This day was Halloween.
A large swarm of live bats flew around beneath the enchanted ceiling, but the Great Hall was nowhere near as lively as the Entrance Hall. There was a simple reason for that: the Goblet of Fire was placed in the Entrance Hall, not the Great Hall.
For the entire day, the Entrance Hall was packed with spectators. Every time a champion candidate threw their name into the Goblet of Fire, the students gathered there would erupt into enthusiastic applause.
When Viktor Krum entered his name, the Entrance Hall even rang out with synchronized chants of "Krum! Krum!", making it seem as though Krum were a Hogwarts student himself.
Even Cedric's entry had not received such a warm welcome.
As the sky gradually darkened, the students in the Entrance Hall became increasingly anxious.
They questioned one another and eventually confirmed the information they wanted. Esmeralda Twist had only shown herself briefly at breakfast, but she had not entered her name. She had merely taken the Weasley twins away.
Many people gradually began to wonder why Twist still had not entered her name. Others entertained different thoughts, believing that perhaps Twist did not dare enter, afraid of getting her pretty face scratched up.
At around five o'clock in the evening, more candles were lit in both the Great Hall and the Entrance Hall. It was then that Eda finally appeared in the Entrance Hall again.
Fred and George followed beside her. Their chins were smooth once more, no longer sporting their elderly versions.
Eda did not walk up to the Goblet of Fire. Instead, she stopped two or three steps away from the Age Line. Taking a slip of paper from her pocket, she revealed neat handwriting bearing her name and school.
After crumpling the paper into a ball, Eda first glanced back at the twins. Her eyes were filled with disdain. Then she turned around and casually tossed it.
The paper ball left her hand, tracing a graceful arc through the air before landing perfectly within the Goblet's blue-white flames.
The Entrance Hall instantly exploded with thunderous applause and cheers.
"She finally joined!"
"She did it! She did it!"
"Hell yeah! We're gonna win!"
Passing Beauxbatons students looked somewhat puzzled. Wasn't it just a girl entering the competition? Was that really worth getting so excited about? Country bumpkins...
At around five-thirty, the feast began. As the Halloween banquet got underway, the Goblet of Fire was moved from the Entrance Hall to an empty table at the front of the Great Hall.
The dishes served at the feast had once again been meticulously prepared by the house-elves. They had not slackened in the slightest despite two consecutive evenings of banquets. Yet the students failed to appreciate their efforts. Even Ron, the king of eating, found little taste in his food, let alone everyone else.
The students constantly craned their necks to look around, restless in their seats. Every face showed anxious anticipation. All of them were waiting for the selection to begin, eager to learn who would be chosen as champions.
Finally, amid the students' fervent expectations, the golden plates were cleared away and Dumbledore rose to his feet.
The moment their headmaster stood up, the Great Hall, which had just been buzzing with noise, fell completely silent. One could have heard a pin drop.
The Goblet of Fire was about to make its decision. Those selected would become champions of the Triwizard Tournament and would receive preliminary instructions in the small room behind the hall.
Dumbledore extinguished half the candles in the Great Hall. The room immediately fell into a state of half-light and half-shadow, adding an air of mystery and heightening the students' anticipation for the champion selection.
The Goblet of Fire burst into dazzling brilliance, instantly drawing everyone's attention. The blue-white flames that crackled with sparks became the sole focus of the entire hall.
Everyone stared at the Goblet. Every person knew the moment was approaching. The champions were about to be chosen.
Suddenly, the flames in the goblet turned red once more, scattering crackling sparks.
Then a tongue of fire shot into the air, and from it flew a charred piece of parchment.
As Dumbledore caught the parchment, the flames in the wooden goblet returned to blue-white. Everyone in the hall held their breath, waiting for the thrilling moment, waiting for the champions to be revealed.
"The champion for Durmstrang," Dumbledore announced in a clear, strong voice, "is Viktor Krum."
Applause and cheers swept through the Great Hall.
No one found it strange that Krum had been chosen as Durmstrang's champion. Everyone regarded it as only natural.
Viktor Krum left the Slytherin table and walked listlessly into the room behind the staff table.
The applause and cheering gradually subsided, and the Goblet of Fire spat out another piece of parchment. Dumbledore reached out and caught it.
"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"
Fleur Delacour rose gracefully and glided lightly between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.
However, the Beauxbatons students did not seem to react particularly positively to Fleur's selection.
A dozen or so Beauxbatons students applauded rather perfunctorily. Two of the girls who had not been selected even burst into tears. Among them, only Hector was genuinely applauding, perhaps even happier than if he himself had been chosen.
After Fleur Delacour also entered the adjoining room, the Great Hall fell silent once more. This time, however, the silence pulsed with intense excitement.
Next would be the Hogwarts champion...
At the Gryffindor table, Fred, who had already given up hope, quietly asked, "Eda, if by some chance the champion isn't you, who would you want it to be?"
Hearing the question, Angelina, Alicia, and Lee Jordan also leaned closer. They had expected to hear Cedric Diggory's name from Eda, but she simply declared with complete confidence:
"Who else could it be but me?"
At that moment, the Goblet of Fire turned red once again. Sparks flew, and a tongue of flame shot high into the air. Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment from the tip of the flame.
"The Hogwarts champion," Dumbledore announced loudly, "is Esmeralda Twist!"
The Great Hall first fell into an unusual silence. Everyone was thinking the same thing: Of course it's her.
Then people remembered to applaud and cheer, and the resulting noise was deafening.
"WOAAAAAH! WE GONNA WIN!!"
The Gryffindor students were even more excited, jumping up and down, screaming, stomping their feet, and using every method they could think of to create as much noise as possible.
The Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students looked utterly dumbfounded. They could not understand why these Hogwarts students were so excited, nor why most of them seemed to have the words "You're doomed" written all over their faces.
What exactly was going on?
It wasn't really the fault of the students from the other two schools for lacking insight. Compared to Viktor Krum's fame, Eda was far less well-known. Her name had only appeared in Britain's Daily Prophet. Unless someone had specifically paid attention to her, they would have no idea who she was.
The Beauxbatons students were slightly better informed. At least some of them knew that Eda belonged to the Rosier family, but that was the extent of their knowledge.
The Durmstrang students knew absolutely nothing. Nor did they know that their school shared a rather unusual connection with Eda.
Amid the deafening noise, Eda rose to her feet and casually pressed both hands downward, signaling everyone to calm down.
The students in the Great Hall gave the Head Girl plenty of face and immediately stopped making noise.
Under the astonished gazes of the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students, Eda walked into the adjoining room in a manner that appeared low-key but was actually extremely high-profile.
As she passed Dumbledore, the headmaster even gave her a mischievous wink.
Dumbledore happily announced that all the champions had now been selected and that the Triwizard Tournament had officially begun.
However, after speaking only a couple of sentences, he abruptly stopped.
Everyone followed his gaze.
The flames in the Goblet had turned red again, scattering sparks.
This phenomenon only occurred when selecting champions.
But hadn't all the champions already been chosen?
Why was the Goblet of Fire doing this again?
Everyone in the Great Hall was stunned. The three headmasters, the two senior Ministry officials, everyone was shocked by the Goblet's flames changing color once more.
Dumbledore subconsciously extended his long hand.
Another slip of parchment flew out of the Goblet and landed neatly in his palm.
As everyone knows, wizards in the magical world are not particularly good at mathematics. Hogwarts is said to have four houses, but in reality it has five.
Therefore, having four champions compete in the Triwizard Tournament was perfectly normal and nothing to be surprised about.
The slip of parchment in Dumbledore's hand was obviously the fourth champion.
Perhaps it represented Azkaban.
Or perhaps the Goblet of Fire had simply picked its own favorite contestant because it was unwilling to be left out.
In short, and to put it simply, this year's Triwizard Tournament would no longer have three champions.
It would have four.
Dumbledore stared at the parchment in his hand, glaring at the name written upon it.
Everyone else in the Great Hall stared at Dumbledore.
The prolonged silence seemed to last an entire century.
Then Dumbledore loudly read the name aloud:
"Harry Potter."
Everyone in the Great Hall turned to look at Harry Potter.
They could not believe the name they had just heard.
Under everyone's gaze, Harry quietly sank back into his seat, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.
Harry felt certain he must be dreaming.
Just moments ago, he had been cheering and shouting because Eda had become a champion.
How had he suddenly become a champion too?
There was no applause.
Instead, a buzzing murmur began spreading through the Great Hall, like countless angry bees humming together.
The students' dissatisfaction was brewing.
"He cheated!"
"He's only fourteen!"
...
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