The students throughout the Great Hall were discussing it: their champion had vanished.
Rumors had spread that morning that Albert Anderson had disappeared.
But if Albert had really vanished, how had he entered himself?
Who had entered him?
What exactly was going on?
Everyone was a little bewildered, with far too many questions in their minds.
It was not just them. Even Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime could not make sense of the situation. Hogwarts' champion seemed to have... disappeared?
What were they supposed to do now?
The two turned simultaneously toward the two Ministry of Magic officials. Crouch and Bagman exchanged looks, equally unable to understand what was happening.
As everyone discussed it in low voices, the blue flames in the Goblet of Fire, which had already died down, suddenly turned red again. A piece of scorched parchment shot out of the Goblet.
As if on instinct, Dumbledore stretched out a long hand and caught the parchment.
The murmuring in the Great Hall gradually faded. Everyone stared at the parchment in Dumbledore's hand, filled with questions. What was going on? Had the Goblet selected a new champion because Albert had not appeared?
Just as they were all desperate to know what was written on the slip,
Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hand. After a long silence, he finally cleared his throat and read the name aloud. "Harry Potter."
An eerie silence fell. There was no applause. The air itself seemed frozen.
Too many unexpected things had happened during tonight's champion selection. Hogwarts' champion had vanished, and then the Goblet of Fire had selected another champion for them. It was absurd. Since when had Harry Potter been qualified to replace Albert as Hogwarts' champion?
After hearing Dumbledore announce Harry's name, everyone in the Great Hall instinctively turned to