The Fifth Competing Team

Dumbledore grabbed the parchment and held it far away, the firelight in the cup illuminating it brightly.

When he called out Sean's name, the Great Hall fell silent.

Then a noisy discussion broke out, and everyone turned to look at Sean, the fourth Champion of Hogwarts.

Sean frowned. This process seemed so familiar.

"Mr. Wallop, please come here," Dumbledore said to Sean, holding the note in his hand.

Who did this this time...? Sean silently observed the people sitting at the professor's table.

Dumbledore looked somewhat surprised, Karkaroff stared wide-eyed, and Grindelwald maintained a cheerful smile throughout...

He stood up, and everyone looked up at him, their voices rising in discussion.

However, Sean's reputation was probably higher than he had imagined— Sean had only taken two steps when he heard a burst of extremely enthusiastic and prominent applause.

It was Capen, the first-grader, who stood up, his face flushed, and clapped enthusiastically.

As if a fuse had been lit, Capen took the lead, and Hermione, Daisy, and others immediately started clapping. Then came his friends, roommates, the first, second, and third-year students he had taught, and even Malfoy stood up with a sour face—sour as it may be, he still had to clap.

Soon, the applause surpassed that of all the students who had appeared before. Some students from other schools who were unaware of the situation watched this scene in surprise, wondering what kind of magic this seemingly young and handsome boy possessed.

Of course, none of that is the key point. The key point is that Sean is the extra one.

As Dumbledore approached the teachers' table, he looked at Sean with a questioning gaze, who shrugged. "I slipped in the note, but I didn't expect to be chosen this way."

Dumbledore's glasses flickered, he coughed lightly, and then said, "In that case..."

Before he could finish speaking, Karkaroff suddenly stood up, his face full of resentment.

"That's not fair! There are four applicants for Hogwarts!"

Judging from his angry expression, he seemed to have already regarded Sean's extra selection as a Hogwarts conspiracy.

Could it have been Karkaroff? Sean silently observed everyone in front of him.

After Karkaroff's roar, the students, belatedly realizing what was happening, finally understood—right, that means there are four people at Hogwarts now!

This is not a one-on-one match; the inconsistency in the number of players on each team will greatly affect the fairness of the entire competition.

Many Durmstrang students joined their principal in roaring.

"Quiet, quiet—" Dumbledore to stop the commotion. "Please allow me to discuss this with the judges..."

"Professor—" Sean interrupted Dumbledore, pointing to the Triwizard Cup.

"Sean, is there anything you need... um?" Dumbledore showed even more obvious surprise.

Because yet another parchment was delivered, licked by the flames.

"Stephanie Ollivander ..." Dumbledore read aloud softly as he looked at the elegant cursive handwriting on the note.

The petite, Silver-haired Girl stood up. She received just as much attention Sean, but remained silent for even longer.

Not only because of her outstanding beauty, but also because of the astonishment of this second "unconventional person".

Is there something wrong with the Triwizard Cup?

The same thought popped into everyone's head.

Then, everyone turned their attention to the Triwizard Cup.

The Triwizard Cup did not "disappoint" everyone; a third note that shouldn't have appeared flew out.

Dumbledore was utterly shocked. He gripped the note and read out the last name, word by word.

"Daisy Potter— "

Sean's pupils also contracted sharply. How could it be Daisy?

When the third note flew out, he guessed it was either Harry or Neville, since those two must have appeared on Grindelwald's parchment.

Sean instinctively felt that the person behind all this wanted to add three Sin to the game.

But how could it be Daisy?!

Daisy, who had been whispering something to Hermione, looked completely bewildered until Dumbledore repeated her name again, at which point she stood up.

"Daisy Potter!" Dumbledore called out again, "Daisy! Come here!"

The Little White Flower looked at Sean blankly, her eyes pleading for help. Sean knew perfectly well that Daisy hadn't put her name into the Triwizard Cup at all.

He nodded gently, indicating that the other person did not need to be afraid.

Finally, Daisy, head bowed, quickly walked to her seat amidst the stares of all the students.

"Daisy— " Dumbledore leaned down slightly.

"Professor, Sean! I... I didn't put my name on it, I really didn't," Little White Flower said anxiously.

"I understand... Now, you all, go to your rooms first," Dumbledore said to Sean, Stephanie, and Daisy.

Sean nodded, gestured to Stephanie, and then gently patted the Little White Flower on the shoulder to reassure her.

The three walked toward the room, and as they got closer, they could hear the Weasley twins making a racket inside—they were incredibly excited.

Upon entering the room, the twelve men who had already gone in were gathered around the fireplace, each secretly observing their opponent. Fred and George each had their arms around Cedric's shoulders, talking incessantly, which made the latter look somewhat troubled.

Although it's impolite to think that way, Cedric has to admit that there was no place for the Weasley brothers in his original team; Sean was his ideal teammate.

However, when Sean and his group pushed open the door and walked in, everyone in the room was stunned.

"Hey, Sean —what's up? Are you calling us back? Why is Daisy here too..." George waved to him.

Before Sean could answer, a flurry of footsteps sounded behind him, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He grabbed Sean's arm and pulled him forward.

Sean easily broke free from the Department of Magical Games and Sports and smiled calmly at him.

Ludo Bagman paused, then said hastily, "This is so strange, yet it really happened..."

He looked at the others in the room. "Let me introduce you, gentlemen and ladies, Sean Wallerup, Stephanie Ollivander, and Daisy Potter. They have been chosen as the new Champion."

"What?" Phoebe exclaimed in surprise, "Them? Why are there three more people? And these are all just children!"

Sean in fifth grade, Daisy in fourth grade, and Stephanie, who is actually in seventh grade, looks like she's in third grade...

What Phoebe said wasn't entirely wrong...

Krum and Reinhardt Nott both wore gloomy expressions, especially Nott, who looked extremely dissatisfied.

The three men from Newmontgard, however, smiled with interest. They were all acquaintances of Sean, and Daniels, who was "pretending to be familiar," knew Sean's methods and knew that offending him to his face would not be the right choice.

Cedric and the Weasley brothers all looked surprised, with the twins staring at Sean in astonishment.

"Sean, how did you do that?"

"You stuffed Dungbomb into the Triwizard Cup?"

Phoebe glared at the two of them, then looked at Ludo Bagman: "It was just a joke, wasn't it, sir?"

"No, no, this is no joke," Bagman shouted. "Their three names have been propelled from the Triwizard Cup, and the Champion have been chosen!"

"Oh no, they're too small," Phoebe said haughtily, looking at Bagman.

"But the Triwizard Cup has already chosen them," Bagman chuckled, rubbing his hands together. "You know, the Goblet of Triwizard Cup's selection must be respected..."

The door behind them opened again, and a large group of people poured in: Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Madame Burns, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor Rosier, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Grindelwald, who strolled in at the very back. Before Professor McGonagall closed the door, Sean could hear the buzzing of thousands of students coming from the Great Hall next door.

Madame Maxime straightened her large, imposing frame. Her pretty head touched the chandelier filled with lit candles, and her large breasts, clad in a black satin dress, heaved violently.

"What does this mean, Dumbledore?" she asked Pride.

"I'd like to know that too, Dumbledore," said Professor Karkaroff —a cold smile on his face, his blue eyes as icy as ice. "Hogwarts has two teams of Champion? I don't recall anyone telling me that the host school can have two teams of Champion —haven't I read the ordinances carefully enough? Or are you planning to have six people form the most 'luxurious' team in Hogwarts history?"

He gave a sarcastic laugh, sounding like Hagrid's wingless diving duck.

Madame Maxime lowered her head slightly to avoid being hit on the head by the chandelier. "This is not fair, Dumbledore, there are twice as many people at Hogwarts as there are at us."

Dumbledore stood at the front. "First of all, Sean and Stephanie were both eligible to register, and they did. But Daisy, tell me, did you put your name in, whether by asking an upperclassman for help or by secretly putting it in yourself?"

"Really, no, Professor." Daisy shook her head vigorously.

"Tch, a string of lies," Karkaroff said grimly.

Sean's eyes turned cold instantly, but before he could speak, an even more sinister voice came from behind him.

"Karkaroff —sir, I think you should show respect to a student before you have any evidence, after all—" Snape's face looked as if it had just been dug out of an iceberg, "There are some things you can't just say carelessly."

Karkaroff took two steps back in alarm, looking extremely wary of Snape.

Dumbledore also said, "I believe in my student, Karkaroff. Watch your words."

Madame Maxime frowned and said, "So what do we do now? Let these three kids participate in the competition? That's ridiculous. I demand that Beauxbatons add three more people as well."

"Durmstrang too," Karkaroff shouted from behind, not to be outdone.

At this moment, everyone turned their attention to the referee team, namely Madame Burns and... Grindelwald behind her.

Bones was about to speak when she heard Grindelwald's footsteps behind her, and she immediately fell silent.

Grindelwald strolled leisurely to the center of the crowd (Karkaroff took several steps back) and said slowly, "I think these three kids have to participate in the Four-School Tournament."

"The Triwizard Cup is a very powerful Magical Item. I think someone tricked the Triwizard Cup with powerful magic and then put Daisy Potter's name on it. The Triwizard Cup thought she was a contestant from the Fifth School—and the name tags for Sean Wallerup and Stephanie Ollivander were probably tampered with in the same way."

Madame Burns then said, "Then they must participate; it's stipulated in the charter."

Grindelwald smiled and nodded at her, "This lady is right. Once the names are chosen for the Goblet of Triwizard Cup, a magical contract is formed, meaning they have no choice but to participate."

Madame Maxime frowned. "This is absurd. Hogwarts has three more people than our group."

Grindelwald chuckled. "No problem. After all, there can only be one winning team, and these three are also competitors with the three lads from Hogwarts... How about this, the judges vote?"

As he spoke, he leisurely raised his hand. "I approve of these three participating in the competition."

Professor Rosier immediately followed suit. "Newmontgard too."

Madame Burns looked at it and surprisingly made the same choice.

Karkaroff and Maxime exchanged a glance, knowing that their opposition vote would be useless, and in the end they could only acquiesce to the fact.

Sean, Stephanie, Daisy exchanged glances; they had actually formed a new team just like that.

"You're something else, Sean— " Fred and George were giving him frantic winks and jeers.

"So, it's settled then?" Bagman rubbed his hands together and stepped forward with a smile.

"Come here, come here, kids, I'm going to explain the rules to you," he called to the fifteen contestants.

"The First Task is to test your courage," he told the Champion, "So we're not going to tell you what it is. Daring to face the unknown is an important quality of a wizard... very important..."

"The First Task will be held on November 24th, and will be completed in front of other students and the judging panel."

"While completing the competition, the Champion must not ask for or accept any help from their teachers. When facing the first challenge, the Champion' only weapon is their own wand. They will only learn about the Second Task after the First Task is completed. Because the competition is very demanding and lasts a long time, the Champion will not participate in the academic year exams."

"Of course, this excludes OWLs and NEWT—"

Fred and George, who had been excited, immediately lowered their heads in disappointment.

Dumbledore chatted with the others for a while, and after they all left, Dumbledore said to the remaining six Hogwarts students, "Go back, you should get some sleep, I think."

The others nodded, while Sean looked at their departing figures.

Who did it?