Three Champions
The next day was Saturday, and generally, the students ate breakfast very late.
However, Skylar wasn't the only one who got up much earlier than usual on a weekend.
As he left the Slytherin Common Room with Daphne and Astoria, as usual, and prepared to enter the Entrance Hall, he saw more than twenty people gathered there, some still eating bread, all carefully examining the Goblet of Fire. He saw Harry, Meghan, Hermione were there too. They both nodded to each other.
The cup was placed in the center of the Entrance Hall, on the stool where the Sorting Hat was usually placed. A thin gold line, ten feet in radius, was drawn around the floor, encircling the cup.
"Has anyone put their name in yet?" Ron asked a third-grade girl eagerly.
"Yes, Durmstrang's group," she replied, "But I haven't seen anyone sign up for Hogwarts yet."
Suddenly, a burst of laughter rang out.
Skylar didn't need to turn around to guess who the visitors were. He saw Fred, George, and Lee Jordan hurrying down the stairs, all three looking extremely excited.
Fred whispered to Harry, Skylar knew he was bragging about the three of them drinking the Ageing Potion.
Fred pulled a parchment from his pocket, walked straight to the edge of the Age Line, stood there, swaying on his tiptoes like a diver preparing to jump from a fifty-foot platform. Then, under the watchful eyes of everyone in the Entrance Hall, he took a deep breath and crossed the line.
Then George jumped in too.
Then came a hissing sound, and the twins were thrown outside the gold circle, as if an unseen shot putter had hurled them. They landed painfully on the cold stone ground ten feet away, suffering not only physical pain but also humiliation. With a loud crack, identical long white beards sprouted from their chins.
The people in the Entrance Hall burst into laughter. Even Fred and George, after getting up, couldn't help but laugh when they saw each other's white beards.
A glint of light flashed in Skylar's eyes. Just before the twins were knocked away, he clearly saw the magical fluctuations on the golden circle. It was a barrier!
The fact that it's a barrier means it's inanimate—it can only filter out qualified individuals. The question is, what criteria does it use for this selection?
The fact that it can render the Ageing Potion ineffective clearly indicates that it doesn't rely solely on physiological age. So, does it depend on the strength of the magic?
"I warned you," a deep, amused voice said, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore walking out of the Great Hall.
He sized up Fred and George, his eyes gleaming. "I suggest you both go see Madam Pomfrey. She's already taking care of Miss Fawcett of Ravenclaw and Mr. Summers of Hufflepuff, who are both determined to get a little older. But I must say, their beards are nowhere near as handsome as yours."
Dumbledore speaking, he left, and Fred and George also set off for the Hospital Wing.
At this moment, Draco, Pansy, Goyle, Crabbe, and their group also arrived.
Draco, having heard about what had happened, wore a disdainful expression and sneered, "Useless people are useless... This is probably the only method they could come up with..."
Hearing his brother being mocked, Ron retorted, "You talk as if you're that great. If you're so capable, why don't you sign up and see for yourself?"
Draco's expression became even more irritating. His gaze swept over everyone present, lingering on Skylar for a few seconds before returning to the Goblet of Fire.
"Weasley, stop embarrassing our Pure-blood families," Draco said coldly. "It's just a barrier spell; breaking it is incredibly easy—"
"Oh, really?" Ron said provocatively. "Come on, Malfoy, how about you show us the House of Malfoy's secret techniques?"
Draco closed his eyes, Skylar frowned.
Skylar saw black magical energy surge up from Draco once again, and it was more violent than ever before!
Draco opened his eyes, his pupils calm and unreadable, revealing no emotion whatsoever. He walked to the gold circle and strode over it!
Almost everyone noticed it—a slight buzzing vibration could be heard in the air.
Skylar's Magic Eye witnessed a scene that shocked him—space was distorted, and Skylar sensed the familiar magical trajectory he had encountered when using the Time-Turner —a kind of time magic!
Dumbledore knows time magic!
So, the strength that the old man displayed in the original work probably wasn't his full potential!
Skylar originally thought that the Age Line was based on the amount of magic power one possessed, which is why he was so confident— Skylar's magic power at this time had surpassed the level of an adult wizard, and no student from any of the three schools could match his total magic power.
It now appears that the barrier was determined by the signs of age on the intruders' bodies.
Although Skylar used the Time-Turner, he never used it for more than four hours at a time, and he didn't use it every day, so the total amount of time he used probably wasn't enough.
The scene returns to Draco.
Just when everyone thought Draco was about to be thrown out like the twins, the golden coil suddenly emitted a dim golden light, which then dimmed again. Draco glanced at Ron provocatively— Skylar had the illusion that Draco wasn't looking at Ron, but at himself— Ron blushed deeply, but stammered and couldn't say a word.
Draco took a few more steps (the Goblet of Fire was actually quite far from the gold wire, so throwing it in from a distance was impossible), walked up to the Goblet of Fire, pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket, and put it in. The flame in the Goblet of Fire quickly turned from blue-white to red, and Mars flew out.
Draco glanced at Skylar and Ron again, then strode away with an air of nonchalance, leaving the young wizards looking on in shock and awe.
The remaining young wizards all turned their gazes toward Skylar.
If Draco, who doesn't have many notable achievements in the House of Malfoy, is already this powerful, then wouldn't the renowned Skylar be even more terrifying?
Skylar smiled. He wasn't sure how Draco had managed to withstand the backlash from the barrier and force his way in, but he had his own methods.
Skylar took out a piece of parchment, touched it with his wand, and the parchment suddenly turned into a paper sparrow, fluttering its wings rapidly.
The paper sparrow flew smoothly across the Age Line and plunged into the Goblet of Fire.
With a loud bang, the blue-white flames in the Goblet of Fire shot high into the air, but did not turn red.
So, Dumbledore had indeed considered a plan to prevent young wizards from throwing registration forms from a distance?
Kaunaz's Ancient Runes faintly appeared in Skylar's eyes.
Since the flames won't transform on their own, I'll force them to!
Skylar stared intently at the Goblet of Fire. The flames that had risen into the air seemed to be suppressed by some invisible force, slowly falling back into the goblet. Suddenly, the Goblet of Fire seemed to have a mind of its own and launched a counterattack. The flames shot up again with a bang, shooting out sparks in all directions. But after a short while, the flames seemed to lose their strength and fell back down, finally turning red and bursting into sparks.
Skylar smiled brightly, turned around and walked to Daphne and Astoria, saying softly, "Let's go!"
During breakfast, the most popular topic among the young wizards was undoubtedly who would become the Champion of Hogwarts.
Most people think Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff has the best chance. Some think it's Cassius Warrington of Slytherin. Gryffindor the other hand, supports Angelina Jensen of their house.
All three were sixth-grade students. Perhaps seventh-grade students are focused on the NEWT exams and don't want to be distracted by these extracurricular activities.
The Halloween Feast seemed to last much longer than usual.
Perhaps because there were banquets for two consecutive days, many students didn't seem to enjoy the elaborately prepared dishes as much as they usually do.
The people in the Great Hall craned their necks to look, every face showing anxiety. Everyone was restless, frequently standing up to look towards the stage. Finally, the banquet ended, and the noise in the Great Hall suddenly rose considerably. Then Dumbledore stood up, and the Great Hall fell silent again.
Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, flanking Dumbledore, looked just as nervous and expectant as everyone else; Ludovic Bagman smiled broadly and winked at the students from various schools; while Mr. Crouch wore a rather dull expression.
"I am honored that the Goblet of Fire is about to make its decision!" Dumbledore said with a smile. "I estimate it will take another minute. Listen, after the Champion's names are announced, I want them to walk to the top of the Great Hall, then down the faculty desks, and into the next room—"
He pointed to the door behind the faculty desk, "They'll get their initial guidance there."
He waved his hand, and most of the lights in the Great Hall were extinguished, plunging the hall into a state of semi-darkness. The Goblet of Fire of Fire, which had been moved to the stage, shone with dazzling light, brighter than anything else in the entire Great Hall; its blue-white flames, sparkling with Mars, were simply mesmerizing.
The flames in the Goblet of Fire suddenly turned red again, crackling and Mars. Then, a tongue of fire shot into the air, and a piece of parchment, almost charred, flew out. Dumbledore caught the parchment, and the flames within returned to their bluish-white color.
"The Champion of Durmstrang— " Dumbledore's voice echoed throughout the Great Hall: "It is Eleanor von Hohenheim!"
A look of "I knew it" flashed across Skylar's face, and he then smiled and congratulated Eleanor.
Eleanor's face betrayed no emotion; she calmly rose from the Slytherin table and walked toward Dumbledore. Then, at Professor McGonagall's instruction, she turned right, walked along the platform, and entered the next room.
Silence returned to the Great Hall, for the second parchment had appeared.
Dumbledore stared at the application form, a rare look of discomposure on his face. He fell silent, even the usually bright blue eyes behind his Half-moon Spectacles seemed dull at this moment.
The young wizards around them had no idea what had happened to the headmaster, but they could feel the oppressive atmosphere. No one dared to make a sound, and the only sound in the room was the crackling of the Goblet of Fire.
Dumbledore difficulty, his voice hoarse, "The Champion of Beauxbatons —it is Katarina Grindelwald - Monroe!"
Katarin rose gracefully, tossing her vibrant crimson hair, and glided lightly from between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables to the platform. She gave Dumbledore graceful bow, then entered the room Eleanor had just entered.
Daphne noticed that Skylar's expression was a little off and asked softly, "Skylar, what's wrong?"
Skylar shook his head, somewhat helplessly saying, "Daphne, I just feel—the world seems to have changed..."
Daphne chuckled. "Look at what you're saying, why are you suddenly saying such strange things... If you ask me, although Krum and that Veela girl seem quite powerful, compared to the top Pure-blood families of Germany and France, they're probably far inferior—I think Hohenheim and Monroe's selection is quite reasonable."
Skylar sighed, thinking to himself, "You're not a time traveler, so of course you can't understand how I feel."
Astoria suddenly leaned closer and grabbed Skylar's arm tightly. "The Goblet of Fire is beating! It's about to call out the names of the Hogwarts Champion! Oh my god, I'm so nervous—could it be you, Skylar?"
The Great Hall fell silent; almost every Hogwarts student held their breath... for they knew that the next to be revealed would be the Champion of Hogwarts. The third parchment arrived as expected.
"Champion of Hogwarts— " Dumbledore grabbed it, then froze, staring at the note in his hand with a strange look. He cleared his throat and read aloud, "It's Skylar Malfoy!"
Apart from the wizards in Slytherin, the other three houses erupted in a series of exclamations of surprise.
"How is that possible? He's only in fourth grade!"
"Could the Goblet of Fire have made a mistake? Although many people saw him put his name in, why did the Goblet of Fire choose him instead of Diggory?"
But some more rational students countered, "You're just envious and jealous—he's the youngest Ser Merlin, a man who can single-handedly fight hundreds of Dementor and kill the Thousand-Year- Basilisk. What's so strange about the Goblet of Fire choosing him?"
At this moment, there was also someone who had lost their composure at the Slytherin table.
Draco jumped to his feet, trembling all over, his face filled with disbelief. "How could this be? How could this be... The Goblet of Fire chose him, not me... This can't be... This can't be..."
Skylar observed Draco's reaction and wore a thoughtful expression.
It seems Draco is truly confident; he genuinely believes he's better than me!
Skylar seemed to understand something.
He gently patted Astoria's hand, which was holding hers, to make her release it, then stood up and, guided by Professor McGonagall, walked proudly into the room they had been in before.