"Special guest?"
Albert was quite surprised when people from the International Wizarding Federation came knocking, but he had no interest whatsoever in being a special guest for the Triwizard Tournament. Nor could he be bothered dealing with Ministry of Magic officials any further, so he politely declined on the grounds that "a Champion's Family Member wouldn't be suitable."
Who knew what that fellow was thinking? He still refused to give up and even brought all three headmasters in as Spokespeople, which was the only reason Albert reluctantly agreed to become the so-called special guest.
Rather than a special guest, it would be more accurate to say that the International Wizarding Federation feared some accident might occur during the competition and wanted someone formidable there to keep things under control.
Besides, Albert's willingness to attend was itself a statement, a tacit acknowledgment of certain things they had done.
That was actually more important.
Unlike the previous tournament, where Hogwarts had turned the Quidditch Pitch into a Hedge Maze, Durmstrang's Hedge Maze for the Third Task was a "permanent" structure the Ministry of Magic had spent several months building bit by bit from bricks and hedges.
Compared to the maze used for the competition, the Curved Stands for the spectators seemed rather slapdash.
They had supposedly been hastily assembled the day before the match from wood, steel frames, and a large number of Stabilization Charms. They looked ready to collapse at any moment, which hardly inspired confidence.
Fortunately, today's audience consisted of only a few hundred Durmstrang students, so there was no danger of the stands collapsing under too many spectators.
Several Large Screens floated in front of the stands, broadcasting the situation in every corner of the maze in real time.
Such marvelous Magical Items naturally came from Albert's inventions.
Unfortunately,