Morris noticed their gazes, looked up, and asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Kyle handed him the newspaper. "You can read it yourself."
Morris took the newspaper.
The front page featured an article by Rita Skeeter about the Triwizard Tournament.
The first thing you see is a picture of Harry, which takes up a quarter of the area and is even larger than the group photo of the Champion.
What follows is a long introduction to Harry, in classic Rita Skeeter style, half true and half false, and full of flaws.
"I think it's my parents who gave me strength... Yes, sometimes at night, I still cry for them, and I don't feel ashamed to admit it."
Morris was certain that Harry would never say such a thing.
It's not honorable to make a fuss about someone else's deceased parents.
Rita Skeeter, you're amazing.
At this moment, Morris's disgust for this man deepened even further.
However, Fred and his two companions clearly didn't show that expression because of this.
Morris continued reading and found at the end of the article numerous photos of the Champion ' daily lives, all of which, judging from the angles, were taken secretly.
The most eye-catching photo among them is a picture of Phoebe and Morris together.
It was the scene from the day the owl attacked Phoebe.
In the photo, Phoebe is leaning backward, and Morris is standing beside her, holding her hand, and casting Petrificus Totalus on the owl.
This was originally a normal scene.
However, the photographer found a great angle; the two looked very intimate, their heads almost touching.
Phoebe's hair was disheveled, as if she had just been through something, with a few strands still draped over Morris's shoulder. The red mark on her face, caused by an owl claw, was photographed in the sunlight as a warm, ambiguous blush.
The message conveyed by the entire photo is very clear and requires no textual explanation—in fact, the author of the article cleverly omitted any accompanying description.
66
Morris was somewhat speechless.
He thought something serious had happened.
Fred grinned and asked excitedly, "When did you start dating Phoebe Delacour?"
Morris shrugged. "Imagine it as you will, but let me remind you, this is Rita Skeeter's report."
He acted as if he didn't care at all.
"How boring." Fred muttered, looking bored.
He knew that reporter's character perfectly well; the photo had most likely been manipulated.
Rita Skeeter will do anything to attract attention.
However, not everyone thinks like Fred.
The rumor that Morris Black and Phoebe Delacour were dating spread throughout Hogwarts almost immediately.
They're students after all, so it's normal for them to like this kind of gossip, especially since it involves two Champion.
In the days that followed, whenever Morris walked down the corridor, he would be met with all sorts of stares.
Curiosity, admiration, envy, hostility...
Of course, Morris didn't care; he had always been the center of attention and was used to it.
Just clarify when someone asks.
As for Phoebe, she completely ignored these rumors, and even reminded Morris not to take them seriously when they met.
The weekend before the first match, Hogsmeade Visiting Day.
Instead of heading to Hogsmeade like the other students, Morris stayed in the Ship in a Bottle to work on his own magic.
He has now figured out some of the tricks of the trade.
"Knock knock!"
There was a knock on Morris's door.
He opened the door and found it wasn't Fred, but George.
Some twins may grow up to look completely different, but George and Fred are clearly not among them.
George's first words were. "Come and see, Morris! Fred and I have made a success of our invention!"
What invention?
Morris and George walked into the living room, Fred immediately came to greet them, holding a crystal ball the size of a fist in each hand.
The crystal ball looked no different from the one in the classroom, but it was undoubtedly a magical item.
"Try it!" Fred handed one over.
Morris took the crystal ball and looked down at it.
Something unexpected happened to him.
Inside the crystal ball, Fred's face, the television behind him, and the surrounding scenery appeared before them.
"This is..." Morris asked immediately, "The same ability as the Two-Way Mirror?"
Fred snapped his fingers. "Yes."
He excitedly explained, "This is what we learned from that Two-Way Mirror, but unfortunately, we can't transmit sound, so it only shows images."
We call it the " Surveillance Crystal Ball."
Morris observed the crystal ball with great interest; each time Fred turned the one in his hand, the image inside his crystal ball would change accordingly.
"Our idea is," George said enthusiastically, " Morris, perhaps you could integrate it into your Mental Power Connection Crystal Ball, and that would solve the sound problem."
"Ah, good idea." Morris nodded.
If this idea succeeds, his Mental Power Connection Crystal Ball will be able to evolve from voice chat to video chat.
That's a significant improvement.
For the rest of the day, Morris spent discussing improvements to the crystal ball with the twins.
The result was surprisingly smooth.
By nightfall, Morris had successfully added the video chat function to the Mental Power Connection Crystal Ball.
In addition, he also asked the twins to make several pairs of Surveillance Crystal Ball for him.
This thing can be used as a surveillance device; he plans to put a few in the Ship in a Bottle.
The twins were naturally happy to help.
Soon, it was the morning before the competition.
Before Morris even reached the dining room, Harry suddenly rushed up to him and pulled him into a secluded corridor.
"What's wrong?" Morris asked.
Harry glanced around to make sure no one was watching before lowering his voice to Morris, "The first competition is with dragons."
"A fire dragon?" Morris didn't seem very surprised. He asked, "What exactly?"
"I don't know," Harry said anxiously, "But anyway, we're definitely going to have to face the dragon, and maybe even kill it..."
He suddenly remembered that Morris possessed a Bone Dragon.
"Don't worry," Morris patted Harry on the shoulder reassuringly, "They certainly won't let you kill a dragon; that's not something you can do alone."
"So what do you think the mission is?" Harry asked after calming down.
At that moment, he was very grateful that Morris was also one of the Champion.
Although they were rivals, Morris would certainly enjoy talking to him—that's just the kind of person he is.
Morris stroked his chin and guessed, "Perhaps we can hold out against the fire dragon's attack for a while?"
Harry looked worried.
He was certain he would be crushed in a second.
You all look a bit troubled.
Suddenly, a voice came from behind them.
Produce