Three Champions
For the first time, everyone felt that Saturday could be so long.
Time seemed to slow down all of a sudden. The Wizard's Chess and the Exploding Snap, which they could never get enough of playing, suddenly became boring and tedious. Every now and then, they would look up to see if the sky outside had darkened.
From morning to noon, and then to afternoon... it felt like a month had passed before the sky finally darkened.
When the moon rose, everyone eagerly headed to the Great Hall.
Perhaps because there were banquets for two consecutive days, the meticulously prepared and sumptuous dishes were not as popular.
Everyone took only a couple of bites before putting down their utensils, and then every now and then they would stand up to check if Professor Dumbledore had finished eating.
"Sit down." Hermione finally couldn't help but say as Ron stood up for the third time, "The Goblet of Fire needs time to make a decision. Even Headmaster Dumbledore can't announce the results in advance."
"How did you know?" Ron said. "Does throwing a name into the Goblet of Fire give you the clue to the time?"
"Of course not!" Hermione said impatiently. "Haven't you ever read * Hogwarts: Hogwarts, A History *? It's all written in there."
"I don't think many people would read such a thick book," Ron muttered, but seeing Hermione's growing displeasure, he quickly changed his tune, "Okay, could you please tell us what time it is?"
Everyone around looked over.
"The book only mentions that the Goblet of Fire will go out after a day," Hermione said. "However, the Goblet of Fire was only brought out at the end of yesterday's banquet, so it should have been around 7:30."
Ron checked the time; it was 7:10... which meant they had to wait another twenty minutes?
He picked up a plate of pudding with some irritation, but instead of eating it, he poked at it with his fork, asking:
"Tell me, who will be the Champion of Hogwarts?"
Harry looked around and, seeing Fred and George on the other side of the table, lowered his voice and said, "I hope it's Angelina."
"I think it's good that Fred was selected," Ron said. "That way, I'd be like the Champion ' little brother, and maybe Krum would even give me an autograph."
Hermione let out a mocking, cold laugh.
"But I think it could be Hermione too." Harry suddenly remembered that someone else next to them had also voted, and quickly said, "Your final grades are higher than Angelina's."
Hermione blushed, a rare occurrence, but tried her best to appear normal.
"That's because I took all the courses last year, which makes my grades seem higher."
"No, I think Harry makes a lot of sense." Ron nodded seriously. "You're always the first to finish the professor's tasks, and even Snape can't find any mistakes in you."
Hermione turned her head and looked at Ron in surprise, as if she were meeting him for the first time.
In fact, after learning that she had thrown her name into the Goblet of Fire, Ron didn't say anything, but Hermione could tell that he was still a little uncomfortable... This was obvious, as Ron hadn't spoken to her since morning.
So Hermione never expected him to say that.
Ron, however, didn't notice any of this. He poked Pudding and continued, "If you really become Champion... could you get me Krum's autograph?"
Hermione's face quickly turned cold, and she grabbed a book and threw it at him.
The thick book, "Evolution of Medieval Ancient Runes," slammed onto the table in front of Ron, startling him so much that he almost dropped the fork he was holding.
"What are you doing? That book almost hit me!" Ron roared angrily.
But Hermione had already turned her head away and didn't look at him again.
Finally, after twenty minutes, the last dessert was gone.
Dumbledore stood up, and the Great Hall fell silent.
"Alright, the Goblet of Fire is about to make a decision," said Dumbledore, who seemed just as nervous and expectant as everyone else.
Then he waved his wand, and most of the candles in the Great Hall went out, leaving only those in the pumpkin lanterns.
In this semi-dark state, the Goblet of Fire appeared brighter than ever, its bright blue-white flames emitting a dazzling light.
At the Hufflepuff table, Cedric kept gasping for breath. "I've never been this nervous before."
"It'll be here soon," Mikel said, who had been keeping an eye on the time.
When it was 7:30.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the flame in the goblet suddenly turned red, and sparks crackled and sputtered out, like a volcano about to erupt.
Then, a tongue of fire shot into the air, and a charred parchment flew out from it... The Great Hall fell silent instantly, and everyone held their breath.
A large hand caught the parchment.
"The Champion of Durmstrang..." Dumbledore proclaimed, "It is Viktor Krum!"
"Marvelous!"
"It's Krum..."
"That's not surprising at all!"
Applause and cheers filled the entire Great Hall.
Krum stood up from the Slytherin table, Ludo Bagman immediately went to him and led him to the next room.
"Fantastic, Viktor!" Karkaroff exclaimed in a booming voice.
As the applause subsided, a second parchment sprang out of the Goblet of Fire.
"The Champion of Beauxbatons ..." said Dumbledore, "Is Fleur Delacour!"
Beside Kanna, Phoebe rose gracefully and walked lightly between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables.
The applause wasn't as enthusiastic as before, because many people were staring blankly at her. Ron's mouth was agape; he was completely stunned.
When they came to their senses, Phoebe also went into the next room.
The Great Hall fell silent again, but unlike the previous two times, this silence was filled with an incredibly clear and intense excitement.
Next up are the Champion of Hogwarts...
When the third parchment appeared in Dumbledore's hands, nearly half the people couldn't help but stand up.
"Champion of Hogwarts..." Dumbledore looked at the name on the parchment, then suddenly smiled, "It's Kyle..."
Without warning, Kyle felt a buzzing in his head, as if hundreds of Billywig were having a dance party, making so much noise that he couldn't hear anything else.
In fact, you can't hear anything speaking in the Great Hall now.
The deafening cheers surged like a tsunami, threatening to rip the ceiling off.
"I knew it!"
Kyle felt himself being hugged... It was Kanna, who jumped and shouted excitedly, her ears turning red.
"Don't you consider my feelings when you say that?" Cedric said, somewhat exasperated.
Even so, he excitedly hugged Kyle, "That's awesome! I knew you could do it!"
At the same time, Autumn, Fred, and George rushed over, and the group surrounded Kyle.
"I'm sorry to bother you," Dumbledore had to remind you, "The other two Champion are waiting; you'd better let him pass quickly."
Everyone immediately parted to make way for Kyle.
At the High Table, Chris smiled at him, pointed towards the side door, and told him to hurry over.
Nearby, Karkaroff couldn't help but laugh out loud after hearing Kyle's name.
After the rules of the Triwizard Tournament were established, he specifically investigated the situation of Hogwarts students.
The first of them was Kyle, who received the Order of Merlin, Second Class.
But Karkaroff didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
With a giant over three meters tall and the renowned Fantastic Beasts expert Sylvanas Kettleburn, even a Muggle could take down that Werewolf.
Therefore, in his view, Kyle's second-class medal was nothing more than the result of a lucky boy and two generous wizards, plus Dumbledore's influence... nothing more.
What he cared more about was Kyle's age... He had just turned fifteen, almost exactly the Age Line.
Krum is already eighteen years old. For two students who haven't even graduated yet, a three-year gap is huge... It's practically handing them the championship.
Durmstrang is going to win!
Just then, Dumbledore turned around.
"Albus," Karkaroff couldn't help but laugh, "He must be the youngest member of the Order of Merlin, right? Hogwarts really does produce a lot of talent."
"Igor, when it comes to talent, the most popular legendary Seeker is from Durmstrang."
The two looked at each other, and then simultaneously gave each other a genuine smile.