The banquet was far more lavish than usual, but compared to the upcoming match, no amount of food could truly hold anyone's attention.
Everyone ate in a hurry, especially the champions. Harry sat at the Gryffindor table, surrounded by the Weasley family, yet he clearly had no appetite.
At the staff table, however, one unexpected guest looked particularly cheerful.
Fudge sat beside Dumbledore, occasionally chatting with his new assistant Percy, then bursting into loud laughter.
According to what Percy had quietly told Tver, Barty and Cynthia were supposed to attend tonight. But just before leaving, Fudge had taken the task for himself.
Since they were currently in something of a honeymoon period, Barty thought it over and simply let him have it.
So tonight, the Ministry's representatives were Fudge and the returned Ludo Bagman.
And the reason Fudge was so pleased was simple. He believed Barty Crouch had finally yielded to him.
Although he had given up a senior undersecretary position, in Fudge's eyes, what he gained far outweighed that loss.
Barty, as head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, seemed to have been promoted, but in reality, his power had been absorbed. As long as Fudge remained in control, Barty could no longer stir up trouble like before.
With power centralized, Fudge did not even need to rely on Umbridge. He directly pushed through the strictest werewolf laws yet.
All the work Cynthia and her group had done over the past two years was effectively undone.
What he did not know was that the werewolves in Britain who could be persuaded had already been brought by Lupin to the plantations and potions labs. No matter how harsh his laws became, they would not be affected.
If anything, it helped Lupin deal with those among their kind who might incite violence, removing potential dangers altogether.
The more Tver thought about it, the more pleased he felt, and he ended up having a few extra desserts.
Dumbledore might be a bit sly, but he had indeed kept his promises well.
Over the past year, Tver had tasted all kinds of desserts, not just from Europe. He had even tried water chestnut cake made by a house-elf who had once lived in Chinatown.
If Dumbledore had not reminded them that the champions needed to arrive five minutes early to prepare, Tver might not have gotten up at all.
"Are you nervous?"
Leaving the Great Hall to a wave of applause, Tver followed behind Bagman along with the other champions, but he noticed Harry walking stiffly.
"I… I'm not," Harry stammered.
"Then why are you moving your hands and feet on the same side?"
"..."
Harry looked down and realized he had been tricked.
Tver smiled at him.
"I thought Gryffindor students weren't afraid of anything."
Harry flushed, but the light tone eased his nerves.
"You said yourself that's just a stereotype about Gryffindor. About all the houses, actually," he shot back with a grin.
"You're using my own words against me now?"
Tver laughed and ruffled his hair, making the already messy strands even worse.
By then, under Bagman's lead, they had reached the Quidditch pitch.
But it had changed so much they could barely recognize it.
A twenty-foot-high hedge surrounded the maze, sealing it off completely. Right in front of them was a single opening.
That had to be the entrance. But it seemed enchanted. No matter how hard Tver narrowed his eyes, he could not make out anything inside the dark passage.
Of course, even if something was inside, it would not be sitting right at the entrance.
There was nothing left to prepare. The four champions stood tense, silently going over everything they had prepared for this task.
None of them had any interest in chatting with Tver anymore.
"Um... I don't know if your teacher mentioned it to you, but I still have to thank you. Thank you for, well, paying that money for me."
Bagman pulled Tver into a shadowy corner and spoke in a low voice.
"Just treat it as payment for my teacher using your identity," Tver replied casually.
Under the guidance of the professors, the audience was already taking their seats. Excited chatter and hurried footsteps filled the air.
Even more eye-catching than the brilliant starlight above were the badges pinned to the students' chests. Aside from a handful of Slytherin students who stubbornly continued wearing "Potter Stinks" badges, most were wearing the champion badges sold by the Weasley twins.
Under the glow of the surrounding torches, those badges projected faint blue silhouettes of the five champions.
As a result, every student seemed to have a pocket-sized champion standing on their chest, giving a thumbs-up to the crowd.
Taking advantage of the time before dinner, the twins had secretly sold another batch behind Mrs. Weasley's back. Judging by the scene, almost every student had at least one badge.
The only thing that comforted Tver was that none of the products sold that afternoon featured his likeness, so he appeared the least among the five.
"Um... I..." Bagman hesitated. "What I really wanted to ask is, who exactly is that old man?"
"I only know he's your teacher. He didn't tell me anything else."
Seeing Tver frown, he quickly added, "Or just tell me his name."
That made things even more difficult. Saying his teacher's name would be no different from revealing his identity outright.
Tver did not know why his teacher was hiding his identity, but as his student, he had no intention of going against that.
"You can't even tell me that?" Bagman raised his voice slightly in frustration. "I just want to know who helped me!"
"Helped you? Ludo, since when did you have someone like that?" Fudge leaned over, curious.
"It's nothing. The match is about to start. I should go."
Bagman hurriedly adjusted his clothes as if covering up his nerves.
Fine. I'll just ask him myself later.
He strode off, clearly annoyed.
Fudge shrugged, then gave Tver what he thought was a friendly smile, though it carried a hint of smugness.
Tver returned the smile, but his held a deeper meaning, leaving Fudge momentarily puzzled.
By the time he reacted, Tver had already returned to the champions' side, leaving him no chance to say anything more.
"We'll be patrolling outside the maze. If you run into trouble you can't handle, send up red sparks and we'll come to assist you."
Professor McGonagall stood with Moody, Flitwick, and Hagrid, all wearing hats marked with large red stars as part of the patrol team.
But when she saw Tver approach, she pointed at him without hesitation.
"You can also ask Tver for help inside the maze. I'm sure he won't refuse."
The four champions nodded immediately.
"Alright, go get ready. The match is about to begin!" Bagman said brightly.
This was directed at both the patrol team and the five champions.