Chapter 360: The first competition starts on time
At night, it is always too quiet.
The flagstone corridors echoed with the footsteps of the patrolmen. In the distance, the night wind blew over the spire of the tower and the lake. Everything seemed too peaceful. It was so peaceful that it was a little inappropriate.
The first game is tomorrow.
Amanta stood at the table in the Room of Requirement, holding a note in her hand, which was densely written with various spell responses, potion carrying arrangements, and preliminary plans for different dragon species.
In the past few days, they almost treated the Room of Requirement as their second dormitory. Flight training, team coordination drills, tactical drills, and the ancient dragon-related books dug out from Hermione -
Her brain was drying up.
There was a knock on the door behind him.
Amanta didn't turn around, she just asked, "Harry?"
The door was pushed open with a creak.
Harry poked his head in, holding a cloak made of owl feathers, and said with a guilty look: "I can't sleep."
She turned her head and looked at him: "Then why are you here?"
"I... came to see if you were tired enough to fall asleep."
"...Do you think I look like I can fall asleep?"
Harry grinned: "You are too excited. I am not used to it."
He approached carefully and sat down next to her desk, his eyes fixed on the paper. "Are you... actually scared?"
Amanta sneered lightly but did not deny it.
"Just trying to act calmer than you guys," she whispered.
"I might throw up tomorrow," Harry said, frowning. "But I'm not scared. I'm... too excited."
She turned her head to look at him, her eyes filled with a sense of relief and doting.
"Then don't spit on Draco."
Just as he finished speaking, a snort came from the door.
"Don't worry, he doesn't dare." Draco leaned against the door frame, his hair reflected in the golden tone by the candlelight. His light grey eyes swept around the room and finally fell on her, "...Why haven't you rested yet?"
"I'm memorizing the plan."
"You've been reciting it for three days, Amanta." Draco walked in, the anxiety in his eyes was suppressed very much. "It's no use reciting it again. Tomorrow we will face dragons, not arithmetic."
He paused, then added: "I... prepared something for you."
As he spoke, he pulled out a small bottle from inside his robe.
"This is a special buffering and protective potion collected by my father. I heard that it was specially mixed by Slughorn with phoenix bile in his early years. It is out of print."
"You should drink a little tomorrow. Don't be so stubborn."
Amanta was stunned.
Harry exclaimed, "Ouch!", "How dare you steal your father's collection? Draco, are you crazy?"
"If you don't steal from me, I'm not your friend." Draco raised his chin, a little smug on his face, "You two, one wants to vomit and the other wants to stay up late, it's hard to trust you."
Amanta said nothing, but took the bottle and nodded.
"Thank you, Draco."
Draco was startled.
Then he quickly turned his face away and said, "Don't thank me like this, I won't be used to it."
"...You've gotten used to it a long time ago." Harry looked disdainful, "I've been used to it since the day of the Firebolt."
"you shut up!"
"Shut up first!"
"Shut up, both of you." Amanta interrupted their quarrel, put the bottle into the sage's ring, and stood up.
"Let's all get some good sleep." She paused, looking at the two of them, "...and no one is allowed to rush first tomorrow."
Harry looked from her to Draco.
"Who is the first one to rush in?"
From the shadows of the doorway came another voice.
"Of course it is me."
They turned around at the same time and saw Julius standing at the door in a black robe.
"If you three become weak-footed tomorrow, it will be a disgrace to Hogwarts."
He walked in slowly, his black hair glowing with a soft blue luster under the light, and sat at the table with a sarcastic smile on his lips.
"...I will protect you."
This sentence caused the room to fall into silence for a moment.
Amanta looked at him without saying a word, while Harry and Draco narrowed their eyes.
"We don't need your protection." Draco said coldly.
Julius just laughed.
"Then we'll see."
*
The morning at Hogwarts has never been as lively as it is today.
As soon as breakfast started in the auditorium, the students could no longer sit still.
On the long table, the toast was not finished yet, the soup was still steaming, but the topic had already drifted to the Quidditch field outside the auditorium.
There is the scene of the first competition of today's Triwizard Tournament.
"Have you heard? I heard that someone was still setting up the venue late last night. I saw that the dragons were transported to the back of the Forbidden Forest in advance."
"My brother said he saw the flying dragon convoy from the window - it took twelve people to cast a spell to pull it!"
"Oh my god! Do you think... they are really going to fight the dragon? Isn't this just courting death?"
"But not all four warriors are in the seventh year! All those at Hogwarts are in the fourth year!"
The students chattered among themselves, their eyes occasionally falling on the group of four at the front row of the Slytherin table.
Amanta.
Draco.
Harry.
Julius.
They were having a quiet breakfast - or so it seemed.
In fact, Amanta had her fingers on the edge of her plate and didn't eat a single bite.
The Firebolt was resting against her leg. She had adjusted the Sage's Ring to a mode suitable for the competition, with the potions arranged on the outermost layer, ready to be taken out at any time.
She could feel Draco absentmindedly stirring the mashed potatoes, Harry had smeared jam on his fork three times, and Julius...still looked calm and composed, drinking his tea.
"They're looking at us like we're dead," Harry muttered.
"You should be thankful they didn't bring candles," Draco said flatly.
"Harry." Amanta curled the corners of her lips and whispered, "Shut up and eat, don't pay attention to them."
They were talking in low voices, when——
A large flock of owls suddenly flew over the auditorium, stirring up a gust of wind.
Everyone looked up.
Behind the owl, there was a stream of silver light floating down - like a rain of feathers illuminated by the sun.
It's a venue pass.
Every student, professor, visiting school personnel, and some invited reporters from The Daily Prophet received an invitation card for this grand event.
Next, representatives from the Ministry of Magic arrived.
Mr. Barty Crouch walked into the auditorium in a well-dressed suit and with a serious expression, followed by Ludo Bagman, whose face was full of excitement of "I'm going to host a big event".
"The first competition will begin at 2 o'clock this afternoon." Bagman stood next to Dumbledore and announced loudly, "The warriors will gather in the waiting room at 1 o'clock and draw lots!"
The students' screams and applause almost shook the auditorium.
"We have to go," Amanta whispered.
They put down their knives and forks and walked out of the auditorium.
Along the way, the surrounding students stared at them as if they were watching a zoo, and many students below the third grade waved goodbye to them timidly.
"Don't say goodbye to us." Harry turned back and smiled, "We are just going to the competition, not to the guillotine."
"…That's a nice thing to say." Draco glared at him.
Amanta said nothing, but put the Firebolt into the Sage's Ring.
The Warriors' Waiting Room was a temporary tent set up near the Quidditch pitch, surrounded by soundproofing spells.
When Amanta entered, Fleur Delacour was fixing her hair in front of a mirror, and Krum was sitting in a corner with his eyes closed as if in meditation.
Draco and Harry stood behind her, the atmosphere was subtle and tense.
The last one to come in was Julius. As soon as he came in, he attracted the attention of the other two school warriors.
Krum looked at him with complicated eyes and whispered something to him, but Julius just smiled faintly in response.
The air almost froze.
at this time--
The curtain was lifted again.
"Excuse me, warriors." A delicate, pretentious voice sounded, "Our report for today is about to begin."
Rita Skeeter filed in wearing a green snake-scale suit, an absurd amount of lipstick, a quill and a photographer from the Daily Prophet.
Her eyes swept across and fell directly on Amanta.
"Ah, dear Miss Merlin, would you be willing to give me an exclusive interview?"
Amanta's eyes narrowed.
She didn't like this woman, but she couldn't turn against her now.
So she forced a smile and said, "I only answer questions related to the competition."
"Of course, of course," Rita said with excitement in her eyes. "Then do you think, as a fourth grader, you can beat those adult players?"
"I'm not alone," she said calmly, "we are a team."
Harry nodded beside him.
Rita's pen tip quickly moved across the parchment, but her eyes were filled with other thoughts.