"Yeah!"
After nodding, Ethan stopped paying attention to Dumbledore.
He directly crossed the age line set by Dumbledore and safely placed the Goblet of Fire on the chair.
The golden threads on the ground had no effect on Ethan whatsoever.
It didn't matter; Voldemort was about to be resurrected. By then, even if you noticed me, how much energy would you have to spare on me?
Besides, I can change disguises, keeping you busy and unable to even calculate Voldemort's moves.
The surrounding young wizards' breathing became rapid. Some had thought the Summoning Charm was a trick, but now Ethan was truly ignoring Dumbledore's spell.
He simply didn't want to participate in this boring little game, not that he couldn't do it.
At the same time, Ethan, turning around to walk out, still didn't give up on Ron.
"So, where's the parchment with your name on it?"
Ethan extended his right hand and placed it in front of Ron, still wearing that smile on his face.
"I... I'll write it right away."
Ron glanced at the surrounding classmates, noticing they were all looking at him with strange expressions.
There was no room to back down. He immediately took out a blank piece of parchment, which he had prepared in advance, but hadn't written his name on.
Before facing Ethan, he genuinely wanted to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, but now, due to Ethan's actions, he suspected there was a conspiracy against him, which made him somewhat timid.
"Excuse me, classmate, can I borrow your parchment and quill for a moment?"
Ethan said to a classmate holding parchment and a quill.
Although Ethan had prepared parchment with his name on it in advance, since he could now pass the blame for participating onto Ron, why not?
He picked up both the parchment with his name and the parchment with Ron's name, and then, in front of everyone, including Dumbledore, he walked into the age line again.
"Ethan Adarian!"
Dumbledore's voice rang out again.
This time, Ethan didn't turn his head.
"Wait, Headmaster!"
After saying that, he put both pieces of parchment into the Goblet of Fire.
Unlike the ashes that Cedric had created after helping others submit their names, this time the Goblet of Fire reacted normally, the flames turning crimson and emitting countless sparks.
"Now, both you and I are destined to be chosen as champions of the Triwizard Tournament, and once recognized by the Goblet of Fire, there is no chance to regret it."
"When the time comes, even if you face a dragon, you must be present!"
As Ethan's last words fell, the surrounding young wizards unconsciously took two steps back.
Although Ethan had just said that he and Ron would both be selected as Hogwarts champions, this did not comply with the rules of the Triwizard Tournament.
But Ethan had just broken the rules, so changing a rule now didn't seem like a problem!
Even if there was a problem, no one dared to say it to his face at this moment.
Only Ron's lips were trembling slightly. He pointed at Ethan, wanting to say something, but didn't know what to say.
"Cho, take Fleur to look around Hogwarts first."
"I want to see what the Headmaster wants with me!"
"Okay, right, we need to wake Gabrielle up first."
Cho nodded and led Fleur and the others out of the Great Hall.
Ethan also came to the staff table and stood opposite Dumbledore.
"Come with me!"
Dumbledore sighed, then turned and led Ethan towards the staircase.
He knew he couldn't stop him, but he didn't expect this kid to be so disrespectful now.
If you're going to break the rules, at least do it secretly!
Chapter 253: The Goblet of Fire, Played to Death
At night, when Ethan walked into the candlelit Great Hall, it was almost full.
The students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had also arrived.
The Goblet of Fire had been moved and placed on the staff table in front of Dumbledore's empty chair.
In the morning, after Ethan put his name into the Goblet of Fire, although Dumbledore took him to the Headmaster's office, he didn't say much.
He only symbolically deducted twenty points from Ravenclaw and then let Ethan go back.
He came to the Ravenclaw table and sat down. After Dumbledore led people to the Great Hall, it was still the same procedure as usual.
It was just that, perhaps because there had been banquets for two consecutive days, the young wizards weren't very interested in the sumptuous dinner. Instead, they frequently craned their necks and looked around, with anxious expressions on each face.
Finally, after the meal was over, Dumbledore waved his wand, causing the golden plates on all the long tables to return to their original spotless state.
Accompanied by Dumbledore standing up, the entire hall became silent.
Now, not only were the young wizards below nervous, but even Karkaroff and Madame Maxime beside Dumbledore had solemn expressions.
The young wizards wanted to know what the Triwizard Tournament had become due to Ethan's addition, and how many champions Hogwarts would have.
Karkaroff and Madame Maxime wanted to see if Ethan could change the Goblet of Fire's programming.
It was all that damned redhead's fault; otherwise, there wouldn't be so much trouble.
The other two judges had completely different expressions. Ludo Bagman smiled and winked at the students from each school.
Mr. Crouch, on the other hand, looked bored, even somewhat annoyed.
It could only be said that one was popular and the other was unpopular, and there were reasons for both.
"Well, the Goblet of Fire is about to make its decision."
"Listen, after the champions' names are announced, I want them to walk to the top of the hall and then along the staff table, entering the room next door."
Everyone looked in the direction of Dumbledore's finger and found that it was a door behind the staff table.
"They will receive initial guidance there."
After speaking, Dumbledore took out his wand and waved it dramatically.
Immediately, except for the candles in the pumpkin lanterns, the rest of the candles went out, and the hall suddenly fell into a semi-dark state.
The Goblet of Fire was now emitting a dazzling light, brighter than anything else in the entire Great Hall. The blue flames, spitting sparks, were almost blinding.
Seeing this, everyone held their breath. Everyone knew that the champions representing the three schools were about to be chosen.
Sure enough, after a while, the flames in the goblet suddenly turned red again, with sparks crackling and sputtering.
Then, a tongue of fire shot into the air, and a piece of scorched parchment flew out.
Dumbledore caught the parchment, and the flames returned to blue.
"The champion for Durmstrang, Viktor Krum!"
As Dumbledore's clear and powerful voice finished, fervent applause echoed through the hall.
Including the other members of Durmstrang, who were also competitors, and a large number of Hogwarts students, only the Beauxbatons students did not applaud.
Clearly, everyone was not surprised that Viktor Krum was chosen as Durmstrang's champion.
"Fantastic, Viktor! I knew you were destined to be the champion!"
Karkaroff roared loudly, his voice booming. Krum's selection was indeed in line with his expectations. If it weren't for Ethan stirring things up, taking the championship at this time would definitely be no problem.
Viktor Krum nodded to Karkaroff, then stood up from the Slytherin table and walked listlessly towards Dumbledore. Obviously, he was also confident in himself, believing that his selection as champion was a matter of course.
Following Dumbledore's instructions, he turned to the right and walked along the teachers' table, entering the adjacent room through that door.
After the applause and chatter gradually subsided.
The students' attention refocused on the Goblet of Fire. A few seconds later, the flames turned red again.
The second piece of parchment, propelled by the flames, shot out of the cup.
Dumbledore quickly caught it in his hand, glanced at it, and announced loudly:
"The champion for Beauxbatons, Fleur Delacour!"
Unlike the enthusiastic response when Krum was chosen, this time there was only sparse applause, mainly from the Hogwarts boys.
The Beauxbatons students didn't even offer a single clap.
Each of them wore a look of disappointment on their faces, and there were even two unselected girls who were in tears, burying their heads in their arms and crying sadly.
Clearly, Fleur's statement that she was unpopular at Beauxbatons might have been an understatement.
Fortunately, Madam Maxime took care of her, preventing Fleur from suffering from school bullying or anything like that.
Fleur didn't mind this, gracefully stood up, flicked her silvery hair, and walked lightly between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.
Like Krum, she headed to the room behind the staff table.
The Great Hall quieted down again. This time, the silence was filled with a palpable sense of excitement. Next up was the Hogwarts champion, and many students were looking towards the Ravenclaw table.
They had all seen Ethan cheating in front of Dumbledore, and he had even threatened to bring Ron along.
Whether he succeeded or not would soon be revealed.
Dumbledore also looked solemn. Although he hadn't checked the Goblet of Fire afterward, he didn't think Ethan couldn't manipulate it.
Especially after studying with Nicolas Flamel.
Things were going to be a bit troublesome!
The Goblet of Fire turned red again, sparks flew, and a tongue of fire shot high into the air. The third piece of parchment fell into Dumbledore's hand after it shot out.
Everyone's attention was focused on Dumbledore.
"The champion for Hogwarts, Ethan Yeadrian!"
The cheers in the hall were deafening. Students from all four houses were clapping and screaming. Although Ethan hadn't brought Ron along as he said he would, Ethan's participation was the best outcome.
Ethan, who had no rivals among the Hogwarts students, could not possibly lose to the other two schools.
Victory and glory would surely belong to Hogwarts.
Ethan also stood up from the Ravenclaw table with a smile and walked into the room behind the staff.
Ron frowned directly, unsure whether it was a sigh of relief or a bellyful of anger.
Not having to participate in the Triwizard Tournament meant not having to face the potential dangers.
But also, having signed up for the Triwizard Tournament, but Ethan was selected while he was not, didn't that mean he was inferior to him?
No, Ethan was selected by cheating, it doesn't count!
As Ron was comforting himself, Ethan had already walked into the room and sat directly next to Fleur.
Fleur had been prepared for this.
It was okay if she didn't win the championship. Anyway, being selected among so many Beauxbatons students proved that she was better than them, which was good enough.
Only Krum frowned deeply. Karkaroff had told him about Ethan.
Not only that, but his family had a close family friend who had suffered after attacking Ethan at the Quidditch World Cup, and they were quite aware of Ethan's capabilities.
Currently, his chances of winning were very low!
Unless there were no head-to-head combat events, perhaps he could still take advantage of some tricks. Krum fell into deep thought.
Thinking about what kind of method he could rely on to win.
Before coming to Hogwarts, Krum was confident that he would be selected as Durmstrang's champion, and that his strength was definitely the strongest. The Triwizard Tournament championship was even a certainty.
But now there was a variable.
And in the Great Hall, after the commotion ended, Dumbledore announced a little impatiently:
"Now that our three champions have been selected, the Triwizard Tournament…"
But before Dumbledore could announce the end, everyone's attention was drawn to the Goblet of Fire.
