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Chapter 261: Christmas Ball News

"I still doubt Barty Crouch\'s identity." Dracula turned around, folded his arms, leaned against the cold railing, and said casually.

"Can you give me a reason?" Dumbledore\'s eyes became a little deep.

"You said... According to the strictness of the director of the International Magic Cooperation and Exchange Department, will he really give Potter a score as high as 9 points?" Dracula looked at the top of the astronomical tower with dim lights high up, and asked softly.

"You can use Cedric\'s performance as a comparison - Potter was injured and actually used external objects, so his score should not be higher than Cedric\'s. But the fair and strict Mr. Crouch in your mouth gave him nine points..."

"This reason is a bit far-fetched, Professor Dracula." Dumbledore shook his head slightly, "Maybe Mr. Crouch is just taking Harry\'s age into consideration? It\'s not easy for a 14-year-old to achieve this... Didn\'t Mr. Bagman also give Harry full marks?"

"Bagman, that guy, he just got addicted to gambling again." Dracula sneered, "He lost a lot some time ago, and this time he put all his chips on Potter, hoping to make a comeback in this semi-final."

Dumbledore\'s mouth twitched, and he glanced at Dracula subconsciously.

Of the Galleons that Bagman lost, a large part of them were clearly given to you, Professor Dracula, right?

"Well, this one is not very obvious." Dracula did not care what Dumbledore was thinking, and continued to talk about himself, "Then ignore this doubt for now and talk about the other-"

"First of all, why did Crouch agree so strongly to let Potter participate in this semi-final competition? Is it just for the rule that \'everyone selected by the Goblet of Fire must participate in the competition\'?"

Dracula\'s eyes moved away from the top of the tower and looked at Dumbledore meaningfully, "Although the punishment caused by the contract of the Goblet of Fire will indeed cause great harm to the contestants, is there really no other solution?"

"After all, Potter is just a fourteen-year-old wizard. Before the end of the first project, no one believed that he could successfully complete the competition. Not to mention, this also makes Hogwarts, the organizer, suspected of favoritism and fraud."

"Bagman is keen to let Potter participate, after all, he is willing to do anything to win back the gambling money... But what about Crouch? He is out "You may be overthinking it, Professor Dracula." Dumbledore obviously trusted Crouch very much, and smiled and shook his head, "Battie looks harsh, but he still cares about others. Harry\'s contract with the Goblet of Fire must be fulfilled." "Not necessarily?" Dracula chuckled, "If I guess correctly, Dumbledore, you should be fully capable of cracking the contract of the Goblet of Fire, right?" "To put it bluntly, the cup is just a pretty good alchemical product. If you and Nico can\'t crack it together... that\'s too fake." "Go with the flow, and you can also give Potter a platform for training and improvement, just so that this \'savior\' can grow faster to the point of being able to stand on his own - as for the dangers in the game, it\'s not a problem at all. Is there any danger that you, a great wizard sitting on the judges\' seat, can\'t solve?" Dracula looked at Dumbledore with a smile, waiting for his reply. Dumbledore was silent for a moment, then sighed softly, exhaling a cloud of faint white mist in the cold snow.

"You\'re right, Professor Dracula." He said softly, "Although we still don\'t know who put Harry\'s name into the Goblet of Fire, I don\'t blame him at all. On the contrary, I am a little grateful to him."

"Voldemort has not completely returned. Under Fudge\'s maintenance, the wizarding world is still as calm as a pool of stagnant water on the surface. It is really difficult for me to find a way to quickly make Harry grow up..."

"And the semi-finals is an excellent platform. It can be under my control and have enough security, and it can give Harry enough urgency. I can\'t think of any better training opportunity than Harry becoming a warrior."

"I know," Dracula curled his lips, "but you are the only one who has such a mentality. Crouch doesn\'t have so much leisure as you."

"Do you think those people in the Ministry of Magic will hope that the \'savior\' will grow faster like you? At most, they regard Potter as a mascot."

"But you overlooked a problem, Professor Dracula," Dun Bridgol shook his head and said, "Battie doesn\'t know that Nico and I can break the contract of the Goblet of Fire, so in order to prevent Harry from being punished by the contract, he must agree to let Harry participate."

"It\'s not just one way to break the contract," Dracula shrugged, "Prepare another formal match without spectators, and don\'t count the score. Can\'t Potter admit defeat as soon as he comes on the court?"

"As long as you are willing to think of a way, you can always find a loophole to bypass it. It depends on whether Crouch wants to do it."

"Maybe Bartie is just a temporary idea to set an example for Harry?" Dumbledore narrowed his eyes, "After all, Harry is also a celebrity in the British wizarding world, and even the entire wizarding world. Taking this opportunity, it is also a feasible solution to expand the influence of the British Ministry of Magic worldwide."

"And it is also very likely that Bartie has not thought of other solutions to bypass the Goblet of Fire contract in a short time... I will go to the Ministry of Magic and find out how he reported to Fudge."

"Well, it\'s better to ask." Dracula nodded.

"Of course, I\'m just guessing, because I didn\'t find any traces of the Imperius Curse on Crouch, and I can\'t see any problems with his memory... I wonder if I can get something out of him if I use Veritaserum..."

"Don\'t do that!" Dumbledore was shocked by Dracula\'s bold idea and quickly stopped him, "Professor Dracula, you really don\'t have to break up with the Ministry of Magic because of this uncertain thing."

"I will definitely not let them know that it was me who did it." Dracula said as a matter of course.

"Listen to me, forget it this time..." In the cold weather, Dumbledore felt that sweat was almost coming out of his forehead, "Leave this to me, I will go and confirm whether Barty has any problems."

"Well, what a pity..." Dracula smacked his lips regretfully.

Then, he jumped lightly, stepped on the railing covered with snow, and turned back to smile at Dumbledore:

"Good night, Mr. Headmaster. I hope to hear from you before the Christmas ball!"

After that, Dracula leaned back and fell directly into the Black Lake under the bridge.

The next moment, a pair of broad wings spread out from his back, suddenly changing the direction of falling, driving Dracula to the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor\'s office on the third floor of the castle.

Looking at Dracula who left suddenly, Dumbledore shook his head with a smile.

"Sweet dreams, Professor Dracula."

...

"Potter! Weiss is here! Can you pay attention a little bit?"

In the Transfiguration class on a Thursday in mid-December, Professor McGonagall\'s angry voice was like a whip, crackling and scolding, startling Harry and Ron to raise their heads from their seats in a hurry.

The class was almost over, and they had just completed the task assigned by Professor McGonagall, turning some guinea fowl into guinea pigs.

The bell might ring at any time, and the next game would not come for a while. Harry and Ron had no sense of urgency at the moment. They were holding two fake wands invented by Fred and George, and fencing back and forth in the back row of the classroom.

"Come on, Potter and Weiss, you two can be considered senior students, so can\'t you behave in accordance with your age?" Professor McGonagall said, glancing at them angrily.

"Especially Potter, you are a warrior of Hogwarts, representing the image of Hogwarts - if students from other schools see you fighting and making trouble in class, what do you think they will think?"

Harry sat on the stool with his back tensed, trembling and afraid to speak.

Ron was complaining in his heart that Fred and George had invented such a fun thing, causing them to be scolded in class.

Thinking about it this way, Fred and George are the real senior students, and their behavior is not in line with their age!

Professor McGonagall certainly didn\'t know what Ron was mumbling in his heart. After deducting two points from Gryffindor, she turned her eyes to the other students in the classroom.

"Everyone stop for a moment, I have something to tell you." She said.

The classroom immediately became quiet, and the little wizards looked up at Professor McGonagall.

"It\'s like this, the Christmas ball is coming - this is an important tradition of the Triwizard Tournament, and it is also a good opportunity for us to communicate with guests from foreign countries."

"This ball is only open to students in the fourth grade and above, but if you want, you can invite a junior student..."

In the classroom, several little witches let out an ambiguous giggle, especially Gryffindor\'s Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown. The muscles on their faces were tense, and they couldn\'t help turning their heads to look at Harry as a warrior.

Professor McGonagall ignored them. Harry, a straight man, felt that this was particularly unfair. She had just scolded him and Ron, but now she didn\'t blame Parvati and Lavender.

"Remember to wear your dress robes when the time comes," Professor McGonagall continued. "The ball will be held in the hall at 8 o\'clock on Christmas evening and will end at midnight. Listen--"

Professor McGonagall looked at the whole class calmly.

"The Christmas ball undoubtedly gives us a chance to... well, dress up and relax ourselves." She said in a casual tone, "but that doesn\'t mean we will relax our behavioral requirements for Hogwarts students."

"I would be very sad if a Gryffindor student brought shame to the school in any way!"

The bell for the end of get out of class rang melodiously. As usual, everyone stuffed their books into their schoolbags and threw them over their shoulders. There was a noisy and busy classroom.

Professor McGonagall raised her voice and shouted in the midst of the noise: "Potter - stay here, I want to say something to you."

Harry thought that Professor McGonagall would scold him and Ron for fencing in class, so he walked towards the podium listlessly.

Professor McGonagall waited until all the students in the class had left before saying: "Potter, every warrior must have his own partner -"

"What partner?" Harry asked in confusion.

Professor McGonagall looked at him suspiciously, as if she thought he was joking.

"The partner you bring to the Yule Ball, Potter!" she said sternly, "Your partner!"

Harry\'s heart skipped a beat and his cheeks felt hot.

"Dancing partner?" He said with a red face, "I don\'t dance, Professor McGonagall."

"Oh, you have to dance," Professor McGonagall looked at him seriously, "I was just about to tell you this - according to tradition, the dance is opened by the champions of the Triwizard Tournament and their partners."

"Even if it becomes a four-way competition this year, this will not change!"

"But..." Harry felt ashamed when he thought about dancing in public, "I really can\'t dance, can I not dance?"

He was afraid that Professor McGonagall would not agree, so he hurriedly He added: "Cedric is so elegant, he will definitely dance. Can\'t he start the dance on behalf of Hogwarts?"

"This is a traditional practice, Potter!" However, Harry\'s wish was completely useless. Professor McGonagall still said firmly, "You are also a warrior of Hogwarts. As one of the representatives of the school, you must do what everyone expects."

"So, you must find a dance partner for yourself, Potter."

"But... I can\'t..."

"You heard what I said, Potter!" Professor McGonagall said in an unquestionable tone.

Harry had no way to refute, so he could only nod silently, thinking about the choice of partner.

The first thing that came to his mind was Qiu Zhang\'s soft black hair and beautiful face. After all, he had a crush on her for a long time in the previous academic years.

Then the next moment, Harry slapped himself - Qiu Zhang was dating his good friend Cedric, and he couldn\'t let his imagination run wild anymore.

"Are you okay, Potter?"

Professor McGonagall\'s voice brought Harry back to his senses.

Harry looked up and saw Professor McGonagall looking at him with a worried look on her face. From her expression, it was obvious that she was worried that he had some mental illness, so she suddenly slapped herself...

"Ahem, I\'m fine, Professor." Harry coughed twice and said awkwardly, "My hand just shook a little."

"You don\'t have to be so nervous, Potter." Professor McGonagall said, "Dancing can be learned quickly, and we will train several warriors later... Do you need to go to the infirmary?"

"I\'m really fine, Professor McGonagall." Harry kept shaking his head, "I should go, Ron is still waiting for me outside the classroom!"

After that, in Professor McGonagall\'s still somewhat doubtful eyes, Harry ran out of the Transfiguration classroom.