"I didn't actually put my name into the Goblet of Fire."
On the way back to the Gryffindor common room, Harry finally couldn't help but confide in Albert.
"You've said it several times," Albert said gently, "and I'm sure you didn't do that."
"Why?"
In fact, Harry didn't know why he said that. Maybe he was too annoyed and wanted to find someone to chat with.
"What why?"
"Sorry." Harry apologized quietly, embarrassed.
"What do you want to know?" Albert looked at Harry's embarrassed look and asked.
"I want to know... why you believe me." Harry said, looking embarrassed.
"Then I'll tell you. I hope it won't make you uncomfortable." Albert smiled and said, "Your magical power is indeed stronger than other students of the same grade, but in my opinion, you are not a powerful wizard."
"What do you mean?" Harry felt inexplicably irritated.
"It's difficult to trick a powerful magical item like the Goblet of Fire with your current level." Albert reached out and patted Harry's shoulder and said, "That requires a particularly powerful Confusion Charm. I bet that your piece of parchment only has your name on it, but no school."
"How do you know?" Harry couldn't help asking. He felt that Albert might know a lot of things. For a long time, the other party gave him this feeling, as if he knew everything.
"The guy who threw your name into the Goblet of Fire couldn't interfere with the Goblet's selection of champions, so he could only take the simplest approach and use the Confusion Charm to confuse the Goblet of Fire, making it mistakenly think that there were four schools participating in the Triwizard Tournament. So the Goblet of Fire mistook you for a contestant from the fourth school, and there was only you in the fourth school, so you naturally became the champion of the fourth school. That's why there was no school name on your parchment, and since you are a student of Hogwarts, it means that Hogwarts has two champions."
"How do you know these things?"
Harry stared at Albert in amazement. He never expected the reality to be like this.
"Most people can guess it, but they just don't give me the details I mentioned." Albert said without hesitation, "Dumbledore will definitely guess it."
"But, they..."
"This is the intrigue of adults," said Albert contemptuously.
"But why would he give me such a benefit?" Harry realized that he had said the wrong thing and corrected himself: "I mean, why would he sign me up?"
"You are really confident in yourself!" Albert said softly, "Although confidence is a good thing, I feel that if no one helps you, it will be difficult for you to pass the three events smoothly. Although cheating is a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament, don't expect Dumbledore to help you cheat. Professor McGonagall can't help you either. At most, she can provide you with some convenience, such as opening the restricted books area for us."
Harry felt slighted and felt annoyed.
"You probably didn't understand Mr. Crouch's hint!" Albert said
"What hint?" Harry was a little confused.
"The courage to face the unknown." Albert reminded: "In the 1792 competition, the warriors had to capture a chicken-body-and-snake-tail monster. I guess the first event we need to face is this kind of dangerous magical creature."
Harry opened his mouth and stared at Albert blankly. He couldn't imagine how he could subdue a monster alone.
"It's not difficult to guess what the warriors' projects are if we look at examples from past Triwizard Tournaments," Albert explained. "If you want to subdue a dangerous monster like this, what are you going to do?"
Harry's face turned slightly pale. He knew why Albert said that, and he didn't realize that Albert was washing himself.
"Of course, that's the worst case scenario. Maybe the Ministry of Magic will capture a few Acromanthus spiders from the Forbidden Forest to be our opponents, or get a monster to guard something, and then let us steal things from the monster. In ancient times, wizards liked to use large and dangerous magical creatures such as Acromanthus spiders to guard their homes or treasure houses."
"You're right." Harry showed an undisguised bitterness on his face. "If that's the case, it's too difficult for me."
"Don't worry, you still have good friends. If nothing works, let Sirius and Lupin help you find a solution." Albert patted Harry's shoulder and comforted him. "Cheating in the Triwizard Tournament is normal. I dare say that other champions will cheat too."
"What about you?" Harry looked at Albert.
"Me? I don't think I need to cheat. Although it sounds a bit proud, I think the Triwizard Tournament should not be too difficult for me." Albert said confidently.
Harry choked and asked the question he wanted to know most: "Who do you think put my name in the Goblet of Fire?"
"You know that, don't you?" Albert reminded kindly.
"I know?" Harry was even more confused.
"Yeah, you know."
"I... Voldemort?" Harry seemed to remember something and couldn't help but say this taboo name.
"I think so."
But how could Voldemort guarantee that my name would be cast into the Goblet of Fire? He should be far away, weak and alone... No, Voldemort was not alone... Harry dreamed that he was talking to Wormtail... They were probably plotting to kill Harry.
"Wormtail?" Harry said suddenly, "He knows a lot of secret passages, and he can turn into a mouse. He can hide from everyone and sneak into Hogwarts quietly."
"Well, it must be Voldemort's minions. You'd better be careful." Albert nodded in agreement.
"But why did he attack you and stop you from participating in the competition?"
"First, the guy who attacked me might not be the same person who voted for you. He was just trying to stop me from participating in the Triwizard Tournament and to stop Hogwarts from winning the championship."
"Secondly, the one who attacked me was Peter Wormtail. The reason he didn't want me to participate in the Triwizard Tournament was probably to prevent me from winning. They knew that after I participated in the Triwizard Tournament, the chances of others winning the championship were very low. Although it was a bit boastful, I felt that I could win the championship, and they would obviously do something to the person who won, or something in the third game."
Harry was silent for a long time. Although he was a little unconvinced, he still agreed with Albert's words. His record was the best proof. So many world-class champions were Albert's confidence.
The two of them walked and talked, and before they knew it, they were outside the Gryffindor common room.
The Fat Lady looked at the two people in front of her with her eyes wide open, and said with a smile, "I just heard that someone has been selected as the school's warrior."
"Gibberish," Harry gave the command.
"Oh, really." The Fat Lady opened the door and let the two in.
When Harry walked into the common room, Albert showed no intention of moving.
"Aren't you going in?" the Fat Lady asked in surprise, looking at Albert standing outside.
"The Gryffindor students are too enthusiastic. I think I'd better wait a while." Albert said helplessly to the Fat Lady as he listened to the noise coming from behind the portrait.
"So, what Violet said is true, and you two really have become Hogwarts warriors." The Fat Lady asked curiously.
"Of course it's true." A pale witch appeared in the Fat Lady's portrait.
"Yeah, someone signed me and Harry up."
"Has anyone signed you up?" the Fat Lady asked curiously.
"The person who helped me sign up should be Professor Moody." Albert directly put the blame on Moody. When the matter spread, no matter whether it was done by Professor Moody or not, everyone would say it was done by him, so he would be angry.
"As for who helped Potter sign up, I'm not sure."
"I think even if no one signs you up, you will definitely be able to become a Hogwarts warrior. Many portraits are guessing that the Hogwarts warrior will be you." Violet said to Albert.
"Nonsense, thank you, help me open the door." Albert said as he put a camouflage spell on himself, let the fat woman open the door, and prepared to sneak in.
"Absolutely not!" said the witch angrily.
"That's the password," the Fat Lady patted the witch's shoulder soothingly, and then she swung forward to allow Albert into the common room.
When the portrait was opened, a loud noise immediately filled his ears. Everyone was circling around Harry, and the poor savior was surrounded by crazy Gryffindor students.
No one wanted to listen to Harry, no one wanted to listen to Harry's explanation, everyone just wanted to celebrate this incident on their own.
Seeing this scene, Albert couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Harry was in front to attract fire.
No one noticed that Albert quietly walked through the crowd and went up the stairs to the dormitory for a midnight snack.
"Sure enough, I have foresight." Albert was very satisfied with his own wit, otherwise he would be annoyed to death if surrounded by Gryffindor students. The unfortunate Mr. Potter was a lesson for him.
At the same time, Barty Jr. returned to his office and cast the Anti-Disturbance Charm and the Whispering Charm on his room. He then began to smash things to vent his anger and depression. He even smashed the peephole that he had destroyed on the table. He was still not satisfied. Every time he thought of Albert's sincere expression of gratitude, he wanted to tear his face into pieces. Finally, Barty Jr., who was overwhelmed by anger, cast the Cruciatus Curse on the real Professor Moody who was locked in the box.
After torturing the other party, his anger subsided a little.
Barty Jr. began writing a letter to the Dark Lord, informing him of what had happened tonight.
It was all Wormtail's fault. He suspected that the other party had no control over Albert at all, and that the guy's disappearance was completely faked.
Little Barty was not trying to pass the buck, because even if others helped to vote, it would be difficult to ensure that Albert would become a warrior. In fact, at the moment of voting, the person and the name were different, which would result in the contract being unable to be established and he would not be selected by the Goblet of Fire, unless they used a powerful Confusion Spell to confuse the Goblet of Fire like he did and got things wrong.
However, ordinary students obviously do not have that opportunity, and other professors obviously would not do that without knowing that Albert is missing.
There is only one truth, that is, Albert Anderson signed up for the Triwizard Tournament himself, and only this can explain what happened just now.
It was obviously Wormtail's job to stop all this from happening, and he failed.
Peter's foolish actions made him suspicious, so he tested himself like that
Moreover, this incident has aroused Dumbledore's vigilance. Barty Jr. can't do anything for the time being, and he must activate the contingency plan.
It was indeed risky to kidnap Harry in the third task. He had to find a way to delay Dumbledore, and the method was not difficult. Barty Jr. had already decided to let someone die accidentally in the third round.
This matter was too easy for him. He just needed to use Avada Kedavra to knock someone down, then throw the body into a pile of monsters and let the monsters destroy his body, so that he could pretend that he was killed by the monsters.
He thought that the death of a warrior would divert Dumbledore's attention and buy the Dark Lord more time.
Barty Jr. wrote his plan in a letter and sent it to Voldemort. However, this letter directly brought bad luck to Wormtail.
"Wormtail, you are such a disappointment." Voldemort looked at the servant lying on the ground with cold eyes.
"Master, I do believe that the Mudblood is under control," Wormtail argued. "After he drank the love potion, he had no time to register, unless some other professor secretly registered for him."
"You're lying." Voldemort raised his wand again and cast the Cruciatus Curse on Wormtail. "You were not there at the time, and you didn't see the Mudblood drink the love potion with your own eyes. I dare say that the Mudblood saw through your little trick. Don't make excuses for your incompetence."
Peter fell to the ground, twitching in pain. At this moment, Peter already regretted returning to Voldemort. He didn't get much benefit at all. He was mostly running around for Voldemort and suffering from the Cruciatus Curse.
After torturing Wormtail, Voldemort finally did not feed Peter to the snake. It might be because he considered that he needed someone to help brew the potion and someone to help preside over the resurrection ceremony. Barty Jr. could not handle it all by himself, so Voldemort needed to keep Wormtail as a helper.
Of course, the more important reason is that they have a backup plan. Even if Albert participates in the Triwizard Tournament, it will not affect the final result.
Of course, this whole thing was not bad luck for the victim Peter. If he could kill Albert with the help of Barty Jr., then the torture of Voldemort's Cruciatus Curse would not be unbearable.
As for the Dark Lord's death threat, Peter was not afraid. He knew very well that before Voldemort was resurrected, the other party would never kill him to feed the snake. Otherwise, where would the Dark Lord find someone as reliable as him to help preside over the resurrection ceremony
Little Barty might be loyal enough to the Dark Lord, but Peter knew that he might not be able to escape for the time being, and he could not secretly help the Dark Lord restore his body alone.