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Chapter 238: News of the Triple Threat Tournament

The teams were the quickest to leave, escorting their own players, and as they did so, they hurled irritated abuse at the poor management of the Ministry of Magic in the UK.

Poor Fudge, he had wanted to make a big deal out of the Quidditch World Cup and use the success of the tournament to bring his prestige and reputation up, thus preserving his political position at the next change of government.

However, the actions that the Death Eaters had pulled off had completely thrown Fudge's plans out of whack. Instead of his reputation being raised, he was directly scolded to the international community.

The whole of Europe now knew that Connelly Fudge, the minister of the Ministry of Magic in England, was an incompetent fool who couldn't even run a Quidditch match!

"The Ministry of Magic panicked ... Criminals not caught ... Policing loose ... Dark wizards on the loose... ...bringing shame to the nation ... Who wrote this, huh?"

Fudge stood behind his desk, angrily banging his desktop with today's Daily Prophet.

"Listen to this: the wizards, alarmed, waited with bated breath for news at the edge of the woods, hoping to be reassured by the Ministry of Magic, and regrettably, they were sorely disappointed. Shortly after the appearance of the Dark Mark, a Ministry of Magic official showed up, declaring that no one had been harmed, but refusing to say anything more. Whether or not his words were enough to quell the sort of rumor that a few bodies were carried out of the woods an hour later remains to be seen."

"This is completely putting the Ministry of Magic on the fire, those idiot-like civilian wizards will surely think that this World Cup final is dead ... but last night clearly not a single person died, and even the injuries were mostly caused by stampedes!"

Fudge slammed the newspaper down hard on the floor, breathing heavily.

The ragged breath was accompanied by the occasional angry, deafening roar that came from outside the office door, showing no sign of weakening even through the walls and the office door -

It was yelling letter after yelling letter, all sent from various magical families or magical stores, mostly to complain about World Cup safety and claim compensation.

Ordinary wizards wanted the Ministry of Magic to compensate them for their damaged belongings such as tents and camping supplies, magical stores wanted the Ministry of Magic to compensate them for the advertising fees they had paid, and the participating teams wanted the Ministry of Magic to compensate them for the emotional distress and convalescence of their players ...

Throughout the morning, the Ministry of Magic's ministers were like putting out fires, their hands were busy handling all sorts of howler letters.

If they didn't open the howler letters right away, these dangerous letters would explode, destroying the Ministry of Magic's belongings; and if they opened the howler letters, the deafening sounds would be unceasing, enveloping the entire floor in noise.

Fudge's face became even more ugly as he listened to those noisy voices.

"Mr. Minister, these reports are obviously written by that woman called Rita Skeeter." Pink Toad Umbridge stood in front of Fudge and said coyly, "That woman knows how to write claptrap against the Ministry of Magic all day long."

She cleared her throat and gave her opinion, "If you ask me, the Ministry of Magic should set up a Ministry of Public Opinion Supervision, and all those newspapers and periodicals should be vetted by the Ministry of Magic before they are published before they can be issued ..."

"Dolores, how many times have I told you, we don't have any extra ministry staff to deal with those minor and trivial matters anymore!" Fudge said in annoyance, "We have to focus all our efforts on another big thing right now, and if that thing is done right, I still have a chance to flip my wind rating."

Yes, Fudge was preparing two big moves to get his credibility and reputation back.

One of them was the Quidditch World Cup Finals, which had been declared a complete failure; as for the other, it was an equally major event that had been on hiatus for two hundred years, and one that Mr. Weasley had mentioned to the lesser wizards as an event that was close to their hearts ...

...

Harry, Ron, and Hermione, along with the Weasley twins, had learned at the opening dinner exactly what the event Mr. Weasley had mentioned was.

After mealtime was over, the young wizards sat down at the long tables of their respective houses and watched as Headmaster Dumbledore, who was sitting in the very center of the professors' seats, stood up.

"Well!" Dumbledore said as he looked at the group with a grin, "Now that we've all had our fill of food and drink, I must once again ask for your attention, I have a few announcements to make-"

"Mr. Filch, the janitor, wishes me to inform you that this year, a few more items have been added to the list of prohibited items in the castle; they are the Screaming Swimming Ball, the Wolfsbane Frisbee, and the Combo Boomerang. The entire list consists of roughly four hundred and thirty-seven items and is available in Mr. Filch's office for anyone interested in checking it out."

The corner of Dumbledore's mouth twitched a few times.

Harry glanced over to the castle gates and saw that Filch was leaning a mop on the ground and standing smugly watching the small wizards in the auditorium.

The truth was that the young wizards had gotten used to these lists of prohibited items that were added to every year, and no one ever cared about them.

Fred and George even glanced wryly at each other, obviously interested in these new additions to the list of prohibited items and wanting to buy a few from Hogsmeade to play with.

"As before, I would like to remind everyone that the forbidden forest over by the grounds is off limits to students," Dumbledore continued, ignoring the already lackluster reactions of the students, "and as for Hogsmeade Village, no student under the third year is allowed to patronize it."

With those caveats out of the way, he smirked and raised his eyes to the young wizards in the room.

"Also, it is with great regret that I have to inform you all that there will be no College Cup Quidditch Tournament this year!"

His expression didn't look sorry at all.

"What?" Harry gasped in shock, twisting his head to look at his Quidditch teammates Fred and George, "How can this be?"

The Gryffindors had only just won the Quidditch Cup the previous academic year, and now that Captain Wood, who was the Keeper, had graduated and left, the composition of the rest of the team hadn't changed all that much, and it didn't take a lot of bonding to be able to play, so it was safe to say that things were looking up.

Sure enough, Fred and George also had their mouths open, staring wordlessly at Dumbledore, too surprised to speak.

"Hold your horses, everyone, let's not protest just yet." Dumbledore pressed his palms downward in an imaginary manner and continued, "This is due to a large event that will begin in October and continue throughout the school year, which takes up much of the teachers' time and energy ..."

"But I'm sure you can all get a great deal of enjoyment out of it. It gives me great pleasure to announce to you that over the next few months, we will have the great honor of hosting a very exciting event that hasn't been held in over a century-"

Dumbledore deliberately paused for a few seconds, bringing the sense of anticipation in the auditorium to a peak.

"It gives me great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be held at Hogwarts this year!"

"Triwizard Tournament?" Fred stood up menacingly and exclaimed, "You're kidding!"

The outcry was instantly broken by Fred.

Almost everyone burst out laughing at this, and Dumbledore laughed softly.

"I'm not joking, Mr. Weasley," he laughed, "but now that you mention joking, I did hear a very funny joke about a troll, a she-devil, and a dwarf demon who all went into the same tavern... ..."

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat quite loudly, and could see that her face was darkening a bit.

"Oh - it's probably not a good time to talk about that ... well, it's not a good time ... " Dumbledore seemed to be waving his hand in realization, "Where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament ..."

"Some of you still don't know exactly what this tournament is all about, so I hope those who do will forgive me for explaining a little here, I'll allow their minds to wander for a moment."

"The Triwizard Tournament was created about seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest magic schools in Europe. The three schools were Hogwarts, Boothbottom, and Durmstrang. Each school selects a warrior, and then the three warriors compete in three magical disciplines. The Triwizard Tournament was held every five years, with the three schools taking turns hosting it, and it was agreed that it was a wonderful way for young wizards to build friendships between different countries-but then the death toll of the participating students became too high, and the Triwizard Tournament was discontinued."

"The number of deaths?" Hermione caught this keenly and whispered, while looking around in shock.

But most of the students in the auditorium weren't as nervous as she was, and many were mingling excitedly. Harry was also eager to hear the exact details of the Triwizard Tournament, neither of them interested in those who had died hundreds of years ago.

"Several attempts have been made over the centuries to revive the brawl," Dumbledore continued to explain, "but none have been successful."

"However, we at the Ministry of Magic, the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation and the Department of Magical Sports and Physical Education, believe that the time is ripe for another attempt. We did a lot of work this summer to make sure that every warrior would not encounter a life-threatening situation."

"Not only that, but a new magic school will be added to this year's Triwizard Tournament - that would be the Yinfa Magicani Magic School from the United States! From now on, the Triwizard Tournament will become the Quadwizard Tournament, and the competition will be even fiercer!"

Rolf Scamander, who was still in a state of inactivity while sitting at the long Hufflepuff table, stared menacingly at these words.

He had a bad premonition, always felt that there would be some of his own acquaintances among those who came from Yinfa Magicani, and meeting up with them at Hogwarts at that time could be a bit awkward ...

Dumbledore apparently didn't notice Rolf's expression that instantly became flustered and went on to explain:

"In October, the Headmasters of Boothbottom, Durmstrang, and Imperatorium will come with their carefully screened contenders, and the ceremony for selecting the warriors will take place on Halloween Eve."

"An impartial-to-impartial referee will decide which students are most qualified to compete for the Triwizard Cup and win honor for their school. On top of that, the winning individual will receive a prize of one thousand Galleons."

"I want to participate!" Fred said to George in a lowered voice from over the table.

His face was glowing with excitement at the thought of the possibility of receiving such honor and wealth.

And there was more than one person like Fred who fantasized about becoming a Hogwarts Warrior. People could be seen gazing at Dumbledore either avidly or expectantly at every house table.

The entire auditorium was noisy, with people excitedly whispering to their neighbors and speculating about just who would become a Hogwarts warrior.

Dumbledore cleared his throat at this point and spoke again, so the auditorium slowly quieted down.

"I know you are all eager to win the Triwizard Tournament trophy for Hogwarts," he said, "but the participating schools and the Ministry of Magic have agreed to set an age limit for this year's contenders!"

"Only students over the age of seventeen - that is to say, seventeen and over - will be allowed to enter for your safety."

Dumbledore raised his voice slightly as some of the people listening to him let out angry protests, the Weasley twins being listed among them, and the news that they would not be able to compete caused them to become exasperated.

"This measure is necessary, as the scramble program remains daunting and dangerous, and no matter how many precautions we take, there is simply no way that students below the sixth and seventh grades will be able to handle it."

"I hereby personally will make sure that no student not old enough to be a Hogwarts Warrior will be able to fool our most impartial referees!"

His blue eyes glinted meaningfully as his gaze raked over Fred and George's rebellious faces, "Therefore, if you are under the age of seventeen, I hope you won't waste your time applying."

Fred and George's eyes cringed for a moment as the Headmaster's gaze swept over them, then glared defiantly.

Dumbledore, however, ignored the twins' movements and continued:

"A delegation from Boothbottom, Ynfamoni and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and spending most of the school year with us. We hope that everyone will behave in a warm and friendly manner and promote Hogwarts."

"Also, once the Hogwarts warrior has been finally chosen, you are expected to support him or her wholeheartedly, with the best outcome, of course, being the Hogwarts warrior winning the final championship."

Dumbledore winked at the young wizards and once again resumed his grinning expression.

"Well, it's getting late, so in order for you to walk into class tomorrow morning refreshed and clear-headed. Go back to your respective common rooms and get some sleep!" He smiled and waved his hand toward the stage.