Hermione looked at Ivan in surprise and opened her mouth to ask.
At that moment, George and Fred pushed their way through the crowd.
They were not looking for Hermione, of course, but looked around cautiously and whispered to Ivan.
"Ivan, surely there must be some way you can get past the age limit?"
Fred had been keenly aware of Ivan's unusually calm demeanor in the Great Hall.
Even when he heard about the restrictions, his expression did not change.
This was also the reason why they came to seek advice!
"Professor Dumbledore has just confirmed the age limit for selecting champions, and he hasn't even said who should be chosen yet. What choice do I have? You think too highly of me!" Ivan retorted, shaking his head helplessly.
George and Fred looked at each other suspiciously.
However, when he thought about it, he realized that it made sense. The selection rules had not even been officially set. If Ivan could come up with a concrete solution immediately, it would be too heaven-defying!
"I wonder who the impartial referee will be…" George thought about Dumbledore's words with frustration and anger.
"Why do they insist on setting a seventeen-year-old age limit? We're turning seventeen next April. It's against us!"
"That's right! It's not fair, we're as good as the graduates!" Fred complained.
Hermione, who had been listening, could not help but retort, "Professor Dumbledore must have arranged this to keep us safe, considering how many people have died in the past Triwizard Tournament!"
"It was years ago, wasn't it?" Fred said carelessly. "Professor Dumbledore also said that this year's Triwizard Tournament would be safe, and that they had spent the summer preparing for it, ensuring that no one's life was in danger!"
"Yes, it won't! But that's for contestants of an appropriate age! And the professor didn't promise you wouldn't lose your arms or legs or get all bruised up!" Hermione scolded, looking at Ivan with concern.
This was because she found Ivan to be quite keen on participating in the Triwizard Tournament!
"Oh! That's wonderful!" Instead of scaring George and Fred, Hermione clapped her hands excitedly.
For a wizard, such an injury would not be too much of an obstacle if treated in time…
George and Fred even had visions of themselves becoming the champions of Hogwarts, breaking through obstacles with scarred determination, and winning while the audience screamed!
Just thinking about it made his blood boil!
They eagerly discussed ways of breaking through the age limit with Ivan, and came up with a plausible solution, which was the Age-Boosting Potion!
As its name suggests, when a wizard takes an Aging Potion, he or she will appear to be much older than he or she is, and George and Fred believe that they will be able to turn seventeen or eighteen with a drop or two!
"I don't think so," Ivan said, shaking his head. "Whether it's a person or magic, they're unlikely to be fooled by this little trick!"
Back in the day, George and Fred attempted to use the Ageing Potion to get away with it.
It was a dead end. No one at Hogwarts had ever been able to break through Dumbledore's personal spell, not even Ivan himself.
This is why Dumbledore insisted in the Great Hall that no student under age would ever be a champion of the Triwizard Tournament!
However, Ivan felt that Dumbledore was definitely going to be slapped in the face this time. He could not break through head-on, but he still had all kinds of tricks up his sleeve, and he had thought of three in such a short time!
The first solution was to live to be seventeen in these few months!
This is not impossible, provided you own a Time-Turner.
As in the previous school year, he had spent the better part of a year in the "past", making him, technically, almost fifteen years old.
The second solution was to find a young wizard over the age of seventeen to vote for him, as Dumbledore had said himself.
This was the easiest. Just find a reliable senior student and tell them!
It was just not very safe.
Although Ivan was confident that he was definitely the best student at Hogwarts, who knew who the Goblet of Fire chose? What if the Goblet of Fire liked Cedric?
As for the third option, which was more risky, it involved threatening or using the Imperius Curse to control Barty Crouch Junior, so that he could cast the Confundation Charm on the Goblet of Fire, adding a slot and getting himself in!
Just like Harry in the old world!
The good thing is to be 100% a champion, the bad is to be very risky, and Barty Crouch Junior is not to be trifled with!
While she was thinking about this, Ivan continued to discuss ways to break the age limit with George and Fred, trying to get some inspiration from them.
"Well, Professor Dumbledore won't let you get away with it!" Hermione scoffed as Ivan and the others discussed the matter, then turned away and headed for the girls' dormitory.
It occurred to Yvonne that Hermione had not yet agreed to go out for the evening, so she said, "Hermione, don't forget to come out for the evening…"
Ivan spoke very loudly so that Hermione could hear him.
Some of the wizards who were still in the lounge looked at the two of them curiously.
"Got it!" Hermione, who was already at the entrance to the girls' dormitory, turned around and glared at him in embarrassment. With that, she ran back into the dormitory, almost tripping over the door.
"Ahem…we didn't interrupt anything, did we?" George looked at Hermione's departing back and then at Ivan.
Yvonne shook her head and explained, "Of course not. Hermione didn't eat anything at the party, so I thought I'd bring her some refreshments."
"Ah… we understand. You don't have to explain so much…" Fred said as if he had been there before.
In an attempt to make up for his previous interruptions, Fred smiled strangely as he introduced Ivan to the best places to visit at night and taught him tricks to cheer up the girls.