Chapter 545: Durmstrang

Gabrielle seemed to want to get closer and have a word or two with Ivan.

But her little hand was tightly held by Fleur and she couldn't pull it out. She could only use her other hand to wave at him.

It wasn't until Ivan returned her greeting that she lowered her hand in satisfaction. Then, seeing all the Hogwarts students looking at her, her face turned red.

The girl was obviously embarrassed. She was so excited after seeing Ivan just now that she forgot there were so many people here.

"Who is the French girl greeting Ivan?"

"I don't know, but she's pretty, isn't she?"

Many guys looked at Gabrielle and seemed to be attracted to her immediately.

Fortunately, Gabrielle was still young and the Veela magic in her blood was not too strong.

Everyone thought the girl was very beautiful and charming, with an inexplicable sense of tenderness, but they were not fascinated.

Soon, more people noticed the expressions of the other Beauxbatons students, especially the boys, who looked at Ivan one by one. There seemed to be tremendous hatred on their faces, which could not be hidden.

The young wizards whispered about it again. Although no one knew what Ivan had done at Beauxbatons at the end of last term, it was no wonder that he suddenly became the center of attention.

They had been used to it for the past two years. It seemed that if not, it would be abnormal.

As for Ivan, he didn't have time to think about what others were thinking. He didn't pay much attention to the Beauxbatons students who were giving him dirty looks.

He just waved at Gabrielle, and as soon as he lowered his hand, Hermione suddenly came up to his ear.

"Who is she?" she asked quietly.

"Gabrielle Delacour!"

Hermione nodded. She knew Ivan had this pen pal, and that he sent her letters almost every week.

They also discussed at the time, the difference between French and British owls.

Ivan waited for a while, Hermione wasn't still talking and he didn't know what he was thinking about. He looked at her again in surprise and thought she would keep asking.

Hermione was now like a kitten, very quiet, but with a sly look in her proud eyes.

Ivan turned away and was secretly glad that it was Gabrielle who had come. If it had been Elaine here, it would have been terrible.

There was a brief commotion in front of the castle, and the conversation between Dumbledore and Madame Maxime continued in the hall.

"The last time I came to Hogwarts was over forty years ago. It still looks so beautiful here!"

"The doors of Hogwarts are always open to you, and you and your students can come whenever you like," Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Yes, in the past, wizarding schools used to exchange students with each other. It was a good tradition. I hope we can go back to it." Madame Maxime continued, "You know, since those two men appeared, the general level of the European magical world has dropped drastically in many areas."

"This time, the Triwizard Tournament should be a good start." said Dumbledore forcefully.

"Yes, has Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime nodded.

"He should be here any minute now," Dumbledore said. "Would you like to wait here and greet him, or would you prefer to go inside and warm up a bit?"

"Warm up, I think," Madame Maxime said. "But the horses..."

"Don't worry, our Care of Magical Creatures professor will be happy to take care of them," Dumbledore said, "the moment he has returned from dealing with a small situation that has arisen with some of their care."

Evidently, it was those ever-growing Sceggers that were causing trouble.

They were now trying to run out of the boxes, and Hagrid had to catch the ones that got away.

"My steeds require brisk handling," Madame Maxime said, as if she doubted that any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the task. "You know, they are very strong."

"I assure you Hagrid will be up to the job," said Dumbledore smiling.

"Very well!" said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. "Would you please inform this Hagrid that horses only drink malt whisky?"

"He will be attended to," said Dumbledore, also bowing.

"Come," Madame Maxime said imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to ascend the stone steps.

When all the Beauxbatons people entered, the subject changed to Durmstrang.

"How big do you think the Durmstrang horses are going to be?" Seamus Finnigan leaned over and said.

"I don't know, but if they're bigger than these horses, I'm afraid even Hagrid won't be able to handle them," Harry said. "That's if he hasn't been attacked by his Scripps. I wonder what's going on with them."

"Maybe they've escaped," Ron said hopefully.

"Oh, don't say that," Hermione said immediately. "Imagine that bunch loose on the grounds..."

"Don't worry, Hagrid will handle them fine, and Durmstrang won't necessarily have winged horses," Ivan said.

He whispered to those around to explain the origins, the rarity of Abraxans and the cost of breeding them.

The young wizards were again surprised. They had really thought those horses were the legendary pegasus.

They all stood around waiting for the Durmstrang delegation to arrive. More than twenty minutes had passed, and they were trembling slightly.

Most were looking hopefully at the sky. For a while there was silence. As it was too long, and too cold, they had no interest in talking. They could only hear Madame Maxime's huge horses snorting and stamping.

Suddenly, Colin asked, "Did you hear something?"

Then Ivan heard it too, a loud and strangely eerie noise was coming toward them from the darkness: a dull, sucking noise, as if an immense vacuum cleaner was moving across a riverbed.

"The lake!" cried Lee Jordan, pointing down. "Look at the lake!"

From their position high up on the lawn overlooking the land, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water.

But suddenly the surface was not smooth at all. Large bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were spreading along the muddy banks and, in the center of the lake, an eddy appeared, as if a giant plug had been pulled from the bottom of the lake.

What appeared to be a long, black pole began to slowly emerge from the heart of the eddy, followed by a sail rig.