When the three of them returned to the Great Hall, Fred and George were notably more cautious. Having realized Fleur was of Veela descent, the intense, inexplicable attraction they had initially felt seed to diminish slightly, though not entirely.
Still, they were careful not to linger near Fleur for too long. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, they quickly found an excuse to leave and joined Lee Jordan, who was standing by the Goblet of Fire.
“Has anyone put their na in yet?” Fred asked.
“Not yet... wait, Krum’s here,” Lee said, suddenly pointing toward the door.
The Durmstrang students had just arrived, crossing the field and entering the Great Hall. Their imposing headmaster led the way, and beside him strode Viktor Krum.
The Hogwarts students surrounding the Goblet of Fire instinctively moved back, clearing a path and watching in anticipation as the Durmstrang students approached.
A dozen Durmstrang students lined up and, one by one, stepped across the Age Line. Each threw their parchnt into the Goblet of Fire, and each ti the parchnt entered, the blue-and-white flas inside flared red for a brief mont, accompanied by a faint sputtering noise.
“You know...” George leaned closer to Kyle and whispered, “What do you think would happen if the Goblet of Fire thought soone was, like, really unworthy and just spat their na out? Maybe crumple it up and toss it right back at their face?”
The ntal image made Kyle chuckle. “If that happened, the whole school would laugh about it for the rest of the year.”
Both of them instinctively glanced at the Goblet of Fire.
But nothing like that happened. Each Durmstrang student’s parchnt was accepted without incident.
Fred looked slightly disappointed.
“Probably because they’re all old enough,” George mused after a mont’s thought.
The twins then wandered off, heads together, clearly hatching so sort of plan.
“Don’t mind them,” Kanna said to Fleur. “Do you have your parchnt ready?”
“Yes,” Fleur replied, tearing her gaze away from the twins. “But I need to wait for Madam Maxi... Oh, here she is.”
As Fleur spoke, the Beauxbatons delegation entered the Great Hall. Fleur hurried over to join them, and under Madam Maxi’s watchful eye, she and the other Beauxbatons students took turns stepping up to the Goblet of Fire and placing their slips of parchnt into the flas. Each na caused the sa brief flare of red within the Goblet.
Fleur seed reluctant to leave, but Maxi had sothing to discuss with her. After a brief pause, Fleur nodded and followed her headmistress out of the hall, leaving the space occupied solely by the Hogwarts students.
“Am I late?” a familiar voice asked from behind.
Kyle turned to see Cedric Diggory approaching. “As long as it’s before evening, you’re not late at all,” Kyle replied. “Have you written your na yet?”
“Actually, I did it last night,” Cedric said, holding up a neatly trimd piece of parchnt. Written on it in neat, bold handwriting was: Cedric Diggory – Hogwarts.
Kyle glanced at the slip, recognizing the precise format. The template had been posted on the common room door for all interested students, making it easy for them to copy it down exactly.
“And you? Are you ready?” Cedric asked Kyle. “We could put our nas in together.”
Before Kyle could respond, a loud bang echoed through the hall, drawing everyone’s attention. Near the Goblet of Fire, a figure shot through the air in a wild arc, as though playing with a Quaffle, before landing in an ungraceful heap ten feet away.
“Ouch!” Ron groaned, rolling on the ground and clutching his arm. To make matters worse, a scraggly white beard had sprouted from his chin, eliciting a chorus of laughter from the students nearby.
Even Harry, who had rushed over to help Ron up, couldn’t suppress his laughter.
“I told you so,” Hermione said, crossing her arms as she looked down at Ron, who was now covering his face in embarrassnt. “Professor Dumbledore would obviously account for things like the Ageing Potion, but you just wouldn’t listen.”
Harry, feeling a rush of relief, casually slipped a small bottle back into his pocket. He had hesitated earlier, and now he was glad he hadn’t tried his luck—otherwise, he might have been lying on the floor alongside Ron.
“It seems age doesn’t matter after all,” Fred and George chid in as they appeared, grinning widely. Their deanor left no doubt that they had been involved in Ron’s mishap.
“Ron bought two bottles of Ageing Potion from us last night,” Fred explained, clearly delighted.
George smirked. “We figured he’d try to sneak his na in, but we didn’t think he’d do it this early.”
“Although we didn’t see the Goblet throw his na out…”
“…Ron with a beard is just as good,” Fred finished, and the two of them burst into laughter.
When Cho Chang entered the Great Hall shortly after, Cedric seed to take this as his cue. “Let’s go!” he said eagerly, turning back to Kyle.
“I’ve been waiting for this,” Fred declared, striding toward the Goblet of Fire. George, Cedric, Cho, and Kanna followed, with Kyle bringing up the rear.
As they approached, the surrounding students parted to give them room, just as they had for the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang earlier.
Fred was the first to step over the Age Line, his confidence unshaken. George followed, then Cedric, Cho, and Kanna. Finally, Kyle crossed the line and tossed his parchnt into the Goblet of Fire, watching as the blue-and-white flas montarily flared red.
Cheers erupted from the Hufflepuffs, who were particularly loud in their support of Kyle and Cedric.
“Why isn’t anyone shouting our nas?” George grumbled. “Are all the Gryffindors still asleep?”
The Gryffindors in the hall conspicuously turned their heads, pretending not to hear. Their loyalty seed firmly reserved for Angelina Johnson, who had yet to arrive.
Only Lee Jordan showed a bit of solidarity, offering a half-hearted cheer. However, when Angelina finally walked into the Great Hall, Lee’s enthusiasm escalated dramatically, drawing a roar of applause.
This blatant favoritism left Fred and George fuming. “Traitor!” Fred yelled, chasing after Lee with George close behind.
At that mont, Ron, who had been lying on the floor pretending to be an ostrich, was also pulled to his feet. Harry was preparing to take him to the Hospital Wing to see if there was any way to remove the beard that had sprouted on him.
Hermione, trailing behind them, suddenly hesitated. After a mont's pause, she turned around and started walking toward the Goblet of Fire.
Harry noticed her movent and called out in alarm, “Wait, Hermione! You’re not thinking of getting a beard too, are you? This isn’t funny—”
Before he could finish, he froze in shock. His mouth hung open as he watched Hermione step calmly across the Age Line and confidently drop her na into the Goblet of Fire.
Ron, staring in disbelief, erupted angrily, “You cheated the age line and didn’t even tell us? What—did you think it was funny watching make an idiot of myself?”
“I don’t think breaking the rules is funny at all,” Hermione replied with a serious expression. “I turned fifteen just last month.”
“What?” Ron blinked, stunned. He distinctly rembered that Hermione’s birthday was on September 19th, while his was in March. Even he couldn’t cross the Age Line—so how could Hermione?
“In fact,” Hermione continued evenly, “I’m a year older than both of you. If I’d been born just twenty days earlier, I’d be in fifth year now.”
Harry and Ron exchanged wide-eyed looks. They had always assud Hermione was younger than they were.
A flicker of envy crossed Ron’s face. “That’s brilliant—you can compete in the Triwizard Tournant...”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Hermione said briskly. “I don’t think I’ll be chosen. I just didn’t want to miss the chance to participate in so way. Putting my na in the Goblet is a way to be part of it, isn’t it?”
“Co on,” Harry interjected, trying to steer the conversation back to their imdiate concern. “Let’s get to the Hospital Wing. Hopefully, Madam Pomfrey can get those beards off you before the Halloween feast... unless you’re planning to show up with them.”
It wasn’t just Hermione, though. Many students seed to share her sentint. By Saturday, nearly all of the fifth years and above at Hogwarts—and even a few daring fourth years—had dropped their nas into the Goblet of Fire.
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