Chapter Eighteen: In Which Theories Are Confirmed
"Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical object!" said Moody. "It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that goblet into forgetting that that only three schools compete in the tournament. . . . I'm guessing they submitted Potter's name under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in his category. . . ."
"You seem to have given this a great deal of thought, Moody," said Karkaroff coldly, "and a very ingenious theory it is — though of course, I heard you recently got it into your head that one of your birthday presents contained a cunningly disguised basilisk egg, and smashed it to pieces before realising it was a carriage clock. So you'll understand if we don't take you entirely seriously. . . ."
"Hey guys," interrupted Harry, "first of all, there is no such thing as a basilisk egg. Basilisks don't lay eggs — they are born from a chicken egg which is hatched beneath a toad. Long story," he added when everyone looked at him questioningly. "Second, Professor Moody's theory can easily be confirmed."
"How?" asked Dumbledore curiously.
"By taking a look at the slip of parchment that came out of the Goblet of Fire," said Harry. "Participants are supposed to write the names of the school beside their own names, so . . ."
Dumbledore produced the offending piece of parchment and handed it over to Harry, who said, "Theory confirmed, I suppose. It says, 'Harry Potter — Ilvermorny.'"
"In conclusion," he said, breaking the silence that had followed his proclamation, "I'm not the second Hogwarts champion at all. You guys can chill now."
Karkaroff and Madam Maxime tried to protest, but realised how weak it sounded and shut up. By the next day, everyone in the school knew about Harry being forced into the tournament. There were mixed reactions — jealousy, pity, anger or a combination of them. The situation never escalated to the toxic levels it could have, because everyone knew Harry was just fourteen and had been entered against his will.
AN: It does seem weird that Dumbledore never told everyone which school Harry was entered under. Everyone was objecting solely because they thought Hogwarts was getting two bites of the same apple. If they had just looked at the slip, they would have known that Moody's theory was right and Harry was indeed entered under a fourth school.