The Return to Hogwarts

Furong snapped out of her daze, shifting her gaze from the handsome man at the front of the hall to scrutinizing the hall around her with a critical eye, and letting out a distinctly sarcastic sneer.

"No one forced you to stay!"

Hermione looked very upset; she was annoyed by that girl.

Tonight's dinner was more lavish than ever before. To welcome the guests, the elves in the kitchen prepared many new dishes, but there were not many young wizards who could really focus on the food. Most people's attention was on the students from the two visiting schools, while young wizards like Cedric Diggory, who aspired to become Hogwarts warriors, were eagerly awaiting the moment when the warrior selection mechanism would be announced.

"call--"

Halfway through the dinner, the representatives from the Ministry of Magic arrived in a hurry. Ludo Bagman, panting, greeted Mrs. Maxim and Professor Karkaroff before quietly explaining to Dumbledore,

"Barty said he was worried, so he personally accompanied the Department of Magical Creatures Control to investigate."

"That's like Batistuta's style—"

Amosta smiled and looked at Ludo Bagman, but Bagman quickly turned away, seemingly afraid of making eye contact with him.

"hiss!"

The excruciating pain in his calf finally brought Ron's gaze back to normal. He hissed as he glanced at the cold air, glaring angrily at Hermione.

"You're going crazy again!"

“Once you look away—” Hermione said bluntly, “you might then discover who just came!”

"what?"

Ron was still frowning, but at Harry's prompting, he glanced toward the staff table and immediately spotted the smiling Ludo Bagman.

"Oh, it's Bagman!"

Ron suddenly became excited, and he turned to look at Harry.

"It's Bagman, Harry, we need to go find him and ask him what's going on!"

To be honest, Harry didn't want to waste any more energy on this, but he knew Ron cared deeply about it and understood the significance of hundreds of Galleons to Ron. Just as he hesitated, Ron looked troubled, glancing at Ludo Bagman, who was clinking glasses with others at the faculty table, and said hesitantly with a frown...

"Is this occasion inappropriate, Harry? I mean, Bagman is here for the Goblet of Fire opening ceremony. Perhaps we should choose another time."

Harry heard Hermione sigh noticeably beside him, and before he could answer the question, Ron moved closer to Fred and George.

"What are your plans? Are you going to confront Bagman? You've lost quite a bit of gold too!"

"As long as we can catch him."

Fred said bluntly.

"We have no intention of letting him go!"

George made the same statement.

Chapter 556 Shared hatred and hatred

2023-10-25

Ron was greatly encouraged by Fred and George's answers, and he looked at them eagerly.

"Could you also help us find out what happened? Did he make a mistake that night and use a prop made by the goblin as payment for us?"

"You have to do things yourself, you silly girl—"

George politely declined Ron's offer and instead dealt with the diverse and abundant dishes on the table.

Ron immediately glared angrily, ready to condemn Fred and George, but suddenly, a strange, hoarse voice interrupted Ron.

"Please forgive me, do you still want to eat this dish of mixed fish soup?"

Harry was startled by the sudden sound. He turned around in surprise and found that it was Beauxbatons, that pretty girl, who had quietly run over.

Honestly, it's really unfair to describe this girl as just pretty. Look at the reactions of the guys next to her—Seamus, Neville, Dean, and Ron—she's absolutely smitten with her.

Fleur leaned slightly forward, her long, silvery hair cascading down one shoulder, revealing her sexy collarbone. Her fair skin was as soft as moonlight, radiating a genuine glow, and her exquisite features were breathtakingly beautiful. She looked more mature than a sixth or seventh-year Hogwarts wizard, both in appearance and figure; in short, she was like a delicate flower in full bloom.

Hermione and Ginny looked at him warily, as if they were being threatened, while Harry scratched his nose, finding Fleur's fragrance a bit pungent.

"Okay, you can take it."

Harry said he pushed the plate towards the girl.

Have you finished eating?

“I’m done eating,” Ron immediately stood up, held up the plate and handed it to the girl. “It was delicious.”

The girl was carefully carrying the plate, completely unaware of Ron. However, after taking a couple of steps, she suddenly stopped and turned to look at Harry thoughtfully.

"Which house are you from? I heard that Hogwarts has four houses."

"Gryffindor".

Harry pointed to the banner above the back of the Great Hall, where a majestic lion answered.

"Oh"

Hibiscus shrugged in disappointment and continued in her hoarse voice, matching her somewhat strange tone,

"I heard... I heard that Amosta Blaine is from Slytherin?"

"what's wrong?"

Hermione's brow was furrowed deeply.

"Is Slytherin the best house at Hogwarts?"

Furong pressed on with an enthusiastic and curious tone.

That's a ridiculous question, Harry can tell. If this girl isn't a guest of Beauxbatons and is pretty, then with this question, it's unlikely she'll leave Gryffindor's table 'unscathed'.

"The best house at Hogwarts is Gryffindor!"

Hermione said bluntly, something she wouldn't normally say so openly.

Hearing this answer, Fleur looked at Hermione with slight surprise. She hadn't noticed this messy-haired girl with her slightly goofy front teeth before. She detected hostility in Hermione's eyes, a hostility she was all too familiar with. Fleur smiled nonchalantly and asked curiously, "..."

"What does Amostella Blaine teach at Hogwarts? Hmm, may I ask where his office is?"

"Professor Blaine used to teach us Defense Against the Dark Arts. Now, he teaches a, uh, physical education class. His office is on the third floor. Go up the stairs in the foyer to the third floor, turn left, walk straight down the corridor, make two turns, and walk a few steps forward. You'll see an office with a sign that says 'Student Safety Office' on the door."

Harry answered truthfully.

Physical Education Class

Fleur muttered something with great interest, then turned and left, heading towards the Ravenclaw table.

"call"

Ron gasped,

"If she weren't a Veela, I'd eat Hagrid's slug raw!"

"Shut up, Weasley!"

Ginny and Hermione both frowned and exclaimed. Hermione then turned her gaze to Harry and asked sharply,

Why did you tell her all this, Harry!

Harry looked bewildered and innocent.

"She's a guest, isn't she? Besides, she's not asking a secret that anyone could answer."

Harry said uncertainly, because he noticed that it wasn't just Hermione and Ginny who were giving him a hard look; further away were Lavender, Parvati, and his Gryffindor teammates, Angelina, Arya, Katie, and some seventh-year girls. In short, all the girls who noticed the commotion were craning their necks and looking at him with unfriendly expressions.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Harry was a little apprehensive.

"You betrayed Professor Blaine!" Parvati said angrily. "That girl had ill intentions towards Professor Blaine!"

Parvati's words sent a chill down Harry's spine, but after thinking about it carefully, he became suspicious—this girl was just a student, and if she wanted to harm Professor Blaine, it probably wouldn't be an easy thing to do, would it?

As the golden plates were emptied, Dumbledore and Professor Blaine stood up at the same time. Professor Blaine left his seat and, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, walked to a corner of the Great Hall. Only then did many people realize that Filch had been lurking there all along, carrying a large wooden box inlaid with jewels.

Dumbledore was explaining to everyone what they had been eagerly wanting to know for the past two months: the selection process for the Triwizard Tournament's champions, as well as a general overview of the competition. This document belonged to him, and Professor Blaine then showed everyone the cup that Professor Dumbledore had mentioned for selecting champions.

This is a large, roughly carved wooden goblet. The goblet itself is unremarkable, but inside it is filled with dancing blue and white flames.

Everyone stared at the Goblet of Fire with fascination.

"In the next twenty-four hours, after the Halloween dinner concludes, the Goblet will select the names of three students it deems suitable to represent their respective schools. Tonight, the Goblet is placed in the foyer, and all students wishing to participate can submit their names. However, there are two things I need to clarify here—"

Amosta's deep, calm voice echoed through the crowded auditorium.

"What makes this Triwizard Tournament different from previous ones is that the heroes' exploits will be disseminated much more widely. We've used certain technologies to allow the match footage to appear in real-time in other locations. That is to say, while you're competing at Hogwarts, the match will be broadcast live in Diagon Alley, and in magical civilizations in many countries such as France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. I'm sure you understand what this means. Once chosen as a hero, you will instantly become famous—"

Wow!

The entire Great Hall was in an uproar. Not only the Hogwarts students, but also all the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, except for Krum, who were aspiring to run for office, all wore expressions of disbelief.

"Is this true, Dumbledore?"

Mrs. Maxim looked at Dumbledore in surprise. "Why wasn't I informed beforehand?"

“Oh, I think—” Karkaroff smiled slickly, but his dark eyes held a wary glint in them, “Hogwarts, as the organizer, probably thinks we don’t need to know about such trivial matters.”

“Amosta believes it is necessary to let more people see our significant progress in communication and cooperation,” Dumbledore said with a smile. “But this work has been difficult to carry out, and it was uncertain beforehand whether it could be completed, but now he is probably confident.”

"Quiet!"