Chapter 501: The Three Champions
Chapter 501: The Three Champions
For the first time, everyone felt that Saturday would be an interminably long day.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl, and games like Wizard's Chess and Exploding Snap, which usually provided endless entertainment, now felt dull and tedious. Every now and then, they would pause and look up, checking to see if the sky outside had darkened yet.
From morning to noon, and then to afternoon... it felt like an entire month had passed before the sky finally grew dark.
As the moon rose, everyone eagerly made their way to the Great Hall.
Perhaps due to the back-to-back feasts, even the meticulously prepared sumptuous dishes were less appealing today.
People merely picked at their food before setting down their utensils, frequently glancing up to see if Professor Dumbledore had finished eating.
"Sit down," Hermione finally said to Ron, who had stood up for the third time. "The Goblet of Fire needs time to make its decision, and even Professor Dumbledore can't announce the results early."
"How do you know that?" Ron asked. "Does it tell you the time once you drop a name into it?"
"Of course not!" Hermione said impatiently. "Haven't you ever read 'Hogwarts: A History'? It's all explained in there."
"I doubt many people would read such a thick book," Ron muttered, but seeing signs of anger from Hermione, he quickly added, "All right, could you please just tell us what time it is?"
Everyone around them turned to look as well.
"The book only mentions that the Goblet of Fire will go out after a day," Hermione said. "But the Goblet was taken out at the end of yesterday's feast, so it should be around 7:30 according to the time."
Ron checked the time—it was 7:10... which meant they still had to wait for another twenty minutes?
He fiddled restlessly with a pudding, not eating it but poking it with his fork as he asked, "Who do you think will be Hogwarts' champion?"
Harry glanced around and, seeing Fred and George on the other side of the table, lowered his voice. "I hope it's Angelina."
"I think it would be nice if Fred were chosen, too," Ron said. "Then I'd be the brother of a champion, and Krum might even give me his autograph."
Hermione let out a derisive snort.
"But I think it could also be Hermione," Harry suddenly realized that there was another person sitting with them who had entered the tournament, and quickly added, "Your grades are even higher than Angelina's."
Hermione, rarely, flushed, then worked to appear as she usually did.
"That's just because I chose all the courses last year, so my scores look higher."
"No, I think Harry's right," Ron nodded solemnly. "You're always the first to finish the teacher's tasks, and even Snape can't fault you."
Hermione turned her head and looked at Ron in surprise, as if she had never met him before.
In fact, after learning that she had thrown her name into the Goblet of Fire, Ron, though he did not say so, still felt a little uncomfortable... It was obvious that from the morning, Ron had not taken the initiative to talk to her.
So Hermione never expected him to say that now.
But Ron didn't notice, poking at his pudding and continuing, "If you really become a champion... can you get me Krum's autograph?"
Hermione's face quickly cooled, and she grabbed a book and threw it at Ron.
The thick "Evolution of Medieval Devil Texts" hit the table in front of Ron, scaring him so much that he almost threw his fork away.
"What are you doing? That book almost hit me!" Ron roared angrily.
But Hermione had already turned her head away and was not looking at him.
Finally, after twenty minutes, the last dessert disappeared.
Dumbledore stood up, and the Great Hall immediately fell silent.
"Well, the Goblet of Fire is about to make its decision," said Dumbledore, who seemed as nervous and expectant as everyone else.
He then waved his magic wand, and half of the candles in the Great Hall went out, leaving only the pumpkins lit.
In this half-bright, half-dark state, the Goblet of Fire seemed brighter than ever, its bright blue-white flames dazzling.
Next to the Hufflepuff table, Cedric kept sucking in his breath. "I've never been so nervous.
Then, a tongue of fire shot into the air, and a charred piece of parchment flew out of it... The Great Hall fell silent instantly, everyone holding their breath.
A large hand caught the piece of parchment.
"The Durmstrang Champion..." Dumbledore announced loudly: "...is Viktor Krum!"
"Hooray!"
"It's Krum..."
"That's no surprise!"
Applause and cheers swept through the Great Hall.
Krum stood up from the Slytherin table, and Ludo Bagman immediately escorted him to the neighboring room.
"Well done, Viktor!" boomed Karkaroff.
When the applause finally subsided, a second piece of parchment shot out from the Goblet of Fire.
"The Champion of Beauxbatons..." said Dumbledore, "...is Fleur Delacour!"
Next to Connor, Fleur stood up gracefully and walked lightly past the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables.
The applause this time was not as enthusiastic, as many people stared at her dumbfounded, Ron with his mouth hanging open, completely stunned.
When they came back to their senses, Fleur had already walked into the adjoining room.
The Great Hall fell silent once more, but unlike the previous two times, this silence was filled with an intensely clear sense of excitement.
The moment for the announcement of the Hogwarts Champion had arrived...
As the third piece of parchment appeared in Dumbledore's hand, nearly half the people in the room stood up involuntarily.
"The Hogwarts Champion..." Dumbledore looked at the name on the parchment and suddenly smiled, "...is Kyle..."
Without warning, Kyle felt his brain buzz as if hundreds of Billywigs were holding a ball, drowning out all other sounds.
In fact, the Great Hall had indeed fallen silent.
Deafening cheers erupted like a tsunami, as if about to lift the ceiling.
"I knew it!"
Kyle felt himself being hugged... It was Connor, who was jumping for joy, her ears turning red with excitement.
"Don't you consider my feelings at all?" Cedric said helplessly.
Despite his words, he was equally excited and hugged Kyle as well. "Great job! I knew you could do it!"
At the same time, Autumn, Fred, and George rushed over, and the group huddled around Kyle.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," Dumbledore reminded them, "but the other two Champions are waiting, so you'd best let him through."
Everyone immediately stepped aside, making way for Kyle.
On the high table, Chris smiled at him and gestured toward the side door, indicating that he should hurry over.
Next to him, Karkaroff couldn't help but laugh upon hearing Kyle's name.
After the rules of the Triwizard Tournament had been established, he had specifically researched the students of Hogwarts.
The first one he looked into was Kyle, the recipient of the Second Class Order of Merlin.
However, Karkaroff didn't think much of it. A giant over three meters tall, along with the famous Magizoologist, Silvanus Kettleburn. With these two around, they could probably handle the werewolf even if they brought a Muggle along.
So, in his opinion, Kyle's Second Class honor was simply a result of luck, the generosity of a couple of wizards, and Dumbledore's influence... nothing more.
What he was more concerned about was Kyle's age... He had just turned fifteen, barely meeting the age requirement.
On the other hand, Krum was already eighteen, and in the context of students who hadn't graduated yet, a three-year gap was huge... It was as good as handing them the championship.
Durmstrang was guaranteed victory!
At that moment, Dumbledore happened to turn around.
"Albus," Karkaroff said with a smile, "he's the youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin, isn't he? Hogwarts truly is brimming with talent."
"Igor, if we're talking about talent, the most popular Seeker in legend is from Durmstrang."
The two men looked at each other and then simultaneously broke into heartfelt smiles.
(End of Chapter)
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