the room and previously bedecked in sparkling silver plates, cutlery, and ornately carved goblets. at first glance, the population sitting at each had been indistinguishable—a great, noisy sea of black robes and various colours of hair and skin. upon closer inspection, artemis noticed the uniformity of coloured ties, robe lining and emblems adorning each student, along each table. the emerald green of slytherin and the bleeding scarlet of gryffindor (as had been explained to her earlier) resided on tables at opposite ends of the room, while the deep blue (ravenclaw, house of the wise and clever) and sunny yellow (hufflepuff, house of the kind and fair) lined the centre pathway that the first years had shuffled along earlier. at the very end of the great hall, perpendicular to the house tables—so that its occupants might be able to observe the activity of the students—was what artemis assumed to be reserved for the staff of hogwarts. it stood upon a raised dais of sorts, and majority of the professors looked down upon the student body of hogwarts—a fact that was not regarded fondly by artemis. she wondered briefly if anyone else had thought the same. the world consisted, of course, of a hierarchy; whether one was aware of it or not.

she tore her eyes away from the majority of that particular table, and settled instead on its centerpiece—headmaster dumbledore—still standing very casually (which, artemis thought, was somewhat strange to see on a man of such age) as he shot an amused look towards the twin rows of gryffindors, scarlet-clad and bursting with buzzing laughter. artemis had raised her eyebrows at the outburst of some read-headed boy as headmaster dumbledore had announced the triwizard tournament, while the rest of the school burst the previous silence with their laughs and cackles. at least, she thought, the unbearable tension had been broken.

"i am not joking, mr weasley," the headmaster said, smiling behind the cover of his white beard. "though now that you mention it, i did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar..."

"what sort of headmaster veers off topic so easily?" said draco, an unimpressed look gracing his features. as if his complaint had been telepathically delivered to her, professor mcgonagall (artemis had met her just before she'd entered the hall) cleared her throat as a scolding mother would, and the headmaster seemed to snap back into some semblance of sanity.

"er—but maybe this is not the time..." he continued, his voice (artemis couldn't decide if it sounded frail or clear) resonating throughout the large space. "no... where was i? ah, yes, the triwizard tournament... well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so i hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely." he really was, artemis thought, a peculiar character, and nothing like how she expected a headmaster of a school such as hogwarts to be. "the triwizard tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest european schools of wizardry: hogwarts, beauxbatons and durmstrang." it occurred to her then, that some of her friends might come to hogwarts for the year—and artemis no longer felt that her fourth year of schooling would be so unbearable. "a champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. the schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties ties between young witches and wizards for different nationalities—until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued." there was a collective wave of eager, excited whispers. "there have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament—none of which has been very successful." ("so what makes this time so different?" someone a few seats over asked the student next to them.) "however, our own departments of international magical cooperation and magical games and sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. we have worked hard over the summer to ensure that, this time, no champion will themselves in mortal danger." 

artemis scanned the rest of the students' reactions: most seemed to crackle with electrifying, overflowing eagerness, and some (there was a dark, bushy-haired girl in gryffindor that artemis noticed in particular) seemed horrified with the reality of the tournament having taken lives prior. on another spectrum, the most enthusiasm seemed to come from the gryffindor and slytherin tables—which artemis supposed was not all to surprising.

"the heads of beauxbatons and durmstrang will be arriving with their shortlisted contenders in october, and the selection of the three champions will take place at halloween. an impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the triwizard cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand galleons personal prize money." another surge of whispers hissed through the hall. "eager though i know all of you will be to bring the triwizard cup to hogwarts," headmaster dumbledore continued, and silence decorated artemis' ears once more, "the heads of participating schools, along with the ministry of magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. only students who are of age—that is to say, seventeen years or older—will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. this"—his voice raised several octaves—"is a measure we feel necessary given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. i will personally ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them hogwarts champion. i therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen." he seemed to say this last part with a pointed look at someone in particular, at the gryffindor table. of course, artemis thought, there would be some idiot who would think themselves above such rules. "the delegations from beauxbatons and durmstrang will be arriving in october and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. i know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your wholehearted support to the hogwarts champion when they are selected. and now, it is late, and i know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. bedtime! chop chop!"