Not long after, the two seats in the professorial chairs near Dumbledore that had been vacant were filled.
Ludo Bagman, Director of the Department of Magical Sports and Magic, sat on the other side of Karkaroff, while Percy's immediate superior, Barty Crouch, Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation, sat next to Madame Maxime.
"What are two of them from the Ministry doing here?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Is it because they organized the Final Four Tournament?" Hermione guessed, "I guess they are here as guests, ready to witness the opening ceremony of the tournament with their own eyes."
At this moment, they noticed that Dracula suddenly stood up from his seat, walked over to Bagman and pressed his shoulders.
"Oh, Fred, look!" an excited voice came from the Gryffindor table. George was slapping Fred's arm like crazy. "Professor Dracula has dragged Bagman away!"
"Well done, Professor Dracula!" Fred jumped up and waved his fist excitedly.
The others looked at the twins in confusion, not knowing what they were so excited about.
Some officials in the Ministry of Magic are indeed abominable, but apart from his poor handling of the Quidditch World Cup, Director Bagman doesn't seem to have done anything that would anger the heavens and the people, right? Why are these two Weisses so happy
"What happened to your two brothers?" Seamus Finnigan, who shared a dormitory with Harry and Ron, came up to Ron and asked curiously.
Ron still didn't want to take his eyes off the silver-haired girl. He just glanced at his two brothers and said vaguely:
"They won the bet... Bagman owed them a lot of money. Professor Dracula should be able to help them get it back."
"What a pity! Why didn't I bet everything on it with them?" he muttered with some regret.
After listening to Ron's explanation, the other young Gryffindor wizards stared in the direction of Professor Dracula and Ludo Bagman, wanting to see what method their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor would use to collect the debt.
However, the process was bound to disappoint the little wizards.
Ludo Bagman had no ability to resist Dracula at all. He didn't even last until the next dish was served under Dracula's cold gaze. He gave in dejectedly and took out an exquisite metal key from his pocket and handed it over.
Then, Dracula said something to Bagman, and he walked around dejectedly, from the professor's seat to the front of the Gryffindor table, and handed the Weiss twins a metal key.
"This is the key to warehouse 592 at Gringotts. The wealth inside is enough to pay for the Galleons you have won." Bagman looked at the key in Fred's hand reluctantly and said disappointedly.
"Are there really enough Galleons here?" George looked at him suspiciously. "We know that you still have a lot of gambling debts that have not been repaid... You won't lie to us, will you?"
"Who do you two think I am?!" Bagman said unhappily. "As the Director of the Department of Magical Sports and Physical Education, I promised to pay you the full amount of Galleons, and I will definitely not go back on my word!"
After saying this, he turned his head away with heartache and never looked at the key again.
"I should have thought of it earlier. How could the first professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts who was re-elected, and even re-elected for several years, be someone who can be easily messed with..." Bagman muttered to himself on the way back to the professor's seat.
"Those greedy goblins are so easy to deceive. They only need to reveal their identity as Ministry of Magic officials to borrow enough Galleons to pay back the professor..."
Bagman made up his mind that he must start a big bet in this semi-final match to make back all his previous losses!
…
The banquet continues.
The following dishes were served one after another. Not only was there the French fish soup, but there was also a strange, white blancmange, and many other dishes that the little British wizards were not familiar with.
Ron guessed that they must be foreign dishes, and moved the plates carefully a few inches to his right hand, so that they could be clearly seen from the Ravencrouch table.
But his little trick did not succeed.
The girl who looked like a Veela might have eaten her fill, or maybe these dishes were not from France, so she had no intention of coming over to serve the food...
When the golden plates became brand new again under the effect of magic, Dumbledore stood up again and looked at the students from various schools who were gradually quieting down in the audience with a smile.
A feeling of excitement and nervousness seemed to permeate the auditorium.
"The moment has finally arrived," said Dumbledore loudly, smiling expectantly into the uplifted faces. "The Final Four is about to begin. I would like to explain a few things before I bring in the box -"
"Bring what in?" Harry was stunned for a moment and asked in a low voice.
"He only said a box, who knows what it is." Ron shrugged.
"First, I will explain to you our schedule for this school year. But first, please allow me to introduce two guests, as some of you may not know them. This is Mr. Barty Crouch, the Director of the Department of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Magic."
There was sparse applause in the auditorium.
Crouch seemed a little absent-minded and just nodded casually to the students in the audience.
It was a bit strange to say, but when Dracula just dragged Bagman away, the former Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, who was known for his toughness, did not object at all. Instead, he acted as if he didn't see anything.
However, not many people were paying attention to Crouch's behavior, and the opening ceremony of the semi-finals continued:
"This is Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Sports and Physical Education at the Ministry of Magic." Dumbledore pointed at Bagman and introduced him to the students.
There was much louder applause for Bagman than for Mr Crouch, perhaps because he had a minor reputation as a batsman, or perhaps simply because he was a much friendlier-looking man.
Bagman seemed to have completely forgotten the sadness of having just lost a large sum of money, and waved to everyone happily to express his gratitude.
"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the past few months to arrange the Final Four Tournament," Dumbledore continued. "They will form the panel of judges, along with myself, Professor Hicks, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime, to judge the champions' efforts."
As soon as they heard the word "warrior", the students immediately sat up straighter and became more focused.
Dumbledore seemed to notice their sudden silence. He smiled and said:
"Mr. Filch, please bring up the box."
No one noticed that the doorman Filch, who had been squatting in a corner of the hall, stood up and walked towards Dumbledore, holding a large wooden box inlaid with jewels in his hand.
The box looked very old, at least a few decades old.
The young wizards watched in fascination and discussed with great interest.
In order to see more clearly, some young wizards in the lower grades simply stood on chairs. However, those young wizards were often too small, and even when standing, their heads were not much higher than others.
"Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman have carefully reviewed the specific events of this year's Champions' Competition," Dumbledore said, motioning Filch to place the box on the table in front of him. "They have also made many necessary arrangements for each event -"
"This Final Four Tournament consists of three events, held at different times throughout the school year, and they will test the warriors in many different ways... their magical talents, their courage, and their reasoning abilities."
"Of course, it will also test the warriors' ability to overcome danger."
At the end, Dumbledore's expression became serious.
The auditorium fell silent, as if everyone had stopped breathing.
"As you already know, there will be four champions participating in the competition, one from each school," Dumbledore said calmly, "We will grade them based on the quality of their performance in each competition item. After the three items are completed, the champion with the highest score will win the Four Finals trophy."
"I believe all the students here already know that the person in charge of selecting the warriors is a referee who is as fair as can be. Now, we will reveal the true identity of this referee, and it is—"
Having said this, Dumbledore suddenly paused.
He drew his wand and tapped the lid of the box three times.
The lid creaked slowly open, and Dumbledore reached in and pulled out a large goblet of roughly hewn wood.
"It is the Goblet of Fire!"
Everyone present turned their eyes to the cup in Dumbledore's hand. The cup itself was inconspicuous, but it was filled with dancing blue and white flames.
The flames were different from the magical flames that the little wizards usually saw. There was a mysterious aura in them, and anyone could feel that the flames contained many different mysterious magics.
Dumbledore closed the box and placed the cup on the lid so that everyone in the hall could see it clearly.
"Every student who wants to run for the Champion must write his name and school name on a piece of parchment and throw it into this goblet," Dumbledore said. "Students who aspire to become Champions can sign up within 24 hours."
"Tomorrow night, Halloween night, the goblet will select the names of the four students it thinks best represent the four schools. Tonight, the goblet will be placed in the foyer in front of the auditorium, and all students who wish to participate in the election will be able to touch it."
"To prevent students who are underage from being tempted," Dumbledore said, "I will draw an age line around the goblet once it is placed in the entrance hall. No one under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line."
Seeing that all the young wizards were eager to try, his expression suddenly became stern.
"Finally, I would like to remind every student who is going to participate in the election that this competition is not a joke and you must not participate rashly. Once a warrior is selected by the Goblet of Fire, he must persist in the competition to the end!"
"To put it another way, whoever casts his name into the cup actually forms a magical contract that must be obeyed. Once he becomes a warrior, he is not allowed to change his mind."
"So please think twice before you put your name in the cup and make sure you really want to enter the competition..."
After repeating this many times, Dumbledore looked down at the time and smiled again:
"Well, it's almost time, I think it's time for everyone to go to bed. Good night everyone!"
The dinner finally ended amid the students' expectant, anxious, and anxious eyes.
Dumbledore's repeated warnings did dissuade many young wizards from participating in the competition. Of course, this advice of thinking twice before acting had no effect at all on the little lions of Gryffindor.
"Age limit!" Fred slapped the table, his eyes sparkling. "That's easy, I can definitely be fooled by the aging drug, right, George?"
"That's right!" George's expression was also full of excitement. "As long as our names are in that cup, it will be considered a complete success - it can't tell who is seventeen years old and who is not!"
By this time, the students had already passed through the auditorium and were heading towards the two doors leading to the foyer.
"But I don't think it's possible for anyone under seventeen to win," Hermione advised as they walked down the road, "We haven't learned enough..."
"Not really. Didn't you hear what Dumbledore just said?" George retorted. "The semi-finals test all-round abilities. People like us who are particularly proficient in unconventional skills certainly have our own advantages!"
"Where is he?" Ron, the only one who was still confused among the people present, said confusedly, "Dumbledore didn't say where the Durmstrang representatives slept, did he?"
He didn't hear a word of the conversation between Fred and the others, and was just searching for Krum in the crowd.
However, his question was answered almost immediately.
Karkaroff didn't look very happy, and was walking hurriedly towards his students.
"Well, let's get back to the boat. Are you planning to stay at the castle tonight?" he said. "Viktor, how are you feeling? Have you had enough? Do you want me to send some mulled wine from the kitchen?"
Harry saw Krum shake his head and put his fur cloak back on.
…
The next day was Saturday, and generally speaking, students would get up very late to have breakfast.
However, this weekend many people woke up much earlier than usual.
When Harry, Ron and Hermione went downstairs and into the entrance hall, there were already more than twenty people gathered there watching the show.
Several young wizards were still eating the bread brought out from the auditorium, looking carefully at the Goblet of Fire that was burning with blue and white flames.
The cup now stood in the middle of the hall, on the stool where the Sorting Hat usually sat, with a thin line of gold drawn on the floor, glittering with magic, surrounding the Goblet of Fire.
"Has anyone submitted their name yet?" Ron asked anxiously to a young wizard who had been waiting here to watch the show.
"Yes, all the representatives from Durmstrang," the young wizard replied, "but I haven't seen anyone from Hogwarts sign up yet."
"Someone must have thrown our names in while we were asleep last night," Harry said hesitantly. "If it were me, I would do the same... It would be so embarrassing if the Goblet of Fire didn't accept you and just crumpled up your name and threw it out!"
Suddenly, someone behind the little wizards burst into laughter.
They looked back and saw Fred, George, and Lee Jordan hurrying down the stairs, all three of them looking extremely excited.
"It worked!" Fred whispered to Harry, Ron and Hermione in a proud tone, "We successfully brewed a cup of aging potion and just drank it."
"I never saw you two have such a good talent for Potions..." Ron complained.
Fred and George ignored him and walked excitedly towards the age line surrounding the Goblet of Fire.
"Watch out, it's time to witness a miracle!"
…
…