Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 258, Section 257: The Triwizard Tournament and Harry's Wonderful Plan

Why did the headmaster of Beauxbatons send a letter?

Harry opened the letter with some surprise and began to read it.

[Dear Principal Potter, it's a pleasure...]

The magical world is about to experience something unprecedented... Wizards need more...

Therefore, Principal Karkaroff and I want to restart the Triwizard Tournament...

【…】

After a long while, Harry put down the letter.

Although the handwriting was fancy, the content of Madam Maxime's letter was straightforward and concise. Apart from congratulating Harry on becoming the new headmaster of Hogwarts at the beginning, the rest of the letter mainly discussed the current world situation and the Triwizard Tournament.

Harry needs to go to the library to find records related to the Triwizard Tournament and also ask Professor McGonagall for her opinion.

"Beauxbatons and Durmstrang want to restart the Triwizard Tournament?!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed in disbelief. "Why would they—is it because of those elementals or demons again?"

“According to Madam Maxime, they want students to have the power to protect themselves in this turbulent time,” Harry said, handing the letter to Professor McGonagall, “instead of just eating, drinking, and having fun all day.”

“But… isn’t that really dangerous?” Professor McGonagall said with a furrowed brow. “I don’t object to their idea of ​​using this competition to make students regain their sense of crisis and become better, but what if a student dies in the competition? Not from the dangers outside, but from dying in the school, that’s just too absurd—and such things have happened quite often in previous competitions.”

The so-called Triwizard Tournament was established about seven hundred years ago. It was a friendly competition between the three largest magic schools in Europe... the kind of friendly competition where people could die. It was held every five years, with the three schools taking turns hosting.

However, this tradition was interrupted after several hundred years because too many young wizards died during the competition. According to the specific information Harry found, the last time the Triwizard Tournament was held in wizarding society was several centuries ago.

“Yes, it is indeed very dangerous, and we cannot deliberately lower the difficulty of the competition just because we are afraid of the danger, otherwise we would lose the meaning of the competition.” Harry nodded and said, “Let’s continue. Professor McGonagall, Madam Maxim suggested that we can add a few restrictions to the competition, such as only students who are over seventeen years old and have reached adulthood can sign up.”

“That’s a good idea,” Professor McGonagall said thoughtfully. “In the past, the deaths in the Triwizard Tournament were mainly among underage children. At seventeen, they would at least have mastered enough magic and be more mature.”

“We can also hold a selection tournament at the school beforehand to weed out those students who aren’t good enough but just want to join in the fun. Only those who win the selection tournament can put their names into the Goblet of Fire,” Harry continued. “This way, we can prevent the Goblet of Fire from selecting people who aren’t good enough.”

“Good idea,” Professor McGonagall agreed.

It wasn't a misperception; one could only say that she truly lived up to her reputation as an old lion who graduated from Gryffindor. Aside from initially worrying about the students' safety when she learned that the Triwizard Tournament was going to be held again, Professor McGonagall was now actually thinking about how to make the tournament a success—she was starting to get excited.

That being the case...

“The competition doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to students, does it?” Harry’s mind suddenly opened up. “Professors can participate too.”

"Huh?" Professor McGonagall's eyes widened. "Principal Potter?"

When the old catwoman disagrees, she will no longer call Harry Harry, but Headmaster Potter.

“There’s no need to be surprised, Professor McGonagall. We all know that the Law of Secrecy is about to expire, and Madam Maxime and Headmaster Karkaroff have concerns about restarting the competition.” Harry felt his thinking becoming clearer as he spoke. “We will have to communicate with Muggles sooner or later, and the wizarding community cannot remain closed off forever.”

"In that case, why don't we just make this competition public, making it more grand and meaningful?"

"Just like the Muggle world's sports meet, I want the new Triwizard Tournament to be more than just a competition between students, and the audience to be more than just students or their parents, but wizards and even Muggles. The participants will also include professors from the three schools—and even the principals!"

Professor McGonagall: "..."

She was speechless, only staring wide-eyed at Harry, astonished by his ingenious ideas.

"Principal Potter..." Professor McGonagall hesitated, then said with a complicated expression, "But isn't this a bit too sudden—I mean, many wizards might not be able to accept it—"

"Don't worry, Professor McGonagall, it's settled then. I'll discuss this with Mrs. Maxim or Headmaster Karkaroff. If they don't agree, we'll just work with the British Ministry of Magic and the Muggle government to handle it ourselves."

"But, the school board—"

Professor McGonagall tried to struggle.

"I'm the principal, aren't I?"

Faced with Harry's face, which clearly said 'I've made up my mind,' Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, but could only sigh deeply in the end.

"Alright, you're the principal, you're in charge."

The matter was settled—at least it was settled unilaterally by Harry. Regardless of whether Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would ultimately agree to this new change to the Triwizard Tournament, Harry would organize a tournament open to the entire world, both in the wizarding and Muggle communities, following this approach.

At worst, we can just change the name and call it the Hogwarts Tournament instead of the Triwizard Tournament.

The letter from Madam Maxime gave Harry a brilliant idea. In fact, not only him, but Dumbledore had also expressed in several conversations his concern about how wizarding and Muggle societies should interact. After all, the Statute of Secrecy wouldn't last much longer, and with the existence of elemental spirits, the difference between Muggles and wizards in the future world might not be that significant—regardless of the type of magic used, let alone whether it's supernatural power or not.

In short, this process should not make either side feel threatened, nor should it reveal any dangerous aspects, so as to integrate two societies that originally had little interaction in a peaceful way, without causing them to become antagonistic and lead to war.

If that's the case, how could there be a place like a school, a place for teaching and nurturing people, where there are also many children, that can better showcase the harmless side of wizards?
The competition between students, along with the competition between school professors, not only showcases the magical side of wizards to Muggles who are skeptical and curious about them, but also reveals the harmless side of children's innocence.

At least that attitude has been expressed.

Incidentally, the competition also allows wizards to showcase their power, making those with malicious intent think twice before doing anything bad.

Simply perfect.

....................................

It is incredibly difficult to revive a long-standing traditional competition that has been interrupted for hundreds of years, given that countless people have tried to restore the tradition over the past few centuries without success.

Not to mention that what Harry wanted to organize was a competition that broke down the barriers between wizarding and Muggle societies. The preparations and coordination were not something that a mere headmaster could accomplish.

At least the British Ministry of Magic cannot avoid it.

And the British Ministry of Magic...

Well, Harry didn't know how efficient the Ministry of Magic had been lately. He only knew that the Auror Office and the Department of Memory Deletion, among other departments, had urgently recruited a new batch of Aurors and strikers. They hadn't even completed the most basic training before being thrown into work, trying their best to hide the wizarding community as much as possible in this riddled environment.

It is said that many employees of the Ministry of Magic have not taken a vacation for more than two months and are extremely busy.

Meanwhile, the higher-ups at the Ministry of Magic couldn't sit still either, because Fudge had stepped down.

On an ordinary morning, he suddenly convened a press conference with reporters from various newspapers, where he submitted his resignation with a blank, lifeless face, like a corpse.

There was no attempt to retain him, and he didn't even retain any departmental ministership within the Ministry of Magic after resigning. Fudge's departure from the Ministry of Magic was quite undignified, naturally because he was essentially forced out.

He only became Minister of Magic by taking advantage of a loophole, and after becoming Minister, he barely managed to get his subordinates to obey him by clinging to Dumbledore's coattails. As a result, he encountered this series of accidents not long after taking office.

What ultimately dealt Fudge the fatal blow was his attempt to escape during the Battle of Hogwarts.

In any case, a Minister of Magic must not openly desert his post when it comes to protecting Hogwarts, a school of great significance, and the safety of its students; this is a matter of principle.

From then on, Fudge's orders never left his office, no one in the Ministry of Magic was willing to obey him anymore, and even the pure-blood nobles he had once connected with abandoned their support for him.

Even so, Fouché stayed in his ministerial position for almost two more months before resigning.

Given that the next general election was not yet scheduled and Fudge's resignation was irregular, Rufus Scrimgeour, formerly of the Auror office, became the new minister after a tense and fierce internal competition. His term as minister was to continue Fudge's term, and he would have had to participate in the election again when the election was originally scheduled.

Harry noticed that Scrimgeour seemed quite confident, which made sense. Fudge's political career was essentially over, Barty Crouch, who was originally the most promising candidate, was no longer a possibility due to Sirius Black's case, and Amelia Susan Bornes, the equally powerful head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, had been defeated by him and wouldn't be able to recover anytime soon. Scrimgeour had every reason to be confident.

“In principle, I am not against this plan, Principal Potter.”

In the Minister of Magic's office, Scrimgeour handed Harry a cup of coffee and spoke earnestly.

"But will this really allow us to maintain peace with Muggles? I mean, aren't we really exposing our weaknesses to Muggles and letting them understand us better? Hmm, won't this kind of competition make them think we're weak?"

Scrimgeour spoke quickly.

"Because as we all know, in the entire magical world, powerful wizards like you, Dumbledore, and... the Mysterious One are extremely rare, perhaps only two or three in a century."

"For most ordinary wizards, many tremble even at the sight of a levitation charm, and their most proficient spells are everyday ones like Apparition or household chores. Even the most ordinary Auror is beyond their reach—and even within the entire Ministry of Magic, it is very difficult to cultivate a decent Auror."

Scrimgeour spoke very quickly; these words had probably been swirling in his mind many times before, which was why he could say them all at once now.

"Are you afraid?" After Scrimgeour's words had paused for a moment, Harry calmly asked the new minister, who was still panting, "Are you afraid that if war really breaks out, wizards won't be able to defeat Muggles?"

“I didn’t!” Scrimgeour shouted instinctively. He glanced quickly at the office door, and after realizing that it was just him and Harry, he sighed deeply. “Okay, okay—I admit I’m scared, and I’ll only admit it here. I won’t admit it again after we leave this door.”

“It’s alright, I understand,” Harry reassured him. “Are you afraid of Muggle violence?”

“…Yes,” Scrimgeour shook his head slightly, his face pale. “During this time… my Aurors and I have witnessed many times how Muggles deal with those elemental spirits.”

"They would attack the elemental spirits with those weapons called guns, and with those cannonballs, with deafening explosions—even if an elemental spirit occasionally killed one of the Muggle soldiers, it would quickly be blown to pieces, and the Muggles would indeed obtain the elemental cores of those elemental spirits; they were truly dead."

“Elemental spirits that act violently will be killed on the spot, while those that act friendly will be captured by Muggles,” Scrimgeour said blankly. “We send Aurors to secretly infiltrate the Muggle bases where those elemental spirits are sent, where they will be subjected to various experiments.”

(End of this chapter)