For the next few days, every corner of Hogwarts was plastered with the same sentence:
Support Hogwarts's champions, Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory.
Compared to Cedric, the vast majority of the students had their attention focused on Harry.
They believed that Hogwarts was certain to win this year's Triwizard Tournament.
Even Snape, during class, showed Harry a stiff smile.
But clearly, this old bat was utterly incapable of producing a bright smile. That rigid expression looked like something from a horror movie, which gave Ron plenty to complain about.
During Potions class, Harry was standing at the front of the room with Snape, helping him lecture the students. Sometimes, he even answered Snape's own questions.
After several years of research, whether in potions or spells, Harry's store of knowledge had already surpassed that of the vast majority of professors.
In many classes, rather than calling him a student, it would be more accurate to call him a teaching assistant.
Halfway through the lesson, the door of the dungeon classroom was suddenly knocked on. The sound interrupted Snape's lecture, and the entire dungeon fell silent.
A head poked through the wooden door and said somewhat shyly to Snape, "Mr. Snape, is Harry Potter here?"
The person was Colin Creevey. He was Harry's little fanboy, one year below him.
After seeing Harry, he walked directly toward the front without getting Snape's permission and came before Harry.
Snape was quite displeased by this. He questioned, "What are you doing?"
Only then did Colin realize he had done something wrong. He lowered his head and apologized, "Sorry, Mr. Snape. I need to take Harry Potter away. Upstairs."
This time, the smile on Snape's face completely disappeared. His hooked nose wrinkled slightly, and he said sharply, "Potter still has an hour of Potions class left. He can go with you after class. Now leave at once!"
Colin was scared stiff. Large beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead, but he did not leave. Instead, he said with a trembling voice, "Sorry, Mr. Snape. Harry needs to go have his photograph taken now. All the champions have to go."
At that moment, Harry spoke and helped Colin out. "Professor Snape, don't make things hard for Colin. He's only passing on a message. Let's go, Colin. I'll come with you. I didn't expect I would need to have my photograph taken. No one informed me in advance."
Colin was worthy of being Harry's little fanboy. On the way upstairs, he kept asking Harry about the Triwizard Tournament.
"Harry, are you confident you can win the Triwizard Tournament? I don't think you should give up fighting for the championship. The championship should belong to you. You're the strongest."
Rather than asking questions, it was more like a fan trying to talk to his idol. Colin kept chatting with Harry without stopping, while Harry only needed to respond with simple sounds, such as "Mm-hmm," and that was enough.
As he spoke with Colin, Harry also learned who was going to photograph them.
A reporter from the Daily Prophet. She seemed to be quite famous in the field of journalism, though her reputation was not very good.
Colin led Harry to the outside of a room, then turned and left.
When Harry pushed the door open, he saw a small classroom. The desks and chairs inside had already been cleared away, leaving a relatively spacious area.
Inside the classroom stood a witch wearing magenta robes. Apart from her, there were also the other three champions and Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.
When Fleur saw Harry push open the door and enter, she tossed her silver hair and quickly walked over, saying sweetly, "Harry, Harry, come here. I saved you a seat."
Fleur pulled Harry forward and sat him down on a chair. She was beside him, Cedric was on his other side, and the tall, strong Viktor was behind him.
When Bagman saw Harry enter, he quickly sprang up from his seat and came before Harry. "Harry, the other three have already been checked. Only you remain. Please give me your wand. I'll inspect it."
"Inspect my wand?" Harry asked in confusion.
"That's right. We must check your wands and see whether they are fully functional and in good condition. In the upcoming tasks, your wand will be your most important weapon."
During this time, Harry had searched the library for information about the Triwizard Tournament, but he had not known there was such a step.
This step was probably something newly added by the Ministry of Magic. Inspecting wands was very necessary for the other three young wizards. To a certain extent, it could increase their survival rate.
But for Harry, that was not the case.
Because of the current terrible relationship between him, Dumbledore, and the Ministry of Magic, Harry had no doubt that Ministry officials would use this opportunity to investigate his wand.
They were very likely hoping to obtain some information about him through his wand.
If the relationship between Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic ever reached freezing point in the future, or even erupted into conflict, that information could play a crucial role in battle.
Even so, Harry still drew his wand from his Pocket dimension and handed it to Bagman.
The craftsmanship behind his wand had grown out of wandmaking techniques from the wizarding world, but it had also incorporated a great deal of artifact-crafting knowledge from worlds across the multiverse.
Without all kinds of magical materials from across the multiverse, it would be impossible to reproduce it. The Ministry of Magic would never be able to find any useful information from the wand.
After receiving the wand, Bagman did not immediately examine it. Instead, he pointed at the witch in magenta robes and introduced her. "Everyone, this is Rita Skeeter. She is writing a small article about the tournament for the Daily Prophet. You will need to accept her interview shortly."
Rita Skeeter's appearance was very strange. Her hair had been arranged into elaborate, stiff, bizarre curls, which looked especially awkward when paired with her heavy-jawed face.
"Before we begin, may I have a few words with Harry?" she asked Bagman, though her eyes remained fixed firmly on Harry. "The youngest champion, you know, a little color for the article."
"No problem!" Bagman said loudly. "That is, unless Harry objects?"
"No problem," Harry said calmly.
"Wonderful," Rita Skeeter said. In the blink of an eye, her crimson, clawlike fingers grabbed Harry's arm with strength far beyond that of an ordinary person, trying to drag him into another room.
But just as she was happily thinking about how she would twist the interview content later, her entire body suddenly stiffened, and the pulling force from behind made her fall to the floor.
Rita Skeeter had thought that with her strength, she could easily drag away this young wizard who was only fourteen years old.
What she had not expected was that the force she applied to Harry would receive no reaction at all. It vanished without a trace.
It was as if she were trying to pull a giant. She had overestimated herself to an absurd degree.
After she stood up, she had originally wanted to scold Harry, but she had not expected Harry to be staring at her with an ordinary gaze.
Harry's tone was calm, but his expression was imposing. "Ms. Skeeter, you are far too rude."
Although Harry had not done anything to her, Rita Skeeter instinctively felt a soul-deep shiver of terror.
That shiver forced her to swallow the foul words she had been about to spit out.
After she came back to herself, she felt somewhat humiliated and angry, but she could no longer bring herself to scold him.
Harry ignored the witch and walked toward a small storage room off to the side.
When he heard the name Rita Skeeter just now, Harry had finally remembered the witch's identity.
A senior reporter for the Daily Prophet, famous for digging into celebrities' private lives and writing sensational gossip articles.
If Harry had guessed correctly, then Rita Skeeter would next alter the interview content and turn it into the most eye-catching but unfavorable news possible.
Harry was thinking about what method he should use to discipline this reporter later and make her behave.
The small storage room was used to store brooms, so it was already somewhat dark. When Rita Skeeter walked in and casually shut the door, the room became even darker.
The dark environment was clearly unfavorable for an interview, but Rita Skeeter was even more afraid of someone discovering that she was altering the interview content.
She walked through the door, sat on an overturned bucket, then looked at Harry, who was sitting on a cardboard box. After hesitating for a moment, she gritted her teeth and said, "Harry, I will use a Quick-Quotes Quill to take notes. You don't mind, do you? This way, I can free my hands and have a normal conversation with you."
Harry shook his head, indicating that he did not mind.
But before Rita Skeeter could show any delight, he immediately said coldly, "I can let you use a Quick-Quotes Quill to take notes, but you must guarantee that the recorded content matches the interview. Otherwise… you wouldn't want to enter a dream one day and never wake up, would you?"
A threat. This was definitely a threat, right?
The expression on Rita Skeeter's face froze there. If an ordinary young wizard had threatened her like this, Rita Skeeter absolutely would not have been afraid. But the person before her was Harry Potter.
Somewhat frightened, she shrank back to distance herself from Harry and forced up her courage. "No, Harry, you must be joking, right? That would be illegal."
Harry did not answer. He merely revealed his usual gentle smile.
Rita Skeeter only felt cold all over. She completely gave up on the idea of altering the interview content and instead forced out a stiff smile.
"All right, all right, Harry. I promise. You can rest assured."
Next, Rita Skeeter asked Harry some questions about the Triwizard Tournament, such as why he had entered the Triwizard Tournament, whether he had put his own name into the Goblet of Fire, and how he felt about the upcoming tasks.
Harry answered them one by one. The quill also moved swiftly across the parchment. Harry observed it, and what it recorded was indeed information that matched the interview.
At the very end, Rita Skeeter asked whether Harry wanted to prove his ability through the Triwizard Tournament. After Harry refuted her with, "I don't need to prove my ability," this personal interview finally ended.
When the two of them walked out of the storage room, Harry discovered that Dumbledore had also arrived in the room.
Seeing Harry come out, Dumbledore smiled and nodded to him. Harry understood what Dumbledore meant and nodded as well, indicating that there was no need to worry and that everything had been settled.
As the headmaster of Hogwarts and the greatest white wizard of the age, Dumbledore naturally knew what sort of person Rita Skeeter was.
The wand inspection was not handled by the Ministry of Magic, but by Mr. Ollivander, the wandmaker.
When Mr. Ollivander inspected the wands of the other three champions, he merely nodded slightly, indicating that there was nothing unusual about them.
But when it was time to inspect Harry's wand, Mr. Ollivander cried out in surprise. This made Dumbledore, who was standing nearby, ask with some concern, "What is it, Ollivander? Is there something wrong with Harry's wand?"
Mr. Ollivander shook his head, then turned to look at Harry and asked in confusion, "Mr. Potter, I remember that your wand was not this large wand. Where is your original wand?"
Harry took out his first wand and handed it to Ollivander.
He had not used this wand in a long time. Ever since he obtained a better wand, this wand had been placed in the deepest part of his Pocket dimension and kept there as a treasured item.
Mr. Ollivander examined the wand in his hand and nodded. "Yes, that's right. It is indeed this wand. You have kept it very well. Then where did this new wand come from? It… seems somewhat special."
Harry explained calmly, "This is a wand that belongs only to me, made from various materials I collected. It suits me better and can provide me with greater enhancement."
Mr. Ollivander was somewhat excited. "Mr. Potter, you truly are a genius. I only knew that you were a Potions Master. I had not imagined you were also a wandmaker. After the Triwizard Tournament, I hope I will have a chance to exchange wandmaking techniques with you. I am very much looking forward to it."
"Of course, Mr. Ollivander. I would be happy to."
Mr. Ollivander nodded in satisfaction, then turned to everyone and said, "Yes, their wands are all in excellent condition. Harry's wand, in particular, is very special. Seeing that wand even reminds me of the Elder Wand."
Everyone stared at Harry in surprise. They had not expected his wandmaking skills to be so formidable as well.
As for Fleur, the young witch who had already been very interested in Harry, her eyes were shining at this moment, and her face was flushed.
"Harry, you are truly amazing. Could you make a wand for me later as well? I will pay you."
Making a wand would not waste much of Harry's time. In addition, Harry had a rather favorable impression of Fleur as a young witch, so he nodded.
The other two contestants hesitated for a moment, but they did not ask Harry to help them make wands.
It was not only because they were not as bold and enthusiastic as Fleur, but also because they did not believe that a wand made by Harry would necessarily suit them better than their current wands.
Perhaps a new wand would make their strength decline instead of increase.
After the wand inspection, everyone once again sat in their respective chairs. A wizard in black robes held a camera and said to everyone, "Everyone, smile naturally. This photograph is going in the Daily Prophet."
Over the next two weeks, Harry accompanied Hermione to the library to read magic books as usual.
But unlike before, aside from Ginny, who occasionally went to the library as well, there was now also a beautiful Veela with them.
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