Chapter 496 Opening

Inside a lakeside castle surrounded by hills in the Scottish Highlands, in an ancient and heavy tower dormitory, the quilt on the four-poster bed surrounded by black curtains was suddenly lifted. The black-haired, green-eyed boy stretched out his thin arms and fumbled for a while. The moment he put his glasses on his nose, the surroundings became clear.

Through the faint starlight shining through the half-closed glass window, you can see the simple and neat furnishings in the room, the old wooden ceiling, the faded artillery team posters on the wall, and five identical four-poster beds.

Harry Potter, who was haggard and unable to sleep, took in everything in the room, especially the summer blanket on the bed next to him, which rose and fell slowly with even breathing, and the friend who was sleeping soundly under the blanket.

The words by the fireplace in the conference room came to his mind again. Watching the conversation between Sirius and Loren from Harry's perspective, he could not guess anything.

Why did Sirius apologize to Loren, what did he do wrong to make Loren feel guilty, what was the thing that Loren insisted on not forgiving, why did he say that he didn't have nightmares anymore...

Why did Sirius disappear for more than a year, and suddenly appeared and claimed that he was getting married, and the wedding would be held in the summer vacation.

In the afternoon, when accompanying them to visit the school, Harry pestered his godfather for several hours, but he didn't get anything out.

Don't think about it, let them do whatever they want, he still has a game tomorrow.

Harry retracted his gaze, sighed deeply, pulled the blanket in front of him, and fell down with his head raised.

Insomnia made his head dizzy, as if the heavy and turbid lake water filled the whole brain, and all kinds of doubts were like bubbles coming out of the bottom of the lake, gurgling in his ears.

As expected, he got up late the next day. When Harry opened his eyes, there was no one in the dormitory, and his head was a little dizzy because of sleeping for a long time after insomnia.

Ron should be accompanying Mrs. Weasley and Bill to tour the school, Neville should be helping Professor Sprout to tidy up the greenhouse, and Loren should be accompanying Hermione, perhaps by the lake, or perhaps on the hill behind the castle.

Harry raised his head and looked through the open window, from top to bottom.

The sky was blue and clear as if it had been washed by water, and occasionally a few restless birds flew by with elegant postures. At the end of the sight, the trees in the Forbidden Forest were lush, and the leaves were green and shiny under the sunlight.

It seemed to be a rare good weather.

The faint smell of grass at the tip of the nose, the fresh smell seemed to relax the brain and dispel the restlessness in the heart.

Harry slowly packed up and washed, staggered downstairs, and found that it was already lunchtime. He walked quickly to the long table and sat down. Beside him were the five Weasleys who had spent a morning walking in the castle.

"How do you feel, Harry?" Ron held a hot meat pie in his hand. "I called you twice when I went downstairs this morning, but I didn't call you because you were sleeping so soundly."

"Thanks to you, I slept well." Harry saw Loren and Hermione sitting on the right, talking and laughing as usual, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where's Sirius? Why don't I see him?"

"He went to Hagrid to send out invitations. Remember, the wedding this summer?"

"Oh, I didn't know that..."

...

"Cedric, come on!"

"Hogwarts depends on you!"

The Gryffindor table and the Hufflepuff table were next to each other. In the afternoon when they were quietly waiting for the game to start, Loren could always hear the constant cheering from next door.

Throughout the afternoon, Cedric was not impatient at all. No matter who passed by him, no matter how important the paragraph in his spell book he was reading, whenever someone greeted him, he would look up and show a gentle smile to the person who came.

"I will."

"There's still Harry at Hogwarts."

"..."

Loren moved his ears, stretched, and muttered to himself, thinking that nothing unexpected would happen tonight. Although Dumbledore had his own plans, plans could not keep up with changes...

"I'm going to the bathroom."

Loren stood up and walked out of the auditorium. He turned a corner, walked down the stairs a few steps, turned another corner, and pushed the door to see the fruit painting.

He scratched the green pear, and the kitchen door opened with the sound of the pear's giggle.

"Excuse me, are Xiaomai and Shanshan here?"

...

Time is the mist on the shore of the Black Lake, which is evaporated by the midsummer sun and blown away by the breeze. The little wizards watched the magic dome of the auditorium turn from blue to dark purple twilight little by little, and the heat of June gradually subsided as night fell.

I talked to him for the whole afternoon, from summer homework to previewing the content of the next school year, from travel after the holiday to where to go fishing... After dinner, the girl was probably a little tired, and gradually calmed down, holding a small silver spoon to poke the strawberries on the ice cream. When the smoothie was stirred, it emitted a floating white vapor, which was cool and refreshing.

Loren scooped a spoonful and put it into his mouth, exhaling white air:

"Why is it strawberry flavored again? Aren't you tired of it?"

"No."

"Stay in the audience and watch the game at night, don't run around."

"Your words seem to have some hidden meaning."

"I don't, it mainly depends on how Headmaster Dumbledore arranges it."

"?"

The two shared the smoothie and chatted casually. At the guest of honor seat, Dumbledore stood up, his beard was carefully groomed and smooth and neat:

"Ladies and gentlemen, please line up to enter the Quidditch pitch to watch the last event of the Goblet of Fire. Now the warriors and Mr. Bagman are invited to enter first."

The auditorium was filled with excitement. Watching Bagman lead them away, every student applauded the warriors they supported.

"Feeling okay, Harry?"

"Confident, Cedric?"

"Krum! Krum! Krum..."

"Come on, Graves!"

"Fleur, I like you!"

"..."

Five minutes later, the professors organized the audience to walk to the Quidditch pitch.

The sky was a clear dark blue, stars began to appear, and the moon was still only a narrow hook.

Molly held Ginny in one hand and Hermione in the other, as if she had forgotten what happened yesterday afternoon, and said with a smile on her face:

"What a great change. It's more lively than the night of the Quidditch World Cup. You don't have to cook to watch Harry's final... Arthur must be so envious that his eyes are red!"

"Mrs. Weasley..."

Hermione was led away with a helpless expression: "There were tens of thousands of spectators on the night of the Quidditch World Cup, and there were only a few hundred spectators on the Goblet of Fire. How could it be more lively than that night?"

The smile on Molly's face never stopped: "Hey, listen to me, the most popular person on the night of the Quidditch World Cup was Viktor Krum, right? But now Krum is only one of the five warriors. One, there are four others who are the same as him or even stronger than him."

"..."

George and Fred, who were following behind, had sad expressions on their faces, watching the audience pass by them one by one, as if customers were passing by one after another.

The snacks and drinks in those people's hands, the banners and signs above their heads...

It was originally the capital of their joke shop!

George couldn't bear to close his eyes, and Fred next to him looked even sadder.

The Quidditch pitch was originally surrounded by four stands in the outer ring. The ground lawn was divided into different areas with white lines, and the scoring rings stood on both sides.

But now the place has become completely unrecognizable. The four stands have lowered their height and gradually increased from the inside to the outside. A twenty-foot-high hedge from the inside surrounds the edge of the field. The traceless stretching spell causes the light to be misaligned. The audience can barely get a glimpse of what's going on inside the maze.

Hundreds of students filed in, and the air was filled with excited voices and chaotic footsteps.

I don’t know why the people around them moved, but in the end only Loren and Hermione were left, and the others dispersed. Fortunately, there were plenty of seats, but only a few little wizards who didn't like the excitement sat in the back. Most of the audience squeezed into the front row, standing on tiptoes to look into the maze.

Why are so many people squeezing to the front? The first row can't see clearly what's going on in the maze.

"Let's move back a little."

Loren took Hermione's hand and walked back.

When they got to the fourth row, it was a little more spacious. They were surprised to find many familiar people sitting in the back, such as Neville and Hannah, Draco and his little gang...

The most conspicuous ones are Luna and Rolf, who are wearing lion-head hats. Their lion-head hats have a conspicuous lightning-shaped scar on their foreheads, which can be seen at a glance as Harry's supporters.

Luna sat on her seat, her feet dangling slightly in the air, her silver eyes shining slightly, and she had no expression but gave people a feeling of joy.

Loren and Hermione sat over and joked with a smile:

"Hey, why do Hufflepuff people carry Gryffindor's mascot?"

Luna hummed and said nothing, Rolf translated for her: "Cedric does not lack the support of both of us, but Harry needs it."

"Be careful if you go back at night and be considered a traitor."

"Won't."

"Where do you plan to go on vacation?"

"Well..." Rolf pondered for a moment, "Mr. Graves and Mrs. Graves invited us to go to New York again."

"Pickley's parents? Invite you to New York?"

"The main thing is to invite my grandpa."

"..."

The couple with different skin colors appeared in front of Loren's eyes, and he also recalled the major case Newt Scamander committed in New York: "Isn't your grandfather banned from entering the country and needs to be strictly scrutinized?"

"This time there is a valid reason to investigate the albino basilisk, but the main task is to help MACUSA establish an ecological park for magical animals. The incident of the werewolf inferi gave the International Federation a new understanding of non-human magical creatures. Knowing, they realize that magical animals can play a greater role..."

"Would your grandpa agree?" Hermione tilted her head and asked in a low voice, "Mr. Scamander has always opposed wizards using magical animals. As you know, the preface to every volume of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them advocates that Let the animals return to nature.”

"It's because he didn't agree that he came to me."

Rolf sighed quietly, "I really don't know what they think. I'm only in the third grade. I'm just a little wizard who hasn't graduated. How can I persuade the adults in my family?"

"Yes, you are still a child..." Loren comforted him sadly, patting his shoulder lovingly.

"..."

Rolf's eyebrows slowly knitted together.

No, why does this sentence sound so awkward coming from your mouth?

"They're out!"

Not far ahead came Mr. Amos Diggory's rough cheer: "Look, that's my son, the tallest one! Do you see..."

The warriors came out of the locker room, wearing capes of different colors. The night wind blew and the capes flew up and down.

The professors who followed him were also dressed differently than usual. Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Moody all had bright red stars on their hats. Hagrid was a little different. Hagrid's red star was on the back of his velvet vest.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the last event of the Goblet of Fire Four Wife Tournament is about to begin!" Bagman's magically amplified voice echoed in the stands, "Let me report the current score! Harry Potter, 53 points! Cedric Diggory, 54 points, they won first place in the first two events, and Hogwarts School firmly occupied the first place..."

Applause and cheers frightened the birds of the Forbidden Forest into the darkening night sky.

On the referee's bench, Dumbledore sat in the middle of the seat. The red light of a torch not far away illuminated the wrinkles on his face, but he did not look old.

He turned to look at the special referee from the Ministry of Magic beside him, and smiled: "Before the game starts, do you want to check the settings inside the maze, Barty?"

Crouch said unhurriedly: "You are still as cautious as before, Headmaster, but many of the mechanisms in the maze are disposable and difficult to restore in a short time after use. I believe that the construction workers of the Ministry of Magic and Sparrow Professor Te is rigorous and conscientious in his work, so there is no need for further testing.”

He raised his eyebrows, as if he remembered afterward: "By the way, there is also Professor Hagrid. Please forgive me, I always forget that he is now the Care of Magical Creatures professor at Hogwarts."

"Correct me, he is an excellent and competent professor." Dumbledore smiled.

"Yes, I've noticed it at work."

Crouch chuckled and pointed at the big man standing on the court scratching his head and laughing: "He is also the inspector of this game. If he sees the Warriors' signal, I believe he will rush into the maze as soon as possible and will be injured." The warriors rescued him.”

"..."

Ms. Maxim, who had been prepared for a long time, heard the huge gap between the scores and other schools, her olive-colored face still showed fluctuations, and she sighed softly.

Furong failed to complete the second event and was too far behind to catch up.

The Goblet of Fire is over for Beauxbatons, but she's not just at Hogwarts to compete.

The hybrid giantess' eyes quietly moved and fell on the back row of the auditorium. A young wizard with black hair and black eyes was playing with the lion's head hat of the person next to him. During the fight, the pendant around his neck was looming.

Listening to the noisy voice in his ears, Karkaroff came back to his senses. The commentator had already finished reading Krum's penultimate score, but he didn't care at all. He looked around expressionlessly, with a hint of hiddenness in his eyes. Secret restlessness.