Chapter 176: The Extra Contestant

"The White House just contacted the Ministry of Magic, claiming that reliable intelligence shows a Soviet agent codenamed 'King' has infiltrated the Triwizard Tournament, and they demand a thorough investigation of the matter." Barty Sr. said with an unhappy face.

"Impossible, whether it's the staff of the Triwizard Tournament or the core personnel of the plan," Leslie said, his face flushed as he held back a cough, "they are all loyal locals."

"They said it's a very dangerous Metamorphmagus, and they are also pressuring Downing Street, demanding to send intelligence personnel to intervene in the investigation." Barty Sr.'s tone had a hint of helplessness. "Currently, Minister Scrimgeour is negotiating with them."

"*Cough cough cough*, then what should we do?" Leslie said with dissatisfaction.

"The Minister's meaning is that our plan remains the same, but we can allow Ilvermorny to participate." Barty Sr. sighed. "This is to avoid them stuffing people into the judging panel and affecting the execution of the plan."

"It's too absurd, the Triwizard Tournament has four champions, what would that become?" Leslie said, looking at Harry again. "And what if the Ilvermorny people steal Harry's limelight?"

Harry was still a bit confused at this time; he hadn't sorted out the logic in this at all.

"If nothing goes wrong, Koldovstoretz also intends to send their champion. If we loosen this opening," Barty Sr. sighed, "China will also come to join the fun."

"Not hard to understand, the Triwizard Tournament is indeed a very weighty wizarding event." Leslie lit another cigarette. "But isn't this completely contrary to our plan?"

"I have already bribed Miss Delacour in advance, and after this game is over, Mr. Krum will also cooperate with the plan." Barty Sr. said, revealing a dark secret that Harry hadn't expected. "The problem now is that we can't put the plan on the table to talk to these people, and they look like they can't wait to stuff people in."

"Can you confirm *cough cough*, their champion candidate, can you confirm?" Leslie asked.

"Hard to say," Barty Sr. pointed at the mud with the tip of his shoe, "but it must be a very excellent student. In this way, the Dark Lord will not only not necessarily view Harry as a major threat, but might even turn to cooperate with the White House."

Perhaps, showing strength, disrupting the plan, and winning over Voldemort—this was the purpose of the White House.

Harry understood it all at once. The so-called "King" was just a groundless excuse. The White House meant that since Yanayev was winning over Harry, they would win over Voldemort. This move was not only betting on the war, but also showing Yanayev their control over Downing Street.

Clearly, the politicians at Downing Street had easily sold out the Ministry of Magic, which led to the plan not being able to keep up with the changes.

With another crisp *pop*, the current Minister of Magic, Scrimgeour, Apparated beside them.

"Good news and bad news," he said. "The good news is that Ilvermorny has loosened up; their team leader will be Tang Tang Nade Fontroy."

That really was good news, Harry thought helplessly. But even if Tang Tang Nade would favor him, if he himself didn't have the confidence to stand out among the crowd of heroes, the success rate of the plan would undoubtedly be greatly reduced.

"The bad news is that Koldovstoretz also wants to participate, and we have no way to refuse." Scrimgeour looked at the two ministers standing here, and Harry, the core of the plan, paused and said, "How about it, let's discuss it?"

"Minister, I have a plan." Leslie said steadily. Harry noticed that his cigarette had been clamped between his fingers for a long time without a single puff.

"Since our event is the Triwizard Tournament, then only three parties can participate. Why not order Ilvermorny to team up with Hogwarts, order Beauxbatons to team up with Durmstrang, and order Koldovstoretz to team up with the Imperial Academy. In this way, not only can we continue to use our plan, but we can also destroy the trust between the White House and the Death Eaters."

"A good strategy, but I want to make a slight modification." Barty Sr. showed an approving smile. "Let Harry and Zhang Qiu be a team, and let Ilvermorny and Koldovstoretz choose their teammates freely. In this way, whether it's Delacour or Krum, they can contain the troublemaking champions for us, and Zhang Qiu will inevitably cooperate sincerely with Harry."

"Do as Crouch says." Scrimgeour nodded. "However, the only academy China has registered internationally is the Mahoutokoro; whether we can acknowledge Zhang Qiu as their champion, this still needs to be discussed."

"Master Xuanjun and Dumbledore have a good friendship, and China and we have no conflict of interest; they just want to watch the fun." Barty Sr. said confidently. "The form can be changed again, but the core remains unchanged; we need them to cooperate with us."

"I'll go contact the Chinese side; they happen to have arrived too." Scrimgeour nodded. "Harry, you go too."

Scrimgeour was an Auror by origin, with sharp eyes and a tough attitude. He pulled Harry's hand without question and walked toward the Chinese tent.

"Hey, who is that?" "With such a sour face, he's not here for anything good." "Pah pah pah, middle-aged man, really a downer."

Harry was a bit confused at first as to why Zhang Qiu's masters' wives were mocking Scrimgeour so unreservedly. However, when he turned his head and saw the blue TARDIS and a Doctor leaning against the TARDIS, he knew that he had actually entered the automatic translation range of this advanced equipment.

"Ladies, I want to know if you can represent Master Xuanjun." Scrimgeour said coldly.

Those concubines froze all at once. After a long while, someone said: "Big Sister can, let Big Sister talk to him."

A woman who was past her prime but still had charm walked over gracefully and performed a curtsy to Scrimgeour. "Hello, Minister. Are you here to discuss the Triwizard Tournament?"

"That's right, I hope to send a student in the name of the Mahoutokoro to participate as Harry's teammate." Scrimgeour didn't explain too much, just stated a conclusion simply.

"*Cough*." That Big Sister replied in an official tone, "If there are no other requirements, we will go back and arrange a selection tournament to choose the most suitable student to pair with Harry."

Scrimgeour said in a stiff, unquestionable tone: "I hope it is Zhang Qiu."

"But Zhang Qiu's school registration is not at the Mahoutokoro." The Big Wife looked embarrassed. "She belongs to Hogwarts. And in terms of ability, I think the students they were just discussing are no worse than Zhang Qiu..."

Facing Scrimgeour's eyebrows, which were almost tied in a knot, the Big Wife took a deep breath and changed her wording: "Then how about this, your official event can send an invitation to the Mahoutokoro, and we will also give an official reply, which is to give this champion quota to Hogwarts."

"Can do, thank you very much." Scrimgeour breathed a sigh of relief and pulled Harry away from the pile of women.

When they returned to their own campsite, Harry noticed that Mr. Wei Silai had just sent Leslie away, and Scrimgeour also politely shook hands with Arthur, said "See you in the stands," and left on his own.

In the noisy campsite, the children wandered around buying some small props. After a round, Harry had a flag in his hand, binoculars hanging around his neck, and face paint on his face. But the twins were still empty-handed, only taking two small free flags from a vendor while Harry was buying binoculars.

"We don't have a penny left; 42 Galleons, 15 Sickles, and 3 Knuts were spent on Ireland winning—and with the additional condition of Krum catching the Snitch." George said.

"Five Galleons of which were borrowed by mortgaging the fake wand to Bagman." Fred added. "He's now in charge of betting."

Harry said with a sudden realization: "Oh, then that's right, you must be able to make a big profit!"

"What?" George asked, though he wasn't that confident either.

Harry remembered the statement he had heard before. Barty Sr. claimed to have bribed Delacour and Krum. It seemed they had already decided on a girl named Delacour as the Beauxbatons champion, and the Durmstrang champion might be the Seeker currently on the field, Viktor Krum.

If it was easy to bribe Delacour with official conditions, what kind of price could move a genius Seeker who became famous at a young age? If nothing went wrong, the chip Barty Sr. offered was—the Snitch of this game.

The Irish team's Seeker wasn't that genius, but also not to be underestimated. Ireland winning but Krum catching the Snitch was in itself something unexpected by the audience. Even if the children had guessed so before, it was purely to take care of Ron and Ginny, the two fans of Krum. In fact, deep down, Harry, or the vast majority of local fans, felt that Bulgaria was more likely to be defeated.

Giving the Snitch to Krum could not only serve as a chip to bribe Krum to cooperate with the plan, but also manipulate the game betting (he even specifically assigned a person named Bagman to be responsible for opening the market) to make a big profit. And winning while the opposing team caught the Snitch was also a good thing that brought great popularity to the Irish team. Everyone won.

It was just that sportsmanship was dead.

Harry shook his head, throwing those dirty things out of his mind. For him, enjoying this game was the most important thing, because once the Triwizard Tournament kicked off, he would have to keep his spirits tight at all times and must not make a single mistake. ===== CHAPTER 177 =====