Chapter 50: The Fourth Person

"Leonard Taylor..."

As expected, Leo, whose name was called, walked towards the next room. Everyone in the Great Hall was silently watching him. But soon, murmurs began. The murmurs were different between Hogwarts and the other schools. The students of Hogwarts seemed resigned, saying 'Ah, as expected.' On the other hand, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang directed angry glances at Leonard Taylor, the fourth person, thinking that Hogwarts had cheated to select a fourth person.

When Leo entered the small room, the three who had been selected earlier looked at him with curious faces. Cedric, representing the three, asked,

"Leonard? What's going on?"

Fleur let out an 'Ah,' and approached Leo.

"Did you finally notice my charm and come chasing after me? Good! That's only natural!"

Leo decided to ignore her.

"I know this person. He is Leonard Taylor."

Krum, who seemed to be bad at English, spoke in a slightly strange way. Leo handed Krum a ring with a translation spell added to it, similar to Fleur's.

"Oh, this is amazing. I can clearly understand what you guys are saying even though it sounds like English. You're a great genius as rumored. So why is this genius here? Is it related to the match?"

Before Leo could speak, Bagman led in three confused-looking headmasters and teachers, and Crouch with a face twisted in anger.

"Everyone, this is amazing! Let me introduce you. The fourth representative, Leonard Taylor."

Hearing that, Cedric looked half-convinced and half-despairing. Fleur muttered, 'Is that a joke?' Krum didn't say anything but looked slightly surprised.

"Of course it's not a joke or a lie. Leonard's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!"

"Dumbledore! What does this mean!?"

Maxime confronts Dumbledore intimidatingly. Karkaroff also agrees.

"I agree with Madame Maxime. Can you explain?"

"I didn't expect this either... No underage person has crossed the age line I set up, and there are no signs that any other obstructions have been broken. You two should understand that.'"

Of course, both Maxime and Karkaroff had no choice but to remain silent. If Dumbledore's age line alone was keeping minors away, it could be said that he would have rigged it to favor Hogwarts. But both of them had taken full measures against minors.

Since that was broken, it was an unexpected event for Dumbledore as well. But they couldn't accept that two representatives would be chosen from Hogwarts.

"The issue of how the minor countermeasures were implemented is not the problem at this point. Dumbledore, was there a rule that the host school could have two representative players? If so, I must be quite out of my mind not to know such a rule."

"Really, a great wizard would be appalled to hear that."

Neither Karkaroff nor Maxime seemed to calm their anger.

In the midst of this, only Bagman spoke with a look of enjoyment.

"But! Taylor's name came out of the Goblet of Fire. And the flame of the Goblet of Fire has gone out. With this, these four representatives have an obligation to compete. This is a magical contract by the Goblet. Since no one can cancel it, no matter what happens, including Leonard, the game has to proceed."

"How Can you accept that!!!"

Crouch's angry voice, who had been silent until now, echoed.

"Ba, Barty...?"

"Do you know how much trouble I've been through until now!? How many obstacles there were and how much I've worn down my nerves and exhausted my strength for this! And this, this kid! Whether he's a genius or what I don't know but this kid is my, my... Damn it! The selection of representative players should be redone!

This guy should be expelled from Hogwarts and a reselection should be conducted!"

"But well, as Mr. Bagman said earlier, a magical contract is absolute. We can't redo it anymore. It's not about whether we can accept it or not, we have to do it. Is that okay with Madame Maxime and Headmaster Karkaroff?"

The principals of the other schools were not convinced but they didn't know what kind of negative effects would occur if they forcibly cancelled the magical contract on their favorite students. They decided to fight fair and square as it is.

Crouch was directing undisguised murderous intent at Leo but left without saying anything.

"Well then, Leo. It's good to participate, but how did you put your name in the Goblet?"

"I transferred the parchment directly into the Goblet. I could have broken through the barrier, interference, and age line but it seemed like it would take a lot of effort to break through. I incorporated various magics into the parchment and interfered with the Goblet of Fire to register me as a player from a non-existent fourth school. In addition, I fixed it in the same way so that only four schools exist and no fifth person would appear. So the real representative of Hogwarts is Cedric."

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The time was several hours earlier. That day, when Leo woke up, he noticed that a mental barrier had been set up throughout the entire school building. Thanks to the defense mechanism in his study room and the "blocking" ring, Leo was unaffected.

(Was this the underage countermeasure they mentioned yesterday? I should investigate a bit before putting in the parchment.)

He remembered a crystal ball for surveillance that he had installed for the Basilisk countermeasure two years ago and left untouched, and activated it.

"Alright, no problem. Let's see... There are traps in the Great Hall and an age line besides the barrier. Hmm? This age line... it's quite strict against me. It's quite troublesome. I should give up on putting it in directly. It can be deactivated, but it seems like it will take some time."

As a result, he decided to teleport the parchment filled with as many magic formulas as possible.

He timed it so that he could put it in without being noticed at the same time as other students.

(I'll find out if it went well at the announcement. Now, what will happen?)

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Everyone in the small room was surprised. As for Leo, he could break through any trap, but he didn't want to consume time, so he did it this way. He wondered why people were so surprised when he could just teleport parchment even though there was a spell for apparition.

Bagman, who had recovered from his surprise, began to explain the first task.

"Hmm, as expected of Leonard Taylor, it's a method that ordinary people can't imitate. Now, since Barty has gone home, let me explain the task to all the players.

The first task is to test your courage. How to confront and overcome an unknown threat with just one wand, that's the task. The match is on November 24th. It will be held in front of all the students. I can't reveal any more than that, it's a surprise for the day of the match. That's all! Is it okay to dismiss?"

There was nothing more and it was dismissed.

"Leonard! I'm going to win. You'll realize my charm and strength after you lose."

Fleur declared that to Leo before leaving the room and returning to her carriage. Cedric and Krum were also there but she completely ignored them.

"I don't intend to lose either. Let's both give it our all."

Krum said that with a dignified look. Perhaps because he is a professional Quidditch player, he gives the impression of being a fair sportsman.

"Leonard, I was completely defeated two years ago but I don't intend to lose this time. So no need to hold back. I'm going all out too, so you come at me with all you've got."

Cedric seemed not angry even though this side had become a representative by unfair means.

Is this kind of mentality also one of the factors that were chosen by the Goblet?

Finally, Leo leaves the small room and returns to his research room.

On his way back, Leo was reminded of Crouch.

(Bartemius Crouch... I wasn't looking closely but something was off. It felt out of sync. It must be the influence of some magic that does something to the soul. Well, there will be opportunities later so I can investigate then.)

He didn't know him very well and could guess what kind of person he was, so he decided that he didn't need to rush because it wasn't something that would kill him.

If Leo had investigated Crouch on the spot here, history would have changed significantly.

---

The headmasters' mistake was doing all the countermeasures against minors with magic.

At the point where it's magic, it becomes meaningless for Leonard.

By the way, Leo can cancel the magical contract of the Goblet.

With this method, there was zero chance that Harry would be chosen.

Now what will happen with Crouch Jr.'s behind-the-scenes maneuvering?