Before dawn, the cold, gray light pierced through the fog in the forest little by little, and this unknown conversation was coming to an end.

"Master, the newspaper said that the Longbottoms are well, and they will accuse me..." the figure lying on the ground whispered.

"Time will erase all traces. Haven't they forgotten my reputation? How many people have crawled at my feet and kissed my robes?" Voldemort whispered.

Barty Crouch Jr.'s body suddenly trembled, as if an invisible whip was whipping him.

But Voldemort ignored him and said lazily: "I want to share an insight with you. Magic is power. Do you know why memory extraction and truth serum cannot be used as evidence in court? It is because they are unreliable. These methods can be deceived by skilled wizards. Let me ask you-were you caught on the spot?"

"No, no," Barty Crouch Jr. whispered.

Voldemort sneered twice, "That's it. There are too many ways to deny their accusations, Polyjuice Potion, Oblivion Charm, Confusion Charm... The key is whether there is a witness with enough weight!"

"If Dumbledore comes out to identify you, it will be troublesome, but a pair of ordinary Auror couples? Don't forget that their own memories are glued together by others, how credible is it?"

Barty Crouch's face became ruddy because of excitement.

"Ideally, it is as planned. I successfully resurrected, recruited old subordinates in the dark, and accumulated strength. After you kill Moody, you inherit the reputation and relationship of old Crouch and enter the Ministry of Magic... At that time," he said softly, "you will get incomparable glory, and the position of Minister of Magic is just the most insignificant reward."

"Your will is my mission, master."

...

The sun finally came out, and the fog in the forest completely dissipated without leaving any trace. The camp became lively.

Felix didn't sleep for long. He always felt that Barty Crouch's intentions were unclear. After thinking for a long time, he had no clue. At dawn, he saw Clemmy coming out of the cubicle, holding a cup of hot cocoa, a thin blanket in the other hand, half-closed her eyes, yawning.

"What, can't you sleep?"

Clemmy blinked, and then she saw Felix sitting on the sofa, "Professor, why don't you turn on the light?" She walked to the table where they had dinner yesterday, patted a bronze eagle-shaped magic lamp, it flapped its wings, flew into the air and spit out a ball of light, and the tent was instantly lit up.

She sat opposite Felix, covered herself with a blanket, and couldn't help yawning again, "Oh, I really can't sleep, I'm going to stay up for a while and go back to the company to sleep. When are we leaving?"

"You can leave anytime you want," Felix said gently, "We don't need a door key, we can just Apparate and leave," he glanced at the other two compartments in the tent that were simply separated, "Wait for Remus and Arik."

Clemmy held a thin blanket, drank hot cocoa, and chatted casually.

"When the vacation is over, I have to go back to Gringotts to hand over my work... What a pity, I made a lot of friends in Egypt." She counted on her fingers and said something interesting. "By the way," she suddenly asked with great interest, "Professor, did Bill ever call you by your nickname - the Wandering Sphinx?"

"...No."

"This nickname is very interesting, why didn't anyone call you that?" Crimi showed a regretful expression, "I heard someone in the company call you the Snake King behind your back, I don't think it's good, it's easy to remind people of the basilisk..."

"Really? I can't control what others say." Felix made himself a cup of tea and said leisurely.

Unknowingly, Crimi finished her hot cocoa and stared at Felix's tea. "Want to try it?" Felix asked. Clemmy hesitated and said, "I heard that drinking it will make you unable to sleep..."

At this time, a deep female voice came from outside the door: "Is it Mr. Felix Hepp inside? I am Olympe Maxime, from the Beauxbatons School of Magic in France."

Felix showed a surprised expression, "Wait a moment, ma'am." He stood up and walked towards the door while reaching out his hand. "Swoosh!" A coat flew out of the room, put it on him, and buttoned it flexibly.

Clemmy also slipped back to the room with a blanket and an empty cup.

Walking out of the tent, I saw a tall woman in front of me. Unlike the side I had a quick glimpse of in the middle of the night, she was obviously dressed up, wrapped in a blue cotton satin dress from head to toe, her hair was combed back and tied into a shiny black bun, and she wore an opal necklace around her neck.

"Madame Maxime?" Felix tentatively said the name he accidentally heard.

Madame Maxime smiled elegantly, and she stretched out her hand. Felix was stunned for a moment, gently grabbed it, and touched the back of her hand with his lips.

"Mr. Happ," said Madame Maxime, "please forgive my intrusive visit, but we have to leave during the day, and I really don't want to miss the meeting with the new director."

"Has Beauxbatons received the news?" "

There is a list of directors in the principal's office. When Mr. Nico Flamel died, I saw your name on it." Madame Maxime said with some sadness.

"So you are the principal of Beauxbatons."

They walked into the tent, and Madame Maxime sat in Clemmy's seat. She occupied the entire sofa by herself, and had to put her legs sideways.

Felix took out an empty teacup and placed it in front of the two of them. While directing the teapot to pour tea, he said, "In fact, I have wanted to go to Beauxbatons for a long time, but I heard that some of the details of the tournament have not been finalized, and there are many objections. I didn't leave to avoid suspicion."

Madame Maxime said, "Every Triwizard Tournament is a huge trouble, not to mention that there are two more schools. The Ministry of Magic is not very happy..."

Felix knew that she should be talking about the French Ministry of Magic.

"At least the general direction should be determined, is there anything difficult to decide?"

Madame Maxime took a sip of tea and said casually: "The general direction is determined, but the details cannot be sloppy, because if it is agreed this time, it is very likely to become an example next time."

"Every school has its own ideas, and so does every Ministry of Magic. We must confirm all the rules before lighting the Goblet of Fire."

"Did the United States and Africa put forward unacceptable conditions?" Felix asked.

He really didn't pay much attention to the progress of the competition, but when he went to the Dragon Sanctuary, he heard Charlie Weasley's captain mention that Fudge made many compromises in order to spread the influence of the event from Europe.

"The venue of the competition was determined first, and it is still in Europe. According to the order, it is Hogwarts' turn this time," said Madame Maxime, "Ilvermorny and Uagardo can only queue up behind."

Felix nodded. He knew that the Triwizard Tournament had been hosted in rotation before it was discontinued.

"As for the specific events of the competition, they will be decided by the Ministry of Magic where the competition is held, that is, the British Ministry of Magic, and it will be kept secret from us throughout the process." At this point, she paused and snorted, "Dumbledore must know, but I believe in his character..." "

The things that we headmasters can participate in deciding are those more subtle details, such as the number of contestants, the age of the contestants, banned magic and other details, and that's where the controversy lies."

"For example?" "

Ilvermorny asked to increase the number of people. The reason is that they have four colleges, and each college must select at least one warrior."

Felix laughed dumbly: "Isn't the selection of warriors the business of the Goblet of Fire? They want to do it for them?"

Madame Maxime nodded and said, "They do have this idea, but Beauxbatons, Hogwarts and Durmstrang firmly disagreed, so they gave up."

"And there is also the self-transformation of Vagadu," she pursed her lips and said with some shock: "I only found out after I learned about it that they actually mastered the human body transformation magic that is very similar to Animagus. Nearly one-third of the senior Vagadu students can transform into leopards and elephants, not to mention that those elite students can do more..."

"Self-transformation? I've heard of this magic, but it shouldn't disrupt the balance of the competition, right?"

"That depends on how you look at it." Madame Maxime explained, "Some animals have advantages that humans don't have. For example, if a certain level is a competition of speed, then the students of Vagadu will naturally have an advantage."

"But this doesn't mean anything. It can only mean that the students of Vagadu have shown their own characteristics." Felix didn't think there was anything wrong.

"Then do you know how long the students of Vagadu spent on this magic?" Madame Maxime asked.

"Is it a long time?" Felix guessed.

"At least three to five years of study." Madam Maxime said, "They enter school at the age of ten. After a year of observation, they choose the right direction for themselves, usually focusing on two or three subjects and three or four as minors. When they reach senior grades, they will focus all their energy on the main subjects."

"For example, a young wizard can be exposed to all the knowledge of self-transformation from the second grade, and start preparation and practice, and then after several years of uninterrupted practice, they will learn it. Even those who have spare time can choose the second form or the third form."

"It is indeed very unique." Felix nodded. The headmaster of Vagado should think that this is knowledge that students must master, so he does this. It is somewhat similar to the advice he gave to Dumbledore, but if you really analyze it, the difference is also quite large.

"What's the controversial part?"

"If you look at it alone, there's nothing wrong with it, but what about comparing Uagadou and Durmstrang? Uagadou's students participate in the competition with magic they have practiced for years without any restrictions, while Durmstrang's students must endure not using the dark magic they are best at. Karkaroff certainly disagrees. They have lost too many times in the past and don't want to embarrass themselves again."

Felix understood. This is the crux of the problem. The championship represents honor, and the unprecedented top five championship represents unprecedented honor. The champion is destined to be recorded in history and passed down for many years.

In the face of great honor, the slightest advantage must be taken into account, not to mention that the gap is so big, no one wants to dance with shackles.