“…… It can't be, right? ”

"At least that's how it seems to me. Ｘ”

The next day was Sunday. Early in the morning, before dawn, Maca was helping out in the potions preparation room at the back of Snape's office. They were busy with the work at hand and chatting casually.

The anti-eavesdropping measures here are well prepared, and there is a low chance that conversations here will not be overheard, at least.

To be honest, when Hermione was voted the fourth Warrior yesterday, Maca was really confused. And his confusion has not even been answered to this day.

What did Voldemort want to do? Does that make sense to him?

Maca weighed it in her mind and took the opportunity to ask Snape's opinion.

However, Snape's speculation made Maca scratch her head.

"You mean that Voldemort wanted to put Hermione in danger, even death, as a test of my ulterior motives?"

Maca frowned and said puzzledly, "But...... Why Hermione? ”

Snape pouted, revealing a "don't pretend to be confused" expression. He held back for a while, then simply continued to get busy with the task at hand and stopped continuing the topic.

“…… Could it be that it was because I forcibly saved Hermione from him in the first place? ”

Maca pondered for a moment, then shook her head speechlessly.

After a while, when things were done, Maca left Snape's office first, intending to finish breakfast in the Great Hall.

But at the side door of the auditorium, he ran into Ron, who had a gloomy face.

"Oh...... Good morning, Maca. Ron offered to say hello, but he didn't seem very happy.

"Well, good morning." Maca glanced at him and said, "What's the matter, who are you angry with?" ”

"No, who can I be angry with?" Ron smiled reluctantly, however, he laughed more than crying.

Maca shrugged and said, "Is it because of Harry and Hermione?" ”

"No, how could it be!" Ron couldn't help but argue, "They're all good friends of mine, and now they're all warriors, and I'm happy for them!" ”

"Really?"

"Of course!"

Ron said, his hands subconsciously clenched into fists, and finally couldn't hold it back.

"I just...... I just don't think they should have cheated on me! That's obviously problematic! He exclaimed, "We are the best friends of friends!" Isn't it? ”

Maca nodded noncommittally and said calmly, "Of course it's wrong to deceive your friends, but we can't be sure if they cheated on you or not. ”

"Even you say that......" Ron said angrily, "all right! Someone must be framing them, and someone wants their lives! It's horrible, a mysterious madman has bewitched the goblet and given our school one more chance to win the championship! ”

Ron huffed, then ignored Maca and turned around and walked into the auditorium without looking back.

At that moment, another person came behind Maca.

"That...... Maca? ”

He stopped again, turned around and said, "Oh, good morning, Hermione. ”

"Last night...... Thank you. ”

Behind Maca, Hermione, who had recovered from her bewilderment, whispered thanks.

"Last night?" Maca pretended to be confused and said, "What are you talking about?" ”

"What?" Hermione said strangely, "Last night you let the cat's head"

Halfway through her speech, she seemed to understand something from Maca's expression, and immediately stopped it.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, "I don't think I slept well last night, and I'm a little dazed...... I saw Ron just now...... What happened to him? ”

Maca shook her head slightly, and as she walked inside, she told Hermione what Ron had just said......

At this moment, Harry had just woken up from a sleepy sleep.

He sat up, stunned on the bed, and it took a moment to remember why he felt so sad and anxious. Then, all at once, the events of last night came to mind.

He sat up and pulled back the curtain on his four-poster bed, trying to talk to Ron again, intending to force Ron to believe him. But then he found that Ron's bed was empty, and he had apparently gone downstairs for breakfast.

Harry got dressed and walked up the spiral staircase to the common room below.

As soon as he appeared, the classmates who had already eaten breakfast cheered enthusiastically. He felt a little nervous at the thought of going into the Great Hall and confronting the rest of the Gryffindors, who all regarded him as a hero.

But if he didn't go to the auditorium, he had to stay here, and let himself be pestered by his classmates in the lounge. So, he decisively walked to the hole behind the portrait, pushed it open, and crawled out.

When he also came to the door of the auditorium, he happened to meet Hermione, who was walking out.

"Hello," Hermione said, holding up the stack of bread wrapped in a napkin, "I'll give it back to you...... Want to go for a walk? ”

"Good idea." Harry said gratefully.

They went downstairs and, without looking at the auditorium, sped through the foyer. Soon, they were striding on the lawn that stretched out towards the lake.

Durmstrang's large ship moored on the lake, casting a black reflection in the water.

It was a cold morning, and they kept walking, munching on bread, and Harry and Hermione discussed the accident together.

"Of course I know you didn't sign up yourself," Hermione said as he finished talking about what was happening in the room next to the auditorium, "Of course I didn't! ”

"Look at the look on your face when Dumbledore called us names! The question is, who put your name in it? You know, Moody was right, Harry...... I don't think there is a single student other than Maca who can do this! We've all seen that even maca is not a very simple thing to do. ”

"Did you see Ron?" Harry interrupted.

Hermione hesitated.

"Hmm...... See...... He's having breakfast. She said.

"Does he think it's our own name?"

"Hmm...... No, I don't think so...... Not really. Hermione said unnaturally.

"What does it mean, 'Actually, it won't'?"

"Well, Harry, don't you understand that?" Hermione couldn't say, "He's jealous!" ”

"Jealousy?" Harry asked incredulously, "Jealous of what?" Is he willing to show this appearance in front of the whole school? ”

"Think about it," Hermione said patiently, "You know, all the while, it was either you or Maca who caught everyone's attention"

When she saw Harry's mouth open in anger, she quickly made up for it, "I know you're not pursuing this...... But, you know, Ron has to compete with so many older brothers at home, and you're so famous as his best friend."

"Every time someone sees you, he is left out in the cold, and he silently endures it, never mentioning a word. And this time, there happened to be one more me...... Both of us had a share, but he didn't, as if we had abandoned him. At this point, Hermione paused before saying, "I think he can't take it anymore this time......"

"Very good," Harry said hatefully, "it's wonderful...... I think I can trade with him at any time if he wants to! To be a man who, no matter where he goes, someone stares at his forehead stupidly! ”

"Yes, that's right." Hermione said dryly, "You should just talk to him with that, only then can you solve the problem." ”

"I don't want to chase him everywhere and teach him to mature!" Harry said, "When will he believe that I'm not happy?" Maybe when I break my neck, or"

His voice was so loud that it frightened a few owls in the trees next to him fluttered into the air.

"That's not child's play," Hermione said softly, "it's definitely not child's play!" ”

She hesitated, then leaned closer, and said in a very small voice, "Harry, Maca secretly gave me three potions last night and told me"

"I know, I got it." Harry interrupted, "Just this morning, I saw a package next to my bed, and I knew it was from Maca. ”

"Yes," Hermione's expression stiffened, but the next second she continued, "Then you should have seen it too, and Maca also thinks that this Triwizard Tournament will be very dangerous!" ”

"Harry, I've been thinking you know what we're supposed to do, right?" She reminded softly.

"yes, give Ron a kick in the face"

"It's your godfather!" Hermione said angrily, "You have to tell him what happened." Didn't he write to him before asking you to tell him everything that happened at Hogwarts? It was as if he had expected this to happen. I brought out some parchment and a quill."

"Don't talk nonsense," Harry said.

He looked around and saw that no one could hear them, but there was no one in the empty field.

"You saw him too impulsive last year, and if I told him someone asked me to sign up for the Triwizard Tournament, he would probably rush straight to the castle."

"He wants you to tell him," Hermione said sternly, "he'll find out sooner or later, anyway"

"But"

"Maca seems to have something very important to do this time, and he even deliberately pretended not to contact us just now." Hermione said solemnly, "Since he can't be with us, we'll have to plan for ourselves...... We can't rely on maca to help us all the time. ”

"Okay, okay, I'll write to him." Harry said, tossing the last slice of bread into the lake.

The two of them stood there watching the bread float on the surface of the lake for a while, when a huge tentacle emerged from the water and grabbed it underwater.

Shortly after they left, a tiny hummingbird flashed through the trees by the lake.