novelhk Page 349
Page 349
Because he knew that Dumbledore's words were likely true.
In recent days, the mark has been reacting frequently, like a constantly ringing alarm bell reminding him that Voldemort is resurrecting.
He knew Voldemort's character well and knew that it was entirely possible for him to do something to Harry Potter under these circumstances.
Just then, Barty Crouch, who had been silent all along, coughed twice, breaking the heavy atmosphere.
"Dumbledore is right, but finding the Death Eaters is a matter for later."
Crouch's tone was filled with worry: "Right now, we need to face the audience outside. How are we going to explain all this? You know, the Lady of the Lake's words were heard by everyone in the audience."
After the question was asked, everyone fell into a brief silence.
This is something that definitely needs careful consideration; they all understand the seriousness of the issue.
If not handled properly, it will not only affect the reputation of the three schools in the Triwizard Tournament, but also the credibility of the International Cooperation Department and the Sports Department of the Ministry of Magic of the Underworld.
"Actually, I do have an idea."
Levin suddenly spoke, drawing everyone's attention.
"The three-way battle has reached a point where it can't be stopped now, and the Warriors have to participate in the next game, so we must reduce the impact of this, but we can't treat everyone like fools."
He paused and then said:
"In my opinion, the best approach is to link it to the upcoming good news, making everyone realize that although this matter is serious, it is still under the control of the Ministry of Magic."
Upon hearing this, Bagman raised an eyebrow, immediately understanding Levin's meaning: "Oh, you intend to link this to the Albanian situation..."
Bagman was the first to understand Levin's meaning.
"The Auror who went to Albania to hunt down the fugitive is about to return victorious," he was the one who initially revealed this news to Levin.
Bagman secretly admired Levin's quick thinking.
Levin smiled confidently: "That's right! We just need to portray this 'mastermind' as a remnant of the World Cup Night case—after all, they were all Death Eaters, so it's not unfair to pin this label on them—and then choose one of the fugitives who died during the capture and pin the crime on him."
He looked around, observing the thoughtful expressions on everyone's faces, and finally explained, "In this way, we can declare that the suspect launched the attack in this manner with the motive of retaliation against the British Ministry of Magic, especially the Department of International Cooperation and the Department of Sport."
“That’s a very reasonable reason!” Bagman immediately chimed in. “After all, Mr. Crouch and I were involved in organizing both the World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament. They were arrested at the World Cup, so as revenge, they’re causing us trouble at the Triwizard Tournament. That reason certainly makes sense.”
“That’s it,” Levin added. “The reason we chose a dead man to take the blame is so that there would be no way to prove anything. In the end, we just need to claim that the astute Aurors quickly tracked down the culprit, realized they had been discovered, and fled to Albania in a panic, where they were eventually ambushed by our Aurors who were lying in wait there. The murderer tried to resist but was killed on the spot.”
After speaking, Levin turned around and cast his gaze toward a corner of the tent.
There, Tonks, the deputy director of the Auror office and the security chief for the Triwizard Tournament, sat quietly, attentively listening to their conversation.
"So, Tonks, is the Auror Office willing to cooperate with us on this matter?"
Upon hearing this, Tonks nodded slightly. "I need to go back and report, but it seems to me that it's basically feasible."
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"This book is free. Find books! Not always: New books will be released at a certain time. Is that all there is to it?"
Levin looked around, and everyone nodded in silence, looking at him with complicated expressions.
What a terrible person.
How can this boy be so smart?
Several principals had this in mind.
His ability to devise such a skillful solution in the blink of an eye shows that he is no less capable than most politicians in the Ministry of Magic.
In this respect, Dumbledore felt it most deeply.
He gradually discovered that Levin's intelligence was not limited to magic.
Looking back now, he was just as adept at handling affairs and understanding people's hearts.
If Tom Riddle had possessed such skillful tactics back then, he could never have so easily become universally hated.
But if such a young person were to fall into the dark side of the Force... no, magic, the consequences could be even more terrible than those of Voldemort.
Fortunately, there's no sign of that happening yet.
Dumbledore sighed, then announced, "In that case, we'll follow Levin's lead and stick to the same story, but the Ministry of Magic will be responsible for how the matter is specifically announced."
"of course."
"no problem."
"Leave it to us."
The three Ministry of Magic officials present all agreed.
Dumbledore nodded and looked around at everyone: "Now it's our turn to go out and announce the warriors' scores."
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Update [4/3], Bonus Chapter [75/104]
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Chapter 382 Competition Scoring
The people inside the tent composed themselves and walked out one by one.
It was already noon, and the sun was high overhead.
Because the match was unexpectedly delayed for a while, they stayed in the tent for a long time. The students in the stands had long been getting impatient, and many of them were starving. They stood or sat, whispering and discussing among themselves.
Some bright students who like to fill in the blanks have even roughly guessed the truth of some things.
The whispers in the stands finally stopped when Dumbledore and his companions reappeared.
Under the eager and curious gazes of everyone, Bagman cleared his throat and stepped forward to speak:
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have finally made a decision. Mr. Morent, the Mermaid Chief, has told us everything that happened at the bottom of the Black Lake. Based on the match footage, we will score the Triwizard Tournament."
He paused for a moment, then began to announce the scoring rules: "This round of the competition is the same as the first round. Each judge can give a maximum score of ten points. The lowest score and the highest score will be removed, and the average score of the remaining scores will be the warrior's score. In addition, among all the warriors, those who unlock the secret of the golden egg will receive a base score of 1 point, those who successfully rescue the hostage will receive 3 points, and those who return within the stipulated time will receive an additional 2 points. The judges' discretionary power is 4 points."
According to this rule, only Hermione, Fleur, and Harry returned at the designated time.
The referee should give them at least a 6.
Bagman paused deliberately for a moment, whetting everyone's appetite before continuing with a smile: "Hermione Granger was the first to return to the shore. She took less than thirty minutes, a full ten minutes later than the second place. Her superb magic in transforming into a half-water elemental and her brilliant performance in repelling Grindylow were both impeccable. I personally give her a 10 out of 10."
As he spoke, Bagman fired a beam of light into the air, which exploded after a while, revealing a bright "10" on it, eliciting cheers.
Levin, Dumbledore, and Mrs. Maxim also gave it a score of 10, while Mr. Barty Crouch gave it a score of 9.
Next up is Karkarov.
"What!" Bagman exclaimed incredulously, "Six points? Besides the basic six, they didn't give us a single point?"
His voice was drowned out by the students' insults.
Some people even threw shoes at Karkarov.
George threw a large dung ball, which made Karkaroff smell terrible, but unfortunately he was no incompetent wizard and wiped the smell away in the blink of an eye.
However, no matter how low his score is, it won't affect the overall situation.
After removing the lowest and highest scores, Hermione's average score is 9.75.
The Hogwarts students in the crowd cheered enthusiastically, their voices deafening. The young wizards jumped up from their seats, clapping their hands frantically.
"Next up is Miss Fleur Delacour," Bagman exclaimed. "Miss Delacour's transformation was also wonderful; she transformed herself into a mermaid from a fairy tale, both beautiful and practical. Her taming of the Kelpie was also quite impressive. But she was 10 minutes slower than Miss Granger, so I would personally give her a 9!"
Levin, Dumbledore, and Mrs. Maxime still get 10 points, while Mr. Barty Crouch gets 8 points.
As for Karkaroff, needless to say...
The young wizards even believed that he would give the lowest score to anyone who wasn't Durmstrang's person.
“Miss Delacour’s final score is 9.25,” Bagman concluded.
A cheer erupted starting from Beauxbatons.
A bright smile immediately bloomed on Fleur's face. She jumped up and couldn't help but throw herself into Levin's arms, making Hermione blush with anger.
“Harry Potter,” Bagman’s voice successfully quieted the excited stands, “He used the gills brilliantly and was the third to rescue the hostage. I must say, Mr. Potter’s luck is probably the best of all the warriors. I personally can only give him an 8 out of 10.”
Bagman's argument seems to have a strong following among referees.
Indeed, Harry was the third to finish the race, but he had it so easy that he encountered no obstacles whatsoever, so naturally he didn't have a particularly impressive performance.
Therefore, in addition to Levin and Dumbledore giving 10 points, Mrs. Maxime gave 9 points, Crouch gave 7 points, and Karkaroff still gave 6 points.
His final score was 8.5.
When Bagman read out the scores, the young Gryffindor wizards were very angry. They thought Harry should have gotten more than 9 points!
However, Harry himself was quite satisfied, as his score was at least higher than the other three who did not finish the competition on time!
His idea was correct, because the next three were the ones with the truly low scores.
"Mr. Krum demonstrated his Transfiguration skills to us, which, although incomplete, were still effective. He was unable to rescue the hostages within the allotted time. Considering all of the above, I give him a score of 6 out of 10."
After Bagman finished speaking, he glanced at Krum in the audience and said in a sincere tone:
"As a fan of Krum, I would like to offer Krum some advice in my personal capacity: In my opinion, Krum's strength should not be limited to this. What is really restricting his fighting power is precisely that transformation technique."
Krum frowned upon hearing Bagman's words.
Bagman sighed and continued to enlighten him:
"I must remind you, Krum, you are a wizard, and magic is your strongest weapon. Your idea of turning yourself into a shark has temporarily deprived you of your spellcasting ability, which is a huge loss!"
The young wizards nodded in agreement.
Indeed, Krum... or Durmstrang, made a truly foolish move.
Hufflepuff's Cedric Diggory even declared, "I could do that too."
The other judges didn't give Krum much higher scores either.
Levin and Crouch gave it 5 points, while Dumbledore and Mrs. Maxime gave it 6 points.
Karkaroff's face was frighteningly dark, but he quickly gave his score—8 points!
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"That's cheating!" Ginny and Ronnie shouted angrily.
Not only them, but the other trainees on the field also spoke out to condemn Karkarov's shameless behavior.