Teen Wolf at Hogwarts

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***

- I'm dying, I'm dying, I'm dying,' Malia mumbled, drumming her fingers on the dining room table.

- Mal, calm down,' Allison tried to cheer her up, squeezing her shoulder for support and trying not to show her worry, 'There's nothing we can do. Lydia and Stiles promised to write right after the Champions' performance. We'll get the information practically firsthand.

- I'm still shaking like I'm the one who's going to be doing whatever it is I'm doing in a few hours,' Tate shook her head, biting her lip.

- Ellie's right, we're powerless. Just be ready for any news, that's all. In the meantime,' Isaac set the cutlery aside and picked up the newspaper, opening it to the first page he could find, immediately humming in satisfaction.

- What's in it? - Malia raised her eyebrows, turning to Matt. He shrugged his shoulders and calmly continued eating his breakfast.

- Isaac? - Allison called out. The boy grinned and handed his friend the paper. Malia was still sitting there, uncomprehending and already angry.

- Allison, what is it? - Tate asked, folding her arms across her chest.

- Isaac, really? - Argent laughed, catching Tate's annoyed look and immediately calming down, 'It's just that there was an explosive-bombing championship in the Czech Republic today, and it says here that one of the competitors was dressed as a lion. His mate was dressed as a snake. Apparently, at the end of the championship, they had a mock duel.

- Why do I need this information? - Malia raised her eyebrows. Scott nodded, as if in solidarity.

- 'The "lion" was a John Stilinski,' the girl said. A second later, the paper was snatched from her hands, and Malia and Scott were staring at the photograph with huge eyes, unable to believe their eyes.

- That's my mum, are you serious? - Not knowing whether to laugh or call the emergency services, Scott asked, pointing at the woman standing a metre away from the 'lion'.

- I'm surprised Claudia isn't there,' Matt said thoughtfully.

- She's been sick. Stiles told me yesterday,' McCall explained.

- I hope it's nothing serious,' Tate frowned, tossing the paper to Isaac.

- Of course not,' Scott waved it away, 'Are we going with you to the Ravenclaw/Slytherin match in a few weeks? - The boy's eyes lit up immediately. Allison and Malia looked over with a sigh and had to listen to another tirade about both teams' tactics and their chances of winning.

***

- St Godric, I'm going to go pray now. Just what did you say it meant? - Stiles asked, drumming his wand nervously on his leg as he walked towards the huge field and wrapped his robe tighter.

- Muggles have pleading, too,' Lydia said, walking next to her friend, 'You know, worshiping the gods. Pleading, on the other hand, is an appeal to them. It's just that our gods are slightly different from the Muggle gods.

- I don't care, I'll go to the Devil, I'm shaking,' Stiles whimpered.

As the boys approached the venue for the first stage of the Tournament, the nervousness only grew. Everyone had been different from their usual selves since the morning beforehand. Stiles had been talking several times more - neither Will nor Lydia had known it was physically possible until now - Sonya, Reno, and Stefan had been silent most of the time, though they'd had emotional outbursts once every half hour. Though the latter two were, of course, rooting for their Champion, they were nonetheless trying their best to support their fellow Hogwarts students. Eloise and Chantelle, by the way, were hardly backing down from the boys today. The four of them, separating only out of sheer necessity, were watching their students, knowing full well that nothing bad could happen - every student at Hogwarts knew Beauxbaton as their home (especially the Gryffindors, of course).

- God, what's going to happen in there? - Stiles whispered, rubbing his frozen palms together.

- We'll see soon enough,' Will grinned.

It took the boys about three minutes to get there. It took Stiles the same amount of time to lose control and then to calm down again, staring at the scene below. Lydia and Will were much cooler, but they, too, couldn't hold back a shriek of delight at the sight of what was on the ground.

- What could possibly be going on here? - Martin asked in a half-whisper, speaking to herself rather than to her astonished friends.

The guys would still be standing at the very entrance, if it were not for the people scurrying around, which made the guys return from heaven to earth. After answering all the disgruntled people with 'affectionate' words, Stiles and Will led their friend to the places where they thought the view would be better. And as far as Lydia could tell, they succeeded perfectly. From where they were, everything looked even more terrifying and enormous. Holding her breath, Martin was finally able to see everything down to the smallest detail.

They were sitting right above the huge dome. Lydia couldn't understand exactly what it was made of, but based on who was organising this tournament, it could be quite possible to count on some rock crystal instead of ordinary glass. Or, at the very least, it was an ordinary force field, no less effective and impressive. Underneath the dome itself was something unimaginable. A mixture of forests, snow-capped mountains, meadows and lakes. It all blended together as if it was completely natural to find completely different terrains under the glass-magic dome.

- It's like some kind of active volumetric map,' Will murmured admiringly, 'the kind that computer game developers sometimes use.

- Oh, yeah, if only we knew what it was,' Stiles snorted. Lydia, not paying any attention to the boys, continued to stare into the arena.

She noticed that there seemed to be a line between the 'locales'. The dome, one might say, was divided into three parts. One of them was so familiar that Martin's heart ached. Forests with strange ornate trees and a lake so deep that the colour of the water was impossible to tell.

- It's like the Black Lake,' Stiles said, as if reading the redhead's thoughts.

- I think so,' the girl said thoughtfully, 'That's what the emphasis is on. Take a look. This part,' Martin pointed to the third of the dome that had made her heart sink a moment ago, 'looks a lot like a house. You know? I mean, you see? That tree right there looks a lot like a Rattlesnake Willow,' Martin jabbed her finger at the strangest and largest tree.

- What's that,' Will frowned, 'So it's kind of like a representation of our houses, huh? The snow and the mountains are Bulgaria. These meadows and the waterfall are France. And these misunderstandings are ours, - the boy again pointed at the lake of an incomprehensible colour and ugly huge trees.

- I wonder if there is squid there. - Stiles tilted his head to the side, 'I've missed it.

Lydia, having stopped listening to her friends' conversation again, looked round the "map" again and noticed a new detail. Everywhere, literally every three metres there were statues of animals: badgers, marmots, cheetahs, leopards and others. There were statues of both large and small animals - ferrets, hedgehogs, tiny rodents. Petrified birds sat in the trees. Frowning, Martin forced herself to finally pull herself away from contemplation and listen to the boys' conversation.

- But it's still like a separate circle,' she got to the very end of their dialogue, of course. Judging by the fact that none of the boys said another word in the next ten seconds, the conversation was over. Sighing, Lydia leaned over to Stiles sitting to her left and frowned, breathing on her hands in an attempt to warm them.

- What as a separate circle? I've been listening,' she explained. Will and Stiles immediately became animated and started talking about a barely visible line, a pillar of light, and a pedestal of some kind. Eventually, unable to bear it, Martin shushed her friends and asked them to explain more clearly.

- Look, - Will decided to take responsibility for this, sitting closer to his friend from the other side and pointing his finger somewhere in the middle of the dome, - In the very centre there is a barely visible line, see? It's like a circle separated from everything else. And there's a pedestal inside.

- It's empty,' Martin frowned.

- Exactly,' Will exclaimed, 'That's what I was telling Stiles. So it's not a complete version of the terrain, right? When the boys come out, it's bound to be different.

- What else is there to wrap up? - Stilinski asked, looking up at the mountain. Lydia, patting her friends on the shoulders and immediately hiding her hands back in her warm pockets, began to wait calmly for the start.

In fact, no one, absolutely no one announced the start time of the first stage. All the students, as if zombified, together, without any bickering, went to the arena right after lunch, without even discussing it. Now an hour and a half had passed. The students were beginning to realise that none of them had bothered to ask the professors or the other representatives of the committee - the Minister of Magic and his deputy, Madame Maxime's close friend - about the time.

- I'm dying,' Stiles wailed, swaying from side to side. Tim, sitting on his shoulder, squeaked in agreement.

- What's wrong with you again? - Lydia sighed.

- I'm hungry,' Stiles looked up at his friend with a pained look. The redhead snorted and turned away again, staring down at her book, 'I'm going to die alone! - Stilinski whimpered louder than usual.

- Shut up, you idiot,' Will hissed, 'Here, look! - The boy jabbed his finger at a guy walking past them. His cheeks and nose were not yet pink, and he looked like he'd been here recently. In his hands he was carrying a huge box, obviously stuffed with food and themed paraphernalia, -You can go and ... - Will turned around and realised that Stiles hadn't been here for a long time, and laughed. The girl rolled her eyes, wrapped herself more tightly in her robe and continued reading.

Five minutes later, Stiles returned, and Will and Lydia rolled their eyes for what was probably the thousandth time. The boy held a six-pack of peanuts in his teeth, three packs of magical fizzies, and a few more packets of whatever. In his left hand, Stiles was somehow able to hold three glasses of a hot, non-freezing drink based on rowan decoction, and in his right hand, a pair of warm gloves with the Hogwarts crest on them.

- You ruined him,' Will said cheerfully, taking his share of the food.

- I made him rich,' Stiles snorted, carefully handing Lydia her food.

- Why did you buy gloves? - The redhead raised her eyebrows, arranging the bags of food so that all three of them were comfortable. Martin sighed and pressed her fingers as close to the sides of the cup as possible in an attempt to warm herself.

- That's what I bought it for,' Stiles snorted, sitting down in his seat and finally freeing his hands, "Give it to me," the boy took the glass from his friend and placed it between them, taking her hands in his palms. Then he put gloves on the redhead's hands and handed the glass back, -It's warmer this way, isn't it?

- Thank you,' Martin's eyes rounded in admiration. Stiles shrugged his shoulders, smiled and began to eat the contents of the first bag. Will, looking at the two friends with an undisguised smile, rolled his eyes.

After twenty minutes, the atmosphere began to heat up. Madame Maxime magically amplified her voice and announced that the start time of the first stage was two o'clock in the afternoon. As Stiles noticed, it was ten minutes to two at that point. The students, who had already taken their seats in the arena, perked up and clamoured louder by a factor of ten. The remaining minutes flew by so quickly that no one seemed to have time to say a word.

- There she is,' Stiles whispered, grabbing Lydia's hand in a fit of emotion.

She, biting her lip, also watched Marzia, coming out, as the boys had expected, from the side that was more 'Hogwarts-like'. The girl didn't step onto the grass itself, she remained standing on something resembling a marble panel. Also from their entrances under the dome, Philip and Nicole entered and remained each on their own panel. All three, smiling, waved to the audience.

They were dressed in comfortable tracksuits, and it was obvious that in some ways they had thought of the design themselves. Phillip's suit was almost austere. His strong body was hidden under several layers of clothing - of course, how could he go out without the traditional cape! Nicole was dressed in a soft blue simple suit. Her hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail and the Beauxbaton emblem was emblazoned on her chest. Marzia's costume was somewhat similar to Nicole's, except it was not blue, but burgundy. The Hogwarts emblem was embroidered on her chest, of course. On the back was the motto. Every student at Hogwarts felt it their duty to say it out loud. Judging by the girl's smile, it was exactly the reaction she had hoped for.

- The first stage of the Tournament of the Three Wizards,' Madame Maxime's voice announced the arena, amplified several times, 'The Champions need to find a link. An association with their ancestral home. With the help of this linking thing, the Champion must reach the pedestal and find the object. Which one, he must figure out for himself. You have your wands, Champions. Use everything except forbidden spells and black magic. Good luck.

- Good luck,' the entire arena repeated after Madame Maxime. The champions bowed and stepped down from their panels and immediately, literally in the same second, there was a drastic change.

Every statue that Lydia had seen before came to life. Every animal died. Movement began. Hundreds of sounds filled the arena. Growls, squeals, squeaks, claws clacking. Lydia could look at Marcia alone and feel the beating of her own heart, or Stiles's, she couldn't quite make out.

Marzia stepped down from her panel and immediately took out her wand, clutching it in her right hand just for reassurance. Apparently she knew a little more - searching with her eyes for something the audience probably had no idea about, she stepped carefully between the trees. The girl's heart was beating like crazy, but she still smiled every time someone from above shouted her name.

Half an hour before, the Headmasters had summoned each of their Champions and 'hinted' at something that the boys couldn't figure out definitively, even in consultation.

- I was told it was some sort of connection to the home school and probably the faculty. What are we looking for? An image? - Nicole asked then, frowning.

- I was told the same thing,' Marzia nodded, 'Maybe an element? You have air, I have fire, Phil has earth.

- It's too easy,' the boy shook his head, 'They must have wrapped up something incredible that will turn out to be simple, but you have to break your brain or neck to get to the bottom of it.

Which was why Marzia was looking for something, but didn't know what it was. She gazed into the trees, the ground, the air, but saw nothing but the painfully familiar outline of trees. She already knew that the entire area around her now was an exact replica of the Forbidden Forest. Of course, it wasn't exactly identical, or she could have turned off one path and come to Hagrid's hut - the girl wouldn't have minded that possibility at all.

When there was a loud roar and a loud stomping of hooves, the girl's heart only beat faster. She didn't know where to go or what to look for, but she knew that without a 'clue' she wouldn't be able to get through. She was well aware that there were animals scurrying around that would immediately pounce on her and take her out of the fight if she didn't find the item or symbol she needed.

Nevertheless, she had no choice but to keep walking. She had no path, trudging through tall grass and bushes and sometimes dense coniferous trees, scratching her cheeks and arms. All she could do was thank Merlin that her part of the map was warm. Not like Phil's. The poor guy was dealing not only with the mystery but also with the cold - he'd told her and Nicole from the start that the snow made it hard to move fast, and especially if they really had to use elemental magic, he'd have to get to the ground before he could use spells.

Thinking about her own thoughts, Marzia did not notice that she had reached the edge of the forest. She remembered it. It was the one where Hagrid had taken his students to meet the Festrals. Closing her eyes for a moment, Marzia visualised her location clearly. The forest behind, the centaurs' dwellings on the right, the caves of the acromantulas and hippocampi on the left, and finally the ranger's hut in front. She had no idea if everything here was arranged the same way, or if some changes were present. Judging by the stomping of hooves, they were centaurs. They could have been horses crossed with fish, though. There was no telling.

Finally deciding where she would go, Marzia opened her eyes and took a step, then froze on the spot. In front of her sat something that could not be called anything else. With its head tilted to the side, a lion was staring at her with its green eyes open. No, it wasn't a lion. It was a lion cub, still very small and cute. Wiggling its ears, it slowly opened its mouth and yawned.

Marzia stood there not knowing what to do. This was the first beast she had ever met. She didn't know which spells could be used and which ones couldn't. And anyway, it was a cub, it wasn't dangerous by definition. But something kept her from passing it by. Tilting her head to the side, as the lion cub was sitting, the girl took a step towards the beast. He did not move.

- You're here for a reason, aren't you? - she asked quietly, taking another step. The lion cub blinked slowly and yawned once more, causing the girl to laugh nervously, 'I have to find a connection. What am I supposed to do with you?

The lion cub licked his lips and continued to sit still. He didn't move, just stared at Marcia with his eyes wide open. She realised now that if she left, he wouldn't even follow her. He was perfectly safe. But that was the catch. Marzia knew that all the animals here were 'programmed' to prevent her and the other boys from reaching the notorious centre.

- What are you here for? - The girl asked and knelt down on one knee in front of the lion cub, placing her right hand on it and drumming the tip of her wand on its leg, -You are the thing I was supposed to find, aren't you? So what am I supposed to do with you? Am I supposed to name you? You look like Alan,' Lionpaw sneered and Marzia smiled, 'You're Alan anyway. But what am I going to do with you, Alan?' at that moment the lion cub yawned again, and the girl, driven by something unclear, reached out to him with her right hand with the intention of stroking him. Obviously, it was a mistake. Or vice versa.

Either way, as soon as the Gryffindor's hand and the shaft of her wand lightly touched the lion cub's fur, its eyes turned from green to bright red and then gold, returning to their previous colour after a moment. Rounding her eyes, Marzia froze with her arm outstretched, looking at the newly yawning beast.

- What was that just now? - The girl muttered to herself.

However, she realised that she couldn't waste that much time. She had to move or she would fail the test. Getting to her feet, the girl took a few steps for the test and looked back to see if Alan was still there. It turned out that the lion cub was following right behind her, looking round with the same huge open green - now - eyes.

- So I really did find you,' Marzia grinned. The lion cub made an unintelligible sound, something between a snort and a meow. Rolling her eyes, Marzia walked on.

The girl wondered if Nick and Phil had the same luck, or if they had to go through several beasts without their talismans. She didn't know if Al would truly help her, of course, but she could already feel the connection that Dumbledore had mentioned in the morning.

- You will feel it, and maybe even see it. You will realise that this is what you need. You won't be able to be separated. Otherwise, Hogwarts will lose the opportunity to win the first stage,' the Headmaster told her.

And Marzia felt it. Not saw, but really felt Al looking around and running after her, struggling to climb over thick tree roots. The Gryffindor didn't quite understand what the small, unintelligent lion cub was going to give her, but she already knew that she wouldn't let him hurt her. It was indeed a bond, and now Marzia understood the nature of the ordeal. A connection to home, as Sonia would surely say. The element was fire, the animal was a lion, the terrain was forests and a strange black lake. It was as if she were at home, except that there were strange animals scurrying around, looking to attack. Speaking of animals.

Marzia was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice that she was almost nose to nose with a large wolf. Clutching her wand, she took a step back and looked back, meeting the curious gaze of green eyes. Sighing, Marzia took another step back and stood up to cover Alan completely.

- I don't know who's supposed to protect who, but you're not going to hurt him,' she breathed out, pointing her wand at the wolf.

The wolf grinned and growled softly. As soon as Marcia raised her hand higher to cast the spell, it leapt, knocking the Gryffindor to the ground and, of course, knocking her weapon out of her hands. With a shriek of surprise, the girl opened her eyes and faced the evil stare of green eyes, very different from those of the beast behind her, who was now probably sitting with his head tilted to the side and watching his misbehaving companion intently.

Marzia would have tried to get up if she had not been pressed to the floor by two heavy paws of the owner of an equally heavy body. When the girl tried to rest her knees on the belly of the beast, it growled sharply, almost deafeningly, and she clenched herself almost instinctively, pressing her feet to the ground. As she was already devising what must have been her tenth plan of escape, a very, very low growl sounded behind her.

Hoping that it wasn't another predator - she and Al were in enough distress as it was - she made another attempt to get out. The wolf had heard the sound, too, and was now looking not at Marcia, but somewhere behind her. Somewhere the girl couldn't look.

- Get off me, you fat carcass,' she whispered. The predator switched back to his victim, grinned and squinted, and at that very moment a deafening growl sounded behind him.

Before Marzia knew it, someone had flown into the wolf and knocked it to the ground. For a few seconds she lay on the ground, trying to catch her breath and listening to the incomprehensible sounds of fighting. There was growling, squealing, and the thumping of paws on the ground. When she found the strength to raise her head, the wolf was gone, but there was a predator there that was several times the size of the poor wolf.

- Merlin Almighty,' Marzia whispered, rising up on her elbows.

She looked straight into the huge green eyes, which stared back at her with undisguised curiosity. Opposite her sat a real lion, his head tilted childishly to the side. His mane was luxurious, but he suddenly shook his head and mussed it, yawning. Not believing her eyes, Marzia got to her feet and approached the beast, gently running the fur between her fingers.

- Al? - she asked quietly. The lion poked its nose into the girl's palm and covered its eyes, rumbling softly, 'So that's how you could help me,' the girl laughed.

In the end, the Gryffindor and her talisman reached the necessary place in half an hour. There were only a few more animals on the way, but even they ran away as soon as they saw the huge yawning lion.

Marzia realised that they had reached the place very quickly. She and Alan looked around anxiously and came to another clearing, but it looked different from the previous ones. In the centre was a platform like the one she, Phil and Nicole had had at the beginning. On the two opposite sides, however, there were distinct edges.

On one side, the wind was blowing terribly cold and it was snowing. It didn't reach the clearing, it just melted in the air without settling on the ground. On the other side we could see fields, beautiful trees and could hear the sound of water. Glancing at the strange-looking Rattlesnake Willow standing nearby - Marzia had been sure to the last minute that the tree would come to life, but it never showed any signs of life - the girl regretted being at Hogwarts near such things and shivered.

- What was I supposed to do there? Find an object? And what is it supposed to be? - The girl asked, throwing a glance at Alan. He snorted and looked round the space around him lazily.

At that moment, a pillar of fire struck the sky from Phillip's side and a loud roar sounded. Raising her eyebrows, Marzia took out her wand and began to watch warily. The noise was getting closer and closer, the crunch of snow and breaking branches could be heard. Marzia and Alan stood closer. The lion, crouching slightly, began to watch closely. The Gryffindor was doing the same. A second passed, a second, a second, a third. Marzia gripped her wand tighter, and Alan let out a low, quiet growl. A moment more, and they come face to face.

A man, holding a wand in his hand aimed precisely at Marzia, and a huge fire salamander walks out at them. Phil and Marzia look over at each other, exhale in relief, and lower their arms. The salamander and the lion looked perplexed at their masters, but stood up straight as well.

- I'm glad you made it,' Marzia patted the Durmstrangian on the shoulder.

- 'I'm glad you're here, too. Did you find anything? - The boy asked, shaking himself off. Marzia only now noticed that the trousers on the boy's knee were torn.

- I've only recently come myself, I haven't had time to look around. What happened to you? - The girl pointed at the guy's leg.

- I met a bear. Cory was of little use while he was an egg,' he grinned. Marzia nodded understandingly, turned away from the guy and walked towards the platform.

- Do you think we should get on it? Or is it just some kind of a trap? - The girl asked, not even turning round. There was a lurching sound behind her, and Marzia looked over her shoulder to see Phil studying the area, squatting and looking under every tree.

- 'We need to find the items,' he said thoughtfully, 'There's a pedestal on the platform, but it's empty. Maybe we need to wait for Nicole?' he asked, continuing his study. - he asked, continuing his study.

- Nicole is already here,' he heard from the third side. Nicole, who hadn't even smudged her lipstick all this time, came out to the two guys.

- Who is your mascot, if you look so good? - Phil frowned.

- It's my credit, not hers. She radiates beauty, but not strength,' she snorted, nodding at the creature following her.

- A cat,' Marzia arched an eyebrow.

- Oh, well, that's a lot of use, isn't it? - Phil smiled, 'Our salamander and lion weren't even close.

- Let's go to Merlin,' the girl rolled her eyes, 'Did you find anything?

- We were just waiting for you,' Marzia shrugged.

The boys spent another five minutes exploring the clearing, but they didn't find anything. Phil decided to try to climb up to the platform, but first he prudently held out his hand. Naturally, he ran into a force field. None of the boys knew what to do, but then, as if out of spite, there was growling, rustling and snorting from all three sides. The mascots, standing with their backs to their masters, frowned and hissed too, expressing their readiness for everything.

- Okay, okay. We don't know what to do, but there's something coming at us, preparing to thwart us. What do we have to lose? - Nicole asked, clutching her wand.

- I don't know what we're losing, but we definitely need to do something,' Marzia muttered.

Several animals came out to them from three sides. The mascots, crouching, took a step back, covering their masters. They themselves, with their wanded hands out in front of them, were frantically thinking about what to do. And then, as the lynx approached Alan, galloping viciously, Marzia shrieked loudly as she saw her target.

- Al, be careful,' she whispered. With a shake of her head in response to Phil and Nicole's incomprehensible looks, the girl took off, running around the lion and casting a simple spell on the lynx in passing to give Alan a second.

The animals immediately began to scowl and growl and turned their heads towards her. Marzia didn't care, she knew what she had to do. Slipping between two foxes standing too tightly, the girl stopped at a tree that was in neutral territory and pressed her back against it.

- 'Look round. You'll see,' she said to a confused Phil and Nicole and jumped up, clinging to a branch and pulling herself up on her hands.

The animals had forgotten about her again, judging by the sounds of fussing. She heard exclamations, Al's growl standing out among the others, the crackle of fire and a very loud cat hiss. Phil and Nicole were frantically trying to figure out what she meant, but Marzia couldn't stop. Climbing up the branches to the top, she hurried as fast as she could, but still tried to keep her cool.

Finally, she reached her goal and made it to the top of the tree. Standing up on what she thought was the sturdiest branch, the girl looked around, trying to find what she saw from the ground, and soon found her target. At the very top, literally hanging in the air, was a golden ball, inside of which lay something resembling a gold bar. Without thinking long, Marzia pushed herself off the branch with her feet and grabbed the ball and held it to her chest.

Naturally, she didn't have time to think about landing. So when she saw that she was a metre away from the ground, Marzia opted for her favourite improvisation. Without letting the ball out of her hands - it was so light that she could barely feel it - the girl whispered a spell, hoping that the wand would work without being in her hands. Apparently, luck wasn't turned to face her this time. So the girl landed right on the ground, hitting her back.

- Jesus, are you okay? - Nicole whispered frightened, fending off some animal she had never seen before.

- Yeah, yeah,' the Gryffindor grumbled, getting to her feet and trying to calm her heartbeat, 'Go get the items.

- Already on it,' Nicole pointed to the pinkish ball she was holding.

- Phil? - Marzia raised her eyebrows.

- Dumbfounded! - Nicole exclaimed, forcing the cheetah that was about to jump on Al to fly a few metres away, -He's waiting on the back side of the platform.

The girls, shoulder to shoulder, ran towards Philippe, who was indeed waiting for them. As Marzia realised, he had tried to pass onto the platform, but was met again by the force field, from which he concluded that it could only be done together. As the Sharmbaton and Durmstrangian were about to step onto the platform, Marzia looked at Alan in confusion. He snarled at any moving object and whipped his tail irritably with his back to the girl. Biting her lip and overpowering herself, Marzia took a step and immediately felt a terrible cold and then a fever.

- Congratulations on passing the first stage,' Madame Maxime greeted them with open arms. Nicole, smiling back, hugged her principal.

- So, congratulations to you too,' Dumbledore smiled, already standing next to Marzia, 'That was exciting.

- I was expecting more battles, but that wasn't bad either,' Mr Vane shrugged, shaking hands with a satisfied Philip.

- Champions, - said Madame Maxime, attracting the attention of the boys, - You can ask now one question of interest. Will you take this opportunity?

- What are our scores? - Phil immediately asked, clutching his balloon to himself.

- You all did well, but Durmstrang had more challenges to overcome, and Hogwarts did faster. So the two of them tied for first place, and Beauxbaton came in second by a small margin,' Madame Maxime said good-naturedly, 'Nicole, sweetheart? - the woman turned to her student.

- We will need these subjects for the next stage, right? - Nicole asked. The items inside were still not visible, so Marzia was also very, very concerned about this question.

- That's right,' Mr Vane nodded, 'You will use them to pass the next stage. But first you'll have to get them out of the balloon, and that's a whole other question, and we're not going to give you an answer to it.

- Marzia? - Dumbledore looked at his student, who didn't know what to ask her. Then she turned and saw several dozen stone statues below. Glancing sadly at one of them, the girl smiled sadly.

- What will happen to our talismans? - The Gryffindor asked.

- Oh,' Dumbledore smiled, clearly pleased with her choice of question, 'You'll see them again. Congratulations on first place,' the man bowed jokingly to his student and left with the other Headmasters to announce the results to the audience.

- And again it is clear that nothing is clear, - Nicole sighed heavily, - If you know something, tell me.

- We help each other,' Phil nodded. The Charmbaton and the Durmstrangian looked at Marzia with a glance. She smiled and nodded.

Just like that, the first stage was over. The spectators were happy with the result and the spectacle, but it didn't really matter. Marzia, Nicole, and Phil had rallied together - that was what was most important. They were willing to help each other solve problems, even though they shouldn't have to, supposedly. But none of them wanted to compete right now. They were starting to care about each other, and that was just fine with the principals. For the time being.

***

- And I am happy to announce the results,' Lydia waited with bated breath for the results that Madame Maxime was going to announce.

She could tell with certainty that Will and Stiles were deaf in one ear each. She didn't want to shout so loudly, but she couldn't help it, and Marzia's name came out of her mouth every time she had another success. By the time the Gryffindor found her sphere, Stiles and Will were yelling too. So Lydia could say that they had returned the favour.

- Beauxbaton is in second place by a few points,' Madame Maxime announced. Whispers rippled through the stands, and Lydia frowned. If Nicole came in second place, she should have been announced only after the third place was announced. And it meant only one thing - Hogwarts and Durmstrang, having gained the same number of points, took the first place. Congratulations to the Champions! Congratulations to the Headmasters! Congratulations to the fans! In honour of the opening of the Tournament tonight, a celebration awaits everyone!

- First place! First place! - Will and Stiles, jumping up and down, yelled this, nearly breaking their voices. Lydia, laughing and practically glowing with happiness, almost started jumping up herself, clapping her hands.

Not far away from them Sonia was presenting at the top of her voice some shouting song, which the three friends had neither the strength nor the opportunity to hear. Nevertheless, all the Hogwarts fans - and Chantelle, Eloise, Stefan, and Reno in the immediate vicinity of Sonia - were cheering wildly. Some were laughing to the point of tears, others were crying. The Charmbatons smiled and congratulated the rest of the fans, kindly promising them to show off some more.

The reply from Hogwarts to Stiles and Lydia's letter (which contained almost no information due to the overdose of emotions of the authors) came right away. There wasn't much information to be found there, either, but it was clear that the boys had the whole house on edge.

In the evening, as Madame Maxime had promised, there was a party. Marzia, Nicole and Phil sat together, accepting congratulations and smiling all the time. It was obvious that they were comfortable around each other, and that only made everyone smile.

As the celebration was coming to an end, one of the students decided to raise 'serious' questions. As a result, the Champions were forced to make an attempt to open the spheres that they had been carrying around with them all evening. Naturally, absolutely nothing came out. Nevertheless, someone expressed a hypothesis. Something like that the spheres react to the immediate elements or again some things about the Champions belonging to their faculty houses. The boys promised to test this theory soon.

Lydia, on the other hand, remembered two things that worried her at all bad timing. The first was horrible, the second was more neutral. The first thing was Christmas. Or rather, it wasn't the holiday itself that Lydia was worried about, but where she would be. She'd promised Allison and Malia - and Scott, too - to be with them. They'd planned it back in the summer. She'd be home, too, of course, but not on New Year's Eve. But it all depended on whether they would be sent to London on principle.

She loved all the boys here. Eleanor would stay at the castle, Renault and Steph would stay too. She would have been glad of that, and she knew she would have had a wonderful time with them, but she longed too much to go home, so that even the thought of staying in France brought only sadness and longing. But at once the second thing that worried Lydia came to her aid, and from this her expression changed from sad to anxious.

The twenty-sixth of November was approaching-it was not just approaching, it was almost upon her-and that meant only one thing. She and Will were going to have to do something very important. How to pull it off, she had no idea. She didn't even know what to do yet. She only had one thing, something very important, but not yet certain.

So Lydia spent the entire evening thinking about Marcia's victory, Christmas, and Stiles Stilinski's impending birthday.