Chapter Text
To say that there are only bad people in the Slytherin is prejudice, but to say that there are only bad people in the Kim’s can be something close to reality, almost everyone was either dead or in Azkaban, there was only one exception, Kim Hyunjung, who went by the name of Seola since sophomore year at Hogwarts.
Subject Seola was divided between people who thought it was only a matter of time for her to follow in her family's footsteps, and people who thought she was too weak for not following.
Not that anyone would speak or say anything directly to her, Seola may not have followed in her family's footsteps on the evil path, but she had their talent with magic, she could turn you around without even opening her mouth to do the spell, the best of her year and they could say the best of all Hogwarts.
And going against the popular beliefs of people with rumors of this level, Seola was not lonely, she had her group of friends who risked their reputation hanging out with her.
It was her penultimate year at school when it was announced that Hogwarts would host the triwizard tournament, a special edition that everyone knew it was a way to pretend that things from previous years had not happened. The students were euphoric, which meant that Seola's friends were too, Exy had been carrying the paper with her name in her pocket since arriving at Hogwats, Eunseo was so confident that she told everyone that she would write the name right on the spot.
Seola really wanted to stay out of this, she didn't even want to watch the competition, but then she lost to Xuanyi on a bet, and her name would have to be put in the goblet.
It was a hotter than normal day when visitors arrived. The first to see the line on the horizon in the water was a first-year student, shouting excitedly while calling everyone to see what was going on. Seola was more than happy to skip the afternoon of studying in the library to see the visitors, spending the afternoon leaning against a wall while listening to Dayoung chattering seemed strangely comfortable.
"I heard they saying that there are veelas in Beauxbatons, at least part veelas" Yeonjung commented when the big animals started to cut the sky.
"Do you think we're going to meet any today?" Dayoung looked excited, jumping into place while everyone else was back to their routine "Maybe we can meet them now".
Before any of the girls could hold her, Dayoung was already away, Seola looked at Exy hoping she would go after the girl, as she always did before the girl could do anything wrong.
"Don't look at me, I want to win the house cup this year, a few points less in Gryffindor would be welcome".
Seola had to hold back her laughter when she saw Eunseo running after Dayoung, Eunseo always had a certain obsession with house cups.
"You know, you need to put your name in the goblet if you don't want to," Exy spoke again when they were walking alone to the school's dining hall "Xuanyi bet is just a joke, she won't really be upset if you don't do it”.
"I will be fine, I like to keep my word".
"Your word will put you in danger" Exy squeezed her shoulder just before going to her table.
From the students' excitement and the principal's big smile, Seola knew that she would still have to listen to a long speech before she could eat, and she tried to pay as much attention as possible, but the speech seemed extremely predictable. Starting with the presentation of the tournament, going through the dangers and the presentation of the schools.
Seola only managed to pay attention when the big doors opened, the sea of heads turning to see who was entering.
A group of strong, large men, dragging their fur cloaks to the Slytherin table, Seola had to hold herself to not roll her eyes when the cloak of one crash into her while they sat down. The next group were beautiful women, giving sweet smiles as they practically floated towards the Gryffindor table.
Seola could imagine that hunger was making her lose her head, but those women looked extremely mesmerizing, well, attractive women made her lose her head, only those were different, and possibly the most beautiful women she had ever seen. And when her eyes met the eyes of one of them, the same woman giving a smirk in her direction, Seola promised herself that she would stay away from that school.
Seola hated the feeling of being watched, even after years of being the subject of whispers and glances at Hogwarts, she still wasn't used to it, but that felt different than what she had to deal at school every day. It was a heavier look that pierced her back, and for some reason she knew where it was coming from.
She took a look at the Gryffindor table, seeing Dayoung leaning over the table while talking to the visitors, Eunseo did not make the least effort to hold the girl, forgetting the points that they could take out of their house, because she was more focused on getting the attention of one of the women.
When Seola's eyes met those of the same girl as before, she put the promise back in her head. It was not so difficult to identify a problem, even if it was a pretty problem.
It was a difficult promise to keep, mainly because the girl seemed to be everywhere, and every time she seemed to be looking at her. Seola tried not to think about it, walking even longer paths so as not to run the risk of running into the woman.
"I heard your Veela girlfriend is going to name the goblet tonight" Eunseo commented while they were sitting next to the goblet, suggested by Eunseo herself, to keep an eye on who will try to get elected, she said.
Somehow, her friends had noticed the new girl's sudden interest in Seola, actually Dawon had noticed, but as soon as one comment about it was made everyone else's attention went to it. For some reason, Xuanyi arrived one morning with the information that some of the Beauxbatons girls really were some Veela percentages, she even made a point of citing the girl who watched Seola as an example of someone she was sure it was that, Bona, Xuanyi said that was her name.
"She's not my girlfriend, and I don't see any reason to care about that" Seola sank further into the book, trying not to show that even the tips of her ears were red.
"Well, you still have to put your name in the goblet," Seola stopped reading to look at Yeonjung, of course the others would not forget that "why don't you put it soon? I'm sure the goblet will take into consideration that you don't want to go anywhere near the competition”.
Seola just sighed, she still had to find a way for her name not to be chosen, even if the chances were already small with the number of students who put their names in the goblet. She ended up writing her name quickly on a piece of parchment, hiding it in her pocket before her friends could see it.
Bona seemed quite the opposite of her, entering the room a few hours later, her head held high as she walked confidently to the chalice, her eyes stopped on Seola, and she seemed to love to the attention, putting her name on and walking away slowly. She even had the audacity to smile at her.
"Your girlfriend is really something" Eunseo commented again when the girl was gone.
Seola made no attempt to comment or correct her on the words she had used. She just got up from her place, walking with heavy steps to the goblet, depositing her name there and watching the flame widen. She could hear the whispers as she returned to the same place, felt her face heating up as she tried not to hear her friends' comments.
Unfortunately, her next encounter with the girl was faster than expected, on the morning of the day that the competition’s contestants were to be chosen. She had woken up extremely late, had already missed one class, and was going to be late for the class of the teacher who is not very fond of Slytherin, she was already imagining how many points she would lose to her house.
“Miss Kim,” Seola stopped running on the spot, imagining that she had been caught by someone, but it was a far worse situation when she turned and looked at Bona “Hogwarts students have a strange habit of staying in the school hallways, it's a surprise to see you doing the same”.
"Sorry, do we know each other?".
"I don't think so," Bona approached, the same elegance as always, making Seola try harder not to look like a mess "but I've heard of you".
Of course, that would be the reason why the girl seemed so curious, Seola felt stupid for not even remembering her family's past, how could she not think about the possibility of the girl being just curious?
"I'm Kim Jiyeon, but everyone calls me Bona" She came even closer, holding out her hand.
"Seola" She shook the hand briefly, trying to make that moment as fast as possible.
"I thought your name was Hyunjung".
"I haven't used this one in a long time, just call me Seola, without Kim".
Bona watched her for a few seconds before speaking again “Ok, just Seola”.
"Well, I'm sorry that your perception of Hogwarts students is so bad, I hope there aren’t wearing green," Seola stuffed her hands in her pocket, fidgeting in her place as she started to walk away "I’m really sorry, but I'm having a complicated morning and I need to go to my class”.
"Sure, Miss Seola, see you around."
Seola got out of there as soon as possible, she couldn't leave any breaches for the girl to change her mind, she felt she had held her breath for a good part of the time, fighting the fear of not looking silly in front of the girl.
The day was even more uncomfortable, she had gained twenty points less for her house for being late, and ten more points for having forgotten her book, having to be left with nothing to follow up class, because the Hufflepuff girl beside her was not enjoying the idea of sharing the book with her.
"You look exhausted," Yeonjung commented when she threw herself in her place in the dining room.
"I am, I just wanted to be able to sleep now, but I can't skip the goblet thing and I believe there will be only two hours just of speech".
“Look,” Yeonjung stretched out on the table, not that she cared about others listening to her, it was more for the girl to make sure she was serious “about today's points, don't worry about it, everyone knows that good part of our points comes from you, I'm sure you will get it back, and the fifth-year student, who blew up the cauldron in one of the classes and made us lose fifty points, has more to worry about than you do”.
"No, he doesn't, we both know that."
Seola hated the look that Yeonjung gave her when she arrived at those moments, in fact, she hated the look of pity that the others gave her when something like this happened, but when she turned over her shoulder, a few seconds before the ceremony started, and found Bona, she knew there was a look of pity that she hated even more.
"It seems that everyone is here..." Minerva started the speech.
Seola turned off completely, her eyes locked on her hand on the table, at least until the first name was called, one of Durmstrang's boys stood up and was greeted by strong claps.
The goblet spit out another paper, flying until it was in Minerva's hands "The champion of Beauxbatons, Miss Chen Xiao".
Seola turned quickly, she thought Bona's name was going to be chosen, maybe it was because she only knew the girl, but her confidence made it seem that she hoped for that too. But when she found Bona, among girls in blue uniforms, who looked quite happy with the choice of the goblet, she noticed that Bona was not sad, she was just as happy as the others, even gave Cheng Xiao a long hug, the eyes blurred by what seemed to be pride.
She must have spent a lot of time looking at the girl, because the next thing she noticed was a noise of surprise. Then Bona was staring at her openly, blinking her eyes to be sure of what she was really seeing. Then she felt a hand on her arm.
"You were chosen" Yeonjung said hurriedly as she made the girl get up and head towards the champions' room.
There was no applause or celebration, the dining room was in complete silence as she made her way. She wondered if that was what Harry Potter had felt when he was chosen champion without even wanting to, if he had felt the same feeling of despair with every step he took.
The champions room was dark, just a few candles indicating the path she had to follow, it made her feel even smaller. The first person who approached her was the Beauxbatons champion, a big smile on her face as she held out her hand.
"Hi, I'm Cheng Xiao from Beauxbatons".
"Seola".
"I thought Mrs. McGonagall had read Kim Hyunjung".
"I don't like that name".
"Okay, good enough for me, you look a little pale, are you okay?"
“Yes, it’s just the whole competition thing”
"Ah, of course, you must be happy to be chosen" Xiao continued to stare even though she didn't have an answer "maybe I'm too surprised".
"I just put my name in the goblet because of a bet" Seola confesses in a whisper, her eyes locked on her feet.
Xiao blinks a few times slowly, the expression of confusion changing to a small smile, "I hope you get your head in the tournament now, I want to compete with the best" Xiao said. Seola would understand if the girl was angry with her, she had prepared and looked forward to that tournament, Seola just had the bad luck of being chosen.
They didn't have a chance to continue the conversation, the door to the room opened again, the principals and the minister coming in to have another conversation. Minerva kept her hand on her shoulder the entire time, while Seola kept her eyes locked on the floor.
There was no way out of it, she had signed a magic contract the moment she put her name in the goblet, she had to put her life on the line to win it, the smile that Minerva gave her meant that she expected the girl to win, so Seola would give maximum for that to happen.
Her feet were very fast when the meeting was over, she practically ran back to her room, the eyes of the Slytherin students followed her as she passed them. She knew they were celebrating that a Slytherin had been chosen, at the same time hating that it had been her, so they made no effort to congratulate her, just a smile or two towards her.
Yeonjung tried to talk to her a while later, stopping at her side of the bed and running her fingers through her hair, while Seola tried to pretend she was sleeping.
It was only two days after her friends started talking about the competition, forgetting about the delicate phase where they didn't know if they should mention it or not. Xuanyi sat across from her that afternoon, spreading several books in front of her.
"We need to study the possible task, get you ready" Xuanyi started while opening the books "I was looking at the older tasks, I think I found some books that can help us".
Seola let the girl push her to study, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher homework being thrown aside. She was so immersed in her studies that she only realized that she was not the only champion in the library when Xuanyi caught her eye, tapping the feather on the book she had in hands a few times.
She scanned the Durmstrang champion, trying to carry more books than he could actually manage, she was sure it was to impress a group of Hufflepuff students who were sitting nearby. After, her eyes stopped on Xiao, the girl seemed well engaged in a conversation with other girls from the same school, Seola knew that she was probably already prepared for anything.
“You know,” Xuanyi drew attention to her, from the look in her eyes she seemed to want to convey confidence in a gentle way “Bona didn't know you before, I mean, she knew about the story about the girl with the whole family begin death eaters who now study at Hogwarts, but she didn't know the girl's name, she only get to know about everything after asking Meiqi to ask me about you”.
"Why are you telling me that?"
"I think it would be a good idea for you to know that Bona doesn't pay attention to you because of your family's past, but because she thinks you're beautiful, so maybe you will stop pretending that the girl doesn't want to get close to you".
Seola felt something in her stomach, a good feeling that made her feel lighter, she thought it should only be something good because of the way Xuanyi looked at her, satisfied with her reaction.
So when she saw Bona that night before dinner, she didn't look away, quicken her pace or change paths as she used to, she stopped in the corner of the hall, her hands together behind her back as Bona watched, trying to figure out if that was an invitation to approach or not, when Seola kept her gaze she smiled approaching.
“Hi, congratulations on being chosen” Bona seemed uncertain if she should hug her to congratulate her or not, Seola was grateful that the girl did not come closer.
"Can I call you Jiyeon?"
"Yes".
"Thank you, Jiyeon".
Jiyeon seemed even happier, she even got closer, which made Seola blink quickly as she petrified in the same place “I actually have something for you”, Bona raised her hand, showing a necklace with a pendant of two flying birds "It is to bring luck to the tournament".
"Shouldn't you give this to Xiao?".
"She is more than ready for the tournament, she told me that you didn't really want to be chosen, a little luck this time should be welcome."
Jiyeon took the initiative out of the situation, taking her hand so she could open and tighten the necklace inside. Seola felt the light sensation in her stomach again.
During dinner, Seola made a point of sitting in a different place, this time a place that had Jiyeon’s view, even if she had always looked away, she still liked the feeling she got when Jiyeon gave her gave attention.