Chapter 55: replace*

“Then, I followed the Witch’s instructions precisely, brought the bottle into the school, placed it by my bedside, and on the day of the Goblet of Fire registration, I tossed the rolled-up parchment inside into the Goblet of Fire.”

“As a result, I still wasn’t chosen.”

Angelina sighed in frustration.

At this moment, Weilan had already grasped the final piece of the truth.

He asked the last question:

“So, Angelina, after you brought the bottle back to school, did you look at the signed parchment inside?”

“Huh?” Angelina shook her head blankly, “No… that Witch told me that after opening the bottle, I had to immediately throw the parchment inside into the Goblet of Fire, otherwise the good luck magic would be lost if I opened the parchment.”

“Alright, Angelina, those are all our questions. Thank you for your cooperation.”

After sending Angelina away, Weilan turned to his companions and said:

“I already know the truth of the matter. But it’s too late now, we can’t go to the Principal’s office to find Dumbledore. However, we can write a letter to submit our conjectures about the truth to Dumbledore as soon as possible.”

He spread out a parchment on the writing desk, took out his quill, and narrated his deductions in the letter.

Ron and Hermione leaned their heads in curiously.

“Dear Professor Dumbledore,”

He began the letter:

“Regarding the matter of Daphne being chosen as a Champion, which you entrusted me to investigate today, I already have a very detailed deduction.”

“I hope your appraisal of the Accio traces on that parchment goes smoothly, as this will determine whether there is sufficient evidence to lend credibility to my deduction.”

Weilan dipped his quill in ink and began to write long sentences with a scratching sound.

He first listed the information from his conversations with Daphne, the Witch working at the candy store, and Angelina, trying his best to present all the clues he had gathered.

Then, he wrote:

“It’s evident that the Witch selling the star bottles is inextricably linked to Daphne being set up to become a Champion.”

“What’s strange is that her last transaction wasn’t with Daphne, but with Angelina.”

“Therefore, I boldly deduce that although Angelina herself was completely unaware, she must have been a crucial link in helping Daphne become a Champion.”

“It was Angelina who put Daphne’s signature into the Goblet of Fire.”

“Before the Witch placed their signed parchments into the star bottles, a silent Accio had already replaced the parchment that was about to be put into the bottle.”

“This is not difficult to achieve. Many Muggle magicians, trained over years, can easily do this with their incredible hand speed, without relying on any magic—let alone with the assistance of Accio.”

“Wandless casting, silent incantations, sufficiently fast hand speed, plus appropriate body concealment.”

“This series of actions ensured that the two girls didn’t notice at all that the parchment in the star bottle was not the one they had written their names on.”

“Thus, the parchment in Daphne’s star bottle was a blank piece of paper.”

“And the parchment in Angelina’s bottle was the one with Daphne’s signature.”

“Of course, before giving Daphne’s signature to Angelina, that signature likely had a sufficiently powerful Confundo cast upon it.”

“Later, Angelina celebrated her 17th birthday. She took out Daphne’s signature from the bottle, treated it as her own, and joyfully crossed the age line, tossing it into the Goblet of Fire.”

Weilan put away his quill and blew on the ink on the parchment to dry it.

In his right eye’s vision, subtitles flashed again.

【Dispelling the mists of time, perceiving past truths. Eye of Time experience +2】

Weilan didn’t dislike these two experience points; after all, even a mosquito’s leg is still meat!

【Experience Level: 2 (6/40)】

Hermione covered her mouth in shock:

“I never thought, I was actually thinking of buying one of those unique little bottles back then.”

“Even if you bought it, besides losing money, you should be fine.”

Weilan sealed the letter with sealing wax. After asking Ron to bring over the piglet, he tied the letter to the piglet’s leg.

“Her main targets should have been Daphne, and a suitable-aged, willing Champion candidate.”

“But why did she insist on making Daphne a Champion?”

Weilan’s knot-tying motion paused.

“I don’t know, but it’s definitely nothing good. If it were good, others wouldn’t be going to such lengths to beg her to do it.”

He tied the letter securely to the piglet’s leg and patted its little head:

“Alright, please deliver this letter to Professor Dumbledore. I hope he won’t mind receiving a work letter so close to bedtime.”

“Oink oink.”

The piglet happily nibbled his finger and flew out the open window.

Dumbledore’s response was very quick. The next day at breakfast, Professor McGonagall had already reserved Weilan’s free time for Dumbledore.

And when Weilan finished his day’s classes and arrived at the Principal’s office, he found that he wasn’t the only one invited today.

Daphne was also there, sitting on a chair in a corner of the desk.

Next to Daphne, in another corner of the claw-footed desk, there was another chair waiting for Weilan.

Weilan pulled out the chair and sat down.

Across from him and Daphne was the calm and amiable Dumbledore.

“Miss Greengrass, I invited you here today because Mr. Costa and I have uncovered the truth about you being unexpectedly chosen as a Champion.”

Dumbledore pointed with two fingers at the two parchments in the center of the desk.

Weilan looked closely and saw that the two parchments were Daphne’s signature, which had been put into the Goblet of Fire, and the results of the magical trace appraisal on the parchment.

Before Weilan could clearly see what the appraisal results said, Daphne’s sharp voice interrupted his attention:

“I wasn’t unexpectedly chosen as a Champion!”

Daphne, in stark contrast to her tearful demeanor at the Halloween feast, told Weilan and Dumbledore very firmly:

“I volunteered to be a Champion, and I am very happy to represent Hogwarts in the Triwizard Tournament and win honor for our school.”

The air was silent. Weilan didn’t know what Dumbledore thought, but he briefly thought Daphne must have gone hopelessly mad.

“Miss Greengrass, how about you let me first read this appraisal report on the parchment?”

Dumbledore unhurriedly picked up the appraisal report from the desk and began to slowly read out its not-so-extensive content.

Weilan believed that Dumbledore’s original intention in stacking the appraisal report and the signature in the center of the desk was to let them read the content of the appraisal report themselves.

Now, Daphne’s 180-degree change in attitude forced Dumbledore to personally read out the appraisal results.

“…The parchment was first summoned by Accio approximately two weeks ago.”

“The summoning distance was very short, no more than 1 foot.”

“And after that, about another week passed, and the parchment was summoned by Accio a second time.”

“The summoning distance was also very short, no more than 1 foot.”

“After that, the parchment was rolled up. It remained in this rolled state until it was put into the Goblet of Fire.”