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Dudley's words once again succeeded in drawing the hostility of Madam Maxime and Karkaroff.
"We must follow the rules," Lucius said at last, speaking as the Ministry's special commissioner. His eyes flickered, making it difficult to tell what he was thinking. "The rules state clearly that anyone whose name comes out of the Goblet of Fire must compete in the Triwizard Tournament."
He stood in another corner of the room, seemingly avoiding Karkaroff on purpose and doing his best not to come into contact with him.
Ludo Bagman quickly echoed him in a flattering tone. Logically, Bagman was the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports and should have been the main organizer of the Triwizard Tournament. At the moment, however, he had willingly stepped into second place.
The Malfoy family was famously generous and famously rich, and Bagman had recently buried himself under a mountain of debt. He was planning to borrow a few Galleons from the elder Malfoy.
"I think we should hold registration again," Karkaroff said. His face looked terrible. "Only one champion should be chosen from each school. That is the only way to be fair."
At the word fair, Dudley glanced at him.
Yes, one champion from each school would indeed be fairest. But Harry had not been entered as a Hogwarts student. Someone had entered him under another school's name.
Even if Harry won, it would not count as a Hogwarts victory.
Strictly speaking, this was no longer the Triwizard Tournament. It was a four-champion tournament.
"The Goblet of Fire contains a magical contract," Bagman continued. "It cannot be lit again before the next Triwizard Tournament. It is an ancient contract. Once someone is chosen, the selection must be honored. So this list is final, and the tournament must be completed."
"Durmstrang will never participate in the next tournament!" Karkaroff said darkly.
"Nor will Beauxbatons," Madam Maxime added.
"Whatever happens with the next tournament, what we should discuss now is this one," Dumbledore said, ignoring the two headmasters' threats. They could say that now, but the next tournament would be another matter entirely. Whether they would still be headmasters by then was not even certain.
"It seems Dudley and Harry must both compete."
Seeing that the two headmasters still wanted to object, he added, "If either of you has a better solution, I am listening."
What better solution could they have? As Bagman had said, the Goblet of Fire contained ancient contract magic. Once the contract was successfully formed, it could not be undone without completing the tournament.
At this point, they could only grit their teeth and let the competition proceed.
"Although Hogwarts has two champions, neither of them has actually reached the age of seventeen."
"Impossible."
Both Dudley and Harry had physiques far beyond most people. If someone claimed that both of them were children under seventeen, who would believe it?
Dumbledore looked faintly helpless. He truly was not lying. Harry and Dudley were both only fourteen.
"Mr. Bagman, please give the four champions their instructions."
Bagman did not hesitate. He stepped in front of them and spoke briskly. "The first task is designed to test your courage. Daring to face the unknown is an important quality in any wizard."
While Bagman gave the champions a brief explanation, the young wizards in the Great Hall had fallen into chaos, chattering nonstop.
"Why would Harry enter behind our backs?" Ron whispered across the table to the other members of the disciplinary group.
"Anyone could have entered him," Draco said seriously, his expression grim as his eyes kept drifting toward the room where Dudley and the others had gone. "But Harry absolutely would not have done it."
Ron, Harry's closest friend, was the one voicing doubt. Draco, who usually enjoyed arguing with Harry, was the one who believed him firmly.
Fortunately, Ron was only complaining. In truth, he also believed Harry would not secretly leave them out.
Before long, Dudley and the others came out of the small room and returned to their original seats.
Dumbledore did not explain much to everyone. He only said a few simple words before announcing the end of the feast.
The fact that Hogwarts had produced two champions still caused a considerable stir.
Harry instantly became the focus of the entire school.
Compared with Dudley, his cousin and the Boy Who Lived had been far more low-key over the past few years.
The Gryffindors naturally supported Harry, but they were even more interested in learning how he had supposedly crossed the Age Line.
The Hufflepuffs felt some regret that Cedric had not been chosen, then immediately joined the ranks supporting Dudley and Harry.
The Ravenclaws leaned more toward Dudley. After all, they often saw him in the library.
As for Slytherin, whether Mr. Potter won or Mr. Dursley won, either outcome was acceptable.
Until the Triwizard Tournament ended, the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons would remain at Hogwarts and attend classes with the students from the four Houses, roughly at their own year level.
Aside from one younger Beauxbatons student, the visitors were all around Hogwarts sixth-year level.
The three schools did not teach exactly the same material, but the exchange would still allow everyone to learn something. Hogwarts's professors were, in general, a little stronger than those of the other two schools.
This was especially obvious in Potions. The students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons could barely keep up with Hogwarts. Although they were sixth-years, Hogwarts had already begun teaching seventh-year material.
What kind of monsters were Hogwarts students?
When the visiting students saw that every Hogwarts student had a measuring cup with carefully marked scales, finely made test tubes, precise balances, and other Potions equipment, then looked at their own tools, which suddenly seemed almost primitive, an inferiority complex quietly took root.
After witnessing Hogwarts's much more advanced ideas about Potions, they were left even more shocked.
Fortunately, they were only attending sixth-year classes. If they had gone to listen to the fourth-years, the question would no longer have been whether they felt inferior. The fourth-year progress was already on par with sixth-year work, and in some places it was even slightly ahead.
A little gap here and a little gap there did not stay little when added together. That was how distance widened.
After only one week of classes, the students from the other two schools had already gained a clear understanding of the gap between themselves and Hogwarts.
Hogwarts worked hard. Truly hard.
It was nothing like the more relaxed teaching style of their own schools.
They had also heard that, aside from the four Houses, Hogwarts had a legendary disciplinary group that could suppress all four Houses by itself and currently held influence over students from first to sixth year. The Hogwarts champion, Dursley, was the head of that group.
Quite a few visiting students had already begun to worry that their own school's champion would be beaten badly by Hogwarts's champion.
Both physically and magically.
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