Volume 4: The Sea and the Ship Heading North Chapter 304 Warriors, Fangs, and Blood
There are only three minutes left until eight o'clock.
At this time, the students of Hogwarts could no longer sit still. Everyone surrounded Dumbledore, with tension and anxiety written all over their faces.
"Professor, the registration period is almost over. Where's Jon?"
George asked, looking at Dumbledore eagerly.
Dumbledore's expression remained calm, as if he was not worried or nervous about the situation.
He said softly.
"Don't worry, he will definitely come back today."
"But the registration is about to end now!" Fred shouted, "Even if Jon comes back, if he doesn't throw his name into the Goblet of Fire, it means that the Hogwarts warriors will never choose him!"
"Even without Jon, aren't you all ready?" Dumbledore looked at them. "If you must rely on Jon, then what's the point of throwing your name into the cup?"
His words left the Hogwarts students speechless.
Just at this moment, a round of applause broke out in the center of the banquet hall.
British Minister of Magic Fudge stood next to the Goblet of Fire, and next to him was the Vice Chairman of the Wizarding World - Iniesta.
The sound of Fudge's clapping suppressed all the discussions around them, and every wizard present turned their eyes to the two people standing next to the Goblet of Fire.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come. After a day of waiting, the names of warriors from the four schools will be selected in one minute. Now is the time for us to witness this moment."
Students from every magic school were whispering excitedly, except for the students at Hogwarts, led by Dumbledore, who mostly looked pale.
It's not that they were resisting participating in the competition on behalf of the school, but everyone knew that Jon was the strongest and most intelligent person among them. If there was any student who could represent Hogwarts now, it would only be Jon.
But now that the list has been chosen, Jon still has no intention of coming to this banquet hall. This makes his students, who were originally certain that the warrior representing Hogwarts this time, a little unacceptable.
Their ugly expressions were also noticed by the students from another Hogwarts Castle who were always paying attention to this side. Those pure-blood students who were wearing gorgeous and exquisite robes and always had arrogance on their faces all pointed at their opponents with a sneer on their faces, and occasionally there were a few laughs, as if they were watching a monkey performance in a circus.
Voldemort sat in the main seat, with no special expression on his face. He just looked at Dumbledore with a smile after Fudge finished speaking.
"Do you have a question? Dumbledore… Professor."
His question sounded more like a caring greeting, attracting the attention of everyone present. If it weren't for the meaningful lingering of the last word of the title, some people would have thought that this man really asked the question sincerely.
Dumbledore nodded slightly.
"Of course not. Today's selection went very smoothly. I think it will also end satisfactorily in the end."
Voldemort nodded calmly.
"That's good. I thought you were waiting for some students to register. I can make an exception and wait another ten or twenty minutes."
"It's getting late. Everyone wants to see the final results and go back to rest, right?" Dumbledore said calmly, "Then let's end today's selection quickly."
The conversation between them was somewhat confusing. Except for the students in the Hogwarts carriage and a few insiders on Voldemort's side, no one could understand what the so-called waiting for a student to come over meant.
But no matter how many people were puzzled by this, after the flame in the wooden goblet suddenly turned red, everyone's eyes were focused on it.
The list of warriors selected from each school is coming out!
There was a crackling sound, and then a tongue of fire shot up into the air, from which flew a piece of burnt parchment.
Fudge caught the parchment, and at this time, the flame in the Goblet of Fire turned back to blue and white.
He adjusted his glasses, looked at the name on the parchment, and then announced loudly in a voice amplified by the Amplification Charm.
"The Champion of Beauxbatons—Emile Lestrange!"
Applause broke out in the banquet hall, and after hearing this surname, the wizards surrounding Voldemort smiled knowingly.
The Lestrange family is a French pure-blood wizard family that has completely sided with Voldemort.
The most famous characters among them are naturally the brothers Rabastan and Rodolphus. Yes, they are essentially French wizards rather than British, but Rodolphus ’ wife Bella is a member of the Black family, a British pure-blood wizard family.
Unlike all pure-blood families which have a small population like the Malfoy family, the Lestrange family has many family members. There is even a family tree in their family tree which records the name of every member.
A seventh-year student from Beauxbatons named Emil stood up from his seat. Countless flashbulbs shone at him. Tomorrow, the photo of this warrior who would represent Beauxbatons and therefore Voldemort's side would appear in all the major magic daily newspapers in Europe.
Immediately afterwards, the flame in the Goblet of Fire turned red again, and another piece of burnt parchment flew out and fell into Iniesta's hands.
"The warrior of Durmstrang—Diane Rosier!"
There was also a round of warm applause. The tall female class leader who was the first person Jon and the others met in Durmstrang Castle stood up from her seat, allowing everyone to see this Durmstrang warrior.
The other students around her all looked at her with envy, especially Krum, the boy who had joined the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team. When he heard Diane's name, he was stunned at first, and then he applauded reluctantly.
At this time, the warriors from the two magic schools had been selected, but at this time everyone in the banquet hall held their breath and fell silent.
They all knew that the real highlight would be the selection of two different Hogwarts warriors.
The red flames rose again, and the parchment flew out again and fell into Fudge's hands.
When Fudge saw the name on it, an expression of surprise appeared on his face at first, and then he smiled and read out the name on the parchment.
"Draco Malfoy, the champion of Hogwarts Castle, England!"
A round of applause, louder and louder than the previous two times, rang out after the name was announced.
Among the students in Hogwarts Castle , a boy with light blond hair had a confused expression on his face, but when countless flashes illuminated his face and everyone's eyes were on him, he seemed to be surrounded by an indescribable surprise.
Draco's face flushed with excitement, and he stood up from his seat with a proud look on his face to show his lofty status as the representative of this noble and ancient school.
Voldemort still had that faint smile on his face towards the Hogwarts warriors under his control.
Next to him, a middle-aged man with the same long light blond hair had a pale face.
The purebloods around him kept congratulating him, but Lucius could only force a smile on his face.
He hesitated, but finally couldn't help but walked to Voldemort's side, his eyes full of anxiety, and he spoke nervously.
"Master... I am not worried about Draco's safety. It is of course an honor for him to be chosen... But, isn't he a little too young? I am afraid that he will delay the Master's plan..."
"Once you are chosen by the cup, you must participate, Lucius." Voldemort's voice was flat, and he could not tell whether he was happy or angry. "Do I need to repeat the rules to you a second time?"
Lucius' hands were shaking, and he swallowed back all the words he wanted to explain. He lowered his head and stepped back, returning to his seat.
Neville and the others saw Draco stand up and give them such a smug and provocative look, and everyone's already ugly faces became even uglier.
"He was just chosen, why is he so proud?" Ron said with a pout.
He didn't know why, but when he saw Draco's face for the first time, he felt disgusted, as if this boy was born to be incompatible with him.
No one responded to his words, and all the other students stared at the Goblet of Fire as it turned crimson for the last time.
Now only the warrior from the last school has been selected.
Every Hogwarts student who threw his or her name into the cup was ready. No matter who was chosen, they would not back down and would give their all to win the game.
The flames rose and the parchment fell into Iniesta's hands.
Of all the people present, he was the first to know the name of this warrior.
His expression was very serious, and there was a kind of solemnity in his seriousness. Iniesta did not read out the name at the first time, but looked up at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore looked him in the eye calmly.
"The Champion of the Hogwarts Carriage in England—Jon Green!"
His voice spread to every corner of the hall. Only a few rounds of applause were heard around him. Most people just looked at Dumbledore with cold eyes, wanting to see who the student named Jon Green was who finally stood up.
However, Neville and the others were all silent, with an expression of disbelief on everyone's face. But soon when they reacted, they burst into loud cheers that seemed to be able to overturn the ceiling of the banquet hall!
George and Fred looked at Dumbledore and McGonagall with a look of "Professor, you have already arranged everything". At this time, other students also asked each other excitedly, who was it that secretly threw Jon's name in?
They were sure that even if the professors arranged it, they would only have a student throw in Jon's name, because no adult wizard had approached the Goblet of Fire all day.
When McGonagall heard John's name, she immediately clenched the note in her robe pocket, and then looked at Dumbledore with surprise.
Dumbledore did not show a happy expression like the others. Instead, he frowned slightly, and when McGonagall looked at him, he shook his head.
"I made no such arrangement."
McGonagall always believed that Dumbledore would never lie to her.
Since he said that, it means that no one on their side threw Jon's name into the Goblet of Fire.
So why was Jon chosen?
Just as McGonagall raised this question, Dumbledore looked at Voldemort who was sitting in the main seat.
Voldemort still smiled that same smile, as if he had heard the name Jon Green for the first time.
After the cheers from the Hogwarts students died down, Fudge's face was full of dissatisfaction with the time wasted. He looked behind Dumbledore and spoke loudly.
"Who is Jon Green? Why isn't he coming forward?"
When he asked this question, the students of Hogwarts fell silent.
Only now did they think of a key issue.
Even though Jon was chosen, what if he’s not there?
Under the watchful eyes of wizards from all over Europe, how could they explain that the chosen warriors were not here at all?
Dumbledore, who was sitting at the front row, stood up and everyone's eyes were on him.
At this point, everyone noticed the problem.
"Jon is not here yet, and he did not participate in today's registration. Why does his name appear in the Goblet of Fire?"
Dumbledore asked, his eyes trained on Voldemort.
The smile on Voldemort's face faded, and he spoke calmly.
"It's really strange. A student who is not even here was chosen, and as his principal, you actually asked me this question. Let everyone hear it. Are you getting old and your brain is starting to become dull?"
The purebloods following behind him burst into shrill laughter.
Hearing Dumbledore being insulted, all the students of Hogwarts stood up together in anger. At the same time, after seeing their actions, all the pure-blood students in Hogwarts Castle also stood up!
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the banquet hall began to become tense.
But Voldemort still acted as nonchalant as ever.
"The selection is completely over. The established list cannot be changed. I will not discuss how you violated the rules and registered on behalf of a student who is not here. What I want to know is, since this student has been selected, where is he? If he never shows up, will we all have to wait for him here for the rest of our lives?"
He stared into Dumbledore's eyes, and his tone suddenly became cold and sinister.
"Don't forget, I've already given you a week!"
Standing in the middle of the banquet hall, Fudge had a malicious smile on his face.
"Since the chosen one never showed up, you should just eliminate him. You already have a Durmstrang student representing you anyway."
His suggestion seemed to be accepted by "everyone else". There was a burst of discussion in the banquet hall, but Iniesta had a gloomy face.
"Four schools, four warriors, this is the established rule! If you guys change it at will, then what's the point of holding this competition?"
"You need to understand one thing, Mr. Iniesta." Fudge said innocently. "It's not that we want to change the rules, but you let a student who couldn't even come to participate in this selection, and he was selected. Now there are not four schools and four warriors, but only three warriors who can stand up."
Voldemort propped his face up with one hand, crossed his legs and looked at Dumbledore.
"I don't want to embarrass you, Dumbledore. In this situation, if you come up with a suggestion that everyone thinks is reasonable, maybe I can accept it."
Dumbledore's face, which had been calm and suppressing his anger, suddenly showed a smile.
He said softly.
"No need for my advice, the Hogwarts warriors are already here."
Just as he finished speaking, an orange-red light lit up in the center of the banquet hall!
Three overlapping figures emerged!
John, covered in blood, had no time or energy to care about where he was or who was around him. He had already put all his strength on the fang!
The basilisk's fangs pierced Rodolphus' throat, pierced his spine, and finally, suddenly pierced into Bella's chest who was still screaming!
In the magnificent hall, under the gaze of wizards from all over Europe, scarlet blood bloomed like strange petals...
