Story: Moira
Chapter Four: Entering The Test

The sound of crickets flapping their wings and owls hooting along with the gentle rustling of leaves calmed Harry down. He was facing the window, his back turned to his worried-looking friends.

They were in the Durmstrang ship's dormitory, discussing about the previous duel.

"Mate, why'd you even ask to duel some new girl?" Ron asked, looking confused.

"A hot one at that," Draco snickered. Harry closed his eyes to avoid the rising temptation to hex Draco's mouth shut.

"I told you before," Harry whispered calmly. "I sensed her to be powerful and she didn't disappoint me."

"But she lost!" Draco argued. "Easily too! Just one reductor and tsk!"

"She would have gained the upper hand if I hadn't used a dark curse," Harry replied, trying his best not to hit himself. He had broken his record of not using any dark curse for three years.

"She's no match for you, Harry. Don't worry about losing against her –" Draco was interrupted by a serious looking Harry.

"Never underestimate her. It's a possibility that Dumbledore has trained her up to face me if I were to become the next Dark Lord."

"Why her of all people?" Ron asked, fiddling with his pillow.

"I don't know, Ron. I really don't."

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As promised to his friends, Harry was going to enter his name for the Triwizard Tournament, the reason for staying at Hogwarts.

It was a tournament which was held every seven years and a champion will be chosen to represent their respective school to compete against the other champions. The winner will get a huge sum of Wizarding money, the Triwizard Cup and eternal glory.

Although Harry wanted none of those, he entered his name to stay true to his word and to test his skills against the most powerful magic wielders of the other two schools.

His name, 'Harry' was neatly written in cursive on a piece of parchment along with his age and his school, Durmstrang.

Draco and Ron were cheering loudly as he walked up to the goblet of fire, a magical goblet which spat out the names of the champions when the time was right. Harry dropped his name into the goblet and caught the eye of a curious-looking Ginny. She smiled at him but he only nodded back before walking back to his excited friends.

"I bet you're our champ, mate!" Ron said, excitedly. Draco cheered in response, to which Harry only nodded. He would not show more emotions when so many competitors were nearby. It would only betray him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ginny enter her name into the goblet. Once again, she caught his eye, but this time, she had a competitive glint in her eye, causing Harry to suppose she would be the Hogwarts champion.

There was no age limit for the competition other than the rule that those above the age of fourteen would be the only ones eligible to take part. Harry assumed Ginny to be about fourteen because of this sheer fact, as those below the age limit would be thrown out because of an age line set by Dumbledore. She, however, looked quite petite for being above fourteen.

"Never underestimate the enemy, Harry. Those who you think are not powerful due to their petite size are gifted with the power of agility. Those who you think are not powerful due to their heavily built bodies are gifted with the power of defence."

His Master's advice was forever etched in the seventeen-year-old's mind.

"Hey there, Mister Harry!" a cheerful voice broke his reverie. He looked to his side and found Ginny beside him, looking curious. He silently cursed himself for letting his guard down.

"Call me Harry," he mumbled.

"You know, you really have to learn to talk louder," she replied, putting a hand to her ear in mock deafness. Harry rolled his eyes and heard Ron and Draco snicker behind him.

"What do you want?" Harry asked. It came out more harshly than he intended.

"Just wanted to make sure you guys," she paused, then winked at Draco. "know the way around this castle. You see, it's a really big one and I'm sure we are going to rock this tournament even if you beat me yesterday," she said, grinning at a nonchalant Harry. "Good night!"

With that, she left the three boys behind and joined two girls: the bushy-haired girl from before and another weird-looking blonde girl. The three girls then left the hall.

"Ruddy hell. What was that supposed to mean?" Ron cursed.

"I think she's in love with yours truly, Ron," Draco mumbled, looking dazed. Harry rolled his eyes. He knew very well that she was trying to get him to talk about the tournament. He knew that he would never reveal his secrets, especially not to her. Ron snorted.

"Man, give it a rest! You are always chasing behind beautiful girls!" Ron teased. Draco laughed and pulled Harry up to his feet. The aforementioned duo exchanged mischievous glances before Ron announced, "Race you to the ship!" and broke into a run along with Draco. Harry rolled his eyes again although a small smile was apparent on his face. He joined the racing boys and although he had a late start, he managed to beat his best friends and pounce on his bed first.

The rest of the night was filled with fun as Draco and Ron planned to prank Harry, who cleverly avoided the said attempts. In all, it was a night of fun for the boys and the moon seemed to be showering her loving gazes at the depressed one in particular, trying to make him feel more loved and wanted. . .

The fourth chapter is done! I'm planning to create character aesthetics for this story and I'd appreciate it if you guys could give me suggestions! I'm planning to make aesthetics for Harry, Ron and Ginny. Do you guys think I should do it for Draco, Hermione, Luna, Neville and Astoria? If yes, comment!

Thank you for reading!

Miyoko x