Chapter 171: The Great Hall Test

By the final week of October, the Goblet of Fire stood unlit in the Great Hall behind three temporary barriers.

The tournament panel had turned its inspection into a public demonstration. Students crowded the tables while two independent curse specialists, a healer, and representatives from each school examined the protections.

Edward attended with Hermione as observers from the student safety session. Draco came because he still hoped to find a loophole.

The first specialist placed a blank parchment in the hand of a sixteen-year-old Ministry apprentice. The apprentice approached the age line.

A soft force stopped him before his shoe crossed the gold circle. It did not throw him, age him, or punish him. When he stepped back, the force released.

"Barrier response only," the specialist announced. "No retaliatory transformation."

Fred and George looked personally betrayed.

A seventeen-year-old volunteer crossed and placed the blank parchment inside a test container beside the Goblet. The paper emerged unchanged because the container had no selection enchantment. The panel then tried concealed submissions, floating parchment, Summoning Charms, an owl, and a bewitched glove crawling across the floor.

Each attempt failed inert. The line returned the object or let it fall.

"What about Polyjuice Potion?" Hermione asked.

The healer answered. "The line reads the entrant's magical age, not apparent age. Polyjuice creates its own medical risks and is forbidden regardless."

Draco raised a hand. "What if an eligible student carries someone else's name?"

"The Goblet will accept only a name attested by the named person before two witnesses," said the Durmstrang representative. "The attestation is checked at the line."

That safeguard was new. It directly addressed the danger of another person entering a student.

Dumbledore stood near the staff table without directing the test. Madame Maxime and Karkaroff had not yet arrived, but their representatives signed each result.

Moody watched from a shadowed corner. His magical eye followed the specialists' hands rather than the students.

After the barrier trials, the panel tested withdrawal. A wooden figure bearing a false magical signature was selected by the test container. The representative demonstrated that a bound champion could formally forfeit an individual task without being compelled to perform it. The contract imposed the announced scoring loss and nothing more.

"The champion remains entered in the tournament," the specialist explained. "The magic requires a response to each task. A recorded forfeit is a response."

Edward wrote the sentence down. The common claim that a chosen champion had no choice at all was inaccurate. The choice could carry consequences without disappearing.

A healer then showed the emergency stops. Judges could suspend a task. A champion could send red sparks or speak a withdrawal phrase. Medical teams would occupy positions shown on a map before each event.

No demonstration could prove that every hidden task was safe. It could prove that someone had planned for specific failures.

During questions, a seventh-year Slytherin asked whether outside equipment was allowed. The answer depended on the task rules. Personal wands were guaranteed. Unreviewed artifacts could be refused after inspection.

Draco whispered, "There goes your chance to revolutionize the sport."

"The broken Crest was never entering."

"You could build another."

"Not before the evidence supports it."

Moody's ordinary eye shifted toward them.

The public session ended with every panel member signing the record. Copies went to the library and each visiting school.

As students dispersed, Moody approached Edward.

"Albania taught you to like paperwork?" he asked.

His voice was rough, almost amused.

"It taught me what happens when a scene is destroyed or a witness account is simplified."

"Paper does not stop a curse."

"No. It helps identify who cast it and who ignored the warning."

Moody's blue eye rotated backward, watching Hermione without turning his head. "Constant vigilance needs quicker habits than committees."

"Vigilance also needs someone to question the vigilant."

For a moment, Moody's expression sharpened. Then he barked a laugh and limped away.

Hermione waited until he was out of hearing. "Was that wise?"

"I do not know."

They wrote the exchange in the observation log, including Edward's uncertainty.

The public safety sessions had attracted more students than expected. Cho Chang attended twice and corrected their emergency map of the upper floors. As a fifth-year Ravenclaw, she knew passages the younger students missed. A Hufflepuff named Owen Cauldwell showed that their whistle signal could be confused with the kitchen bell near the lower stairs.

They changed the pattern.

No attendee was asked to join the alliance. Three asked anyway. Edward gave them the charter and a week to read it. Hermione interviewed them separately about why they wanted membership.

One applicant wanted access to private spells. He withdrew when told there were none.

Another wanted protection from older students. The group helped her report the harassment without making membership the price.

The third, a Ravenclaw sixth-year named Adeline Shacklebolt, challenged the secret voting procedure. Anonymous votes protected dissent, but the minutes recorded only the result, making it impossible to know whether members disclosed conflicts.

They changed the minutes to include conflict statements without linking them to individual votes. Adeline continued attending as an observer.

The process was slower than recruiting a circle of talented heirs. It produced fewer people and better questions.

Edward sent the revised admissions procedure to Sirius. The guardian returned it with one addition: a student seeking protection could use alliance resources without becoming a member. Otherwise, danger itself could become pressure to join.

The group adopted the clause before considering any new applicant. It immediately applied to the student facing harassment. She received escorts and help documenting incidents, then chose not to pursue membership. No one withdrew the support.

That evening, the castle grounds filled with students awaiting the foreign delegations. Dumbledore had chosen the final Friday before Halloween for their arrival, giving both schools time to review the published protections.

The Durmstrang ship rose from the black lake after sunset. Water streamed from its rigging as it approached the shore. Students in heavy cloaks crossed the gangplank behind Igor Karkaroff. Viktor Krum walked among them, immediately drawing whispers from everyone who had watched the World Cup.

Beauxbatons arrived in a pale carriage drawn by enormous winged horses. Madame Maxime descended first, followed by students in blue uniforms. Fleur Delacour moved at the front of the group with calm confidence.

Hagrid greeted the horses with more enthusiasm than their handlers expected.

Edward stood with his house and did not count potential recruits. These students had travelled into a school still recovering from a public attack and rumours of a returning dark wizard. They deserved the promised hospitality.

At the welcome feast, Dumbledore repeated the age rule and the entry schedule. Karkaroff objected to no term. Madame Maxime requested one clarification about medical authority, received it, and signed.

The Goblet would be lit the next morning.

As the foreign students took their places, Moody's blue eye moved over each face.

It stopped on Krum, on Fleur, on Harry, and finally on Edward.

The pattern might mean nothing.

Edward entered it in the log.

The log recorded who had seen the pattern and where they stood. If later events changed its meaning, the original observation would remain separate from hindsight.