Confidentiality Pact

Skylar pushed open the door and stepped into the room.

It was a room filled with portraits of wizards, many of whom were quite old. When they saw Skylar enter, they all crowded into the large central frame, whispering and commenting on Skylar's physique and appearance.

Eleanor noticed the commotion, looked over, and said with a knowing look, "It really is you, Skylar. It seems the day I compete against you on the same stage won't be too long."

Skylar had accepted reality and let go of his burdens; his eyes were now full of confidence. "You'll be satisfied in time, Eleanor."

Katarin approached with a look of delight. "That's wonderful, Mr. Malfoy! I never imagined you'd become Champion of Hogwarts. To compete against you is my dream!" Katarin then changed to a serious and earnest tone, saying, "Please give it your all and show me your 'true' strength!"

Skylar smiled slightly, a strange light shining in his eyes.

A long-dormant fighting spirit ignited fiercely in his chest.

Is this my true ability?

Do you know, when I get serious, even I'm a little scared!

He had indeed been suppressing his feelings for far too long—ever since that bizarre incident involving the Ghosts Society's attack, he had been too constrained by many things, and could only rely on two alien allies to act on his behalf. After that, he also obtained the Hufflepuff's legacy, forging Trinity magical power. As for where his strength had truly gone, even he himself had no idea.

After a while, the door was pushed open again, and a figure walked in hesitantly.

The three Champion turned to look at him, Harry Potter looked at them with some hesitation.

Katarin assumed he had come in to deliver a message, and her eyes were full of doubt.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Do they want us to go back to the Great Hall?"

A flurry of footsteps sounded behind them, Ludovic Bagman entered the room. He grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him forward.

"This is absolutely incredible!" Bagman exclaimed. "It's truly incredible! Allow me to introduce you—though it seems unbelievable—this is the fourth Champion in the Triwizard Tournament!"

Eleanor straightened up, looked Harry up and down, then glanced at Skylar, a thoughtful expression on her face.

Katarin tossed her long hair, smiled sweetly, and said with a touch of arrogance, "He can't compete; he's too young! -- Of course, Mr. Malfoy is an exception. You can't assume everyone is as good as Mr. Malfoy, can you?"

"This is a bit difficult!" Bagman shook his head. "The age limit, as an additional safety measure, was only implemented this year. Now that your names have been uttered from the Goblet of Fire... I mean, I think that now that we've come this far, there's no room for backing out... It's clearly stated in the rules that you must abide by them... You must do your best to finish the match!"

The door was pushed open again, and a large group of people poured in: Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor Sprout, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape. Before Professor McGonagall closed the door, a buzz of discussion could be heard from the Great Hall next door, among hundreds of students.

"What does this mean, Dumbledore?" Madame Maxime exclaimed arrogantly, her enormous breasts, clad in a black satin dress, heaving violently.

"I'd like to know that too, Dumbledore," said Professor Karkaroff, a cold smile playing on his lips, his blue eyes gleaming like ice. "Hogwarts has two Champions? I don't recall anyone telling me that the host school can have two Champions —haven't I read the ordinances carefully enough?"

"That's impossible," said Madame Maxime, placing her large hand, adorned with many ornate opals, on Katarin's shoulder. "Hogwarts cannot have two Champions; it's utterly unfair."

"In our minds, your Age Line is enough to exclude Dumbledore competitors," Karkaroff said, his cold smile still on his face, but the chill in his eyes deepening. "Otherwise, we would certainly have brought many more candidates from our schools."

"This is all Potter's fault, Karkaroff," Snape said softly, a hint of hostility in his dark eyes. "Don't blame Dumbledore; it's all Potter's fault for insisting on breaking the rules. He's been breaking the rules ever since he entered the school—"

"Thank you, Severus," Dumbledore said firmly. Snape shut his mouth, but his eyes still gleamed with malice through his greasy black hair.

Professor Dumbledore is now looking down at Harry, and Harry is looking back at him.

"Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire, Harry?" he asked calmly.

"No," Harry said. Snape's voice, tinged with impatience and disbelief, came from the shadows.

"Did you ask one of the older students to help you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?" Professor Dumbledore ignored Snape and continued to ask.

"No," Harry said excitedly.

"Ah, he's definitely lying!" Madame Maxime exclaimed. Snape shook his head and pouted.

"He can't possibly cross that Age Line," Professor McGonagall said sternly. "I believe we all agree on that—"

"Dumbledore's line must be wrong," said Madame Maxime, shrugging. "At least I know that both Mr. Malfoys cast their names in front of everyone."

Professor McGonagall was speechless for a moment.

Yes, it's incredible that two fourth-grade students broke Dumbledore's Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Crouch... Mr. Bagman," Karkaroff said, his voice becoming slick again, "You two are our—well—objective judges. You certainly agree that this matter is highly inappropriate, don't you?"

Bagman wiped his round, baby-faced features with a handkerchief and glanced at Mr. Crouch.

Mr. Crouch stood outside the circle of firelight, half his face hidden in shadow. He looked rather strange; that half- Black Shadow made him appear much older, almost like a skeleton. But when he spoke, his voice was as stiff as ever.

"We must abide by the rules, which clearly stipulate that anyone whose name emerges from the Goblet of Fire must participate in the Triwizard Tournament competition."

"Hey, Barty knows the articles of association by heart," Bagman said, a smile spreading across his face as he turned to look at Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, as if things had been perfectly resolved.

"Durmstrang will absolutely not participate in the next Triwizard Tournament!" Karkaroff roared. "We've had so many meetings, so many negotiations and consultations, and I never expected this to happen! I just want to leave right now!"

"A bluffing threat, Karkaroff!" a voice roared from the doorway. "You cannot leave your Champion now. She must compete. They all must compete. Just as Dumbledore said, it is bound by a magical contract. This is to your advantage, is it?"

Moody had just entered the room. He limped toward the fire, each time his right foot landed with a loud thud.

"Advantageous?" Karkaroff said. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean, Moody."

Karkaroff tried to make his tone sound dismissive, as if he didn't care about Moody's words at all, but his hands betrayed his true feelings; they clenched into fists involuntarily.

"Really?" Moody said softly. "It's simple, Karkaroff. Someone put Potter's name in that goblet, knowing that if the name came out, Potter would have to compete. I have a feeling that whoever put the boy's name in the goblet was a very shrewd wizard..."

"Oh, what evidence do you have for this?" Madame Maxime asked, raising both her large hands.

"Because they fooled a very powerful magical object!" Moody said. "To deceive that goblet, to make it forget that only three schools are participating in the Triwizard Tournament, requires a particularly powerful Confundus Charm... I suspect they must have registered Potter's name as a student from the fourth school and made sure he was the only one from that school..."

Karkaroff mocked this and nearly got into a fight with Moody.

"We don't know how this situation came about," Dumbledore said to everyone gathered in the room. "But in my opinion, we have no choice but to accept it. Harry and Skylar have both been chosen to participate in the tournament. Therefore, they must abide by the rules of the Goblet of Fire and give their all in the competition."

"Alright, shall we continue?" Bagman said, rubbing his hands together and smiling at the people in the room. "Time to instruct our Champion, isn't it? Barty, you'll give the presentation?"

Mr. Crouch seemed to suddenly snap out of his reverie. "The First Task is to test your courage, so we won't tell you what it is. Daring to face the unknown is an important quality of a wizard. The First Task will take place on November 24th, and will be completed in front of the other students and the judging panel. While completing the challenge, the Champion must not ask for or accept any help from their teachers. The only weapon Champion has in the first round is their wand. They will only learn about the Second Task after the First Task is over. Because the competition is demanding and long, the Champion will not participate in the school year exams."

Mr. Crouch turned to Dumbledore. "I think that's all, Albus?"

"Yes, nothing is missing," Dumbledore said.

"Wait, Professor, I have something else to say," Skylar suddenly said.

Dumbledore looked at Skylar with a puzzled expression.

Skylar said, "Mr. Crouch said that daring to face the unknown is an important quality for wizards, but I've read a lot of information about the previous Triwizard Tournament and found that cheating methods are emerging one after another. Professors from various schools who know the content of the competition are even eager to tell their students about the test content. I think this is very bad and must be stopped, otherwise, how can it be considered a competition?"

A shrewd glint flashed in Dumbledore's eyes as he stared at Skylar and said, "You mean...?"

"It's actually quite simple. Why don't we establish a magical contract? Anyone who knows anything about the competition must not disclose it to any Champion in any way. Anyone who even thinks of leaking the secret will be bound by the magic in the contract and unable to move. The magic in the contract will remain in effect until the end of the Triwizard Tournament." After saying that, Skylar revealed a smug smile.

No one knew better than him how bad this competition was. For example, in the first match— the Fire Dragon —every Champion knew what their match was going to be like even before it started.

Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff looked somewhat uncomfortable.

Madame Maxime said, "It can't be that bad."

Professor Karkaroff said, "The Triwizard Tournament has been going on for so many years, and there's never been a requirement to sign Confidentiality Pact."

Dumbledore looked at Bagman and Crouch, who nodded in agreement. Three out of the five judges agreed, leaving Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff with no choice but to accept.

Dumbledore waved his wand gently, and a piece of parchment appeared, hanging in the air. The tip of the wand glowed, and dense text quickly formed on the parchment, containing various agreements on confidentiality. After everyone present read it, they all agreed that the agreement had taken into account all aspects.

With a wave of his wand, Dumbledore imprinted golden names, formed of magic, onto the parchment; then came Maxime, Karkaroff, McGonagall, Bagman, Snape, Hagrid, Flitwick, and Sprout; and finally, their four Champions.

Once everything was complete, the parchment was suddenly ignited by a ghostly blue flame, burning completely in mid-air at a speed visible to the naked eye.

It was as if a rope had appeared in everyone's heart, reminding them not to do anything that violated the contract.