"Actually, I shouldn't be telling you the contents of the tournament..."
Barty Crouch hesitated slightly, but considering the dangers of the three events, if anything were to happen to the six students again...
"First, a dragon will guard a dragon egg. Of course, the egg is just a prop, and the dragon will be placed under hypnosis. The dragon will guard the egg, and the champions must steal it."
Now that he had already revealed the first task, Barty Crouch decided to go all in and disclose everything.
In Regulus Black's opinion, even if the tournament's contents were kept secret, after one round of competition, word would inevitably spread among the students. Future participants would naturally be better prepared. What, then—should the Triwizard Tournament be canceled forever?
To Regulus Black, the so-called confidentiality clause was completely unnecessary. Do Muggles need to keep the Olympics a secret?
"Since Hogwarts has a lake, the second event will be held underwater. We will hide the person most important to each champion in the lake as a treasure. The champions will simply need to find and bring them back to the surface."
Barty Crouch found this event far too easy. It was basically a race to see who was the fastest, so he wore a rather unimpressed expression.
"You said you're going to use the person most important to the champions as the treasure? Doesn't the Ministry of Magic think that's going too far?"
Regulus Black began to understand. Whether Muggle or wizard, those in power never really saw those beneath them as people.
"Er… We will ensure the safety of those involved."
Barty Crouch couldn't understand why Regulus was reacting this way, but he still gave the necessary reassurances.
"Let's set that aside for now. What about the final event?"
Regulus Black knew it was pointless to argue over this right now. If Barty Crouch wanted his help in redesigning the tournament, these issues could be addressed and avoided entirely.
"The final task actually has nothing to do with the first two. Originally, the Ministry wanted to design the tournament so that all three tasks were interconnected, but no one could come up with a coherent idea. They only managed to come up with a bunch of ridiculous ones."
Barty Crouch was helpless. His subordinates were all idiots—he cursed them every day at work.
You bureaucratic fools, Regulus Black silently cursed the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation standing before him.
"Redesigning the tournament isn't hard. The real issue is how much the Ministry is actually willing to listen."
Regulus Black slowly sipped his tea. The steaming, fragrant black tea carried a subtle sweetness, flowing into his mouth like hot blood.
He was waiting for Crouch's final answer. Everyone present would be a witness, and Crouch wouldn't dare go back on what he said in front of them.
"I'll follow your lead. Whatever you say, I'll go along with it."
Barty Crouch hesitated for a moment, but ultimately agreed to let Regulus Black revise the tournament events.
"Then first, the dragon egg event will remain unchanged..."
Regulus Black began explaining his ideas. His version of the tournament would be far more exciting than the Ministry's design. More importantly, the audience would be able to watch the entire process, allowing them to feel more immersed in the competition.
Barty Crouch suddenly saw the light—so this was another way the tournament could be done. If it succeeded, it might become an international event rivaling Quidditch.
Dumbledore also nodded in agreement. With the entire competition under the audience's watchful eyes, any mishaps could be noticed immediately. With the professors' strength, they could guarantee the event's safety.
"Since you've approved it, Director, then please prepare six dragons of different species!"
Regulus Black smiled warmly, but Barty Crouch was beginning to have second thoughts. With more participants, the costs would naturally increase.
Barty Crouch left, carrying a determination to see this tournament through no matter what.
Hogwarts returned to its usual peace. Mischief, studies, romance, and secret trysts—these were still the students' favorite pastimes.
Igor Karkaroff and Madam Maxime had already quietly informed their respective champions about the tournament's content.
This was to help them prepare in advance. Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory were also hard at work getting ready.
As for the first task of stealing the dragon egg, the two boys were practically pulling their hair out.
Because the professors had strictly forbidden them from discussing the event with other students, they could only struggle through it alone.
"Hagrid! You once wanted to raise a dragon. How much do you actually know about their habits?"
At Hogwarts, every student knew about Hagrid's failed attempt to raise a dragon and the incident where he lost the dragon egg. But before he ever tried to raise one, the school's Keeper of Keys had read through a great number of books on dragons.
Because of this, Cedric had stopped Hagrid to humbly ask for guidance. Unfortunately, what he got in return was a wave of painful memories. The half-giant burst into tears and ran down the corridor, knocking several portraits off the walls along the way.
"Did I say something wrong? Why did Hagrid react like that?"
Cedric was left standing there, confused, while the nearby students chuckled and watched the scene unfold.
"Cedric turned down Hagrid's love confession, and the big guy cried over a broken heart."
Peeves suddenly popped out of a wall, tossing out yet another new rumor. Still, quite a few students had witnessed what really happened, so this one probably wouldn't last long. But in the meantime, some troublemakers would surely get a few laughs out of it.
"To Hagrid, that dragon egg was like his child. If you really want to know about dragons, you'd better do what I did and look it up yourself."
Harry Potter was holding a book in his hand—it had everything from what dragons like to eat to their behavioral patterns.
Even though none of the six champions had revealed what the task was, it was obvious to everyone. Since all six of them were researching dragons, the first challenge almost certainly had something to do with them.
"If you're not sure, you could've just asked me!"
Ron chimed in from the side with that familiar punchable look on his face. By now, he was no longer jealous of Harry's entry into the competition. It was clear someone had tampered with the Goblet of Fire, which was how three schools had ended up with six champions. If they'd let the Goblet keep going, every student's name might have been picked. At that point, they might as well settle things with a Quidditch match.
"Ron! You know a lot about dragons?"
In Harry's mind, someone who really knew about dragons had to be someone who raised them—or at least wanted to. Like Hagrid.
Ron Weasley, raise dragons? Had the Weasley family ever even considered that?
Harry doubted Ron had any real connection to dragons, but he wasn't going to say that out loud.
"Of course I do. Our family farm only has some livestock, not nearly enough to feed a dragon. But raising dragons doesn't mean you have to do it yourself—it can be a job. And as it happens, my brother Charlie Weasley works with dragons in Romania. Every time he comes home on holiday, he just goes on and on about dragons. He never stops."
Ron Weasley looked a bit helpless. Dragon handlers were just like researchers—spending more time with dragons than with people. So once they got the chance to talk to someone, it all came spilling out. If it weren't for the need to eat or sleep, you'd never hear the end of it.
Harry hadn't expected his best friend to have such a cool older brother, and he immediately wanted to know more. But since Cedric was still with them, he had to be polite. The three of them found an empty classroom and sat down to talk.
Before long, though, they realized that all this knowledge wasn't particularly useful. What Harry and Cedric needed was a way to deal with dragons—how to sneak past one and steal a dragon egg. Not a lesson in dragon biology.
"All right! It's getting late. Let's head to the Great Hall, or we'll miss dinner."
When it came to food, the Hufflepuff badgers were never short on supplies. If they were hungry, they could simply go to the Hogwarts kitchen and help themselves. The school's kitchen might as well have been Hufflepuff's private pantry—though that was a closely guarded secret from the other three Houses.
"Hope we're not too late for the jelly."
Harry and Ron were starting to feel hungry too, and they immediately raced each other out the door.
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