| Inked | (George Weasley)

Chapter Fifty-Two

There never was a moment, until Halloween, where Olive felt that her nerves and anxiety were matched by nearly everyone at Hogwarts. This Halloween was such a big day for not only Hogwarts, but for the entire European Wizarding community.

Classes ended early that afternoon so that, in the words of Professor McGonagall, "everybody can straighten themselves out before our guests arrive."

Now McGonagall was checking to see if every student was looking their best before she lined them up by House. She was constantly telling students to tuck their shirts in, straighten their ties, stop sagging their trousers, unroll their skirts, and fix their collars.

Olive, much to her embarrassment, suddenly found her hair braided back as she walked past the Head of Gryffindor House, her curls apparently having been too messy for the Professor's liking.

"Um..." the Ravenclaw reached up her hand to touch the braid, her cheeks tinged pink and her hair starting to do the same, "Did she...?"

"It looks fine." Natalie turned to give McGonagall a bewildered look for changing Olive's hair, "I honestly can't even believe she just did that, though."

"Yeah." Olive tugged at the plait some more, "It's really tight."

They lined up in rows, by House and then by year, along where their guests would be arriving. Olive didn't know how the delegates from the two schools would get here, since the Ravenclaw only traveled to school by train, and didn't think of any other way.

They stood outside the Great Hall, chattering nervously and with much excitement as the time for the schools to come drew nearer. Olive looked to Natalie, who was tugging at her tie with an impatient expression.

"Who wears ties this tight?" The blonde spat under her breath, glaring at Professor McGonagall as she walked by, "Ties are ridiculous."

Olive sighed, "It'll only be for tonight. We want to make a good first impression, is all."

"First impression my arse." The taller Ravenclaw retorted, "These people will be here for a year, and then we'll never hear from them or see them ever again."

The Lark girl opened her mouth to speak, but figured Natalie did have a point, even if it wasn't the most polite one. If it wasn't for the TriWizard Tournament, they'd never be meeting these other witches and wizards in the first place. This was the only thing bringing them together.

Just as Olive was about to say something to Natalie, everyone seemed to tense up, whispering to each other excitedly. The raven-haired girl looked around, brows furrowed as she caught a glimpse of their arriving guests.

The Beauxbaton students were dressed in cornflower blue uniforms. They had arrived in a carriage that resembled a dainty little townhouse, which appeared to be bigger on the inside due to the amount of students that arrived. They all looked freezing from the difference in climate, pulling their uniforms tighter around them. All of them stood with perfect posture, and walked like they were floating. They whispered to each other in French, looking around at the Hogwarts students quizzically.

"You'd think they've never seen other people before." Nat whispered to Olive, "They look horrified."

Olive bit her lip to keep from laughing, feeling McGonagall's eyes on them.

"They're very proper." Olive didn't want to judge before she met any of the students. This was an entirely new school for them, which they had to spend most of the year at. If it were the other way around, she'd would be the same way.

Shortly after the delegates from Durmstrang arrived, having taken a ship that had traveled beneath the water until docking. They were dressed in thick furs, which they shed upon arrival. It must have been quite warmer at Hogwarts than where their school was located.