"What's wrong with Ron? I noticed he didn't look well in the Great Hall…" Harry asked worriedly.
Hermione did not reply, but told them to go back to the dormitory and ignore Ron for now. He would come around after a night's sleep.
Harry was baffled, unable to understand what was going on.
Yvonne sensed something from Hermione's attitude, but she didn't seem to care. She had too much on her mind to try and counsel Ron.
After saying goodbye to Hermione, they headed back to the dormitory.
Pushing the door open, Harry saw Ron lying on the bed with his clothes on and a pillow over his head.
Ron was left alone in the dormitory, and Neville and the others were still in the lounge.
"Ron, are you all right?" Harry felt strange and went to shake him.
"I'm fine, Harry! Just a bit under the weather, so I didn't have time to celebrate…" Ron pushed the pillow away from his head and forced a smile.
"Celebrate, celebrate what?" Harry asked, frowning as he sensed something amiss with Ron.
Ron sat up and said in a heavy tone, "To celebrate your bravery, of course!" He looked from Ivan to Harry and back again.
"Ivan was chosen because he put his name in the Goblet of Fire. What about you, Harry? How did you do it, with the Cloak of Invisibility?"
"Ron! You think I put my name in that goblet, just like they do?" Harry laughed in exasperation, breathing heavily as he explained in annoyance. "I made it clear in the Great Hall that I didn't do it! And I've been with you for the last two days, and you know I didn't have the chance!"
Ron ignored Harry's explanation and continued to speculate.
"If you can't do it during the day, what about when you go to bed at night? If Yvonne went there after midnight, did you go there in the first half of the night? Or did you go there together?"
"You all have ways of becoming champions, except for me, who was a little too weak and couldn't think of a way… I don't blame you, really! But you should have at least told me so I could have prepared a celebration for you in advance…"
Ron's expression became troubled and his voice trailed off until it was barely audible.
"Don't be silly, Ron, why would you think that? Didn't Hermione tell you? This Triwizard Tournament is most likely a plot by Lord Voldemort, and he must have wanted me to die in it! Remember the dream? I told you so!" Harry was furious.
He had expected Ron, one of his best friends, to be as supportive and trusting as Ivan and Hermione, and was surprised when Ron doubted him.
"Ah… You-Know-Who…" Ron looked shaken, but in the grip of his jealous rage, he stuck to his guns and soon found a loophole in Harry's speech, firing off questions like a cannon.
"But why would he do that? You-Know-Who isn't in school, so how could he guarantee that you'd be chosen? Besides, Professor Dumbledore and the others were there during the match, so nobody would dare to do anything to you…or did You-Know-Who want to see you win?"
"Are you out of your mind? Now that someone's trying to kill me, you're imagining all this nonsense, and you're not going to believe it until Voldemort kills me?"
"Yes! I was mad! I thought we were best friends! And what happened? Each of you had a way to get past that line, but you kept it from me and left me alone, knowing that I wanted to be a champion too!" Ron shouted, his mind eaten away by jealousy.
Ron couldn't help but think back to the questions Ivan had asked him the night before, which confirmed his suspicions.
He believed that Ivan must have needed a competent helper in order to ensure the Triwizard Tournament's victory, and thus approached him to ask for his opinion.
After learning that he insisted on playing fair with everyone, Ivan decided that it would be dangerous for him to win, so he chose Harry instead!
The more Ron thought about it, the more likely it seemed, and he told her his theory without hesitation.
Harry choked; he had not expected Ron to be so malicious.
"I have to say, you have quite the imagination, Ron… you should be writing storybooks!" Yvonne exclaimed.
"But I was right, wasn't I?" Ron persisted.
"I'm going to say something you don't like, Ron! I've never considered Krum or Fleur to be a threat… and there's been no doubt about who won the Triwizard Cup since I started competing." Irritated by Ron's endless questioning, Ivan paused for a moment before continuing, his words merciless.
"And you think too highly of yourself! You can't help me with your level of magic. I only told you that last night out of curiosity."
Ron's face turned red and his fists clenched and unclenched under the covers.
He was most disgusted by Ivan's self-important attitude towards everything.
Whether it was the honour he longed for or the people he admired and liked, Ivan treated them with disdain, as if they were within his reach.
The more he came into contact with Ivan, the more awkward Ron became, feeling as small as a speck of dust in the dirt, with no sense of presence whatsoever.
Even if he bragged about his adventures to others, it would be assumed that he was just lucky enough to be in the good books of Ivan and Harry!
"Yes, you're the hero of Gryffindor. Amazing, you don't need anyone's help!" Ron said angrily, pulling the draperies over his four-poster bed to cover his head.
Ron's attitude infuriated Harry, and he took two steps towards him, intending to pull him out of bed and talk him out of it.
Ivan stopped him just in time.
"Forget it, Harry, let Ron think for himself!" Ivan shook his head at Harry.
Combined with the events of the original dimension, Yvonne could see why Ron had suddenly become like this.
Simply put, it was his years of experience that had led to his over-sensitive and self-abased personality, and Ron's constant use of Harry as a reference to his role as a savior.
The fact that he didn't get a champion was just a distraction.
However, this was obviously not a reason for others to spoil him…