"..."
"Good. At last, everyone's here..."
The professors and students had finally all arrived, and Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was very satisfied.
That meant their school was now ready to welcome the guests who were traveling from afar, and could ensure that the greatest school of magic on the island of Britain would lose neither face nor prestige!
He was certain that the Triwizard Tournament, organized under the direction of the British Ministry of Magic, which had ordered Hogwarts to provide the venue and all necessary accommodations, would begin as scheduled and end smoothly. It would!
However...
Looking at the little girl who had ignored his repeated magical messages, and had even set fire to the enchanted message-sending glove he'd sent earlier—nearly letting the flames travel along the magical connection and burn his own hand—Dumbledore no longer knew what to say to her.
Thinking of how she'd just used a method similar to Apparition at Hogwarts, then remembering Hermione, Ron, and Harry, who had arrived in the same way and caused quite a commotion... Dumbledore suddenly felt that perhaps his dignity, his venerable old face, wasn't nearly as useful as those three students of his.
Otherwise, why couldn't he get the little one to come, no matter how many times he asked, when she came straight over as soon as Hermione and the others went to fetch her?
Still...
Something about it puzzled Dumbledore. After this little girl, Professor Annie, arrived and took a seat in the Great Hall, she looked nothing like he'd expected. Instead, she seemed furious. Anyone could tell she was unhappy, as if someone or something had offended her.
"Ahem..."
"Um, Professor Annie?"
Although he didn't know what had happened, the sky was still bright, and there was clearly