Faced with this sudden turn of events, everyone was puzzled.
Still, Dumbledore subconsciously reached out one long, slender hand and caught the tattered piece of parchment.
He held the parchment tightly and stared at its contents. After a long silence, he sighed, cleared his throat, and read aloud, "My apologies, ladies and gentlemen. An unexpected situation has occurred. We now have a fourth champion.
"And the fourth champion's name is, from Hogwarts, Harry Potter!"
After that came a long silence. No one in the entire Great Hall spoke. They all turned to stare at Harry, their eyes filled with confusion.
After the silence, there came a surging eruption.
There was no applause. Only a buzzing sound began to spread through the Great Hall, as if countless angry bees were humming at once.
The students all began discussing what would happen if Harry took part in the Triwizard Tournament.
Even Professor McGonagall, who was usually so composed, stood up from the staff table and quickly walked past several professors to Dumbledore's side, whispering urgently into his ear.
Of course, the students below the platform were discussing it even more fiercely.
One Slytherin student who had always disliked Harry shouted loudly, "This isn't fair! Letting Harry compete in the Triwizard Tournament isn't fair at all!"
All the students instinctively nodded. They also felt it was unfair.
But if a wizard who did not understand the situation had been present, they might have thought it was unfair to Harry, a young wizard only fifteen years old, to participate in the Triwizard Tournament.
But none of the wizards who knew the truth thought that way.
They felt that if Harry took part in the Triwizard Tournament, it would be unfair to the three champions chosen before him.
Everyone knew just how powerful Harry was. His strength was far beyond that of students still attending school.
If Harry participated in the Triwizard Tournament, what would be left to look forward to in this thrilling and suspenseful competition?
The result was already decided. Harry would obtain the honor of champion and leave a heavy mark in the histories of all three schools.
But even that heavy mark, even that honor ordinary young witches and wizards could only dream of obtaining, would be nothing more than icing on the cake for Harry.
In fact, before the competition, when Dumbledore had told the students that anyone under eighteen would not be allowed to participate, most of them had believed that it was not only because younger students would face mortal danger if they joined, but also because of the abnormal existence that was Harry.
The Triwizard Tournament had been founded for glory, exchange, and testing.
If Harry participated, the Triwizard Tournament would completely lose its original meaning.
Ron, George, and the others sitting beside Harry all stared at him curiously and asked, "Harry, when did you secretly put your name into the Goblet of Fire? Why didn't you tell us? We could have entered with you. That's not very loyal of you!"
Faced with everyone's questioning, Harry merely shook his head calmly and denied it.
"No. I didn't put my name into the Goblet of Fire. I don't know what's going on either."
Although many of the students still had questions, they stopped asking Harry for the time being and chose to believe him.
After all, Harry's prestige was there. No one thought he would lie at a time like this.
Not only because he would not lie, but because he would disdain lying.
On the platform, Professor McGonagall straightened up and stopped talking to Dumbledore.
Dumbledore nodded slightly to Professor McGonagall, then called loudly to Harry, "Harry Potter, please come up here."
Harry calmly stood up and walked along the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables until he reached the platform and stood beside Dumbledore.
Everyone stared at the platform, waiting for Dumbledore's next words.
But to everyone's surprise, Dumbledore only nodded gently to Harry, then said, "Go on, Harry. Enter through that door. I believe that if you represent Hogwarts in the Triwizard Tournament, then the championship will certainly belong to us, provided you have any interest in it."
After saying that, Dumbledore even winked at Harry.
Dumbledore knew that there had to be some conspiracy behind Harry being suddenly chosen, but he did not care. After all, this matter could not affect Harry at all.
Harry could handle it himself and drag out the mastermind causing trouble behind the scenes.
When Harry entered the room next door, the three champions chosen earlier were gathered around the fireplace, quietly warming themselves by the fire.
When she saw Harry come in, Fleur immediately stood up from her chair, bounced over to Harry's side, and smiled brightly. "Harry, I didn't expect you to be chosen too. Then from now on, we are rivals.
"You must give it your all in the final battle. I would not want you to hold back because we are friends. I want to win the championship through my own strength."
A dark line seemed to appear across Harry's forehead. We only exchanged a few sentences. When did we become friends?
This young witch with Veela blood really was overly familiar. However, Harry would not directly deny it, though of course, he would not agree either. He merely revealed a gentle smile.
Seeing that Harry did not deny it, Fleur looked delighted and took another step forward. "Harry, why don't we form an alliance in the upcoming tasks? If the two of us work together, we will definitely be able to win the championship."
Those words immediately attracted the attention of the other two champions. They stared nervously at Harry and Fleur. Both of them were powerful young wizards. Harry alone was already difficult for them to deal with, let alone the two of them forming an alliance.
If they truly allied, perhaps the two of them would be eliminated right at the beginning of the tournament.
What made them breathe a sigh of relief was that Harry shook his head slightly and said, "Sorry, Fleur. I didn't put my name into the Goblet of Fire, and I don't want to take part in the Triwizard Tournament. This competition is your honor. I'm just here to coast through it."
Although Fleur did not know what "coast through it" meant exactly, she could roughly guess from the context. She said in surprise, "So you really did not put your name into the Goblet of Fire. Then why were you chosen?"
Harry helplessly spread his hands, showing that he did not know either.
A burst of noisy conversation came from the doorway of the room as the professors entered one after another.
Even from far away, Madame Maxime's forceful voice reached the four of them. "Dumbledore, what is the meaning of this? Why is there a fourth champion?"
"I would like to know that as well, Dumbledore," Professor Karkaroff said coldly, his blue eyes as icy as blocks of frozen water. "How can Hogwarts have two champions? I do not recall anyone informing me of this.
"And what is more, one of them is Harry Potter. We discussed this before. One of the reasons we set the age limit was to prevent Harry Potter from competing. Why is Hogwarts violating the plan we agreed upon?"
Madame Maxime walked to Fleur's side and placed her large hand, decorated with many magnificent opals, on Fleur's shoulder. She said in complete dissatisfaction, "I do not agree. This is utterly unfair. Hogwarts cannot have two champions. Harry Potter absolutely cannot participate in the Triwizard Tournament."
The chill in Mr. Karkaroff's eyes deepened. "Can that Age Line of yours truly exclude competitors who are not old enough, Dumbledore? If I had known something like this would happen, I would have had all my students enter. That way, even if Harry Potter participated, we would not necessarily lose."
The two headmasters from the other schools were extremely dissatisfied and still wanted to say more, but at that moment, Harry's voice sounded from the side. "You two professors don't need to worry too much. I won't fight for the championship."
Clearly, the headmasters of the other two magic schools did not believe Harry's words.
"We do not trust you. If you do not want to win the Triwizard Tournament and claim the championship, then why did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire?"
Harry frowned slightly and explained again, "I already said that I did not put my name into the Goblet of Fire."
Madame Maxime said loudly, "No, I do not believe you. You must be lying."
Professor McGonagall naturally could not bear to see her student slandered. She said sternly, "We all know that underage students cannot cross that Age Line, even if they use an Aging Potion."
But Madame Maxime blocked Professor McGonagall with a single sentence. "But he is Harry Potter, is he not?"
This time, Professor McGonagall could no longer refute her. After all, the fact that other students could not cross the Age Line did not mean Harry could not.
Putting aside everything else, the mere fact that he was the youngest Potions Master in history and the creator of several powerful potions was enough to make people certain that he could come up with a method to cross that Age Line.
Seeing Professor McGonagall retreat, Madame Maxime grew even more unrestrained. She sneered, "It seems to me that Hogwarts simply wants to take advantage and insist on claiming the Triwizard Tournament championship for itself. You people are shameless."
Before Professor McGonagall could argue on their behalf, Harry suddenly scolded coldly, "Shut up, Maxime. I already said I won't win the championship. If you insist on not believing me, there is nothing I can do. But please shut your mouth and stop slandering my teachers. Otherwise, you won't speak again for a month."
As the headmistress of a magic school, when had Madame Maxime ever been scolded like this by anyone, let alone by an underage student?
Her face flushed red, veins bulging on her forehead, and she wanted to reprimand Harry.
But just as she tried to speak, she suddenly realized that she could not say anything.
After noticing something wrong, Madame Maxime immediately raised both hands to touch her mouth.
But she was shocked to discover that her mouth had disappeared at some unknown point. The place where her mouth had originally been was now replaced by a smooth patch of skin.
This discovery reminded her of Harry's warning just now. Now the warning had come true.
She really could not speak. Her mouth seemed to have been erased by some powerful force, as if it had never existed from the very beginning.
This terrified Madame Maxime. She did not know how Harry had done it.
At the same time, all the rumors about Harry Potter that had previously circulated through the wizarding world echoed in her mind.
Could Harry Potter truly be that powerful?
He had actually erased her mouth without her noticing.
This was definitely some powerful ancient magic. Transfiguration could not achieve such an effect.
Karkaroff, standing beside her, looked in horror at Madame Maxime's strange face. Madame Maxime's mouth had vanished at some unknown moment, and he had not noticed it either.
That also meant that as long as Harry wished, he could be struck at any time as well. Perhaps he might never be able to speak again for the rest of his life, or even eat.
So Mr. Karkaroff immediately swallowed the words he had been about to say, his expression ugly as he remained where he was.
After thinking for a moment, he eventually turned his gaze toward Dumbledore, silently pleading for Dumbledore to rein in this audacious young wizard.
Dumbledore's expression had not changed from beginning to end. It remained as gentle as ever.
Only after receiving Mr. Karkaroff's plea for help did he smile and say, "Harry, remove the magic. Madame Maxime was simply a little emotional. She did not mean it.
"After all, no matter what, you have become the fourth champion. Hogwarts is indeed somewhat in the wrong here."
Harry nodded, removed the magic, and restored Madame Maxime's mouth.
After that, Dumbledore addressed Madame Maxime and Mr. Karkaroff. "You two, the matter has already happened. We cannot change it, as the rules of the Goblet of Fire are protected by a magical contract.
"But you need not worry. Hogwarts will absolutely not take advantage of you. I swear in the name of Dumbledore that Harry will absolutely not participate in the fight for the Triwizard Tournament championship."
This time, Madame Maxime and Mr. Karkaroff had nothing more to say. Continuing to argue would bring them no advantage, so they could only give a cold snort and leave with their students.
However, Fleur, who was following behind Madame Maxime, looked at Harry with an increasingly heated gaze.
When she passed by Harry, Fleur winked at him and left with a smile.
The next day, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were eating in the Great Hall. Hermione stared into Harry's beautiful green eyes and asked, "Harry, are you really not planning to compete for the Triwizard Tournament championship?"
Harry shook his head. "Of course I'm not. If the list selected by the Goblet of Fire weren't protected by a magical contract, I wouldn't even participate."
Ron stuffed a large chicken drumstick into his mouth and asked unclearly, "Then who do you think put your name into the Goblet of Fire? It couldn't have been the Goblet of Fire creating a slip of parchment by itself and writing your name on it, right?"
Harry shook his head. He did not know either.
Although the time-solidifying array could prevent others from traveling through time and launching time-based attacks, it had also caused him to lose his ability to use prophecy and observe time.
So he truly did not know who had put his name into the Goblet of Fire.
Perhaps it was Barty Crouch Jr., who was disguised as Mad-Eye Moody. Perhaps it was some pure-blood family wizard hidden in the shadows. It might even have been some jealous upper-year student.
There were all sorts of possibilities. For all kinds of reasons, any of them could be true.
But Harry did not care.
He would soon be able to drag that person out.
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