Unexpectedly - Next Generation Veela

Ch. 16

The month of October flew by, leading into November. The rest of the dueling commenced and much to everyone's excitement, Cassie was declared the seventh-year champion for Hogwarts. The entire group was excited for her, especially Sera.

"Now you just have to beat out Durmstrang and Beauxbatons' champions!" She exclaimed as another round of butterbeers was brought to the table.

The four of them all decided to celebrate Cassie's victory at Hogsmeade, spending nearly the entire afternoon at the Three Broomsticks. There was talk of a celebratory party later that evening with some proper alcohol, but for the moment the group was happy to just celebrate together with just them.

"The other two schools are coming in next week, right?" Holly asked before taking a swig from her mug.

"Yeah, and according to Uncle Harry we should all be there for the entrance," Cassie said.

"Well it's kind of polite too," Holly shrugged. "They're coming to visit; we should be there to welcome them."

Nathan gave her shoulder a kiss that caused her to smile as Sera rolled her eyes. "I just can't wait to see who the other two champions are. Or watch the duels."

"That is definitely going to be exciting," Nathan nodded. "And Cassie's going to do fantastically!"

Cassie laughed and shook her head. "We'll see!"

That next Saturday, the entire school waited patiently on the grounds near the Great Lake for Durmstrang and Beauxbatons to arrive. Excitement was buzzing in the air as half the group watched the sky while the other half stared at the lake.

"Which one do you think is arriving first?" Holly asked, staring up at the sky.

"I honestly have no idea," Sera shrugged, though it was clear that she was one of the ones eyeing the lake.

Nathan, however, was looking off towards the edge of the student body. "Merlin, I haven't seen Hagrid look this excited in a while."

The other three looked over as well, noticing that Hagrid seemed to have dressed up a little and was shifting his weight nervously from one foot to the other, staring directly up at the sky.

Everyone's attention was caught by a sudden burst of startled shrieks and yelling, brought on by the sudden appearance of the Durmstrang ship rising up out of the water with a splash. Cassie's jaw nearly dropped at just how large the ship was, and from the looks on her friends' faces they were all in shock too.

Another round of yells caused their heads to snap up towards the sky as a beautiful light-blue carriage pulled by the largest horses any of them had ever seen soared over the treetops of the forest. The carriage itself had to have been as large as a house; Cassie thought it was larger than her mum's parents' house and wondered just how many students were in there.

As the carriage drew nearer, Cassie felt a strange sensation wash over her accompanied by dizziness. She had to look down at the ground to try and calm herself down, but there was a sudden pull that overcame her and she had to stop herself from falling over.

"Cass?"

She didn't look up but recognized Holly's voice of concern as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Someone nearly fell into her then and she looked up to see that Sera seemed to be having a similar reaction to what she was feeling.

"What's going on?" Holly asked worriedly.

Cassie tried to shake the dizziness away by shaking her head but that seemed to only make it worse. With a groan she closed her eyes and put her hands over her face as she heard Nathan say quietly, "I think they're just now sensing their mates nearby. The initial connection is being made."