Completely ignoring the increasingly rowdy shouting and indignant protestations emanating from the chattering portraits on the walls, Karkaroff maintained that nauseating, artificially sweet smile of his.
His yellowed teeth glead in the flickering candlelight as he asked his seemingly innocent question to everyone present.
"May I ask, esteed colleagues, what precisely is the essential purpose of our gathering here tonight?"
The question resounded through the air like a cautiously baited trap, waiting for soone to spring it through their response.
"To select the most important person to each champion, in order to inspire their courage and motivate them to achieve victory in the coming trial,"
Most confusingly and unexpectedly, Bryan Watson despite his typically sharp personality and his tendency to cut through diplomatic nonsense maintained an expression of interested amusent that mirrored Dumbledore's smile.
He showed absolutely no intention of restraining Karkaroff's increasingly theatrical antics or calling out the obvious manipulation that was unfolding before their eyes. In fact, to the growing bewildernt of everyone present, he appeared to be actively cooperating with Karkaroff's orchestrated inquiry.
"Oh, precisely so! Exactly as I hoped you would say!" Karkaroff exclaid with exaggerated enthusiasm.
Watson's unexpected cooperation caused an unnatural flicker of confusion to pass through Karkaroff's yellow eyes. However, he quickly recovered his composure and seized upon this satisfactory answer, and declared loudly:
"As Professor McGonagall said in her earlier assessnt, for Miss Granger, both Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley represent crucially important friends.
I even want to suggest that this conclusion holds equally true for Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley as well. All three of these remarkable young people are each other's most intimate friends, and their extraordinary friendship has been tested, tempered, and strengthened through shared adversity!"
With a display of dramatic emotion that would have impressed even the most fed-up drama critics, Karkaroff reached up to wipe at his eyes as though moved to tears by the beauty of such pure friendship.
anwhile, McGonagall's lips had already pressed together into a thin, angry line that showed her growing rage.
She was utterly infuriated by Karkaroff's shaless act of latching onto her words, his blatant manipulation of her honest assessnt for his own purposes. In different circumstances, with fewer witnesses and less restraint required, she might very well have drawn her wand and transford this shaless opportunistic manipulator into a white ferret!
"So, what if that's true!" Minerva snapped as she struggled to restrain the violent impulses that were building within her chest like steam in a sealed cauldron.
"Haven't you noticed the problem yet, dear Minerva?" Karkaroff asked with feigned surprise, his eyebrows rising in an expression of mock concern.
The room fell silent except for the continued grumbling of the portraits, all eyes were fixed on Karkaroff as he prepared to spring whatever trap he had been constructing throughout this entire performance.
"They are all each other's most important people, as you yourself so wisely observed, and as you said before with such insight, friendship cannot be asured precisely using any objective criteria or any formula. But now, due to the constraints of the tournant rules, we must select one single most important person for Miss Granger. Oh, if we truly proceed with this course of action... then I ask you to consider the consequences—"
Karkaroff's voice took on a tone of righteous concern, his performance reaching its crescendo as he questioned with arrogance, "What will happen to the three inseparable friends after the competition concludes?"
"What do you an—" Minerva began, imdiately pressing Karkaroff for clarification.
But having barely spoken the first few words, she found herself stopping mid-sentence as she vaguely sensed what Karkaroff was trying to express. The words of protest were on the tip of her tongue, ready to be spoken, but she swallowed them back.
"Exactly what you're thinking, Minerva!" Karkaroff said with obvious satisfaction, his eyes gleaming with the triumph of soone who had successfully maneuvered an opponent into a corner.
"The problem isn't with Miss Granger herself, nor with whichever person we ultimately select to serve as her motivation. The real problem lies with... the one left behind. Won't he suffer serious, potentially lasting psychological harm?
Oh, the poor child—he originally thought himself absolutely crucial to Miss Granger's happiness and well-being, but through our decision, we would be telling him in the most public and humiliating way possible that compared to the chosen one, he is rely insignificant, a secondary consideration, a disposable friend..."
"Nonsense, Karkaroff! Absolute bulls-- rubbish!" Moody's voice exploded through the room like a crash of thunder.
He roared his indignation and imdiately slamd his fist against the conference table and rose to his feet hobbling nacingly toward the startled Karkaroff like a predator closing in on its prey, pointing his wand at the man's eyes.
"Hypocrite! Manipulative snake! Using high-sounding moral excuses to hide your despicable thoughts and ulterior motives! Oh, you contemptible wretch, I can see straight into your black heart—you've racked your twisted brains and exhausted your cunning just to put Hermione Granger at a severe disadvantage, haven't you!!"
Moody appeared thoroughly enraged, his entire body was trembling. Every scar on his face twisted and writhed like scalded centipedes, creating a look so terrifying that even war veterans might have stepped back in alarm.
"Oh, this—this is just a civilized discussion, isn't it? Just colleagues sharing different perspectives?" Ludo Bagman stamred, his voice high with nervous tension.
This intense atmosphere of just restrained violence was far beyond what the eternally optimistic Ludo had anticipated when he'd arrived for what he thought would be a routine administrative eting. He stood up abruptly wiping nervous sweat from his temples while forcing an uneasy smile.
Professor McGonagall rely watched with cold satisfaction as Karkaroff staggered backward under Moody's intimidating advance, but she said nothing to intervene.
"Professor Moody?" Bryan Watson's gentle voice ca through the tension like a calm breeze through a thunderstorm.
Moody turned toward Bryan with wild eyes, his magical eye spinning frantically while his natural eye blazed with anger. "Need to finish him off, Watson? Just give the word, and I'll do it imdiately! One curse and this problem disappears forever!"
"Oh, I'd much prefer you remain calm, Professor Moody," Bryan said with that sa gentle reasonableness. "As Ludo so wisely ntioned, we're rely having a civilized discussion among colleagues. Violence, however justified it might seem, would hardly serve our purposes here."
The reminder seed to pierce Moody's fury just enough to make him hesitate, though his wand remained pointed at Karkaroff's throat.
Madam Maxi, recognizing that the situation was spiraling dangerously out of control, finally rose from her seat to to diate the conflict.
After several minutes of careful negotiation and soothing words, the office atmosphere beca marginally less explosive, though it remained chilly with unresolved tension and mutual suspicion.
"Well then..." Dumbledore pondered, looking toward Bryan. "Regardless of how we might feel about the manner of its presentation, Professor Karkaroff has frankly presented his unique perspective on this matter. Oh, I must admit with so embarrassnt that I completely overlooked this particular point about the psychological impact on the unchosen friend. What are your thoughts on this developnt, Bryan?"
"We cannot simply ignore Professor Karkaroff's suggestion—"
That single sentence from Bryan caused both Professor McGonagall and Moody's eyes to flash with complete disbelief. They hadn't expected Bryan to actually side with Karkaroff, to create additional difficulties for Hermione. Their surprise was so overwhelming that it montarily prevented them from voicing their objections, leaving them stunned into silence.
"As the host of this Triwizard Tournant, Hogwarts should set an example of fairness and justice," Bryan continued, "That's precisely why we organized this eting rather than making a unilateral decision behind closed doors. The point that Professor Karkaroff just raised, whatever we might think of his motivations, does have so rit that deserves serious consideration. I believe we could arrange two rescue targets for Miss Hermione Granger."
"Bryan!" Minerva's face showed anxiety, but Bryan raised a hand, stopping Professor McGonagall's words while also silencing Moody.
Though his sche had apparently succeeded beyond his wildest expectations, Karkaroff wasn't as pleased as he'd imagined. Instead of the satisfaction he had anticipated, he began to experience a growing sense of unease.
He stared across the table at that young but unnaturally deep face, his yellow eyes searching for so hint of Bryan Watson's true intentions. He found himself utterly unable to comprehend why Bryan Watson would actually support his proposal, and why Dumbledore seed to be cooperating with enthusiasm.
"Madam Maxi?" Dumbledore's voice interrupted Karkaroff's troubled thoughts as he turned his attention to the Beauxbatons headmistress.
"Without question, the most important person to Fleur is her little sister Gabrielle—that's beyond any doubt or discussion," Madam Maxi responded imdiately. "Before departing for Hogwarts, Fleur even approached hoping I'd agree to bring Gabrielle along on this journey, just to satisfy her desire to witness the legendary Triwizard Tournant firsthand and support her sister's participation."
Perhaps the intense conflict and barely restrained violence over Hermione Granger's situation had sowhat frightened Madam Maxi, making her eager to avoid similar controversy. The mont Dumbledore consulted her, she gave her answer without any hesitation.
This was indeed a totally appropriate recomndation, and none of the eting participants could find any grounds for objection.
"Ahem—"
When everyone's attention returned to focus on Karkaroff, this Durmstrang headmaster who had so successfully stirred up the previous dispute found himself coughing twice with guilt and anxiety. His earlier confidence had disappeared, leaving him looking like a man who had just realized he was standing in quicksand.
"Your turn, Karkaroff," Moody said with cold satisfaction, his face wearing an expression of grim anticipation. "Let's hear your brilliant suggestion for Viktor's most important person."
"..."
Karkaroff had been hesitating and procrastinating throughout this entire process, his mind torn between conflicting strategies.
Should he deliberately find soone less important to Viktor to ease his psychological burden, or should he follow the established rules and choose soone genuinely important to stimulate Viktor's determination and fighting spirit?
The decision had seed hypothetical when he was focused on sabotaging Granger, but now that the mont had arrived to make an actual choice, he discovered the awkward and embarrassing predicant he had created for himself.
Among the many students he had brought from Durmstrang, Viktor maintained decent relationships with them all. But Karkaroff knew well that these were rely normal classmate relationships—hardly worthy of being called "important" in the deep, aningful sense that the tournant required.
They were acquaintances, not the kind of deep bonds that would motivate a champion to risk everything. In other words, he had almost no viable options.
"There's a Durmstrang student nad Poliakov..." Karkaroff began hesitantly, his voice lacking any of its earlier conviction. "He and Viktor have shared classes for several years, and I believe they maintain a friendship that could be considered..."
"Don't try to be clever with us, Karkaroff," Moody interrupted in an icy, calm tone that was sohow more nacing than his earlier shouting. "I've taught your students during their ti here at Hogwarts. I know that their relationship is completely ordinary."
Karkaroff's face flushed with embarrassnt as he bared his yellowed teeth in what might have been a smile or a grimace. He had indeed forgotten this crucial point—for the past half year, his students had been receiving their education at Hogwarts. These people weren't completely ignorant about his students' social connections and personal relationships.
"What about Daphne Greengrass then?" Karkaroff suggested desperately, his eyes darting around the room like a cornered animal seeking an escape route.
"You all know she served as Viktor's partner at the Christmas Ball. I dare say he must have been thoroughly enchanted by that excellent and beautiful Hogwarts girl! Surely such a connection would qualify as important?"
"I discussed this matter with Severus before tonight's eting, Professor Karkaroff," Professor McGonagall said expressionlessly, her tone telling she had anticipated this exact argunt.
"Apparently, Mr. Krum hasn't sought out Miss Greengrass even once since the Christmas Ball concluded. According to Professor Snape's observations, they haven't even spoken to each other in passing, let alone maintained any kind of aningful relationship."
"Any other suggestions, Professor Karkaroff?" Ludo Bagman asked with enthusiasm, his earlier nervousness forgotten now that the controversy seed to be settling into a more manageable pattern.
With a smile that had returned to its earlier brightness, Ludo seed genuinely interested in seeing how this puzzle would be resolved.
Karkaroff now realized that his earlier troublemaking and manipulation had made it impossible for him to pass through this selection process easily. But he genuinely couldn't identify anyone who t the "most important person" requirent for Viktor, no matter how desperately he searched his mory.
Over the next several minutes, he suggested several more students' nas, each proposal growing more desperate and less plausible than the last. All of these suggestions were thoroughly rejected by the combined expertise of Minerva McGonagall and that detestable Moody, who seed to take particular pleasure in demolishing each weak argunt.
Most difficult of all, Karkaroff couldn't provide any convincing evidence to prove that any of these people were genuinely important to Viktor beyond casual classroom interactions.
"We must hurry this process along," Bryan said, glancing at the clock on the wall whose hands seed to be moving with unusual speed. His tone showed the first signs of impatience he had showed all evening.
"Since you consistently cannot propose suitable personnel who et the established criteria, Professor Karkaroff, why not listen to my suggestion? I believe I may have a solution to this dilemma."
"What do you an?" Karkaroff's voice cracked slightly, his heart jumping in his chest like a trapped bird as his cheeks tightened with sudden uneasiness. He knew with absolute certainty that Bryan Watson's retaliation had finally arrived.
"There is soone who serves as Viktor Krum's ntor, guide, and trusted friend," Bryan said with perfect calmness. "Without question, this person ets the 'most important person' requirent more completely than any student or casual acquaintance ever could."
"Oh?" Dumbledore blinked with curiosity. "Who is this person, Bryan?"
"Professor Igor Karkaroff himself," Bryan said smiling with quiet satisfaction.
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