Chapter 548: Could it be him?

Despite glaring hatefully at Ivan, Hermione didn't look angry.

"Well, when you've put your eyes back on," she said briskly. "You'll see that Dumbledore has come in and the party is about to begin."

Hermione was right. Ivan turned to see the professors entering the Great Dining Hall, forming a line to the top table and taking their seats.

Last in line were Professor Dumbledore, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, the headmasters of the three wizarding schools.

When their headmistress appeared, the Beauxbatons students jumped to their feet.

Some Hogwarts students laughed. However, those from Beauxbatons did not look embarrassed and did not sit down again until Madame Maxime sat to Dumbledore's left.

Ivan knew that Beauxbatons was a very strict place compared to the more relaxed atmosphere of Hogwarts.

All the professors sat down, Dumbledore remained standing, and a hush fell over the Great Hall.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and.... most especially... guests," said

Dumbledore, smiling at the foreign students. "It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be comfortable and enjoyable."

One of the Beauxbatons girls, still clutching a scarf around her head, let out a laugh that was unmistakably mocking.

"That girl is a nuisance. No one is forcing you to stay!" whispered Hermione.

It was obvious that the girl annoyed her, and Ivan was quick to whisper a few words of persuasion to her.

There were many other people who thought like Hermione, and they were all shocked by the Beauxbatons girl's behavior. They didn't know what kind of education she had received at school. Beauxbatons was very hostile to Hogwarts.

It was the same with Ivan last time - a word and a blow, these Frenchmen!

As for the Durmstrang students, they didn't show such direct hostility, but they weren't concentrating on listening to Dumbledore's speech. They seemed to be more interested in the golden tableware on the table, wondering if they were really made of gold.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the tournament will officially open at the end of the banquet," Dumbledore said.

"I now invite you all to eat, drink and make yourselves at home!"

He sat down and Ivan saw Karkaroff lean forward and engage him in conversation.

The next second, the plates in front of them were filled with food, as usual.

The house elves in the kitchen seemed to have brought out everything they had; there was a greater variety of dishes in front of them than they had ever seen, including several that were definitely foreign.

"What's that?" said Colin, pointing to a large plate of some sort of seafood stew that was next to a large meat and kidney pudding.

"Bouillabaisse," said Hermione. "It's French; I ate it on vacation before summer. It's very tasty."

At her words, they all helped themselves to some.

Only Ron hadn't moved yet; he had been staring at Fleur, his eyes fixed on her.

"Eat up now, Ron, it's going to get cold soon!". Harry tugged at him.

"Oh!" replied Ron, reluctant to avert his eyes and helped himself to a sausage.

The Great Dining Hall seemed somehow much more crowded than usual, even though there were barely a score of other students there; perhaps it was because their different colored uniforms stood out so clearly against the black of the Hogwarts robes.

The robes of the Beauxbatons school uniform were pale blue, and the Durmstrang students wore deep blood red robes under their skins.

Hagrid entered the Hall through a door behind the staff table twenty minutes after the banquet began. He sat at the end, near the long Gryffindor table.

Hagrid greeted Ivan, Harry, Ron and Hermione with a heavily bandaged hand.

"Are the Scripps all right, Hagrid?" Harry couldn't help but ask.

"No problem, they're thriving." Hagrid replied happily.

"Yes, I'm sure they are," Ron whispered. "Looks like they've finally found a food they like, doesn't it? Hagrid's fingers."

No one paid any attention to him, because someone else entered the Great Dining Hall, Mr. Ludo Bagman and Mr. Crouch, Percy's immediate boss.

Bagman walked over and sat down on the other side of Professor Karkaroff, while Mr. Crouch sat next to Madame Maxime.

Ivan looked at Crouch, now this guy was under the control of the Imperius Curse?

However, there didn't seem to be anything unusual, Crouch didn't seem to be under the Imperius Curse.

He was still his usual self.

His meticulous appearance was beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

He seemed to feel Ivan's gaze, and Crouch suddenly raised his head and looked at him.

Ivan hastily turned his head. He had long thought about it. If Barty Crouch intended to use someone else's identity to enter Hogwarts, in addition to the students, he could also impersonate his own father, which was very likely.

As one of the judges, Barty Crouch had access to all aspects of the tournament.

In due course, with the help of Caresius under the guise of Moody, his mission could easily be accomplished.

Besides, Barty Crouch Jr. knew his father's habits very well and did not need to have any more unnecessary worries.

Even if there were any anomalies, with Mr. Crouch's status at the Ministry of Magic, they could be easily resolved.

Detection props like the Marauder's Map were useless on him, and there was no need to worry about being discovered.

In that case, could Barty Crouch Jr. be Mr. Crouch?

Once the golden plates had been cleared, Dumbledore got back to his feet. A pleasant sort of tension seemed to fill the Hall now, and everyone waited for the next program.

Everyone suppressed their excitement and stared at Dumbledore.

The same was true of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students, and no one was as distracted as before.

"The time has come," Dumbledore said, smiling around him at the sea of upturned faces.

"The Triwizard Tournament is about to begin. I would like to say a few words of explanation before bringing the goblet..."

"The what?" muttered Harry.

"I don't know!"

Everyone went blank, except for Ivan, who knew he meant the Goblet of Fire.

"...Just to clarify the procedure we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those of you who don't know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation"...there was a round of polite applause and many people did not know Mr. Crouch, "...and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

There was much louder applause for Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because of his reputation as a hitter, or simply because he seemed so much nicer.

He thanked him with a jovial wave of his hand, while Bartemius Crouch did not smile or wave when his name was announced.