Hogwarts' Golden Glory

He applied the transparent ointment in front of everyone in the lobby and confidently walked towards the age line.

First step: cross the gold line. It's okay.

Second step, step over with the other foot. No problem.

"Success!" Ernie turned around and waved to the audience, his face full of pride.

Then he turned to face the Goblet of Fire, took out a parchment with his name on it from his pocket, and prepared to throw it into the flames.

The instant he raised his hand—his pants fell down.

Instead of slowly sliding down, the pants fell down to the ankles in a flash.

His belt changed as he got older!

However, the magical fastening function of the belt buckle has also been covered by the "age membrane".

Without the magically secured belt, it was just an ordinary cloth belt, which couldn't support the weight of his robe at all.

Amidst the laughter, Ernie squatted down to pull up his trousers, and the parchment slipped from his hand, floating into the Goblet of Fire.

The Goblet of Fire spewed out a blue flame—a signal of rejection.

"You failed the age check, but your name has been recorded."

Professor McGonagall's voice came from behind the crowd, tinged with a hint of exasperation, "Ernie McMillan, five points deducted from Hufflepuff. And—go put your pants back on."

Ernie ran away, his face flushed. His pants were still dragging on the ground.

The third attempt was by Zacharys Smith of Hufflepuff.

Zachariah is a fifth-grade student at Hufflepuff who loves to raise his hand and speak in class, but what he says often makes the professors want to cover their ears.

After the Goblet of Fire appeared, he claimed that he had a "foolproof" plan.

"You're all overthinking it."

Zachariah stood in front of the age line, hands on his hips, and said to the crowd, "What age-defying drugs—they're all just for show. True wisdom lies in finding loopholes in the rules."

"What vulnerability?" someone asked.

"The age limit checks the age of the 'entrant,' right? What if I don't go in myself, but just send in my name?"

He proudly held up a long fishing rod. One end of the rod was tied with a piece of parchment with his name written on it, and the other end was held in his hand. He stood outside the Age Line and extended the rod toward the Goblet of Fire.

"As long as my name touches the flames, it will be sucked in. And I myself haven't crossed the age line at all—perfect!"

Several people in the crowd had expressions that said, "This might actually work."

Zacharias took a deep breath and slid the fishing rod forward.

The parchment landed precisely in the blue-white flames of the Goblet of Fire.

The flames shot up—swallowing the parchment.

"It's done!" Zacharias cheered, turning to wave to the audience.

Then, the golden line on the age line suddenly lit up. A golden light traveled along the fishing rod—from the direction of the Goblet of Fire—at lightning speed.

"Bang!"

Zacharias was thrown into the air.

He didn't fly away on his own; it was his fishing rod that carried him away.

The fishing rod, like an enraged snake, suddenly lashed out in the opposite direction, sending Zacharias flying. He spun three times in the air before crashing headfirst into a pile of decorative pumpkin lanterns.

The pumpkin lanterns exploded all over the ground. Half a pumpkin was on his head, his face was covered in pumpkin pulp, his legs kicked twice in the air, and then he stopped moving.

Is he still alive?

A Hufflepuff girl asked cautiously.

Zacharias sat up from the pile of pumpkins and took half a pumpkin off his head.

His hair had turned orange-yellow—dyed from pumpkin juice—and his face was covered in pumpkin pulp and seeds. He opened his mouth and spat out a pumpkin seed.

"The age line..." he said in a dazed voice, "Did you recognize me by following the fishing rod?"

"Obviously."

Professor McGonagall's voice came from behind the crowd, with a rare hint of amusement, "And age lines don't welcome fishing."

The crowd burst into laughter. Fred and George laughed the loudest.

"A fishing rod." Fred wiped away his tears. "I can't believe I didn't think of using a fishing rod."

"That means you're smarter than him," George said. "At least we know that fishing rods are tracked backward by age lines."

"No, we didn't," Fred said, "but at least we weren't hit by pumpkins in public."

Zacharias climbed out of the pile of pumpkins, his orange hair looking like a burning chestnut in the candlelight.

He tried to maintain his dignity, straightening his back and saying, "At least my name is on the list."

The fourth, the fifth, the sixth...

For the next two weeks, similar farces unfolded in the lobby every day.

Someone used body doubles to change their appearance, but after crossing the age threshold, the beard on their chin grew wildly, dragging on the ground, and eventually tripped them up.

George and Fred even borrowed an invisibility cloak from Harry, hoping to use it to get past them.

But the age line tests magic, not eyesight.

He had just crossed the golden line when the invisibility cloak was bounced away.

The most outrageous one was a sixth-grade girl from Slytherin.

She heard somewhere that "love potions can fool age checks," so she cast a love spell on herself, trying to make the age line "fall in love" with her and let her pass.

He didn't "fall in love" with her because of his age.

But her wand fell in love with herself.

Yes, her wand suddenly sprouted eyes and a mouth, and said to her in a high-pitched voice, "My dear, you are beautiful."

The girl screamed and threw her wand. The wand circled in the air, then flew back, continuing to chase after her, shouting, "Don't run away, my love—"

In the end, Professor Flitwick used a complicated spell to subdue the "in love" wand.

After half a month, the gold line on the age line remained intact and shiny.

The Goblet of Fire burns quietly, awaiting the arrival of Halloween.

Those who attempted to challenge the age limit provided the entire school with a source of amusement for half a month.

Fred and George were present every day to observe and carefully record each failure.

"Aging agent, failure. Recorded."

"Age disguise potion failed, with the added risk of pants falling down."

"The time-reversal pocket watch failed, and carries the risk of reverse aging."

"Transfiguration, failed, with the added risk of uncontrolled beard growth."

"Love potion - it's not a failure, but it's too outrageous, so we won't use it."

"We need more data," Fred said.

"Yes, that's how you find the real vulnerabilities," George said.

"Do you want to try again?" Lee Jordan asked from the side.

Fred and George exchanged a glance and revealed the kind of smile that gave all the professors a headache.

"certainly."

The Halloween dinner was more lavish than usual, but almost no one paid attention to eating.

All the students were absentmindedly poking at the food on their plates, their eyes occasionally drifting towards the entrance hall.

Even Ron, who usually eats the most, just mechanically stuffed mashed potatoes into his mouth, his eyes fixed on the door.

After the banquet, Dumbledore stood up. "Now, please proceed to the foyer to await the birth of a champion."