Hogwarts: I will not become the Dark Lord

On the morning of October 30th, when Jerry entered the Great Hall for breakfast, he found it completely transformed overnight.

The walls were adorned with magnificent silk banners, each proclaiming the glory of one of the four Hogwarts houses: Gryffindor's banner featured a fiery red background with a dazzling golden lion leaping at its center; Ravenclaw's was a deep blue, upon which a bronze eagle stood proudly with outstretched wings; Hufflepuff's banner was a warm yellow, perfectly complemented by a serene black badger; and beneath Slytherin's green curtain, a sinuous silver serpent writhed.

In a prominent position behind the staff table hung the most spectacular banner of all, emblazoned with the Hogwarts crest: the lion, the eagle, the badger, and the serpent, surrounding a dignified capital 'H'.

Harry, Ron, and Neville happily took their seats at the Gryffindor table, joined by the inseparable twins, Fred and George. This time, however, the two seemed to deliberately avoid the surrounding bustle, lowering their voices as they plotted something.

Hermione sat with her roommates.

"Darling, did you and Jerry Green break up?" Parvati Patil whispered to Hermione.

Hermione's other roommates, as well as Parvati's sister, Padma Patil, hearing Parvati's question, simultaneously stopped eating, pricked up their ears, and leaned in.

Before, Jerry and Hermione were always together, and they had no chance or were too embarrassed, but if you two really broke up, rather than letting those Slytherin bitches or those Ravenclaw sluts get him, they might as well…

"Ah?" Hermione's cheeks flushed crimson, and she was momentarily at a loss for words. "Parvati, my relationship with Jerry…" Hermione hesitated, searching for the most appropriate expression.

"Aren't you two a couple?" A knowing smile appeared on Parvati Patil's face, her eyes filled with encouragement. "Don't be shy, you're already in your fourth year; this is a perfectly normal topic."

Parvati glanced at her roommates and her sister, noticing their fervent, eager gazes, and pushed them away, pulling the blushing Hermione out of the bustling Great Hall.

At the Slytherin table, Jerry ate his breakfast quietly, while Malfoy cautiously approached.

"Did you really break up with Granger?" Malfoy was both timid and curious.

"Excessive curiosity often brings unnecessary trouble. Just mind your own business," Jerry said coldly, glancing sideways at Malfoy, warning him.

"Understood!" Malfoy immediately retreated, realizing he had overstepped, and was promptly surrounded by a group of gossip-loving Slytherin girls, becoming the new center of attention.

Seeing this, Jerry lost his appetite, grabbed his textbooks, and headed to class.

In the classroom, the atmosphere was noticeably distracted, with students' thoughts already drifting towards the upcoming arrival of the other two schools. Everyone was discussing how to participate in the Triwizard Tournament and who the judges would be.

As the bell rang early, signaling the end of class, Jerry quickly gathered his books and followed the flow of students towards the Slytherin common room. Following the instructions, he quickly deposited his bag and textbooks, then donned his cloak and hurried through the corridors towards the Entrance Hall.

Inside, the heads of each house were busily directing their students to form lines, preparing to welcome the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.

"Boss, this damn weather is freezing," Crabbe, shivering, suggested, "Why don't we retreat to the Great Hall and warm up a bit?"

"Are you crazy?" Malfoy snapped, glaring at Crabbe. "Who dares to leave the line on an occasion like this? Do you want Headmaster Snape to poison your dinner drink?"

Crabbe immediately fell silent, not daring to say another word.

Just as everyone was craning their necks in anticipation, Professor Dumbledore, standing alongside the other teachers in the back row, announced loudly, "Ladies and gentlemen, the representatives of Beauxbatons have arrived!"

"Where?" The students were excited, looking around, their eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"Look there!" A sharp-eyed sixth-year student pointed excitedly to the sky above the Forbidden Forest, his voice filled with barely concealed excitement.

A massive silhouette, unlike anything they had ever seen, far surpassing any flying broomstick imaginable – even a hundred broomsticks lined up side-by-side couldn't compare – was streaking across the deep blue sky at an incredible speed, heading straight for the castle. Its size rapidly expanded in their vision, eliciting gasps of amazement from the crowd.

"Is it a dragon?" A newly arrived first-year student exclaimed, his voice filled with a mixture of curiosity and fear of the unknown.

"No, don't talk nonsense, that's clearly a palace soaring through the air!" Dennis Creevey corrected, his guess clearly closer to the truth.

As the enormous shadow gradually approached, passing over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest, the soft light emanating from the castle outlined its shape. The crowd finally saw – it was a gigantic powder-blue carriage, its size comparable to a small house, drawn by twelve winged silver-maned horses, each as large as an elephant.

The carriage rushed down like a shooting star, getting closer and closer to the ground, and the students in the first three rows hurriedly backed away. Then, with a deafening roar, the hooves, each the size of a human face, slammed heavily onto the ground.

In an instant, the carriage landed smoothly, its massive body shuddering slightly on its specially made giant wheels, while the twelve silver-maned winged horses stood proudly, their manes swaying gently in the night wind, their fiery eyes gleaming with intelligence, their massive heads bobbing slightly.

As the carriage door slowly and solemnly opened, a young man in a pale blue robe nimbly leaped down, bending down to fumble beneath the carriage. Then, with a whirring of gears, a golden, glittering spiral staircase unfolded ingeniously.

A black high-heeled shoe appeared first, its size comparable to a child's sled. Then, a woman of extremely imposing stature slowly stepped out of the carriage, her physique as magnificent as Hagrid's, if not more so.

No wonder the carriage and the winged horses are so enormous, the crowd thought to themselves.

As she slowly stepped into the soft light pouring from the Entrance Hall, the crowd finally saw her face clearly. Her eyes were dark and deep, her nose slightly upturned. Her hair was meticulously styled and piled up on her head.

She wore a black satin robe that covered her from head to toe, and her neck and thick fingers were adorned with sparkling opals.

Dumbledore began to applaud, followed by the students, and the applause thundered. Many students even stood on tiptoe, curiously looking at her.

Her previously tense face gradually relaxed, and she smiled warmly and elegantly, then extended a hand glittering with jewels and strode towards Dumbledore.

"Madame Maxime," Dumbledore said in his characteristically warm tone, "On behalf of Hogwarts, I extend to you the warmest welcome."

"Professor Dumbledore," Madame Maxime's voice was deep and powerful, "May you be well. I have long heard of the glory and splendor of Hogwarts."

With that, she lightly raised a large, powerful hand and casually waved it behind her. A group of about twelve or thirteen Beauxbatons students, both male and female, stepped down from the carriage, their faces filled with curiosity and anticipation, quietly awaiting their next instructions.

These Beauxbatons student representatives were mostly around eighteen or nineteen years old, and their bodies trembled slightly from the cold. This was not surprising, as the robes they wore were obviously made of fine silk, light but not warm.

Among the Beauxbatons delegation, Jerry keenly spotted several familiar faces. Fleur was particularly striking, gently leading her much younger sister off the carriage, her beautiful azure eyes searching for a familiar figure in the crowd of Hogwarts students.

And the Hogwarts students, especially the boys, stared blankly at Fleur, their mouths agape, their faces filled with infatuation.

Clearly, for most of them, this was the first time they had come into such close contact with a witch possessing Veela blood, and the irresistible charm shattered their mental defenses in an instant.