bioinnovel Chapter 385 Restarting the Triwizard Tournament
Chapter 385 Restarting the Triwizard Tournament
Chapter 385 Restarting the Triwizard Tournament
That evening, Belvina left the castle early and went to the Quidditch pitch.
The once smooth and flat court was suddenly covered with long, low walls that stretched out in all directions in a complex and winding manner.
Under the tranquil night sky, Belvina leaned against the low wall, patiently waiting for the four warriors to arrive.
The first to arrive at the stadium was Berthbarton's warrior, Fleur Delacour, whose waterfall-like silver hair looked even brighter than the moonlight.
More than a month ago, Dumbledore had a private conversation with Mrs. Maxime in his office.
The content of the conversation between the two principals is currently unknown, but after that private meeting that night, Mrs. Maxim did not mention leaving again, and she stayed with the students.
"Professor Blake," Fleur said somewhat reservedly.
"Please be patient, Miss Delacour," Belvina said. "The boys haven't arrived yet."
After saying that, the two had nothing more to say to each other and fell silent.
Belvina leaned against the low wall, while Fleur stood awkwardly to the side, looking extremely uncomfortable.
Ever since Belvina taught Fleur a lesson on Halloween night, the beautiful French girl had been somewhat afraid of Belvina and instinctively didn't want to get close to her.
Fortunately, Viktor Krum arrived at the stadium quickly. Although Krum was a man of few words, his appearance still relieved Fleur.
"Professor Black." Krum was as concise and economical as ever.
Belvina nodded and said, "Let's wait a little longer, those two rascals should be here soon."
Then, the silence between the two became the silence between the three, and the awkward atmosphere on the court intensified.
Belvina was too lazy to speak and had no interest in compatibility, so she naturally wouldn't take the initiative to start a conversation.
Fleur was afraid of Belvina and dared not speak casually, while Krum was simply not talkative by nature.
And so, the three of them stood on the field without saying a word, silently waiting for Harry and Cedric.
Not long after, a voice, neither too loud nor too soft, could be heard from afar.
"What do you think the third project will be?" Cedric asked, stepping over the low wall. "Friday keeps saying we're going to search for treasure in the underground tunnels."
"Treasure hunting is quite fun, and we can borrow a Niffler from Hagrid," Harry said casually. "However, I really dislike what they did to the stadium."
As he spoke, Harry pointed to the low wall in front of him.
"Exactly," Cedric echoed his anger. "Doing this on the field is a desecration of Quidditch!"
The two talked as they climbed over a series of low walls and reached the center of the court.
Then, the two men, outraged by the desecration of Quidditch, spotted Belvina with a hostile gaze.
"Good evening, Professor Black!" Cedric waved awkwardly. "The sun is lovely tonight, so warm and cozy."
Furong silently turned her head away, trying her best to suppress her laughter.
Krum slowly raised his head and looked silently at the moon hanging high in the night sky.
"Yeah, Cedric's right!" Harry forced a grin. "The sun's really nice tonight, I'm sweating!"
Fleur covered her face with her hands, thinking to herself: I mustn't let Gabrielle see Harry looking so silly right now.
Krum withdrew his gaze from the moon and thought to himself: Is it because of this sense of humor that I can't understand that Hermione is so close to Potter?
"You two don't need to act silly here. I'm not one of those little girls around you," Belvina said. "The court will be back to normal as soon as the third event is over."
Upon hearing this, Harry and Cedric immediately swallowed their pounding hearts.
Firstly, Belvina didn't hold it against them and had no intention of making things difficult for them; secondly, the stadium would be restored to its original state immediately, without affecting next year's Quidditch matches.
"Getting back to the main point," Belvina said, "the third project will take place on this site, and I think you can probably guess what it's about."
Although she already had the answer in her heart, the timid Furong didn't dare to speak.
Harry and Cedric exchanged a glance, once again demonstrating a rare tacit understanding between rivals.
Only Krum, the honest boy, answered the question in a gruff voice, saying, "A maze, these walls must be a maze."
"Correct, Mr. Krum," Belvina said. "These low walls will grow to twenty feet high within two weeks, forming a maze."
She paused for a moment, then continued, "On the day of the competition, the trophy for the three-way battle will be placed in the center of the maze. Whoever lifts the trophy first will get a perfect score."
"Is it just through a maze?" Hibiscus asked timidly.
The first project was a fire dragon, the second project was a fire dragon fraught with danger, and she didn't believe that the third project was simply about navigating a maze.
"Of course not. There will be many obstacles in the maze that will prevent you from moving forward," Belvina explained. "You may encounter dangerous magical creatures, you may need to break through some magical traps, and so on. In short, getting through the maze is not an easy task, and you will need to pass many tests."
"Professor Black, are we entering the maze together, or in what order?" Krum raised his hand to ask. "If there is an order, will it be decided by drawing lots, or according to the previous ranking based on points?"
Harry, Cedric, and Fleur all perked up their ears. If there was an order to entering the maze, the first person to enter would have a huge advantage.
"You will enter the maze in the order of your previous points rankings," Belvina said. "Harry has accumulated 86 points and will be the first to enter the maze, followed by Cedric in second place."
She looked at Krum and said, "Mr. Krum, the three of you will enter the maze." She then looked at Fleur, "and last is Miss Delacour."
The four warriors nodded silently, neither questioning the order of their actions nor finding any reason to question it.
Harry, who is in first place, has the advantage of starting first, and Cedric, who is second, is not bad either. Fleur and Krum, who are in the last two places, can only blame their poor performance in the first two rounds.
"Although there is an order in which you enter the maze, entering first does not guarantee victory," Belvina added. "Each of you needs to give it your all, and no matter the final result, don't let yourself have any regrets."
Belvina clapped her hands and continued, "Alright, do you have any more questions?"
Upon hearing this, Viktor Krum raised his arm again and asked, "Professor Black, will Professor Karkaroff continue to serve as referee?"
It sounds like Krum doesn't really want Karkaroff to continue as a referee.
After all, Karkaroff tried every means to secure benefits for Krum, but each time he ended up making things worse.
"And Barty Crouch," Harry said. "What about his refereeing position?"
Both Peter Crouch Jr. and Peter Crouch Sr. have passed away and are therefore no longer able to serve as referees.
Even more tragically, with the deaths of Crouch and his son, the ancient pure-blood wizarding family of Crouch became extinct, ending the male lineage.
"Professor Karkaroff is much better now. Apart from occasionally waking up in the middle of the night, he's fine," Belvina answered Krum's question first. "Therefore, Professor Karkaroff will continue to serve as a referee."
Upon hearing this, Viktor Krum fell silent; he truly did not want to see his principal on the referee's bench.
"I think you all know about Crouch's affair. If you don't, you can check the Daily Prophet," Belvina continued. "For the third project, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge will personally serve as the referee."
Belvina looked at Krum and said to the Quidditch world star, "Mr. Krum, you don't need to worry too much. The referee is not responsible for scoring the third item. The referee's only task is to ensure that the game is fair and just."
Upon hearing this, the world-famous superstar's gloomy expression finally brightened.
Krum wasn't confident he could beat Cedric and Harry, but it was always good to have Karkaroff out of the picture.
"Any more questions?" Belvina clapped her hands again. "If there are no more questions, then let's call it a day and go back to prepare."
The four warriors looked at each other, and none of them raised any further questions.
Seeing this, Belvina led the way out of the stadium, and together they stepped over the gradually rising low walls.
At the edge of the pitch, Fleur and Krum parted ways with the three Hogwarts members; one wanted to return to the carriage, and the other wanted to return to the large boat by the lake.
After Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's warriors left, Cedric kept stealing glances at Belvina and Harry beside him, his sense of surreptitiousness palpable.
"Harry," Belvina said, "Harry, you go back first, I have a few words to say to Cedric."
Harry looked at the two of them in confusion, completely baffled as to what they were up to.
Harry didn't say much, though. He left in a hurry and quickly disappeared into the darkness of the night.
"Tell me, what are you trying to hide from Harry?" Belvina stopped and looked at the stammering Cedric.
Cedric began looking around furtively, as if he were afraid someone was eavesdropping.
"There's no one around, I'm pretty sure of that," Belvina said, having a pretty good idea of what Cedric wanted to ask.
"Professor, is what the newspapers are saying true?" Cedric asked quietly. "It's about Crouch and Jorkins."
"Why do you ask that?" Belvina countered. "Your classmates wouldn't ask a question like that."
.
Cedric looked puzzled, then ruffled his hair before speaking again.
"Professor, my dad sometimes talks to me about his work. He says that Barty Crouch is an incorruptible man, and that Jorkins is a—he says Jorkins is a fool."
One is the incorruptible Barty Crouch, the other is the notoriously muddle-headed Bertha Jorkins, and even with Barty Crouch Jr., an Ironclad Death Eater, in the middle, Cedric still finds the Daily Prophet's report hard to believe. Could these three really get together to form a gang, or even plot to overthrow the Ministry of Magic?
Cedric Diggory did not believe the Daily Prophet's report, nor the Ministry of Magic's conclusions.