Under a Watching Sky
The day was sunny, warm but not overly so, with a cool breeze passing through the surroundings. The trees swayed gently, and the sounds of animals, birds both magical and ordinary, seemed to rise from all around, as if the environment itself were alive and paying attention.
At the same time, the students of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor appeared to be sharing a class that day, and none other than Astronomy, with Professor Pandora Lovegood.
Right now, everyone was lying back on the roof of the Astronomy Tower, watching the clouds drift slowly across the sky. Some, like Daphne, seemed to have fallen asleep, as if it were an improvised nap. Technically, that should have been a bad thing, since it was still a class, but Pandora herself had also fallen asleep. And for some reason, Luna had joined a class that was not from her year and was sleeping right next to her mother.
The rest of the students, on the other hand, did not seem to know what they were supposed to do.
"Um… Professor," murmured a Gryffindor student named Lavender Brown, causing Pandora to open her eyes slowly. Even so, her gaze remained so dreamy that she did not look fully awake.
"Yes?" Pandora replied, without getting up from the ground, barely turning her head to look at Lavender.
"So… what are we actually supposed to do?" she asked, voicing something the entire group seemed to share, since when they had arrived, Pandora had simply told them to lie down and look at the sky. And that had been it for almost the entire lesson.
"Look at the stars," Pandora answered, as if the question itself were confusing.
"Uh… yes, but it's daytime," Lavender said, pointing up at the completely blue sky, the sun shining above them as a few clouds moved lazily overhead. "The sun doesn't let us see the stars," she added quickly.
"And what is the sun?" Pandora asked patiently, smiling.
That seemed to freeze Lavender for a moment, while the others watched in silence.
"A star?" she replied, though with some uncertainty.
Pandora smiled softly and closed her eyes again.
Harry could not help but let out a small laugh at his Aunt Pandora, who might have simply wanted to take a nap under the sun instead of teaching the class. Or maybe she truly believed this was a valid way to teach. With her, it was always hard to tell.
At that moment, a red-haired head appeared through the hatch that led up to the roof, where the ladder for going up and down was located. It was Ginny Weasley.
"Excuse me," she said, looking somewhat confused as she took in the sight of everyone lying there calmly, watching the clouds. "Professor Malfoy sent me to look for Luna. Is she here?" she asked, trying to ignore how strange everything looked.
Luna suddenly sat up from where she had been lying beside her mother, rubbing her eyes. Ginny let out a sigh of relief when she saw her.
"The professor said you have to come back to class or you'll lose points," Ginny said quickly, climbing up and taking Luna by the arm to guide her along, since she looked genuinely sleepy and kept nodding as she walked.
"Oh, right. I was also told to let Potter and Malfoy know that they need to go with the other champions to take some photos," Ginny added as she continued dragging the half-asleep Luna along.
Pandora opened her eyes again and glanced toward Harry and Draco from where she was lying. She gave a small wave before closing her eyes once more.
Harry and Draco stood up under the gaze of several students, who seemed to be sharing the same collective drowsiness, and headed down the tower quickly.
Once downstairs, they saw Ginny struggling to keep Luna moving, as she seemed to fall asleep every few steps. Harry could not help but smile slightly and stepped in to help, lifting Luna onto his back as he carried her toward her classroom.
Luna looked genuinely happy and closed her eyes again.
"It's strange that they sent you and not Astoria," Draco commented quietly, glancing at Luna. After all, Astoria was probably the only one who could truly communicate with her, while Ginny usually ended up being dragged along by both of them.
"If it had been her, she'd just be another one sleeping up there," Ginny replied with a tired sigh.
That made both Draco and Harry feel that it was entirely true.
"Do you know what they want the photos for?" Harry asked as they went down the stairs.
"I think it's for the Prophet," Ginny replied after thinking about it for a moment.
"Great," Draco and Harry said in unison, their sarcasm unmistakable.
"Just what we need, more publicity," Harry added, while Draco wore an annoyed expression.
Harry and Draco escorted Luna to her History class, leaving her in Narcissa's care. At the back of the classroom, Astoria could be seen fast asleep in her seat while Narcissa continued teaching. Unlike with Professor Binns, no one dared fall asleep during her lessons, except for her… and, well, Luna.
Narcissa gave them a brief nod as she carried on with the class as if nothing were out of place.
With that taken care of, Draco and Harry headed toward the designated location, which turned out to be an unused classroom, rather small in size. The desks had been pushed aside, leaving an open space in the center.
Five chairs stood covered with cloth, and Ludo Bagman was sitting on one of them, speaking with an unfamiliar woman. She wore a fuchsia-colored robe, glasses, and a rather extravagant hairstyle, along with a smile that, to them, looked false.
The other champions were already there. Luciel wore a calm smile as he spoke with his cousin Fleur, who seemed quite cheerful and occasionally shook her head, making faint glimmers of light appear in her hair, enough that more than one person instinctively looked away. Viktor Krum stood with his arms crossed, saying nothing, not even to the one who was technically his partner. That student appeared to be copying Viktor's posture, though his nervousness was obvious in his eyes and in the way his foot kept moving, unable to stay still.
A chubby man held a camera that was still smoking from the flash. From time to time, he cast glances toward Fleur out of the corner of his eye, trying, and failing, to hide it.
Bagman spotted Harry and Draco and jumped to his feet at once, clearly energized, hurrying over to them.
"Ahhh, there you are. The Hogwarts champions who changed all the rules of the game," he said, sounding genuinely excited. "Come on, step inside," he urged enthusiastically. "Nothing to worry about. It's just a wand inspection. The members of the panel will be here shortly."
"A wand inspection?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow slightly, while Draco glanced from Ludo back to Harry.
"We need to make sure your wands are in perfect condition and won't cause any problems. As you know, they're the most important tools you'll be relying on during the tasks ahead," Ludo explained.
"Hm… then this might be a problem," Harry murmured quietly, barely loud enough for Draco to hear. Draco gave a small nod in response.
But Ludo, who hadn't heard him, continued talking.
"After that, there'll be a photo session for the paper. This is Rita Skeeter," he added, gesturing toward the woman they had noticed earlier. "She'll be writing a short article about the tournament."
"Perhaps not such a short one, Ludo," she replied, her eyes glinting as she looked at Harry and Draco.
She had carefully styled curls that were oddly stiff, creating a striking contrast with her strong jawline. She wore glasses decorated with gemstones, and her thick fingers gripped a crocodile-skin handbag. Her nails, several centimeters long, were painted a deep crimson.
"I'd love to speak with the youngest competitors, if you don't mind," she said, studying them closely.
Bagman answered immediately. "Of course. If they don't have any objections, that is," he added, looking at both of them.
"Pass," Draco said flatly.
"Sorry, not interested," Harry added in the same sharp tone.
"Charming," Rita replied with a smile that revealed three gold teeth, before freezing as she realized she had been rejected almost instantly, something she clearly hadn't expected. "Pardon?" she asked, confused.
"Pass," Draco repeated, without changing his tone.
"Not interested," Harry reiterated.
Rita opened and closed her mouth, as if she couldn't decide what to say next. At the same time, Ludo began to look nervous. After all, having the Boy Who Lived and one of the heirs to a prominent family appear in the newspaper for a tournament he had organized would have brought him quite a bit of attention.
"Er… well, boys, maybe you could at least give her a chance…" Ludo tried to persuade them. However, the look in their eyes, one that didn't belong to mere children, was enough to make him stop.
Just then, Luciel suddenly appeared behind them and casually draped an arm over each of their shoulders.
"Right on time. Come on, we can talk for a bit," he said with a smile, casting a brief glance toward Rita Skeeter and Ludo before guiding them toward the corner where Fleur was standing. Then he let them go. "Well, they can be rather annoying sometimes, don't you think?" he added calmly. He did it so naturally that it seemed like a habit.
Draco and Harry understood that he had stepped in to help them, knowing they would probably keep trying to pressure them otherwise. Both gave small nods.
When Fleur saw them, she looked as though she wanted to say something in a teasing tone, but quickly closed her mouth, as if stopping herself at the last possible moment.
Even so, that didn't stop both Harry and Draco from giving her faintly mocking smiles.
Rita continued to watch them with a slightly darkened expression and a displeased twitch of her mouth, before carefully arranging her fake smile once more.
It wasn't long before Sirius arrived along with the other members of the judging panel, accompanied by an elderly man Harry recognized as Ollivander, from Diagon Alley. The same man Wanda had once tried to buy a wand from, only to end up creating her own instead, the very one now in Harry's possession.
"Mr. Black," Rita said, apparently delighted to see him.
Upon recognizing her, Sirius made no effort to hide the clear look of disgust on his face.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, without bothering to keep up appearances.
Rita seemed unfazed by his contempt and lifted her hand. "How are you? You may have read my article about your release, yes?" she said.
Sirius looked at her coldly, as if the very idea of touching that hand were repulsive.
"The one suggesting that my release could be a problem because no one knows how mentally unstable I might be, and that I could turn into what I was once accused of being? Or the one implying that holding a position on the school board near children could put them at risk, and that becoming headmaster would prove your suspicions right?" Sirius replied. The air around them seemed to grow colder as he spoke, his gaze making it clear that not drawing his wand was already an act of restraint.
That made Rita flinch slightly, though she showed no real shame.
"W… well, doing something could prove that I was right," she said, her voice carrying a hint of nervousness as she held his gaze.
"Hmph," Sirius snorted, turning away and walking toward the champions, completely ignoring her. He did not offer even the smallest hint of courtesy; to him, she did not deserve it.