As they walked through the foyer and toward the Great Hall again with the rest of the Hogwarts students, a couple of sixth-year girls were going crazy and rummaging through their pockets for something—

"Oh, I can't believe I don't have a quill—"

"You say, he's going to sign my hat with lipstick?" they walked past the girls who were arguing over a lipstick.

They walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down. Beauxbatons' classmates had already chosen their seats at the Ravenclaw table. When they sat down, they looked around the auditorium with sullen expressions on their faces. Three of the students still had their heads wrapped tightly in scarves and turbans.

Krum and his fellow Durmstrong alumni chose the Slytherin bar.

"Long time no see, my dear cousin. A Durmstrang student, who was a head taller than Phoenix, hugged him warmly and greeted him in Russian.

"Long time no see, Andrey. Phoenix put his arm around his shoulders and said to his friends, "My cousin, Andrei. It doesn't matter, he doesn't know English. ”

A few people remembered that the Bulgarian minister played Fudge at the World Cup, and Phoenix sometimes joked, but few really believed it. Durmstrang's classmates took off their students' fur cloaks and looked up at the dark, star-studded ceiling with interest. Two of the students also picked up the golden plate and goblet and held it carefully, obviously interested.

At the faculty desk over there, Filch, the janitor, was adding a few chairs. For today's grand occasion, he put on that old tuxedo that moldy look.

After all the students had entered the auditorium and taken their seats at the tables of their respective colleges, the faculty members came in, and they walked to the guest of honor and sat down. At the end of the line were Professor Dumbledore, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime. As soon as the Beauxbatons students saw their headmaster appear, they quickly stood up. Several Hogwarts students couldn't help but laugh. But Beauxbatons' delegates did not look embarrassed at all, and they did not sit down again until Lady Maxime sat down on Dumbledore's left-hand side. Dumbledore stood still, and the Great Hall fell silent.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts, and—especially—distinguished guests," said Dumbledore, smiling at the foreign students, "I welcome you to Hogwarts with great joy. I hope and believe that you will feel comfortable and happy here. ”

"The tournament will officially begin at the end of the banquet. Dumbledore said, "I now invite everyone to eat and drink as if they were in your own home!"

The plate in front of them was again full of food as usual. The house-elves in the kitchen seemed to pull out all the stops. A few of them are definitely foreign.

"French mixed fish soup, I see that in order to entertain you, we have put a lot of effort into it. Phoenix said.

"It's all French food. Andrei said.

"Because you don't have any specialties there. ”

Somehow, the Great Hall seemed to be more crowded than usual, though there were less than twenty more students, perhaps because their coloured uniforms stood out compared to the black robes of Hogwarts. Durmstrang's students stripped off their fur cloaks, revealing the blood-red robes they were wearing.

Phoenix noticed that a Beauxbatons girl was surprisingly eye-catching. Long, waterfall-like silver hair reached her waist. She has large blue eyes and a mouthful of white, neat teeth. As the girl walked through the auditorium, many of the boys turned their heads to look at her, and some of them seemed to be speechless for a moment.

Melinda stomped hard under the table.

"She's definitely of Meiwa blood. Phoenix gasped.

"How do you know?" looked at the Beauxbatons girls with contempt in their eyes, pure-blood conservatism considered Muggle-born wizards to be lowly people, but the offspring of such a union with magical creatures probably didn't even count as human in their eyes.

The second course came up, and they noticed that there were many sweets that they had never seen before. When the golden plates were scrubbed again, Dumbledore stood up again. An emotion of excitement and nervousness seemed to permeate the auditorium.

"The time has finally come," Dumbledore said, smiling at the raised faces, "The Triwizard Tournament is about to begin." I'd like to explain a few words before I bring the box in—"

"- I would like to explain the program of our activities for this school year. But first allow me to introduce two guests, for there are others who do not know them, and this is Mr. Barty Crouch, Director of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Magic," - there was a sparse applause in the auditorium - "This is Mr. Ludo Bagman, Director of the Department of Physical Education and Sports of the Ministry of Magic. ”

The applause given to Bagman was much louder than that given to Mr. Crouch, perhaps because he was well-known as a batsman, or perhaps simply because he looked much more gracious. He waved his hand happily in thanks. When Barty Crouch's name was introduced, Crouch neither smiled nor waved.

"Over the past few months, Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly to arrange the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will form a panel of judges with me, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxim to judge the efforts of the Warriors. ”

As soon as they heard the word "warrior", the students seemed to be more attentive. Dumbledore also seemed to notice their sudden silence, only to see him smile and say, "Mr. Filch, please bring the box." ”

No one noticed that Filch had been lurking in a corner of the Great Hall until now, and he was walking towards Dumbledore, holding a large wooden box encrusted with jewels, which looked very old. The students watched intently and discussed with great interest.

"The specific events of this year's Warriors' competitions have been carefully vetted by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore, as Filch carefully placed the box on the table in front of him, "and they have made many necessary arrangements for each event." There are three programs, each at different times throughout the school year, that will test the warriors in many different ways – their talent in magic – their courage and their reasoning skills – and, of course, their ability to overcome danger. ”

At the hearing of the last sentence, the auditorium fell silent, and it seemed as if everyone had stopped breathing.

"You already know that there will be three Warriors in the tournament," Dumbledore continued quietly, "representing one participating school. They will be graded based on the quality of each event, and at the end of the three events, the warrior with the highest score will win the Triwizard Cup. The one in charge of selecting the Champion is an impartial selector, and it is the Goblet of Fire. ”

With that, Dumbledore pulled out his wand and tapped it three times on the lid of the box. The lid slowly creaked open. Dumbledore reached in and pulled out a large, rough-cut wooden goblet. The cup itself is unremarkable, but the inside is full of dancing blue-white flames.

Dumbledore closed the box and placed the cup on the lid so that everyone in the auditorium could see it clearly.

"Every student who wants to run for a Warrior must write his name and the name of his school on a piece of parchment and throw it into this goblet," said Dumbledore, "and those who want to become a Warrior can sign up within twenty-four hours." Tomorrow night, the night of Halloween, Goblet will choose the names of the three students it thinks best represent the three schools. Tonight, the goblet will be placed in the foyer and will be accessible to all students who are willing to participate in the campaign. ”

"Lest the younger students fall short of temptation," said Dumbledore, "I'm going to draw an age line around the goblet when it's in the foyer." No one under the age of 17 can cross this line. ”

"Finally, I would like to remind everyone who is going to participate in the election to pay attention to the fact that this competition is not a child's play, and you must not participate in it recklessly. Once the Warrior is selected by the Goblet of Fire, he must hold the game to the end. Whoever throws his name into the cup actually forms a magical contract that must be observed. Once you become a warrior, you are not allowed to change your mind. So, think twice and find out that you really want to participate in the competition before throwing your name into the cup. Okay, I think it's time for everyone to go to bed. Good night to all. ”

"Age boundaries!" said Phoenix, his eyes sparkling with confidence, "and that's easy to do." At this point, the students all walked through the auditorium towards the two doors that led to the foyer.

"You were preparing last night, weren't you?" said Nott.

"Of course. ”

Karkaroff came over, walked up to his students and led them back to the ship.