Dumbledore and Amortia walked briskly into the room, followed by Madame Pomfrey, Professor Karkaroff, two high officials from the Ministry of Magic, Snape was the second to last to enter, and Moody was the last to enter. The Moody Professor looked around the empty auditorium with his magical eye, then closed it.
The portraits on the walls, which had become restless, instantly returned to silence as a group of people entered. They stared curiously, ready to find out how to handle this strange matter and then boast to their portrait friends.
Amortia saw that Hermione was still in McGonagall's arms, the fire in the room's fireplace was very strong, but Hermione's thin shoulder was still slightly trembling.
Fleur, Krum and Cedric were obviously aware of what had happened from McGonagall's mouth, Amortia could sense Fleur's furrowed brow hiding anger.
Everyone was preoccupied with their thoughts, except for Ludo Bagman's keenly interested expression as he sized Hermione up, which stood out starkly among the group. Amortia cast him a glance and immediately knew what the fellow was scheming.
"Madam Macnair!"
Fleur expected Amortia to give her an explanation, but as Amortia walked into the room, she only gave her a passing glance, which undoubtedly ignited Fleur's anger. Fleur violently shook her hair and strode towards McGonagall,
"This professor has informed us that the little girl has also been chosen as a champion!"
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and did not speak.
Madam Macnair straightened her tall and stout frame. Her pretty head bumped into the crystal chandelier lit with candles, her large breasts in her black satin dress heaved heavily,
"What does this mean, Dumbledore?"
Madam Macnair's gaze lingered between Dumbledore and Brian's figures for a moment before finally choosing Dumbledore. Karkaroff, on the other hand, made the opposite choice. His face was icy and smiling as he looked at Amortia, but he avoided Amortia's eyes, having experienced a sudden heart attack outside just a moment ago.
"I want to know that too, Brian,"
Karkaroff walked towards the confused Krum, who was examining Amortia.
"Can Hogwarts have two champions? I don't remember anyone telling me that the host school can have two champions--ah, of course, Brian, unless you decide to broadcast the Triwizard Tournament to the public like you just did with the change of regulations?"
"This is not possible--"
Ludo smiled and said,
"Never has such a tradition, but I must say a fair word. Amortia's decision to broadcast the tournament to the public is a genius idea, isn't it, Baty?"
Barty Crouch stepped into the room and made for the fireplace, where he now stood warming himself by the fire, his expression hidden in shadows. In response to Ludo's question, he merely emitted an indistinct, soft hum.
"Now we are not discussing that!"
Madam Macnair said in a strong voice, "Hogwarts cannot have two champions. It is extremely unfair unless the girl is kept away from the tournament!"
Curl up in McGonagall's arms, Hermione bit her lip. She looked at Dumbledore and Brian Professor, her eyes filled with longing. Amortia received Hermione's plea and understood clearly that Hermione was not asking for him to help her keep her champion status; on the contrary, she was asking him to let go of it.
But he couldn't give Hermione the answer she wanted.
"I think we all realize that this is unrealistic, madam..."
Amortia addressed Madam Macnair, but his gaze included everyone. And everyone noticed that Brian's eyes with a faint purple tint had changed in some way, as if two golden flames had replaced the pupil. At the same time, the room became hotter, and this heat was not provided by the fireplace by the wall.
Professor Moody, leaning against the door, and Barty Crouch by the fireplace both unconsciously twitched their shoulders.
"The backlash of breaking the Fire Cup contract would render Hermione Granger's magical abilities useless. I don't think anyone in this room has the right to make that decision."
Hermione's face and lips turned deathly pale in an instant, her eyes still glistening with fresh tears.
"This is not our fault, Brian!"
Karkaroff's eyes grew colder. He didn't care how much despair he had caused Hermione with his words, and turned his gaze to Dumbledore.
"In our understanding, Dumbledore, your age line is supposed to exclude competitors who are not old enough, otherwise, we would have certainly brought more candidates from our school."
Since walking into the room, Dumbledore's gaze had never left Hermione's eyes. The penetrating look through her eyes was examining her soul. Karkaroff's question did not disturb him. He asked calmly,
"Can you be sure that you did not put your name in the fire cup, Hermione?"
"No, Professor Dumbledore!"
Hermione didn't have many opportunities to deal directly with Dumbledore. The last time was when Dumbledore hinted her to use the time-turner to go back in time and catch Peter.
So far, Hermione still didn't know why such a thing had happened to her, but the clearer mind she had now knew that the only ones who could help clear her suspicion were Professor Dumbledore and Professor Brian. Her voice remained moist.
"I spent all my time with Harry and Ron today. I wouldn't have done that."
"Did you ask an older student to put your name in the fire cup for you?"
Professor Dumbledore continued to ask.
Hermione stared for a moment, then realized that there could be a simple way to avoid Professor Dumbledore's age limit. But she immediately came to her senses and shook her head frantically at everyone.
"She is obviously lying--"
Karkaroff glanced at Hermione with a scornful cold laugh.
"If you knew Hermione Granger well enough!"
McGonagall's chest heaved, and she no longer cared about Hogwarts and Gryffindor image. She glared angrily at Professor Karkaroff,
"You would know, Miss Granger is the best little witch of Gryffindor. She is clever, diligent, and modest. Her grades are the best in her year. Every professor who has taught her at Hogwarts can fully attest to that, Professor Karkaroff, and I myself absolutely believe that Miss Granger is not lying!"
"That's two different things--"
Madam Macnair looked at Hermione with a bit of surprise and still frowned.
"Thank you--"
Karkaroff nodded at Madam Macnair and then looked down at McGonagall, who had not even bothered to maintain the cold smile.
"Grades don't say anything, and maybe her good grades are the same method as she gets the champion identity, making false statements and cheating!"
"Are you taking us all for fools, Karkaroff?"
Alastor was surprised to see Snape leaning against the wall and lazily defending Hermione.
" I think we need to reach a consensus first before discussing what comes next - " Amortia stood up again and said,
"The Fire Cup is a powerful magical object that has a very strong discernment ability. If Miss Granger merely asked someone to put her name in the Fire Cup, it would only select three champions and not make the lower-level mistake of selecting four, unless someone tampered with it. And to interfere with the power of the Fire Cup, to be honest, only those currently in this room at Hogwarts may have the ability to do so."
"Madam Macnair, and Professor Karkaroff, I think you must agree that Hermione Granger does not have the ability to persuade us to cheat for her, do you?"
A silence fell. Madam Macnair and Professor Karkaroff, as well as the three other legitimate champions, all looked at the Hogwarts staff in the room. It had to be said that Amortia had put forth a strong argument to prove the innocence of the small witch who had been unexpectedly involved in this event.
Hermione's face finally regained some color, and her mood, like a roller coaster, emerged from the negative assessment of Karkaroff. She realized that she had finally cleared her dishonorable suspicion!
It is not appropriate to accuse Severus of helping the annoying little witch cheat, Moody is obviously not suitable to offend, and it is also unlikely that people would think he is mad if they accused Brian and Dumbledore, or equally famous McGonagall of helping students cheat.
Karkaroff's dull yellow eyes were shaking around in their sockets at a speed that was almost comparable to Moody's magic eyes. After a moment of reluctance, he looked at the two high-ranking officials from the British Ministry of Magic, his voice becoming greasy again,
"Mr. Crouch, Mr. Bagman, you two are our—impartial judges. You must also think that this is extremely inappropriate, don't you?"
(Chapter complete)
