章 202: He must play
Arth went through the door out of the Great Hall and found himself in a smaller room, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace opposite him.
The faces in the portraits turned to look at him as he entered. He saw a wizened witch flit out of the frame of her picture and into the one next to it, which contained a wizard with a walrus mustache. The wizened witch started whispering in his ear.
Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour were grouped around the fire. Krum, hunched-up and brooding, was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric was standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when Arth walked in and threw back her sheet of long, silvery hair.
"Are you not ze assistant of ze meenistree?" she asked. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"
She thought he had come to deliver a message. Arth just stood there, looking at the floor in bitterness.
There was a sound of scurrying feet behind him, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He took Arth by the arm and led him forward.
"How. . . . Intriguing!" he muttered, squeezing his arm. "Very intriguing. . . . Gentlemen. . . lady," he added, approaching the fireside and addressing the other three. "May I introduce - incredible though it may seem - the fourth Triwizard champion?"
Viktor Krum straightened up. His surly face darkened as he surveyed Arth. Cedric looked nonplussed. He looked from Bagman to Arth and back again as though sure he must have misheard what Bagman had said. Fleur Delacour, however, tossed her hair, smiling, and said, "Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman."
"Joke?" Bagman repeated, bewildered. "No, no, not at all! Arthur's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!"
Krum's thick eyebrows contracted slightly. Cedric was still looking politely bewildered. Fleur frowned.
"But evidently zair 'as been a mistake," she said contemptuously to Bagman. "E cannot compete. 'E is too young."
Arth let out a snarl.
"Do you think I want to enter? I didn't sign up for this."
"But zen 'ow?"
Arth scowled and didn't reply.
The door behind them opened again, and a large group of people came in: Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape. Arth heard the buzzing of the hundreds of students on the other side of the wall, before Professor McGonagall closed the door.
"Madame Maxime!" said Fleur at once, striding over to her headmistress. "Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!"
Arth gave another snarl.
Madame Maxime had drawn herself up to her full, and considerable, height. The top of her handsome head brushed the candle-filled chandelier, and her gigantic black-satin bosom swelled.
"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" she said imperiously. "I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," said Professor Karkaroff. He was wearing a steely smile, and his blue eyes were like chips of ice. "Two Hogwarts champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions - or have I not read the rules carefully enough?"
Arth gave a growl.
"And I've explained the rules, you seem to have forgotten," however, he was ignored.
"C'est impossible," said Madame Maxime, whose enormous hand with its many superb opals was resting upon Fleur's shoulder. "Ogwarts cannot 'ave two champions. It is most injust."
"We were under the impression that your enchantments would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, his steely smile still in place, though his eyes were colder than ever. "Otherwise, we would, of course, have brought along a wider selection of candidates from our own schools."
Arth rolled his eyes.
"If younger students could match the skills of upperclassmen, then something is wrong with your teaching system."
Professor McGonagall sent Arth a stern look, causing him to shut up.
Professor Dumbledore was now looking down at Arth, who looked right back at him, trying to discern the expression of the eyes behind the half-moon spectacles.
"I believe," he said calmly, "that the boy had nothing to do with this."
Arth nodded his head.
"It does not matter whether the boy entered by his own free will or not! All that matters is that things have become unfair." Said Karkaroff. "Mr. Crouch.. . Mr. Bagman, you are our - er - objective judges. Surely you will agree that this is most irregular?"
Bagman wiped his round, boyish face with his handkerchief and looked at Mr. Crouch, who was standing outside the circle of the firelight, his face half hidden in shadow. He looked slightly eerie, the half darkness making him look much older, giving him an almost skull-like appearance.
". . . .We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament. If not. . . . We saw what would happen as an example."
All the teachers gave Arth a glance before turning away.
The blue flames of the Goblet would make sure it's champions would play.
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