Chapter 870 Stunned
Albert bypassed the crowded students, walked into the Great Hall, and sat down at the Gryffindor table.
At this moment, many seats in the auditorium are still empty, and a large number of students are crowding at the entrance of the auditorium, waiting for Krum's signature. Mr. Star was also very depressed because he found that the students at Hogwarts seemed to know that he would come, and actually prepared quills and parchment for him to sign in advance.
Krum actually wanted to refuse, but in the end he signed autographs to the enthusiastic girls one by one. It was not until Durmstrang finally chose to sit down at the Slytherin table that he finally got rid of the enthusiastic fans.
Beauxbatons did not have this problem. They chose to sit down at the Ravenclaw table. Albert thought this might be related to the corresponding banner above the Ravenclaw table. There was no doubt that Beauxbatons They prefer blue, which can be seen from their carriages and school badges.
“Look at Professor McGonagall’s expression!” Shanna gestured to Albert to look at the teacher’s desk.
At this moment, Professor McGonagall's face was a little gloomy. She felt embarrassed that a large number of Hogwarts students came to Krum for autographs. The other professors' expressions were also unnatural.
Only Principal Dumbledore was not affected, still smiling and chatting with Mrs. Maxim on the left.
“I got Krum’s autograph.” Lee Jordan excitedly announced the good news to everyone after sitting down next to Albert.
"Thank you for being able to get Krum's autograph. Those girls are crowded over there. It's really annoying." Fred was a little annoyed. He and George were both blocked by the group of girls and couldn't get on the first page. I got Klum's autograph for a while.
"Don't worry, Krum still needs to stay at Hogwarts for a long time. You always have a chance to get his autograph." Albert comforted casually.
After all the students were seated, the welcome banquet officially began. As usual, Professor Dumbledore would give a short speech.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts, and distinguished guests," Dumbledore stood up from his seat at the teacher's desk, and the noise in the auditorium gradually became quiet. "Welcome to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that you will find yourself comfortable and happy here."
"The Triwizard Tournament will officially begin after the banquet." Dumbledore raised his glass to everyone and said, "Now let us eat and drink as much as we like at home!"
As soon as they finished speaking, the plates in front of them were piled with food as usual. There were more types of food, including many delicacies from other countries, mainly France and Italy. Nowadays, the Hogwarts kitchen has added many new recipes because of the house elf Pit.
“If I were you, I would try those new dishes.” Albert pointed to the new dishes.
"Is it tasty?"
Fred imitated Albert and made himself a bowl of French fish soup. Most people are resistant to food they have never eaten.
"The new food is undoubtedly prepared for our foreign friends. I dare say they will not be used to the food of Hogwarts." Albert was actually right, especially for Beauxbatons students. , some of the food at Hogwarts is really hard to describe.
“Why?” Aaliya asked puzzledly.
“There are several great gourmet countries in the world, and France is one of them. When you stay in a country like that, you will naturally have higher requirements for food.”
“Actually, I’m more curious that the house elves at Hogwarts can actually make Italian pizza?” After finishing her bowl of French fish soup, Zannah picked up a piece of Italian pizza filled with cheese.
“Well, I sent some recipes to the house elves in the kitchen last time.”
There is absolutely no pizza at Hogwarts, and Albert doubts that his house elves have taught all the recipes they learned to the house elves at Hogwarts.
“I think it’s because you want to eat, so you give recipes to the house elves in the kitchen as Christmas gifts to them at Christmas.” George couldn’t help but complain. In fact, they had eaten pizza made by the house elves a long time ago, and they also had seafood pasta. They were all eaten as late-night snacks by Albert, and everyone gained a little weight.
"It's really like what you would do." Zannah didn't find it strange, maybe because she also came from a Muggle family, and many of their views were different from those of wizards born in the magical world.
“I agree with you, these foreign dishes taste really good.”
After a while, several plates of foreign dishes were emptied, and even the last piece of pizza went into Lee Jordan's stomach. On the contrary, there were a lot of ordinary Hogwarts dishes left.
“Look over there, the girl seems to be coming this way.” Lee Jordan touched Albert with his elbow and motioned for him to look up at the beauty.
"Come this way, I bet she knows Albert." Fred and George's eyes widened in surprise.
When Albert raised his head, he saw a beautiful silver-haired girl coming from not far away, stood in front of him, and said in fluent French: "Do you still want to eat this plate of mixed fish soup?"
Albert looked around and pushed the plate to the other person: "Welcome to Hogwarts."
“She is so beautiful.”
“There is no such beautiful girl in Hogwarts!”
The girls around him were obviously annoyed by what he said just now, and they sneered rudely: "You just stare at others like this, you look like a bunch of idiots."
When the silver-haired girl passed by, many boys turned their heads and looked at her stupidly. However, what pleased the girls was that Albert was not affected by the other party and was not attracted by the other party's appearance at all.
“Do you know her?” Alia asked curiously.
"I've seen her before, but I'm not familiar with her." Albert paused and added, "Her name is Fleur Delacour. I heard she is a very good witch. I think the Beauxbatons warrior should be That’s her.”
“I didn’t expect you to think so highly of her.” Angelina was a little unhappy. The girls didn't like the pretty woman.
“I think she just wanted to seduce you.” Shanna said suddenly.
"You are overthinking. She has met Isobel before and knows that I have a girlfriend." Albert shrugged and said, "Besides, it's useless even to seduce me."
“You have a really wide range of friends.” Fred said bitterly: “The two American girls in the last World Cup were also very beautiful.”
“Those two met at the Potions Championship, and one of them is Isobel’s pen pal, a very good relationship.” Albert noticed that dessert had arrived after the meal.
“What is this?” George pointed at the raw milk jelly and helped Albert change the subject.
“It should be panna cotta.” Albert noticed a lot of sweets on the table.
“Which one is more delicious?” The girls are all very interested in foreign sweets.
"I personally recommend the French toasted brulee." Albert got himself a French toasted brûlée. After taking a bite, he introduced: "It tastes a bit like caramel pudding, but the texture will be richer. Of course, The panna cotta is also very good.”
After finishing the sweets, everyone looked at Dumbledore, and a mood of excitement and nervousness gradually filled the auditorium.
After the food on the golden plate completely disappeared, the banquet officially ended.
Dumbledore stood up again in the expectant eyes of everyone, and first introduced Barty Crouch, Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Magic, and Ludo Bagge, Director of the Department of Sports and Sports of the Ministry of Magic, who were sitting on the teacher's seat. Man, and announced that they and the three principals would form the judging panel for the Triwizard Tournament.
Barty Crouch was not in good condition. He looked very tired, no doubt the sequelae of being controlled by the Imperius Curse for a long time. Ludo Bagman also smiled reluctantly. He failed to repay the money as scheduled last month, which led to the goblin finding his temporary residence. The goblin also took away his salary within a few days of receiving it.
"I think this judging panel is very unreliable. Dumbledore may be able to be fair and impartial, but the principals of other schools will definitely favor their own players." Shanna questioned whether the judging panel could remain fair.
"This is also the tradition of the Triwizard Tournament." Albert was not surprised at all by this result.
While the two were chatting, Filch, who had been hiding somewhere since before, placed a large wooden box inlaid with jewels in front of Dumbledore.
Everyone's eyes soon fell on the rough wooden goblet in Dumbledore's hand, and they held their breath for fear of missing every word Dumbledore said next.
"Every student who wants to be a warrior must write his name and school name on parchment and throw it into the Goblet of Fire." Dumbledore pointed to the goblet in front of him and introduced everyone to become a warrior. method.
Looking at the wooden cup burning with blue and white flames in front of them, the students began to whisper.
"Tonight, I will place the Goblet of Fire in the hall. All students who are willing to participate in the election can put their names in. Remember, students who want to become warriors must sign up within twenty-four hours." Lido raised his hand and pressed it, signaling everyone to keep quiet: "Tomorrow night, which is Halloween night, the Goblet of Fire will select the warriors from three schools."
Dumbledore waited until everyone in the hall fell silent before continuing: "Finally, everyone has to pay attention to two things: First, I will set an age line that underage wizards cannot cross."
After Dumbledore said these words, Ludo Bagman beside him couldn't help but frowned, and Professor McGonagall glared at him fiercely.
"This is not a child's play. You must think carefully and don't participate rashly. Because when you throw your name into the Goblet of Fire, a magical contract will be formed that must be observed. Violating the magical contract requires payment The price, don’t ask me what the price is, I can only say that no warrior can afford the price of violating the magic contract."
Actually, these words were inspired by Dumbledore's previous words from Albert. He knew very well that sometimes the more you don't let them participate, the more other students will rack their brains to want to participate.
These words are indeed cruel to the students, but sometimes if you talk things out, there won't be so much trouble.
“Well, I wish you all a good night.”
Everyone stared at Dumbledore in stunned silence. It was hard to imagine that the words just now came from their headmaster's mouth.
The buzz of discussion instantly rang in the auditorium, and Dumbledore's words made many students who were eager to try give up on committing suicide.
“Are you going to sign up now?”
Fred took out a quill and parchment from his pocket and handed them to Albert.
"No need to worry." Albert glanced at Moody and said with a smile, "Just sign up during breakfast tomorrow."
He actually wanted to throw his name into the Goblet of Fire right now and make Barty's previous preparations a joke, but it was too boring to do so.
Noticing Fred's actions, Professor Moody's heart suddenly fell to the bottom.
If Albert signed up to participate on the spot, he would not be able to stop it at all, and all the previously prepared plans would be completely turned into a laughing stock.
When Albert left the auditorium with three roommates, he saw Katrina standing at the door waiting for him.
“Is something wrong?” Albert asked knowingly.
“Well, can you come with me? Isobel has something for me to hand over to you.” Katrina said and turned around and walked towards a deserted place.
“You go back first.” Albert said to the three roommates. Of course he knew that this was a trap prepared for him by Peter and Barty Jr., but he would not just let Katrina be controlled by the Imperius Curse, and he was actually curious about what trap the other party had left for him?
After Albert and Katrina went to a deserted place, he saw Katrina take out a long small box from her pocket.
“What is this?” Albert asked suspiciously.
“I don’t know.” Katrina shook her head and said, “Isobel asked me to give it to you, saying it was a surprise for you.”
"Are you surprised?" Albert raised his head and looked at Katrina, who was restrained by a body-binding spell, and murmured: "Are you trying to use the Imperius Curse on me?"
He glanced at the box in his hand, and after opening it, he found a small bottle inside. There was black tea in the bottle, but...
"Use the Imperius Curse to control me, and then make me drink black tea mixed with a love agent?" Albert thinks Peter's plan is very good. If the effect of the love agent is strong enough, it can completely make him disappear for a day, and he will miss it perfectly. Warrior selection.
“What should I do next?” Albert suddenly had a headache as to how to end it. He would definitely have to pretend to be missing now, but where was Peter planning to hide them?
So, Albert came up with a bad idea and used a memory spell to modify Katrina's memory so that she thought she had drunk a love potion.
In order to prevent accidents, Albert secretly confiscated Katrina's wand and stuffed a fake wand into her hand. Then, he released the binding spell all over his body.
“I like you, let’s go on a date, okay?” Katrina was stunned for a few seconds, put her arm around Albert’s arm, and leaned her head against it.
“Okay, where do you want to go?” Albert said gently.
“There is a good place on the eighth floor that is suitable for couples to date.” Katrina took Albert directly to the eighth floor and went straight to the Room of Requirement.
"Peter peeked into Katrina's memory?" Albert couldn't help frowning. He was a little worried that Peter was hiding in the Room of Requirement. If he went in and was attacked by the other party, it would be troublesome.
"I know how to use this place, let me do it." Albert said and took the initiative to try to open the Room of Requirement. He breathed a sigh of relief after making sure that no one was inside.
As soon as the two entered the Room of Requirement, Katrina started to get close to Albert again. Those who didn't know it thought she was the one who was affected by the love potion, not Albert.
However, one thing is certain, Peter and Barty Jr. not only used the Imperius Curse to control Katrina, but also modified some of her memories to make her completely obsessed with them, otherwise Katrina would never be like this.
"If Isobel finds out, don't go crazy." Albert had just raised his wand, ready to try to help Katrina get rid of the control of the Isobel Curse, but the girl had already thrown him onto the sofa and was riding on her For Albert, "Can you break up with Isobel? I can be your girlfriend. What Isobel can do for you, I can do the same."
Albert quickly used a full-body restraint spell to immobilize Katrina to prevent the situation from getting completely out of control. He struggled to get up and began to look for the powerful recovery potion he had brewed a while ago from the deformed lizard skin bag. After lifting the whole-body binding spell, he directly poured a large cup of the powerful recovery potion into the other party, and then used it on her. Several powerful curse-breaking spells.
Albert found that his test had taken effect, and Katrina shook her head in confusion, as if she was trying to get rid of the control of the Imperius Curse.
"are you OK."
Albert poured Katrina another cup of powerful recovery potion and asked her to drink it. After trying several more powerful breaking spells, Katrina finally broke free from the control of the Imperius Curse and returned to normal.
"I...why am I here?" Katrina was still a little confused when she first recovered, but she seemed to remember something, her ears turned red, and she shrank into a ball, burying her head in her knees, too ashamed to speak directly See Albert.
“It seems that I have escaped the control of the Imperius Curse.”
Albert breathed a sigh of relief. Peter probably didn't intend to use the Imperius Curse to control Katrina for a long time, otherwise Katrina would never have been able to break free from control so easily.
"That's not your fault. I should be the one to apologize." Albert reached out and touched Katrina's head, comforting her softly.
“Don’t tell Isobel.” Katrina suddenly raised her head, with a few tears still in her red eyes.
"I will keep it a secret, I promise." Albert said seriously, "I was the one who got you involved. The man who used the Imperius Curse just wanted you to hold me back from participating in the Triwizard Tournament."
“Hold you.” Katrina was a little confused and didn’t understand what Albert was saying.
"Use a love potion." Albert explained patiently, "That way no one will notice anything is wrong. The other party obviously doesn't want to alarm Dumbledore. For this reason, that person also modified some of your memories to make you like you crazily. Fuck me so that using a love potion on me becomes reasonable.”
"But... why are you prevented from participating in the competition, and..." Katrina took the handkerchief handed over by Albert, wiped the corners of her eyes and asked, "Do you know who used the Imperius Curse on me?"
“Professor Moody, although there is no evidence, I think it should be him.”
“Professor Moody, why is he doing this? Doesn’t he really hope that you can win the Triwizard Tournament for Hogwarts?”
"His goal is definitely not me. He probably wants someone to win the championship. I suspect it is Harry. We will find out tomorrow, if Harry really becomes a warrior." Albert poured another cup for Katrina Got a potion.
"What's this?"
"Tranquilizers can stabilize your mood." Albert explained, "I need to check your memory and restore the tampered memories to normal. This should have been done by Isobel. She is the expert in this area. expert. However, I think you probably don’t want her to know about this!”
“Is there really a way to make one person like another person more?” Katrina was a little confused.
"You can do it by implanting false memories." Albert nodded and said, "When the time comes, I will teach you Occlumency."
“If Professor Moody really did this, what are you going to do?” Katrina gritted her teeth and asked.
"First figure out what the purpose of that guy is. To be honest, I suspect that the current Professor Moody is an impostor, maybe even a Death Eater in disguise. The purpose of sneaking into Hogwarts should be to do harm to Harry. "Albert directly told Katrina his guess, "If you are willing, we can send him to Azkaban, or modify his memory to turn him into an idiot like Lockhart."
"I think a permanent bed at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Maladies would be more suitable for him than a prison in Azkaban." Katrina's eyes sparkled with tears of hatred. She almost just...if Albert...she really didn't know how this matter would end.
Revised
(End of this chapter)