"My father is deliberately avoiding me."
Draco's mood was a bit sour at breakfast. He had gone to find Lucius the night before, wanting to get some answers, but was turned away. He went again early this morning, but his father wasn't there.
It was clear that Lucius didn't want to see him.
"It's probably for a reason he doesn't want you to know about," Dudley said, swallowing a mouthful of egg, trying to explain Lucius's actions.
It was obvious that the elder Malfoy didn't want his son involved, but Draco was already in the middle of it all, and it wasn't up to Lucius anymore.
To put it bluntly, when Voldemort returned, would he really let Draco go and not pull him into the Death Eater ranks?
Don't be ridiculous.
"How many people have put their names in?"
Harry finished a full glass of milk and let out a loud burp.
"All of the Durmstrang champions," Ron answered, his eyes barely leaving the Goblet of Fire.
To be honest, he really wanted to put his own name in.
Compared to Durmstrang's all-in vote, Beauxbatons was much more cautious. As of now, only half of them had put their names in.
"What about Hogwarts?"
Neville took a sip of his milk and shrugged. "After what Duds said yesterday, besides him, so far it's been zero."
Even Cedric, who had put his name in, immediately pulled out after he found out that Dudley had put his name in, let alone anyone else.
Oh, well... maybe not. There would always be people who wanted to show off.
Ron's older brothers, Fred and George, walked excitedly toward the Goblet of Fire. They both had pieces of parchment in their hands, clearly planning to sign up.
---
"Are your brothers seventeen yet, Harry asked Ron?"
Ron shook his head. "They're still six months away from being seventeen."
"That's the smell of Aging Potion. They each drank a drop of it," Dudley said, downing another egg, explaining things for them.
In theory, the other members of the Disciplinary Committee could also smell the potion, but Dudley was the only one who could smell it from that far away.
"Do you think they'll succeed?"
"Do you even have to ask?" Draco sneered, glancing at the twins. "If Dumbledore's magic was that easy to break, he wouldn't be the greatest white wizard of the twentieth century."
"They ignored Duds's warning. Let them make a fool of themselves."
Just as Draco had said, the moment the twins crossed the age line, an invisible force threw them out.
Not only that, but their chins grew thick, white beards, making them look like two Santa Clauses.
Fortunately, the twins didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, they pointed and laughed at each other's beards.
"Dumbledore's 'age line' contains a total of twenty-seven interconnected spells. A simple Aging Potion wouldn't be able to fool it... unless the potion came from Professor Snape himself."
In other words, it would have to be at least a perfect-grade Aging Potion.
"Of course, a potion isn't the only way... if you're good enough with a Confundus Charm, you could do it too."
The Confundus Charm was an incredibly useful, all-purpose spell that could be used in many situations. While most wizards knew how to use it, it was very difficult to master.
A wizard with a deep understanding of magic could not only use a Confundus Charm to get past the age line, but could also trick the Goblet of Fire, a magical artifact that had been around for centuries.
In the following days, all of the Beauxbatons students put their names in, while Hogwarts, as the host school, had no one else enter besides the failed Weasley twins.
After all, Mr. Dursley had already put his name in. Anyone else would just be an afterthought.
Time quickly flew by, and it was Halloween. The time had come to reveal the champions' identities.
During the feast, everyone sat in their seats, their eyes fixed on the blue-white flames of the Goblet of Fire in the center of the room.
"The time is almost here," Dumbledore said softly.
As he finished speaking, the flames in the Goblet of Fire suddenly changed color, turning from blue-white to a blood-red.
A tongue of flame shot into the air, making a crackling sound.
A scorched piece of parchment flew out of the Goblet of Fire.
At this moment, everyone held their breath.
"It's the Durmstrang champion," Dumbledore said, taking the parchment.
Everyone from Durmstrang tensed up.
Even though Viktor was their best-known wizard, the Goblet of Fire might not agree. Maybe it will choose me instead, they thought.
"Viktor Krum."
Unfortunately, there were no surprises. When Dumbledore read the name, the other Durmstrang wizards looked a little disappointed, but they quickly started to clap for their school's champion.
As the headmaster, Karkaroff looked overjoyed, his hands practically red from clapping.
Then, not long after, another tongue of flame shot out of the Goblet of Fire.
Another piece of parchment flew out.
"The Beauxbatons champion," Dumbledore said, reading the parchment in his hand. "Fleur Delacour."
Fleur, the girl with the silver hair, stood up from the Beauxbatons table and walked to the room next door.
Soon, the flames shot up a third time.
This time, it was Hogwarts.
Dumbledore opened the parchment and, upon seeing the name, smiled brightly. "The Hogwarts champion—Dudley Dursley!"
The next moment, a roar of applause swallowed the entire hall.
Unlike the first two schools, whose students were sad and disappointed for not being chosen, Hogwarts was united in its praise.
It was almost a consensus among the students that only Mr. Dursley was worthy of representing Hogwarts.
Even Hufflepuff, who had Cedric, had to admit that Mr. Dursley was just a little bit more famous than Cedric.
Even Dumbledore himself started to clap.
But then, something strange happened.
The Goblet of Fire shot out another flame and another piece of parchment.
At this sight, not only were Karkaroff and Maxime stunned, but even Dumbledore looked shocked. His face completely changed when he saw the name on the parchment.
"The fourth champion," he said.
"Harry Potter."
The entire hall erupted in chaos.
But the confusion didn't last long, because another flame shot out of the Goblet of Fire, spitting out another piece of parchment as usual.
Dumbledore picked up the parchment and read the name on it with a blank expression.
"Harry Potter."
The Goblet of Fire shot out another flame.
And another.
It was still Harry Potter.
Then it happened again.
And it was still Harry Potter.
How many Harry Potters was Hogwarts going to choose? Was this some kind of joke?
Someone on the teacher's podium looked frozen.