Leaving Ron here alone didn't feel quite right…
But there was no other choice—this place was already at full capacity. In fact, to make sure Hogwarts didn't end up with three champions, Cohen had even blatantly written "Azkaban" as a prefix on the na slip.
"This room, Cohen," Dumbledore said, pointing him to a door after he arrived upstairs.
As Cohen passed the staff table, he could hear not only whispers among the students but also murmurs of confusion from the professors.
He pushed open the door Harry had just half-heartedly shut behind him and stepped inside.
"No way."
That was the first thing he heard—Fleur was loudly protesting the unfairness of the situation.
She and the other champions were gathered around the fireplace, all staring at Harry, who stood there looking completely out of his depth.
"He's too young," Fleur insisted. "He clearly shouldn't be in the tournant. This is obviously a mistake."
"Cohen?" Harry, unsure what to say, spotted Cohen entering the room like a lifeline. He hurried over. "Did Dumbledore find a way to fix this?"
"Is there so kind of solution?" Cedric asked, recognizing Cohen—mainly because Hufflepuff's Hopkins had been frequently visiting him this term.
"It's… not exactly easy to explain," Cohen replied. "Right now, we have five champions."
"What?" Krum frowned, his thick eyebrows knitting together as he spoke in his heavy accent. "You're from Hogwarts, right? I saw your school robes."
"Hogwarts has three champions?" Fleur demanded. "That's not fair!"
"It really isn't," Cohen agreed calmly, showing zero guilt despite being the one who'd thrown the rules out the window.
Bang—
The door burst open as a crowd of people swept in: the three headmasters, Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Moody, as well as Cornelius Fudge and Barty Crouch.
"Mada Maxi!" Fleur ran to her headmistress. "These two boys are saying they were chosen for the tournant!"
"What's going on, Dumbledore?" Mada Maxi asked, her tone stern. "Surely this is not within the tournant guidelines."
"I would like to know the sa, Dumbledore," Karkaroff added, with an oily, practiced smile. "Hogwarts already has more champions than both our schools combined. I wasn't told the host school could have additional selections—unless I missed sothing in the fine print?"
"But it's already happened," Fudge muttered, dabbing sweat from his forehead. "Maybe the Goblet… malfunctioned sohow? Barty, should we…"
"According to the rules, any na that cos out of the Goblet must compete in the Triwizard Tournant," Crouch said firmly. He then turned to Dumbledore. "Dumbledore, may I see the na slips that were drawn?"
Dumbledore handed him the five pieces of parchnt, each bearing the na of a chosen champion.
"Look at the handwriting, Barty," Moody suggested, peering over his shoulder. "Could be soone had soone else write it for them. That'd help narrow it down—there aren't that many students in the castle…"
"Soone trying to deflect bla?" Karkaroff interrupted loudly. "The issue is clear: Hogwarts has three champions. *Three!*"
"That is unacceptable. Hogwarts cannot have this many champions—it's blatantly unfair," Mada Maxi snapped. "They should not be allowed to compete."
"You didn't put your na in the Goblet, did you?" Dumbledore asked quietly, ignoring the rising anger around him. His question was for Harry and Cohen.
"No," both of them answered.
"Children's words can't always be trusted," Karkaroff said slyly.
"But there's no evidence to the contrary—unless you have so, Igor?" Dumbledore replied evenly.
"You said your age line would prevent underage students from getting through," Karkaroff shot back. "If we'd known it was faulty, we would have brought more candidates from our own schools!"
"Harry Potter's affiliation is unclear, but Cohen Norton is clearly not a Hogwarts champion," Crouch suddenly said, staring at the last slip of parchnt in his hand.
"Even if we remove one, Hogwarts still has the advantage," Mada Maxi muttered.
Moody glanced at the slip Crouch was holding, then looked at Cohen. His magical eye was spinning wildly.
"No, I didn't an to say Norton isn't a champion," Crouch clarified, unfolding the parchnt. "I ant—he doesn't represent Hogwarts."
The writing was small, but nearly everyone had leaned in by now, so it was impossible to miss.
It read sothing that made the entire room go silent with shock.
[Azkaban]
"Is this so kind of April Fool's joke?" Mada Maxi asked, frowning. "Rather inappropriate, given the setting."
Karkaroff said nothing. In fact, after seeing that word, he wouldn't even look in Cohen's direction.
"…" Fudge stared hard at Cohen, whose blank expression remained unchanged.
No doubt about it—Fudge was now convinced Cohen had sothing to do with the Dentor uprising.
"Dumbledore?" Crouch asked quietly. "Would you prefer to explain this publicly, or…"
"The champions may return to their common rooms," Dumbledore said. "We'll be sharing the results with the headmasters. Whether they decide to inform their students is entirely up to them. Cohen, stay behind."
"Hmph." Fleur left at Mada Maxi's urging, flipping her hair with a huff.
Krum followed suit without a word.
Harry hesitated, wanting to stay, but Cedric tugged him away.
"Don't make a scene," Cedric muttered. "Especially not in front of the other schools…"
Once all the champions had left, the room was filled only with adults—and Cohen, standing calmly on his own.
"Alright," Mada Maxi said briskly. "Now can soone please explain?"
But she soon noticed sothing strange: everyone else seed vaguely unsettled—as if she were the only one in the room who didn't know about Cohen's connection to Azkaban.
"Why do I get the feeling all of you already knew?" she said, turning to Karkaroff. "Professor Karkaroff—you knew too?"
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