Will and Sylvia exchanged a glance and headed that way. Before long, they saw chaos erupting on the far shore of the Black Lake.
A huge crowd had gathered by the water. Heads bobbed in a dense mass, and they could faintly hear shouting and the bangs of spells being fired.
The Hogwarts and Durmstrang students stood in two distinct groups, facing each other across a dozen or so feet.
The Hogwarts side was made up mostly of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students. The Durmstrang side numbered several dozen, all wearing their distinctive fur cloaks and looking hostile. Krum, Ivan, and Semyon were among them.
Several people already lay on the ground between the two groups—some in Hogwarts robes, others in Durmstrang fur cloaks.
"You Brits only know how to fight dirty!"
"Shut up, polar bear! If you can't stand losing, don't enter the competition!"
"Suka blyat! Show them what we can do!" someone yelled in Russian.
With that roar, the fighting intensified.
A red beam shot out of the crowd, followed by a green one. Fortunately, it wasn't the Killing Curse, only a variation of some Jinx.
"Petrificus Totalus!" "Stupefy!" "Locomotor Mortis!"
Spells flew back and forth. The scene was utter chaos.
Spellfire of every color crisscrossed above the crowd. Shouts, curses, and explosions blended together, and bursts of colored smoke went off among the students—the Weasley Brothers' work, clearly.
Then, with a bang, an oversized Filibuster Firework in Fred's hand exploded among the Durmstrang students. It set several fur cloaks alight, and their wearers hurriedly jumped into the water to put out the flames.
George hurled a Dungbomb straight at a Durmstrang student in a fur cloak. The student failed to dodge and took it full in the face. He let out a furious roar, only to choke on