"Don't get too agitated yet," Weilan said, seeing that he had finally guided the conversation back on track. "Why don't you go check if the signed parchment is still in that bottle?"
"Maybe it accidentally fell out?"
"Possibly," Daphne gradually realized something was off. "But what does that have to do with you? What does it matter to you whether or not the signature is in my star bottle?"
Weilan's smile slowly faded:
"This matter indeed has nothing to do with me, Miss Greengrass. But it has everything to do with you."
"Think about it, Miss, if your signature were lost, could someone take it and submit it for you into the Goblet of Fire to register?"
Weilan watched Daphne's expression, slowly changing from haughty to terrified.
"Pansy! We need to go back and check!" Daphne said, pulling her best friend's hand.
"But isn't this a good thing?" Pansy couldn't understand. "Now you're the champion, everyone admires you, you're Slytherin's pride."
"But someone is manipulating my choice!"
Daphne abandoned Pansy and ran towards the Slytherin common room.
"Let's go," Weilan called Ron, and they followed Daphne to the outside of the Slytherin common room. They waited patiently for Daphne to come out.
Daphne looked distraught.
In her right hand, she tightly clutched a star-shaped transparent glass bottle, which was empty. In Daphne's left hand, she held a blank parchment.
"My signature turned into a blank parchment!"
"Tell me," Daphne commanded Weilan with the air of a superior, "What do you know?"
"Just a little more than you, Miss Greengrass."
Weilan would not meekly submit to such an attitude.
He crossed his arms, took a half-step back, and clearly demanded of Daphne:
"I need to know everything about this bottle before I can make a correct judgment."
Daphne stared resentfully at Weilan, seemingly angry at his disrespectful attitude.
But reason helped her recognize the situation, and she told Weilan:
"I bought this star bottle in Hogsmeade."
"There was a Witch selling these lucky star bottles. She said that in front of her, as long as you wrote your name on a parchment and put it into the star bottle, and the Witch cast good luck magic, then it could bring good luck to the owner of the name."
As Daphne spoke, her porcelain-like rosy cheeks turned crimson:
"The reason I was willing to spend money on her was just that I thought the bottle was beautiful, and that Witch spoke very nicely…"
"I understand, Miss Greengrass," Weilan interrupted her deviating topic. "Do you have any other important information to share?"
Because Weilan rudely interrupted her, Daphne looked even more annoyed:
"Nothing else," her teeth ground audibly. "Now get out of my sight."
Weilan didn't argue with her, pulling Ron's hand, and they disappeared in a flash.
"Honestly!" Pansy stomped her foot in anger. "Gryffindor people are indeed brainless idiots; he actually left when I told him to!"
Daphne glared in the direction Weilan had run off, sparks practically flying from her eyes.
"Hanging out with mudbloods, they really do stink."
Daphne cursed, and then she and Pansy returned to the Slytherin common room.
The Slytherin common room is located at the bottom of the lake, with a huge transparent glass wall. Through the glass, one can clearly see the bottom of Hogwarts's Black Lake.
They sat down on the soft leather sofas right next to the glass wall. Several boys and girls cast envious and admiring glances their way. Daphne sat at the center of their attention, openly enjoying this unique honor.
"Daphne, they seem to be investigating who put your name into the Goblet of Fire."
Pansy belatedly realized.
"So?" Daphne elegantly and gracefully sipped her black tea, waiting for the rest of her sentence.
"Then you're saying, they want to prove that your registration was done by someone else, and you don't have the qualification to be a champion."
Bang!
The black tea and tray collided violently with the tea table, creating a loud noise.
"Daphne, you need to know," Pansy's eyes widened, "The Gryffindor people have always believed that the champion should be Angelina from their house."
"Angelina? That big, clumsy woman? What right does she have to be a champion!" Daphne lowered her voice, but every word she uttered was filled with her displeasure.
"Therefore," Pansy concluded, "Daphne, you cannot be led by the nose by those two Gryffindor boys. Don't let them fool you into undermining your own champion status."
"Otherwise," Pansy looked at her best friend with a hint of pity, "you will surely be talked about by Slytherin students for many years—in a shameful way."
"And, Daphne, even if you don't care about any of this—"
Pansy's voice became very soft and gentle, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue: "Think about your father, think about your family, how they will view you."
"Thank you for the reminder, Pansy."
Daphne sat on the soft leather sofa, eyes tightly closed, trembling all over, her white teeth biting her pink lips:
"I will never let them succeed."
"Watch your image, Daphne."
Pansy reminded her:
"You are already the school's champion. I've heard news that The Daily Prophet will come to interview you in a few days, and Mr. Bagman is also arranging for Mr. Ollivander to inspect your wand—"
Upon hearing this, Daphne hurriedly tidied her clothes, then pulled out a small mirror and a stick of lipstick from her pocket.
She forced a big smile onto her pale face, then applied lipstick while looking in the mirror.
After reapplying her makeup, Daphne linked arms with Pansy and walked out of the Slytherin common room.
Wherever she passed, many boys turned to look at her; she was still that elegant, beautiful, and proper noble young lady…
…
Afternoon, Hogsmeade.
Weilan remembered the Witch selling lucky star bottles. She should be on the lawn of Honeydukes.
They had come out of the candy store once, and Hermione had immediately taken a liking to her star-shaped bottles.
Hermione had wanted to buy one at the time, but after Weilan criticized this "good luck scam," Hermione had walked away without much interest.
Now, he and Ron returned the same way, hoping to find this Witch again.
However, the lawn in front of Honeydukes was empty.
That Witch, along with her stall, had disappeared.
"There's nothing strange about it," Weilan said to Ron. "She has already achieved her goal, so of course, she's run off."
"Now we need to figure out when she left here."
Because the lucky star bottle stall was directly facing Honeydukes, Weilan and Ron entered the candy store, bought a few jars of candy, and handed 10 sickles to the young Witch at the counter.
"You've given too much."
The young and beautiful Witch wanted to return the extra sickles to Weilan.
"It's fine, miss!" Weilan flashed her a big smile. "The extra money is for your tip. Can I ask you a few questions?"
"Huh?" The Witch rubbed her eyes, re-examined Weilan, and almost cried out in surprise when she recognized his appearance, "I know you—"
"Mr. Gobert of the Magical Enforcement Team praised you. They said you are a Hogwarts student, running a detective agency, and very clever…"
"Stop, stop, stop!" Weilan quickly cut off the meaningless tangent. "Miss, I just want to know, do you have time to answer a few questions for me?"
"Of course, I'd be happy to cooperate," the young Witch's eyes sparkled with excitement. "You're investigating something, aren't you? Can you tell me what it is…"
This lively Witch gave Weilan quite a headache, so he directly asked:
"Excuse me, miss, did you notice the Witch selling star bottles at a stall in front of your shop about a week ago?"