Chapter 406: More Precious
Chapter 406: More Precious
In the third-year classroom, a jewel-encrusted wooden box sat on the teacher's desk.
"Isn't this familiar?" Ginny whispered. Next to her, a young witch with tousled hair sat as if she had just woken up.
Felix tapped the box with his wand, and the wooden box creaked open, revealing a crudely crafted wooden goblet. As it came into view, the young wizards all widened their eyes, and two students dropped their quills.
"The Goblet of Fire!?"
A collective gasp echoed through the room. One student exclaimed, staring in disbelief at the blue fire quietly burning in the goblet.
Felix smiled, "Of course... it's not", he said, catching his breath.
"The Goblet of Fire has been extinguished. This is a replica. I found a piece of wood while taking a walk at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. I was thinking about how to pique your interest..." He grinned, "So I decided to create a memento in honor of the tournament."
The students sat up straight, their eyes fixed on him.
"This is today's test prize. For your safety, the fire is harmless."
"Professor Hup, is this the Eternal Flame?"
"No, that's a fire that burns forever, also known as the Eternal Flame", Felix explained. "While I can conjure it, it does take quite a bit of time..."
The students couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed at the professor's expression of annoyance.
"Even though it's not the Eternal Flame, it has its own merits", Felix added.
He dipped his finger into the fire in the goblet, pulling out a small blue flame. He watched it burn quietly on his hand for a while before it gradually disappeared.
When he looked up, he met the sparkling eyes of the students.
He smiled, thinking that the five minutes he spent creating this one-time prop had been well worth it. The only question was what he would use next time. "So, let's start today's test. Take out your Answer Parchment. I've updated it with the latest assessment information..."
The young wizards sprang into action, spreading out their Answer Parchments, tapping their wands, and reciting spells. Soon, they discovered a new symbol in the Ancient Runes section—a simple ink sketch of the Goblet of Fire.
Ginny quickly tapped the symbol. She was particularly eager to get the replica goblet, and her hand was trembling with excitement. She jabbed at the parchment twice, so hard that one might have thought she would puncture the thin paper.
But no student had managed to do this yet, as the professors had personally cast a strong binding spell on the Answer Parchment.
The Goblet of Fire symbol on the Answer Parchment lit up slowly, with a flickering blue fire burning from the rim. Then, it spat out a gift box tied with a blue bow. The box grew larger on the parchment, and under her amazed gaze, a blue glow gathered above the parchment. The parchment then formed a swirling vortex, and the gift box rose slowly from the vortex, appearing in the real world.
She recognized it as magic, as the surface of the box looked unreal, shimmering with blue waves.
She glanced around quickly; the others, including the dazed Luna, were staring at the gift box being lifted by the vortex. Although she wasn't sure if her friend had fully woken up, Luna did pull out her wand from behind her left ear.
Ginny gently nudged Luna with her shoulder, "Let's see who can get it faster!"
"Sure", Luna said, giving her a blank look before lowering her head, revealing a small braid in her tousled hair.
The gift box opened silently, revealing a bronze book with a lock. She tried the Unlocking Charm, but it didn't work. "I'm such a fool", she muttered, tapping her forehead. She then used her wand to draw a few Runic Script symbols on the blank cover of the bronze book, and the lock vanished without a sound.
Opening the first page, she saw a question, "Your motto?"
She quickly wrote, "Attack like a lion." Only after finishing did she realize something was off. She stared at the pale blue-green page for a few seconds, seeing no change. She quickly translated the phrase into Ancient Runes.
Fortunately, she had previously asked Luna about this question.
The Bronze Book flipped to the next page, and Ginny took the opportunity to sneak a glance at Luna. Luna's answers were completely different from hers, but she had also passed smoothly. This made Ginny realize that there wasn't just one correct answer.
She composed herself and focused on the second page, which displayed a series of disordered Runic Script characters. At the top was a phrase: "I have been shuffled." She quickly recalled the Runic Script, and while there was one she didn't recognize, she already knew the answer. It was a sentence from the "Nar and the Clay Dolls" lesson.
After considerable effort, she finally extracted the last deeply hidden Ancient Runes from the page's intricate patterns, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Luna had already turned to the third page, which made her feel a wave of anxiety.
Time ticked by, and Felix sat leisurely in the chair beside the podium, organizing his Runic Script book. Occasionally, he would stand up and walk around the classroom, checking on the students' progress.
Luna was currently the fastest, followed by Ginny and Colin Creevey. The latter, a member of the "Harry Potter Admirers Club" with his brother, was well-known even to Felix. This somewhat peculiar fan club had already attracted many first and second-year young wizards, and after the first Triwizard Tournament task, it was beginning to spread to the older grades.
The three of them were performing differently.
Luna gently swayed her head, answering questions at a leisurely pace, sometimes adjusting the order of sentences to make them as neat as possible. Ginny and Colin were sweating profusely, with the youngest Weasley girl's fiery red hair sticking to her forehead.
"Ten minutes left, and any answers submitted after that will be penalized", Felix reminded them.
Ginny was sweating with anxiety. The Bronze Book in front of her had only a few pages left, but they were getting increasingly difficult. She irritably flicked her hair, which looked like a bright, dancing flame, matching the fire in the Goblet of Fire on the podium.
It's too late...
Ginny thought. Luna seemed to have been quiet for a while. Had she finished? Why hadn't she heard any report? She forced herself to ignore everything and focus. Five minutes later, she finally completed her answer.
In an instant, the Bronze Book flipped back to the first page and closed. The Answer Parchment once again displayed a blue vortex, from which a flurry of colorful fireworks and "bangs" erupted.
The sudden noise made the young wizards look up in confusion, their eyes drawn to Ginny's position.
"Well, it seems we have our first finisher", Felix said, standing beside her with a rough wooden replica of the Goblet of Fire in his hands, its surface flickering with brilliant blue fire. "Here you go, Miss Weasley."
...
After class, the other students gathered around Ginny, envying her and asking for permission to touch the blue fire.
"It's so beautiful... I was so close", Colin Creevey lamented. "I got to the last question. What about you, Luna? You're always good at this; I thought you would win!"
"I also stopped at the last question", Luna said in a sing-song voice.
"Really? That question was indeed tough. Maybe if I had five more minutes..." Colin said regretfully. "You were really lucky, Ginny... Ginny?"
Ginny was looking at Luna with a scrutinizing gaze, biting her lip and whispering, "Luna, you 'stopped' at the last question?"
"Oh, uh, yes", Luna said, shaking her hair. "It was quite difficult, wasn't it? I thought about it for a long time... it's so beautiful." She stared at the Goblet of Fire with her slightly bulging, pale silver eyes.
"Do you want it? I can give it to you", Ginny said.
"Uh, what?" Luna waved her hands nervously. "I don't need it... because, because..."
"Because she already has something more precious", Felix interjected gently. "Is that what you meant, Miss Lovegood?"
"Of course", Luna nodded eagerly.
(End of Chapter)
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