"Professor Dracula, why are you here?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Obviously, I'm here to have fun." Dracula turned to face the three little wizards and said happily.
"Fun? What fun is there here?" Hermione looked a little confused.
"What else could it be? Of course it's about Hagrid." Ron muttered in a low voice, "Poor Hagrid, Professor Dracula made fun of him..."
Why does this sentence sound familiar
Dracula glanced at Ron.
"Actually, Hagrid came to see me last night... um, to ask me how I take care of my appearance." He said with interest, "At that time, I realized that there was something interesting to find in him, and when I came here today, it turned out to be true."
"So... Professor, have you told Hagrid how you take care of your appearance?" Hermione said expectantly.
"Of course, I'm still happy to help... So I told him not to worry about it, and it just happened naturally." Dracula said, "Yes, Miss Granger, Hagrid's look at that time was similar to yours now. Obviously, he didn't believe me."
Hermione nodded in approval.
She also totally didn't believe that Professor Dracula could stay as good looking as he was without any maintenance.
"But I didn't expect that he didn't believe me, but what kind of operation is it to do his hair like me..." Dracula seemed to be a little amused, "Now it's weird."
"To describe it as incomprehensible is a bit of an understatement, Professor," Ron corrected him. "Hagrid is now exactly like a kettle with a broom stuck in the neck of the bottle."
"Ron!" Hermione glared at him. "It's so rude of you to talk like that!"
"It does look alike though..." Harry muttered softly.
Dracula gave Ron a strange look.
I have to admit, he understands metaphors...
"Okay, stop chatting here," Dracula waved his hand and said to the three little wizards, "If you don't go back to the Halloween dinner, the Goblet of Fire might have already selected the warriors."
…
Before Harry, Ron and Hermione could react, Dracula disappeared in an instant.
They had wanted to ask Hagrid how he was manipulated, but now they could only leave the lawn near Hagrid's hut in disappointment and walk back to the hall.
When the three young wizards walked into the candlelit hall, it was almost full of people -
The Goblet of Fire had been moved from the entrance hall to the professors' seats, right in front of Dumbledore's tall chair.
They noticed that the white beards on Fred and George's chins were gone, and their chins were smooth again. It can only be said that Madam Pomfrey's medical skills are as excellent as ever.
The twins seemed to have accepted their defeat and were trying to get others to join their bet to guess who would become the champion of Hogwarts.
"I really hope it's Angelina," said Fred as Harry, Ron and Hermione sat down. "But we've already bet on Harry becoming the champion of Hogwarts in order to help him stand up for himself... Putting pressure on Angelina would kind of overshadow Harry."
"Don't be ridiculous," Harry said with an embarrassed expression, "I didn't even put my name into the Goblet of Fire."
"Oh, yes." George sighed in disappointment, "We originally wanted you to try the aging potion we worked so hard to make, but we didn't expect that the age line was so tricky that it didn't even give us a chance."
"Stop talking, the banquet is about to begin," Hermione reminded, "and we will soon find out who will be chosen as the Champion of Hogwarts."
Today's Halloween dinner seemed to last much longer than usual.
Perhaps because there were banquets for two consecutive days, the little wizards didn't seem to like the carefully prepared and sumptuous dishes as much as usual.
Of course, the bigger reason was that the students in the auditorium were constantly craning their necks to look, with anxious expressions on every face.
It seemed as if there were nails on their chairs. They were all fidgeting, standing up from time to time to look at Dumbledore, who was sitting in the middle of the professors' seats.
The old headmaster's slow chewing made the little wizards particularly impatient. They wished he would finish the food on the plate quickly and announce which four students would be selected as the final warriors.
Finally, all the golden plates on the four long tables returned to their original spotless state, and the volume of discussion in the auditorium suddenly increased a lot.
Then Dumbledore stood up and the hall suddenly became silent again.
Karkaroff and Madame Maxime on both sides of Dumbledore looked as nervous and expectant as everyone else, while Professor Hicks looked indifferent, as if he was still savoring the dish he had just eaten.
Apart from several headmasters, Ludo Bagman, who came to watch the opening ceremony, had a smile on his face and winked at the students from various magic schools, while Mr. Crouch looked uninterested, even a little annoyed.
"Well, the Goblet is about to make a decision," Dumbledore said after glancing at the Goblet of Fire. "It's expected to take another minute."
"Everyone, listen carefully. After the names of the warriors are announced, I want them to walk to the front of the auditorium, walk along the faculty seats, and enter the next room—"
He pointed to the door behind the staff booth, "—where they'll get their initial orientation on the Final Four."
Dumbledore then took out his wand and waved it in the air.
In an instant, except for the dim candles in the pumpkin lanterns, all the other bright candles that illuminated the entire auditorium were extinguished, and the auditorium suddenly fell into a state of semi-light and semi-darkness.
At the same time, the Goblet of Fire emitted a dazzling light, brighter than anything else in the entire hall, and the blue-white flames with sparks were almost dazzling.
Everyone endured the blinding light, stared with eyes wide open, and waited...
"It's almost a minute." Someone at the Gryffindor table glanced at the clock and said in a low voice.
The next moment, the flame in the goblet suddenly turned red, and crackling sparks splashed out.
Then, a tongue of fire leaped into the air, and a piece of parchment with burnt edges flew out from it - except for the edges of the paper, the inside was intact, and it was clearly the slips of paper with names on them that had been thrown in!
Everyone in the auditorium held their breath.
Dumbledore stretched out his hand high and caught the parchment accurately.
Then he held the paper far away and looked at the name on it in the light of the flame - the flame had now returned to its blue-white color.
"Well, the first champion is born! This is a champion of Durmstrang," he said in a clear and powerful tone, "Viktor Krum!"
Applause and cheers instantly filled the entire auditorium.
Viktor Krum stood up from the Slytherin table, looking listless and unsurprised, and walked in the direction Dumbledore had mentioned.
He walked along the professor's chair and entered the next room through the door in front.
"It's no surprise that Krum can be a warrior!" Ron shouted.
He seemed even more excited to see Klum elected than Klum himself.
"That's great, Viktor!" Karkaroff shouted in a voice so loud that everyone could hear him despite the loud applause in the auditorium. "I know you are destined to be a warrior!"
Even the other Durmstrang students were not too surprised. At most they showed a little disappointment.
It can be seen that in their minds, Krum was the most likely candidate to become a warrior.
After the applause died down, the conversations, cheers and discussions gradually subsided.
Now everyone's attention was once again focused on the goblet.
After a few seconds, the flame turned red again—and the second piece of parchment jumped out of the cup, pushed by the flame.
"This time it's the Champion of Beauxbatons," Dumbledore glanced at the note and read aloud, "Fleur Delacour!"
"It's her, Ron!" Harry patted Ron's arm heavily.
The girl who looked like a Veela stood up gracefully, shook her silver hair, and walked lightly between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.
"Fleur... Her name is Fleur Delacour, what a nice name." Ron seemed stunned, muttering to himself over and over again.
"Oh, look, everyone else is disappointed," Hermione said above the uproar without even glancing at Fleur.
She raised her chin towards the other representatives of Beauxbatons - two girls who were not chosen were in tears, burying their heads in their arms, crying sadly.
When Fleur Delacour, who looked like a veela, entered the next room, the hall fell silent again.
Everyone is waiting for the next warrior, wondering if it will be from Yin Fa Morni... or Hogwarts
The flames turned red again.
Dumbledore caught the slip of paper and read aloud:
"The warrior of Yin Famo Ni is John Kowalski!"
John Kowalski, who was sitting at the Hufflepuff table, stood up and hugged all the Invermory students one by one, then rubbed the head of Rolf, who was sulking next to him, and strode to the front of the hall.
Dumbledore seemed to know this boy as well, and he smiled and nodded at John who was walking towards him.
Harry had some impression of him. He remembered that this boy from Invermorny should be Rolf Scamander's cousin.
Speaking of which, this warrior from Yin Famoni should be the most low-key one among the three warriors who have been selected.
Needless to say, Viktor Krum was a talented seeker of the Bulgarian Quidditch team and the player who ended this Quidditch World Cup himself. His popularity could cover the entire auditorium.
Although Fleur Delacour is not as famous as Krum, her veela-like appeal and incredibly beautiful face naturally bring her great popularity.
She had only been at Hogwarts for one day, but a large number of students had already remembered her.
In comparison, John Kowalski, with his funny moustache and unremarkable appearance, seems quite ordinary.
When John also entered the next room, the hall fell silent again, but this time the silence was filled with an excitement so intense that one could almost taste it.
Now it’s the turn of the Hogwarts warriors…
At this moment, under the expectant gaze of many young wizards of Hogwarts, the Goblet of Fire turned red again, sparks flew, and tongues of flame shot high into the air.
Dumbledore drew a fourth piece of parchment from the tip of the flame.
"The Champion of Hogwarts—" he read aloud.
"Cedric Diggory!"
The cheers from the Hufflepuff table were deafening!
Every Hufflepuff student was jumping up and down, screaming and stomping their feet. As the largest house in Hogwarts, every little badger felt proud and added fuel to the warm atmosphere in the hall with their actions.
Cedric walked past them, smiling widely.
Professor Sprout, who was sitting in the professor's chair, blushed with joy. He hugged Professor Flitwick, who was sitting on a pile of books next to him, and kissed him.
Professor Flitwick's face also turned red, and he looked to Dracula on the other side for help, but Dracula had no intention of helping at all. Instead, he looked at him with an expression as if he was watching a show.
Professor McGonagall seemed a little disappointed that the Gryffindor student did not become a warrior, but she immediately became happy again and applauded Cedric.
But Snape was not as magnanimous as Professor McGonagall. He glanced in the direction of the Slytherin table with dissatisfaction, as if blaming the Slytherin prefect, why Warrington did not become the warrior representing Hogwarts.
The cheers for Cedric lasted for a long time.
It took a long time before Dumbledore calmed everyone down enough to listen to him.
"Great!" Dumbledore said happily when the noise finally died down. "Now our four champions have been selected. I understand your excitement. I hope that everyone will go all out to support the champions from your schools!"
"Those who were not selected as Warriors need not be disappointed. By cheering for the Warriors, you will also make a great contribution to this Final Four Tournament—"
However, the next moment, Dumbledore suddenly stopped talking.
The students in the audience also saw what attracted his attention—
To everyone's surprise, the flame in the goblet turned red again. Sparks sputtered and a long tongue of fire suddenly shot up into the air, with a piece of parchment with a burnt edge flying out of it.
As if subconsciously, Dumbledore stretched out a slender hand and grasped the parchment.
He held it far away and stared at the name written on it.
The hall fell into silence for a long time. Dumbledore stared at the note in his hand. Everyone in the hall stared at Dumbledore, and everyone's expression was filled with extreme confusion.
Finally, in the silence, Dumbledore cleared his throat and said aloud -
"Harry Potter."
…
…