The Hogwarts Express finally slowed down and came to a stop at the dark Hogsmeade station.
The doors opened, accompanied by distant thunder. Hermione wrapped her cloak tightly around Crookshanks, while Cho covered her owl with her robe.
They stepped off the train, heads down against the pouring rain, squinting their eyes.
The rain fell heavily, as if buckets of icy water were continuously poured over them, until Alaric used magic to shield them from the raindrops, making it more bearable.
In the storm, young wizards boarded carriages, splashing through puddles along the path leading to Hogwarts castle.
However, as they finally arrived from the rain into the dry, bright hall of Hogwarts, they were ambushed.
A large red balloon filled with water dropped from the ceiling and exploded directly over Ron's head.
Hovering twenty feet above them was Peeves, the mischievous poltergeist.
He was small with a hat adorned with bells and an orange bow tie around his neck. His mischievous grin tightened the muscles on his wide, cheeky face as he took aim again.
Peeves' pranks were quite outrageous; not even Professor McGonagall could stop him. After Peeves had had his fun, the young wizards finally entered the Great Hall.
The Great Hall was as magnificent as ever, lavishly decorated for the new school year's feast. Hundreds of candles floated above the tables, casting a shimmering light on the golden plates and goblets.
The four longhouse tables were already filled with chattering students.
After the Sorting Ceremony and a hearty meal, it was time for Dumbledore's start-of-term speech.
"Alright!" Dumbledore smiled warmly at everyone.
"Now that we've all eaten and drank our fill, I must again request your attention as I announce a few notices."
"Mr. Filch, our caretaker, wishes me to inform you all that this year, several new items have been added to the list of items banned within the castle, including Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbee, and Ever-Bashing Boomerang.
The complete list comprises approximately four hundred and thirty-seven items, which can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office for those interested."
Dumbledore's mouth twitched slightly.
He continued, "As before, I must remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is strictly off-limits to students, and the village of Hogsmeade is out of bounds for all students below third year."
"Additionally, here I feel it necessary to commend two ladies among us with a round of applause."
At this point, he glanced towards the Ravenclaw table.
"Firstly, Miss Hermione Granger, who during the summer break, triumphed in the International Wizarding Dueling Competition held in Paris, defeating all her opponents to claim the championship!
She is also the youngest champion in the history of the International Wizarding Dueling Competition."
Immediate vigorous applause erupted.
Cheers erupted from the Ravenclaw table, and under everyone's gaze, Hermione blushed and stood up, bowing to the audience, which only made the cheers louder.
Dumbledore clapped his hands, and the noise immediately subsided.
"Furthermore," he continued loudly, "we also congratulate Miss Cho Chang.
As many of you may know, in this edition of the Quidditch World Cup, she joined the Irish team as their Seeker and won the World Cup, being acclaimed as the best player of the tournament."
Even louder applause and cheers erupted, and someone whistled in Cho Chang's direction. She too stood up and bowed to everyone.
Then Dumbledore concluded, "Miss Hermione Granger and Miss Cho Chang, with their outstanding performances, have conquered the world.
They are the pride of Hogwarts, and it's interesting to note that they are both girls from Ravenclaw. I must say, Filius, you must be quite envious."
Professor Flitwick beamed proudly.
"Speaking of Quidditch," Dumbledore continued with his announcements, "I regret to inform you all that this year, the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not be held."
"What?"
There was an uproar among the young wizards, especially at Ravenclaw, who had assumed they would win the Quidditch Cup this semester with the World Cup champion Cho Chang.
Dumbledore went on, "This is because a major event will begin in October and will continue throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy.
But I believe you will all derive great enjoyment from it. I am pleased to announce that this year at Hogwarts—"
Just then, a deafening clap of thunder sounded, and the doors of the Great Hall burst open.
A man stood in the doorway, leaning on a long cane, wrapped in a black traveling cloak.
All eyes in the hall turned to the stranger, and suddenly a fork-shaped lightning bolt flashed across the ceiling, causing Hermione to gasp.
The lightning illuminated the man's face vividly.
It was as if it had been carved on a piece of rotting wood by someone with a vague concept of human facial features and little skill with a chisel.
Every inch of his skin seemed scarred, his mouth twisted into a crooked gash, and where his nose should have protruded, there was nothing.
But the most terrifying aspect of this man was his eyes.
One eye was small, dark, and shiny; the other eye was large, round like a coin, and of a bright, vivid blue.
The blue eye blinked incessantly, moving up and down and side to side independently of the normal eye—later, the blue eyeball rolled into the man's head, leaving everyone staring at a large white eye.
The stranger walked up to Dumbledore.
He extended a hand, which was as scarred as his face.
Dumbledore shook his hand and exchanged a few words quietly, gesturing for the man to sit in an empty seat to his right.
"Allow me to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Dumbledore pleasantly broke the silence.
"Professor Moody."
Normally, when a new teacher was introduced, everyone would applaud and welcome them.
However, now besides Dumbledore and Hagrid, no teacher or student clapped.
Dumbledore and Hagrid clapped a few times, but the applause echoed lonely in the silent hall, and they wisely stopped.
Others seemed stunned by Moody's eccentric appearance, staring at him fixedly.
Moody seemed unaffected by everyone's cold response.
Ignoring the large jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached into his traveling cloak and pulled out a curved bottle, taking a big gulp.
As he raised his hand to drink, his cloak lifted a few inches, revealing wooden-carved prosthetic legs, and beneath them, a claw-shaped foot.
Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"As I was saying," he smiled warmly at the many students in front of him—students who still stared blankly at the Mad-Eye Moody.
"Over the next few months, we will be honored to host a very exciting event, an event that hasn't been held for over a century.
I am delighted to announce to you all that the Triwizard Tournament will be held at Hogwarts this year."
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