Let the Abraxans Guide You

Annalise walked onto the carriage and Selene could have kicked herself. First Claire, and then Annalise, of course Annalise was the opposite of Claire on Selene's list of desirable people. Annalise was nice, once you got to know her, but she was so freaking shy! French people were not shy, in fact they knew what they wanted and they would get it now. They were loud, and abrasive, and never shy, but there was always the black sheep. And Beauxbatons black sheep was Annalise.

What she was doing on a trip like this, going off to see if she was good enough to compete for glory and being a champion was beyond her. Except that Selene could very well see Annalise in winning, she wasn't vain, she wasn't snobby. At that though Selene threw a look at Claire, and she wasn't popular, much either. Adam had his legs crossed, and Selene knew the reason why without even guessing, it made a huge smile light up her face, and she had to pretend to cough to keep from bursting out laughing. Selene found herself getting bored with the conversation already. Annalise had gotten out a book, Adam appeared to be struggling with himself, Claire was being boring as usual, and Peter was off in dream land. That left Tif, who kinda seemed out of it, and the Headmistress, who was still thinking of ways to keep their entrance beautiful.

Digging into her bag, she pulled out a sketchbook, a few sketch pencils (Muggle pencils) and a pink muggle eraser. Technically she shouldn't have brought them along, but when you were drawing something difficult, it was nice to be able to remove the marks from the page, and only where she wanted them. Keeping the muggle instruments out of site of the Headmistress, Selene started to draw. At first the page appeared blank, a few lines here and there, but it was like Selene was drawing a moving picture as she drew. Fog, one hand slipped out of it, and then a face, long hair sweeping across shoulders, a beautiful voice echoing in the massive Great Hall. A note in the corner, and Selene found herself humming a song.

"That's who I'd be.." she whispered softly, and then looked up to see if anyone had heard her. She felt a blush creep over her cheeks before she looked back at the drawing. A hand, a foot, a face, all creeping out of a fog. Selene smiled and hummed again, letting the picture come alive with a few more strokes of her pencil. "Ahh.. mageec." she whispered, watching her picture for a moment as it let out a soft hum, as though repeating what she had just hummed. "Eet is a wonderful thing.. I wondeer what the tasks will be like..." Selene said and looked up at the others, as though daring them to think about the tasks too. "Probably dangerous, life threatening.. dirty.." she said shooting a look at Claire, it was never to late to make Claire hop off the carriage and go back to school with the rest of the students who wouldn't come.

Adam had "calmed down" and was listening to Selene speak about the tasks. He had noticed Annalise enter and smiled to her. Suddenly, Adam wished he had brought a book. Sadly, he had left his favourite in his room and his sketchpad at home this year. He was really beginning to regret it now. Everyone was doing something now, though he probably would just preffer to stare out the window and hum some music or something like that. Maybe plan what he would be doing in his spare time. He really wanted to know if they would be out of school or not. Well better in school but in a foreign country that's for sure. But again, he'd rather not ruin the trip this early if they did have to learn. He guessed they would be, but maybe luck was on his side.

He smiled at Selene, the kind of smile that would say "I like you" only a little less vibrant. It was more..."hey whats up". He looked out the window and outwards to the grounds of Beauxbatons. He'd miss riding his broom, ah his broom! That was one thing he would never forget. He stashed it away, shrunken it and placed it in his pocket. It was risky, it could reduce his Firebolts speed and possibly warp it. But he was definately not leaving his broom behind. No siree, he'd never live without flying. Plus he wanted to see how the students at Hogwarts flew, though nobody could beat him and Peter at Quidditch. Although Adam was never on the team officially, he gave pointers. But when Peter and Adam were in sync during two on two they were unbeatable. "Peter, did you breeng your broom?" he whispered. "We could do some meednight flying eh?" he said chuckling.

He then began to hum a tune called the Terezza Waltz. He didn't know who wrote it, or where it was from. But he knew it, he constantly heared it in his brain. His father made him listen to a bunch of classical music and this one was in his top ten. "I'm actually looking forwar to watching people participate in thee tasks." he said. "I wouldn't ever dream of being picked myself. I'm not exactly the créme de la créme" he said chuckling.

His eyes had never left the window, he was contemplating whether to act childish for a while. Breath on the glass then made pictures, maybe he'd charm it so it stayed like that. He stopped himself from giggling at the thought and turned around to face the others. Thank god for movable chairs. He noticed Selene shoot a dirty look at Claire and he grinned. He looked at Slene and raised an eyebrow, as though to show that he was amused but also teasing her a little bit.

Selene found herself exchanging a smile with Adam, but let it turn into a grimace. "You do not believe you will be chosen?" She asked frowning. "But izn't that the point in going?" She said slowly and then shook her head. "You are an odd one Adam LaRoche.." she said softly and then smiled and looked down at her sketchpad. "I want to win.. so very badly.." She said softly. "I think I can do eet, I know mageec.. and I will be good I theenk." She said softly and then smiled and put the sketchbook down.

"It isn't just the glory izn't it? It izn't just looking like you know everything and proving yourself to the other schools.." She said slowly, choosing her words carefully. "It's.. proving to yourself that you can do eet.. you have to show yourself zat nothing can get you down.. Not other students from other schools, only you can get in ze way of yourself.." she said carefully. "I theenk I can do eet, and I want to be able to prove that to everyone.." She said curling her hand into a fist. "It izn't just some.. popularity contest, because the judges do not know us, they can't know us.. and it is based on what we can do... I believe, that whoever wins.. even if it iz not me.." She looked around the carriage for a moment. "Truely deserves it... because it means that deep down, they have what it takes, to win zat cup.." She said smiling.

A deep blush spread across her cheeks at her soft tangent. "C'est ce que je crois de toute façon." She added softly in French, and smiled picking up her sketchbook and hiding behind it. She wasn't a shy person, but it wasn't often she spoke more then a few words, unless she was being generally disagreeable. Like she had been this entire trip. She wanted to be happy, like Peter, or confident, but more then anything, she was nervous.. she wanted to win, she wanted to so badly, but she was afraid of what she would face if she did. Or even worse.. if she didn't.

As he approached the enormous carraige that stood but a couple meters infront of him, Chris turned to take one last look at Beauxbatons. He hadn't known that last year would have been his last year here. He hadn't expected anything like this of course, leaving to a foreign country and attending classes over there. He would miss Beauxbatons and his friends over there for sure,. This would have been his last year here, but as he was now leaving to spend the year at Hogwarts, he had to say his goodbyes to the castle now. Christopher could have just asked not to go, it wasn't a compulsory trip, but the idea of going to a new place like Scotland appealed to him. He had met British people before, and his english was quite good, but he had never been to the United Kingdom. In fact, Christopher had never been outside France before. So it was no wonder that he was so excited - adventures, new people and new sights appealed to him. As for the Triwizard Tournament, he didn't really give a F*** about that. It would be cool to champion and all, but he doubted that he had the potential to win, and Chris didn't want to let his school down.

He was quite late, he knew that the others were probably already inside the carraige, but Chris had gotten held up packing the essential stuff he would really need there. Mainly, drugs and alchoholic beverages. He had heard from his friend how the English took these sort of stuff. It was extremely hard to get your hands on either of those over there. So, he had thought ahead and stuffed his bag not with clothes, but with spliff and Vodka. Chris just hoped that they wouldn't search their trunks at Hogwarts.

But since he didn't want to face the wrath of Madame Benoit, Chris entered the carraige, and after saying polite greeting to the headmistress, turned and headed straight to the back. The further he was from any teacher, the better. "Hello everyone," Chris said, speaking in English. He would have to speak it there, so it was better to start practicing now. He passed all the other students in the carraige, and his eyes lingered on Claire for a moment, though as she was sitting with Adam now, he walked past her as well. He sat down at a window seat then wondered how he was going to kill time during the whole journey. He estimated it would take a couple hours, and he hadn't really brought anything along with him to do. There was a joint in his pocket, but he could hardly use that as the headmistress was with them.

Listening to Selene, he snorted, some of these students were taking the whole tournament thing far too seriously. Chris never really understood any of this deep nonsense. "I agree, Itz not about the glory. It's about the money. One thousand galleons!"

Tifanie had not spoken since Claire entered the Carriage. Like Selene she... well, she didn't exactly dislike Claire, but she didn't go out of her way to be friendly to the ice-queen, either. In fact, she reflected, if she was as friendly to Claire as she was to most people, it would probably drive the other girl insane.

However, Tifanie was jolted from this train of thought by the sudden revelation that Adam didn't believe he could win. Didn't even believe he'd be picked! Horror of horrors!

"If you don't think you'll be chosen, you should give up your seat for someone who thinks they can win. Arnaud Lesauvage was dying to come, you know."

Tifanie rolled her eyes as Christophe climbed aboard and started talking about money.

"Oh, salut, Christophe," she greeted him offhandedly. "I'm sure even you'll agree that considering you still have to win to get the prize money, starting out believing you have no chance is not a good strategy."

"Salut tous le monde!" ("Hello everybody!") chimed Lana as she leaped into the carriage. This was an exciting new way to travel for her, her eyes dancing across the interior. She was ever so fascinated by the various methods in which Magic worked. She had seen so many different kinds since she first arrived. But, like her french, her magic wasn't of the Beauxbatons "flavor." Every summer, Lana would grab her three closest friends, her maid and a decent-sized purse, and travel around the world seeing all there was to see. She was now fluent in seven different languages, though her accent seemed to be strict American. She LOVED America.

But she was going to England, which was pretty good in and of itself. It had been so long since she'd had a decent truffle...

The others were talking amongst themselves, about the tournament no doubt. Someone mentioned that one would have to win in order to get the money. "Well, not quite," she said, sitting behind the girl that made the comment, Tifanie. "The Tri-Wizard champion is selected from his or her peers for exceptional skill and talent, and therefore, being selected usually leads to bigger and better things. Money just comes flowing to you. It's not quite the same thing as winning though."

"You are all missing the point of the Triwizard's Tournament," Madame Benoit frowned. She could certainly understand their excitement, but she did not want them going into it with the wrong attitudes. If they got so obsessed about winning and about fame and riches, then they would miss the greater and far more important lessons to be gained from the tournament.

"I admit I am a bit ashamed of you all and we have not even left the ground. I know we discussed this. The tournament is to learn about friendship, good will, international cooperation, sportsmanship, and so many things that no amount of victory or no shining crystal cup could ever buy. I am glad that you are dedicated to the challenges ahead of you, but do not think for one moment that I will nto be watching to be sure you exhibit the proper attitudes all along the way. Winning would be very nice, but the cup will only go to one school, won by one champion. And you all have a purpose for being here. Each of you. Perhaps you all need to think about why I have chosen to bring you along."

She signalled her driver and said, "We are all here. Let us depart." The deputy headmaster shut the door of the carriage, wishing them all a safe journey, and the carriage lifted gracefully into the air.

She had chosen what she would do to update the out of date uniforms of the girls as well. She waved her wand and transfigured their uniforms, maintaining the same signature pastel lavender blue of the traditional girl's uniforms, but updating their style to something much more contemporary and stylish.

"Madame Benoit! You do not truly believe that I worked so hard for something as typical and senseless as money, do you?" Lana said, smiling in good humor. She loved making friends more than anything. She wondered if she actually knew any students in Hogwarts. It would be pretty cool if she met some of her old friends from England there. But she also wanted to meet new people. She actually kind of hoped that the Goblet would not choose her. If she were chosen, then maybe none of the Hogwarts students would treat her like a fellow student.

And Lana hated nothing more than hate.

The moment the carriage lifted off, however, Lana zoomed to the nearest window, watching the scenery descend. She smiled, eyes twinkling. If only they built airplanes like this- no lurching starts, no urge to throw-up. The traveling method itself was now part of the vacation for Lana Di Angelo. Maybe breaking out and actually studying was the best she ever did. She never looked so forward to writing to her maid as she did at that moment. Who knew? Maybe she would have plenty more to write about...

Claire did not fail to notice the alteration of Adam’s physical posture at her arrival, and she was immediately happier. It was these manifestations of the effect she had on people that validated her feelings of superiority over her peers. Adam’s response to her question came in an accent that sounded surprisingly clear, considering it was not in his own tongue, and the boy quickly corrected himself and reverted back to his usual French accent to repeat the phrase. In response, Claire merely laughed and shot Adam one of her winning smiles, already pleased with the way the trip was going.

Of course, not everyone in the carriage had been so receptive to her arrival, but their responses were not all that surprisingly to the blond girl. Selene was staring at her disapprovingly, though about her reasoning Claire hadn’t the faintest idea. The other girl ranked far below her on the social scale, so if anyone ought to be looking down her nose, it was yours truly.

But Claire easily brushed aside these pointed looks as Selene continued on her little speech about the tournament, running her mouth as usual though no one was really listening. Even Claire wasn’t listening when Selene got to her remark about dirty and life threatening challenges, though if she had, she would not have hesitated to put that little tart in her place.

Instead, she was focusing her energy on more worthwhile pursuits, such as responding to those students who had deemed her worthy of their more pleasant attention – in short, the smarter students – and turned in her seat slightly to greet Peter, who was smiling that grin of his that suggested his thoughts were focused about as much on the conversation about the more honorable reasons for participating in the tournament about as much as she was – i.e. not at all.

“Hello Peter,” Claire responded easily, perhaps slightly flirtatious as she fed off of his playful energy. Peter fell below her class financially, but at Beauxbaton’s, his easy style and effortless methods of looking good had made him popular. Not as popular as she was, but definitely running with the same crowd.

Shortly afterward, another worthwhile specimen entered the carriage in the form of Christophe Moreau. Now there was a handsome individual, it was only a shame he fell firmly into the middle-class rankings. But he was always good for a party, and as a result was nearly as adored as she was at Beauxbatons. She was a bit surprised when he walked past where she was sitting, and she turned around to see where he had chosen to sit and was disappointed to see him a few rows back. What was a queen without her admirers and closest equals around her?

“Are you not going to sit with us?” Claire asked Christophe, her lips pouted above the back of the seat over which she was looking. She could still hear the conversation about the tournament going on behind her, but as far as Claire was concerned, it wouldn’t be much competition anyway. They could all debate the merits of entering and the point of the tournament as a whole, but in the end, it was impossible that they could all participate. That pleasure would be reserved for Claire and one lucky male counterpart.

The only reason Claire turned around to be part of the conversation was because the headmistress spoke, and though she listened with a look of genuine interest on her face and nodded at all the right places, she had about the same amount of attention for ‘friendship’ and ‘international cooperation’ as she did for last season’s shoes. But the headmistress needn’t know that, and although some of her peers would have believed it of her, they didn’t have any proof. They might go running to the headmistress about it to try to increase their chances of being chosen over her, but Claire was quite certain that the chances of that little ploy succeeding were slim to none, and when it didn’t, those underlings would feel her wrath.

As the headmistress finished her speech, she gave a wave of her wand and Claire felt the material around her legs and torso change. Looking down, she found that the pale blue silk of her previous uniform had been replaced with a smart pencil-skirt and matching jacket. Pleased with this change, Claire tugged at the bottom of the jacket to make sure it would rest perfectly on her hips, and smoothed the wrinkles from the skirt, which hugged her hips brilliantly. A great improvement indeed.

Selene could have punched someone. Claire was obviously acting like she owned the carriage, everyone who was in the "Upper class" She talked to, otherwise she seemed very much to be ignoring everyone but the headmistress, and even then, Selene knew that Claire didn't deserve to be known as Champion. There was no way she would win.. but Selene had a bad feeling she would. It wasn't supposed to be an unfair contest, but girls like Claire always won. Sure Selene was pretty, she had money.. but she wasn't Claire, and she knew she never would be. She would never give Adam or anyone that reaction when she entered a room. Guy's didn't cross their legs at her entrance, the opposite in fact.

They would laugh, start to talk, it was because Selene was practical, she didn't throw herself at every man who neared her. She didn't need anyone. At the change in focus, she put her sketchbook up over her face, and ignored everyone until the headmistress talked. She looked at her for a while, but quickly changed her attention. Selene didn't make friends, she was to... what was the word.... abrasive. She normally scared people away in fact. It wasn't like her to make friends, and of course, that's what these competitions were about, making friends.

If that was what people were judged for, Lana would win.. Lana was great with making friends, everyone knew that. Either that or Peter, Selene didn't have a chance against the kids of her own school. But.. she had to win, she just had to. She had to prove that people who weren't Claire could win. Someone who was independent, who didn't need to flirt to get through class, someone actually smart, someone that could do things on their own...not these people... the winners in the end, were the people who didn't give out their heart. If there was a male champion, Claire would lose, because she'd be spending time trying to flirt. Bringing in her subjects, and laughing about it later, in that stupid girly laugh, that made Selene's skin crawl.

The carriage lifted off, and Selene looked down at their school as it started to disappear. Soon the clouds got in the way, and her school disappeared. Her last glimpse at her home. Selene lifted her hand sadly, and placed it on the window. If Selene won... she would make an effort to be friends with people. She would smile, and not argue, she would do everything within her power, to be the perfect model of Beauxbatons school. She would make sure of it. If she didn't win? Well Selene would still make an effort, because people needed to know, that not all of her school were dumb blondes like Claire Prideux.