A Girl's Thoughts

"Daisy, do you need some hiccup medicine?"

Hermione patted the Little White Flower's back while asking with a hint of worry.

"No, no need... hiccup... I think this will make me feel better, hiccup, better... relieve the tension—hiccup!" Daisy hiccuped several times.

Miss Champion, a fourth-year student, was extremely nervous after being unexpectedly selected to participate in the Four-School Tournament —she had been hiccuping for two hours straight.

Of course, Sean felt that it was also related to her eating too much in the morning.

"How about we eat less for lunch?" Sean asked tentatively.

"No way, lunches have been plentiful these past few days." Daisy immediately and firmly refused, without even burping.

Sean: "..."

Hermione: "..."

Despite being very thin, Daisy's appetite remained astonishing, Sean to believe that Daisy and Hugo would have a lot in common.

Sean glanced at the time; there was still some time before lunch. He stood up and said, "I'll go find Charlotte and Colton. After all, they participated in the previous Triwizard Cup, so I can learn from their experience."

Daisy was about to stand up when she heard this, but she hesitated for a moment, then put her bottom back down and pressed her face against the table.

He said lazily, hiccuping, "Never mind, hiccup, you go, hiccup... I'm worried I'll get even more nervous if I hear it. When you come back, remember... hiccup, tell me..."

Sean secretly gave Daisy a thumbs up, then nodded. "Okay, you two wait for dinner. Remember to save me a lamb chop."

After saying that, he left.

Hermione silently flipped through the book in her hands. The page contained the topic she had been researching recently, but despite having looked at it for a long time, she hadn't turned the page yet.

As proud as she is, her feelings last night were a mix of emotions. First, she was surprised when Sean wasn't chosen, then she was shocked and worried when Sean was chosen, and then Stephanie was chosen as well. Her mood was like a rollercoaster ride.

When Daisy, still confused and bewildered, was finally chosen, Hermione's feelings were extremely complicated.

This unexpected situation made her very worried about her two friends, but this new trio...

Even though she didn't want to admit it, Hermione realized that she was starting to feel excluded.

She even felt that she couldn't keep up with Sean and Daisy.

They clearly have excellent grades, they clearly have a good relationship, they're both still young...

But for some reason, she felt as if she was being gradually excluded from the circle.

What distressed Hermione even more was that she knew perfectly well that this wasn't Sean and Daisy's fault, and that her friends might have been implicated in a conspiracy.

but...

Hermione didn't know how to describe her current emotions. All she could do was to act as usual and not let her personal emotions affect her friend's important pre-match preparations.

Daisy, her face pressed against the cool tabletop, secretly glanced at Hermione, who was engrossed in a book, her expression hidden from view.

After much deliberation, Little White Flower decided to say no more.

After all, Hermione hadn't been in a good mood since the selection process ended last night.

Although she tried her best to avoid appearing unwell, her occasional blank stares and frowns betrayed her thoughts. Daisy and Sean were on the same page and tried to avoid discussing the Four-School Tournament.

Especially regarding Stephanie, Sean wisely never mentioned it once.

Just now, he was about to talk to Stephanie about pre-match preparations, but considering Hermione's feelings, he chose to tell a little lie.

After walking through the corridor to a deserted corner, Sean summoned the wooden door of the Room of Requirement.

Before he arrived at Stephanie's small room, Stephanie opened the door and stood in front of him without him even knocking.

"You've arrived? Please come in."

"Okay, good day, Stephanie." Sean went inside.

Good day, Sean.

Stephanie led Sean inside, and perhaps because some awkward things had happened between them before, the girl's face was unconsciously flushed.

However, she concealed her expression very well.

"I've reviewed all the information I could find about the Triwizard Tournament, and the differences between the challenge events don't seem to be that significant." Stephanie handed over a piece of parchment with the information she had compiled.

Sean took it and read it for a while, then said thoughtfully, "The First Task is usually related to powerful Magical Creatures, while the second challenge is related to harsh environments. The Third Task is quite different, but the common point is that the remaining contestants have to compete at the same time, and they usually face a duel."

Stephanie nodded. "That's mostly true. However, since the event was revived, the proportion of duels in the final competition has been increased—for example, in the last edition, the teams from Hogwarts and Newmontgard practically had a duel on the spot in the end."

"That's right, we should try to gather information on participants from other schools, but right now we need to focus on the first challenge," Sean said.

Stephanie agreed, "That's right. The competition is a scoring system, not an elimination system, so every stage is crucial. If our prediction is correct, the first challenge is still related to Magical Creatures, then..."

Seeing Stephanie's gaze, Sean smiled and said, "I do have a knack for dealing with Magical Creatures, but I also have to consider the specific type of creature."

According to the original story, the first challenge of the Triwizard Cup is to obtain Golden Egg from the claws of a Fire Dragon —that Golden Egg is also a clue to the second challenge.

Under normal circumstances, an adult Fire Dragon poses a great threat. Even Sean cannot guarantee that he can quickly establish a connection with the Fire Dragon. However, the only difference is whether he can tame it on the spot.

Moreover, with more participants, the difficulty of a single Fire Dragon is not as high, and the organizers will definitely increase the difficulty.

This brings us to a very important point – leaking the questions before the competition.

In the original book, Hagrid secretly told Harry about the first challenge, the Fire Dragon, and also told Madame Maxime.

Krum also learned about the challenge, while Cedric was informed of it by Harry.

In other words, the Triwizard Cup not only tests the strength of the participants, but also the foundation of the major School of Magic, such as their connections and knowledge—these are the invisible strengths.

Sean felt that the organizers and school principals basically tacitly accepted the existence of this cheating, just like the rules of Hogwarts.

If you get caught, you've broken the rules and will be punished. If you don't get caught, then everything is fine and it's not considered a violation.

Given that the first challenge was highly related to Magical Creatures, Sean immediately thought of two people: Newt and Hagrid.

These two, as members of Hogwarts, certainly won't be directly involved in the project, but they know a lot of people...

Should I find some time to find out some information...?

After discussing the Four-School Tournament with Stephanie for a while, the two left the Room of Requirement together.

Just as I turned the corner, I saw Hermione sitting alone by the railing in the corridor, playing with a little yellow bird in her hand.

Oh no, the lie I just told has been exposed...

Hermione also saw Sean and Stephanie coming out from around the corner, and her expression stiffened uncontrollably.

Sean chuckled awkwardly, and just as he was about to speak, Hermione spoke first.

"Daisy went to the restroom. I'll wait for her here. Sean, how's your inquiry going?"

"Uh, it's alright, I heard quite a lot of news." Sean somewhat awkwardly.

Hermione nodded. "Then you guys go to the Great Hall first. If you don't mind, Stephanie, would you like to have dinner together?"

Stephanie nodded silently.

"Perfect timing for you two to discuss pre-match preparations," Hermione said with a smile.

Sean was speechless for a moment.

Stephanie, on the other hand, silently observed for a moment before speaking up, "Yes, it's necessary. I'll need your advice later, Hermione, you're so smart."

The Silver-haired Girl's voice rarely carried such sincerity.

Hermione paused for a moment, then nodded. "Okay—you guys go first, I'll wait for Daisy."

Sean was about to say something more when Stephanie secretly tugged at his sleeve.

He hesitated for a moment, but still chose to follow.

After they were some distance away, Stephanie spoke up, "Hermione doesn't seem to be in a good mood."

Sean scratched his head in annoyance. "Obviously, and she's been putting on a brave face, pretending to be all good."

The Silver-haired Girl glanced at him. "You lied to Hermione before you came to see me, didn't you?"

"Forehead..."

"I understand your thoughts. Neither you nor Daisy want to upset Hermione —however, I think it would be better to involve Hermione more, based on my understanding of her..."

Listening to Stephanie's calm yet earnest words, Sean fell into deep thought.

Indeed, it seems that both Daisy and I have overlooked the fact that we only focused on preventing Hermione's mood from getting worse, while ignoring her true feelings.

He could roughly guess why Hermione was in a bad mood; it was probably a feeling of being rejected.

Although both Sean and Hermione knew that this was not a form of rejection, people are sensitive and their inner feelings cannot be determined by reason.

From this perspective, Stephanie's approach was indeed more correct.

He turned to Stephanie and said, "That makes sense, thanks for reminding me."

"No, it's only right." Stephanie shook her head calmly.

"Many things start with misunderstandings, and both sides ignore each other's true inner needs..." she said softly, her voice carrying a reassuring quality.

"Good relationships need to be nurtured, right?" She suddenly stopped and tilted her head toward Sean, a faint smile on her delicate face.

Sean was taken aback, then burst out laughing.

"You're right, Miss Ollivander."

"Thank you for your recognition, Mr. Wallop."

"Mr. Wallop, being chosen as one of the Champion of Hogwarts —that must make you extremely proud, right?" Snape said to Sean with a forced smile in Potions.

"No, sir," Sean said loudly.

"Then can you tell me... what is this thing you've been cooking?"

"Sir, this is a potent fire retardant that is still being prepared."

"A potent fire retardant—" Snape chuckled. "If you smeared a dozen potions on yourself, it might have the same physical effects as Potions."

"But I haven't finished brewing it yet..." Sean couldn't help but make an excuse, even though his potion was indeed not that good.

Snape's face darkened. "There's only one hour left. I don't think you can..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a younger student outside the door.

"Professor Snape ... um, I've come to call Mr. Wallop upstairs, because of his status as Champion ..." the boy said timidly.

Snape lowered his gaze from his hooked nose, and it was clear that he wanted to say something more.

However, in the end, he still looked at Sean with disgust. "Take your things and disappear from my sight now."

"Yes, Professor!"

Sean quickly slipped out, while Snape's scolding of Harry echoed in the classroom.

"Help, buddy," Sean said with a laugh.

The younger student, whom Sean had also taught, excitedly trotted over. "Sir, I saw the Daily Prophet's people. They must be here to interview you."

"Hmm, that sounds troublesome—but much better than Professor Snape."

When Sean arrived at the location, he pushed open the door and went in. The others were already there. Daisy was standing nervously in the corner, but her eyes lit up when she saw Sean.

"I'm not late, am I?" Sean greeted him with a smile.

"No, no—" Ludo Bagman jumped up, "Come in, come in, we have a little procedure, including interviews and testing of wands..."

"The detection wand?" Sean asked.

"We need to check that your wands are fully functional and in good working order, because they will be your most important equipment in the upcoming competitions," Bagman said. "The experts are upstairs with Dumbledore. Then we'll take some photos. This is Rita Skeeter," he said, pointing to the witch in the magenta robe, "She's writing a short article for the Daily Prophet about the Triwizard Tournament ..."

Rita Skeeter was asking Reinhardt Nott something in a peculiarly annoying tone, while the latter looked like he was about to explode.

Her hair was styled into elaborate, stiff, and oddly shaped curls, which looked particularly awkward against her large chin. She wore jeweled glasses, and her thick, fleshy fingers clutched a crocodile-skin handbag, her nails about two inches long and painted bright red.

Sean smiled slightly. Wasn't this an "old acquaintance" he hadn't seen in a long time...?

Rita Skeeter heard the sound and turned her head to look at the newly arrived Champion. The floating quill pen turned around with its owner, fluttering like a large moth.

Upon seeing Sean's face, Rita's previously annoyingly arrogant expression vanished instantly, replaced by a stiff, unnatural look.

"Hello, ma'am," Sean greeted with a smile.

"Uh, oh, oh, hello, hello." The beetle's smile was very stiff, as if it had been squeezed and stuffed into a bottle.

I can't collect enough monthly passes this month... I'll ask for next month's, there are only a few minutes left... There's also double points at the beginning of the month, thank you.