The Great Hall was now empty. The candle flames had burned low, making the toothy grins of the jack-o'-lanterns flicker eerily in the dim light.
Eda and Harry had already left the adjoining room and were making their way back to the Gryffindor common room.
Harry walked behind Eda with his head lowered, looking rather awkward.
Suddenly, he said, "I'm sorry, Eda. You could have originally..."
"Why are you saying that? You're not the one who put your name in," Eda replied. "Don't tell me you think you stole my spotlight. Young man, you're overthinking it."
When a school selected one champion, that champion naturally received the full support of their school.
When a school selected two champions, that support would naturally be divided.
But Eda simply did not care about the support of the school or her fellow students.
The three schools participating in the Triwizard Tournament were the finest in Europe and among the best in the entire world.
A competition between these three schools would inevitably attract the attention of the European wizarding world. Newspapers would certainly compete to report on the progress and results of the Tournament.
That was what Eda wanted.
A legitimate opportunity to become famous.
A chance to display her own abilities.
Whether she had two opponents or three made no difference to her.
Eda even wished they would just skip the Tournament altogether and settle everything with a duel.
One match to decide the winner.
If they lacked confidence, that was fine too. Eda didn't mind Krum and Fleur teaming up against her.
Three against one was perfectly acceptable.
The first task would not take place until November 24. The second task would be after the New Year, and the third would not come until the end of the school year was almost upon them.
Honestly, couldn't they hurry things up a bit?
Why waste so much time?
Harry was grateful that Eda believed him.
But the more she trusted him, the guiltier he felt.
His awkwardness and discomfort did not escape Eda's notice.
"Instead of feeling sorry for me, you'd be better off thinking about how to deal with everyone else," Eda said with a smile. "Don't let the rumors break you before the first task even begins. Beating two famous people at once does give me quite a sense of accomplishment."
Harry suddenly stopped walking.
She was right.
Who at school would believe what he said?
Eda believed him.
Hermione and Ron would believe him too.
But besides them?
Other than his few close friends, who else would believe that he hadn't cheated and hadn't put his own name into the Goblet of Fire?
That was exactly what gave Eda a headache as well.
She could already predict what would happen at school tomorrow.
Harry would be isolated.
He would be excluded.
People would even mock him to his face.
But Eda knew she was powerless to stop it.
Public opinion had already reached a point where it was beyond her control.
The students were not going to think deeply about the conspiracy hidden behind Harry becoming a champion.
In their eyes, Harry was simply the beneficiary of cheating.
The cheater.
Just like Harry, those who had not met the age requirement would be dissatisfied.
Everyone had failed to qualify, so why should Harry Potter be allowed to enter successfully?
More importantly, why had he actually been chosen?
Those who had met the requirements but had not been selected were equally dissatisfied.
Why should someone who was not even eligible to enter manage to become a champion?
Why?
That single question, "Why?", was enough to stir up monstrous waves capable of swallowing a person whole without leaving even their bones behind.
While worrying about the hidden conspiracy, Harry would also have to make sure he wasn't drowned by the flood of public criticism.
Life was certainly making things difficult for the poor kid.
Fortunately, all of that was tomorrow's problem.
At least tonight, the Gryffindor common room was filled with celebration.
Hogwarts had two champions.
Both champions were from Gryffindor.
Double the champions, double the happiness.
In the common room, the young lions crowded around Harry, stuffing all kinds of drinks and food into his hands.
Screams, cheers, and whistles filled the room without pause.
Everyone was curious how Harry had managed it.
How had he crossed the Age Line?
Although Harry repeatedly insisted that he had no idea what had happened and had done absolutely nothing, the young lions refused to believe him.
They did not even notice that Harry was in no mood to celebrate.
Eda found a seat far away from the crowd.
Although she was also a champion, everyone considered her selection perfectly natural.
So after offering her a few words of congratulations, they left her alone.
Fred and George also slipped away from the noisy crowd and sat down beside Eda.
The twins even brought her a cup of pumpkin juice.
"There's something wrong with Harry becoming a champion, isn't there?" Fred asked.
The twins had sensed that something was off as well.
From beginning to end, Harry had never shown the slightest desire to enter the Goblet of Fire, nor had they seen him make any attempt to do so.
Yet now he had suddenly become a champion.
Naturally, the two brothers had grown suspicious.
Seeing Eda nod, George continued, "If someone really did put Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire on purpose, then what was their goal? Were they trying to help Harry, or were they trying to hurt him?"
Fred and George spoke in unison again.
"And another thing. The Goblet already selected champions for the three schools, so why did Harry's name suddenly come out afterward? Is the Goblet of Fire bad at counting?"
"Based on what I know, someone definitely wanted Harry to compete. As for what they were trying to accomplish, that's still unclear. But one thing is certain, it wasn't for Harry's benefit," Eda said. "Moody came up with a theory that I think makes a lot of sense."
She then recounted everything that had happened in the room that evening, including Madame Maxime and Karkaroff's behavior, as well as Moody's theory.
Moody believed that someone had cast an exceptionally powerful Confundus Charm on the Goblet of Fire, making it believe there were four schools competing, with Harry being the only student to enter from the nonexistent fourth school.
The twins pondered the explanation carefully.
For a moment, they seemed annoyed that they themselves had not thought of using a Confundus Charm.
But that feeling quickly faded.
Neither of them was yet capable of casting a Confundus Charm powerful enough to deceive an advanced magical artifact like the Goblet of Fire.
"Do you have any suspects?" George continued. "Tell us, and we'll think it through together."
Eda held up three fingers.
"I have three suspects. First is Madame Maxime. She certainly has the ability to do it, but I can't see what she'd gain from it, so I think she's the least suspicious."
When something happened at Hogwarts, the first people to be suspected were naturally the outsiders.
Madame Maxime clearly had giant blood. During Voldemort's rise to power, some giants had chosen to serve as his followers.
"The second is Karkaroff. He used to be a Death Eater. After he was captured and imprisoned, he escaped punishment by betraying other Death Eaters during his hearing. Somehow, he later became Durmstrang's headmaster. That school must really have run out of people if they picked someone like him." Eda spoke with obvious disdain. "Given his past as a Death Eater, maybe he's trying to earn credit with his master."
Fred said, "I've heard Durmstrang teaches the Dark Arts. Karkaroff being a Death Eater means he's professionally qualified. Maybe that's why they picked him."
"I've actually heard quite a lot about Durmstrang from my grandmother," Eda said with a shrug. "Anyway, if it were me, I wouldn't go to that dump even if you beat me to death."
"Worse than Hogwarts?" Fred asked with a grin.
Eda nodded.
"Colder than Hogwarts, and even more run-down."
Although Eda and the twins constantly called Hogwarts an old dump and complained about how cold and shabby it was, only they were allowed to say that.
If an outsider dared to say the same thing, they would definitely have to argue about it.
Who are you calling shabby?
Care to say that again?
"Then who's the third person?" George asked. "Don't tell me it's Mad-Eye Moody. He used to be an Auror. Half the cells in Azkaban were filled by him."
Eda pressed her fingertips together, her index fingers swaying back and forth.
"The third suspect really is Moody. I just have this feeling that something's strange about him, but I can't put my finger on exactly what."
He was trying too hard.
That was the feeling Eda couldn't shake.
Whether it was during Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons or his behavior in the room that evening, Moody always seemed to be trying just a little too hard.
Fred suddenly slapped his hand against his knee.
"Remember? The morning we left the Burrow for King's Cross, what Cedric's chatterbox father said to Dad?"
With Fred's reminder, Eda also remembered the conversation they had heard through the fireplace that morning.
Moody had claimed that someone had attacked him, causing quite a disturbance. His Muggle neighbors had even called the police.
Yet the Ministry had found no evidence that Moody had actually been attacked.
Had Alastor Moody really not been attacked that night?
Had it all been nothing more than Mad-Eye Moody's own paranoia?
And was the Professor Moody currently teaching at Hogwarts really Alastor Moody?
...
(～￣▽￣)～Read 12 Chapters ahead:
Patreon: Dragonel