Bagman felt a bit of shock after this conversation. He knew that Harry, Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur meant business when they said that they would not participate in the Second Task as currently constructed.
Bagman apparated back to Hogwarts and called an emergency meeting with Crouch, Dumbledore, Maxime, and Karkaroff. He also sent out an owl for Fudge to join them.
They decided to meet in Classroom Eleven so they could talk away from the rest of the staff.
"So," said Bagman matter of factly, "I was just summoned to Diggory Manor by Harry Potter. The Triwizard Champions are spending Christmas Vacation together there. Harry has just informed me that the four of them will not participate in the Second Task as currently constructed and will retire from being Triwizard Champions if the contents of the Second Task are not changed. The Four Champions have suggested that an underwater search challenge be the Second Task."
"They don't have a choice," snarled Crouch, "The Goblet of Fire constitutes a binding magical contract."
"Why are they against the Second Task anyway?" wondered Maxime.
"Their position," explained Bagman, "Is that because of how serious real life hostage situations are and because of the emotional scars that such situations leave on the victims and their families, sport/competition should not be made of a hostage situation. They feel that creating a pretend hostage situation is inappropriate. They are also concerned that some of the potential hostages may not be able to swim well or that the kidnapping needed to get a hold of them will be traumatic for them."
"Honestly, I can't disagree with that," said Maxime reasonably, "Bagman, what are your thoughts on an underwater search challenge?"
"The Champions gave me two possible suggestions. The first idea was to place bars of gold with the mermaids and award the most points to the champion who could successfully return his or her bar of gold to a starting point successfully the fastest. The second idea was to forgo the mermaid aspect altogether and bury a bunch of bars of gold underwater and award points to the champions for each bar they found. Honestly, both ideas maintain the core concepts of the Second Task. They retain the tests of search skills, stamina, and the ability to breathe underwater," answered Bagman.
"I agree," nodded Maxime, "Why shouldn't we agree to this change?"
"Because they knew there might be danger when they chose to enter the tournament," snarled Karkaroff, "They'll have to deal with it. No chickening out now. Cowards."
"A contract is a contract and this one is both legally binding and magically binding," insisted Crouch.
"The only thing legally or magically binding about the contract is that the champions have to complete the tournament," explained Fudge, "The specific tasks are irrelevant to the contract and the tasks are legally and magically allowed to be changed. I personally support keeping the Second Task the way it is because it adds an emotional challenge to the event."
"Will Harry, Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur die if the withdraw from the Triwizard Tournament?" asked Dumbledore.
"No," explained Crouch, "But they would lose their magic. I don't know if the champions know this."
"If they don't now, they will by the time the Second Task rolls around," said Bagman bluntly, "They'll be doing all the research they can into the matter. I think there's a very real chance that the champions would consider that a price worth paying not to do the Second Task as currently constructed."
"We can't have that," said Fudge nervously, "It'll be a terrible look for me if Harry Potter loses his magic. I'll be held responsible for it and kicked out of office."
"I'd also be held responsible seeing as the event is taking place at Hogwarts," said Dumbledore wearily, "I'd be held responsible for all four of them losing their magic."
"We'd ALL be held accountable for it and rightfully so," interjected Maxime, "We all did a shitty job of planning this tournament and it's coming back to bite us in the ass. Honestly, we deserve to be in this position. We were too disinterested in the well-being of the champions and our planning generally sucked."
"The Second Task is two months away," said Bagman fairly, "We don't have to rush. Why don't we all think this over for a bit and meet again in Classroom Eleven on the day before the new semester starts."
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