"Snape, what do you want to do?" Karkaroff stammered.
This scene looked quite strange. As the headmaster of Durmstrang, Karkaroff seemed to have an inexplicable fear of the Potions professor at Hogwarts.
"Come with me, Karkaroff, let's talk privately." Snape said in a gloomy voice.
Karkaroff's expression changed again, and he actually followed Snape out of the room and walked straight to the door of the hall.
Without such an important dissenting voice as Karkaroff, Professor Hicks did not express much objection to this situation - Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall realized at the same time that as long as they calmed down Madam Maxime's emotions, today's accident would come to an end.
Then Dumbledore looked down at Harry, and Harry looked back at him, trying hard to read the look behind those half-moon lenses.
"Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire, Harry?" he asked evenly.
"No." Harry took a deep breath and said confidently.
He was well aware that everyone was watching him closely, and that few people, including Madam Maxime and the warriors from various schools, would be willing to believe him, except for Dumbledore, Professor Dracula and Professor McGonagall.
"Did you ask older students to help you put your name into the Goblet of Fire?" Dumbledore continued.
"No!" Harry was a little excited.
"Ah, he must be lying!" Madame Maxime retorted loudly.
People like Fleur Delacour and Victor Krum also looked unconvinced.
"He can't possibly be older than that," said Professor McGonagall sternly. "I'm sure we all agree on that -"
"Dumbledore must have made a mistake with that line," said Madam Maxime, shrugging her shoulders.
"Of course, that's possible." Dumbledore smiled and said politely.
"Albus, you know you are not wrong!" Professor McGonagall said angrily, "This is ridiculous! How can you believe that a great wizard who is proficient in all kinds of spells would make a mistake in a simple age line?"
"There's no way Harry would have crossed that line on his own, and as Dumbledore believed, Harry didn't persuade the senior students to do it for him, and I think everyone else should believe that too!"
She looked at Ms. Maxime very angrily and her voice gradually became louder.
"Now the facts are clear. Someone wants to harm Harry. After all, everyone knows that the Triwizard Tournament... now changed to the Quadruple Tournament is a very dangerous competition. An underage fourth-year wizard has no ability to cope with this competition at all!"
"Mr. Crouch... Mr. Bagman," Madam Maxime had no way to refute Professor McGonagall, so she turned her gaze to the two Ministry of Magic officials, "You two are from the Ministry of Magic, and have no direct relationship with any of our schools. You should be more objective."
"You must agree that this is extremely inappropriate, don't you?"
Bagman coughed lightly.
Out of selfishness, Bagman was actually quite happy about Harry's unexpected joining of the Elite Four Tournament. After all, he had always wanted to make money using the Elite Four Tournament platform.
Over the past year, he has secretly added a lot of personal stuff to the process of the game.
If the game was open to bets, Harry, who was only in his fourth year, would definitely have an extremely high odds... If Bagman used his authority to do something to help Harry win in the end, it was conceivable that he would be able to make back all the money he had lost before!
Bagman felt a surge of anticipation.
He wiped his round baby face with his handkerchief and looked over at Mr Crouch.
The final say still lies with Mr. Crouch, and given his integrity, this matter may be difficult to accomplish.
Mr. Crouch stood outside the circle of light from the fire, with his face half hidden in the shadow, which made him look much older and almost like a skeleton.
But when he spoke, his voice was as stiff as usual.
"We must abide by the regulations!" said Mr. Crouch. "The regulations clearly stipulate that anyone whose name comes out of the Goblet of Fire must compete in the Triwizard Tournament."
His words surprised many people, including Bagman.
The air was quiet for a few seconds.
"Hey, Barty knows the rules by heart!" Bagman's face suddenly broke into a smile, breaking the silence.
He turned and looked back at Ms. Maxime with a smile, as if the matter had been resolved satisfactorily.
"I insist that my other students re-register." Ms. Maxime's expression was a little ugly, and she said firmly, "You should put out the Goblet of Fire again, and we will continue to add names to it until each school has two warriors."
She looked Dumbledore in the eye and said seriously, "That's only fair, Dumbledore."
"But... I'm afraid that won't work," Bagman said in a panic, "The Goblet of Fire has just gone out, and it won't be rekindled until the next tournament..."
"If you insist on using this method to gain an advantage, we will not participate in the next competition!" said Ms. Maxim. "This obviously unfair competition is totally inconsistent with our previous negotiations and consultations."
"No one expected something like this to happen, Madam Maxime," Dumbledore said kindly, "but we have to finish this game anyway. We can't quit halfway, right?"
“What if we have to just quit?” Ms. Maxim responded.
"Really?" Dracula suddenly said.
He glanced at the silver-haired girl standing next to him, and his expression suddenly became playful.
"Are you going to let your warrior violate the magic contract and become a squib?" Dracula raised his lips and asked with interest, "I'm actually quite curious, if Miss Delacour loses her magic, what kind of form will she become?"
"Well, it is indeed more likely that she will maintain her human form... But it is not ruled out that without the support of magic, she will change into another form?"
Furong's face suddenly turned pale.
"You...what do you mean?" Ms. Maxim's expression changed, and she tried her best to suppress her inner panic.
"You know what I mean, Ms. Maxime." Dracula said softly with an unchanged smile on his face.
Most of the other people present looked at Dracula in confusion, and then looked at Fleur and Ms. Maxime in confusion.
They had absolutely no idea what these people were talking about.
However, both Fleur and Lady Maxime knew that what Dracula described was entirely possible.
Fleur is a half-Veela.
The prototype of Veela is not human. When these creatures are angry, they can transform into bird-shaped banshees called "Harpies" and use their innate magic to shoot fireballs from their hands to attack.
Dracula was very curious about the half-Veela who had lost her magic power, because this way he could see whether the half-Veela still had the ability to transform into a bird-shaped banshee.
"Professor Dracula, can I think... that this is a form of coercion?" Ms. Maxime took a deep breath, tried to calm the agitated emotions in her heart, and said coldly.
"You misunderstood, ma'am. I'm really curious." Dracula smiled, "This kind of opportunity is hard to come by."
"you… "
"Ahem... Sorry, Ms. Maxime." Dumbledore smiled secretly, and then tried to smooth things over in a serious manner, "As an expert in Defense Against the Dark Arts, it is understandable that Professor Dracula is interested in these things. Please don't mind."
"I can't tell whether he really wants to harm Furong." Ms. Maxime snorted coldly and didn't continue to pester her.
Because she always felt that Dracula's eyes were a little dazzling, as if he really wanted to kick Furong out of the game, just to see what a half-blooded Veela would look like after losing her magic power...
"Ms. Maxime, this is not the point." Professor Hicks of Yin Famo Ni suddenly stepped forward and said to her, "If anyone has reason to complain, it's Potter..."
"Why is he complaining?" Fleur Delacour asked first, stamping her feet. "He has a chance to participate in the competition, right? For so long, each of us has been hoping to be selected! To bring honor to our school! And there is a prize of one thousand Galleons - this opportunity is what many people dream of!"
"But someone wants Potter to die for this, Miss Delacour," said Professor Hicks, smiling.
The comment from Yin Famouni made Ms. Maxime fall into deep thought.
If the professors at Hogwarts might have said this in order to give their own school an advantage, then it is worth pondering that an "opponent" like Invermorny said the same thing.
"Professor Hicks, why are you also..." she said hesitantly.
"Why would I stand on the side of Hogwarts?" Professor Hicks smiled and waved his hand, "I'm not speaking for Hogwarts. I'm just telling the truth."
"Besides, we may not necessarily suffer a loss... Although we Yin Famo Ni have never participated in your Triwizard Tournament, we have also carefully studied the historical materials."
"Looking back at all the historical Tri-Power Tournaments, those events have always been designed to test individual ability, without any room for teamwork. I believe this year's competition will be the same."
She looked questioningly at Bagman and Mr. Crouch.
"Ah, I can prove that the competition events we set up this year really don't provide much opportunity for teamwork," Bagman assured, patting his chest.
"Then there's no problem, right?" Professor Hicks said with a smile, "So what does it matter if one school has a few more people? Don't you believe that your students can stand out from the five, Ms. Maxim?"
She glanced at John Kowalski who was standing respectfully beside her, and continued, "Anyway, I believe that no matter how many students from Hogwarts compete, John will be able to win the final championship!"
Ms. Maxime stopped talking, and the air fell into silence again.
Everyone's eyes were on her, because her approval or not basically determined whether this important competition, which had not been held for a century, could be held smoothly.
After a long silence, she finally nodded.
"Since Professor Hicks has said so, I also agree that Harry Potter can participate in the competition." She said, "However, if I remember correctly, Professor Karkaroff has not been convinced yet. He is not as easy to talk to as I am."
Just then, the door of the room was suddenly pushed open.
"No need, Karkaroff has already agreed!" Snape's unique greasy voice came over.
Madam Maxime looked towards the door and was surprised to see Karkaroff following Snape like a follower.
His face was very gloomy, but he did not raise any objection to Snape's words.
"Karkaroff, you..." Ms. Maxime said somewhat unwillingly.
"I have no objection." Before she could finish, Karkaroff spoke sparingly.
Madam Maxime paused for a moment, then turned her head and looked deeply at Snape.
"Very good, it seems that the professors at Hogwarts are indeed full of talents!"
She let out a long breath through her nose, glaring angrily, but ultimately did not object.
"Okay, let's get on with it, shall we?" Bagman seemed very excited, rubbing his hands together and looking at the people in the room with a smile.
"It's time to give our warriors some guidance, isn't it?" he said. "Barty, how about you?"
Mr. Crouch seemed suddenly to be brought out of his deep thoughts.
"Okay, coach," he said briefly, "Yes... first project..." He took a few steps forward and walked into the circle of light from the fire.
The contestants all looked towards Mr. Crouch, who looked very haggard from a close distance.
There were deep shadows under his eyes and his wrinkled skin was paper-white and transparent, but he hadn't looked like this in the Quidditch World Cup final.
"The first task is to test your courage," he said to Harry, Cedric, Fleur, Viktor, and John, "so we are not going to tell you what it is. The courage to face the unknown is an important quality of a wizard... very important... "
“The first project will be conducted on November 24th and will be completed in front of other students and the judging panel.”
"When completing the competition items, the warrior may not request or accept any help from his teacher. When the warrior faces the first round of challenges, the only weapon in his hand is his own magic wand."
"As for the content of the second project, you will not learn about it until the first project is over. Since the competition is very demanding and lasts for a long time, the warriors will not have to take the school year exam."
"That's all. Is there anything else you need to know?"
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