Drag Everyone Down

As the banquet drew to a close, the steaks and stews on the table were removed and replaced with delicate desserts.

After finishing his chocolate mousse, Loren dipped his spoon in the brown chocolate sauce and scribbled on the white porcelain plate. Once he finished one piece, he had some room in his stomach. Loren smiled, tapped the plate, and whispered, "Mango pudding."

The plate silently melted into the tablecloth, and a plate of golden, translucent pudding popped out. The soft, bouncy pudding trembled gently, releasing a sweet aroma.

At the High Table, Dumbledore looked reluctantly at the red velvet cake in front of him, and slowly stood up.

A mix of excitement and nervousness filled the Great Hall. Dumbledore met the pairs of innocent, expectant eyes and smiled knowingly.

"The moment has finally arrived. Before we begin, please allow me to introduce our two guests... Over the past few months, Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly for the Triwizard Tournament."

Bagman waved warmly to the young wizards, earning a round of applause. Crouch nodded stiffly, his expression mirroring his short, toothbrush-like mustache.

"They will form the judging panel with me, Professor Karkaroff, Madam Maxime, Professor Fontano... Mr. Filch, please bring the box up."

The young wizards then noticed that the Castle caretaker had also changed into a well-fitting suit tonight, and his messy hair had been simply combed, but his expression was still gloomy.

A wooden box inlaid with various jewels was placed on the table. Dumbledore tapped the box three times with his wand, and the lid slowly opened. He reached inside and took out a wooden goblet.

"Wow!" the little wizards exclaimed.

The wooden cup itself was nothing special, made of ordinary material and with rough carving, but inside it was a handful of dancing blue-white flames, which grew larger with the wind and gradually covered the entire cup, the brilliant and beautiful flames burning fiercely in everyone's sight.

"Every student who wishes to run for Champion, please write your name and school on a piece of parchment and drop it into this goblet." Dumbledore noticed the sudden silence in the Great Hall, smiled, and placed the Goblet of Fire on the lid. He then added, "Of course, this applies only to students 17 years of age and older."

"Oh no..."

Amidst the wailing, Dumbledore vaguely heard an unknown Twins cursing "bullshit decision," but he remained calm. "To prevent underage students from succumbing to temptation, I will draw an Age Line around it, and no one under the age of seventeen shall be allowed to cross that Age Line."

"Tomorrow night, Halloween night, the Goblet will select the student it believes best represents the four schools..."

The eyes of all the young wizards shone brightly, whether it was Hogwarts in his black robes, Durmstrang in his blood-red robes, Durmstrang in his light blue Beauxbatons, or Ilvermorny in his blue and berry-red robes.

Loren shifted his gaze from the Goblet of Fire to the other young wizards around him.

Harry and Ron grinned foolishly, Phoebe Delacour cradled her sister with a glint in her eyes, Krum's gloomy expression softened, Gravis gripped the Gordian Knot at his chest with a resolute look, and many other young wizards, whose names they didn't know, were all conjuring up images of the glorious moment when they won the Goblet of Fire.

At the High Table, the principals of the three schools met, their eyes sparking with competitive intent.

Unnoticed by most, Professor Moody raised his wine glass to Crouch's right side of the High Table, offering a toast across the distance. When he looked away, he met Snape's scrutinizing gaze. Moody grinned, revealing a sinister yet benevolent smile, and raised his glass in return to his colleague.

Snape took a sip of his wine without batting an eye, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

Dumbledore continued, "Finally, I must remind every student who wishes to participate that this Triwizard Tournament is no child's play. Do not enter rashly. Whoever casts their name into the Goblet forms a magical covenant that must be obeyed. Once Champion is chosen by the Goblet of Fire, he must remain steadfast to the end..."

Okay, goodnight everyone!

As the young wizards left, despite the Prefect maintaining order, the students, still attached to the Goblet of Fire and arguing, kept the procession stopping and starting.

"The Age Line?" Fred grinned. "I can think of three ways to break through it in a minute."

"We've already prepared the Draught of Living Death, the Levitation Charm, and the Transfiguration are also good..." George put his arm around Harry's shoulder and shook him. "Looks like you're interested too, Harry. So, how about buying the Draught of Living Death? We'll give you a 20% discount, only two Galleon."

Before Harry could answer, Ron eagerly asked, "I want to buy it! How much is it for me?"

"Oh..." George looked troubled. "For you, four Galleon."

"A duel! I challenge you to a duel!"

Ron's angry shouting amused the young wizards around him. Hearing the laughter, Durmstrang's students and their headmaster turned around. Headmaster Karkaroff caught a glimpse of the scar on Harry's forehead and froze in shock.

Durmstrang's students also looked at Harry with curiosity, whispering amongst themselves without any attempt to hide their conversation.

"How rude," Ron muttered under his breath.

Harry, feeling uncomfortable, was about to say something when the burly Madam Maxime and Hagrid suddenly walked by, their two towering figures blocking their view.

"Don't worry, ladies, I will take good care of your horses. I have experience with that," Hagrid said loudly.

Maxime smiled politely. "Yes, they require a lot of strength to take care of. I had some doubts before I saw you, Hagrid, but now I believe you can do the job well."

Dressed in a suit and tuxedo, Hagrid flexed his arms, showing off his impressive muscles, his face practically beaming with joy. "Yes, I have plenty of strength!"

"By the way, these horses only drink single malt whiskey." Maxime casually glanced at the young wizards, his gaze lingering briefly on Loren, who had black hair and black eyes, before quickly moving on.

"..."

Loren and the others stared blankly as Hagrid and Madam Maxime walked away, chatting amiably. Hermione closed her mouth, then asked hesitantly, "Don't you guys think, Hagrid, he..."

"They've fallen in love," Loren added.

"Then they are a perfect match." Harry's tone was very certain, which made Ron, Seamus, and the others nod in agreement.

Turning their gaze back to the opposite side, Karkaroff had already fled as if running away in Moody. Headmaster Fontana smiled at them and led the young wizards of Ilvermorny away in an orderly fashion.

As they climbed the stairs, Loren and Hermione unknowingly fell behind. Hermione remained silent as she watched the dried meat that the man had pulled out from somewhere.

Did his stomach cast Untraceable Extension Charm? How can it hold so much?

"Waaah..."

Perhaps because she had been staring at him for so long, she was misunderstood as craving jerky and was given a piece. Hermione chewed for a long time before swallowing it. "Mr. Crouch has arrived at Hogwarts. I'm a little worried about Winky."

Loren chewed on his food. "That's true, let's find another opportunity to scare her."

"..." Hermione paused, not refuting, "You said you have something for Winky to do tonight, what do you plan to ask him to do?"

"Hehe, want to know?"

Hermione nodded.

"Then you have to promise me you'll keep it a secret."

Hermione nodded again.

Loren leaned close to the girl's ear mysteriously and whispered, "I'll keep it a secret too."

Hermione scratched her slightly itchy ear expressionlessly, then reached out and plundered all the jerky from the man.

The blue and white flames of the Triwizard Tournament burned brightly in the eyes of the young wizards. The discussion about the Triwizard Tournament in the boys' dormitory continued until late at night. Ron and Seamus talked at length about their fantasy stories after being chosen as Champion, each filling in the gaps in their fantasies, and they still felt unsatisfied even late into the night.

As Loren slowly fell asleep, the sounds of their whispers still echoed in the dormitory.

The dormitory gradually quieted down, with occasional cold winds blowing outside the window, the slight whistling never ceasing. The young wizards' even, long breaths echoed the wind, and Seamus's occasional chuckles from his dreams could be heard.

In the dead of night, during the darkest hour before dawn, a faint, cold breeze brushed past Loren's earlobe, carrying a soft whisper.

"Sir, Mr. Morgan ..."

"Wake up, Mr. Morgan. Loren Morgan..."

Loren opened his eyes as he lay on the bed. The dormitory was pitch black, with hardly any light. By the faint moonlight filtering through the glass window, he could barely make out a thin, small figure standing by the bed, with a pair of unusually large green eyes gleaming in the darkness.

Loren remained calm, putting a finger to his lips to signal Winky to be quiet. "Shh."

Loren rolled out of bed, tiptoed into the dormitory room, and walked out in his pajamas.

Upon reaching the Gryffindor Common Room, Loren spoke, but still in a low voice. "Has someone been to the Entrance Hall?"

"Professor Moody entered the Entrance Hall in the middle of the night." Winky nodded, even breathing very softly. "After I saw the note on the plate, I hid behind the Marble Staircase next to the Entrance Hall and even crawled into his armor... But when Professor Moody left, he seemed to have noticed a little noise, but he thought it was a ghost or Peeves and didn't pay any attention."

Loren nodded thoughtfully.

After descending the stairs, pushing open the door to the Portrait Hole, and walking up the stairs to the Entrance Hall, Winky couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Morgan, how did you know that the House-elf corresponding to the table position was me? Aren't you worried that other House-elf will see the information you left on the plates?"

"Even if the other House-elf see it, it's alright. They'll pass on the message to you. As long as the professor doesn't ask, the Hogwarts House-elf won't do anything unnecessary. Otherwise, why would Mr. Filch be needed to patrol the Castle and catch night-roaming wizards? And—"

"I've noticed it for a long time. My favorite foods are always nearby. Every time there's a start-of-term or End-of-Year Feast, I'm faster than everyone else at tapping my plate to summon the food." Loren smiled. "Who else could it be but you?"

Winky lowered its head shyly.

"How are Winky and Dobby lately?"

"After Mr. Morgan left, Winky cried for a long time. She didn't dare to go to Professor McGonagall or Headmaster Dumbledore. In the end, she asked Dobby to talk to Headmaster Dumbledore about her wages and bought a wool glove over the weekend, supposedly on Headmaster Dumbledore's advice."

Loren remained noncommittal, and the two walked silently up the stairs.

"Do you know that Mr. Crouch. Barty Crouch has arrived at the school?"

"Dobby is the House-elf in charge of the menu at the High Table tonight. He knows, but Winky probably doesn't." Winky hesitated for a moment, then continued, "However, even if Dobby and the other House-elf don't tell, Winky will find out sooner or later."

"You can tell her today, but please also tell her for me that if she dares to go and approach them on her own, she will never have the chance to return to the Crouch family in her lifetime."

"Yes, sir."

Descending the last section of the Marble Staircase to the first floor, and by the faint moonlight, Loren approached the door, leaving Winky waiting outside. Loren gently pushed open the wooden door.

The wooden cup in the middle of the room immediately catches the eye. The flame, in cool blue and white tones, is not very bright, but it gives the room a bluish glow. A thin gold line, about ten feet in radius, is drawn around the floor, gleaming with a hazy light.

Loren thoughtfully examined the Goblet of Fire and the Age Line. If he remembered correctly, Professor Moody had already placed the parchment with Harry's name on it and used a powerful Confundus Charm to make the Goblet of Fire recognize Harry as Champion.

I don't know if I'll still be able to get it out...

Loren thought silently as he slowly stepped closer to the gold thread on the floor.

A weak repulsive force came from the soles of his feet, not very strong, but as Loren gradually increased the force, the golden thread suddenly surged with a powerful pushing force, causing Loren to stumble.

Loren began to circle around the gold thread.

It's unclear whether Dumbledore cast a single spell or a combination of multiple spells... If he used Alchemy methods, he could also create Age Line, but that would at least involve the combined use of several sets of magic circles to detect certain physiological characteristics, such as bone age, pupil size, and reflexes...

He remembered that George and Fred's Draught of Living Death couldn't be broken, so the Age Line wasn't, or even just, a measure of physical condition.

"Examining the soul is too cumbersome, and searching memories is not in Dumbledore's style..."

Loren muttered to himself, then his eyes lit up. "It should be... Magic Power?"

After several upheavals and the inexplicable modifications made by the Book of Abraham, his Magic Power is no longer within the scope of an underage wizard, so he only needs to do some minor physical disguise.

"Speaking of which, the first time I saw Transfiguration disguise their age was in Dumbledore's body..."

That was during his first-year Christmas break in Albania. Loren touched his body with his wand, and ripples spread outwards, causing a series of changes: his bones thickened, his skin loosened slightly, and a handsome stubble appeared on his chin...

Taking another step, I easily stepped into the Age Line.

Loren leisurely arrived at the foot of the Goblet of Fire, floated into the air, and looked into the Goblet of Fire.

Two parchment slips lay silently in the cold, blue-white flame, one of which clearly bore his name:

Loren Morgan!