Just as this farce reached its peak within Hogwarts, Douglas Holmes published a new article in his personal column in the Daily Prophet.
The article was titled "On the Positive Driving Force of the Collective Unconscious in Magical Innovation."
In an effusively complimentary, scholarly style, he "praised" the recent emergence of this "new academic spirit" at Hogwarts without naming names.
He called it "a precious spirit of exploration from the ground up" and "a great attempt for magical education to break free of rigidity and return to its roots."
The article was like a bucket of oil poured straight onto an already blazing fire.
Public opinion erupted.
Even Ministry of Magic officials began seriously discussing over lunch whether Hogwarts, under Dumbledore and Holmes's leadership, had come up with another new theoretical framework capable of changing the global magical landscape.
Madame Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons, sought Douglas out in person.
In an extremely discreet and elegant manner, she asked whether the core techniques of "Ecological Resonance Theory" could be transferred as part of closer cooperation between the two schools.
Igor Karkaroff, the headmaster of Durmstrang, was even angrier.
He believed Hogwarts was openly cheating, using a more sophisticated method of cheating that he could not understand at all.
He submitted a formal letter of protest directly to the International Confederation of Wizards, accusing Hogwarts of gravely violating the Triwizard Tournament's principle of fairness.
In the command classroom, Hermione watched it all unfold.
Her plan had slipped completely beyond her control, entering a frenzied, self-evolving stage of runaway development.
As she looked at the fanatical students, the article in the Daily Prophet that had put her in the hot seat, and the two headmasters' starkly different reactions, she felt heartfelt awe and fear of the invisible force called "public opinion" for