Chaos and Order - A Multiverse Fanfic

Easter holidays arrived, and with it arrived the time to choose subjects for their third year.

After lunch, Harry, Black, Ron, and Draco huddled in one corner of the Gryffindor Common Room, making chits.

The idea was simple — they would each draw out a chit until at least two chits matched. Then all four of them would pick those subjects.

Ron declared that it was one of the best ideas he had had recently.

Then Black looked at him as if Ron had murdered his family. It was his idea, Black told them.

So, even before they could begin picking the subjects, a fight broke out between Black and Ron.

Neville then slowly approached them as Harry and Draco made a bet on who would come out to be the winner between Black and Ron.

"I am making a bet on you, Weasley!" Neville heard Draco saying with a sneer on his lips. "Make sure you win. Your broke family can afford a new wand for you, then."

Neville had no idea why Harry and Black, and even Ron, were laughing at Draco's words. Certainly what Malfoy said was meant to be a gibe, no?

On records, Neville lived in the same dorm as the four other Gryffindors.

But ever since the first year, especially after the Halloween episode of the Werewolves' attack on Hogwarts, he had found himself distancing himself from the rest of them.

It wasn't like he hadn't tried before.

However, every time he brought up the courage to approach them, Draco made some remark, making him feel horrible.

Horrible… Why wasn't Ron feeling horrible at the wand remark, then? Neville had no idea.

"Lost your toad, bellbottom," Draco said, sneering.

Black had pressed Ron's head under his arm. Hearing Draco, they both looked up, their faces flushed red, their hair messed up beyond description.

Neville's face went white, his words getting stuck in the throat.

All the wizards and witches in his family had been sending him letters, giving him different advice on what subjects to choose.

At first, Neville wanted to share the list with them, helping them out with the selection.

Now, however, he just felt like these four didn't care about the subjects at all.

Neville gulped and stuttered out the first thing that came to his mind. "I… I want to bet, too. On Black."

Opened mouth, they all stared at Neville.

Harry adjusted his glasses with a smile. He approached Neville, threw an arm around him, and brought him closer to the fight. "Two Galleons."

"Huh?" Neville looked at Harry, puzzled.

"Two Galleons," Harry repeated. "For the bet."

Oh… Neville, though a little too late, realized that the bet wasn't just made-up, but real. "But that's not permitted…"

"Tch! Here's some advice for you, bellbottom," Draco said, cutting Neville off. "First, think about the first sentence that comes to your mind. OK? Then, say the exact opposite."

Neville gulped. He took out two galleons that his Nan had recently sent for the Easter holidays and gave them to Draco.

Harry patted Neville's back. "OK, we have enough," he said. "Now, make sure Neville gets to watch his money's worth."

"You betcha!" Black hissed, pressing Ron's head even harder.

Seeing Ron and Black going nuts, Harry inwardly shook his head.

Ron had blatantly refused to take money from him for the new wand. But they all needed wands for the upcoming Tournament.

Even though Ron had a Spell to help him, a broken wand wouldn't help him, anyway.

So he and Draco had cooked up this little scheme of betting. With Neville joining in, surprisingly, Ron could buy a new wand as good as tomorrow.

Only if… Black hadn't forgotten that he needed to lose.

…

The entire School gathered outside in the evening, the warm wind making everyone feel cozy.

All the Professors, the High Councilor, the Director, and the Headmaster were there, too, along with a contingent of the Aurors.

Suddenly, with a booming sound, a giant ship emerged from the Great Lake.

As if that was a cue, resounding neighs entered the students' ears, burying the ship's emergence.

When they looked up, they found a giant, light blue carriage flying down towards them from the sky. It was pulled by several Abraxans — winged horses the size of elephants!

As the giant ship anchored itself on the bank, the enormous carriage also landed, coming to a stop near the group of students and professors.

Hagrid rushed to take charge of the winged horses, loud thumps following his steps.

As the huge horses neighed, fluttering their wings, a platform thudded against the earth from the ship.

Out came many burly men, all dressed in black and maroon colors of the Durmstrang Institute, following the lead of Karkaroff, the Headmaster.

When they had almost walked up to the crowd, the carriage's door opened as well.

A flight of stairs unrolled itself from the doorway to the ground.

Then a giant of a woman walked out.

As the students gasped at her size, Madame Olympe Maxime, the Headmistress of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, held her chin up.

Several students from the academy followed her out of the carriage, all dressed in light blue, silk robes that looked too airy and fine against the rough, red of the Durmstrang.

Harry elbowed Black in the stomach as Karkaroff, Maxime, and Dumbledore exchanged pleasantries.

"What?!" Black hissed, holding his side. "Finally lost it, have you? I told you, the mark on your head will make you go idiot one day…"

"Not that!" Harry snapped. "You lied! You said Beauxbatons is a girls-only School!"

From the looks of it, both the Institute and the Academy were co-eds.

Black just made a face at Harry in return. "… were you looking forward to all the girls, huh?"

Standing next to them, Ron and Draco were having a hard time holding their laughs.

At the front, Karkaroff slammed his long, ornate staff on the ground. Instantly, the group of twenty students behind him lined up in two rows.

As the three Schools had already submitted the lists of the two Groups of students after the Christmas holidays, there was no possibility of any changes later on. So neither of the two had brought any reserves.

Karkaroff stroked his lush beard, looked over his shoulder, and then back at Dumbledore and Maxime. "Durmstrang's finest!"

Madam Maxime elegantly gestured to the group of students behind her.

The boys were still OK. But the girls twirled the locks of hair, twisting their waists, their skirts rippling low against the winds.

Someone on the Hogwarts side whistled.

Madam Maxime smiled thinly at that.

Strangely, Professor Dumbledore didn't call out the champions of the two groups from Hogwarts.

"What?" Karkaroff grinned, showing his yellow teeth. His voice was thick, as if he wasn't used to the accent. "You haff not hidden your students, I hope, Dumbl'dore?"

"Ce serait drôle…" Madam Maxime mumbled under her breath, obviously finding Karkaroff's gibe funny. "Where iz ze fun in 'iding leetle ones… Dumblidore?"

Behind Karkaroff and Madam Maxime, the students of the institute and academy laughed as well, the giant horse neighing behind them as if agreeing with the ridiculousness of it all.

"No, no," Dumbledore laughed merrily. "I thought… I would let only one of the champions welcome you all at Hogwarts."

As Karkaroff and Maxime's eyes narrowed, steps rang behind Dumbledore.

Hogwarts students shifted, a low hissing noise buzzing among them.

Then, dressed in stark green robes, Darcie walked out and put herself between the three Headmasters.

Her poisonous, green gaze fell on all the students behind Karkaroff and Maxime, all laughs dying a slow death.

"Welcome," Darcie said, smiling. "I hope you like celebrations… At Hogwarts, we party hard…"

And little bolts of green lightning cracked around her, a chill running down all spines.

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