That night, there was, of course, another celebration in the Hufflepuff common room.
The tables were piled high with cookies and cakes, along with pitchers of pumpkin juice and Butter Beer.
But this time, hardly anyone cared about the delicious snacks; everyone was crowded around a table, carefully studying the three red stones placed on it.
"What exactly are these things?"
"No idea." Kael shook his head. "Bagman said there's a clue for the second task hidden inside, but he didn't explain how to use them. We have to figure it out ourselves."
"Maybe we should put them over a fire," Mikel suggested. "Burn off the outer layer, and the clue will appear."
"No way," said Hannah Abbott, shaking her head immediately. "What if we accidentally burn the real clue? That's way too risky. I think we should try a Revealing Spell instead."
"Let me try." Cedric took out his wand and tapped the stone hard.
"Reveal!"
However, the stone showed no change at all.
"Looks like the Revealing Spell doesn't work," he said with a sigh.
"It's fine. It's only the first day anyway," Conna said to Kael. "You've got three months left. I'm sure you'll figure out the clue."
Kael smiled and didn't say anything.
In fact, Kael honestly wasn't that concerned whether or not he found the clue to the second task early.
It would be nice to know, but it's fine if he didn't... They'd reveal it on the day of the event anyway.
Once Kael had put the stones away, everyone finally remembered the neglected cookies and cake on the table.
The problem of the second task was pushed to the back of their minds, and everyone began celebrating Kael's good results. The common room quickly became lively again.
...
After the excitement died down, Hogwarts moved into December.
The weather was getting colder and colder—almost every day was filled with howling winds and sleet. The Black Lake, once the liveliest area, was now nearly deserted, except for the big Durmstrang ship bobbing and swaying in the middle of the lake amid the gales.
"Must be freezing in there," Mikel said.
They had just finished Care of Magical Creatures class and were on their way back to the castle, though most people's faces were flushed, and their steps a little unsteady.
This was because Hagrid had been feeding the Abraxans pure malt whisky every day recently, making the paddock permanent reek of strong spirits.
It hadn't been bad before, but now every time the wind blew, the smell drifted into the class, and that fiery whisky was too much for most students.
"I think there must be Magic inside that ship," Ryan said, rubbing his face. "Otherwise in this weather, there's no way anyone could handle being on the lake."
"That's probably it," Mikel said. "And I heard Durmstrang is way colder than Hogwarts. They even have fur cloaks as part of their uniforms."
After being buffeted all the way by the damp, cold wind by the Black Lake, they felt less woozy by the time they were back in the castle.
Kael put his books back in the dorm just as Cedric walked in.
"Kael, I was just saying I should go find you."
"What is it?"
"Here's the thing," said Cedric. "The Head Boy just found me. Dumbledore wants all of us to have dinner in the Auditorium tonight... I've already told the other years, just needed to tell your group."
"We all have to eat in the Auditorium?" Kael asked suspiciously. "Did something happen?"
"I don't know either," Cedric shrugged. "Maybe the Headmaster has some announcement to make."
"Alright." Kael nodded.
At dinner time, sure enough, Dumbledore was there. He looked very happy, chatting away with Professor Moody beside him.
"What do you think he's going to say?" Conna asked curiously. "Will it be about the second task?"
"Probably not," Kael thought for a moment and said, "If it was about the Triwizard Tournament, all three headmasters would be here."
Only two headmasters were present—Dumbledore and Maxime. As for Karkaroff... ever since the first task, he hadn't come to the Auditorium again.
Soon it was the end of dinner.
When the food disappeared from the plates, Dumbledore stood up.
Everyone turned to look at him.
"I'm sure you're all wondering why I asked everyone to come to the Auditorium for dinner,"
Dumbledore looked around the room, smiling. "That's because I have an announcement to make. Alright, come on in."
He gestured toward the side door of the Auditorium.
Someone was walking in from there.
"Oh!"
"Merlin, is that...?"
Exclamations erupted throughout the hall—at Gryffindor's table, Harry even leapt to his feet in excitement.
"That's right—many of you must have seen him in the papers." Dumbledore smiled. "But I'd still like to introduce him properly... Sirius Black."
The Auditorium burst into applause.
"Quiet, quiet! I think it's a bit too soon to cheer..." Dumbledore raised a hand. "I'm delighted to announce that, starting today, Sirius Black will be our new Professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts!"
A brief silence—then thunderous applause and cheers.
"Professor, what about Professor Moody..." someone called out loudly.
Sirius Black was wonderful, but so was Professor Moody—many people liked his class, too.
"Not to worry," Dumbledore explained, "Professor Moody will still be staying here. Although, to be fair, he's complained to me more than once—I shouldn't have expected a retired man to teach all seven years by himself.
So, Professor Black has graciously agreed to help lighten his workload and will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts for first to fourth years."
Another round of applause.
"Oh, why!" Mikel said in frustration. "Why can't we have his class in fifth year?"
"Professor Moody's not bad either," Cedric said.
"I know," Mikel shook his head. "But this is Sirius Black! The legend of the year! Aren't you just a little curious?"
"Well... okay, I am curious," Cedric said. "But, what can you do? He's only teaching lower years."
"So jealous..."
As they talked, Kael looked across to the left side of the staff table, at Snape's seat.
Snape wasn't clapping at all; instead, he held his fork in a death grip, staring daggers at Sirius, who was waving to the crowd.
He was gripping so hard, the fork was actually deformed.
He looked absolutely furious—as if Professor Dumbledore had just told him he'd have to drink some of Mikel's homemade Magic Potion.