For Hogwarts, the visit from the other two schools was indeed an important day.
In order to welcome the upcoming distinguished guests, the Hogwarts Great Hall was transformed overnight, with silk banners hung on the walls, giving it a feeling of attending an end-of-year party.
However, this time, banners of all four colleges were hung. Behind the teacher's desk, there was the largest banner with the Hogwarts coat of arms: a lion, eagle, badger, and snake connected together, surrounding a large letter H.
As soon as he entered the auditorium, Albert heard a whisper coming from all around him. The air was filled with a joyful feeling called "expectation", especially after someone leaked the news of Krum's coming in advance. Albert even heard someone planning to prepare some parchment and quills to ask Krum for an autograph.
Of course, Albert didn't pay attention to these things. He and Isobel were not interested in Krum's signature. At this moment, he was perfecting his plan in his mind. These two days were undoubtedly the focus. Peter and Barty Jr. would use unknown methods to prevent him from participating in the Triwizard Tournament. However, as long as someone threw his name into the Goblet of Fire, even if it was not thrown in by him, it would be effective.
"What are you thinking about?" Sana sat down next to Albert.
"I'm thinking there must be someone who doesn't want me to participate in the Triwizard Tournament." Albert said casually.
"What?" Shanna didn't react for a moment.
"Albert will take away some people's qualifications as warriors, and some people don't want him to shine." Lee Jordan, who was reading the Daily Prophet, interrupted and said, "By the way, you should be careful recently. I heard from Fred that they sold another batch of aphrodisiacs in the past few days. I heard that many girls want to try their luck with Krum."
"I think if Professor McGonagall knew about this, she would put Fred and George in detention." Shanna really couldn't imagine how embarrassed Krum would be after being drugged.
"No, those two cunning guys didn't sell the aphrodisiac under their own names, but under the name of the joke shop. That is to say, everyone actually bought it from a store outside the school that no one has ever heard of. It has nothing to do with them." Lee Jordan explained.
"I really don't understand what they are going to do with the love potion?" Sana thought this was ridiculous. She had actually heard the girls discuss giving Albert the love potion.
"He can date the person he likes for a whole day, or ask the other person to invite him to be a dance partner," Lee Jordan said without hesitation.
"And then, you were completely disgusted by her?" Sana shook her head and said, "Besides, do you really think that she would still be willing to dance with you after she got rid of the love drug? I think she must be more angry out of shame!"
"Yes, using love potions will only make people more annoyed, but... girls may not really like Krum, they just like him because he is famous!" Albert pointed out directly, "They just want to have a handsome and famous boyfriend so that they can show off to their friends."
"Although you are right, some girls are indeed like what you said." Shannah comforted, "but I think most of them really like you."
"It's my honor, but I already have someone I like." Albert said gently.
"Yes," said Sana, "That's why they bought the love potion, hoping to find an opportunity to date you."
"You are really enviable." Lee Jordan curled his lips and said, "As expected, girls all like famous and handsome guys."
"After all these years, you finally admit that you're not handsome enough?" Fred and George appeared out of nowhere, patted their friend on the shoulder and said, "Don't be discouraged, it's not your fault that you're not handsome enough."
"Shut up." Lee Jordan glared at the twins angrily and attacked them mercilessly, "Didn't you find a girlfriend either?"
"We don't need it, at least not yet."
"Don't be afraid you won't be able to find a dance partner when the time comes," Lee Jordan said stubbornly.
"You should be worrying about yourself," Fred and George said in unison.
On this day, almost everyone was absent-minded and no one was listening to the class seriously. Everyone was thinking about what would happen tonight. Professor Flitwick was very considerate and stopped the Charms class to teach them the history of the Triwizard Tournament. Everyone listened with gusto and had a happy Charms class.
In the afternoon, all teachers and students were dismissed early. All students were required to put down their backpacks and textbooks, put on wizard cloaks and line up in the hallway.
The heads of the houses walked among the students, checking their appearance and trying to make sure that no ridiculous outfit would bring shame to Hogwarts.
After lining up, everyone was led by Professor McGonagall to the castle lawn to wait for the arrival of other schools.
As a class leader, Albert was placed in the second to last row, standing with the class leaders and the student union president. Behind them were the school's professors. Everyone felt very uncomfortable and did not dare to whisper in front of the professors.
I don't know how long I had to wait, but finally someone couldn't help but speak, and once he started talking, he couldn't stop. The professors were obviously concerned too, and they were also talking in low voices.
"Actually, I'm a little curious. Other schools are not like Hogwarts that only recruit local wizards. So what language do their schools use?" Cedric asked Albert in a low voice.
"The main language at Beauxbatons School of Magic is French, while the main language at Durmstrang School of Magic is Bulgarian," Albert introduced.
"Is Durmstrang School of Wizardry in Bulgaria?" asked Shannah.
"The Durmstrang School of Magic is in Scandinavia."
"Scandinavia?" Sana was a little confused. The Durmstrang School of Magic in the Scandinavian Peninsula actually uses Bulgarian
"It should be located on the border of Sweden or Norway, but the exact location is unknown." Albert added, "It is said that the first principal of Durmstrang School of Magic was a Bulgarian."
"How do you know all this?" the Hufflepuff head girl couldn't help but ask.
"If you had a friend at Durmstrang, you would know that, too."
"You have such a wide circle of friends." The Ravenclaw prefect next to Katrina complained, "Will your friends come to the competition?"
"She has graduated from Durmstrang."
"She was the one who told you that Viktor Krum would be competing in the Triwizard Tournament?" Cedric asked.
"Yes, we met last time at the World Cup. Katrina was there too." Albert noticed that the girl had been in a trance since just now.
"Really?"
"Yeah." Katrina responded and stopped talking.
"How did you two know each other?" someone asked curiously.
"We met at the Potions Championship." Albert replied.
"How was the Potions Tournament? I heard a lot of schools were participating."
"Do you think a bunch of people from all over the world can get together? Communication is a big problem. It's hard to find someone to chat with."
"It is recorded in 'Hogwarts, A History' that the purpose of the Triwizard Tournament is to build friendships among young wizards. Is this all a lie?"
"Those records are certainly partially true, but I prefer to believe that the greater significance of the Triwizard Tournament is to show off between schools," Albert said, "and everyone adheres to the principle of competition first and friendship second."
"Friendship first, competition second," Professor McGonagall corrected.
"Because everyone wants to win," Albert shrugged, "cheating has become a traditional part of school competitions. In fact, some unpleasant things often happen in Quidditch matches, and even the World Cup is no exception."
"Mr. Anderson." Professor McGonagall glared at Albert with dissatisfaction.
"There's cheating in the Potions Championship?"
"Yes, if you read the reports at that time, you would find..."
"That's enough Mr. Anderson," Professor McGonagall scolded.
"I'm just stating the facts." Albert shrugged. "During the Potions Championship, we were informed of the content of the competition before we even started. Of course, that's not allowed, but it's fine as long as it's not made public. Although I don't think it's very useful, or maybe the cheating on our side is not that strong. Some players figured out the content of the competition months ago and did special training based on it."
All the prefects stared at Albert in amazement; his words were completely beyond their imagination.
"Some things are like this once you take off the disguise." Albert ignored Professor McGonagall's warning and continued, "Believe me, the contestants will definitely know the content of the Triwizard Tournament in advance, and then prepare countermeasures for the competition. In fact, this is the case for all previous Triwizard Tournaments. However, the champions of our year may be unlucky. I don't think Headmaster Dumbledore will consider helping our champions cheat because he has a noble character."
Everyone glanced at Dumbledore secretly and found that he was not angry either. He just nodded slightly at Albert, as if he was very happy that someone said that he had a noble character.
"I believe in the ability of the Hogwarts Warrior to win the championship for Hogwarts even without cheating," Dumbledore said gently.
"McGonagall, there's no need to be angry, because the truth is pretty much the same as what Anderson said." Professor Moody sneered, "Don't expect Karkaroff and Maxim to be noble. They will tell their warriors everything they can. This is the tradition of the Triwizard Cup. However, I agree with what Dumbledore said. I believe you can definitely defeat their warriors. To hell with those guys!"
The class leaders looked at each other in bewilderment, and were inevitably disappointed with the so-called Triwizard Tournament. They had never imagined that there was such an inside story in it. If Albert hadn't said it out, they would have been regarded as fools.
"Albus." Professor McGonagall seemed to hope that Dumbledore could make them shut up. Some things simply could not be said openly.
"Ah! If I'm not mistaken, the Beauxbatons representatives are here!" Dumbledore shouted.
After hearing the principal's words, the team fell into silence for a moment, and then became noisy again because everyone soon noticed the black shadow approaching in the sky.
A moment later, a huge monster was swooping towards the castle at a rapid speed, and it gradually became bigger and bigger in everyone's sight.
It was a huge powder blue carriage, pulled by twelve flying horses with wings. When the carriage landed on the ground, it was very fast, like a car without brakes, and it made a huge noise directly on the ground, which scared all the students.
A woman as tall as Hagrid got off the carriage. Dumbledore began to applaud and welcome her. He quickly stepped forward to welcome her and gave her a kiss on the hand.
Thirteen male and female students came to Beauxbatons School. Their robes were all made of silk, and they were accompanied by a group of handsome men and beautiful women. They looked like they had just walked out of a fairy tale book.
After a brief exchange between the two headmasters, the students of Beauxbatons entered the castle first to rest.
Albert seemed to see a few familiar faces in the crowd.
"Your friend?" Sana couldn't help asking when she saw a woman with her head wrapped in a headscarf waving at Albert.
"Maybe she is just being friendly to everyone," Albert said without hesitation.
"I think she is waving at you. She must be someone you know." Cedric also thought that the girl should know Albert.
"Look at the lake."
I don't know who shouted, but it immediately attracted everyone's attention.
All the students in the school looked towards the Black Lake in the distance.
A huge whirlpool appeared in the center of the lake. In the astonished eyes of everyone, a black mast was slowly rising from the lake.
A magnificent ship slowly emerged from the water. It looked very strange, a bit like a ghost ship that had just emerged from the water. After leaving the water, the ship began to sail towards the lake shore and anchored in the shallow water. The people who came down from the ship were not scary skeletons or ghosts, but students from Durmstrang.
Leading the way was Durmstrang's headmaster, Karkaroff.
As soon as Karkaroff walked in, Dumbledore stepped forward and had a friendly exchange with him.
However, after a few pleasantries, Karkaroff called Viktor over to show off, as if he wanted him to meet Dumbledore.
Victor's appearance undoubtedly completely ignited the atmosphere. There was a lot of noise and shouting in the crowd. Victor almost climbed the stone steps under the crowd's support.
"What a hypocritical fellow." Moody said contemptuously, looking at Karkaroff's back, "Perhaps Dumbledore should have taken you with him, so that Karkaroff would not show off his precious student."
When Albert entered the foyer he found Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students still gathered at the door, seemingly unsure of where they should sit.
"Actually, I'm curious, why don't they come to you for an autograph?" Sana looked at the students who surrounded Viktor Krum and asked for his autograph, and teased Albert beside her.
“I think it’s fine now.”