✶

Chapter One:
constellations

ADELAINE was sitting at the ravenclaw table in the great hall. other ravenclaws watched as she raised her wand and created constellations in the air that shined and illuminated their faces. they studied it as she rotated it so they could get every aspect of it.

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.

cedric diggory, her best friend from the hufflepuff table waved at adelaine. she waved back and smiled.

the doors of the great hall opened and silence fell. professor mcgonagall was leading a long line of first years up to the top of the hall. adelaine could usually tell by their body movement and facial expressions which house the first years would be in but tonight, all of them were shivering with a combination of cold and nerves as they filed along the staff table and came to a halt in a line facing the rest of the school.

adelaine wished she had a sibling she could watch be sorted, but she was an only child. her parents were both hufflepuffs, and very excited when they found out their daughter was a ravenclaw. they thought she was perfect and shamelessly said that they didn't want to have another one in fears that it wouldn't be as perfect as her. "we got lucky with the first one," her father said. "we'd be sure to mess up the next one."

professor mcgonagall placed a three-legged stool on the ground before the first years and, on top of it, an extremely old, dirty patched wizard's hat. the first years stared at it. so did everyone else. for a moment, there was silence. then a long tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song:

a thousand years or more ago,
when i was newly sewn,
there lived four wizards of renown,
whose names are still well known:
bold gryffindor, from wild moor,
fair ravenclaw, from glen,
sweet hufflepuff, from valley broad,
shrewd slytherin, from fin.
they shared a wish, a hope, a dream,
they hatched a daring plan,
to educate young sorcerers,
thus hogwarts school began.
now each of these four founders,
formed their own house, for each.
did value different virtues,
in the ones they had to teach.
by gryffindor, the bravest were
prized far beyond the rest.
for ravenclaw, the cleverest,
would always be the best.
for hufflepuff, hard workers were,
most worthy of admission.
and power-hungry slytherin,
loved those of great ambition.
while still alive they did divide
their favorites from the throng,
yet how to pick the worthy ones
when they were dead and gone?
twas gryffindor who found the way,
he whipped me off his head,
the founders put some brains in me
so i could choose instead!
now slip me snug above your ears
i've never yet been wrong
i'll have a look inside your mind
and tell where you belong!

the great hall rang with applause as the sorting hat finished.

adelaine watched as each new student staggered up to the stool and placed the hat on their head. the first one was sorted into ravenclaw, adelaine cheered with her house and welcomed the newcomer.

the sorting continued; boys and girls with varying degrees of fright on their faces moving one by one to the three-legged stool, the line dwindling slowly as professor mcgonagall passed the l's. cedric was always the first one in hufflepuff to welcome the first years by patting them on the back.

when the sorting ceremony ended, professor dumbledore got to his feet. "i have only two words to say to you," he told them, his deep voice echoing around the hall. "dig in."

food magically appeared on all four tables, filling the empty plates. adelaine tucked her wand under her robes and began to eat. she made sure to steer clear from any peanuts or honey, knowing her face and mouth would swell. in her first year she accidentally drank some tea with honey and she had to leave to the hospital wing. thankfully, madame pomfrey was able to fix her up in a matter of seconds. cedric laughed at her for weeks.

"so!" said dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "now that we are all fed and watered, i must once more ask for your attention, while i give out a few notices."

"mr. filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include screaming yo-yos, fanged frisbees, and ever-bashing boomerangs. the full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, i believe, and can be viewed in mr. filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."

mr. filch stood near the doors and looked aghast. he was shocked that dumbledore hadn't read the entire list, knowing full well that no students would bother to go look at the list.

adelaine recalled being approached by fred and george weasley on the train, attempting to persuade her to purchase some of their items; which were most likely all on mr. filch' forbidden list.

"as ever, i would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of hogsmeade to all below third year. it is also my painful duty to inform you that the inter-house quidditch cup will not take place this year."

murmurs spread out around the hall as quidditch members voiced their disapproval.

adelaine caught cedric's eye and raised her eyebrows. he looked disappointed but merely gave a small shrug. he was the hufflepuff quidditch captain and played as seeker.

"this is due to an event that will be starting in october, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but i am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. i have great pleasure in announcing that this year at hogwarts -"

but at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the great hall banged open. adelaine peered around the ravenclaws to see a man standing in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling coat. he made his way to the teachers' table, a dull clunk echoed through the hall on his every step.

as he passed by adelaine, she studied him. every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. the mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. but it was the man's eyes that made him frightening.

one of them was small, dark, and beady. the other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. the blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye - and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness.

the stranger sat down after shaking dumbledore's hand. his blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the hall and the students.

"may i introduce our new defense against the dark arts teacher," said dumbledore brightly into the silence. "professor moody."

adelaine began clapping immediately, because it was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause but no one else but herself was clapping. she dropped her hands and put her head down in an attempt to hide her reddening cheeks.

that's when she heard another person clapping. her head shot up and searched the room for the source of the clapping and landed on cedric. he knew how embarrassed she was and didn't want her to go through the embarrassment alone. he clapped louder than she did and even stood up and woo-hooed.

adelaine mouthed thank you. cedric gave her a nod as if to say, of course before sitting back down.

dumbledore cleared his throat. "as i was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at mad-eye moody, "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. it is my very great pleasure to inform you that the triwizard tournament will be taking place at hogwarts this year."

adelaine perked up. she recalled reading up on the triwizard tournament a year go. she wrote an essay on it but was never marked on it. cedric eyed her from the hufflepuff table and grinned. he remembered very vividly of the time she rambled on and on to him about the tournament.

the triwizard tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest european schools of wizardry: hogwarts, beauxbatons, and durmstrang. a champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. the schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued.

"the heads of beauxbatons and durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in october, and the selection of the three champions will take place at halloween. an impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the triwizard cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand galleons personal prize money."

"the delegations from beauxbatons and durmstrang will be arriving in october and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. i know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. and now, it is late, and i know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. bedtime! chop chop!"

adelaine hopped off the bench and made her way through the crowd of hufflepuffs to reach cedric. she embraced him in a hug, after not seeing him on the train ride and never during summer.

"how was your summer, aines?" he asked as he hugged her back. he smelled of mints and forest air.

"not much has happened," she told him as they made their way out of the great hall. "nothing worth talking about anyways."

from what she could see, they were the only people conversing with someone other than from their own house. it's always been that way; but she refused to stop talking to him because they were from different houses.

"haven't received much letters from you," said cedric.

"bagoly has been ill," she sighed. "i didn't want to overwork him."

"still can't believe you named your owl 'owl' in hungarian," cedric chuckled.

"ez segít nekem tanulni a nyelvet," adelaine retorted.

cedric stared at her blankly, trying to guess what she said. she overheard the weasley twins conversing with each other as they walked in front of them. "i reckon a couple of drops of aging potion might do it, george..."

"don't be ridiculous," she heard herself saying before she could stop herself. "if you're talking about entering the tournament, don't. dumbledore himself said that all applicants had to be of the wizarding age of majority. you don't know what'll happen to applicants who don't fit the qualifications."

fred and george spun around and grinned. "look, george, she's wearing blue robes which means she's in ravenclaw."

"what she says must be true, shouldn't it?" said fred.

"i'd listen to her," said cedric. "she knows what she's talking about."

"just be cautious," begged adelaine. "the potion could backfire. it could take days to reverse."

"we always are, darling," they said in unison and ran up the stone steps.

"what about you?" she asked, turning to face cedric. "are you entering the tournament? you're old enough to enter..."

"do you think i should?" he asked her, his eyes yearning for her answer. he valued her opinion. he rarely did anything without asking her first. she knew him better than anyone else so he knew she had his best interest in mind.

"it's dangerous..." she answered quietly. "i know you could do it, but if it was up to me, i wouldn't want you to enter because all i can think about is all the dangerous situations that can arise, but in the end the choice is ultimately up to you. i can't tell you what to do..."

cedric nodded, deep in thought. she told him goodnight and made her way to the ravenclaw tower. she climbed the tight spiral staircase and stopped in front of the bronze eagle knocker on the door.

"what cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt? it lies behind stars and under hills and empty holes it fills. it comes first and follows after, ends life, kills laughter."

adelaine shifted uncomfortably and answered, "darkness."

the door opened, granting her access.

✶

adelaine laid in her four poster bed and held up her wand, once again creating constellations in the air. her roommates were fast asleep and every few minutes she could hear henley ryans mutter something in her sleep about trolls. adelaine thought about the triwizard tournament and all it encompasses. it's dangerous, unpredictable, but she knew cedric. he was going to enter.

her stomach was in knots just thinking about it but she supported him in everything he did, whether or not she agreed. she set her wand on the side table and tried her best to fall asleep. eventually, after an hour of tossing and turning, she drifted off.

✶

AN:

hope you enjoyed the first chapter!

please be aware that i haven't read the books since junior high so there are bound to be mistakes. i'm currently reading the books again but i'm only on book 3. if i make any mistakes, please kindly tell me and i'll correct it. also, i'm a gryffindor so i don't know much about ravenclaw but i'm learning more and more so adelaine isn't too much out of character.