On the morning the tournament finally arrived, all of Hogwarts seemed to be swept up in a sea of joy.
The instant Malfoy and the others stepped into the Great Hall, thunderous applause erupted.
The young witches and wizards clapped as hard as they could, cheering them on and shouting words of encouragement.
They completely failed to notice how frighteningly pale the champions were.
It was not just them. None of the champions seemed to have slept well, and many still looked bleary-eyed even after entering the Great Hall.
Even so, the champions were stunned by the sight before them.
The students supported the Hogwarts champions in their own ways, wearing all sorts of hats bearing the animal that represented each house.
The Gryffindor hats, for example, were majestic lion heads that could actually roar like lions.
There were Ravenclaw eagles, Hufflepuff honey badgers, and Slytherin snakes.
Besides the hats, there were enormous moving magical photographs, essentially enlarged versions of the posters sold by the Weasley Twins.
The students held the photographs high and waved them vigorously, not to mention the badges everyone wore.
"Support the Hogwarts champions! Cheer on the Hogwarts team!"
The badges screamed one after another, without pause.
The champions from the other schools could only watch enviously, helpless to do anything about it. Hogwarts had the home advantage, after all.
If they were at their own schools...
They imagined their entire school cheering for them and could not help feeling a little wistful.
It was an unprecedented sight, one that even brought tears to the eyes of several more sentimental professors. Professor Flitwick wiped his tears with a tiny handkerchief as he said to Professor McGonagall:
"Minerva, look. What a wonderful sight! I've never seen anything like it. No divisions between houses or years, just all