Chapter 289 Triwizard Tournament (2 in 1)

Dumbledore raised the wand in his hand, a crimson wisp of light lingered at the tip of his wand, and the surrounding temperature rose four or five degrees higher than the previous second.

Seeing his action, the wizards of Witching Horizons who followed him all raised their wands without half a moment of hesitation, even though the man sitting in the chair brought great pressure on them all!

Upon seeing their actions, on Voldemort's side, whether it was Aurors or all the other non-combatant purebloods, they all raised their wands together.

As long as Voldemort has not abandoned them, then they can still follow him along the road to the end!

If he becomes the losing party even today, the pureblood wizards in the courtroom will not be able to escape, nor will they survive!

However, even when the atmosphere has become so tense, Voldemort still lazily leaned back in his chair, and he still held his wand in his hand like a street punk clutching a cigarette, casually carrying it between two fingers, as if he did not notice how Dumbledore had already got ready to attack.

"In fact, you and I both understand, Dumbledore." He opened his mouth in a relaxed manner and said, "If you fight with me right now, we can't decide on a winner in a short time, but if I want to kill others, you can't stop me."

Dumbledore looked like he had just thought of this issue, his face looked calm as he said "Ah-oh".

"You are talking a lot, if you want to kill, no one here can stop you other than letting them have a chance to escape, but, is this place really not mean anything to you?"

Their dialogue is very straightforward, and in this straightforward dialogue, the real threat is present to everyone else.

Voldemort wanted to kill all the wizards of the Witching Horizons except Dumbledore, and Dumbledore could not protect them all, but likewise, if Dumbledore wanted to destroy the entire French Ministry of Magic, and kill all the French purebloods present altogether, Voldemort could not stop him either.

If the battle between the two reached the point where neither could deal with the other, then afterwards they would certainly start with the people around each other.

Dumbledore looked at Voldemort's cold eyes, and suddenly thought, before he entered the courtroom Voldemort has not appeared, but when the two sides all gathered, he appeared in high profile, it is likely that he deliberately did it for this result.

As for why he wanted to create such an occasion, it is unlikely that he simply wanted to show up like this in the limelight after the previous defeat, Voldemort may have such a hobby, but not to the point of doing these things in such a key occasion just to simply for the sake of dignity.

The biggest possibility is that he is intentionally forming a situation where everyone else will become a drag in the next battle between the two.

And why it is necessary to deliberately create such a situation, Dumbledore felt that this does not need him to guess, because Voldemort himself will say it.

"Of course, it is very important."

Voldemort as long as his reason still remains, he will not be able to deny the meaning of their existence in front of all the French purebloods, he said aloud.

"All of them are the cornerstones of my endeavour, including this Ministry of Magic, and I can't let you destroy them that easily, just as you won't let me kill all those people behind you that easily."

His voice suddenly became treacherous.

"This battle will end up in such a way that neither of us wants to see, and there is no way to reconcile the conflict between us. You want to take Paris and take back Britain, while I want you to get the hell out of France and take those lackeys of yours and go into hiding in some other corner of the world, so we might as well settle this conflict differently and reasonably."

Dumbledore nodded slightly, those crescent-shaped glasses reflecting an inexplicable white light.

"I'm all ears."

Voldemort stood up from his chair with a smile on his face and strolled through the crowd of pureblood wizards, spreading his arms like he was giving a grand speech.

"Actually, I always wanted to be a pure educator too, Dumbledore. If you had said yes when I asked you for the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts position back then in your office, then maybe I would have been a good professor working honestly under you and there would never have been a 'great sir' in this world after that."

"But you refused me, which was a matter of great shame to me, and it was this event that contributed to my obsession with planning to seize Hogwarts, the school of witchcraft and wizardry, from your hands."

"The result is obvious, I did it. Compared to various other flashy titles, the only two titles I have been most satisfied with until now are 'Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry' and 'Lifetime Honorary Headmaster of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic'. You, of course, defied the odds, and even after that hasty escape from that castle, you still insisted on proclaiming that ridiculous school as the real Hogwarts on a broken-down wagon, and that loser took the opportunity to seize Durmstrang."

He looked around at everyone, then fixed his gaze on Dumbledore's face.

"It may be coincidence, or perhaps fate, but regardless of who exactly has the orthodoxy of Hogwarts, we are now two opposing sides, each controlling two schools of witchcraft and wizardry, which is perfectly nice!"

"I don't know if everyone here knows this; so many years have passed, do you still remember that there was once a tournament in Europe in which three schools of Wizardry participated together to select students to be champions, and they competed in various competitions to finally contend for the strongest champion and No.1 school title?"

The courtroom went silent, whether it was the French pureblood wizards or the wizards behind Dumbledore, they all looked at the man standing in the middle of everyone.

No one present in the room couldn't figure out exactly what Voldemort was talking about, although that tournament had indeed been suspended for hundreds of years, because of its legendary status, it was still being talked about in the mouths of wizards.

"The Triwizard Tournament!"

Voldemort and Dumbledore looked at each other and with smiles on their faces, they said the name of that tournament.

"Hogwarts! Beauxbatons! Durmstrang!"

"A tournament co-hosted by three wizardry schools that represent the entire European wizardry community. Dumbledore, since there is no way for us to divide the outcome of this battle today as wizards, how about a comparison between educators?"

"Hogwarts and Beauxbatons under me will represent me, Hogwarts and that loser Durmstrang under you will represent you, and whoever gets the title will be the winner!"

He curbed the smile on his face, his face turned calm, and his words rang out loud and clear.

"If I win, you take your ridiculous organization and get the hell out of France! And if you win, I will take all those who are willing to follow me and withdraw to Britain, and give up everything in this land!"

"And since this is a Triwizard Tournament, the outcome of this match will also determine the existence of 'one and true' Hogwarts! If you win, I will disband Hogwarts under me and step down from my position as Headmaster, and if I win, you will likewise destroy that ridiculous wagon and remove the title of the so-called greatest Hogwarts Headmaster of all time!"

Voldemort's words echoed in the courtroom, leaving this space completely in dead silence.

No one could have imagined that he would suddenly propose such a solution, using a tournament that has not been held again for hundreds of years to determine the fate of France!

And in such a competition, the only people who can really participate in it will be a bunch of teenagers who have not yet graduated from school!

Four teenagers, deciding the fate of a nation and the orthodoxy of Hogwarts!

Such huge distinctive things linked together brought a sharp shock to all present.

No one knows exactly what kind of thoughts Voldemort had to make such a decision, and no one knows what kind of benefits such a decision would actually bring him.

The two Hogwarts, as well as Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, no one knows what kind of gap there is in the standard of the four students.

This is purely a competition between the quality of students from different schools, and the final result of which is unknown until it is compared.

Even if this information is shocking, there is a moment to digest it.

After all of them came back to their senses, they turned their attention to Dumbledore.

Since Voldemort has proposed a solution to the war, it is up to Dumbledore to decide whether to adopt it or not.

Unlike the disbelief on the faces of others, even though Voldemort said such a solution, Dumbledore's face did not show much big emotional fluctuations.

He just looked deeply at Voldemort, and that gaze did not move away for a moment, as if he wanted to imprint his gaze inside Voldemort's head.

Voldemort did not avoid his gaze and nodded his head and looked at him, quietly waiting for his answer.

Such a wait did not last long, Dumbledore ended his thinking, but his next words caused an avalanche of emotion in the room.

"Where is the venue for the competition to be held?"

No bargaining, no more questions, his words are tantamount to a disguised agreement to all the proposals made by Voldemort!

The corners of Voldemort's mouth were slightly hooked up, not surprised or any other expression, but showed an expression that looked like a sneer and a snide smile.

"Since this competition also determines the return of Hogwarts orthodoxy, the location will be set at Hogwarts Castle, how about it?"

Dumbledore nodded his head as if he was deeply impressed by the decision made by Voldemort.

"Of course, Hogwarts Castle, that is the most appropriate venue."

He lowered the wand in his hand and acted as if the suggestion was not made by Voldemort at all, but he had thought the same thing from the beginning.

"It could not be a better solution, everything comes down to the most basic competition, I agree with this proposal, Riddle, and it is only rational for us to make some absolute commitments on this spot."

Voldemort seems to have guessed what Dumbledore wanted to say.

After his words, he did not hesitate to flick the wand in his hand, the tip of the wand aimed at his left hand!

The next moment, the flesh in the middle of his hand was suddenly cut by an invisible blade, from which scarlet liquid seeped out!

Voldemort clutched the hand that was dripping blood and held it up in front of his body.

Dumbledore did not stop, and also cut a slit in the centre of his palm, allowing fresh blood to gush out.

Two constantly bleeding hands clasped together, the blood belonging to two different individuals mixed together, and constantly dripping onto the already scarlet carpet.

Dumbledore levelled his gaze to look straight at Voldemort, his calm countenance revealed what he was now thinking.

"So, the selection of champions and the timing of the tournament commencement?"

Voldemort said in a cold voice.

"Since the Blood pact has been made, then the selection of champions might as well start tomorrow, this Ministry of Magic which will be temporarily controlled jointly by us, is also the most suitable location for the selection, as for the time when the tournament starts, what do you suggest?"

Dumbledore did not speak first, he just quietly looked at Voldemort, after a long time suddenly smiled.

There was no sarcasm in that smile, there was no coldness, nor was there any semblance of restraint or modesty, just like an old man enjoying his life at home, hearing some funny joke from the mouth of his children and grandchildren.

"Ha, too hasty, Riddle, too hasty. In fact, there is absolutely no need to be in such a hurry, can we slightly reschedule the selection time a little more?"

What made everyone puzzled is, they reached unity on something as incredulous as that in previous things, but now for some reason, there is such a disagreement on the time of the selection of champions.

Dumbledore gently raised an eyebrow, he asked Voldemort's opinion in a gentle tone.

"Since you already have such confidence, how about relaxing the schedule a bit?"

Voldemort did not know for what reason, he showed a sneer.

"A little more time? Until what time do you wish for me to wait, next year? The year after, or until the end of your lifetime?"

Dumbledore shook his head and said flatly.

"The week after today, that's enough."

Voldemort also seems to have heard some kind of great joke, his original cold and mocking smile can no longer be suppressed.

"A week's time? You're an old man, so of course an old man should have some preferential treatment! I'll wait a week for you, but what will change?"

Dumbledore did not seem to hear the sarcasm in his words, he readily accepted with a nod while continuing to say.

"In fact, a week is already very rushed, and since the selection of champions is held in such a hurry, it is natural to spare some more time to let the selected children prepare. After all, they are carrying such a big responsibility, and the specific process of the competition needs to be decided and discussed, all of which takes a lot of energy and time So, I think the official start of the competition might as well be set in September when the new school term starts again."

On the time when the tournament starts, Voldemort looked like he didn't have any opinions, he looked Dumbledore coldly in the eyes.

"It's going to be a good show, isn't it, Albus Dumbledore, my esteemed professor?"

Dumbledore chuckled, his smile was still as gentle and bland as ever.

"It's certainly going to be a wonderful display, Tom Riddle, my excellent student."

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