Hogwarts was under enormous pressure. Not only did they have to face Durmstrang, a Quidditch powerhouse, but they also risked having Beauxbatons mock them to their faces.
The safest approach was to score two hundred points against Durmstrang.
But this was Durmstrang, the school that had once been home to the legendary player Viktor Krum.
A swift finish tested the Seeker's ability, while widening the score gap tested the limits of the entire team.
Wood was so distracted thinking about this during an exam that he nearly handed in a blank paper.
After the exams ended, they practiced their tactics day and night.
They belonged to four different houses and could not communicate after curfew, but the next day, they could always be seen gathered together in heated discussion.
The relationship between Madame Maxime and Hagrid had not improved.
Beauxbatons had essentially been eliminated from contention for the championship, but that did not stop her from giving Hagrid the cold shoulder.
The two had agreed to settle things through the matches.
If Beauxbatons won, the eventual Inter-School League champion would be whichever team had accumulated the most points across the Three-Event Tournament.
This gave Beauxbatons a considerable advantage.
Hagrid was so worried that he could barely eat. All he could manage was two pounds of beef, a bucket of beer, three lamb legs, ten lamb ribs, and half a roast chicken.
Poor Hagrid was practically wasting away.
"As long as Beauxbatons doesn't deliberately lose to hand them first place, we'll be fine." John felt that Hagrid would eat himself to death at this rate, so he added, "You have to trust Madame Maxime's love of Quidditch."
If Madame Maxime were unscrupulous enough to make Beauxbatons throw the match, Hogwarts would have no hope left.
But how could the proud Madame