Chapter 243 Goblet of Fire

Soon after, the two empty seats near Dumbledore on the professor's chair were filled.

Ludo Bagman, Director of the Department of Magical Sports, sat on the other side of Karkaroff, while Percy's immediate boss, Barty Crouch, Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation, sat on the other side of Madame Maxime. beside.

"What are these two people from the Ministry of Magic doing here?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Is it because they organized the Four Wizards Tournament?" Hermione guessed, "I guess they are guests and are preparing to witness the opening ceremony of the tournament with their own eyes."

At this time, they noticed that Dracula suddenly stood up from his seat, walked over to Bagman and held his shoulders.

"Oh, Fred, look!" An excited voice sounded next to the Gryffindor table. It was George who was slapping Fred's arm like crazy. "Professor Dracula put Bagman Drag away!"

"Well done, Professor Dracula!" Fred jumped to his feet, waving his fists excitedly.

The others looked at the twins with puzzled expressions, wondering what they were so excited about.

Some Ministry of Magic officials are indeed a little hateful, but Director Bagman didn't seem to have done anything outrageous except for not handling the Quidditch World Cup very well, right? Why are these two Wes so happy?

"What happened to your two brothers?" Seamus Finnegan, who shared a dormitory with Harry and Ron, approached Ron and asked curiously.

Ron still didn't want to move his eyes away from the silver-haired girl. He just glanced at his two brothers and said coquettishly:

"They won the bet...Bagman owes them a lot of money from the bet, and Professor Dracula should be able to get it back for them."

"It's such a pity. Why didn't I spend all my wealth with them?" He mumbled with some regret.

After hearing Ron's explanation, the other Gryffindor wizards looked in the direction of Professor Dracula and Ludo Bagman with wide eyes, wanting to see what their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor would use. How to collect debts.

However, the process was doomed to disappoint the little wizards.

Ludo Bagman had no ability to resist Dracula at all. He didn't even persist until the next dish was served under Dracula's cold gaze. He was defeated in defeat and took out a dish from his pocket. He handed over the delicate metal key.

Afterwards, Dracula didn't know what he said to Bagman, so he walked around in a circle, moved from the professor's seat to the Gryffindor table, and handed a copy to the Wesley twins. A metal key.

"This is the key to Gringotts Warehouse No. 592. The wealth inside is enough to pay for the galleons you won." Bagman reluctantly looked at the key in Fred's hand and said in despair.

"Are there really enough Galleons here?" George glanced at him suspiciously, "We know that you still have a lot of unpaid gambling debts... You won't lie to us, right?"

"Who do you two think I am?!" Bagman said dissatisfied, "As the director of the Department of Magical Sports, I have promised to pay you a sufficient amount of galleons, and I will definitely not go back on it! "

After saying that, he turned his head sadly and stopped looking at the key.

"I should have thought a long time ago, how could the first Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who could be re-elected, even for several years, be so easy to mess with..." Bagman was still mumbling as he walked back to the professor's seat.

"Those greedy goblins are still easy to deceive. You only need to show your identity as a Ministry of Magic official to borrow enough Galleons to return to the professor..."

Bagman made up his mind that he must start a big gambling game in this semifinals competition and make back all he lost before!

…

The party continues.

The next few dishes were also served one after another, not only the French fish soup before, but also a strange, white blancmange, and many other dishes that the little British wizards did not recognize.

Ron guessed that they must be foreign dishes, so he carefully moved the plates a few inches from his right hand so that they could be clearly seen from Raven Crouch's side of the long table.

But his little plan didn't work.

The girl who looks like a Veela may have already eaten, or maybe these dishes are not from France, and she has no intention of coming over to serve them...

When each golden plate became brand new under the influence of magic, Dumbledore stood up again, smiling and looking at the students from various schools in the audience who were gradually quieting down.

A mood of excitement and nervousness seemed to pervade the auditorium.

"The moment has finally arrived," Dumbledore said loudly, showing an expectant smile on his upturned face, "the Four Wizard Tournament is about to begin. I want to explain a few words first, and then bring the box in - —”

"What are you bringing in?" Harry was stunned for a moment and asked in a low voice.

"He just said the box, who knows what it is." Ron shrugged.

"First of all, I will explain to you the program of our activities this school year. But first, please allow me to introduce two guests, because there are still some people who don't know them. This is Mr. Barty Crouch, Director of the International Cooperation Department of 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's a bit strange to say that when Dracula just dragged Bagman away, the former director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, who was known for his toughness, had no objections. Instead, he seemed not to see it.

However, not many people present paid attention to Crouch's behavior, and the process of the opening ceremony of the Four Finals continued:

"This is Mr. Ludo Bagman, Director of the Department of Physical Education and Sports of the Ministry of Magic." Dumbledore pointed to Bagman and introduced to the students.

The applause for Bagman was much louder than for Mr. Crouch, perhaps because of his former reputation as a batsman, or perhaps simply because he was much more approachable.

Bagman seemed to have completely forgotten the sadness of losing a large sum of money just now, 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 Four Wizards Tournament," Dumbledore continued. Professor Karloff and Madame Maxime formed a panel of judges to judge the efforts of the warriors."

As soon as they heard the word "warrior", the students immediately sat upright and became more attentive.

Dumbledore seemed to notice their sudden silence. He smiled slightly and said:

"Mr. Filch, please bring up the box."

No one noticed that the gatekeeper Filch, who had been squatting in a corner of the auditorium just now, stood up and walked towards Dumbledore, holding a large wooden box inlaid with jewels in his hand.

The box looked old, at least a few decades old.

The little wizards watched in fascination and discussed with interest.

Some junior wizards simply stood on the chairs in order to see more clearly. But those little wizards are often too small. Even if they stand, their heads are not much higher than others.

"Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman have carefully reviewed the specific events for this year's Warriors competition," Dumbledore gestured to Filch to put the box on the table in front of him, and then said, "They have also given Many necessary arrangements have been made for each project——"

"This Four-wizard Tournament has a total of three events, which are held at different times throughout the school year. They will test the warriors in many different aspects...test their talent in magic, their courage, and their reasoning ability. .”

"Of course, the warriors' ability to overcome danger will also be tested."

At the end of the sentence, Dumbledore's expression became serious.

The auditorium became silent, as if everyone had stopped breathing.

"As you already know, there will be four warriors participating in the competition, and one warrior from each school will represent the school," Dumbledore said calmly. "We will rate them based on the quality of their completion of each competition event. At the end of the three events, the warrior with the highest score will win the Final Four trophy.”

"Everyone here must already know that the person responsible for selecting the warriors is a referee who is extremely fair. Now, we will reveal the true face of this referee, which is——"

At this point, Dumbledore suddenly paused.

He drew his wand and tapped the lid of the box three times.

The lid opened slowly and creakingly. Dumbledore reached in and pulled out a large, roughly carved wooden goblet.

"It's the Goblet of Fire!"

Everyone present turned their attention to the cup held in Dumbledore's hand. The cup itself was inconspicuous at all, but it was filled with dancing blue and white flames.

The firelight was different from the magical flames that little wizards usually saw. There was a mysterious atmosphere blooming in it. Anyone could realize that the flames contained many different mysterious magics.

Dumbledore closed the box and placed the cup on the lid so that everyone in the Great Hall could clearly see it.

"Every student who wants to run for a warrior must write his name and school name on a piece of parchment and throw it into this goblet," Dumbledore said. "Students who are aspiring to become warriors can Sign up within twenty-four hours.”

"Tomorrow night, the night of Halloween, 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. All who are willing It’s accessible to students who are running for office.”

"In order to prevent underage students from being tempted," said Dumbledore, "when the goblet is placed in the hall, I will draw an age line around it. No one under the age of seventeen can cross this line. Boundaries.”

Seeing that all the young wizards were eager to try, his expression suddenly became stern.

"Finally, I would like to remind every student who wants to participate in the election that this competition is not a child's play. Don't participate rashly. Once the warrior is selected by the Goblet of Fire, he must persevere in the competition to the end!"

"To put it another way, whoever puts his name into the cup actually forms a magical contract that must be observed. Once you become a warrior, you are not allowed to change your mind."

"Therefore, please think twice and confirm that you really want to participate in the competition before putting your name into the cup..."

After repeatedly emphasizing it many times, Dumbledore looked down at the time and smiled again:

"Okay, it's almost time, I think it's time for everyone to go to bed. Good night everyone!"

In the eyes of the students who were either looking forward to it, or worried, or anxious, the dinner party finally came to an end.

Dumbledore's repeated warnings did dissuade many young wizards from participating. Of course, this kind of thinking before acting had no effect on the little lions of Gryffindor.

"Age limit!" Fred patted the table, his eyes sparkling, "That's easy to handle, you can definitely be fooled by age-enhancing drugs, are you right, George?"

"That's right!" George's expression was also full of excitement, "As long as our names enter the cup, it will be considered a complete success - it can't tell who is over seventeen years old and who is under seventeen!"

By this time, the students had passed through the auditorium and were heading toward the two doors leading to the foyer.

"But I don't think it's possible for someone under the age of seventeen to win," Hermione persuaded as they walked down the road, "We haven't learned enough..."

"No, didn't you listen to what Dumbledore just said?" George retorted, "The Four-wizard Tournament tests all aspects of ability. Of course we have talents like the two of us who are particularly proficient in sideways. The advantages!"

"Where is he?" Among the few people present, Ron was the only one who was still out of the situation, and said in a confused voice, "Dumbledore didn't say where Durmstrang's representatives slept, did he?"

He didn't listen to a word of the conversation between Fred and the others, and only focused on searching for Krum in the crowd.

Yet his question was answered almost immediately.

Karkaroff's face didn't look very good, and he hurriedly walked towards his students.

"Okay, let's go back to the ship. Do you plan to spend the night in the castle?" He said, "Victor, how do you feel? Are you full? Do you want me to send someone to bring some heat from the kitchen? Wine coming?”

Harry saw Krum shake his head and put the fur cloak back on.

…

The next day is Saturday. Generally speaking, students get up very late to have breakfast.

This weekend, however, many people are waking up much earlier than usual.

When Harry, Ron and Hermione came downstairs and entered the foyer, more than twenty people were already watching the show.

Several young wizards were still eating the bread taken out of the auditorium and carefully looking at the goblet of fire burning with blue and white fire.

The cup now sat in the center of the foyer, on the stool where the Sorting Hat usually rested. A thin line of gold was drawn on the floor, sparkling with magic, surrounding the Goblet of Fire.

"Has anyone put their name in?" Ron asked eagerly to a young wizard who had been staying here for a long time to watch the show.

"Yes, all representatives from Durmstrang," the little wizard replied, "but I haven't seen anyone sign up for Hogwarts yet."

"Someone must have put the name in while we were sleeping last night." Harry said hesitantly, "If it were me, I would do this... If the Goblet of Fire doesn't accept you, crumble your name into a ball and throw it out. , how embarrassing that is!”

Suddenly, someone behind the little wizards laughed.

They looked back and saw Fred, George and Lee Jordan hurrying down the stairs, all three looking extremely excited.

"It's done!" Fred whispered to Harry, Ron and Hermione in a proud tone, "We successfully brewed a cup of age-enhancing potion and drank it just now."

"I've never seen you two have such good potion talents..." Ron complained.

Fred and George ignored him and walked excitedly towards the age line surrounding the Goblet of Fire.

"Look carefully, the next step is to witness the miracle!"

…

…