In Servitude to the Dark || Tom Riddle

𝙊𝙛 𝙎𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙪𝙨 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙨

August 31, 1994

The Great Hall looked its usual splendid self, decorated for the start-of-term feast. Golden plates and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds and hundreds of candles, floating over the tables in midair. The four long House tables were packed with chattering students; at the top of the Hall, the staff sat along one side of a fifth table, facing their pupils.

Right there, between Professors Flitwick and Sprout, sat alleged mass murderer Sirius Black, who was waving at Aster so hard, his arm was liable to fall off. Aster beamed back and returned the wave happily. Severus Snape was at the very end of the staff table, closest to the Slytherins. He too spotted Aster, giving her a dignified nod.

By the end of the sorting, Slytherin got 11 students, Ravenclaw 10, Hufflepuff 12, and Gryffindor 10. For the next half hour, only the sounds of cold, hungry teens eating could be heard. It was then that Hermione learned that house-elves actually worked at Hogwarts.

"There are house-elves here?" she said, staring, horror-struck, at Nearly Headless Nick. "Here at Hogwarts?"

"Certainly," said Nearly Headless Nick, looking surprised at her reaction. "The largest number in any dwelling in Britain, I believe. Over a hundred."

"But I've never seen one!" said Hermione.

Aster stared at Hermione, who had been dubbed as the smartest witch of their age. Did she actually think Mr. Filch, a squib, could single-handedly run a magical castle like Hogwarts? Apparently, Nearly Headless Nick thought the same.

"Well, they hardly ever leave the kitchen by day, do they?" said Nearly Headless Nick. "They come out at night to do a bit of cleaning... see to the fires and so on... I mean, you're not supposed to see them. That's the mark of a good house-elf, isn't it?"

Hermione stared at him. "But they get paid?" she said. "They get holidays, don't they? And - and sick leave, and pensions, and everything?"

Recognizing Hermione in one of her rants, Aster tuned her out to ask Neville what he did during his Summer if he didn't get to go to the World Cup. When the puddings too had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean, the Headmaster finally put to rest the rumors of the Tournament that had been buzzing up and down the Hogwarts Express.

"I have great pleasure in announcing that this year we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century." Here Dumbledore paused, allowing the suspense to fully take its hold on the Great Hall. Aster rolled her eyes at the Headmaster's penchant for dramatics...it was almost as bad as Lockheart! "It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

This was predictably met with shock from those who recognized the Tournament and confusion from those who didn't.

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. 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 find himself or herself in mortal danger.

Privately, Aster snorted at this. In the last 3 years of her Hogwarts' education, her life had been in peril every single year. The mention of 1000 galleons and glory, however, went far in assuaging the little concern the students had over their safety. Especially loud was the Gryffindor table.

Their classes did not change much from last year, except for Hermione's. It seemed she dropped a couple of classes to make her schedule more humanly possible. DADA class was historically either very good or very bad, depending on the teacher, and Sirius was understandably nervous in his first few classes, wanting his students to like him.