章 2: Chapter 2
Professor Dumbledore was now looking down at Harry, who looked right back at him.
"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?" he asked calmly.
"No," said Harry. He was very aware of everybody watching him closely. He could not afford to make a mistake at this time.
Snape made a soft noise of impatient disbelief in the shadows. Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes at him.
"Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet of Fire for you?" said Professor Dumbledore, ignoring Snape.
"No," said Harry repeated.
"Ah, but of course 'e is lying!" cried Madame Maxime. Snape was now shaking his head, his lip curling.
"He could not have crossed the Age Line," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "I am sure we are all agreed on that —"
"Dumbly-dorr must 'ave made a mistake wiz ze line," said Madame Maxime, shrugging.
"It is possible, of course," said Dumbledore politely.
"I didn't put my name in the Goblet," Harry said firmly, looking at everyone in the room "I don't know how it got there."
Dumbledore studied him for a long moment, his blue eyes searching Harry's face for any hint of deceit.
At last, he turned to Mr. Crouch, who had remained silent thus far.
"Bartemius," Dumbledore said evenly, "as head of the Department of Magical Cooperation, and a judge to this tournament , do you have any insight into this matter?"
"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."
"Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front," said Bagman, beaming and turning back to Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, as though the matter was now closed.
"That does not address how his name got in!" McGonagall exclaimed, her voice rising with frustration.
"Whether by his own hand or another's, the result is the same," Crouch said, his tone cold. "Mr. Potter is, by the Goblet's decision, a champion."
And so the arguing continued Harry tuned out this because he already knew about the end result.
He knew he would have to compete in the tournament.
He just wasn't sure if he will survive given that the original Harry had survived only through sheer plot and luck.
His mind drifted to the three tasks he'd have to face.
The dragon. The lake. The maze. And, of course, Voldemort at the end of it all.
His chest tightened for a moment before he pushed the thought away.
Moody's entrance jolted him back to the present.
"— in which Durmstrang will most certainly not be competing!" exploded Karkaroff. "After all our meetings and negotiations and compromises, I little expected something of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!"
"Empty threat, Karkaroff," growled Moody. "You can't leave your champion now. He's got to compete. They've all got to compete. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, eh?"
'I really doubt there is actually a magical contract binding me. Because if you can just bind anyone with the goblet of fire even without their knowledge then it would a restricted artifact not a medium of selecting some champions that no one out of school cares about' Harry thought to himself.
'It probably only binds the people who put their names willingly in it.'
"Convenient?" said Karkaroff. "I'm afraid I don't understand you, Moody."
"Don't you?" said Moody quietly. "It's very simple, Karkaroff. Someone put Potter's name in that goblet knowing he'd have to compete if it came out."
"Evidently, someone 'oo wished to give 'Ogwarts two bites at ze apple!" said Madame Maxime.
"I quite agree, Madame Maxime," said Karkaroff, bowing to her. "I shall be lodging complaints with the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards —"
"If anyone's got reason to complain, it's Potter," growled Moody, "but . . . funny thing . . . I don't hear him saying a word. . . ."
"Because it won't change anything," Harry said, his voice steady. "I'm bound to compete, right?"
The room fell silent for a moment, Dumbledore's gaze flickering to him with what Harry thought might be a glimmer of curiosity.
'Great, now I've got his attention. He pays too much attention to me.'
'I hope he is not one of those fan-fictions type Dumbledore or I am screwed ' Harry thought to himself.
"How this situation arose, we do not know," said Dumbledore, speaking to everyone gathered in the room.
"It seems to me, however, that we have no choice but to accept it. Both Cedric and Harry have been chosen to compete in the Tournament. This, therefore, they will do. . . ."
"Ah, but Dumbly-dorr —" Madame Maxime started saying.
"My dear Madame Maxime, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it."
Dumbledore waited, but Madame Maxime did not speak, she merely glared.
She wasn't the only one either. Snape looked furious; Karkaroff livid; Bagman, however, looked rather excited.
"Well, shall we crack on, then?" he said, rubbing his hands together and smiling around the room.
"Got to give our champions their instructions, haven't we? Barty, want to do the honors?"
Mr. Crouch seemed to come out of a deep reverie. "Yes," he said, "instructions. Yes . . the first task ."
"The first task is designed to test your daring," he told Harry, Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor, "so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard , very important. . . ."
Harry was sure the "daring" part meant "who can survive a death trap by trying to steal a Female Dragon's egg," but he kept his thoughts to himself.
"The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges."
"The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament."
"The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over."
" Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests." Mr. Crouch said.
Harry listened quietly to this as though he had the knowledge of this, he still wanted to make sure, he would not have forgotten anything important.
With the explanations about the first task done Madam Maxime and Karkaroff both took Fleur and Krum out of the room.
"Harry, Cedric, I suggest you go up to bed," said Dumbledore, smiling at both of them. "I am sure Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are waiting to celebrate with you, and it would be a shame to deprive them of this excellent excuse to make a great deal of mess and noise."
Harry was glad this whole thing had at last come to an end, He just wanted to be alone at the moment and think things through.
Harry glanced at Cedric, who nodded, and they left together.
*************************************************************
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
クリエイターの想い 
Eternal97
Eternal97 Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット