#213 - Section 213

Although the two were rivals, at this moment they could only cooperate; otherwise, changing the already decided-upon project would be virtually impossible.

After receiving Karkaroff's knowing look, Madam Maxime, who also had some ideas of her own, immediately followed up.

"Fleur, Hilda, Hesper, you may also leave first."

Upon hearing Madam Maxime's words, Fleur and the others saluted and immediately followed behind the Durmstrang students.

At Beauxbatons, the rules were quite strict, completely lacking the leniency and freedom of Hogwarts.

With Karkaroff and Madam Maxime beginning to clear the room, Dumbledore couldn't remain indifferent.

"Ethan, Harry, I suggest you both return to your dormitories to sleep."

"I believe the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students are waiting to celebrate with you. It's not easy for them to find an excuse to make a big fuss, so it would be unfair to take away this opportunity."

Seeing this, Ethan and Harry had no choice but to leave, with Professor McGonagall and Snape following closely behind.

Clearly, they couldn't participate in the upcoming discussions among the Triwizard Tournament judges.

Stepping out of the room, the Great Hall was now empty, the flames of the candles were low, making the gap-toothed grins of the jack-o'-lanterns flicker erratically, creating an eerie atmosphere.

Harry, with something weighing on his mind, couldn't bear it any longer.

"Ethan, was what you said earlier true?"

"He's back again?"

Honestly, Harry wasn't particularly afraid, but he always felt like he wasn't ready.

Anyway, Harry knew from his first year that he was protected by his mother's magic, and Voldemort couldn't harm him.

But by the same token, it seemed he couldn't kill Voldemort either, and couldn't avenge his parents.

He had also been quite lax in recent years, and hadn't found a way to deal with Voldemort at all.

If only he had more time to prepare…

"I'm not sure, it's just a possibility!"

"To use a Confundus Charm on the Goblet of Fire requires some skill. Among the students, perhaps only I could do it, but professors could also do it easily."

"The fact that they want you involved now means they want something. The only thing of value you have right now is probably your life. They probably want to use the dangers of the Triwizard Tournament to murder you; I can't think of any other possibility."

"Dumbledore probably knows something. The ghosts and portraits in this school are his eyes and ears. It's impossible for him not to know who tampered with the Goblet of Fire."

"Or maybe Dumbledore did it himself. Doesn't he want to train you to fight Voldemort?"

"This could be a good opportunity."

Ethan casually offered his conjecture, figuring that even if Dumbledore couldn't guess some things before the Goblet of Fire's results were revealed,

he must already know why Harry was chosen by the Goblet of Fire now.

Otherwise, he would have lived these hundred-odd years in vain.

If he couldn't even see this, how could he have schemed against Voldemort so thoroughly?

Even in death, he could continue to control everything.

So, it's best to attribute all of this to Dumbledore.

"Okay, I understand. I'll talk to Sirius. Thank you!"

Harry also thought what Ethan said made sense.

Being dragged into this for no reason was definitely malicious.

After all, even if he participated, he couldn't win the championship. Under these circumstances, why would they want him to participate, other than to embarrass him or, even worse, take his life?

Thinking back to his first year, when Voldemort possessed Quirrell and fake Quirrell one after the other.

It was very likely that he was back again, inside Hogwarts, but he didn't know who he was possessing.

A Beauxbatons student or teacher?

Or a Durmstrang student or teacher?

As for Moody, Harry didn't suspect him, mainly because Moody's track record was a bit too impressive. He was the one who caught most of the criminals in Azkaban, and he was a retired Auror.

Someone like that would definitely not collude with Voldemort.

Watching Harry walk towards the Gryffindor tower with a heavy heart, Ethan glanced at the shadows behind him.

There, a large bat had been following them, using a Disillusionment Charm.

He had even listened to Ethan and Harry's conversation from beginning to end.

Probably, he would be kicking down the door of Dumbledore's office later.

Walking up to the Ravenclaw tower and entering the common room, it was just as Dumbledore had said.

The Ravenclaw common room was quite lively, and they were celebrating Ethan becoming a Triwizard Champion in their own way.

As for Ron and Harry, who had also become champions, they were simply ignored as filler.

The glory belonged to Hogwarts, to Ravenclaw.

…

Unlike the lively atmosphere of Ravenclaw, the cottage where Ethan and the others had just emerged was now quite gloomy and oppressive.

"Dumbledore, what do you think of my proposal?"

Karkaroff looked at Dumbledore with a serious expression.

He and Madam Maxime were clear about the theme of the Triwizard Tournament, but they didn't know the specific tasks.

This was mainly to prevent cheating. After all, having the headmaster tell their students about the tasks in advance so they could prepare to achieve better results wasn't unheard of in the past.

Some headmasters had even gone to great lengths to inquire about the specific tasks in order to give their students a greater advantage.

But no matter what the tasks were, there could only be one winner.

But now each school had three champions participating in the Triwizard Tournament. If the rules and tasks were the same as before,

his three champions wouldn't be able to beat Ethan alone, even if the remaining two Hogwarts champions were useless.

There was simply a gap even between geniuses.

But if it were changed to team events, or if individual scores didn't matter and instead it was school scores, then the outcome might be different.

With team scores, no matter how strong Ethan was, what if he got first place?

The remaining two from Hogwarts were just holding him back. If they were at the bottom, they would directly drag down Hogwarts' score, and it wouldn't matter how high Ethan's score was.

It wasn't that Karkaroff looked down on Harry and Ron, but even if Krum didn't participate, any of the students he brought would be stronger than those two.

"This tournament's events have already been decided, and we've been preparing for a long time. The staff responsible for the tournament are ready and will arrive at Hogwarts soon."

"Isn't it a bit late to make changes now?"

Today is the first, and the tournament is just around the corner.

The Romanian Dragon Sanctuary staff responsible for the first task will arrive a week early with their dragons, mainly to prevent the dragons from suffering acclimatization issues or becoming too violent due to unfamiliarity with the environment. They need time to adjust.

Even the dragons have been carefully selected by the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary staff to be suitable for the tournament. Changing them would be equally troublesome.

Unlike Madam Maxime and Karkaroff, Dumbledore has been fully involved in the planning of the tournament's process due to providing the venue.

Changing it now? Isn't that making things difficult?

Dumbledore doesn't have the same ambition for the Triwizard Tournament champion as Karkaroff and Madam Maxime. It would be best to win, of course.

But if not, it doesn't matter. Consider it a training experience for Harry, an eye-opener for the Hogwarts students, and a bit of excitement.

"We know time is tight, and we don't intend to overturn everything and rearrange it."

"Now, can you tell us the specific events and procedures of the Triwizard Tournament, and then we'll make some changes within that framework?"

Madam Maxime knows that there isn't enough time to rearrange everything completely.

But she doesn't intend to give up. Like Karkaroff, after he made his suggestion, Madam Maxime understood.

Once the individual scoring system is changed to a team scoring system, Hogwarts will be insignificant.

"Let me say a few words."

Barty Crouch stood up wearily.

"To change the Triwizard Tournament events, first, we need to sign a contract to ensure that no one will reveal any details of the events. Secondly, due to the lack of time, the changes cannot be too significant, only some adjustments can be made."

Barty Crouch, or rather, Barty Crouch controlled by Peter, is also thinking about making some changes, which might benefit him.

Mainly because Ethan's involvement has a significant impact on him.

Especially the last task, which is the most crucial plan. If Ethan is brought in, it's game over.

So, now that someone wants to make some adjustments, that's all the better.

Hearing Barty Crouch say this, Karkaroff and Madam Maxime exchanged glances.

They had indeed planned to inform their school's three champions about the events after learning about them, so they could prepare in advance.

But now, although they can't cheat in advance, it's not unacceptable.

At least they can eliminate Hogwarts' chances of winning in advance.

Everything is back to square one. What could be better than this?

Chapter 256: Wand Examination

On Sunday, when Ethan arrived at the Great Hall, he received a warm welcome from the students.

In contrast to Ethan, Ron earned the nickname 'Snot Bogey'. Although Ron ran out when the wizards in the hall had already begun to leave.

His image at the time was seen by a few students, and then he became famous.

Harry isn't having a good time either, facing cold violence from students outside of Gryffindor.

Despite Harry's constant explanations that he didn't sign up for the Triwizard Tournament, few people believe him.

But this has nothing to do with Ethan. Early in the morning, after breakfast, Ethan took Fleur and Gabrielle to Hogsmeade Village.

They rode the Thunderbird family. Since they came to the Forbidden Forest, Ethan no longer uses the tunnels to go to Hogsmeade Village unless necessary.

When Monday arrived, classes officially began.

The Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students also took classes with the Hogwarts students, of course, they took seventh-year classes, which Ethan wasn't in.

In Great Britain, Hogwarts seventh-year students need to pass the N.E.W.T. exams, and the results directly affect their employment after graduation.

In France and the Nordic countries, there are also corresponding exams, equivalent to graduation assessments.

Therefore, the students who came to Hogwarts with their headmasters cannot neglect their studies, and they must complete the assignments.

Although the textbooks and courses are slightly different on both sides, they can only make do.

At first, everyone was curious about the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, especially Fleur and Krum.

But after taking classes together for a few days, everyone got used to it, and Hogwarts returned to peace.

Fleur did say that Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures classes were eye-opening.

Compared to Beauxbatons, the professors at Hogwarts are truly daring.

On Friday, during Potions class.

As usual, Potions class was still a double period.

Before class, Draco and Ron had a conflict, which Snape happened to see.

The result was obvious, ending with Gryffindor losing fifty points.

Naturally, Ron loudly protested against this, and Snape deducted another fifty points from Ron for talking back to a professor.

The Gryffindor students looked at Ron with the eyes of an enemy.

Undoubtedly, Gryffindor's house points are still at the bottom, and the hourglass is almost empty.

On Monday, Dumbledore had just deducted fifty points and punished them to serve detention with Filch every night.

As a result, only a few days later, they lost another hundred points, and they understood that with Ron around, Gryffindor could forget about winning the House Cup.

The class began amidst Gryffindor's gloomy faces and Slytherin's triumphant demeanor.

The teaching content of this class was a universal antidote.