"Come and have a look at the latest registration list for Hogwarts champions."
"Breaking news, the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain, Angelina Johnson, has just registered! Gryffindor has another champion candidate!"
"Warrington from Slytherin has also signed up, those interested can place bets on him, although, of course, I wouldn't recommend that option..."
Fred and George were buzzing around like bees today, wandering all corners of the castle, promoting their betting activities to every person they encountered. The amount of work was staggering; it could scare anyone with social anxiety.
In all of Hogwarts, only Fred and George could do something like this.
Being Gryffindor students, Fred and George showed some favoritism when promoting candidates from their house. They would take the time to introduce any Gryffindor champion in detail, highlighting their strengths. In contrast, with the Slytherin entrants, they would simply mention their names and openly express that they wouldn't recommend betting on them.
However, this marketing strategy didn't have much effect. Young witches and wizards from all houses preferred to bet on champions from their own house. Especially Hufflepuff, which practically chose their Prefect and captain, Cedric, unanimously.
For Fred and George, that didn't matter much because as bookmakers, they would always earn a commission regardless of whether the favorite or the underdog emerged victorious.
Time passed quickly, night fell, and the long table in the Great Hall was once again filled with exquisite delicacies, but the students had no appetite to eat. They all anxiously awaited the final selection results.
Today, two more people joined the staff seats. The new members were the tournament judges: Issa May and Barry Crowder. Both sat next to Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, who had just learned they had been selected as judges for the Triwizard Tournament.
After the last dessert disappeared from the plates, Dumbledore stood up, and the entire Great Hall fell silent. Madame Maxime, sitting next to Dumbledore, looked nervous, while Karkaroff remained calm. Others had various reactions: Ludo Bagman had a wide grin and kept winking at students from different schools; Percy and Barry Crowder sat with seriousness and a very grave expression; Issa May had a strange reaction; she seemed more concerned about Headmaster Karkaroff from her own school, sneaking glances to observe his state.
Dumbledore waved his wand, and most of the candles in the Great Hall went out, leaving only the lights from the chandeliers above the long table and the Goblet of Fire shining.
"The Goblet of Fire is about to make a decision. The selected champions should enter the adjacent room along the staff table," Dumbledore gestured towards a door behind the staff table, where the champions would receive initial guidance.
After making some simple arrangements, Dumbledore closed his mouth and waited in silence for the Goblet of Fire to give the results.
The Great Hall fell silent again.
Suddenly, the flames in the Goblet of Fire changed color, from blue and white to red, with sparks jumping, creating a boiling sensation. Then, a piece of burnt parchment flew out and landed in Dumbledore's hands.
Everyone in the Great Hall held their breath.
"The champion from Durmstrang is... Viktor Krum!" Dumbledore pronounced the name on the piece of parchment clearly, and the atmosphere in the Great Hall erupted in jubilation. Applause and cheers almost made the entire Hogwarts castle tremble.
"Not surprising at all."
"I expected that."
"Aaaahhhh - Krum!!!" Some rabid fans almost fainted from excitement.
Krum rose from the Slytherin table and reluctantly approached Dumbledore. Karkaroff, sitting on the stage, applauded his brave champion for a few seconds and then returned to his usual calm.
"I thought you would be excited," Madame Maxime said, glancing sideways at Karkaroff, feeling a bit strange. How could he be so calm after what just happened? It was as if it had nothing to do with him.
"Why should I be excited? Isn't this something that was already expected?" Karkaroff resumed his calm state and responded to Madame Maxime's question with a cold smile. "I would only be surprised if those other incompetents managed to surpass Krum."
Reflecting on it, Madame Maxime thought Karkaroff was right. Krum had so much going for him that it would be a problem if he wasn't chosen.
Until the flames in the Goblet of Fire changed again, the room remained quiet. Madame Maxime didn't have time to chat with Karkaroff; the change in the flames made her nervous once more.
She tensed up, leaning slightly forward, and stared intently at the flames in the Goblet.
The second piece of parchment didn't make them wait for long and flew out of the Goblet with a soft sound.
"The champion from Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour," Dumbledore announced the name from the parchment.
Madame Maxime almost jumped out of her chair; she was very happy because her bet had paid off. Unlike Durmstrang, there were many candidates at Beauxbatons to become champions, and Madame Maxime couldn't be sure of the final outcome, so she had to bet.
Fleur Delacour was the person she had trained in advance, personally teaching Fleur for a while, which led to her rapidly improving her level. Now, her "investment" had finally paid off.
At first, Madame Maxime was worried that the Goblet of Fire would show discrimination and exclude half-veelas like Fleur, but now it seemed that her concerns were unfounded. The Goblet of Fire was extremely fair and impartial; it didn't treat Fleur differently because of her heritage.
Fleur stood up with a smile next to Tom, shaking her shiny silver hair, and gracefully made her way to the professors' seats, a triumphant smile on her face.
Hermione's face turned slightly unpleasant as Fleur's hair intentionally brushed against Tom's face, leaving a trail of fragrance.
The moment the result was announced, several Beauxbatons girls burst into tears, shedding tears of sadness. The other non-selected candidates also looked grim, as if they had lost something important.
After a brief commotion, the Great Hall settled down once more, and at this moment, every wizard and witch had their hearts in their mouths because it was Hogwarts' champion's turn.
The Goblet of Fire turned red again and sent the third piece of paper into the air.
"Cedric Diggory," Dumbledore loudly announced Cedric's name.
"Hooray!"
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Merlin!"
A deafening roar echoed from the Hufflepuff table, the sound spreading throughout the Great Hall. After this result, the cheers of the Hufflepuff students rendered everyone in the room deaf. At that moment, even if someone spoke face to face, they wouldn't be able to hear what was being said.
For Hufflepuff, this was a historic breakthrough.
Previously, Hufflepuff was a transparent house at Hogwarts. They weren't as clever as Ravenclaw, as brave as Gryffindor, and they didn't have the cunning and pride of Slytherin. They were hardworking, unassuming, and went unnoticed. They were like wild herbs on the roadside or wildflowers on the mountain; they were everywhere but didn't draw attention.
But today, they finally became the stars.
Who could have imagined that a Hufflepuff student would become the representative champion of Hogwarts?
But that's exactly what happened, and everyone heard it loud and clear.
So the Hufflepuff students went crazy: they had finally made a small breakthrough on the Hogwarts stage.
The wild celebration continued for a long time; even Dumbledore couldn't calm down the Hufflepuff students.
Finally, when the noise subsided, Dumbledore smiled and said aloud, "Well, the three champions have been chosen. I'm sure you will support your champions with all your might. The students not selected should not be discouraged; they can still make a great contribution to this event..."
Tom wasn't interested in Dumbledore's words; he simply watched indifferently as the flames inside the Goblet of Fire slowly faded away until they were completely extinguished.
With the Goblet of Fire dormant, the selection phase for the three champions of the Triwizard Tournament came to an end. Everything was in order, without any hiccups. If it was said that there were three champions, then there were three champions; if it was said they had to be at least seventeen years old, then they had to be at least seventeen years old.
No matter how powerful you were, if you weren't at least seventeen years old, you couldn't become a champion.
Tom looked at the fully extinguished Goblet of Fire and displayed a happy smile. Once the Goblet of Fire went out, it would only be relit before the next tournament, so everything was clear.
Harry, in the audience, rubbed his sore hands from applauding frantically and felt a sense of loss, as if he had missed something interesting. Harry felt like he regretted missing out on this grand event; wouldn't it be great if he could be a champion? Surely that life would be very happy. Harry began to imagine his friends' reactions after becoming a champion.
After some nonsense, Dumbledore returned to the main topic. By this point, Bagman, Percy, and the others had already gone to the "dark room" to provide preliminary guidance to the champions.
"Now, the three champions are receiving a preliminary briefing on the contest in the adjoining room. Are you eager to know what is being said in the preliminary briefing?" Dumbledore looked at the young wizards in the audience and smiled mischievously.
"Professor Dumbledore, please, tell us, what is said in the preliminary briefing?" Lee Jordan couldn't contain his curiosity and stood up to ask loudly. The current Lee Jordan had an incredibly smooth chin; he had obviously healed.
Fred and George, who were beside him, also raised their heads from their accounting book and looked curiously at Dumbledore. The twins were busy calculating the amount of money they needed to deliver.
Dumbledore displayed a happy smile, as if he were watching a comedian making the audience laugh, and openly shared the content of the preliminary briefing.
It turns out that the so-called preliminary briefing was simply announcing the start time of the first event and then telling the champions...
The organizers couldn't reveal the content of the first event to them!
It was absurd. It was hard to imagine how the champions would feel hearing those words in the dark room.
"Did they bring us here all excited just to tell us the start time of the event? Is it really necessary?"
Of course, cheating was also an ancient tradition in the Triwizard Tournament. The three schools always managed to find out the content of the first event and then leak it to their own champions. This year was no exception. Madame Maxime was already in action; she had been very close to Hagrid these past few days, hoping to extract something from that "chatterbox." However, Hagrid knew nothing about the first event, so he couldn't reveal anything. Nevertheless, their relationship had improved considerably, and Madame Maxime wasn't at a loss.
After hearing Dumbledore's words, the young wizards were also disappointed.
Is that all? Is that your preliminary briefing?
"Students, I told you from the beginning that this tournament would do everything it could to make more students feel involved," said Dumbledore when he saw that the students in the audience seemed quite disappointed, and then he announced the second "bombshell" loudly: "So, I have something extremely important to announce to you! Volunteer sign-ups have begun!"
Volunteers? This unfamiliar word caused some commotion among the audience; everyone was very curious about what volunteers would do in the tournament. If it's about serving tea and water at the competition venue, then they're not interested. Some Muggle-born young wizards were familiar with the concept of volunteering and instinctively rejected it.
"We need a group of outstanding students to participate in the first event and increase the challenge a bit for our champions," explained Dumbledore to all the confused faces. "Those students interested in volunteering should submit their application to the Head of their respective house, and for students from other schools, they should approach the headmaster of their own school. After the applications are approved by the headmasters, they will be granted volunteer status. I must warn you in advance that volunteers will also be exposed to mortal dangers, so only mature and capable wizards who can fend for themselves may volunteer."
Although Dumbledore set some restrictions, all the young wizards in the Great Hall were filled with enthusiasm: This time, there are no age restrictions for sign-ups! And there's a considerable number of slots available!
This state of excitement did not fade even when Dumbledore announced the end of the ceremony.
On the way back to the Ravenclaw Tower, Tom asked Hermione, "Do you want to volunteer?"
"Of course not! Didn't you hear what Professor Dumbledore said? Volunteers will also be exposed to mortal dangers! So, I won't volunteer at all..."
"Dumbledore has already selected me as a volunteer."
Hermione: ?!
"How can he do that?" Hermione opened her eyes wide, surprised to the point that her cheeks puffed out. "Aren't volunteers supposed to be those who volunteer willingly?"
"There's a type of volunteering called 'forced volunteering.'" Tom shrugged, showing a helpless expression.
"So, do you want to volunteer or not?"
Hermione: ...
"Well... alright."
Hermione also 'volunteered' for the Triwizard Tournament.