Chapter 240: The Award Ceremony

Jane Yu felt like a puppet on strings, a trophy thrust into her hands as she was ushered onto the stage.

"Let's congratulate the champion of this Triwizard Tournament from Hogwarts, Jane Yu!"

As Bagman's enthusiastic voice rang out, Fudge placed a small chest containing a thousand Galleons at her feet and shook her hand. The Galleons brought a sliver of warmth to her cold heart.

Facing the cameras from the Daily Prophet, Fudge put on his first commercial smile of the day since arriving at the venue.

Dumbledore and Madame Maxime also came forward to shake her hand and embrace her, their smiles appearing much more genuine.

The sound of robes rustling filled the air as golden and silver confetti rained down on Jane, forcing her to brush it off her hair and robes.

Stop this charade!

She thought, feeling like a fish out of water.

Jane had thought this was the end, but it turned out to be just the beginning.

The four champions took turns using her as a photo model, each coming up to take pictures with her.

Since emerging from the maze, Cedric had worn an expression of "I knew it" upon seeing Jane, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Relieved, he didn't seem as out of sorts as before, smiling and applauding throughout the award ceremony to congratulate Jane on her victory.

"You truly deserve this trophy," he congratulated sincerely, "both in strength and character."

Jane, politely thanking him, felt her scalp tingle at the praise.

During the group photo, Cedric reluctantly caressed the trophy and shouted, "Honor belongs to Hogwarts!"

His father, in the audience, raised his fist and let out a loud "Yes!" It was clear that the father and son shared the same sentiment.

Though Krum and Fleur couldn't hide their disappointment and regret, their admiration for strength was evident.

Krum extended his hand, forcing a smile on his face, and praised her genuinely:

"You have a strong mental fortitude and are adept at using it, Miss Yu. I need to learn from you in this regard."

Jane didn't understand how he saw her mental strength, but she smiled politely nonetheless.

During their photo, Fleur's silver hair shone brightly, her blue eyes sparkling, her entire being radiating brilliance:

"Amazing—such speed—you gave us so much time—!"

She fully embodied the saying "question, understand, become," excitedly grabbing Jane's hand:

"Give me another chance, and I'll definitely fight them—invite you to dance—"

She proudly pulled out a figure of Jane in front of the camera—a figure she had just snatched from a Hogwarts boy:

"I'm missing two cards, I wonder if those two identical boys still have stock—"

"Speaking of which, at the last ball, which version of that boy Blaise Zabini did you prefer?"

Her sister Gabrielle ran over, pressing down her sister's hand, smiling shyly, speaking just loud enough for Jane to hear:

"Sister, that's not polite, I've learned from Hogwarts students that you shouldn't bring your ships to the actual person!"

Jane's eyes were dead.

Why were there figures and cards of her?

And they even reached Beauxbatons?

Mortified once again, she wished she could bury her face in the grass.

Gabrielle forcibly dragged away the improperly behaving fan Fleur, and Jane let out a deep sigh of relief, only to see Harry bounding onto the stage.

The only champion without a hint of disappointment, the one truly happy-go-lucky—

Happily and curiously touching the trophy, quietly praising Jane's world-shocking moves, and successfully getting into the newspaper's camera for a photo.

Often feeling a sense of helplessness at Harry's antics, Jane closed her eyes with a bittersweet feeling.

Stop grinning like an idiot, did he even realize what he missed?

But soon she had to lament for herself.

Because the champions' photo session seemed to open Pandora's box, the audience flooded the stage, even knocking over the Daily Prophet's camera, and Bagman was pushed against the wall.

"Ahhhh! Jane, take a photo with me—!"

"Jane, I'm your biggest fan!—She looked at me! Yes, that's the look of disdain! Ah—I'm dead! Woof woof woof woof woof—"

"Please give me an autograph, I'm begging you—without your autograph, I'm itchy all over, can't sleep at night, can't eat—"

Cornered, Jane made a weak, pitiful, and helpless sound.

Though she always knew there were many strange-behaving students at Hogwarts—

Their mental states seemed increasingly abnormal!

"Help—help—!" She called out for rescue.

Worse yet, even the Slytherin Quidditch team couldn't save her this time.

They had been knocked to the ground, people overturned, and Draco's gelled hair was a bird's nest, desperately trying to avoid his fate of baldness.

Fortunately, Professor Snape, who had anticipated this, swept down from the stands, furiously deducting points and unleashing death glares.

"Gryffindor, 20 points! 20 points! 20 points! And Hufflepuff... Ravenclaw..."

Realizing that point deductions had no effect, he frowned and resorted to threats:

"I'll poison the loudest among you, to test your antidote-making skills—"

As he acted, the other three heads of house rushed down to restore order:

"Do I have to turn you all into ants to teach you queuing and order?" Professor McGonagall threatened loudly.

"Wingardium Leviosa... Colloportus!" Professor Flitwick, held aloft by Hagrid, struggled to prevent himself from becoming a trampling victim, casting Levitation Charms and Binding Spells to separate students.

Professor Sprout nearly resorted to planting Devil's Snare on the spot to bind everyone and maintain order.

After the heads of house worked for over ten minutes, they finally rescued Jane, who was tightly squeezed into a corner, nearly foaming at the mouth.

"Quick—to the hospital wing—!" Madam Pomfrey, arriving in a rush and furious, shouted, "This child just came out of a terrifying competition! These students—how dare they—"

Lying on the stretcher, Jane smiled serenely.

In her eyes, the heads of house and Madam Pomfrey shone like angels.

Such lovely... respectable people...

She finally could bury her face in the stretcher's fabric as she wished.

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