Hogwarts Summoning Guide

The world depicted by Bai Linshuo can be found in "Hogwarts Summoning Guide".

As night fell, the auditorium became lively. Upperclassmen began to come and drop their names on parchment slips. Everyone still cared about their image; it would be quite embarrassing to drop a slip in front of the entire school of younger students and then not be selected. So, they all came in the middle of the night.

Durmstrang's students were united in their approach, all arriving with notes. Of course, Krum was always in the center, and only after he voted did the other students line up one by one to come forward.

Next came the representatives from Beauxbatons, Yuxi and Catherine, who followed behind a group of male and female students. They came face to face with Bai Lin. This time, Catherine felt embarrassed to pretend she hadn't seen him. She seemed to have figured something out and stepped forward to greet him, "Hi, Kerry, how have you been lately?"

Before Bai Lin could speak, You Qian asked in surprise, "Senior, you know the captain?" Another very beautiful girl also came over. She had waist-length silver hair and bright blue eyes that shimmered with silver light. She said playfully, "Ah, Sister Catherine, is this your legendary ex-boyfriend?"

This question made them both feel a little awkward. Bai Lin coughed and asked, "Who are you?"

The girl generously stepped forward and extended her hand, saying, "Hello, my name is Fleur Delacour, I'm in sixth grade at Beauxbatons. You're very handsome, no wonder Sister Catherine is so fond of you."

Catherine was extremely embarrassed and pulled Fleur back. She looked as if she would strangle Fleur if she continued to speak recklessly.

"Sister! It's your turn to vote!" a girl called out to Furong. Furong quickly called out, "Coming, Gabrielle." Gabrielle is Furong's sister, and her only role on this trip is to be captured and thrown into the Black Lake as a "sacrifice."

Hibiscus gracefully tossed the slip of paper with her name on it into the Goblet of Fire.

Bai Lin was wondering how to continue his conversation with Catherine when a group of people surged in from the direction of Gryffindor Castle. Leading them were the twins, with Harry and Ron also among them, seemingly there to watch the excitement.

Next came the twins' antics, serving as a cautionary tale to other students against challenging the authority of the school and the Ministry of Magic. They drank an age-defying potion in an attempt to bypass the age limit, only to be easily thrown back and roll on the ground, growing long white beards that made them look like two little old men, eliciting uproarious laughter.

Their commotion disrupted Bai Lin and Catherine's conversation. Catherine gave him a deep look and left with the students from Beauxbatons. Youxi, however, did not follow. Instead, she took Bai Lin's arm and silently stayed by his side.

After Cedric completed the registration ceremony surrounded by Hufflepuff's classmates, the noisy crowd had dispersed. When the twins came to submit their names, Bai Lin noticed that the four guards didn't care how much they messed around; they were only concerned with whether anyone would do anything to damage the artifact.

Since that was the case, Bai Lin took out a piece of paper. It was a letter his parents, who lived far away in the East, had written to him on his birthday last year. He carefully tore off a strip of paper from a blank corner of the letter, wrote his name on it (without writing his school), and swaggered into the Goblet of Fire. Sure enough, the four guards completely ignored him.

Now we just have to wait until tomorrow night to witness the miracle.

The morning of the second day passed quickly. Since it was Halloween, there were no classes. Some students threw notes into the Goblet of Fire again, but everyone was used to it. However, Fred and George, who had tried it yesterday, had grown full white beards that hadn't disappeared yet, becoming the butt of everyone's jokes.

After school, Harry and his friends didn't go back to their dorms right away. Instead, they started researching where the students in Beauxbatons stayed at night. Curious, they followed them and discovered that Beauxbatons' huge carriage... or rather, flying house, was located two hundred yards from the main entrance of Hagrid's cottage. Maxim led the students inside, while the giant winged horses grazed leisurely in a temporary enclosure nearby.

"Let's go see Hagrid," Harry suggested.

"Let's go! Maybe we can find out some secrets, I mean things they're keeping from us," Ron said mysteriously.

"As long as he's not still dealing with the tadpoles this late..." Hermione said resentfully.

Hagrid's house was as it always had been. He welcomed the children inside, muttering, "I thought you'd forgotten I lived here..."

As soon as Harry entered the room, he discovered that there were other people inside. Zobi was hanging upside down on the bed where Bai Lin used to sleep, reading a collection of essays. He lazily greeted the children and then went back to reading. In the corner where the firewood used to be piled up, Kiki was maintaining her scimitar. She was wearing headphones and seemed to be listening to music, completely ignoring the children as they entered.

Hagrid shrugged and said, "This is the temporary base for the Kelling Squad now. The two of them are staying here. You don't need to pay them much attention."

They were a little reserved at first, but once the topic of the three-way competition came up, they quickly got into a conversation.

"Just you wait and see, these are all amazing things!" Hagrid seemed to be thinking about Bai Lin's brief stay at the zoo, without mentioning anything he hadn't seen before. "The first project is... ah, I shouldn't have said that."

"Keep talking, Hagrid!" The three friends huddled around Hagrid's legs, urging him on in a spoiled manner.

"I don't want to spoil your fun... I can only say it's going to be exciting, those warriors have some really thrilling things to do... I never thought I'd see the Triwizard Tournament come back in my lifetime!"

Hagrid invited everyone to lunch. He was originally going to make a steak stew, but Zobi, who was reading, suddenly jumped over and insisted that he would cook lunch. Hagrid, please stand back a bit.

Sure enough, although Zhuo Bi's cooking skills weren't exactly top-notch, he could still manage to avoid burning or overcooking the food, and there were no strange or unusual ingredients in it. The lunch was a pleasant one for both the host and guests, and Haig gave Zhuo Bi a thumbs up.

Because Hagrid refused to reveal the details of the competition, their conversation gradually turned to the issue of house-elves. Hermione was planning a house-elf rights organization (which had already begun in the original books), but Hagrid expressed clear opposition. His stance was pessimistic; he found that house-elves were born to care for humans and viewed rewards as an insult. This brainwashed servility was precisely the reason why house-elves could still survive.

"House-elves, like half-giants, cannot exist in human society alone. Humans will not stand idly by while other intelligent races take away land and establish their own kingdoms..." Hagrid said.

"That sounds like someone's voice," Harry said, thinking of Bai Lin, who was the only one who could speak about reality from a completely objective perspective.

“He’s a good man,” Hagrid said. “When I first met him, I thought he was a good man, but after getting to know him for a while, I seriously doubted his character. But now, I still believe he’s a good man, it’s just that his goals are more noble than most people’s.”

Kiki listened quietly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. After tending to her magical prosthetic limb, she went outside the hut and started playing with Ya Ya.

Suddenly, the friends noticed that Hagrid had pulled out a brand new suit and a large bottle; the smell was so strong it was almost unbearable.

"Don't you like it? It's cologne!" Hagrid said.

No matter how much the children fussed, Hagrid dressed himself up and trotted off ahead. From afar, everyone could see him chatting happily with Principal Maxim, the two of them walking towards the castle together without looking back.

"He's finished... He fell in love with a giantess," Ron said, feeling his worldview being shattered. "If they have a child in the future, they'll definitely set a world record, like in terms of weight."

The list of champions will be announced at the banquet, and since it is the eve of Halloween, students from various schools are "dressed up". When Harry and his party entered the candlelit Great Hall, it was almost full of people.

The Goblet of Fire was moved to the faculty desk, where it still burned with a blazing blue flame, seemingly never to be extinguished.

The Halloween Eve dinner was exceptionally lavish and lasted much longer than usual. In the past, everyone would eagerly finish dinner and then go to Hogsmeade Village to party all night. However, tonight, everyone's biggest interest was in choosing the warriors.

Finally, the golden plate was restored to its spotless state, and the sound in the Great Hall suddenly rose. Then, Dumbledore, the other two headmasters, and Barty the Elder, along with other Ministry of Magic officials, all stood up. The headmasters and officials seemed just as nervous as the students, and the Great Hall suddenly became completely silent.

"Alright, the Goblet is about to make its decision!" Dumbledore said, pointing to a room. "Listen, after the names of the champions are announced, I want them to go to that room where they will receive their initial instruction."

He pulled out his wand and waved it dramatically. Instantly, the entire hall went dark except for the candles in the jack-o'-lantern, while the Goblet of Fire shone with a dazzling light, brighter than anything else in the hall, its blue flames almost blinding.

In the tense few seconds everyone was on edge, the flame in the Goblet of Fire suddenly turned red, sparks crackled and popped out, and then a flame shot into the air, tossing out a slightly charred strip of parchment.

Dumbledore caught it and declared in a clear and forceful tone, "Viktor Krum, champion of Durmstrang!"

"Not surprising at all!" Ron shouted amidst the cheers. Harry saw Krum stand up, walk listlessly toward the faculty desk, and then walk straight into the room Dumbledore had pointed to.

As the applause and cheers gradually subsided, the second note flew out along with a flame.

"Fleur de la Cour, champion of Beauxbatons!" Dumbledore proclaimed in an even more powerful voice.

"It's her, Ron!" Harry nudged Ron with ill intent, because Ron had stared at that girl for a long time yesterday and insisted that she was a Veela (which can be understood as a little fox spirit).

Fleur entered the room, and the entire room fell silent again; the Hogwarts students held their breath.

The third note arrived as expected, and Dumbledore's tone turned joyful: "Cedric Diggory, a champion of Hogwarts!"

The Hufflepuff students went absolutely wild, jumping onto the tables to celebrate. Cedric was practically carried to the faculty desk by his friends. Ron rolled his eyes, and Harry wasn't exactly happy either, because Cedric and Cho Chang had interacted from a distance, and Harry could tell that Cho Chang had a good impression of Cedric.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore exclaimed cheerfully. "Now our three champions have been chosen! I know I can completely trust everyone, including Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's classmates! You will all give your all to support your champions! Go for it..."

Before Dumbledore could finish speaking, the red flames in the Goblet of Fire blazed up again, and two even taller flames shot up suddenly. This time, it spat out two slips of paper.

Dumbledore didn't think to reach out and take them immediately, but the two slips of paper seemed to fly to him as if they were sentient, turning back and forth.

Dumbledore stretched out his hands and caught the two names, one in each hand.

A long silence followed. Dumbledore stared at the note in his hand, and everyone in the Great Hall stared at him. Finally, Dumbledore cleared his throat and read aloud:

"Harry Potter from Hogwarts and Karin White from Wenyuange!"

Harry sat there, realizing that everyone in the Great Hall had turned to look at him and Bai Lin. He froze, his mind blank. He thought he was dreaming, that he must have misheard.

"Um, sorry, I just wanted to research the Goblet of Fire... so I voted for it. After all, I've never heard of it in my hometown..." Bai Lin stepped forward and said without batting an eye, inadvertently attracting everyone's attention and reducing focus on Harry.

"I didn't put my name in!" Harry said blankly. "I've been with you guys the whole time, you know I didn't!"

However, aside from Ron and the twins, who looked at Harry with some resentment, most people began whispering among themselves: "What's Wenyuange? Has anyone heard of it?"

Dumbledore was momentarily stunned, but he quickly recovered. He nodded to Professor McGonagall and waved the two slips of paper in his hand to the other judges. Barty Old Man looked utterly incredulous. Then Dumbledore said, "Harry Potter! Karin White! Please come here!"

"Go ahead," Hermione urged softly, giving Harry a gentle nudge.

Bai Lin, on the other hand, had an air of thick skin and walked forward with a grin.

Harry felt that a mere few dozen meters was an incredibly long time, and everyone was looking at him with hostility.

He passed Dumbledore, whose face was full of complex emotions; he passed Snape, whose face was full of gloom; he passed Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick, whose faces were full of surprise and worry... He heard countless voices talking about him, like fish bones pricking his back.

However, Bai Lin, who was walking in front, strode forward as if he were going straight up to receive an award.

"Alright... go through that door, Harry... Carey," Dumbledore said, though there was no smile on his face.

"Cheer up, Principal, it's the semi-finals now! It's even more international!" Bai Lin said with a grin.

Professor McGonagall and Snape both rolled their eyes.