struggle

From the second day on, there was an atmosphere of faint excitement in the school. Most of the students would start chatting about the upcoming Triwizard Tournament as soon as they met.Most of the sixth and seventh graders over the age of 17 are gearing up and expressing that they will try to sign up, while the underage but unwilling students, such as George and Fred, start to use their brains to see if there is a way to get away with it.

Ginny was not concerned with this issue, she was more concerned with trying to find a way to figure out whether the Moody was real or Crouch Jr. was pretending.She thought that the first thing she had to determine was whether the curved wine bottle that he carried around at all times and never left his body contained real wine or compound soup.However, this confirmation is not an easy task, and it needs to find a suitable opportunity to proceed.

In Chinese on Thursday, after Harry and the others finished their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Ginny waited almost anxiously in the common room.When she saw them coming in, she immediately greeted them: "Harry, what is the content of your class today?"

Before Harry could answer, Hermione had already rushed to pull Ginny: "Ginny, the content of today's class is a bit complicated, and I will explain it to you in detail tonight." Then, she took another sneak look at Harry and Neville, who had just entered the door, looked a little worried.

Ginny looked at Harry's sleepy look, and Neville's red eye circles, and guessed that the content of their class today was probably the Three Unforgivable Curses, which made the faces of both of them so pale. Something is not normal.Thinking of this, her heart couldn't help sinking, and she could only reluctantly nod to Hermione: "Okay, I'll wait for you in the dormitory that night."

But in class all afternoon, Ginny was a little absent-minded, and kept entangled in the authenticity of that Moody.Since the content of his class is indeed the same as the original book, does that mean that he is Little Crouch pretending to be?However, she also speculated that the three Unforgivable Curses are forbidden curses after all, and without Dumbledore's permission, neither the real Moody nor the fake Moody should demonstrate them in class.Moreover, she remembered that when the magic power of the Imperius Curse was demonstrated in the original book, the fake Moody also said that Professor Dumbledore wanted the students to experience the Imperius Curse for themselves.

Therefore, it is very possible that this was the content of the class originally instructed by Dumbledore, in order to give Harry a certain amount of training. Whether it is the real Moody or the fake Moody, the class will be taught according to the content arranged by Dumbledore.But if this is the case, it is impossible to tell the truth from the fake.

Under the influence of such mood, she blew up her first cauldron in Snape's Potions class for the first time in her life.Facing Colin's surprised gaze, she cleaned up the console first before Snape arrived, and then took the initiative to admit her mistake, and finally only deducted 5 points from Gryffindor.Then she hastily made the second potion and handed it in, then returned to the dormitory alone.

When Hermione came back that night, facing Ginny's questioning eyes, she sat down on the side of the bed with a serious face: "Today in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Professor Moody demonstrated to us the Three Unforgivable Curses - Seize the Curse." The Soul Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Avada Kedavra Curse. Those curses scared Neville because his parents were driven mad by the Cruciatus Curse. And Harry, you know, he faced Avada Kedavra. The fate curse will definitely not be easy."

Sure enough, it's still on the content.Ginny sat next to Hermione in some confusion, unconsciously tugging at the tassels on the bed curtain, trying to analyze the current situation.And Hermione didn't notice Ginny's distraction, and she was still talking endlessly.It wasn't until she raised her voice and called "Ginny" a few times that she pulled Ginny back who was in deep thought.

Ginny looked up blankly, and immediately smiled apologetically when she saw Hermione's puzzled eyes: "I'm sorry, I was thinking of something else just now. What are you talking about?"

Hermione looked at her, shook her head and repeated: "I mean, Professor Moody asked us to inform you when get out of class was over that Wednesday's special training will continue as usual, and it will resume from next Wednesday."

"Uh, is he going to guide us?" Ginny asked in surprise.

"Of course, it used to be Professor Lupine. The professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts has changed this time. Naturally, the new professor will give us special training. Have you forgotten what we heard at the Three Broomsticks last time? "Hermione said a little strangely, apparently not expecting Ginny to have questions.

"Oh yes, I just forgot all of a sudden." Ginny pretended to remember suddenly, and patted her forehead with a smile.In fact, she was wondering that this Moody would take over this job, and training successors for the Order of the Phoenix would not be something a Death Eater would be willing to do.However, she immediately remembered that in the original book, Moody also instructed Harry many times, just to follow Voldemort's order, so that Harry could win the Triwizard Tournament and send him in front of Voldemort, and she couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Thinking of this, she raised her head and asked, "Hermione, you've survived Polyjuice Potion, you should know what it is like?"

"That's right." Hermione nodded, and then asked suspiciously, "What's the matter, do you need Polyjuice Potion?"

"No, I just remembered it suddenly. Because I blew up the cauldron in Potions class today, but Colin didn't, so Snape whispered something, suspecting that the two of us drank Polyjuice Potion and exchanged potions. It's just status." Ginny casually found an excuse.

"I see." Hermione nodded without doubt, "It's a potion made from materials such as lacewing insects, leeches, sapweed, dried African tree snake skin strips, etc. It will look very sticky after boiling. , it also smells fishy, ​​and it can indeed turn a person into another person completely."

"Will it smell fishy?" Ginny murmured in a low voice.It seems that special training is also beneficial, at least you can get in touch with that Moody up close.When the time comes, find a chance to open his jug and see what the contents smell like, maybe you can confirm his identity.

In Ginny's eager anticipation, the time finally arrived on Wednesday night of the second week.After having dinner with Harry and the others, the four of them arrived at Moody's office early.Harry stepped forward and knocked on the door: "Professor Moody, I am Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Ginny Weasley, come to accept your special Training."

A deep and hoarse voice came from inside the door: "Come in, the door is unlocked."

Harry looked back at them, seeing fear in each other's eyes, so he had no choice but to open the door first and walk in.Moody was sitting on the chair facing the door, looking seriously at the four people who came in one by one.When Ginny finally entered and closed the door behind her, she turned around and met his probing eyes: "You are Ginny Weasley, Arthur Weasley's youngest daughter, right?"

"Yes, Professor Moody." Ginny saluted, acting like an ordinary little girl.Then she stole a glance at the flagon that Moody was wearing, thinking she could take it off sometime and take a look.

"I heard Dumbledore mention you, you are a very talented little witch." Even though he was saying praises, Moody's expression was still very serious and somewhat terrifying, and the magic eyes stared at Ginny motionlessly. , "I have met the other three in my class, only you are meeting for the first time. How about this, you cast a spell and show me, let me know your general level."

"Okay, Professor Moody, what magic do you want to see?" Ginny asked politely.

"Just the Patronus Charm. I heard that you can cast the Patronus Charm of the physical body." Moody said after a moment of pondering.

Ginny nodded with a smile, and drew out her wand: "Call God to protect you!" Then, a huge silver bat emerged from the tip of her wand, flew around the room, and finally flew out of the window, gradually fading away. gone.

"Very good, it seems that your progress is not much worse than the three of them." Moody finally showed a smile, and then patted his rough big hand, but the smile matched with the face covered with scars made it look more distorted and weird up.Then, he glanced at the other three people: "In this way, my schedule can be synchronized, and I don't need to deal with the two situations. Are you all ready?" When he said the last sentence, he suddenly raised his voice Roared, startled the four of them, subconsciously replied: "Ready."

"Then let's start, Harry, you come first, try to resist the Imperius Curse." Moody waved his wand, motioning for Harry to come forward.Although Harry was a little surprised, he still followed his instructions and stood in the middle of the office.Moody then pointed his wand at Harry: "Out of body!"

A look of bewilderment appeared on Harry's face, and Moody continued, "Jump on the table!" Following Moody's order, Harry obediently bent his knees, as if wanting to jump.But at the same time, a struggling look appeared on his face, as if he wanted to fight against the order.Eventually, he banged his head on the table, knocking it over.

Moody showed a satisfied look: "Okay, it's really good!" As he spoke, he waved his wand, stopped the Imperius Curse on Harry, and looked excitedly at the other three: "Next!"

Hermione stepped forward hesitantly, and finally, after struggling for a long time, she knocked over the table just like Harry, in exchange for Moody's constant praise: "It's all good, all are good, it seems that Dumbledore saw the right person."

It's just that Ron was in a worse situation. He basically couldn't resist Moody's Imperius Curse, and jumped onto the table in a flash. In exchange for Moody's more training, he collapsed on the floor until he couldn't jump anymore. until the ground.

Finally, it was Ginny's turn.When they were training, she secretly took off the pendant on her neck to protect against mental attacks, so as not to look too special.When Moody signaled her to come forward, she took a deep breath, ready to try to use her mental power to resist the spell, and to really train herself like the other three.

After Moody cast the spell, Ginny finally experienced that light and dazed feeling for herself, as if the thoughts and worries in her mind were swept away, leaving only a hazy, invisible and intangible joy .Then, it was Moody's voice echoing in a distant corner of her empty mind: "jump on the table..." repeatedly hinting and urging her to obey his orders.

Ginny subconsciously wanted to obey, but immediately resisted, no, why did she obey this order?She squeezed the wand tightly in her hand, trying to fight the feeling, but found herself trapped in a dream, unable to wake up, and the order kept getting louder and louder, shouting in her mind.She hated the feeling of powerlessness that she couldn't control herself. In a trance, she just wanted to resist, so she subconsciously raised her wand, and stuck the pointed tip into her left arm.

After a burst of severe pain, she finally woke up and found that she was still standing in Moody's office, but her whole body was soaked, and her left arm had been stabbed deeply, bleeding continuously Come.Everyone stared at her blankly, and Hermione was the first to react. She quickly stepped forward and pointed to the wound on her left arm with her wand: "Healed as before!" With a flash of white light, the wound gradually closed , The bleeding also stopped.

"Ginny, you are the bravest." After being dazed for a moment, Moody laughed hoarsely, "Self-mutilation, severe pain, this is indeed a way to resist the Imperius Curse, but it also requires you to have enough willpower. You have the opportunity to do this. It seems that you have a strong will and are hard on yourself." Obviously, Moody has always appreciated this desperate way.

"I just hated the Imperius Curse more because I was controlled by Voldemort in the second grade, so I can resist it a little bit more." After realizing that she had gone too far, Ginny immediately made an excuse , explained his special.

"It doesn't matter, no matter what the reason is, you have done a good job." Moody waved his hand, "Okay, that's all for today, and we will continue training next time."

Hearing that the special training was over, Ron was finally secretly relieved, and almost couldn't wait to run out of Moody's office.Harry, on the other hand, walked beside Ginny with concern: "Ginny, how are you? Is it okay?" Apparently it was Ginny talking about the second grade being controlled by Voldemort in the secret room just now, which made him worried that she would Fear.

"I'm fine, thank you, Harry." Ginny smiled reassuringly at Harry, and then hooked Hermione, "You guys go first, don't wait for us"

"Okay, then you should go to bed earlier." Harry said goodbye to them, then caught up with Ron, and walked towards the Gryffindor tower first.On the other hand, Ginny sighed secretly. Today, she didn't find a chance to get close to Moody's flagon. It seems that she can only think of a way next time.

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The author has something to say:

Poor Ginny, self-harming...

So, Brother Cruise came out in the next chapter, and everyone guessed how he got here?

Chapter 54. The Triwizard Tournament is about to begin... Tom as the referee and Umbridge's intervention

In the days that followed, basically nothing happened, and the daily classes were peaceful.However, in the special training every Wednesday, Ginny couldn't find a way to get the jug that Moody carried with him to check, and she couldn't find a chance in the usual Defense Against the Dark Arts class.She wanted to get close to him many times, secretly opening the jug while he wasn't looking, but Moody was very vigilant, the jug was always placed within his reach and never allowed others to touch it.

When the time finally came to October 10th, the day Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were scheduled to arrive, the entire Hogwarts students were full of anticipation, eagerly looking forward to it, and almost lost their minds about class .Ginny's last class was History of Magic. Professor Binns was not very popular in the first place, and now even less people were paying attention to his lecture.It's just that, usually, the students are sleeping on their heads, but today they are discussing with each other in whispers, filling the whole class with chirping whispers.In the end, the helpless Professor Binns had no choice but to announce that get out of class would be dismissed early, in exchange for the excited eyes of all the students.

After returning to the Gryffindor Tower, Ginny went back to the dormitory and put away the books. Not long after, Hermione also came back. After putting on her cloak, she dragged Ginny to the downstairs and hurried to the hall.In the hall, the deans of the colleges are ordering their students to line up.Ginny looked around, amused to find that everyone seemed to have been well-dressed, and some girls even dressed themselves in an ingenious way, in exchange for Professor McGonagall's frown, calling out those over-decorated girls to take off their excessive headgear and jewelry etc.

After everyone lined up, Professor McGonagall clapped her hands: "Please follow me. The first-year students are in the front, don't be crowded." Ginny walked down the steps with the flow of people, and stood in line in the castle in front of.She took a breath of the somewhat cold air, and patiently waited for Beauxbaton and Durmstrang to arrive.

All the students were guessing how they would come. Harry, Ron and Hermione guessed the broomstick and the portkey from the train ride, but Ginny just lowered her head to cover up the corners of her mouth.She knew how they got here, but she couldn't tell, and listening to their various guesses couldn't help but amused her.

Colin squeezed into their side, first glanced at Harry secretly, and then nudged Ginny with his elbow: "Ginny, guess how they will come?"

"I don't know, I can't guess." Ginny smiled and shook her head.

Colin sighed: "Actually, rather than knowing how they got here, I want to know how they signed up, and see if there is a way to confuse their age."

Ginny glanced at him in surprise: "Sign up? Do you want to sign up for the competition?"

Colin nodded embarrassingly: "In fact, everyone wants to try it. After all, this is such a rare opportunity. However, I also know that I have little hope. However, it is stipulated that you cannot sign up if you are under the age of 17. It’s a bit of a pity. Especially Harry, I think if we can let people under the age of 17 sign up, he will definitely become our warrior.”

Ginny looked at him with a smile: "Colin, are you fighting for yourself or for Harry?"

Colin scratched his head: "It's all, it's all." He said, raising the camera that never leaves his hand, "Since I don't have the chance to participate in the competition, I'll take more photos as souvenirs, at least I can see it with my own eyes. It was an honor to see this match.”

In the chatting with each other, the sky gradually darkened, and a round of pure white, translucent moon gradually rose above the Forbidden Forest.However, there is still no trace of these two schools.The students gradually became irritable, complaining and asking why they hadn't come yet.At this moment, Dumbledore, who was standing in the back row with other teachers, yelled, "Ah! If I'm not mistaken, Beauxbaton's representative has arrived!"

Hearing his words, many students eagerly asked: "Where is it?" Following the pointing of the sharp-eyed students, everyone finally saw a huge powder-blue carriage flying towards them.When it stopped, it turned out to be a huge lady, Mrs. Maxim, the principal of Beauxbatons, who came out.And the twelve or thirteen male and female students who followed her were all wearing robes made of exquisite silk, and seemed to be shivering slightly from the cold.

After a brief introduction, Madam Maxim led Beauxbaton's students into the auditorium.Not long after, the Durmstrang delegation also emerged from the black lake in a huge boat and moored to the shore.Karkaroff, who was wearing silver-white fur, short white hair and a goatee, came up first and shook hands with Dumbledore.And when they saw the students behind him clearly, all the students in Hogwarts exploded in an instant, cheering for the famous Quidditch star Krum.

Upon entering the Great Hall, Beauxbatons' students were seated at Ravenclaw's long table, while Durmstrang's representatives sat at Slytherin's long table.After everyone was seated, Dumbledore stood up with a smile: "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts, and—especially—distinguished guests, it is with great joy that I welcome You have come to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that you will be comfortable and happy here."

Immediately there was warm applause among the guests of honor and the students, and Dumbledore once again increased his voice, leading to a happy atmosphere: "The Tournament will officially start at the end of the banquet. Now I invite everyone to eat and drink as much as you want , just like being at home.” Afterwards, the plates in front of everyone were immediately filled with food, and many of them were foreign-style dishes, which made everyone very happy to eat.

After finishing the sumptuous dinner, Dumbledore stood up again: "The moment has finally arrived, and the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin. Before I actually start entering the registration for the competition, I would like to introduce a few people to you. will serve as judges for this competition."

As soon as he finished speaking, three people turned out from the compartment behind the auditorium.When Ginny saw the last person clearly, she almost couldn't believe it.That familiar black hair and black eyes, that familiar handsome face, was clearly Tom who had just been separated for a few days.She held onto her forehead weakly. No wonder that day in the woods where the World Cup was held, he would say that she would have many opportunities for him this year. It turned out that he had already confirmed that he would come to Hogwarts at that time.

And Harry beside Ginny didn't look too good, and said in a low voice, "Voldemort will come, how could he come? How dare he come?"

After hearing Harry's words, Ron had a look of fear on his face: "Harry, he didn't mean to kill you, did he?"

Hermione tried her best to show a calm expression, as if she was trying to convince Harry and the others, as well as herself: "No, Professor Dumbledore must have arrangements, he will not let Voldemort run amok in Hogwarts Yes, Harry is sure to be in no danger."

After the three came to the stage one by one, Dumbledore introduced to everyone with a smile: "First of all, this is Mr. Barty Crouch, the director of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Magic." Applause, and he continued to point to the second: "This is Mr. Ludo Bagman, the Director of the Sports Department of the Ministry of Magic."

However, when Tom was introduced, Dumbledore paused for a moment. Although his face remained normal, Ginny keenly noticed that his hands seemed to tremble, as if he had restrained his impulse.Afterwards, he smiled and introduced again as usual: "The last one is Mr. Tom Marvolo Riddle, an outstanding wizard who has just returned from abroad, a descendant of Slytherin, and also a member of our Hogwarts." Alumni."

Compared with the unremarkable Bagman and Crouch, the young and handsome Tom immediately won the favor of most of the students, so the welcome given to him was also very warm, especially the students of Slytherin House, who responded with a warm welcome. Loud applause.However, as soon as Karkaroff at the guest table saw Tom appearing, he subconsciously held his left arm, and immediately turned pale.Although Tom hadn't glanced at him since he came to the stage, he was clearly out of position, and his hand holding the wand was trembling slightly.

After introducing the three, Dumbledore made a "pause" gesture to the students and stopped everyone's applause: "Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly in the past few months. He has worked hard to arrange the Triwizard Tournament and has done all the preparatory work for us. Mr. Tom Riddle was recommended by the Hogwarts school trustees, and as a well-known public figure in the British magic circle, Participate in this competition as an ordinary citizen and supervise the fairness of the competition. Therefore, this competition will be composed of me, Professor Karkaroff, Mrs. Maxim and these three gentlemen together as a referee team. Try to judge." Then, with a slight smile, he said, "Mr. Filch, please bring up the box."

When Filch heard Dumbledore's order and came up with a large wooden box inlaid with jewels in his hand, there was suddenly a sweet, shrill voice like a little girl's from outside the auditorium: "Ah, Please wait a moment, I'm late." Accompanied by this voice, was a woman with a pale, toad-like face, with a squat figure and short, curly gray-brown hair. There was also a big ugly pink bow in her hair to match the fuzzy pink cardigan she wore over her gown.That strange shape left everyone stunned for a moment, while Ron beside Ginny opened his mouth wide and murmured, "Merlin, who is this terrifying woman?"

Xu Shi understood everyone's doubts. After a brief surprise, Dumbledore took a step forward and stretched out his hand to her: "Umbridge, hello. Why did you come to Hogwarts all of a sudden?"

Still giggling in her shrill voice, Umbridge held Dumbledore's hand: "Minister Fudge asked me to come, he said he wanted me to join this Triwizard Tournament, and at the same time Prevent accidents from happening. He has always been a good minister who cares about Hogwarts and about future young wizards."

Then, she glanced at the curious eyes of all the students in the audience staring at her with satisfaction: "Children, let me introduce myself. I am Dolores Jane Umbridge, the Senior Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Magic. In the coming year, I will accompany you and watch the whole process of the Triwizard Tournament." As she spoke, she took the lead in applauding, and Dumbledore and others had to follow suit, while the students Among them, he also took a few shots of his hands listlessly to meet the scene.

After finishing all this, she automatically walked to the guest table, sat next to Crouch, and at the same time signaled Dumbledore to continue the interrupted process.Dumbledore's eyes flashed, and then, as if he didn't seem to be unhappy, he continued to take the big wooden box from Filch with a smile, and after opening it, he took out a large, roughly carved wooden box. Goblet, and under the curious eyes of everyone, began to introduce the rules and specific arrangements of the game.

However, Ginny listened to everything she knew earlier, biting her lower lip and thinking about the reason why Tom and Umbridge appeared one after another.According to Dumbledore, it is not surprising that Tom was recommended by the Hogwarts board of directors. After all, a large part of Hogwarts’ board of directors are nobles, and they indeed belonged to Tom. sphere of influence.Presumably Tom also considered that the main soul might intervene in this Triwizard Tournament, so he simply entered Hogwarts as a referee and monitored the whole process of the game on the spot.And Dumbledore may be under the pressure of the school director, or it may be because he can monitor Tom's actions nearby, so he accepted him as the referee of the Triwizard Tournament.

As for Umbridge, it was clear that she had been tasked by Fudge to oversee the Triwizard Tournament.From this point of view, the Ministry of Magic must have known about the return of the main soul because of the Death Eaters parade at the World Cup.Coupled with the strong response Rita Skeeter's report aroused among the public, they were a little uneasy.Therefore, they simply tried to monitor the situation nearby in this Triwizard Tournament and guide the direction of public opinion in a timely manner, so as to ensure the image of the Ministry of Magic.

When Dumbledore announced all the rules and ended the dinner party, the students were discussing how to cross the age boundary around the Goblet of Fire, and left the auditorium in pairs. Ginny deliberately waited until the end, The people on the rostrum, including Tom, left before going out, heading towards the Gryffindor tower.At the dinner party, she tried to avoid looking directly at Tom, and Tom seemed to have surprisingly not challenged her bottom line, did not pay too much attention to her, and only looked at her meaningfully before leaving just now. A glance at her at the end of the line.However, looking at the current scene, Ginny felt a little weakly aware that in this Triwizard Tournament, there was Dumbledore, the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, Tom, the soul slice of Voldemort, and Karkaroff, the former Death Eater. Umbridge in the Ministry of Magic, Moody who doesn't know the truth, and Voldemort who may be hiding in the dark waiting for a chance to strike, it may really be too lively a scene.

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The author has something to say:

So, in this Triwizard Tournament, there were Tom, Umbridge, Death Eaters, Order of the Phoenix, jq, and passion, and finally, chaos began...