"Harry, please wait a moment." Tom took three quick steps and caught up with Harry.
Harry was daydreaming about the stage where he would win the Triwizard Cup, but in the next second, Tom had dragged him back to reality.
"What's up?" Harry looked at Tom with a hint of confusion in his eyes.
Tom got straight to the point. He lowered his voice and said to Harry, "I want to borrow your Invisibility Cloak."
"Uh, sure, but can I ask why?" Harry wanted to know why Tom suddenly wanted to borrow the Invisibility Cloak.
Wait, is Tom thinking the same thing? A bold assumption formed in Harry's mind. He suspected that Tom wanted to use the Invisibility Cloak to cross the age line and put his name in the Goblet of Fire.
Indeed, even Tom couldn't resist the temptation to become a champion. Harry thought he understood.
But could the Invisibility Cloak hide the age line detection? Harry wasn't sure, and if it really worked, should he sign up himself?
A series of questions sprouted in Harry's mind like mushrooms after the rain.
However, Tom's words stopped Harry's wandering thoughts.
"I need to spend the night in the Great Hall, and to avoid being discovered by the teachers, I need your Invisibility Cloak."
Harry: ???
This reason sounds quite absurd and suspicious. Ron, next to Harry, opened his eyes in surprise. "Why do you want to spend the night in the Great Hall?"
Tom replied seriously, "I need to get first-hand information. I want to know who signs up as soon as possible to better organize the bets."
"Bets?" Harry felt intrigued by this new and exciting idea. As someone who also grew up in the Muggle world, Harry quickly grasped what Tom was planning.
"Do you want to make-?"
"Yes," Tom interrupted Harry to avoid attracting the attention of others. "Fred, George, and I have decided to organize a betting competition to guess who will become the champion."
Harry nodded, largely believing what Tom was saying.
"Well, alright. I'll go get the Invisibility Cloak from the common room." Harry agreed immediately and hurried off to Gryffindor Tower.
Meanwhile, Tom waited patiently at the entrance of the Great Hall, watching the students slowly disperse. In less than ten minutes, Harry returned with the Invisibility Cloak.
Tom thanked him and took the Invisibility Cloak from Harry's hands. After Harry left, Tom examined it carefully.
It was the first time Tom had such close contact with this legendary Deathly Hallow. It had a peculiar texture, unlike any other material Tom knew. Despite being solid, it seemed liquid, and although it was a fabric, it had a metallic sheen. It was as light as air in his hands.
[Invisibility Cloak (Deathly Hallow): One of the legendary objects of Death, permanently effective for rendering the wearer invisible, impervious to any spell.]
[Invisibility Cloak (Sacred Weapon): one of the legendary Deathly Hallows, permanently effective, constantly invisible, its invisibility cannot be broken by any spell.]
Although its invisibility couldn't be undone, it could still be detected.
Tom folded the Invisibility Cloak and stowed it in his pocket. Then he went to a hidden corner of the room, put on the Invisibility Cloak, and returned to the Great Hall.
At that moment, the Great Hall was empty, only the Goblet of Fire still burned silently on its pedestal. Around the goblet was a golden ring, leaving a space of about ten feet.
Tom sat in a corner of the Great Hall with the Invisibility Cloak on. He knew very well that tonight, the mist that covered Moody would be dispelled.
Time passed second by second, and Tom wasn't idle. He took a magical piece of silver from his pocket and carved runic combinations into it. His alchemical creations began to take shape. He calculated the time, and it would be just in time for the first challenge.
The night was deep, and the castle was immersed in silence. At that moment, the Great Hall door creaked open. Tom grabbed his wand, ready to act at any moment.
His expression grew increasingly serious as he heard the familiar "thump-thump" sound. It was the sound of Moody's prosthetic foot.
Tom grabbed his wand, ready to act at any moment.
Moody entered the Great Hall, the blue and white light from the Goblet of Fire reflected on his face, making him look even more terrifying with his scars and holes.
His magical eye spun rapidly inward, disappearing into his head, leaving only a large white eye outside. That eye was looking directly at Tom's position.
Moody slowly turned around, facing Tom. "A very good Invisibility Cloak, ten points to Ravenclaw, Mr. Tom Yodel. Why are you here?"
Tom removed the Invisibility Cloak and looked at Moody, asking word by word, "That's the question I want to ask, Professor Moody. Why are you here?"
A smile formed on Tom's face. "Of course, answering a question with another question is not right, so I can answer your question first. I'm here because I was waiting for you, waiting for you to reveal your true nature."
Moody frowned, speaking in a gruff tone, "I am a teacher at the school, and patrolling at night is my duty!"
He struck the ground with his staff and showed some annoyance on his face. "As for you, Mr. Yodel, as a student, you should be in your bed in the dormitory, not lurking in a corner of the Great Hall."
"A good excuse," the more he spoke, the more Tom suspected him. "Oh, it's perfect. The loyal and distrustful Professor Moody patrolling at night to ensure no one harms Hogwarts. Even if you're caught red-handed, you can easily absolve yourself..."
Moody: ...
The words of the young wizard, who had recently gained fame, puzzled him. He felt that something was not right with this person's mind.
He was about to say something, but Tom's next sentence left him speechless.
"But what if the person who wants to cause trouble is you, Professor Moody? And what if, instead of pumpkin juice, the horseshoe-shaped flask you're carrying contains a Polyjuice Potion! Your presence tonight is very suspicious. So..." Tom drew his own wand and aimed it at Moody's crazy eye. "You'd better surrender; you're no match for me."
Moody stared at the wand pointed at him, stunned for a moment, then, as if he had seen something funny, his mouth twisted madly, and he burst into laughter. As he laughed, the scars on his face distorted under the flickering flames, making him look even more terrifying. As for the wand Tom was aiming at him, he seemed not to have noticed it.
"Very well, very well... I really should consider that possibility... Staying vigilant at all times, very good," he praised repeatedly, giving Tom a thumbs-up. "Normally, I would have knocked you out and taken you to Dumbledore's office, and you would have received a month's detention, but due to your vigilance, I have decided..."
He took out his own horseshoe-shaped flask from his pocket, removed the stopper, and tilted it, letting the liquid flow.
"... to show it to you as evidence."