Four-School Tournament

As Professor Moody stood up, a round of applause immediately rang out in the Great Hall —not enthusiastic, but very loud.

Mad-Eye Moody, whose face can be described as "ferocious," easily won the fear of many people. His magical prosthetic eye kept turning, and some timid girls didn't even dare to look him in the eye.

"Lockhart has been arrested. I thought they would hire another professor, but it turned out to be Moody— " Sean said quietly while clapping.

He knew Moody, who had appeared at Sirius's uncle's old house when he was treating Daisy's Blood Curse and Obscurus.

Furthermore, Moody was the first person Sean had ever met who could discern his exceptional skill in Dark Arts simply by smelling it.

"I personally sent half of the prisoners to Azkaban, and those who have been using Dark Arts always have a certain smell about them. Although it's not pure darkness like the Obscurus, I can always smell it."

"Ha— Albus said it's my talent—anyway, it's quite convenient for capturing Dark Wizard."

These were the words Moody once said to Sean. Coupled with his ferocious appearance, Sean's assessment was: The Ministry of Magic should thank Moody for becoming an Auror instead of a Dark Wizard.

Hearing what Sean said, Daisy chimed in quietly, "It's actually quite normal, because Mr. Moody is unemployed now, you know, the Ministry of Magic... I heard that Mr. Moody went and smashed up the Auror Office, and then, while angrily berating all the Ministry of Magic employees as 'fools who've lost their minds,' he smashed things as he walked out, and I heard that no one dared to stop him—the most powerful wizards in the Ministry of Magic are all Auror, and half of the current Auror were trained by Mr. Moody."

Sean clicked his tongue in amazement. "He really does have the style of Mad-Eye Moody, but your dad and Sirius also resigned like that back then..."

Daisy stuck out her tongue. "To be honest, what they did shouldn't be called resigning, it should be called firing the Ministry of Magic —but my dad and my godfather don't have anything to do now, and neither does Mr. Moody. Although he's no longer Auror in name and in position, he still arrests Dark Wizard. I heard he spent half a year in America, and the number of Dark Wizard activities there has decreased by half. My dad and Sirius even wanted to go with him after hearing that..."

"However, before they could get there, Moody returned on his own—the Aura Masters of the Magical Congress of the United States of America weren't very welcoming to him. I guess that's why he accepted Professor Dumbledore's invitation to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts."

"Probably so..."

Sean looked up at Moody, who looked much like the Mad-Eye Moody he remembered. However, perhaps influenced by the original story, Sean subconsciously began to observe Moody's movements.

The small metal bottle hasn't been pulled out since the start of the banquet, so it seems it wasn't Barty Jr. disguised as a drinker after drinking Polyjuice Potion...

Sean's conjecture was certainly somewhat absurd, but he was indeed more prone to having this kind of idea.

At this moment, in a dark dungeon, a man with disheveled hair and tightly bound by iron chains raised his head. His face was pale, making his dark circles under his eyes particularly noticeable. If you looked more closely, you could see that there were various wounds and needle marks on his body, clearly indicating that he had suffered inhuman torture.

However, none of this dampened his fervor, even though he was already living a life worse than death.

"Master...I will absolutely, never, betray you..." Barty Jr.'s eyes were still gleaming with madness as he murmured to himself.

It was as if he was speaking to his master who couldn't hear him, as if he was reminding the wizard who had been tormenting him all these days, and as if he was reminding himself to keep going.

Barty Jr.'s false master, Voldemort, is nowhere to be found, but his true master, Sean Wallerup, is currently in the Great Hall of Hogwarts listening to the Headmaster.

"... Administrator Filch told me that this is the 528th time he has made this request—freshmen and upperclassmen, please do not cast spells in the corridors. Of course, it's not just this; there are many other rules as well. Mr. Filch will post them on the bulletin board again tomorrow."

A few seasoned veterans secretly chuckled and exchanged glances, including the Weasley twins and the Gryffindor trio of Harry, Neville, and Ron.

Of course, Ravenclaw's habitual troublemaker and new Prefect is diligently listening to the headmaster's instructions.

"That's about it for the welcome speech. The new rules will be posted on the bulletin board tomorrow—" Dumbledore paused, adjusting his glasses. "Of course, there's one more thing to announce."

A low murmur arose in the Great Hall, the students' faces filled with excitement; they had already guessed what Dumbledore was about to say.

"I think most of you have probably already guessed it, but please allow me to tell you first that even though the Ministry of Magic has relaxed its regulations, Quidditch still cannot be played."

"Oh no!" Sean heard Harry let out a painful groan.

Dumbledore smiled, with a mischievous air about him having pulled off a prank.

"This is because a large event will begin in October and continue throughout the school year, taking up a lot of the teachers' time and energy—but I believe you will all enjoy it very much. I am very pleased to announce that this year at Hogwarts, we will be honored to host a very exciting event over the next few months."

"As you all probably already know, or rather, the little wizards who watched the competition from the stands back then have now grown up to be old enough to participate—"

"Yes, the Four-School Tournament will soon be held at Hogwarts, and the Triwizard Cup will officially begin to burn."

Even though it was somewhat expected, the Great Hall still erupted in excited chatter after Dumbledore officially announced the news. However, Dumbledore did not stop them, but only raised a hand to signal for quiet after everyone had discussed it excitedly for a while.

"I understand your excitement. However, with more and more new blood Hogwarts, some of you may not know what this Triwizard Tournament is all about. So I hope those who do know can forgive me for explaining it to you briefly. I'll allow them to let their minds wander for a moment."

Dumbledore cleared his throat and said, "The Triwizard Tournament was founded about seven hundred years ago. It was a friendly competition between the three largest School of Magic in Europe: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. Each school selected one Champion, and then the three Champion competed in three different magical events. The Triwizard Tournament was held every five years, with the three schools taking turns hosting. Everyone agreed that it was an excellent way for young wizards from different countries to build friendships—but later, the death toll became too high, Triwizard Tournament was discontinued."

The death toll was too high—this stark statement left many freshmen stunned, and even some upperclassmen who weren't familiar with the history of the Triwizard Cup covered their mouths in horror.

It doesn't sound very safe for a student to die while at school.

However, most people still looked excited and expectant.

"For centuries, there have been several attempts to revive the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "But none of them were successful. This changed in the last century when our 'old rival' (at this point, Dumbledore raised his hand in a helpless gesture) Newmontgard School of Magic was officially established, and after a series of persuasion, research, and preparations, the Triwizard Cup was reignited. Of course, the Triwizard Tournament became Four-School Tournament, and the number of Champion from each school increased from one to three."

"What's even more encouraging is that since the restart of the Four-School Tournament, there have been no more student deaths during the competition. The Ministry of Magic of various countries have also gone from being less supportive at the beginning to being very supportive now. This is a great opportunity for young people from different countries to exchange and learn from each other—of course, it comes with a lot of danger."

"In the previous Four-School Tournament, the Triwizard Cup was lifted by Newmontgard. In October, they will bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts. At the same time, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons will also arrive at Hogwarts under the leadership of their headmasters. They will lead carefully selected competitors, and the ceremony to choose the Champion will be held on the Halloween Eve. Fair referees selected by the four great School of Magic, the four national Ministry of Magic, and the International Confederation of Wizards will determine which students are most qualified to compete for the Triwizard Cup and win honor for their schools. In addition, the winners will receive a prize of three thousand Galleon —three thousand each from the winning team."

The enormous number left everyone speechless. Then, the Great Hall became even more lively, with students' faces filled with excitement. Both the immense honor and the equally huge prize money were simply too tempting.

"They've increased the prize money again this time?" Fred and George exclaimed excitedly. "When the last Triwizard Cup was held, we were only in our second year, and the prize money was 1,000 Galleon per person for the winning team. This time it's doubled! Tripled! Wow, that's incredibly generous!"

The two brothers' desire for Galleon had turned into a burning flame in their eyes.

Sean smiled wryly. The original prize of three thousand Galleon had tripled, and the extra six thousand Galleon didn't sound like a huge amount, but in a market where a wand only cost seven Galleon, it was no small sum. Most Wizarding Family simply couldn't afford such a huge sum, and even a family like the Malfoy would have some difficulty raising it. But...

Dumbledore continued, "So, thank you to the Wizarding Charitable Association for their generous sponsorship of this Four-School Tournament. The president of the association, who wishes to remain anonymous, asked me to tell you that he hopes the students from the four schools will have a great deal of interaction and mutual learning during this tournament, and he is very much looking forward to it."

"Let's applaud this generous, unnamed gentleman." Dumbledore led the applause.

Even without his lead, the students erupted in enthusiastic cheers; six thousand Galleon was enough to excite everyone.

"The Wizarding Charitable Association? I think I've heard of it..."

"Don't be silly. Of course you've heard about it. Aren't there many young wizards with Dawn Project cards among the freshmen? And quite a few people around us have applied as well. Dawn Project is launched by the Wizarding Charitable Association."

"Dawn Project?! Good heavens, is that their project? I was so surprised when I heard about it. Which association could afford to contribute so much money, especially interest-free student loans? Isn't that just charity? -- It really is Charity Association?"

"Yes, I heard that the Founders of this association is not trying to do any business. He just wants to make sure that students from poor families can use the same brand-new teaching materials as everyone else, and he also hopes to provide them with some jobs in the future."

"Merlin's beard, this Founders was truly a generous gentleman."

"He's not only generous, but also rich—everything he does is for a better future for the Wizarding World. Anyway, I've made up my mind. Although I can only use the Dawn Project for two years, I'm going to work for the Wizarding Charitable Association after graduation. I want to do my part."

"It is indeed a good place, but I am still very envious of the 3,000 Galleon prize. My God, that gentleman is too rich! It's all free!"

"Yes, all I can say is that he's not only rich, but also very supportive of various school exchanges. He must be a really good person..."

The students were engaged in countless discussions, exclamations, expressions of envy, and excitement... all the voices kept ringing out, showing no sign of quieting down.

The shock of this money was simply too great; the names of the Wizarding Charitable Association and Dawn Project were deeply imprinted in the minds of all the students.

Hermione and Daisy glanced furtively at Sean, and upon seeing the boy's expected faint smile, they moved closer. Hermione whispered, "Sean, you didn't tell us! Good heavens, you donated a whole six thousand Galleon?!"

The Little White Flower blinked frantically at Sean: "I knew you were rich, but I didn't know you were this rich. You'll have to support me from now on, Mr. Wallop!"

"Stop joking—" Sean laughed happily. "I have to correct you. It wasn't me who donated. It was my dad who donated six thousand Galleon. Although the cash flow has shrunk quite a bit, he's happy to do it."

In fact, the idea was indeed proposed by Sean's father, Mr. Wallop made the decision immediately after hearing about the Goblet of Triwizard Cup.

The Wizarding Charitable Association has been using various resources to raise funds, partly for expenses and partly for future shorting of Gringotts to cash out.

Of course, Mr. Wallop himself also invested a considerable amount of his wealth. When the Wizarding Charitable Association was not yet strong enough, the association's funds still required Mr. Wallop to use pounds to buy gold and then use the gold to exchange for Galleon.

However, for the private hospital owner, this was paving the way for his son, and it was all an ordinary father could do for a wizard's child, so he felt the money was well worth it.

It's also worth mentioning that Mr. Wallop even considered emptying his cash flow to buy a position on the Hogwarts Board of Governors... after all, his youngest daughter will be enrolling in school in a couple of years...