When the three of them returned to the auditorium, Fred and George had become much more cautious, and after realizing that Fleur had Veela blood, that special attraction seemed less exaggerated than at first.
However, the two still didn't dare linger too long beside Fleur, and after a few simple exchanges, they found an excuse to run over to Lee Jordan.
"Has anyone put their name in yet?" Fred asked.
"Not yet...wait, Krum's here." Lee Jordan said, suddenly pointing towards the entrance.
The Durmstrang students had just walked through the venue and entered, with their headmaster leading the way, and Krum beside him.
The students gathered around the Goblet of Fire stepped back to let them through, watching eagerly.
A dozen Durmstrang students lined up, one after another crossing the age line, throwing in parchment with their names into the Goblet of Fire. Each time, the blue-white flames quickly turned red, sparking.
"What do you think..." At this point, George walked to Kael, lowering his voice, "If the Goblet of Fire finds someone really lacking, what if it crumpled up and tossed their name back out."
Kael thought of the image and couldn't help but laugh, "The whole school would probably be delighted for an entire year."
They subconsciously looked at the Goblet of Fire.
But until the last person threw in the parchment, the anticipated scene didn't occur.
Fred seemed somewhat disappointed.
"Maybe it's because their ages are sufficient," George pondered for a moment, then said.
Afterward, the two ran to the side to whisper to each other, not sure what they were discussing.
"Don't mind them," Conna said to Fleur, "Did you bring parchment?"
"I did." Fleur withdrew her gaze and nodded, "But I need to wait for Ms.Maxime...oh, here she comes."
Just as she spoke, the Beauxbatons group also entered the auditorium.
Fleur quickly ran over, under Maxime's arrangement, joining others to place the parchment with their names into the Goblet of Fire.
Fleur initially wanted to stay longer, but it seemed Maxime had something to say, so she could only leave with her.
Now, only Hogwarts students remained in the auditorium.
"Am I late?" came Cedric's voice from behind.
"As long as it's before evening, it's not late," Kael said, turning around, "Have you written your name?"
"Actually, I wrote it last night." Cedric took out a neatly trimmed strip of parchment, with "Cedric Digory—Hogwarts" written on it.
The template had been posted on the common room door early, just follow and write it.
"How about you, are you ready?" Cedric asked, "We can throw it in together."
"Bang!"
At that moment, a loud explosion came suddenly from beside the Goblet of Fire.
A figure seemed to act like a Quaffle, drawing a graceful arc in mid-air, then heavily crashing to the ground ten feet away.
"Ouch!"
Ron clutched his arm, rolling on the ground, then another explosion ensued, sprouting a shaggy white beard from his chin.
Laughter erupted from around, even Harry, who rushed over to help Ron up, couldn't help but laugh.
"I've told you long ago..." Hermione said, looking at Ron who refused to get up, covering his face, "Professor Dumbledore would certainly anticipate the Age Enhancer, but you didn't believe it."
Harry, with a bit of relief on his face, discreetly slipped the bottle in his hand into his pocket.
Luckily, he hesitated earlier, or else he might be lying on the ground now.
"Seems it's unrelated to age." Fred and George, who appeared beside them at some point, and it was certainly related to them.
"Ron bought two bottles of Age Enhancer from us last night," Fred explained.
George said, "I knew he'd try to throw his name in, but didn't expect he'd be so eager..."
"Even though we didn't see the Goblet of Fire toss Ron's name out..."
"But a bearded Ron isn't bad either..."
The two laughed so hard they bent over.
When Cho also entered the auditorium, Cedric eagerly said, "Let's go!"
"I've been thinking about that for a long time," Fred said with a laugh, and then quickly walked over.
Seeing them, people around immediately made way, just like they did for Beauxbatons and Durmstrang earlier.
Fred first crossed the age line, followed by George, then Cedric, Cho, Conna...
Kael was the last, and after he crossed the age line, sending the parchment into the Goblet of Fire, excited cheers erupted around.
Hufflepuff students especially cheered enthusiastically, loudly supporting Kael and Cedric.
"Why isn't anyone cheering our names!" George complained, "Are all the Gryffindor students sleeping in?"
The Gryffindors in the auditorium silently turned their heads away, pretending not to hear.
The best candidate in their hearts, Angelina Johnson, hadn't arrived yet.
Only Lee Jordan was kind enough to call out twice, but when Angelina entered the auditorium, his cheers were clearly louder than before.
This annoyed Fred and George to no end, chasing him down to teach him a lesson.
At this point, Ron, attempting to act like an ostrich on the ground, was pulled up, and Harry prepared to take him to the Hospital Wing to see if there was a way to remove his beard.
Hermione, walking at the back, hesitated and suddenly turned back towards the Goblet of Fire.
Harry also noticed her move, quickly reminding, "Wait, Hermione, are you thinking of growing a beard as well, this isn't a joke..."
He hadn't finished, his mouth dropped open in surprise.
Because Hermione directly crossed the age line and successfully threw her name into the Goblet of Fire.
"You had a way to fool the age line and didn't tell us!" Ron said, a bit agitated, "You must think watching me embarrass myself is fun."
"I don't find breaking the rules fun at all!" Hermione snapped, "I just turned fifteen last month."
"What?" Ron was taken aback, remembering Hermione's birthday was September 19, but his birthday was in March, even he couldn't make it; why could Hermione...
"Actually, I'm a year older than both of you." Hermione continued, "If I could have been born twenty days earlier, I'd be in fifth year now."
This...
Harry and Ron looked at each other, having always thought Hermione was younger.
Ron's eyes showed a trace of envy, "It's great, you can participate in the Triwizard Tournament..."
"Don't be silly, I doubt I'd be selected," Hermione said, "I just didn't want to miss this grand event. Throwing my name in counts as participating, doesn't it?"
"Let's go, hopefully Madam Pomfrey can remove those whiskers before the Halloween feast...unless you want to attend it with them."
Not just Hermione, most thoughts are similar to hers.
On Saturday, most Hogwarts students from fifth year up, including a small portion of fourth years, all threw their names into the Goblet of Fire.
...