Chapter 535: Moody and the Goblet of Fire

The thunderbolt clearly showed the man's face, a face that Fanlin had never seen before. To a person who had only a vague concept of human faces, it seemed to be carved out of rotten wood, and the carver seemed to have no experience in how to use the chisel.

Every inch of skin on his face seemed to be scarred, his mouth was like a deep cut, and a large section of the bridge of his nose was missing.

But what scared everyone was the man's eyes.

One of the eyes was like a bead, small and black, and the other eye was like a coin, big and round, and still azure blue. This blue eye kept turning, without blinking, up and down, looking left and right, not like a normal eye, the blue eye turned to the right, toward the back of his head, so they could only see the white of his eye.

It looked like he was not in good condition.

Mad-Eye Moody, the former Auror.

However, his magic eye was indeed a bit scary.

A brilliant alchemical product.

However, if it was not the original Moody, it would not be comfortable to wear, right?

However, this is not a question that Fan Lin should consider. Perhaps he should try to find out who is playing the role of Professor Moody.

Barty Crouch Jr.? Or someone else?

The thunder and lightning from the early warning magic of the Tianhua Board made the wizards in the hall a little confused. They didn't know what was going on, or what the ceiling was for.

Even in the darkest era, Hogwarts never said that it was in any major crisis.

Most wizards in Britain walked out of Hogwarts...

Moody was startled.

It seemed like this. Fan Lin saw his magic eyes spinning around in an instant.

He took out a wand from his arms.

This kind of Auror always has a lot of weapons, such as Moody's inconspicuous cane.

The red magic rushed into the sky in an instant.

Moody's movements were too fast. Before Fan Lin could catch any more details, he subdued the damn ceiling.

A very powerful confusion spell, and by the way, Moody also dispelled the dark clouds that were suppressed in the sky.

The ceiling of the Hogwarts Hall returned to its normal appearance, the starry sky.

Moody approached Dumbledore and stretched out his hand, which was as scarred as his face. Dumbledore shook hands with him and said something, but no one could hear it clearly because it was too far away.

However, from the expressions of the two people, it can be seen that the two are familiar with each other.

Maybe Moody was complaining to Dumbledore about this stupid Tianhua board?

Anyway, combined with his wet hair, Moody looked a little embarrassed.

Dumbledore nodded and motioned Moody to sit in the empty seat on his right.

Alastor Moody sat down, pushed aside the dark gray mane on his face, pulled over a plate of sausages, picked up the plate and sniffed it with his remaining nose, then took out a knife from his bag, picked up one end of the sausage, and began to eat. His normal eye was staring at the sausage, but his blue eyes were still turning in his eye sockets, looking around the hall and the students.

"Let me introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Dumbledore said happily, breaking the silence. "He's Professor Moody."

"Moody?" Harry said to Ron, "Mad-Eye Moody? The man your father went to help this morning?"

"Maybe." Ron whispered in awe.

"What's wrong with him?" Hermione whispered, "What's wrong with his face?"

"I don't know." Ron whispered. He looked at Moody with interest.

Moody didn't seem to care about the less than warm welcome. He reached into his traveling cloak, pulled out a big bottle, and took a big sip. He ignored the can of pumpkin juice in front of him. When he raised his arm to drink, his cloak pulled open a little from the ground, and Harry saw a clawed foot under the table at the foot of the wooden table.

It seemed that this had been planned long ago. At least the person who played Moody must have had a hard time. This required preparations to start early and learn the lifestyle of a disabled person.

Dumbledore cleared his throat again.

"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the students, all of whom were still gaping at Mad-Eye Moody. "We are honoured to host a very exciting event next month, one that has not been held for over a century, and I am pleased to inform you that the Goblet of Fire Tournament, also known as the Triwizard Tournament, will be held at Hogwarts!"

"You are kidding!" Fred Weasley said loudly.

The tense atmosphere that had filled the hall since Moody's arrival was broken.

Almost everyone laughed, and Dumbledore also laughed in understanding.

"I am not kidding, Mr. Weasley," he said, "since you mention jokes, I learned a good joke this summer about a nymph, a witch and an old wizard, who all went to a pub -"

Professor McGonagall suddenly cleared her throat loudly.

"Hmm - perhaps now is not the time to tell jokes," said Dumbledore. "Where was I? Oh, the Triwizard Tournament. Some of you don't know what this tournament is, so I hope those who do know will allow me to explain it briefly, and those who are informed can focus on something else."

"The Tri-Wizards Tournament began about seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three major wizarding schools, Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Each school selected a champion to represent them. , these three players compete in three magic games. The magic school takes turns hosting the competition every five years. It is recognized by everyone that this is the best way to establish connections among young mages until there are too many deaths. , the game was suspended.”

"Death count?" Hermione whispered, alert. But the other students in the hall didn't seem to share her worries, many whispering excitedly to each other, while Harry himself was more interested in hearing more about the games than worrying about his death a hundred years ago.

"There have been several attempts to revive the game over the centuries," Dumbledore continued, "none of which have been more successful. However, our Department of Magical Cooperation and Magical Competitions have decided that the time has come to make another attempt. It's mature, we've been working on it all summer, and this time, the champions won't get carried away."

"The principals of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will arrive at our school with their selected contestants in October, and the selection competition for the three contestants will be held on Halloween, at which time an impartial and impartial referee will decide which one will win. The one who is most qualified to win the Three Wizards Fighting Competition trophy will be the glory of their school and receive a personal bonus of one thousand sailing coins."

"I want to join!" Fred Weasley hissed under the table. Thinking of the glory and wealth that could be obtained, he was enthusiastic and radiant.

He's not the only one who sees himself as a Hogwarts champion.

At each table, Harry could see students either looking intently at Dumbledore or occasionally whispering to their neighbors.

Fanlin's name was once again added to the Hogwarts dialog box.

This will not come as a surprise. Fan Lin has been in the limelight recently.

Fanlin is almost recognized as the most powerful little wizard in the entire UK, and even in the entire Europe.

This is nothing to question.

A guy who can defeat a dark wizard head-on, and his explosive strength far exceeds that of an ordinary wizard.

Everyone saw it, that kind of heart-stopping magic.

As long as Fan Lin participates, the Hogwarts championship trophy will definitely be unavoidable. What's more, everyone has basically heard about Fan Lin's lesson to all the boys at Beauxbatons...

Fan Lin looked at Dumbledore in shock. He had temporarily forgotten about Moody's entry.

If he had not shown his strength in the Quidditch World Cup, perhaps he might still have participated in this event.

However, people from the Ministry of Magic are not fools.

Once Fan Lin uses the magic stone, not even Scrimgeour can beat Fan Lin, let alone the wizards in these schools.

Everyone knows what happened that night. If Fan Lin can run for office, the candidate for Hogwarts must be Fan Lin. There is no doubt about this.

It can be said that no one will have to play.

It is impossible for the Ministry of Magic not to respond to such a thing, otherwise...

The discussion in the hall was really too loud, and from time to time, some people would look at him with a little fanaticism, which made Fan Lin feel very uncomfortable.

"You can definitely win the championship. I don't think the guys from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang can beat you." Harry said sincerely. Although he also wanted to participate, in comparison, , he has more confidence in his friends.

"I..." Fan Lin seemed to say something, but what he met was Neville's passionate gaze.

Obviously, Neville, as a Gryffindor, was very excited about such a thing. After all, Neville was the man who could pull the Gryffindor sword out of his hat.

But when Dumbledore spoke again, the hall fell silent again.

"While I know you all want to bring the Triwizard Trophy to Hogwarts," he said, "the headmasters of the participating schools and the Ministry of Magic have agreed to set an age limit for the contestants this time. Only students who have reached the age - —That is, only those who are seventeen years old or above are allowed to register for the election..."

Suddenly, people on the Hua Feng side of the hall began to argue and resist. I have to say, this was very Hogwarts, and they challenged the principal directly.

"It's not fair..."

"Why...it's hard to say..."

Fanlin didn't dare to look around, and some people directly took him out to make excuses.

Dumbledore heard several people criticizing his words. The Weasley twins suddenly looked extremely angry. He raised his voice and put a part of the wand against his neck.

"……Quiet……"

Great amplifying spell, at least everyone got a jump.

"This is a measure we think is necessary, because no matter how we prevent it, the event will still be difficult and dangerous. There is no possibility that students below the sixth or seventh grade can handle it. I will personally take action to ensure that students who are not old enough Students cannot fool our impartial judges into becoming Hogwarts champions."

His light blue eyes blinked a few times when he saw the rebellious faces of Fred and George. "So to those under seventeen, I ask you not to waste your time nominating yourself."

Then Dumbledore looked at Fan Lin. He was sitting with Harry, Ron and Hermione...

Dumbledore seemed to be conveying something to him, and there was a strange luster in his deep eyes.

"The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang teams will arrive in October and will be with us for most of the school year. I know you will give your full enthusiasm to the foreign guests during their stay and support the Hogwarts champions wholeheartedly. It is getting late now. I hope you will keep your heads clear in class tomorrow. This is very important. Go and rest."

Dumbledore sat down again and turned to Mad-Eye Moody, looking like he was going to reminisce.

The students stood up and swarmed to the double doors of the front hall. There was a rustling and banging sound.

"How could they do that?" George Weasley said, he did not follow the crowd to the door, he stood and stared at Dumbledore.

"We will be seventeen next April, why can't we give it a try?"

"They can't stop me." Fred said stubbornly, glaring at the table above, "Champions can do anything, and you don't even let us do legitimate things, so how can there be a thousand sailing coins bonus!"

"Yeah." Ron's mind seemed to drift far away, "Yeah, one thousand sailing coins..."

"Besides, this is not fair at all, especially for Vanlin." Hermione said angrily, "In the past, Vanlin has proved that he is the most powerful little wizard in Hogwarts, and I believe that there will be no wizards in other schools who can fight Vanlin."

"Yes, if Vanlin can't become a warrior of Hogwarts, then who else in Hogwarts has such qualifications?" Harry nodded and said.

"This is simply unreasonable, age limit?" Fred was furious, "Besides, there are still many idiots over the age of seventeen. They can only pass the exam, but the Triwizard Tournament..."

"We must talk to Dumbledore, or the Ministry of Magic... They can't do this, everyone should have a chance."

"Yeah, the one who has the most hope of winning the championship can't participate, and it's because of the age problem." Hermione frowned.

"Let's go." Fanlin said, "Don't discuss it, if you don't leave, we will be the only ones left here."

In fact, this is not a restriction for him at all.

He can directly use the Confusion Charm to trick the Goblet of Fire and throw his name in it.

In addition, Dumbledore can use it to stop the magic of young wizards, and Fanlin can find many ways to cheat, bypass, or directly destroy it.

"Fanlin, you don't have any opinion on the age limit?" Fred said angrily, "You should be..."

In fact, Fanlin wanted to tell Fred that this was not difficult for him at all, but Professor McGonagall came over.

"Mr. Vanlin.Eyre, please come here for a moment. Headmaster Dumbledore has something to say to you." Professor McGonagall said, but in a blink of an eye, her gentle face became stern.

"As for the five of you, I think you should hurry back to the public lounge instead of blocking the entrance to the hall. This is the hall, and the first-year students are reporting. You should set an example."

Professor McGonagall's serious face was still so scary.

In fact, several people did not dare to have any questions at all. Leaving obediently was the right choice.

Under the supervision of Professor McGonagall, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George walked to the front hall. They looked back at Vanlin. Then, as soon as they went out, Fred and George argued about the possible methods that Dumbledore might take to prevent students under the age of seventeen from participating in the competition.

"Why did Dumbledore look for Vanlin?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he wants to explain the reason for the ban on participating. Everyone knows that the wizards of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will not be Vanlin's opponents. He is the best in Hogwarts." Hermione frowned. At least the girl's IQ is still online.

Harry nodded. This was a result that everyone agreed with. Besides, they were friends of Fan Lin, and Fan Lin could not miss such an honor.

It rotates every five years, and there is no certainty that there will be a next time.

However, these things can only be discussed after Fan Lin comes back.

"Who is the fair judge who decides the champion of the competition?" Harry asked.

"I don't know." Fred said, "but we want to fool them. I think a few drops of old potion may be useful. George..."

"But Dumbledore knows you are underage." Ron said.

"Yes, but he is not the one who decides who wins the competition, right?" Fred said cunningly, "I think once he selects those who want to participate, he will pick the best from each school, and will not care about their age. Dumbledore just tries not to let us say our names."

"But someone has died!" Hermione said worriedly. They passed through a door hidden behind a tapestry and climbed another narrow staircase.

"Yeah," Fred said casually, "but it was a few years ago, wasn't it?

Anyway, where's the fun without a little risk? Hey, Ron, what if we avoid Dumbledore? Want to compete?"

"What did you say?" Ron asked Harry, "It would be fun to compete, but I think they might want some older ones, and whether we have learned enough..."

"I definitely haven't learned enough." Neville's depressed voice came from behind Fred and George.

"But I think my grandmother would want me to try, she always says how I should bring honor to the family, I have to, huh..."

Neville's foot sank right through the middle step of the stairs. There are many such traps at Hogwarts. Most of the older students will jump over this special step, developing a kind of second step. Second instinct, but Neville was famously forgetful, Harry and Ron grabbed him by the arms and dragged him out, a suit of armor wheezing and clanking at the top of the stairs.

"Shut up," Ron said. As they passed the armor, Ron hit its visor hard.

They groped toward the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, which was blocked behind a huge portrait of a fat lady in pink silk.

"What's the spell?" she asked as they neared the entrance. "Bradin beat him." Granger said, "The prefect downstairs told me."

The portrait swung forward to reveal a hole in the wall, through which they all crawled. A roaring fire warmed the circulation room, which was filled with low chairs and tables.

Casting cold glances at the cheerfully dancing flames, they bade each other goodnight, and Hermione disappeared into the corridor leading to the girls' dormitories.

Harry, Ron and Neville climbed the last spiral staircase to the dormitories at the top of the tower. Each of the five four-way beds has a dark red curtain facing the wall. There are suitcases for each person at the foot of the bed. Dean and Finnigan are already on the bed. Finnegan hangs his Irish robe on the ceiling. Dean En pinned a poster of Viktor Krum on the bedside table, and his old West Ham team poster was pinned next to it.

"Crazy!" Ron sighed, sighed at the motionless player, and shook his head.

Harry, Ron and Neville changed into their pajamas and went to bed, and someone, no doubt a school elf, placed a warming pan between the sheets. It was very comfortable to lie in bed and listen to the sound of the storm outside.

"I might have to work hard for it, you know." Ron's sleepy voice came from the darkness, "If Fred and George find a way to... compete... you don't know, do you?"

"But Fanlin's words..."

"Maybe he won't participate. There is nothing to play for him." Ron said in a daze.

"But, the Three Witches Fighting Competition..."

"We have to wait for Fred and George to find a way," Ron said, "over the age limit, maybe the aging potion will work."

Ron's sudden potion inspiration shocked Harry, but...

But Harry didn't know what kind of potion it was.

"A potion that makes a person's body age quickly, within the duration of the potion's effect."

"Will this work?"

"Maybe... Me too... I just heard about it..." Ron yawned, and Fan Lin hadn't come back yet.

"Maybe we don't have to wait for him. Hermione has already gone back to her dormitory."

"Maybe she's tired." Harry replied without thinking, "You know, Fan Lin slept all day today."

Ron seemed to have fallen asleep, and his voice was like a murmur.

"If not..."

Harry turned over on the bed, and a series of striking new images came to his mind... He had fooled an impartial judge into believing that he was seventeen... He had become the champion of Hogwarts... He stood On the ground, he raised his arms in victory to all the teachers and students in the school, and they all cheered and screamed... He had just won the magic three-person competition...

Zhuo's face stood out clearly among the blurred crowd, his face was full of admiration and his smile was bright.

Harry smiled happily into his pillow, especially pleased that Ron couldn't see what he could see. (To be continued)