Ignoring the varied looks directed at her, Hermione walked straight toward the front of the Great Hall.
The noisy crowd fell silent at once, leaving only the crackle of the blue-white flames in the Goblet of Fire.
Barty Crouch hurriedly rose beside the staff table, forcing a slightly stiff smile onto his face. There was an almost imperceptible note of nervousness in his voice:
"Miss Granger, it's a pleasure to see you."
The girl before him had single-handedly stormed the Ministry of Magic and turned the place upside down.
As a mere head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, he had no desire to cross this walking disaster.
Igor Karkaroff, the headmaster of Durmstrang, and Madame Olympe Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons, rose immediately after him.
Karkaroff looked Hermione up and down. "I've heard much about you, Hogwarts's... Miss Witch. Now that I've met you, I can see your reputation is well deserved."
The towering Madame Maxime gave a slight nod in greeting, her eyes equally full of curiosity.
The students around them, especially those from the other two schools, were seeing this legendary figure up close for the first time.
Stories of her exploits had long since spread throughout the wizarding world, but seeing her in person was still a novelty.
Two gazes in the crowd were particularly intense.
Durmstrang's Viktor Krum and Beauxbatons's Fleur Delacour stared openly at Hermione.
"Hermione, you're back just in time."
Dumbledore's gentle voice broke the slightly strained atmosphere.
He gestured toward a wizard beside him who leaned on a walking stick, his face covered in scars and one eye replaced by a constantly swiveling blue magical eye.
"This is Professor Alastor Moody, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
Hermione nodded.
It seemed Lupin hadn't weathered the curse after all. His