A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

"Viktor Krum, the warrior of Durmstrang."

Applause and cheers immediately filled the entire auditorium. Everyone thought it was only natural that Krum was selected. Durmstrang students were all very excited, and Principal Karkaroff almost clapped his hands until they were sore.

Krum stood up from his seat at the Slytherin table, shook hands with Dumbledore, and walked toward the door behind the faculty desk.

A few seconds later, the flames turned red again, and Dumbledore grabbed the second charred parchment.

"The champion of Beauxbatons, Fleur Delacour."

The students of Beauxbatons applauded and cheered. The silver-haired girl rose gracefully, walked up to Dumbledore, nodded in greeting, and then entered the next room.

Then the third parchment was spewed out by red flames, and Dumbledore read aloud, "Cedric Diggory, a champion of Hogwarts."

A deafening cheer erupted from the Hufflepuff table. Cedric, with an embarrassed smile, walked into the next room amidst the cheers of all the Hufflepuffs and most of the Hogwarts students.

“How could it be Hufflepuff?” Draco said, looking annoyed. “Only Slytherin can represent Hogwarts.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the Goblet of Fire blazed red again, and the name of the fourth warrior was about to be revealed.

Everyone was focused intently on the falling piece of paper, including Principals Maxim and Karkarov.

Although the Triwizard Tournament is no longer limited to three students, everyone knows that the warriors selected by the Goblet of Fire are all geniuses of the same level.

This fourth warrior is probably no worse than the top three. If he is from their school, their chances of winning the championship will increase by one point.

Dumbledore held the piece of paper in his hand, glanced at the name on it by the firelight, and couldn't help but smile: "Aaron Gaius, a champion of Hogwarts."

Aaron sighed slightly, asked Draco to take Abbe back to the common room, and then walked up to Dumbledore under hundreds of envious and jealous gazes.

“I knew it would be you, Mr. Gaius.” Dumbledore patted Aaron on the shoulder. “I look forward to your performance.”

Aaron forced a smile and turned his gaze to Adrian on the faculty table. Seeing her beaming smile, he felt so frustrated he almost spat out blood.

As expected of my sister, she can scheme against her brother so calmly and without a trace of remorse.

“Mr. Gaius, three other warriors are waiting for you in that room!” Dumbledore reminded him.

Aaron nodded slightly, and as soon as he took a step, red flames erupted from the Goblet of Fire.

Dumbledore instinctively grabbed a charred piece of paper, and Aaron leaned over to glance at it, inexplicably feeling a sense of relief.

Sure enough, it feels a bit strange if nothing happens on Halloween Eve.

"The fifth warrior."

"I don't know who it is."

Is there a sixth one?

......

Whispers filled the hall as many people stood on tiptoe to look at Dumbledore. Maxim and Karkaroff exchanged a glance, both unable to contain their curiosity.

Hogwarts already has two participants, so if the fifth-place finisher isn't a student from their school, it will be somewhat disadvantageous for them.

“Harry Potter,” Dumbledore read aloud.

Harry sat at the Gryffindor table, completely bewildered when he heard his name called, his head buzzing.

He didn't know why he heard his own name; he hadn't thrown his name into the Goblet of Fire.

Although he had fantasized about successfully registering and achieving eternal glory, he was mostly filled with fear at this moment. After all, he had a clear understanding of his own level and knew that he was no match for those warriors.

The Gryffindor students couldn't help but cheer. Hermione and Ron were incredulous; they hadn't expected Harry to have signed up without their knowledge.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible." Draco shook his head in disbelief. He never expected Harry Potter to have the guts to sign up, let alone be chosen as a champion.

“Harry Potter,” Dumbledore called again, “Harry, come here.”

Harry was still in a daze when Hermione nudged him to bring him back to his senses.

He stood up from his seat and, under everyone's gaze, walked dazedly to Dumbledore.

"Professor, you, you may not believe it, but I really didn't put my name in."

Dumbledore paused for a moment, instinctively clenching the piece of paper in his hand. He wanted to ask more questions, but it wasn't appropriate to do so in front of everyone.

"I believe you, but..."

Go next door with Aaron first, we'll talk about it later.

Aaron smiled and shrugged. He was initially quite depressed, but compared to Harry, he felt he wasn't so bad off.

At most, he was forced into the role, and he knew Harry's background well, but Harry was clearly set up, and what's even more tragic is that he doesn't even know who set him up.

The two walked along the staff table into the next room. Apart from Adrian waving to Aaron, everyone else looked at Harry Potter with disbelief.

After passing through several gates, the two arrived at a room that was neither too big nor too small.

The walls on both sides were covered with portraits of wizards, and sets of trophies and gold and silver utensils were neatly arranged. A fireplace was burning brightly, and Viktor Krum, Fleur Curadel, and Cedric Diggory sat together around the fire, maintaining the distance of strangers.

"Good evening, everyone." Aaron waved familiarly and then sat down by the fire. "Let me introduce myself. I am Aaron Gaius, a fourth-year student at Hogwarts Slytherin School, and the fourth champion of the Triwizard Tournament."

“I expected this.” Furong gave a light hum.

Aaron was both amused and exasperated. Judging from Furong's attitude, he knew that he wouldn't be able to shake off the label of "nepotism" anytime soon.

"Hello." Viktor nodded expressionlessly.

Cedric gave a bright smile. "Welcome, but I really didn't expect it to be you."

"Actually, I completely understand. In many people's eyes, I'm just an excellent fourth-year wizard." Aaron chuckled self-deprecatingly, then changed the subject, "But after participating in this competition, many people's impression of me will probably change!"

"And who is this?" Fleur looked at Harry, who was standing awkwardly to the side, a hint of disdain flashing in her eyes.

"Harry?" Cedric said, somewhat surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Aaron pulled Harry to the three of them and said, “Let me formally introduce you to Harry Potter, a fourth-year wizard from Gryffindor House at Hogwarts, and the fifth champion of the Tournament.”

Fleur and Krum glanced at the scar on Harry's forehead simultaneously, their gazes becoming more serious.

To be honest, they didn't care about Harry Potter's name. A fourteen-year-old wizard wasn't much of a threat to them, but the fact that Hogwarts had three warriors made them seem outnumbered and isolated.

Harry stood there awkwardly, wanting to say something but unable to, unsure how to explain.

About ten minutes later, a flurry of hurried footsteps approached.

Six referees, led by Dumbledore, along with Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, and Professor Snape, entered.

“Ms. Maxim,” Fleur frowned slightly, “aren’t there any other warriors?”

Maxim knew Fleur was asking if there was anyone else in Beauxbatons, but she could only shake her head regretfully. After Harry Potter's name came up, there was no further activity in the Goblet of Fire.

“This is somewhat unfair to us,” Karkaroff said coldly. “Even if Hogwarts is the organizer, aren’t three champions a bit too many?”

"Professor Dumbledore, if possible, I would like an explanation from you. I think the other three judges would also find this inappropriate."

“Ah…” Barty Crouch hesitated for a moment before saying, “Anyone whose name comes out of the Goblet of Fire must participate in the tournament.”

“No, no, no, you’ve misunderstood, Mr. Crouch.” Karkaroff flashed his yellow teeth. “What I mean is that we should have both schools recruit more students to sign up until the numbers are equal, that would be fair.”

“But the Goblet of Fire has been extinguished,” Bagman said with difficulty. “It will not be reignited until the next Triwizard Tournament.”

“There’s absolutely no need for that, Professor Karkaroff,” Adrian said with a faint smile. “If you knew about the competition, you would know that the Triwizard Tournament isn’t about the number of participants, but about individual ability.”

In this kind of competition, there's no possibility of forming alliances for mutual support; if a participant lacks ability, they will only become a foil for the other warriors.

"Hmph! Easy for you to say, Miss Klein."

Your brother is one of the five warriors; who knows if you'll secretly help him.

"If we could quit, that would be wonderful!" Aaron whispered.

“Unfortunately, you don’t have the chance to withdraw.” Adrian said with a playful tone, then looked at Karkaroff. “I can guarantee that I will not provide any assistance to the participants in any way. If you don’t believe me, we can make a pact. How about the 'Loyalty Charm'?”

If that's not enough, an unbreakable vow is fine too.

"Hehe! You really are my sister."

“Cousin,” Adrian emphasized, “what kind of contract does Mr. Karkaroff want to draw up?”

"I disregard what I just said," Karkaroff said, his face flushed. Having made an unbreakable vow, he had no choice but to believe that Adrian would not show favoritism.

However, Adrian's decision not to use his position as a referee to help the contestants does not mean he will give up; if possible, he will definitely help Krum.

It wasn't just Karkaroff who thought this way; Maxim thought the same. After all, it concerned the school's honor, and it was only natural for the two principals to help their own contestants within the limits of what was possible.

Chapter 358 Pre-match guidance, he really is persistent.

"There's no problem with the number of participants, right?" Bagman asked, looking at Maxim and Karkarov.

The two principals exchanged a glance and nodded silently.

"Then here's another question." Dumbledore looked at Harry Potter seriously. "Harry, you really didn't put your name in the Goblet of Fire?"

“No, sir,” Harry said with a look of disappointment.

“It’s obvious that someone registered him for the competition.” Aaron gave a reasonable explanation. “Someone wanted him to participate in the competition; this was premeditated.”

“But I don’t want to participate,” Harry said, on the verge of tears.

"Don't want to participate? Why don't you want to participate?" Furong couldn't help but ask. "Participating in the competition is something many people dream of, bringing glory to the school, and there's also a prize of one thousand Galleons."

“Not everyone values ​​honors that much, and most fourth-year wizards aren’t capable of handling those competitions, but that’s not important.” Aaron waved his hand and laughed. “In my years at Hogwarts, I’ve discovered two very peculiar curses. One is that Defense Against the Dark Arts professors never last a year before leaving for various reasons.”

Another one is Halloween Eve. First-graders are trolls, second-graders are basilisks, and third-graders are the escaped convict Sirius Black. I was just wondering what would happen this year, and then... someone who didn't want to participate in the Triwizard Tournament ended up participating without even realizing it.

"Thank you, Mr. Gaius," Dumbledore said with a dark face, feeling somewhat embarrassed that the other two headmasters would find out about this.

“But even if someone puts Mr. Potter’s name in, the Goblet of Fire might not choose him!” Maxim said.

“A Confusion Charm,” Moody said. “A very powerful Confusion Charm, otherwise it wouldn’t be able to fool a monster with such immense power as the Goblet of Fire.”

“Your idea seems to make some sense, Mad-Eye,” Karkaroff said coldly. “But I think it’s more likely that Mr. Potter is trying to lull our Durmstrang warriors into a false sense of security.”

Think about it! Who would care about an 'innocent victim'? That would probably lessen the pressure on Mr. Porter to win the championship.

Upon hearing this, Harry's eyes widened.

How can anyone think like that? How did Karkarov become the principal?

"The important thing now is how to solve the problem?" Dumbledore looked at the three referees, including Barty Crouch, and said, "Tell me your thoughts."

“The rules cannot be changed,” Barty Crouch said. “The choice of the Goblet of Fire must be followed and cannot be altered.”

Mr. Porter has no choice; from tonight onward, he is the Triwizard Tournament Warrior.