Page 417
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 570 New News of the Competition
By around three o'clock in the afternoon, the sixth grade students had finished their last course and were happily looking forward to the upcoming competition and holidays.
The fifth-year OWL will have to wait another two hours.
In the afternoon, Kyle and Cedric sat by the Black Lake, discussing the upcoming game.
Fred and George went back to their old ways and ran to find Bagman and Karkaroff. According to them, the closer they were to the game, the more they could not let their guard down.
After all, the maze was now complete, and maybe Bagman would tell Karkaroff the route to the trophy.
"The competition will start in a few hours. I really hope time can go faster..." Cedric looked at the giant squid basking in the sun in the middle of the lake and said, "How do you think those spells work? Is there any problem?"
"Of course," Kyle said, "I feel like you're more nervous than I am."
"I don't know, maybe because this is the last event." Cedric said, "You were leading in the first two events. It would be a shame if... I mean, if you lose in the end."
"Don't worry, I won't lose."
"I know." Cedric said with a smile, "Professor Sprout will be very happy if you can win the Triwizard Tournament trophy.
"I saw her last in Hogsmeade, in the wizarding clothing shop, she seemed to be picking out new robes."
"New robes?" Kyle turned to look at him. "You must have seen it wrongly. Didn't she buy new robes last year?"
This may sound strange to other people, after all, no one would buy only one piece of clothing a year. But for Professor Sprout, it is normal.
Normally at school, she wore sturdier clothes that were convenient for tending plants in the greenhouse, and she only changed into a robe for the start-of-term banquet.
Kyle also noticed that her yellow robes had not been changed for several years until last year, when Hufflepuff won the house cup for four consecutive years.
She even wore the new gown as a dress at the Christmas ball.
"I guess you're not mistaken." Cedric said, "After all, if you win, it will not only be an honor for Hogwarts, but also an honor for Hufflepuff. Professor Sprout will definitely want to celebrate."
Well, celebrating with a new pair of robes... that's really very Professor Sprout-like.
At this time, Cedric suddenly said: "Kyle, look over there, it's the principal."
Kyle turned around and saw Dumbledore walking out of the castle. With him were several other referees, who were discussing something intensely.
"What are they talking about?" Cedric asked curiously.
"I don't know." Kyle shook his head. Because the distance was a bit far, they couldn't hear what the referees said at all.
"I think it's something related to the game."
"No way." Cedric said in surprise: "The game is about to start, do they still have any disagreements?"
"Who knows?" Kyle said, not caring too much.
Every principal wants to favor the warriors in his own school, so it is normal to have disagreements.
……
When it was five o'clock, bursts of excited cheers came from the castle.
"I think the exams are over," said Cedric.
Then they also stood up and prepared to go back to the castle for dinner.
"Hey, you guys here..."
At this time, Fred and George, who had disappeared for the whole afternoon, came back, and they both looked very excited.
"Guess what we heard..."
"Could it be that Bagman really told Karkaroff the route to the maze?" Cedric asked hurriedly.
"Not really." Fred shook his head. "But Bagman did go back to see Karkaroff."
"He said the maze was completed by all the judges together, and no one knew the exact route."
"That's fine," Cedric said.
"But we heard another piece of news." George said mysteriously: "The referees seem to want to use the same method as the second event to increase the difficulty of the competition."
"The method for the second project?" Kyle asked in confusion, "What does this mean?"
"Hostages," Fred said. "They want to add a few more hostages to the game. The Warriors must find all the hostages before they can get the final trophy."
"You must have heard me wrong." Cedric blurted out, "The maze is dangerous enough, why add hostages?"
"We swear we didn't," George said seriously. "We heard Bagman say so."
"Wait... that's not right. It's daytime now." Cedric suddenly thought of something. "Can your Disillusionment Charm reach them?"
Not to mention Ludo Bagman, Karkaroff is a headmaster after all. It's broad daylight and there's no cover of darkness. It's impossible for him not to notice someone approaching with an Disillusionment Charm.
"Of course not, so we borrowed a very useful little prop." Fred raised his eyebrows and then took out something that looked like an ear from his pocket.
"Retractable ears. We just made them a week ago."
George said, "We disguised it as a bush and just happened to hear what Bagman and Karkaroff were saying."
"Okay." Cedric sighed and couldn't help looking at Kyle. "It looks like Kanna will be a hostage again. It depends on how long you can rescue her."
"No, no, no, you guessed wrong this time." Fred shook his finger. "The hostage at Hogwarts is not Connor, but Harry."
"Harry Potter?"
"Yes," said George. "They thought it would make the game more exciting if the Boy-Who-Lived got involved."
"Let Harry participate in the last competition?" Kyle felt something was wrong and asked, "Do you know who proposed this?
"Karkaroff? Or... Barty Crouch?"
"I don't know about that."
Fred said, "It should have been decided a long time ago. We only paid attention to Bagman. He also mentioned this when he was talking to Karkaroff."
"Bagman also said that this match would be on the front page of the Daily Prophet for a week."
Kyle frowned, still feeling that something was a little strange, but before he could ask any more questions, Kanna and Qiu just happened to run over from not far away.
"What are you talking about."
"About the Triwizard Tournament." Fred said, "By the way, you guys should go have dinner first. We have to go find Headmaster Dumbledore."
"The hostage doesn't have to be Harry, we can do it too," said George.
"This is the Triwizard Tournament, and it's the only one we can participate in..."
"We discussed it when we came here."
"Even though I can't be a warrior, I have to fight for this job as a hostage... no matter what."
After that, they rushed out of the castle in a hurry and went to find Dumbledore.
Kyle stood there for a moment, thinking.
Although it's a bit strange to let Harry be a hostage, but with Dumbledore here, it shouldn't be a problem...
Just remind them later to check if there is any problem with the Goblet of Fire.
After figuring this out, Kyle went to the auditorium with the others.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 571 Harry is taken away
Today's dinner was much more sumptuous than usual. When the judges walked into the classroom from the side door, delicious food appeared on the golden plates.
Kyle took a piece of bacon and glanced at Fang Zheng in the classroom seat.
Madame Maxime looked very happy and beamed, but Karkaroff, who was sitting next to him, had a sullen look on his face.
The same goes for Bagman, who is usually very happy, but today he was out of character and was talking to Dumbledore anxiously.
But Dumbledore just shook his head.
"His dream of being on the front page has been shattered." A voice suddenly came from the side. Kyle turned around and found that it was Fred and George.
They arrived at the Great Hall without knowing when, and sat at the Hufflepuff table.
"Don't be too surprised. We are worried that you are too nervous, so we come here to cheer you up." George said with a smile.
"Thank you very much," Kyle said. "But what do you mean by Bagman's front-page dream?"
"This is also the second news we want to tell you." Fred whispered, "The plan to increase the number of hostages has been cancelled."
"what?"
"It means exactly what it says." George spread his hands. "We just found Headmaster Dumbledore and offered to be hostages..."
"But the principal refused..."
"He said that the maze was too dangerous and he didn't want any students other than warriors to take risks, so before they entered the auditorium..."
"Dumbledore, Maxim and your father, the three judges voted to cancel this plan."
"Karkaroff looked very unhappy." Fred glanced towards the teachers' table. "He thought everyone was too cowardly. He also said that this was not the Triwizard Tournament he had imagined. He had a big argument with everyone in the hall."
"Did it work?" Cedric asked.
"Of course not," George said. "The original Triwizard Tournament was cancelled because of too many casualties. Now that it has finally been restarted, most people don't want students to take too many risks."
Kyle subconsciously looked towards the teachers' seats. Bagman was still talking to Dumbledore. It was obvious that he also supported Karkaroff.
But none of that matters.
It would be best to cancel the hostages, at least it would save him some trouble during the game.
Soon, dinner was over, and the enchanted ceiling gradually changed from blue to dark twilight.
Dumbledore stood up and everyone immediately fell silent.
"Ladies and gentlemen, in ten minutes I will invite you all to the Quidditch pitch to watch the final event of the Triwizard Tournament. Now please ask the champions to follow Mr. Bagman to the playground."
Kyle stood up, and the Hufflepuff students around him applauded him and watched him walk out of the hall with Fleur and Krum.
Fleur looked a little nervous and kept taking deep breaths. Krum wasn't much better and stumbled several times.