Not long afterward, the four judges reappeared at the judges' seats on the high platform, while the three champions who had just completed the final task stood behind their respective headmasters.
Karkaroff cleared his throat, then cast a Sonorous Charm on himself and read aloud:
"Then, based on the observations and evaluations of the judging panel, we shall now announce the scores received by the three champions in the third task. Each Dark wizard defeated counts as one point—"
"Durmstrang, Mr. Viktor Krum: two points. Beauxbatons, Miss Fleur Delacour: six points. Hogwarts, Mr. Ken..."
Karkaroff exchanged glances with the other judges, swallowed, and only then read out with some difficulty:
"Forty-one points."
"..."
This score did not cause any dispute.
On the contrary, most people were still astonished that Krum and Fleur had actually managed to score points. Those close enough to tease them were even cheering for them. After this incident, everyone could see that the monstrous champion from Hogwarts was not on the same level as the other two at all...
From the beginning of the battle to Avada taking over the shield and expelling Fleur and Krum, less than ten seconds had actually passed in total. Being able to claim several takedowns in such a short period was indeed worthy of praise, even if part of the reason was that the Dark wizards had not reacted to what was happening at first.
As for why Fleur's score was quite a bit higher than Krum's, that was because of her talent. In those less than ten seconds, she had successfully activated her Veela bloodline, then launched her first wave of firepower coverage, successfully taking out several Dark wizards who had not managed to cast Shield Charms in time.
Compared with that, Krum, who could only rely on Dark Magic for targeted sneak attacks, was at a much greater disadvantage...
Of course, the small results the two of them achieved were not really worth comparing in front of Avada's count of more than forty takedowns.
"In that case, I hereby announce that the Triwizard Tournament has now concluded successfully. Finally, taking into account the total scores received by the three champions across all three tasks..."
Karkaroff took out a familiar large box from under his table.
"Next, the symbol of the Triwizard Tournament, the Goblet of Fire, will announce the champion of this Tournament!"
As he spoke, he opened the box with his wand in front of everyone and once again lifted out a large wooden goblet, roughly hewn and crudely carved. At this moment, the cup was filled with leaping blue-white flames.
"Will the three champions please step forward and touch the Goblet of Fire with your wands? This symbolizes the official end of the magical contract between you and it. After that, it will spit out the name of the victorious school..."
As Karkaroff spoke, he silently glanced at Dumbledore.
In truth, there was no suspense left over who the victor was. And this act of making such a grand show of celebrating an opponent's victory on his own home ground made him, as headmaster, feel rather uncomfortable.
On the other side, Avada, Fleur, and Krum also walked up before the Goblet of Fire with their wands and raised them toward it.
However, Avada vaguely noticed that, for some reason, when Fleur and Krum approached the Goblet of Fire, both of them deliberately positioned themselves in the middle. Even now, their movements of extending their wands were half a beat slower than his...
...Whatever.
Avada was somewhat helpless as he took the lead and lightly touched the Goblet of Fire.
I thought the three of us should count as teammates who went through hardship together. After all, our real enemies weren't each other... I suppose the strength I showed frightened them.
After Avada lowered his wand, Krum and Fleur finally raised theirs and touched the wall of the Goblet of Fire with the tips.
After that, the originally leaping blue flames inside the cup suddenly turned crimson. This scene was exactly the same as the moment half a year ago when the names of the champions were about to leap out of the Goblet of Fire.
"Step back, you three."
Dumbledore beckoned to the champions, indicating for them to return behind the judges.
"The Goblet of Fire makes rather a large commotion when selecting the victor."
Boom!
Just as Dumbledore had said, almost immediately after the three of them had moved away from the Goblet of Fire, that crimson flame abruptly expanded several dozen times over. It transformed into a brilliant pillar of fire that shot into the sky, weaving a graceful name in elegant flaming script high above—
Hogwarts!
A tremendous cheer rose among the students as that name ascended into the air.
Not only were the twenty or so students from Hogwarts cheering and jumping with all their might, even the Leach University students who had originally graduated from Hogwarts were clapping and shouting for their alma mater.
Although so many unexpected twists had occurred before this, since everyone was safe and sound in the end, and no other incidents had happened, the most important thing right now should be cheering for the champion who had just been born. As for figuring out the truth and such, that could be pushed back for now!
Even from the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang areas, which were technically on the losing side, bursts of applause could now be heard. They were expressing their respect toward this champion, who, though the youngest, had uprightly relied on his own strength to open up an enormous score gap between himself and the other two champions...
"Actually, we don't need to cheer at all—this was expected from the beginning!"
In the Hogwarts group, Cedric, whose palms were already red from clapping, said something outwardly mild and harmless, though in reality the corners of his mouth had already stretched all the way to the sky.
"Back then, none of us thought Ken would lose, right?"
"Of course."
Beside him, Baron's smile contained a touch of relief amid his joy.
"Comparing him to people his own age is bullying them too much. Ken's scope is far beyond that!"
"Mm-hmm!"
The Hogwarts group nodded repeatedly.
Their champion was someone who had foiled Voldemort's schemes twice. Competing against people his own age—wasn't that just child's play?
"Eh, right."
After cheering for a while, someone sharp-eyed suddenly noticed that something seemed off. They shook the shoulder of the friend beside them and pointed toward the distant Goblet of Fire.
"The champion has clearly already been announced, so why hasn't the Goblet of Fire gone out yet? And not only has it not gone out, it even seems to be growing more active..."
Boom!
In the next instant, as another pillar of fire soared into the sky, everyone's expressions froze on their faces at the same time.
They blankly followed the trajectory of the flame and slowly raised their heads, watching as a brand-new name gradually wove itself into shape beside the name Hogwarts...
Leach University.
And as though that name were some kind of signal, the very instant it finished forming, an ornate great door suddenly appeared out of thin air below it without warning. Then it slowly opened, revealing a hall that the students were all very familiar with, as well as a dozen or so faces standing within—
"Miranda Goshawk... Damocles Belby... Johnson Shafiq... Benjamin Baker... Ignatius Tuft..."
Seeing one face after another that they had only ever seen in newspapers suddenly appear before them all at once, everyone fell into a daze. They watched as those people smiled and waved to their surroundings, then stepped together onto the judges' stand...
(End of Chapter)