Halloween banquet has always been one of the great features of Hogwarts. Studying at Hogwarts, you can hardly find any banquet as sumptuous as the Halloween banquet. The unveiling of the hero candidates adds a bit more anticipation and anxiety to this dazzling evening meal.
The banquet began at six o'clock, but since four o'clock, little wizards have been gradually descending the stairs. Some little wizards even stayed in the entrance hall all day, just to figure out who had put their names into the cauldron.
Around five and a half, the sky was already very dark, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked into the Great Hall together.
For Harry and his friends, today was supposed to be a relaxing day. They had planned to spend the whole day with Hagrid, from whom they were hoping to glean some information about the tasks of the Triwizard Tournament. However, an incident involving a girl from Beauxbatons in the morning had given them quite a bit of trouble.
They accompanied Hagrid in showing the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons around the Hogwarts campus.
Hagrid was in a panic and didn't know what to do after Fleur got hurt. In fact, it was Harry and his two friends who were showing the guests around, but they didn't have the ability to cheat like Professor Brain, so they went to great lengths to make sure that the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons thought that Hogwarts had something worth seeing. They even asked Sprout Professor to open the greenhouse where magical plants were grown.
But this still didn't satisfy the guests from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. The complaints and ridicule never stopped, and many people left halfway through. Heavily irritated, Hermione fought with several of the touchyBeauxbatons witches.
However, it was Viktor Krum who greatly increased their favorability.
He dragged his sick body all the way to the end of the tour, and Ron was finally able to get his signature from him.
They had lunch at Hagrid's place in the afternoon. Hagrid made a big pot of steak stew for them, but perhaps because of his bad mood, Hermione found a big paw in her portion of the stew. After that, she and Harry and Ron didn't feel like eating much.
In the afternoon, Hermione taught DM and Ron how to play wizard chess. She believed it was necessary for DM to learn some entertainment skills, but every time she lost a game, DM would jump up in alarm and apologize to Hermione with tears in her eyes. Then, she would stick her head into Hagrid's fireplace as a punishment.
"I think it's not suitable for him to learn this, even Neville is much better than him——"
After winning a match in sheer desperation, facing Hermione's angry gaze, Ron innocently shrugged his shoulders and said.
And Harry has been trying to convince Hagrid that Professor Brain would take care of it and the Buckbeak wouldn't be executed by the Ministry of Magic（which wasn't a bad thing, Harry thought）, but it didn't work. Hagrid was still in a low mood and couldn't get out of it. In the end, even Harry was a bit helpless.
"Well, why don't you apologize, Hagrid!"
Harry sighed and said,
"I think if the headmaster of Beauxbatons forgives you, the Ministry of Magic has no reason to kill Buckbeak on its own initiative——"
"Oh, that's a good idea!"
The emotionally downcast Hagrid immediately regained his spirit. He washed his head with a perfume that smelled more like bug spray and left the house eagerly for Beauxbatons, leaving the three of them behind in the house.
Is Hagrid counting on that scent to knock out the headmaster of Beauxbatons and get forgiveness?
This had been a thoroughly dreadful day, Ron grumbled as he stepped onto the last step of the hall.
"In my opinion, he doesn't need to worry about the Ministry of Magic killing those Buckbeaks. They can't find a way to break the shell of a Buckbeak, of course. If the headmaster of Beauxbatons were to go and have a look around Hagrid's pumpkin patch, then all the Buckbeaks would die, you get what I mean?"
"Stop being stupid, Ron--"
Hermione giggled, and Ron's joke lightened her mood a bit after a grumpy day.
"Hagrid going to ask Mrs. Maxime wasn't for apologizing, you didn't notice his suit and haircut, he's been planning to ask her out for a while already——"
When the three of them walked into the entrance hall, they found the cauldron had already been moved from its original place. Now it sat in front of Professor Dumbledore.
The Great Hall, bathed in the glow of thousands of floating candles, was bustling with people. Hermoine, pulling Harry and Ron along in her wake, quickly found a seat. When she noticed that Fred and George's chins were as smooth as ever, Hermoine raised her eyebrows, tilting her head and smiling.
"I think you must have learned your lesson by now, don't you?"
"Oh! I think those who dare to challenge the rules are the true warriors, the nosy busybody miss! "
Fred said unhappily.
Harry noticed that there was another person at the teacher's table. In addition to Ludo Bagman, who had attended the opening ceremony of the Triwizard Tournament, Barty Crouch Jr., whom they had seen at the Quidditch World Cup that evening, was also here. However, he looked pale and weak.
"I think he should realize that he can't deal with life on his own without Twinkle's help."
Hermione said without hesitation about Barty Crouch Jr.'s condition,
"He should feel remorse for his actions and ask Twinkle for forgiveness!"
Hermione's view was wishful thinking. The high-ranking Director of the International Confederation of Wizards couldn't possibly bow to a domesticated elf to apologize. If Barty Crouch Jr. wanted, he could easily get a hundred domesticated elves to take care of his life.
"I wonder who will be the champion for Hogwarts..."
Harry chose to be very careful and change the subject to avoid discussing domesticated elves with Hermione at any time.
"I hope it's Angelina."
Fred said immediately.
"Angeleina is the only known Gryffindor upperclassman who put her name in the cauldron," Fred said immediately. "Of course, there must be others who signed up privately."
"So am I!"
Hermione was indeed distracted by this topic, and she waved at Angelina, who was sitting a few seats away, her knuckles white from tension and her skin darkened with anxiety.
"Wishing you luck in becoming the champion of Hogwarts, Angelina!"
Since her and Angelina had a long discussion with Professor Brain about 'love' last time in the library, Hermione and Angelina's relationship has been quite good.
"Oh, thanks!"
Angelina turned her head to look at Hermione, revealing a nervous smile.
The time of the Halloween eve feast seemed much longer than usual. Perhaps it was because there were two consecutive banquets, the little wizards seemed to be less interested in the delicacies prepared than usual.
People in the Great Hall were constantly craning their necks, each face showing anxiety.
"Who do you think will announce the results later?" Navi suddenly asked a question that sparked a heated discussion among everyone.
"It's either Professor Dumbledore or Professor Brain, after all, one of them will come--"
Ron stuffed an entire pudding into his mouth and, puffing out his cheeks, said something completely irrelevant.
The discussion about this issue helped pass some of the more painful moments, and finally, the golden plates were returned to their original pristine state. The sound in the hall suddenly increased many times, and then Professor Brain stood up.
"Oh"
Hermione sighed with a touch of disappointment. She had been supporting Professor Dumbledore for the question just posed by Neville, as she believed it was appropriate for the headmaster of Hogwarts to reveal the answer in such a solemn occasion.
The Great Hall fell silent immediately, and hundreds of eyes were on Professor Brain. The teachers at the staff table, like the rest of the students, looked tense and eagerly awaited the answer. Ludo Bagman was smiling broadly, winking at the students from each school, while Barty Crouch Jr. seemed bored and eager to leave as soon as possible.
"Ladies and gentlemen--"
Professor Brain stepped around Professor Snape, coming to the space between the staff table and the student tables, next to the square table where the cauldron was placed. He smiled as he addressed everyone.
"The painful and unbearable feast has come to an end. Now, it's time for the answer-giving moment, both for you, for myself, and for me!"
(End of chapter)
