The Legacy

Unexpected revelation

"Hey Harry. Whats up?" I asked a little nearvisly. and before i could ask more Flur open her mouth.

"What is it?" she said. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?" she said.

Harry just... stood there. Like he was made of stone.

There was a sound of scurrying feet behind him, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He took Harry by the arm and led him forward.

"Extraordinary!" he muttered, squeezing Harry's arm. "Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen . . . lady," he added, approaching the fireside and addressing us. "May I introduce — incredible though it may seem — the fith Triwizard champion?"

I glanced at Ludo Bagman, who was standing confidently at the forefront, exuding a mixture of excitement and authority, his booming voice echoing off the stone walls. My attention quickly shifted back to Harry, and my eyebrows shot up in surprise.

He was standing there, his face unusually pale, his green eyes wide with an expression that I had never seen on him before—pure, unfiltered fear. It was as if the weight of the entire tournament had suddenly come crashing down on him, and he was grappling with a reality he hadn't anticipated.

He was everywhere and nowhere all at once, a whirlwind of emotion. I could see the gears turning in his mind, a frantic search for understanding. This wasn't just about the competition anymore; it felt personal, like he was wrestling with the implications of what it meant to be chosen. It was clear he hadn't expected this outcome, and the realization sent a shiver down my spine.

Viktor Krum straightened up. His surly face darkened as he surveyed Harry. Cedric looked nonplussed. He looked from Bagman to Harry and back again as though sure he must have misheard what Bagman had said. Fleur Delacour, however, tossed her hair, smiling, and said, "Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman."

"Joke?" Bagman repeated, bewildered. "No, no, not at all! Harry's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!"

Krum's thick eyebrows contracted slightly. Cedric was still looking politely bewildered. Fleur frowned.

"But evidently zair 'as been a mistake," she said contemptuously to Bagman. " 'E cannot compete. 'E is too young."

"Well . . . it is amazing," said Bagman, rubbing his smooth chin and smiling down at Harry.

"But, as you know, the age restriction was only imposed this year as an extra safety measure. And as his name's come out of the goblet . . . I mean, I don't think there can be any ducking out at this stage. . . . It's down in the rules, you're obliged . . . Harry will just have to do the best he —"

The door behind them opened again, and a large group of people came in: Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Headmisstress Scott, Madame Maxime, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape. I heard the buzzing of the hundreds of students on the other side of the wall, before Professor McGonagall closed the door.

"Madame Maxime!" said Fleur at once, striding over to her headmistress. "Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!"

Madame Maxime had drawn herself up to her full, and considerable, height. The top of her handsome head brushed the candlefilled chandelier, and her gigantic black-satin bosom swelled.

"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" she said imperiously.

"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," said Professor Karkaroff. He was wearing a steely smile, and his blue eyes were like chips of ice. "Two Hogwarts champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions — or have I not read the rules carefully enough?" He gave a short and nasty laugh.