The two returned to their seats amid thunderous applause from the Hogwarts students.
"How rational, how dull!"
George spread his hands toward the crowd.
"Like a perfect Potions essay-every step is right, but there isn't so much as a whiff of explosive passion!"
"Now, next up,"
Fred turned his gaze toward the Beauxbatons delegation, his voice suddenly rising.
"Let's see what surprises our elegant swan from France will bring us! Miss Fleur Delacour, it's your turn!"
The spotlight focused on Pheobe.
Her team had 3,100 points, a rather awkward figure: not enough to squander, yet barely more than Krum, who was in last place.
In the Beauxbatons stands, students whispered nervously among themselves.
Pheobe rose gracefully, lifted her skirts, and walked step by step toward the center of the stage.
Every step was unhurried, as though she were strolling through her own garden rather than taking part in a tense contest of strategy.
"We choose," she said, her voice clear and firm as magic carried it throughout the Great Hall, "to draw a silver mystery box."
The moment she finished speaking, Fred made an exaggerated "time-out" gesture.
"Oh, oh, oh, hold on, beautiful Miss Delacour!"
He wore an infuriating expression of "I'm very sorry, but those are the rules."
"You seem to have forgotten that our silver mystery boxes aren't sold separately!"
George immediately chimed in, waving his wand to bring the bundle's details back onto the magical screen.
"To draw a silver mystery box, you must purchase our carefully curated Champion's Choice Package!"
He announced loudly, "One silver mystery box, with two bonus chances to draw bronze mystery boxes full of endless surprises! The entire package costs just 650 points! Fair prices for young and old alike!"
The hall erupted in an uproar.
"This is robbery!"
A Beauxbatons boy