Rating and Tears of Fleur

As the four champions returned in turn, several judges in the audience gathered to discuss the matter. After about five minutes of debate, Bagman, the commentator, stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, after a careful review by the judges, we will now reveal the final score of each champion…"

"The first was Mr Viktor Krum, who overcame the difficulty of breathing underwater with an incomplete Transfiguration.

Unfortunately, Mr Krum was knocked out by a merman and was unable to complete the rescue mission, so I can only give him a point!"

As he spoke, Bagman fired a beam of light into the air, which exploded a moment later with an "one" on it.

Crouch, Dumbledore, and Maxime did not go as far as Bagman, but instead gave a friendly four!

Karkaroff's face was frighteningly dark, but he quickly raised his sign—seven points!

"That's cheating!" Hermione snapped.

Karkaroff was not the only one who was accused of cheating.

Even the referees were frowning.

"I think Krum's Transfiguration is superb, far beyond his peers! Although he was knocked out by a large group of merpeople during the match, it was only an accident. It does not mean that we should erase his efforts!" Karkaroff shamelessly defended Krum, ignoring the crowd's questioning.

Bagman, mindful of Krum's low score and not wanting to argue with Karkaroff, announced Krum's final score — a total of twenty points.

Bagman then turned his attention to Fleur and began introducing her to the game. "Now, Madame Fleur Delacour, the champion of Beauxbatons! She showed us how well she could use the Bubble-Head Charm, and successfully escaped the Merpeople…"

"Wait, Mr. Bagman!" Fleur interrupted.

"What is it? Do you have something to say, Madame Delacour?" Bagman looked at her in surprise.

Fleur took a deep breath, turned to Ivan, and said in a hoarse voice, "I don't think you've noticed, but I promised Mr. Ivan Hals at the bottom of the lake that I would give up the second match. You don't have to rate me."

Bagman frowned. It was the first time he had ever been in a situation like this, and he didn't know how to respond.

The young wizards in the audience whispered among themselves.

The Beauxbatons students, in particular, glared at Fleur with displeasure, believing that she had given up the second match without considering the consequences, which would have humiliated Beauxbatons and cost them the championship!

Fleur pursed her lips and looked bleak in the face of all the questions and abuse, but stood her ground.

Ivan, who had finally managed to get rid of Gabrielle, was also looking at Fleur. He did not expect her to keep her promise and ask to be disqualified.

Ivan was not going to take the blame for this, however, as he did not want another report in the Daily Prophet tomorrow saying that he had taken advantage of the situation to force Fleur to withdraw from the race in order to rescue Gabrielle.

"Miss Delacour, I'm afraid you've forgotten that I never agreed to your request, so technically it doesn't count. You didn't give up the game!"

"And if you had to get a zero, what would Mr Krum do? Wouldn't he have to do the same as you? So if you don't mind, you'd have to take Mr Krum's feelings into consideration, wouldn't you?" Yvonne went on, gesturing for Fleur to look at Krum, who was still unconscious.

Ivan's speech took everyone by surprise, and there was a brief silence, during which more and more people applauded his show of tolerance and generosity.

Only the Durmstrang students looked grim - they had the feeling that Ivan was taking the opportunity to discredit Krum.

"Mr. Harls is right, and the Headmasters agree that the game is too difficult, and that even the champions who did not complete the game have performed brilliantly, so we are willing to rate Madam Delacour's performance!" Bagman said with a smile.

"Also, I want to stress that the Goblet of Fire does not allow champions to give up halfway through a match! No matter what happens, you must play the game to the end!" Dumbledore said in his booming voice, looking sternly at Fleur.

Dumbledore's words were a clear rejection of the possibility of Fleur's retirement, and the normal scoring session resumed.

As Fleur had been underwater longer than Crum and had performed brilliantly against the Merpeople, the score was higher than Krum's by twenty-seven points!

"Thank you… thank you!" Fleur said excitedly. She looked at the judges, then back at Yvonne, tears streaming down her face.

Bagman did not wait for Fleur to calm down, but proceeded to announce Harry's score.

As the only two champions to have made it through the final, Harry's score should have been quite high.

By the time he returned with Ginny, however, it was already past time, and Ivan was the only one who made it through the treacherous water meadows and Merpeople's Square.

Hermione, Ron, and the rest of the audience were furious when Bagman announced Harry's score, believing he deserved forty points or more!

Harry, on the other hand, was quite satisfied, as he scored ten points more than Fleur and Krum!

Bagman smacked his lips and pointed an impassioned finger at Ivan, who was standing on the edge of the lake. "And finally, the final score for the champion, Ivan Hals!"

"Mr. Harls performed the match perfectly, saving Miss Delacour and her hostage Gabrielle in a match that lasted fifty-seven minutes and thirty-seven seconds, showing us his noble moral character!"

"After much discussion, the judges agreed that Mr. Hales's performance was impeccable and scored fifty points!"

Bagman shouted at the top of his lungs. Fearing that Karkaroff would cause trouble, he did not give the judges a chance to vote. Instead, he announced that Ivan had passed with a perfect score!

(PS: Here's a new book, I'm Really Not Her Disciple, recommended. The main character is Shanjin, and the main character is Bai Zirou, the First Fairy.