For the first time, everyone found it surprising how long Saturday turned out to be.
Time seemed to slow down all of a sudden, and the Wizard Chess and Exploding Snap that were usually endlessly fun became dull and tedious. Every once in a while, they would look up to check if it was getting dark outside.
From morning to noon, and then to afternoon... it felt like a month had passed, but finally, it was getting dark.
When the moon rose, everyone hurried eagerly to the auditorium.
Perhaps because there had been feasts for two consecutive days, the lavishly prepared dishes were no longer as appealing.
Everyone just had a few bites and then put down their cutlery, occasionally standing up to see if Professor Dumbledore had finished eating.
"Sit down." When Ron stood up for the third time, Hermione finally couldn't help but say, "It takes time for the Goblet of Fire to make a decision, and not even Headmaster Dumbledore can announce the results early."
"How do you know?" Ron asked, "Is it that after putting the name into the Goblet of Fire, you'll know the time?"
"Of course not!" Hermione said impatiently, "Haven't any of you ever read 'Hogwarts: A History'? It's all written in there."
"I don't think many people would read such a thick book," Ron muttered, but seeing hints of annoyance on Hermione's face, he quickly changed his tone, "Alright, could you kindly tell us what time it actually says?"
Everyone around them looked over as well.
"The book only mentions that the Goblet of Fire will extinguish after a day," Hermione said, "but it was taken out after last night's feast, so it should be around seven-thirty."
Ron checked the time, it was now ten past seven... which meant they still had to wait twenty minutes?
Feeling a bit restless, he picked up a plate of pudding, not eating it, but poking at it with a fork as he asked:
"Who do you think will be the champion for Hogwarts?"
Harry glanced around and, seeing Fred and George on the other end of the table, lowered his voice and said, "I hope it's Angelina."
"I think it would be nice if Fred was chosen," Ron said, "That way, I could say I'm the champion's brother, and maybe Krum would give me an autograph."
Hermione gave a mocking snort.
"But I think it could also be Hermione." Harry suddenly remembered that another one of them had put their name in and quickly added, "Your end-of-year scores were even higher than Angelina's."
Hermione blushed, a rare occurrence, and tried hard to maintain her usual demeanor.
"That's only because I chose all the courses last year, which made my scores look higher."
"No, I think Harry's got a point." Ron nodded earnestly, "You always finish the professor's assignments first, and even Snape can't find fault with you."
Hermione turned to look at Ron in surprise, as if she was meeting him for the first time.
In fact, ever since he learned she had thrown her name into the Goblet of Fire, Ron hadn't mentioned it, but Hermione could tell that he was a bit upset… It was obvious because Ron hadn't actively spoken to her since the morning.
So Hermione never expected him to say something like that now.
However, Ron didn't notice any of this. He continued poking the pudding, "If you really become a champion… can you help me get an autograph from Krum?"
Hermione's face quickly turned cold, and she casually grabbed a book and flung it over.
The thick 'Medieval Magic Rune Evolution' landed on the table in front of Ron, scaring him so much he almost dropped his fork.
"What are you doing, that book nearly hit me," Ron yelled in frustration.
But Hermione had already turned her head away and didn't look at him again.
Finally, after another twenty minutes, the last dessert also disappeared.
Dumbledore stood up, and the auditorium immediately fell silent.
"Alright, the Goblet of Fire is about to make its decision," Dumbledore said, looking as tense and expectant as everyone else.
He then waved his wand, extinguishing more than half of the candles in the auditorium, leaving only those inside the pumpkin lanterns.
In this half-lit state, the Goblet of Fire appeared brighter than ever, emitting dazzling blue-white flames.
Beside the Hufflepuff table, Cedric was breathing heavily, "I've never been this nervous before."
"It's coming," Mikel, who had been watching the time, said.
When the time came to seven-thirty,
Under everyone's gaze, the flame in the goblet suddenly turned red, sparks crackled and splattered like a volcano about to erupt.
Then, a tongue of flame shot into the air, and from it flew a charred piece of parchment... the auditorium instantly fell silent, everyone holding their breath.
A large hand caught the parchment.
"The champion for Durmstrang..." Dumbledore said in a loud voice, "is Viktor Krum!"
"Wonderful!"
"It's Krum..."
"Not surprising at all!"
Applause and cheering swept through the auditorium.
Krum stood up from the Slytherin table, and Ludo Bagman immediately stepped up to lead him to the adjoining room.
"Magnificent, Viktor!" Karkaroff said in his booming voice.
As the applause gradually subsided, a second piece of parchment flew out from the Goblet of Fire.
"The champion for Beauxbatons..." Dumbledore announced, "is Fleur Delacour!"
Beside Conna, Fleur stood up gracefully, walking lightly between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables.
This time, the applause was not as enthusiastic as before, as many people were staring blankly at her, Ron among them, dumbfounded.
By the time they snapped back to reality, Fleur had already entered the adjoining room.
The auditorium fell silent again, but unlike the previous two times, this silence was filled with an incredibly palpable, intense excitement.
Next, it was time for Hogwarts' champion...
When the third piece of parchment appeared in Dumbledore's hand, almost half of the people couldn't help but stand up.
"The champion for Hogwarts..." Dumbledore looked at the name on the parchment and suddenly smiled, "is Kael..."
Without warning, Kael felt as though there was a buzzing in his head, as though hundreds of Billywigs were having a party, so loud that he couldn't hear anything else.
In fact, the auditorium now was impossible to hear anything at all.
Deafening cheers roared like a tsunami, threatening to blow off the ceiling.
"I knew it!"
Kael felt himself being hugged by someone… it was Conna, who was excitedly screaming and jumping, even her ears turned red.
"Don't you care about my feelings when you say things like that?" Cedric complained a bit helplessly.
Though he said it, he was equally thrilled as he hugged Kael, "Fantastic, I knew you could do it!"
Meanwhile, Cho, Fred, and George came running, and the group surrounded Kael.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you," Dumbledore had to remind, "The other two champions are still waiting, you'd better let him go quickly."
They all promptly made way for Kael.
From the main guest table, Chris watched with a smile and gestured towards the side door, indicating for him to go quickly.
Beside him, Karkaroff chuckled when he heard Kael's name.
After the Triwizard Tournament regulations were set, he specifically investigated the situation of Hogwarts students.
The first on the list was Kael, who had received the second class Merlin Knight Order Medal.
But Karkaroff didn't think much of it,
a large three-meter tall man along with the famous magizoologist Silvanus Kettleburn; with these two, even bringing a Muggle along could solve that werewolf.
So in his view, Kael's second-class medal was just a token of a lucky kid and two generous wizards, plus the influence of Dumbledore... and that's all.
What he was more concerned about was Kael's age... just turned fifteen, barely making the age cut.
While Krum was already eighteen, for two students who hadn't yet graduated, the three-year gap was huge... it's like handing them the championship.
Durmstrang was sure to win!
Just then, Dumbledore happened to turn around.
"Albus," Karkaroff couldn't help but chuckle, "He's the youngest member of the Merlin Knight Order, Hogwarts really is full of talents."
"Igor, speaking of talent, the most popular legendary Seeker happens to be in Durmstrang, right?"
The two stared at each other, then simultaneously broke into genuine smiles.