"The Farewell"
The farewell ended up being much faster than anyone would have wanted.
Which was fairly understandable. After all, Hogwarts had quite literally exploded, and now all that remained was a flattened field with a few burned walls that could no longer be identified as belonging to the Great Hall or perhaps the dungeons.
It was difficult to tell.
Fortunately, no one had been injured because everyone had been in the stands watching the tournament. Even the castle's house elves had managed to escape the moment they got the chance thanks to their apparition magic, which functioned even through the castle's anti apparition defenses.
And most importantly because Sirius had left one very clear order:
If you see danger, run.
After all, a possible attack had been a constant suspicion ever since Hermione and Daphne discovered Parkinson attempting to repair the Vanishing Cabinet.
To say he expected Hogwarts to end up burned to ashes would be an exaggeration.
A very big one.
But fortunately, they had made sure to be prepared.
Both the massive Durmstrang ship and the Beauxbatons carriage had emerged unharmed.
Maybe a few scratches from the creatures that attacked, but not many, since they had not been targets from the beginning.
The goal had only been to create panic and chaos.
What was interesting, however, was that Karkaroff had disappeared.
The moment the mark on his arm became active, he fled.
He vanished instantly without even waiting to see whether his former master had truly returned or not.
Fortunately, Durmstrang had brought along its professors.
They were the ones who took control of the situation and immediately began organizing the students' return.
And even then, nobody seemed particularly concerned about the Headmaster's absence.
In fact, quite a few students looked noticeably more relaxed.
On the other hand, Madame Maxime also insisted on leaving as soon as possible, despite none of her students having been injured.
It is hard to leave with a good impression of a place when it explodes in your face and then a horde of monsters attacks you.
And without Hogwarts' Great Hall, there would be no closing ceremony.
No banquet.
No speeches.
None of that.
Madame Maxime let out a sigh while making sure every last one of her students boarded the carriage.
The last to get on were Fleur and her family.
Who were still saying goodbye to Harry and the others.
And judging by Fleur's expression, she was not particularly happy about it.
Though that changed when Harry seemed to say something to her with a slightly teasing smile, causing the veela to become annoyed all over again before grabbing her little sister Gabrielle and climbing into the carriage.
The Headmistress of Beauxbatons watched this before turning toward Sirius.
"I suppose the Triwizard Tournament... pardon me, the magical tournament ends here, Black," she said while looking at the ruins of Hogwarts, or at least where the magnificent castle should have been.
"Perhaps the next tournament can be held at Beauxbatons. Maybe it won't end the same way," Sirius replied with a somewhat shameless grin.
Madame Maxime stared at him for several seconds.
But she truly did not seem interested in answering.
...
Meanwhile, the students, now aboard their respective means of transportation, began saying their farewells through the windows or, in Durmstrang's case, from the railings of the ship.
Some had exchanged addresses and promised to write letters.
It seemed that, in the end, The very reason the tournament had been created, bringing the three schools together, had worked quite well.
Even more so after surviving a terrorist attack together.
Harry watched Luciel and Katerina, the last ones to board, as they waved goodbye.
And through the window, Fleur's annoyed face continued staring at him.
She even made a face at him for a moment.
Which made Harry laugh softly.
"I thought you'd be sadder to see your veela leave," Draco said, standing beside him.
Harry glanced at his friend.
"Why would I be?" he asked as though the question genuinely confused him. "She said she would do everything possible to have me kneeling in front of her. That doesn't sound like someone planning to stay away from me."
Draco stared at him for several seconds.
"Besides..." Harry continued. "I'm incredibly charming."
As he said that, Harry looked back toward the carriage.
Just in time to catch Fleur still watching him through the window.
The moment she noticed him looking back, she immediately turned her head away with an indignant huff.
Which only made Harry smile even more.
While Draco, who had witnessed the entire exchange, closed his eyes as though regretting ever opening his mouth in the first place.
After Madame Maxime climbed aboard, the carriage finally began moving before rising into the sky.
And although Harry claimed he did not care about saying goodbye to Fleur, he continued watching her remain there.
Sitting beside the window.
Looking at him.
Or at least pretending not to.
But for a moment, even she could not stop herself from looking back and meeting Harry's green eyes.
And for just an instant, she set aside her little pride.
Giving him a smile that promised this was far from over.
Something Harry had already expected.
Returning a smile of his own, the same one he had given her in the maze when he told her he would be there to receive whatever Fleur threw at him.
Before the carriage got too far away, Gabrielle, who was sitting beside her older sister, leaned halfway out the window and began waving both arms enthusiastically.
"Goodbye, Mister Villain!" the little girl shouted with a bright smile.
Harry let out a smile and raised a hand to wave back.
"Don't forget to marry my sister!" the little girl instantly shouted, freezing both Harry and Fleur, who was sitting right beside her.
Harry managed to see Fleur turn completely red as she dragged Gabrielle back inside.
The last thing he saw was Fleur's embarrassed face disappearing from the window.
And then he could not help laughing.
Meanwhile...
A short distance away, the enormous Durmstrang ship was also preparing to depart.
Students were boarding via the gangway while the professors finished counting everyone for the third time.
Probably because after a terrorist attack, giant monsters, and an exploding castle, nobody wanted to discover they had accidentally left a student behind in England.
Viktor Krum ended up approaching one last time.
He was still covered in bandages and still seemed annoyed that he had not even been able to get close to the Cup because his own teammate had betrayed him.
Not only that.
The discomfort of having been controlled by the Imperius Curse still bothered him far more.
Daphne, who was nearby still laughing at the sight of him, watched him for several more seconds before letting out another laugh.
"You still look like a mummy," she said when she saw him.
Viktor gave a look to the young woman who had spent weeks making fun of him.
Ever since he had mistaken her for an obsessed fan, she had taken every possible opportunity to annoy him.
But he could not help feeling considerably calmer now and even letting out a faint smile just remembering everything they had gone through together.
"Thank you," Viktor said to Daphne.
Her teasing immediately stopped when she saw the young man smiling.
"Why?" Daphne asked, looking genuinely confused.
"When I mistook you for a desperate fan, you still helped me a lot. Even during the lake task, when I was trying to recover the photograph of my parents, you helped me practice the Transformation Spell. Even though I never managed to do it perfectly. And in the end, I didn't even manage to recover the photo by myself," Viktor said in a soft tone while looking directly at her. "Thank you."
Receiving gratitude when all she had really done was spend most of her time bothering him left Daphne feeling slightly embarrassed.
Though of course she would never show it.
And she certainly would not admit that she had enjoyed teasing Viktor all this time.
Daphne looked ready to respond, ready to brush away this strange feeling.
But Viktor simply extended a hand toward her.
Daphne lowered her gaze to it for a moment and then looked back at Viktor.
And this time, she did not particularly feel like teasing him.
So she simply shook it.
"Good luck, Daphne Greengrass," Viktor said with a smile.
Daphne let out a small huff, as though her servant had suddenly become cheeky.
But in the end she replied:
"Good luck, Viktor Krum."
With that, Viktor said his farewell and turned around to board the ship, being the last person still missing.
While Daphne remained standing by the shore, watching the ship for a little while longer.
Before looking down at her own hand.
The same hand she had used to shake Viktor's.
Where she now found a small note with a few words written on it, along with Viktor's mailing address.
"Hmph. Cheeky," she muttered.
But she still slipped the card into her pocket before returning to her friends.