The Admiral of Hogwarts

Just as Madam Maxime and Headmaster Dumbledore were exchanging greetings, more than a dozen students stepped down from the huge carriage behind them.

These students appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen years old, with girls seemingly making up the majority, each possessing graceful figures and wearing gorgeous silk robes.

Hugo curiously stared at the girls, hoping to find Miss Fleur, who was to be the representative. Unfortunately, due to the weather, almost all the girls had scarves wrapped around their heads, obscuring their faces.

After Madam Maxime conversed with Dumbledore for a while, she left the carriage and led the Beauxbatons students to rest inside the castle. Meanwhile, the Hogwarts students continued to wait on the lawn for the arrival of the Durmstrang delegation.

The sky had completely darkened, and the wind by the lake became increasingly biting. Just as the sounds of sneezing and sniffing grew louder, everyone finally heard a strange noise carried on the wind.

Accompanied by a suppressed sucking sound, the Black Lake stirred, and huge splashes erupted on the surface, waves crashing against the damp shore—

Then, right in the center of the lake, a large whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had suddenly been pulled from the bottom of the lake.

Next, a mast slowly rose from the center of the whirlpool, followed by towering sails, and finally, a huge sailboat directly burst out of the water, sending water splashing everywhere, creating a mist.

"Wow, wow, wow, it's a ghost ship!" Hugo suddenly recalled Victory's voice. "But I can guarantee you one hundred percent that this ship is definitely not as beautiful as me."

"Of course, it's not as beautiful as you!" Hearing Victory say this, Hugo also said seriously. Because the ship in front of them looked really old, it felt like a shipwreck that had just been salvaged.

The ship sailed along, and in a few minutes, the large ship slowly stopped at the lakeside. With a muffled thud, a sturdy wooden plank extended from the ship and rested on the shore.

Then, a group of people wearing fur cloaks, looking furry all over like upright bears, walked off the ship in single file, only lowering the hoods of their cloaks after disembarking.

Leading the group was an old wizard wearing a white cloak. He was tall and thin, with a goatee that curled at the ends on his gaunt chin, and his eyes were cold and sharp, making him look like an unscrupulous person.

However, a smile quickly appeared on his face, and he extended his hand towards Headmaster Dumbledore, greeting him in a rounded and sweet voice.

"Dumbledore! My dear old friend, how are you?"

"Very well, thank you, Professor Karkaroff." Dumbledore wore a polite smile and shook hands with Karkaroff, who had stepped forward.

"Hogwarts, it's truly a pleasure to be here." Karkaroff's face showed a smile, but his eyes remained as cold and sharp as ice.

"It is indeed a great honor to be here… Viktor, come over here and warm up… You don't mind, do you, Dumbledore? Viktor has a bit of a cold…"

Following Karkaroff's call, a boy who should have been seventeen or eighteen years old, but looked like he was twenty-five or twenty-six, walked out from the crowd and stood opposite Dumbledore.

At this moment, a murmur arose among the Hogwarts students, as everyone recognized this famous young Quidditch star.

Since everyone had arrived, the Hogwarts students also followed behind the Durmstrang delegation, lining up to ascend the stone steps.

As everyone walked towards the castle, the murmuring voices converged, as if everyone was discussing Viktor Krum.

Although Krum's loss this year was clearly more embarrassing than in the original story, not only did his team lose, but he also failed to catch the Golden Snitch, his popularity among young people rose instead of falling.

This was mainly because the Comet 3 broom had a clear advantage over the Firebolt in such a top-level competition, so most people believed that Bulgaria's defeat this year was entirely due to circumstances beyond their control.

As a result, Krum was naturally regarded as a tragic hero. According to rumors, after he returned to his country, the condolence letters written by fans alone totaled five or six hundred.

Soon, Hugo and the others sat down at the Ravenclaw table. At this time, the Beauxbatons students had already taken their seats in the latter half of the Ravenclaw table.

The Durmstrang students stood at the entrance of the hall, looking inside for more than ten seconds, then went straight to the Slytherin table and sat down.

Obviously, the reason they made this choice was likely related to the fact that there were fewer people at the Slytherin table, and it was also possible that they knew that the pure-blood Slytherin house had the atmosphere that best matched them.

After all the students entered the hall and took their seats at their respective house tables, the faculty members entered, walking in single file to the head table and sitting down.

Walking at the end of the line were the three headmasters, and when the Beauxbatons students saw their headmistress enter, they all stood up until Madam Maxime sat down before they sat down again.

"It seems that Beauxbatons must be very strict in its management." Hermione leaned close to Hugo and said softly, "As far as I know, only some aristocratic schools and military academies in the Muggle world are like this."

"Good evening, ladies, gentlemen, ghosts, and—especially—guests," Headmaster Dumbledore, who had been standing by the podium since he came in, said, while smiling at the foreign students.

"It is with great joy that I welcome you to Hogwarts. I hope and believe that you will feel comfortable and happy here."

For some reason, a Beauxbatons girl let out a sneer at this moment, which drew angry stares from many Hogwarts students.

However, the old headmaster, who had lived for more than a hundred years, had seen all kinds of storms, so he naturally wouldn't argue with this teenage girl. So he just pretended not to hear it and continued his speech.

"The Triwizard Tournament will officially begin at the end of the feast," Dumbledore said. "I now invite everyone to eat and drink to your heart's content, just like you are at home!"

In an instant, the plates in front of everyone were filled with food as usual. However, the difference was that many of the foods today came from France and Northern Europe, presumably specially prepared for the guests.

"French fish stew, it's quite authentic." Hermione scooped some soup from a large pot in front of her into her small bowl and tasted it, saying, "The craftsmanship is about the same as Richelieu's sister's before."

During the summer vacation, because of the sub-dimension left by Nicolas Flamel, it was obviously much easier for the ship girls to visit each other than before, so Hugo and Hermione, the siblings, also tasted all kinds of delicacies cooked by most of the ship girls.

It has to be said that Hogwarts' house elves are indeed amazing, even if they have never cooked foreign dishes before, they can still guarantee deliciousness.

Under the comfort of delicious food and a warm environment, the Durmstrang students took off their fur cloaks, revealing the blood-red robes they wore inside, and the Beauxbatons students also took off their scarves.