Disclaimer: I own nothing. I even took some lines from Rowling,"Harry Potter 4 - Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire" and Wikia with slight edits while describing Hogwarts delegation's arrival at Durmstrang and the effect of the Informous Spell.

QLFC, R11 – I open at the close. Chaser 2 for the Ballycastle Bats.

Task: start and end the story with the same word. Prompt: Informous Spell

Optional prompts:

(setting) Durmstrang

(word) bounce

(word count) 1089

Hogwarts Houses Challenges: DC – thestral; QP - "What's Plan B?"

Harry Potter's World: Potions – blue, shy, threatened.

Word cound: 1089 (on Open Office)

Thanks to scrumptiousinternetllama for her advice :)

Regardless of the many disputes about the harmfulness of such a competition, the Durmstrang Institute was preparing to host the Triwizard Tournament as always. Those proud and hardened children of one of the most renowned Schools of Magic couldn't be persuaded to give up it just because it was getting—here, they would form the air quotes, snickering— "dangerous".

And thus it was that on a spring day in 1791, a little, neat crowd of Durmstrang students was gathered around the iron gates of their Institute waiting for the Hogwarts delegation.

The quiet chatter was interrupted when the Headmistress cleared her throat and announced that she could see something approaching.

Everybody's head snapped up, and hundreds sets of eyes squinted, scanning the blue sky in search of anything out of the ordinary. They found it quickly; westward, a huge, elongated shape was becoming visible.

The most sharp-eyed pointed it out to the ones whose gazes were still wandering.

"Where?" was the eager question.

"There."

Everybody's mouths rounded to a long, amazed "Oooooh!" as soon as they managed to spot that flying object which didn't resemble to anything they had known until that moment.

One of the first years, her blue eyes wide, would have liked nothing better than to shriek, "It's a basilisk!" but she had been a student at Durmstrang for long enough and she knew better than spreading mayhem. So Ivanka leaned forward and whispered in her friend's ear, "Basilisk?"

Volkov looked at her. "Don't be stupid. Of course not." He cast his eyes on the sky again; the form was becoming larger and more recognizable. "Look. It's more similar to some Muggle device," he said, his voice disgusted by the mere idea. "What's its name yet? Weagon?"

The girl, who was a Muggle-raised Pureblood, shyly corrected him. "I think it may be wagon. Hey, you're right!"

"Of course I am!"

Ivanka sighed. That was just how Volkov was; he had only certainties. She, on the contrary, was always full of doubts.

Whatever it might be, the object was getting closer and closer, its red figure silhouetted by the blue sky. At that sight, the students took some steps behind, feeling almost threatened.

What was even more disturbing, thought, was the fact that, despite having elegant harnesses, the wagon was not pulled by anything. Or rather, some said it was pulled by odd, white-eyed animals similar to winged horses; others insisted that nothing was there and the object simply levitated.

Finally, after a little bounce, the wagon—carved with the words Hogwarts Express and decorated with the School's crest and motto—silently landed.

Unfortunately for the English delegation, everybody's attention was drawn by what they couldn't see rather than by what they could admire. The egress from the train of Hogwarts Headmaster, students and even some ghosts was overshadowed. Whispers about what might pull the wagon were spreading around uncontrollably. The teachers, too, found the subject fascinating and pondered it from the back row where they stood.

Ivanka drew backward, just in case, both to avoid meeting those foreign people so soon and not to be harmed by those scary-looking, black horses. Truth be told, she noticed that those animals, too, seemed rather uncomfortable, as if they knew people were staring at and talking about them without even seeing them.

The girl watched her schoolmates and their eyes wide open. She immediately felt for the odd creatures, whatever they might be. They had probably lived in the shadows in a quiet place until that moment, and now they were judged by people who didn't know them. She would have felt nervous and uncomfortable too.

One of the horses shook his head and stamped his hoof on the ground, shifting uneasily.

Volkov addressed one of the Hogwarts students about the mystery of the invisible animals. This was something who defied every natural and magical law.

The reply left him surprised and puzzled.

"Most of us can't see them either. I can't. Thestrals can only be seen by people who've seen and accepted death. That's what we've been told in our lessons. But as they're reserved creatures, I myself don't know much else, apart the fact that they are very rare and we may have the only tame herd in Britain, if not Europe."

"Thank you!"

Volkov ran towards Ivanka. "Did you hear?"

"I did. So... Thestrals, huh?"

He shrugged.

"I wish we knew more of them." She'd started feeling a link to them. Maybe, just maybe, they were gentle and she could touch them. They looked like they could use some support.

Volkov slapped his forehead. "There's that new spell I heard about. It's still new and it's an English, trial version, but why not?"

"What?"

"It's called... the Informous Spell. If you cast it on a beast, you get to know everything about it!" This was exciting.

"But you're not sure. What if it's still too new? Also... is it English?" You can't even see them.

He confidently drew his wand and gestured to her to stay behind him, which she gladly did. He aimed at the harnesses.

"Informous," he shouted. "In-FOR-mes!"

"Err, Volkov?"

"Wait!"

"What's Plan B?" she wanted to ask but bit her tongue.

"Informous," he repeated. His wand emitted a puff of blue smoke. "Look!"

She looked at the Thestrals; this experience was nerve-wracking to them. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other nervously, as one of the creatures mirrored her movements.

"Informous."

"Volkov, I fear that if you can't see them, you can't cast those spell on them either. Listen, if the inventor of this spell never heard of them, they would've never thought to add them to the list."

He looked at her intently. "Alright. Let it be."

"Timaskaja, Rudotoff! What happens?" a voice called. It was Professor Porlienko's.

"We're practicing the Informous Spell, Sir."

A flick of Porlienko's wand and a blue flash later, a magnifying glass appeared alongside with a piece of paper. "This is the Bulgarian version. I dare say it works better. Our Folio Bruti is generally more useful too." Peeking at it, he said, "Thestrals are beautiful creatures, guys, and very strong flyers. They embody Death, that is the personification of true power. But we'll talk about them later. Now I'd suggest you catch up with the others."

"Yes, Professor. Thanks."

Ivanka cast her blue eyes on the herd once more and thought, I'm coming back regardless.