The moment the portrait opened, Harry was prepared to be met with cold stares.
However, the next second, he was swarmed by the crowd and dragged directly into the common room.
"Harry!"
"Oh my god, Harry Potter!"
"You actually became a champion!"
The Gryffindor students were screaming for Harry; the cheering was enough to almost blow the roof off.
Harry stood frozen in place, completely unable to react.
Fred and George squeezed in front of him, patting his shoulders from left and right.
"Harry, you sure hid that well!" Fred looked somewhat annoyed, yet also somewhat excited.
"Yeah, you should have told us you signed up!" George chimed in, egging him on.
"You even lied to us saying you didn't want to sign up, but then snuck your name in."
Harry tried to explain, but no one listened to him.
The cheering drowned out his voice; everyone was celebrating that Gryffindor finally had its own champion.
Although no one thought Harry could snatch the Triwizard Cup, it was at least much better than some Slytherin that didn't have a champion.
Facing these cheers, Harry's head was about to explode; he turned around in the crowd, wanting to find Ron and Hermione.
But he didn't see their figures anywhere in the entire common room.
"Move!" Harry finally couldn't take it anymore and pushed the people around him aside.
"I'm going back to my room to sleep!"
He squeezed through the crowd and rushed up the stairs.
The cheers behind him continued, but Harry couldn't care anymore.
The dormitory door was pushed open; Ron was lying on his bed, and he was the only one in the room.
Harry closed the door, panting as he asked, "Why are you here all by yourself?"
Ron didn't even look up.
"So I wouldn't ruin your celebration with them."
"What silly things are you saying?"
Ron sat up, smiling very reluctantly.
"Oh right, I haven't congratulated you yet. Congratulations, Harry Potter, champion of the Triwizard Tournament."
Harry's anger flared up instantly.
"I'm with you every day; don't you know whether I signed up or not?"
"Yeah." Ron's voice was somewhat muffled.
"We're together every day, but you didn't even tell me you snuck in your name."
"Someone else threw it in!" Harry said indignantly.
"Later, Moody said someone was trying to harm me, you just didn't hear it."
Ron sat up with a sarcastic smile on his face.
"Moody? Everyone knows he thinks the stairs are trying to harm him if he bumps into them while walking."
He paused, and his smile vanished.
"Harry, there's no need to treat me like a fool. It's fine that you signed up without me; I just find it hard to accept. But can't you just admit you signed up? Why are you still lying to me?"
Harry felt an uncomfortable tightness in his chest. He stared at Ron, and Ron stared back at him.
Both of their eyes held anger and hurt.
"Think whatever you want." Harry finally said.
He turned and walked to his bed, pulled the curtains shut, and shut the whole world out.
The next day at noon, Charlie stretched and sat up from his bed.
The dormitory was empty; he was the only one there.
Charlie took out his wand and cast a cleaning spell on himself, feeling instantly refreshed, even his breath had a minty scent.
He put on his robes, pushed the door open, and headed toward the Great Hall.
Along the way, people kept greeting him.
"Charlie! Congratulations on becoming a champion!"
"You'll definitely win the championship!"
Charlie smiled and nodded in response, but he was more concerned about another matter.
He found a seat at the Gryffindor table, eating while keeping an eye on the surroundings.
Harry should be coming soon, right? There was something important he needed to talk to him about.
But until Charlie finished the food on his plate, he didn't see a shadow of Harry.
Instead, Ron was sitting at the other end of the long table, munching on bread by himself with a sour expression.
Charlie stood up and walked over.
"Ron, do you know where Harry is?"
Hearing Harry's name, Ron didn't even look up.
"I don't know."
Charlie looked at Ron's sullen appearance and roughly guessed that the two had a falling out.
However, he didn't intend to interfere; such things needed to be resolved by them themselves.
Neville, who was nearby, whispered.
"I just saw Harry heading towards the Black Lake."
"Thanks, Neville." Charlie nodded and turned to leave the Great Hall.
Walking out of the Castle, the air outside was chilly.
From afar, he could see Harry sitting alone on a rock by the Black Lake, head lowered, wondering what he was thinking about.
Hermione was standing next to him, holding a few books.
"Harry, I believe you." Hermione's voice was very soft.
"You definitely didn't sign yourself up."
Harry looked up, looking at Hermione with some gratitude; Hermione was the best!
Hermione paused, then continued.
"With your level, it's simply impossible to break Dumbledore's Spell."
Harry's expression stiffened.
"...Thanks." He remained silent for a good while before squeezing out this sentence.
"You're welcome."
Harry didn't pay it much mind and asked with some hesitation.
"Is Ron still angry?"
Hermione bit her lip, looking conflicted.
"Ron he... actually, isn't just angry."
"Then what is it?"
"He... is a bit jealous of you."
"Jealous of me?"
"You're a Seeker, and you're the savior; everyone in the school knows you. His brothers are all very talented, but he is always overlooked. Usually, he doesn't say anything, but this time he probably felt you lied to him, so he couldn't hold it in anymore."
Harry stood up abruptly, feeling it was ridiculous.
"Jealous? What is he jealous of me for? I'd rather switch places with him!"
"Someone snuck my name into the goblet of fire, and now the whole school is staring at me. What can this attention get me? Hermione, maybe it's me being torn to shreds by a monster in the competition!"
"Don't say things like that." Hermione looked at Harry with some worry.
"Your current situation is very dangerous; do you know what you should be doing now?"
"Use my shoe to kick Ron's butt hard."
Harry said through gritted teeth.
Hermione helplessly pressed her forehead, holding back the urge to kick him.
"It's to go find Charlie! He's in the competition with you; ask him if he's willing to help you!"
"No need to find me." Charlie walked over to the two.
"I'm here."
Hermione opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but was stopped by Charlie raising his hand.
Charlie stared at Harry, his tone terrifyingly calm.
"I am determined to win the Triwizard Cup."
Harry was stunned for a moment, not understanding why Charlie suddenly said that.
"But the situation now is, even if I take first place, you must take second place."
"If the competition were a team battle, I could carry the team directly. But what if it's an individual competition?"
Harry's face turned a few shades paler.
"Then you can only rely on yourself." Charlie stared into his eyes.
"So you must survive, and you must get enough points."
Harry swallowed, his voice weak.
"But I'm really not confident. What if I fail?"
Charlie suddenly smiled, a smile that made Harry shudder all over.
"You wouldn't want to know." Charlie said ominously.
"But I'm really not confident, I'm just a fourth-year student!" Harry couldn't help but shout.
Charlie patted his shoulder.
"I know, so I must give you a thorough special training session."
"Special training?"
Harry froze instantly, subconsciously making eye contact with Hermione.
The fear of being dominated by Charlie's special training instantly surged into his heart.
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