In the Thinking Room, Felix passed him a cup of tea.
"It's getting real here," Dumbledore said curiously, taking a light sip of the amber liquid, "What kind of tea is this, I don't think I've ever had it before."
"Ordinary tea, you and I will taste it differently." Felix said as he sat opposite of Dumbledore, and at that moment, they are here all alone.
"How much time do we have?" Dumbledore asked with a smile.
"Two and a half minutes," Felix rubbed his head, "five minutes at most if you really need it."
"That's at least a quarter of an hour." Dumbledore said with a slight nod.
Felix stared at him and rolled his eyes as he crossed his legs and said slowly, "Two things, one to appease the four schools and one to track down the man behind the curtain."
Dumbledore's long fingers interlocked in front of him, "Do you have any insight?"
"The first matter is pretty much solved, it mainly depends on your opinion."
"My opinion?" Dumbledore said with a smile.
"The Goblet of Fire contract can not be broken, this one will pressure them, but it will create a problem, Hogwarts's reputation will plummet, and we will lose our honour abroad -"
"This is the scenario that I do not want to see." Dumbledore said decisively, "We need to make certain compromises."
"There are two ways, one is to strengthen the opponent, the second is to weaken ourselves. The former is not desirable, after all, each school has different demands." Felix said calmly.
"Then we have to choose the latter, let's talk about the second thing, which is the key point." Dumbledore said, "Who do you think they are targeting?"
"It could only be Harry, that's the most likely possibility." Felix suddenly thought of a point: "Sirius mentioned to me during the World Cup, Harry's scars ..."
"I know about it, and Sirius wrote to me." Dumbledore brought up the subject, he said in a quiet voice: "Back to the Goblet of Fire, I had suspected that Harry used some means to bypass the restrictions of the Goblet of Fire, but when Miss Granger appeared, I knew it is impossible."
"Is that possible, bypassing the restrictions? I always thought there is a powerful confusion spell for that. ..."
Dumbledore laughed: " The person who made the rules of the Goblet of Fire is a human being, a human being would leave loopholes, and frankly, I'm a little disappointed with the people in the shadows, the tactics are too obvious."
Felix nodded, that's true, it might be more mind-boggling if they were able to find loopholes in the rules. But for now, everyone knew the Goblet of Fire had been artificially tampered with.
The difference is that the other four schools think it was Hogwarts that tampered with it, and even if it wasn't, Hogwarts still took advantage of it.
"So, it is Voldemort?"
" Well, it is, Voldemort." Dumbledore said softly, "From what I know of him, although, it was unlikely that he did it personally."
"He must have some helpers, the one who attacked Harry with Peter Pettigrew, and maybe more." Felix followed the headmasters' train of thought: "He once ruled over a small part of England, it should not be difficult."
Speaking of which, his mind wandered. The deadline he had left for Lucius Malfoy is before Christmas, but now that the situation has changed, he can't possibly afford to wait any longer. Besides, according to the feedback from the Rain Swallow Patronus, the mysterious antique seller also seems to be inextricably linked to Malfoy Manor ...
"No, Felix, you don't know him, Voldemort uses power as the foundation for domination. Losing his power, he lost the restraint he had on his men." Dumbledore said with a sigh, "I visited his peers and staff at the orphanage one by one over the summer, and the more I got to know, the more I became aware of his nature."
Felix thought about it: "So he has been hiding in the Albanian forest all these years, also related to this? He didn't trust anyone after he lost his power... No, I should say the batch he trusted were all locked up in Azkaban ... until Peter Pettigrew found him!"
"You hit the nail on the head." Dumbledore agreed with him.
Felix, however, frowned, "Can we be sure who tampered with it? Theoretically, all four headmasters and the professors they brought with them have a chance, even those in Hogwarts ..."
The scope of this would be too large.
"Igor Karkaroff used to be a Death Eater." Dumbledore said calmly, "That's why I had to stop Alastor."
"Could it be him?" Felix is not quite convinced, Karkaroff's reaction is too real, even if he wanted to clear his name of suspicion, there is no need to react so hard, with the other three schools' feelings being mutual in this.
On the contrary, Moody ... past scenes flashed quickly, some suspicions are more plausible than not, but he could not produce any evidence.
"Karkaroff's unlikely, he betrayed his former master after the war, by offering a list of Death Eaters." Dumbledore said: "I personally think for now Voldemort will not bother to find him."
"What about the Imperius Curse? Polyjuice Potion?" Felix asked probingly, he did not think about saying anything about that guy but wanted to see Dumbledore's attitude.
"You don't understand what I mean yet, Felix. If it is Voldemort, he will not show his weak side to his betrayer who once was kneeled before him; he will be more willing to announce his name after his resurrection and let the traitor live in fear day and night until he dies quietly in a shadowy corner."
Felix nodded, is this the pride of the Dark Lord? As he said lightly, "As far as I know, Professor Moody claimed to have been attacked before he was enrolled ..."
Dumbledore's eyes sharpened as he looked over.
"... I also noticed that he carries a curved flask with him, but I haven't seen him open it once, is he being a bit paranoid that he would be thirsty?"
Dumbledore watched him, and after ten seconds or so, he said calmly: "It is only your speculation, Alastor's nerves are more sensitive, and he never touched any suspicious food, this is a matter of general knowledge. I've known him for more than half a century, even before the time of Voldemort; I know him well enough, and yet I don't find anything suspicious about him."
"We can't do anything to a man out of speculation."
"It's 'you' who won't make a move on someone out of speculation." Felix said with deliberate emphasis.
Dumbledore fell silent.
"Dumbledore," Felix said, "We should not let potential threats stay around," his tone lowered, "or at least test things out."
A moment of silence followed -
"What are you going to do?"
"Imperius Curse, Polyjuice Potion, and memory modification are the three ways I can think of, but the third method cannot be verified for now without immobilizing Professor Moody." Felix said, and he brought others into the picture to make it seem like he wasn't targeting Moody that much: "Of course, it works for others as well."
"Assuming that they are not willing to become Voldemort's lackeys." Dumbledore added.
"That's right, if it is willing, my means are very limited, the dark wizard who dares to do plot in front of your eyes, will certainly be on guard against the Legilimency," Felix also felt the difficulties, " Is it possible for me to search everyone's memory a little by little, it is no different from stripping a person naked, right? "
If he made a mistake, he would only be creating deadly enemies for himself.
Why do wizards value their memories? Because their fears are justified, wizards literally have the means to modify, falsify and erase other people's memories.
"I'll handle this, Felix, I'll talk to Alastor." Dumbledore said in a calm voice, "Imperius Curse, Polyjuice Potion, I will check both of them, but probing memories, I disagree, that would be the greatest humiliation to Alastor."
"But ..."
"I am not okay with using any overkill methods without more obvious evidence." He said without question, "Other than that, if he's okay with it, I intend to have him keep an eye out for suspicious people around him ..."
Felix shrugged, "I'll wait for your answer." He snapped his fingers, dispersing the magic, and the two returned to reality.
In the room, Madame Maxime is staring at him, she looks exasperated, her black silk satin-clad bust heaving dramatically, as if she will throw a fist at him in the next second, but she probably thought of the fact that he also is a school board member, which barely holds her back.
She remained silent, and Karkaroff finally relaxed from Moody's shadow at this moment and said impatiently, "What is the minor issue? What is the solution, you guys have been staring at each other for half a minute without saying anything, don't think you can muddle through like this. If there is no good solution, then let go of Durmstrang's restraints and allow them to use any means-"
"Headmaster Karkaroff," Felix said, looking at him, "your students are not as restricted as one might think-"
"What do you mean?" Karkaroff stared.
"I have a question, is Durmstrang a school that produces dark wizards?"
"That's slander! Mr. Crouch, did you hear that?"
"Hear me out," Felix stared at him, "it's true that Durmstrang is most open-minded in its approach to dark magic. But it doesn't mean that Durmstrang is a school that 'exclusively' teaches dark magic, which only takes up a very small part of the content of the curriculum, or at least I don't see much of it in your textbooks ..."
" Dark magic is most widely used in the field of dueling, but aren't you guys also teaching them the basic spells like disarming charm? Stunning spell? Shield charm?"
Felix said slowly: "Dark magic is only an effective add-on, but it will never be the mainstream of a magic school with open enrolment, even if you like dark magic more, you should've nevertheless beware of this point!"
Karkaroff could not speak.
If he admitted that Durmstrang used dark magic as the main teaching content, then tomorrow the reputation of the school would be completely infamous. As a headmaster, he had to stand up for his and his school's reputation.
Karkaroff said with a red face, "Dark magic is only a part of the Durmstrang curriculum - we also have the ability to solve its side effects, and there are special professors in the school who will evaluate the student's learning progress and selectively teach them dark magic."
That's what has been said, but privately many professors turn a blind eye and don't pursue it too far, which is why Durmstrang's reputation for promoting dark magic is so well known.
The reason why Durmstrang has not become a concentration camp for dark wizards has to do with the school's system. They do follow certain vetting standards, and the advantage of this practice is that even if there are students who practice dark magic privately, they don't practice much because they don't dare to use it publicly, and its impact on their minds is not that serious.
"Then what about the extra set of Champions from Hogwarts?" Karkaroff changed the subject very stiffly.
"It's simple, since you all see it as an advantage to Hogwarts, let's make it a disadvantage," Felix lightly swept a glance at the Champions and Headmasters present, who were not concerned with whether there were dark wizards secretly coveting Harry or teaching issues of Durmstrang, they just wanted to know how to reasonably weaken Hogwarts before the tournament starts.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, Mr. Crouch, Mr. Bagman, I suggest that Hogwarts' score be calculated according to the average value."
------------
Thanks for all your support.
There are 419+ chapters on P_atreon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on Pa_treon: www.pa_treon.com/Crazy_Cat.
Thanks for all your support.
There are 419+ chapters on P_atreon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on Pa_treon: www.pa_treon.com/Crazy_Cat.
"By average value?" Bagman asked uncertainly.
"That's right, the average value. Hogwarts now has two groups of champions, the first group of champions is from three different houses, while the second group of champions is totally from Gryffindor, obviously, this is not beneficial to the relationship between the students of the four houses. So, it is better to simply tie them together ..."
"For example, five schools, plus two judges, for the time being, let's calculate the full score of a single task as seventy points. If one group of Hogwarts scores seventy points and another group scores zero, the final score of the Hogwarts will be thirty-five points."
"But when it comes to the rank order in the tasks, it's best to calculate them separately." He then added another sentence.
Everyone's eyes lit up, and they couldn't help but nod their heads.
Madame Maxime frowned, "If I understand correctly, Hogwarts must occupy first and second place if they want to win the competition, so the disadvantage is too big ..."
Bagman wiped his round face with a handkerchief, looking very anxious, "Finally someone made a fair point, I also think the same, in case one group performs too poorly, won't they drag down the other group that has hopes of winning the title?"
Karkaroff laughed, "I rather think this method is fair."
Bagman said with annoyance, "In case one group dies! Uh, sorry, I mean ... in case one group of champions loses the ability to compete, such as suffering an unhealable injury, then their score will be very low!"
"That's the penalty of Hogwarts for cheating, isn't it?" Karkaroff said sleekly.
"Anyone with a bit of brain wouldn't believe that this was done by Hogwarts, and I do think that a thorough investigation should be conducted with everyone's presence. Besides," Moody said impatiently, " You still haven't cleared your name yet, Karkaroff!"
Moody's Magic Eye darted around, as he peered at Karkaroff with contempt.
Dumbledore spoke up, with his usual calm tone, "If you have no objections, let's proceed with the tournament in this way, the students of the four houses of Hogwarts are essentially one, and I value their gains in this tournament more than the glory from the tournament."
Harry's heart filled with guilt to the core, he opened his mouth to say something, when Hermione pulled him aside and shook her head firmly.
After a long silence, no one offered any further disagreement, and everyone acquiesced to the fact that there would be two sets of champions at Hogwarts, along with their unique scoring method, which frankly exceeded their initial expectations.
At this point, most people were actually convinced that the anomaly in the Goblet of Fire was not Hogwarts' handiwork, but this speculation inevitably cast a shadow over their hearts.
Everyone's heart became heavy with concern.
"Well," Dumbledore looked at the others with a smile - Harry couldn't believe how he could still smile - " Next, I'd like to ask Barty Crouch Sr to provide guidelines for the champions. Barty?"
Mr. Crouch looked as if he had just abruptly snapped out of deep thought.
"Yes," he said, "Guidelines, yes ... the first task..." In the bright light, he looked extraordinarily haggard, with two thick bags under his eyes, and deep wrinkles that looked as if they had been scratched out with a pocket knife.
"This year's competition is different from the previous ones, completely different ... apart from the first-ever five schools with six teams, there is also the fact that the competition tasks are carried out in a group format, and we have to ensure that the champions are safe enough while increasing the difficulty. Please rest assured, the Ministry of Magic has arranged professional staff to protect everyone, in addition, Dumbledore also promised that he would choose a wizard with high magic power to oversee the whole game ... Dumbledore?"
Dumbledore nodded and said cheerfully, "I already have a suitable candidate."
"Very well, let's get back to business." Mr. Crouch said: "The first task is very difficult and rushed, on the 24th of this month ... Therefore, we have prepared three keywords to provide a direction for the champions to prepare, but will not explicitly tell you what you are going to face... So more or less use your brains ..."
"The first keyword, courage - measures your guts and willingness to face the unknown - in case you are too stupid to guess. Nevertheless, the ministry believes that after knowing what you have to face, if you still choose to face it bravely, then this quality is even more significant;"
"The second keyword, cooperation, I don't need to say anything more, every participating team - three people must be able to work together, one person will never be able to complete the task;"
"The third keyword, fire," when Crouch said the word, Ilvermorny's Graves quickly glanced at Hermione, his face paled a bit, but no one noticed it, as Crouch continued: "This point will not be expanded, it is considered as a secret, and it also will be a test for your wisdom ..."
He paused, leaving room for people to chew on the three words, courage, cooperation, and fire, with the third word being the most important. Many realized that the champions are likely to face dangerous magical flames, possibly the environment, traps, or some kind of magical creature that can manipulate the fire.
Barty Crouch Sr retreated into the shadows, while Ludo Bagman said cheerfully, "Barty has given you all hints, and with careful preparation, I'm sure you can handle those-"
"Dragons!" A voice suddenly said.
"Wh, what?" Bagman almost bit his tongue as he jerked his head around and stared at the unassuming student who had made the statement.
Ron shivered and said, "I guessed it, something that breathes fire, all I can think of is Dragon, when I was a first-year-"
Harry stomped on his foot, "Uh, I mean," Ron desperately opened his mind not to expose Hagrid, "I have someone in my family who works at the dragon sanctuary, I went to see it in my first year and got impressed by ... "
Bagman's tense face relaxed, "Really, ah, so that's it ... but you misheard Barty, he said Fire, not fire-breathing ..." he repeated nervously, "Not fire-breathing." His body restlessly swayed, his movements were all seen by someone with an eye to see.
Felix looked away, quite speechless, why don't you suggest it more clearly?
"So it's not a Dragon?" One of Uagadou's champions asked.
Everyone stared at him as if they were looking at a troll, or something similar. Bagman pretended not to hear him and turned his head to Dumbledore, "Our mission is almost complete, I would like to stay at Hogwarts tonight, is that okay?"
"Of course," said Dumbledore, "Barty, why don't you stay too, you look awfully exhausted."
"No, I must go back to the Ministry, at present it is a very busy, extremely tight schedule ... I have left young Weatherby as a temporary in charge ...," he rambled and left before everyone.
After that, people left one by one, and when the remainder in the room had dispersed - "Alastor." Dumbledore stayed behind with Moody.
Then the door slammed heavily behind them.
Felix stood a short distance away, waiting quietly, motionless like a statue, a little away from the door.
Do not know how long it took, the door opened again, and Moody came out, he limped away with his crutches.
A few moments later, Dumbledore came out and looked at Felix, who stood in the corner and shook his head slightly.
Moody turned out to be genuine? From the information available so far, he is the most suspicious, if not him, who would it be?
Felix's heart sank, and Dumbledore left, leaving him alone to think in silence, in the thinking room, one by one figures appeared alternately, some clear, some a little blurry.
Even Karkaroff's goatee kept wavering in his mind.
"Heh, this is getting interesting," Felix said to himself, " Maybe it's time to bring out my Ver. of Marauder's Map ..."
On his way back to the office, where he turned into a corner, a group of people came rushing out with a huff.
"Professor, we're willing to forfeit the competition ..."
"Yes, Professor Hap."
"Can you talk with Headmaster Dumbledore again-"
Felix raised his hand, stopping the chattering Harry, Ron, and Hermione, with another group of champions standing a few steps behind them.
"Do you want to be Squib?"
"What?" Harry questioned in shock, he didn't know how this topic had been brought up, of course, he knew about the Squib, Filch is a Squib, he knew about it since he was a second year.
Hermione's eyes widened with fear, and Harry looked at her face blankly, such a look is something he had never seen before.
"That's the price for forfeiting, that's why I'm asking you guys, do you want to be Squibs?"
"You've got to be kidding me!" Harry shouted out, his body trembled for a moment, unable to say whether it was from fear or anger. He dared not imagine the consequences of becoming a Squib, Hogwarts is the first place he recognized from his heart, his first home ... how can he ever possibly allow himself to leave this side of world?
Even Cedric and the rest of them froze, despite how Headmaster Dumbledore repeatedly stressed that the contract could not be broken, they never thought that abandoning the game would result in this kind of punishment.
Squib, the loss of magic power ... In fact, there is a thin layer of magic power present in the squibs, which allows them to see things invisible to ordinary people, able to use potions, and enjoy a fraction of the convenience of magic, but most of them, for the rest of their lives, will not be able to cast a single spell successfully and completely.
"Then there's no need to speak about this thing."
Felix spoke quickly, "Next is second topic, why are the two groups of champions from Hogwarts bound together, that's your concern too, right?"
The six people - Harry, Ron, Hermione, Cedric, Roger Davies, and Collins Foley nodded in unison.
Felix explained, "On the one hand, it's a necessary compromise, and you don't want four internationally renowned wizarding schools to be hostile to Hogwarts for decades to come, do you?"
There was a uniform head shaking.
"On the other hand, this is also my own wish." Felix looked at the frozen six faces and finally revealed a smile, "Yes, the situation in front of me is exactly the result I want to achieve."
"For, why?" Harry stammered and asked.
"When the second set of champions appeared from Hogwarts, I immediately realized the risk - No, it wasn't about someone tampering with the Goblet of Fire rules, that thought followed afterward," Felix added when he saw Harry trying to interject.
"Hogwarts has two sets of champions, which is more than just an honour, but also the first signs of a split between the four houses. Even though my attempt at the Magic Rune Club slightly broke down the strong wall between the four houses, I suddenly realized that if I didn't do something about it now, this tournament may ruin all my previous efforts."
"I certainly wouldn't allow that to happen." Felix said, "So after consulting with Dumbledore, I proposed new scoring rules."
Harry and the others stared at him in disbelief.
"But, Professor Hap," Ron said suddenly, "this will only cost the school the Tournament of Champions trophy, Hogwarts will lose for sure, and it will lead to a huge disaster."
"Why do you say that?" Felix asked politely.
"Because, because ..." Ron held up one of his hands, which trembled uncontrollably, "because I ... when I knew the first task is a dragon, it's always been like that. I'm not exactly a champion material, and if I'm involved, not only will I not be able to help, but I'll be dragging their feet."
"Just hearing the name I'm scared to death, and if I truly confront a Dragon, I will absolutely die, and will also drag Harry and Hermione, when I think of such a scenario, I feel," he said with a pale, daunting face: "Why not kick me out and choose another one up, Squib, in fact, also ..."
"Ron ...," Hermione said sadly.
"I know I'm no match for all of you, even in the bottom of the batch of all those students selected--"
"Not a batch." Felix interjected.
"What?" Ron looked at him with some amazement.
"Not a batch, I mean, you're the worst one." Felix said. "Of the selected students even if you count Neville, you're the worst one."
"But Neville ...," Ron said indignantly, glaring at him.
"The number of spells mastered by Neville is not as much as yours, but he far surpasses you with the shield charm and the stunning spell, and most crucially, he has initially formed a dueling style that suits him, and as time lengthens, the gap between both of you will become more and more obvious."
Ron froze there, his brain blank, his whole face looked like a dolt.
"Professor Hap--" Harry looked at Ron anxiously, and then at Felix, not understanding why he said that.
"... However, I am very optimistic about your potential."
Ron's eyes rolled, with a little more life on his blazed white face, as he repeated blankly, "Potential?"
"Yes, potential. In fact, your talent is not bad, even with you being playful, you can be ranked in the middle of your grade, and if we talk about practical ability alone, you can be ranked in front of your age ..."
Ron looked at him, "But I can't match--"
"You lack sufficient motivation." Felix scratched his nose, "An interesting phenomenon is that no matter in dueling classes, or ancient rune classes, or magic rune club, your performance is always average, just the type that is average to below average and the type that you definitely can't notice at first glance."
Ron's face scrunched up.
" The thing is, there are only three types in my rating." Felix said.
"That's precisely why I think you lack sufficient motivation," Felix stated, "Originally it was your personal choice and I wouldn't get overly involved, but things are different now - for whatever reason, you've become one of the Hogwarts Champions."
"In a sense, you're still the most important one, you should know what I mean."
Harry had never seen Ron's body shake so evenly, from head to toe, even the muscles in his face were shaking in turmoil.
"I would determine whether Hogwarts would end up with the trophy?" Ron said slowly.
"You can understand it this way, if you compare the tournament of champions to a Quidditch game, you are now a seeker." Felix said, "In the past, you didn't have a reason to get stronger, but now there is-"
"On a smaller scale, you're one of the Champions and have a chance to earn glory for the school by working hard; on a larger scale, every ounce of effort you make now is protecting the lives of your two best friends, Potter and Granger."
"I look forward to your performance on the first task."
He took a few steps forward and turned his head to look at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, "The next few days may be difficult for you, after all, with an extra set of Champions, especially when the scoring rules are announced."
"Only when the first task is over, your situation might improve ..."
"Professor Hap!" Cedric said, "I'll step up and explain to the others, I've heard it all, Harry and the group are victims too."
"I'll also speak to the Ravenclaw students, I'm a Head Boy." Roger Davies said.
"Me too, Professor Hap." Collins said, glaring at Ron, "I'll get the trophy, and I'll be watching you to death."
Felix's lips curled up, and he waved as he turned to leave.
------------
#Octavia and #Hubert Budny, Thanks for your support.
There are 419+ chapters on P_atreon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on Pa_treon: www.pa_treon.com/Crazy_Cat.
#Octavia and #Hubert Budny, Thanks for your support.
There are 419+ chapters on P_atreon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on Pa_treon: www.pa_treon.com/Crazy_Cat.