Hogwarts: I will not become the Dark Lord

After a brief exchange with Krum, Karkaroff and Krum exited the room in discontent and silence.

Following closely, Madam Maxime, holding Fleur's hand, practically dragged her out of the room. They were staying in the carriage they had arrived in, near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, not far from Hagrid's hut.

"Alright, children, I suggest you return to your respective house common rooms," Dumbledore said, smiling at Jerry, Harry, and Cedric. "I believe your classmates are eagerly waiting to celebrate with you."

The three nodded and walked out of the room, into the Great Hall.

The hall was now empty, the candlelight flickering, leaving only a few faint glimmers dancing in the air. The jack-o'-lanterns' smiles appeared more eerie under the shifting light, as if whispering untold secrets.

"I definitely didn't put it in," Harry said, looking Cedric in the eye with determination. "I'm telling the truth, I didn't do it."

"It's impossible for me to put my name in the Goblet of Fire either," Jerry said, shaking his head helplessly. "This competition may be important to you, but it means nothing to me!"

"In that case… farewell then." Although Cedric was puzzled by Jerry's words, he respected his wishes and didn't press the issue. He turned and walked towards a door on the right side of the staircase, disappearing into the depths of the entrance hall.

"You're finally out!" Hermione's voice suddenly appeared after Cedric left.

Harry turned, slightly surprised. "Hermione, what are you still doing here? Were you waiting for me?" He scratched his head unconsciously as he spoke.

"Uh…" Hermione hesitated for a moment. "Yes, that's right. You should go back quickly. Everyone in the Gryffindor common room is celebrating for you!"

Urged by Hermione, Harry hurried up the marble staircase and returned to the common room.

"Actually, you were waiting for me all along, weren't you?" After Harry's figure completely disappeared from sight, Jerry turned to Hermione and said with a smile.

"Jerry, why did your and Harry's names mysteriously appear in the Goblet of Fire?" There was a hint of urgency in Hermione's voice.

"So, you also suspect that I put my name in the Goblet of Fire?" Jerry's brow furrowed slightly, his gaze sharp as he looked at Hermione.

"Of course not!" Hermione pursed her lips, glared at Jerry, and quickly denied it. "I know you wouldn't do that. But that's why your name appearing there is even more worrying."

She took a deep breath, her tone becoming more serious. "Someone deliberately wants to harm you, to drag you into this Triwizard Tournament with an extremely high mortality rate. Jerry, have you looked into it? In the past Triwizard Tournaments, the champions' mortality rate was almost half! I've read a lot of information, this is no child's play." At this point, Hermione almost wanted to immediately pull Jerry to find Dumbledore for help.

"Don't worry, you overestimate the Triwizard Tournament. My strength is more than enough to handle this kind of competition!" Compared to Hermione, Jerry seemed unusually calm at this moment. He sat leisurely on the stairs, his tone calm.

Jerry changed the subject, chuckling softly, a playful glint in his eyes. "But speaking of which, weren't you ignoring me before?"

"You…" Hermione took a deep breath and sat down next to him on the stairs. "Now is not the time to talk about this. I want to tell you that the Triwizard Tournament is really dangerous!"

"I'll take you somewhere!" A mysterious light flashed in Jerry's eyes. He excitedly took Hermione's hand and led her along the staircase leading to the Hufflepuff common room, into a secret corridor made of solid stone, directly beneath the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

"What… what is this place?" Hermione looked around, her eyes full of curiosity and confusion. She noticed a painting of a bowl of luscious fruit hanging on the wall.

"You haven't been to the Hogwarts kitchen yet, have you!" Jerry knew Hermione very well. Even if he told her that she could ask the house-elves in the kitchen for their opinions, Hermione might hesitate due to various concerns.

"The kitchen? But… are students really allowed to enter and exit here freely?" There was a hint of nervousness and anticipation in Hermione's voice.

"Of course. The Hufflepuff common room is very close to the kitchen, they often sneak into the kitchen at night to get food! And the Weasley twins, George and Fred, they enter the kitchen openly. Where do you think the food you eat during celebrations in the common room comes from!"

As Jerry spoke, he reached out and gently scratched a pear in the fruit bowl in the painting. It made a strange laughing sound and transformed into a door handle shimmering with emerald green light. A secret door leading to the Hogwarts kitchen quietly appeared.

Jerry opened the kitchen door and pulled Hermione inside. The interior of the kitchen was incredibly spacious, with a very high ceiling, its area almost equivalent to the Hogwarts Great Hall above. On the surrounding stone walls, various copper pots and pans were stacked neatly. At the other end of the room, a magnificent brick fireplace was burning fiercely.

In addition, the kitchen also had four large tables that corresponded to the seating arrangement of the four houses in the Great Hall, placed in exactly the same positions.

All the food at Hogwarts was cooked here by the house-elves. The four large tables in the kitchen were magically connected to the tables of each house in the hall above, allowing the delicacies on the tables to be accurately transported to the corresponding tables in the hall.

"Good evening, honored guests. This is the Hogwarts kitchen, and it's already very late. If you really need any food, you can tell me, and I will send the food to your rooms!" A house-elf with a smiling face hurried to Hermione and Jerry, his tone full of enthusiasm.

"Hello, the food at the banquet just now was delicious, and we were all very full," Jerry replied politely. "We just have some questions we want to ask you."

Hearing Jerry's praise, the house-elves became even happier. They gathered around, their eyes shining with curiosity and friendliness.

"Ask away!" Jerry pulled Hermione in front of him, giving her encouragement.

"I, I want to ask…" Hermione took a deep breath, trying to calm the nervousness in her heart. "Do you feel that this kind of work is unfair to you? After all, you put in hard work, but you never get paid, and you don't have your own holidays…"

The smiles on the faces of the house-elves who had just gathered around instantly froze after hearing Hermione's words. They looked at Hermione with a look of idiocy.

"This honored lady," one of the house-elves said in a slightly sharp voice, questioning, "Are you doubting our loyalty to Hogwarts?"

"No, no, I didn't mean that at all!" Hermione waved her hands quickly, trying to clarify her original intention. "I just…"

"But those words you said are an insult to us, a very vicious curse!" The house-elves' emotions had been ignited. They spoke one after another, their voices mixed with anger. "You are not welcome here, please leave the kitchen!"

"Sorry!" Jerry apologized to the emotional house-elves around him. Then he held Hermione's hand tightly, took the bewildered her away from the kitchen quickly, and returned to the entrance hall, sitting down next to the stairs just now.

"What? Are you planning to give up so soon?" Jerry raised his eyebrows, a playful smile on his lips, and looked down at Hermione beside him.

Hermione's shoulders trembled slightly, obviously still recovering from the shock just now.

"No, I won't give up!" After a long silence, Hermione said firmly, "But Jerry, you're right, there's nothing I can do now!"

"That's right, you finally understand the principle that benefiting oneself is the inevitable process of benefiting others. If you don't have a penny yourself, how can you talk about giving three pennies to others?"

The corners of Jerry's mouth curled up in a meaningful smile. The reason didn't really matter. He didn't care about the house-elves' lives or deaths. What mattered was that Jerry needed Hermione to quickly rise to a high position after graduation, become the Minister of Magic, and even the Chairman of the International Confederation of Wizards!

"Don't worry, I will fully support you!" Jerry put his arm around Hermione's shoulders. "Let's set a small goal first, to become the Minister of Magic of the British Ministry of Magic!"

"Jerry, actually, you are more outstanding than me…" She leaned on Jerry's shoulder, her voice as thin as a mosquito's hum.

"I'm not interested in these positions…" Jerry held Hermione tightly, his tone indifferent, but a flash of scarlet flashed in his eyes, the fire of ambition burning in horror.

What I want is the entire magical world!