The days of hanging out at Hogwarts

There was half of the steak left on the dinner plate. Moody impatiently stuffed the whole piece of meat into his mouth, chewed it twice casually and swallowed it. During this period, the blue magic eye kept staring at Karkaroff beside him. , the prying eyes made the headmaster of Durmstrang feel like thorns in his back, making him restless.

Moody wiped his mouth with a cloth, took out his curved wine bottle, took a big sip, and burped at Karkaroff, disgust and offense clearly written on his mutilated face.

Crouch, who was wearing an elegant robe, turned his head and advised in a low voice: "Don't do this, Alastor, Principal Karkaroff has proven his merit to the Ministry of Magic."

"Oh, I would have forgotten if you didn't tell me." Moody's rough voice was full of sarcasm, "More than ten years ago, at the Magical Law Council, our kind and righteous Principal Karkaroff confessed other Death Eaters. name……"

Karkaroff's face turned pale, and the hand holding the fork was trembling: "I, I have contributed to the Ministry of Magic, Mr. Crouch, we have reached an agreement..."

Crouch raised his eyebrows and smiled gently: "Yes, sir, we have reached an agreement."

Moody sneered twice: "You betrayed your accomplices and got the benefit of immunity from punishment. What a smart guy."

Karkaroff didn't dare to say anything. He just wanted the banquet to end as soon as possible... no, he wanted the entire competition to end as soon as possible.

Why did Dumbledore hire this guy as a professor? What can this guy teach the little wizard?

How to use the most effective method to make people lose the ability to resist, how to obtain intelligence without using veritaserum, and how to torture criminals without leaving scars?

In addition, why is the gentle and polite Crouch even more creepy? There seems to be a giant python hidden under that skin that chooses people to eat. Doesn't he always act according to the rules?

"Yes, that's what smart people do when they examine the situation and make the right choice." Crouch looked at the Potions Professor sitting next to him, "What do you think, Severus?"

"Call me Snape, Mr. Crouch."

Snape's face was expressionless. He knew exactly what Crouch meant. He was on the list of Death Eaters that Karkaroff provided. "Besides, this is between you two. I'm just the Potions Professor at Hogwarts now."

"What a pity, Severus, I always thought your talents were more than this." Crouch said in a very regretful tone.

Snape looked at him deeply and didn't answer.

Completely different from the low pressure here, the rest of the guests at the guest table were chatting happily. Dumbledore's cold jokes and Bagman's interesting stories matched each other, causing Ms. Maxim to frequently raise her glasses.

Everyone was happy, except for Professor Flitwick who was holding his nose. The rich cologne on Hagrid's body made him dizzy...

The banquet came to an end, and after most people had eaten and drank, Dumbledore stood up under the nervous and expectant eyes of the young wizards.

"Attention everyone, the Goblet of Fire is about to make a decision."

Dumbledore waved his hands around, and quietly, the torches on the walls were extinguished. Only a few candles in the entire auditorium emitted faint light, and the huge room fell into half-darkness.

The blue-white flame in the wooden cup swayed endlessly, and suddenly the light shone brightly, swelling several times, and suddenly became the brightest light source in the auditorium.

Without any warning, the blue-white flame suddenly turned into a dazzling red, and several clusters of dazzling sparks burst out.

Crack, crackle!

Tongues of fire spurted out, and a piece of parchment half burnt flew out.

Everyone in the auditorium held their breath and watched the note fall into Dumbledore's hands. He glanced at it and shouted in a clear and powerful tone: "The Durmstrang warrior is Viktor." ·Krum!”

Applause and cheers instantly swept through the entire auditorium. Krum stood up from the Slytherin table, his expression still looking gloomy. At Karkaroff's signal, he walked towards the side door to the right of the guest seat and entered. Room.

"Awesome, Viktor! I know you are destined to be a warrior!"

Karkaroff's loud cheers were heard by everyone, but they sounded a little lack of energy and a bit stern. Ron muttered: "This is not surprising at all, you know Krum..."

The Goblet of Fire seemed to notice that the applause and conversations were gradually dying down. After a few seconds, the flames turned red again, and two burnt parchment strips popped out of the cup.

"The Champion of Beauxbatons—" Dumbledore shouted in a deep voice, "is Fleur Delacour!"

Amidst the commotion, the bright girl stood up gracefully, shook her silver hair, and walked up from the Ravenclaw table with light steps.

"Champion of Ilvermorny, Piccoly Graves!"

Amidst the deafening noise, Graves was in a daze. When he got up and walked to the stage, he vaguely heard Butt's congratulations.

When the two entered the next room, the auditorium became quiet again, but the excitement surging in the silence was almost solid, and Loren could feel the hot breath and eyes of the little wizards.

All the little wizards wearing black magic robes know that it is the turn of the warriors of Hogwarts next...

Tongues of fire leaped high, and under everyone's expectant gaze, Dumbledore raised his right hand high: "The warrior of Hogwarts is Cedric Diggory!"

Loud cheers instantly filled the auditorium, and the little Hufflepuff wizards jumped up and down, screamed and stamped their feet... Cedric greeted everyone he knew with a bright smile, and it took him a long time to walk in from his seat. Warrior's room.

When the noise finally subsided, Dumbledore said with a smile: "Okay, now our four warriors have been selected. I know that I can completely rely on you all, including Beauxbatons, Ilvermorny and Demster." Other classmates of Lang, you will definitely go all out to support your warriors..."

A burst of hissing sparks suddenly interrupted his words, and everyone noticed the unusually flickering Goblet of Fire behind them.

The red flame that was supposed to be extinguished ignited again, crackling sparks splashed everywhere, and a long tongue of flame suddenly jumped into the air, holding up two more pieces of parchment.

As if subconsciously, Dumbledore reached out and grabbed the parchment, staring at the name written on it.

Everyone in the Great Hall was waiting for Dumbledore.

After a brief silence, Dumbledore cleared his throat and said in a deep voice: "Hogwarts, Harry Potter!"

There was no applause and there was silence in the auditorium.

Everyone's eyes were cast on the boy with the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. With an incredible look in his eyes, a buzzing sound began to fill the auditorium, as if there were countless angry bees chirping.

The adult wizards at the guest table had complicated expressions. Some were sizing up Harry and some were sizing up Dumbledore. Only Bagman's eyes showed joy.

Unpopular...dark horse...odds!

A series of words flashed through his mind, and eventually they turned into a golden, round thing.

"Golden Gallon..."

Bagman murmured subconsciously. He suppressed the joy of laughing out loud and asked in a deep voice with an eager expression, "Principal Dumbledore, what is the other note? Please read it out too."

One more upset, many more galleons...

"..."

Seeing that Dumbledore didn't respond, Bagman hurriedly stepped forward, grabbed the note from his hand, and shouted cheerfully: "The sixth warrior is Tom Gaunt, Azka - Azka class?"

The sound fell, as if a cold wind blew through the auditorium, and all the discussions fell silent.

Moody's eyes turned like spinning tops, as if they would fly out of their sockets at the next moment. Several deans of Hogwarts had peeped in the secret room. They knew clearly what this name meant, and their hearts were filled with excitement. A chill arose.

Principal Fontana looked confused: "Isn't this the professor I recruited last year? He broke the law and was imprisoned in Azkaban by you guys?"

Crouch had a meaningful smile on his lips. He took the note from Bagman and turned it over in his hand, as if the note was something interesting. He turned his hand over and held it, leaned forward and whispered something in Dumbledore's ear.

"Okay, be quiet!" Dumbledore seemed to have made a decision and shouted again, "Harry Potter! Harry! Please come up here!"

Harry's expression was dull, and he sat stupidly in his seat. His mind was a little overheated.

"Go ahead," Hermione urged quietly, and Loren nudged him.

Harry was completely stunned. Under the gazes of everyone, he walked stiffly along the long table and walked into the door.

"Students, continue what I just said. I believe you will go all out to support the warriors of your respective schools. By cheering for the warriors, you will also make a great contribution to this event..." Dumbledore The voice was steady and powerful, "Although there were some surprises in the selection of the warriors, please believe us, the event organizing committee and the referee team, we will handle these things."

"Now, please exit in an orderly manner under the leadership of the prefects of each college... Our professors will also lead the way for students from other schools."

Before leaving, Loren glanced at the guest of honor seat, and met Dumbledore's blue eyes. Loren's movement of raising his chest and raising his head stopped, and he shrank his head.

Righteous and confident, but guilty.

…

"He must have found another way to cross the age line, right?" Ron asked with a reluctant smile as they followed a group of people up the spiral staircase.

"I guess it's definitely not the invisibility cloak. The invisibility cloak can cover me and him. It was probably done last night. He also said so today that no one will see... Hey, he is really smart, unlike I……"

He tried his best to pretend to be relaxed, but he couldn't hide the disappointment in his eyes.

"Yes, you do look like a fool now, Ron!" Hermione said angrily, "You don't even want to say his name, why, are you going to call him Potter when you see him later? "

Loren opened his mouth but stopped talking.

"Pour out some of the braised beans you've stuffed your head with and think about it. Harry's name and Voldemort's name appear in the Goblet of Fire at the same time! What does that mean-"

Hermione suddenly paused when she said this. She turned around and saw Loren, who had a guilty look on his face. She almost didn't have to think hard to figure out what was going on.

The little witch's eyes widened in disbelief, and she hit him on the shoulder in anger.

"boom!"

Loren rubbed her shoulders and smiled gently.

Hermione glared at him angrily, grabbed his hand and dragged him to the corner of the lounge.

"Come with me, you must make it clear today! What on earth do you think..."

Ron watched the two inexplicable people gradually walk away, shook his head and began to think about what Hermione had just said, his face gradually became heavier.

…

The small room, which was not very spacious, was filled with golden utensils. Portraits of wizards were hung on the walls on both sides, and the fire was burning brightly in the fireplace.

Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour, Piccolo Graves and Cedric were sitting around the fire, silently watching the rising flames, the red light dancing on their faces. , with a long shadow behind him.

Harry stood in the doorway, hesitant to move forward.

There was a rush of footsteps from behind, and Ludo Bagman came over first, grabbed Harry's arm, and said quickly: "It's so bizarre! It's definitely too bizarre! Ladies and gentlemen, please Allow me to introduce you, even though it seems incredible, this is the fifth warrior of the Contest!"

The four warriors had different expressions. Krum and Fleur seemed a little unhappy. Although Cedric was confused, he smiled at Harry. Graves was noncommittal.

Harry looked at him. He didn't know why, but he always felt that Mr. Bagman seemed to be happy for him to become a warrior.

The principals, professors and Crouch arrived one after another. After a period of meaningless noise, Dumbledore looked at Harry and asked slowly:

"Did you throw your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?"

Many thoughts flashed through Harry's mind in an instant, including Voldemort's name, Bagman's weirdness, the Goblet of Fire... He had many things to say, but seeing Dumbledore's calm face, Harry suddenly calmed down and just shook his head.

"No."

"Did you ask any of your older classmates to help you throw their names into the Goblet of Fire?"

"No."

Harry thought thoughtfully, it turned out that this method could still be used, George and Fred must have regretted it.

"He's lying! Hogwarts can't have two warriors. This is extremely unfair." Maxim's head hit the chandelier filled with candles, and his huge chest heaved violently with anger, "What on earth does this mean? Dumbledore?"

"You must put the Goblet of Fire back out. I think my other students need to re-register!" The expression on Karkaroff's face was extremely ugly. "If we can't do this, we Durmstrang will never participate in the competition. , I won’t participate anymore!”

Principal Fontana frowned. He was still thinking about his Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

"A bluffing threat, Karkaroff!" Moody roared, staring directly at him. "You must participate in the competition, they all must participate in the competition, and this is bound by a magical contract!"

"But……"

After a chaotic commotion, everyone present reached a consensus that Harry was incapable of breaking through the age limit, and there was someone else who put his name into the Goblet of Fire.

It's just unclear whether that person had good intentions or bad intentions... The decision on the matter ultimately fell to two Ministry of Magic officials.

Bagman rubbed his smooth chin and looked at everyone: "Yeah... it's really surprising, but you also know that the age limit was only implemented this year as an additional safety measure. Since his name comes from the Goblet of Fire It squirted out... I mean, now that we have reached this point, we are not allowed to run away. The rules are very clear, and you must abide by them."

Crouch nodded with a serious expression: "We must abide by the charter. The charter clearly stipulates that anyone whose name comes out of the Goblet of Fire must participate in the competition."

"But--"

"My dear Madam Maxime, if you have another solution, I am all ears."

Dumbledore waited for a while, but Maxim just glared angrily, so he continued gently, "We don't know how this situation came about, but in my opinion, we have no choice but to accept it. …”

Bagman rubbed his hands and said with a smile: "Okay, let's start coaching the warriors."

"Please wait a moment!" Principal Fontana, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke. He asked tentatively, "So, what about the other note?"

Crouch's eyes flickered and he was silent for a moment: "I will immediately notify the ministry and ask the Aurors to start investigating this name. I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer before the game is over."