Chapter 286: Triwizard Tournament
"Gryffindor!"
When the Sorting Hat announced Duke's house, Sean could clearly see Duke visibly relax. Then he looked toward Sean, received Sean's encouragement, and went to the Gryffindor table to sit with Daisy.
Seeing this scene, Blaise said with some regret: "Too bad neither of them came to Slytherin."
"I don't think there's anything to regret. Everyone has their own path, and going to Gryffindor is fine for them too."
Having watched Daisy and Duke's sorting ceremony, Sean stopped paying attention and turned to chat with Blaise and the others.
After the sorting ceremony ended, large amounts of food immediately appeared on the four house tables, and everyone began eating. Although Sean often complained about British food, this didn't affect his eating. Besides, foods like roast beef or roast chicken were quite well-prepared, so Sean happily consumed nearly six people's worth of food before wiping his mouth and sipping apple juice from his cup.
As always, after the opening feast, Dumbledore rose again to explain this year's important matters to everyone.
This included Filch's list of four hundred thirty-seven banned items.
Finally, when Dumbledore announced there would be no Quidditch matches this year, almost all the Muggle-born children and most wizard-born children let out incredulous wails. Obviously, those who knew about the Triwizard Tournament in advance were still a minority.
"Please, everyone, remain calm. There is of course a reason for suspending the Inter-House Quidditch Cup this year.
This is because a large event will begin in October and continue throughout the school year, occupying all the teachers' extracurricular energy and time. But I believe you will derive much enjoyment and happiness from it.
I am very pleased to announce to everyone that this year Hogwarts will host the..."
Bang!
Before Dumbledore could finish, the Great Hall doors were pushed open from outside.
A man stood in the doorway, leaning on a long walking stick, wrapped in a black travelling cloak.
Sean looked toward him and could clearly see his constantly rotating magical eye and scarred face. He walked step by step toward the staff table, his limping legs making hollow thumping sounds on the floor as he walked directly to Dumbledore's side, where the two leaned their heads together in quiet greeting.
"Long time no see, Dumbledore."
"Welcome, Alastor, my friend."
Nodding, Alastor Moody sat in the empty seat beside Dumbledore. He pulled a small knife from his robes, cut off a piece of roast beef, and began chewing loudly. The blue magical eye on his face rotated constantly, continuously observing everyone present.
At this moment, Blaise, sitting beside Sean, leaned over and said quietly: "That's Alastor Moody, former Ministry Auror, nicknamed Mad-Eye.
They say at least half the people in Azkaban were caught by him. The dark wizards in Knockturn Alley hate his guts but can do nothing about him.
Many people in our house despise him because many of their relatives were caught by him and thrown into Azkaban. Looks like he'll be our Defence Against the Dark Arts professor this year."
Just as Blaise finished speaking, Dumbledore explained to everyone: "This is Professor Moody, our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher this year. I believe he will bring everyone very interesting content."
Mad-Eye Moody's appearance and demeanour made it difficult for students to warm up to him, naturally making it hard to show much enthusiasm. After Dumbledore's words fell, only a very few people gave symbolic applause, making the scene quite cold.
Of course, Mad-Eye Moody didn't seem to care about any of this. He continued eating as before, then picked up his cup and took a large gulp of pumpkin juice.
Seeing the cold reception, Dumbledore paid no mind. He simply coughed lightly to clear his throat and continued: "As I was saying, in the coming months, we will have the great honour of hosting a very exciting event of great importance that has not been held for over a century.
I am extremely honoured and pleased to tell everyone that the Triwizard Tournament will be held at Hogwarts this year!"
There was silence at first, then the entire Great Hall erupted like boiling water.
The Gryffindor Weasley twins even jumped on their chairs, cheering loudly and repeatedly asking: "This isn't a joke, is it? Professor Dumbledore, you're really not joking, right?"
Smiling at the Weasley twins, Dumbledore nodded: "This is certainly not a joke! But since you mentioned jokes, I do have one here about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all walked into the same pub..."
Before Dumbledore could finish, Professor McGonagall nearby cleared her throat.
"Oh, of course, now isn't the right time for that. Let us discuss serious matters..."
Next, Dumbledore began introducing everyone to the content of the Triwizard Tournament, including its history and how this tournament would only allow students seventeen and older to participate. Many students protested this, but Dumbledore's firm attitude told them their protests were ineffective.
"Sean, who do you think will represent Hogwarts in the Triwizard Tournament?"
"There aren't many capable people in sixth and seventh years. If we really had to choose someone for the Triwizard Tournament, it probably wouldn't be from Slytherin."
Blaise had always trusted Sean's judgement completely. Hearing him say this, he immediately sighed regretfully: "If only there were no age restrictions. Then you'd definitely be able to represent Hogwarts. After all, there's probably no student at Hogwarts now who could match you."
"Age restrictions can't be crossed. Let's just enjoy watching the competition peacefully. I think this year with the Triwizard Tournament should be very interesting."
The opening feast ended, and everything that needed to be announced had been announced. Students from all four houses got up to return to their dormitories.
Just as Sean was following the group to the dungeons to return to the Slytherin common room, the elusive Snape suddenly appeared and directly called Sean to his office.