Enchanted

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His steps were loud on the cold stone floor and hollow sounds echoed from the walls as he ran after his best friend. The black fabric of his cape pursued him, the yellow tie with the house emblem slapped his face continuously and wild, untamed locks were coating his eyes. His lungs were straining with every rushed breath he took since he's already been pulled through half the castle. A roll of parchment paper was tucked under his arm, the essay for Potions nearly finished before he'd been rushed out of the library. With his right hand he grasped tightly onto his bag filled with books and his quill which clattered with every step.

"Hurry up, Harold!" His best friend Niall called und glanced back over his shoulder to snicker at seeing Harry struggling to keep up. "You should go running with me instead of hiding in the library all the time!"

Harry grimaced at him and sped up until he caught up with the blonde Irishman. Uncountable students tried to press through the tall entrance door all at the same time, shouting and pushing and hoping to reach the courtyard first. Finally, Niall slowed his steps and pushed with a hand around Harry's bicep through the door, both swimming admits the masses of teenagers. Harry's left shoulder collided painfully with the doorframe and he hissed at the pain. That would give a nice blue mark, he thought. He still didn't know what was going on and why he'd been kidnapped from his best friend while being head deep in writing his essay.

Everyone of Hogwarts found themselves in the big courtyard where a spring was spraying animatedly, little fishes jumping out of the water and the mermaid sculptures singing beautiful melodies. Niall pulled on Harry's sleeve, urging him to follow faster, and squeezed through the busy crowd. Soon, they reached the wall which fenced the yard and prevented them from falling in the depth. They stretched their necks to get a better view on what was happening though Harry still didn't know what to pay attention to. A breeze tousled his hair and Harry scrunched his nose as the cold wind caused goosebumps to scratch against the fabric of his uniform.

They spotted Hagrid, the gamekeeper and half-giant, standing on a meadow further away from the castle. His bulky boots hidden by the grass, he raised his arms with a wooden guide each. He waved towards the sky above the Forbidden Forest and stepped several steps back. Astounded murmuring was heard, some shouts and a few teens pointed to the sky hidden by heavy clouds. Harry turned his head to where the others pointed and his jaw fell open as he saw a dozen light brown horses with glorious white wings of feathers. Abraxans, Harry recognized. They all were harnessed to drag a big, bright blue carriage as big as a house which teared the duvet of clouds over the forest open. A few rays of sun squeezed through next to the carriage and framed it like some sort of halo. It truly looked magical. The gigantic horses howled loudly as they descended to the meadow, heading for the still waving Hagrid. Gracefully their feet made contact with the ground, some of them reared up and angelic bells jingled, the sound being carried with the breeze of wind.

Everyone was mesmerized by the beautiful creatures of the size of an elephant but before anybody could fully register what just had occurred, loud crashing waves caused the students to whip around to see an enormous ship raise out of the masses of water. It seemed to grow endlessly. It was made of seemingly old wood and looked somehow like a skeleton. The round windows on the front and the sides resembled eyes. Dull, orange light gleamed through them, indicating that there were people on board. As it swam tall and intimidating in the lake of Hogwarts, all of a sudden big, black sails unfolded and fluttered wildly in the wind. It slowly swam to the shore.

Harry turned to Niall to ask what the hell was going on and discovered an excited look on his mate's face. His big, blue eyes were shining bright at the sight of the carriage and the ship. Why wasn't he wondering what was happening?

"Niall, what the hell is this?" He waved his hands around him and boxed his mate's shoulder.

Niall looked at him like he had grown three heads. "Don't tell me ya don't know what this is all for." At Harry's questioning look his eyes widened comically. "Merlin's bullock! How haven't you noticed?"

"I'm sorry, Ni. I really have no idea what is going on." Harry felt ashamed although under Niall's surprised eyes. What did he miss?

"H, the bloody Triwizard Tournament! Rings a bell?"

Yes, that ringed a bell or four. Of course he knew about it. But... "The tournament is here?" That would explain the carriage and the ship. These were probably the vehicles of the two schools Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.

"Yes! Merlin, you really do live in your books! How did you not overhear everyone babbling about it in the halls, also Dumbledore held a fucking speech two months ago." Niall rushed through his explanation. "This is what ya got for mingling in the library every second of your day, man!" He clapped his hand on Harry's shoulder and pulled him in a side hug. "Probably were buried under a pile on books, huh?" He jokingly rolled his eyes.

"Uhm..." Harry bit his lip. "Oops?" He offered with a sheepish smile that got Niall ruffling his hair. "But that's, like, really cool!" He now grinned as he fully registered that yes, the famous Triwizard Tournament took place in Hogwarts this year. He knew that the Ministry of Magic had planned to reintroduce the tournament after it had been banned for about a hundred years because of the drastically high death rate. He suddenly buzzed with excitement. "This is so exciting, Niall!"

Niall laughed and glanced back to the entrance door where Professor McGonnagall was calling for everyone to gather in the Great Hall to greet their guests. "You're unbelievable, H." He shook his head then they went back into the castle and sat on their house table. The otherwise yellow and black flag over their heads was swapped out with flags with the logos of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Everyone was thrilled and chatted loudly with their housemates. They found Liam talking to Zack Smith, a black haired boy in year six. Harry and Niall took a seat next to their friend and involved themselves in the conversation.

Even if it seemed as though they all were chatting carelessly, everybody could feel the tension that lingered in the air of the Great Hall. Niall filled Harry in in what he'd missed and summarized the speech of the headmaster in a few words. Apparently, the Ministry had decided that the age of the contest mustn't be under seventeen and even though Harry'd never participate in such dangerous games he was relieved by the new restrictions. Thus, no one of the younger witches and wizards could be hurt after thoughtlessly enrolling to the tournament. Niall told him a few students had been protesting that they couldn't participate because of their age but Harry thought that they'd know better after they'd learned about the dangerous tasks the champions had to compete in. Also, the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were staying for the whole year at Hogwarts and were sleeping in a separate part of the castle provided for them and their headmasters.

In between the conversations and jokes, most of the students were startled when Dumbledore called for everyone to be quiet. He strolled to the middle of the podium reserved for the teachers and spoke loudly, his voice resounding in the hall for every pair of ears to hear.

"Students of Hogwarts. As you all know, our school was chosen as location for the infamous Triwizard Tournament." Loud whistles and clapping interrupted the wizard. "Silence!" He hissed and every single mouth was shut. Dumbledore glanced through the hall, watery blue eyes shining behind his glasses, before he resumed his speech. "As you might have seen or heard, our guests just have arrived on the property and they will enter the hall every minute now. So please be nice and welcome with me the entrancing students of Beauxbatons Academy for Magic and their headmistress Madame Maxime!"

As soon as his words were spoken, the door to the Great Hall was opening and about ten girls in light blue dresses were jumping into the hall. They were presenting themselves and conjured little butterflies. Behind them, a really tall lady with short, brown hair and a rich black satin coat marched along the tables to the front. Her neck, ears and fingers were covered in dark opals. The headmistress greeted Dumbledore like an old friend and sat down on the teacher's table with a steady frown. The girls were heading for the Ravenclaw table and squeezed in between the oldest students sitting there.

Niall stared after a pretty witch with luscious reddish brown hair as she winked at him and seemed paralyzed with an open mouth which Harry, giggling, closed with his fingers under Niall's chin. Niall swatted his hand away but continued to stare anyways.

After the guests found their seats, Dumbledore announced "The strong students of Durmstrang Institute and their headmaster Igor Karkaroff".

Again, the door opened and revealed another ten students entering the hall but this time it was all bulky, determined looking boys — men, Harry thought and sat a tad more upwards to get a better glimpse. The boys were dressed in heavy fur coats and black boots, each walking with intent. They clattered their spears on the floor which caused sparks to fly up on their sides. One guy made a flick flack and a backflip while two other boys spied fire. It was...a lot. But Harry had to admit that it was rather impressive. As most of the boys were lined up at the front, the headmaster Igor Karkaroff in a white coat marched through the door with controlled steps and dark expression.

Next to him was walking someone who in the first moment looked like an angel to Harry. The first thing Harry noticed about him were his piercing blue eyes he could easily mistake with two sapphires. Their eyes met for the tiniest part of a second and Harry's heart, it missed a beat, he was sure of it. Skin like honey flowed over his high, carved cheekbones, his pink lips were slim and his light brown hair was artistically combed up. He was absolutely breathtaking. 

Harry's mouth opened in a silent gasp after the beautiful boy had passed him and shook Dumbledore's hand after Karkaroff. He flattened his impeccable looking coat and sat down with the other Durmstrang students at the Slytherin's house table. Meanwhile Karkaroff sat on a chair next to Madame Maxime. His hard gaze was hard and scary as he took in the sight in front of him.

Harry abandoned the scary looking man and searched the hall, more precisely searched for a particular boy who had taken his breath away. The Ravenclaw table was restricting his sight but soon he could see the pretty boy in a fur coat.

As he discovered that two bright eyes were looking directly into his, his stomach fluttered, stirred with something warm. He had the urge to instantly avert his eyes but something in the deep, deep blue orbs of the boy captured him and didn't let go. A smirk — a bloody smirk found its way onto the thin lips of the stranger and he tilted his head slightly as he didn't turn away from Harry but instead held the intense eye contact. Harry's lips parted as he felt his cheeks burn and went crimson. He quickly blinked and looked at Liam who was sitting next to him.

It felt as if thousands of butterflies came alive and poked the insides of Harry’s stomach while he had a hard time to tame them as they batted their wings wildly. Liam furrowed his eyebrows questioningly at Harry's red face but he shook his head dismissively and smiled. Liam reciprocated the smile and dived back into the rather one sided conversation with Niall in which the blonde boy rambled on about the girl who’d winked at him and definitely had a crush on him.

Absentmindedly Harry heard Dumbledore announcing the feast before clapping and tons of food appeared on the tables. While picking at a grilled baguette, Harry automatically glanced back to the beautiful boy with the godlike cheekbones and got red cheeks again as the piercing blue eyes caught his a second time. The next hour Harry's gaze landed repeatedly on the boy and fought against the redness in his face as, again and again, the boy smiled at him sweetly and a bit smug.

And Harry thought he might have been enchanted.

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