A Child Of Darkness : A Draco Malfoy fanfic

22. Important Announcements

Holidays had eventually drawn to a close. Eleonora had spent the rest of the Summer with the Diggorys, visiting nearby lakes and going on walks with Cedric. Details about the Quidditch match had been abundant the first few days since the incident but as Elen grew uncomfortable with each mention of the dark mark, the conversations had ultimately ended. They had eventually had to start packing their bags, then a few days later found themselves boarding the Hogwarts express and now a few hours later, they were seated in their respective house table, drenched after their walk to the school in the horrible weather.

Eleonora played with the utensils on the table, restlessly awaiting the feast as the chill and rain had increased her appetite. In the background, the new students were being sorted into their houses and Eleonora would occasionally cheer as a 1st year made their way to the Gryffindor table.
Hermione shared new details about a book she had read while Ron did not miss to add snarky remarks in between. A simple glare from Eleonora however silenced the boy and she listened intently as Hermione explained with a sparkle in her eye.

Soon, the long awaited feast was presented and Eleonora dug into the food, savoring every last bit of it. Conversation tended to stray to the topic of the Quidditch world Cup- mainly about the riot and the dark mark. But a new gossip would turn up and the discussion would head another way.

It continued to do so until Professor Dumbledore walked up to the podium to make his annual welcome speech.

"Great! Now that everyone is well fed, I must once more ask for your attention while I give out a few important notices", he announced.

Eleonora bit into her pudding. The announcements were the same as the year before and probably the same as the years before that. Mr Filch's list of forbidden items that grew every year. The forest forbidden to students when surprisingly it's the same place where some detentions were served. But for their new year, a new notice was presented that produced several protests from the houses.

"The interhouse quidditch cup will not take place this year", Professor Dumbledore spilt the terrible news. Eleonora met Cedric's eyes from across the hall. She was coerced into making a promise to the boy that she would try out for the Gryffindor team but the quidditch Cup getting cancelled was not anticipated. And she couldn't help the growing smile on her face to which Cedric shook his head in disappointment.

"This is due to an event that will be starting in October and be continuing throughout the school year", Dumbledore added, grabbing the attention of the students. "I have great pleasure in announcing that this year-"

A deafening rumble of thunder interrupted his speech as students brought their hands to their ears in fright. The spell-casted sky in the Great Hall had turned a dangerous black as storm clouds gave out another thunderous clap as a figure walked past Eleonora.

She hadn't noticed the doors to the Great Hall open but only noted the bulky man with an odd gait walk past her and up to the Professor's table.
Thunder clapped again and the students yelped in surprise. The man resumed to take out his wand and with a flick the dark clouds dissipated and the storm calmed down. He shook hands with Dumbledore and then took a seat by the other professors.

"May I introduce our new defense against the Dark Arts teacher", the headmaster announced. "Professor Moody".

Eleonora couldn't help the thoughts running through her head as she laid her eyes on him. The man had a huge scar running across his face. But it wasn't the weird part. The professor had a fake blue eyeball that moved around aimlessly for his left eye. As they watched longer, the man took out a knife from his pocket, stabbed a sausage and began to eat. Eleonora exchanged a look with Hermione who simply shrugged.

"What do you reckon he's drinking?", Seamus questioned as the students and teachers alike watched the professor.

"I don't know", Harry replied. "But I don't think it's pumpkin juice".

The man put away a vial that he had drunk in a hurry but as Dumbledore began to speak again, the attention shifted away from the new professor.

"As I was saying", the headmaster resumed. "We are to have the honor of hosting an event that has not been held in over a century. It is my great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year!"

Instant whispers and excited conversations arose from the tables as Dumbledore continued to explain the details of it. The history, the death tolls (which Eleonora was taken back by), the age restrictions this year that brought out cries of protests, particularly from the Weasley twins, and the mention of the arrival of students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons.

Eleonora sat up straight at the mention of the French school, her green eyes moving to the head master and then to Hermione.
Granger's eyebrows raised up at the mention, as she watched Eleonora to determine if it was good news or bad news. By the look on Fawley's face, it was obvious that it was far from good news and Hermione could only deduce that it had something to do when she was back in France.

Elen brought her hands closer to her, the awful habit of picking her nails arising as she thought it over. Eleonora definitely did not want Beauxbatons in Hogwarts. She had gone to France to put her past behind but here she was back in England. Coming here, she hoped to put France behind but here comes Beauxbatons and all it's glory.
Her past definitely had a way of catching up to her and suddenly Eleonora had lost her appetite.

"Elen. Is everything alright?" Hermione leaned across the table to whisper to the girl. Fawley nodded but avoided her gaze. She could taste blood as she had chewed away on her lips and she let her gaze fall to her hands.

A million memories ran through her head. Beauxbatons hadn't been awful but an individual or two had definitely been a pain. And their arrival in Hogwarts was sure to arouse a rumor about why she had left school and France.
But all her secrets eventually did come to light and all Elen could do was wait and watch. If luck was on her side, Eleonora would hopefully be spared the torture that the girls from Beauxbatons would bring.