September 1994

For the first time ever, she didn't hug Ted and Andromeda goodbye at Kings Cross on the morning of September 1st. Neither of them moved to hug her, and she let it go without comment; however, she gratefully accepted Dora's hug and held her tightly for a few moments before darting off to join the students who were filtering onto the train.

She had been giving herself lectures for the last week over how she would behave when she saw her friends again after ignoring them all summer.

You've got a reputation to maintain, Venus, she had told herself. You don't like the pity, don't be weak.

This attitude lasted as she settled herself down in an empty compartment and pulled out the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3 and did her best to read the book. She was distracted, of course, finding that her eyes were unable to focus on the words on the page. She chewed the inside of her cheek. A nervous habit that she had recently developed.

"Venus?" She looked up to see Ginny and Mali at the door, hesitating to enter the compartment.

Venus forced a grin onto her face. "Hey guys!" She said, wincing slightly at the forced happy tone.

"You're okay?" Mali asked, "We were so worried!" The two girls spilt into the compartment, carting their trunks in with them and hastening to stow them in the luggage racks.

"I'm fine, sorry, I was just... eh... busy..."

"All summer?" Ginny asked as she sat down on the seat across from Venus.

"Yeah... I uh... went away with my family. Didn't get any post til we got back." Ginny and Mali gave her sceptical looks. "I'm fine, really. I'm sorry I didn't write back. Did you have good summers?"

Mali had spent most of the summer in Jamaica again. She was sporting a new set of intricate braids and a tan. Ginny, it seemed, had spent most of the summer playing Quidditch with her brothers.

"You missed an awesome World Cup," Ginny lamented and then proceeded to give Venus a play-by-play of the entire match. "Of course, what happened after was pretty scary-"

"What happened after?" Venus asked.

"You haven't heard?" Ginny frowned.

"No," Mali jumped in. She was always out of the loop about wizarding news and relied heavily on Venus and Ginny to fill her in.

"They're saying it was a Death Eater attack," said Ginny. "They got hold of some Muggles. No one was permanently hurt, but someone shot the Dark Mark into the sky."

"'Dromeda doesn't let me read the papers anymore," Venus shrugged. "Not since Black got away again." It wasn't a lie per se. She hasn't been reading the news since that night in the grounds. She had overheard Ted and Andromeda muttering towards the end of the holidays about something that had happened, but she had no interest in finding out what it was.

"That's understandable," Mali nodded. "So, um... did you meet him? Is he who hurt you?"

She had hoped that Professor Dumbledore might have been able to keep a lid on the fact that Black had been with them in the grounds that night, but as usual, secrets at Hogwarts didn't last long.

Too late, Venus realised her mistake in bringing Black up. She had practically invited questions about that night, which was what she vehemently didn't want to talk about. She decided that whilst half-truths were not perfect, they were more believable than blatant lies.

"No, he um... I hardly saw him before Professor Lupin arrived. Black didn't hurt any of us."

"Then what happened?" Ginny insisted, "Ron told me not to bother you, he said you got hurt, did you go to St Mungos? Is that where you were at the end of term?"

Venus chewed the inside of her cheek harder. It began to bleed.

Half-truths , she told herself, half-truths are better than lies.

"I - uh, Lupin got me with his claws a bit," Venus said. "Before I got away, that is."

"You were attacked by a werewolf?" Mali gawped. "He didn't-"

"He got me all up my leg with his claws, see?" Venus pulled up her jeans on the leg which didn't have the bite on it, showing the long silvery scars up her calves. "Spent a bit of time in hospital, but I'm fine now."

Ginny studied the crisscross of scratches before Venus covered them up.

"You didn't get... bitten, did you?" she asked.

Venus shook her head, "no." She lied.

*

She knew she had been uncharacteristically quiet for the entirety of the feast. She could feel Harry, Ron and Hermione eyeing her across the table, pity written across their faces. They were the only ones who knew about her condition due to the fact that they had witnessed the bite itself. She avoided every attempt they made to engage her in conversation and focused on eating as much food as she possibly could.

The weather was terrible and they had all gotten exceptionally wet in the short time they spent outside when running from the carriages to the safety of the entrance hall, where they were bombarded by water balloons dropped by Peeves. Thunder continued to rumble throughout dinner, and the enchanted ceiling above was repeatedly lit up by forked lightning.

Ginny and Mali ended up talking instead to Nearly Headless Nick along with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Hermione refused to eat a single bite of the feast after she learned it was prepared by House Elves.

"You were hungry," Mali remarked after Venus had cleared her fourth plate of food and inhaled even the crumbs left over.

"Only thing that can shut me up isn't it," Venus grinned. "I've missed Hogwarts food." Venus felt a surge of disappointment when she reached for her second helping of dessert to find that the tables had emptied.

Dumbledore rose to his feet at the head of the hall. "So! 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."

"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. I would also remind you that approaching the Whomping Willow is against Hogwarts rules and will result in detention."

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

At this, whispering erupted across the hall.

Dumbledore didn't seem to notice, he continued. "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 —"

A rumble of thunder cut him off, and the doors to the Great Hall opened. Venus had never met Mad-Eyed Moody before, but Dora had talked about him so much before he left the Ministry that she felt as if she had. If she hadn't been able to realise instantly from his magical eye who he was, then she would have known from the rest of his war-marred face and body.

He made his way down the aisle between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables and up to Dumbledore. His wooden leg made a loud clunking noise on every other step. When he reached Dumbledore, they shook hands before he sat in the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher's chair.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "May I introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher? Professor Moody."

No one clapped apart from Dumbledore and Hagrid; the students all seemed shocked into silence by the ex-auror's scarred appearance. Venus clapped, earning her a funny look from the students around her.

"Dora trained under him," Venus whispered to Ginny and Mali. "He retired a while ago, but she still talks about how good of an auror he was."

"As I was saying," Dumbledore said once the pathetic applause was over. "We are to have the honour 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."

"YOU'RE JOKING!" Fred Weasley said very loudly. Almost everyone laughed, breaking the stunned silence that had followed Moody's arrival.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore chuckled, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar . . ."

McGonagall cleared her throat.

"Er — but maybe this is not the time . . . no . . ." said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament . . . well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely."

Dumbledore gave an overview which was incredibly reminiscent of the passage in Hogwarts: A History about the tournament.

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore said after he had explained the premise of the tournament. "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."

"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."

Whilst Venus herself had no intentions of putting her name forward (she would have enough problems that year already), there was a smattering of excited whispers all over the hall as students shared their excitement and tried to find out if their friends would apply.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age — that is to say, seventeen years or older — will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This" — Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, to be heard over the outraged whispers that followed- "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion. I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourselves if you are under seventeen."

"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!"