Late June at Hogwarts brought clear skies, fresh air, and pleasant temperatures.
Above the drifting white clouds floated the magnificent Asgard, casting an enormous reflection across the Black Lake below, stretching all the way to the Forbidden Forest.
A circular grandstand large enough to hold tens of thousands of spectators had already been built here. Opposite it, in front of the Forbidden Forest, a twenty-foot-high hedge wall extended in both directions to enclose the grounds.
Seen from above, more than half the Forbidden Forest had been transformed. Crisscrossing hedges divided it into a dense network of passages, forming an enormous maze. The roars and cries of countless fantastic beasts rose from within from time to time.
Several arched gateways stood in the hedge wall, serving as entrances to the vast maze. The passages beyond were pitch-black and rather unsettling.
There was still a little time before the Triwizard Tournament's final task, and the Champions were still at Hogwarts with their relatives.
For now, only neatly dressed Ministry of Magic employees were coming and going, carrying out their final checks.
Of course, many armed personnel were also concealed nearby, keeping watch.
After a while, the sun slowly sank in the west, and the members of the Judges' Panel arrived one by one.
Dumbledore and Grindelwald, inseparable as ever, arrived together. Both old men wore moon-white wizard robes and half-moon spectacles.
If not for their different hairstyles and beards, people might almost have mistaken them for elderly twins.
Dumbledore seemed a little ill at ease as he awkwardly greeted the others.
"Oh, you're all here so early..."
Grindelwald was far more thick-skinned. Without caring whether there was a place for him on the Judges' Stand, he sat down right beside Dumbledore.
Then he took two cups of Tadpole Abode from his pocket,