Sarah Agreste POV

"Could we 'ave Monsieur Ebonwood and Mademoiselle Collins?" Fleur asked while Madam Maxine gestured towards Jessica and Percival. "Mon Coeur, would you kindly be our guides during our stay?"

Percival shrugged, while Jessica looked excited. With that confirmation, Fleur stood next to Percival, while I stood next to Jessica. Fleur did give me a surprised look, but I chose to pay attention to the person next to me.

"Hello, fair maiden from across the Isle," I said as I courtesy.

"Good day to you, fair maiden, across all the lands," Jessica replied as we both started giggling. Nobody was paying attention to us, as everyone was too drawn into their conversation. "How have you been?"

"Not fine. Do you know how much work I have to do as 'Miss Delacour's lady-in-waiting'?"

"From how you're speaking, a lot, I guess," Jessica replied.

"We need another Italy trip. The sun did wonders for me," I said as I gestured to Percival and Fleur. "How much do you want to bet they're going to hook up? 10 Galleons says before Yule."

"Given that Percy has just broken up with Penelope, I say around Easter," Jessica said. "15 Galleons. Are you going to raise?"

"You're on."

"I'm sorry. I heard what happened. If there's anything I can do for you, just let me know," Jessica said in a sombre tone.

"You can't choose your parents, can you?" I said. "But it's okay; you and Aunt Cathy have done enough for me."

"Nonsense. If anything, we didn't do enough."

"Trust me, you did. If you didn't send me those samples, I wouldn't be a student at Beauxbatons, let alone being the handmaiden to basically the princess of France."

"What?"

"The pregnancy potions I asked you to send," I clarified. "Do you know how hard it is to get across the Isle? Because you gave me a sample a year ahead of when it was going on to the market, I traded it in for a favour with Stregobor, who in turn used his favour with the Foucault's to make me his granddaughter's handmaiden."

"Who's Stregobor?"

"A madman. That's all you need to know," I said as I heard a loud and oddly eerie noise drifting towards us. "Can you hear something?"

"The lake!" a fifth year student shouted, pointing at the lake.

From where I was standing, I had a clear view of the smooth, black surface of the water. Except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the centre. Great bubbles were forming on the surface; waves were now washing over the muddy banks; and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor.

What seemed to be a long black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool, and I saw the rigging.

"It's a mast," a fourth-year student shouted.

"I guess that's Durmstrang. Would you have expected them to come from the lake?" I said.

"Not me."

"Where do you think they're located? I asked around, and I found little to nothing."

"Norway, I think," Jessica said. "They recruit students as far as Bulgaria, and most of their students are from Scandinavia. Given that Norway has one of the most stable and wealthy magical communities, I guess from there. But we'll never know."

"It's a shame it's under Fidelius, and only people related to Durmstrang know," I said. "He looks like a pirate. He just needs an eye-patch and a parrot squawking 'Pieces of eight!' to complete the look of a rejected Blackbeard impersonator."

"And maybe a hook," Jessica said.

Professor McGonagall turned around to face us and told us to be quiet, as the others were now arriving. We had to wait for an agonising five minutes as they slowly made their way up to us.

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The shaggy man swaggered up the slope, his heavy fur cloak billowing like a dark storm cloud behind him. A sickly yellow smile stretched across his gaunt face. When he reached Dumbledore, his spindly fingers gripped the headmaster's hand with a spider's embrace.

"Dumbledore," he called heartily. "How are you, my dear fellow? It has been quiet a while since I last graced these halls."

"I am well, Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied shaking his outreached hand.

"Dear old Hogwarts, I remember the old times. It has changed a lot from what I've heard," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling. "Change is a good thing. Constant means stagnant. Viktor! Athaliah! Come here. Meet our representatives. Viktor Krum and Athaliah Stankov."

Viktor and Athaliah gave a curt nod.

"These two fine gentlemen, Mister Christensen and Mister Bowen, will be your guides," Dumbledore said. "Now, representative, could you guide our guests to their designated meeting point and give them a Hogwarts welcome?"

After Dumbledore said that, he and the rest of the faculty walked towards the school. The crowd of Hogwarts students started to disperse. Adrian walked towards us and stood next to me, while Fleur and Percival kept on talking. The Durmstrang made their way towards the castle as we waited for them to finish their conversation.

"Now that we are all here, introductions are in order. I am Jessica, and this is Percival," Jessica said.

"Hello, my name is Percival, and this is Jessica. I will be your..."

"Excuse me," I interrupted. "You realise she was speaking French?"

"What?" he said as he looked around. Fleur had her head in her hand while Adrian stared, giving him an 'are you stupid' glance.

"Oops, it looks like I don't need to translate," Percival said. "Do we still need introductions?"

"I don't," Jessica said. "That's Fleur Delacour, princess of France, and he's Adrian Bohr, playboy extraordinaire. And this is my cousin twice removed, Sarah Agreste."

"What about you guys?" Percival asked. "Do you need introductions?"

"No, Mon Coeur," Fleur said.

"Nope," I said.

"Not needed," Adrian said as I shot him a curious glance. "What? I've known Jessica since we had our play dates, and Percival, well, my mother loves him. He's the child my parents used to compare me with. You know, being the decedent of the great Niels Bohr and you being one of the up-and-coming young academics. I've gotten tired of the comparisons."

"I guess you don't want to meet the child your mother compares you to," I said.

"Hell no. If she found out I met you, she would be nagging me for an autograph or a signed napkin, so she could add it to her collection of history makers' memorabilia."

"Can we, like, hurry up a bit? I'm getting a bit cold," Jessica said. We all agreed with her. Adrian left the group momentarily to tell the other Beauxbatons students to follow them.

"Alright, some admin stuff," Percival said, looking over his clipboard. "Basically, the big introductions are going to have to wait until October 31. If you need anything, tell me so I can write it down and administration can sort it out."

"I thought the big welcome was today," Jessica said.

"That's not what it says here," Percival said as he handed her the clipboard. "They want to delay it until all the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrive."

"And what are we doing?"

"The orchestra is playing a piece while McGonagall and Prince are setting up a light show," Percival said. "Beauxbatons are doing a ballet while Durmstrang is doing an acrobatic routine."

"Cool."

"Could we have blue lighting and a soft classical piece playing in the background?" Fleur asked.

"Write it down later. Administration will have to sign off on it, and you'll have to check what the orchestra can play," Jessica said. "Next question: how many people travelled with you and how many professors are there?"

"Fourth year and above have twelve students each. Three more for each year will be arriving next week, along with 20 students from the lower three years each," I said. "As for professors, we have Dijkstra, Kruskal, Prims, and Stregobor."

"Stregobor! THE Stregobor? The 'I chose the lesser evil' Stregobor?" Percival asked excitedly.

"Yes, that one," Fleur said.

"I thought you said he was a madman?" Jessica asked.

"He is," I replied.

"But he's so much more," Percival said. "He's a twisted but gifted bald twat."

"Who is he? Am I supposed to know him?" Jessica asked.

"No, he's very niche," I said.

"Do you know what the Nazi doctors did to the Jews? Hid did that, but on a much larger scale, and to a lot more people," Percival said. "He did it mostly to non-human magicals and muggles. He wanted to find out what made us magical and different and how magical beings were born. His work was controversial but revolutionary."

"You sound like you admire the man," Adrian said.

"I admire the work, not the man. And plus, most of my work is based on his."

"How was he able to do that? How is he not rotting in a magic-forsaken prison or dead? How is he able to teach?" Jessica asked.

"It was during Grindelwald's reign, so people were preoccupied. His work was too revolutionary to let him die. Academics around the world would not let him die and take all his work to the grave," Percival said. "As for why he's allowed to teach, I have no clue."

"It's because he's a slave to the headmistress," Adrian said. "Not to Madam Maxine, but to whoever is the head master of Beauxbatons. His half-brother was the head master at the time, and he didn't want him to die, so he tied him to Beauxbatons."

"That doesn't explain why he can teach."

"Flammel and a few others went through his mind... and let's say they reconditioned his mind. He still has a brilliant mind, but they added a few failsafes in case he goes off his rockers."

"How do you know?"

"My family were the ones to develop the slave mark and the reconditioning programme."

"Oh. Ooh!" Jessica said.

"Anyways, we're here. We'll wait for them to funnel in before we start the introductions and tours. We'll finish around six, so you have one and a half hours to do whatever you like," Percival said as he opened the door.