Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 300 The Fourth Hero

Harry found out very quickly.

Harry quickly figured out what Tyrell's gesture meant.

"Alright! Alright!" Once the commotion finally subsided, Dumbledore composed himself and announced loudly, "Alright, now our three heroes have been chosen. I know I can completely trust all of you, including Beauxbatons and the other students at Durmstrang. You will all give your all to support your heroes. By cheering them on, you will also make a great contribution to this event—"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped talking, and everyone could see what had caught his attention.

The flame in the goblet turned red again. Sparks crackled and popped. Suddenly, a long tongue of fire shot into the air, carrying a piece of parchment on top of it.

Dumbledore seemed to instinctively reach out a long, slender hand, grab the parchment, hold it far away, and stare at the name written on it.

A long silence followed. Dumbledore stared blankly at the note in his hand, and everyone in the Great Hall stared back at him.

Then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read aloud—

"Harry Potter!"

Harry sat there, realizing that everyone in the Great Hall had turned to look at him.

He froze, his mind blank. He must be dreaming; he must have misheard.

No applause—

A buzzing sound began to fill the auditorium, as if countless angry bees were buzzing.

Some students stood up to get a better look at Harry, but he sat frozen in his seat.

Professor McGonagall stood up at the head guest table and walked quickly past Ludo Bagman and Professor Karkaroff, whispering anxiously in Professor Dumbledore's ear. Dumbledore listened attentively, frowning slightly.

Harry turned to look at Ron and Hermione. He saw that the students at the long Gryffindor table behind them were staring at him with their mouths agape.

"I didn't put my name in," said Harry blankly. "You know I didn't."

They also looked blankly at him.

At the head table, Professor Dumbledore straightened up and nodded to Professor McGonagall.

“Harry Potter!” he shouted again. “Harry! Come here!”

"Go ahead," Hermione urged quietly, nudging Harry gently.

Harry stood up, stepped on the hem of his robe, tripped slightly, and walked forward along the passage between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables.

He felt that the road seemed exceptionally long, and the VIP seats seemed forever out of reach.

He could feel hundreds, even thousands, of eyes fixed on him, each one like a searchlight. The buzzing of voices grew louder and louder.

It felt like a full hour before he finally stood before Dumbledore, and he felt all the teachers' eyes were on him.

Dumbledore said nothing, but handed Harry the piece of paper with Harry's name on it.

Harry took it blankly and walked over to the faculty desk. Hagrid sat on the far side, neither blinking at Harry nor waving nor giving him a greeting as usual.

He seemed completely stunned, just staring blankly as Harry walked by, just like everyone else.

Harry walked through the door and out of the Great Hall, finding himself in a small room with portraits of wizards hanging on the walls. Across from him, the fireplace burned brightly.

When he went in, all the faces in the portraits turned to look at him.

He saw a wrinkled witch dart out of her own picture frame and into the one next to it, which depicted a male witch with a walrus beard.

The wrinkled witch began to whisper in his ear.

"Hi, Harry!" Tyrell came out of the prize room and gave Harry a hug—

“Come, allow me to introduce you to the fourth hero, my good friend, Harry Potter,” Tierra said to Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour.

"Hmph." Fleur Delacour snorted disdainfully.

Viktor Krum gave Tierra and Harry a cold look, but said nothing.

Clearly, Tiera hadn't had a particularly pleasant time with these two warriors.

Immediately afterward, a flurry of footsteps sounded behind Harry, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him forward.

“This is too bizarre! Too bizarre!” he muttered, gripping Harry’s arm tightly. “It’s absolutely too bizarre!”

He walked to the fire, past Tiera, and said to the other two, “Allow me to introduce you, though it may seem incredible—this is the fourth warrior in the Triwizard Tournament!”

Viktor Krum straightened up, looked Harry up and down, and a gloomy expression appeared on his arrogant face.

Fleur Delacour tossed her long hair, smiled sweetly, and said, "Oh, that's a funny joke, Mr. Bagman."

"A joke?" Bagman repeated, somewhat puzzled. "No, no, absolutely not! Harry's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!"

Krum's thick eyebrows furrowed slightly, and Fleur frowned.

“Once is enough for this mistake!” she said haughtily to Bagman. “First you sent us a glib little brat, and now? A fourth warrior has appeared, also a twelve or thirteen-year-old brat? Oh my god, oh ho ho, this is really funny.”

“Yes…it is surprising indeed,” Bagman said, rubbing his smooth chin and smiling as he looked down at Harry. “But, as you know, the age limit, as an additional security measure, was only implemented this year. Now that his name has been spurted from the goblet…I mean, I think that now that we’ve come this far, there’s no room for backing out…It’s clearly stated in the rules, and you must abide by them…Harry must do his best—”

The door behind them was pushed open again, and a large group of people rushed in: Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Mrs. Rosie, Professor Karkaroff, Mrs. Maxim, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Nicholas Lemour, who moved slowly at the back of the line.

Before Professor McGonagall closed the door, Harry heard a buzzing discussion coming from the Great Hall next door, from hundreds of students.

"Mrs. Maxim!" Fleur immediately complained, striding towards her headmaster, "They said these two little boys want to participate in the competition too!"

"You... brat!" Mrs. Rosie followed closely behind Mrs. Maxim, angrily shoving Tyella with her hand—

Tiera was jolted and startled by the push—

Wait, what's going on?
Who is this person? Why did she push me?
(End of this chapter)