Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 302 Bagman's Malice

“Okay.” Tierra shrugged, looking aggrieved, and hid the camera under her wizard robes.

"Tell me! Did you vote for Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

“No,” Tyella said. “My own name being submitted was just an experiment. To be honest, I never thought it would succeed. Headmaster Dumbledore, all I can say is that your age range has too many loopholes.”

"Tsk tsk tsk, the loophole is really too big." Tiera said again with a cheeky grin. "Tsk tsk tsk, it's really too big, too big! Tsk tsk tsk, how can the loophole be so big? Tsk tsk tsk..."

“Then Harry.” Dumbledore felt that if he continued to pay attention to Tyrell, he would be asking for trouble, so he turned his gaze to Harry—

"Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire, Harry?" Dumbledore tried to ask calmly.

“No,” Harry said.

"Did you ask one of the older students to help you put your name into the Goblet of Fire?" Dumbledore continued.

“No,” Harry said excitedly.

"What about house elves? Or other magical creatures?" Dumbledore pressed.

“No—” Harry answered.

“He’s definitely lying!” Mrs. Maxime exclaimed. Snape shook his head and pursed his lips.

“He can’t possibly cross that age line,” Professor McGonagall said sternly. “I believe we all agree on that.”

“Mr. Crouch… Mr. Bagman,” Karkaroff said, his voice becoming slick again, “you two are our, um… objective judges. You certainly agree that this matter is highly inappropriate, don’t you?”

Bagman wiped his round, baby-faced face with a handkerchief and turned to look at Mr. Crouch.

Mr. Crouch stood outside the circle of light from the fireplace, half of his face hidden in shadow, which made him look somewhat strange. That half-shadow made him look much older, like a skeleton.

“We must abide by the charter, which clearly stipulates that anyone whose name is ejected from the Goblet of Fire must participate in the Triwizard Tournament.” Barty Crouch’s voice was as stiff as ever.

"Hey, Barty knows the regulations by heart." Bagman said, with a smile on his face, and turned back to look at Karkaroff and Mrs. Maxim. It seemed that the matter had been resolved satisfactorily.

“I insist that my other students re-enroll,” Karkaroff said. His voice was no longer smooth, his smile had vanished, and his expression was extremely unpleasant. “You must put the Goblet of Fire back on the table, and we must keep adding names to it until each school produces two champions. That’s fair, Dumbledore.”

“But Karkaroff, I’m afraid that won’t work,” Bagman said. “The Goblet of Fire has just been extinguished. It won’t be rekindled until the next tournament—”

"—Demstrang will absolutely not participate in the next championship!" Karkaroff roared. "We've had so many meetings, so many negotiations and consultations, and I never expected something like this to happen! I just want to leave right now!"

“A bluffing threat, Karkaroff!” a voice roared from the doorway. “You cannot leave your champion now. He must compete. They all must compete. Just as Dumbledore said, it is bound by a magical contract. This is to your advantage, is it?”

As Moody entered the room, he limped toward Karkarov, each time his right foot landed with a loud thud.

“Advantageous?” Karkaroff said. “I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean, Moody.” “Is that so?” Moody said softly. “It’s simple, Karkaroff. Someone put Porter’s name in that goblet and knows that if the name is sprayed out, Porter will have to play.”

“Clearly, that man wants to give Hogwarts two chances!” said Mrs. Maxim.

“I agree with you, Mrs. Maxim,” Karkaroff said, bowing to her. “I will file a complaint with the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards—”

“If anyone has any reason to complain, it’s Porter,” Moody said gruffly. “But…it’s funny…I didn’t hear him say a word…”

“Why is he complaining?” Fleur Delacour couldn’t help but ask, stamping her foot. “He has a chance to compete, doesn’t he? For weeks we’ve been hoping to be selected! To bring glory to our school! And the prize of a thousand gallons—an opportunity many people dream of!”

“Maybe someone wants Porter to die for this,” Moody said, his voice laced with a growl.

After he finished speaking, there was an extremely tense silence. Ludobagman looked very anxious, his body pacing restlessly, and he muttered, "Moody, you old man... how could you say such a thing!"

“We all know that Professor Moody feels his morning has been wasted if he doesn’t discover six people trying to murder him before lunch,” Karkaroff said loudly. “Clearly, he’s now teaching his students to be paranoid and always think someone is trying to kill them. That’s rare for a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dumbledore. But you have your reasons, no doubt.”

"What, am I making this up?" Moody roared. "I have a feeling, huh? The one who tossed this boy's name into the goblet is definitely a highly skilled wizard..."

“Oh, what evidence do you have for this?” Mrs. Maxim asked, raising both her large hands.

“Because they fooled a very powerful magical artifact!” Moody said. “To deceive that goblet and make him forget that only three schools are participating in the tournament, it would require a particularly powerful Confusion Charm… I suspect they must have registered Potter as a student from the fourth school to ensure he was the only candidate from that school…”

Dumbledore addressed everyone gathered in the room, “But it seems to me that we have no choice but to accept it. Tyella and Harry have both been chosen to participate in the competition. Therefore, they must…”

“Ah, but Dumbledore—” “My dear Mrs. Maxim, if you have another solution, I am all ears.”

Dumbledore waited, but Mrs. Maxime didn't speak; she just glared angrily. And she wasn't the only one showing displeasure.

Snape also looked annoyed, Karkaroff's face was ashen, but Bagman's expression was quite peculiar—

I don't know why he had a wicked smile on his face.

“Then let me explain the rules first—” Bagman said, then looked at Barty Crouch, “or would you please, Mr. Crouch?”

"Huh?" Mr. Crouch seemed to suddenly snap out of his deep thoughts, and mumbled, "Ah, I'll do it—"

"The Triwizard Tournament consists of three events, each of which you must complete independently. This means that no matter how many people train you before the competition begins, you are the only one standing on the competition field."

"Furthermore, you may only use your wands during the match; you are not allowed to bring any magical items onto the field—"

“Yes, no magical items are allowed,” Ludobagman suddenly interjected. “That means Tiera, your prosthetic hand and prosthetic eye must remain off the field.”

(End of this chapter)