Magic? || Years 1-5

The Age Line: Year 4

"An Age Line! Well, that should be fooled by an Aging Potion, shouldn't it? And once your name's in that goblet, you're laughing -- it can't tell whether you're seventeen or not!" Fred exclaimed, eyes glinting mischievously.

"But I don't think anyone under seventeen will stand a change, we just haven't learned enough..." Hermione's voice trailed off.

"Speak for yourself," George replied briskly, turning to Harry. "You'll try and get in, won't you, Harry?"

Harry didn't reply, his eyes glazing over as he thought.

"Where is he? Dumbledore didn't say where the Durmstrang people are sleeping, did he?" Ron was bouncing up and down to catch a peek of Krum in the crowd.

His question was answered rather quickly, as they had just reached the Slytherin table.

"Back to the ship, then," He nodded to his students. "Viktor, how are you feeling? Did you eat enough? Should I send for some mulled wine from the kitchen?"

Krum shook his head, tugging back on his furs.

Amisty was still trying to figure out what creature it had come from.

"Professor, I vood like some vine," A different Durmstrang boy piped up, his voice hopeful.

"I wasn't offering it to you, Poliakoff. I notice you have dribbled food all down the front of your robes again, disgusting boy -- " Karkaroff snapped.

Amisty bristled indignantly, barely shoving down her scowl as she passed.

"Thank you," Karkaroff walked past them, not sounding very thankful at all until he stared at Harry.

It sparked a chain reaction, everyone else halting behind him.

Amisty traded glances with Ron. When did this not happen?

"Yeah, that's Harry Potter," A voice growled from behind them.

Mad-Eye Moody had arrived, glaring at Karkaroff, who had spun around and gone very still. His face was devoid of color, with a strange expression of fear and anger.

"You!" He exclaimed, staring at Moody as if he weren't really there.

"Me. And unless you've got anything to say to Potter, Karkaroff, you might want to move. You're blocking the doorway," Moody replied, his voice very clearly holding a warning.

Karkaroff listened instantly, with Moody's magical eye following as he swept across the grounds and disappeared into the darkness of the night.

-=+=-

Dear Amisty,

I couldn't help but notice that you seem rather prone to blushing. Whether I find it endearing or something to use later on, we'll have to see. The new arrivals seem to be polite, the Durmstrang students have quite a few stories about their own school. It's rather fascinating, how different everything is. I had almost been sent there myself, but I'm quite glad my mother convinced my father to send me here instead. I wouldn't have been able to meet you if I was all the way up north with that lot. Don't let that inflate your ego too far, I'm warning you. Oh, and as I felt you'd probably like to know. The fur that makes up their capes isn't wolf fur, it's some strange creature you can only find that far up. I can't for the life of me remember what it's called.

See you soon, Draco

-=+=-

Dear Draco,

I'm just going to take it upon myself to ignore those first two sentences, as that would be better for both your health and mine. Unless you'd like to be hexed into next week, well then I'll gladly read them over and over again and make sure that you don't have anything too important coming up. Anyways, I'm glad to hear that the fur isn't wolf fur, I had been wondering about that myself. Thanks for answering my unasked question. And, well, I haven't really spoken much with any of the students, but the Beauxbatons lot is really getting on my nerves. It's almost as if they expected to be treated like queens and kings. But, then again, you seem to have that mindset as well, so maybe I'll like it eventually. It's not very likely, though, look at how long it took before I could speak to you without insulting you. I still do it, now, to be fair.