Establishing the truth, as I said before, is not very difficult, but figuring out "who-where-why" is more difficult for many reasons, and the oddities of mages are not the least of them. Well, be that as it may, in our case there is one big case consisting of several parts. Our part, in the sense of the part that concerns our interests, will be examined in detail with our participation, i.e. Mr. Klein will see to it that the opportunity is used to our maximum advantage.
— I don't know what the intruders had in mind when they planted the application in someone else's name, nor can I be sure of their methods, but the result is paradoxical. The British Ministry of Magic, in setting the rules for the selection of contestants, was guided by the idea of preventing the participation of minors who lacked the knowledge and skills to not only win, but even survive the most difficult challenges of the Triwizard Tournament.
I would like to emphasize that the British Ministry of Magic has taken over the Tournament, but has quietly handed over the incarnation of one of the most important parts of the Tournament to out-of-control hands. Instead of selecting specialists and organizing a special oversight committee, the Ministry and the minister himself put all the responsibility on the headmaster, who already had enough to worry about, and besides, the school has been understaffed for some time. So the control and restrictive measures were created by the Headmaster of Hogwarts School, Albus Dumbledore, and everyone was happy with that. — The lawyer paused for a moment, glanced around the room, then returned his gaze to the papers, as if reading something, and spoke again.
— I think it is impossible to put so much responsibility on one person. Running a school is a huge job, but people thought that since Albus Dumbledore is such a powerful wizard, he could work for three people, combine three positions, and be in three places at once. Especially for those who are interested, I will give the information I have studied on this subject and come to this conclusion: there are currently no magical or other methods in the world for a wizard to split into three parts and work equally well in all three incarnations. There are techniques for the soul to leave the body, but even then it is impossible to fly as a spirit and walk in a physical body at the same time. — A brief pause, a look around the audience, and a return to the judges.
— There was no mistake, there was a crime because of the negligence and laziness of the officials. Now, here and in front of all the witnesses, I ask the government of Magical Britain to conduct an official investigation and punish those responsible for what happened, as well as reconsider the necessity of such burdens on one person. I have no doubt that there are at least two or three other wizards in Britain who can take on some of the responsibilities that society has literally overburdened Albus Dumbledore with. Have a conscience, the man isn't young enough to run like he used to! — Mr. Klein's voice sounded sincerely concerned and indignant, and I would have believed him if I hadn't known what the lawyer's agenda was.
— But to get back to the main point, let me tell you what brought these two young men into this room today. — A small gesture in our direction.
— So, precedent. The government has decreed that only adult wizards and wizards who have reached the age of seventeen are eligible to participate. Guided by this requirement, Albus Dumbledore has set restrictive charms that do not allow those under the age of seventeen to enter. Again, the Headmaster's choice is questionable, as any adult wizard can see many weaknesses in these charms from the start, but we can come back to that later.
Next up is the Goblet of Fire, an ancient artifact created specifically to determine the participants in the Triwizard Tournament, and which, by default, makes a magical contract with those who cast a wager into its flames. The chalice doesn't care who, how, or under what circumstances a challenge is made; it's up to it to decide whether or not the challenger is worthy of participating in, shall we say, the great action.
Next, the intruder cast some powerful spells that affected the Goblet of Fire in a manner similar to the artifact's tuning techniques, and here we have the fourth participant. According to the artifact, to which the wizards have transferred the right of choice, everything is legal and correct. And now let's get to the bottom line: two underage wizards, bound by a magical contract, are participating in the tournament and cannot not participate. There are nuances, yes. — The man nodded and looked around the audience again.
— For example, a magical guardian can break such a contract before the guardian has participated in the first trial. And if Mr. Hoshino would throw the trial himself and take full responsibility for this decision, then Mr. Potter would not... — The noise in the hall began to grow, there were shouts, condemning exclamations, but a few seconds later a great "silenzio" was imposed on the gallery and the lawyer continued.
— Despite public opinion, a fourteen-year-old can think, and Mr. Harry James Potter gave his word of honor, which was later backed up by a truth potion, and I can say with certainty that he was framed. — Another pause to let the people get the message, continued.
— So Mr. Potter could not refuse, even though he did not choose to participate, simply because his wizarding guardian had been convicted against all procedures and norms, almost illegally thrown into Azkaban, and therefore he could not break his ward's contract. — People were outraged, grumbled, but not as loudly as before.
— Precedent: The British Ministry of Magic does not have the power to forbid the participation of these minors, because by doing so they knowingly put Mr. Hoshino and Mr. Potter in danger of not fulfilling the magical contract, i.e. they put them under various threats up to and including the loss of magic. By law, such a thing is punishable by an immediate "kiss" from a Dementor. — The audience froze, eagerly listening to the man's speech, whose words suddenly became even more interesting than before.
— On the other hand, the British Ministry of Magic had forbidden anyone under the age of seventeen from attending. — Understanding flashed in the eyes of the people.
— So the governments of the three wizarding countries themselves created the conditions and then were forced to recognize two underage Hogwarts students as eligible to participate in the Triwizard Tournament. On this basis, I demand that these two young people, Sora Hoshino and Harry James Potter, be officially recognized at the highest level as legally competent adults, free from all the restrictions placed on minors. And that no further questions be raised about this decision in the future, and that it be approved once and for all.
The rest of the meeting turned into the bazaar we had seen on the first day. Fudge and Dumbledore were particularly vociferous: both did not want to lose their influence over Harry and me, but the meeting was open and there were many witnesses, including foreign journalists. And even though they tried to go against the facts, the main opponents were not ready for this confrontation. And when it seemed that neither one nor the other had any choice but to admit the obvious conclusion, which was quite logical, Dumbledore played his favorite card, or skill, namely, he took the floor and made a speech.
A long, touching one, in the best tradition of democratic orators, i.e. we are all brothers, we are all equal, we should help each other, we should care for our neighbors, and educate the children properly, but how to do that if the children are not under control? At that moment the hall was silent again, literally looking into the mouth of the old man, whose appearance was... well, I don't know, not below the level of "saint on earth", although that mysterious glint in the eyes, that kind, disposing expression of the face... one can involuntarily think about it.
It's the first time I'm present at such "chakra-clearing" sessions, and once again I'm amazed at the abilities of this man, here, undoubtedly, the most real gift (not to be confused with the gift of magic). Although there's a variant that Albus has simply put a lot of effort and time into studying Bolthology, so he blows the brains out of anyone within reach. We could only sigh sadly because it was clear where this was going, but our lawyer intervened. By the way, Harry had also come to believe that total obedience to the headmaster was for his own good.