Harry doesn't want to be a wizard, he wants to be a superhero

Chapter 295 The Triwizard Tournament: The Mad-Eyed Man Who Was Replaced

Everyone in the auditorium turned to look at the stranger when suddenly a forked bolt of lightning flashed across the ceiling, illuminating him.

He took off his hood, revealing a head of long, gray hair, and began to walk toward the faculty desk.

With each step he took, a hollow sound echoed in the auditorium.

He walked straight to the end of the main seating area, turned right, and limped toward Dumbledore.

The flashes of lightning illuminated the auditorium, revealing the person's face.

Every inch of his face seemed to be scarred, his mouth was a crooked, gaping wound, and most terrifying of all were his eyes.

One of his eyes was small, black, and sparkling, while the other eye was large, round like a coin, and a bright, vivid blue.

The blue eye kept moving without blinking, turning up, down, left, and right, completely unrelated to the normal eye.

A stranger approached Dumbledore.

He stretched out one hand, which, like his face, was covered in scars.

Dumbledore shook hands with him, whispered a few words, and finally gestured for the man to sit in an empty seat to his right.

"Allow me to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Dumbledore broke the silence happily, "Professor Moody."

After Dumbledore finished his introduction, Ali heard the hushed whispers of the other young wizards around him.

“Do you know him?” a young wizard asked, raising his head. “He captured half of the dark wizards in Azkaban, but now he’s always acting crazy.”

Harry heard what the young wizard said and turned to look at Mad-Eye Moody.

The observation runes flashed in his eyes, and the true face hidden by the compound potion appeared before him.

In Harry's eyes, Mad-Eye Moody, with his scarred face, instantly transformed into a middle-aged man with a head of dry, tangled, licorice-like hair, a gaunt face, and pale skin.

Harry felt that the middle-aged man looked somewhat familiar, and after thinking about it carefully, he suddenly remembered someone.

Barty Crouch, Head of the Department of Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic!

He bore at least a 60% resemblance to the middle-aged man in front of him.

Ali quickly recognized the person in front of her; it must be Barty Crouch's son, Barty Crouch Jr.

Of course, he also had another identity: Voldemort's loyal servant, a Death Eater.

Why would Barty Crouch Jr. impersonate Mad-Eye Hammoody? And where is the real Mad-Eye Hammoody?
Harry found it amusing that Barty Crouch Jr. must have had his reasons for going to such lengths to infiltrate Hogwarts.

This purpose may be related to Voldemort, or even a foreshadowing of Voldemort's resurrection.

However, Harry was not worried, nor did he immediately expose Barty Crouch Jr.'s idea.

He planned to use Barty Crouch Jr. as bait to lure out more Death Eaters.

Voldemort and the Death Eaters are just a minor problem now; the bigger problem is how to better reform the wizarding world.

As the young wizards discussed Mad-Eye Moody's past, Dumbledore coughed a few more times and began to speak.

“As I just said,” he said with a smile, looking at the large group of students in front of him, “we will be very honored to host a very exciting event in the coming months: the Triwizard Tournament will be held at Hogwarts this year.”

“You’re kidding me!” Fred Weasley suddenly shouted.

The tense atmosphere that had hung over the auditorium ever since Moody entered was immediately broken.

Almost everyone laughed out loud, and Dumbledore laughed too:

“I’m not joking, Mr. Weasley. Some of you don’t know what this tournament is all about, so I’m going to explain it to you.”

The Triwizard Tournament was established over 700 years ago and is a friendly competition between the three largest magic schools in Europe.

The three schools are: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang.

Each school selects one warrior, and then the three warriors compete in three magical events.

The Triwizard Tournament is held every five years, with the three schools taking turns hosting it. Everyone agrees that it is an excellent way for young wizards from different countries to build friendships.

However, the death toll became too high, and the three-way championship was suspended.

“The death toll?” Hermione whispered, looking around in astonishment. She gripped Harry’s hand tightly, as if his hand could give her courage.

Dumbledore continued:

"For centuries, people have tried to revive the tournament several times, but none of them have succeeded."

However, the time is ripe to try again, and we have done a lot of work this summer to ensure that no warrior is in mortal danger.

In October, competitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will arrive, and the ceremony to select the warrior will take place on the eve of Halloween.

An impartial referee will determine which students are most qualified to compete for the Triwizard Cup, bringing honor to their schools and earning a prize of 1,000 Galleons.

I know you all long to win the Triwizard Tournament trophy for Hogwarts.

However, the participating schools and the Ministry of Magic agreed that an age limit should be set for this year's competitors.

Only students who are seventeen years of age or older are allowed to apply, and their applications will be considered.

We believe this measure is necessary because the competition remains very challenging and dangerous.

No matter how many precautions we take, we simply cannot handle students in grades six and seven and below.

I personally guarantee that no student under the age will be able to deceive our impartial referees and become a Hogwarts warrior.

Therefore, if you are under seventeen, I urge you not to waste your time submitting an application.

The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will arrive in October and spend most of the academic year with us.

Okay, it's getting late now, and it's very important for you to walk into class tomorrow morning refreshed and clear-headed. Go to bed! hurry up! "

Dumbledore sat down and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody.

As soon as Dumbledore finished speaking, the young wizards all stood up.

They walked to their respective lounges according to their college.

Of course, Harry and the others also left the Great Hall and headed towards the Gryffindor common room.

Fred and George continued their argument along the way, trying to figure out how Dumbledore would prevent students under seventeen from participating in the tournament. "Who will be the fair referee to judge who the champions are?" George asked.

“I don’t know,” Fred said, “but he’s the one we’re going to fool. I think a drop or two of the anti-aging serum will do the trick, George…”

The twins never disregarded danger; they wanted to participate in this competition and leave a lasting mark on Hogwarts' history.

“But Dumbledore knows you’re not old enough,” Ron said, trying to dissuade them.

“Yes, but he doesn’t decide who the champion is, does he?” Fred said shrewdly. “It sounds to me like this referee just picks the best little wizard from each school as long as he knows who wants to participate, and he doesn’t care about age.”

"Are you still planning to participate? You know, a lot of people have died in the past," Hermione asked worriedly.

Hermione clearly underestimated the twins' courage, and Fred said nonchalantly:

"Don't be afraid, Hermione. That happened a long time ago, right?"
With Dumbledore and the others around, we should be much safer.

Besides, this is an adventure; it would be too boring without challenges.

Ron, the twin brother, was persuaded by them.

Luo looked interested and asked Harry, who was standing beside him:

“Harry, what do you think? Do you want to participate? It would be fantastic if we could participate, but I think we're too old and might not be able to pass Dumbledore's test.”

Before Harry could answer, George excitedly exclaimed:
“Harry is more powerful than most adult wizards. If he can participate, it will be an absolute game-changer.”

Harry shook his head and denied it:

“I have no interest in participating. After all, my name has already left a strong mark on the history of Hogwarts. I don’t need to prove myself with this competition.”

but……"

Harry suddenly thought of Mad-Eye Moody, who had been replaced by Barty Jr., and then recalled how Moody had been staring at him with ill intent at the banquet. He felt that Moody was after him.

So Harry paused for a moment and continued, "But someone might want me to participate, just in case I don't have to sign up myself."

George clearly hadn't guessed Harry's true meaning; he excitedly proclaimed, as if eager to stir up trouble:

"If Harry can really participate, that would be so interesting. I wonder how desperate the young wizards from the other two schools would feel if they saw a fourth-year Dark Lord who could easily defeat an adult wizard."

Now even Ron and Hermione were looking forward to it.

……

The storm had subsided by the next morning, but a somber mood still hung over the auditorium ceiling.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were eating breakfast while studying their course schedules for the semester.

“Not bad today, all morning outdoors,” Ron said, his finger slid across the Monday section of the timetable. “Herbalism class, with the Hufflepuff students, Magical Creatures Protection class… Damn, with Slytherins again!”

Ron still dislikes Slytherin, just as Harry dislikes Mephisto.

Hagrid is still the professor of the Magical Creatures class, and he always manages to create dangerous situations in class, such as how to breed Blasttail snails in this lesson.

No young wizard would like a creature that can suck blood and explode, which is why Hagrid is not a popular professor.

Herbalism class remained the same as always, and Professor Sprout's teaching never disappointed the young wizards.

Soon it was time for the last Defense Against the Dark Arts class. This time, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor frightened the young wizards. They were worried that Mad-Eye Moody would cause some trouble, just like Lockhart in the second year.

Sure enough, this lesson was destined to be different. At the beginning, Mad-Eye Moody gave the young wizards a surprise.

Professor Moody took the attendance sheet and began calling roll. After finishing, he grinned maliciously:

"I received a letter from Professor Lu Ping introducing the course."

It seems you've already grasped quite a bit of the basics about how to deal with dark magic creatures.

You've learned how to deal with Boggart, Red Hat, Hinkpunk, Grindylow, Kaba, and the werewolf, haven't you?"

The students murmured their approval.

“But you haven’t learned nearly enough, far too little, how to deal with spells,” Moody said. “Therefore, I’m going to show you what wizards do. I have a year to teach you how to deal with the Dark Lord—”

"What, what did you say?" Ron blurted out.

Dark Lord, you must be thinking of the Dark Lord, right?

Moody's demonic eye turned and fixed on Ron.

Ron looked terrified. Noticing Ron's appearance, Moody smiled seemingly kindly, but when he smiled, his scarred face looked even more distorted and bizarre.

If a young wizard who didn't know better saw Moody smiling like that, he would think that Moody was trying to comfort Ron.

However, Harry noticed that his genuine smile stemmed from seeing Ron and the other young wizards' fear of Voldemort.

He was indeed a Death Eater; even after Voldemort's death, he remained extremely loyal to him, regarding himself as a servant.

Moody didn't notice Harry's change in mood; he didn't even dare to look at Harry.

Before this, he had heard many legends about this wicked little wizard, such as how he had defeated Voldemort several times and how he was stronger than an adult Auror.

At first he didn’t believe it, but after dozens of Death Eaters in a march were killed by Thunder not long ago, he had no choice but to believe it.

You're telling me this is a little wizard?
Therefore, Moody developed a fear of Harry, but he had no choice but to come for his master's sake.

All he could do was try his best to avoid eye contact and physical contact with Harry, so as to prevent the perceptive young wizard from noticing his unusual behavior.

“You’re Arthur Weasley’s son, aren’t you?” Moody chuckled hoarsely, then clapped his rough hands. “I’m on good terms with your father. He even helped me get back into a normal life a while back.”

Before Ron could answer, Moody walked to the blackboard and quickly wrote messy, illegible letters on it, saying:

"Alright, let's get back to the main topic. Spells come in many forms, each with its own unique magic."

Now, according to the Ministry of Magic's regulations, I should teach you various anti-charm spells, nothing more.

Logically speaking, since you're not even in sixth grade, I shouldn't be telling you what illegal dark magic looks like, because you're too young to deal with that kind of thing.

But Professor Dumbledore greatly praised your courage. He thinks you can deal with it, and in my opinion, the sooner you understand what you have to deal with, the better.

How can you protect yourself in front of something you've never seen before?

(End of this chapter)