Chapter 244: Challenge From Beauxbatons

After George and Fred left, a few Hogwarts students finally managed to get their names into the Goblet of Fire.

First was Angelina Johnson, a tall, black girl and a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

She successfully threw her name into the Goblet, eliciting a cheer from the crowd.

It was also mentioned that Slytherin's Warrington had gotten up early and put his name in. He was a big guy who looked a lot like a sloth.

After a while, the Beauxbatons students entered the Great Hall through the front doors, and Hermione noticed that one of them was the older sister of the half-Veela pair.

Those gathered around the Goblet stepped back to let them through, watching eagerly.

Madame Maxime followed her students into the hall, instructing them to form a line.

One by one, the Beauxbatons students crossed the age line and threw their parchment into the blue-white flames.

Each time a name was thrown in, the flames turned red and sparks flew out.

After Fleur threw her name in, she noticed Alaric among the onlookers and happily approached him.

"Good morning, little judge," she said with a smile, seeming quite pleased to see Alaric.

"If I become the Beauxbatons champion, you must take good care of me in the tournament."

"Don't worry, I can guarantee you won't die in the tournament," Alaric joked.

"And by the way, I'm not that little."

A seasoned conversationalist, Alaric seized the opportunity to be witty.

However, Fleur immediately understood the implication, befitting a French half-Veela.

Though she hadn't experienced it herself, she got the gist.

"You…" Fleur blushed slightly at Alaric's words and lightly punched him.

"You're so improper. How can you say that to a girl right off the bat?"

"I thought we were quite familiar with each other," Alaric shrugged innocently.

Their intimate conversation not only made Hermione feel displeased but also angered several young men from Beauxbatons.

These boys had been pursuing Fleur for a long time at Beauxbatons, yet no one had succeeded in winning the heart of the beautiful half-Veela.

Not even a single boy had managed to become close to her. 

Now, an outsider from another school was able to get so close to Fleur, and they noticed that this boy also had several pretty girls from Hogwarts around him, clearly someone who was quite popular.

How could they stand it?

Several boys standing behind Fleur were already furious.

"Hey! Don't think you're so great just because you're a judge," one Beauxbatons boy blurted out.

"What's so impressive about pretending to be strong?"

"I think he's just bragging because he doesn't have to compete in the Goblet of Fire and won't have to expose his weak abilities," another boy sneered.

"That way, no one will see his true strength."

"Enough, Maxwell, Stein," Fleur angrily reprimanded them. "You don't know Alaric, so stop talking."

"You must be fooled by him," said Maxwell, not giving up.

"You don't know, some people are very good at deceiving others. I bet his strength isn't that great, but he's good at boasting.

The Goblet of Fire selects participants based on ability, and he's afraid of exposing his true self, so he got a position as a judge."

His words made the students, both from Hogwarts and Beauxbatons, look at him.

Being the center of attention, he was clearly proud.

However, what he didn't know was that, unlike the Beauxbatons students, the Hogwarts students looked at him not with approval but with pity and disdain.

All the Hogwarts students knew that Alaric never showed mercy to those who provoked him.

Slytherin's Malfoy, who was probably the student who hated Alaric the most at Hogwarts, had learned this lesson well.

After being "educated" by Alaric a few times, Malfoy started to avoid being in the same place as Alaric and was always on edge around him.

They were already looking forward to seeing how Alaric would deal with these two Beauxbatons boys.

However, to their surprise, Alaric merely said calmly, "Instead of worrying about me, you should worry about whether you can participate in the tournament yourselves."

And that was it.

How could that be?

The young wizards were very puzzled.

This was completely out of character for Alaric.

By this time, Madame Maxime had stepped forward and harshly criticized the two boys.

Fleur hurriedly said to Alaric, "Oh, Maxwell and Stein don't know you, and they don't know their place. Please don't take it to heart, okay?"

She and Madame Maxime knew Alaric's strength well, so they didn't believe those words at all.

Under Madame Maxime's orders, the two boys apologized to Alaric, but from their expressions, they seemed to feel like they had won a great victory—after all, in their eyes, Alaric had backed down and tacitly agreed with their words.

Alaric nodded without saying a word.

It seemed like everything had passed.

However, a while later, it was the two boys' turn to put their names in.

Maxwell walked towards the Goblet with his head held high, like a proud rooster.

But just like George and Fred earlier, as he crossed the age line, it was as if he hit an invisible wall and was thrown back violently, crashing into the wall.

This was clearly a sign of being underage.

"How is this possible?" he shouted in pain, getting up despite his whole body aching. "I turned seventeen five months ago."

He tried again, only to be thrown back to the same spot.

"There's something wrong with this line!" Maxwell cursed.

"Hogwarts is biased, trying to eliminate strong competitors."

This statement drew boos from the crowd.

His earlier accusations against Alaric had angered the Hogwarts students.

If a strong person like Alaric was a weakling, then what did that make those who lived in his shadow?

Suddenly, Fleur blurted out.

"Alaric, did you do this?"

"You must be joking." Alaric shook his head, denying it.

"He obviously lied about his age, which is why this happened. I can't change his age, can I?"

But Fleur's words sparked a discussion among the students.

"If he did it, it's definitely possible."

"Didn't he just say, 'Instead of worrying about me, you should worry about whether you can participate in the tournament yourselves?'

Now one person has already lost the chance to compete."

"So, it's really possible."

Madame Maxime stepped forward and held back Maxwell, who was about to try for the fifth time, examining him.

"Strange, you are indeed seventeen," she said, confused.

"And no one has used an Age-Reducing Potion on you."

Helplessly, she had the unlucky boy wait aside and called the next person to try.

Next was Stein.

He had witnessed Maxwell's experience and, though he didn't fully believe Alaric was behind it, he cautiously approached the age line.

However, the moment he touched the line, he experienced the same fate.

Even with a light touch, Stein was violently thrown back, crashing into the wall.

Now, the truth was clear.

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