Chapter 178: A Hidden Conspiracy

The champions learned the creatures five days before the first task.

Dragons.

The revised event used one broad arena divided into three nesting zones. A Common Welsh Green, a Swedish Short-Snout, and a Hungarian Horntail would each guard four marked golden eggs placed along the outer edge of a false nest. All twelve champions would enter the same field. Each could claim one egg, and a school's score would be the sum of its four individual marks.

The arrangement allowed cooperation without making any one student responsible for defeating a dragon. It also allowed competition. Champions could obstruct a route with ordinary defensive magic outside the marked danger zones, but a spell aimed at another champion while either person stood within a dragon's striking range would draw a severe penalty and immediate review. No one was permitted to attack a dragon merely to improve a score.

Dragon keepers controlled reinforced gates around each nesting zone. Healers waited behind fireproof barriers, and judges could stop one champion or the entire task if a dragon, keeper, or student moved beyond the agreed limits. A champion who crossed the exit with a marked egg kept the clue even if later penalties reduced the score.

Sirius read the medical report twice. "You can forfeit."

Edward read it a third time. Burn risk was high. Fatality risk under the amended controls was assessed as low but not zero, and the shared arena added another danger: frightened students with wands would be moving around the same animals. The underage participants would wear monitored heat charms, and their guardians could stop them through a red signal before the judges acted.

"I want to participate," Edward said.

"Why?"

"Harry and I are already attached to the tournament. This version has visible boundaries, team support, and several ways to stop. I can help Hogwarts without needing to overpower anything."

Sirius studied him. "That sounds like reasons, not compulsion."

"It is."

He signed conditional permission. Edward could withdraw during the briefing or the task. He could not use Soul Ash, an experimental artifact, or blue fire. Elementalization was permitted only in short defensive bursts, and any sustained use ended his attempt if a healer or judge ordered it.

Harry made the same choice after Mrs. Weasley, McGonagall, and Charlie Weasley reviewed the plan with him. Charlie joined the keeper staff but would not supervise Harry directly, avoiding the awkward spectacle of one brother deciding whether another had to be dragged from an arena.

The four Hogwarts champions met with Professor Sprout as their appointed adviser.

Cedric proposed decoys. Adeline wanted the nesting boundaries memorized before anyone discussed spells. Harry suggested keeping a broom available if the flight lanes remained clear. Edward proposed using ordinary shields for people and reserving his fire for heat control or emergency cover.

Sprout stopped them before tactics became a performance rehearsed against an animal they had not seen. "You know the species, not which one will turn toward you. Prepare to help one another and to leave when the field changes."

They agreed on brief calls. Cedric would coordinate movement when the four were together. Adeline would track boundaries, time, and judge signals. Harry would handle aerial distraction only when a keeper cleared the lane. Edward would watch heat and provide cover. Any champion could call stop, and the others were required to hear it before arguing.

No one was called leader for the entire task. Cedric had more tournament experience, Adeline stronger planning, Harry the best flying, and Edward the closest familiarity with magical fire. Authority shifted with the problem.

Durmstrang trained behind privacy wards in the Quidditch stadium. Beauxbatons used the Transfiguration courtyard. The schools could not watch one another's practice, but every proposed spell went to the same safety review. The rule against dangerous interference appeared in all three languages and required each champion's signature.

The conspiracy inquiry continued separately.

Amelia Bones confirmed that the false school channel had been attached after the Goblet entered Hogwarts. The saboteur needed access to the Great Hall or the ability to act through its wards. The soul-shaped hook resembled principles found in restricted Ministry files on binding magic.

Bertha Jorkins had once catalogued those files in Crouch's department.

The lane closure at the World Cup used a copied order from the same office. Harry's wand had been left beside Winky. Crouch reacted to the description of Voldemort's unknown servant.

The chain pointed toward Crouch's household without proving whether Crouch was culprit, victim, or concealed witness.

Bones attempted another interview. Crouch failed to appear and sent a note claiming illness. Dumbledore dispatched a trusted visitor to his home. The visitor found Winky gone and Crouch alone, irritable, and unwilling to admit anyone.

"That is not enough for a search," Bones told Edward and Sirius. "It is enough for surveillance and a warrant request."

Moody learned of the warrant request before it became public.

Edward discovered this when the professor stopped him after Defence class.

"Tell Bones she is wasting time at Crouch's house," Moody said. "The servant is already inside Hogwarts."

Edward kept his expression still. "Which servant?"

"The one you saw in Albania."

"Why do you think he is here?"

Moody's magical eye rotated toward the corridor. "Because the Goblet was altered here."

"That could have been done remotely or by an accomplice."

Moody smiled without warmth. "Good. Do not accept the first answer."

He limped away before Edward could ask how he knew Bones was examining Crouch.

Edward reported the exchange to Dumbledore and Bones. Moody had advised Dumbledore informally during the inquiry, so he might have learned about the warrant through legitimate discussion. Dumbledore did not remember mentioning it.

They added Moody to the access review without confronting him. His office and flask remained protected by personal privacy rules, but the school could verify his movements around the Goblet and monitor restricted rooms.

The records showed that Moody had patrolled the Great Hall twice during the entry period. Both visits were authorized. On one, a seven-minute gap appeared between two portrait sightings.

Enough time to act, but not proof that he had.

Bones compared the gap with other staff movements. Filch had a longer unobserved interval. Snape crossed a passage without portraits. Two visiting officials used a stair whose witness painting slept through most nights. Access alone produced a list, not a culprit.

The Goblet chamber held traces of a concealment charm on the floor. Moody's wand records included the same family of charm from Auror work. So did the standard kit issued to Ministry security and the curriculum of every participating school.

Dumbledore resisted a request to publish the suspect list. Naming people without the evidence behind each name would invite students to choose guilt by house, nationality, or reputation.

Instead, the school altered opportunity. No staff member entered the Goblet chamber alone. Tournament instructions travelled under paired seals. Harry and Edward received all summons through McGonagall and a second professor. Moody could continue teaching, but another staff member attended any lesson involving curse impressions or tournament preparation.

The rules applied to every professor rather than declaring him secretly convicted.

Edward asked Bones what would justify opening Moody's magical trunk. A credible sign of a confined person, stolen identity material, or a direct link between the trunk and the Goblet would support a warrant. Suspicion about his manner would not.

That answer gave the alliance something specific to report without encouraging a search.

Dumbledore repeated the identity checks. Moody answered private questions correctly. His magical signature matched earlier Ministry records. Polyjuice could imitate appearance but not every signature; long-term possession, coercion, or a compromised record remained possible.

The result was concern, not accusation.

Edward disliked waiting while the first task approached. Ash turned uncertainty into heat and heat into an urge to force clarity. The investigation rules existed precisely for that state.

He trained with the Hogwarts team and left the surveillance to Bones.

On the final practice day, the champions rehearsed withdrawal. Adeline sent red sparks. Cedric called stop. Harry landed. Edward moved behind the marked barrier without casting at the imaginary dragon.

They completed the retreat in twelve seconds.

"Again," Sprout said.

The second attempt took nine.

That evening, Moody watched from the stadium entrance. He offered no advice.

His blue eye followed Harry's broom.

The task plan and the inquiry remained in separate folders. Tournament urgency could not become a pretext for widening a student investigation into staff.