Judging by Karkaroff's utterly panicked expression, the place he and Viktor had gone to before dawn two days ago could only have been where the dragons were—the Forbidden Forest.
Everyone looked at him suspiciously, and the veins near his temples throbbed like struggling centipedes.
"Moody! You mad old vulture with that crazy eye!" Karkaroff's pitch was exceptionally high, even several notes higher than Umbridge's.
He shrieked hysterically, "So what if Viktor and I went to take a look at the dragons?"
He glanced at the two headmasters beside him. "Forget me—was there a single Champion from Beauxbatons or Hogwarts who hadn't secretly gone to look at the dragons?"
Dumbledore and Madame Maxime chose to avoid his intensely furious gaze.
Cheating had always been a Triwizard Tournament tradition. For the Triwizard Cup, headmasters and professors would certainly do everything in their power to help their own Champions.
They had merely gone to look at the dragons. It was not as though they had exploited loopholes in the rules like Draco and secretly brought magical items into the arena.
But Karkaroff's explanation did not convince everyone.
Especially Moody, who had been secretly watching him all along. "Fine. Since you say I'm falsely accusing you, then produce evidence proving your innocence."
Karkaroff let out a shrill laugh and instinctively covered his left arm, which Mad-Eye was staring at. "Evidence? Thirteen years ago, you said there was evidence too. I named every person I knew. You still refuse to believe me?"
The commotion at the castle entrance drew the attention of quite a few students.
Dumbledore looked up at an open window on the second floor.
If he had not been mistaken, two furtive figures had just ducked back from the window.
He raised the Elder Wand and gave it a wave, shrouding the