Only one chapter today, people.

It's my brother's birthday today and it looks like I got too carried away. ​​

Thank you for continuing to read me. Till tomorrow :*

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Victor Krum headed for the cup.

Without a problem, the stern Bulgarian guy threw a parchment with his name into the cup, and it accepted it without consequence. At almost the same moment, a cheerful group of guys from Hufflepuff burst into the great hall, pushing a disheveled prefect, Cedric Diggory, toward the goblet. He, like Krum, had no problem with the cup, throwing his name in it.

The French girls, as it turned out, the most disciplined, had settled the matter since early in the morning, and so everyone just sat and waited for the results.

Suddenly the entire dome of protection, around which Max Knight had been spinning for well over an hour, with another touch of the wand in the guy's left hand, began to shimmer in all the colors of the rainbow, as if pearly but still as nearly transparent.

"Found it," Max said with a smile, and everyone held their breath in anticipation of failure. Well, or something else. Even the professors at the table were looking interested.

With the wand in his right hand, Max touched a section of the dome with a red hue, pulling out a thread of red at the tip and as if he had attached the thread to the wand in his left hand. Next, the boy pulled out orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple threads, hooking them all along the length of the wand. These threads intertwined in an intricate pattern, stretching from the wand in my left hand to the dome of protection.

He gripped the wand from his right hand with his teeth and began to move his fingers through the intricate threads in a weightless motion, expanding and unraveling them with each passing second, threading one through the other. The movements became more confident each second, and the intricate threads disappeared - they simply stretched in the air, one next to the other. Taking the wand in his right hand again, the boy swiped it along the lines, waved both hands, and the dome of protection parted before him, as if it had opened, breaking up into similar strands. But only in front of him. Still holding his wands apart, with a victorious smile, the boy walked through the protection and grabbed the wand from his right hand with his teeth again. Then he pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket and threw it into the blue flame of the goblet. It burst into flames and accepted the parchment.

Max took his wand in his hands again, stepped out from under the glowing dome through the opening created, and with a couple of movements of both wands, restored the integrity of the dome. Just in a moment, it went out, leaving behind only a glowing line on the floor.

Silence.

A completely insane but tired smile played on Max's face. Glancing at the potions professor, the guy grinned even wider.

"Stupid wand-waving against potions - 1 - 0," and nodded toward the aging twins holding their backs. Severus Snape merely snorted.

The hall erupted in applause. Even Dumbledore rose from his seat and clapped his hands with a satisfied, smiling face. Professor Flitwick couldn't find his place, for what fine work! As soon as Max took a seat on the bench next to Hermione, who smiled at the boy, Headmaster Dumbledore glanced at the hourglass on the high table, stood up, and walked over to the goblet. The hall fell silent.

"The Goblet of Fire is about to make a decision," Dumbledore began. "I think it needs another minute. When the names of the champions are known, I will ask them to come to the table and proceed to the room adjacent to the hall."

The Headmaster pointed to the door behind the high desk.

"There, they will receive instructions for the first round of competition."

The Headmaster took out his wand and waved it to extinguish all the candles and bowls in the hall, leaving only the ones in the pumpkins. The hall was plunged into semi-darkness, the Goblet of Fire glowed brighter, and sparkling bluish flashes of fire struck the eyes. But the eyes of the students of the three schools were fixed on the cup.

The flame suddenly turned red, a column of sparks erupted, and a slightly charred piece of parchment flew out of the goblet, deftly intercepted by Dumbledore. The flame of the goblet turned a bluish-white again.

"The champion of Durmstrang is Victor Krum!" Dumbledore read the words on the parchment loud and clear.

To the general thunder of admiration and applause, Victor rose from his seat and approached the Headmaster with a confident but slouching gait.

"I knew it!" exclaimed Karkarov from the high table. "You have courage!"

Krum and Dumbledore shook hands, and Victor walked on toward the door, eventually disappearing behind it.

The noise in the hall gradually died down, and the students' attention was once again drawn to the Cup. Suddenly, just like the last time, the flame flared red, and another piece of parchment flew out of the cup.

"The champion of Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!" announced Dumbledore.

The blond girl, who looked so much like a Veela, rose easily from her seat and, with a flying gait, approached Dumbledore, sat down in a curtsey, and after receiving a rather respectful nod from the old man, disappeared behind the same door. The hall fell silent again in tense anticipation.

It was the same again. Another parchment with a name burst out of the flame, flushed for a moment. The Headmaster ran a glance over it and smiled, whispering almost inaudibly: "Wow."

"The Hogwarts champion is Maximilian Knight!"

"Why him!" yelled Ron Weasley indignantly, jumping up from his seat. "Damn it, even that Diggory would be better..."

The hall erupted in simultaneous laughter and applause. The gray-haired old twins wanted to pat Max on the shoulder, who got up from his seat, but clutching at their lower back, they collapsed back at the table.

The guy walked over to the smiling Headmaster.

"Glad you not only decided but were able to participate in something other than studying the library, Mr. Knight," Dumbledore shook the boy's hand with a smile.

"I'll tell you a secret - it's all for the sake of the library. May I have a note of permission for the champion and his friend?"

The Headmaster smiled even wider, though his beard hid it. Dumbledore flashed his glasses and said to Max:

"We'll discuss it tomorrow."