Chapter 353: She Wants Both Glory and Destiny
After Julius and Snape left, the three of them had a brief discussion. Harry was so sleepy that he kept yawning, and Draco was propped up with his head and half-opened his eyes.
"I have to listen to the headmaster announce the remaining list of warriors tomorrow morning," Harry rubbed his eyes, "I am so exhausted."
"Go back and rest first. We have training tomorrow." Amanta replied lightly and stood up.
The three of them said goodnight and went their separate ways.
Amanta returned to her bedroom and pushed open the door. The empty room was lit only by a dim wall lamp. She took off her robe and hung it up. She picked out a few bottles of potions that might be useful from the neatly arranged potion rack next to the bookshelf, one for stopping bleeding, one for detoxifying, and one for stress sobering.
All were put into the Sage's Ring.
Then, she took out a cowhide notebook, quickly wrote down a long string of spells, drew a few simple spell diagrams, and wrote down a few reference books that she was going to look up in the library.
Although the rules of the game have changed, she still can't ignore the uneasiness in her heart.
The future I saw in my mind...
The fingers paused and the fingertips tightened.
She closed her eyes, and the vision of her coma emerged in her mind.
Livia stood in the white mist and told her - Draco would die, and Harry would die too.
At that time, she didn't believe it. She thought that as long as she became stronger, she could change the outcome.
But now, with Julius's appearance, the huge changes in the Goblet of Fire selection, and the four warriors who shouldn't have appeared...
She became increasingly aware that she had strayed from her original destiny, but perhaps in a more dangerous direction.
She took a deep breath and clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms, causing a dull pain.
But she still didn't frown.
She brought herself back to reality and reminded herself: Don't be careless and don't let anyone die.
Amanta stood up, walked to the desk, and took out the old broom wrapped in muslin from the Sage's Ring - the "Nimbus 2001" that Lucius gave her when she first entered Hogwarts.
The surface of the broom was still shiny, but two branches were broken at the tail and there were slight cracks in the wood.
She whispered, "It's time to get a new one."
She rewrapped the Nimbus 2001 and carefully placed it in the Sage's Ring.
Then I changed into my nightgown and got into the warm bed.
The lights went out and the dormitory fell into silence.
She closed her eyes, but did not fall asleep immediately.
The rest of the Warriors roster will be announced tomorrow morning.
She gently touched the cool Sage's Ring bracelet on her wrist and counted the bottles and jars that were neatly placed inside.
The Triwizard Tournament is about to begin.
She must win.
She wanted both glory and destiny.
*
The next morning, just after dawn, Amanta sat up from her bed. After washing up, she went to the Great Hall with Draco and Harry.
They arrived early, and there were only a few students in the auditorium. The air was filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread and pumpkin juice.
But once they entered, the atmosphere changed.
The students, who had been quiet before, all looked over. Whispers rose and fell, with blatant curiosity and suspicion.
"That's them... they're just missing Hoffman."
"How do you think they did it? We studied it all night and couldn't figure out how they broke the age limit?"
"Do you think Amanta Merlin used dark magic?"
"Doesn't Malfoy like the dark arts the most? That Hoffman doesn't seem quite normal either..."
"I heard that someone in the Malfoy family bribed the judges..."
Amanta calmly walked to the Slytherin table and sat down in the corner. Draco rolled his eyes and sat down next to her, while Harry put down his backpack heavily, his mouth twitching.
"Leave them alone," Amanta whispered.
"I didn't give a shit," Harry muttered, stuffing some toast from the table into his mouth as soon as he sat down.
Just then, a huge pure white owl flapped its wings and landed on Draco's shoulder, bringing a copy of today's Daily Prophet.
As soon as the newspaper was unfolded, the faces of the three people fell at the same time.
The front page headline reads in bold, huge boldface:
《Shocked! Is the Goblet of Fire crazy?! Hogwarts selected four warriors at once, and they are all fourth-year Slytherins!》
The illustrated magic animated image below is a picture of the chaos in the auditorium last night. The students' screams, booing, and fanatical expressions are played in a continuous loop, especially Amanta's calm face as she walked towards the Goblet of Fire, which was close-up three times.
The subtitle follows:
"A descendant of Merlin, the heir of Malfoy, the boy who lived, a mysterious pure-blood transfer student from Northern Europe - is this really a selection of warriors for the Triwizard Tournament, or is it just a farce?"
The main text is even more vivid:
"At last night's Halloween dinner, an unprecedented scandal broke out at Hogwarts: the Goblet of Fire actually selected four fourth-year wizards as contestants for Hogwarts! They are - Harry Potter (the boy who survived a disaster), Amanta Merlyn (claiming to be a descendant of Merlin), Draco Malfoy (heir to a pure-blood family), and Julius Hoffman (a mysterious transfer student from Durmstrang in Northern Europe)."
"According to reliable information, these four students are all Slytherins! Is there some unknown conspiracy behind this? And is Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, too old and dim-witted to be fooled by a few underage students?"
"What cheating methods did they use? Was the judgment ability of the Goblet of Fire interfered with by magic? Will the Ministry of Magic investigate? The Daily Prophet will continue to follow up on the report for you!"
"I've seen exaggerated reports." Harry's mouth twitched, "but this is too much."
"Claiming to be a descendant of Merlin?" Amanta repeated in a low voice, her face slightly gloomy.
Draco sighed: "Mysterious Nordic pure blood..."
He casually slapped the newspaper on the table and was about to say something when he was interrupted by an unfriendly sound of footsteps.
A group of Durmstrang students wearing heavy coats came over, each with burning eyes and a malicious smile on their face.
The one walking in front was a senior wizard with a scar on his cheek and a pointed chin. He stared at Amanta and the other two for two seconds, then suddenly looked at Julius who was sitting at the other end.
"Hoffman," he said in a low voice, but his words were pronounced very strongly, "I never thought you would resort to such means. We really underestimated you."
Several Durmstrang students behind him chuckled.
"Weren't you so sick when you were a kid that you couldn't even fly your broomstick? Now you can actually trick the Goblet of Fire... As a senior, I'm really pleased to see you 'grow'."
Amanta looked over calmly. Julius did not respond, as if he had not heard her. He bit a piece of apple with an indifferent look and brushed a strand of hair on his forehead with his fingers.
"He was able to trick the Goblet of Fire, which shows that he is strong enough." Harry whispered, "Anyway, I feel that these two schools are not very friendly to us."
"After all, we can be called rivals in various situations," Amanta said calmly.
Draco raised his chin: "The people from Durmstrang are nothing. We will defeat them to show you."
Amanta turned her eyes back to the plate in front of her: "But I did notice that it seems that they don't know who their principal has chosen to participate."