Around three o'clock in the afternoon, the sixth-year students had finished their last exam, happily anticipating the upcoming competition and holiday.
Meanwhile, the fifth-year O.W.L.s would still have to wait another two hours.
In the afternoon, Kael and Cedric sat by the Black Lake, discussing the soon-to-start competition.
Fred and George, on the other hand, resumed their old habits, running off to find Bagman and Karkaroff. According to them, the closer it gets to the competition, the more they can't let their guard down.
After all, now that the maze is complete, who's to say Bagman won't give Karkaroff the route to the cup.
"There are only a few hours left until the competition starts, I really wish time would move faster..." Cedric said, looking at the giant squid basking in the sun in the middle of the lake, "How are those charms coming along? No problem, right?"
"Of course, no problem at all." Kael replied, "I feel like you're more nervous than I am."
"I'm not sure, probably because this is the final competition." Cedric said, "You were leading in the first two tasks, so if... I mean if you lose in the end, that would be unfortunate."
"Don't worry, I won't lose."
"I know." Cedric said with a smile, "If you win the Triwizard Tournament cup, Professor Sprout will definitely be very pleased.
I saw her last time in Hogsmeade, in the wizard clothing store, she seemed to be picking out a new robe."
"A new robe?" Kael turned to look at him, "You must be mistaken, didn't she just buy a new robe last year?"
This might sound strange to others, but not for Professor Sprout.
At school, she usually wears the more durable clothes suitable for caring for plants in the greenhouse, only changing into a robe for the start-of-term banquet.
Kael also noted that she hadn't changed her yellow robe for years until last year, after Hufflepuff won the House Cup for four consecutive years, she finally got a new one.
And she even used the new robe as a dress for the Christmas Ball.
"I'm pretty sure I didn't see it wrong." Cedric noted, "After all, if you win, it would be an honor for Hogwarts and Hufflepuff, Professor Sprout would want to celebrate a bit too."
Alright, buying a new robe to celebrate... that does sound like Professor Sprout's style.
Suddenly, Cedric said, "Kael, look over there, it's the headmaster."
Kael turned around, just in time to see Dumbledore walking out of the castle with the other judges, they were intensely discussing something.
"What are they talking about?" Cedric asked curiously.
"No idea." Kael shook his head, they were too far to hear what the judges were saying.
"I guess it's something about the competition."
"No way." Cedric said in surprise, "The competition is about to start, how can there be any disputes still?"
"Who knows." Kael replied, not too concerned.
It's normal for each headmaster to want to favor their school's champion, having disagreements is quite natural.
...
By five o'clock, excited cheers echoed from the castle.
"I assume the exams must be over." Cedric commented.
Then they stood up, planning to head back to the castle for dinner.
"Hey, you guys are here..."
It was then that an absent Fred and George returned, looking very excited.
"Guess what news we heard..."
"Bagman didn't actually tell Karkaroff the maze route, did he!" Cedric quickly asked.
"He didn't." Fred shook his head, "But Bagman did meet Karkaroff again."
"He said the maze was completed by all the judges together and no one knows the exact route."
"That's a relief." Cedric replied.
"But we did hear another interesting tidbit." George said mischievously, "The judges are planning to add a bit of difficulty to the competition, similar to the second task."
"The way of the second task?" Kael asked puzzled, "What do you mean by that?"
"Hostages." Fred revealed, "They plan to introduce a few hostages into the competition, and the champions will need to find all the hostages to claim the final cup."
"No way you heard wrong." Cedric blurted out, "The maze is dangerous enough, why add hostages."
"We swear, we did not." George said earnestly, "Bagman was saying it clearly when we heard it."
"Wait... but, isn't it daytime now." Cedric suddenly thought of something, "You two used a Disillusionment Charm to get close to them?"
Ludo Bagman aside, Karkaroff was also a headmaster, and in broad daylight, without the cover of night, there's no way he wouldn't notice anyone using a Disillusionment Charm nearby.
"Of course not, so we used a handy little tool." Fred raised an eyebrow and pulled an ear-shaped item out of his pocket.
"Extendable Ears, we finished them just a week ago."
George said, "We disguised it as a shrub and overheard Bagman's and Karkaroff's conversation."
"Alright then." Cedric sighed, couldn't help but glance at Kael, "Looks like Conna will be a hostage again, just see how long it takes you to save her."
"No, no, no, this time you're wrong." Fred shook his finger, "Hogwarts' hostage isn't Conna, it's Harry."
"Harry Potter?"
"That's right." George confirmed, "They figured it would definitely make the competition more exciting if the Boy Who Lived got involved."
"To involve Harry in the final competition?" Kael felt something was off, he asked, "Do you know who suggested this?
"Karkaroff? Or... Barty Crouch?"
"That, we don't know."
Fred said, "Probably decided long ago, we only focused on Bagman, he's the one who mentioned it when talking to Karkaroff."
"Bagman also said this competition would definitely take the front page of the Daily Prophet for the next week."
Kael frowned, still feeling something was strange, but before he could ask more, Conna and Cho came running from a distance.
"What are you guys talking about."
"Triwizard Tournament stuff." Fred said, "By the way, you go have dinner first, we need to find Headmaster Dumbledore."
"The hostages don't necessarily have to be Harry, it could be us too." George suggested.
"This is the Triwizard Tournament, and it's the only one we can participate in..."
"We discussed it thoroughly when we came."
"Even if we can't be champions, we should at least aim for the role of hostages."
Having said that, they dashed out of the castle, heading for Dumbledore.
Kael pondered for a while.
Although it was strange to have Harry as a hostage, with Dumbledore around, there shouldn't be any issues...
As long as he reminded them to check the Goblet of Fire for anything wrong, it'd be fine.
With that matter settled, Kael went to the auditorium with the others.