"So what happens now? Who wins?" Loki asked Bagman and even Fleur and Krum were a little interested this time even if they surely weren't going to win.
The audience fell silent as they all paid close attention to Bagman's next words since they wondered what would happen now too.
Harry was nervously fiddling with his wand while Bagman scanned the crowd.
Then finally after a few seconds, he spoke with a smile.
"It seems like everyone wants to learn who the winners are!!"
*WWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*
"Are you excited!!??!!"
*WWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*
"In the first round, our champions earned points as follows, Mister Krum got thirty-eight points!! Miss Delacour forty-four points!! Mister Potter gained forty-five points and Mister Loki gained twenty-five points!!"
Everyone moved to the edge of their seats, each audience member supporting their own champions by waving banners or flags.
"In the second round!! Mister Krum got eight hundred points!! Miss Delacour Sixteen hundred points!! Mister Potter Eighteen hundred points!!! And finally Mister Loki, Thirty-two hundred points!!!!!"
"Although there might be winners and losers today, I want you to know, that each of our champions has done the absolute best they can to give us this amazing entertainment that we've had the pleasure to enjoy over the last year!!"
The crowd broke out into a fit of cheers once again.
The champions basked in the glory they were being showered with and each of them held their head high.
"And so, totalling their points, we have Mister Krum in the fourth place with eight hundred thirty-eight points!!! Miss Delacour with sixteen hundred and forty-four points!!! Mister Potter with Eighteen hundred forty-five points!! And finally, Mister Loki with thirty-two hundred twenty-five points!!!"
*CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP*
"But that is not the end!!! In the third round, all champions displayed their own ingenuity in taking on the challenges presented."
"But the best of all was that each of you in the audience was given a choice to vote for a particular champion every key moment!!! And your unbiased votes were gathered at the end and totalled to give our champions their final points!!!!"
*WWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*
While the audience was cheering, the champions were a little shocked.
'Seriously?'
'We were literally playing for the audience?'
'Damn.'
'I guess it was 'Adam's' plan all along to make people think that the voting was unfair so that in the final round he could leave the voting in the hands of the audience directly so that they'd feel that it was fair while in the background he could manipulate the scores perfectly.'
'Nice plan…'
"Mister Krum was forced to pick a side that would've appeared to be disadvantageous to him in the beginning since he did not know if he would be fighting all three champions at once. He acknowledged his weaknesses yet did not complain and ventured to suppress creatures for an attack all alone!!"
"He was a shining example of courage!!! And so the audience, our judges have decided to award him ten thousand five hundred points!"
The crowd went silent! And a flurry of thoughts rushed through their minds.
'Ten thousand five hundred!!??'
'I thought I gave him the points as a pity…I didn't think everyone else would do the same!!!'
'He got so many votes because of that!!????'
'Well, at least I gave more votes to the other champions.'
'But doesn't this basically invalidate the points that all of the champions got in the previous rounds?'
And while the champions frowned since they felt it unfair for their previous performances, Loki was the only one to latch onto what was going on.
'So 'Adam' really wanted to manipulate audience perception and control who won? Why is he so desperate to get me and Harry to win? I get that you know who might have it out against me since I 'defeated' him in the first year, but why is 'Adam' so invested in this?'
"Miss Delacour was also forced to pick a side once Team Blue was filled with its two members. But she used her presence of mind and hid herself using transfiguration to trick Mr. Loki and Potter to try and sabotage them!!"
"It takes a lot of courage to play such a role, and so the judges and you the audience have decided to offer Miss Delacour eight thousand points!!!"
A few people became tense at those words since Fleur was behind Krum even though she did much more than him.
"Next is Mister Potter who infiltrated the enemy's jungle and wreaked havoc on their ecosystem boldly all alone!! He even fought off Krum and delayed him at times so that he couldn't reach Miss Delacour to help her in time!"
"And for this bout of courage, the impartial judges, you, have chosen to award Harry Potter, eight thousand one hundred and eleven points!!!"
'Harry's in the third place?' Loki thought with some confusion, wouldn't the crowd's mind have been the prime real estate for 'Adam' to manipulate?
"And finally!! To Mister Loki!! For being courageous enough to tame the creatures of the round with love instead of force like Team Red, the judges have chosen to award him Eight thousand points!!!"
*WWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*
A thunderous explosive sound of cheers and claps rang out throughout the entire repurposed Quidditch stadium.
And all the champions turned towards Loki to congratulate him in a show of sportsmanship but the champion in question was still frowning.
'That puts me at the first place still.'
'But hmmm...I doubt 'Adam' will let you-know-who's plan fail…'
'So there are more points to be dished out?'
Bagman looked at Loki and noticing that he'd caught on, gave him a secret smile before he continued further.
"But don't rejoice just yet!!!! Because there are a few more votes to go over!!"
As Bagman's voice thundered over the absurdly loud cheers of the crowd, they all fell into a hushed silence once again.
They moved to the edge of their seats and suddenly in a spell of confusion and curiosity became tense again.
"At the moment of Krum's battle with Harry Potter!!! Five thousand of you chose to vote for Harry Potter when he gave his all to defend against Krum and his creatures so that he could buy time for Loki to finish his plan!!!"
"It was an even split, but three hundred more of you voted for Mister Potter and so Mister Potter gets an additional Five thousand and three hundred points!!"
'So Harry's first place now?'
"Three thousand seven hundred of you voted for Miss Delacour when she managed to subdue and control the Queen Vampyr Mosp to fight against Team Blue!!! Giving her three thousand seven hundred points!!!"
Loki was dumbfounded.
'The hell!!? Doesn't this mean more of the audience wants to see the animals beaten up!?'
'Bunch of animal abusers the lot are!!!? So they'd have given me those many points if I beat up my cutsey cat!? Hmpf! I don't care about the competition anyway!!! I'll beat up anyone who tries to beat up my tiger.'
"Finally!! Last but not the least!! Is Mister Loki!! Who was given Four thousand and thirty-one points for his sneaky strategy against Team Red."
"If I do say so myself, I think the strategy was so good that most of our audience missed it! But nonetheless here are the final standings!!!"
"In the fourth place is Mr. Viktor Krum with Ten thousand, eight hundred and thirty-eight points!!!"
*WWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*
*claps* *claps* *claps*
"In third place is Miss Fleur with Thirteen thousand, three hundred and forty-four points!!!!"
*WWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*
*Claps* *Claps* *Claps*
"And finally!!!! In the Second? Pardon me, in the first place!!! Are not one but two champions who've miraculously tied for the top spot!!!! With exactly, Fifteen thousand, Two hundred and Fifty-Six points!!!! Mister Potter and Mister Loki!!!!!!!"
*WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*
The crowd erupted with a thunderous roar.
Harry flinched when the crowd exploded since he wasn't expecting the praises to be so loud.
It was at that time that Ludo Bagman rounded the champions and brought them to the centre of the stage where the Triwizard Cup was sitting and waiting to be picked up.
"Why don't you do the honours!?", Bagman cheered as he pushed Loki and Harry towards the cup.
Harry was embarrassed and shy still, while Loki's eyes gained an uncharacteristic glint in them as he paid attention to the cup.
'So this is it huh…'
Loki looked at Harry since the boy was crucial to his plan about what he was going to do next but he was also a little nervous.
Loki took a deep breath and then put a smile on his face. It was a smile of excitement and encouragement as he looked at Harry.
"Same time?"
"Same time."
"Alright then in three…two…on-"
*WWWWHOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPP*
*POP*
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