After a night of celebration, the fire in the hearth had dwindled to glowing embers, crackling softly as the last few students in the common room yawned and returned to their dormitories.
"They're all gone," Hermione whispered, cautiously scanning the empty room.
Without needing to speak, the three of them drew their wands at the same time, pointed them at themselves, and murmured, "Wakeful Reprieve."
A cool, refreshing sensation instantly swept away their mental fatigue, sharpening their previously scattered attention.
They continued leafing through their textbooks for a while longer, until they were certain that even Fred and George, the students most likely to be wandering about at night, should be asleep. Only then did Harry carefully take a worn piece of parchment from his pocket.
He unfolded it, and fine ink lines spread across the surface like vines, weaving themselves into a detailed map of Hogwarts Castle and its grounds. Countless tiny ink dots, each labelled with a name, moved slowly across it.
"Our main task tonight is to watch the people from the other schools and see whether any of them make suspicious moves," Harry said.
"Look!"
Ron eagerly lowered his voice and pointed towards the edge of the map.
"This should be near the Forbidden Forest... Look at all these names!"
Their attention immediately shifted to the areas where the visiting delegations were staying.
Beside the Beauxbatons carriage, Madame Maxime's name was clearly visible, while Fleur Delacour and the other girls were gathered on the upper level.
Near the Durmstrang ship, Krum's name remained still inside a private cabin, while the other students were clustered in the crew quarters.
Hermione traced a finger across the map, searching for the Headmasters and Champions of the other schools.
Uagadou, Ilvermorny, Ukarlo... the names of the visiting teachers and students were spread throughout their respective temporary residences, and most appeared to have settled down for the night.
"Wait..."
Harry's gaze suddenly fixed on the grounds not far from the Castle.
"Hagrid? Where's he going this late?"
Sure enough, the tiny ink dot labelled Rubeus Hagrid was slowly moving towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
However, Hermione quickly drew their attention elsewhere.
"Leave that for now. Look at Karkaroff. He doesn't seem to be aboard the ship."
Harry and Ron immediately searched the Durmstrang vessel.
Karkaroff's name was indeed absent from the captain's cabin.
They hurriedly scanned the map, searching through the dense clusters of names until they finally found him inside a corridor of Hogwarts Castle.
The small black dot labelled Igor Karkaroff was moving slowly in the general direction of the dungeons, where Snape's office was located.
"He's going to see Snape?" Ron guessed, disgust colouring his voice. "I knew it! They're holding some secret meeting in the middle of the night, and I bet they're up to no good!"
"We can't draw conclusions based on that alone," Hermione said cautiously, though her brows were tightly furrowed.
They continued searching the map, carefully watching for anything suspicious.
Suddenly, Harry blinked hard and leaned so close that his face almost touched the parchment. His eyes were fixed on a point deep within the Forbidden Forest, near the boundary of the Hogwarts grounds.
"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked, noticing the change in his expression.
Harry did not answer immediately.
His finger trembled slightly as he pointed towards the spot.
"Look here... Charlie Weasley?"
Ron's eyes widened, and he leaned closer to inspect it.
"Charlie? Isn't he in Romania studying dragons? How could he suddenly be at Hogwarts...?"
The three huddled together and saw that the small black dot labelled Rubeus Hagrid had met the dot labelled Charlie Weasley.
A moment later, the two dots turned and moved together into the Forbidden Forest, quickly disappearing beyond the map's range.
"Why would Charlie be at Hogwarts now?" Ron asked again, baffled. "Could there be wild dragons in the Forbidden Forest?"
The moment the words left his mouth, a chill ran down all three of their spines.
Hermione abruptly looked up, her eyes flashing with shock and sudden realisation. Lowering her voice to almost a whisper, she said,
"Harry... the first task... surely they aren't going to make you..."
That night, burdened by this unsettling suspicion and their discovery about Karkaroff's whereabouts, the three thoughtfully put away the Marauder's Map.
They agreed that after attending the lesson the next day, they would tell Professor Greengrass about Karkaroff's late-night visit to the dungeons to see Snape.
The following morning, however, Harry truly began to feel the subtle pressure that came with being a Champion.
Although he received considerable support and encouragement within Gryffindor, the moment he left the common room, he could clearly sense a different mood spreading throughout the Castle.
In the corridors, deliberately averted gazes and hushed whispers clung to him like an invisible spider's web.
No one openly confronted him, but many students from the other Houses looked at him with suspicion and scrutiny. This was especially true of the Hufflepuffs, who had placed great hopes in Cedric Diggory, and some Ravenclaws who placed particular importance on rules.
In their gazes, Harry could read an unspoken consensus: this underage boy must have used some underhanded method to place his name in the Goblet of Fire and be chosen.
"Don't pay attention to them, Harry," Hermione whispered reassuringly, immediately noticing his discomfort.
"Exactly. They don't know anything," Ron agreed firmly, standing by his friend as always.
Harry took a deep breath.
He truly did not care very much what those people thought. What mattered was that he could always see unwavering trust in the eyes of his closest friends.
That was enough.
During Divination with Professor Trelawney that morning, Harry inevitably became the subject of her predictions once again and was once more told that he faced an imminent and violent death.
By now, he was almost numb to it. After all, it was hardly the first time.
After class, the three hurried towards Sagres's classroom.
As they passed through the Entrance Hall, they encountered Cedric Diggory.
The Hufflepuff Champion was surrounded by several friends. He was tall and handsome, with a gentle, confident smile and bright, spirited eyes.
He paused upon seeing Harry and gave him a friendly nod.
"All the Champions have to report to the staff room during the final lesson this morning to have their wands examined," Cedric said.
"What?"
Harry looked confused for a moment before realising that Cedric was speaking to him.
"Oh, right... I mean, thank you, Cedric."
Cedric smiled, then continued towards the Advanced Charms Theory and Practice classroom with his classmates.
In Harry's eyes, Cedric carried himself perfectly, displaying the bearing of a Champion in every respect.
By comparison, Harry felt even smaller and more insignificant.
A faint sense of inferiority crept into his heart. Cedric certainly looked much more like the ideal Champion everyone imagined.
But the feeling lasted only a moment.
Harry straightened his back and firmly suppressed it. He had his own reasons to fight, and they had nothing to do with whether he looked impressive.
When they reached Sagres's classroom, they found it far more crowded than usual.
Professor Greengrass's distinctive teaching style and reputation had clearly attracted large numbers of students from the visiting schools.
Every seat was already occupied, and many students had been forced to stand at the back or lean against the walls.
Sagres stood at the front of the classroom. With a calm wave of his wand, he lightly tapped one of the walls.
Space rippled like water. The wall silently receded, and the ceiling rose with it. In an instant, the previously cramped classroom became spacious and bright, large enough to accommodate every student who had come to attend.
The room was filled with robes of many colours: Durmstrang crimson, Beauxbatons pale blue, Ilvermorny blue and cranberry red...
Whispers in different accents mingled together, giving the lesson a unique atmosphere before it had even begun.
When the last student squeezed through the doorway into the expanded classroom, Sagres gave his wand a slight wave, and the door closed silently behind them.
He did not begin teaching at once. Instead, his grey eyes slowly swept across the entire room.
Under his calm gaze, the overlapping whispers quickly faded, and the classroom fell into expectant silence.
Students from different countries and schools involuntarily sat up straighter.
"Welcome, whether you are regular Hogwarts students or visitors from afar."
His voice was not loud, yet it carried clearly to every corner of the classroom.
"By entering this room, you have willingly placed the next two hours at my disposal."
He paused, ensuring that everyone understood.
"First, no one may ask questions while I am lecturing."
His tone was not harsh, but every word was firm and unquestionable.
"You may record any questions, ideas, or objections on parchment or keep them in mind. At the end of the lesson, I will set aside time specifically for discussion. You may then speak freely."
This opening caused several students accustomed to more interactive teaching methods to frown, but no one dared object aloud.
"To ensure that you absorb as much knowledge as possible, rather than being distracted by useless emotions and scattered thoughts..."
He raised his wand again and traced an elegant, intricate pattern through the air.
"We will use an unconventional auxiliary charm."
The next moment, an invisible wave spread gently through the entire classroom with Sagres at its centre.
Everyone felt a cool sensation pour down from the crown of their head and flow through their limbs.
The sounds of the surrounding world seemed to grow distant, while the confusion in their minds was smoothed away by an invisible hand.
Their thoughts became clearer than ever, like newly polished machines waiting to receive and process information.
The Hogwarts students were already accustomed to the sensation, but those from the visiting schools were experiencing it for the first time. They immediately sensed the power of this unusual state, and expressions of surprise appeared across their faces.
"Do not worry," Sagres explained calmly. "It will not deprive you of your ability to think. It merely suppresses emotional interference temporarily, allowing your thoughts and memory to function at their peak."
He paused.
"Now, let us begin today's main subject."
"The Disillusionment Charm."
As Sagres clearly spoke the words, he lightly tapped his robes with his wand.
His figure instantly rippled like ink spreading through water, blending perfectly into the wall behind him until he vanished without a trace before the watching class.
A wave of suppressed gasps filled the classroom.
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