Triwizard Tournament
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The Triwizard Tournament is a fictional tournament featured in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was established in the late thirteenth and continued to the early fourteenth century as a friendly competition between the three most prestigious magical schools in Europe, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in France, and Durmstrang Institute in (presumably) Scandinavia. Its function was raising ties between the students. However, after the death toll mounted, the tournament was ended.
The Department of International Cooperation and the Department of Magical Games and Sports of Great Britain's Ministry of Magic re-established the tournament in 1994, this time with special precautions to avoid loss of life. The prize was a thousand Galleons.
The tournament was held in Hogwarts and consisted of three tasks taking place during the school year at intervals of several months. Each participating school would enter one contestant - called a champion - into the tournament. Entry was open to all students of at least 17 years of age and therefore legally considered adults in the wizarding world. Shortly after the other schools' representatives arrived in October, A powerful magical artefact known as the Goblet of Fire selected the champions, who were:
- Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons
- Viktor Krum from Durmstrang
- Cedric Diggory from Hogwarts
- Harry Potter, also of Hogwarts and underage, rather inexplicably at first.
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Course of the 1994 Tournament
The first task
The first task was to retrieve a golden egg from a nest guarded by a dragon, to test the champions' ability to function under pressure. The participants were not informed of their task beforehand, and they were graded on a scale of one to ten by a panel of five judges.
All four completed their task. Fleur used sleeping charms, Krum knew the weakness of the beasts and incapacitated his dragon, Cedric utilized his talents in transfiguration to create a distraction, and Harry summoned his top-of-the-line flying broomstick and used it to good effect to outmaneuver his.
The Yule Ball
The Yule Ball is held during Christmas, open to fourth years and older, though a younger student may be invited by an older student. Traditionally, the champions and their dance partners open the dance. Harry Potter's partner was Parvati Patil, Cedric Diggory's Cho Chang, Fleur Delacour's Roger Davies and Viktor Krum's Hermione Granger.
The second task
Instructions for the second task were contained within the egg. The task was to retrieve something "valuable", which turned out to be a friend or relative, from the bottom of the Hogwarts lake.
All four contestants found a way of breathing underwater (Harry via magical herbs, Cedric and Fleur by creating air bubbles around their heads, Krum underwent a rather distressing partial self-transfiguration). Harry reached his objective first, but stayed behind as Cedric and Krum rescued their hostages to ensure that all four got to safety. Fleur failed in her task, so Harry eventually returned with both his hostage (Ron) and Fleur's sister.
Grading was done in the same fashion as in the first task. Though Potter was technically a weak third, his actions were perceived noble instead of/in addition to foolish, increasing his score. Harry and Cedric were tied after the task.
The third task
The third task was to traverse a maze which had been created on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch and populated with a variety of obstacles and creatures. The contestants were informed of this and given ample time to prepare. Instead of a scoring system, the champion who retrived the Triwizard Cup from the centre would win. Champions were released into the labyrinth at intervals, depending on their scores so far.
Where things went wrong
Despite the good intentions of the organizers, the Tournament was not exactly the honorable and friendly event it was envisioned to be. Firstly, it was wrought with corruption. Several of the judges were biased in favor of a candidate and all four contestants were informed of the first task beforehand.
Unfortunately, the corruption pales in comparison to the fact that Lord Voldemort had a plant at Hogwarts. Barty Crouch Jr., disguised as Professor Moody, was charged with orchestrating Harry's victory. It was he who tricked the Goblet into forgetting that only three schools could compete, and entered Harry under a separate school. He aided Harry in acquiring what he needed for the first two tasks, and did his best to clear Harry's path of obstacles (and other competitors).
Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory arrived to the center together, having pooled their resources to get past the final obstacles. Unfortunately for both, "Moody" had turned the cup into a portkey who transported both champions to Voldemort. Peter Pettigrew unceremoniously murdered the unneeded Cedric, and some of Harry's blood was used in an evil ritual that brought Lord Voldemort back to full power, eventually leading to the outbreak of the second wizarding war. Contrary to plan, Harry managed to escape and alerted Dumbledore of this.
Inspiration
It seems the Triwizard Tournament was inspired by the Olympic games, especially the way in which representatives from other countries compete in he name of international cooperation. Like the Olympics, the Triwizard Tournament was discontinued and started again in modern times. Also like the Olympics, the Triwizard Tournament is wrought with corruption.
One notable difference is that in the ancient Olympics only men competed and still in the modern Olympics, there are separate events for men and women. However, in the 1994 Triwizard Tournment (and presumably in the original Tournament as well) male and female students compete together. Another notable difference is that there are, as the name suggests, only three champions.