Goblet of fire

No one argued with him on that point either as they had all seen him interacting with those around him but of no interest to him. It was a fairly apathetic approach he had as he simply didn't care and it showed. "How do you think they will choose the champions for the tournament?" Ron asked no one in particular but everyone got involved. "Perhaps some sort of test with a dummy?" Harry suggested but Nick shook his head. "They'll use the goblet of fire like they always have for the Triwizard tournament." he said casually.-

"The goblet of fire? Whats that?" Ron asked and more than a few people nearby leaned in to listen. "From what I understand it is an artifact in the shape of a goblet that appeared to be made of roughly hewn wood that houses a sort of blue flame within it. The goblet was supposedly made by the goblins with an enchantment that allows it to impartially judge the names within it and thus choose the best champion for each school. While I myself will not be participating in the tournament I am looking forward to seeing if I can crack the goblins enchantment." Nick explained honestly.-

"Must be a powerful thing to get you interested." Ron said offhandedly. Nick shook his head "The goblet isn't really all that powerful and can even be tricked if one is skilled enough. No the thing I am interested in is how the goblins managed to keep a fire based enchantment from destroying a wooden cup for so long. It's a pretty well known thing that wooden items shouldn't be enchanted with flame enchantments due to the enchantment shortening the lifespan of the object drastically and yet the goblet is hundreds of years old." he explained eagerly.-

"Of course you would be excited about something like that." Ron said with a roll of his eyes. Unlike in the canon Fleur didn't approach the table to grab the bouillabaisse but Nick could easily understand why. She literally couldn't bring herself to do so with him sitting there as her instincts warred with her personality. Soon after that however all the food on the table was swapped for deserts so she missed her chance anyways. Nick helped himself to a variety of pastries and creamery candies as he waited for Dumbledore to bring out the goblet.-

Once desert was over with Dumbledore began to introduce the tournament in the same as as in canon with the key difference that rather than one of the judges being Barty Crouch it was now Amelia bones who was the head of the DMLE or department of magical law enforcement. Nick felt she was honestly a far better judge than Crouch anyways since as the head of the DMLE she was a very well trained fighter and was also known for being strictly impartial and fair. Basically she was everything you could ask for in a judge of a tournament like this.-

With her and Bagman having been introduced Dumbledore finally had the goblet of fire brought to the middle of the hall on a pedestal. It was covered in an ornate wooden box that was encrusted with various jewels and had an old feel to it. What Nick sensed however was much different as the box actively drew in the mana around it and funneled it into the inside of itself. When it was removed however this function stopped and Nick could finally get a read on the goblet. "Ah , I see so that's how they did it , how clever." he said with a smile.-

"What did they do?" Ron asked curiously. "So as I said earlier fire enchantments damage wood they are placed on ruining them in short order. The way the goblins got around this issue was that they didn't at all. See the goblets enchantment is purposefully energy wasteful so that it would be rendered inert in a few short days after it has been activated by removing that box. The trick was that the box not only refuels the enchantment but also fixes the damage the flames did to the wood so it effectively heals it so that it can last longer , like I said clever." Nick explained.-

"That seems like a lot of work for no good reason." Harry said honestly. "Oh it very much is , however goblins are prideful little fellows so without someone like me spoiling the trick the feat could be passed off as a much greater one than it is. " Nick said with a chuckle. "You think anyone else knows about it?" Ron asked and Nick nodded "Yes , I imagine this bit of trickery was seen through long ago but kept mostly hidden out of respect for what the goblet represents , a rare time of cooperation between the three European wizarding schools." he said honestly.