"Albus, do you think... someone really wants Potter to be killed?"
After everyone else had left, Professor McGonagall pursed her lips hesitantly and looked at Dumbledore.
"Eh? Professor McGonagall, weren't you confidently agreeing with Dumbledore's ideas just now?" Dracula came over and asked curiously, "Could it be that someone as upright as Professor McGonagall would lie to others?"
"I didn't lie!" Professor McGonagall's face turned red, and she looked a little guilty. "A little wizard like Potter, who is only fourteen years old, actually wants to participate in the same competition with those seventeen-year-old adult students..."
"Of course the Goblet of Fire can't be that ridiculous, but those outsiders think that Hogwarts is using this method to gain an advantage!"
As Professor McGonagall spoke, her guilty mood gradually turned into anger:
"Merlin, Potter is in danger of death! If Professor Hicks hadn't brought it up, who would have thought that this was about the life and death of a fourteen-year-old child? They only know how to fuss over such trivial matters!"
"Minerva, calm down first." Dumbledore smiled and used his wand to conjure a cup of hot water, and handed it to Professor McGonagall. "After all, this is the first time that a school has produced two champions. It is normal for Maxim and Karkaroff to be a little emotional."
"As for whether someone really wants to kill Harry... I think so. It's obvious that the Goblet of Fire is a fair magical creation with powerful magic and strict rules. Harry's name spitting out of the cup can never be explained by a prank between classmates."
He turned his gaze to Dracula, "Professor Dracula, you seem to have some ideas?"
"That's right." Dracula nodded slightly, "A pretty good Confusion Spell, and I found a way to most easily affect the Goblet of Fire..."
"The person who cast the spell on the Goblet of Fire changed part of the Goblet's cognition, causing it to recognize the original four magic schools as five. This is actually not complicated. The Ministry of Magic had already set it up once before when Yin Famori joined. I believe that person's status in the Ministry of Magic is not low, and he can know how to change the rules of the Goblet of Fire."
"In my opinion, this matter is already very clear. The person who tampered with the Goblet of Fire is most likely the Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation, Mr. Barty Crouch."
Dracula stared into Dumbledore's eyes with a playful smile on his face. "I suspected him as early as the Quidditch World Cup. He was too efficient in rushing to the Dark Mark."
"Not only that, but an upstanding diplomat from the Ministry of Magic insisted on letting Potter participate in the Final Four Tournament despite the protests of Headmaster Beauxbatons? Anyway, I find it a bit strange."
Professor McGonagall had already opened her eyes wide, with an incredible expression on her face.
"How could this happen... Mr. Crouch was always the toughest resistance faction in the war against Voldemort more than a decade ago. How could he help Voldemort harm Potter today, more than a decade later?" she questioned.
"But Professor Dracula's judgment is also reasonable," Dumbledore thought for a moment and nodded slightly. "If Barty is under the control of the Imperius Curse, then everything makes sense."
"No, he is not under the Imperius Curse." Dracula shook his head. "The time when Crouch explained the rules of the game to the warriors was enough for me to explore his mental state... Although he does look very tired, there is indeed no sign of being controlled."
"If what Professor Dracula said is true, then it would not be Barty who cast the spell on the Goblet of Fire..." Dumbledore's eyes narrowed and he changed his words, "I know Barty very well. He would never work for Voldemort."
"Albus, could someone use Polyjuice Potion to disguise themselves as Mr. Crouch?" asked Professor McGonagall.
"There is a certain possibility. I will find out about this matter." Dumbledore said in a deep voice, "But, Professor Dracula, there is another question that is inconsistent with your inference..."
"After the welcome banquet last night, Barty and Bagman left the hall without stopping - he didn't have any time to tamper with the rules of the Goblet of Fire."
"Yes, Crouch should not have had the opportunity to cast the Confusion Charm on the Goblet of Fire..." Professor McGonagall frowned tightly, "The Goblet of Fire was tightly sealed in the box before the banquet began."
"What if Crouch had already done something when the Ministry of Magic changed the number of participating schools?" Dracula asked.
"That's not right... The rules of the Goblet of Fire were modified in the presence of almost all senior officials. Crouch also had no chance to tamper with them." Professor McGonagall shook her head.
"Is that so..." Dracula finally fell silent.
Judging by the time of the crime, Barty Crouch does have a solid alibi...
"There's no need to be so pessimistic. In fact, we have other options." Dumbledore's voice interrupted Dracula's thoughts. "In fact, there was someone watching over the Goblet of Fire all night last night. Maybe he has some clues to tell us?"
He looked at a portrait hanging on the wall next to him and smiled, "Miss Violet, could you please help me call Mr. Argus Filch?"
The painting hanging on the wall was of the Fat Lady's good friend. She excitedly accepted the principal's commission and ran to other portraits in the castle to look for the Squib janitor.
"Mr. Filch, does he have any connection with this?" Professor McGonagall looked a little confused.
"Ah, Minerva, I certainly won't let students freely sign up beyond the age limit without anyone watching over them." Dumbledore smiled, "I'll ask Argus to look after the Goblet of Fire for me for one night."
"If there are little wizards who try to cheat and cross the age line and are punished, he can also help send them to the school infirmary... The two little guys in front of the Weiss twins were sent to Madam Pomfrey by Argus."
Not long after, the janitor Filch came into the room at the front of the hall carrying a bucket of water and a rag.
"Here we are, Mr. Principal!" Violet said happily on the wall.
"Thank you very much for your help, Miss Violet." Dumbledore smiled at the portrait and looked towards the door. "Oh, Argus, put the rag down first. There's no need to work so hard. We have something to ask you."
He asked about what happened last night.
"Oh! Do you want to know how Harry Potter put his name into the Goblet of Fire?" Filch said excitedly. "I tell you, that mischievous boy from Gryffindor must have secretly thrown it in. I know he has an invisibility cloak that can hide it from my eyes!"
"Argus, the invisibility cloak cannot hide your age!" Dumbledore corrected, "You just need to tell us what happened last night."
"Oh... OK, if you want to know." Filch seemed a little disappointed that he couldn't complain about the students, but out of respect for the headmaster, he still told him what happened last night seriously:
"Not much actually happened last night—"
"Several seventh-grade students voted in their names, but the cups didn't move. Two reckless underclassmen tried to sneak into the age line and grew a lot of white beards... I sent them to the school infirmary."
"Is that all?" asked Dumbledore.
"That's all, Headmaster," said Filch. "As far as I'm concerned, there's absolutely no point in looking at this Goblet of Fire. I failed to catch several Gryffindor brats sneaking out for a night stroll. Under normal circumstances, there would definitely be a few students in detention helping me with my work..."
"I see," Dumbledore nodded to Filch and let him leave the room. "Thank you, Argus."
"What do you think?" he asked Dracula and Professor McGonagall.
"His opinion is of little use. He's just a squib. Any student can fool him." Dracula smiled and shook his head. "If I were the guy who wanted to tamper with the Goblet of Fire, I would definitely explore the surroundings first and easily find this guy who doesn't even have magic power."
"But according to Mr. Filch, he didn't see anything that night." Professor McGonagall said, "Even if the figure can be hidden by the Disillusionment Charm, the color change of the magical flame in the Goblet of Fire cannot be hidden, so..."
"So it is very likely that Filch did it when he was taking the two students to the school infirmary," Dumbledore said. "Argus was not present throughout the process. The person who tampered with the Goblet of Fire may have cast the Confounding Charm while he was away."
"So after discussing for so long, we still haven't made any progress!" Dracula sneered.
"It's not easy to find someone lurking in the dark." Dumbledore sighed, "Oh? Severus, what do you think?"
At this moment, Dumbledore was surprised to see that Snape, who had been sitting in his seat silently from beginning to end, suddenly stood up.
"I don't have any opinion. I don't want to waste time here with you." Snape said coldly, "Why don't you do something practical, such as adding a few more insurances to this game..."
"Mr. Principal, if you don't want your chosen savior to die in the semi-finals, then I suggest you find someone to look after the security at the stadium... If you're too lazy to find one, that's fine, I just happen to be bored recently and can help you with this."
Dracula looked at Snape in surprise.
"You want to be Potter's security officer?" he asked with interest.
"I told you, I'm just bored and willing to act as a security guard!" Snape said angrily, "I'm doing this for the reputation of Hogwarts, not for that idiot Harry Potter!"
"Okay, okay, we get it." Dracula said with a playful look on his face, "I never knew you had the potential to be a nanny."
"I said, I'm not a security officer just for Potter!" Snape roared with a gloomy face.
"Severus, with your emotional stability, it is difficult for me to trust you with the safety of the game." Dumbledore said softly, "I am afraid that you will not care about the lives of others, but only care about..."
"That's enough!" Snape interrupted Dumbledore. "In that case, you can find whoever you want. I want to see how you will end up if the warrior dies in Hogwarts!"
After saying that, he flicked his sleeves, pushed open the door and strode out, his long black cloak fluttering behind him.
Dracula watched this scene, interest gradually emerging in his eyes.
"Dumbledore, is there really such a position as safety officer for this game?" he asked.
"Originally there wasn't one, but what Severus said makes sense. We should indeed add such a position." Dumbledore said thoughtfully, "Severus is very capable and was originally a very suitable candidate..."
"Unfortunately, his unfair behavior is too well known at Hogwarts. I am somewhat worried about the feelings of Maxim and Karkaroff."
"If that's the case..." Dracula suddenly curled his lips.
He looked at Snape's distant back with a fluttering black cloak, and shouted to him:
"Snape, I'll take your place as security guard! Don't worry, with me here, there won't be any problems with those little guys."
Snape paused.
Dracula saw that his tense shoulders suddenly dropped along with the cloak fluttering behind him, as if he relaxed a lot all of a sudden.
Then, without stopping, he walked out of the auditorium again.
…
After Halloween, there was less than a month left until the start of the first project.
All five Warriors are basically trying to get ready for the upcoming game, except for one of the youngest Warriors...
Compared to the other four warriors, Harry had a hard time.
Except for Hermione, who always believed that the semi-finals was very dangerous, almost no one in Gryffindor believed that he had not signed up, and complained about why he didn't tell them how to cross the age line;
Hufflepuff House originally had a good relationship with Gryffindor, but recently it has become visibly colder. Apparently they think Harry stole Cedric's honor.
As for the Slytherins, Harry had expected this, they went even further -
After lunch one day, he and Hermione came to Snape's dungeon for Potions class and found that all the Slytherin students were waiting outside the classroom, each with a large badge pinned on the front of their robes.
The badges all had the same words printed on them. The bright red letters glowed in the dim light of the underground corridor like they were on fire:
"Support Cedric Diggory—
A true warrior of Hogwarts"
"Like that, Potter?" Malfoy called out as Harry approached. "They have other tricks too - look!"
He pressed the badge hard against his chest, and the words on it disappeared. Then another line of words appeared, flashing green light:
"Potter Stinky Shit"
The Slytherins laughed in a weird way.
They each pressed their badge, and finally, all around Harry, the words - POTTER STANK TUCK - were flashing.
Harry thought being a warrior was a horrible thing!
…
…