He was actually hinting to Dumbledore that Yekaterina should be sealed away in the judges' panel.
The headmasters all gave Karkaroff silent praise and felt that he had perfectly voiced their thoughts.
Yekaterina's face immediately darkened.
Koldovstoretz had happened to be in a transitional period in recent years. The entire school had been rather mediocre, and in the last few years, she had been the only student who could truly be called talented.
But by the time Hogwarts sent out the invitations, she had already graduated three years earlier.
Had she not happened to be just under the age limit of twenty-one, Koldovstoretz might well have declined to participate in the championship altogether.
If Hogwarts really banned her, then Koldovstoretz would most likely finish at the bottom of the rankings.
Everyone turned towards Dumbledore, eager to see his attitude.
To be honest, Koldovstoretz was indeed exploiting a loophole. The twenty-one-year age limit had originally been intended for independent competitors and magical organisations.
The other schools had all sent current students, while only Koldovstoretz had chosen to do something different.
Combined with Yekaterina's extraordinary strength, it was only natural that the headmasters wanted to bar her from competing.
After a moment's thought, Dumbledore turned to Mr. Jamison and handed him the final decision.
"The regulations are very clear. As long as Miss Yekaterina is under twenty-one years old, she may participate in the championship. Her age is the only relevant factor."
"But she is no longer a student of Koldovstoretz. Can she still represent the school?" Even Madame Maxime joined the discussion.
"She is a teacher at Koldovstoretz and still possesses an official connection to the school," Gendanxi suddenly spoke, causing everyone to fall silent for a moment.
"This is unreasonable," Ugadou's Headmaster, Asmo Ndulu, was the first to object.
"Yes, this is merely playing with words!" Madame Maxime straightened her huge and imposing figure and looked down upon everyone present, radiating tremendous pressure.
She placed her hand, adorned with numerous magnificent opals, on Dumbledore's shoulder and said earnestly,
"Albus, think carefully. If something like this happens in the very first championship, one being held at Hogwarts no less, how are we supposed to explain it to wizards around the world?"
She deliberately emphasised the word "Hogwarts", making her meaning abundantly clear.
"Madame Maxime, if we openly violate the rules that have already been established, we would be even less able to explain ourselves to others. This tournament is open to all young witches and wizards under the age of twenty-one, and Miss Yekaterina also happens to be a member of Koldovstoretz. Therefore, I believe her participation is entirely within the rules."
"We may revise and improve the regulations after the tournament, but now that the competition has already begun, we must abide by the rules," Dumbledore said calmly.
"Very well. If Albus says so, I have no objections," Seraphina Picquery declared after a brief pause, expressing her support for Dumbledore.
After all, no matter how powerful Yekaterina was, she was only one person.
With three heavyweight wizards and the Ministry officials all expressing their support, the remaining headmasters had nothing more to say. They could only reluctantly agree to allow Yekaterina to participate in the championship as a contestant representing Koldovstoretz.
Everyone silently resolved to carefully study the tournament regulations upon returning and see what other loopholes might exist.
"It seems we have reached a consensus." Seeing the conflict resolved, Dumbledore's smile returned. "Then let our contestants come forward and undergo the Sorting Hat and crystal sphere examinations."
Neither the headmasters nor the Ministry officials objected.
The contestants from the various schools and the independent competitors lined up one after another and stepped before the staff table to begin the examinations.
"Wait."
Just before the testing began, Seraphina Picquery suddenly called a halt.
Turning her head towards Gryffindor, who was seated nearby, she asked, "Mr Gryffindor, would you care to have a go with the crystal sphere as well?"
Countless eyes once again focused on the legendary wizard.
After hearing Seraphina's suggestion, Gryffindor burst into hearty laughter.
"Of course, of course!" he said as he took the crystal sphere. "Had we possessed such a marvellous object back then, perhaps Hogwarts would have sorted students quite differently!"
Everyone smiled.
However, when the crystal sphere rested in Gryffindor's hand, nothing happened.
Upon witnessing this, Helga and Rowena's expressions immediately sharpened.
"It has exceeded the crystal sphere's upper limit of detection," Dumbledore explained with a shake of his head.
Everyone present: !!!
They had thought Dumbledore was already incredibly powerful, but this ancient wizard from a thousand years ago was actually even stronger than him!
Truly, one would expect no less from an old monster who had lived for over a millennium.
"So that's how it is, so that's how it is!" Gryffindor laughed as well. "Then I'll hold back a bit."
As he spoke, he genuinely began suppressing the magic within his body. Before long, the crystal sphere emitted the same brilliant crimson radiance it had displayed in Dumbledore's hands.
This only made everyone even more convinced of Gryffindor's identity.
After all, he was a wizard even stronger than Dumbledore.
Helga narrowed her eyes.
Judging from the amount of time he had needed, he was roughly on par with Rowena. If everyone took about the same amount of time to restrain their magic, then perhaps one could roughly judge another person's level of strength.
Meanwhile, Astoria, who had been quietly watching the show from below, suddenly remembered something.
It seemed that when Professor Aries had previously held the crystal sphere, the same phenomenon had occurred.
Gasp—!
At the thought, Astoria could not help but suck in a breath. The implications hidden within were far too profound.
After that little interlude, the contestants continued stepping forward for their examinations.
Several headmasters' expressions became rather unpleasant.
The scores of their students were difficult to look at, with marks in the sixties and seventies appearing everywhere. This immediately sparked discussions among the Hogwarts students.
According to those scores, quite a few of them might have qualified for the tournament had they attended another school!
Yekaterina and Karkaroff looked especially grim, as Koldovstoretz and Durmstrang occupied the bottom ranks. Koldovstoretz even had contestants who scored below sixty.
They could only console themselves with the thought that lower scores would likely result in easier starting conditions.
When it came time for Hogwarts' champions to undergo their tests, the young witches and wizards below all wore delighted expressions.
They knew their own school's contestants all too well.
However, the earlier statement that stronger contestants would receive more difficult starting conditions also caused some concern. They feared that their schoolmates would suffer because of it.
"One hundred!"
When Astoria placed the Sorting Hat upon her head, the score it announced caused all the visitors from the other schools to widen their eyes.
'This child is terrifying!'
More than one person found themselves thinking exactly that.
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12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI